103 mph screwball

QUOTE(bmags @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 09:44 PM) was that directed at me? No. Sorry bmags. I thought I was replying to

QUOTE(bmags @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 09:20 PM) British newspapers write with more wit and passionate prose, however it's shallow, arrogant coverage that goes around in circles without ever really saying anything. Go to his website and check it out. No matter what your political ideas are, it is quite remarkable to see people donating $5 bucks and skipping lunch tomorrow or $1000 bucks. It's a frenzy. It's a revolution of sorts.

QUOTE(Reddy @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 06:13 PM) a book he only put out because Edwards did so first. (i'm allowed to be a little bitter every once and a while right? lol) My Dad thinks highly of Edwards. I'll be honest. I do not know much about him. I've never been into politics and haven't voted for anyone except "none of the above" since 1988. I'm sick of the way things do not work in Washington. Someone at work who knows my feelings about government's inaction gave me Obama's book. I registered to vote in order to vote for Obama. He has given me hope and a reason to care. I'm not alone.

Obama provides quite a bit of detail in his book. He also has a website to addresses each issue in detail. He can not give answers to complicated questions in "90 seconds before commercial break" sound bytes. To me, that sort of thoughtfulness is part of his appeal. It seems to me both candidates agree on many things. I just think Obama will be more likely to actually get something done without pissing off half of the country.

QUOTE(Reddy @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 02:50 PM) you refer to him as JFK like cuz the media does. End of story. NO. I don't even watch the media. I refer to him because of the reason I stated. You are entitled to your opinion. Do not tell me mine. Thanks.

When I refer to Obama as JFK like, I don't really mean by youth or good looks. It is the way he has energized the young people I work with who have never even mentioned politics. JFK's "Ask not what your country can do..." has a similar feeling as Obama's "We are the change that we seek". These twenty somethings are excited to the point of emotional. He makes them care, have hope, want to volunteer to do something, anything to fix this country. It really is remarkable. They are desperate because their future looks grim without change. I have children and I agree that Obama is the best shot at getting Republican's and Democrats working together to fix our problems. More of the same does not appeal to me.

There is a good chance a Sox fan will be running for President in November. The momentum is with Obama as he won a slim victory on super Tuesday and really closed the gap even in states he lost. He did really well in states he spent time in. He will have time to visit more of the states that have upcoming primaries. He is doubling the Clintons' fund raising and will have more money to get his message to the people. He has mobilized a ton of ordinary people sending in $25-100 bucks and making phone calls. This guy is the real deal with a grass roots movement. He is having the impact on the younger generation that JFK had on his.

It wouldn't hurt to offer him a minor league deal. He probably wouldn't fit unless someone got hurt. It would be a nice thing to let him try to prove that he can still play and then maybe he could find a spot somewhere else. He did help win a championship so giving him a opportunity would be a classy thing to do. Anybody know if he can pinch hit? MLB Trade rumors is less than a reliable source, but if he comes back anywhere on a minor league deal, I could see it being with the Sox.

I'm surprised there isn't more information coming out of Soxfest. Where are the youtube videos? Where are the posts made live from the Soxfest? Would anyone like to share their pictures? I'm excited about the 2008 Sox and starved for some more baseball discussion.

Extend Cabrera for sure. It would validate the Garland trade and provide stability at short for 4 more years. Jenks should be the one asking for an extension. I don't know Bobby, but let me try to see this from his perspective. He did not come from a rich family as far as I know. He is going to make good cash on a year to year basis. However, with his arm hardware, it could all come to an end with a snap. Or he could just lose some velocity and become suddenly very hittable. I'm not saying that it will happen, but it could happen. If he were to sign an extension now, he would not make as much money as if it were on a year to year basis. However, it would be enough guaranteed money to set him up for life if it were invested properly. If someone told me that I could have 20 million (not sure what his actual number would be but for the sake of discussion) for 5 years right now or I could take a gamble that everything would keep going well, I take the cash. If I take that 20 mil I might not get the 30 mil but I wouldn't just get 1 mil, 3 mil or even 10 mil due to injury or something unforeseen. If I'm Bobby and I'm happy with the Sox, I get the money guaranteed. If everything goes well, then go for the mega deal later in the career. If I were KW, I'd go year to year.

He also said he was not going to sign AJ in 2005. I think what KW means is that he has ruled out signing Colon...for 8 million dollars.

Thanks for taking the time to make that. Sweet.

I like this move, but I'll wait until I see it on the Sox website as a done deal before I get too excited. We already had him signed once last week to find out it was "premature". It's a lot of money to spend on the pen, but the Sox did not get their big free agent Hunter. Instead, KW addressed the glaring bullpen weakness. Linebrink and Dotel may be great or they may flop. At least KW did something. Something had to be done. The Sox are shaping up to be a team that has a shot to win the central. As good as the central is, that is saying a lot. If the Sox flop and Dotel succeeds, they could trade him for something of value.

I'm still hoping Colon can be signed. As far as him not wanting to run the bases in the NL, I agree. However, it might help him get a bigger contract for 2009 if he goes to the NL and strikes out some pitchers and dominates weaker competition. Even if you do not believe the Sox will have a chance in the central (I'm starting to believe they can), signing guys like Colon and Dotel are good moves. If the Sox suck and Colon can be rehabilitated, he can be traded for pretty good prospect. A Colon resigning would be a nice move and it would be one more improvement to talk about at Soxfest.

They need to save something to announce right before Soxfest.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 14, 2008 -> 10:46 AM) Here's the other question...what happens if we spend $8 mil a year or so to bring in Colon or Garcia, I would give him no more than 3 million plus incentives and an option, possibly less if he's failing medical exams elsewhere. I think 8 million would be a foolish gamble and we'd be better off counting on Broadway.

Put me down for Tony Graffanino as well. I know he is well loved by most, but I hated it when he came into the game. It was probably just bad luck on my part, but whenever he would pinch hit he would fail miserably. I also can’t recall the details, but he screwed up a double play against the cubs once that pissed me off. Hey, he might be a great guy, but that is how I feel. I liked him much better when he was booting balls for the red sox to give Iguchi the chance to be the hero in the only playoff game I’ve been able to attend in person. Royce Clayton the weak hitting clubhouse cancer. Mike Jackson for sucking and not putting Hunter on his ass after Burke was run over

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 14, 2008 -> 08:41 AM) That's due to his huge walk total. It's based on PA's, not at-bats. I'm quoting Gene Honda Civic onthis, but I believe there is a handshake agreement between the Phills and Sox for Philly to pick up money if the option was picked up. Ahh. Thanks. Unless he has a serious fall off, the Sox will want him back. I hope you are right about the Phils.

Thome only had 432 ABs last year and 490 the year before. If he gets his AB's needs to secure his option, the Sox will probably want him back. Dye needs to be moved to left, and if the Sox can get a nice deal, Konerko may be more likely to not be here in 2009.

QUOTE(almagest @ Jan 14, 2008 -> 01:52 AM) By this logic, Danks would be in line for an impressive (or at least improved) second season in MLB, and thus it would be a mistake to send him down. I hope so. Unfortunately for Danks, he is the only one who can be sent down. They need to get someone like Colon in case Contreras breaks down due to age or Floyd implodes. Even if Danks is able to improve, can he pitch 200 innings? If Colon can be had cheaply and he recovers from his injury, the Sox hit the jackpot. If Danks never has to come up to cover for a ineffective or injured pitcher, then that is great for everyone (except for Danks but he will get his opportunity). Danks has the roster flexibility to be the fill in guy. Hopefully the Sox have learned from the McCarthy experiment not to try to carry Danks along in the pen. He's too young and valuable to be pitching middle relief.

Danks only had 70 innings pitched in AAA. He really wasn't supposed to make the big league club last year. Floyd lost the job and Danks pitched well in spring training. Danks has been promoted quickly and each time he is promoted, he gets rocked. Then he makes adjustments and makes big improvements. Danks Minor League Numbers We have not seen the best from Danks. Still, competition is good and Colon would be a nice pickup if he comes cheaply. A confidence building season in AAA for Danks might not be such a bad deal. Hopefully Floyd steps up. If he doesn't, then he's on mop up duty.

I think Jeff Liefer might have a shot to make the team IF Konerko happens to be traded. He'd be the backup 1B/corner OF. I'm not saying he's the ticket to the World Series, but if he performs well and an opportunity arises he could stick with the club.

Let's get him. Between him and JC we might get a full season of pitching. I don't think he left on bad terms and he was supposedly offered the richest contract ever offered by the Sox to a pitcher at the time. He's a gamble who could pay of big if he could be signed with incentives and at least one option. If he fails, well, the Sox still have the five guys KW is confident in. It's been a while but I remember reading that he was well liked in the clubhouse. Danks could spend time in AAA waiting for Colon or JC to break down or need rest. If Floyd falters, he could be moved to the pen and be replaced by a Danks call up. If Danks earns a spot in the rotation and beats out Floyd, then Floyd is our long man out of the pen.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 11:49 AM) Konerko would be an upgrade to their DH (Morales? GMJr?). But I still doubt that they'd trade Kendrick. Maybe not. I think it is possible if the Angels are getting Crede, Konerko, and losing GMJr contract. They'd be losing the very valuable Kendrick, a pitcher they might be giving up on anyway (Santana), and an outfielder that has been an overpriced, hgh distraction who has been replaced by Hunter. They still remember getting smacked around pretty good in 2005 by both Crede and Konerko and from what I read, they want to win now. Figgins could slide right into second base for them. I'll keep my fingers crossed. A future of Kendrick, Swisher, Fields sounds good to me. If Quentin lives up to his potential... nice. The Sox will have effectively rebuilt the team younger, faster, and with more OBP.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 10:40 AM) I'm not thrilled, but I'd rather have Swisher in CF than GMJr because: 1) Swisher is a better offensive player (the Swisher/Konerko pair should outproduce GMJr/Swisher at the plate). 2) Swisher may not be much worse than GMJr in CF. He's above average other than arm in the corners. 3) Even if the Angels paid a third of GMJr's contract (how likely is that?), that's still 4 years and almost $30M for ages 33-37. I really don't like #3. It locks up a roster spot for a player that probably won't be very good those years. 1. Swisher/Kendrick/GMJr should outproduce Konerko/Swish/Richar 2. I thought GMJr was better defensively. That is a good point 3. The money spent on GMJr would be offset by the savings on the young stud Kendrick. Kendrick is key. GMJr could decline. Konerko will also likely decline. Kendrick will be 25 in July. In his first 160 games played in 06/07, he hit .306. In his 88 games in 07 when he contended with and then recovered from a broken bone in his hand, he hit .322. In his short MLB career he's had identical OPS (.767) vs lefties and righties. This is not a fluke. In A ball he hit .384, AA .342, and AAA .369. Major and Minor league stats for Kendrick This guy could mature into a serious #3 hitting all-star. As Hawk would say, he's a good looking young ballplayer. The Sox have enough slow, inconsistent, sluggers. It would be nice to have a .320 hitter that can stretch a double into a triple or swipe a bag every now and then.