winninguglyin83

thanks for the insight. never seen him play, but the guy's offensive numbers have always been intriguing. And the spring training invite certainly suggests somebody in the organization likes him.

here is the link: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines this all goes back to the Bob Nightengale column in USA Today Sports Weekly. Wonder if this can be traced to A) Gardenhire; B) a Twins coach or C) fabrication. Whatever the explanation, Backman has certainly suffered from it.

one name nobody has mentioned is Mario Valenzuela. he's been injured and been bounced around. He's also older. But he has shown an ability to hit. And I noticed the Sox invited him to the big-league spring training camp. Does he has ANY chance to make the club as a backup outfielder?

another day, another blast at Sox management and we haven't even gotten to the Ozzie/Frank lovefest that will dominate spring training.

Gload, unlike Daubach, will be happy to be in the bigs and work at being a solid multi-position guy and pinch hitter. Daubach was used to playing five days and week and lost his intensity as a once-a-week guy. I don't know if he thought he was going to supplant Paulie or Frank, but he never seemed to figure it out. And he was far from clutch as a pinch hitter. Gload has something to prove. Daubach didn't. I'll take my chances with Gload.

1 Reed 2 Honel 3 Cotts 4 Wing 5. Munoz 6 Young 7 McCarthy 8 Borchard 9 Anderson 10 Sweeney Next 10 == Pacheco, Diaz, Yan, King, Nanita, Bullard, Bajenaru, Gonzalez, Schnurstein, Morse. didn't include Rauch because I don't think BA will consider him as a prospect any more. Have some question whether Borchard still qualifies, too.l

must mean Arizona is going to sign Gandhi as a bench coach. he loved that no-hittin, no-stealin, no-catchin stiff. Kept stickin his cancer bat in the lineup for the first six weeks because he had great tools. Me, I woulda stuck with Jeff Abbott.

New York Times reports that the Mets are considering Todd Ritchie as their Number Five starter. No word if that is for the big-league club or the Tidewater Tides. Also a report that the Mets and Yankees were 2 of 23 teams that watched Scott Erickson throw yesterday in Arizona. Wonder if the Sox had a scout there in that group. El Duque is another pitcher out there, but his agent must be on crack because the word is he wants a four-year deal. four month deal sounds more reasonable to me.

no horsing around from me and keep Magglio Sign Magglio. To let him go would be Horse Sh&^%$!

reed, cotts, honel, wing, Young, Anderson, munoz, nanita, Sweeney, Valido and others are all legit. I hope.

yes, we did. I was just passing along the news that the list wouldn't be out this week because Baseball America came out with its college preview issue. The wait continues.

Baseball America is skipping the top prospects in the AL central in this issue because of its college preview. bottom line: The Sox Top 10 list won't be available for a couple of weeks. There is, however, a story in the current issue about the Ozzie/Frank spat. Not much, if any new ground. And I can't find a link yet. When I do, I'll send it along.

please keep filing updates. It's been too dark and too quiet in White Sox fandom. We need news!!!!!!!!!!!

Buehrle and Paulie for Pujols and Morris

Pujols might be worth that much money. But he's not worth it to most teams. Ask Texas and A Rod. Or Cincy and Griffey Or the Blue Jays and Delgado. Or Seattle without A Rod, Griffey and The Big Unit. For most teams (everybody but Boston and Yankees), one key to winning is payroll balance. It does no good to give Pujols the moon if you're going to trot Simontachi, Tomko and other scrappers to the mound. Pujols is a great player. A great player who watched the post-season on TV with the rest of us last year. Our situation with Maggs is similar. If we're spending $60 million, is it better to give a quarter of it to Ordonez, or to use the money for a starter and a solid corner outfielder? Decisions like that are why KW makes the big bucks

it's always a mixture of good and bad. That's why generally the team with the most overall talent wins. As for the 2000 Sox, they were blessed that Eldred and Baldwin pitched out of their asses for the first three months. The rest of the division sucked. And the Sox hit the s*** out of the ball -- until those three games against Seattle in October. Right now I still believe the Twins have the most overall talent -- as well as a strong belief that they can beat the Sox whenever they really need to beat them. Until the Sox prove them wrong, the Twinkies are the team to beat.

I essentially agree. Crede, Olivo, Rowand and Harris are all capapble of doing much more. I can envision Crede and Rowand taking major steps forward. If Harris can hit .260, draw some walks and steal 35 bases, I'd be thrilled. PK should return to the productivity of 2000=01=02. Maggs can play better. CLee should be entering his prime. The only guys I fear slippage from are Frank and Jose. Both are at the age when a player can decline substantially. We'll see. As for the pitching, if we could get one more veteran starting pitcher, I'd feel better. But I'm willing to wait and see. And, no, Koch can't be any worse, but I'm not optimistic that he'll bounce back big. He was overused in Toronto and Oakland and had elbow surgery at Clemson. He's a major, major question mark. Marte is going to have to be the man in the pen.

Mabry (left-handed bat), McLemore (vet, winner, versatile) Villone (lefty who can start or relieve)

no way they're spending the money on Urbina -- unless he gives us an Ozzie discount. Not likely. And if we spend, much rather have a starter Bartolo threw 242 innings. that's going to be a big, big, big problem this summer Big

there aren't many fifth starters worth trading for. If Rauch can throw strikes, he can be serviceable. I'm a believer.

Rauch because he's older than Cotts, Honel and the other minor-league prospects, has spent some time in the bigs, had a chance to rebuild his confidence last season and pitched well in a hitters park. Plus, he's got ability and can disorient hitters with his 6-11 body and solid control.

Ginter seems to have decent stuff. his confidence has always seemed to be the problem. Manuel never trusted him. That, the Sox constantly moving him from closer, to set-up to starter to closer to set up. He's a former Number One pick with a good arm. Hope he gets his chance -- and delivers. Hate to see us cut him loose -- and then watch him surface elsewhere and thrive.

Ginter has to be down to his final option. They brought him up in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Rauch might have one left. But I'm not sure. If anybody can get something out of these guys, it's Coop. He's done good work with our pitchers and I'm glad he's around.

if he comes in at 350 he's got a manager who will sit his plump fanny he and oz should be quite the show this spring

There are many, many guys -- Wright, Schoeneweis, Rauch, Person, Diaz, Cotts, Ginter, Adkins, Stewart, Sanders, Munoz -- with much to prove. Should bring intensity to training camp. Competition is always a good thing. Hopefully it'll be a plus for this season.