MiddleCoastBias

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 16, 2009 -> 03:03 PM) I like it. There's the reason we've been looking for to go out and get Zambrano! Is Mike Hampton still alive?

Andy Gonzalez for sure. Royce Clayton. Brian Anderson. Charlie Haeger. Ehren Wasserman. Wilson Betemit.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 16, 2009 -> 09:37 AM) "I've given him some names - this is a very critical last thing on our list." I think people keep glossing over this quote. To me this means that he IS actively pursuing people right now, just trying to balance it with someone Ozzie likes ie Ozzie is pissed that KW wants Bradley. Just a suggestion.

I may not agree with most everything you have said in your previous posts but I like this. Sure, there was the thread about Jones "wanting to start" and people saying "great, he wants to start, good for him". But I believe he's had a taste of the fame and fortune comes that with being successful, and now he sees that everyone believes he has fallen off for good. He has great talent, and while his effort was called into question in Atlanta, he was still being paid some strong cash. With that attention he didn't feel the need to go out there everyday like a true competitor. He got bumped to the (3rd?) tier, and now he knows he has to work for his spot. The talent hasn't gone away; his effort wasn't there and people saw it. I believe he knows he has to turn the corner to get back onto the scene, and he will do it to regain his role as a (near) top-tier player. He may not be a long-term solution but I predict he will bust out this year, be it as a position player or solely as a DH. He knows that he's lost respect and now he has his back against the wall (similarly to Pods getting released by the Rocks?)

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 01:19 PM) Thome, Dye, Crede, Garland, Pods, Frank Thomas are recent fan favorites that don't have a place on this team.. and if we had them with there injuries, slumps, declining skills they wouldn't be fan favorites anymore. +1. And Rowand.

I'm sipping that Kool Aid! We have a long way until the season starts, and I don't want to spend the next 3.5 months gloomy out the outlook. While I do have some reservations, I am generally excited to see what this team can do. And we won't know what that is until they are on the field. If we can get everyone clicking on all cylinders and balancing out slumping players, I think we look to be a balanced team with deep pitching.

Plenty of , indeed! Thanks guys

Or he's playing that game I played when I was a kid at a stoplight, trying to predict when the light would turn green. If he keeps guessing 'green' enough, eventually it'll happen.

Would this move be for DH or OF?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 13, 2009 -> 03:02 PM) I'm not complaining one bit. As a fan, I love the fact that KW is consistently able to get rid of future crap before everybody figures out they're, well, crap. I'm looking at it from a rival GM standpoint. If I'm a GM, I've LONG crossed KW and the White Sox off my list of teams I'm willing to deal with when it comes to young prospects. I'm looking at teams like the Braves and Marlins. Teams that consistently either produce their own talent or trade away young talent that goes on to flourish for other organizations. You just wonder how long KW is going to be able to get away with this. Hopefully, with all the changes throughout the minor league system the last few years, and an obvious philosophical change in drafting, will FINALLY be able to start to produce our own talent and not have to rely on swindling other GM's. Agreed. And I would add the Pirates in there, too. They love to ship out any talent they have for fear that they might cost too much after 3 years...

QUOTE (daggins @ Dec 13, 2009 -> 04:29 AM) As long as theres a plus defender to go with Rios I don't care what his name is. First off, from what I've read, I do think that this kid is worth a small investment given his potential for a big return. But I've got to play devil's advocate here: it sounds like we're going for just defense and speed here, eerily reminiscent of one Brian Anderson. I was never a fan of BA but I will treat this like an AA meeting and announce: hello, I was a Jerry Owens supporter. But the principle remains the same: BA, JO, DWise, we've tried this 'fast, defense' mold before (with the exception of JO, he just ran fast in circles). I love the IDEA of Gardner growing into his potential of awesome speed and defense and we can forgive his bat, but I feel like we've been down this road before. I'm a hesitant supporter, as long as we don't invest too much and we don't get too attached, giving him CF like it was his birthright.

Carrasco on being non-tendered Seems to me that by him saying that it's difficult to talk about one player (despite being 1 day away from decision time) doesn't look good, IMO. And the "one comes in, one goes out" sounds like they were close to the deal with Putz at the time of this interview.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) Do the White Sox now move Jenks? Personally, I wouldn't, but they are about to go to arbitration with him, and Williams may feel that he can save money by moving Jenks while still having 2 guys (Putz and Thornton) who can step in for Jenks...or do the Sox stay with Jenks, and enter the season with what looks to be nice late inning options for Guillen. My concern before I think about moving Jenks is asking if Putz is actually going to be ready on opening day to fill the role, and if that's not possible, how quickly he will be back. I've seen people saying that he'll be ready but others says he hasn't even tried to throw yet. I know we have some time before the season starts but if we do deal Jenks and it turns out Putz is never going to get his 98 mph sauce back and/or won't be ready for months into the season, then what happens?

I love how when, like in every consummate sports article, they throw in his 'key' statistics there is no mention of his pitching stats, just his batting stats. I understand he was in the NL and needs to bat but the basis of the article was how he couldn't pick up pitches ie how he's pitching, so by extension it would make sense they would highlight his pitching numbers. I know it's a minor thing, I just thought it was funny. Plus, those weren't Mike Hampton circa ATL Braves numbers but they certainly weren't bad in any case.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) He is loyal to New York and would like to stay there. It is much different with Japanese players, more often than not, they have a loyalty to their organization that most American born ball-players don't have anymore. Matsui is currently the Yankees plan B and will still be an option, but the priority in New York is to sign Damon as the DH and if that happens, Matsui's two main suitors will be the Angels and Sox. I just fear if the Sox wait on Hideki the Angels will jump into the picture after failing to land one or both of Lackey/Bay and will have more to offer Hideki than the Sox (financially). I've seen this mentioned elsewhere but I have yet to get a good reason why they prefer Damon over Matsui for DH. I think it's apparent that Matsui is a better hitter; Matsui bested Damon in most major statistics for a DH last year (OPS, HR, avg.). Is it the age thing, long-term goals, cost? I ask because a couple weeks back when it wasn't clear who the Yanks would retain, I recall some people saying they would much rather have Matsui as a DH, and now the Yankees are going to other direction. What am I missing?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 04:32 PM) Crisp, Matsui and Putz would be nice moves IMO. Matsui fills the LH DH spot with power and RBI's Crisp plays good D and has produced a decent OBP. Putz is Dotel's replacement. Speaking of whom, has anyone heard anything about where Dotel is going to end up?

Curious here... it seems like a lot of people are excited but only "at the right price". Given our payroll and how much he may or may not demand, how much is that "right price"? How much can we afford and how much will he want?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 10:31 AM) And who would be our everyday 1B? Kotsay? It's a stretch here, but JD did just say that he is willing to talk to teams about playing 1B, acknowledging that might the only place he could play. If it came down to actually moving Paulie, might Dye be had at a hometown discount?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 02:18 AM) I'd say it'll cost somewhere between $17.5M and $19M total for Jenks, Danks, Quentin, Teahen, Carrasco and Pena. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room Is this estimate for this year or next? I ask because I'm not sure of how the process works out in it's entirety ie why would we need to pay Teahan arb this year if we just acquired him?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 12:38 AM) Because I don't change my opinion on players based on one partial season, a good 400 PA season doesn't erase the previous 4 bad ones. I'm not going to buy high on an incredibly expensive 32 year old with a well documented track record of mediocrity, that's how a lot these teams in financial trouble accumulate bad contracts. I was anxiously awaiting your response because I had the same knee-jerk question; sometimes we are to quick to jump at positive numbers when we need to look at the big picture. I think your point about how teams "accumulate bad contracts" is often ignored.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Dec 7, 2009 -> 06:17 PM) You cannot have an outfield with Matsui/Rios/Quentin. Rios is a good defender, but he's not that good... Hell, I don't think there's a center fielder alive that can cover that much ground. [in best Hawk voice] Carlos Gomez, fastest man alive

Just flipped over and they are doing their run-down, I guess Ozzie will be speaking shortly. Edit: I've been lied to. No Ozzie, no new information. No fun.

My birthday. I love me some me. And I love when others celebrate me. Narcissists, assemble!

Big sexy CJ with a BOMB to put the Javelinas ahead in the 8th. Absolutely murdered that ball, well done.

Good piece of hitting by Morel in that last AB. And heads-up base running to take 2nd on the miscue by the catcher.