DBAHO

And TRU, you'll be very interested in this; If we could move up a couple of spots, even up to #6, by only giving up some 2nd rounders, that's a fantastic move by Otis Smith. I'd love to get Gay. I think talent wise, he's got the most in this draft, but he's got motivational issues as we know. Getting Brian Hill on his ass, and Grant Hill to teach him would be a good start getting around that issue though. Getting Williams means we would have 4 bigs in Dwight, Darko, Battie and Williams, with Fran Vazquez likely coming over in 07-08. I guess this means we're confident of re-signing DeShawn Stevenson if he opts out of his contract as well. Not the biggest fan of his, but he can play D, and I guess if you're going to have 4 guys who could possibly average over 15+ in your lineup, you need a Bruce Bowen type of grinder in there.

Saw this today;

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ May 31, 2006 -> 07:41 PM) Send him to Great Falls... I want his autograph... Seriously I think we need to swap him out for another outfielder if we can... But no way in heck should we send him down for just a pitcher... This is the conundrum KW has on his hands regarding this issue right now. Ryan Sweeney just came back from an injury and for all we know he could come up and do exactly what Anderson has done offensively so far this season. Jerry Owens has really struggled in AAA so far, and I don't want Mack or Pods to be our everyday CF. That's why I'd like to trade Ross Gload and a not top 10-15 prospect for an OF in an organisation that's in the minors, but could contribute at the major league level if they were given a chance. Or better yet, you could trade for Ryan Church.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 31, 2006 -> 03:44 PM) The worst LF in baseball backs up Pods. Believeit or not, I wouldn't mind a Timo-like player on the team this year instead of Gload. Not Timo, but Timo-ish, if you understand. And that is why I am stressing, get a Ryan Church, get a Corey Hart, get a Chris Deniforia who would actually be used more than Ross Gload, who's just a waste of a roster space right now. Then at least if you send Anderson down to AAA, you don't have to move Scott Podsednik over to CF, or let Machowiak play there everyday.

No doubt he's ready for AA. Fantastic outing tonight, and he's definitely got a future with this organization due to his groundball ways.

QUOTE(Soxy @ May 30, 2006 -> 04:43 AM) So hot. Why did I agree to play tennis close to midday on the hottest day of the year. Ich. I had a choice b/w that and Basketball both outside in the freezing cold today. I should have picked Tennis.

Thoughts and prayers with ya dude.

No. But on another matter, I really like the type of hitter he's become. He doesn't have the same power he used to at all, but he still has an .850 OPS. How? With a 25/19 BB/K ratio.

Trade was definitely a huge boost for this team right now, from the impact JT's made. But Philly fans shouldn't be mad at Gillick at all. Ryan Howard has picked up right where he left off last season, and Gio Gonzalez is already proving someone's prediction this season that he'll be more than a 5th starter in the future.

I'll be happy if we make the playoffs, and go on further from there, but getting to the playoffs first and foremost, is most important But then I want this team to be there for the next decade, which means I want to see our young guys come thru the system and contribute well at the major league level.

QUOTE(Felix @ May 30, 2006 -> 06:52 AM) Jaret Wright: 57-50, 5.17 ERA, 1.56 WHIP The thing is with Wright, he had that 1 good year under Mazzone in Atlanta where he won about 18 games and how a low 3 ERA IIRC. Then he move to the Yanks and was never the same. Garland's a different situation when you look at he's stayed at the one team, and was probably getting comfortable with what Coop was teaching him, and it finally clicked. Most people loved the re-signing when it happened, and now the vast majority here have turned on him after 2 fairly average months.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 29, 2006 -> 10:52 PM) Ozzie hates the fact that Garland has admitted to a lack of confidence, so if its possible for someone to take his remaining contract at the end of this season, I expect him to be shown the door. KW has to weigh up whether it's worth trading Garcia in the off-season and possibly getting more back in return, or trading Garland while his value is low, so that B-Mac can move into the rotation. Will be an interesting off-season again on that regard.

QUOTE(Felix @ May 29, 2006 -> 10:36 PM) On any staff, a 6.25 ERA and 1.59 WHIP sticks out. Its not some minor thing that is just getting pointed out because of the rest of the staff. Also, winning 70 games has nothing to do with being a fluke or not, and looking at wins is not a good way to evaluate a pitcher. Throughout his career, he was an average pitcher. Last year however, he was pretty damn good, and looked like a #2 or #3 starter. The question that is being asked is if last year (3.50 ERA, compared to a career 4.53) was a fluke or not. Felix can I ask you this. Do you think if a pitcher say has a bad 1st season, a good 2nd season, a bad 3rd season, a good 4th season, and a bad 5th season, that pitcher is more likely to have a better season next, than a pitcher who had 3 average to bad seasons, and then a good season next? Garland's keys to having a good season last year were keeping the ball in the yard, and not walking hitters. He's doing the latter ok, but right now he's having trouble striking out hitters, hence more balls are going in play, and some of them are going for HR's which is really costing him.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 29, 2006 -> 01:17 PM) He had the right idea, he was just about an inch or two off on a few pitches, and the Jays just hammered all those pitches. Which shows the margin of error, Jon has on a lot of his pitches, he's got to be spot on a lot of the time, and how important it is for him to get that first pitch strike so he's not behind in the count.

No because of these factors; 1) It wasn't a contract year. He was still under our control for another 2 seasons. 2) He's still young, and not hurt physically, which shows that most of his current problems are mental. 3) He's gotta stop giving up the longball, which he can't possibly be as bad for the rest of the season, as he has done so far. The main thing with Jon at this stage, if he's not getting groundballs. He had 47.3% last season, 45.3% in 2004, and he's only 39.4% so far this season. And his Defense Efficiency Ratio is also down by .050%. In my mind, he can't possibly be this bad in the long run.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ May 29, 2006 -> 02:43 PM) I really don't want to see any of those three scrubs on our team. If we add a reliever to the roster, it had better be a decent one via a trade. Esteban Yan just got DFA'ed by the Angels a couple days ago. If it's him, I will laugh my ass off. I suggested Brian Bruney about a week back. He was designated for assignment by the D-Backs a while back. The guy's dominated in AAA, and he'd be another Coop reclamation project, with potential high rewards.

Thanks guys, unfortunately he was put down this morning. Don't know if we'll end up getting another cat at this stage.

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ May 29, 2006 -> 02:35 AM) Someone mentioned right-handed hitting outfielders with some speed. At the risk of being pilloried again, one guy that pops into my head is Marlon Byrd. Pedestrian all the way, but he'd fit the bill of a lower cost guy, right-handed, runs pretty well and can catch the ball. I'll take Ryan Church of their hands instead. Gimme one of Corey Hart, Church or Chris Deniforia.

Zumaya could turn into our own version of Neal Cotts. A few years back you're pretty sure he'll be in our rotation some day, but he becomes so valuable as a set-up guy, you just don't to move him from that role he's suceeding in.

Some other performances to note; Ricky Brooks only went 2.1IP giving up 5ER. He has an ERA of 5.10 down at Kanny now. Certainly not the start our 3rd round choice in last year's draft was looking for this season. Wes Whisler went 5.1IP giving up 1ER in one of his better starts for the season thus far. He's 4-4 with a 4.44 ERA in 10GS with a 32/24 K/BB ratio.

I'm moving this in here, because I saw this rumor in Newsday today; You think they would be interested in a package around B-Mac possibly? Of course then you would have to trade another starter like Garland at the end of the season, to fit Willis into the rotation. Can't see it happening myself.

Happy late belated B-Day guys!!!!

My cat's in a real bad way at the moment. It's had arthritis in its back leg for the past couple of years, but it's learnt to put up with it by being stronger with it's front paws so it can walk around. The past week or so, he's been getting worse, walking smaller distances. It's gotten to the stage today, where he can't actually walk at all anymore. So I have to pick him up so he can eat etc. It's going to the vet tomorrow, I won't be there cos I'll be at work, but I think when I come home, I won't be seeing it ever again unfortunately.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 28, 2006 -> 03:55 PM) Whoever gets POB is going to be very happy. He'd make perfect sense for the Hornets at #12. If we didn't have Milicic, I'd want Orlando to be all over him at #11. Even a team like Golden State could definitely use a big like him, if they're patient, which they're probably not.

And the Soxtalk faithful have turned on him alreday. I didn't think he had much left in the tank when we signed him, so I wasn't really a fan of him making our bullpen. But to give up on him after he's pitched in a couple of games is complete ludicrousy.