sunofgold

I see that he has played a little bit at 3B. If he can play a little bit at 3B, he increases his chances of making the roster as a bench player. Left handed bat. Could be a good deal.

Manager! This might say good things about the White Sox organization and the city of Chicago. Thome also has ties to the Twins, Indians, and Phillies. Any of those team would probably love to have Thome in their organization after he retires. However, he will chose the White Sox.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 24, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) One thing you ought to take from the 49ers this year is that teams that seem like they're really far away might well be closer than you think. The 49ers looked lost last year, and spectacular this year. Jim Harbaugh is a much better head coach than Mike Singletary. 49ers have had some nice players for awhile. Team underachieved greatly under Singletary.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 24, 2012 -> 11:46 AM) emergency situation. unfortunately it didnt work out I guess that is how a team learns. 49ers need a new backup for punt returns. Kyle Williams can be decent WR. He made a key block in the games against the Saints. Wonder how he would have turned out as a baseball player. We did draft him. Never too late to change sports right? lol.

Go Jake. I am with you. I am ready to bounce back and have a better season. I am going to run faster and fight harder for more foul balls this season.

Kyle Williams is handling this well. Unfortunately, some 49er fans aren't. They should be back in the playoffs next year since they are good and the rest of their division sucks. Jim Harbaugh said though that Kyle Williams didn't have any major shoulder injuries. I felt that Kenny Williams brought up the shoulder issue to try to help deflect blame from his son. Kenny said that he wasn't making excuses but it sounded like he was making an excuse. Kyle is probably handling this better than his dad (understandable since parents usually always try to protect their children) And I read that Kyle Williams also had a fumbled a punt in his last game & last play with Arizona State which cost them the game. And they also lost by the same score 20-17. Maybe Kyle Williams shouldn't be returning punts.

It is basically the Yankees vs. the Red Sox in the Super Bowl. haha! Kenny Williams told the media that Kyle had a shoulder injury (I guess the injury was before the game). He also said that he wasn't making excuses. wt????

That isn't a bad idea. Platooning DeAza and Lillibridge. You could take it a step further. Benching Dunn against lefties allows you to have DeAza and Lillibridge in the lineup for those game. And against RHPs, you could let Lillibridge take at least some games from Rios. And having Lillibridge and DeAza at the top of the lineup would be good speed. Try to get Lillibridge at least 400ABs and see how he performs. At the very least, he deserves more playing time.

We have a shot in this division. We do. However, so do the Royals, Twins, and Indians. Tigers will probably be dealing with some injuries and tired arms. Al Al is out for awhile as well. I think Martinez also hurt himself during the playoffs last year. Peralta, Verlander, and their closer all had career years last year which will be tough for them to repeat.

Only 3 White Sox players hit more HRs than Lillibridge last year. I am not sure that he is just a utility player. He really hasn't had the chance to play everyday. Also remember which player on our roster received the most interest by other gms. I have to think that some of those gms weren't just looking for a bench player. Lillibridge looked pretty good in the OF last year defensively. Remember those nice back-to-back catches in New York.

Lillibridge strikes out a lot, but 13HRs in 186abs is very impressive. I really didn't think about replacing Beckham. I haven't given up on Beckham and Beckham's defense was very good last year. I am thinking though that Lillibridge outplayed Dunn and Rios last year. I say let him compete in spring training for a starting job against Rios mainly. And maybe somewhat against Dunn if you start Lillibridge and bench Dunn when we face lefties.

Looking at the roster and considering his play in 2011, shouldn't Lillibridge be in the "running" to be an everyday player for us in 2012. Played good defense last year, and showed some unexpected power. Great speed. Could make the argument that our best outfield would consist of Lillibridge (LF or RF), DeAza (CF), and The Tanks (LF or RF). Rios could be our 4th OFer if you have a fair competition in spring training. I think that Lillibridge has played well for us and at least has earned the chance to play for a starting job in spring training. What do you think?

Haha. Their best player is Castro and he seems to be in trouble right now.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 11:59 PM) Yeah, he was bad last year. But just so you know, his other blown saves mostly came as a setup man. That's not exactly fair to consider when evaluating him as a closer. That is true. However, if you are blowing saves as a setup man, why should I believe that you won't blow saves as a closer? Actually, I take back my statement to see Crain as a closer candidate. His career stats for saves is even worse than Thornton. Wow, Addison Reed is our only real closer option.

Thornton should NOT be considered for the closer role. He just sucks at closing. Last year 3 saves, 4 blown saves. In his career, 20 saves and 25 blown saves. That is enough. He is fine as a set up man. Has to be between Crain and Reed right now. Unless the White Sox sign another reliever.

Dunn for Soriano? I don't know. I willing to give Dunn another chance. He didn't practice in the offseason before 2011. had his appendix removed which probably threw him off in the beginning of the season, a child with illness. Things could only get better for Dunn, right? Time will tell. He better be practicing this offseason.

Cubs got Maholm. $4.75M. He thinks that the CuBS have a chance in the Central. lol!

Marlins got Rowand. And Rowand isn't guaranteed a spot on the roster. I don't know where Pierre is going to wind up. I would like to see Teahen wind up with the Cubs. lol.

I heard from a good source that the Marlins are interested.

Cubs win b/c they got rid a big headache for them in Zambrano. Zambrano could lose in this if he acts up on the Marlins. If he cannot be held in control by friend and fellow countryman Ozzie Guillen, then no team will take Zambrano on their team and the Marlins won't resign in 2013 and beyond. However, I think that Guillen can keep him in check. I think. lol.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 12:14 AM) Do you not realize the direction this team is taking next season? If anything, it's smart for KW to unload all of our relievers for whatever value we can get for them, whether now or at the deadline. We had Santos as a low price for long period of time. Santos is making $1M in 2012. Molina is going to have be a solid front line starter to make that a fair trade.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 09:35 PM) It disgusts me to see Buehrle and Zambrano in the same rotation. It doesn't disgust me. Zambrano ain't a cubby anymore. We can root for him now. Always thought that he was a decent pitcher just way too emotional on the field. B&Z beating the cuBS would be sweet.

I am worried about the bullpen. This might be our worst bullpen since 2007. No clear closer. I think that KW has to try to sign another veteran RH reliever. I really wish that we held onto Santos.

It is a win-win-win. Win for Cubs, Win for Marlins, Win for Zambrano. However it could turn into a win-lose-lose. If Zambrano messes it up and causes trouble as a Marlin. Cubs got rid of guy that they wanted to get rid of. He wasn't going to pitch well and be trouble free for them. But Cubs didn't save that much cash. Bargain for Marlins. No commitment past this year.

Marlins reminds me a fantasy baseball team. You try to get as many decent players together as you can afford. Buehrle and Zambrano on the same team. That sounds like one of my past fantasy baseball teams. Marlins are going to be interesting to watch. Hope Rowand makes the team as a backup OF.