witesoxfan

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 08:04 PM) Yeah, it would just be kind of rude to not offer him three years, especially after the extension that JD got. I think that he's a semi-safe bet for two more .800+ OPS years, and then who knows. You want much more than a "semi-safe bet for 2 years of an .800 OPS" out of a 1Bman. You want .825 to be a bad season for your 1Bman, and you want to be able to expect .900+ rather easily. At the end of the year, as much as Konerko has done for the organization, you give him a handshake, thank him for all he's done, and let him go find another job elsewhere. Emotional attachments in business lose money/games and cost people in upper management jobs, and offering Konerko a 3 year deal at this point in time is nothing more than something done based on emotional attachment, because it's not fiscally responsible to offer Konerko a 3 year deal.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 05:44 PM) I kinda disagree with everything here. You say he hasn't given you one reason to trust him since 2005, but every year he's been in charge we've been competitive at least through July-August. Doesn't that include about 20 other teams in the league though too? I mean, at that point in the season, there really are only about 5 teams that have no significant statistical chance of making it, and then another 5 that are still within some type of level that has been accomplished before (say, 12 games back), but still leaves them with virtually no chance barring something miraculous. I mean, if you are 8 games back with 60 to play, you can go 38-22 and tie for a division title if the team in 1st place plays .500 baseball. There's not a great chance that happens, but you are still in it, even if that isn't technically competitive. Anything closer to that makes you more and more competitive. At some point in time, being competitive just doesn't cut it anymore. They didn't exactly suck one year and just luck into Joe Mauer. From 1993 to 2000, an 8 year stretch and the better part of a decade, the Twins... -never finished higher than 4th place in the AL Central -lost 88 or more games in 6 of the 8 years (and were on their way to losing 86 games in 1994) -lost 90 or more games 5 of the 8 years -lost 92 or more games 4 straight years, from 97-00 The Twins were not a very good organization and were constantly accumulating talent through their high draft picks and trades (and still actually have Nick Punto indirectly as apart of the Chuck Knoblauch deal which happened in 1998). And it wasn't as if they didn't go without flak for taking Joe Mauer. Mark Prior looked like an all-world pitcher, and there were people who criticized the Mauer draft choice and said it was the Twins taking the cheap road again. That would, today, be compared to the Nationals passing on Stephen Strasburg. Playing like kids again isn't going to get them to suddenly become miraculous hitters. Greg Walker has been credited with helping turn Joe Crede into an all-star caliber hitter (albeit, for 5 months, and then his back gave out). Further, if you want to look at before and afters, he has helped Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin, Scott Podsednik, Aaron Rowand, and I'm sure more can be found. I'm not a fan of Greg Walker, but he can't help that he's given Mark Kotsay as a starting DH or Juan Pierre as his everyday leadoff hitter. The fact of the matter is, the pure talent level of this offense is mediocre, and Walker is not at fault for that. Everything comes at a price. Adrian Gonzalez's will be monstrous if he is put onto the market, and there are several teams that will be able to outbid the White Sox. At some point in time, you have to either consider whether mortgaging part or all of your future is right for the current roster, and losing Dan Hudson, Tyler Flowers, and Jordan Danks might not be good for the long-term state of the franchise, considering Pierzynski is a free agent and getting older, Freddy Garcia is only signed through this year and is not that great, and that the White Sox outfield situation is anything but settled in the near future. Beyond that, you'd likely have to include even more beyond that. Alexei is also a league average shortstop, and that's not easy production to replace. It's also possible that something clicks for him and he turns into the offensive player he was in 2008 and becomes a solid 20 homer, .800 OPS bat at SS. I don't personally envision it happening, but it might. The Sox don't exactly have capable replacements either, what with Omar Vizquel, Robert Hudson, Greg Paiml, and Justin Fuller being the only other players within the Sox organization listed as a shortstop. It's Alexei or bust, so get used to seeing him.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 04:16 PM) I seriously hope the White Sox start drafting players that fit the "natural baseball player" mold rather than drafting players who are "athletes". Look at all the horrible players that were drafted just because they were considered to be good athletes: Brian Anderson, Joe Borchard, Josh Fields, Lance Broadway, etc etc etc. Just because someone's a good athlete doesn't mean it'll translate to being a natural baseball player. I'd rather see the Sox drafting more players of the natural baseball player mold, because lets be honest, a player like Mark Buehrle would never have been drafted if the Sox were looking for pure "athletes" when they drafted him. It looks like the Sox has a better drafting philosphy with the drafting of Beckham and Mitchell, but I'd rather see the Sox abandon the whole "drafting athletes" philosophy overall and start drafting guys who have shown in college baseball to be natural baseball players. wha? Joe Borchard was considered to be a guy that could hit 40+ homers a season. Josh Fields had massive power as well. Brian Anderson was an all-around good player, and Lance Broadway was basically acknowledged as a safe pick that the Sox thought they might be able to capitalize on his value early on and deal him (much the same as McCulloch). I would also say that you don't like the pick of Jared Mitchell, whereas everybody else in the baseball community basically loved that pick. I want to see them draft guys with great natural talent, regardless of whether they are "baseball" players or "athletes."

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 11:23 AM) Like whom? Nathan's injured, so i'll wait to see what comes of that. Who else? Lidge? Unreliable. Papelbon? K-Rod? Pethaps, but given Marmol's dominance it's likely he could be on their level, by the time MO packs it in. Marmol is on the verge of becoming an elite closer, there's no debating that. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) Why is there no debating that? He wasnt exactly stellar last year and we have yet to see what he does this year in a full season. The guy's command comes and goes. He's a walk or a strikeout. Personally, I am not sold on that as something indicative of an elite closer. If I was to pick the "next" closer being one that hasnt been around very long, I would take Andrew Bailey and Joakim Soria well before Marmol. Very disappointed in both of you that Broxton's name was not brought up, and he only turns 26 this year. Broxton is filthy. I will also say that the only way Marmol is on the verge of becoming an elite closer is if maintains some sort of command of his pitches and if his arm stays on.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 06:21 PM) I still think it's a top 5 offense in the AL though. C - Victor Martinez 1B - Kevin Youkilis 2B - Dustin Pedroia SS - Marco Scutaro 3B - Adrian Beltre LF - Jacoby Ellsbury CF - Mike Cameron RF - JD Drew DH - David Ortiz Bench - Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, Jeremy Hermida, and Bill Hall I don't see a true superstar in the bunch, though I would say Victor Martinez is close, but the only real weak hitter I see in the lineup is Scutaro.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 03:36 PM) Maybe... If Liriano is back again, at anything close to 2006 form, it's over. Baker is a solid/underappreciated 2, same with Blackburn and Slowey, those guys are like Sonnanstine/Shields. The big question surrounds Carl Pavano, and who he really is and turns out to be. Their pen is very good if Crain and Guerrier can get it back together, obviously Rauch could be an issue over time. Mijares basically took the place of D. Reyes in plaguing the Sox. Then you have Perkins/Swarzak/Duensing, etc., for depth. Not as good as our rotation SHOULD be on paper, but we all know how many division titles the White Sox should have on paper, right? The Twins pitching staff is not the 2nd best staff in the league. It would take a minor miracle for them to put up the 2nd best ERA in the league.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 17, 2010 -> 04:25 PM) Yeah, that is a good way to put it. Every other year I feel we have had a team that could at least compete with the best other team in the division, even in 06. This year just feels like we are a minor league team compared with the Twins. And I think the thing that really has me worried is that it is going to be hard to change it for the next couple years. I still think the Sox pitching in general and outfield defense is far superior to the Twins. Also, as much as I dislike the offense, I really don't think the Sox are going to put up a .687 team OPS, nor are they going to average 4.07 runs a game (which is a 660 run pace). The Twins lineup is obviously far superior to the Sox lineup right now and could be enough to win them the division. I highly doubt the Sox will simply fall by the wayside, and highly doubt Williams sits on his thumbs all year.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 04:53 PM) A's lock up Brett Anderson through 2015. http://www.sbnation.com/2010/4/16/1426846/...act-oakland-mlb Good move. I think BB is overrated as f*** (Wite, Thunderbolt, I don't want to hear it). But the haul he got for Haren was SICK. He does what he can to stay ahead of the game, but I don't believe he can do that anymore. As such, it seems he has forgotten how to build a winning team. In the absence of that, he has collected as much talent as he can (and they have a ton of it), and because he has such limited resources to work with, he is afraid of losing a trade that will set his franchise back for years at a time (which is exactly what happened in the Holliday trade). He's the best in the game at acquiring value for his assets, but that's about where the good stops anymore. If he grew a pair and acquired Adrian Gonzalez, I'd say the AL West was as wide open as any division in baseball. As is, the A's are the only team that really has no shot at winning the division title. QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 17, 2010 -> 11:30 PM) Here's a doozie for ya: Ubaldo, Kershaw or Hanson? Kershaw, Ubaldo, Hanson, in that order. I take Kershaw because of handedness and Ubaldo has done more and in an environment like Coors. Hanson is still sick. QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 08:08 AM) I get the feeling that when all is said and done the NL will be the tougher league this year. I think Boston is going to slip a little and other than the Yankees and maybe Tampa the AL looks to have a lot of average to slightly above average teams. Sadly the White Sox offensive decision making the off season is going to keep them from pulling away. The NL has the Phillies and the Cardinals as two really elite teams. The Rockies, Giants, and Dodgers are all good, but I wouldn't classify them as elite teams. Atlanta appears to have a good team as well, but I don't know how good they are. Other than that, there's a lot of talent, but no great teams. I think the AL will dominate the NL in Interleague play once again, probably about the 20-30 games that's been standard of recent years.

QUOTE (striker @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 12:53 PM) The interesting things about the Dye trade rumors are 1) Bailey appears to have turned things around 2) Abreu was a free agent and could have been Dye's replacement in RF. How about: Dye to Tampa Bay for Edwin Jackson (I think KW wanted more than Jackson) Abreu was going to be Dye's replacement. Williams wanted to shy away from the power hitters and bring in more on base people, but couldn't find someone to take on Dye while getting fair value. Tampa was never going to trade Jackson for Dye because they wanted a cheap left handed bat (and Jermaine Dye was obviously an expensive right handed bat), and Dye simply cost too much for the Reds to justify dealing Bailey without getting some cash thrown in (and then they ended up getting Ramon Hernandez, which was good enough for them).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 03:11 PM) Do you think the Twins at the end of the season will have the 2nd best pitching staff in the AL? No, but it could be top 4-7. They have a good back end of the pen and a very solid rotation with lots of talent. The Twins are very good.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 17, 2010 -> 10:25 AM) Ohhh VEISHEA. Last night is very hazy. I got drunk without buying any beer. I just had a WalMart sack with me that seemingly kept having one more beer. That and when there's that many people walking around, it's easy to grab a beer from some random persons case... Couple guys from the fraternity went down there. I didn't make it because I just started a job and need this upcoming weekend off too, otherwise I would have been down there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 01:14 PM) Well, that was the whole idea of the Garcia move....it never would have been made without the "handshake" agreement that was verified days after the trade about a long-term extension, with Ozzie supposedly in the middle of it all. It was also one of the keys to bringing Contreras on board. What will be interesting to see is if KW puts pressure on Danks to sign a multi-year deal extending into Year 1 of Free Agency... I don't think extending Contreras had anything to do with acquiring him. Getting something worth a s*** for an expiring contract in Loaiza had everything to do with it. I can't imagine why the Sox would have wanted to resign Contreras at that time because his career ERA was like 5.50 at the time. I also don't think Williams is going to put any pressure on Danks, but Danks has to realize that if you pitch for the White Sox, you are almost always safe from being dealt if you are in the middle of a contract, and you are very vulnerable to being traded if you are in the final year of your contract, especially as a starting pitcher. Williams dealt both Garcia and Garland in the offseason of the last year of their deals, and he dealt Contreras near the end of the year for his deal.

The Astros are the exact same team as the Indians from Major League I and II. Some guys play different positions, but seriously. Michael Bourn is Willie Mays Hays. Carlos Lee is Pedro Cerrano. Hunter Pence or Geoff Blum can be Rube Baker Kaz Matsui is obviously Isuro Tanaka Matt Lindstrom or Felipe Paulino can be Rick Vaughn Ed Wade is Charlie Donovan Drayton McLane is Rachel Phelps Brian Moehler is Eddie Harris and on and on except this is real life and not a movie and the Astros are terrible

QUOTE (Cali @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 11:00 AM) Is Mariano Rivera EVER gonna regress? Dude is a freak. Every season I think, well he wont be so dominant this year, I mean he's 40, but every year he's a rock... He keeps himself in great shape, his doesn't have any pitch that puts a great deal of stress on his arm...I think he'll be good until he doesn't want to pitch anymore.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 01:41 PM) Of course he'd get another job. He's actually not a bad manager, with the exception of the fetish he has for fast guys and with one bad player per season who shouldn't be playing (it appears Omar Vizquel will be that man in 2010). The key with Ozzie is don't give him what he wants in a lineup (outside of a good, fast top of the order if you can acquire it, which isn't easy) because his idea of a lineup isn't going to score a lot of runs. Atleast Omar Vizquel is still fantastic defensively. So long as Vizquel doesn't DH, he won't be a bad player, just a bad hitter.

wait wait...you guys have penis mightiers?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 11:15 AM) OK, but are we out of contention or something? Why is this story anything more than an idle report about scouts being at a game when there are most likely scouts at all games checking things out. I might bite if it was a scout from a particular team that has been rumored to be looking at a trade or two If someone gets desperate enough to take on Linebrink's contract, and he's willing to accept the trade, you dump him in a second for anything you can get. More or less though, it is just an idle report. Kind of interesting, but not a whole lot there unless something else comes out.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 06:09 PM) Beckham doesn't have the speed to hit .350, but i can see .320 or .330 out of him, possibly. uhhh, what? not listing repeats... Joe Mauer - .365 - 2010 Chipper Jones - .364 - 2008 Magglio Ordonez - .363 - 2007 Barry Bonds - .362 - 2004 Ichiro Suzuki - .372 - 2004 Albert Pujols - .359 - 2003 Larry Walker - .350 - 2001 Todd Helton - .372 - 2000 Nomar Garciaparra - .372 - 2000 I see one, maybe two guys in this list that you can qualify as "fast". Speed doesn't have a f***ing thing to do with batting average. Being a good hitter has EVERYTHING to do with batting average. There's a reason Joe Mauer leads the league in hitting and Joey Gathright is sitting in the minors. If you can "see" .320 or .330 out of Gordon Beckham, then a simple standard deviation says that you can also see a .350 if he gets lucky. Hell, it happened to Magglio (who, while a good hitter, is not a .360 hitter)...in that case, why not Beckham?

So for lunch today, I needed something quick because I have homework I need to start in like 5 minutes (hehe). Anyways, there's a line of cars probably 10 deep, and the 6th car in that is a very slow driver (read: old). He pulls into the BK lot, has all day to get into the drivethru while I wait for 3 more cars to go by, and then I get into the parking lot. I pulled into the 2nd drivethru lane, which is another 10 or so feet of driving, and still beat the old guy driving, and got my order in ahead of his. Maybe it's not an epic win, but it sure felt like it to me.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 09:36 PM) By the the time he retires, he will be my favorite Sox player. Statisticians will try to find the magic stat that will answer your question, but it is elusive. The best way to describe it is "it", as in he has "it". I would also say confidence and a positive outlook. A Hall of Fame pick off move as well as great defense help his case. If runners were able to steal off of him effectively, his career numbers would not look nearly as good, but because it almost always (like 99% of the time) takes 2 singles to score a runner from first against him, he cuts down on runs.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 02:55 PM) B.J. Upton having himself a day. How devastating is that Tampa offense if he finally puts it together? And David Price is good. Carlos Pena's season last year blows my mind. He hit .227 and almost had a .900 OPS. That seems like it should be impossible. I mean, I realize Thomas did it for a month in 2005, but that's a f***ing month. Pena did it in 135 games. A .310 ISO with a .227 BA is crazy. He's off to a pretty damn good start again this year to (3 run homer today). Maybe this year he'll get more singles than homers, but I really hope he doesn't.

It does get a bit excessive with the negativity and overall s***ty attitude of the site, but that's part of the allure of Soxtalk. Nothing against WSI, but from everything I've ever heard of the site, they basically ban you if you say anything negative towards the franchise. This site actually lets you voice your opinion. If you're pissed, you're pissed, if you're happy, you're happy - whatever. I do agree that the sky is falling threads this early suck and are generally stupid, but some of the discussions within the threads themselves had merit.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 05:05 PM) To be fair, Aubrey Huff is left handed and teams are always looking for left handed bats over right handed bats. Plus, Huff brings a little more versatility than Dye. We don't know how good Dye is at 1B yet, although I don't think he'll be very bad at the position. Atkins is a little bit different, but yeah, the Orioles and Giants aren't exactly smart organizations. You can't call that racism, you have to call it stupidity and ignorance. When Nady heals, I think he'll be a better overall player than Dye. Atkins can play 3B though too. He doesn't play it very well, but the fact that he has actually physically played the position over the past few years is good enough to a few organizations, as it can sometimes be hard to find guys who can or do play 3B.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 02:25 AM) Besides, Jones is arguably a better outfielder than Pierre. He may not be as quick, but he has better instincts and a better arm. Pierre still has solid baseball instincts and still has great range. At the end of the day, if Jones is going to be playing the field, you aren't comparing him to Pierre or him to Quentin; you are comparing Pierre to Quentin defensively, because one of Jones or Rios would cover the spot vacated by one of those two and they would be fully capable of handling it. So, on any given particular day, will you want the extra range or the extra arm in the outfield? What I think will almost certainly happen as the season progresses is that those 4 will play most days with one of them DHing, and Kotsay and Konerko will get a few days in there too.

did you know that the initials of the name "Blue Jays" also symbolizes a phrase used to describe fellatio of the male genatalia?