DBAHO

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:57 AM) So what you're saying is that back in say '05 they put a nice premium on defense with above average defenders at 3B, SS and CF but now put more of a premium on offense since they've replaced those players with lesser defensive talent (with "lesser" being a very, very generous word) with more offensive upside (sans Wise)? Pretty much yeah. Back in 05 also, we weren't paying the likes of Jenks, Buehrle etc. what we're paying now, and with the economy and all, unfortunately there hasn't been any extra $$$ to find an upgrade in CF.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 09:30 AM) You should change your avatar to a bag of Iams He's going to change it to a picture of a Prime Rib actually.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Like we didn't do the same with Wise last September/October? He looked clueless out there. He put up a RZR of .857 last season in LF and .917 in CF. Albeit it's obviously a very small sample size but the league averages were; LF - .853 CF - .896

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:31 AM) Seriously? We don't have a single guaranteed above average defender on this club and last year's team was one of the worst defensively in the game. We've trotted out nothing but below average defenders in CF since Rowand left (sans Anderson). This is a horrible defensive team, if they truly put a premium on defense then they're even more incompetent than I thought. They brought on Cabrera last season who's one of the better defensive SS's in the game (albeit he replaced Uribe, but that was more down to Uribe's terrible offense). And obviously Fields is a downgrade at 3B, but it's not like Crede had his best defensive season out there last year either. Getz should be decent enough at 2B, while Ramirez is the wildcard at SS obviously ebcause no-one knows how he's going to do. My point is, in the past they have placed a premium on defense, but most of the top defensive guys like Crede and Uribe were your low OBP high SLG guys, and the Sox already have enough of those, so they've replaced the ones they can and probably downgraded on defense because of it.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 11:21 AM) dbaho....i like your standings alot, i think thats a good prediction of what could happen with one exception, and thats the houston astros....i was shocked when i heard on the radio the other day that they won 86 games last year. Thats only 3 fewer than we won! (whcih really tells you how BAD the NL was last year). I think they are likely to regress a bit, but i dont expect them to be 20 games worse I just don't like the makeup of that team at all. Besides Oswalt, they've got no good starting pitching. They've lost Ty Wigginton who put up a .876 OPS for them last season. I don't expect Kas Matsui to hit over .290 again also, but they have upgraded at the catchers spot at least with I-Rod. That offense is going to have to carry that team is they want to be over .500 again, as that's a lot of pressure to put on Lee and Berkman. Tejada is getting worse also, but Bourn and Pence should probably improve on last season at least.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:27 AM) Wise is not competent defensively, that's the other rub on this whole situation. He's not, but he's still better than Podsednik in CF IMO. Remember how much we complained about Pods playing LF also.

QUOTE (beautox @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 07:07 AM) +1 I still have faith in Reggie, so far this spring .278/.395/.361 in 36ABs as for Blanco .174/.269/.304 in 23 AB this spring obviously small sample sizes but over their careers thus far Willits .273/.379/.319 good for a 698 OPS in 583 career ABs Blanco .251/.366/.309 good for a 675 OPS in 430 career ABs Now's the perfect time to get Willits. He's stuck behind an OF of Abreu, Hunter, Guerrero, Matthews Jr. and Juan Rivera. His numbers were terrible last season because he only got about 100 AB's. He makes perfect sense for this team right now.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 05:19 PM) You cannot say that with a straight face that you think ozzie believes that. Also, i think it is just about time to give up on blanco, he is not going anywhere in the immediate future, nothing really suggests that much. Defense has always been a premium for the Sox. Wise isn't a gold glover by any means, but he is better than Podsednik and the likes of Mackowiak who we've had before for starters.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 04:50 PM) Box score says Richard 3.1 IP with 2 hits, no runs, no walks, 3 K's. Looks good. Did he fall apart after that or something? He'll be good as a long/middle reliever, not a starter (yet). Considering no-one knows what Colon or Contreras will do, Clayton Richard will be very important to the Sox in that role this season.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 04:28 PM) Yah that stat gets talk about quite a bit, its nuts how he is sort of underrated. I was thinking vlad would have more in the last 4 years but not even close It shows you how good and how consistent Jermaine Dye has been for this offense for the past 4 seasons.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) Or maybe the Marlins? I wonder why they wouldn't sign him. Emilio Bonifacio can't make anyone that excited there. Because they just released him. Somehow, I don't think he'll be wanting to go back there.

He is better than Wise, but he is NOT the solution. He'd be worse defensively in CF, and for Ozzie Guillen, that's a big no-no. Reggie Willits or Gregor Blanco provide a much better option if you're looking for an upgrade that you wouldn't have to give up a big time prospect for.

It just shows how little the rest of the teams in the MLB think of him. And I don't blame them really.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) His low OBP in the majors is based on a pretty small sample... and he was dealing with injuries during those stints too. (A year ago we could have made the same argument against Carlos Quentin, who actually had a lower MLB batting average and similar OBP in roughly the same number of at-bats.) Then look at McPherson's minor league career numbers. 296/.384/.586/.970. Pretty stellar on the OBP side. And with a higher OPS than Quentin's excellent minor league accomplishments (.955). Pretty impressive actually. Worth a shot IMO. You look at those numbers though, and I'd be surprised if a team didn't offer him a major league deal. Some team like the Mariners or Giants should definitelty have a look at him.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 10:40 AM) Andrew, you should see that place. Holy crap is it big. One of the writers here affectionately calls it the "Boss Hawg Bowl". I love that name. Yeah I was going to go to the Giants vs. Cowboys game here at Meadowlands, but that was when Romo got hurt, and there was no way I was forking out $175 to go see Brad Johnson try and throw the ball over 10 yards for a few hours.

Yep they were abymsal last night. The commentator on Versus said it perfectly when he said the Hawks aren't willing to be dirty and win the battles down low for the puck right now. Getting some bigger bodies should be a priority in the off-season.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) On Mully and Hanley this morning, they were saying Detroit might offer their #1 pick for Cutler...which I believe is the 1st pick this year... Smart move on their part, because then they don't have to give out a massive rookie contract. I'd much rather spend the same or similar amount of money on Jay Cutler than Matthew Stafford.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) The Bears need to negotiate that down a bit, but its not totally unreasonable. I would say considering how desperate the Jets are for a QB, they would probably give that up.

Absolutely. Being a low OBP high SLG guy though, he probably doesn't appeal to the Sox however. We already have enough of those type of hitters, and KW and co. are trying to get away from that. At the Cell, playing everyday he'd be capable of putting up a +.800OPS if healthy however.

Hmm this is actually quite hard; So what are the top 5 things that you have seen in your life, and the top things that you still want to see? It can be anything from an event, to a place, or whatever else you desire... Been to 1. Aussie Rules Grand Final in Melbourne at a stadium filled to 100,000 capacity where my team won for the first time since 1963. 2. Grand Canyon 3. Central Park filled with snow in the Winter Time. 4. The view from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. 5. The Great Wall in Beijing. 6. A White Sox game at the Cell. 7. Great Barrier Reef Want to go to 1. London 2. Sweden (or somewhere in the Scandanavian region) 3. Germany / Oktoberfest 4. A Dallas Cowboys Home game at their new stadium. 5. Statue of Liberty (will be doing this before I leave New York in 2 weeks).

The way the Bobcats are playing, the Bulls could still miss the playoffs. Larry Brown's actually done a pretty good job over in Charlotte. They're got a nice starting core, but they're not very deep, and they gave up a future 1st for Ajinca (oops).

The Broncos want a 1st in 09 and in 2010 plus a 2nd rounder this season. And the Bears could have a valuable pick in #18. Why? Because that's 1 pick ahead of Tampa Bay, who themselves are looking for a young QB. The Broncos could take Freeman at #18 in a trade with the Bears.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 02:12 PM) Dwight Howard is a bad Example... Dwights season as an 18 year old was probably better than anything Tyson or Eddy has every done. Brian Hill is a bad Example.... Did you forget that his 1st year as coach was 93-94? Shaq's 2nd year and Penny Hardaway's 1st. btw, he went to the finals his second year as coach. If you see similarities with him and VDN, GOOD! Howard averaged 12 and 10 in his 1st season. Chandler should at least have a season like that. Brian Hill is not a good NBA coach (if you watched his stint in Orlando the 2nd time around, you'd know why). He got forced out by a player's mutiny when Shaq left, and any coach probably could have taken that Magic team to the Finals considering how good Shaq and Penny were in those days. Looking at the stats, the Bulls certainly aren't a good defensive team, and that's the main thing that the Bulls and VDN need to work on if they want to have any sort of success in the playoffs.

7000 calories a day!? Wow that's a lot.

I still think that if Jordan Schaefer wins the Atlanta CF job, you go hard after Gregor Blanco. Or even Reggie Willits. I'd much prefer Reggie Willits leading off for the White Sox than Dewayne Wise.