ThunderBolt

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 04:38 PM) Compare him and Getz/Nix. If those were the only options, and you couldn't shoot yourself, which would you take? I'd probably be willing to part with something small we didn't need to pick him up for a year or two. How much do you guys think is to much to give up. Say one of the trio of Towers, Depodesta, and Alderson called the Sox up, and said you could get Greene and Morton for Anderson, Broadway, Allen and Shelby would you do it?

QUOTE (TCQ @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 03:45 PM) I think valentines got a shot, id hope he could excape from the black hole which is managing in japan. The guy is a god over there. Why would he want to leave?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 01:57 PM) any other pieces that could be raped and/or pillaged from them? They have a former top-prospect catcher that has had his stock fallen significantly in the organization. His name is Colt Morton, and he is a plus-defender with doubles power.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 01:23 AM) -Tejada -Both Giambi Brothers. Please don't tell me Jason started juicing when he got to NY -Zito has lost almost 10 MPH off his stuff. -Mulder is almost out of baseball after breaking down -Hudson has also started to break down -Chavez can't seem to stay healthy anymore -Koch went out of his mind in Oakland, and just didn't look the same after he left.. -Milton Bradley has been linked to roids in the past as well Swisher was drafted the year that Jason Giambi was released from the organization weeks into the season. Zito's deterioration in velocity hardly remarkable, and had been predicted for years. Koch was always a loose cannon fireballer Beane saw this and exploited it. Who knows about Mulder, but his mechanics were always less than ideal. To label Nick Swisher as a steroid user due to being in the presence of a few bad apples, and being in an organization that produced a bushel of them is simply unfair. What do we know? Swisher’s always been a big guy, he’s never had a remarkable injury of any sort, and has never been linked to usage in the past. Simply being around Milton Bradley is no sign of usage. Otherwise, we best test the entire Padres, Indians, and Dodgers organizations as well.

He’s more than acceptable. Poor defense can be compensated for, Dye does it with his bat. However, I think the ideal situation would be to move Q to right, and Dye to left. Dye defensive deficiencies would be far less evident if this move was made.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 12:54 AM) No one from Oakland should get a free pass. The last Oakland A to be nailed for roids was Tejada, and Tejada left after 2004. Swish only played 20 games with the club that year. Unless, we're assuming that the drug use is organizational wide rather then an offshoot of the Canseco era then that's a pretty strong statement.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 12:54 AM) No one from Oakland should get a free pass. The last Oakland A to be nailed for roids was Tejada, and Tejada left after 2004. Swish only played 20 games with the club that year. Unless, we're assuming that the drug use is organizational wide rather then an offshoot of the Canseco era then that's a pretty strong statement.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 4, 2008 -> 11:53 PM) You don't consider at all the strong possibility that Swisher was on steroids. Is there any evidence to suport this? Swisher has always been a big guy, just kinda a workout freak.

The idea that Anderson can be a plus hitter is still conjecture. When given (nearly) a full years of at bats he failed miserably, when given a specific assignment (hit lefties) he did decently. Swisher, however, had demonstrated throughout his entire career (HS, Collegiate, Minors, Majors) that he is able to hit for plus-power, while demonstrating tremendous plate discipline. His defense, while not of Gold Glove caliber, has never been anything less then completely acceptable when packaged with his skills at the plate. Swisher’s last year was by every single account a statistical aberration, or in layman’s terms a down year. Assuming that Swisher hasn’t regressed permanent (And at his age this would be fascinating if true) I have every expectation of him to reverse this trend, and keep hitting back to his former statiscal levels.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 4, 2008 -> 03:33 PM) He can't hit any worse that f***ing Swisher. Uh, yes he can. He can be a good deal worse.

Clearly, BA has already evaluated Gordon Beckham as a wingmen, and he was not up to snuff. But to be replaced by Brad Penny? The lowest of all lows. What, was David Wells phone off the hook?

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 4, 2008 -> 02:22 PM) This is why the Gold Gloves are a joke. What people don’t realize is that gazelle hop that he does is not just for finesse, it’s an attempt to compensate for a decided lack of range.

QUOTE (striker62704 @ Nov 3, 2008 -> 02:18 PM) How about Vazquez for Atkins and Taveras, then we sign Lowe 3/36. Taveraz bats 9th and plays CF. We could flip Atkins or trade fields. How about we don’t have an injury-prone guy whose average season has an OPB of 331, and a slugging of .337 starting in an American League Lineup?

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Nov 3, 2008 -> 01:54 PM) I wonder if they may be targeting Arbuckle (I doubt it, but still you never know); Yes, Brillaint! I was just about to post this. The guy reallys know his baseball, and has an eye for talent that is often compared to the top evaluators of the game (White, Forst, , ETC) You wanna shake things up? Arbuckle could be the man. That being said, if Gillick gets an advisory job in Seattle, i could see Arbuckle joining staff there.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Nov 2, 2008 -> 10:38 PM) probably some new coaches or telliing how they offically let go people I would not be suprised to see the return of Tim Raines to the organization. He coached the Nationals AA team last year, but was let go. It would only be approriate for him to come home. Does anyone know if Fisk or Ventura have expressed any interest in coaching? They always seemed like coaching would be a decent fit to them.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 2, 2008 -> 10:26 PM) Likely there will be some housecleaning of scouts, coaches, etc, as he continues to rebuild the minor league system. Let's get rid of the guy responsible for this gem. "I had one scout tell me, one who saw a lot of Jerry Owens, that 'If you didn't have Owens, you would be out looking for Owens,'" said Williams with a laugh. "We went into last year with Owens slated to be our leadoff guy and only an injury derailed that. It's not the worst thing if that's how we end up.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 2, 2008 -> 08:04 AM) Well, remember his comments last offseason about DET making the moves for Willis and Cabrera to put them in a position to compete with the Sox? Yep, this talk about Fields, Owens, a blockbuster deal, and the signing of low-risk Nix, all of it, Is very reminiscent of last year’s offseason, which as far as I’m concerned is a very good thing. Kenny’s gonna get the job done no matter what.

This Texas Tech/Texas game is fantastic. Tech just took the lead on a fantastic catch and run by Crabtree. Texas now has one second to pull something out.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 1, 2008 -> 05:49 PM) Danks is making this AFL thing look pretty easy so far... I think he's approaching affectionate nickname territory. Every scouting report I’ve ever heard on the kid referred to one tic in his swing that seemed to throw him off sometimes. Apparently, this tic developed sometime during his years in Texas. It really does look like it was only a minor problem and that he's figured it out. Danks and Beckham could be a devastating tandem in the 1 and 2 spots of the order for years to come.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 01:24 PM) if i were to get a sox logo as a tatoo and some jerk wrote go twins underneath it,i'd kick his ass Hell, i'd sue his ass. I know this about a Cubs fan, but this was completley uncalled for. And it's permanent too.

And here's something KW got Wrong (and continues to do so) Jerry Owens "I had one scout tell me, one who saw a lot of Jerry Owens, that 'If you didn't have Owens, you would be out looking for Owens,'" said Williams with a laugh. "We went into last year with Owens slated to be our leadoff guy and only an injury derailed that. It's not the worst thing if that's how we end up." We best all pray for the groin to give way again.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 30, 2008 -> 03:30 PM) WOW! Put down the TOBY HALL Koolaid! Think of the huge repercussions this move could have on Nick Swisher. It took until early October for Swisher to confide in a teammate about his legendary bat, Thunderbolt. That teammate was Toby Hall. I imagine he’s going to be devastated.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Oct 30, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) I think the bullpen is in need of a closer, I still like the idea of Edwin Jackson as a closer. He's very much a one dimensional fireballer with limited control. THe Rays should exploit this, and utlize him in the bottom 9. So, Put Price in the rotation, move Sonnanstine either to another team or to relief, and work from there.

QUOTE (Frank the Tank 35 @ Oct 17, 2008 -> 11:22 PM) With Moustakas likely coming up sometime next year, it just pushes Teahen further out of the picture. Moustakas is a SS/3B, Teahen remains very much in the picture. The general consensus of opinion is that Aviles will shift to 2b to make room for the kid in a year or two.

So, Junichi Tazawa features a Fastball, Curve, slider and a change. There's some video of him on youtube if anyone's interested. He's about 5’11” / 180 lbs, but generates decent power from his delivery