Flash Tizzle

Erstad, CF Ozuna, DH Dye, RF Konerko, Pierzynski, C Iguchi, 2B Crede, 3B Cintron, SS Sweeney, LF Why is Ozuna our DH? Why is Iguchi batting 6th?

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ May 5, 2007 -> 02:11 PM) In addition to these other thoughts, it might be a good time to see what we can get for Count. If we are not going anywhere, I would like to see what our minor league surplus of arms can do. While his age goes up, his effectiveness has gone down. Personally, I haven't considered Garland or Contreras because other players are more immediate concerns; but if we're truly looking for a good package, those two may enter the equation. Who would be worth more -- a great Buehrle (possibly a rent-a-player), or a decent Garland/Contreras under contract through 2008?

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 5, 2007 -> 01:27 PM) I think JR will be willing to finally go to $60 million and four years for Buehrle. Anything more than that in years or dollars per year and he walks. I also don't know how much of an attraction coming back to a rebuilding Sox team would be (for Mark) when he can go to St. Louis and really help turn around that pitching staff, if the ownership group is forced to open the money spigots again in reaction to a Cubs' or Brewers' division championship, or possibly the Astros if Clemens goes there. I'd be weary of paying Buehrle $15 million over four seasons. It's quite possible the payroll recedes back to 2005 levels. Which isn't terrible by any means, by makes Buehrle's salary -- about 20% of the total payroll -- seem a little excessive considering he's not an ace. Here's my scenario if we're out of contention near June: 1. Dangle Iguchi, Buehrle, Dye. Whomever commands the most, trade them. If all three are in demand for quality packages, trade all three. 2. If the trading deadline is similar to previous years where teams aren't willing to give up much for rent-a-players, then consider keeping all three. You have to ask yourself whether someone's offer is better than the compensation you'd receive from the draft. These new collectively bargained rules really screw us. It would be just our luck if Buehrle, even with a great season, misses Type A because of 2006; Dye because of this season, and Iguchi because of this season as well. It's going to be a tough decision, no question. Unless we're insulted by teams offers for our players, I can't imagine Williams taking a risk on scenario #2. This isn't even taking into effect anyone who may be dealt after the season concludes. That's why I wonder about Williams, and whether he may be thinking "well, I can acquire young talent in the offseason by dealing (insert player), but I can't add draft picks."

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ May 3, 2007 -> 04:55 PM) I could put pin marks on a map world wide at all the locations I've been to strip clubs: Chicago, Vegas, Moscow, London, Prague, Berlin, Cancun, Zurich, etc. I'm definitely interested in hearing more about Moscow and Prague. I recall reading an article in the past which suggested strip clubs in Moscow are owned by organized crime outfits and the women are more or less slaves. Similar to human trafficking in the United States, except the women are under direct supervision and threats are easier to enforce. I know I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable in such a setting. Prague I'm interested in just because I may travel there in a few years to visit relatives. I heard their women are beautiful, but as with any strip club, it probably depends upon the status of the establishment. QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 2, 2007 -> 07:31 PM) Just curious. Sorry, no pics. Concerning my own experience, I've been to several a handful of times but probably won't return. It just doesn't feel right. Not that I don't enjoy demeaning women, because I do, but it feels too fake. Too desperate, as CC mentioned. Something about knowing the stripper is straddling my junk to feed her drug addiction takes away from the enjoyment. Now, if I were in 3e8's situation perhaps it would have been different. I'd have to do quick research to find out what exactly the person had been involved with. Calling a friend and instructing them to Google the porn star's name would about do it. Mainstream pornstars are actually the cleanest people around. Warn out, yes, but if you're screwing hundreds of people a year you can't be disease filled. Most undertake comprehensive testing every week.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 5, 2007 -> 11:18 AM) Iguchi's not going to net us much in return. The problem is we have no replacement in our system, unless you want to move Uribe over to 2B and get a "real" SS. I don't want to see Cintron or Ozuna as a starter at 2B. Nor Andy Gonzalez or Pedro Lopez. I would expect him to net the least amount of our upcoming free agents. It's just a matter of placing him on the market and viewing the offers. Have you seen the list of potential free agent second basemen for 2008? It's between Kent (who has a club option), Castillo, and Iguchi. Judging from Kent's early season production, it's likely between Castillo and Iguchi. If no one is willing to overwhelm Williams, which is possible, then retain him for 2008 or offer arbitration and receive compensation. Soxtalk will love this. Guess who's a free agent next season? David Eckstein. He of little power, little stature, and an almost girl-like arm. He should satisfy the grinder quotient if Erstad is gone, Iguchi is dealt, and Uribe is moved to 2B. Just throwing that out there. It doesn't make any sense to wait until next offseason to start changing the complexion of this team. It has to start in June and July, and you have to give Fields, Sweeney, Anderson and Owens a chance to establish that they can be counted on OR not for the 2008 season. If we don't trade Crede in June/July or this offseason, we'll have to trade him in the middle of 2008, and we still won't know if Fields can do the job or not. Crede isn't an immediate concern. You have to first worry about Dye, Buehrle and Iguchi. Why would the White Sox have to wait until midseason 2008? We could judge Fields readiness based upon 500+ AB's in Charlotte. Or however many ABs in Charlotte and production from September forward. What I worry about is if Crede were dealt, and Fields were promoted, would Guillen play him everyday? I'm guessing Ozuna and Uribe, perhaps Mackowiak if Guillen feels like it, would share time. That's not a good situation. I agree Anderson and Sweeney, to a lesser degree Owens, should be given full playing time if a fire-sale were to occur. Fields is what I question. His placement on this ballclub isn't as crucial in the short term as others are. This mind you, isn't what I agree with; but what I figure is realistic. Fields will be considered for 2008, but it'll probably be based upon Charlotte and his late season callup. At which he'll probably split time between 3B and DH. I doubt that happens if we're in fire-sale/rebuilding mode.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ May 5, 2007 -> 09:50 AM) Posted this yesterday. The fact is this series is not set-up for us to do anything. Next week we should be ready to turn it around after hitting rock bottom. If you expect big games today or tomorrow you are going to be very disappointed. Every series will be set up for the White Sox not to do anything. Maybe the Royals will provide a glimmer of hope and pad several players' statistics to make it less embarrassing for fans.

Let's be honest here -- if the team, as currently constructed, is out of contention come the end of June, what hope do we have for 2008? Detroit, Cleveland, and Minnesota aren't going anywhere. Our window of opportunity is closing fast. And no, I don't believe that means throwing everything into this season to salvage it. Every scenario I envisioned for signing Suzuki or Rodriguez in the offseason assumed this ballclub would contend deep into the season. As of now, that's not looking very likely. We'll have trouble enough fielding a team under next season's projected payroll; let alone signing a superstar level talent. If the White Sox are seven more games out of playoff contention come the end of the June, all offers should be considered for Buehrle, Dye, and Iguchi. At the least, one of the three should be dealt for the best available package. Hopefully, one of the remaining two is worthy of Class A compensation. I've heard people on occasion talk about Dye and Crede, and how dealing them at their peak value last season may have been a good idea. And while I agree it would have been ideal, there's one problem -- no one was available from within to replace their production. No player was available on the market, either. Over the offseason is when we'll know more about the progress of several prospects. Does Fields begin to hit? Will Sweeney be given consideration as a full-time starter? Will Anderson even be with the White Sox? Can we plug these players into positions, or will we have to make a trade or FA signing to compensate? Prospects not producing hurts our present and future. Just think what those two, Fields and Sweeney, mean to the direction of this ballclub. If Fields were -- at the least -- replicating last season, we'd have a replacement for Crede; perhaps trading him after October. A successful Sweeney provides a replacement for Podsednik. Which shouldn't be difficult, unless Guillen is obsessed with the notion of a protypical leadoff hitter. Now, as far as Dye, that's another tough situation. There's no Hunter Pence in our system. The pitching, at the least, appears more stabilized. One of Garland or Contreras should be gone. One of Broadway, Haeger, Gonzalez, Egbert, Russell, or (insert acquired prospect) should have their position.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 4, 2007 -> 09:01 PM) Our outfielders better watch out. That Anderson kid is tearing it up down there, 3-4 tonight with a triple. Sounds good...........but how many stolen bases? How many diving catches? What's his VORG -- value over replacement grinder?

QUOTE(MHizzle85 @ May 4, 2007 -> 08:51 PM) What did Cintron do to get this much PT? Uribe needs rest, and Cintron happens to swing his bat in a clockwise motion. If Ozuna continues his inability to hit a baseball or take a walk I'd rather throw out Ozuna on days Uribe needs rest. From memory, Cintron's fielding at SS left much to be desired.

Final line -- 6IP, 2H, 1ER, 4BB, 1SO, 1HR

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 4, 2007 -> 08:38 PM) We still have Eggy. Until his one meltdown game. I don't believe you're officially a White Sox prospect until fans begin to have faith in your abilities, then you have a game resembling Felix Diaz. What's important now is how Gonzalez rebounds. I'd feel a lot better if I heard his changeup or curveball wasn't on.

Erstad, CF Iguchi, 2B Dye, RF 0 Konerko, 1B Pierzynski, C Crede, 3B Mackowiak, DH Cintron, SS Sweeney, LF

Yeah, I advise everyone not to monitor Gonzalez's start. It's bad. REAL bad. I suppose this is the wakeup call for anyone expecting a clear path for Gonzalez to the majors. He is a White Sox prospect, after all.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 4, 2007 -> 07:28 PM) Gio gives up 4 in the first inning....he'll fit in great! He had yet to give up more than six earned runs in 28 innings, yet in three innings tonight has given up five? Judging by the averages of several players on Tennessee, their 1-5 can hit. All of the damage came from this part of the order. WOW. Make it eight earned runs in 3.1 innings. Matt Craig killed him.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 4, 2007 -> 11:52 AM) It's the position players right now where we need some depth. Right now, it seems like almost all of our position prospects are hitting a wall simultaneously. This is the potential disaster. We don't have nearly enough money to bring in a FA or resign a guy to play LF, CF, RF, 3rd base, 2nd base, SS, C, and DH before the start of the 09 season. Think about that...as far as I can tell, the only position player we have locked up beyond the end of 08 is Konerko. We need to get contributions from quite a few of Fields, Anderson, Sweeney, Owens, and maybe Cunningham, and we need them ASAP. And if we deal someone, we need to find pieces to fill in some of those holes. Otherwise, the only way we stay competitive is if we spend Yankee dollars to hold our lineup together as they age. I agree -- now more than ever before we're going to need production from within the system. And not just league average replacement players. Prospects capable of competing within an American League division comprised of deep pitching staffs and numerous Top 10 positional players. It's difficult enough to find average players to fill the positions you mentioned with a 100 million dollar payroll. If the payroll decreases marginally within the next several seasons because of declining ticket sales, it'll be even more improbable to field a contending team. Looking at our problems in the immediate future, if Sweeney and Fields are not worthy of full-time positions to begin 2008 we're going to be in trouble. I believe the payroll for next season is already bordering on 95 million. Definitely not a good situation we find ourselves in.

QUOTE(infohawk @ May 4, 2007 -> 11:33 AM) It's hard to believe that a piece like this can be offered up as legitimate analysis. It's almost as if he scribbled it down on a yellow legal pad while sitting on the can. His first major mistake is the oft-repeated myth that the Sox won in 2005 by playing "small-ball." Their offense was very dependent on home runs. Sure they benefited from Podsednik's ability to get on and steal some bases, but their offense has really been predicated on the home run since 2000. The big difference is that in 2005 they either led the league in pitching or were darn close to leading the league in pitching. My gosh, they are one game under .500 after one month and people are talking about firesales. I'm willing to give them another six weeks or so before I jump on the firesale bandwagon. Sheesh!!! What's wrong with talking about the possibility of a firesale? No different then discussing what moves may occur midseason if we're in contention. I'm giving them a month to rebound before I begin tuning up the firesale bandwagon. June 11th is my self imposed date for determing this. If we're seven or more games out of playoff contention, a tough decision has to be made. Cunningham may be your young leadoff hitting prospect.

Couch didn't exactly "rip" the White Sox for failing to dive into the inflated free-agent market or orchestrating some blockbuster trade. He just wrote that the offseason philosophy of Williams to rebuild and compete simultaneously hasn't worked out. The Cubs were criticized as well for spending $300 million and still having several glaring problems.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 4, 2007 -> 10:59 AM) Wake up wake up, Whoa Whoa... Is this an obscure reference to Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony or have you been a little drinky?

Good news is if the Anaheim series is as ugly as we're all expecting, Bonser/Ortiz/Silva await us in Minnesota. Not automatic wins by any means, but still much more appealing without Santana mixed in.

Baseball America has an article devoted to Aaron Cunningham on their homepage. Problem is, viewing it requires a subscription. Anyone willing to summarize?

I would have made sweet sweet love to her even before the surgery which supposedly never happened. Also, these pictures aren't very convincing. Others are available across the interwebs which show side angles of her nose and boobies before/after the butchering.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ May 2, 2007 -> 04:49 PM) Smoking is terrible. But have you ever been in a bar that's recently smoke-free? The bars in Orland smelled so bad during that month-long ban. The smoke masks everything else. As a non-smoker I have no objections to the upcoming state-wide smoking band, but if I were to find one benefit (aside from monetary concerns), it would be this. It's hilarious you bring this up because within five minutes of where I live is a dive called "Jordans." Located right on the northern limit of Orland Park. When I went in there several months ago, you could smell the acrid stench of spilt beer mixing with a dirty floor, spilt beer mixing with ash tray contents, and the body odor of whichever people decide drinking doesn't end before 2:00am. Enough to vomit with rage.

QUOTE(bmags @ May 2, 2007 -> 04:27 PM) VH1 needs to act quickly to restore my faith in their programming! I want to know when VH1 plans on releasing DVD sets of the entire I Love The 80's, I Love the 80's Strikes Back series. After that is available, if ever, my programming choices for the network will be limited to Best Week Ever and Hogan Knows Best.

These type of reports are responsible for unfair expectations. I'd be more enthusiastic if I knew who the hell Frank Neville was. "Low to mid 90's fastball" is realistically low 90's, and perhaps once or twice rearing back for 93. "Barry Zito with velocity" is realistically Barry Zito before 2006. Without the devastating curveball he featured upon arrival. Still, everything considered, Gonzalez should be a vital component of our future rotation. I'm eagerly anticipating his arrival.

Garcia is starting for Philadelphia right now on ESPN.