DBAHO

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 10:25 PM) I dont know how they can top this weeks episode. Too many dicks in the party Keitha killing a mudsnake in the dun The love song The gloves that look like hands hilarious episode, I was cracking up when Jemaine walked in with the crocodile hunter outfit Agreed. And I've never heard of an Aussie girl called Keitha BTW.

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 03:22 PM) I don't think they got any sicknedd. I think Danielle LOST it. Pun intended. That was awesome how Smokey is sooooo strong that he ripped that dude's arm off. Why would her husband turn his gun on her though after trying to convince Danielle that he was fine? I'm thinking he was definitely brainwashed.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 03:26 PM) The team coming into last season didn't appear to have any hope of winning a championship. I personally don't think this team does either, but stranger things have happened. And the team in 2005 certainly didn't either. That's why all of these predictions before the season etc. mean absolutely nothing. Who knows how the likes of Getz etc. if they get the chance are going to do. But it'll be fun to find out nonetheless.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:51 PM) Here's the problem I have, the White Sox made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth last year. Will Quentin and Ramirez be able to maintain their performance levels or improve them? Can you reasonably ask Gavin Floyd to be as good or better than he was last year? Can you do the same with Danks? Can Colon hold up? Clayton Richard and/or Jeff Marquez better be a lot better than they were last year. Is Linebrink going to be the guy he was before his injury or the guy who should be pitching for Home Run Derby after he came back? Will Fields, Lillibridge and/or Owens perform better in the major leagues in 2009 than they did in the minor leagues in 2008? Will Dye, Thome, Konerko and Pierzynski be able to hold off father time one more season? Can you reasonably suspect Detroit to be the total trainwreck they were last year? Can you expect Cleveland to be as bad as they were in the first half last year? One or two no answers to the previous questions spell no playoffs IMO. I don't know if you can expect Quentin to be as good as he was, but he's not even hit his prime yet, and he should be good for at least 30 HR's IMO. Ramirez probably needs to improve his plate discipline more than anything, so he's a wild-card entering this season. I trust Danks more than Floyd entering this season, but I still think both will be good pitchers for us. Colon just needs to stay healthy. His numbers with Boston when he was last season were actually pretty decent. Fields should be 100% healthy and his defense improved entering this season. More worried about his K rate than anything. I don't see Detroit winning the division the way their pitching is currently set-up. Jackson will help, but they need Bonderman and Verlander to be at their best to win the division and I don't see that happening. Cleveland is counting on Hafner to rebound and Lee to produce another fantastic season. Don't know if either can happen. Minnesota is once again the team I'm most worried about. They'll be around the mark again.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) Explain...how are you more confident? 1 - In 2006 we were coming off a 72-90 season. In 2007, we're coming off a 89-74 season. 2 - In ST last year, it looked for a minute like both BA and JO would be starting in our OF. That won't be happening this season. 3 - John Danks and Gavin Floyd took big steps upwards, and entering 2008 they were big question marks. Danks has put on 15 extra pounds of muscle, and I'm probably more worried about Gavin out of the 2. Still they should put up ERA's around 4 I'm thinking. 4 - We know that we have a stud player in CQ now. When healthy, he's proven over his minor and major league career that he can produce. That's the key for him, to stay healthy. 5 - Entering 2008, I thought Javier Vazquez was our best pitcher, and we were going with 2 unproven young guys in Danks and Floyd. That's not the case this season. 6 - Our bullpen looks to be a plus again, entering 2008 we didn't know how good it was going to be. Adding Poreda to the mix could give the Sox a serious weapon of the pen also.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:45 PM) Thomas signed a 6 year deal in 2004. His deal ends in 2010, he has 1.5 years left on it (2 years via the NBA trade machine rules). I have no problem with him as a backup C/PF. Assuming Gooden walks this offseason, which he darn well better, that gives us more depth in the front court and clears out Larry Hughes. And if the Suns happen to be really going after expiring deals, then we go from having $8 million in Gooden to $14 million in Gooden + James, which gives us the ability to offer up more cap space to the Suns and perhaps fewer players (keep Thabo so that we have a shooting guard next year?) Yeah I can see the logic behind that now. And really for the Wizards, maybe they can get Hughes back to the form that made Cleveland give him that huge contract in the 1st place.

Happy B-Day 101!!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) James has 1 year left on his deal while Thomas has 2. That would take $6 million from Hughes's contract off the books for next year and would cost us zero cap space in summer 2010. We'd add an additional $200k this year, and be holding a $7 million expiring deal next year along with more depth in our front court for next year. Somehow I'm sure this would wind up costing Tyrus and Noah minutes, but I'd do it. So wait, does Thomas's deal end in 2010 or 2011 then? He'd a pretty decent backup center who gives you hustle and defense, but he also has heart issues. Would be an upgrade on Aaron Gray though.

If I was targeting anyone from the Nats, it would probably be Milledge, and even then, he still has character issues. Harris is pretty much nothing more than a 4th OF IMO.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) Dude I love your post! Finally someone with some guts just to admit the truth! I mean I am tired of people on this saying and stating that Lillibridge is going to do this..or Owens will do this..or Getz/Fields/Nix will do this. I mean I understand people being optimistic, but let's just cut to the chase here and be honest with ourselves. Everything Kenny has done is set up exactly like you said to blame himself at the end of the season. There is way too much pressure on these young guys to perform when we all know we know absolutely squat about these guys other than what they did in the minors. Quentin had ONE good season with us. I would like to say he could duplicate, but you can't really judge a player and say he is a hall of famer/superstar after one good season. I mean how many players in this league have flopped after one good season? Ramirez..same thing! Danks and Floyd had horrible 2007's and rebounded in 2008. Again players with one good season. I know everyone is basing their predictions off of last year and what these players did. There is that possibility that these players may of just had career years. I don't know...but what i do know is that there are too many question marks to even have any confidence in this team this year. I am just a die hard Sox fan disappointed with the direction Kenny has taken since 2005. Prove me wrong, but how can anyone be confident in this team? See what I never understand about Kenny is how he contradicts himself all the time. He wants young guys, then he doesn't..then he does..then he doesn't..This is why are minor league system has sucked now for the longest time because we trade everything away. But now he wants to develop..Make up your mind Kenny! Well for starters I'm a lot more confident in this team right now than I was this time last season. That should tell you something about the moves KW has made.

I didn't actually realise Thome's contract went up that much this season. But I think a 7-8M reduction in this current market is very acceptable. And it's not like KW has traded away our let go of our best players either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:21 PM) So that is about a 10% decline, which isn't too far off of what the Sox have cut off of their payroll from last year to this, once extra costs such as the spring training buyout are included. The Spring training contracts and Viciedo's contract alone make up around 11-12M for this season don't they? Trading Swish and Javier only saves us around 16M from this season IIRC, and most of the difference there is taken up easily by a raise to Bobby Jenks.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:04 PM) Teams wanted dye this off-season, KW confirmed that much. Yeah, but then when you see guys like Bobby Abreu settling for 5M for 1 season right now, then it kind of makes it harder to unload JD unfortunately when he's making around 11.5M this season. FWIW, I still think this team can absolutely win the division, the AL Central is wide open this season. But I would like to see the Sox sign a player such as Orlando Hudson is he was available for 1 season at around 5M. That kind of signing could put this tea over the top IMO.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:19 PM) Are we getting back expiring contracts? Thomas and James have at least 1 if not 2 years left on their deals IIRC.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 12:55 PM) Who they wanted and who they didn't. The Others took several people in the middle of the night after they first crashed. We haven't really seen much of those people, the children or the rest of the Others since the end of Season 3. My guess is the lists are mainly made up of women and children, so that the Others can keep surviving as a group (because obviously the women can't have kids on the island).

Mike James is a clubhouse cancer as well though, so it basically evens itself out. Paxson may as well just hang onto Hughes until the summer and he'd get more value for him then as a expiring contract.

Also I'm wondering how the French Rescuers got the "sickness" after being dragged into the Temple by the Smoke Machine? Were they subject to the Brain Washing that Karl was subject to earlier in the 3rd season by the Others I wonder?

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) Why would he trade Milledge? Every other OF that he has is a corner OF. Dukes can play CF for them. It sounds like they are trading Johnson and moving Dunn to 1B anyways.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 09:58 AM) So with the Thrashers awful season, is Kovalchuk on the trade block? They made him captain and Waddell wants to build around him apparently. Would probably cost a lot to obtain him (when you could go for Gaborik as an UFA in the off-season, although that's very risky also with his injury history).

They'll keep Dukes around as a 4th OF, because he hit very well in the 2nd half of last season. But I would be enquiring about Milledge right now. I wouldn't give up Poreda for him, but would probably offer any of our other pitching prospects instead, something that the Nats are quite weak on.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 03:27 PM) Yeah I dont understand how Dunn fits into the Nationals. After Nick Johnson gets injured I guess he could just play 1B, but they got a crowded OF now. If Johnson shows up healthy to camp though, he's probably going to be the 1B though. That means you have 3OF spots for these guys; Dunn Milledge Dukes Pena Kearns Willingham Good luck sorting out that mess.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 03:29 PM) Can Wily Mo play CF? No, he's terrible defensively.

Hmmm, it means he did better than Pat Burrell at least. I think Dunn did pretty well $$$ wise, although he's probably wishing he was going to a better team.