DBAHO

Hmmm; Brady Quinn anyone?

QUOTE(logic101 @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 01:34 PM) Balta had it right 10 pages ago...Damian Miller will be our number two, and for my money, I'd rather have him than a healthy Hall. He hit really well last year until he got banged up. He's a great team guy, good with pitchers, etc. The Brewers want Mackowiak for the LH platoon with Tony Graffanino until their hotshot Braun is ready. They would be happy to unload 2+ million for a 2nd string catcher, especially when both Mike Rivera and another backup catcher have been burning things up this spring. And as much as I like Mack. I don't see how he fits on this team. I'm pretty certain that Ed Perez is a lock for the 25 man roster. If we add Damian Miller before opening day, we'll be just fine. Welcome to Soxtalk. Your point certainly makes some sense. Mack was linked to the Brew Crew a few days ago, they've just traded Brady Clark, so it could be a logical fit.

Seems like a panic move to be honest, after what happened to Hall. Best case scenario, Anderson somehow gets a chance and earns the playing time that Pods or Erstad are going to get. I don't see how without frequent AB's he's going to be put into a position to succeed offensively though. If anything, he'll probably be used as a late inning replacement for Pods more than anything because of his plus defense. As for Ginger's comments, yes he did get a chance last season, but how many young players can come into this league and hit well straight away? Not unless you're a stud like Pujols, Cabrera etc. Hell players like Hafner and Morneau have taken a while as well. You have to be patient with young hitters at the major league level. Joe Crede is a perfect example.

Just a bad break, and nothing we could have done about it. Why was he playing 1st base? What if Paulie is injured, and you decide to use Hall as a 1Bman against a LHP? Well that's assuming of course Perez wasn't going to make the team, which I think he certainly will now. Javy Lopez is a guy who's out there, if you could convince him to be a backup again. Miller hits lefties well, but the Brewers would need a backup C to replace him, and he's a very good insurance policy for them, so you'd have to make it worthwhile for Doug Melvin to give him up.

Hmm; Trade Khabby for a #1 center and then sign Giggy? Not much of a chance of happening I would have thought though.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 25, 2007 -> 01:21 PM) I agree. Anderson is on the front page on WhiteSox.com, and the heading under the picture says "The White Sox are watching how Brian Anderson adjusts to a utility role. Well that's just insane if he ends up as a bench player. He needs AB's, plain and simple and lots of them.

Happy B-Day Kalapse.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 06:27 PM) So do you want Floyd or Haeger in the rotation? Good question, and I don't even know the exact answer to that. But hey, if you could get a Steve Trachsel, Byung - Hyung Kim etc. a veteran starter on the cheap e.g none of our top 10 prospects, that's something that could be worth looking at maybe. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 06:40 PM) Come on people. it was a competition and a 21 year old stud went out and grabbed the job. How much more encouraging could it be? The kid is ready. But that's what we thought about B-Mac. The way he dominated ST in 2005. The way he went through that Texas lineup like a hot knife through butter. And when he got his 1st chance for us that season, he put up an ERA of 8.14 ERA in 5 starts b/w May and July. Now that may not happen with Danks, nobody knows what the future holds. But I think there's a better chance than not and it's been shown with young pitchers who aren't ready yet, that they'll struggle initially.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 05:53 PM) The matter of the fact though is, if Danks is ready, he should make the team. But the thing is here, I don't think you can view what somebody does in ST especially a young pitcher to determine if he's ready or not. Why? The Brandon McCarthy example. Back in 05, and when he got his 1st chance for us during that season, he wasn't ready. So I think you've got to look at other factors like age, minor league track record etc. to help get a better determination there.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 04:40 PM) I strongly disagree. If I was drafted by a team, and in my first spring training invite, if I didn't make the team, I would feel that I have failed. I would have the mind set of no one being better then me. I wouldn't care if I was 18 years old, I'd want to be with the major league club. That is the mindset every player should have. Look at Ryan Zimmerman, went from rookie ball to the Majors in one year. Does it look like he was rushed? How else are we going to see if the young guys can preform? By having them start in AAA until they are 30? Well on Zimmerman, he was the 4th pick in the draft, came from a college and was basically "ready". Him and Danks are 2 completely different prospects. There was a great article last week on why Miinesota and Oakland have been so good for so long. A main point was that they don't call up their prospects until they're 22-23? Why you ask? Before they want to have control of those players when they're in their prime and not before they hit free agency. So I mean Danks is only 21, 6 years from now if he stays with us, he'll be hitting free agency and if he's a good pitcher, it's certainly going to take a lot to lock him up.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 02:14 PM) Tracey has a 91/92 mph fastball with no control. He won't be making any major league team. Tracey's stuff isn't on the same planet as that of Thornton. That would be like comparing Buehrle's stuff to Santana's stuff. I know he was in the mid 90's for a while, and he actually decreased his fastball a little so he could try to get better control. Personally I think he's just gettin sold short here, and it wouldn't suprise me at all if he became a capable reliever.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 02:00 PM) I'm sure the fact that he was awful didn't have anything to do with it. How is he awful? He's got very good stuff for a reliever, with that fastball of his and he deserves a chance somewhere. If Tracey is awful, does that make Matt Thornton awful before he came to us, because he has great stuff but no control whatsoever either. And Thornton shows you that in the right situation and with the right coaching (who knows what Leo Mazzone will do to Tracey), you can succeed.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 12:19 PM) Watched the replay of Floyd pitching. Everything about him looks bad. His delivery/arm slot is awful, as you can pick up the ball right away. His fastball is in the 89 range, and he can't throw his offspeed pitch over the plate. He is nowhere near having good control, and that's what his downfall is right now. I'll make the prediction that he won't have an ERA under 4.50 in AAA. Since you watched the game fathom, what was the difference b/w his outing today and his outing last time when he pitched a lot better? Anything you can tell in terms of stuff etc.?

Annoyed that we couldn't even get some sort of mid level prospect for him. Considering the huge needs a lot of teams have bullpen help at the moment, and Tracey is someone who can potentially help a team's pen right now, we should have done better. But it's no suprise he's not here anymore, which is a bit sad when you thnk about it, just because of 1 thing he didn't do.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 24, 2007 -> 11:02 AM) I just hope we're not moving him too quickly... My thoughts exactly. Still he's earned it with his pitching so far in ST I was really hoping Floyd would be the one who came out and pitched well, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Congrats to your and wife there SSI71. Good to see the baby and the wife doing well.

Developing story, and a tragic one at that;

So I got my ears washed out this afternoon. A really fun experience to be had let me tell you.

Some good news;

Still hope that Floyd can come out and "earn" the 5th starter's job with another good outing. Short - term, Danks may just be the little bit of a better option, but long - term rushing him could have consequences. And we've got no need to do that in my opinion. As for Russell who knows what's going to happen with him. He's this year's version of Boone Logan and we all know where he started the season in 2006.

Really it's a weird deal all round. I say this because I don't think it really makes sense for both teams. From Houston's point of view, they're giving up 2 2nd rounders for a QB who's never been a starter yet. They don't have an OL. They don't have much of a running game and no receivers other than Andre Johnson. A QB will not succeed unless you put the right people around him so he can. I can't see Schuab who's a classic pocket passer turning into Gary Kubiak's version of Jake Plummer, doing well unless they address these factors 1st. And from Atlanta's point of view, there was a really good article from Foxsports.com about 2 weeks ago about why keeping Schaub made sense. He's a Petrino type of QB. Mike Vick isn't that type of QB, but Schuab was. So I mean what happens if Vick lays another goose egg this season? Do you keep him? Trade him? Cut him? And what's the contigency plan, because you just traded a QB who could have fit beautifully for the Falcons. HOWEVER, the Falcons may decide to draft a QB in the 1st couple of rounds now and Petrino can mold him from scratch. And considering the huge needs they have on defense, getting extra draft picks is a good deal for them.

He's been absolutely TERRIBLE for the past few seasons. Basically he's a strong safety who'sonly effective in the box stopping the run, and not good in coverage. Think Roy Williams for example. So if a player like Daniel Manning really comes on as a center fielder like free safety, I could see this one working out. Archuleta hasn't been the same type of player since Lovie left St. Louis as well.

It's almost a given now that BA won't be making the 25 man roster, as he's not obviously going to be used in a platoon role or on the bench. I can now see teams before the season starts going back to KW and asking him about BA and the asking price, so let's go through some teams who'll have an interest. The main team I can obviously think of is Florida. Huge need for a good young CF. They've been rumored to be shopping Yusmerio Petit for either Jorge Julio or Armando Benitez for their other need, a closer. I wonder however if they would offer Petit for Anderson, and would you take a deal like that? The Angels could maybe be another? I mean with all of the controversy around Matthews still, and with the likes of Garret Anderson only getting older and older, they could do with a good young outfielder. Anderson would be an upgrade over Chris Duffy for the Pirates, but Dave Littlefield is set going with Duffy as his leadoff man. A slow start from Duffy however, could maybe get a trade going? The Giants are another team that would probably like to get younger in their outfield mix. Would someone like Jonathan Sanchez interest you for Anderson maybe? So there's a few teams out there who should have an interest, and so they should, getting a potential Torri Hunter outfielder who'll be under your control for another 5 seasons quite cheaply.

QUOTE(Y2HH @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 05:21 AM) If a wrestler takes steroids or HGH and looks like Shane Helms, they're doing something wrong...or they need to just stop taking it. Seriously, if you need roids to get a body like Edge or Helms, you suck at working out or have terrible genetics. I remember Edge used to be around 220 lbs, then he got injured for a year, came back and he weighed something like 240 lbs now. So I'm not totally shocked that something like this has happened.

More than anything here, it's good to see someone like Contreras pass on some of his tricks of the trade to a similar sort of younger pitcher in Russell, and obviously he's found it very beneficial. Russell now falls into the mix of pitchers like Sisco and Massett where the Sox have to decide what's the best course of action for them in the long - term future.