103 mph screwball

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 11:39 PM) Logan Morrison @LoMoMarlins Following I really hope Ozzies on-field instructions r easier 2 understand than his tweets. I literally have no idea what this dude is talking about.. Don't worry about it Logan Neither does Ozzie

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 10:57 PM) Greg will get the last laugh when he reveals that he's been trolling on this board for the past 9 years. That would be some deep undercover FBI trolling! I don't mind the Quentin trade. Castro looks like he could have a bright future if the Sox especially if it is true that they see something mechanical. Mr. Crowley Please delete your twitter posts Mr. Crowley They're moronic of course

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 07:22 PM) Who is Crowley? That's how little I think of cowlee...but I think you knew who I was talking about:)

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 06:45 PM) Soxtalk at it again. Treating one of our very own like a cheap prostitute. 2005, anyone? Go, JD. I'll always be thankful for you ending our 95-year title drought. I refuse to look at JD in association with Crowley. I refuse to look at anything in association with Crowley. I would be happy if Soxtalk would just ignore his ass. Is there an "ignore all posts that mention Crowley" function? No offense to anyone on Soxtalk, just sick of his attitude. I already unfollowed him years ago. I do not buy anything Suntimes and I turn off the Score if he is on. Go away Joe.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 11:00 AM) I feel sorry for the little boy who is a Cubs fan, the kid is headed for a life of baseball frustrations. Boys mature slower than girls. I'm sure one of his parents is trying desperately to help steer him towards a better life.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) I don't get the Castro joke. Check out JoeCoolMan24's post number 317 in the Quentin trade thread. Link to Castro Pics post 317 Dude looks and moves just like Jose Contreras!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:28 AM) First of all...he's a Scott Boras client. You're not a Scott Boras client unless getting a metric ****ton of money is important to you. Secondly, guys who are laid back sometimes are the ones who work best in NYC, because they can brush it all off. The cold war with Boras has thawed a bit but good points. You are assuming the Yankees want to pay him big money. Has anyone heard which teams might be seeking Jackson?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:29 AM) So, you think that the Sox are going to commit $30 million or so to signing Cespedes and then eat $40 million on Rios to open a slot for him? Yes! That is KW's Goal!I am sure that is not the plan but if Rios hits .200 and the fans are booing him as he lollygags after a fly ball and he exchanges words with Ventura after being benched... he gets moved one way or the other. Doesn't it make it much easier to show him the door if there is a freakishly athletic Cuban dude hitting .360 on the farm ready to take his place? I think the plan is to get Cespedes hoping he is a star and find a spot for him later. If Rios plays the way he is paid to, then De Aza can be the 4th outfielder OR Rios may have some value to other teams. Viciedo could also be moved to first base in the future if Rios remains a starter for the Sox. So you think they should pass on his talent because they made a mistake with Rios? They would be paying him with TCQ money not Rios money.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 1, 2012 -> 11:58 PM) It's uncanny. The "media" need to pick up on this. Like you said, it's him 20 years younger. Bronze Titan II!! I'm liking this trade more and more. Does that Comcast news guy still do the Luke-a-likes segment on sportsnet? If he comes up and changes arm angle and strikes out his first hitter with an unhittable splitter, I may cry tears of joy.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 09:36 AM) why in the world would EJax choose less money with the Sox over more money with the Yankees?? Did EJax strike you as someone that wanted to be in the limelight and under extreme media scrutiny? My impression from interviews and body language is that he is a pretty laid back dude. I could be wrong since I do not know the man personally. Maybe he feels Cooper can help him be more successful? Of course he would not play for the Sox for 9 million a year if the Yanks were offering 12. I'm just saying if it is close, he may choose to be be happy.

I would expect Cespedes to play in the minor leagues in 2012. If he is on fire and the Sox have to make a spot for him in the lineup, then I think Rios would be the guy to go. Either he would be traded with the Sox giving cash because he is playing well and has value or he is outright released because he is not performing and would be a distraction on the bench. He could also move De Aza to the bench if Rios actually plays very well. I really would love for the Sox to sign Cespedes. Even if it doesn't work out, it is a ballsy move that could add a superstar the Sox for the rest of the decade.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 08:07 AM) Why would a team trade for Floyd if Jackson is still on the market? Jackson can choose where he wants to play. He may be comfortable and enjoy playing for the Sox. He may even take a bit less money to play for the Sox than to play for the Yankees. Jackson could choose not to play for the Royals or Pirates just because of their recent history. Floyd however would play for the Pirates or Royals if that is who the Sox traded him to. Basically, a team would trade for Floyd because Jackson would rather play for the Sox than for them. This is all very unlikely, but it has my mind on hot stove. KW is aggressive and under the radar so the idea of E Jax is at least plausible.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 1, 2012 -> 04:51 PM) I agree with your take on the E Jax deal. He could have brought more I think. It willl be interesting to see what develops with him. Maybe the Sox go after him as a free agent? He has a tone of talent, eats up innings, can throw a lot of pitches and is young. Maybe the price will be right? I like this idea. Trade Floyd for the best return possible and further stock the farm. Use Floyd and Frasor cash to sign E Jax. Sox turn Floyd and Frasor into 4-5 prospects and E Jax. Crazy. Like a Fox. KW pulls that off and brings in Cespedes, the Sox are exciting to me again. I refuse to evaluate KW until the end of the offseason. I'm ready for the season now. I can't wait to see who suddenly improves without Ozzie's Ego and the Walker advice.

"So we can take some of that little bit of payroll we cleared and invest it in something that helps the Major League club now, or something that helps on the horizon with another prospect. We could end up making this a 3-for-1 deal instead of a 2-for-1, albeit with two guys we really like." Reading between the lines, I hope this means Cespedes! Hope we didn't scare him away by trading for a player named Castro.

I will always argue that the only time your favorite team should be booed is for lack of effort. As long as Dunn comes to spring training in shape, he will have a clean slate from me. I am thankful his kid is doing better.

Sign this guy!

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 13, 2011 -> 04:30 PM) Morel seems to be ONE example where they looked at his last 4-6 weeks of playing time, rather than the entire body of work...and perhaps a more nuanced view that he's consistently improved and made adjustments as well in nearly every minor league season. His projection is closer to what we expected out of Joe Crede every year than what we could have dreamed for Brent in July or early August. Those were big steps/strides he finally made to give us all some badly-needed confidence in him going into the offseason. Because he was fighting just to get up to a 600 OPS for the majority of the season, because of his lack of extra base hits and walks. You can see DeAza putting up another 850-900 or completely playing himself off the team when/if he becomes the official starter for Pierre (based on a CQ deal finally happening, maybe after his 2012 salary number is clarified). According to DJ when he was on the Score a couple of days ago, Morel was just treading water trying to stay on the team for the first several months. He was trying to make contact. The last part of the year, he turned it loose. I hope he turns it loose all year next year. He has had adjustments at every level so far. He could be a .280+ hitter with a nice glove.

I believe Beckham's "head problem" is now in Florida. I expect him to thrive next year. Just a hunch.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Dec 13, 2011 -> 11:55 AM) The local radio stations here in Rockford typically do Cubs bus trips during the summer. I don't remember hearing any for the Sox though. For some reason retailers think that everyone here is a Cubs fan. Almost every store I go into I'll see tons of Cubs stuff and maybe one rack with a few Sox shirts on it. We are also pretty evenly split with Bears/Packers fans so they sometimes do trips to each of those stadiums as well. I would be interested in a Rockford area bus. For me the most difficult part of a Sox game is the drive. I literally spend more time in the car than at the game. If that time were spent relaxing on a bus, I could go to more games.

QUOTE (TheHugeUnit @ Dec 12, 2011 -> 12:04 PM) I've seen Betances pitch often. He's the type who could be very good or very bad. Something along the lines of Daniel Cabrera. Huge pitcher, huge stuff, control problems. Daniel Cabrera was a really highly thought of prospect cause he had stuff that was just awesome. If Dellin can harness some control you could be looking at a right handed Randy Johnson as a ceiling or a Daniel Cabrera floor. Wide range there I know but I like Betances, he's a home grown guy from right here in Brooklyn, grew up a Yankees fan. Went to David Wells perfect game and all. I hope we hold onto him. At the most and I don't mean to s*** on Danks here, cause I've dreamed of him coming to the Yankees for the past year and a half... well dream is an overstatement but I think/hope you understand what I mean, but Dellin is the most you'll get out of the Yankees. The Yankees would trade Betances before they trade Noesi too. Noesi is throwing 96, touching 98 in winter ball. The FO views him as better than Nova as well. As for Dellin, you'd be trading Danks for a guy who has a 10% chance at being a star and that right there is worth it in the end if you know anything about how it works. IMO if the Yankees and White Sox trade it will be a package of three guys and none of those three nor Williams or Sanchez will be moved. Thanks for your first hand report on Betances. I had never heard of him. I'm hoping for the Sox to get good value from a trade when dealing Danks. Perhaps the Yankees can be given the opportunity to work out an extension with Danks.

If Rowand needs a job and is willing to come back to the Sox cheap in a backup roll to try to rekindle his career, I think the Sox give him a shot. He's Sox Family.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 02:38 PM) RV said wait this week and find out who our closer will be... I wonder if we are going to make a trade for a closer I took that to mean he would wait to see who was left. Thornton, Frasor, and Crain could all be gone for all we know.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) And KW is apparently trying to make my other post talking about the trades look completely false. At the moment Buehrle is gone and Danks and Floyd are beginning to look like deadline trades. That's exactly what he wants suitors for Danks and Floyd to believe.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 02:05 PM) OK, 75 games. I've given up on Rios and Peavy. Adam Dunn is basically a rookie starting over next year. Mark's all but gone. It's going to be ugly next year. It was ugly last year! The difference this year will be expectations. Last years team underachieved and was very disappointing. I was able to attend two games last year. The first one was the 9th inning Loss to Oakland featuring Juan getting picked off twice and bullpen mismanagement/implosion. The second one was a blow out loss to the yankees where their fans out numbered ours by the end of the game. To me THAT was rock bottom. I am an optimist. 1. Ozzie gone will help the Sox improve. I know Ventura will make mistakes. I think that little of Ozzie the past several years. 2. De Aza will be better than Juan 3. Dunn and Rios will improve either because of returning to norms or because lack of expectations 4. Viciedo 5. Hopefully Peavy will be an asset 6. Beckham gets a new hitting coach and a manager who isn't jealous of him 7. Morel is for real and will be solid I hope Rock is right. Move some salaries, replace them some players with potential, restock the farm, bring back Mark. I have a feeling with Ozzie gone some of these guys will be revitalized and new leaders will step up.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 28, 2011 -> 01:41 PM) I have absolutely zero problems with this and am happy to tell anyone who does have a problem with it to leave me alone. Agreed. Well said.