witesoxfan

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 04:57 PM) BTW, did I miss the Sox re-signing former catcher Chris Stewart? In the conference call today, Williams said if the season started today, the backup catcher would be either Chris Stewart or Corky Miller. The Yankees DFA'ed him on June 30th, so I'm assuming we all missed it. Probably a MLFA who just signed recently and it was so small that it hasn't been reported or it will be reported soon. According to MLB.com, he is a free agent so I assume he's been signed.

I could also see a CF brought in as well

The Sox payroll is reportedly at $96 mill right now. Unless they shed Dye and then make no virtually no signings at all, it will be in the $100 million range.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 10:36 AM) I think if enough payroll is cleared, KW wants Derek Lowe. Wasn't he supposedly a target when they were dangling OC this past summer? That he was. It would also be pretty crazy seeing as how Lowe is a Boras client too.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 10:57 PM) Of course, they go to the judge in Minneapolis. Let's have the hearing in Green Bay, shall we? it makes sense to go to the judge in the state you work in to file a work grievance, doesn't it? I understand the facetiousness, but yeah.

The Sox could very well be the team to give Cabrera the couple million, but the big difference, to me, between MacDougal and Cabrera is that, at this point in time, there's no long term commitment to Cabrera as there was with MacDougal. I'd also much rather give Cabrera a shot in the rotation rather than Marquez. If Marquez is anything like Floyd or Danks at all, another half season or so in AAA should be a necessity as is.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 10:16 AM) When he was with Atlanta someone did a study believing he couldn't be as good as people thought he was and they looked at guys Mazzone coached at least one year. They compared the pitchers' ERAs with him as a coach and without him as a coach. There was a difference of 1.50 runs a game in his favor. Not everyone is going to flourish under even the finest of coaches. Cooper has had his share of failures as well. Cabrera can't throw a strike to save his life. How did that work out when Coop worked with Sisco and MacDougal? I think Cabrera is worth a shot even if it's just because he's free (in the sense that he won't cost any players). I had no problem with the Sisco move and I believe I applauded it at the time and the MacDougal deal wasn't terrible at the time but has since become an absolute disaster of a deal. If Cabrera blows, he blows and he's in the pen or off the team come midseason.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 29, 2008 -> 10:29 PM) Buehrle, Crede and Rowand are basically it. The generation before, you have Durham/Ordonez/Carlos Lee. Of course, we've "incubated" quite a few pitchers like Daniel Cortes, Brandon McCarthy, Josh Rupe, Gio Gonzalez...also Kip Wells, Matt Guerrier (who has really found success as a middle reliever and set up guy), Josh Fogg and Jon Rauch. Jon Garland, even though he was drafted by the Cubs. Gary Majewski and Rocky Biddle had their moments. Danny Wright was promising before injuries derailed his career, just like Jason Bere. Frank Francisco was Sox property before he was part of the package for Carl Everett. OF Chris B. Young is another obvious name that jumps out. Ryan Sweeney. Frank Francisco spent very little time with the Sox...less than a year. He was traded from Boston for Howry in 02 on July 31st, and then was dealt to Texas on July 25th when the Everett deal was finalized.

Cards apparently trade for Khalil Greene. I look for a big year from him and then a terrible contract from a mid-market team.

I would like to point out Erik Bedard and Jeremy Guthrie as pitchers Mazzone turned into good pitchers for Baltimore. That is all.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 09:47 AM) I’m noticing that some of the people who are vigorously against the Bailey Trade seem fond of getting Daniel “I’m older, have no control , and everyone’s whose tried to fix me has failed” Cabrera. I’m finding that slightly disconcerting. because Bailey will cost Jermaine Dye, whereas Daniel Cabrera will come free. It's basic economics

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 08:53 AM) No way to Garland!! We just cleared the salary of a very "average" 4th starter in Vazquez. No need to reverse the gain of clearing that payroll and turn around and get similar or even worse (albeit predictable) results. Wolf, Oliver Perez and Garland will all get $10-12 million per season, and 3-4 year contracts. Heck, if Kyle Lohse can get 4/41, Garland might even get $48/4 despite his pretty pedestrian season. The Angels also offered him arbitration, FWIW. The Astros didn't with Wolf. Lohse got 4/$41 because he was really damn good last year and Boras is his agent, so he probably told Lohse to capitalize on that type of offer before it came off the table because he's not quite the pitcher he was last year. Garland, on the other hand, had an absolutely horrendous year and gets to deal with a down market. We'll see, but I have a hard time believing Garland will get 8 digits a year, and though I could see 4 years being reasonable, he'll struggle to get that too. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 03:26 PM) The White Sox have trimmed a lot of money off the payroll for now and the future. If you think about the guys who have left since the end of the season, Uribe- although I'm a big fan, not exactly a popular player. Crede- another I like although too many back concerns. Vazquez- I never liked him, a guy who is a below average pitcher when the money is on the table. Swisher-absolutely horrible in his one season with the Sox. Except for June, a minor leaguer the rest of the season. Hall- best attribute, good with shaving cream pies, and probably Cabrera-apparent cancer, a me first type. Of the 6 of them, what needs to be replaced from a division champion are Vazquez's 200 mediocre at-best innings. Cabrera, decent production from a SS, and everyone else, very minor contributions. Even with all the Sox have lost, it shouldn't be too hard to replace the mediocre production as a whole these 6 provided. And there should be a boatload of money to do it. If KW plays his cards right, he can set up the White Sox for years of success this winter. I agree with the general point of this post, but the one question I have is whether or not the performance the Sox had last year will be good enough to win the division again. I'm not sure it will, because Minnesota looks like a 90+ win team to me at this point in time.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 09:20 PM) kjshoe and I went to the same college and never met each other. SoxFanForever is a Sox fan forever

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:07 PM) Daniel Cabrera will be a member of the White Sox organization before Christmas. Which is just fine by me, because he seems to be the same pitcher as Edwin Jackson, just without the publicity of a playoff birth.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 04:54 PM) Flower(s) Power? Santos L. Halper? Gilmore's Girl? Gavin Halladay

I finally get to talk after not having internet yesterday. I have no problem with this deal at all. I don't know how long Lillibridge will last with the Sox, but he seems a lot like a Chris Burke type player, who has value but whose value is limited. The real prize of this deal is Flowers, and I'm more than happy to have him. KW's next move is going to be interesting. I need a new member title.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 30, 2008 -> 11:36 PM) AND, walking is as much a skill as it is an effect of hitter intimidation. Why does Jim Thome walk as much as he does? He does have a good eye, but mostly it is because pitchers do not want to go right after him. Stats do NOT tell you batting eye, they only tell aggressiveness and contact rate, so if you think high walk totals mean a guy has a better eye than someone with lower walk totals, get that idea out of your head because it doesn't work like that. Pitchers react completely different to Thome than they ever will to Taveras - one, because he has little power, and two - most importantly - YOU DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO WALK 30-60 SB HITTERS. Taveras by his contact rate appears to have a pretty good eye, the problem is he could have the best eye in baseball and he's still not going to walk as much as a slugger. Figgins gets on at a better clip than Taveras does, but in both cases batting average is the main thing weighting their OBP. Both guys generally get on at a rate about .050 points higher than their batting averages. Figgins had one great year where he got on at a .393 clip, but he hit .330 then, and the reason the difference in AVG and OBP was .063 is because he make better contact that year. Taveras makes better contact than Figgins does, but it appears Figgins walks a little bit more because Taveras is a more aggressive hitter. Can you explain to me with this reasoning why Gregor Blanco drew almost twice as many walks as Ryan Braun? There comes a time when you look at players being "pitched around." There also comes a time when the statistics flat out tell you a story about a player. Willy Taveras is an aggressive hitter whose OBP depends entirely upon his average, and if he doesn't hit for a good average, he won't be a good player. It's as simple as that. If Willy Taveras is the last ditch effort and the Sox trade for him in the middle of January, I'll understand. Willy Taveras should not be the major move for the White Sox this offseason.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Nov 30, 2008 -> 10:59 PM) The Bears could go 3-1 in the next 4 games. Jacksonville stinks, the Saints are medicore (it'll be hard to throw 50 times when it's 20 degrees out. Who wants to catch a Brees fastball in that?), and the Texans are...the Texans. I just don't see them beating the Packers though, but even that is possible. If they want to be in the NFL, they better want to catch Brees' passes all day long.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 07:22 AM) Mike MacDougals subsequent failure made the deal bad, it doesn't matter who we sent there. Precisely.

Gavin Floyd at the time of the trade was a huge question mark, and Jermaine Dye (probably) has more value than Freddy Garcia did at the time of his trade, considering he's coming off a better year and isn't a free agent after the season unless the team decides to make him one. You'll need quite a bit more than Homer Bailey.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 04:13 PM) In the world where he still was pre-arbitration and made $395k this year. +1

Furcal had back issues, and I imagine one thing the Sox are trying to avoid right now is another player with back issues. Also, the reason the Reds would make such a deal is because they believe they are close to competing...it's Walt Jocketty at the helm now, so I imagine he knows what he's doing. They'll almost certainly get Dye for two years and he'll be a big bat in the middle of the lineup.

I seem to recall it being the Giants MO for a while to sign guys before the arbitration deadline to avoid paying for 1st round draft picks.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 08:19 PM) Buh, Buh, We traded him for Mike Mcdougal! What do you mean that trade wasn't as terrible as we like to think it was? Look, i know that Cortes is the real prospect, but i never felt this deal was as bad as it was labeled. This report lends even more credence to that theory. MacDougal signed a contract extension and has proceeded to be absolutely f***ing terrible. It was a bad deal.

QUOTE (striker62704 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 09:17 PM) I'm all for a youth movement. Youth was a huge reason we made it to the playoffs this year anyways (Quentin, Ramirez, Danks, Floyd). I'd hate to see Jenks and Dye leave but it would make things real interesting. I know there aren't alot of BA fans or Jerry Owens fans but I think those guys deserve a shot at some point. The Twins outplay us every year with 1/2 the talent our team has. It's time to see what they are made of. We can always plug holes later in the season. The White Sox had the 3rd oldest offense and the 6th oldest pitching staff in the league last year...I don't think last season was as youth driven as you would like to believe. Next season, Konerko's 33, Dye's 35, Thome's 38, and Pierzynski's 32, though I see atleast one gone. All that said, I hope I agree with what you are suggesting...if, however, you're suggesting an actual youth "movement" rather than an "influx" of young talent, the Sox will be in a world of hurt. A lineup with Getz/Nix at 2B, Fields/Betemit at 3B, and BA/Owens in CF could very easily become a disastrous lineup within the first month and put the Sox in a huge hole.