witesoxfan

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 02:06 PM) Probably been mentioned in other threads, but just found the following interesting... Lastings Milledge: age 25, 1359 minor league-at bats, combined stat-line .301/.379/.470/.849 Colby Rasmus: age 24, 1533 minor league at-bats, .277/.366/.485/.852 I know you aren't technically comparing them and suggesting they are equal and more that it's kind of coincidental that they have similar minor league lines, but Rasmus's game does and has translated to the majors much better. Rasmus draws more walks and hits for more power, so he is less likely to suffer from dealing with better fielders and is less prone to seeing huge variations in his final splits due to BABIP outliers. He's also been a better basestealer and a better defender too, and doesn't have near the attitude problems that Milledge has apparently had (though to say he is without attitude problems would be incorrect).

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 12:45 PM) Well, it would free up money to make an aggressive LT commitment to Danks, no? Buehrle could probably give then better production than almost any other option out there. Agree about no place to put him though... If there is no place to put him, then why would the Sox trade for him?

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 12:48 PM) Hypothetical question: Could the White Sox trade AJ right now, or would they have to wait until a certain date since he officially became a free agent? With multi-year contracts, you generally have to wait until about halfway through the season. Beyond that, AJ's 10 and 5 rights remain intact, so it would have to be with his approval anyways.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 12:38 PM) Just in case you want reasons why...seriously, we have no place to play Rasmus, Mark Buehrle won't give them the kind of production they were getting from Wainright, they're not in a position where taking on $15 million this season would be a smart move, and the Sox would simply get worse if they sacrificed a starting pitcher. NAILED IT

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 07:44 PM) It's like comparing Madden to Techmobowl. The Show is so vastly superior that if SCEA ever decided to port the game over to Xbox, 2K would just pull out of the baseball market all together. So they are equally good for different reasons? (I think you could have made a better comparison...Tecmo Bowl/Tecmo Super Bowl was one of the best NES games of all time)

It would also (hopefully) help his flexibility at the plate. Considering how mechanical he is at the plate, that would be a good thing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 10:33 PM) Pretty humbling post. I'm sure Twins fans wish they'd take it a step further and build a team not only capable of beating the White Sox, but also capable of having a shot in the playoffs. The Twins haven't even come close to winning a playoff series of late. Twins:White Sox::Yankees:Twins

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 11:35 PM) I started to do some of the exercises for that Spartacus workout on Sunday night and I'm still sore from it in my legs. I didn't do the minute on 15 second break thing yet. Part of it was probably not knowing what weights do use and how many reps to "try" but I think it worked some muscles I didn't know I had. That was one of the biggest things I noticed when I started seriously working out. We were doing some squats and I told him that my back hurt, but it wasn't my lower back, and it wasn't a sharp pain. We basically surmised that there were some muscles in my middle back that I had never worked out as hard as I ever have before (likely from doing bent over rows). I've also never done my groin before, but did some leg adductions and holy crap is that an experience. I've never had a strong groin before so I started easy, and through working it out 4 times (I will work it again tomorrow) it just feels much better. I have to remember to stretch it the next day or it gets a little too tight, but it just generally feels much stronger and it's actually helped me get through a lot of my other leg workouts as well as making running easier. (I set myself up about 4 different times in that last paragraph)

Atleast one team won't be bidding on Pujols Drats!

This statement is quite absurd. First, Flowers would have to re-establish any value he had before teams would be interested in him as anything more than a throw-in. And to consider moving him for a player who has a rare medical disorder that could sideline him for a huge length of time or for a player who just played in rookie ball is even more ridiculous. I would say the White Sox have talent at the catching position throughout the organization. I don't think you can say they have anything resembling depth when Blanke, Phegley, and quite frankly Gonzalez too (who could still be the best catching prospect in the organization...one rough year as a 19 year old in Kannapolis isn't going to make me think that much less of him) have yet to show anything close to consistent performance yet.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 04:41 PM) The Sox are legit if Jake is 100% anytime before summer. I assume by 100% you also mean that he is throwing well too. He could be 100% healthy and pitching pretty terribly like he was early in the year last year.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 04:12 PM) I never knew Steve Perry was such a big Will Ohman fan

How has he not signed on to do his own talk show yet?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 03:15 PM) A man's foot should be crusty and flaky. Like toast

QUOTE (lord chas @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 03:37 PM) thanks joe witesoxfan likes this

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 03:56 AM) Yeah, I can't figure it out. If it was team specific why would they make you go to New York for it? So you can sit in a room that has 14 TVs in it. It's like you're a creepy mall security guard, except that instead of watching women take their clothes off, you're watching grown men play with balls!

Concussions happen in baseball due to HBP and punches and whatever else, but it should be mentioned that Corey Koskie ended up retiring 3-5 years earlier than he could have due to a concussion, and Jason LaRue was forced to retire this past year because of a concussion. Due to the apparent number of concussions Morneau has had, it's certainly possible that he may never really play again. As a baseball fan, I really hope it doesn't come to that, but it's certainly a possibility at this point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 01:57 PM) Here's a scary number that both agrees and disagrees with you. Team ERA as reliever, American League, 2010. 1. Tampa Bay, 3.33 2. Texas, 3.38 3. NY Yankees, 3.47 4. Minnesota Twins, 3.49 5. Chicago Sox, 3.73. The Sox actually had a bullpen that was *almost* good enough to hang with the rest of the league. But not quite. The 4 bullpens better than us made the playoffs. I think the bullpen has been improved overall, though I think the 7th and 8th will be a little more interesting this year. I hate these, but a quick comparison shows... Thornton/Sale > Jenks Crain Thornton/Sale Santos >= Santos Pena >= Pena Infante > Linebrink Ohman >>>>> RAAAANDY (and Threets) (only half joking about that last one, but Ohman is a superior option) Basically, I like the depth that this bullpen presents more than last years, and I think the 9th inning should be a little less stressful, but innings 7 and 8 should be a bit scarier. I'm OK with that, because atleast if you blow a lead in the 7th or 8th, you have the ability to come back. If the game gets blown open in the 5th, you have no chance to come back, and if the game gets blown in the 9th, you have a much lesser chance (or no chance if on the road) to come back.

I don't think we will know if he has done that until he is close to 100%. I'm sure most of what he is doing now is relatively slow and deliberate compared to what he will eventually be doing. There is a photo that ptatc commented on that he said looked good - Peavy's right arm was down by his left hip, which indicates that he was coming from over the top. I would also have to imagine that because it was still down by the left hip that he didn't have the recoil that he normally does, but again, he is probably throwing quite mechanically right now as opposed to simply pitching, so I'm not sure we will know yet.

The Sox #1 goal this season (aside from the obvious goal of winning games) should be to win the season series against the Twins. Had they won it last year, they would have been in the playoffs. They shouldn't be happy with anything less than 10 wins against the Twins. I think Dunn is going to have a big influence on that too. Having him in the middle of the lineup, as opposed to Mark Kotsay, should have a pretty profound effect on the entire team.

QUOTE (smalls2598 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 12:39 PM) Anyone ever deal with a skunk/wildlife removal company? Two days in a row it smells like skunk outside my house, and there is a hole under the shed. Dammit. I would throw a few smoke bombs under there. Give that little bastard a taste of his own medicine.

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 12:10 AM) Start the day off with some Jerry Blowens. Full disclosure: I was a sucker for JO. Always wanted him to be something good. Alas, Ozzie and I feel victim to his speed I think everyone went through that phase at one point or another. I did after his monster year in Birmingham. Most people quickly realized he was pretty terrible.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 12:39 AM) Well not exactly the middle. There was also a huge drop-off after Kansas City. There are actually 3 significant drop-offs, with Kansas City to Chicago being by far the smallest. The drop-off from Texas to New York is 59 points, the aforementioned "small" 27 point drop-off from KC to Chicago, and then a monstrosity of an 81 point drop-off from LAA to Seattle. I don't think these drop-offs are exactly coincidental in nature either. In the case of the first 4 teams, they all had mostly full-time DHs - Ortiz, Scott, Thome, and Guerrero. The next set - New York, Cleveland, and Kansas City - each had better players DHing, but lost some time for whatever reason, and also used it to give other players games off. The next 6 teams shuffled the DH position to give players days off and try to work matchups, and it would appear as though that concept simply does not work. And then the final group in Seattle just shows total offensive ineptitude. In summation, I think the Sox are very, very smart in going with a full-time DH. It will add to the overall effectiveness of the lineup and gives them an advantage over quite a few teams (and hopefully the Twins too...Thome has to fall off at some point, doesn't he?)

For schnitz and griddles Buehrle's FIRST start of the year (so not technically opening day, but I'm pretty sure his only non-opening day start was 2006) 2002 - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K (W) 2003 - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K (L) 2004 - 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K (ND, Sox lost) 2005 - 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (W) 2006 - 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K (rain-delay halfway through, hence the lack of innings...Sox won) 2007 - 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (ND, Sox won) 2008 - 1.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 1 K (ND, Sox lost) 2009 - 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K (ND, Sox won) 2010 - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (W) Totals - 46.2 IP, 41 H, 19 R (18 ER), 14 BB, 21 K Average - 5.1 IP, 4.5 H, 2 R, 1.6 BB, 2.3 K Peripherals - 3.47 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 4 K/9 I would say that the notion that Buehrle has been a bad opening day starter is way overblown. In fact, I would argue that, outside of 2 starts, he's been exceptional on Opening Day.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 20, 2011 -> 07:43 PM) No fouls called in final 10 minutes of first half against Duke. And I don't think there's enough green in the world for my "GT will win tonight". They could have J. Jack, Thad Young, Favors, Bosh, and Morrow on the court and Hewitt would still find a way to lose. I actually thought you were serious in the "this team is so bad and disappointing that once they finally reach the point where my expectations couldn't be any lower, they beat some ridiculously talented team" mindset.