caulfield12

No need to trade for Figgins when they can sign Orlando Hudson more cheaply (and without giving up Konerko/Dye)...and be even better. The only consideration is the draft pick, and we might not even get anything out of Cabrera (article today speculates he could wait until mid-season to sign)...but bringing in Viciedo and Danks was pretty much like having two first/second rounders along with Beckham. They can also do a Porcello and chase after an "unsignable" non-Boras client late in the first or in later rounds. If we did sign Hudson, the draft picks available at that spot aren't close to being sure things anyway. And there's no reason we can't pull a Detroit and throw a ton of money at a high upside pitcher in later rounds...because we'll free up all that money in 2010/2011.

Some have Dunn ONLY getting $5 million. Anything is possible...Wigginton got desperate and signed recently, coming off a good season. What I would love to see: 1) Trade Dye for young pitching (Angels/Reds, etc.) 2) Sign Abreu for two years at $15-18 million (convince him that lower money for this year will allow them to sign O-Dog) 3) Sign Orlando Hudson for one year at around $5 million and stick him in CF as the leadoff hitter. Or start him at 2B and play Lillibridge/Anderson in CF as the 9th place hitter. Dump Owens/Wise from everyday line-up consideration. (This also allows Beckham to make an impact in 2010 at either SS but more likely 2B). This allows the White Sox to stay payroll neutral, address CF/leadoff, add two quality veterans AND a young starting pitcher with upside like Bailey or Adenhart with no pressure for them to produce in 2009.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ak27...o&type=lgns Just thought I'd repost this Viciedo article for those who didn't see it the first time...

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 02:25 PM) I'm gonna watch the Last King of Scotland tomorrow. Can't wait. F. Whitaker is one of the most underappreciated actors of his generation, maybe because of his weight/color and the fact that he's not an attention seeker. (I would add J. Wright, Felix Lyter in the 2 new Bond movies to that list as well). And McAvoy has done some really impressive work in Atonement, this movie was really good....even big budget Wanted with Jolie.

Viciedo's situation is more interesting because of his age, and the fact that many don't expect him to contribute much in 2009. That's a pretty risky investment to make...because there's always the possibility he does pan out and the White Sox groom him and really blossoms in 2011 or 2012 and then a really big budget team scoops him up when he's only 23. That just doesn't happen in baseball, a player like Miguel Cabrera essentially become a FA at that age. Maybe 25-26, but not 23. Drafting college/high school players, you know you'll get at least 6 years out a David Price or Joe Mauer (or maybe 7 with an extension covering the arbitration years and first year of Free Agency). One can only hope that he's happy with Ozzie and the Sox and rewards their loyalty like Dye, Buehrle and Konerko did. OTOH, if Alexei Ramirez has three more seasons like 2008 without ANY talk of a contract extension or tearing up his deal, then I think he would definitely be justified in taking the money elsewhere. I know that $4 million plus should make him set for life, even after taxes, but he's one of the best relative values in baseball, along with Quentin and Danks.

QUOTE (False Alarm @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 04:24 PM) goldstein is not a numbers guy. yes, he works for BP, but if you read his stuff and his chats, he pays little attention to BP's advanced metrics. these rankings are his, and he weighs scouting reports, discussions with scouts, and his own observations quite a bit more heavily than statistics. he was recruited to BP from BA and is kinda the anti-BP in some ways. i guarantee you he's not running any complex formulas or algorithms or anything like that. incidentally, nate silver has done a PECOTA-based projection of prospects for BP the last few years that might be more along the lines of what you're thinking balta. was always kinda interesting to compare em with goldstein's more scouting-based lists. doubt silver'll write those articles this year, though, since he's pretty much abandoned writing about baseball. as for viciedo, it's reasonable to rank him. college draftees who haven't played an inning of pro ball (eg, pedro alvarez) get ranked all the time on these types of lists. i don't really see how viciedo's case is so different. however, i can understand how people'd have doubts about him too. i consider him our #2 prospect, but cuban prospects've been so tough to evaluate over the years that i can't blame someone for putting allen ahead of him. Back to Viciedo. He received, essentially, a signing bonus bigger than anyone under 21 years old in the history of baseball. Many scouts have said he's a Top 5-10 hitter in ALL OF THE MINORS just based on his hitting ability ("major league ready") alone. He's right now listed as a 3B, which is a more premium position than 1B/LF/DH...or as a a RF, because of his plus arm. So the main negative that any scouting report from his workout details was his being a bit out of shape...which has NEVER happened with a 19 year old before? And it's not like he's a pretty big guy who can be projected at that age to fill out and turn that into muscle, or should he be LeBron James already? That he is listed as a 3 star or outside the top 100 prospects list is a joke. Maybe, just maybe, if everyone wasn't so wrong about Alexei Ramirez, who fared even worse in projections coming into last year, I would give it more serious consideration. But scouts all said he was going to be like Ramon Santiago/Miguel Cairo, some AAAA filler or 25th man type. It turned out he had the quickest bat on the team (Stone noticed this right away) and maybe in the entire AL. How can so many miss that? I mean, the kid's a stick and he almost has Soriano's pop and he can run nearly as well, too. If he was with the Yankees/Mets/Cubs, he would be the most hyped prospect in baseball, just like Juan Uribe's catch would have eclipsed anything Jeter did in the playoffs, even that shovel pass to nail Giambi at the plate, IMO.

I'd just like to see evidence that Anderson is maturing as a player (I won't get into off-field antics or attitude/cockiness for now). Sometimes, I think BA's evil twin William Katt (Greatest American Hero) would have a better chance of scoring with Shannon Tweed in a Skinemax Friday night movie than BA does with the curveball or offspeed stuff off the plate. Maybe you can blame Greg Walker (whatever), but I would like to see some baseball smarts....at least occasionally. The ability to hit to the opposite side and not get pull happy (Rowand fell into this, too). Being able to bunt and give yourself up. Considering he'd probably be the 9th place hitter, the ability to really bear down (like Uribe) and get RBI's when they are most needed. Hitting the cut-off man and throwing to the right bases. While he's a gifted defender, he makes lots of mistakes mentally in terms of fundamentals, and that just drives me crazy. His baserunning could also be better, although he's getting better in that area, and he's one of our few runners that you can count on with his long strides to get the extra base (1B to home on double, 1st to 3rd on single, 2nd to home on single, etc.)

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 11:27 AM) I am slowly and painfully real;izing the Sox trade away or allow to walk via free agency players that are ready to make money and start over again. Well, you can go along with that idea in the case of Durham, Ordonez and Lee. Before that, Robin Ventura or Alex Fernandez. More recently, you could add Rowand and Crede (not so much, the back and Boras were too problematic, plus we have depth there now). But they kept Frank Thomas long-term...as well as Buehrle. And was anyone HORRIBLY upset when we left Ordonez go...I mean, he made $14.5 million in 2004 and was coming off a couple of major injuries that led many to believe he might never be the same, plus he was having medical procedures in Switzerland, it was crazy to think the White Sox would offer a deal like the Tigers (to their credit, although they might have been bidding against themselves) did in the end. I guess for this generation of Sox fans, the only name that really HURT to lose was Ventura, because he was such a fan favorite and all-around good guy. It's really what all MLB franchises, with a few exceptions (like the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs/Dodgers/Angels/Mets) have to do these days. Maximize the value of players in years 1-4, and then get the best possible return. I think Jenks, with his many risk factors, will also fall into this camp. You have to also keep in mind they've kept Konerko, Dye and Thome around as the "core" of the line-up. You can take issue with letting Chris Young go (if KW had a choice) instead of Anderson to the D-Backs, but does anyone want to assume Aaron Rowand's contract right now? I don't think so.

Any rating for Viciedo at this point is VERY silly, at best. Flowers also seems to be getting the short end of the stick, compared to where he's normally at...which is 3rd or 4th, especially if he can stick as a catcher, he'd be #3 behind Wieters and Posey probably in MLB if he has another season like last year (plus the AFL.) I also don't see how Lillibridge can be completely out of the picture (well, "sleeper") after one injury-riddled season.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 12:37 PM) The wife and I saw Revolutionary Road on Friday. It was basically 2.5 hours of why marriage is bad, and the rumors that Winslet gets nekkid were unfounded. There really was no purpose to watch this movie. I didn't hate it, but I didn't feel like I'd been to see a movie afterwards. Also, I can see why the performances of the main characters did not warrant nomination. A lot of the arguments really seemed forced and contrived. The only guy nominated (supporting actor, crazy guy) had like 10 minutes of screen time. Meh. Stick with The Reader and Titanic, lol. Or just watch Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler.

What was the deal with the new Transformers preview/trailer? Does anyone know anything about the plot/synopsis? I wonder when they will start showing AVATAR previews?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 08:38 AM) This kid is my sleeper for the CF job. He would be a perfect fit if he could approach his pre 2008 numbers. He gives you more of the little things (I hate to say scrappy/grindy) that you won't get from an Anderson...maybe like Iguchi with more ability but less refined at this stage of his career. I don't buy KW's comment about BA hitting .275 with 25 homers. If he played everyday, he'd be hard-pressed to hit .240, going against the best righthanders in the game, day in and day out. Of course, his defenders will argue that consistent playing time would fix all the holes in his swing...that his approach would improve and he wouldn't miss every single slider or curveball low and away. Well...the reverse argument is true too, getting the most favorable match-ups available in most games, he didn't even challenge hitting .250 for the season. Anderson's a very good defensive player, sure, but the holes in his offensive game can be more than overcompensated for by Lillibridge repeating anything close to his minor league norms prior to 2008. Of course, someone will cite BA's norms in the minors and say why would we expect Getz/Nix/Lillibridge to hit as well as they did in the minors at the major league level?

I don't think you can argue that 2003, 2005 and 2008 were years that DIDN'T end up better than MOST predicated b4 the season, even though 2003 turned out disappointing in the end. I think our expectations got too jacked up in the middle of the 2003 season...thinking we MIGHT have had the best team in the AL for at least awhile. And then you're not considering 2000, which was a HUGE surprise to everyone (I know, not part of KW's regime exactly), but almost as big of a surprise as 2005 in many ways, maybe moreso. 2001 and 2006 stung coming off division championships and the World Series title, but 2001, we were decimated by injures and started 14-29 and struggled all season to get back to .500. 2002, 2004...we were probably around what was expected. 2007...once again, injuries decimated a team that most thought would be 5-10 games over .500, but had dramatically faded down the stretch in 2006 and also a team replacing some key parts from the championship team already. By this "disappointment" metric, though....every season in NY, Boston or on the Northside without a World Series title is a major disappointment. That's a pretty high barrier/standard for the White Sox to live up to, if you consider where this team was for large parts of the past 50 years.

Indications are that prized left-hander Aaron Poreda has an excellent shot at making the Opening Day roster, even if he doesn't beat out Clayton Richard or Jeff Marquez for the fifth starter's spot. Guillen said his son Oney raved about Poreda when they played together in the minor leagues. Poreda also struck out five in three innings, including a called third strike on Colorado's Todd Helton, in a 'B' game last March. "Pretty soon he'll be in the big leagues, and you will enjoy the way this kid pitches," Guillen said. "He's got great stuff. Whoever scouted this guy should be proud." www.chicagotribune.com/sports

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?i...ce=MLBHeadlines Article that says the White Sox are done with FA's for this offseason. The most interesting thing was hinting that DeWayne Wise was the favorite for CF, but I haven't seen that reported ANYWHERE else. I guess in that scenario, Wise would be batting 9th? If Lillibridge or Getz are legitimately targeted to hit leadoff, you'd have to think that Anderson behind Fields as the 9th place hitter would make the most sense. But it seems more like they would prefer Owens to hit first against righties and Lillibridge against lefties.

If they can teach him to master the crossover step without taking the crowhop or bunny step (when stealing bases), that would be great.

Brian Anderson is still around, and so is Dewayne Wise. Anderson has obvious ability and has culled a cult-like following among Sox fans despite getting limited play the past two seasons. In 2006, Anderson played in 134 games and batted a subpar .225. Last year, he started only 39 games but appeared in 109, often as a late-inning defensive replacement. "I think he grew up a little bit as a player last year, and I think he grew up a little bit as a man," Guillen said. "He will get a legit shot to win the job." Guillen said the same about Wise. The battle at second base is even more crowded, with Getz, Lillibridge and Jayson Nix set to compete. General manager Kenny Williams said top prospect Gordon Beckham needs a full season in the minor leagues. Lillibridge is a product of the Atlanta Braves' system, and Nix comes over from the Colorado Rockies. Much like Williams, Guillen is eager to see Lillibridge when camp opens in Glendale, Ariz. "I think this kid is going to bring a lot, because I talked to (Braves scout) Jim Fregosi and he's really high on him," Guillen said. "He's a player; he shows up every day trying to beat you. That's what I hear." from dailyherald.com

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1340 Notice he didn't say anything about Yadel Marti, just Gomez?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1145510.story Yet another story on Owens. You would think he was Jesse Owens or Terrell Owens, as much coverage/ink as he's gotten this off-season after not even being recalled last year.

Then, the every-day lineup could be viewed as a wonderful blend of veteran and youth. You also could argue there are only a couple of – if any – players in their primes (depending on your definition), leading to the kind of offensive inconsistencies the White Sox endured last season. from cbssportsline.com

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Jan 31, 2009 -> 01:50 PM) I think Mark Shapiro is awful. Particularly because of Borowski and then the follow up, Kerry Wood. Awful. Getting Kelly Shoppach (20+ homers from catching position) has been one of his best moves, and one of Epstein's worst...on the other hand, you have the likes of Andy Marte, Josh Barfield, Jason Michaels and Joe Borowski as a closer...which most were quite skeptical of. Totally rearranging the infield with DeRosa, the bloated Peralta (is now a 3B/1B/DH) and Cabrera should definitely help offensively. Garko's also a butcher, and they need to find space for Martinez and Hafner as well. A lot will come down to the contributions of LaPorta and the pitcher they got in return for Sabathia...that will be telling. I also think that the pick-up of Reyes could turn out to be as good as the signing of Pavano turns out badly (from a clubhouse perspective). Also think that the trade of F. Gutierrez was a puzzling one and they're really depending on Choo to be an everyday player when he hasn't been for the last couple of years at the big league level. Shapiro seems to always coast because of the Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff Lee deal. Of course, he definitely missed the potential with Phillips and gave up way too quickly on him, creating a hole that took 2-3 years to fill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-remingt...l_b_160456.html

Adding intrigue is the supposed/rumored "relationship" between Evan Rachel Wood (who also dated Marilyn Manson, 19 years her senior) and 56 year old Mickey Rourke.

Well, players like Tony Gwynn, John Kruk and David Ortiz have had pretty "decent" careers (to say the least for 2 of them) at least less ideal body weights....same with Manny Ramirez.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 12:30 PM) Depends on how desperate we are. Based on last year and the AFL, I think both Danks and Beckham will probably start off the season in AA this year. If they continue to hit there, and a position opens up due to, I dunno, Matt Wise not being the best leadoff hitter...You could see Beckham this year and maybe Danks this year to next year. More time is obviously better, but if you need a CF... I think you mean DeWayne Wise, not the pitcher...or Rick Wise.