witesoxfan

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 02:41 PM) Lol I never knew you were a girl... I definitely ain't no girl neither

He was actually pretty much the exact same pitcher last year that he was in 2006 when he put up a 4.99 ERA with the difference being the home runs. The other aspect you didn't mention was that last year, his BABIP was .313 compared to his career average of .291. That number is actually skewed because of his first two years as a starter (.242 and .277), but expecting him to allow fewer hits makes sense. I don't worry about Buehrle, because he shows trends like this and then bucks those with a better year. I think there is always some sort of mild concern at the beginning of each year simply because Buehrle can barely hit 88 MPH any more, but he's the best defensive pitcher in the game both due to his pickoff move, defense, and quickness to the plate, so he's always going to have that built in advantage working for him. My guess is that Buehrle will do the same thing he's done pretty much throughout his career - have one area better than his career average which helps propel him to a good year. I'd say that the FGs Fans' projections are pretty much exactly what I expect from Buehrle.

s***, ain't nothing wrong with that one

QUOTE (everafan @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 01:27 PM) Unless Morel is a flop, I don't see Omar getting as much playing time this year. I suppose it will equal out if he spells Alexei and Beckham more frequently. That's not much of a prediction, considering Vizquel was getting starter's time from about June 1st through the end of the season. He will almost certainly get less playing time this year unless someone gets hurt again.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 11:08 PM) Tried a couple of new (to me) tequila drinks this evening. The Brave Bull is a straightforward jigger of tequila and a half-jigger of Khalua, shaken with ice and strained into cocktail glass. Make the same drink but add 2 oz. of heavy cream and you have a Boscoe. Basically, they are the tequila-substituted equivalent of a Black Russian and White Russian, with just a little ingredient ratio tweaking. Interestingly, the tequila character was more pronounced in the Boscoe with the cream added than it was in the Brave Bull that just had tequila and Khalua, and it sort of crept around the edges of the cream and Khalua richnes in a very interesting way. I followed those up with a diet-murdering Chief Lapu Lapu from the Beachbum's Grog Log that had fresh orange juice and homemade passionfruit syrup and homemade sour mix complementing the light and dark rums. Solidly on the sweet side (I used very sweet honeybell oranges), but a heckuva good drink. Better get back to gin and tonics for a while or I'll totally shoot the diet in the foot. What kind of tequila were you using? Definitely going to have to try those at some point in the near future but obviously want to use the correct tequila.

The general thought is that Dunn is going to get on base more than Konerko, which isn't far fetched by any means, and having him on base 30% more will result in more runs scored overall.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 11:26 PM) Exactly when the hell did Brent become so unpopular around here??? When people realized he was not a good hitter. He's well liked as a person, but not as a baseball player.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 04:21 PM) Buehrle with 7 Ks through 5 IP? What in the world? He does that every now and then. He has to make up for his 8 inning, 1 strikeout performances somehow.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 07:47 PM) Remember when Jeremy Reed was going to be the next Mark Kotsay? And to think, that was a compliment at the time too. My how times have changed.

QUOTE (since56 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 04:24 PM) This team only needs three things. Pitching,pitching and pitching. A number one starter is hard to find. Peavy is not even a starter. Verlander is a legitimate number one. A proven closer is also hard to find. Maybe Peavy, maybe Thornton, maybe Sale, maybe there should not be so many maybe's with a $125 million payroll. Not sure how you come to the conclusion that Peavy isn't a starter considering he's never once come out the bullpen in his entire career. He's not a shining example of a healthy pitcher, but once he gets back, he will be a starter. Beyond that, the White Sox have 4 other pretty damn good starting pitchers. Not many teams around the majors can state that. Even without Peavy, I'm taking the White Sox rotation over the Tigers (Verlander and Scherzer are better, but I don't trust Porcello, Penny, or Coke at all). Beyond that, Thornton has been an absolutely fantastic reliever throughout his career. And, if he fails as a closer, the Sox have Sale to go to. If he fails, they have Crain and Santos. The Sox are not without options closing. They will find someone who will get the job done and will do so more effectively than Bobby Jenks did last year. Personally, I'm glad that the Sox are going into the season with that kind of "question mark" opposed to the "proven commodity" in Jenks. I don't care if people are pessimistic, but jesus. --- Open your eyes, look up to the skies and seeeeeeeee (nobody starts reciting the greatest rock song of all time without me helping out)

I always get a little choked up at the end of Field of Dreams, but Major League is my favorite baseball movie of all time. Major League 2 is good, but so much of it feels artificial and over the top. Aside from the fact that it's a bunch of scrubs winning the division, the events themselves seem plausible, instead of Jack Parkman hitting a home run in every playoff appearance except for the last one and Willie Mays Hayes stealing 3 bases in a row.

For whatever reason, I have absolutely no interest in this game. I think it's because I like watching college basketball to see untalented players play their asses off, and I watch the NBA to see the most talented players in the world. These two teams are way too talented for my liking, but not talented enough to keep me entertained, if that makes sense. Oh, and I really don't like either program for whatever reason. Never been a big UNC fan and Calipari is scum.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 03:59 PM) Winning a division at this payroll level is not enough and relying on Jackson and Floyd to step up to help form a big three is a gamble I'm not very comfortable with. The Red Sox didn't make the playoffs last year and they had a $148 million payroll. Detroit spent $119 mill. There are many more examples than just those 2. There is a lot of talent within the division, and if they miss the playoffs, I hope it's because they simply were outplayed and not because they lost a bunch of games they should have won. Further, Jackson and Floyd only have to step up if the Sox are going to be a World Series contender. A lot can happen between now and then. We'll just have to see how the season goes.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 03:19 PM) Fair points on the offense. Do you disagree though that the idea of the Sox being World Series contenders is predicated On Peavy returning not just healthy, but being that top-of-the-rotation guy he was acquired for? As was mentioned, for the Sox to be a World Series contender, they really need 3 very strong starting pitchers and then a 4th good one. Danks has already cemented his place as a very strong starter, so that would leave 2 of Buehrle, Floyd, and Jackson otherwise. I would venture to guess that the two most likely to become that are Floyd and Jackson, because Buehrle is what he is and really won't get much better or worse at this point in time. I do think if the Sox are going to make a run, and if Peavy is not healthy, they will need an upgrade at the end of the rotation. I don't see Humber being able to hold the fort down all season.

QUOTE (IChaseBlackWood @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 02:35 PM) HEY GUYSSSS, GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!? ...THAT'S RIGHT ....MORE NEWS!!! Bour will be starting in W-S. Blanke starting in Kannapolis with Dubler as his back up along with the guy they just converted to catcher, Vera. AND Gonzalez to extended then on to GF. What this means for Chase after extended .....I HAVE NO IDEA :/ Wow, Gonzalez to GF? That seems extreme.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 12:06 PM) While on the subject of ex Sox prospects, I saw that two were recently cut by their new teams... John Ely (Dodgers) and Chris Carter (Rays). Different Chris Carter. The former Sox Chris Carter is a pretty good prospect with the Athletics. He was also cut and will be playing in AAA this year.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 02:35 PM) Yes. Something back > nothing back. That's my point. Maybe Kenny just wants to get something rather than nothing, while having an excuse to cut Marquez and his awfulness. We said this when Brian Anderson was traded for Mark Kotsay. In the end, we all knew how wrong we were.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 01:35 PM) Starting rotation question marks are Peavy, Jackson, and I'll throw in Buehrle. Konerko regressing would offset Dunn addition somewhat. Beckham should be a whole lot better, but who else is it realistic to see improvement from offensively? -How is Buehrle a question mark? I'd say he's one of the steadiest players in the game. -Konerko will almost certainly regress but that will not offset the Dunn addition. Konerko was worth 4.2 wins last year, but the 1B/DH output when using Kotsay as well was 3.5 WAR. If Konerko has his standard 2.5 WAR season, Dunn only has to put up 1 WAR to match. Considering Dunn isn't going to be playing the field much, there's a chance that he will put up a 3-4 WAR from the DH position, which would leave the Sox at around 5.5-6.5 WAR between 1B and DH. That's almost twice as much production. -Who needs to improve that much more? The Sox won 88 games last year. There are players and areas that can improve - Ramirez, Pierzynski, Quentin, Pierre, Rios, the bullpen in general, the 5th spot in the rotation, production at 3B - but in general, the Sox had a good team last year and only lost one real solid contributer from last year in Putz. He was replaced by Crain, who should be solid. Ohman is OK. Dunn is a monumental improvement over Kotsay. The biggest area the Sox lost production was the bench, but it should be good enough. As has been mentioned, there are risks with and holes with every team. It would be nice if they had a perfect roster, but they don't. Hopefully they can win the division this year.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 02:23 PM) It's not ideal. If Flowers has a future with the Sox it's going to start as being the backup C. Yes. Next year.

If everything were even, teams would only get to the World Series once every 15 years (depending on their league, of course), and teams would only win a World Series once every 30 years. It's the same thing throughout all of sports. What frustrates and upsets the Sox fans to which you are referring is the fact that they are continually beaten by the Twins, and then the Twins inevitably get swept in the postseason. Atleast to me, that is my absolute greatest frustration about this team. They can hang with the Twins, but they don't, and then the Twins get to the postseason and s*** the bed. Through mere correlation, the Sox get overlooked and underrated by the rest of the nation. They have had a relatively great team for the past 11 seasons, including 1 World Series victory, but because they can't beat a team that can't beat the Yankees or the A's, people assume the White Sox are a second tier team. They are not. They have the resources to be a playoff team year after year, yet they have only made the playoffs once since 2005 and even that took a great deal of luck (the Twins losing 2 of 3 to Kansas City). I want this team to make the playoffs in back to back years - something they've never done (though they should have in '94). It would be nice to have some vested interest in the playoffs in consecutive years, wouldn't it? Right now, the Twins are the Sox biggest competitors with the Tigers right behind those two. The Indians and Royals, especially the Royals, are collecting talent in any manner possible to build towards a long term run at the division crown. Come 2014, this Sox team may become irrelevant within the AL Central. All I want between now and then is 2 playoff appearances. That may be too much to ask, but I certainly hope not, and I hope they can do it. I also imagine that's what most of the Sox fans you are referring to want as well (give or take). At this point, the Sox have proven they are competitive. We want to see the Sox make the playoffs. I imagine you want that as well.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 02:14 PM) Same here. I still would rank him ahead of De Aza, Lillibridge, and a few other ST invitees. He's a worse option than Mark Kotsay.

Wow, first time these two have ever played each other in the NCAA tournament.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) As neat as that'd be, Kansas is f***ing good. That's exactly what I just said to my friend. I don't see any way they don't end up in the Championship game.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 10:29 AM) My worries about the Phils are all about age/health. Even with that rotation, the guys regularly give a lot of innings, but all of them but Hamels are old. Lee and Oswalt both have, to me, started showing signs of wear and tear, and Halladay's just as old. Oswalt was pretty phenomenal overall last year, and he's shown some signs of slowing down for years yet never has. I think he's as good a bet as any to remain very solid. You've also mentioned that Cliff Lee looks like he's slowing down, but again, I haven't seen anything to even remotely resemble that. He increased his strikeout rate, decreased his walk rate, allowed fewer hits (which is independent of his pitching), and his HR/9 was relatively unaffected by his previous season. Fact of the matter is that during his run in Texas, his strand rate was 62.6%, which is completely out of the norm for him and is something that he has relatively no effect on whatsoever (for his career, including his crappy, early years in Cleveland, it's 71.8%; it was 78.3% in 2008, 76.2% in 2009, and 73.6% while he was in Seattle). Due to that increased number, he allowed about 10-12 more runs than he typically would have. Hypothetically speaking, that leaves his ERA in the 2.98-3.15 range. Their rotation is going to be stellar, barring injury, this year and probably the following year as well.

May played 11 games as a freshman. His sophomore year, he averaged 15.2/9.8, and his junior year he averaged 17.5/10.7. May also blocked the ball a bit better too. I don't think either comparison is outlandish. Nobody knows what Sullinger will do in the NBA until he actually gets there. Seems to me that Sean May ate himself out of the NBA, and that's something that Sullinger can avoid pretty easily so long as he doesn't get that 7th double cheeseburger from McD's. It never hurts to have expected and worst case comparisons though.