witesoxfan

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 02:55 PM) Well, we got him at like age 26, right? I mean, we partially developed him, but we did so at the major league level almost entirely so there couldn't have been that much work to do. I'm not one of those people that think the White Sox are the worst developers ever, though. I just think we trade more than other teams do. I could go either way with him, I just see the acquisition kind of like a more raw version of Iguchi. To clarify, I don't think the Sox have really developed his offensive game at all, because he hasn't really done anything drastic offensively over the 3 years he's been with the Sox. There was some polish to his game, but the improvement he has shown defensively over a 3 year period has been outstanding.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 02:55 PM) We already have a guy that can shoot with the best of them and defend with the worst of them under contract for another couple of years. Not to directly compare Stephen Curry and Jimmer Fredette, but Curry is only 6'3. Curry seems to be a bit quicker than Fredette, but if you can shoot and have good ball-handling skills, you will get some run.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 02:43 PM) I think it just shows that given his skill set scouts are looking for a reason to like him. Players like him are rare so they are hoping that he can get the bat going. If he can hit like Omar Infante, he's going to have a lot of value wherever he plays on the infield because of his glove.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 01:41 PM) Ok my bad. A decision I don't like means I am wrong, and a decision you agree with means they are right. K, gotcha. I look forward to Sale being in the rotation in 2012 and giving us 180+ innings of solid pitching. You are putting words into his mouth. He didn't say whether or not he agreed with the decision. He merely pointed out that because you disagree with it does not make it the wrong choice. Quite frankly, there is no wrong choice. Using him as a starting pitcher in the minors or as a reliever with the big league club are both going to be good for Sale and the White Sox in general.

Cubano would be the ultimate reference, but I am pretty sure that Alexei played mostly outfield in Cuba but did play some infield. Regardless, to say that the White Sox have not developed him into the defensive shortstop that he is would be wrong.

People came out of their shells a little bit after 2005. Before, you could be in a room full of White Sox fans and have no idea, and I have definitely seen quite a few more Sox fans since that point in time. It seemed to me that people from Iowa present roughly a 5:2 Cubs:Sox ratio.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 01:01 PM) Not to get off topic, but Wite do you know anything about Black Hills State College? My friend just decided a few months ago to transfer there (he wants to work outside and was interested in their Park Ranger program). Yeah, it's an OK school...if I had to guess, I would say the 5th or 6th best school in the state. Being a biased alumni, I think you get the best college experience at USD, but from what I understand, BHSU offers similar classes, just without the pedigree. I'm not sure about how the Park Ranger or anything along that goes, but I did have a friend who worked out in Hot Springs this past summer and I was out there this summer too (and it's absolutely gorgeous). Being out there will present much better opportunities though. If he didn't - I'm sure he did - I would suggest that he do some research on the South Dakota School of Mines too. It's much more of an academic institution than the typical college experience, but my understanding is that they have the 2nd best science program in the state (behind USD) and that there is actually some scientific work that is done right inside the Hills themselves.

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 12:36 PM) Um....Cubs fans? They never win anything and still talk a lot of smack Most of the Cubs fans I know are harmless though. I'm sure it's different in the Chicago metropolitan area, but the Cubs fans I know still just like to get drunk and talk a little harmless s*** that gets thrown right back at them.

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 03:49 AM) I assume knightni is referring to me, and I think my post was deleted. My bad. I bartend and have a rare night off. I'm hammered. I thought it was funny though. Anyways.... in my mind, a name as lame as White SUX deserves banning in itself. At least have an ounce of respect/cleverness. Twins fans are like early 90's Cub fans. I don't know where they came from, but they're brutal and I just want them to leave. I don't think you understand quite how much the cold weather saps intellectual knowledge. I was actually going to attend Harvard until I had to shovel snow 5 times a week in North Dakota. Then I ended up going to school in South Dakota.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 10:48 AM) Deep down I thought he would have ended up with Twins. I don't know why you ever had those feelings. If there is one area the Twins really don't have a need, it's starting pitching depth. As of right now, they have a 6 man rotation of Liriano, Pavano, Baker, Duensing, Slowey, and Blackburn, have Wimmers and Gibson on the way (though neither really needs to pitch until next year), and have a few others in AAA that can make starts for them too. (they obviously won't go with a 6-man rotation...I don't think I needed to clarify this either, but just in case)

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 12:50 PM) Stop crying about it. They don't know how to handle the situation? You know what, I think they're handling it perfectly. They're doing what is best for the team this year with the intention of having him return to starting duties next season. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean they don't know how to handle it. f*** and yes

QUOTE (joeynach @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 02:40 AM) Hope Danks is next. Something like 4 Year 40M extension should do it for 2012-2015 seasons. Something like $8M, $10M, $10M, $12M, with a 500K buyout or $13M option. Danks would be selling himself short if he took that contract. Something like 4/$56 or 4/$60 is quite a bit more likely, similar to Buehrle's. Assuming a $15 million open market value (and it could be higher than that) and using the 40/60/80 rule, it'd be like $12, $14, $15, $15. Or perhaps $12, $15, $15, $15 with a $3 million club option with a value of $15-18 mill for the option at the end of the deal. If I am his agent, I would use a $16-18 million opening market value, and go no lower than $15 mill, and I would try to get him signed for 5 years. I think I would probably be happy with 4/$60. If the Sox are using 4/$40 as a starting point, it'd be very easy to see why the two sides are far apart. If John Lackey can get $16.5 mill on the open market, Danks can get that or more as well, considering he has (thus far) proven to be more durable than Lackey, is (arguably) better, and inflationary reasons as well. On top of that, he will be entering his age 28 season when he hits free agency as well, so it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that he could get 6 years with an option at the end of it at about $17-18 mill a year. That's getting into $100-$110 million range. Personally, I think that's the high end, but if he signs an extension with the Sox, it's going to be because he really wants to stay with the Sox, because he could make quite a bit more money from someone else on the free agent market.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 09:15 PM) I don't think stats tell Escobar's story at all, not like they ever do for a minor leaguer, but still. He must have really passed some eye tests with flying colors at the AFL. X amount of hits in Y amount of AFL at-bats can't matter much to any GM. It's fun for us fans who don't see the games, but I'm sure it matters peanuts. Something else is up with this kid- trade his ass! I struggle putting a ton of weight into AFL statistics due to the natural tendency for it to be a hitters league (due to the climate) along with the fact that, while most pitchers are talented, a lot of them are simply guys that teams want to get an extended look at because most top pitching prospects have already reached a suitable amount of innings pitched for the year. So while the 13 XBHs are nice, I want to actually see him hit for power during the regular season before I declare him anything. I think that's probably pretty similar to how most other GMs feel too.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) Conveniently forgetting what, exactly? That he might have had a week or two there where he was hitting ok before he went down with his injury? Whatever. Truth is up until then he was hitting as he's pretty much hit his previous five, full years in the league, when he's featured a routine no-power/no-speed/high-strikeout offensive performance. Outside of his admittedly nice performance way back in 2006, I don't see how you can't conclude that this guy doesn't "suck" bad offensively, especially if you fairly compare him to his peers around the league at the "high-ops positions" at which he plays. I think Mark Teahen is a slightly below league average hitter when facing both lefties and righties but that he will benefit from hitting against RHP on a more consistent basis. He will be a valuable member of the bench as a hitter and, when he plays, all you can really do is hope that he isn't a butcher in the field.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 09:57 PM) Perhaps in that ballpark and in that division, but Freddy post-surgery does a better job taking care of himself, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he ends up physically stronger next season and capable of working deeper into games than last season. The pressure in NY isn't going to get to Freddy, but the bandbox part of it may. I'd like his chances to equal or improve upon what he did here last year however had he re-signed with us. Garcia isn't ever going to be able to work deep into games consistently. To work deep into a game as a starting pitcher, you have to be able to attack the strike zone and be the aggressor. That isn't his game anymore. If Garcia attacks the strikezone on a consistent basis, he is going to be pummeled. He was successful last year because he could locate his offspeed pitches pretty well and make hitters get themselves out, so his success is really dependent on the aggressiveness of the other team. When he has to throw the ball in the zone, especially his fastball, he gets hit very hard. Further, due to his injury history, you really don't want Garcia throwing a ton of pitches either, so even though he isn't throwing that hard, it is hard relative to the durability of his shoulder. Naturally there will be times when he is locating particularly well and his junk is working and he is keeping hitters off balance to the point where he will get a 7-8 inning game in, but there will be other times when he will go 4-6 innings and either have to be pulled because he has gotten hit hard or because he has reached his pitch count. I think the most innings Freddy Garcia can pitch from this point on is about 180 innings, and I think that is even pushing it.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 10:33 PM) so now whats really left out there starting pitching wise that would be an upgrade over Harrell/Pena/Humber or are we really gonna rely on one of the 3? Whats Ben Sheets gonna demand contract wise? would he take on a limited role? hes the only guy i can think of thats left whod be an upgrade. As mentioned before, the point of signing a stopgap, back of the rotation starter is that you are assured that they will make starts. The White Sox have a good rotation when it is healthy and they don't need to look for a high risk, high reward type of guy. Perhaps it is a sign that the White Sox feel that Peavy really won't miss much, if any, time at all. That's not a bad thing. QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 11:15 PM) Chris Sale. Oh wait. I don't think you'll be as angry when Sale is closing out the the division clinching game in late September.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 12:22 AM) Even if he aged like a normal player, he'd still be in his prime for 2 years of the extension. The thing with Alexei is that he doesn't look like the type of player who is going to add a lot of weight simply because his body type won't allow for much, if any, additional weight, and as a result he should keep most of his quickness, barring leg or back injuries. To the poster who said that Alexei will be stolen by the Yankees...if they want him to play SS at the end of this contract, then by all means. I do see that it isn't finalized, but it's probably technical language that needs to be resolved. I don't think that is going to be a big obstacle.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 08:46 PM) I guess he REALLY wants that world series ring. I can't imagine he didn't have ANY major league offers. Wants that 2nd World Series ring.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 04:22 PM) I think PETA is stupid as hell and this commercial won't change my opinion. However, I do want to to share this NSFW Superbowl video of theirs because it's quite entertaining. (immediately looks up local vegan clubs)

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 05:31 PM) Added Victor Martinez where they had Gerald Laird before. Added Brad Penny where they had Armando Galarraga before. Will have Maggs back from injury, will have Carlos Gullien back from injury, will have Peralta at SS for all of 2011 (had adam everett before). Victor Martinez is absolutely terrible defensively and I think is a little overrated offensively. Brad Penny started 9 games last year before being shutdown, and in his only run-through of the AL, he put up a 5.61 ERA with Boston over 22 starts. Ordonez is going to be 37 next year and is a butcher defensively, Carlos Guillen hasn't played a full season since 2007 and has been relatively mediocre the past 2 years (a little over 140 games) with an OPS right around .750. Peralta is a good hitter for a SS, but he gives most of that back with his terrible defense. Oh, and Brandon Inge hasn't been an effective hitter since 2006. He's magnificent defensively, but he's just terrible at the plate. I don't even have the Tigers on the radar. Perhaps that's wrong, but I just don't think they are that good of a team. I have them hanging around .500 and winning way too many close games early on, like they generally do, but then fading in the second half again. This will come down to the Sox and the Twins again.

Not really a missed opportunity. He missed all of 2009, and started only 5 games last year. He was pretty good, but you can't take much from 5 games. He's only started 32 games in his entire career, otherwise he's been a reliever. The most starts he made was 22 in 2008, and he was hurt a little beyond halfway through the season. If you are going to sign an extra starter in case Peavy isn't ready by April, you don't sign someone who could very easily get hurt in Spring Training. You need to sign someone durable who you know is going to be able to make those starts, because otherwise you may as well just go with a generic AAA pitcher.

I don't put any stock whatsoever into CERA, but here's Olivo vs his team's totals 2006 - Olivo 4.45, Marlins 4.37 2007 - Olivo 5.04, Marlins 4.94 2008 - Olivo 4.42, Royals 4.48 2009 - Olivo 4.49, Royals 4.83 2010 - Olivo 3.89, Rockies 4.14 Like I said, if you put anything into that, he's improved over the years, but there are about a million other factors that can be involved with that. For instance, if Olivo caught Greinke or Jimenez more often than the other starters in 09 and 10, that is going to drastically decrease his CERA. In 07 and 08, he could have been involved in double switches more often and the other catcher(s) could have been catching the relievers, who typically put up better ERAs than starters do, or he simply could have been catching the worse pitchers more often. Basically, this was an insight into a rather pointless statistic and I think considering that the pitching staff is comfortable pitching to AJ, he's still a solid hitter, and he does hit from the left side, bringing AJ back was the proper move.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 04:02 PM) Spent all of his time, along with Wilson Alvarez, at Old Country Buffet between the start of the '94 strike and the beginning of the '95 season. Ellissssssss Burks 1993 George Bell

Yeah, the first set was pretty good. Then Djokovic broke Murray to win the first set, and it was pretty much over from there. Murray just couldn't get anything done after that. I fell asleep about halfway into the second set...kind of knew what was going to happen.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 12:20 PM) The Lions would win. Almost certainly. The Bills would try to kick a field goal at the end of regulation with the game tied, and the Lions would return it for a touchdown.