Kenny Hates Prospects

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws

I don't believe it, but it wouldn't surprise me. Is there a dumber human being in all of baseball than Jim Hendry? Seriously, this isn't a rhetorical question, I'd really like to know. Tim f***ing McCarver could analyze the free agent market better than that idiot. The idea for the Cubs should be to dump as much salary as they can, *not* assume greater financial commitments on bad players. I know there are a few Cub fans out there who actually follow and understand the game of baseball, and I wonder how they would feel about paying even more for tickets just to subsidize another short-sighted albatross of a contract given to a player who should be sitting on the bench watching Jake Fox terk hiz jerb. I can't stand the Cubs so I'm not upset over their position, but it's just so incredible to me how that organization can make so many changes and spew so much hot air about winning and yadda yadda yadda and then still hand Hendry the keys at the end of the day. The guy decided to pay Alfonso Soriano $18M through the age of 38. Although there are many, what other reasons do you really need to can somebody?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 07:43 PM) Smokescreen. It would be nice if we were really after Arguelles and could get him for a reasonable price.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 02:59 PM) Shogun won that fight and Rogan had nothing to do with it. Shogun clearly won the last 2 rounds. Shogun also outstruck Machida in rounds 1 (19-11) and round 3 (19-15). It's not like Machida had rocked Shogun to the point that he could make up being outstruck. In round 2 Shogun outstruck Machida 21-7 but you cant give that to him? I know you turned off the volume so Rogan couldnt influence your thoughts but did you close your eyes too? Machida got exposed big time last night. His bandwagon was insane the last few months but all his UFC opponents before last night were perfect matchups for him. Machida will get his ass kicked and hopefully be put to sleep next time out. Agree that Shogun definitely took the 4th and 5th rounds. The rules say "effective striking" and I watched the fight and thought Machida did most of the effective striking. Effective striking does not mean land a bunch of grazing shots, which Shogun did in the first half of the fight. The majority of damage Shogun did came in the second half. The second round I gave to Machida, but I could easily go 10-10 on that one to make the fight a draw, and here's why. Shogun landed some pretty heavy knees to the right thigh of Machida near the end of the round as they were clinched against the fence. Most of them were blocked or didn't land, but a couple got right through to the bone. Later on in the fight you can see Machida pulling up on his shorts and touching the spot where he was kneed. IMO those knees in Round 2 were the most signficant blows for Shogun in the entire fight because they helped set up those leg and body kicks later on. Machida stopped moving as well following those shots. I disagree 100% about Machida getting exposed. IMO all that happened is that Shogun exposed himself as a much, much better fighter than most people including myself were giving him credit for. This was a new, smarter Shogun who was in great shape. I was a big Shogun critic as he came to the UFC mainly because of the soccer kicks being taken away and the fact that, at his old style, the ring-to-cage transition couldn't have been a positive one for him at all. But not only has Shogun adjusted, he has evolved. I've been talking up Machida for a long time, and IMO I wasn't wrong about Machida, I was only wrong about Shogun. The old Shogun would still have been picked apart. It's like if you watched the Forrest Griffin-Keith Jardine fight, or the Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar fights as examples, you'd never think he'd have a prayer at going 5 rounds with Rampage because he was just a gutsy brawler. But then if you saw the Hector Ramirez fight then suddenly you could see him having a much better chance, because in that fight Forrest did a complete 180 and fought a fight that wasn't anything like what Forrest had done in the past. Shogun did that same basic thing last night. If someone just watched Shogun fight for the first time last night then that person would be shocked to see the Shogun from Pride, or even the Shogun vs. Chuck, Forrest, and Coleman in the UFC. I completely disagree with Machida's style being exposed or having a gameplan exposed, or anything like that. The gameplan was always there. Don't attack Machida aggressively because you'll get knocked out. Machida is always out there on his lead leg with his head back, so sit back and look to punish him with kicks as he comes in. If you have a great shot, then look to take him down or at least make him work, punish him in close, and ideally you'd like to get him down, rough him up a bit from his guard or if possible try to throw a few knees to the body if you can pass into side control. If you're able to keep Machida down and pepper him, do that to steal rounds. If you can, throw elbows from his guard to open up a cut on Machida if possible. You can't slow down Machida's ability to react mentally, but you can put blood in his eyes and mess up his vision, and you can put a hurt on his lead leg, and you can hurt him enough in the body and make him work hard enough to shorten his breath and affect his physical mobility. But the whole gameplan for beating Machida is basically that. Slow him down on the feet enough to tag him in the later rounds or get the takedown easier, since his TD defense is very strong. The problem is, very few fighters are capable of implementing that kind of gameplan, either because they aren't skilled enough, or because they aren't athletic enough, or because they're too stubborn, or too comfortable in their fighting styles to alter them, or all of that. Shogun had to come into the fight in great shape, plus completely alter his approach to the fight, stay patient, and also stay calm under pressure without letting the fight turn into a brawl where Machida's accuracy is killer. Shogun did everything perfectly, and as I see it, just because Shogun could do it doesn't mean others can. I believe Machida won that fight and therefore he is still the #1 LHW in the world. Shogun is #1A. I'm excited for a rematch mainly because I want to see what Machida does now that he knows Shogun can play his game. I also want to know whether Shogun is going to look to do the same things in the rematch, or maybe if he'll try to grapple more early on.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 02:10 PM) Thoughts on last night. Bader continues to look good. Stevenson showed that w/ Jackson's camp that he's still somewhat of a problem at 155. With that being said, he's still got some work to do before I consider him a serious threat to Penn. If you didn't think Cain was real before (I'm looking at you KHP) believe it. The kid still needs to develop some kind of serious power, but he's a smothering heavyweight with a crazy gas tank. The stoppage was done at the wrong time, but Rothwell was just eating shot after shot. Shogun won last night. Period. Therefore he was robbed. I don't see how anyone saw Machida winning 3 rounds. I barely had him winning one. The CSAC judges ruined for me what was a great chess match of a fight (if that makes sense). I'm also glad that people have backed up a bit on the "Machida is god" bandwagon. Even more glad that it took one fight into his title reign. I'm glad Dana realizes that an immediate rematch must happen, if he's serious about it...it should happen at 108. They need to lock down a main event for the year end show, here you go. It sells itself. If anyone's gonna give the "you've gotta beat the champion" excuse. Then just look back at Rampage/Griffin. Another great close fight that could of gone either way but went to the challenger. I picked Cain over all of his opponents so far so I don't know why I'm supposed to be so impressed now. Cain was a terrible style matchup for Rothwell and everyone knew Cain was probably going to win. This fight was simply the UFC continuing to build up Cain Velasquez to help with their push into Mexico. I'll bet you almost anything that when the UFC hits Mexico in March or whenever, Cain vs. Lesnar/Carwin is the main event. Look at Cain's opponents: a bunch of cans and the tough guys he's faced don't have nearly the wrestling to deal with Cain. The UFC scrapped the Carwin-Cain fight because they didn't want their Mexican posterboy to get smashed before they could profit off of him. Cain is the Mexican Bisping IMO. Bisping is a very solid fighter IMO, and I think he is routinely underrated, but look at what the UFC tried to do with him. They gave him a bunch of C-level fighters and an undeveloped Rashad (whom he lost to) to build him up. Then they gave him Hendo, which again IMO is a very winnable fight for Bisping if he executes the right gameplan. They could have easily set Bisping up with a bunch of very tough fights like they have done with others, but they protected him and they tried to get him one win vs. a huge name (Hendo) because they wanted to do Bisping vs. Anderson in the UK. Even if Bisping had been able to out-point Hendo by staying away from Hendo's power for three rounds, there's no way he would have "earned" a title shot against Anderson in the way that others like Nate Marquardt had to earn it. The UFC was looking for massive mainstream exposure in the UK, and Hendo f***ed that up for them because Bisping fought like a tard. But anyway, Cain is the same f***ing thing. They are going to build this guy up so a bunch of Mexicans think he can win the belt, then they'll go down to Mexico, ham it up, get the mainstream exposure, take their money, and then Cain is going to get floored. But the UFC still wins, and big. And then Zuffa brass is going to come back from Mexico and tell all of their bigwig sponsors and network affiliates just how huge they are in Mexico and how appealing their product is to Latinos in America. s***, Dana won't say this all publicly, but he comes pretty close. He's gone on and on before about how important Cain is to growing the Hispanic market, and he's said the same things about Huerta. What I want to know is why does Cain impress everyone so much? In what areas is his game elite at HW? Can someone please tell me why this guy isn't all hype? Let's see... Does he have a size advantage over anyone? Nope. Power advantage? Hell no. Strength/functional strength advantage? Over some, but definitely not over Lesnar or Carwin. Athletic ability? Sure as hell isn't the athlete Lesnar is, and IMO Cigano is just as athletic at least. Striking? Clearly he's at a disadvantage here against most UFC HW. Wrestling credentials? Brock has him beat by a mile. Offensive BJJ? LOL Sub defense? We haven't seen him tested yet against a guy with serious skills off his back. Hmm, I wonder why... Cardio? This is the one department that Cain might be elite in as a HW, but we haven't seen enough of him and his competition to really get a gauge on it. And even if Cain does have elite cardio, he's not going to have elite cardio pushing around a big ass Brock Lesnar for 5 rounds. Randy has pretty sick cardio and Randy was spent after one round against Brock. Cain is a guy who will win a lot of fights because of his style, but he'll never be elite anywhere unless either the UFC installs a 220-230 division or Cain can cut to 205. He's going to get smashed as soon as he receives a style matchup that is as bad for him as he has been thusfar for his opponents.

I rewatched the fight and IMO the decision was a good one. Round 1: 10-9 Machida, and I can't see giving this to Shogun Round 2: 10-9 Machida, but I could definitely see going 10-10 here. But I can't give this to Shogun. Round 3: 10-9 Machida, can't give this to Shogun Round 4: 10-9 Shogun, can't give this to Machida Round 5: 10-9 Shogun, can't give this to Machida I'd go 48-47 Machida exactly as the judges have it, and I could see going with a 48-48 draw. Shogun did not win that fight and people who did are probably being influenced by 1) Rogan and Goldberg's commentary, and 2) Shogun stalking Machida throughout the fight.

I really like the Heidenreich pick and am surprised there's no mention of him anywhere. Probably way too early though. And I still say Justin Jones is the one who got away, not Morgado as much, but Morgado would have definitely been the better immediate fit for our system given the Peavy trade. Hopefully Santos Rodriguez and Charlie Leesman take big steps forward next year.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) what about Randy Williams? he got Mauer & Morneau out, if you dont believe me, just ask Hawk Williams in a lefty specialist role *only* wouldn't be so bad. We could definitely do worse, and we have done much worse in the past. I'd much rather bring in a few guys to compete with him though, all with equal or better shots of making the club. Ideally I'd love to have a solid veteran there, but you get to a point where you just don't want to keep sinking money into a bullpen. If however we trade Jenks and make Thornton the closer, then we definitely need to find a good lefty who can pitch to both lefties and righties to work in a setup role. Williams will not come close to filling that hole.

I don't think it was a robbery. I had it very close, but I did think Shogun was going to win because he finished stronger. I thought Rogan made it sound like a robbery, but he does that often enough. He seemed to be going nuts over all of Shogun's counters and then minimizing Machida's counters. I'll watch the fight again without the commentary. According to Dana, they're going to have a rematch right away, which is awesome because I loved that fight. Definite FOTY candidate for me. Also, I have to give Shogun huge f***ing props. I thought the gameplan he used against Machida was the type of gameplan needed to beat Machida, but I never thought Shogun would be able to do it. I thought maybe Jon Jones in the future, by using leg and body kicks to cut down on Machida's quickness and then mixing it up with wrestling to wear him down and try to do some damage from Lyoto's guard. But never did I think Shogun could go out there and fight like that. Shogun fought like a f***ing surgeon in there. I'm sooooo f***ing impressed with Shogun after last night, just beautiful. The old Shogun would have gotten destroyed, but this is a new Shogun that is definitely championship material. I'm just so damn impressed with that guy. He's so talented and so young, and now we see that he's also in great shape, motivated, and he's willing to evolve with the game. I love to see that. I love how fighters are fighting smarter now, they're not just going out there trying to kill each other. There's a lot more strategy involved and guys are turning their careers around because of it. So f***ing impressed with Shogun...

QUOTE (League @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 08:07 AM) I'm going to assume that we keep Bobby - CL) Jenks SU) Thornton SU) Hudson MRP) Free Agent(Joe Beimel?)/Johnny Nunez MRP) Tony Pena MRP) Scott Linebrink LRP) DJ Carrasco. If we keep Jenks then that will probably be it, except for Nunez because we'll need another lefty.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 04:18 AM) Apologies for my boneheaded question Kenny but since the category of Strasburg's contract is MLB he does not have pre-arb/arb years? All of these years are guaranteed as are the bobus installments? Which means he will be a free agent after the 2012 season? Strasburg signed a Major League contract which means he's on the 40-man roster and each year he spends time in the minors (not counting rehab starts if he's hurt) he uses an option. But that doesn't matter since he should be in Washington next year anyway. Arbitration still goes by MLB service time, which means days spent on the active MLB roster. For example, he could spend all year in the minors next year (he won't, but he could) and he'd have 0 days service time and use an option. If he spends say 70 days in the Majors next year then he'd use an option and have 70 days service time. You need 6 years of service time total to be a free agent, which again goes in terms of accumulated days, not seasons, and is why a guy like DeWayne Wise was arb eligible instead of a FA. You need 172 days on an active MLB roster to have one full year of service time. So every year after Strasburg's deal expires that he lacks FA service time, he'll be arb eligible. What will probably happen is that he'll spend 2010-2012 in the Majors, and instead of being paid the league minimum or near it like everyone else, he'll just make more money. Then he'll be arb eligible and under team control from 2013-2015 before he hits free agency.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) So, no one answered me... Strasburg's deal was 4 years 15 mil total? i.e. 4 mil a year? http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/w...tionals_01.html 4 years/$15.1M (2009-12) signed Major League contract with Washington 8/17/09 $7.5M signing bonus (paid in 3 installments of $2.5M, 9/1/09, 1/10/10, 1/10/11) 09:$0.4M (pro-rated), 10:$2M, 11:$2.5M, 12:$3M

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 08:28 AM) This makes a little more sense. If Chapman got $40-60 million while Strasburg "had" to sign for $15 million, b****ing about Boras anymore would be a joke. I still think the economy is going to play a huge role in the offseason. I think most teams will not have cash. In the NBA, I read something where someone with some inside knowledge thinks something major is going to happen by the end of the season, like 1-3 teams disbanding. Of course the NBA has priced many people out of their games. If Strasburg had been allowed to negotiate with all 30 teams he could have tripled that figure, easily. Chapman is nowhere near the pitcher Strasburg is, not even close. Chapman shouldn't get $40-60M at all, but the Yankees will have a ton of money available over the offseason and you can never count them out of a bidding war for a top international player. The Yankees have $13M for Damon, $13M for Matsui, $6.5M for Nady, $5.5M for Pettite, another $8.5M+ in spare parts like Gaudin, Hinske, etc., all coming off the books, plus Wang who made $5M is a non-tender candidate. They could have over $50M in departing contracts. I agree in general that most teams will be out of cash.

QUOTE (League @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 01:42 PM) That's a really poorly written article, hard to see how that got posted. I didn't think it's poorly written as much as it's full of typos. Duncan really is a terrific pitching coach.

Duncan would be a huge coop for the Flubbies, but there's no point in hiring him if they're still going to let Bonehead Hendry make baseball decisions. I also doubt that hiring Jaramillo is going to help them dump the contracts of Bradley, Soriano, and Fukudome. Especially Soriano, as IMO he has the 3rd worst contact in baseball, only behind Barry Zito and Vernon Wells. In fact, Todd Helton's deal is nothing compared to Soriano's because at least Helton can be bought out in 2012. Unless the Cubs fire Hendry, re-organize the front office, and dump off the trash, hiring Jaramillo and Duncan is only polishing a turd.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) You're being awfully generous - he was brutal at SS. Enough to make me feel stupid for suggesting he see extended time at SS earlier in the year. Nix at SS means "sphincter time."

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 12:01 PM) Until Nix can hit right handed pitchers with more consistency, He is a utility player. Currently Nix is a right handed pull hitter who has success against lefties but gets exposed against righties. LOL for capitalizing "he." Are you buying into the Nix = God of Defense stuff?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:11 PM) His curve is what hurt him his last start. He hung a few supposedly to different batters. (that's the pitch C.J. rocked off him.. hanging curve) He's going to put Justin Verlander's "nintendo stuff" to shame. He's a beast. Agree. Calling that guy's repertoire a bunch of "plus" pitches is an understatement. The guy has at least 3 pitches with the potential to be plus-plus IMO. The fastball and the slider are pretty much already there and that change could get there too. The guy is just awesome. I really hope he doesn't get hurt because I want to see what this kid can do once he learns how to pitch in the Majors.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 06:05 PM) Damn. Who's taller? CJ or this dude - I don't see a dude...

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 06:02 PM) He is below average on getting jumps. Similar to Pods. He is awful compared to Rios, who is very good. Oh, I didn't know that. I don't see him all the time, but I hadn't heard that stuff before.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:59 PM) I meant value as in terms of players. I think Alexei is pretty good and his value being a SS is very nice. Jenks is a good closer but would be a nasty set-up man. Bard has a great arm, but far more raw, so based upon pure performance (not factoring in contract, etc)...Jenks > Bard and Ellsbury and Alexei are relatively even (both play premium positions and both have flaws to there game). Basically put, I think it is a close match, although that isn't factoring in Jenks contract. Either way I have no clue what the BoSox rationale for that move would be, but if they want a SS and have someone else in mind at CF, than it could be an option and obviously it would give them one hell of a f***ing pen with Jenks/Paplebon. As a Sox fan, I'd be 1000% on board. I see. I was thinking more in terms of now and in the future along with production vs. cost. LOL, I'd have no clue what their rationale would be either, but if that was on the table, I wouldn't ask any questions.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:49 PM) Ellsbury would play LF then? He's awful out there in CF compared to Rios. Is Ellsbury really that awful in CF? He certainly wasn't an awful defensive CF as a prospect.

QUOTE (League @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:44 PM) I'd think that Alexei would have a ton of value to the BoSox seeing as he'd fill the shortstop void they've had so much trouble with cheaply, but I don't see where Bobby fits in here. Maybe Alexei for Jacoby and Okajima. Agree that Alexei would have a ton of value to anyone needing a SS, but Ellsbury is a super stud. If I had Ellsbury I wouldn't make that trade straight-up. Alexei's career numbers: .283/.326/.430/.755 Ellsbury's career numbers: .297/.350/.414/.764 Ellsbury is 25, Alexei is 27. Alexei has HR power, but Ellsbury is a burner - he stole 70 bases last year, 50 the year before. Also, Alexei sometimes has brainfarts, and I'm not going to say Ellsbury doesn't because I don't see him all the time like I see Alexei, but I haven't read/heard about that from Jacoby. Both are great values ATM. The biggest disadvantage (for us if we made that deal) would be that IIRC Ellsbury is a Borass client, meaning we wouldn't be able to extend him. Borass would take him to arb every year and make sure he gets whatever is the maximum at that time. But I just don't see the Red Sox offering that at all. If they offered us anything it would be prospects and maybe a reliever. If I could get Buchholz and Bard out of the deal I'd make it, not because it makes us better in 2010, but because that is an enormous amount of talent that I wouldn't be able to pass up.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 05:29 PM) I'd be on-board. I love Bard and think he's got upside and while I'd hate to see Alexei go, I think Ellsbury gives the Sox an added dimension, plus gives the Sox financial flexibility. Value wise the BoSox maybe win out, but I love the idea of Bard and Ellsbury since both are cheap and ultimately I have a lot of confidence in Thornton as our closer and Bard as a potential closer in a year or two and a great set-up man. Really? I love Alexei, but Bard is wicked and Ellsbury is one of my favorite players. If we made Bard the 2010 closer - and I don't think that is a huge stretch BTW - then we'd have a closer, another righty setup man to push Pena into a specialist role where he has done well, we wouldn't have to rely on Linebrink, and we'd solve the OF and lead-off situations by pushing Rios to RF. All we'd need after that is a second lefty in the pen, a SS, and hopefully a big lefty bat. But we'd cut payroll in the deal, so we could sign a lefty to DH (Abreu? Damon? Matsui?) on a short-term deal, and then we could trade for a defense-first SS and another lefty reliever. That deal would rock, but I don't think it's realistic at all. On talent alone we rape the Red Sox IMO.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 02:54 PM) You may be correct and I'm fine with that. I like Getz as a ballplayer and he can improve just as easily as anyone else in this discussion. It could be that Retherford could be the better utility man anyway. I have never seen Retherford play, I'm just going off of the various reports on this site. Can someone tell me what Retherfords defensive capabilities are? I understand that he, like Getz, is primarily a 2nd baseman, but has played other spots as well. Does he have good range, arm strength, etc. for other positions? I think he was pretty decent at 3B for the Warthogs (before they were the Dash) and I believe JPN said he had been doing well at 2B also. I don't think he's a world-beater with the glove, but he should be good enough for his bat to be an asset.