Kenny Hates Prospects

We had a poster here who broke the Wilder scandal before it was made public. This poster claimed to be a newly hired player development person for the Sox, and he pointed to Silverio as one of the frauds Wilder orchestrated. I don't think he ever named Silverio specifically, but I believe he referred to Silverio by mocking the Phil Rogers hype that came out immediately after the kid was signed. I'm not sure if anyone knows whether this poster was 100% legit or not, but if not, he obviously had better sources than anyone I've ever seen post here, because he knew about something really big going on behind the scenes which your Joe Cowleys and Mark Gonzales' and so forth don't get into, and when he talked he certainly sounded like a scout. So whoever this person is/was, him talking about Silverio being a fraud shouldn't just be taken with a grain of salt IMO. I haven't seen a confirmation one way or the other on Silverio, but I'm personally not going to consider him a prospect until he proves he's a prospect. Even for his age, Silverio statistically has been a disaster when you consider the amount the Sox signed him for ($600K IIRC). I mean if you can only hit DSL pitching then you damn sure don't deserve $600K. That's big f***ing money for a prospect.

WEC was awesome yet again. The main event was disappointing because Bowles quit, but still, the two rounds of Cruz working him over was well worth it. I hope Jens is done, but I don't think he is. I think he'll give it another shot next year or something. But he's done for a while. It didn't look like Mark Dellagrotte helped Torres much. Maybe Miguel needs to keep following Kenny Florian and work his way up to Firas Zahabi in Montreal. Torres looked like he was fighting not to lose, not like him at all. And there really wasn't anything wrong with him before, either. He fights recklessly and leaves himself open at times plus he always goes at his opponents strengths, so it's dangerous for him, but he was beating Bowles in their fight and was close to finishing him. He doesn't need to scrap everything and become a new fighter. BTW Miguel Torres is 0-2 since throwing out the first pitch for Buehrle's perfecto. I guess Buehrle's no-no's f*** over everyone. That said, huge props to Benavidez and Team Alpha Male once again.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 09:45 AM) Not a great fan of the rotating DH situation but I have to remind myself while reading the barbs directed towards Kotsay that is he a professional hitter . He knows what he's doing up there. His contribution last year would have been invaluable had the Sox been in the race last year. +1 Kotsay is very well-suited for a bench role.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 07:26 AM) You're talking about all the other stuff they have to do. If anything, if you really want to rest your guys, you don't have them take swings in the cage then go take BP and then come to bat 4 times. Its hardly different than playing the field unless you're a catcher or maybe a SS. Its like if someone works out intensely for 2 hours everyday but gives himself the 5 jumping jacks he does at the end of the workout off on Sunday for rest. Its not rest. You're head still has to be in the game, and it may even be more stressful for guys who aren't used to DHing. I could see the point if its a sunny 95 degree day, but just about everyone here has played baseball. It doesn't take much out of you to play the field, especially a corner OF. Considering the type of condition most of these guys are in, its even less of a toll. I personally don't mind a DH only guy, I also don't mind a rotating DH as long as the players rotating daily are regular-quality players. One problem with a rotating DH that isn't brought up is the fact some guys cannot adjust to the position at all, and some take a while. Even when he started DHing full time, Frank Thomas used to play 1B occassionally because he hit better there. Dye blamed some of his struggles on the DH rotating a little bit at the end of last year.

Milk, milk, lemonade. Around the corner's where podcasts are made.

BTW here's the UFC's article on Toney:

Wow, if Strikeforce counters the WEC PPV they might do some serious damage there. Which sucks, because while that Strikeforce show is a very good card, Aldo-Faber is one of the biggest fights in all of MMA right now (in terms of relevance, not necessarily fan interest) and I really want to see that show do well. Hopefully the WEC can at least go beyond the 100K buys that Affliction was doing with Fedor. Maybe the WEC should have planned their PPV outside of California to get the Sacramento fans to buy the show. Speaking of the WEC, they're going to Calgary this summer. I don't know anything about Calgary other than the legendary Hart Family connection, but I assume that area is overrun with MMA fans just like the rest of Canada appears to be.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 05:26 PM) I think he'll be DHing a lot, probably most of the times time Pierre is hurting or needing rest against a LH starter. Don't say that.

It's still the same thing. When you add it all up at the end of the year (assuming our roster stays healthy and we don't acquire or call up another bat) you're still going to be giving ABs that would normally go to a DH to Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones. Everyone loves versatility and the ability to rest productive players with other productive players, but the issue is that there doesn't appear to be many hardcore Sox fans who think Kotsay and Jones will be productive. I'd absolutely love a rotating DH if Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay were close to the same players they were several years ago, but they're not. Jones has fallen off the face of the earth and Kotsay can't stay healthy, nor can he play CF which is what made his offensive contributions so valuable in the past. Hopefully Kenny acts quickly if a change needs to be made. I also don't think it's pessimistic in any way to doubt Kotsay and Jones. We're already hoping for rebounds from the following players: JJ Putz, Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena, Freddy Garcia, Mark Teahen, Alex Rios, and Carlos Quentin. We're hoping Konerko has at least a decent year which is no certainty either. In general I think it's safe to say that most Sox fans are very optimistic about Peavy's ability to adjust to the Cell, Beckham's development, Alexei putting his crappy Aprils and powerless 2009 2nd half behind him, Floyd's hip, Jenks' injury issues, Pierre's first AL season, Hudson's ability to pitch well as a rookie should we need him to fill a big hole in the pen or rotation, etc. I know that every team out there has question marks, but it seems like we have a ton, and it's hard to be optimistic about every player on this club. Kotsay and Jones appear to be the least likely of them all to produce the way an AL club needs it's DH to produce.

I wonder if the UFC just announced Toney today to counter this? Pretty big move by Strikeforce.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 08:40 PM) I really actually like when Farmio, D.J. and Ranger get all causal. It usually only happens around rain delays, but a pretty good rapport exists between the 3. I imagine spring training will provide a similiar atmosphere, and i would listen were my computer capable of giving me sound while in safe mode. There was one game last year, against the Orioles I believe, where Joe Cowardly was on the air apparently all high on drugs after AJ and the Kiss Demon Dale Torborg beat the s*** out of him in a pro-wrestling match. That was pretty funny. IIRC this was the rain delay broadcast where DJ kind of shed the Barney Fife character he played alongside Hawk to reveal a more Cleveland-like persona underneath. That was actually a pretty good broadcast and much of it was spent ripping on MacDougal. I remember Farmer??? saying how teammates know when players are going to get dropped and therefore stop lending money to these people. I found that insightful. QUOTE (Ranger @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 08:48 PM) Ha! This one made me laugh. The funny thing is that those interactive games are the one time golf won't be a topic....because I won't ask him about it. I don't play golf. Cool. You should make a compromise though and close the lines to callers. Just have a rain delay theatre-type broadcast where someone periodically announces what's happening while everyone else talks about stupid s*** that loosely relates to baseball.

It's brutally hilarious that the little troll Juanito - whose claim to fame is tightening up Rampage's boxing and then conning Rampage out of a bunch of money - is the one who is going to be working with Toney, who doesn't need any help on his boxing and is just looking for a payday. This signing feels kind of dirty and cheap in a way but at the same time Toney is a legit boxer and is already well more qualified to be in the Octagon than a lot of the fighters Zuffa throws out there, so I can't complain. I guess it just feels dirty to me because it doesn't look like either side is going into this thing for the right reasons. Toney is going into at after his career is basically over after talking a ton of s*** about MMA and we know Dana is going to try to use Toney for either (and maybe both) of these reasons: 1) he'll use Toney to counter a Strikeforce Herschel-Canseco freakshow fight, or 2) he'll set Toney up with a top-level grappler who will waste Toney, prompting Dana to run his mouth about how the UFC is taking over and is so much better than boxing. I love Dana, and I don't watch boxing very often at all, but I wish he'd cut out the s*** talk about boxing, and I wish the boxing-MMA trash talk would just end already with both sides respecting each other as two different sports where one is not any better than the other. It's annoying as s***.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 08:13 PM) I don't know if it makes a person a "real fan" just because they like to listen to all of the spring games. I think most people and fans (even real fans) only care about what happens with the big league club and what happens at the minor league level if it has a direct and imminent effect on the 25 man roster...kind of like how people felt about Beckham last year. Some people just like prospects and like to pay attention to prospects, but that doesn't make them better Sox fans than anyone else. I don't think it makes anyone a lesser fan for not knowing, or caring, who is wearing #89 in a game in March. Plus, it's one thing to see the no-name guys play as opposed to just hearing it. I had an email conversation with a guy last season that was pretty pissed about the interactive thing, and I tried explaining to him that the great majority of listeners and fans don't want to hear that many spring games. You like it, he likes it, and I like it, but that doesn't mean that most people do. Most people only really care about games that matter. And as we know, spring training outcomes don't necessarily mean anything about how the actual season is going to go. Therefore, most fans would rather talk about, and hear some discussion about, their team. I'm just being a smelly butthole, like it says on the left. Still, I'd much rather hear real sports than people talking about sports, no offense to you or your homies over there at WSCR. Even if the baseball is essentially meaningless at least we're hearing real baseball sounds in the background while Farmer talks about golf. But I get what you're saying anyway. I just don't like it. QUOTE (Ranger @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 08:13 PM) Wasn't that Danny Richar? He called Clayton Richard Clayton Re-charred, but I don't remember what he called Danny Richar. I have no idea how that name is pronounced as I've heard Ree-char, Ree-shar, Rich-ar, and Rich-shar. So if Farmio f***ed that one up then he gets a pass because nobody else knows how to pronounce it either. But I swear I thought Clayton Richard's family was French after hearing Farmio pronounce it.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 08:07 PM) Nah, but i've been harping on him for a while. That's probably where you got the name. I know who he is but IIRC there were a bunch of MLBTradeRumors blurbs about him possibly being moved, and I thought we were one of those interested teams. Guess not. Maybe I'm thinking of the guy that got traded to the Astros, Matt Lindstrom. Eh, doesn't matter. We can get Pinto if we want him. I think we'll stick with Williams though, good ST or not.

Weren't we rumored to be interested in Pinto at some point this offseason? Or am I just making s*** up again?

^And you also get to hear Farmio mispronounce the names of top prospects. I called Clayton Richard Clayton Re-charred for about a year thanks to Farmio.

Most listeners are morons. I for one would rather listen to a live Brent Lillibridge groundout than listen to some turd call into the radio to harp on the same s*** over and over again. Real Sox fans are interested in all the players, 25-man roster or not. And actually, ST is one of my favorite times of the baseball year because you get to see some of the prospects play.

IMO, if we don't work out an extension with Beckham and go year-to-year: 2010: will make something like $400-450K, will produce like an $8M 2B 2011: will make about $750K, will produce like an $10M 2B 2012: will make about $1M, will produce like a $12M 2B 2013: will make about $5M, will produce like a $14M 2B 2014: will make about $8M, will produce like a $15M 2B 2015: will make about $11M, will produce like a $15M 2B My guess is we pay him something like $26.2M and get about $74M worth of production, so about a $48M underpayment. Gonzalez is probably worth $22M or so the next two years and is paid $10.25M IIRC, so that's a $34M underpayment or thereabouts. Gonzalez however just brings positional security for 2 years where as Beckham gives us that for 6. This trade wouldn't make any sense. However, I'd send the whole goddamn farm for Adrian right now without blinking an eye.

QUOTE (Cali @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 01:39 PM) So who are everyone's nominees for the annual ANDERSON-FIELDS AWARD? It's for the position player who hits around .500 in Spring but it doesn't translate to the regular season. Named after the 2 former Sox players who did it year in and year out. Also there is the DANNY WRIGHT AWARD, for the pitcher who's mechanics looks clean and pitches awesome, followed by forgetting about all of that come April. And finally the PABLO OZUNA AWARD, for the player that comes out of nowhere, hit's .500, makes the teams and actually contributes to the big league team... 1. Andruw Jones. 2. I don't think there will be one. 3. CJ Retherford. Edit: I'm giving #2 to Jeff Marquez but he won't make the team.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 02:48 PM) This is just a gut feeling of mine, but I think the second Strikeforce announces a PPV, the UFC agree to a network deal and put it head-to-head with any attempted Strikeforce PPV. A reason I think there's been little talk of a PPV is how do you promote it effectively? They would need to stack a card for a PPV, so it couldn't be too close to a CBS card because it would risk too many of their big names, and the Showtime cards flat out don't get enough ratings, especially with casual fans. With Spike and reruns on MTV2 the UFC have a great outlet for their hype shows and they're branded and run on a consistent basis where people look for them, not to mention when TUF is running and they can run commercials on that, Unleashed and replays of Ultimate Knockouts. I think you hit the nail on the head here. Too many other companies involved will keep Strikeforce from stacking a PPV card like they need to, and even if they are somehow able to do that, they still won't get enough hype - and they'll need lots of promotion as it is because with the UFC the brand alone sells itself, and Strikeforce doesn't have anything like that. You can watch Strikeforce on CBS and they're pushing the CBS name. Watch Strikeforce on Showtime and they're pushing the Showtime name. I imagine most casual fans wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between "CBS/Showtime presents Strikeforce" and "CBS/Showtime presents Cage Rage." Strikeforce probably should have done a TUF or something like that. Nobody in MMA is a better partner than SpikeTV has been for the UFC, and I'm even saying this as a SpikeTV hater. On the network deal though, I think it's going to end up being NBC sooner or later. Versus will become NBCSports, the UFC and WEC will stick around as flagship programming, and that will lead to the UFC on NBC. And even better, maybe we'll eventually get a couple hybrid UFC/WEC cards on NBC. That would be f***ing sick.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 02:19 PM) Move Milwaukee back to the AL then. That would be fun, but I kind of like being able to go to Miller Park and cheer the Brewers, and if they played the Sox all the time I wouldn't be able to do that anymore.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 02:32 PM) I like that so the Sox would have a team to beat on...but they'd end up playing tough against the Sox just like the Royals do. Making a move like that could really help an organization like the Pirates IMO because it would give them a bit of a new identity with the DH. Plus it would give the fans a bunch of new teams to see each year, and if coincided with a slew of up-and-coming young players it could generate some interest. But something needs to be done with that team.

Also, if we ever see Canseco vs. Herschel announced we'll know that in terms of CBS cards Scott Coker doesn't have much more say than you or I do. Coker keeps saying no to Canseco and yet the topic's not going away.

I'm also with you on Overeem/Rogers not making sense for Showtime, but that's I guess what happens when you give al your power to networks and so forth. I think everyone knew this was going to happen with Strikeforce. Too many hands in the cookie jar. It's been a while since I've heard Strikeforce talk about PPVs and I have no idea how they're going to be able to do a PPV when CBS and Showtime are calling the shots with regards to their top fighters.

The reason I asked about Fedor's stake in M-1 is because I have to wonder how much Fedor is really getting for himself out of this whole mess with M-1. I mean if it's just a small stake in a company that's in flux and doesn't have much of a presence in the parts of the world where MMA really matters right now then I wonder if Fedor will refuse to extend the partnership and just keep Vadim around as an agent or something once the current deal expires. I mean it makes sense for Fedor to plan for the future and look to get into the business side of things once his MMA career is over, but right now Fedor just needs to fight and make the most money for himself that he can while he still can, and it appears the UFC is the best fit for that and that M-1 is the biggest stumbling block. I hope Fedor just ditches these guys but I doubt that happens. Even Aleks has come out publicly and said M-1 is shady and they aren't looking out for Fedor's best interests.