DBAHO

QUOTE(SnB @ Jun 24, 2007 -> 07:06 AM) I got a fake rolex from china from my dad for my birthday. Nice. 1st question, is Rolex actually spelled properly on your watch? I have seen fakes which amazingly, do not spell it right.

They've got Jon Lester plugged into the rotation now as well don't they with Schilling's injury?

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 24, 2007 -> 01:06 PM) Encouraging work from Richar and Poreda. I'd hope Poreda is at least in A ball by the end of the year, if not high A. And Richar played SS in game 2, I'd love to see him there everyday and up here in September in Uribe's spot if he does well. Just my 0.02 though. Not unless he imporves a ton defensively. Best case scenario is he ends up a starting 2nd baseman IMHO.

2nd round is completed. Hawks traded down with Boston 2 spots, not sure what the trade was, probably an extra late round pick. We selected William Sweatt a LW at #38, and Akim Aliu a C/RW at #56 (from Vancouver with the Smolinski trade). EDIT: And so is round 3. Looks like we got an extra 3rd round pick from Boston, nice trade by Tallon. Picked up Maxime Tanguay (I think that's Alex's little brother maybe?) at #69 a C, and Josh Unice a goalie at #86. Scouting Reports; 22 - Bill Sweatt The TSN Insider's Forecast: If there is a faster straight-line skater in this draft than Colorado College's Bill Sweatt, most of the scouts have not seen him. Sweatt, who was a hard-working role player on the U.S. world junior team, is quick to get in on the forecheck and is not afraid to get physically involved, but there are concerns about his offensive limitations. Sweatt is one of those first-round candidates who could be taken a little bit earlier than this rating, but there's also a chance he could slide into the late first round or even the second round. He didn't help his cause by suffering a significant hand injury in the post season after punching out a window in a fit of rage. From NHL Central Scouting: A skilled forward with the ability to make plays. Is a great skater and creates a lot of chances with his speed. Is a hard worker and very determined each shift. Has good puck handling skills and good anticipation. Needs to get stronger and needs to improve his ability to fight through checks. From ISS: Not a flashy player, but certainly a player who has some skill and is willing to work hard in the battle areas. Sweatt represented the United States at the 2007 IIHF U-20 World Junior Championship in Sweden, helping the Americans win a bronze medal. Sweatt possesses soft hands and is very smart in his decisions with the puck. 30 - Akim Aliu The TSN Insider's Forecast: The big power forward is talented and smart and there is no question he exhibits first-round talent and potential. But he is the biggest wild card, perhaps literally, in this year's draft because, as one scout put it, "He's his own worst enemy." Wherever Aliu goes, trouble seems to follow. He was in the centre of a major blow-up between himself and Steve Downie in Windsor that led to him being traded to the Sudbury Wolves and if that were the only issue, he could skate away from it because Downie is no choir boy himself. But he ran into discipline related problems in Sudbury and was recently traded to the London Knights. "He has a chip on his shoulder and it always seems to be someone else's fault when there's trouble," said one scout. "If he gets his act together, he could be a very, very good player because he has size, strength, skill and he's a tough kid." Some teams wouldn't even think of taking a first-round flier on him, but those with multiple picks or those who think this year's draft is weak may step up on Aliu in the hopes they can get his game straightened out. From NHL Central Scouting: A power forward with good speed. Has a strong shot with a quick release. Shows a physical presence on the ice and is able to fight through checks. Needs to improve his consistency and his willingness to compete every night. Needs to work on his defensive reliability. From ISS: Aliu has all of the tools to become a productive power forward at the next level. Powerful skating stride - gets in on the forecheck. Pro shot - quick release. Despite hearing all the negative press and stigma that follows him around, Aliu's skill set and physical package is very intriguing and undeniable. Looks like good value in the 2nd round. Both picks were rated in TSN's top 30 draft prospects.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 24, 2007 -> 12:52 AM) I want to know velocity on Lin. I think when we signed him there were reports he threw in the low 90's, but in his 1st outing in either spring training or minor league ball (can't remember off the top of my head) he only threw about the mid 80's I think.

Jones was actually decent defensively before he came to Wrigley; So I wonder if just a change of scenery will help him there possibly, or whether he's just declined defensively getting older?

Dang;

I didn't see this anywhere (apologies if posted already);

QUOTE(Al Lopez @ Jun 23, 2007 -> 10:35 PM) Have you seen him play the outfield in the last year and a half? He would have to improve to get to the level of pathetic. It's not easy to make a bad team worse, but this would do it. Ah yep, forget about that, that's not a good thing at all. I think all of a sudden, KW is of the thinking "We need an Everett type around in the clubhouse again" to sort of shake things up a bit, if you get that mode of thought. Still I would rather target Geoff Jenkins when he hits FA this off-season, but the Sox haven't really been doing a lot of things in terms of moves that have pleased a lot of people lately.

This was from the Sun - Times; FWIW, Jones had a .833 OPS last season, so IF he could get back to that kind of form and you can get him on the cheap, then it might not be such a bad deal. For comparisons sake, Dye has a .708 OPS this season so far. But the major problem with Jones is 2 things, OBP and his inability to hit LHP. OBP wise he has a career average of .326, which well doesn't really cut it. And in his career, he has a line of .227./275/.349 against lefties. So if we acquire him, he MUST be platooned. And really it's a perfect oppurtunity for Terrero to do so. He has a .952 OPS against lefties this season. So how does a Jones / Terrero platoon sound?

Hmm; If Tallon was able to deal Lapointe for salary relief (e.g for a late draft pick), then the Hawks could really go after Gomez and Briere big time in free agency. They'll have about $4.2M come off the books altogether from the trades they've made so far. Marty would be missed leadership wise, but he's expendable as one of the younger Hawks forwards can easily take his spot.

QUOTE(quickman @ Jun 23, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) hmm, according to this board I thought we had a great farm system. Glad I listened to myself instead of the youth on the board. unfortunately Wilder blows as well. 1 - Who has said on Soxtalk that we have a "great" farm system? I think most people have said it would be "average" at best. Decent depth with the pitching, but the position prospects obviously lacking. 2 - Why does Wilder blow as well? QUOTE(Whitewashed in @ Jun 23, 2007 -> 02:04 PM) The last part from the article is what everyone has been screaming for. We'll see how they do. KW has a good eye with talent for the most part, but like everyone says if he is going to get involved he needs to do more than just give an order. You have to ask yourselves, would we have taken Nevin Griffith if Shaffer was still in charge of our draft in the 3rd round? I don't think we would of, to be honest. So I think in that sense, people were definitely happier with our draft this time around (well at least earlier on), so I think we might be making some progress there.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 23, 2007 -> 04:17 PM) I don't want KW gone, but he's made a wide array of bad moves in the last few years. Since we won the Series! And it all goes back to the Chris Young deal. It's a very different future for this organization if Young is still here. It would obviously (although Young has a sub .300 OBP IIRC), but then you'd have to ask what the state of our rotation would be like if Vazquez wasn't there as well over the past couple of seasons. Would we have not traded Freddy, and not have Gio and Floyd in the minors dominating for instance?

And we've got a Po - Yu Lin sighting.

I suppose it could be worse;

It's not suprising. Hopefully we move away from taking "safe college pitchers" early on in drafts now, and make some picks with some actualy high end potential.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jun 23, 2007 -> 10:05 AM) Word is now that the rumored deal with Phoenix fell through at the last minute and that is why Tallon looked like he was pissed when they showed him on TV b4 the pick...TIFWIW Yeah I would have loved to get Mueller just to move down 2 spots. He's certainly be a top 6 forward in the future, and who knows, Kane may have fallen down to #3, as Phoenix seemed like they want Turris, and Philly may have stuck with Van Riemsdyk. Still I think most people here are happy to end up with Kane, who should contribute straight away. We've got 5 top 6 forwards argubly in Havlat, Ruutu, Samsonov, Toews and Kane (although the latter 2 may start on a 3rd line, I'm not sure), so we can really target a #1 center in FA.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 11:02 PM) Sweet this is an awesome deal for the Hawks... hopefully Tallon can get Gomez...hehe Well actually who knows. Handzus ain't coming back. He wants 4 years $16M and Tallon said he's not going to get that from the Hawks. Philly and St. Louis are both interested in him apparently. So I wonder how we are cap wise now. I imagine we've got quite a bit of wiggle room now. It's actually an exciting time to follow this team again.

It's not Warriner, it's Zyuzin. We save $2.55M this season, and $4M next season, and don't give up a pick. I it. This has Mike Keenan written all over it. Tallon has basically traded Aucoin, Cullimore and Salmelainen for Zyuzin and Samsonov, and we've saved about 2.5M-3M for the upcoming season (if I calculated that right).

Interesting article here from the Palm Beach Post; Now here's a scenario. Both A-Rod and Miggy are FA's in the off-season, who would you choose. And I'm assuming 75% or more would take Miggy here.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 01:07 AM) No way do I make that deal. JVR, Kane and Turris have separated themselves as the best of the bunch, and at this point, the Hawks need quality, not quantity. Kane is the consensus best offensive player -- let's hope he's donning the Indianhead in a little over 24 hours. I don't know. My thinking was, if you could get Cherpanov at #6, even if he stays in Russia for a couple of seasons, you can use the money that you would use to sign Kane on a top 6 forward FA on a short - term deal. I also think Esposito will be a real good one, and for whatever reason he just had a down season. What I guess I'm trying to say is yeah Kane will be good, but he's not a surefire #1, so if the oppurtunity is there, the Hawks could end up with some real more quality prospects especially at forward. EDIT: On Warrener, he's a real defensive D-Man, good hitter but not very good offensively. Will be annoyed if we give up a 2nd rounder though, although getting rid of Aucoin is a godsend.

Ok now's the time to start getting excited about Floyd. Seems like he's finally worked out how to pitch with that stuff he has, and he's beginning to get results. If only Buehrle had that long - term deal, and Contreras was a FA after this season eh? FWIW, unless the Sox deal a starter (most likely Buehrle), keep Floyd down in Charlotte. Don't promote him into the bullpen, and totally mess up his rhythm. Then in the off-season, if Buehrle leaves as a FA, that opens a spot in the 08 rotation for Gavin. If Buehrle re-signs, you shop Contreras as much as you can (unless he suddenly gains velocity and goes back into 2005 Post ASB mode) to make a deal. It'll open some payroll flexibility and allow the Sox to fill other needs in the pen and lineup.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 11:29 PM) 1 top prospect would be a victory. As one of the posts above noted, Minaya isn't willing to trade Milledge alone for a rental. I would expect the return for Buehrle to be one B prospect and a project (like Gio and Floyd). In fact, that would be a victory. Gio's a project? If so, I think you underestimate his ability.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 10:34 PM) Who are these players that the Marlins and Rockies can offer? I am just wondering. Are we looking for more pitching? What? Here are John Sickels' top 10 from each team going into this season; 2007 Florida Marlins Prospects Sean West, LHP, Grade B+ (I like him best of the Greensboro bunch right now) Chris Volstad, RHP, Grade B (very projectable, a bit more than Thompson) Aaron Thompson, LHP, Grade B (very projectable) Taylor Tankersley, LHP, B (under the 50-inning limit. Needs better control to sustain low ERA but I think he'll be fine) Gaby Hernandez, RHP, B (solid all-around pitcher) Jose Garcia, RHP, B (fine talent, needs a consolidation season) Renyel Pinto, LHP, B (another guy with talent but need for sharper command) Brett Sinkbeil, RHP, B (I'm not sure why, but I just have a feeling that he might disappoint. Not a scientific opinion, just a nagging doubt that I can't pin down) Gabriel Sanchez, 1B, B (intriguing and overlooked bat) Henry Owens, RHP, B- (power arm for bullpen, from Mets) ROCKIES Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Grade A- (I go back and forth between A- and B+ on this one) Chris Iannetta, C, B+ (I really love him) Ian Stewart, 3B, B+ (Still very young, have faith) Franklin Morales, LHP, B+ (awesome arm, needs control) Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, B (awesome arm, needs control) Greg Reynolds, RHP, B (I like him, but I liked Justin Wayne and Jeff Austin, too) Dexter Fowler, OF, B (tools guy making progress developing skills) Shane Lindsay, RHP, B (excellent power arm if labrum is OK) Jonathan Herrera, SS, B (similar to Erick Aybar) Seth Smith, OF, B (I think I like this guy more than anyone else)