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QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 28, 2009 -> 12:30 PM) Guys, The rumor in Santiago de Cuba is that 1B Jose Julio Ruiz is missing for a week. Jose Julio is 23-24 and he is good. If I am KW or any other GM, I go after him. He is learning how to elevate the ball to hit HR. He is a gap hitter. I was trying to find a HR he hit vs Industriales in the playoffs that went over the stadium roof. Here is Jose Julio vs Yadel Marti in 2007. Go to the 3:57 mark on this video to see Jose Julio Industriales RHP reliever Alexei Gil may be in the D.R. He is a 90 + MPH pitcher but he needs to work with his control. He relatively young. Thanks for the info, Cubano, as always. Go get 'em Kenny!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Cause Viciedo's going for 50. ^^^^^ Glad I'm not the only one with "crazy" expectations for the big Cuban. You heading to Glendale?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Now Konerko, for example, there is your slowest guy. He may be the slowest position player in all of baseball. ^^^^^ Konerko might well be the slowest player I've ever seen, though I never saw "El Guapo" Garces run. "Ground ball to short, it's booted into shallow left.. Oh my!! The left fielder and short stop have collided and are rolling around in pain ....The third baseman is retrieving the ball.. Long THROOOWWWW! And Konerko's out at first by three steps!!! Thome, JD, AJ, and Crede in hospital traction can all run circles around Paulie.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 04:45 PM) Boras client? Whoops! I need to read more carefully.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 03:30 PM) I have a pretty good feeling that Johnny Damon won't sign with the White Sox any time soon. Boras client?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 12:42 PM) Yes, people have had success with that. But that doesn't mean that it serves their needs the best. The simple fact with Poreda is that the thing standing between him and a solid front line starting pitcher is a solid 3rd pitch that he can throw for strikes or at least get people to bite on. Out of the bullpen he isn't going to be working on a 3rd pitch. Starting in AAA he will be. With a pitcher trying to add another pitch, starting in the bullpen will be a setback. With a pitcher adapting to throwing against major league hitters, time in the bullpen could be very effective, but right now that's not AP's biggest need. Well, I think you're both right. If Poreda's good enough and it makes the bullpen stronger, I want him on the roster, period. OTOH, I really want him to develop into a starter long-term, or at least have a chance to, as well. Keep him in a long relief role instead of a LOOGY, and he'll still be in a position and mindset to develop the 3rd pitch.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 06:43 PM) Scott Boras' top guys for the 2009-10 offseason: Adrian Beltre, Johnny Damon, Matt Holliday, Rick Ankiel, and Ryan Madson. He's weak in the starting pitching category with Jarrod Washburn and Kevin Millwood. The group feels older than this year's. Players who will be under 30 in 2010: Omar Infante, Hank Blalock, Wily Mo Pena, Rich Harden, Brett Myers, and Madson. John Lackey heads the starting pitchers, though he may sign an extension. After him it's Myers, unless Erik Bedard or Harden have huge, healthy years. Of course, there's always guys you don't see coming, like Ryan Dempster this year. If you want a big bat, you're looking at whoever's left of Carlos Delgado, Troy Glaus, Chipper Jones, Jason Bay, Holliday, Ankiel, Jermaine Dye, Vladimir Guerrero, Aubrey Huff, and Jim Thome. Forget about these guys, whose options will likely be exercised: Victor Martinez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Webb. from mlbtraderumors.com I guess you can throw Abreu and maybe Dunn into the mix, although Dunn's desirability ranking took a dive somewhat with that curious contract from the Nationals. Damon might make a lot of sense in LF on a one or two year deal, if it looks like he's got something left, isn't too costly, and CF is solidified already with Lilli or Owens, or JorDanks is ready. Don't want him in CF anymore.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 05:15 PM) Intra squad game between 45-man roster. Looks like a formidable bunch of players. They'll be tough again in WBC.

Count will start the fourth game of the season. Colon is fifth starter. Maybe not so bold: http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....-no-5-spot.html

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 16, 2009 -> 04:24 PM) At 7:00 EST P.M. the game starts. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/juego-de-beisbol Cubano, I watched a fair amount of it last night. Was that an all-star game? That Chapman is quite a big fellow. Got knocked around a bit early but then looked good. The feed was rather poor unfortunately, but hey, better than nuthin'.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) With Contreras, possibly Dye, and Thome coming off the books at the end of this season, even with raises for people and the shaky economy I think next year we'll be in a position to spend more than we were this year. I agree completely. Especially, if this season is more successful than some are projecting.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) Shelby and Getz are the players that I see having the hardest time being starters in the future, at least long-term with the White Sox. Good analysis as always 'field. I concur wholeheartedly that the right handedness is a problem with the future lineup, provided it's kept together. I believe, though, that the Sox will wind up trading someone, probably Fields, after he hopefully establishes some trade value this season. They'll look for young pitching, and to get even younger, further from arb, etc. With Getz having the first crack at 2B, possibly, this season, if he establishes himself as a good OBP guy, he'll be hard to get out of the lineup because they need his lefthandedness, probably in the 2-hole in front of Q. Basically, we got hope like hell that Allen develops, can play 1B, and could be good enough to be in the four or five-hole. Meanwhile, we replace Thome with another left-handed DH, maybe a faster, OBP guy. Then, we get something like this. 3B Beckham 2B Getz RF Q LF Dayan 1B Allen or Lefty DH SS Missile DH Lefty or Allen C Flowers CF JorDanks This lineup has plenty of L-R balance, speed and power. And in 2011, at least, it'll be pretty dirt cheap, too. This is what I'm hoping for anyway. Obviously the outfield defense/catching could be suspect, but the infield might be solid. Moving Dayan to DH and getting a lefty OF could get the same type of lineup and better defense. Not to beat a dead horse, but I wouldn't rule out Abreu as an acquisition down the road. He's one a one year deal, Vlad may soon require a graceful transition to the Angels' DH, and we'll need him even more post-Thome. Maybe there will be better options in the next two FA classes.

The obvious problem, IMO, with the AL projections this year are that the winners of the Central and West have only 83 and 84 wins. That's much too low to be realistic. The East will be excellent, clearly, but who wants to bet me that both the Central and West won't have winners with at least 87 or 88 victories? Someone almost always emerges, and the "sellers" get REALLY bad in the second half and provide more easy wins to the contenders. Projections are fun to talk about, but are mostly worthless.

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 11:29 AM) Actually if someone pronounces it correctly, it sounds like Die On... but I'm sure alot of people in the media will screw it up. Actually, it's pronounced more like "die-AHN" AHN rhyming with Genghis Khan or Jessica Hahn.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 11:30 AM) Those are big words for the former super sub and 8th place hitter in the Cuban National team when he was in the line up. This raise the expectations for him. I hope he does well which I think he will. He will also have some mental lapses while adapting to an everyday SS. He played SS in his first season with Pinar del Rio and began playing CF ever since. He played 2B for the Cuban National team in emergency basis. So you're saying he doesn't really have all that much experience at SS? That's a little disconcerting. Was the guy who replaced him a superstar? Anyway, not too worried, cause the guy is smart, and he'll make the adjustments. I want to see him moved to the 2-hole, which will force a little patience on him, perhaps, if there's a base stealer at leadoff, especially. That Cuban Nat'l team must have been pretty smokin'. Alexei strikes me as a guy who has been improving his game over the past few years, figuring things out and getting better. He raked in his last year with Pinar, no?

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) Explain how we are going to be ok? This should be rephrased to we are a questionable team right now with young guys that we don't know what we are going to get out of. No question, there are a lot of questions. But, basically, all negative projections for this team are largely based on expected regression from Alexei, Q, Danks, and Floyd - I ain't buyin' that, I think they'll be even better in '09, except maybe Q who couldn't possibly get much better. Also, with the exception of Colon/Linebrink, our pitching staff figures to be "healthier" than most. I don't think that's weighted as much as it should be by the projections. *Someone will emerge at 2B, and be at least adequate. The supposed gambles with Tadahito and Alexei worked out as well, and our good fortune will continue here. *Jose might be pretty good after a long rest - he started last year very well. *The key will be the start of the season, and our schedule early on is not daunting *Real studs like Beckham and Viciedo may provide help sooner than expected Owens and CF generally scare the CR/AP out of me. 5th starter, a little less so. Ask me again about half way through ST. Right now, I'm an optimist. But man, I'm bummed that Abreu won't be hitting in front of all our clout-or-out bats. I'm rather sick of seeing us still lose games when we get three HR's, all solo.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 10:50 AM) The White Sox even with Abreu had no chance of winning anything. The Angels are contenders, nuff said. Disagree. Completely. We'll still be OK, but Abreu would make us better. Angels aren't all that - much more of an "aging" team than the Sox actually, at this point. They won't be as good as last year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) Why would anyone take Dye at double that cost? There was no market for us to move anyone. My point is, KW MIGHT have been able to trade Dye if we ate more than half his salary, ~$6M. The net cost would still be the same. If AJ winds up in the 2 hole with a pathetic .312 OBP, i'm going to be doubly pissed. I really thought we were going to wind up with Abreu. My optimism for the season is somewhat lessened.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 07:33 AM) He signed with the Angels for a little more than $5 million + incentives. This kind of ticks me off. He could've been a huge difference maker in our lineup, for cheap. Should've found a way to move someone. It was a window of opportunity, now closed.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) So, let's see, Viciedo is 19 right? That means if he averages 50 home runs a year for the next 20 years, he should be able to put that record well out of reach of the steroid abusers. When can we get started? I like the cut of your jib, Balta. Like a pack of ravenous dogs, we're all jumping on whatever small bits of info we can get (like this video) to predict the kid's future. Nothing wrong with that, it's slow this time of year. The anonymous "AL Scout" says he has more hitting ability than Alexei. That, along with Joey and Ozzie's initial evaluations are good enough for me. I'm hoping we do actually control him beyond the 4 years of the deal, cause the kid just might be a monster.

I'm not believing that report. He'll sign for more than $3M.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 7, 2009 -> 09:25 AM) i also dont think he is being a jerk for not wanting to rush to extend these three players. Anything can happen, KW doesnt want to get saddled with a contract for a player who blew out his knee or elbow and wasnt even close to free agency Kenny has never been the most tactful guy when describing a situation, and his bluntness has caused him to butt heads with media or players in the past. It's a shame, but I've learned to live with this side of Kenny. His strength is putting together a roster, and as long as he does that well, we'll have to deal with his rough edges. He himself has admitted to it getting him in trouble.

Just heard on ESPN radio that JR had been rumored to be the buyer or part of a buying group of the troubled Phoenix Coyotes NHL franchise. The report said he backed out after seeing their books (a projected $45M loss this year, I believe) My thoughts are: It makes sense with his recent major investment in the area with the Glendale ST facility. Does his backing out free up cash for the Sox that he may had potentially earmarked for the Coyotes purchase?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 09:01 PM) If the team sucks, so be it...the Sox look fantastic beyond this year, and even this team could win the division. ^^^^^^^^^^^

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 11:02 AM) No, I have not heard anything knew. If I do, I will let you know. They are probably stuck in the D.R. waiting for their Dominican papers so Bud Selig can declare them free agents. That is the price to pay for being Cuban I guess. Thanks. I'll be checking your site.