beck72

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 09:06 PM) Doubt it. Moose will determine it. We generally cant hit him, and if he keeps it up, we are done. The current sox players seem to hit him pretty well, esp Dye, Thome and AJ. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=2557

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) I would gladly face Garcia in the future. If he keeps up at his current rate, he's going to be throwing 85 mph consistently next year. I just doubt KW would try and help another AL team--and Freddy could help another team improve their SP, even at his current production.

I doubt Freddy can't pitch vs. the weaker AL teams because the sox have mentioned trading him. Has he pitched better since the trading deadline? A bit. But his velocity is still down. If Freddy goes, I'm sure the sox would rather trade him to a NL team so the sox don't have to face him. Esp as he only gets up for the better teams like the sox. Any number of teams would have to be interested in Freddy--Philly, STL, the Mets.

While it sucks for Liriano and the Twins, it's good news for the sox. The Twins are the team that scares me far more than Boston for the wildcard. They can beat teams in many different ways that Boston can't. Regardless of how long Liriano is out, the sox need to win games. Hoping the Twins and Boston lose theirs won't get the sox into the playoffs. The sox will have to earn a playoff bid by playing better than they have been.

None of them seem ready to help the sox right away in 2007, though Linares and Herrera could get into the sox farm system. Linares and his 97-98 fastball could help if he got his control harnessed. Herrera would seem more advanced and possibly be ready by mid year for either the bullpen or rotation. Seeing how the sox could use another good SP prospect, Herrera might be worth signing. It would seem that money alone wouldn't be the deciding factor in getting any of these guys. Having another Cuban on the team to help acclimate a guy to the states would also make sense.

Baseball America profiles a few Cuban defectors. With Jose around for the next two yrs, and his agent representing these guys as well, are there any names here that could help the sox for 2007? http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/majors/news/262124.html

I'll take a 13-8 record or better. That .620 winning % for the rest of the season would take them to 98-64, which should be enough for the playoffs. I haven't seen who the Sox play after this 21 gamestretch, but my guess is that it has to be a little easier.

QUOTE(bigredrudy @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 02:18 PM) The worst thing about the trade with Arizona is that we lost Young. He is putting up monster numbers-27 doubles 4 triples and 21 home runs. he is near the top in every hitting category except batting average and it continues to rise. After a slow start he has been on fire. The thing about prospects is whether they improve. As he has gone up the line Young has continued to get better. In A Ball he struck out over 140 times- this year he has only struck out 66 times. And of course Young is fast and a good outfielder. Arizona already has him penciled as their center fielder for 2007 Young wasn't going to help the sox in 2006. Let me pose a few questions for you: 1] If Javy helps the sox reach the postseason and gets a few playoff wins, thereby helping the sox repeat, will your assessment of the trade change? 2] Do you believe that Young is a budding star who shouldn't have been traded for anyone, let alone Vazquez?

QUOTE(whitesox1976 @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 12:41 AM) I have been a White Sox fan for 30 years but trading for Vazquez was one of the worst I have ever seen, and believe me I have seen some bad ones over the years. It's far, far too early to say that. Chris Young hasn't played a game in the bigs and the absence of El Duque and Vizcaino this year really hasn't hurt the sox.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 12:21 PM) Yeah they were. Thing is they have Willingham at LF and Hermida at RF, so Pods would have to play CF for them which at Pro Player Stadium would be a bad, bad idea. Well they have Alfredo Amezaga playing CF now, of the infield Amezaga's. Lf or CF, the Marlins need a leadoff hitter. Hanley Ramirez for them isn't one.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 11:59 AM) Yeah he'll be arbitration eligible and he'll make a lot of sense for quite a few NL teams you would have thought, so he'll have some value. A team like Pittsburgh that really needs a leadoff hitter could be interested in him for example, and they've got some good young SP that we would definitely be interested in. I wouldn't expect a team to overpay for Pods like the Cubs did for Pierre. But he'll have some value. A team like the Marlins might be interested as well, and have a lot of young talent to trade. Weren't they mentioned in the Soriano talks?

Looking at all the guys who threw in the WBC, and how a lot have done poorly or have gotten hurt, there might be something to this affecting pitchers. The time pitchers were throwing in the WBC they would have normally been getting their work in during spring, throwing nice and easy, working on mechanics, location etc. Most innings in the WBC, though, were high stress, where the pitchers went all out with each pitch. Few guys were probably prepared for the extra stress on their arms, or were expecting such intense games.

I don't think Pods is underrated. There are good reasons why the sox platoon pods with Ozuna, and have Mack replace him in LF late in games [it hasn't happened a lot, but enough to show how the sox feel about his defense]. At first I thought it was just to save Pods' legs for late in the year. But Pods is a near automatic out vs LHP. And his defense doesn't justify putting him out there over Ozuna. I do give Pods credit for coming on as of late, getting some big hits with runners on. Hopefully that continues through October. The sox will need either Pods or Iguchi to get on base for the 3-5 hitters to drive in. FWIW, I do think the sox will try and upgrade at leadoff next yr, and Pods could be dealt in the offseason.

Javy needed a game like this. More importantly, the sox needed it. Keep it up now Javy!

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 5, 2006 -> 10:25 PM) OK, for argument's sake, let's just say that Javy has turned a corner. Why did it take so long, do you think? Maybe Vazquez finally decided to let Coop change whatever he thought necessary, whereas before he wanted to pitch his own way? If he really has turned a corner, the reason doesn't matter. The results are far more important.

Good for Javy. Even better for the White sox.

Very nice job by Javy pitching out of it. He attacked hitters like he was earlier in the game when no one was on base rather than trying to pitch around them and fool them with his weaker offspeed stuff.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:34 PM) Its possible. But the knuckler isnt that much like pitching as we know it. The key is consistency of delivery more than anything, and he is really only going to learn that after time. The question is whether you want this time to come from getting slapped around at the big leagues, or befuddling minor league hitters. You could substitute "National League hitters" right here. With the NL so weak, a guy like Haeger would have value. The 5th starters in the NL are filled with AAAA players.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:51 AM) I'm sorry, but you can't just say he's not a number 1 or number 2 starter just because he doesn't throw 95. Could BMac be a #1 or a #2 SP for the sox? Possibly. There are a lot of "ifs" involved, though. If he improves his change up, if he hits his spots, if he keeps the ball down, if he stays healthy, etc. BMac's a lot like MB in that he has to have pinpoint control in order to be effective because he doesn't have poverpowering stuff. A guy who has a nasty out pitch [like a 95 mph heater, or a killer change, splitter, slider, curve etc] can get away with not having his best stuff. What do "Baseball America" type scouts say a #1 or a #2 SP has to have in order to be classified as a top of the rotation guy? IIRC, one outstanding pitch to go along with two other above avg pitches. That's what I'm talking about. BMac probably has two above avg pitches and one avg pitch [change up]. For the record, I love Bmac. He is one of the most valuable, if not most valuable, young sox player--young in the sense that he's unproven that he hasn't gone a yr in his role as a major leaguer. I'm just arguing that getting Crawford might be more important.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:26 AM) I'm pretty sure that the one clocking at 91 is his 2-seamer that he was working on last offseason. When he goes out with the straight 4-seamer, at least most of the times I've seen it, he pushes 93-94. IIRC, BMac himself said he threw his FB at 91 mph during an interview. The point is he is valuable. But could Crawford have more value to the sox than BMac?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 11:14 PM) He tops out at 94. Maybe I should have prefaced it and said if he "consistently threw 95 mph". BMac mostly sits at 91, correct?

QUOTE(mmmmmbeeer @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 07:34 PM) I think you're right on in your assessment; Crawford would be absolutely perfect on this team. The one thing that I disagree with would be your reluctance to give up McCarthy in a deal to shnag Crawford. Carl is still very young with plenty of productive years ahead of him and, imo, is well worth your top pitching prospect. You definitely know more about the Sox farm system than I do, but I really don't see a viable replacement for Pods down there. The key is, who would be more valuable to the current and future white sox, BMac or Crawford? IMO, Crawford would be. While BMac is a nice arm, he's not a #1 or a #2 [if BMac threw 95 mph then he could be]. IMO, finding a viable replacement for BMac is more likely and easier than finding one for a leadoff hitter with the tools [defense, speed, avg, slg] of a Crawford locked up for the next 5 some yrs. I know it would take more than BMac. But sign Crede to a deal, and Fields and BMac would just about do it.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 07:14 PM) Looking at the numbers, I'm not sure Rollins makes a decent leadoff hitter at all, his OBP is even lower than Podsednik's in almost every year. A #2 hitter? Maybe, but his numbers still seem on the low end even for that. It would add some extra speed, but as an upgrade over Uribe it's not a huge one IMO. The real key problem to my eyes is that he signed a 5 year, $40 million deal last year, which is backloaded somewhat, so I really don't think he'd be worth the money he's paid. Pods isn't the long term answer in LF. He may not even be with the sox in 07. Yet the sox are going to be in playoff contention and will need a leadoff hitter. No rookie will step in and give the sox a .280 vg. and .340 OBP [which is minimum]. So a leadoff hitter will have to come from somewhere. SS and LF are the two most likely spots, with both Pods and Uribe being called out by Ozzie and sox fans. Few guys in LF seem to fit at leadoff. Would Sweeney/ Fields and Rollins be better than Pods and Uribe, taking into everything into account, such as defense, avg, OBP and power, factoring salaries as well? Could be.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 01:53 AM) He isnt having a great year but Jimmy Rollins would be more ideal leading off than Juan uribe would. Rollins would fall into the KW mode of "buying low", with his down yr. If his defense was solid and above avg, [he does have low errors] his speed and offense [consistent avg, OBP, as well as XBH] would bring a nice lift to the sox that Uribe's bat doesn't. Rollins could also be a #2 hitter, moving Iguchi down. Pods could also stick around while Sweeney or Fields start 2007 in AAA. Though if the Sox think one of those could start the yr in LF, Pods could be dealt. Depends on how ready the sox think Ryan or Josh are for the bigs. Though trading for Rollins might take dealing Fields--which could happen if the sox sign Crede to a 3, 4 yr deal which I would do first thing in the offseason.

Flame throwers with very good command are hard to find. Not to mention the injury risks involved and what losing an ace can do to a club's chances of making the playoffs. The sox are better off getting sure things in the 1st few rounds and then taking chances on hard throwers shortly thereafter. They are building their starting rotation around durable, guys who can go deep into games, who may not have overpowering stuff but are less injury risks. The Sox did take risks in the 2003 draft with Gio, Lumsden, Whisler and Liotta. Only Liotta could be considered a "safe" pick. [And Gio, Tyler and Wes have been injured]. The sox have steered away from project pitchers the last few yrs after getting burned in the early 2000's with the "great stuff, no control" type pitchers who can throw in the mid to upper 90's. Esp. in the first few rounds. The sox could to a better job of finding these types after the 5th round or so--which are good talent guys but need work. The Twins the last decade or so have been terrible with their 1st round picks. Few have helped them or are in the bigs now. Having top talent not make an impact on the big league club [wither through trades or coming up through the system] can wreck a club. The sox are going after flame throwers for the bullpen. But those are high risk guys as well, who are hard to depend on from yr to yr.