witesoxfan

QUOTE (onedude @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 03:09 PM) Duh ...just saying if we got someone in the minors on fire, and Colons up in the majors with a 6+ERA not doin much...can't hesitate to try one of the prospects. The Sox won't tolerate a 6+ ERA from Colon. He'll either be put on the DL or released, because there's virtually no way Poreda/Marquez/Richard/Broadway/Egbert can't duplicate a 6+ ERA or so.

Zambrano and Schilling also started out in the pen. Knowing Ozzie, he isn't going to care much about the option situation. He'll take the best players for each and every job up to the majors with him, just as he did with Neal Cotts in 2004 when he very well may have had a future as a starter if he had further developed his curve and change. The problem then becomes whether or not Poreda or whoever remains in the bullpen for the remainder of their time with the Sox. At this point, Poreda's future is much to bright to have him remain in the pen much more than a year, but I could definitely see Richard remaining there.

Haven't seen the movie, but would it be funny if Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino talked to Christian Bale as Batman? It would be super deep, scratchy voices going back and forth like no other.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 01:14 PM) Toronto also has Hill and Scutaro up the middle for 2009 currently correct? yeah, and I recall reading where Scutaro was actually pretty damn good defensively last year.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 02:05 PM) The best description that I could find is that a power change doesn't "float" up to the plate ala Tom Glavine. So basically it has a good amount of downward movement. They've been compared ad nauseum, but it sounds like Floyd's changeup. The word power seems to make it sound really cool and good, but it's probably a tough pitch to control because it'd be easy to leave up to hitters, and a pitch that drops into a hitter's wheelhouse at 83 MPH will go a long ways, just as a straight fastball at 96 in the same place goes a long ways.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 01:36 PM) So right now, I'd imagine the backend of the rotation is BC and JM, with CR in the pen and AP in AAA. That looks about right to me, with Broadway and Richard sharing the 6th starter duties.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 02:37 AM) This kid sounds like kind of a douchebag. Sorta glad that we didn't sign him now. sounds like a young dude thinking he's invincible...happens to most of us

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 11:24 AM) Ok, let's call it 5.15. Bear in mind that in 2006 Javy Vazquez had a 5.44 ERA on July 30th. Also bear in mind that the Sox paid a pretty penny to bring Vazquez in and he cost $12 mill in 2006 with multiple years left on his deal. Colon was always going to be a 1 year deal, and now that he can only make $3 mill at the most, there's no reason to think that he won't just be cut if he starts underperforming. Finally, I'd honestly have absolutely no problem with 200+ innings of a 5.15 ERA. That's almost certainly better than anything Marquez, Richard, or Poreda would give out of the #4 spot, let alone Egbert or Broadway too.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) I just don't think it's possible that Colon could have a 5.30 ERA and pitch 200 innings. That would involve him having very bad stretches over a period of time, and the team would either put him on the DL or release him during those periods. Further, it would likely mean he's not healthy, which means he probably wouldn't pitch at all. This organization has no problems taking chances on guys, but they don't give a lot of rope either. Loaiza pitched 3 innings for the Sox last year and actually had decent numbers, but that was all garbage time and he had nothing on his pitches. They subsequently released him. I'd see a similar scenario happening with Colon, though they'd give him just a bit more rope. This isn't the Twins with Livan Hernandez, where keeping him 3 extra starts arguably cost them the division.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 09:50 AM) They did have a lot of down seasons and injuries last year. that's the thing, I don't see a lot of them. Sheffield and Rogers were both old, so bad seasons makes sense (though possibly not to the level that they had), Nate Robertson just isn't very good (though again, maybe not to a 6+ ERA...he's not much better than a 5 ERA pitcher though), their bullpen isn't that talented and they cut Aquilino Lopez who was one of their best relievers last year, and outside of really Guillen and Bonderman, injuries didn't strike them that badly (Granderson missed like 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the season but was healthy the rest of the season). I just don't think they are a very good team at all and without another move or so, I'd be surprised if they finished out of last place. That said, I'd agree with whoever said that the Central won't be very competitive. I see the Twins and Indians as the favorites and I could honestly see any team winning it with just a couple breaks.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 08:53 AM) Shorts can be done for short walks outside. If you're moving, you'll be fine. -20 out. Off to class. Sounds wonderful, I'll be joining you in 15 minutes.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 06:08 AM) I might be in a minority here, but I wouldn't mind this. We have an excess of corner OFs, no leadoff hitter, and a massive question mark at 3B. Moving Quentin to RF and Swisher to LF would also be a defensive plus. I also wouldn't mind seeing Kenny give Uribe a two-year deal if the price is right (say, $8 million) to act as sort of an infield super-sub. Defensively, he'd be a great insurance policy. massive? Fields, Betemit, and Viciedo are all legitimate options at 3B, and it's not crazy hard to find a stopgap 3Bman for a season. I wouldn't call it massive. I also have no problem with signing Uribe, but it would have to be for 1 year and $2-3 mill. And right now, I just don't know if the Sox have the room for that either in their budget or the roster.

Sheets is a $10 mill pitcher who will make $15-17 in incentives on a 1-year deal. When he's pitching well and healthy, he's one of the best in the game. The Sox don't have the money to sign him, nor will they.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 03:31 AM) By lucky I mean those acquisitions turning out so well. NO ONE predicted them to be winning moves at the time. You are TOTALLY misunderstanding me. What I mean is that we have GREAT youngsters like those you mentioned and they are all very cheap at the moment, yet our overall payroll is ridiculously high for the "talent" we have. This team is currently quite an underachieving mess with a lot of holes for that type of money. See above. That's all I was referring to. There was a general feeling on the board about the 2005 team that it was a pretty good team going into the season. On the first day of spring training, the main hole on the entire team was the utility infielder spot. You can go back and check out posts from that time period, and there is a good general feeling, even though the Sox were predicted to finish 3rd and 4th by the majority of writers and analysts. Rob Neyer was the only person to predict that team would finish in 1st, and he backed off that prediction pretty early on in the season even though they were proving him right. You also have to look at the team going in to the season, knowing what you knew about the players. The only 4 big surprises from that team are probably Uribe not having a good season (and we now know he's just a bad hitter), Contreras having the season he did (and it took until mid July-August for him to really turn it on), Garland being as good as he was, and the bullpen being as dominant as it was. You could possibly argue Dye, but he'd had seasons like that previously and was finally fully healthy. That was just a good team going into the season, and all you really had to do was look at the components of it. The part that got the Sox as lucky as it did was the bullpen, and that fluctuates every year with every team - even the Twins bullpen blew last year. I don't think that team was really as lucky as you portray it to be, other than arguably making it to the World Series. It was just a really damn good team. The following year, the pitching sucked and the offense went stale at the end of the season, which explains why they didn't set a franchise record for wins.

what move did Detroit make that makes them a better team than the Sox? They traded for a mediocre starting pitcher in Edwin Jackson, traded for a so-so catcher, and signed one of the worst offensive shortstops in the game to platoon with a utility guy at SS? And they are suddenly going to finish ahead of the Sox? Consider me confused on that part alone.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 09:13 PM) In all its forms? no, only vaginal, anal, and olfactorial

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 09:44 PM) Uh, did I stutter there somewhere? lol. QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 09:36 PM) Get used to it? How long have you been a fan? I have BEEN used to it for years. It just sucks. If we start this season out with this rotation and still no leadoff hitter I'm officially writing off KW. There's just no excuse. And don't throw that "rebuilding" crap around. This team has a ridiculously high payroll with few good things to show for it. Hell, our BEST players are making pittance right now. It's mind-boggling. Someone needs to point out a team that's maintained worse than ours now so I can feel a little better. You are writing off a GM that has brought two division championships, two 90 win seasons, a constantly competing team, and a World Championship to the White Sox an offseason after he brought a division title out of nowhere while also helping to replenish the minor league system. He did much of the same this year while potentially setting the team up for a big run during free agency following the season, as Contreras, Thome, and Dotel will all come off of the books, Dye could easily be traded at the break if the team really is struggling (which I do not foresee happening), and Swisher and Vazquez - who very well could have been penciled into the 2010 budget - are now off the books because of trades that have happened, and in the meantime, the Sox have probably moved up around middle of the pack as far as farm systems go within a year and a half. What's the problem with that, honestly? If the team wins 90+ games in 3 of the next 5 years and 2 division titles, what is one 82 win season? That's one "wat". Secondly, the team's payroll is really not that much lower than it was last season, and I would imagine that there are 8-10 teams and possibly more with higher payrolls than the Sox right now. It's not "ridiculously high", especially considering how ridiculous the market was over the previous 2-3 seasons. The fact that the "best players" are not making much money is much more of a good thing than it is a bad thing, because when the big contracts come off the books - notably Konerko, Thome, Dye, Contreras, Pierzynski, Buehrle, Dotel, Linebrink, and Jenks - the Sox will then be able to afford extensions for Quentin, Alexei, Danks, Floyd, and whomever else. I would also strongly consider rethinking stating that the "best players" are not making much money. The offense is nothing without all of the money that went into it, and they don't make the playoffs without the performances of Thome, Pierzynski, and Dye specifically, and Konerko, Uribe, Cabrera, and Griffey all had their moments as well. That's two "wats". Finally, I'd argue over half the league is maintained more poorly than the White Sox. If you want just one team, I'll name the Pirates and be done. If you want more, a few others and myself could probably rattle off a few more and give you some pretty damn good reasons behind all of them. The White Sox are not maintained poorly. That's the third "wat".

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 08:11 PM) Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be today, but it was still cold. Probably single digits all day with a pretty chilly wind. Anyways, if you've been around it before, it's not hard to get used to it. Just make sure you wear a coat, stocking hat if necessary, and either gloves or warm pockets. It's really not terrible. We were in Sioux City Monday night for a fraternity meeting and then we went to see WWE Raw at the Event Center. We got split up as the night progressed and a buddy and I were out looking for our ride home for 20 minutes. I was in a T-shirt because I left my coat elsewhere. That was f***ing cold, but I lived. so I lied and it's like -15. I'm just so numb to the cold anymore that I can't tell how cold it really is. It's going to be awesome when it's 20 degrees outside and it feels like heaven.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) I think wite's putting up with it too. Just gotta deal with it. I have night class tonight which I'll walk to, because it's quicker to do that than clean off my car, warm it up and drive to the nearest parking lot, then drive again. I can very easily deal with -10. The wind is making it bad though. It physically hurts to walk around....my neck stings a bit. When you've lived here for a while, you learn that ice and wind are the real b****es of winter. This is still pretty f***ing cold, though. I walk to class with my hands in my pockets and no gloves, and I can't really do that for more than 10 minutes. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be today, but it was still cold. Probably single digits all day with a pretty chilly wind. Anyways, if you've been around it before, it's not hard to get used to it. Just make sure you wear a coat, stocking hat if necessary, and either gloves or warm pockets. It's really not terrible. We were in Sioux City Monday night for a fraternity meeting and then we went to see WWE Raw at the Event Center. We got split up as the night progressed and a buddy and I were out looking for our ride home for 20 minutes. I was in a T-shirt because I left my coat elsewhere. That was f***ing cold, but I lived.

If you don't have a condom, don't plan on having sex.

I have absolutely no problem with this move. If he's healthy and in shape, I'd ride the piss out of his arm and let him go after the season. Try and get 200-220 innings out of him. Otherwise, get what you can.

I do think it would be funny if Henderson came back and played in the big leagues after getting inducted. If anyone would do it, it'd be him.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jan 6, 2009 -> 07:36 AM) I thought Jared Allen should have been runner up. Besides Peterson, he was Minnesota's MVP this year. Anyways, I got: Giants over Eagles Panthers over Cardinals Titans over Ravens (UPSET?) Steelers over Chargers I'm to assume San Diego is going to win, correct?

This has been predicted several times by several people on the board. If it's non-guaranteed, I have absolutely no problem with it, as I trust Freddy as a #4 more than I trust Marquez.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 10:18 AM) See my post above. Also, even though Wite is the guy in SD here, it is a fact that the economies of the Dakotas are increasing as opposed to those in almost every other state. not quite the right topic to go off topic on, but a ton of it has to do with the cost of living around here. I remember hearing someone say that $40,000 here is similar to $100,000 on either coast, though that's probably not exactly right. The only thing you have to deal with here is a lack of opportunity to really advance to the absolute highest point (and at that point, you are already looking great financially) and the extreme weather. anyways, back to your regularly scheduled discussion.