[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

My God, dude, it's ONE FREAKING POSITION. Would you rather that "gaping hole" be in the starting rotation or in the closer or setup role? If the one big negative on my team is Andruw Jones at DH, that's far from the worst thing in the world.

 

Well, you can't take any position in a vacuum like you just did with our DH right there. Andruw Jones as your DH sounds a lot worse when you realize that our offense was ranked 12 out of 14 in the AL in terms of runs scored last year. Our pitching, on the other hand, was ranked 2 of 14, and look where that got us: 7.5 games out of first place with a losing record. You do need to have some sort of balance to a team. So, while I would agree that pitching is generally more important than hitting while building a team, you can't just make the 12th worst offense in the AL even worse and then justify that by saying it's only one position.

 

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Yeah, but ultimately I don't mind when stuff like Torii Hunter happens. Would I like to have every good to great FA on the market for the Sox? Of course, but what I don't want is going beyond what you think a player is worth and ending up with the Cubs payroll of this year

 

Or like the Tigers.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

and the rays too...

 

Forgot about them. Either way, I can't see any team spending more than Detroit here if Boras is indeed blowing smoke.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Based on what?

 

Atlanta previously being in the talks? Otherwise I have no idea...

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Maybe you got worse at DH but you also improved your combined production from 2nd and third base and possibly improved the overall IF defense in the process. Also, by removing Dye from the OF and making the big assumption that Q stays healthy, you have a much improved OF defense as well (other than arm strength, Pierre is much better than Pods, too). I think too many of us are so focused on the DH quandry that we are overlooking the benefits this improved defense will provide, even if on paper they appear to weaken the offense.

 

The point is that we could have done both at the same time. This organization had the money for Thome, and decided against it because they wanted to rotate mediocre to borderline bad hitters in the DH spot.

 

Obviously, the decision to not bring back Thome had little to do with financial constraints. It probably had to do with the fact that Thome's going to be 39 this year, his OPS has slid significantly over the past four seasons, he's had a history of battling minor injuries, and he clogs up a roster spot during interleague play because he can't do anything other than DH. Granted, I would've taken Thome over Andruw Jones in a second, but we don't know the full story. Maybe Thome wasn't happy in Chicago (despite what he said publicly). Maybe he privately told Kenny that he wanted to move on. Many things happen behind closed doors that we never hear about.

 

Once again, Jim Thome for $1.5 million is worth the risk of him declining a bit, and, realistically, Thome would have to decline a lot to be a worse hitter than Kotsay. He seemed to pretty clearly prefer the Sox to any other team that had interest in him as well. Maybe that was just a charade for Kenny or something, but that really doesn't make any sense.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Yeah, I would've liked to have Thome back. And I don't know why he wasn't brought back.

 

That said, our offense has sucked balls down the stretch in two of the past three years with both Thome and JD in the lineup. I don't see how bringing back a declining, 39-year-old Thome is going to propel us to to a division title. He would've been a nice (and cheap) addition, but was unlikely to be a game-changer.

 

I just don't think it's a very good idea to get worse at any position unless you have a legitimate reason (i.e. not being able to afford good players). Even if you think Thome is declining and due for a big drop off, signing him for Mark Kotsay money is a low-risk move. Overall I haven't been a big fan of Kenny's off season, but with exception to the decision not to sign Thome, I can understand why he did what he did due to money constraints.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Only on Soxtalk would Kenny get ripped for not spending much in the off-season after committing over $100M to two star players just 6 months ago. Unbelievable.

 

You don't find it at all annoying that we could have at least had as good of a DH as we had last year for less than or equal to the amount we are paying Mark Kotsay?

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

We can and should do better. We keep hearing that Pierre was pretty good in 2009 or that Rios was good 2-3 years ago or Andruw Jones or Mark Kotsay or Omar Vizquel was an impact player offensively 10 years ago, but it's not like Jim Thome was bad last year. There's absolutely no reason a Jones/Thome platoon wouldn't have worked, and they wouldn't have needed to give him more than $2-3 million. It's not like it would have broken the team payroll.

 

I believe he was rumored to be willing to sign for $1 million, less than kotsay is making himself.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Please tell us how a .365 OBP is OBP-challenged and a .308 AVG is struggling to get on base.

 

Over the last 5 years Juan Pierre has an OBP of .334 and a .289 BA.

 

4. The dome actually didn't help the Twins last year. Most teams put up better ERA's at home than on the road. The Twins had virtually the same ERA on the road and at home. The Twins starting rotation had one of the best ERA's in the league on the road and one of the worst ERA's in in the league at home. It's entirely possible that moving out of the dome could therefore bring benefits to the Twins rotation rather than harm.

 

I'd like to quote this for emphasis. The opposing team will play on the very same field the Twins will. Will the cold weather affect the Twins? Definitely. Will the cold weather affect their opponents as well? Definitely.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

You have GOT to admit moving out of a dome and into an open ball park in what is the climate of Canada is gonna have an effect on a team.

"Seasoned Pros" is another name for old and declining which Thome, Hudson and Pavano are. Nick Punto is the starting 3B. If it's not him it's Harris, who is even worse.

 

The visiting team does happen to play on the same field as the Twins.

[Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC]

Are the Twins really the favorite on a home grass field? That has been a team made for the Metrodome confines for years. Maybe it will translate onto grass, but I'll have to see it first to believe it.

 

I'll have to see the Twins completely suck on grass to believe that too. I know we always got killed there, but everybody seems to have this point of view that the Metrodome was this magic place that only helped the Twins and hurt their opponents.

[Too early for a 2010 Mock Draft? Maybe]

Anyone who pays that would be a fool. As good of a prospect as this guy may seem, he's not as advanced as Strasburg is/was and isn't a pitcher. He'll get above average #1 money, but I don't think a team is going to give him into the stratosphere unless he hits .500 in juco.

 

I completely agree; I just can't see Boras asking for anything less than the moon.

[Too early for a 2010 Mock Draft? Maybe]

Not at #13. I don't care how much hype the kid has gotten, if his star falls as far as out of the top ten he is not getting top 5 money. Boras has almost all of the leverage here, but even he realizes the position Harper has put himself in by rushing into the draft this year.

 

I bet he asks for more than Strasburg got regardless of where he is drafted, and I doubt he'd settle for anything less.

[Too early for a 2010 Mock Draft? Maybe]

If Harper slips, do the Sox draft him?

 

I don't think they would want to pay him.

[2010 PECOTA]

-Last year Lexi was bein talked about as bein a better offensive player than Derek Jeter.

 

By whom?

 

-Teahan is wayyyy underrated around here, seems to me like hes being viewed as the worst starter (aside from dh) on the team and having a guy that has played on a horrible team the last couple years which leads me to believe his output will be greater over here. I'll take .270/.330 15 HR 60 RBI out of our "worst hitter" any day of the week.

 

Pierre is our worst hitter, as of now.

 

Im not saying its a great offense but its def not the 2nd worst in the league.

 

It has the potential to be, just as it has the potential to be one of the best in the league. I'd say it's less likely that they would be 2nd worst than one of the best, but with all the question marks we have, it's hard for me to really say.

 

Basically agreed with the rest of your post.

[Question about MLB.com Blackout rules]

That & your IP address. Although, I think there are ways of masking your IP.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant to say, IP address. I suppose if you had some proxy in Brazil or wherever you might be able to trick them, but this is beyond my personal knowledge so I'm not entirely sure.

[Question about MLB.com Blackout rules]

If you somehow register with a bogus address in another country, can you avoid the blackout rules?

 

For example, someone on this site is in Brazil right now, if he registered with a Brazilian address, I bet he avoids all blackouts.

 

They would know where you are based on your ISP.

[Espn insider access?]

Whatever Kenny did to Keith Law, I really want to know.

 

You really don't.

[Espn insider access?]

I think that's the problem that I and many others see: we have the most 'potential' while other teams (like the Twins) already have proven production. If everyone clicks, we can have a very potent offense to complement our potentially dominating staff. What is disconcerting is that we are waiting to see if this 'potential' comes to the surface, and that is why I am anxious about this offense. Optimistic, but anxious. I would rather have an offseason where we can go into April confident that we don't have an weaknesses, and right now I can't say I have that confidence.

 

I think going into any season with our kind of payroll means we are going to have some sort of weakness regardless of our intentions. This has been a pretty bad off season for Kenny (and Ozzie too, apparently), but I think our starting rotation and bullpen are good enough to keep us in the race for the entire season. Hopefully, our potential offensive holes don't materialize or aren't important enough to "break" the team as Ranger says.

[Espn insider access?]

Law said were the definitive division favorites on TV today fwiw.

 

We definitely have the most potential in the division. If Quentin, Rios, and Teahen hit like they can, we probably run away with this division.

 

Ranking us 30th in terms of farm systems is pretty harsh.

[A comparison of the Twins' and White Sox best offensive combinatio]

I see plenty of reason to believe the defense will at least be "fine". It should be plenty better than last year, for sure.

 

This. The only people who I'd worry about being below average would be Teahen and AJ. Quentin should be average to above average presuming he gets more comfortable on his foot. In RF, he had an UZR/150 of 12.3 in 966 innings with the Diamondbacks. Beckham also won't be given a position he's never played before with just a week or so to prepare this time, so I don't think it's out of the question that he will be pretty good himself. Alexei should improve on his first season as a SS. He wasn't nearly as bad as he looked putting up a 2.4 UZR/150. As wite said, Pierre will be fine in LF, and I don't think Rios needs any defending.

 

Of all the things on this team, the defense is what I would worry about the least.

[SN: Sox Say No to Jim Thome]

i like it. you make a commitment to change your approach then you have to make some tough choices. One dimensional guys on the far downside of their careers just don't fit the mold.

 

Good luck, Jim.

 

Even when those choices involve you getting worse than you had been with said one dimensional guys?

[SN: Sox Say No to Jim Thome]

In the end they'll end up using prospects to fill the hole.

 

That's a point I wanted to bring up but forgot to in the other Thome thread. Signing Thome may have given us some room to acquire somebody like Peavy or Rios midseason, but you have to give up talent to get talent. It's not often that you get to fleece a team out of its best players because they can't afford them.

[The Jim Thome Saga Ends]

I honestly can't believe people are happy about this... are there really that many here that think a Jones/Kotsay platoon will be good?

[The Jim Thome Saga Ends]

"Goode enough" means just that: good enough for the team, as a whole, to win.

 

Again, it's all about the lineup in it's entirety. If the Sox don't get production out of Rios, Quentin, or Konerko (who will likely be the true heart of the order, but probably not in that particular sequence), it won't matter who the DH is. A better hitter at the DH spot would add another element for sure, but I won't count on that one piece making the difference. Shack, I don't think you get in trouble when you say that about one position, but it's when you're saying it about multiple positions that will get you into trouble. the Sox are actually in fair shape everywhere else really (provided Rios and Quentin bounce back, of course)

 

The truth is, they will not find an available hitter that will be a game-changer (unless there's a miracle swap for Gonzalez or something).

 

Once again, Jim Thome is an improvement to this team, and he would appear to be a cheap one at that. Even if you don't think he is good enough to be a "game changer," he is still a clear improvement over what we have. I don't see how improving even moderately is a bad thing