DBAHO

I think one of the reasons Wise was up here in the first place was because he played under Buddy Bell, so obviously Buddy would have said some positive things about him, and hence why he got on the roster. But I hope right now at least KW is looking at other options. Someone like Gregor Blanco for instance, since the Braves are in a win now mode it seems by the deals they have been making, especially with them acquiring Nate McLouth.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 02:18 PM) Maybe we'll see KW offer extensions to someone like Dye at the Sox's price, and if they don't agree to it, they'll trade them. I'd love to see Dye get a 2 yr deal and return as our DH. That way, you can go out and get a RF for next year who bats lefty. Which LHH RF's are FA's in the off-season FWIW? I think SP and 2B/CF are probably KW's main priorities in the off-season however.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) I do to, especially since a lot of payroll is coming off it won't be crippling to have a vet or two stay around. In essence we're trying to rebuild on the fly and still remain competitive at the same time. Obviously it's not working at the moment, but we're still only 5.5 games back and it's only early June.

YAY we've finally won a NBA finals game. To me, the Magic have got to play better against the likes of Gasol going forward. Kobe was Kobe tonight, but we did a better job on him in the 2nd half though. But you can't let a guy like Gasol keep shooting over 70%.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:40 AM) Look at Haren's contract. Its very reasonable and he's an ace. You don't "reload" by trading your reasonably signed young ace. If you were able to get the best deal for him out of any of their players though talent wise in return, I'm sure they would at least consider it. And who knows, maybe if they keep playing as they have been, Haren might ask for a move.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:42 AM) I'm having a hard time even finding them in the AL West standings. They must be way down there. Oops.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:34 AM) There is no way the Sox get Dan Haren. Let's just put that one to rest. Because? Arizona isn't exactly setting the world on fire at the moment. They're last in the AL West and with the Dodgers playing well they don't have much of a chance to contend this season. Josh Byrnes could decide to reload, and they've got quite a few early picks in this season's draft IIRC. Not saying it's going to happen, but you just can't rule it out and say it's definitely not.

Interesting timing to say the least. I'd expect something to happen with Colon or even Clayton Richard if we're talking about acquiring a Dan Haren type of pitcher here. Chris Young has an OPS of .547 right now also. You'd certainly be buying low on him that's for sure.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 12:33 AM) Once again how is every hitter's failure on Walker, but pitcher's failures are never on Cooper? Do you know the White Sox have given up 8 or more runs 11 times this year? That's more than they have been shutout. Its the players, not the coach. Change the coach and you will have the same result. Can someone please come up with a replacement when they said Walker must be fired? What's Eddie Murray doing these days? I'd fork out a lot of $$$ to bring in Rudy Jaramillo from Texas though.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 12:26 AM) DBAHO, where do you draw the conclusion that it's mainly a lack of power from a .706 OPS? OPS = on base PLUS slugging percentage. It could be either one, or both. It's probably both, actually. Their SLG is only .387. League average is only .424 in the AL, and their OBP is only .2 below the league average. Plus this team is built to score runs via the long ball, not by getting on base, we all know that. So when the Sox ain't scoring runs, you got to think it's because they ain't hitting enough home runs, and only 1 guy on this team has more than 10 HR's, so if that trend continued on we'd only have 1 guy over 30 HR's at season's end, which for this team and the ballpark would be absolutely not good enough.

It goes both ways. I think wholeheardtedly the bulk of the Sox's fan base would like to see Walker go, however, usually the bats heat up right around this time. If they don't however, I could actually see something get done by the end of the season, but more likely than not, Greg Walker is still the Sox's hitting coach in 2010.

The Sox are 45 runs below the AL average for runs scored, so that's obviously your major problem here. They have a negative Win Probability of -3.48 for their offense, 0.02 for their starters and 1.46 for the pen, a total of -2 altogether. And mainly it's because of a lack of power. Overall the offense has an OPS of .706 which is just abysmal. So when the weather warms up, and the bats get hot, this team will do better. But it's mainly down to 4 guys. Fields, Getz, Anderson/Wise and Ramirez. They all have OPS's below .650, and this team is just not going to be a good team if 4 of your players in your lineup who play half their games in an offensive ballpark are below par offensive players. Ramirez will get above .700 I've got no doubt about. Beckham should if he plays everyday, but b/w Getz, Anderson/Wise and Fields, I'm not so sure about at all. EDIT: And Orlando Hudson a guy who I really wanetd in the off-season has splits of .315/.396/.444 right now for an OPS of .840. He'd look real good in our lineup right now that's for sure. Either 2B or CF MUST be upgraded in the off-season without a doubt.

Getz is displaying no power whatsoever right now. And Beckham's call up may have been the wake up call Fields' needed. If Josh keeps getting 1 or 2 hits a game over the next couple, I think you stick with him at third base for a week or 2 at least, see if he can get into a groove and rotate Getz and Beckham at 2B. But this is my worry with the Beckham situation. He needs to be getting AB's everyday for his development. And if he's not producing from the get go in Chicago, he's not going to get that at the major league level.

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

It's becoming quite big down here, and quite a few of my buddies were into it when I was in New York. It seems to be big with the Indian crew though.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jun 6, 2009 -> 12:52 AM) because Orlando really missed a beat without him? Well Nelson is certainly a better player than Rafer Alston. I cringe if Rafer's shooting more than 5 times a game, because more often than not, he's a 30-35% shooter, and that just ain't gonna get it done. And the Lakers are going to double team Dwight with Fisher and force Alston to hit that open 3. Hence why I think Nelson could be a real X - factor in this series if he got his outside shot going. We played absolutely terrible, but Dwight needs to spin more to the baseline and not force himself to go the middle, Lewis needs to pick it up and drive it better, while Lee needs to go slashing to the hoop again.

shipps you'll appreciate this. I got my first ever e-mail from Dominick's today, Yippee!!! I can now save up to $3.30LB on Boneless Beef Top Round Steak for London Broil.

I'm stuck back down under and it's all Gordon Beckham's fault.

Ok here's a scenario then for all of the people who wanted McLouth here for the Sox? Would you trade for Aaron Rowand right now considering; 1 - He's got what 3 and a half years and about $50M left on his contract. 2 - And he's hitting .294/.357/.486 right now (hence the Giants prob wouldn't giv him up considering their lack of offense). Whoever suggested Hunter Pence though, that kid is on fire and he's got an OPS of .919 so far this season. Would love to have him, but boy he wouldn't come cheaply that's for sure.

A little surprised considering how the team has played over the past couple of weeks. Personally I would have liked for Beckham to stay the whole season in the minors, but let's hope he can produce for us from the get go.

I'd say in America, Lebron is the biggest name in sports. Worldwide though, it would be Tiger Woods.

Yeah Lebron's a winner alright. Be a man and have some sportmanship. Unfortunately that word probably doesn't exist in his vocabulary.

The Knicks are actually building a decent enough nucleus ATM. They'll prob sign Steve Nash if he hits UFA in 2010 (doubtful now since Gentry is coaching in PHX), and they'll re-sign David Lee and with him, Gallinari, this year's draft pick etc. they've got some pieces to build upon. Just how would the Bulls get enough cap space to sign Lebron anyways? They'd probably have to trade someone like Deng for an expiring contract right? But as for the Cavs, I think this series showed that they need better players down low, and a 3/4 type of forward who can stretch the floor ALA Rashard Lewis (someone better than Wally Szcerbiak). All Igauskas is good for now is hitting long jump shots, Vareajao's an energy guy at best (and the guy I despise most in the NBA besides Lebron), while there's word that Ben Wallace could retire now.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ May 30, 2009 -> 11:02 PM) Great show of sportsmanship from Lebron just walking off the court while his teammates remain to congratulate the Magic. Exactly. A big FU to Lebron. No class whatsoever. And a big FU to all of the critics / media who said this team couldn't win in the playoffs because we're a 3PT shooting team. Dwight Howard showed who the real MVP was tonight, and Lebron wasn't bailed out by the refs in this one. We were 2-0 against the Lakers and I think Pietrus can do a good job on Kobe, but we'll wait and see on that one.

Right now with Richard pitching the way he is, I'm not sure if going for a big name arm like Oswalt who's on the decline is the best route to go. Hang onto Richard and Poreda, and use that $40M you'd save from our expiring contracts on some big name players in free agency IMO.