witesoxfan

It was by far the best team I've ever seen. I had a great feeling about the team in the Spring, and I think everyone else did too. Pretty impressive accomplishment from a team that was supposed to finish 4th place.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 10:49 PM) This team could really use an .850 OPS out of its DH spot. Oh I agree completely. I think Williams does too. I think Thome ends up on the team before Spring Training starts.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 10:37 PM) Nope the only thing that matters is their individual stats. You were joking, but where would any team be without individual stats?

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) I'm not glad Chris Henry is dead, but at the same time I think it's over the top for the NFL to have a moment of silence for him around the league. Dan Bernstein had a great comment earlier when he said that if Chris Henry survived, he would once again be in Goodell's office facing another suspension. The fact of the matter is that he died. The NFL would (and has) had moments of silence and commemorated lesser players before. If an active player passes away in any league, they are going to commemorate him.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) Well I can't speak for Bradley cause I'm not in his head (though I don't even think Milton Bradley himself knows what's going on in his head) but the year he was with the A's, he was pretty liked, and the year in Texas, he had his best season under Ron Washington. I tend to think the lower market helps more so than having other black teammates, but I'm sure that does not hurt much at all with Milton. He usually clicks with guys with strong personalities I noticed regardless (I.E. Frank, Swisher, etc..) and Griffey already has that respect all around the game, not to mention is a hellova guy. I can see him developing a few handshakes with Ichiro when he drives him in. Actually, having strong personalities makes quite a bit of sense. Bradley seems to be an insecure type, and having those guys around should help him quite a bit. He should never be the focal point of a team, but he should be a great contributor when the focus is one someone else.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:41 PM) A lot of hyperbole, dude. Worst offseason? Come on, man. On a limited budget, he's done pretty well. The defense, as a whole, is better than it was to start last year. Pierre is a good fielder, who cares about his arm? Teahen is fine defensively, not a gold glover, but he'll be just fine. Quentin will be better than Dye, and I think you're underrating his defense. Just a lot of negative hyperbole. And if you think there was a team out there just dying to take the Linebrink contract, and give the Sox good players in return, you're out of your mind. Uhh, Chris Burke being driven in by Jose Vizcaino. Arm strength matters

QUOTE (Mattchoo @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:29 PM) Maybe I've just bought into what the white sox are selling us this offseason, but I love how they've spent their limited money. Did you really want to go into the season again with a bench of Lillibridge, Betemit, Fields, Miller, and Nix? First off that bench is (was) absolutely horrible. Second, and more importantly, we have a manager that constantly will swap out starters to give them a rest at least once a week. We all know how much fun those lazy summer Sunday lineups are. The Sox were without most of those players by June, except Nix, who was fantastic against left handed pitching. I don't see how that bench is relevant. Beyond that, I would be curious to see how much a good bench contributes to a team compared to a bad bench in the AL. My guess would be that it culminates in generally 1-2 more wins, but I guess I wouldn't be certain. I have no problem with what Williams has done this offseason; he just ran into a bad offseason in regards to relief pitching, because I would bet that in most offseasons he would be able to get rid of Linebrink for free.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:24 PM) Well, Aarsdma has definitely been something of an enigma his entire career, just like MacDougal. You never know, Dolsi has a pretty electric arm, and was considered untouchable just 2 years ago. So unpredictable what you're going to get with relievers, but I feel a LITTLE bit better having Pena and Dolsi, that ONE of them can have a breakout/comeback season. The only thing we feel confident in might be Linebrink being pretty good in the first half...because we still have no idea what we're going to get out of Jenks and Putz, and even Thornton has had his moments of occasional struggle with the Sox, usually when he gets behind in the count or becomes too predictable. I think there is a general idea out of what to get out of Dolsi, which is high walks and mediocre K rates. He seems to be a 7th/8th reliever who is only in the organization due to depth concerns in regards to middle relief. He's less talented than Sergio Santos, who I think is very likely to make the roster, but more ready and capable than the glut of s***ty AAA relievers the Sox have while also being more apt to learn. I also think suggesting that the Sox don't know what they are going to get out of Jenks is a bit much. The Sox and everyone else knows exactly what they can GET out of Jenks - he was a banged up last season and still had a good year. If he's healthy and pitching like he can, he's a more than applicable closer and is going to be just fine. And in regards to Putz - if he's healthy, he's money. If not, he's garbage. That's simple. I'm slightly concerned about Thornton, but not too worried. He should be good for an ERA in the 3's and an WHIP between 1.2 and 1.3.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 07:45 PM) Angels get him 6 years for 40 million. They signed Morles for 10 million over 6 years. 1. Arte Moreno in a big spender. 2. Lackey and Figgins defected to rival teams. 3. Kendry Morales 4. Hendricks Brothers represent both Morales and Chapman $40 mill is too much, but I think that's a likely destination for him. Is he really that good?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:18 PM) Absolutely agree about 2005, as well as Thome. We'll see what happens I guess. I'm about 95% sure what Williams is going to do to fill out the offseason, so naturally means I have absolutely no idea. "We'll see" is the correct answer to every question at this point.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:05 PM) Maybe the rest Thome had in the second half of last season makes me more optimistic he'll be ready for a full year/might improve upon last years projected numbers. Jim Thome has 9,463 career plate appearances, and that isn't including spring training, the minor leagues, or even warm up swings. I tend to doubt that about one less than active month (where he was still taking batting practice) is going to freshen him up. I tend to think he's going to put up an .850 OPS or somewhere in the whereabouts if he plays next year, and the only place he is going to play is Chicago.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 08:10 PM) Aardsma wasn't ready to be a closer for the White Sox (his failures, after pitching like Linebrink's April-June 08 or Cotts/Politte in 05) and his career really went downhill after giving up a walk-bomb to someone on the Tigers, I think it was Monroe or Thames, one of those guys. He was always reputed to have the lowest amount of confidence, and you saw that in the second half last year with the M's again as he was far from consistent. I always thought of Aardsma's career with the Sox unwinding after he threw 4 straight balls to a Twins hitter with the bases loaded in a tie game in the bottom of the 9th or 10th, giving them the game. That is the absolute last recollection I have of Aards in a Sox uniform. And I have thought, even since that point, as losing Aardsma as a mistake.

I think Williams is trying to recreate 2005. He wants the studly pitching staff (he didn't know he had 4 sub-4 ERAs before the season, considering neither Garland nor Contreras had ever done anything like it), a good bullpen (hasn't moved Jenks and brought in Putz while hoping for others to break out), and a very balanced lineup. Early in the season, the Sox had an absolutely dreadful lineup. He's trying to avoid having that. I still think Thome is going to wind up back here next year, but unless he absolutely starts tearing the cover off the ball against both righties and lefties (which is almost certainly not going to happen), he's going to have a reduced role and will probably only play 120 games. That still leaves Ozzie with a rotating DH, the ability of great pinch hitters, some flexibility off the bench. And another left handed hitter really doesn't hurt.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 07:48 PM) Vazquez the number 1? I hate you. Vazquez has been dead to me for a while. To be fair, Floyd's ERA in his last 22 starts (which is cherry picking) was 2.97. Danks's was like 3.39, which is obviously good, but didn't have quite the same level of quality in regards to his peripherals. I just really think that Floyd is going to be dynamite next year, though I'm not going to be surprised in the least if he does essentially the same thing he did this year next year.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 18, 2009 -> 03:55 PM) Might be the best thing to happen for Bradley. He'll be a saint in the Griffey clubhouse. Got a couple brothers there to talk to as well. Can't see a downfall to this deal at all for the Mariners. Not that this made them any different, but I was going to pick them to win the West regardless. Yes the Cubs got raped in value, but freeing up 6 million in cash (which they can use in FA) to trade Bradley (getting 9 million back from the Mariners) is very good for them. Not questioning, but is him being black and having 2 other blacks there really going to help him? Honestly, just curious. It's actually been of interest with me for a while, especially regarding Contreras and Iguchi in 2005 and then following them afterwards.

I have 2nd best starter for Floyd. Always have. Always will.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 19, 2009 -> 04:48 PM) Agreed. We need to sign some guys who will sell tickets and generate some buzz. I guess Jerry was right; our big free agents were Peavy and Rios. We're just landing role guys to surround those big acquisitions. The win column sells tickets for the Sox.

They are supposedly getting about $9 mill from the Mariners. JZ has had an incredible offseason

Blalock hasn't had a good full season since 2004. Once again, I would prefer Thome on a short-term deal to Blalock.

The Mariners interest stems from them wanting to trade Carlos Silva for Bradley. I don't care how s***ty Bradley is in the clubhouse, getting rid of the Silva deal would be phenomenal.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) There's no way that I give up my best two prospects for a guy like that until I see some evidence that he can still hit. One also has to wonder why the Rays would want to move him now - at his lowest point of value - while he's affordable and under team control for the next three seasons. I can absolutely agree with this. I would give up 2 good prospects for him, but nothing close to my 2 very best prospects for him, and the Rays won't do that. I would say that some team is either going to overpay for him and see the results, or the Rays won't trade him. I see the latter as the more likely of the scenarios. And even more, the Rays are going to want to keep Jennings in the minors until June to avoid him becoming a Super-2 player, and they're going to need a full outfield until then. I do think this is something that could be revisited come mid-June or July, but it's just water under the bridge right now. QUOTE (striker @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) I agree Upton has alot more potential and is younger. But Winn will cost you $2M less and no prospects. And he was awful last season and is older. Add on to it that the Sox really don't need another outfielder with Quentin, Pierre, Jones, Kotsay, Rios, and even De Aza all capable of playing the outfield. There's no reason to go out and spend money the Sox could use on something else for another outfielder who may not spend much money. I don't mind Thome on a short-term deal because he was producing well last season and has produced solid numbers over the past 4 years, and I won't be surprised if Thome is brought back in January on a short-term deal if all of the Sox other plans fall through.

Crede's time in Chicago was absolutely done in 2008 and it may have been a bit past due. It doesn't change the fact that his contributions will go down as monumental in the history of the franchise, and he is always going to have a free beer waiting for him anywhere he goes in Chicago. If there is someone who was a dick to the franchise during his final year and the subsequent departure and then signing with a rival team, it was Maggs. There were reports that the Sox had offered him a 4-year, $60 mill deal in the spring of '04, only to have that turned down. He then fired his agent, signed with Boras (who had an even worse relationship with the team at that point), went overseas to have a knee surgery, and then came back and signed a deal with Detroit for only one more guaranteed year (though 2 option years). That's more of a dick move than anything Crede ever did.

QUOTE (bad at best @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 12:19 PM) i hate the idea of ramirez in the 2 hole. reminds me of when people thought juan uribe would be "great!" in the 2 hole. neither have ANY plate discipline and both are poor/average baserunners. Alexei Ramirez in the 2 hole last season... .281/.343/.422/.765 That looks like plate discipline and a bit of power. I'd be perfectly fine with that in the 2-hole. I also don't think people realize that Ramirez walked 49 times last year. He wasn't that undisciplined.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 10:10 AM) Some of the responses here seem to suggest that it is. It's the stolen bases (not the HRs) that put Rollins in the leadoff spot. Their lineup would arguably be more effective with Victorino (career .347 OBP, ~30 SB/year) leading off and Rollins hitting 2nd. If I were a Phillies fan, I would much prefer Victorino-Rollins than the other way around.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 17, 2009 -> 08:05 AM) Because gamesmanship to hide what moves you are working on is different than deceiving people on what money he has. What would KW gain by not spending all of the money at his disposal? Would he purposely not spend money to not field the best team hecan to lose his job? It doesn't make sense to not use all of his resources. Now might JR not give all of the money available to KW? The is possible and probable. JR has responsibilities to other pepople not just the 25 man roster. These include the minor leagues, ballpark employess and the other investors. It just doesn't make sense that KW wouldn't use all of the resources available to him to field the best team he can. You may disagree with how he is doing it but that doesn't mean the resources aren't being expended. He may do that, as the value of that money doubles come the middle of the season as you'll only have to pay said player for half a season.