SoxFan562004

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Apr 2, 2011 -> 12:42 PM) The approach by these hitters combined with the talent is just awesome Dunn is going to help a lot, but I think if Q and Beckham can consistently work good ABs the Sox can get starters out quicker and get to the shakier guys out of bullpens

Juan Pierre was up next, not a high average guy, and if he flips it to LF, fielders play in so can't send runner, if he pulls it Choo has one of the best arms in the league. It worked out with a hit, but I don't like giving up an out when the Sox are crushing the pitcher. Looks like Alex is wearing the bad luck early on!

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 2, 2011 -> 12:33 PM) Nope, I'm going to blame the guy that failed in his job. So am i, and to me, ozzie failed in his job by calling for the bunt there.

I'll have to check back later in the game, but lots of empty seats at Wrigley, then they had a wide shot showing the upper deck and they looked kind of empty. That team desperately needs cashflow that concession sales bring, they need people to show up, not just buy tickets.

they are crushing this guy and Ozzie has him bunt? This team has a chance to be an excellent offensive team this year, stuff like that scares me a little.

Phil Mickelson

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:58 AM) Somebody has to do it. Plus it pays the bills. yeah, and fortunately for my father the Y2K scare got him PAID!

QUOTE (chw42 @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 12:58 PM) I'm surprised that so many people picked the Sox to win the Central. Everyone at ESPN usually picks the Twins and I thought the Tigers were a popular pick amongst a lot of the "experts". Tigers defense and bull-pen are likely a major concern for people making predictions

QUOTE (hi8is @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 05:40 AM) Speaking of baseball networks - anyone else fell that Al Liter on MLB Network is a *bit* too - ummm... enthusiastic? B) he can be a bit of a spaz, but IMO he is very good on MLBN, so was Larkin, but he went to the darkside and is now on ESPN.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 09:22 PM) I can easily see Beckett bouncing back with a Beckett-like year. He clearly wasn't healthy last year. And his peripheral stats were still plenty good. Much the same with Lackey. He had what could be considered an off-year and still posted a solid 4.0 WAR (our two best pitchers from a year ago posted WARs of 4.3 each). He should be better in his second go-around in the AL east. I'd love to be wrong, of course. I just don't see it. he obviously could, but if memory serves me right the issue with him is a bad back, that could also linger/flare up for the rest of his career, especially with the New England springs and falls.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 12:44 PM) Soriano at age 35 to 37 for 54 million or Dunn at age 31 to 34 at 56 million Yeah, Kenny is good. and it's not like there was some crazy bidding war for Soriano going on at the time. A few teams kicked the tires on him, but Cubs had no real competition, especially for that number. Terry Boers, who has decent baseball sources, says nobody was going to come within 40m of that Cubs deal

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 12:55 PM) I just listened to it and I really didn't disagree that much Colin (and I generally hate him). Rose/AI are very similar players, and he was right that LeBron is a better player than Rose. Now I think Rose will get a championship or two, but I don't think he will match Kobe let alone MJ in championships. I don't mean this to lessen Kobe as a player, but give Rose a prime Shaq type player and the front-line he has now and who knows. And Cavs end up beating them by 12, thanks Cavs!

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 04:47 PM) Yeah, Harry. WWE is the worst it has ever been probably. Even worse than 93. I didn't know they taped Smackdown as well. Hell, that had to of been a long night. And the AllState parking lot if awful to get out. Never easy. WHen I was in high school, my buddies and I went to AllState a few times and right where you pay to park, we used to go right off to the right and back in. After the show, we were out in no time. Than one time, they wouldn't let us do that and it was awful getting out of there. it's horrible to get out of, 2nd only to the place in Tinley Park that was called World Music Theater, if you get in the wrong place there you are there for hours

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 04:53 PM) Garza's spring ERA - 10.38 It doesn't mean anything now, but if he starts off slow, it may mean something. Bad arm? He's a solid pitcher, I would bet he starts off pretty well, especially if the weather is crappy in Chicago, he's a fly ball pitcher, his numbers may bump up when it gets warmer and The Urinal becomes more hitter friendly. When the wind blows in he is going to flat out dominate

QUOTE (PeavyTime @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) I never thought MLB Network was biased, but almost every preseason game they showed this year involved the Yanks or Saux. there were also a decent amount of Cubs, Sox, Mets and Phils game, I think it's because they are larger market teams that show a decent amount of preseason games.

I know it's ST, so I'm tempering my excitement, but Danks has looked great so far, that change-up to K Votto was filthy

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 07:40 PM) For a guy who doesn't have a job, that isn't the smartest move. yeah, but he is a guy with 11m dollars!

every team has question marks. Even as great as the Red Sox are on paper, Lackey and Beckett can still be considered question marks going into this season. and no, I don't think for the Sox to compete for a WS Peavy has to be an ace, it would certainly help, but I could realistically see Danks, Floyd and Jackson rolling into the playoffs hot. Are there questions with that scenario? Of course, but again, lets see it play out.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 01:07 PM) Cashner wins the 5th spot in the rotation, Silva will not make the roster. Cubs will still be on the hook for his $11.5 million salary if they release him. well, I'll give them credit for making the correct move here.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 09:18 PM) Posey and Pryor are morons for returning. They should have just left even after they were forced into that stupid promise. I agree about the players. I think you would have had a portion of the population that would have been up in arms about leaving after "the promise" but I also think there would have been a big portion of the population that would have been OK with it. A well crafted statement along the lines of "after having time to discuss the situation at length with our families and think it over we think it's in my families best interest to enter the NFL draft." Now I may think that because as shady as the NCAA and most schools are I would have had zero problem with an athlete doing that, so I may be misreading that potential reaction! I think it would have helped them with public perception that, at least Pryor one of you will have to post what Posey's status was, he wasn't going to be an elite, top of the board draft prospect. He would have had to do a lot of work prior to the draft to up his stock and wouldn't have been taken super high in the draft.

QUOTE (T R U @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 03:08 AM) meh, E doesnt need to do anything like nWo.. they already brought in the nWo years ago and it flopped horribly.. let it die wrestling needs a major storyline or a phenomenal new star to grab people again. I'm 32 and watched wrestling since I was really little. I use to go to the Horizon shows with my Uncle, dad and cousin with British Bulldogs, Heart Foundation, Hulk, Mr. Wonderful, etc... so probably since I was about 7 or 8. Watched it a lot until about HS, then the cartoony era of WWF stopped watching, NWO angle in WCW and ECW got me back into it and I began watching all 3 pretty strongly. Then interest ebbed again. How has everybody's wrestling interest cycle gone? Anyone watch it non-stop for their whole life or have a similar pattern to me where it's on and off again. I know my uncle who is in his mid 60s has followed some form of pro wrestling for basically his whole life. Not like he watches it religiously, but he still is pretty up to date on it. For me, I just didn't connect with some of the new guys E was pushing, there's one I think was horrible. (No need to name him, don't want to start a thread about that and I'm sure there were lame wrestlers I enjoyed who others hated in the past).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 10:43 AM) They can afford it easily. They were paying more than that for the team they had a few years ago. The question is going to be whether the NBA re-writes the rules to prevent it. I still can't imagine how 20 teams would think that is a good thing for them. Yeah, like you mention, I can't see other teams allowing that to happen in the new CBA. It will be tough to get more than 2 superstars on a team IMO. JR has been an owner for a long time, and he has a good sense of what's going on and he had zero interest in adding payroll that would be around for a few years at the deadline. I know NBA union is weak, but they'll have to give some concession to get what the want, unless they seriously dangle contraction and threat cutting jobs, but it will likely be something else.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 10:51 PM) JVG made a real interesting point on the NYK vs ORL broadcast last night. He basically said Orlando would be as bad as what Cleveland would be this season if they didn't have Howard, which considering how badly the rest of the supporting cast has played this season, I would actually agree with. I certainly don't think Rose will be the worst MVP winner of all time, he is deserving, but it shows you how much playing for a big market team and being the jewel in the media's eyes, how important that type of stuff can be I guess. I mean the reason the Bulls have improved so much this season, isn't because of an offensive improvement (they've only improved from 18th to 12th IIRC). It's because of defense, and that takes the whole team to buy into the system and become so good at it. So moving 6 spots in a 30 team league isn't signifcant? That's a 20% increase if your numbers are right. OK, maybe Orlando would be a suck fest without Howard, they're the 4th best team recordwise in the east right now and the Bulls have the best record in the East and 2nd in the whole NBA. Bulls would be in the soup of Indiana, NYK, Philly at the bottom half of the playoff race without Rose likely.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 12:13 PM) There's more, of course. Sox are giving Dunn $56M, and KW got a bargain relative to the Werth signing that escalated the market three days later. I never saw a reported number, but I'm sure the O's had to be around what the Sox game him, they were trying to get a name this offseason. Beyond that, I have no doubt Dunn would have gotten that deal if he went to another team, he's 31, one of the premier power hitters in the game and on top of that his consistency from year to year is mind boggling.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 11:46 AM) That is an amazing number for a team that has the oldest stadium in baseball. If they ever need to do capital improvements, they are screwed. it's why they tried to get the state to pour money in last year and it turned into a complete debacle. I'm not saying the recent economy hasn't had an impact on this, trust me, economy has hurt me, I know the effects. However, there are also a lot of bad business decisions being made by many owners. It's why I find it laughable that some "experts" were calling out the Cards for not just forking over a 10 year 300m deal to Pujols. Also, I'm sure the Mets ownership involvement with Madoff and the Dodgers divorce adds to those teams woes. It's why I never went insane when KW or JR wanted nothing to do with mega deals, unless you're Bos or NYY they're hard to absorb if they fail, or even if the player ends up being only decent. Worst deal RIGHT NOW (and I'm stressing right now because I do not want this to devolve into the thread on Peavy that's going on now) is Peavy's. If he never pitches for the Sox again and they have zero insurance to cover it are out 37m over the next 2 years with the 4m buyout, which would suck. However, it would be done in 2 years, not linger around for years. We'll just pile on the Cubs here because I know the terms off the top of my heard, the Cubs will pay Soriano 18m dollars more than the Sox are paying Dunn the next 4 years, contracts like that can cripple a franchise.