DBAHO

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 05:21 PM) Jenks Thornton MacDougal Sisco Aardsma Floyd Just to aggravate the hell out of Soxtalk. Troublemaker. A lot of it comes down to whether or no we're going to carry 3 lefties in the pen. I hope not, and I hope Sisco is down in AAA starting and Logan gets first crack. Aardsma has really dug a hole for himself, and I think Masset certainly has him beat for a spot, and even then it's a toss up b/w him and Russel for another possibly. Either Floyd or Haeger is going to get in there as well I think. The good thing is in all of this, we have OPTIONS. We have contingency plans, which is a lot more than I can say for other teams.

I was going to say Takeshi's Castle (aka MXC), but then I realised it's a funny Japanese game show, not a reality show. Watching that little nerd in the 1st season of Beauty and the Geek was funny for a little while I guess.

After the season he had for Charlotte last year, he'll have to repeat it, and really produce. The clock is starting to tick a bit for him.

Considering the same exact thing happened to Tad last ST and then Ozzie decides, "No we need him back in the #2 spot, because he's not hitting well in ST lower in the order" is a little suprising. I think KW and Ozzie are hoping Erstad can somehow get back to that form in that season (was it 00 or 01, yeesh a long time ago) that he hit over .300 and was a stud. It's pretty much the nail in the coffin for Brian Anderson's chances of making this ballclub as well, he'll be back down in Charlotte.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 10:35 AM) So a 21 year old lefty with barely 2 years of organized minor league baseball experience is already an AAAA player? Wow, you already can see things better than our scouting then. Not only that, he's only pitched something like 70 innings in AAA ball for his career so far right? Considering he didn't really thrive at that level, I don't see how he's already outgrown it, but hey that's just me. I suppose most stud pitching prospects like Adam Miller from Cleveland for example are AAAA players as well. Hey I'd love to have that type of AAAA player on my 40 man roster, no doubts about it. But calling him an AAAA player is just putting him down in my opinion. Look at say Mark Buehrle for example. He did well for B-Ham in 2000 and got the call up to the big leagues staight from there, and did quite alright for himself. Now back when he got the callup, would you call him an AAAA player? He hasn't even played at that level yet, only pitched in nothing higher than AA ball yet gets a callup.

QUOTE(shipps @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 10:39 PM) I strongly disagree with that.I remember Crede looking very afraid at the plate for his first couple seasons,he was totally overmatched mentally and physically for the first quarter of his career offensively. Which is exactly why you have to stay patient with these young players like Anderson and wait until they flourish, and it could be as soon as this season, who knows. But it will happen.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 04:05 PM) I really have a ton of respect for the Twins organization, but they have much bigger problems than we do. Ponson at 4? And not only that. Ramon Ortiz at the #3 spot and he showed absolutely NOTHING for Washington last season, Carlos Silva pitching #2 and his sinker hasn't been the same since a couple of seasons ago so they've got more problems on the pitching side than us I'd say. They could start off the way they did last season, and are they good enough to recover this time if that happens, in what should be a more competitive AL Central this season?

Very happy with what Floyd produced today. It's what he needed to show if he wants to win this 5th starter's job, and I still think he will when it's all said and done. And I think that's probably the best thing for John Danks as well. He's only pitched something like 81 innings in AAA, and we have abolsutely no need to rush him if he's not 100% ready. I just see a lot of similarities with the Brandon McCarthy situation back in 2005. I know that may not be the absolute best decision in the short - term, but I'm thinking about the long - term here. But hey, who knows what Floyd will do if he gets a chance, and like wite said, an ERA around the 5-5.5 mark is really what we need from him. Offensively, things look to be clicking nicely as well which is good to see.

If I could get a good lefty reliver for him (which is quite ironic since we traded Marte for him), it'd be something I'd certainly consider. That way, you don't have to push Sisco and / or Logan into the bullpen. I think we have enough bench guys now though in Perez, Terrero etc. who may make the 25 man roster, that the Sox will see what they can get on the market for him.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 01:17 PM) I've fallen back in love with 2 beers: Newcastle and Grolsch(sp?) Seeing as my fiancee lives in the UK, I've grown to drink Grolsch there all the time, and Newcastle alot when here in the States. As for Waffle House...um eww? I wouldn't walk back into the Awful Waffle close to me if someone paid me to eat there. Wasn't a huge fan of Grolsch when I tried it personally. Newcastle is pretty popular with the Pommies though I think, and even down here, especially when you go to a British Pub here in Melbourne.

Hopefully it's nothing lingering for BA, although I don't think it's going to matter when it's all said and done.

I remember that Bukvich was KC's closer once (and was a shrewd acquisition in that year's EA Sports Baseball game ), but has never really done anything since then. He shouldn't be in the mix, especially ahead of Aardsma, who at least recently has a record of success at the major league level, which is why the Sox traded for him in the 1st place. But Aardsma needs more outings like he had today if he wants to make this pen. And it saddens me a bit, that we didn't sign a lefty reliever in the off-season, although there weren't many good ones available this off-season. Hopefully if Logan gets a chance, he can run with it this time.

When they come up against a serious good team whether it's San Jose, Anaheim or Detroit, you can see how much improvement they need. This off-season they should really trade Khabby if the right offer is there. This team needs so much more improvement offensively, and even defensively (which is sad when you think about it), you can't afford to be paying a #1 goalie that much money, when you've got a fairly capable one in Lalime who would be a lot cheaper. A #1 center like Briere or Scott Gomez should be a priority, trade Aucoin and Cullimore for anything, sign those rookies, and get at least 2 if not 3 top 6 forwards in. And whether Tallon is capable of doing that, I don't know. Other than his trade for Havlat, his other moves certainly haven't paid off. And imagine what Marty would be producing if he actually had a #1 center alongside him.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 01:37 PM) IMO, that's still a significant downgrade from the best lineup the Sox could put out, which is why it annoys the Hell out of me ^^^. And we're not even discussing the impact if Aaron Rowand was acquired here as well. I still think the Marlins are going to come calling for BA before the season starts, and something could get done. That's unless a David Murphy/Kyle Snyder for Taylor Tankesley deal happens.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 07:43 PM) I think the grinder impact is BIG. If I were a pitcher, it is good to know that I have someone out there that lays it out on the line for me, especially CF. Phycologically, I DO think Rowand out there had an impact out there. I'm not saying BA is no slouch though. But Grinders as you will are an intangible that I like on the Sox. But, what do I know? Everyone on soxtalk is a GM, you guys all know how to GM better than Kenny and all of you would manage a game better than Ozzie. I just can't figure out why you guys do your work for free. Hey I'm offering my services as an International Scout to any baseball team out there. The thing is you are saying it's good for the pitcher to know that Rowand is a grinder but Anderson is not. I would however, class Brian Anderson as a better defensive center fielder than Aaron Rowand. The thing that really hurt our outfield defense last season was NOT Anderson replacing Rowand, it was Scott Podsednik going downhill.

No, Brian Anderson will put up better numbers in 07 than Rowand, but he's not the ALMIGHTY GRINDER.

He should be starting down in Charlotte anyways, and that's how I've felt about the situation all along. Sign a veteran lefty reliever. Anyone who's out there. Hell trade Mackowiak for a decent one, if there's one available. Long - term Sisco is going to be a starter anyway, and not a situational lefty reliever, so we might as well start that process.

QUOTE(That funky motion @ Mar 15, 2007 -> 04:26 AM) Me too! That's because we got our 12 teams already, and we had our draft last weekend.

So who is everyone's pick for the MIBT match? Edge or Mr. Kennedy for mine. If they decide to keep Edge's WM streak going, otherwise Mr. Kennedy has been on a nice push over the past 6 months.

I just played soccer at lunchtime in 90+ dgeree heat for an hour, and I think I'm about to pass out at work. Good times (so take that you Iowans in snow).

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 12:07 PM) I would hope Williams thinks more of Anderson than a bullpen arm. We have quite enough of those as it is. We're missing top of the rotation talent. Unless Anderson is commanding that from Florida, he shouldn't be traded there. Ah-ha. We're talking prospects like Chris Volstad here. Obviously in all of this, there's something ongoing behind the scenes with BA here, and the veterans may want Rowand back possibly, along with Ozzie.

My prediction now; Anderson gets traded to the Marlins for some pitching prospects. We then trade for Rowand using Sean Tracey and a pitching prospect. And what are the odds on BA out performing Rowand this season? Of course if BA moved to a pitchers park, it'd be harder for him to do so. The last 2 season offensively wise are the norm for Rowand I'd say, I don't think there's a that big of a chance he goes back to his 2004 numbers.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 10:43 AM) Agreed. Seriously, Hirsh alone (just one of the players the Rox got for Jennings) would have been a better deal than Floyd/Gonzalez. Usually, I don't think it's faor for a fan to say that a better deal must have been out there, but in this case it's a reasonable based on the HOU-COL trade. It really looks like Floyd is an underperforming pitcher that the Sox fell in love with for some reason -- they projected him to break out and overvalued him accordingly. It's sort of like the Ritchie trade, where the Sox gave up overvalued Ritchie because they thought he would have a breakout season. I don't agree with that. It's not even a given that Hirsh is going to start the season in the Rockies rotation, instead he may be down in AAA with Colorado Springs. Upside wise, I'd say Gio has just as much as Hirsh, albeit he's not at that level yet, and he's probably moreso a riskier prospect. Let's not forget in all of this, Garcia hardly set the world on fire last season, and yes he did turn it around a little towards the end of the season, but is that a clear indicator for what he's going to do this season? I don't know. Floyd is a work in progress, the results are not going to come overnight. I don't really take stock of spring training numbers much, because of the Brandon McCarthy example. But I think Floyd needs to show something before ST is all said and done, otherwise he's going to lose out because there's going to be too much pressure to use John Danks, before I believe he's ready.

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ Mar 13, 2007 -> 12:03 AM) BA just scares me. Last year, 8,9 and 1 hitters were such as disappointment. If he can hit .250 and put the ball in play most times, I can live with that. Well Brian actually hit .257 Post ASB last season, so he's certainly capable of it. I think what we saw from him in July and August last season when he had OPS's close to .800 is a good guide as to what he's capable of if he can put it together this season. And compare that to a player like Aaron Rowand who's out up OPS's of .736 and .745 over the past 2 seasons.