witesoxfan

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 1, 2010 -> 01:29 PM) I don't think they balked because of $2M, I think they balked because of this odd idea that flexibility is somehow better than production. And Johnny Damon doesn't offer any flexibility that the Sox don't have. Oz obviously loves Kotsay, so he's going to stick with him as a big part of the platoon, and Kotsay has the capability to play the OF. For what it's worth, the Rockies, Indians, and "some other American League team who is not the Twins" also has interest in Orlando Hudson. He supposedly had a contract in place with the Nationals with a $3 mill base plus incentives. It could be 11 other teams, but I figure it's worth mentioning.

Oakland DFA'ed Willy Taveras, but they already signed Gabe Gross, so they didn't have room for Damon anyways.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 11:43 PM) You just explained to yourself why Damon is the better option. He's younger, healthier, more versatile, strikes out a lot less, and reaches base just as frequently as Big Jim. He's a much safer option, and a much better fit considering the design of the 2010 roster. I'd love for Damon to be part of the Sox' plans, but I kind of doubt it as well. Younger? Damon's 36 More versatile? So he can put on a glove and stand in the outfield. Big f***ing deal. He's a liability in the field. He also does not get on base nearly as often as Thome (Thome's OBP was higher last year while he was hitting .250 and Damon .280), and I would argue is a much more sketchy option. Damon's OPSs the last 4 years - .841, .747, .836, .854 (.915 at Yankee Stadium, .795 on the road); Thome's OPSs the last 4 years - 1.014, .973, .865, .847 (.864 in Chicago). I don't think Damon is enough of an upgrade over even Kotsay to be worth even $3+ mill that would have to be guaranteed to him, let alone the $6+ it would take in all (even if some were deferred, which the Sox really don't do).

If the Sox didn't sign Thome, why would they sign Damon? The Sox have enough outfielders on the roster (Pierre, Rios, Quentin, Jones, and Kotsay can all play the outfield in some fashion, and I'm sure Ozzie would have no reservations about throwing Nix into LF) so there's no real need to put Damon out there, and if you don't do that...well, s***, he doesn't offer anything that Thome didn't except maybe a little speed and a few more base hits. That doesn't seem to make him superior to the likely-to-be-higher OBP , more home runs (and just to stop anyone who mentions "but Damon hit 24 last year and Thome only hit 23!!!" - Thome played one less month in the AL as a starting player than did Damon, and thus played in considerably fewer games and had considerably fewer PA's), and money saved that Thome would have provided. If the Sox sign Johnny Damon, I will be throughly and utterly surprised.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 06:39 PM) Here's the problem, as I interpret it -- she wants everything to go her way, even at your expense. She wants to pursue this other dufus, meanwhile, have you as a safety net if the relationship never works out. There's a saying that women are like monkeys, in that they'll never let go of one branch until the other is secure. See, the thing is I don't know if she actually does want to pursue him. It's something I'm going to ask her about, probably on Wednesday at some point. She leaves town tomorrow at 3 PM and will get back at like 9 PM Tuesday night. What I am going to ask her are her true feelings about this guy and if she will truly commit to us. If I had a guess right now, I would say yes, but things are going well right now so there is a bias. And looking at the past 48 hours (from 11 PM Friday till 11 PM now), we've been with each other for 30 of those hours, and she would have had ample opportunities to hang out with said dude, but instead came to hang out with me. She did put the blame on me, and I have put the blame on myself. Maybe I'm trying to get water out of a dry well, but all I'd like to think I'm doing right now is putting myself in a position where if something like this comes up again, it would be impossible for the blame to fall on me, and I can counter otherwise. And I also don't believe you know exactly what you get into when you start dating someone...that's why I laugh when I see people getting engaged within the first year of dating. You don't see the real person until about 6 months into the relationship, as you get to know them and what you can and can't do, and that's the proving grounds. But yeah, it's been long enough that she should have said something a while ago about this and either had the stones to break up with me then or help me get on track. For starters, I do know the guy, and he's doing pretty well. Double major in Poli-Sci and English with intentions of going to law school. It's an 8,000 person school in a 11,000 person town...you have a general idea of who everyone is. I guess I don't exactly know what he does in his personal time, but he atleast talks a good game. I also think getting laid off would be a different scenario. In that case, I can start looking for new jobs and collect unemployment in the meantime. I'm not as worried about that. This I will do. To be fair, I'm glad she doesn't have this philosophy, because we would have been done long ago. If ever I felt I needed to break up with her, and she wanted to get back and give a relationship another chance, I'd give her one and that's it. And to be frank, she hasn't run back and forth between guys, as she's only been with me in the last 2 years or so. She has just had a crush, and that's the part I don't understand, and it's what I'm going to be asking her about on Wednesday. I'm basically going to go in there with two questions in mind - 'What are your true, true feelings about dude?' and 'Will you be 100% committed to this relationship?' I think I know the answer to the first question, and I don't think it will upset me. It's the last question that I want to know the answer to, because it's going to determine a lot about us. The other problem with that final paragraph is that I have stated that I want to remain good friends with her, but I'm slowly beginning to realize that if you get this deep into a relationship, and it splits up, it's hard to maintain the friendship aspect of it and it's almost impossible to in the short-term. Like I said, first true love and really my only true relationship, so I would only assume that once you officially and finally break up with someone, you have to hate them a little bit before you can even be friends with them again. ... Right now, it's going well, and it feels right. Whether that's because I want it to feel right for the convenience factor, or because it actually is, or some combination there in, or whatever, it feels right. I am going to have a good talk with her on Wednesday though. And thanks again for all the advice guys. Really appreciated. This should almost be its own thread at this point

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 09:13 PM) Last week, I would have said that is high, but when Xavier Nady who is still hurt and not sure when he will be back, commands $3 million plus, how knows. From the Cubs. I don't think they've handed out a good contract within the past 3 years.

QUOTE (Stocking @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 08:39 PM) Ben (Lincoln, NE) Was Jordan Danks anywhere near your top 100? Or is he not as viable an OF option as I was led to believe? Klaw (1:49 PM) I'm not a fan. Sweet response

Maybe I'm just overrating him, but unless it's a move that keeps me competitive for 3+ years and is just too good to turn down, I don't deal Flowers at all.

Just realized that we don't have one of these yet. You could almost final part of the Jim Thome thread into this as well.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 30, 2010 -> 10:17 PM) I told wite to not sleep on that guy and why, but he replied back some non sense I don't even remember. Sure he has to do that when the season comes, but from what I heard and from what a scout told Andrew Marchanes(sp?) he "looks like the Liriano of old." Usually it takes 2 years to really come back from TJ. Well... this will be year 2 for Francisco and I see him being a nice dark horse for you guys this season. http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?si...escwin_gigwin_1 Not that it's the point, but that's not exactly a great lineup he faced (3, maybe 4 major leaguers in the bunch), and he wasn't pitching against patient hitters (Nelson Cruz was probably the most patient hitter he faced). His stuff has always been good, even after surgery, but his control and command has not. He got absolutely murdered by right handed pitching last year, and I haven't seen anything that really suggests that will. Maybe the added confidence will be good for him, but we'll have to see him in Spring Training against MLB players who are much more apt to take a pitch as opposed to swinging at the first one that crosses the plate.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 02:35 PM) That's a little hyperbolic. They came up short in the 2995 and 1997 World Series games, but took them to 6 and 7 games, and only lost in 1997 to the Marlins in extras. Four consecutive division championships from 1995-1998 is hardly not winning anything, though sure they have no hardware to show for all of that. I totally hated the that era's Indians teams, and for years I blamed the strike on derailing our momentum and letting the Tribe dominate he division all those years. It's true, but that is as close as a team is going to come in baseball from not winning it. The Cavs reached the finals a couple of years ago too. They've been there, they just haven't won. I think it's like the longest streak in the nation for major sports franchises because Seattle hasn't had teams around for long enough to top it.

When the time is right, I'll ask her about it again. And that'll be soon.

Oh, and if he wants to grow his caveman facial hair again, I don't know that he'd sign with the Sox. Jenks has a crazy goatee, but I recall in the early part of 2006 that Reinsdorf required Pierzynski and Crede, and maybe others too, to cut their hair because it was rather unprofessional, and their's wasn't nearly as crazy as Damon's has been in the past.

Come May, with all of the off-days and the inevitable postponements in April due to rain, the rotations don't match up with other teams anyways and you go with who is freshest. If that's Garcia against King Felix on April 24th, then that's what it's going to be.

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Jan 30, 2010 -> 09:36 PM) Health of the pitching staff fell apart at the wrong time. That team could mash the ball, though. The last season of the old ballpark was a lot of fun but heartbreaking in its own right, especially now knowing that the A's were led by a couple of cheaters. I am just amazed at how many posters here are actually buying into the whole garbage notion that Cubs fans have suffered the most. If you look at all the franchises in baseball, you will see that out of 100+ world series, the Yankees have represented the AL about a third of the time and won about 25% of the total. The Cardinals are the Yankees of the NL, though a poor man's one at that. The Red Sox dominated early in the 1900s and then finally resurrected the franchise in the past decade or so. After that, not many teams have had any significant number of pennants of note. For the most part, it is stories like the White Sox, Phillies, Indians, Orioles, Reds, Pirates, etc. Periods of fielding very competitive teams, an occasional pennant or title, and some really bad stretches as well. Every one of these franchises can point to a whole host of heartbreaking times where they were so close to a pennant and a player got hurt or the team hit a bad stretch or the Yankees f***ed them like they did so many times to the Sox in the 50s and 60s (with the Indians and Tigers experiencing a lot of the same pain during that stretch). I scoff at the idea that any one of their fan bases has suffered more than the rest. QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 07:18 AM) God damn it you are wonderful. Yeah, agree completely. The Cubs may have suffered in the past, but they've embraced it within their tradition. That's what's wrong with it. And s***, atleast Chicago has won championships within the past 50 years. The Bulls won 6, the Bears and Sox both won 1, and both the Bears and Sox have both been to another (ok, the Sox other one was 51 years ago, bite me). Cleveland has had a hell of time over the past 60 years. They haven't won anything since Veeck was there. QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 11:17 AM) As an old tme fan 1964 when we finished one game behind the Yankmees and I believe we won 99 games was a pretty bad feeling. 1967 weas really quite a season. Pitching-pitching-and more pitching kept the Sox in it till those last 3 or 5 games when we played the A's and Senators and got swept. The offense was inept with Pete Ward leading the team with 18 HR's. I think the team BA was like .220. I remmeber a funny article about the upcoming '68 season with make believe highlights and it said something in there about the "White Sox set a new record by getting shut out 6 times in a row-they win three of them" I have often disagreed with some of your loyalties to current and former Sox players, such as Crede and Dye, but you definitely bring a completely different point of view from a completely different time, and it's appreciated. You do have a very good general knowledge of the game and it should be noted.

We can email him all we want, but the fact of the matter is that he's a business man too and he's going to go to the situation where he gets the most money now and in the future, and getting money in the future would include him getting a lot of playing time this year. He's accomplished everything he's going to accomplish outside of a few milestones (1500 runs, 2500 hits, a very outside shot at 3000 hits, 500 doubles, 100 triples, a very outside shot at 250 homers, 1000 RBI, 400 steals, 1000 walks). If the Sox could guarantee him 120+ games, I imagine he'd be interested, but then the money would have to be there. The Sox don't have a ton of money to deal with right now, as they were only willing to give Thome like $2 mill or less, so it's safe to say they don't have the $5 mill it would take to sign Damon.

I don't think he's going to care much about the politics of dealing Gonzalez so much as he cares about the prospects he gets back. From everything I've heard, Westmoreland and Kelly are basically can't miss prospects (we really only have one player who could turn into a can't miss prospect at this point in Mitchell), and I've heard good things about Reddick and Anderson as well, and they could honestly deal Buccholz is they really wanted to as well. The one advantage the Sox might have is their two tradeable prospects up the middle in Flowers and Danks, especially Flowers. It's not easy to find a catcher with that type of offensive ability, so he is very, very valuable. From what docsox mentioned in a post somewhere, the Sox apparently have an offer on the table for Gonzalez of Flowers, Danks, and Hudson, but they don't want to do it. I imagine it's because the Sox are in absolute love with Flowers, and with Pierzynski's contract expiring this year, it makes some sense that they'll probably put Flowers into the catcher's role in 2011. I also imagine there's quite a bit of love for Hudson too, but I don't think Williams is afraid to trade a pitcher. I read an article in a Baseball Prospectus book that pitching prospects flameout about 67% of the time, while hitting prospects are generally around 40-50% of the time. I see that, and then look to Brandon McCarthy, who had a similar progression during the 2004 season though not nearly as dominant as Hudson's was, and how he looked great when he came up in 2005. I'm rambling now, but the point is that, from what I gather, Flowers is the main piece in the entire deal and could be the difference between Gonzalez joining the White Sox, the Red Sox, or staying in San Diego, and that I really don't think it's anyone else in the entire system (other than Beckham, who's obviously not going anywhere).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 11:33 AM) Not true. They wanted financial relief. Gonzalez makes $5 million a year the next 2 seasons. They want premium prospects. There's no question in my mind Law has some grudge against KW and/or the White Sox organization in some way, and despite his Harvard education, and his baseball acumen, at least the acumen he professes to own, there's probably several good reasons why he's writing a blog instead of running a team. What I do find troubling, however, is many other scouts seem to share his opinion on guys like Viciedo and Jordan Danks. It really means crap just like a scout calling them future HOFers means crap at this time. It just makes you wonder, and you do know one thing, if Big Papi is struggling, the Red Sox are going to go hard after Gonzalez, and the SD GM knows their system very well. If it comes down to a prospect bidding war for his services, chances are the wrong color Sox will win. If it comes down to a bidding war between the Sox and Red Sox, the Sox have no chance. If Williams is to make a move like that, he would need to make his move very early in the season before Boston even gets a chance, and even then Hoyer may give Boston a chance to top it anyways.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) I agree with Kyle...be careful. As I said earlier, don't do something in the short term because it feels good if you know or believe it can really hurt you in the long term. You've got to be strong, my brother. That being said, people do make mistakes in judgment and do change their minds. If things continue to go how they currently are, I would damn well ask her what happened to wanting to date this douchebag? Did he turn her down? Or did she just change her mind? What happened? You have every right to ask, but don't give her the third degree about it (Did you sleep with him!?!?). Just ask her why her story has changed and then make another informed decision. As of right now, her story has changed because I have shown I can change. We've even gotten back to using the "L" word again, and I've seen the glimmer in her eyes again. Time will tell, but it feels right. My goal right now is just to be as open and honest with her as I can, and I'm really not holding back any feelings at all. My understanding is that going into the semester, she just wanted to slowly grow apart and then go our separate ways, but due to being honest with everything I think I'm slowly starting to change her mind. I guess I'll see in about 2 and a half months where we're at, but it feels like its moving in the right direction right now.

I don't know, it doesn't feel that way right now. It seems like the thing she has for the other guy is just a simple crush and I don't know if she's actually going to pursue a relationship, but I like to put rose colored glasses on in a situation like this. It's been good for now and her influence has actually been good for me too, so we'll just see where it goes. And like I have said before, I don't know if that guy actually has feelings for her.

To give an update on the situation, I went out Friday at about midnight, relatively sober (I'd had 2 beers) and just wanted to look respectable and good, and planned on talking to a couple of girls. Well, if you go to school here, you realize that all the girls here are pretty much hardcore alcoholics and the bar is not a place where I should be picking up girls (atleast the bar I was at). Anyways, so the ex comes in, stops in and says hi...she goes and does her thing and I'm hanging out with everyone else. She comes up to me a little bit later and says that she's surprised I'm actually downtown and not a complete trainwreck of a drunk. We talked a bit longer and she left. I hung out and went back to roaming around, . She asked if we could talk later, I didn't see any problem with it, and we did. We ended up talking for a while and she stayed over at my place. I took her home in the morning, and it was all good. She came over last night before USD's "Strollers Show." The Strollers are basically an organization that put on this show and do nothing else for the university, and during that time they get blacked out drunk all the time and come up with jokes (while organizing the show). Sounds like it's right up my alley, right? Well, it was until I quit. Ha, that was fun. Anyways, yeah she came over to the house at 5 with her friend (who wanted and eventually did sleep with another guy in the frat house...and they hooked up in my bed. yay...) and I left around 6:00. Come about 6:15, it was just her, her loose friend, and the horny dude, and she didn't want to be a cockblock, so she figured out a way to get to the show and got there at about 6:45. We hung out from 6:45 until about an hour ago, and everything's fine right now. I don't know if I'm going about this the right way - I am and have been super crazy about this girl for a while - but it feels right. And not getting s***faced on Friday turned out to be the right call. EDIT: Now I'm going out to eat with her and her residents with her invitation. She works at an assisted living center on weekends for the mentally impaired. I think I'm back in.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 31, 2010 -> 09:01 AM) I think Barmes has resurrected his career there playing 2b.... eh, he hit 23 homers last year and had 58 XBHs, so he definitely hit for power, but .245/.294/.440/.734 and .205/.259/.394/.653 in the 2nd half doesn't bode well for him.

QUOTE (MattZakrowski @ Jan 30, 2010 -> 08:41 AM) 1B/CF? Weird combination, but I want the guy. Not as weird as you'd think. It technically fits Nick Swisher, and guys like Darin Erstad and Mark Kotsay do it pretty easily, although players usually do it when they can't stay healthy playing the outfield but have no problem on the infield but are left handed.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Jan 30, 2010 -> 01:10 PM) whoa. ease up a bit there. i'm neither complimenting or ripping him. just stating his prediction, that's all. Oh I know, I was just waiting for the inevitable people kissing his ass. I hope it doesn't come off as though I was suggesting you were complimenting or ripping.

Rather than complimenting a writer who actually predicts the Sox to win while others get flamed for predicting the Sox do poorly... Neyer's a f***ing idiot, his argument doesn't make any sense, and even he doesn't know how it all adds up. Obviously he has no credibility.