haroldbainesknees

Originally grew up in the East Side Neighborhood in Chicago, other side of Whiting In,right off the skyway for my 1st 21 years. More Sox fans than Cub fans there, but maybe a 60-40 split. Currently live Mid-Hudson Valley, Upstate NY at the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. It's alot prettier than the rust-belt I grew up in, but home is home and the Sox are one of the reasons I would love to move back. I admit I am surprised there are so many of us Sox fans in this area. I have Extra Innings and still watch and follow religously through Extra Innings and Soxtalk. If any of the Upstate NY brethren feel up to it they are always welcome to watch the games at my house. Obviously mostly Yankee fans here, 2nd is probably the Red Sox being near the Western Mass, border, and the way that team/brand is marketed ad nausea. There is also a smattering of Mets fans too.

Thornton is the bullpen's version of Contreras, in that in order for the sox to contend in 08 he must bounce back to a large degree to his 2006 form. While Boone Logan may fill the loogy role admirably in the short term, I would much rather have Thornton pumping his mid-high 90s gas at the Sizemore, Hafner, Mauer, Morneau, Big Papi type left handed hitters in the in the late innings. This would also allow Ozzie to use Logan earlier in the ball game in other matchups vs tough left-handed hitters. Not too many AL teams have two quality lefties to mix and match. If Thornton returns somewhat to his 06 form the Sox will have that.

I think we should keep Cox; Ozzie added him to the staff for some reason. However, reading this post I admit I really love Rickey Henderson. In my opinion he may be the most complete non-steroid/HGH offensive player I ever watched, an unmatchable combination of speed, power and on-base skills. The guy was a true freak. I can only imagine what he may have done statistically if he were on roids or HGH in the mid 80s through early 90s, ala Bonds, Sosa were in recent memory. Eric Davis when he first came up in the mid 80s with the Reds was unreal as well.

Honestly, I didn't even read the article. Mariotti has written in Chicago for about 15 years. After 15 years it is obvious his disdain for the White Sox is not based on legitimate insights into baseball but essentially it is a personal vendetta against Reinsdorf, and people employed by Jerry Reinsdorf, KW, Ozzie & Hawk especially. Kudos to the organization for hiring Steve Stone. Stone can provide excellent analysis and opinions on the White Sox. That is something Mariotti can only dream about as he continually attempts to marginalize the organization throughout the 08 season.

We can't sign Crede long term. According to some posters here we are just a few months away from a full-scale Florida Marlins type firesale. Therefore, signing Crede long term is a moot point.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 08:59 PM) No kidding. The Sox had an outstanding farm system back in the late '80s under Larry Himes. How many post-season wins did they get out of that group? IIRC, the Sox also had a Top 10 farm system back in the late '90s under Schueler. How many post-season wins did James Baldwin, Mike Sirotka, Kip Wells, Maggs, Carlos Lee, Ray Durham, and Keith Foulke garner? Of course, I agree with the general sentiment that our farm system needs to be revamped and that Kenny is probably not the best person to do that. But remember that intelligently signing/trading for veteran talent (Contreras, Garcia, El Duque, Hermanson, Politte, Vizcaino, Dye, Tad, Uribe, Everett) is what put us over the top in '05. Ideally, one would want to completely build a championship team from the ground up for financial reasons, but it rarely works out that way. I'll take a ring any way I can get it. Exactly, I would love for the Sox to have a loaded farm system with top 50 prospects at multiple positions, but that doesn't mean every prospect is going to develop into stars. The realistic bottom line is that Kenny & Ozzie prefer acquiring and working with veteran players, and as a fan I want a competitive team. The D-Rays have had a talented young core of position players for years and what has it gotten them? I could probably go back to June of 2004 and find posters calling for KW's head because the Mariners fleeced our farm system in the Freddy Garcia trade. I don't know which company Jeremy Reed is selling insurance for at the present time; but I know which city hosted a world series parade 15 months later.

Congratulations Chris, brush up on your Yankees and Red Sox knowledge, you'll need it, and for the love of god don't hug anyone over there.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Mar 2, 2008 -> 11:04 PM) I never thought Jerry Owens versus Brian Anderson would be such a divisive issue. Its like getting to spin the wheel of torture to chose your own death. In the big picture, neither are really that good at what is important ... playing baseball. DFA Anderson and sent Owens to the Curtis/Tom Goodwin/Lou Frazier/Omar Moreno purgatory and lets start the season.

We really can't be surprised by this. Nor does this particularly bother me. I am a fan of the Chicago White Sox, not the Charlotte Knights or Birmingham Barons. Thus, I would rather have a strong MLB team than a stronger farm system. I may be in the minority on this board, but I think Kenny Williams is smart enough to realize when the time is right to stop dealing prospects for veterans. One of the reasons the farm system is so bare is because the Sox have consistently contended for playoff spots from 2003-2006. (I know 07 was a disaster). The result of course is that prospects are traded for players such as Vasquez, Thome, and Swisher who are critical to creating competitive teams, in turn competitive teams drive attendance, which generate revenue, which can be used any number of ways to strengthen the organization at any level. KW knows the White Sox are in a win now mode. All key players on the team Konerko, Dye, Thome, Cabrera, Vasquez are 30 plus. Some several years past that mark. So from my perspective, the goal at this stage at least to start the season was to re-tool in an attempt to contend in 08. If the Sox flounder in the first half maybe we will see a full scale rebuild. The best thing about this team and one I reason I feel KW deserves props is that there are no real "cripple contracts", Mike Hampton, Todd Helton etc., Most of these guys are movable and you never know what a Dye type hitter will bring come the deadline in July. The worst and least movable contract may be Konerko's; providing his productivity stays similar to 07 as opposed to 04-06. Thus, I feel there is no reason to fret about having a depleted farm system. I feel the potential to rebuild it relatively quickly is there, and the team also has long term financial flexibility.

Nick Swisher=My New Favorite Sox

I don't think the internets(s) has taken the fun out of baseball. Living out of state this is the one place where I can have contact with knowledgable, passionate sox fans. This enhances my baseball experience. After the sox won the series in 05, this is where I logged onto almost immediately to virtually celebrate with similarly long tortured souls. I understand the longing for a time when baseball was simpler, and more of a closed society. I still remember the first time I beat my brother in whiffleball in the backyard. I won 17-15. I was the Montreal Expos, with Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Tim Raines, and Steve Rogers on the slab. I learned of these players through the more "old school" way a kid discovers baseball, collecting baseball cards, collecting stickers for my early 1980s Topps sticker book, and watching what I could on TV, and Mel Allen's This Week in Baseball-How about that? To this date my love and passion for baseball has remained. I love the tradition, pace and nuance of the game but the internet has enhanced my love of baseball by opening up so much more information and allows me to connect with die hards just like me. I am a hybrid baseball fan. I love both aspects of baseball.

Visa problems or not I hope for the best for Richar. In recent years, young players who have worked there way into Ozzie's doghouse Brian Anderson, Sean Tracy, and to a degree I think Brandon McCarthy, have not been around too long

My arguement isn't that every move or addition Minaya has made has been a disaster. My arguement is that Minaya is not the seventh best GM in baseball. Every other GM above him with the exception of Shapiro has multiple playoff appearances to their credit. Minaya has 1 in 6 seasons as a GM.

My mistake to other readers Kazmir was traded by Jim Duquette. I should have done more research before that post. However I still do not feel that 3 winning seasons and 1 playoff appearance in a weak National League, and with what I feel is a mixed trading record qualifies Minaya as the #7 GM in the game. Especially considering the resources the Minaya has at his disposal. While this article by Dayn Perry in itself is an arbitrary assessment of GM's, I will credit Epstein and Cashman for at least translating their advantages in payroll, monster media markets, other revenue sources etc., into consistent playoff appearances and multiple world championships for both. At this point I cannot do the same for Minaya, and looking at other posters many feel likewise on Minaya.

I'm in. I would like to paly in an experienced league Head to Head LIve Draft I would be a commissioner if you can't find any one else. Thanks, Good luck to all.

This really irritates me. While I don't think KW is the best GM in the game, as a fan he makes moves that I feel at least give my team a chance to compete in a brutally tough division and in a brutally tough league. IMO there is no way Minaya is a better GM than KW. True he has made some good moves as Perry mentioned-namely Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady. However he only acquired Santana only after the Yankees and Red Sox passed. However would the Mets have really needed to trade for Santana if MINAYA DIDN"T TRADE SCOTT KAZMIR FOR VICTOR ZAMBRANO? Kazmir 2007 line 3.48 ERA 1.38 WHIP - 239KS - 424K in salary Santana 2007 line 3.33 ERA 1.07WHIP 235KS 13 Million in salary. At this point Santana basically has better control, but Kazmir is far cheaper at this point and he was already in the Mets system when Minaya became GM. Ask the National fans if they would live to have GRADY SIZEMORE as their starting CF AND a 30/30 BRANDON PHILLIPS at 2B. If you recall those two players were part of the bounty for the 3 month Bartolo Colon rental in 2002-basically torpedoing the chances of the Nationals being competitive on their move to DC. Cliff Lee a regular MLB type back of the rotation LH was also included in the deal. As far as being the odds on favorite in the NL. That's kind of like being the odds on favorite to winning a bikini contest at fat camp. While I think Epstein is a excellent GM. I am not sold that his "consensus building" would work in Pittsburgh, or Kansas City.

1 year 1.5-2 mil with incentives for games started and quality starts. I would suggest we insert weight and fitness clauses into the deal as well.....but who are we kidding it's Colon.

Best move was acquiring Swisher-no doubt in my mind. Just consider we gave Podsednik & Erstad over 520 AB's last year. I know its a simplistic sabermetric assumption-replacing Swisher's productivity with Podsednik's & Erstad's but I just do not see how we are not better by having Swisher in the lineup. The worse move I think is siging Linebrink for 4 yrs-$19mil. It's not that I feel Linebrink is a bad pitcher, in fact I think he is going to be pretty solid for the most part. However his numbers have been trending in the wrong direction in recent years, and due to the wild fluctuation of relief pitcher performance, we are going to be paying nearly 5mil a year for a ugly stretch/season sometime during the length of that deal. I like the Dotel, Cabrera-replacing Uribe moves & the Ramirez signing also. I can't wait for the season to start.

I'm glad that Masset is in shape. It does not matter how much weight Masset loses if he can't throw strikes, or how plus his stuff is. 26BB in 39.3 IP. Maybe the weight wreaked havoc on his mechanics. I am not sure. I'll give Masset the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. I'll do the same for all of the question marks this year; Floyd, Danks, Contreras, and Richar.

No doubt Buehrle is my favorite now. He pitched the biggest game of the 05 World Series run. Game 2 of the ALCS. After losing the opener, he came up huge in Game 2. If he would have allowed just one more run, the Sox may have been down 2-0 going to LA/Anaheim/Orange County. Who knows what could have happened? The save in game 3 of the series was big time as well. Really he seems like a guy who comes from a good family, who realizes how lucky he is to be in the situation he's in, pitching in MLB for the Sox. Though, I must admit Swisher may challenge Buehrle as my favorite if he goes 40 bombs, .400 OPS, 1.000 OPS, and plays a "passable" OF.

On paper Cleveland and Detroit are better. I know Cleveland has a lot of high end talent in their lineup, Matinez, Sabathia, Pronk, Garko etc. However, Cleveland really succeeded last year on the two Cy-Young caliber seasons of Sabathia, and Carmona. I'm not sure it is realistic to expect duplicate years like that from both of those guys, especially Carmona since he's 23. Oh and Borowski is also their closer. Detroit also has some issues; Pen-Zumaya out half the year, Jones as the closer (nuff said), Grilli, Rodney, as primary set-up guys. YES GRILLI Willis first year in AL central. Robertson turned into a innings eater type starter last year. A return to the "past perfromance mean" for Ordonez, and Polanco; and maybe-maybe Granderson Another year older for Pudge, IROD is 36 yo opening day, .296 OBP in 07, 11 bombs in 07; lowest total since strike shortened 95. Another year older for Sheffield, Carlos Guillen. They can have off years similar to the yeras had by Dye, Konerko in 07. Right? Bonderman has thrown 923.3 major league innings before his 25th birthday, he had elbow problems last year and really tapered off. If he breaks down; in the near future; TJ surgery; I wouldn't be surprised. Yes Miggy Cabrera is a monster, but he is notorious for indifference to training, eating right etc, eventually that may hurt him though not likely in 2008. So while the Tigers and Tribe may be better, they are not without their flaws and vulnerabilities. In the spirit of an election year campaign sometimes its funner to tear down and smear your opponents than look at your own flaws.

I think Harold deserves a statue. After all, his number is retired. So logically if his number is retired, why is a statue not appropriate? Baines is the classic Whitesox. He spans two eras. Supposedly Bill Veeck "discovered" Baines at age 13. Baines was acquired 3? different times. He has 2866 career knocks. If Baines could have squuezed one more solid season out of that arthritic lower body he may have reach the arbitrary cut off of 3000 hits which "fast tracks" players to the HOF. Besides if any posters remember the post 83 malaise this organization went through. The Hawk wants you etc. Fisk in LF! Dealing a young Bobby Bonilla. The attempted re-location to Florida and the politics of trying to secure the financing of the Cell. Harold was a real professional and a damn fine hitter on several sub-mediocre teams of that era 84, 86, 87,88, and his deal to Texas in 89 initiated a new direction of the Himes era from 90-94. The move brought in Wilson Alvarez, Scooter Fletcher, and Roid Head which I remember fondly as very sucessful era.

Reading this at first I thought Kenny re-acquired Mackowiak.

Conventional wisdom, read (ESPN) indicates no team should show up for spring training outside of the Red Sox & Tigers. Certainly Detroit , Cleveland, & the Eastern division superpowers are the favorites. However if recent history is any evidence the favorites of the punditocracy rarely play accordingly, 02 Angels, 03 Marlins, 05 Sox, A 83 Win St. Louis team, even the 06 Tigers came out of nowhere. Remember the Sox 06 after acquiring Vazquez and Thome? It was supposed to be a cake walk to repeat in the Central that year. How did that turn out? We have made some good moves. I really like the Swisher move offensively speaking, though I think he will remind me of Mackowiak in center. The Quentin move has a great deal of upside. Cabrera is certainly an upgrade over Uribe. I can't say I agree with the Linebrink signing, however, if our bullpen becomes solid/stable, which is possible with bullpen volatility from year to year AND Floyd or Danks show growth AND WE Receive a shot in the arm from a young starter, Egbert,? Broadway? We may have a fun, intersting summer.

Dan Pasqua-That taped wrist- Totally Worthless in 93 ALCS. Danny Wright: Posterboy of the 5th starter blackhole from 01-04. See Jon Rauch/ Felix Diaz/ Cotts in Yankee Stadium during the 03 division race. Darrin Erstad: At least he tried David Wells: Living Off the NY Media Market Robby Alomar-Totally Washed Up Both Times Sox Acquired Him Rocky Biddle-For having to listen to Hawk pronounce his name alone. Scott Ruffcorn-Uber Bust Steve Sax-(See Robby Alomar) Lyle Mouton-The Bounty for Trading Black Jack Rob Dibble- Hate His Dumb Jock Routine Even More Now Carlton Fisk to a degree; 11seasons w Bosox & 13 w/ WhiteSox & he goes into HOF as Red Sox; True he was born in Vermont, but doesn't he live in Chicago year around since 81? borderline treasonous. Darryl Boston: A poorman's Michael Tucker Billy Koch; Probably a juice guy; fastball lost a yard after he came over for Foulke Steve (Psycho) Lyons: (See Dibble) Tony Castillo: the anti LOOGY Honorable Mention: Melido Perez: Vance Law managed by Terry Bevington. Piddled away wild card in 96.