bighurt4life

Any baseball fan knows that the game is every bit as mental as it is physical. In addition to working out all the time during the season and the travel (not to mention the actual games). These guys are watching film, working on their swing, and in the case of Thome, probably helping the younger guys out with some of the mental aspects of the game, teaching them what to look for with certain pitchers, hitters, teams, etc... There is definitely a mental drain that will take a toll on you after a while and you will get worn down. It's inevitable, I'm sure it doesn't help that he's much older and probably doesn't have the same spring in his step that he had when he was younger.

The Count has always had a rep for being a hard worker so it's no surprise to me that he's taking his rehab seriously and getting into the best shape he can.

I think it would be kinda cool to have MLB teams in Mexico or Cuba but don't think it's very realistic. You're talking about third world countries where dropping $150 to take your family to a game is a tremendous amount of money. I hate the idea of people spending that much money on a luxury instead of using it for necessities. I'm not sure that those places could really support MLB teams but bringing AA or AAA teams to those places would definitely be a possibility and would be a cool way to bring a little bit of MLB to those places.

That projection is garbage. It says that the AL East will basically crush all of the MLB out of existence. I don't buy it. Whe the hell to the Orioles have that make them better than us or the Royals or Blue Jays for that matter. And we only finish 4 games ahead of the Mariners who may field one of the worst teams in recent memory next season? Everyone doubted us last season too and look what happened. I'm not saying that we'll win the division but last place. C'mon, that's a joke, we did win the division last season and we even cut loose some dead weight in Swisher and O-Cab.

The author's name is Merkin. that sucks for him.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 8, 2009 -> 11:33 AM) OK, guys. I certainly understand where are you coming from. Keep in mind that I do not come here every day to bombard you guys with my Cuban crap. I do not want you guys to hate us, but to love us. Ha, ha, ha. I only come every time something may interest you the most. Having said that, I spend lots of time updating my blog. Obviosuly, I am trying to raise the profile and knowledge of Cuban players for the better of them. Maybe, some of you do not relate to this, but I certainly do. The reason I started my blog is because we are treated different than the rest of the world for the bad. I hope to make a small difference, but sometimes I feel I am in a losing battle with the baseball establisment. I have seen improvements though. I have seen article with the correct info on defectors now. In the past, all Cuban players played in the National team. After they bombed, Cubans were bad. I have videos about other Cuban defectors there. If I inform you about Viciedo once, then I do not have to come back here and let you know I have videos about Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez in my site because you probably see it once you went to see Viciedo. I have met baseball agents, historians, journalists, etc on these forums. I am trying to get their attention. I hope an extra click is not too much burden on some of you guys. You never know who is behind a computer. Maybe KW or one of his surrogates is a member of soxtalk. I appologize for any extra click I may cause in advance. You keep sending us good videos like that and good info and I don't give a damn if we have to go through your blog.

Never hurts to have another able body in camp. He looks like there's some skills there but he hasn't had much of a chance to stick in the bigs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 02:23 PM) Because he's going to need arm surgery? ha

QUOTE (Cubano @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 01:01 PM) I agree 100%. He has not put his toes in a baseball field in the USA yet against any competition. He has done nothing to deserve this high ranking. +1 Nobody outside of a few select scouts and executives have even seen him in action yet, and all they saw was a workout. We have no idea what he's going to do. All we know is that he tore it up in Cuba and must have some fantastic potential if it cost 10 mil to sign him essentially sight unseen.

The only ratings that caught my eye as far as surprises were the Brandon Allen and Tyler Flowers, i would have expected them to switch places. Also, if these guys are really all about tools then you'd think that Danks would be at least a 4 star with all the tools he has. I'm curious about Marquez, is he really such a non factor that he's not even in our rankings. If so, then damn. We gave up our top 3 prospects for almost nothing in return

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 06:16 PM) Prior to Fields's knee injury he was at best below average at 3rd base. One would not expect 3 weeks to make a huge difference on its own barring some major technical issue he was missing. But it can't hurt. And while he's probably not going to develop in to an all time great, it is entirely possible for people to improve on defense given time, good coaching, practice, and repetition. Joe Crede was no where near the defender in 2001 that he was in say, 2006. Josh Fields certainly had an issue hitting good MLB fastballs when he was up in 2006. But based on raw talent alone, he was able to pound the offspeed stuff enough to put up quality numbers; 23 home runs and 67 RBI on a terrible team in 2/3 of a season. He clearly does need to improve against that pitch, and if he does not he will not last in the league...but that is again a mechanical issue, that may be correctable. I recall reading an article a couple years ago that said when Fields got into the Sox system he was so bad defensively that they thought he was a sure fire DH, that he would never be good enough to stick at any position in the majors. They started working with him and he rapidly improved enough that he can play at least a passable 3rd. He's still young and is a good athlete and has room to improve. Based on how much he's already improved I don't see any reason that he can't play an average 3rd with some hard work on his fundamentals.

I just blew out my acl and mcl and am stuck on the couch, I'll take anything right now. Even a Willie Harris rumor

Hmm, obviously lots of talent but to make it to the majors you have to be coachable.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 17, 2009 -> 08:05 PM) The stitches themselves are most likely degradable, however I'm willing to bet that they put a permanent augmentation device with it and that's why they were able to progress him at an accelerated rate. Unless it was a range of motion boot it is still immobilized. There is still atrophy. The range of motion that the ankle needs to go through is a lot more than the average person needs the dorsiflexion or bringing the toes up, needs to be more than for a normal activity such as walking or even running and this puts a great deal of stress on the achiiles tendon. The only sheath in the area is the tendon sheath. The achilles tendon is one of the tendons in the body that has it's own sheath. It must be sticthed up as well to maintain the nutirent flow. duh, everybody knows that.

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1240 Not really any ground breaking info here, but its been a pretty boring offseason and we still have a month to kill before spring training starts. It would be great if either of those teams signed Cabrera, the marlins have the 18th pick and the Jays have the 20th. The guy is going to end up playing somewhere

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 01:26 AM) WEDNESDAY: Bill Shaikin talked to Angels GM Tony Reagins, who shot down Cowley's Dye rumor. Reagins said, "No truth to that rumor." Reagins apparently hasn't talked to the White Sox for a while, though Shaikin's source indicated the Angels did express interest in Dye before they re-signed Juan Rivera. mlbtraderumors.com beat me to it. damn!

Olney is just throwing s*** on the wall. This would never happen. The commissioner's office would never allow it to happen. If it did somehow take place the Marlins and Yankees would have a very difficult road ahead of them. The GM boy's club is a small group. If you are a sneaky s*** and pull a BS move like that nobody is going to trust you again for a long time and nobody will want to make any deals with you. It would be damn near career suicide though Cashman has such a big rep that he could probably survive but he would be forever tainted.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 11, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) There is no ADD anymore, the term is obsolete. /says my friend who is in a PhD psych program This is true. I work in the psych field. ADD was taken out of the DSM IV about 11 years ago. As far as people with ADHD taking the meds for energy/ focus that's not necessarily true. People with ADHD take the meds so they can function like a normal person. It actually takes their hyperactivity away if they are properly diagnosed and makes it possible for them to focus which they can't really do without the meds. If you don't have it then the meds they give (Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, Focalin, etc...) will give you tons of energy and can even get you overstimulated so you lose the ability to focus effectively. But for those who need them the meds just allow you to be somewhat normal, just like depression medications for those who are clinically depressed or even insulin for a diabetic. The strange thing about ADHD meds are that most of them are amphetamine-based, meaning that they are essentially like taking speed which for someone who has been properly diagnosed has the opposite effect on the body that it has on the rest of the world. It slows these people down while everyone else will get crazy hyper and stay up for days on end with boundless energy if they take enough. Some of the students that I work with are so naturally hyper that they cannot even sleep if they don't take their speed. Pretty interesting stuff.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 10, 2009 -> 11:30 PM) ^yes. Some links on the aforementioned Kyle Long story in case anyone missed it: Well... not links, I don't have the links any more, just the stories. This kid sounds like kind of a douchebag. Sorta glad that we didn't sign him now.

Say for the sake of argument that we do pull this trade off. 1. What do we do with Lexi, Young, Getz, Lillebridge, Nix???? 2. Who plays RF for us and moving TCQ there doesn't count b/c that just opens up another hole in LF. So assuming that you want to put Lexi and Young on the field everyday Lex probably at 2B and Young at SS, this = much worse middle infield defense than last season as MY is a poor fielder but you get slightly better offensive production. With those two on the infield then Getz, Lille and Nix rot on the bench or in AAA, wasted assets. Maybe put MY at SS and one of the 3 stooges at 2B and Lex in CF, but, if you do this then you take away one of the positives of Lex and that is his above average production and power from middle infielder. In CF he'd be much closer to league average production. So again worse defense but this time you probably have worse offense without Lexi in the infield. Finally, we don't have anyone to fill JD's sizable shoes in RF and as the 4th/5th bat in the order. Maybe Lillebridge but that would be a huge step down in offensive production from an important run-producing position. Bottom line, this trade makes no sense for us as it doesn't fill any holes and actually creates another one. This isn't even taking into consideration that we'd lose Poreda. This trade makes us weaker in the short and long term.

QUOTE (chimpy2121 @ Jan 10, 2009 -> 06:18 PM) Kyle Long dropped out of school because of bad grades. Apparently he enjoyed the social life way too much. He also just got a DUI over break when he was back home. We've missed the window to sign him haven't we?

Is Lyon a type B or type A free agent. I think he's a B, I'm fine with that but I wouldn't be willing to give up our first rounder this year for him.

I guess slayer had a better ring to it than STD

Free rubber fist for the first 10,000.

I definitely don't believe him, He always says what he has to to keep everyone off his trail. My guess is that one of those three is actually part of our 09 plans.