Chisoxfn

The big thing is, the Sox have already utlized a ton of their prospects and from what I hear and believe, this next wave is going to be the best yet. Arms like Honel, Malone, Rauch, etc are top notch and the Sox also have some hitting prospect. Reyes still has work to do, but he's got a lot of raw ability as do guys like Casey Rogowski. I remember a year ago, before his injury, people were wondering what we'd do with Konerko cause they thought he was so good. I think he had a wrist injury, which is something that really effects your swing and stats, but he should be better this year as well. One of my favorite thing about the Sox is that we get to read and hear about prospects and then actually see them at the next level. Teams like the Yanks hype them up, but never do you get to see them. I love watching the prospects grow and develop and then seeing it materialize on the field.

Are they dumping the name Comiskey all together? I'm hoping that stays in there somehow. Now I want to see that homer porch there by the start of next season.

We'll be starting that type of stuff near the beginning of the season and then will continuosly update it every month during the season. The list will look much different this year, cause the Sox have a lot more prospects down in the lower levels and that list didn't include many of them.

How could the Twins possibly be #1. They lost some key members, while the Angels brought everyone back, The Yankees rebuilt a bit, so did the Sox as well as other teams. Its alright though, we'll prove him wrong; cause who wins the series is all that matters, and its going to be the SOX

If this means they build that homer porch, then I'm all for it

Message is now pinned till the end of Soxfest. Hope everone there has a blast!!!!

I'm not too high on Suppan. He does one thing though, and thats pitch innings. Right now I'm pretty happy with our rotation. Finley, Rogers or Stewart are the only guys I can see possibly taking Rauch's job.

I think Miles deserves a shot this spring. If he plays great, then he should be up. The one problem is, the Sox seem to need a backup centerfielder and Harris is one that can fit that bill while still playing 2nd. HSC's also right about Miles never getting a shot, because he did have Biggio in front of him, and if I recall he was with Houston pretty much his whole career. If he rips the cover off the ball in spring or dominated down in Charlotte, then he should be with the Sox.

The more I work on my preview article, the more I think the Barons could be really fun to watch. They are going to have an awesome starting rotation, that will be lefty dominated. I've never seen a team or system with as many lefties as the Sox. The offense will be what it comes down to, but whenever you have a reall good pitching staff and a great coach like Wally Backman, you got a good shot at competing.

The thing is, Old Tigers stadium was one of the coolest parks I'd ever been. I even think Wrigley is a pretty nice park. CW, since you live in that area, Were the Tigers fans upset they got rid of the stadium?

Its amazing considering how well the A's did even though they were in the toughest division in baseball, although some could argue that the NL West is the toughest. Either way, Oakland is one team I never want to play, cause they own us. There offense isn't near as fiersome as it used to be though. There rotation is still good, but they made a mistake moving Lidle, but they do have Lilly, so they got 4 solid guys.

Baggs, Curt Schilling is one guy that comes to my mind about coming back from a previous surgery. Of course he was fully developed at the time. Eric Gagne seems to of done pretty good recovering from his very early surgery that occured in the minors. As far as Finley goes, there is now one thing that scares the heck out of me about him and thats what kind of an influence he would be in the clubhouse. I don't know if this is true, as its from his ex wife, but I was reading a magazine and they were interviewing her about the whole incident. First she said Finley gets high before every start and that he's been taking steroids for quite some time. Secondly, she said Finley hit her first and was very abusive. Don't know what to believe, cause I never heard bad things about Finley and you know after that previous incident that she'd be mad. I like Finley a lot as a pitcher, and being that I'm near Anaheim, where Finley pitched for almost his entire career and I've never heard one person say a bad thing about him.

Column: Shades of 2000? Part Two: The Bullpen By: Matt Michel

Derrek Wheeler. He's a Redshirt Freshman. It was cool, he got in a couple minutes at the end of the blowout. Since he's a freshman/walk on he doesn't play too much yet. All I know is they whooped UCI. On Saturday I'm gonna go see them play Long Beach State. Ya, Cotts should be pretty good. I've heard good things about him. Also, it would be sweet to see your stuff up.

My buddy plays basketball for the Gauchos. I'm going to see him play tonight as they are playing back in our hometown against UC Irvine.

Welcome aboard Jim. Its really awesome to here from you. I know one of our regular posters, HSC, goes to Bham every year for a week or so and watches the players and says how much fun it is seeing the future Sox play. Hopefully your right about the Barons. I'm writing something up on them right now (Just taking a break from it) and from what I can see the one weakness will be having players with much experience in AA back. I do think the rotation should be pretty good, especially with Malone, Ulacia (IF he's in AA to start the season) and You at the top. Its not too often you see 3 lefties at the front of the rotation and being a lefty myself, there is nothing I like more then good lefties.

Good thinking, CW or anyone else...please go tell him we think he should get Beltran

Because he will make a lot of money this year. Look what the Expos got for a Cy Young Candidate in Colon. They got stiffs. Kansas is going to get mainly stiffs in return as well. Rowand isn't really a stiff, Stewart is a quality prospect that can immediately start, and Ginter could go to the pen. Pretty fair to me. No one wants to take on payroll this year. Then look at Millwood, who went for nothing at all cause he made money. I don't know what Beltran will make, but my guess is it will be a good amount this year.

I think he's there for sure on Friday, and he may go the other two days.

First time in a couple years I didn't go to the Bulls Clipp game, and I think I was glad I wasn't there. They played like crap and then Bill went off, especially on Fizer. Fizer's been playing his ass off, so I think it was wrong of Bill to pull that stunt, especially calling his players out in the media. He better do some good apologizing or he could just lose the team after a stunt like that. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but you just don't rip your players via the media, you do it behind closed doors. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...ome%2Dheadlines

Lol; what did you think of the armenian comedian?

I think some of the spaces may be off. I had to read it carefully, but other then that it wasn't too bad. The grammar wasn't too great, but that comes down to the writer.

The Sox AA club, the Birmingham Barons, are looking like they are going to have a lousy team this year. Most of our top prospects are either in AAA, with the big club, or in the low minors. I take it....... Malone, Diaz, West, Arnie, Sanders.......etc are all going to charlotte? Too bad all their records are gonna suck.......because hitting is pretty weak up there..... Maybe with the addition of Holt, a healthy Jb, and a healthy Mario Velenezulea (SP?) they can do som damage. Malone is going to be in AA still. He's got to prove he can pitch there and that he's 100%. I think he'll rebound and have a pretty good season. That guy has a very high ceiling and can be a devasting lefty in the rotation. his rep is that 1 yr he does good and the next he doesn't The problem with Malone last year was control and an injury. The control stems back to an injury as well as the fact that he is still pretty raw. Otherwise, people didn't hit Malone much. The year before Malone had a huge jump as he started to figure things out. The guy will be a slower mover strictly because the Sox will have to teach him more things, mainly mechanically, but stuff wise he's right there with Diaz, imo, except he's got a bigger build, which lends me to believe his body will be able to harness his stuff. Something that is a big questionmark when it comes to Diaz, whose very small in stature, much like Juan Cruz, Ramon Ortiz, and Pedro Martinez.

"I don't think I'd rate him in my organizational Top 10, mainly because he doesn't have the upside of other guys in the system." "Diaz, Honel, Wing, West, Wyatt Allen, Royce Ring, Edwin Almonte, Arnie Munoz, and Sanders all rank ahead of him in my book. " question...doesnt bullard have a higher upside then guys like ring,almonte,and munoz??...i dont know much about bullard other than he has put up good number everywhere he has pitched but when you talk about upside you are talking about as far as a guy can go...any starter in the minors should have a higher upside then a reliever because alot of starters become relievers but very few go the other way..and starting pitching is more of a premium... to look at it another way..if ring cant make in his role..game over..if bullard cant make it as a starter he can always make the move to the bullpen..eric gagne comes to mind in this respect...never had it as a starter..but now is closing for the dodgers...btw..thats another of KW's screw ups everyone forgets about....howry for gagne was a done deal..till williams said he wanted another prospect from the dodgers... Gagne was a power pitcher with filthy stuff. I know you and I were always drooling at the shot to get Gagne for Howry. As far as Ring, Munoz, and Sanders go they all are lefties with good stuff, especially Ring and Munoz. Munoz has a nasty nasty curve, while Ring has harder stuff and is closer material. Those two may be relievers, but they ain't like typical relieving prospects. Also, I kind of have a feeling the Sox are going to try converting Munoz to the rotation. As far as Sanders goes, he fits more of the Bullard mold, not overpowering, just solid pitcher. Bullard could pan out though. I can't wait to see some of these kids in Spring.

I can't see KC trading Beltran to a team in their own division unless we make a seriously one sided offer. That is just shooting yourself in the foot. Also Beltran is going to be looking for a hefty contract and we are already looking at some arbitration for our rising stars in the next few years. I agree with you on both points. KC wouldn't trade within the division and we won't be able to sign Beltran. He's represented by Scott Boros and we have to take care of the talent we currently have. I don't think we could sign him, but to me it would even be worth renting him for a year, then dealing him in the offseason. I think next year will be a better climate for trading, although I may be wrong. Either way, I think that proposed offer is the best deal they could possibly get cause they want to unload them and have wanted to for the past year or two. Now that he's going to make more money they are even more desperate.