Chisoxfn

I don't have the numbers on me, but isn't Koch younger then Marte or right around the same age? All I know is they both have tremendous stuff. The thing with me is I still see a lot of room for improvement with Koch. I also remember reading if you take two teams runs out against Koch, I think it as the Rangers and Blue Jays and he had an era under one or something like that.

From Chicagosports.com Anyway, he says Maggs will be hitting behind him which implies that Thomas will be back to his old slot, the 3 hole with Konerko hitting fifth.

2003 Spring Preview By Mario Scalise and Ross Meister Febuary 17, 2003

I remember reading about his signing, and then not hearing another word about him the rest of the season. This organization can tend to be a black hole for catchers, so him just disappearing wouldn't surprise me too much I think every organization is a blackhole when it comes to catchers. Its just such a hard position. Mainly because its so physically demanding and they typically don't get as much credit or love as the big home run hitters and everyone else. Usually the best athletes get moved around too, and never find the catcher position because it will hurt them in the long run. Also the fact that they have so much to work on makes it hard. Calling a game, blocking the plate, release point (Throwing guys out) and then the swing. Its a really tough job.

I think he's still in the lower levels, but I don't think he's ever going to amount to much other then a roster slot. Burke is the one catcher still in our system that I am interested in seeing. Olivo is not in our system anymore right now and I hope we don't see him there again, because it will mean he's suceeding at the major league level

Hudler and I see eye to eye on the Miles situation. If he proves himself in AAA this year, then I'll buy into him, until then I don't see him coming anywhere close to a major league roster. This is going to be his first time in AAA and I think he's 26 years old now (Thats off the top of my head).

He does his job, but I also see upside in having another lefty that can really throw innings or a righty in Almonte. I don't think Almonte can make the team out of spring unless one of the righties gets injured or if the Sox decide to carry an extra reliever. With Marte as the set up man with Flash, the Sox will need a second lefty whether its Munoz, Sanders or Wunsch. As long as Wunsch doesn't suck, I think he'll keep the job, but it will be interesting if Sanders and Munoz put up stats similar to winterball, cause if thats the case one of them will be getting a job, imo.

How far is that from Sioux Falls? My dads side of the family lives in a very very small town in Iowa, about 20 minutes outside of Sioux Falls. If I remember correctly....about 210 or 220 miles or so. Thing that is funny about all of this is that I live in a good-sized town for SoDak.....15,000 live in Pierre....and a huge amount of people live in Sioux Falls(about 125,000)....SoDak's total population is about 700,000...and that is nothing compared to some cities in Cali and is nothing compared to Chicago. I live in small-town America...and it seems big here. A decent-sized city is one that is about 3000-5000 in population....talk about small town America....cities suburbs have more waaay more than that. My city is like 150,000 and its a decent size city in California, but nothing huge.

Doesn't Grohl write all their stuff? I wonder how good they are without him.

I think it will be the Braves.

I'm with you 100%. First off I don't see much interest in an offensive minded first baseman that doesn't really want to play first, although he says he would like a bit more time this year. He's also aging and has been too inconsistent the past couple years for anyone to give him a long term contract worth a lot of money. I seriously believe his best bet is the contract he has with the Sox and it is why Carlos Lee is playing his final season on the southside.

I always like beating a team when they are 100%, but I'm not against seeing him not able to pitch, but I never root for any type of injury.

I wasn't too familiar with all the minor leaguers until this past year, so I'm not sure on this guy. Was he one of the two catchers we signed during the offseason along with Burke? I thought he was, but I'm not sure on that. I don't have a clue about his ability though.

This team is similar to last years team in the sense a lot of rookies are going to be key to how good they do. They are going to be good, but if the rookies/young players step up, they are going to be amazing. This rotation is better. The bullpen on paper is better at least entering the season and the lineup has the potential to be better.

And on Marte when he inherits baserunners. Last season it was lights out if no one was on base when Damaso was brought in. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed that if Damaso was brought in with baserunners, especially with RISP, he was atrocious. I'm not a stat-head..... I admit that..... and I am not even sure that they keep stats on the above. But I think a look at the aforementioned, if kept, would be an eye-opener to most Sox fans..... or maybe just me if I'm wrong on this. I remember when Baggs brought it up when the site was on the really older boards he had all the stats and they proved exactly what you said Cubkilla. Still, I think that is something that evens out. Marte limits opponents to a low average and I think he should improve with runners in scoring position and I think he did as the season went on. I also remember him giving up a lot of tough luck inherited runs.

That happens in October...and I hope we can be there....but odds are we won't be....all you have to do is look at the past 45 years and see how many Chicago teams have made it to the World Series....you're answer should be a whole number between 0 and 2. If we make it to the series, I will be flying out to Chicago to watch at least one game

I think he will. If he doesn't, then the Sox should look for a guy that can play outfield, so they could take Nunez over Harris. Lofton would look really good in a backup role. He plays good defense, can run, bunt, and is a great alternative if Jimenez falters in the leadoff slot.

We also have Nunez. I like that guy quite a bit as a utility player. I'm surprised not as many have mentioned him. He could really take a job away from Harris. The only reason I think we carry Harris is because he can play center. If he couldn't, I think we'd have Nunez up here.

I'm gonna bring my dads digital camera as well as a regular camera so I can get a ton of photos.

Logan, I'm with you, I can't wait to get out and watch the Sox play the Dodgers and Angels I think all the Sox fans in California were at that 19-0 whooping.

24 bombs for Ordonez? I think hell have more than that... I was thinking he meant 42

Maggs will win a batting title at least once in his career, mark my words on that. He'll also get at least on MVP.

Commentary: Highlights of 2003 Schedule By Logan Hard Febuary 14, 2003

To me thats whats so amazing. Thomas had that bad of a season, yet his OBP was still rather impressive and you can't laugh at his homer or rbi totals. This guy was absolutely horrible, yet he still did all that. This guy is capable of having his best year of his career right now, kind of a Bonds like type season. If there was any player in the majors that I think could do something like that, it would be Thomas because of his great batting eye, his great power, and the fact that he can really hit for avg. I'm starting to think he could hit 50 hr's this year, especially since Comiskey is more of a hitters park than it ever was when he was having his MVP seasons.

Marte is awesome. I remember the first times I saw him pitch and I was like why did Pittsburght not have room for this guy. The guy has really impressive control and I love how he can throw 2 different sliders and he's great at spotting that nice fastball.