Flash Tizzle

The high expectations have already begun with me. He better be here before his 21st birthday. I have no confidence we'll have an internal SS replacement by then.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 09:15 PM) Flash, you really should jump on the Hawks bandwagon. You would be drooling over the kids up with the big club, along with the farm system in place.... Where's our Sidney Crosby? Well, the first order of business would be understanding hockey. I've never been a fan, although I'm not one to yell "hockey sux!11"

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 09:06 PM) That was one of my concerns as well. Any catcher Egbert pitches to from this point forward will be far better than any of Birmingham's post-Lucy journeymen. He'll more than likely be teamed up with Lucy in Charlotte, anyways. So we'll see whether his success carries over there.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 08:55 PM) I think you are getting at a real key here. When a player or pitcher succeeds repeatedly despite not having some particular key bit of "stuff", instead of wondering what it is about the player that is being missed, some people just decide it must be luck. Or the ballpark. Or anything other than maybe their method of evaluation (i.e. velocity) isn't perfect. Also... stuff is not the same as velocity. If he is getting people out as often and with as many K's as he is at multiple levels, with a fastball not much above 90, then he clearly does indeed have good stuff. This is what I was getting at. His fastball is a focal point for assessing his "stuff," yet the secondary offerings obviously are sufficient enough to pile up strikeouts. This is why I -- as well as you -- believe people are quick to label him a fringe prospect. And yes (not addressing you NSS), I know I continually call for prospects to be drafted with velocity. These are the pitchers I'd prefer. However, whether someone throws 90 or 99 if they're succeeding in their role Im satisfied.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 08:51 PM) He's a White Sox prospect. Why do I feel he's got a bad ceiling? He doesn't have particularly noteworthy stuff. That's about the long and short of it. That's the best argument anyone can provide as to why Egbert won't ever become a pitcher of value. Too bad other teams don't overvalue 5th starters. If Egbert becomes just that, we'll have just about cornered the market.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 08:41 PM) That said, it is really hard to ignore all of his peripherals; K/9 of 9, K/BB of 4, 0.16 HR/9, 1.13 WHIP, 7.5 H/9, 1.93 GO/AO, and I'm sure there are more and more. Which is all the more encouraging if his velocity is as what's reported in this thread. How often do pitchers throwing below 90 miss bats at such a high rate and limit home runs without deception, specialty pitches or superb location? He obviously has something to his benefit which explains the success of these last two seasons. Pitching without fear isn't reason alone.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 04:03 PM) Here's what he had to say about Egbert in the chat. "Egbert was in the mix for the list based on his performance, but he has a modest ceiling, as a No. 5 starter or middle reliever, and some kinks in his arm action. Like Chris Mason, he attacks hitters and has no fear, so he made the most out of his stuff this summer and made a very good impression in the league." I just don't understand how anyone can project Egbert as a 5th starter or middle reliever while silmultaneously acknowledging his 'performance.' I'm not one to dismiss his age in comparison to the league or the ballpark conditions of Birmingham, but damn, what more can he possibly do? For medicore stuff, he somehow managed to improve all notable peripherals from last season. How often do fringe pitchers strikeout more than a batter per inning in AA and only surrender 3 HRs over an entire season? The intersting issue here is if Williams agrees with Baseball America, perhaps he's thinking of dealing him now at his current value. Surely Egbert would be worth something.

QUOTE(joeynach @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 01:32 PM) Our schedule sucks ass. The cubs 2007 schedule didn't have a single road trip over 6 games until september when they had ONE 7 game roadtrip (the most all year). We have 3 ten game road trips and one 9 game roadtrip. And of course we have to have our 4 game set against the Yanks in late Sept when they usually are making their monster late season run. Talk about uneven scheduling. Cmon, now. Do you not realize with all the extended roadtrips there are an equal amount of lengthy homestands? There are three, 10 game homestands and one 8 game stretch. That's the tradeoff; more consecutive road games for more consecutive home games. The series against the Yankees probably won't mean anything, anyways. I wouldn't worry about it.

I know I'm several days late, but would somone mind summarizing DLS' scouting report as referenced on the SAL prospect list?

You may want to include the video.

This is only appropriate for Soriano to end the Cubs chances of reaching the NLCS

I won't be satisfied until I witness one shot on TBS of someone crying.

5 outs away, now. This is obviously where the Cubs begin their historic comeback.

This revelation (which opposes the common theme we've heard of Arizona likely prefering Young) places Williams evaluation of talent under greater scrutiny. He owes us a player of Chris Young's calibur as far as I'm concerned. And this offseason, he better not be at the other end of one deal. Time to right this mess, Williams. Don't screw up.

JIZZ CAN!

Hey Williams, you know how you talk about acquiring and developing pitchers capable of pitching at USCF? Well, Carmona sure fits that description. Find our version. Now. You'll fail in my mind as a general manager until that objective is accomplished. I'm sorry, those are my expectations. Nothing else to look forward to.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:46 PM) Why not? Williams is obviously using "Brian Sabean's Guide to General Managing", getting a Lincecum like prospect would only be fitting. This blows...Mike Myers, Pods, Uribe, all on the fast track to return next season. The Sox crying poor in press about signing draft picks (after they are willing to throw at Myers). Ridiculous. I think I'm ready for a change in management -- bringing back the 2007 team but with an aging overpaid CF and Owens or Pods in LF will tell me for sure that's true... Wouldn't this mean Williams trades DLS (our version of Liriano)?

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:44 PM) I would not rule out both Pods and Erstad being back in 2008. Erstad can play all three OF spots, DH and 1B. Pods can play all 3 spots, DH and PR. Ozuna will probably be back and Gonzalez is out. CF is the only real question mark and of course the bullpen Podsednik can play RF and CF? Or LF for that matter? Why torture us anymore? Owens can do anything Podsednik can do, and for cheaper.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:37 PM) Come on, you expect them to lay down and just play like s*** for a draft pick? You do that, and that's exactly what you become, s***. One pick, whatever... Besides, what about the fans going to the games, are they supposed to just go in knowing the teams laying down after paying good money. It's stupid, they should play to win and set some momentum for next year. Besides, the draft has show the potential for acquiring a HOF can occur at any spot in the draft. Being in the top ten will not negate us having the opportunity to pick up a high ceiling player. I don't expect them to lay down, I expect(ed) Guillen to place in the scrubs and naturally lose. That'd mean more time for Cintron, Gonzalez, Erstad and Lucy. f*** the fans, anyways. As a whole their idiots and probably look at a successful offseason as bringing back Aaron Rowand. No, being in the Top 10 does not give us exclusive rights to pick up tremendous players; but it sure doesn't help much selecting 10th when the players we've anticipated to fall aren't available. Hard to believe a generational talent such as Pedro Alvarez will be available at 10. Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Joe Mauer sure didn't make it that far.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:28 PM) I see Flash, didn't pay attention to the tiebreaker. Nothing has gone right for us this season. I'm just going to expect the scenario of HOU/WASH losing, us winning, and thus having the 10th pick. It'd only be appropriate. Atleast we can count on a Tim Lincecum type falling to our position, right?

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:20 PM) Flash, SF just started playing tonight. If they win, they will reach 71 wins. They would have to win tomorrow and we lose. Yeah, but you see, it won't matter because they have the tiebreaker. Even if they win today and tomorrow, and we lose tomorrow, they'll still select ahead of us. I only accounted for those with 72/73 wins, although it's quite possibly SF edges out HOU at the 8th position when we're selecting 9th. I don't know which one has the better record from 2006 offhand.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 29, 2007 -> 09:13 PM) Am I missing something? I think the Sox can still draft 7th. Here's who we can't catch: Tampa, Baltimore, KC, Pitt and Florida. Washington is out of the picture -- they won today so they have 73 wins, the most we can get is 72. Houston has 72, Cincy has 71 and San Fran has 70. The worst the Sox can draft is ninth. The best case scenario is 6th -- that would require San Fran winning tonight and tomorrow, Cincy and Houston winnning tomorrow along with a Sox loss. Of course, the way this final week has went, I'm sure we end up with the worst case scenario of 9th. We suck against lefties but Fields and Konerko are all but guaranteed to combine for three homers and 7 RBIs against Robertson. I'd love to see a 3-2 loss where Contreras goes eight strong and Fields and Richar both hit solo shots but that won't happen either. We won our 72nd game today. Tomorrow is the potential for #73. We can only switch positions with Houston and Washington based on records Hell, even if we did only have the potential for 72 wins it would still be impossible to draft below 8th with the tiebreaker benefiting every other ballclub you mentioned.

Why is Williams talking on the postgame conference as if they're reconsidering Podsednik for next season?

Here's what it comes down to -- the highest position we can have is eighth, the lowest is tenth. The odds are in favor of us selecting 9th. The scenarios: WASH - L HOU - W or L CHI - W = 10th WASH - W HOU - W CHI - W = 9th WASH - L HOU - W CHI - L = 9th WASH - W HOU - L CHI - W = 9th WASH - L HOU - L CHI - L = 9th WASH - W HOU - W CHI - L = 8th YES, EXTRA SEPTEMBER VICTORIES!

If we miss a future HOF by one slot in the draft, just remember nights such as tonight. One useless victory after another this last week.