Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:50 AM) well can they lead off? None of them can. The closest the Sox have to a lead-off hitting CF is Jordan Danks, and he'll probably start the year out at Winston-Salem. With a real big year at Birmingham, combined with your typical dogs*** showing from White Sox CF'ers, Jordan could challenge for a job as early as ST 2010. But that is the very earliest the Sox will have anyone out there that can play CF and lead off. Until then, the Sox should pick either defense or offense and be done with it. Either get a guy who will hit out there (had Swisher, dealt Swisher) or get a guy who can play defense out there (Anderson). Don't go for a couple guys in Owens and Wise who can neither hit nor play the position.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) the guy is almost 30 , has been a career minor leaguer. he only had a few good games and that is all! he was garbage down the stretch and he proved that when he plays everyday he sux. like u said, if anything, he can be a backup of or something. btw, i honestly dont think BA or owens should be an everyday cf. Anderson > Wise > Owens If Owens gets a shot, then Wise gets one too by default. It's funny too how there are two guys better than Owens (Kroeger, Cook) who aren't even considered in the mix.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:22 AM) Considering one of the accusations against Wilder was providing PEDs to the overvalued prospects, and Regier was linked, maybe he wasn't mistaken. Ah, maybe you're right... an inside joke! If that's the case though, I doubt Regier had any involvement in the steriod part of it because if he did I'm sure the FBI would have discovered that and Kenny would have kicked his ass out the door ASAP.

My top hopes on the position battles are these: 1. Owens has nothing to do with this team in any fashion and BA becomes at least a serviceable starter 2. Every player involved in this 2B competition raises his trade value exponentially over the course of the 2009 season 3. Fields hits a ton and Viciedo hits a ton in the minors, becoming a top-5 hitting prospect in baseball That way, once Beckham and Viciedo arrive we've got enough ammunition to go out and land a stud on the trade market PLUS deal a veteran and eat a bit of salary in the process in order to pick up some prospects and continue to deepen the farm.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 02:19 AM) The guy that I compare Owens to is Lance Johnson. Slap hitter, good speed, weak arm. There's only one difference. Johnson was good. Yeah, that's a pretty big difference. The last true lead-off hitter the Sox had was Kenny Lofton, and they didn't have him for very long. I am consistently annoyed by the local media here, and our front office, for constantly trying to beat it into the minds of the fans that Owens has the potential to be a true lead-off hitter. Quit it already. He's not even a true 4th OF. People who think Owens has the potential to be even average are going to s*** their pants if Jordan Danks ever gets here.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 08:33 AM) And Herm Schneider, and we also have a very good/well-known/respected strength and conditioning coach....in Alan Regier. You're thinking of the Kiss Demon from WCW wrestling, Dale Torborg. Regier was one of Wilder's guys who has since been reassigned to a scouting role.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) I don't think they expect Nix to make the team. Why would they not have claimed him on waivers if they saw so much potential? Because at the time the Sox were in a division race and had no need for a 2B. They didn't want to give up a roster spot to a guy they didn't even have room for on the bench and who also would enter the organization probably behind Getz on the depth chart. The whole purpose of making a guy clear waivers once he's out of options is to give the player a chance in the Majors, but the Sox at the time couldn't have done that. You don't always have to suck ass to clear waivers, but if that happens, it is a sign that you need more work and experience, and generally the only teams that can provide that midseason are ass-suck teams like Pirates. Why did they pass on Nix? Who knows, but just because Nix got past us doesn't mean we didn't want him.

Finally an addition Royals fans can view as more than a lateral move at best. Sucks we couldn't get in on that. He'd be a great replacement for Dotel after he walks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 07:37 AM) http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox01.article Pretty decent, in-depth Cowley article on Lillibridge and his struggles from last season and perceived role coming into ST. Cowley's in-depth article forgot to mention he was drafted by the Pirates, not the Braves. He went to ATL in the Gonzalez-LaRoche deal. Kudos to Cowley however for not being his typical asshole self in this piece.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 08:52 AM) To say that Ramirez can't lay off pitches is pretty ridiculous. It's not that he can't lay off any pitches, it's that he wants to hit. It's obvious his approach at bat is see ball, hit ball. He's not going up there like Swisher to stand there with his bat on his shoulder, hoping the umpire calls 4 balls before he calls 3 strikes. If Alexei, or any other player who has a similar approach, sees a pitch they can hit, they aren't gonna let it go because it might be a bit outside of the strike zone. True, but there were many times last year where Alexei would chase something chin-high. I've seen him hit that stuff, but if he learns to lay off that crap he'll become a much more dangerous hitter and have a much longer career, because once he starts to lose some bat speed he's not going to connect with a lot of the stuff he's swinging at. I doubt it happens though, so thankfully we've got him in his prime.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 08:31 AM) A's, Marlins could be goners as contraction looms If the Marlins contract I hope we tank it the year before in order to land Hanley Ramirez. That is all.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 28, 2009 -> 10:57 AM) AJ and Hunter were definitely their leaders you hated...Santana you just respected the heck out of, and I never came close to anything but admiration for Radke, because he went through almost a decade of being on a rebuilding team, and his final season, it was amazing his arm/shoulder/elbow didn't completely fall apart, he was pitching in so much pain but still gutting it out. I guess you can hate Nathan for being so good and sort of cocky, but the players I disliked even more: Denny Hocking Lew Ford Jason Tyner Jason Bartlett Nick Punto Doug Mietkiewicz Matt LeCroy Henry Blanco or Mike Redmond Just because they alway found annoying ways to beat the White Sox somehow, and they are/were mostly role/utility or "complementary" players. I'd add Corey Koskie to that list, also Christian Guzman. I immediately liked Coskie once he got out of Minny though and hopefully he can get healthy and get back into baseball. Ditto with Torii Hunter. Also I too respect the hell out of Brad Radke. That guy had no arm anymore and somehow helped lead that team to a highly improbable division title in his final season. 40-man rosters, Double A, Triple A, and fronts of bullpens and back-ends of starting rotations all throughout Major League Baseball are absolutely littered with guys with tons more talent than Brad Radke ever had even at his best. If you could take Radke's mind, heart, and drive and put it in some of these other guys you'd have all kinds of aces. I couldn't stand him when he was playing for Minny but you have to give the guy his props.

QUOTE (TLAK @ Feb 28, 2009 -> 10:35 AM) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a team cannot cut a player's salary by more then 20% under the current CBA. That would be $3.6 million. His deal with the Giants is a minor league agreement and the $1 million only kicks in if he makes the big league roster. So it was a no brainer that he had to go. As to bringing him back later, it would need to be pretty disasterous season for him to look like a better backup option at a million than Lillibridge at the minimum. Neither one is expected to hit but Lillibridge to supposed to be an A defender. Uribe has to be considered well below average, he still has an arm but he just doesn't cover much ground anymore. If Lillibridge starts then our backups will be Getz/Nix and Betemit most likely. I know Getz plays all over the field but I doubt he's anyone's backup for 3B. Nix, don't know enough about his arm but as a 2B I wouldn't expect him to have a cannon by any means. I definitely would NOT call Uribe well below average, or even below average, or even average. He was better at SS in 2007 (on those days he felt like playing) than OC was there last year, and OC isn't well below average at all. Besides, Lillibridge hit .220/.294/.344 last year in Triple A. It's no guarantee he'd hit well enough even in a backup role to stay on the team. And Wilson Betemit isn't exactly a defensive whiz at SS either. If Lillibridge either can't hit enough to stick on the bench or if he becomes a starter leaving the bench lacking in defense, then I wouldn't call that a disaster. In fact, the only way the Sox would look to acquire defensive insurance on the bench would be if the season goes very well - not bad - and they want to make a few improvements here and there in preparation for a playoff run. Edit: I also believe you're right as far as arbitration goes, and because Uribe ended the season as a Type B I doubt there would be any pay decrease whatsoever.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 07:07 PM) March 9th is going to be a pretty significant day this ST for the Sox. If both Contreras and Colon hold up, that's a big plus...compared to where things were 6-8 weeks ago, when we were thinking it would be Richard/Marquez/Poreda at the back end of the rotation. Yes. The CR/AP thing seems to have fallen by the wayside for now, and thank God for that too. Imagine having 4 lefties in a rotation with two of them being CR/AP.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) lol i just always use them bcuz i wont forget them. i chose them because ozzie(13)and freddy(34, probly my fave ex sox of all time) bcuz if i chose some random number i wouldnt remember them lol Oh that's cool then. I looked that up on the urban dictionary and apparently has something to do with goth music, being "pwned" and hacking. Lame. Glad to see you don't suck.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 28, 2009 -> 09:23 AM) I hope the kid just comes in all guns blazing so we can stop reading stuff like "It would have taken a Crede-esque dive at the ball to get it" This is going to be a year that will be annoying with Comparisons on this site. "Crede would have made that play", "Its too bad we dont still have Vazquez in the 5th starter spot", "Uribe's defense would be nice off the bench" I would agree with that last part anyway. IMO the Sox easily would have brought him back if they could have done it for a lot less than the $4.5M he was making. The Sox couldn't offer arb and expect any pay decrease so they let him go. Since Juan signed for $1M with the Giants, he will not only be affordable but also will be available at the deadline. I expect the Sox to reacquire him in June or July for next to nothing if they need any help from the bench defensively.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 11:14 AM) i think thats why most sox fans hate the cubs bcuz i was the same. i didnt dislike the cubs, i just liked the sox, but its when the cub fans start talking crap that u learn to dislike them. vise versa too You're probably right. BTW, what do the numbers at the end of your name mean? I've seen that before, the 1334 thing. Is it like some code or something?

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 10:59 AM) The games vs. the Cubs on March 4, 5, and 27 will be on WGN with Cubs announcers. Also, according to the schedule some of the CSN games will also be on MLB Network, if you don't get CSN: March 1, 14, 21 and April 2 Thanks, I'll update that. I just went off of one .pdf list that was posted here.

I grew up not even caring about the Cubs. In fact, I didn't even know the Chicago Cubs the franchise existed until I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, that's how Sox-centric it was. I even rooted for the Cubs in 2003 because the Sox missed the playoffs and I had some friends who were really great non-Sox-hating Cub fans who I wanted to see happy. It wasn't until I started to catch s*** from some d-bag Cub fans at work and so on for wearing Sox gear that I began to dislike the fans. I still didn't even loathe the Cubs team itself until I noticed "the greatest fans in the world" throwing their garbage all over CF during one game I attended. Once I realized that the Cubs organization practically encouraged that behavior by mentioning it so light-heartedly on-air, and how they do still encourage throwing baseballs back by calling it "tradition," then I began to hate the Cubs and wish years and years of pitiful failure upon them.

I made a simple ST schedule for myself because I like to have little text documents on my desktop that are easy to find and whatnot, and I just updated it to include the webcasts. I figured I'd share just in case anyone else wanted to do the same. Here's a simpler version of the schedule with all broadcasts included. The dates of free broadcasts are in bold. 2/25 vs. LAA 2:05pm CT WSCR 2/26 @ COL 2:05pm CT 2/27 @ ARZ 2:05pm CT 2/28 @ CHC 2:05pm CT 3/1 @ LAD 2:05pm CT CSN, WSCR, MLB.com 3/2 vs. SEA 2:05pm CT WSCR, Webcast 3/3 OFF DAY 3/4 @ OAK (ss) 2:05pm CT 3/4 @ Cubs (ss) 8:05pm CT WGN w/ Cubs announcers 3/5 @ LAD (ss) 2:05pm CT 3/5 @ CHC (ss) 2:05pm CT WSCR also on WGN w/ Cubs announcers 3/6 vs. AUSTRALIA 2:05pm CT Webcast 3/7 @ TEX 2:05pm CT 3/8 vs. LAD 3:05pm CT Webcast 3/9 vs. CLE 3:05pm CT WSCR, Webcast 3/10 OFF DAY 3/11 vs. MIL 3:05pm CT Webcast 3/12 @ KC 3:05pm CT 3/13 @ SD 3:05pm CT 3/14 vs. TEX 3:05pm CT CSN, MLB.com 3/15 @ SEA 3:05pm CT 3/16 vs. KC 3:05pm CT Webcast 3/17 @ ARZ TBA 3/18 vs. LAA 3:05pm CT WSCR, Webcast 3/19 @ SF TBA 3/20 vs. SF 3:05pm CT Webcast 3/21 vs. CHC 3:05pm CT CSN, MLB.com 3/22 @ OAK 3:05pm CT 3/23 OFF DAY 3/24 @ CLE 3:05pm CT CSN 3/25 vs. OAK 3:05pm CT WSCR, Webcast 3/26 vs. ARZ 3:05pm CT CSN 3/27 @ CHC 3:05pm CT WSCR, WGN w/ Cubs announcers 3/28 vs. LAD 3:05pm CT WGN 3/29 @ ARZ 3:05pm CT 3/30 @ LAA 3:05pm CT 3/31 vs. COL 3:05pm CT Webcast 4/1 vs. SD 3:05pm CT WSCR, Webcast 4/2 @ MIL 2:05pm CT CSN, MLB.com 4/3 @ ARZ 8:40pm CT WSCR 4/4 @ ARZ 3:10pm CT

When are we going to sign that Arguelles kid? I want to see him in the black and white already.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 01:32 AM) I guess Bryan Bullington and JJ House are next. The Pirates and Royals have just had some really, really crappy drafts. The funny thing is that both teams also went with the drafting athletes theory. I worked for the Pirates in 94 and 95 and Jason Kendall was about the only high draft pick that panned out. During that time, there was Charles Peterson (QB scholarship to Auburn), Mark Farris (QB, ended up at A&M after blowing out his knee), Shon Walker, Chad Hermansen, Jermaine Allensworth...none of those guys ever made it, except for Allensworth for a brief time. I didn't pay as much attention over the last 10 years, but I'm sure it is just as bad or worse during that time period. A number of bad GM's, too. What did you use to do with the Pirates?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 09:05 PM) Read it: http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4797/2009...actsheetns8.jpg I included option years. Very nice. You know you could probably get a s*** ton of traffic if you created one of those things for every MLB team. That's a very valuable resource for some of the wannabe GM's like us. Easily the most impressive and easy to read contract layout sheet I've seen. Great job.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 25, 2009 -> 01:19 PM) Teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox can continue to throw money at players even if they make several mistakes. Don't think for a minute after Joe Borchard got the highest signing bonus in history for a while, and he didn't pan out, it didn't weigh heavily on the White Sox scouting department. There are probably 20-25 other teams who would be in the same boat. Its probably why guys like Broadway and McCullough were drafted. Ironic how Shaeffer went ultra conservative probably in an effort to save his job, and that thought pattern actually cost him his job. Yep, and also historically it seems that those teams don't get quite as burned by prospects failing as others simply because those teams use many of their prospects as trade bait. The small and middle-market clubs need to have their guys pan out, which is why you generally don't see those types of teams take Borchard-type players, i.e. extremely raw athletes with lots of potential but need tons of work mechanically to the point where they basically have to re-learn large parts of the game. Usually you see more of the types that still have high ceilings but also higher floors. BTW I've always defended the Borchard pick and I still think it was a great pick. The problem was we didn't trade him and instead decided to bank on him even though we really didn't have to since at the time we had Maggs, CLee, Frank, Paulie, etc. Borchard could have easily been another Jeremy Reed for us who netted us a prime Freddy Garcia. Then again, if you take Matt Thornton's production and current contract, and you add Borchard's $5M signing bonus to it, because of how cheaply Thornton is signed I think we did pretty well overall. Even though it didn't seem like it at the time, Borchard did net us very good value. I'd just have rather gotten a bigtime slugger or a top-end starter with him. Also, I love having some minor league depth, but depending on how we do this year and what is out there on the trading block, I wouldn't mind cashing in some of these riskier prospects we've got like Flowers, Poreda, Shelby, and Allen if a LEGIT superstar becomes available. I'd definitely hold on to Danks and Beckham, but if Roy Halladay or Brandon Webb become available for real, especially if Fields is doing well and Dayan is ready, then let's make a deal because we've got the goods to offer a very competitive package. We don't need to bank on all these guys like we did with Borchard. The issue is just that we have got to sustain depth organizationally - and I'm confident after the last two drafts that we will continue to build in the right direction - and we need to make sure that the "safe" guys we're taking high in the draft are a lot more like Jordan Danks (even though he was taken a bit later) and Aaron Poreda than Lance Broadway and Kyle McCulloch. No team should ever draft a future #4/#5 starter that high.

Wow, I thought Van Benschoten was just minor league roster filler. If the Sox actually believe they can turn him around and his arm isn't too broken down then I'm very intrigued.