witesoxfan

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 09:44 PM) How many games do you think a lineup like that is going to win? It seems reasonable, and I agree that we could survive with a .250 25 .800 from Q, but I'm not sure this is division winning material. It's hard to predict something like that. The 05 Sox only had two guys with an OPS above .800 who played a significant amount of time (Thomas put up .905, but only over 124 PA's). That team could honestly win a lot of games, but so much of it depends on the pitching. If the Sox get around 800 innings of 3.50 ERA from the top 4 starters in the rotation, it's probably going to win a lot of games. If injuries or struggles occur, it might get ugly. I do believe that a good expectation for the front 4 is a 3.50 combined ERA (311 ER between the 4, or about 78 ER a piece over 200 innings). I think they could possibly combined for a 3.25 (289 ER) or even 3.00 ERA (267 ER). When all is said and done, there are a lot of specific areas which could make or break this team, but I would say the two most important areas are the middle of the order and the rotation.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 08:40 PM) I don't know. It's got potential, but it still seems to be lacking one more bat (not gonna say it). This lineup looks a hell of a lot better to me if Quentin were coming off his '08 campaign, so it comes down to him. High ceiling if he returns (in some way) to his old form, and pretty lackluster if he pulls a post-injury '09. I really hate doing the "what if" game but if Quentin hypothetically only puts up like .250 25 .800, it's entirely possible for the rest of the lineup to make that up. Beckham could be an .850+ OPS bat this season, Konerko should be anywhere from .800-.875, Rios should be around .775-.800, but could realistically put up .850, AJ will probably put up .750, Teahen should put up around .750, and Ramirez should be around that .750 too. As you mentioned, it's lacking one real big bat, but there's a lot of depth in that lineup. I didn't include Pierre, Kotsay, or Jones because both Pierre and Kotsay are low ceiling players, and Jones seems to be boom or bust. I do agree that a huge year from Quentin will help make a lot of these question marks a hell of a lot easier to deal with.

QUOTE (SnB @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 04:17 PM) wtf just something random that you really shouldn't be emphasizing. I actually didn't go to the bathroom and have it hurt, cuz that would suck.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 03:53 PM) You got ticketed for public drunkenness, while riding in a car? Either there is something missing here, or you are underage, or the cop is an idiot and you should contest it in court. Underage

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 19, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) What? No one has any more relationship problems now? I wouldn't say that we don't have relationship problems, I just think, personally, I've gotten all the advice I need to on my situation. If something new comes up, I'd probably bring it up.

So I'm pretty sure I figured out that my two biggest pet peeves in the world deal with exclamation marks. 1) when people use exclamation marks in place of question marks (ie, When do I get to see you again!) 2) when people type out multiple sentences, and use an exclamation park at the end of every single sentence, whether they it is desired or not (Hey! I'm just chillin! I went to the bathroom this weekend and it hurt! But I'm ok! I'm going to go do some homework! Can't wait to see you!) This post alone makes me want to punch my f***ing screen

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 10:03 AM) Pay that man his money.

Ivan Rodriguez has played 2,288 games and 19,159.1 innings at catcher in his career. He put up an .893 OPS in his age 32 season and put up a .735 (94 OPS+) and .769 (97 OPS+) in his age 33 and 34 seasons, and he doesn't walk. It was in his age 35 season when IRod finally started tailing off. Joe Mauer is entering his age 27 season, which would put him as being very productive still 5 years through the contract and relatively productive in years 6 and 7, ceteris paribus. Further, his lowest walk total in a full season - 57 - is higher than Ivan Rodriguez's highest walk total in a full season - 55. Regardless of whether or not the Twins move Mauer from the catcher position, to 3B or 1B or LF or to f***ing DH, he's almost certainly going to justify the contract because he's just that good. The only concern is injury, and it's most definitely a legitimate concern. Considering how banged up the Twins tend to get over the course of a year, it might be wise of them to get the absolute best training, strength and conditioning, and medical staff they can to just keep Mauer in shape, as well as the rest of the team.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 19, 2010 -> 07:34 PM) C AJ Pierzynski (Do I have to remind you why?) 1B Paul Konerko (by default) 2B Alexei Ramirez (Sexy Alexei brought us to the playoffs the last time we made it) 3B Joe Crede (default) SS Alexei Ramirez(yes, I did it) RF Magglio Ordonez(never had a bad year with us; just left on bad terms) LF Carlos Lee (very good) CF Scott Podsednik (what? I can't choose him. Fine, I choose rolling plastic bag in CF between 2000-2004) DH - Franklin James Thomas (I threw in the James cause it sounds important) Iguchi and Durham are far better candidates at 2B than Ramirez, and Uribe and Valentin are far better candidates at SS than Ramirez. There's really no argument. He might be a favorite player, but he's not worthy of being on an all-decade team TWICE when he only played each position 1 season. Oh, and Frank Edward Thomas Jr. Franklin James Thomas sounds like a 19th century politician, not the greatest hitter in White Sox history.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Mar 21, 2010 -> 09:00 AM) Nathan done, tho that is no surprise. No s***, what was 2 weeks going to do, heal the UCL completely? They should have gotten it done right away and saved 2 weeks.

I would go with Valentin above Uribe, but I have an odd fascination with great mustaches. Plus Valentin was just awesome.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Mar 19, 2010 -> 03:10 PM) dont forget Volquez whom is the "funnest" of the bunch, the reds are always my 2nd fav team. Yeah he's not coming back till atleast the middle of the season, considering he's recovering from Tommy John surgery.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 19, 2010 -> 09:06 AM) He just signed a $7.8 million contract, could they even afford that now? Especially after they gave an OF a big contract for the fourth straight off-season. And Xavier Nady's $3.3 mill isn't exactly chump change either. That's a team that just keeps handing out inordinate amounts of money to players for no apparent reason whatsoever.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Mar 18, 2010 -> 03:07 PM) I'd still bring back Dye to the Sox. Maybe even Crede to back up Teahan if he fails And this is why it is a good thing that you are not the GM. Crede is toast, and Dye is one of the absolute worst defensive outfielders in the game and he refuses to DH full time. Teahen will also have to fail miserably for the Sox to bench him. Even if he's only putting up a .700 OPS, they'll still run him out there. And I think he's going to be just fine. He's a solid hitter. I appreciate the hell out of what Dye and Crede did for this franchise, but they are both has-beens as this point in time. Dye may have a little left offensively, but neither have anything left as overall good players.

At some point though, you have to draw a line and play the Mark McGwire card in regards to the whole situation though. And this isn't something that you ever have to talk about at a later date. Maybe the Rangers will appreciate his honesty, but when information like that comes out, it's very hard to put trust in someone.

No s***. It will make you appreciate your daily life too. Carpe Diem.

1) I don't think it is OK to assume that the Sox still don't trade for Peavy. We don't know what Bailey does in the White Sox system, and pre-determined destiny is not something you can use. He may completely flop; no one knows. 2) The Sox, as a general rule, never take on money in deals. I don't know why, but they don't. It would have made sense for them to do so, but they just didn't. Had they done so, they could have essentially paid for $4 mill of Dye's salary, brought in Abreu for $8, and the team looks great on paper. It wasn't so, so there's not much we can fret about. 3) I don't know that the Reds ever really wanted to do it to begin with. They wanted right handed power, and while Jermaine Dye is better than Ramon Hernandez and Jonny Gomes, they weren't willing to pay a very talented and (once) highly touted arm from their system for a 1 year deal. So, they considered the opportunity cost of getting Dye as opposed to getting Hernandez/Gomes, and considering the money they saved and the prospect(s) they kept, I'd say they came out light years ahead.

It's actually been statistically proven that RISP splits are generally impossible to predict from year to year. There are a select few players who actually are better with runners on base (Jose Valentin was one of those guys), and a select few who are worse (can't think of anyone specifically right now) but overall it varies from year to year. In 2005, Pierzynski hit .257, and put up the following splits... .236/.305/.425/.730 with RISP (118 PAs) .228/.267/.365/.632 with no one on base (277 PAs) .294/.361/.492/.853 with runners on base (220 PAs) This means that, for whatever reason, Pierzynski was fantastic at getting base hits when there was a runner on first base. If you look at his 2006 season, he hit .290 in all of those situations. In 2007, he couldn't hit with men on base period, but hit just fine with no one on. Do you see a pattern in any of this? Because I don't. It's foolish to look at Pierzynski's numbers with RISP and use that as a reason for him not hitting 5th. If you want to say someone else is better suited for the role, that's fine. It's not because they can hit better with RISP and Pierzynski can't, because you just flat out cannot predict that from year to year.

Lyle Mouton or Norberto Martin would take the cake. I'm sure there are some you could find from the 80s and earlier too that would be classic.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2010 -> 09:42 AM) Well, I will say that the Giants are one team he'd probably be an upgrade for at their starting OF spot (how have they not gambled on JD if they're hoping to compete out there?). Because they realize how bad Dye is defensively.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 11:28 AM) You got that s*** right, pretty much anything from my Pearl Jam playlist on itunes would be great. I'd even run out to Dirty Frank. Haha, or Bee Girl

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 11:44 PM) The guy was considered the best CF in baseball for over a decade, is only 32, has lost 25 lbs and clearly has regained a step or two so I'm gonna go with the team of professional evaluators on this one... He's only 32 but he's played 13 years in the majors, and he had already declined quite a bit, and just because he's gained a step or two doesn't mean he's suddenly back to being a 25 year old star CFer. And, even better, is that they are basing all of this off of like 24 plate appearances and practice. That's less than 6 full games of actual playing time. Mind you, in his last 1228 plate appearances in the major leagues, he's put up a line of .207/.304/.393/.696. Which sample size do you think is better? I'm actually expecting good things out of him this season, but to consider him to be the team's best CFer with Alex Rios on board is an absolute joke and is, quite frankly, insane.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 11:21 PM) He's also got 3 steals so far in ST, including stealing 3rd today. Andruw looks awesome. Even the LA commentators (Lyons- who HATES Jones) says he looks like the Andruw of old and nothing like he has the past couple years. Konerko told Lyons before the game Jones is considered by the Sox the best CF on the team right now. Well then Konerko and company are insane.

Wilson Betemit was the White Sox best offensive player in March last year. He was demoted, never to return by like May 1st.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 06:52 PM) So if you're a player and you take some substance that might contain something on the banned list, you get 50 games and tarred and feathered for life. If you're a manager and do a little blow, you get no penalty? Why did they give him a drug test in the first place if there is absolutely no consequence for failing? No rehab, no suspension, no nothing. I'm pretty sure most people employed where drug tests occur probably wouldn't get off as easily if their test had the same result. As I remember, no player gets suspended for their first positive recreational drug test either, it's a slap on the wrist (it goes up to 50 for the second, as that is what Miguel Negron is faced with). It seems as though MLB is trying to sweep recreational drug use under the rug. Consider that there are 700+ players in the major leagues - do you ever remember a player getting suspended for recreational drug use at the major league level? What are the odds that 0 out of 700 players test positive 2 times for a drug of abuse?