witesoxfan

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 06:00 PM) No, you don't have to dominate to be good or effective. But if you want to get a quality catcher out of your way, and convince the team to clear you a spot, you better dominate. 4 out of 6 years with an OPS of .866 or better and a career OPS in the minors of .876 along with a second half OPS .840 (even in very limited plate appearances) tells me that they need to give the guy a shot. Bring in a good veteran backstop who you know will work well with the pitching staff as an insurance policy and consider the catching situation taken care of. At some point, the guy's going to have to sink or swim.

QUOTE (floridafan @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 05:27 PM) Hey! I would push Grabe, lol! He is good for better than .245 and an OPS of .718! By the time Youk is done, he will be ready! Resign Youk and push Grabe as far as he will go. He thrives in adversity and rises to the competition. I belive the organization likes what they have seen so far, and he will be better by ST. He is a bit short (5'11" and 195) but is very strong and has played the position his entire life other than opportunities at Shortstop and a very limited time at 2B. He probably has played less than 30 games his entire life at 2B. Mostly 3B and Short. Funny he was drafted as a 2B! But he projects there as well. He should show significantly more power next season, and maybe eventually find his way to Birmingham. Crossing my fingers on that one. Heck! We all have our favorite players here we want to push, my favorite just happens to be my son! LOL! He keeps on hitting, he'll be here soon enough.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 04:54 PM) For lots of cash. To be fair, they will either send him checks or do some sort of direct deposit, and at that point he can receive the cash, so this deal is slightly more complicated.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 01:59 PM) I would stay away from Aaron Rodgers, did you see how poorly Kyle Boller did? Yeesh. Rodgers has been incredible, but I thought there were legitimate concerns with Rodgers too, especially being a Tedford QB. I mean, the list is pretty incredible. Trent Dilfer David Carr Akili Smith Joey Harrington Billy Volek AJ Feeley Kyle Boller Aaron Rodgers Which of those doesn't belong in that group? There is some truth to the idea that you stay away from certain players in certain systems. It's not always true.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) He could always have dominated the minors....in a way that Flowers never really did. From 1996 through 1999 - ages 19-22 for AJ - he never OPS'd better than .718. He did have OPS's better than .800 - during his 2nd time in rookie ball and his 3rd time in AAA. That just proves that you don't have to dominate to be good or effective. However, you act as if Flowers was mediocre in the minors. He had 1 season below an .838 OPS, and 4 of his 6 seasons were .866 or better, leaving him with a career split in the minors of .275/.391/.484/.876. Mike Napoli showed better home run potential, but I honestly don't think that comparison is too far off. Flowers needs to play regularly, and I do think he can be a really, really good hitter for the Sox.

Piazza showed good power right away with an Iso of .176 in his first year in the minors, and he didn't become a good hitter for average until his 4th year in the minors. There are a ton of people in America right now who can hit the ball a really, really long ways that are between the ages of 18-22. Piazza, even as a 62nd round draft pick, proved that right away. Then the Dodgers make some adjustments to his approach, he can continue to hit for power while quickening and strengthening his approach, and suddenly he's spraying the ball all over the field. I honestly never thought Piazza was juicing. He was always a huge dude and he was always a pretty good hitter. According to Wiki, his father was also a talented baseball player but had to support a family by the age of 16. He encouraged Mike to play baseball and was given lessons by Ted Williams at the age of 12. Honestly, I don't think you can point to Piazza in 1990 and 1991 and see a jump in average and power and say "STEROIDS." There are guys who come out of nowhere all the time, and I think arguing that steroids take a guy from a nobody to a superhero is a bit over the top. I won't rule out that he used, but I wouldn't say definitively that he used either.

OMFG JOE CREDE

5 writers on crack Really? Hamilton's going to take a 1 or 2 year deal? No. No. I mean, really? The team who has spent the most money of any professional American sports team (as far as I am aware) on player personnel over the previous 5, 10, 15 years...and they'll not only get him for fewer years, but also at a discount? Recall that this was the team that gave Derek Jeter 3/$51 after he put up a .710 OPS.

I predict we see our first player with 500+ home runs not be elected and removed from the ballot. It's too strong and deep for Palmeiro to garner much of a vote with his tarnished reputation and subsequent departure from the game. I think McGwire gets more than 25% of the vote this year.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 28, 2012 -> 09:36 AM) So you couldn't see the Chiefs bringing in a new coaching staff, drafting Matt Barkley, and being good next year, with that defense and some of that talent they have on offense? The difference between being good and bad is really not all that much in the NFL. I honestly don't like Barkley that much. He's not a bad QB, but I don't feel he shows great poise and awareness in the pocket. I think he is more on the lines of someone like Sam Bradford. But I agree otherwise, it can be one or two breaks a game. The Bills are 2 plays away from being 6-5 right now as opposed to 4-7 and, for all intents and purposes, out of the playoffs. They're also 2 plays away from being 2-9 instead of 4-7 and a new coaching staff and front office management team coming in. You can pretty much do this for every single team in the NFL. It's a tight margin.

Yeah, this sounds like two situations I was in with my ex. One time we got back together and everything was rosy for 6 months, the other time was almost 2 years ago and I've only seen her for one stretch of time since then. My point isn't that it'll ultimately end in breaking up - I proved that and we were really happy together for a while. My point is that time apart is a good thing because you then start to remember things that the other did well and then areas where you would like to see the other improve (and this is the hardest part to look at objectively because you've withstood and endured so much to this point that you can no longer tell the difference between personality and what you'd like to see them change). If I could go back, one thing I would have said was that, regardless of how pointless you feel they are, sports are a big deal to me. I will do my best not to obsess and get too upset, but you have to accept that I really enjoy watching and following them and that, if given the opportunity, I would like to watch them as it is an outlet for other frustrating and stressful factors in my life. I never did, and sports actually became a very big dividing point in our relationship. You will get to sit down with her and you can go over these things. It sounds weird and almost patronizing after a 3 year relationship to set boundary lines and stating things you would like to keep and things you can sacrifice, but it's actually the best thing you can do because once a relationship becomes that involved, those once black and white lines become extremely gray and you are no longer getting out of the relationship what you intended - and that can be anything from personal freedoms to things you would like in your life to how often you can generally want and expect to do the deed. An open line of communication is the ultimate key to any relationship. At the end of the day, that open line of communication may ultimately result in one of the two parties realizing that they are and will no longer be happy in the relationship, so you have to prepare yourself for that as well. I have been trying to avoid cliches, but ultimately - if it's meant to be, it will be; if it's not, it's not.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 09:16 PM) I used to have a cassette tape that was some birthday message from Bobby Thigpen when I was a kid. I loved it. He still holds the single season record for saves in my heart

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 08:24 PM) Gellinger had a lot of health problems this past year, that has to be the main reason behind changing those roles. Thigpen, not sure about. Just an internal promotion, "Sox Loyalty" thing there apparently. He flamed out quickly, but Thigpen was a pretty good reliever for a 6 year stretch. I like the idea of having a guy who knows the rigors of being in that position.

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 01:10 PM) the mets have a young 3B sitting behind david wright we could try and get? wilmer flores http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2012/ Players who put up .300/.349/.479/.827 seasons as 20 year olds between A+ and AA while striking out at a 11% clip and walking at a 7% clip are typically dealt in young player for young player moves for guys like Chris Sale, or they're packaged for relatively durable players who have a lot of service time left, like Gio Gonzalez, Mat Latos, Miguel Cabrera, or Giancarlo Stanton. What's scarier is that he was actually much better in AA than in A+. I strongly, strongly doubt the Mets would trade him. If anything, they'll find another position for him to play.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 02:52 PM) everytime i watched an eagles game they were mentioning how he even looks lost when in Man defense now. The guy seems to have lost his way Its kind of funny that Babin got cut. Yesterday before the game he put "Its always darkest before Dawn" on twitter with a shadowed picture of his face. I'm sure he doesn't have confidence in what he's doing anymore. If he finds a system where they will play him pretty much exclusively in man coverage and basically cater to his needs, he'll get it back if just for a couple years. I haven't seen the Bills play much - tends to happen when they're bad and they're 2000 miles from your hometown - but it seems to me they run quite a bit of Man Cover 2. They have a strong man CB in Gilmore, so that would be awesome. /daydreaming I think at the end of Reid's tenure here, he got away from getting guys that fit his style and started picking up the most talented guys he could get. That has obviously not worked out. Michael Vick is not a west coast QB, DeSean Jackson is not a west coast WR, and Nnamdi is not a zone cover corner (and neither is DRC for that matter).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 02:46 PM) Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS mets get serious with offer. 7 years, $135-140M. puts ball in wright's court. If Wright doesn't accept that or atleast negotiate from there, he is foolish.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 12:01 PM) Which QB have you seen throw the ball 98 yards in the air? I think the NFL's rule is too tough, but college's rule is too light. Placing the ball on the one yard line is just brutal, but with a 15-yard penalty it makes sense for a DB to commit the penalty and prevent a long bomb. Maybe it should be like minimum 15 yards, maximum is halfway between 15 yards & the spot of the foul? Anything inside the 30 could be half the distance to the goalline. Jamarcus Russell, obviously. I think that sounds fair. I think they should increase the penalty for offensive interference too, atleast to the 15 yards.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 10:09 AM) Where is Bill Veeck when we need him for splashy moves and news? Resting in peace, not destroying a farm system that is already weak

Sox are joining the new group of teams to have two hitting coaches, even if Baines is only an "assistant" hitting coach.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 11:22 AM) Doesn't work like that. Throwing the flag only prevents you from benefiting from the play, not preventing review. At least, this is how it was explained on TV. That is very subjective, even if most situations will be black and white. They would need something clear and concrete. If they challenged on that, for whatever reason, and the ref suddenly said no, because you challenged, you lose the touchdown, that would be a bigger travesty than the Forsett play.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 11:17 AM) In his TMQ column, Gregg Easterbrook pointed out a loophole in the 'red flag on a scoring play' rule that some coach could take advantage of: 1) Team A scores a touchdown on a play that is almost certain to be reversed upon review. 2) Team A's coach throws the challenge flag with the specific intent of having the review nullified. Team A gets a 15 yard penalty, but the touchdown stands. Same thing can be done for turnovers too. Team B forces an interception, on replay it is revealed that ball is clearly dropped, Team B throws red flag, play must stand. I think, in those situations where the rules were clearly being manipulated, you would see Goodell step in and I think he'd have a long sit down with whichever coach is throwing the flags, and I would pretty much guarantee that that rule is amended in the offseason to only incorporate the penalty and no longer nixing the replay. There are only 91 games left, so hopefully nothing like these come up during that time.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 09:07 AM) Bernstein said Illinois is actively working "back channels" to get a specific coach to replace Beckman that people will like. If they get him, Beckman will be fired. If they cant get him, Beckman will stay for at least another year. If they bring someone in, they will, and if they don't, they won't. Way to go out on a limb there Bernstein

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 27, 2012 -> 09:58 AM) PI calls are basically impossible to objectively discuss these days...they've swung the pendulum too far in the other direction now, which I am not sure they dislike, considering fans seem to appreciate more passing and more scoring, but it has become damn hard to be a DB or linebacker in this league these days. It's an incredibly unfair penalty for the defense too because they can, in theory, be penalized 98 yards for the infraction, but it's only ever a 10 yard penalty for the offense and, by nature of the rule itself, referees are going to be more apt to call it against the defense. I'm of the mindset that unless it is blatant pass interference, you should leave it alone. I also think they could and probably should call illegal contact more aggressively too...I seem to see a lot of contact between DBs and WRs that is intentional that goes uncalled, but that's the eye-test which, obviously, never ever fails.

I understand that from both perspectives. I honestly think Wright could probably get a deal in the 7/$140 range on the open market.

That exact situation essentially ruined one of my good friend's relationship with his then girlfriend. They started, she got weirded out and left, and he and the other girl kept having fun. She didn't know why he didn't stop, he didn't know why she left, and sex itself actually lost its intimacy at that point in time. In my opinion, threesomes are for single people who have no intentions of having strings attached of any sort. That kind of thing can even hurt friendships or anything else you may consider. I can see situations where it might work, but they're few and far in between.