DBAHO

Well Owens certainly gave us a spark tonight. But as important, Tadahito got 2 hits in the #2 spot as well. If these 2 can give us some life up the top of the order, it'll give more RBI chances to guys in the middle, and hopefully they can start to take advantage. Fantastic outing by Vazquez as well of course, which he needed.

McCullough's certainy dropped down the pecking order a bit based on the results so far this season which isn't too good for him.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 07:09 AM) Blah, Pacers hire Jim O'Brien to be the new head coach. http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/obrien_release_070531.html You know the funny thing is Greasy, that's who Billy Donovan wanted to be his lead assistant. At least Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy can jack up 3's all they want now.

Well I'm taking on my 1st game thread of the season, and hopefully we can break this rut we're in. Javier Vazquez takes the mound tonight against A.J Burnett. Both have ERA's in the 4's. This won't be an easy game to score because Burnett has a 2.28 ERA in his 4 home starts so far this season. We really need that offense to get going, and fast.

Happy Birthday PA!!!!

QUOTE(Shadows @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 03:15 AM) Im sorry but Mario Tennis for the N64 is the best Tennis game that has ever come out Princess Peach vs. Maria Sharapova. Sorry, you lose.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 04:45 PM) I'd rather just wait for him to be a FA and sign him instead of having to trade for him at his peak value. My thoughts as well, and that's only if we DID acquire him, which I'm still iffy on.

QUOTE(beautox @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 04:49 PM) i would gladly take the following off their hands for joe crede. either of their up and coming 2B Frandsen or Sanders. Frandsen is a slap hitting 2B with decent speed who doesn't strike out much but also doesn't walk much his OBP is reliant on putting the ball in play. Sanders is a bit further away hes currently at the giants single A affiliate Augusta, and was hampered all last season with shoulder a injury, he could move very quickly and possibly taste AAA by seasons end seeing how Frandsen is with the big club he should move quickly. He hasn't show much in the power department but he does have very good speed(3triples 13SB/1CS) and a great eye(20SO/19BB). Aside from both of them i wouldn't mind Jonathan Sanchez another project lefty with great stuff. Recently sent down to AAA Fresno Why not see what Cooper can do with Sanchez. So far he's been able to make Logan look respectable and Thornton look great, The book is still out on Sisco. Sanchez was who I was instantly thinking of as well. He could be used as another lefty in the pen if acquired right now, or converted into a starter. Because there's really not a whole lot else in the Giants roster which makes me giddy. I suppose you could maybe make an argument for acquiring a Durham or a Randy Winn, but I'd be more interested in the Giants minor league talent instead.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 05:50 AM) Congrats DB. I wonder who Florida's going to get now. They're due for a huge fall off if they don't do this right, and they're going to have trouble filling that spot with a solid name this late in the game. Yeah I picked him as the main candidate about a week ago, but I have to say I am suprised if it is going to happen, mainly because I thought he'd want to control over personnel e.g as a GM, but we already have Otis Smith. Will he be a success? I don't know. Maybe it's time for a college coach to buck the trend, and Donovan does have some positives in his favor. The Magic are a pretty young group as well, so it won't be THAT different from what he was coaching at Florida. So long as he can develop the likes of Howard and Nelson as a credible point guard, then I'll be very happy. I thought Stan Van Gundy might have been our guy though. I see Marc Iavaroni going to Memphis now, with David Griffin tagging along as GM. And wow, that's a big contract.

That's good news on Torres. Let's hope we may have struck lighting in a bottle here, and found another SP prospect. Our SP depth is really the best it has been for a long, long time, probably the best since I've really followed the Sox and their system over the past 4-5 years. Probably a major reason why we should concentrate on getting a lot of quality position prospects into the system, especially through the infield in the upcoming draft, considering the age of our lineup, and their respective contract statuses. And Gio keeps on being Gio.

I don't have the time to do it now, but I'd like to see the difference in the numbers b/w the bullpen up to this date in 2005, and the bullpen up to this date this year, and see what the run differential is, and how much of a difference that has made to our overall record, especially in those tight games.

QUOTE(quickman @ May 31, 2007 -> 10:10 PM) Not one player in our system is a blue chip player. 2 things here. I wouldn't think many teams would have a "blue chip player" in their system. I could probably think of around 10 that would e.g D-Backs, Dodgers, Devil Rays etc. Then again a "blue - chip prospect" such as Lastings Milledge shows you that just because they are considered to be the next big thing, doesn't mean for sure it's going to pan out that way. And I think Gio Gonzalez could be considered that type of prospect if he keeps doing what he's doing. But for that to happen, he'll probably have to move up to AAA and pitch the same way (albeit the ERA will rise because he's pitching in a much harder ballpark).

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 31, 2007 -> 07:11 PM) Scherzer signed too ($4.3 million) Good for Max. I saw him pitch at Mizzou a couple times, but injuries kept me from seeing him more. I've never seen a guy dominate hitters like he did, but that doesn't really say much heh. His fastball is unreal, supposedly his secondary stuff is coming around. Hitters would sit on it knowing if he could locate the fastball they were basically screwed (we've seen how Jenks is without control of his secondary stuff). I hope he does well, he put up good numbers for Fort Worth, but the scouting reports weren't as good. Who knows. Wow, the D-Backs system is just INSANE right now, to go along with their young core.

Some more info on Morales; Sounds like the prototype minor league outfielder the Sox have tried to bring into the system over the past couple of years.

I recently started playing Virtua Tennis 3 on my laptop. If you remember, this was the infamous game that came on Dreamcast, and became sort of a cult hit I guess. Best tennis game ever to come out. And now they released an updated version of PC and PS3, with all of the cool minigames, and updated players such as Federer, Nadal, Blake and Sharapova. Good times a comin with this game.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 28, 2007 -> 01:16 PM) Borrowing a line from Jerry Reinsorf, anyone who thinks this Sox team can catch Cleveland is crazy. I think they have a shot at Detroit and the WC. If KW wants to finish ahead of Cleveland, he's going to have to get rid of some of the "depth" he thinks he has in the minor leagues. The bullpen needs to be fixed, and they have to get someone who can run a little and get on base. Well consider me ever the optimist , but Cleveland probably thought themselves back in 2005 they had no chance of catching us when we had a bigger lead, and they almost did, so never say never especially if this offense can get clicking. Anyways on Wilson, it's a no risk signing. He's put up good numbers against lefties, and if he can get hot in a good hitting environment it could turn out be a very shrewd signing. He has to earn that chance down at Charlotte though, and should have nothing handed to him ahead of the likes of Owens, Anderson and Sweeney.

QUOTE(danman31 @ May 28, 2007 -> 12:28 PM) It's not Faustino's fault he gave up 3 runs. He was clearly left in too long and the relief behind him didn't get the job done. Still had 8K's though, so certainly another good performance. He's definitely not having trouble K'ing hitters in that league. I wonder what the timeframe is for a promotion to Winston - Salem if he keeps pitching like this?

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 28, 2007 -> 09:21 AM) Do you think he could ever have the consistent control to be a starter? I gotta go with fathom on this, figure out a way for him to get his velocity back to the upper 90's and get it over the plate enough to get people out in relief. There are way too many things to take care of for him to be a starter. Well I blame the Sox brass for not taking this route in the 1st place in terms of making him into a starter when they acquired him especially after he looked last season. He may look bad right now, which is why I think it's just worth taking the long - term route with him and stretching him out, which is what he actually wanted when we acquired him. He hasn't shown any success being a lefty reliever for us, so why not try a different role for him? Control wise is a big issue of course, but we've seen similar sort of pitchers like Thornton do a lot better, so there's arguments for keeping him as a reliever also. We'll see which way it goes.

MacDougal's caught the dreaded "Cliff Politte" syndrome. Really he's not helping anybody pitching the way he is. Put him on the 15 day DL, and call up a healthy reliever to replace him. Our pen is back to looking like a mess right now, and it shows how important a healthy Mike MacDougal is to it.

Just terrible news for Pablo, he's really been a good sparkplug / utility guy for us over the past couple of seasons. Hopefully this doesn't cause any long term damage, especially with his speed. Will Fields get the call? I don't think he will, even if he's hitting the ball real good this month. Jerry Owens could the guy to get the call, just because of the speed factor, with Mack and Cintron getting more AB's in the infield in the meantime.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 28, 2007 -> 08:49 AM) Relief....I can't fathom how he'll ever be able to get thru 3 innings with the amount of pitches he throws. I'd rather he focus on trying to throw 98 mph again. I disagree. The Sox should start converting him into a starter again, and keep him down at Charlotte for the rest of the season while he "irons out the kinks". He has more value as a starter for us down the line I think. You could then use Broadway or McCullough to acquire a lefty reliever if you're desperate, but hopefully one of the guys we call up can do the job in the mean-time.

Happy Birthday Jim!!!! I have a Belgium Beer in the bar-fridge which I will drink in your honor tonight.

A couple of bad outings have pushed that ERA of Whisler's up a bit. Not good for him when most of the arms in the rotation around him are thriving this season.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ May 27, 2007 -> 06:12 PM) Dodgers are looking for a third baseman. Crede could bring some talent to the outfield. Hmm now that could be an interesting fit. You know Ned Colletti likes to trade prospects for veteran players, and isn't afraid to shake things up. I'd love to obtain Jonathan Broxton somehow, but we couldn't get him for Crede straight up I would have thought. But the Dodgers also have some other nice arms in Chin-huit Tsao (great work Rockies), and Yhency Brazoban who could maybe be had in the right offer. The Dodgers also have some great prospects, especially pitching wise which could be something KW looks at. If we're talking about a fit for the outfield however, Andre Ethier could maybe be the guy. The Dodgers already have Pierre and Gonzalez in the OF, so maybe Ethier could be had. Kind of like an advanced Ryan Sweeney type of ballplayer really. Wilson Betemit could also be a good buy low player possibly who could be better in a change of scenery and hitting in a better ballpark. He had good numbers in 05 and 06.

He's just the perfect example of the guy you hate to play against, but would love to have on your team. I don't think there's any other better way to describe him really.