DBAHO

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 03:27 PM) Who cares if he wants to go to the mets? If they want him gone he will be going wherever they decide. I still think the sox are not as big of a lock to resign konerko as others do. He will most likely recieve a four year deal with an option and not a three year deal with an option. I also expect him to make on average twelve million a year, which in other words, overpaid. I know there are people here that want him signed no matter the cost... but three years into that deal when he cannot walk, let alone run, they will be regretting it. If his hip is as bad as people make it out to be i am scared by it. Short-term i see him helping us... but down the road i see him f***ing us over ( not his fauly) If the angels end up dumping finley it will not be to the yankees... one of their main goals for this off-season is resigning matsui, centerfielder ( that does not suck), and as always starting pitching. This is where I saw the Manny story. I think it was mentioned on Rotoworld that New York wasn't his 1st option, not 110% sure though. I doubt Omar Minaya would trade for someone who wouldn't want to be on his team, especially when he makes more money in the short - term; The Yanks could get desperate on a center fielder. I've heard Robinson Cano for Torii Hunter (which is actually a pretty smart deal for both sides), and even Aaron Rowand's been mentioned in a deal for Gary Sheffield (but that'll never happened). Anyways, they'll definitely have a new CF, and if they can't get any of tha bove, if they can get Finley for practically nothing, they may do it, and hope he rebounds. The Yanks also have 7 starting pitchers under contract for 2006, with A.J Burnett and Kevin Millwood (who they don't think can handle the pressure in New York), I actually think they may stand pat for once, unless they can work a trade deal. As for Konerko, the contract length will be a very important issue. Of course he could DH in the future, which could help with those injuries possibly. It could end up biting us in the behind like the Tim Salmon deal, but unless the Sox have a good contingency plan in place (Brian Giles or Chad Tracy), I think we've just got to bite the bullet and bring back Paulie.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 02:58 PM) Konerko to Boston makes little to no sense, and I hope the rumors are false to be honest. I love the guy, but I can't imagine seeing one of either Ortiz or Konerko on the bench for 20 games during interleague play and if the situation arrised the World Series. Word currently is Beltran for Manny. ugh. Doesn't Manny not want to go to the Mets anymore? As for Konerko and Boston, I can't see it. He's said repeadtly, even though he was born there, he doesn't see himself living there. So I'd say it's either us, the Angels or another West Coast team like the Dodgers. Of course if the Angels do sign him, then maybe the likes of Casey Kotchman and Kendry Morales do become available. But they've got to re-sign the likes of Molina (4 years @ 7M, ouch), and maybe try to dump Steve Finley on the Yankees before they do anything else.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 03:04 PM) Correct, I shouldn't have made it sound like that was only because of scott but I think highly of him for various reasons, there really aren't to many other leadoff hitters I would rather have. Well it would depend on where the leadoff hitter played. I would easily take a Furcal over Pods because he's such a great defensive shortstop, but will have the same impact offensively as Pods with a little more pop. A guy like Figgins can play multiple positions for you, and although he had a terible post-season, I'm sure lots of teams would love to have him. Everyone knows that Pods makes a great impact with his OBP and stealing the bases disrupting the pitchers etc. It's his poor reads on defense, and his un-clutchiness with RISP that get people annoyed with him.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 02:22 PM) I didnt say he was the WHOLE problem but his type certainly its pretty obvious he played a large role in the strike. Also. The Blackhawks are engineered for mediocraty. The overriding theme that has prevailed there over the last 10 years is that a 500 team is good enough as long as Dollar Bill and his vertically integrated organ-i-zation is making money. The White Sox have consistently been trying to improve their team over the years. If they have been mediocre its not for a lack of effort on the part of management. They have made adjustments, developed talent ( and kept it when it matured unlike their hockey counterparts ) and now they are on the cusp of reaping the benefits. A team like the Slackhawks who is totally focused on their wallet at the expense of winning and the fans is doomed to failure season after season. So I re-ask my original question. Do you think it's unfair that the likes of Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Yashin won't be getting huge contracts now (when they don't deserve it) because of what the owners did? Name 5 owners who were making a profit before the lockout. How were the Blackhawks making money when Wirtz was complaining that salaries were too high, and a salary cap was needed? And if they were conmpletely focused on making money, why would they go out and sign the #1 FA goalie, one of the best FA d-men, etc. to improve the team?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 01:53 PM) According to what? Win shares?? There aren't to many other guys I'd rather have leading off then scott, this team went down the f***in tubes when he was out. They may also have been due to the Sox not getting the same pitching as the 1st half of the season.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 21, 2005 -> 09:08 AM) Yeah, the same cap that he helped get a whole season cancelled in order to get put in place. I cant believe how people like you can support a man who cares nothing about the fans and everything about his wallet. I think your loyalty for a team which season after season is built for mediocracy at best is really hilarious. So it's was Wirtz's fault alone that we had a lockout?? Look nobody likes him, but you can't go blaming all of the NHL's problems on him. If you're talking about mediocracy, what about the White Sox before this season?

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 05:29 PM) Look for the braves to lose the division next year. This is the first time i have ever even said or thought that in my life time. The list of pitchers he made good out of no where ( and then turned back to s*** when they left) is long as f***. He will be a damn good manager but unfortunately he is in the wrong division to do anything worthwhile IMO. Yeah forget the impact the likes of Maddux and Glavine leaving has had, Mazzone leaving trumps that altogether. They could seriously finish last in that division next season if the new pitching coac ain't any good. At least Baltimore should definitely be over .500 next season, but like you've said, that won't matter with the Yanks and Red Sox there.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 03:35 PM) Probally espn... what i always use anyway. Yeah or even Yahoo is pretty good with all of the splits.

That's a nice dancing Ozzie you've got there (oh and welcome aboard).

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 03:40 PM) Yet he's nowhere near that old. People can make all the age excuses they want about why it should weigh so heavily, but if a guy is legitimately inexperienced and is not dominating a level of competition based on his physical maturity, what the hell is the difference how old he is? We all get excited by the plethora of OF prospects, but please tell me who is going to be hitting #1 and #2 on that team... Good leadoff hitters are CRUCIAL parts of the puzzle... you can't put players together with total disregard for how the pieces fit together... I shouldn't have stated about Owens' age, the norm is that a 23 year old OF should be dominating in AA, if he's had minor league experience, and Owens hasn't, so that made his performance the better. I'd say right now, there's a few guys on this team who could hit 1 or 2. I'd always thought Rowand if they stuck with him in CF, could hit in either position, if he shortened up his swing. Iguchi could still hit in the #2 hole, and then there's FA options. Pods could still be around in the future, so we don't know yet. Owens could be a good leadoff hitter, but it depends on how well he could hit at the MLB level, otherwise he's probably not going to be anything more than a very good 4th OF. He still needs to improve stealing the bases (20 CS out of 58), and is he going to continue to good K/BB ratio which will be all important? It could depend if Ozzie's still the manager. Ozzie knows how important it is to have a good leadoff hitter, but if he's gone, will the next manager put such a high emphasis on getting a good one?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 02:32 PM) Throw all those stats out the window, come saturday they mean nothing. Ok let's chuck Kevin Walker out on the mound for us then.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 02:21 PM) Do you really think the sox would give the yankees permission to talk to him? I doubt it. They shouldn't, but it may alienate Coop from returning after 2006. For instance, if I was Atlanta no way would I have let Mazzone speak to Baltimore or New York but he may have told them, if you don't, I'll leave for sure.

Ok so lets get the lowdown on Roger Clemens. Away splits, 1.32 ERA with a .191 BAA. Gulp. Night games, his ERA is .77 worse than day games at 2.10. Outdoors he has a 1.52 ERA. Gulp again. In September though, he had a 5.40 ERA with a .292 BAA. He just wasn't K'ing batters that month as he had only had 13 in 4 games started, way below the usual norm. He's not good with RISP with 2 outs, 12.23 ERA there. 5.87 ERA with RISP, which is pretty good compared to other pitchers. Looking at his pitch counts, if there's a slight weakness, it's his starts. ERA's of 2.63, 2.40 and 2.21 from 0 to 15 - 30 - 45. So we need to get on him nice and early, because after that well he's pretty damn good. Looking at our hitters against him, Jermaine Dye is 6 for 18, Joe Crede 3 for 5 with 2 HR's, Paul Konerko 8 for 18 with 5 doubles, Pods 5 for 14. Pierz, Everett don't have good numbers, Uribe is 1 for 2, while Rowand's never faced him.

Yeah gotta keep Biggio and Taveras off base. When you do that, they'll struggle to score runs. Brad Ausmus has become a big key in the bottom part of their lineup. He's hit around .290-.300 since the ASB, so he needs to be shut down as well. He came up with a few key hits in that NLCS. Watching Oswalt pitching, our hitters have just got to get used to that fastball straight away. He keeps it pretty low as well. Besides Lidge (who gave up that big homer anyway), Houston's pen isn't anything to write about. If we can get to their relievers, hopefully we can take advantage. Chicago in 7.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 02:14 PM) He is under contract and he has said he wants nothing to do with the yankees in so many words... he will be our pitching coach for 2006. Yeah I know he's said that, but let's see what he says when the Yanks offer him a big $$$ deal to be their pitching coach. I think he'll stay though, since he's been in our organisation for a long time and wants to repay us for giving him an oppurtunity here.

Flozell "The Hotel" Adams is out for the season with a torn ACL. It's a huge blow to our O-Line and offense in general. Drew Bledsoe won't have the same protection, which unfortunately means an increase in sacks and fumbles. And just when things were looking really good too.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 11:37 PM) You live in a clump of trees? Those trees alone are far more interesting than the state of Iowa.

Let's just hope the Yanks don't go really hard after Don Cooper, which I'm afraid they will.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 02:04 PM) Well we are getting ahead of ourselves here though... its not even a sure thing 1 of these guys makes it and lasts in the big leagues.... although watching all 4 of them Anderson, Young, Sweeney, and Owens is for sure exciting. One guy im hoping takes a big step next season is that Sanchez guy we have in rookie ball. I remember hearing a lot of great things about him early in the season but he kind of sucked during the season. To be fair to Salvador it was his first season of minor league ball. Depending on where he starts next season (Kanny, Great Falls or Bristol), I think we'll see an improvement in his numbers. IIRC Dan said his stats reminded him a lot of Chris Young's. Either way, hopefully the Sox's minor league scouting in the Dominican Republic pays dividends in the future.

A - Still wanted to keep him. Had an amazing BAA and was getting no run support at all. B - Right now, yes, and I think he'll probably be re-signed, but if a deal for Chad Tracy came along........... C: Possibly. It would have to be a fantastic deal though. D: Once again, it'd have to be a great offer for me to take notice. Opposing teams shouldn't think he's untouchable, but they should know we're not going to trade him for the sake of trading him. E: I think he's finally got it now, but Don Cooper sticking around will be vital for him. F: At the time no, because of his stats, but he always had the stuff and he's finally become a pitcher not a thrower. G: Absolutely. Compare it to other starting pitcher's like Russ Ortiz.

QUOTE(FlaCWS @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 11:25 AM) I also thought McCarthy should've been on the roster instead of Vizcaino. Everyone was making it out to be McCarthy vs. El Duque and I was clueless as to why Vizcaino got a free pass. Probably because Viz had a pretty good 2nd half, and he's been with the team for the whole year. I think if it was up to White Sox fans, Damaso Marte would be off the roster, and B-Mac on. But at least we can take solace in the fact we'll be seeing B-Mac in the rotation for the next 5 years and hopefully beyond.

If you need people, I'll join. Maybe I can FINALLY get Dwight Howard in 1 league.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 01:22 AM) LOL... I have never figured out why age is such a boner-causing issue for some people. Care to look at his level of experience? What his background is? The guy took 3 years away from the game, 3 crucial years in a player's development, and came back to be drafted after playing in a nothing baseball program for just 2 years. Then, in just his 2nd professional season, he hits .330 in AA, making the jump from Low-A... It's not like he is hitting for power because he's physically superior to his competition because of being older and experience is not an issue either. Who cares if he's 28 years old if this is just his 2nd season in professional baseball after not playing it at all for 3 years? Chris Young has been in our system playing professional ball for what just concluded his 4th full year within our system, and made the same jump in levels, yet is lauded over and over... There is nothing NOT to be excited about here, guys. Oh yeah, here is what BA said about him when drafted. Nothin in his performance has done anything to diminish those projections, IMO: Fair enough. The difference b/w Young and Owens though, is that Young has a lot more tools than Owens. If Owens was 28 and he did this in his 2nd year of baseball, would people still think of him as the same prospect? I know Scott Podsednik came out of the blue, but it's not really the norm. I just want to see how Owens does in Charlotte next season in a smaller ballpark before he automatically becomes our next leadoff hitter. He may not even get a spot in our OF with Anderson, Sweeney and Young around. It's a very muddled picture right now.

I loved Newsradio when it was on. The likes of Hartman as Bill McNeil were just guaranteed for great watching. A couple of months ago I was watching old episodes via Winamp which reminded me how much I loved that show. Friends, ugh. Frasier, meh, never watched it. Roseanne, ugh.

He was in his usual form today, that's all I'm going to say.