DBAHO

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 10:56 PM) I think Davis was in the sox plans regardless, even as a backup. He's young, a solid glove, can switch hit, and who they think can improve even more in his hitting. Few other washed up players fit the bill as a backup. I don't think just having Jamie Burke being the only C on the sox roster would have been smart. Once you get a #1 C then you can make moves. But resigning Davis shouldn't have anything to do w/ the Sox signing AJ. If Ryan Hankins didn't leave as a minor league free agent then I suppose he could have been the third catcher possibly, so you'd have A.J starting and Davis and Hankins on the bench. I'm just worried about how Davis will go catching our pitching staff mainly, he had the highest ERA out of all of our 4 catchers last season which was about 5.2 I think.

That's suprising about Burnett I have to say, he was trade bait material a few weeks ago, and there were rumors that was he wasn't meshing in the Marlins' Clubhouse. Still the inflated pitching market, has probably changed the Florida's braintrust's mind.

Just think if the Sox didn't resign Ben Davis, Pierzynski would pretty much be a White Sox player right about now, if the Sox decided to go the $3 mill route, they very well still might though.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 09:44 PM) That was my original thought, too. I can see me being to lazy to type Japanese and abbreviating it to "Jap". Let's not get into a Bill Parcells situation here.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 07:51 PM) I found this to be interesting. I take it as a sign the Astros are resigned to the fact that Beltran is gone. Take away Beltran, Kent and Berkman for the 1st few months of the season, and that team has lost a lot of run scoring power right there.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 07:54 PM) The above is from the USA Today. New ownership in Oakland could prove to be interesting as far as Beane goes. Is he a good GM that can win with adequate payroll or is he just adept at flying by the seat of his pants? Yeah I started a thread last week about Steve Schott going to sell the team. The payroll ramifactions of this move will be interesting to see.

So far Mike Holmgren and Jim Fassel are the 2 names that most come to mind, since John York wants an exprienced coach.

Incentives will probably be brought into the contract, like El Duque's. Could a team option for a 2nd year with a small buyout as well possibly.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 07:15 PM) The dominican Republic should be where their main focus is, but there's nothing wrong with having a presense in Oz just in case a key player comes out of there. My thoughts too. It seems over the past decade the Dodgers had a stranglehold on the Dominican Market especially in the 90's, and were getting some great prospects like Joel Guzman. At least recently the Sox have gotten Francisco Hernandez and now Salvador Sanchez who Phil Rogers said was built like a young Juan Gonzalez. It's just that in Australia recently especially over the past 2 to 3 years, there are a lot of good young pitchers here that are getting signed mainly by the 3 teams that I mentioned already. If we had a bigger presence down here we could start boosting our minor stocks.

QUOTE(Confederate_48 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 05:19 AM) Why would Childress leave Philly if he doesnt get a HC job ?? Wouldnt he just stay there for another year since they have the players to compete still instead of going to another team to be an OC ?? Childress doesn't call the plays in Philly, Andy Reid does that, so he's not going to get all the credit for the job that he's done with McNabb and Westbrook. Now if he moved to a team like the Bears and took their offense from 32nd to the top 10, that would prove he deserves a head coaching job. He probably does anyway, looking at the success Mike Mularkey had with the Bills this season.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 05:13 AM) Billick is saying that he thinks Fassel will get an opportunity to be a head coach. You don't think so? I doubt it for this off-season at least. Right now the Browns are probably going to settle on either Romeo Crennel or Brad Childress as their next head coach, although with Phil Savage the ex Ravens personnel director taking over as the Browns GM, maybe he will be interested Fassel. The 49ers now they could be a possibility as John York said he wants an experienced coach. If the Seahawks lose to the Rams this week, I expect York to try and start contacting Mike Holmgren possibly, but that's a longshot.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 08:25 AM) I guess that means Lee Evans was second in the voting... ...along with every other offensive rookie the NFL If Julius Jones played the whole season, he could have very well challenged Big Ben, and that's behind a pretty poor Dallas Offensive Line.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 05:32 PM) He's expected to earn 6M in arbitration. I don't see any team jumping to get him at that price. Not unless the Phillies pay some of his contract in a trade, which they may have to do to get a deal done.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:25 PM) Good article. It's good to see other countries take to baseball. It seems Australia is gradually growing more interest. Especially after our performance in the Olympics, Baseball is probably growing a little more down here. I read a lot of stories of how teams like the Red Sox, Mariners and Padres come down here and sign lots of good young pitchers, and I think the White Sox need to send more scouts out down here. At least they have focused more on the Dominican Republic over the past few seasons I guess.

Thread Hijack: I took down my Stevie Franchise avatar last night, and what happens, the Magic beat the Sonics. End Thread Hijack:

This article was in my local paper today, thought it was an interesting read, and further re-inforces my view that the Sox need to get more scouts out down here if they don't already;

Philly will be trying to move Polanco or Mike Liberthal possibly so they can get under payroll. And they would be interested in guys like Adkins for the bullpen who are cheap and could possibly post ok-ish numbers.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 03:04 AM) This site has a clip http://www.local10.com/entertainment/4048912/detail.html Man o' man, those ah's ain't coming out very well now are they.

Any update on whether we're going to get the normal black skin that we had previously before the board was upgraded?

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 03:01 AM) Williams and the Sox scouting people appear to believe Iguchi can be an impact player, a significant upgrade. Looking at stats, it's tough to completely understand. Iguchi supposedly changed his batting stance two years ago and it had a major positive effect. This whole situation falls strictly on the scouts and how effective they feel Iguchi would be in the major leagues. But I tell you, I would love to know what Sox management is thinking in terms of Willie Harris at this point. In one of my earlier posts, I found a quote of how Iguchi did change his batting stance, and how he was hitting the ball down the middle and into the gaps a lot more instead of pulling fastballs which what he was doing previously I think.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:56 AM) All I'm saying is that .265 and 20 SB's are NOT a "major upgrade" over over Willie Harris. That's it. That's my only point. That seems pretty straight forward. I know Willie hit in the low .260's with 19 SB's. So there is no way that THAT is a major upgrade. What's to debate? You're right, that isn't going to be a major upgrade over Willie's stats, but who knows what type of numbers Iguchi will put up here in his 1st season if he is signed by the Sox. He has hit over .330 the last 2 seasons in Japan at a pitchers' park but he did only steal 18 bases in 2004, which could be a sign that he could be slowing down. And what's to say Willie wouldn't improve in 2005 if he was given consistent playing time again. With Tim Raines Jr. as the 1st base coach, the SB numbers would at least probably go up.

Anybody got a video they can find on the net so those who haven't seen it can check it out possibly?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:44 AM) I'm not arguing that Iguchi wouldn't be an upgrade over Willie. But based on those stats, he wouldn't be but a miniscule upgrade. Willie is pretty damn good fielder, so that is an unknown as to who would be better. Also, Iguchi's arm is in question since he had to move from SS to 2B due to an arm injury. I want Iguchi, as I think he could be a solid number two hitter based on what I've read. But putting stats 3 percentage points in batting average and 1 stolen base over Willie Harris and calling it a major upgrade just doesn't fly. It'll get called every time here at Soxtalk. If Willie was consistent enough in his hitting for the 2004 seasons, then we probably wouldn't be talking about having to upgrade for the infield. Hell, if we couldn't sign both Iguchi and A.J, because they were too expensive, why not look at Miguel Cairo instead, at least he can crush LHP which is basically what we need for a reserve infielder with the ability to play everyday.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:34 AM) .265 and 20 steals is a "major upgrade" over Willie? I'll give it to you on the home runs. But those other stats hardly resemble a "major upgrade". I think there'll be other stats where Iguchi will probably be a upgrade over Willie. He'll definitely have a better arm, and would be a better fielder. OBP wise, I'd think Iguchi's would be slightly higher. Even though the transition from Japan to America will be tough, Iguchi has hit in a pitcher's park in Japan for basically his whole career, he could really do some damage at the Cell if he adjusted quickly enough.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 02:30 AM) What is Iguchi's age? And how are his fielding #'s. They said back in 2001 that he was a wizard in the field, but that was 4 years ago. Even if he bats .265 has 20 steals, and 15-20 HR's thats a major upgrade over Willie. That also makes me think, if KW does some how bring home AJ and Iguchi what will our bench consist of? Willie Harris INF, Ross Gload 1B/OF, Carl Everett DH/OF, Timo Perez OF, Alex Escobar OF, Ben Davis or Jaime Burke C, Wilson Valdez INF. Now I know that is way more than the normal amount of bench players. I mean is Valdez really capable of backing up Crede and Uribe? Can Harris possibly play SS? What do you guys think the bench will look like. He'll be 31 next December. And he's more confortable at 2B than SS, so Valdez could still possibly have a role on the team, but that would be unlikely if they kept Willie around.