TLAK

Claudell Washington He had a lot of talent but just played lazy (or looked like it anyway). 17 errors in RF over about 2 years, and those are balls he got to. There had to be a ball per game than anyone else would have caught but he would loaf and take it on a bounce. Selfish at the plate, he hit 2nd most of '79 and accumulated 2, count 'em, sacrafice bunts. It was all about Claudell, and it always looked like he wanted to be anywhere in the world except Chicago. 30 years ago and it still bothers me.

Just for conversation. What team in the Central is gonna get the most good starts over a 162 game season? The names below are orderd by Indians, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Royals #1 Sabathia, Verlander, Santana, Buehrle, Meche #2 Carmona, Rogers, Bonser, Vazquez, Bannister #3 Byrd, Bonderman, Baker, Contreras, Greinke #4 Westbrook, Willis, Slowey, Danks, Davies #5 Laffey, Robertson, TBD, Floyd, De La Rosa

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2008 -> 01:35 PM) Given that right now his trade value is equivalent to the value of a $4.5 million lottery ticket, that's probably true. His value can not go down from here. Also factor in that Brandon Inge is on the block since the Tigers got MCabrerra. He is not the player that Joe Crede is and he is a $19 million commitment for 3 years but I bet the Tigers will either eat quite a bit of that, or take on somebody else's problem salary player in return. Its going to be hard to get a lot for Joe Crede.

Sox.com obit At least a few of us are old enough to remember him. He clinched the pennant for the Sox in 1959, coming into a 4-2 game with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth in Cleveland. On his only pitch, Vic Power grounded to Luis Aparicio who stepped on second to force Jimmy Piersall, of all people, then throw to first for the DP. Rest in peace, Gerry.

Here is a list of all the White Sox draft choices I can find that played in 2007. Draft Dte Rd '07 Player 06/05/89 32 CLE Joe Borowski 06/05/89 01 TOR Frank Thomas 06/04/90 02 ARI Bob Wickman 06/04/90 05 SFN Ray Durham 06/03/91 18 SDN Mike Cameron 06/01/92 27 BOS Brendan Donnelly 06/03/93 02 TBA Greg Norton 06/04/96 13 BAL Chad Bradford 06/04/96 05 CHA Joe Crede 06/04/96 02 TBA Josh Paul 06/04/96 01 DET Bobby Seay 06/02/98 01 PHI Aaron Rowand 06/02/98 03 COL Josh Fogg 06/02/98 02 CIN Gary Majewski 06/02/98 38 CHA Mark Buehrle 06/02/98 01 SLN Kip Wells 06/02/99 03 WAS Jon Rauch 06/02/99 10 MIN Matt Guerrier 06/02/00 38 PIT Tom Gorzelanny 06/02/00 03 SEA Mike Morse 06/02/00 18 ARI Chris Young 06/02/00 10 CHA Heath Phillips 06/05/00 01 FLO Joe Borchard 06/02/01 12 TEX Chris Stewart 06/02/01 25 CHA Charlie Haeger 06/02/02 17 TEX Brandon McCarthy 06/02/02 20 CHA Boone Logan 06/02/02 25 OAK Jay Marshall 06/02/02 01 ATL Royce Ring 06/04/02 02 SEA Jeremy Reed 06/02/03 01 CHA Brian N. Anderson 06/02/03 02 CHA Ryan Sweeney 06/02/05 01 CHA Lance Broadway

Here's how the boys did using my daily ERA formula. Each start is evaluated one at a time, then totaled. It is meant to show which pitchers give his team the most chances to win his start over the course of a year. And the downside is it shows how many times he gives his team virtually no chance to win.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2007 -> 07:29 PM) Btw, does it seem to anyone else like the A's got a bigger haul for Haren than they did for Hudson + Mulder combined? Haren was in the Mulder trade, so they got all these guys + 3 years of Haren + Barton and Calero for Mulder. Then add what they got for Hudson: Juan Cruz, Dan Meyer, and Charles Thomas. Trade good pitchers and you get alot back.

Also from RotoWorld Hmmm...

Joe Cowley visits with Ozzie Guillen in Sunday's Sun-Times: "Q: Who is going to play second? A: Right now, I'm looking to [Danny] Richar. But I have Juan Uribe to compete with him." So no mention of Pablo, and as I mentioned above, if Uribe is still on the team you can expect to see him on the field quite a bit.

Barring a trade I would expect Juan Uribe to get significant time at 2B, maybe 60 games. I thought he did a good job with the glove there in '04. Playing match ups with Richar and Uribe may get a little more out of them together than either could do as a full timer. Uribe will also get about 15-20 starts at SS as Cabrera's caddy (count the Sundays). I think Ozuna stays an all purpose sub, occasional starts in LF-3B-2B against good righties but mostly a late inning pinch hitter and situational runner (Kong-Thome-JD-AJ). When Zoomer comes into the game something always happens -- its not always good but something happens.

So they need $10 million to get Rowand. They drew 2,684,395 fans last year, so they need about $3.75 more per head. Figuring in the cost of the vendors and the paying the brewery, if each fan had roughly one more beer per game the White Sox could pay him from the net. I, for one, am willing to do my part.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 02:29 AM) Well, I think there is a difference in what kind of innings these guys are pitching. There are "stressful" innings and "non-stressful" innings. If you ask any Indians, Red Sox, or White Sox fan how Riske does in stressful innings, you'll get the same answer. To quote from a favorite commercial of mine, he folds like a lawn chair. He does, however, seem to do fine in non-stressful innings where the game is not on the line. I think many of his would-be suitors recognize that and therefore hesitate to give him big dollars... Agree. Riske's value is in keeping the team close when it is down a couple runs. As soon as the game is tied or you get a lead he folds. Cleveland tried to close with him in '03-'04 and he got 13 saves in 25 opportunities. Life time he has 20 saves in 38 opps so he blows the lead about half the time. The best measure is how his managers use him, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1, 4-8 save/opp since '04. Eric Wedge, Terry Francona, Ozzie Guillen and Buddy Bell all chose not to use him in save situations if they had an alternative. He is a usefull part of winning team in that he can eat innings in games you are losing and preserve the front line guys for games you have a better chance of winning. He is not a first tier relief pitcher, but he can keep you in some games and you have better chance to come back than if you use, say a Dewon Day of 2007.

Roto again:

RotoWorld: This is interesting. Bourgeois started out as a SS and has moved all over the field since. He played in 44 games at 2B with Charlotte last year. Did anyone on the board get a look at him? Quality left handers had Danny Richar for breakfast last year, it would be nice to have an option against guys in the central like Santana without spending a bundle on a guy to play 50 games. ---Bourgeois also played everywhere Andy Gonzalez did and hit .311.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Nov 13, 2007 -> 10:49 PM) Just curious, but if the Sox get Hunter and have a LF of one (or two) of Owens/Stewart/Crisp, that would be an all black OF. Now, when was the last time Chicago had an all black OF? Since the 80's 1995: Tim Raines, Lance Johnson, Mike Devereaux 1994: Raines, Johnson, Bo Jackson 1993: Raines, Johnson, Ellis Burkes 1981: Ron Leflore, Chet Lemon, Harold Baines

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 03:37 PM) Bringing in a guy like Colon or Garcia makes sense to me if ... I'd love it if the White Sox would take a flyer on Freddy Garcia. He won't be ready to pitch until the ASB so offer him a minors deal like the Yankee's did when Jon Lieber was coming back. It worked for them, the Vermin tried it with Wade Miller and it didn't. Even if Garcia's arm never gets better you can write it off as a reward for Game 7 in WS. Garcia is the gutsiest pitcher I've seen since Jack McDowell. He might do better than what I'm suggesting somewhere else but I'd still love to see him have a shot of getting back with the team.

I've always liked Eckstein as a player but I believe in the saying "Old shortstops never win". The Eck is going to be 33 next year. The last shortstop on a WS champion who was that old was Larry Bowa in 1980 at age 35. Next was Maury Wills at 33 in 1965. The SS is traditionally the best athlete on the team, if David Eckstien at 33 is your best athlete, you are in trouble.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 31, 2007 -> 04:30 PM) He is going to be homeless himself if he doesn't quit running his mouth... Ouch!

MLB.Com Scott Merkin

QUOTE(max power @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 07:33 PM) I don't see how its prudent to judge anything from 17 at bats, especially when they are as sporadic as his were and the fact that he is and was a developing player at the time, not some established vet. 17 on top of about 400 similar ones the two years before. I know it's harsh, I had great hopes for Brian, but he is just not maturing as a baseball player. He has so much more talent than, say a Rowand or even Joe Crede, but he just doesn't know or doesn't want to take the right approach to a given situation. He just wants to be the star, in the mean time the White Sox were giving ball games away. Grrr.

I really think he's just too dumb to be a good major leaguer. Do you remember his 17 at bats? He was situationally terrible. Forget the numbers, there are many ways a player can help a team if he can field like Brian, even if he's not hitting for numbers. But he came up needing a lazy fly ball or even a ground ball to get a guy over and would strike out trying to put it on the moon. Then he'd come up with 2 out and nobody on and bunt. He was very frustrating for the fans to watch and must have driven the coaches nuts. A great athlete but a bad ball player.

Destroy Hawkins

Get Gameday Audio and listen to some of the other guys doing MLB and I think you will find the current team compares well. Farmer and Singleton call every pitch and keep you in the game. Singleton has come miles, but he had many miles to go. He has really improved his analysis spots. He needs a little more energy in his PBP,you can still tell he is laboring, and he will be fine. I'm good with this team and happy both will be back.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 24, 2007 -> 09:21 AM) Trib reports that Hahn was kept out of many discussions at the organizational meetings because of his being recruited for other jobs. Secrecy and all. Sounds to me like they think he is likely to leave. Remember when they did that to Bryan Little because his BROTHER got hired in Boston!

QUOTE(joesaiditstrue @ Oct 22, 2007 -> 05:07 AM) just want to state that the pituitary gland isnt' at the base of the brain, its behind your sinus cavity my dad's pituitary adenoma (growth) was removed through an invasive surgery through his nose, leaving no visible scarring which of course is nice! and he was put on a topical steroid called Andro Gel, so these types of growths often times require hormonal treatments such as steroids or hgh Wasn't that the year your dad hit 50 home runs? Sorry, hope he is well.