Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 01:23 AM) Why would you hope for Jose to get bombed on Wednesday? I couldn't care less about Hudson if it means Jose regains his stuff and is lights out the rest of the way. Unlikely, I know - but isn't that the best case scenario? Contreras would still have me scared for his next start after Wednesday even if he pitches very well on Wednesday. With Freddy - if he's healthy again and his FB is up to an acceptable range - he has a LOT more to work with than Contreras does. Jose can go out there looking fine, but then he loses his forkball early on and then there goes his FB, and then he starts sidearming garbage up to the plate. Freddy, if he falls behind, has the balls to throw just about anything deep in the count and get it over. And he's smart enough to realize what is and is not working and then try something else. Freddy will add or take something off of several different pitches while Jose is just basically Jose. So if Freddy goes out there and throws a good game, I don't think that would be any definite sign that he'll be very good for the rest of the season, but I'd say his chances would be a lot higher than Count. And as for Hudson, I just want to see him. Give him the last couple starts until Peavy gets back, with Freddy as our constant No. 5, and then either shut Hudson down or let him pitch irregularly out of the pen during blow-outs or something. Keep him in good shape for next year because unless Kenny trades him over the offseason, he'll most likely be our #5 at some point next year, and maybe he'll be that out of ST. Edit: And BTW I still want the Sox to win.

If D2 gets hot, then yes. Long has been aces lately. Edit: actually, D2 probably doesn't have to get hot for them to reach that. Yes, they will reach that.

Rage Against the Linebrink is going on tour: next stop, Baltimore (kind of).

Nevin Upchurch Retherford Viciedo Shelby Long Mitchell Santeliz Gilmore

A lot is going to hinge on Freddy's performance tomorrow. If Freddy looks good and uses all his pitches, the leash on Contreras just got a heck of a lot shorter. One good outing by Freddy plus one more bad outing by Full Count should mean Hudson is up until Peavy is back, because then there will be only 2 starts(?) left out of what is essentially the 6th spot of the rotation. I have more faith in Freddy tomorrow than I've had in Contreras and Colon all season. The guy flat out knows how to pitch and is a true competitor. If Freddy can consistently work in the 88-91 range he has enough secondary stuff to shut down any lineup on any given day. I really hope he's back for the rest of the season because out of all the other 5th starter options, nobody is a better bet for a stretch of big games than a healthy Freddy. The guy shut us down with Detroit last year for about 5 innings or so before they went to the pen, and I believe he was only working in the 83-86 range at that point. A healthy Freddy is a huge addition to this team and, if we make the playoffs, potentially a huge addition out of the bullpen as well. I'm not saying he could do what El Duque did against Boston, but he could be like another El Duque in the sense that if Linebrink gets us in a real bind like Marte did back then, Freddy is one veteran with enough offspeed tricks up his sleeve to work his way out of a jam. So tomorrow I hope Freddy is lights-out for at least 5 innings, and then Contreras bombs out on Wednesday but in a game we come back and win. That way we get Freddy as our #5 for the rest of the year and we also get to see Hudson make his MLB debut and at least get one more start afterwards. Of course Freddy could show his fastball is still way down and end up getting torched, but IMO the above is the best case scenario.

The Dancing with the Stars thing is funny. I don't watch that stuff, but I'll enjoy watching the "highlights" on YouTube. Chuck has about as much charisma as a piece of driftwood.

Uh oh... Kenny's feathers are looking ruffled! BTW voted "underachievers" because that's what we are. We throw games away and we do it in such a fashion that lays blame on portions of our attack that don't deserve as much blame. Like, our relievers blow a game where the opposition scores less than 3 runs, and the relievers look like s*** and take blame away from the pathetic offense. Or we make errors that pitchers do not pitch over which then makes the pitching staff look worse. Or we fail to score in key situations, but still end up scoring like 5+ runs in a loss, and the offense takes a large portion of the blame despite the pitching and defense being below average or worse. If this team could ever find some level of consistency we'd win a lot of ballgames. Hopefully Peavy and Freddy (and maybe Hudson) give us the boost we need to make it through September on top. If we win this thing it's going to go down to the wire, which is unfortunate because then we'd have trouble setting our playoff rotation based on more favorable matchups vs. the Yankees. But with 4 starters who don't suck, we should have a chance to win no matter who we start in Game 1 should we get there.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 05:25 PM) Not really... Raburn's got a .767 OPS along with a .330 wOBA. He's been a barely above average offensive player this season. Huff has a below league average OPS of .725 and a weak .307 wOBA. He's been a bit unlucky this year, but still, that's not good. Huff's also bad on defense, just like Raburn. If anything, this was a move to keep Ordonez out of the lineup. That's probably the best move they can make in any case. Get out of Magglio's contract with a reason that will keep the PA off the Tigers' backs when Borass throws a hissy fit. I wonder if the Magglio situation will hurt their standing with all their Borass clients in the future? My guess is no because Borass is still a snake who doesn't hold dearly anything other than money.

Congrats to me for making a second useful post (the first was pointing out that the W-S logo looks like a dick). It is annoying how writers will constantly write "opinion" pieces that are meant to find a sentimental or angry audience rather than actually express an honest opinion.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 07:51 PM) Upchurch still failing to find the plate; 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 1 K, WP. I have no idea why this is happening to him because he's a lot more talented than that. My only guess is that he's doing this on purpose so that he can get promoted quicker like Oney did.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 07:33 PM) Keith Law noted that he has "first-round stuff", a good season next year should see him rise up draft boards. That said, it's a very big risk on his part. Agree it's a big risk. There are tons of guys every year who have first round stuff or are projected to develop first round stuff but don't know how to pitch, and/or have really poor mechanics, and/or are injured all the time, and/or are coming off major surgery, etc. Stuff alone doesn't always get you first round money, and while I understand why a prospect would want to get as much $$$ as possible in case he gets hurt or bombs out and has to do something else for a career, he's still taking a huge gamble here if he's not going to sign.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 07:40 PM) I got a very negative report on Santeliz' attitude just recently. Apparently everyone in Birmingham wants him gone, he's been stealing, he shows no respect towards team mates, staff or peoples property etc. It was just one report but the source went out of his way to tell me how nasty this guy is. Wow... I hope that's not true.

These blogs are awesome JPN. My only concern is that you cover so much that you might run out of things to talk about after a while, lol. Hopefully not because they're fun to read. Also, from where you sit, how would you rate Santeliz's slider? Is there a good amount of depth to it? And it might be hard to tell because he probably focuses on his fastball, but from what you have seen, what is his best pitch after the fastball? I love hearing about the hot-head on the field, clubhouse clown in dugout attitude. Sounds EXACTLY like the kind of guy I'd want on my team, especially in a (possibly?) future closer's role. And lastly, how does Mabee's curveball look?

Morgado probably wants high first round money like every other 3rd rounder in the country. I normally always advocate spending heavily on the farm system but this year it is getting really bad. Some of these 2rd-7th or so round players are getting more money guaranteed than Orlando Hudson got guaranteed on his last contract. That is f***ing ridiculous. We really need Morgado in our system because of the lack of lefty pitching prospects, but after bringing in Rios and Peavy I understand the Sox passing if his demands are outrageous. I'm sure the Sox are/were prepared to go well above slot for him anyway.

Please don't say the s-word yet...

LOL at M a r r i o t t i automatically being replaced by Hineybird. I never noticed that.

This "sanctity of the game" stuff really gets annoying after a while because so often it seems brutally disingenuous. When f***ing trash like Bud Selig and Jay Hineybird talk about the game having a sacredness, and how records and historic performances in baseball hold more significance than they do in other sports, they don't really mean that s***. They're complete liars. Pro sports = $$$$$$ and not much else for a lot of these guys whose records are supposed to be sacred. For instance, Manny Ramirez was making like $22M per year or whatever to lope around LF like a f***wad, and challenge clubhouses attendants to fights, and load up on roids, and skip games, and quit on his team, etc. Meanwhile Ernie Young has spent practically his entire career playing hard in the minors helping young prospects learn and just waiting for another shot. I guarantee Manny's records mean a lot more to Ernie Young than to Manny himself as a result. But what I'm getting at is this sanctity of the game s*** really doesn't apply to many people - and many if not most of the people who crow on and on about it are only lying to themselves and trying to be part of the "in-crowd" that places an absurd level of importance upon any sport and any athlete. I mean, just considering abandoning the sport over an esteemed player roiding is childish - it's like if you don't get what you want, you just cry and go home. What adult thinks like that? What adult actually considers Derek Jeter - or any athlete - a f***ing hero? That is ridiculous. This guy wouldn't quit watching baseball over Jeter roiding, and if for some reason he did, it would be either because he's a complete p**** who is WAY too close to Jeter's nutsac or it would be because he never loved the game as much as he preached to begin with. Look, it f***ing blows that Bonds* broke Aaron's record. It f***ing blows that Roger Clemens' entire career numbers will be viewed as tainted. But to me, what really f***ing sucks about it is not where their numbers rank with or without the asterisk, but it's the fact that I know they cannot appreciate where they stand. Barry Bonds cheated because he wanted to reach a number only, same with Clemens. If Bonds for example gave two s***s about Hank Aaron's career he would have tried to pass it with honor and as a result wouldn't have taken anything. Bonds, by cheating and out of total selfishness, put himself one peg higher in the record books than a man who dealt with rampant racism and whose home runs came in an era of larger ballparks and without the juiced ball and who also played in an era where players didn't make the same kinds of salaries they do now and therefore would have viewed playing the game of baseball for a living as more of a privilege than a job. That's what gets me about the roiders. They have so much in today's game that gives them an advantage naturally just through improved medicine and a more powerful union, and they make so much more money, that they should at least try to respect the game somewhat. So when they cheat to break a major record they're just doing it for personal satisfaction and they don't care about the player whose record they're usurping. Fifty years from now none of this will matter. Most all of these roiders are going into the HOF, if not by the same journalists who are b****ing now (and who will suddenly have a change of heart when it comes to someone like ARod) then the roiders will be elected by the veterans committees. Most of the old players' records will all be broken and the new ones will appear artificial anyway, and future generations aren't going to remember who cheated when and where, nor will they care. Ultimately as a fan it sucks that this has gone on, but the problem isn't irreparable so long as Commissioner Sweepitundertherug actually does what he should do and release all the names to protect those who were NOT caught using and do whatever it takes to come up with a system for testing for HGH. But although that's not going to happen anytime soon, it could happen in the future. Either way, looking down on the game itself and giving up on the game itself because of the selfish actions of some overpaid celebrity just because you feel victimized for stupidly idolizing him is only something a p**** would do.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Aug 15, 2009 -> 11:43 PM) I don't think that it's quite so easy to turn a team around. What do you mean? Giving out like $60-80M for 3 prospects is exactly how you build a team! Wasn't Neftali Feliz an under-the-radar signing for the Braves? How much would he get right now if he were able to negotiate a contract like Chapman will be able to? Giving that much money to 3 big name prospects is stupid when you could just do the scouting and sign a s***load of extremely talented players for the same amount. Strasburg is an exception because the Nats had #1 overall and it will send a bad message to their fans if they fail to sign their first rounders for two straight years, so they should try to get this done. But Strasburg is a PERFECT example of why MLB is all f***ed up. Teams should be able to trade draft picks and slots NEED to be raised across the board and then stuck to so this s*** doesn't happen. The MLB draft is a f***ing joke and has been for quite some time. The best players should go highest and they should be forced to sign at no more than slot. And all the loopholes that allow players to re-enter the draft looking for more money after playing for an independent league team or go overseas are also bulls***. The FA compensation system is bulls*** too, especially how it affects the draft. The whole thing needs to be overhauled because teams should be able to draft a player knowing he'll sign if the team offers the appropriate max slot bonus. I'll end the rant now. But the whole thing just pisses me off when teams like the Sox don't regularly go over slot because they respect the commissioner's office, but then the f***ing Royals and Pirates and Red Sox and Rangers and Yankees and Tigers etc. go way the f*** over on a bunch of players and nobody gets fined or otherwise penalized. If you're going to hold a kangaroo court at least f***ing enforce SOME of your rules. The amount of insane overslot signings is getting absolutely ridiculous, and it SHOULD piss off the Players Association at least as much if not more than it pisses off the owners, because unproven prospects are getting money that productive veterans are not getting in free agency. So anyway, Morgado better sign or I'm going to cast a voodoo curse on him that will make his left arm fall off and two more rights grow straight out his ass.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 02:13 AM) Mousasi absolutely destroyed Babalu. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his fights. I'm guessing he will take care of Sokodju pretty easily in their fight. At least Mousasi is getting paid to waste his time. Babalu was Strikeforce's best guy at LHW and Mousasi already ran through Dream's middleweight "division." I hope his contract doesn't run too long and he can sign with the UFC pretty soon. Since he's a training partner of Fedor he won't fight Fedor, but if he's only got 3 fights (which I hope) maybe he can fight Werdum and Rogers at HW and Robbie Lawler at 205 or something. Lil Nog might be a possibility if Strikeforce is planning on picking him up, but I could also see him in the UFC too.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Aug 15, 2009 -> 11:31 PM) thats an understatement. Cyborg made Carano her b****. I'm glad because women's MMA sucks and hopefully this puts it back on the backburner. Werdum looked a lot better physically. Fight went the way it should have gone. Maybe he can regain top 10 form. Totally agree. I mean, it's nice that they get to do it and all, but I'm glad that Zuffa isn't doing it. A lot of people don't want to watch women fight period, and even those that do, why would they rather see that s*** over the mens fights on the prelims? Also the hype for this show pissed me off to no end and felt faker than any hype ever before. First it was annoying enough that every MMA site I went to I had to listen to the Strikeforce promo with the obligatory lines about how girls can fight too and yadda yadda yadda. I don't care. But then when the fight actually happened, I couldn't understand the pop from the crowd. How many of those people even remember who Gina fought before Cyborg? I watched the EXC events and I don't even know. And how many were cheering just because she's hot? Then half the place seemed to erupt into golf claps for Cyborg during her interview. Like, oh, this is such a great moment, Oprah would be so proud, what hearts these women have, oh it's so great to be part of a world where a woman can be a professional fighter, etc. - just an atmosphere completely devoid of testosterone in every way which is kind of what makes MMA so awesome IMO. I bet the Just Bleed guy wouldn't have clapped at all.

This 2nd announcer in the booth is f***ing terrible. Edit: talking about the Knights here.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 07:07 PM) I agree. Meltzer wrote that the hold-up now is that they would want to put a PPV main event on a network or ESPN card and the current offers would have them lose revenue from running a PPV. I think they'll overcome that shortly and you'll see something, also, they snapped up a decent amount of Affliction fighters and after initially saying they were cutting Leites they said they're keeping him now. I felt something is coming sooner rather than later when I heard Dana say creative control isn't a problem anymore except with HBO. +1 Dana also said they'd be putting on "serious fights" on free tv if/when they get it, so the main event stuff shouldn't be a problem. My first guess is this: the UFC wants to keep expanding internationally, but they also have problems drawing in viewers on PPV for replays or for live showings at like 2pm CT. There's still some very good cards they run out with very solid main events (like Wandy-Franklin in Germany) so I bet that whoever they go with on a network takes those international cards and airs them live.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 09:57 PM) http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/update-ba...ck-to-ufc-19091 NYBA looks like he's heading back to the UFC. Obviously odd, but as the article points out it seems like the UFC is looking to snap up Strikeforce fighters. They're probably trying to prevent guys from signing long deals with Strikeforce with the hope of a UFC deal or at least a bidding war. It might be harder for Strikeforce to get traction going in other deals without their guys signed to multi-fight deals Snapping up all these guys to keep them from Strikeforce is probably a big part of the reason at least and is the most obvious guess. But it seems to me like the UFC is gearing up to announce a major TV deal shortly. Here's why: -Dana promised a major announcement that would change the UFC and the MMA landscape forever. Dana has since said that none of the other major announcements (Tito, Belfort, Affliction, UK deal, etc.) were that announcement, and he said that sometimes it takes a while for things to get finalized. -Dana mentioned during the 101 post-fight press conference that they might be adding another event in October. Hmm, isn't Strikeforce supposed to hit CBS this fall? That would be an odd coincidence. -The UFC recently formed a partnership with ESPN for the airing of all major UFC live programming. Meanwhile, Bellator has reportedly impressed on ESPN Deportes and the President of ESPN (I believe, maybe a CEO) attended UFC 100 and has supposedly been pushing MMA more as a topic of conversation on regular ESPN programming. Plus 101 had the MMA Live crew there which I believe had only been done before for BJ-GSP 2, Lesnar-Couture, and Lesnar-Mir, GSP-Alves. 101 was a major card, but not nearly as major as those other three, so could that signal an ESPN presence at every PPV? -Dana was asked by Meltzer for an update on the network TV situation and Dana said the interest is hotter than ever and that they didn't think they were far from a deal. He also made it sound like production and creative issues were no longer problems. -The video blogs are all gone and there have been hints of a behind-the-scenes series debuting that would essentially replace them. -Lastly, look at all of these fighters coming in and there's a lot of similarities. Matyushenko, Baroni, Rothwell, Buentello, etc. are all name fighters. They're not exactly world beaters, but they're not prelim fighters either. They all seem like the type of fighters you put on the main card of a free television show, and Spike isn't scheduled to run a ton of TUF Finales and UFN's every year. Just a guess on my part, but UFC is going to be making a powerplay shortly, and within 2 months tops of Strikeforce appearing on CBS we'll see the UFC either on a network, ESPN, or HBO, and possibly they'll have 2 out of 3.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 04:48 PM) He has done a lot of (idiotic) IP managing to get in and make his 10 posts before he gets banned. Why does he keep getting banned? And why does he keep coming back after getting banned? I'd be like screw you guys and all that stuff.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) I don't think that there are THAT many contenders who are at or over their budgets. Remember Kenny complaining that the Sox were at their budget limit two months ago? Baseball attendance isn't down anywhere near what was predicted back in March. I could easily see a team like the Phillies, Dodgers, or Cardinals (who are going to draw well over 3 million this year) add another $4M to their books if they think that Wagner will get them into the playoffs (and possibly further). If the Mets don't move Wagner, it'll be because either nobody is convinced that he'll be able to pitch at a high level for the next two months or because Minaya wants too much in return. The Kenny comments were odd, but apparently he had enough for Peavy because he was allowed to pick him up in May. Kenny never plays his hand so we can only guess, but it's not all that far-fetched to me to picture JR agreeing to accept a small loss this season knowing that it will save Kenny and the Sox from overpaying for similar or lesser players over the offseason through trade or FA. Everyone loves to talk about how cheap JR is, but we don't know that, and Kenny has a great relationship with him obviously. I could see other teams adding that much too if it makes sense and IF they have the budget to do so. But how come nobody wanted Baez for free minus the contract then? Because that's all a waiver claim is basically; a team agrees to take on the contract by making a claim and isn't obligated to give up anything. So why would all these teams pass on a guy like that who is already healthy and has been throwing well all season and then give up more than twice that amount for a guy who hasn't pitched in over a year and is currently on a minor league rehab assignment after Tommy John? And about those other teams: The Cards haven't been a huge spender for the last couple of years, and they usually always go bargain hunting. DeRosa and Holliday was a HUGE commitment from them and why would we think they have money left? The Phils had a very large payroll going into this season - actually, in the offseason they wanted Nomar and a few other guys for a bench spot but couldn't afford to give them more than the minimum. I believe they even came out and said they were already over budget at the time. Now, this is a team that in the offseason would have projected increases much higher than they normally would have because they just came off a WS title. So they were already at their max to begin the season, and then they added Cliff Lee on top of it. Whatever extra they would have gotten beyond their projections is probably gone in their case. The Dodgers we don't know about at all. They saved some money because they didn't have to pay Manny during his suspension, but they also added Sherrill. Maybe they have enough room to take on another $4M, no one but the Dodgers people know, but again, why Wagner? Why a guy who is owed so much and has been off so long? They'd have to feel very, very good about it to do so and a move like that probably takes them out of other waiver possibilities.