DBAHO

Southsider2K(how many posts you have at the end of 2006).

1. I am only 1 of 2 people I think who post on this site from the Southern Hemisphere. 2. I have only met 1 other person from ST in real life. 3. I once smashed my tennis racquet in a fit of rage, snapping the top of the frame in half. 4. I have visited 3 American States so far in my lifetime. 5. I wear casual clothes to work.

qwerty, post more please. And Happy B-Day to all of you!

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 05:05 AM) I highly doubt that KW, he of the trading be-here-now starter and one potential starter who was the #1 prospect while loading up on potential arms, would throw the salary money at Clemens to rent him for a year. It would allow those young potential arms to develop in the minors for another season, while at the same time the Sox would remain in contention for the division. So I think it's a perfect scenario, but there's about a 0.50% chance of it actually happening.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 04:01 PM) He was one of the best pitchers in the organization this past year. 2.94 ERA for WS in 25 starts 0.86 ERA for Birm in 4 starts I was on his bandwagon before anyone else though, so . I claim him. He's 23 though, so he needs to keep moving up. He's my AAP. What I was most impressed with thoug from him, is that he only gave up something like 2 gopher balls all season. If he can continue to keep the ball in the park, it's really going to help his chances of making it into our rotation one day. Will be interesting to see how he does at Charlotte though once he makes the jump up.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) Eh, right now even I'm a little hesitant at the idea of trading another starter. Such a package for Buehrle must be unbelievable. We're talking Humber AND Pelfrey. Reyes doesn't do it for me. I wouldn't have minded traded Buehrle previously if McCarthy remained on the team. As of now, we're more dependent on his innings over anything else. What worries me about Clemens is first, how the American League will handle him, and second, if he'll be willing to pitch more often. Roger Clemens puts on our uniform, he's not playing his little games. 30 starts, 20-25 million. His ass pitches in cold weather, on the road, in a dome, wherever we say. I'd probably take Reyes over Humber but not Pelfrey, and that's because of the injury factor. Reyes is basically another B-Mac in my mind (very similar in terms of age, experience, stuff etc,), so if you could get B-Mac plus another really good prospect for Buehrle (who's no lock to rebound in my mind), then I think that's something you really have to look at. As much as people want to contend in 2007, we could set ourselves up to be Cleveland Indians like in terms of future domination if this young pitching we acquire turns out to be good, and the more you get of it, the better the chance it is it'll succeed. Agreed with what you've said on Clemens, but he's the only guy out there who'll take a short - term contract (unless Barry Zito takes $25M for 1 season all of a sudden).

QUOTE(Chet Lemon @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) good points on the last few pages of posts i skimmed over, but wouldn't McCulloch be more likely to join the rotation over Liotta three years from now? Yeah he would. Him and Broadway project to be nothing more than 3rd-4th starters though, but I'm fairly sure they'll reach the major league level one day. Gio and Danks are possible #2 starters, with Danks probably the better prospect. So that's 4 guys I think 3-4 years from now, could all be in our rotation. And then there's likes of Floyd and Haeger and nobody really knows how they're going to project in the future. And there's Sisco as well who could be turned into a SP. Nick Masset could be turned into a starter again, Liotta could rebound, Lucas Harrell, Jack Egbert or Adam Russel could really produce down at B-Ham in 07, Richard Brooks could rebound down at Kanny etc. so all in all, there are a LOT of pitching spects in our system now who could be up the big team in a few years, and it's a good situation to be in.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) We're not going to receive anything for him. These last two seasons have shown teams aren't willing to give up legitimate talent for someone entering the second half of their contract year. Especially if whichever team isn't confident they'll resign him long-term. Another concept is one I expressed on numerous occasions last offseason. Much depends on the record of our ballclub come July. If Buehrle is pitching poorly, but we're five games ahead, does Williams risk trading him? If we were to receive anything of value it would have to be because Buehrle rebounded from last seasons dreadful second half. Dealing pitchers before the season is one thing, it's quite another midseason when a ballclub is anything but 10+ games out of a playoff spot. We can always take the 2 draft picks if Buehrle bolts in FA, and use that on young pitching (think of the Lumsden and Gio draftings). The Nats could have gotten a deal revolving around Matt Garza for Soriano at the deadline (if reports were correct, but Bowden's an idiot), so there's always hope if Buehrle is pitching well that we could get SOMETHING for him, although like you've said, a lot of teams at the deadline don't want to give up good young talent to fill a need anymore. Right now my thoughts on Buehrle, is kind of like how KW treated the B-Mac situation. He shouldn't be traded, BUT, if someone comes in with an offer (e.g Reyes + the Cards stud OF spect) that is too good to turn down, then you take that deal. And that deal I've speculated is kind of like the Freddy Garcia trade where the contract expires after this season, and we 2 premium young talents in return. And if you do a deal like that, we've saved something like $25-30M this off-season. And put the bulk of that to try and sign Roger Clemens. Think of a rotation with; Clemens Contreras Garland Vazquez Reyes Not only does it improve your chances of winning this season, but you set yourself up better for the future I think. But this is pretty much a dream scenario in signing Clemens, but at least the Sox should try and explore the possibility.

Arkiphov's having himself a game tonight. Now's there 1 player who's really picked up his play under Savard. Hopefully the Hawks can hang onto the lead in the 3rd period here.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) Why do more people not think that offense was a huge issue during the 2nd half of last year? Even when our pitching was subpar during the first half of the year, we had a 6 game WC lead at the ASB. However, once our hitting became below average in the 2nd half of the year, that's when our lead evaporated quicker than SSI at a Greg Walker Appreciation Luncheon. Because I think most of the players at fault for that will rebound. Jim Thome slowed down in the 2nd half, and no he's not going to hit at his 1st half pace, but he'll be better than what he was in the 2nd half of 05 I'd imagine. IF Podsednik is healthy (which is a big IF), then he could be closer to what he did in 2005 than in 2006. I expect Brian Anderson to hit around the .260 mark, which will be an upgrade on what he did last season. Juan Uribe, well you never know what he's going to do. But could he possibly be any worse than last season when he had a below .300 OBP? That's not to say it's an issue, but the rotation and bullpen were more major reasons for us not making the playoffs in mind.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 10:55 AM) how long have they been letting the teachers compete against the students? If the Australians would stop using kangaroo foreskins for passports, you'd probably have less of a problem traveling and working around the world Your Aussie Banter is still a work in progress, MATE. Although I'm sure Kangaroo Foreskins would probably get you a lot of $$$ on the open market, unfortunately we're not THAT inhumane down here.

QUOTE(HoosierSox @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 10:25 AM) Wont Haeger have trouble throwing the knuckler in Arizona. My guess is Floyd gets the spot. But who knows. Floyd's best pitch ATM though is his curveball, so he could too have problems in spring training with that pitch. I really don't take much stock into what a pitcher does in spring training though (if you remember with B-Mac in the 2005 ST for example).

It's a real interesting question, and one that I hadn't really thought of until now. But I wonder if the Sox could trade say MacDougal and Anderson for Baldelli, if they would think about doing that for example (not that I think it's a good deal because I think BA will rebound). I don't think anything will happen though. The bullpen ERA was a MAJOR reason for us not making the playoffs last season, and KW has shown with his off-season moves that he doesn't want that to be the case again.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 09:37 AM) According to KFMB in San Diego, Chad Tracy is involved in the trade talks. Tracy + 2 spects for RJ is a steal for the Yanks. Tracy can play at 1B, and rotate in the OF, and then they sign Zito with the money they save from trading RJ.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) I got a bunch of work clothes (all of which are getting returned because I don't wear ties) You don't wear ties? Anyways slow Christmas for me. I'm gettin a U.K Passport (I'm eligible because of a family connection), but I still actually have to finalize filling out the forms and sending it off etc. It gives me some options if I want to work in Europe (if I wanted to work in the States I'd have to get some sort of visa or a green card). But other than that, just some travel stuff and a book, so not much a haul this year, but that's ok.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 07:42 AM) Don't forget Ledezma on the Tigers, as well as Andrew Miller. I'd take Ledezma over any of our possible 5th starters. I'd be iffy on that. The Tigers don't seem to have a lot of faith in Ledezma anyways, and I think our young pitchers who will compete for the 5th starter's position, have more potential to do well than Ledezma even though they may not do so.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Dec 27, 2006 -> 08:58 AM) FWIW, according to ESPN Arizona supposedly offered a 3-player package including one major leaguer, and San Diego also made an offer with Scott Linebrink as the centerpiece. And that's the equivalent of us giving up Mike MacDougal for him. So in other words, forget about it.

Well just a terrible performance today in probably the most important game of the season for us. Couldn't establish the run against one of the worst run defences in the league, can't generate a pass rush, and Romo made some bad mistakes with those 2 INT's trying to find something deep. We're a young team so we're only going to improve, but we need upgrades still on both sides of the ball. And there's talk TO won't be back next season.

I'm glad that KW has found out the value of good young pitching. It's cost us Freddy Garcia, Brandon McCarthy, Neal Cotts and Ross Gload, but I think if you look at our minor league system in terms of SP and our bullpen, it's a lot better. And let's hope a guy like Gavin Floyd or Charlie Haeger takes charge, grabs the bull by the horns, and really contributes well at the #5 spot. Because if that's the case, we haven't lost a lot from our 2006 rotation in terms of numbers, and our long - term future in terms of competing in this tough division is a whole lot rosier than it was 2 months ago.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Dec 25, 2006 -> 08:55 AM) That makes 6 AAPs for you, stop hogging. Well Sierra got cut, so it's actually 5 now.

I'm all over this one; John Danks Pos: SP DoB: 04/05/85 Ht: 6'2" Wt: 190 Bats: L Throws: L John was the 9th pick in the 2003 draft by the Rangers. Had a 0.69 ERA in 5 games in rookie ball that year. 2004 saw him start in low A ball with a 2.17 ERA in 14 games, with a 64/14 K/BB ratio. He then moved onto high A ball and had a 5.24 ERA in 13GS with a 48/26 K/BB ratio. 2005 he repeated a high A with a 2.50 ERA in 10GS with a 53/16 K/BB ratio. He moved up to AA ball and had a 5.49 ERA in 18 games with a 85/34 K/BB ratio. This year, John repeated AA and had a 4.15 ERA in 13GS with a 82/22 K/BB ratio. He then moved up to AAA and had a 4.33 ERA in 14 games with a 72/34 K/BB ratio. Some tidbits on him; Sickels; Most Valuable Network (mid 2006); John's expected to compete for the 5th starter's job, but it's more likely we see him starting the season down in Charlotte's rotation I'd imagine. Could see him in mid 2007 though, definitely ready in 2008.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 24, 2006 -> 11:23 PM) Can some explain to me how playing into the WS allegedly tires a pitching staff out, but this guy Masset is pitching in Mexico during his "off season" and he could be a guy in the bullpen in 2007? Isn't he going to be totally gassed for next season? Well you have to consider Masset won't have thrown as many innings as the Sox's starters would have in a season, plus he's younger so his arm shouldn't be too worn out, and he's only thrown something like 20 innings as a closer down in Mexico.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Dec 24, 2006 -> 10:49 PM) Not sure if I would be a huge fan of this but could this be a possiblity to fill the 5th starter spot and let some of these young arms get more work in AAA? Joel Pineiro, RHSP--Seattle Mariners: Rays have expressed interest in him, Scott Dohmann and Jason Bulger. Red Sox, Royals, Twins, Yankees, Pirates and Cardinals interested. Buster Olney speculates that the White Sox may be the frontrunners to land him. The Pirates are unwilling to meet his asking price. Now that's interesting. Piniero was certainly a very good starter a couple of seasons ago. I think he's lost some velocity or something since then though. But I wouldn't mind signing him and see if the Sox could get him back to where he was before.

Not a lot been said about Rasner, found this info on him; QUOTE(RME JICO @ Dec 24, 2006 -> 10:40 PM) Danks and B-Mac might end up as a complete wash, but the real steal could be with Masset: Even in Mexico, a 22/2 K/BB ratio in 20 2/3 innings is solid. Kenny thinks he could be another Bobby Jenks. Hard thrower, reached 96-98 on the gun in Mexico, and has a power arsenal including a real good sinker apparently.

I heard they actually sold a lot of Aluminum Poles this year.