I was on yahoo sports going to check out the MMA section and on the front page of yahoo sports they have a report called Coming of age 25 to watch, its about 25 year olds that are going to have a breakout season. they have swish and owens up there, and they "fearlessly forecast" there projected numbers

 

swisher- 540 at-bats, .265 BA, 34 HR, 98 RBI, 102 R, 3 SB who is ranked 3rd on the list (i failed to mention they rank em too)

 

Owens- 390 at-bats, .269 BA, HR, 16 RBI, 61 R, 35 SB ranked 24th

 

 

a few personal thoughts

 

-I see swishers BA to be atleast 10 points higher then they got him, the other numbers i think are about right though is hes batting in the top 3rd of the lineup i can actually see him scoring around 110 runs

 

 

- does owens get 390 ABs??? they even said in the report that he'll be a utility OFer. i see him gettin around 250 ABs and used a lot as a pinch runner so yes the 35 sb sounds about right. 61 runs as a utility OFer naw, dont think so, 45 tops.

 

-Brian anderson is also listed in the section called other notable 26ers. the only way he becomes notable is if hes dealt and still what team would give him enough playing time to become "notable".

 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/mlb/news;_...mingof**e020608

 

Filters that break links are gay

Edited February 8, 200818 yr by Gene Honda Civic

ugh whyd it do that.... http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy its the link that says 25 who will come of age, its right under the pic of the tampa guy

Well, since your link is broken I'll just comment on what you posted. The first thing that comes to mind: Owens and Swisher will both be 27 years old by the time Pitchers, Catchers and Quentin report next Saturday so the premise of your imaginary article confuses me.

They have both players who are 27 years old (Owens turns 27 this season) and not Fields/Quentin who are/will be 25? Mmmmm k.

ugh whyd it do that.... http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy its the link that says 25 who will come of age, its right under the pic of the tampa guy

Alright well that makes a lot more sense. It's just some Fantasy Baseball writer projecting his own random stats for 26-27 year old "breakout" fantasy players.

I doubt Owens gets 390AB, but if he did 35 SB is probably a little low. If he had that many ABs, i could seriously see him swiping near 50 bases.

I doubt Owens gets 390AB, but if he did 35 SB is probably a little low. If he had that many ABs, i could seriously see him swiping near 50 bases.

 

I agree, if he has 390 ABs and hits .269, I think 35 SBs is a very low number for him

I doubt Owens gets 390AB,

 

 

You think more, or less? To be honest, I don't see how Owens is NOT the starting CF. If it's anyone else, we are in huge trouble defensively. Unless it's someone like Anderson, which I highly doubt.

 

If these characters get paid for making predictions I vote that we all get together as "soxtalkcompredictions plus" and sell our own magazine, but wait till October 2008 to put in on the shelf. B)

You think more, or less? To be honest, I don't see how Owens is NOT the starting CF. If it's anyone else, we are in huge trouble defensively. Unless it's someone like Anderson, which I highly doubt.

 

 

Barring any signigicant injuries to Swisher/Quentin/Dye/PK/Thome (a PK/Thome injury would probably push Swish to 1B or Dye to DH) i bet Owens gets around 250 AB, and i'm fine with that. Unlike most, i for some reason feel Owens has a shot to be an adequate CF. if he does get those 250 AB, i bet he steals 25-35 bases, at a minimum.

its about 25 year olds that are going to have a breakout season.

 

Owens- 390 at-bats, .269 BA, HR, 16 RBI, 61 R, 35 SB

 

 

Am I missing something here?

Edited February 8, 200818 yr by TheBigHurt

As of today, I believe the plan all along is to have Quentin-Swish-Dye roaming the OF on opening day. Owens will have a shot, but Carlos has the edge right now, no doubt.

 

 

I just don't see that. Swisher is not an everyday CF. My guess is Swisher-Owens-Dye, with Quentin getting a couple of games a week. Unless Owens regresses into a complete liability at the plate - which I doubt - his defense is worth having him in there every day. Swisher just doesn't have the speed necessary for CF, and you can't win with a guy who can't cover the gaps out there.

The article has nothing to do with age. It is about 25 players that could break out. Whether they be 20 or 40.

I just don't see that. Swisher is not an everyday CF. My guess is Swisher-Owens-Dye, with Quentin getting a couple of games a week.

 

I hope that is not the case...Quentin seems to be too much of a stud to be getting only a couple games a week.

 

Unless Owens regresses into a complete liability at the plate - which I doubt - his defense is worth having him in there every day.

 

I'd argue he already is a complete liability at the plate due to his inability to hit for any power whatsoever, and if you want defense in CF, you are putting Brian Anderson out there, not Jerry Owens. Anderson wouldn't be any more of a liability than Owens at the plate, he'd provide fantastic defense, and maybe even a bit of power.

 

(that's obviously not going to happen, it's merely to state that Jerry Owens should not be in the lineup because of defensive purposes)

 

Swisher just doesn't have the speed necessary for CF, and you can't win with a guy who can't cover the gaps out there.

 

It's also very hard to win when you have a guy putting up a .675 OPS in the lineup. We found that out last year with Erstad.

Speed never slumps.

And Erstad relates to this phrase how?

I'd argue he already is a complete liability at the plate due to his inability to hit for any power whatsoever, and if you want defense in CF, you are putting Brian Anderson out there, not Jerry Owens. Anderson wouldn't be any more of a liability than Owens at the plate, he'd provide fantastic defense, and maybe even a bit of power.

 

 

Well, I'm more than willing to sacrifice some power for good defense at one of the most important positions on the field. Forget Anderson, I shouldn't have even brought him up. He's fallen out of favor and out of the equation. Besides, while he may have more power than Owens, he can barely put the bat on the ball. I'll take Owens' ability to make contact and steal bases and put him in CF on opening day.

 

The bottom line to this is that Kenny did not get the CF that he needed to get, and Owens is all we have. Swisher is not a CF, no matter how much we may wish it. I'm happy to have him, but he's a LF. Period. I don't think Dye has many years left, so Quentin will have to wait for him to retire to get his shot, and in the meantime he'll get his ABs spelling all the OF positions and DH. I'm OK with that. But this team is not winning anything with Nick Swisher as the everyday CF. End of story.

Well, I'm more than willing to sacrifice some power for good defense at one of the most important positions on the field. Forget Anderson, I shouldn't have even brought him up. He's fallen out of favor and out of the equation. Besides, while he may have more power than Owens, he can barely put the bat on the ball. I'll take Owens' ability to make contact and steal bases and put him in CF on opening day.

 

The bottom line to this is that Kenny did not get the CF that he needed to get, and Owens is all we have. Swisher is not a CF, no matter how much we may wish it. I'm happy to have him, but he's a LF. Period. I don't think Dye has many years left, so Quentin will have to wait for him to retire to get his shot, and in the meantime he'll get his ABs spelling all the OF positions and DH. I'm OK with that. But this team is not winning anything with Nick Swisher as the everyday CF. End of story.

 

Swisher will play a slightly below average to average defensive CF; meanwhile, Quentin will play a very good defensive LF and actually has an arm, giving the Sox a good arm at all 3 spots in the outfield. There will almost assuredly be a world of difference offensively between Quentin and Owens, and that is all that matters when it comes to who the centerfielder will be.

 

Kenny told Swisher to be prepared to play quite a bit of CF this season for a reason, and it wasn't so the Sox could put him in LF. So long as Quentin shows up and plays fairly well in spring training, showing he's healthy and his power is atleast somewhat there, he will be the left fielder and Owens will be a 4th outfielder, which is really where he should be.

Swisher will play a slightly below average to average defensive CF; meanwhile, Quentin will play a very good defensive LF and actually has an arm, giving the Sox a good arm at all 3 spots in the outfield. There will almost assuredly be a world of difference offensively between Quentin and Owens, and that is all that matters when it comes to who the centerfielder will be.

 

Kenny told Swisher to be prepared to play quite a bit of CF this season for a reason, and it wasn't so the Sox could put him in LF. So long as Quentin shows up and plays fairly well in spring training, showing he's healthy and his power is atleast somewhat there, he will be the left fielder and Owens will be a 4th outfielder, which is really where he should be.

 

 

Then I guess we'll just agree to disagree. I just don't think you can win without up-the-middle defense. It's why Gary Matthews got a $10 million contract, and why Mike Cameron continues to find employment. There is no question you sacrifice offense with Owens in there. But with a lineup including Thome, Dye, Konerko, Swisher, AJ and Crede or Fields, we have more than enough power, IMO.

 

Try and remember those games Mackowiak played in CF. I think we can expect only slightly better results from Swisher. Trust me, Swisher as the every day CF is an experiment that won't last very long.

Edited February 11, 200818 yr by FlaCWS

Then I guess we'll just agree to disagree. I just don't think you can win without up-the-middle defense. It's why Gary Matthews got a $10 million contract.

No it's not. His defense helped yes, but he got that contract because he put up an .866 OPS during his contract year. With some chemical assistance btw.

We all know Owens hasnt proven much. He'll have a chance to be a most-days leadoff hitter, and if he blows that, I'm sure the Sox will say Quentin, Quentin, Quentin.

 

You want up the middle defense strong, but if you're holding back the stats Quentin put up in AAA, you're going to value that more.

 

 

 

Also Alexei the X factor, lets not forget that i guess.

Edited February 11, 200818 yr by Princess Dye

Besides, you just know that Thome's back will take all this into consideration and manage to be injured enough to allow Swisher plenty of 1B time

 

Thusly, Owens and Quentin and Swisher will all play together some 30 games anyway, plus the platooning. So no one's development gets curbed.

Besides, you just know that Thome's back will take all this into consideration and manage to be injured enough to allow Swisher plenty of 1B time

 

Thusly, Owens and Quentin and Swisher will all play together some 30 games anyway, plus the platooning. So no one's development gets curbed.

It certainly wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to just plan to give Big Jim some extra days off since we have the ability to move Swisher to 1b and RF. The more times we can rest Jim, especially against Lefties, the better this team will be in the long run. The best possible way to use Jim is to maximize his # of at bats against Right Handed pitchers, who he destroys. If that means he gets more rest against lefties so he's healthier, so be it.

 

JD could clearly also benefit from some extra days on the bench or at DH.

Maybe we should contact an Oakland board and find out how good Swish is at picking it at first

 

Anyone know?