29andPoplar

I knew Kaplan at NIU years ago. Yes, he is very Cubbied up. As for the pink hair thing, he doesn't have much hair regardless!

Right now I think White Sox management is in wait and see mode. Wait and see exactly what kind of team they have, i.e. will this offense finally wake up, will the pitching hold up, which way will the other teams in the division trend, etc. My guess is they remain in this mode until about June 15th. Because the White Sox are in the thick of the race, they feel they can afford to be patient with some of these underachievers. Not that I necessarily agree, on some of them anyway. Guys like Ramirez, Uribe, Wasserman will get more time but not too much ... as I mentioned about another month. As for additions, the Ray Durham conjecture in the other thread makes sense, at least on the surface. The Giants are playing him now and I am thinking they want to increase whatever trade value he has. Durham, if healthy, can help. However the hamstrings are a concern although he tends to play through minor injuries. Sox pro scouts will have to judge how much his defense has declined. As many here know, the White Sox are loving Uribe's defense at 2B.

I was optimistic about Quentin but never thought he'd be this good this soon. He'll probably level off some but that's not for this thread. Southsider I agree with you about believing in players, it appears that's one of Williams strengths. He is willing to be patient in the impatient world of baseball. Sometimes that patience bites him in the behind, but that's not for this thread either. Detroit does not look good right now, Cleveland is a very good team but not invincible. So, there's reason for optimism but to be fair, there's also reason for optimism in KC, Minnesota, Cleveland, and even Detroit. It's May. But it's nice to see the team coming together. Also in talking to a good friend of mine who posts here, we both feel Williams will add to the team if they're still squarely in the mix two months from now (duh). And I suspect the groundwork is being layed now.

After watching these triple crown races with the wife for 20+ years, you begin to listen to what's important to her, and the main key for her today was all the horses coming out of this race intact, and Big Brown winning. A great ending. She is rooting for Big Brown to get the triple crown, not too many have happened in our lifetime, or anyone's lifetime for that matter.

It's a long season. Overreacting to one game or one week is ill advised. I will say the first place thing is nice. Then again the pessimist in me says the Sox have a tough schedule coming up. The flip side of that is everyone has a tough schedule coming up. So lets just see how it goes, root for the White Sox and let's hope things work out.

The board rules according to fathom. Cop out. It's a message board. Is that in the terms of service?

Please tell the class which position he should be promoted to. Also please tell the class who should take over. If you say Rick Hahn, please tell the class, in detail, why Hahn would be better.

Great ... then why don't you just say that, instead of all your cloak-and-dagger BS about how you'll tell the board why he'd sign with the Cubs after he signs? Who cares what you told another poster. Why don't you be more forthcoming instead of all your hide behind the curtain BS? (speaking for several board members who PM me when I stand up to your cloak and dagger crap). It's a message board. Cut the "I told you so" crap. No one's impressed. Please tell the board what the Mitchell report will say and how it will affect the White Sox. You have been tip toeing around it for months now. Come clean, tell us what your Baseball America brother has to say about it. To the board ... pardon my bluntness. To fathom, cut the cloak and dagger crap ... if you're going to post, spill and stop worrying about covering your ass.

This should make you happy, it'll give you something to complain about all baseball season. Please ... is everything "the Cubs are great, woe is us"?

BS. How much can you possibly flip flop? You are the guy who said you'd be happy he'd sign with the Cubs, you're more happy now since this is what you predicted. Face it, you're happy when you're miserable. That the Cubs hired some Japanese guys ... is this the cloak-and-dagger "I can't tell" information you said you'd reveal? LOL. If so, why was this so "top secret"? Come out of the closet, fathom, we all know your brother works for Baseball America. In reality, money talked. Again.

Yet ANOTHER stellar contribution. "Rook ... He Sucks ... Playstation ... stupid". PASS on you. NEXT. I go to the point too.

Ptatc, I agree he will be ripped either way. Good thing he doesn't care and knows it comes with the territory. His agent believes he can get five years so that's the story, he wants five years. There will probably be certain "out" clauses, i.e. back to Japan, if things turn sour from either side. Sooner or later though, the White Sox will have to take a risk on a free agent and pay up. Whether it's this guy or not, there are no sure things. If the Sox want to play with the big boys, and they say they do, they'll have to act the part. The economics are part of the game.

Very good post, nicely stated. I agree there is room for argument about Floyd's upside. As for myself, I am shaky on it, he needs to show me more. But then again there are very few pitchers his age and with his level of MLB experience that don't need to show more. The mental/confidence issue is cause for concern, it's up to him at this point. As a Sox fan I'm hopeful he's turned the corner.

Very interested in hearing about this.

Yet another stellar contribution. At least it wasn't your usual Just Say NO to (insert player).

Thought it was interesting, though not shocking, the Brewers DFA'd OF Kevin Mench today. Brew Crew would've been on the hook for a few mill had they elected to keep him. He never did quite fit in up there. Mench is one year away from free agency and is probably looking for a one year deal. While it does not appear there's a fit with the White Sox, don't be surprised if you hear rumblings. They've liked this guy in the past. Although they like Carlos Quentin a lot, his 100% readiness for April is not assured, plus there are the nagging health issues of Dye and Thome. Not meant to turn this into the typical "he sucks" "no he doesn't" debate, just noting he was DFA'd and he might be someone the Sox will take a flier on.

Excellent point and here's the answer. They expected him to respond to their repeated coaching. In a nutshell, to take his career seriously, just as the agent says he's doing now for the 1st time. The Sox miscalculated, which they have done many times. It was the Sox' mistake because they convinced themselves that Anderson would listen to them, that he would mentally mature and work at being a pro.

Tony ... Look at the other side of the coin. Actually it was all about Anderson. Williams would LOVE to see his hand picked young players succeed. Every GM would. A lot of teams have liked Erstad for a long time, the bloom is off the rose now that he's completely injury prone. The Cubs sniffed around Erstad, several other teams too. It was all about trying to figure out a way to wake Anderson up. They talked and talked and talked to Anderson, it is not a new thing. Erstad was not guaranteed the job, all he was guaranteed was a chance to compete for a starting job. Bad miscalc by the Sox thinking he could stay healthy, he is beat up big time. Williams is not about guaranteeing people starting jobs, he is all about whatever makes the White Sox a better team. Sometimes he and his staff make bad judgement calls. Big problem here was Brian Anderson didn't answer the wake up call, again, not about the stats but all about commitment. There are things this board doesn't know, doesn't see, etc. I am glad the agent finally came out and told the truth, now let's ask ourselves why would the agent do that? Gee ... I wonder ... that 5% commission is a lot bigger on a Torii Hunter type contract for hard working talented CF's vs. a Brian Anderson contract as it stands now. Even the agent is tring to light a fire under Brian's butt.

Actually I love that the Brewers are stepping up like this. Love it. They have been down in the dumps for so long and there are good fans in Milwaukee. They think they have a good chance to compete, they have more money than they've ever had, and they drop a chunk on a one year commitment. They are, in general, a good young team that's fun to watch, they need a bit more veteran presence and Gagne will help them.

One of the best one sentence posts on this message board I've seen. Fathom has been posting with all sorts of cloak and dagger insinuations that the Mitchell report will be the complete downfall of certain players i.e. "they're not going after player x because the Mitchell report is coming out". The Mitchell report, IMO, will be a public unveiling of the curtain, after which there will be a slap on the wrist like Guillen's and Gibbon's suspensions, and that will be that.

Actually this is just not true, no matter how many think there was some kind of conspiracy against Brian Anderson. Erstad was brought in to light a fire under Anderson's ass, a fire that was badly needed because Brian didn't approach things professionally, as confirmed by his agent (although very well known in baseball circles). It didn't matter if it was Erstad or not, they were going to bring in another player to light a fire under Anderson's ass, it's too bad they couldn't find anyone better than Darin Erstad. Erstad is beat up, they thought they could get a healthy year or two out of Darin and they were wrong. The flip side is Brian Anderson isn't the picture of health either. He has had nagging wrist problems and one or two more plunks on the wrist and he has a big problem in terms of his long term career. The Sox wanted Anderson to rise to the challenge, and before anyone trots out spring training stats, please save it. There's a lot more to making the team than spring training stats, all sorts of stuff off the field and in the clubhouse. Dismiss those things if you wish, but the reality is all 30 MLB teams don't dismiss them. The problem was they didn't get a better option than Erstad. The biggest problem is they still don't have a better option, although for now it's Jerry Owens and not Darin Erstad. They need better players, plain and simple. For all those in this thread who feel Anderson is a viable option, he may be but I will tell you this, Brian Anderson has lost the benefit of the doubt. That said, I am happy his agent says he's working hard, etc. Hopefully it will ultimately help the White Sox in some fashion, which frankly is all I care about.

Rick Hahn talked about Brian on the radio last week. Hahn said Anderson was recovering from a sternum injury which he apparantly sustained while rehabbing his wrist. Not sure how that works but whatever. Hahn further said it would be decided in a week or so whether Anderson would play in Mexico. He said the Sox want him to get some AB's and Anderson wanted some AB's as well. That he's finally approaching his career in a professional manner is clearly good news. It will raise his value, no matter what the Sox decide to do with him.

Actually he's not expected to jump three levels, the Sox took him in the minor league phase. They don't have to keep him, or add him to the 40 man, nor do they run the risk of losing him back to the Astros organization. He'll be assigned to one of the minor league teams is all.

That's pretty much it. As frustrating as these winter meetings were for me as a White Sox fan, I wonder how most of the other teams fans feel. Seems to me there was a huge log jam. Lots of talk but not a lot of action, save for the Florida-Detroit deal. It's odd. Teams seem to be waiting longer and longer into the offseason. Maybe the Santana auction is holding everything up. A couple of the key FA's have signed but I was almost shocked at the lack of trades at these meetings, not just the Sox but all across baseball.

Any time, no problem.