ZoomSlowik

Good question, why do they ask him for advice? The guy has killed the Mets for a while by giving ridiculously long and lavish contracts to Mo Vaughn and Mike Piazza.

I'd imagine that he'd be quite costly in terms of talent. He certainly has impressive numbers, although he fell off quite a bit in the second half last year. I'd definitely revisit this possibility in the offseason if we can't get it done now.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 12:02 PM) Still got some talent? Maybe you should check his numbers and compare them to some of the other CF's around the league. You missed my point. When healthy, he can produce. But that's getting rare. This is also the best he's done since 2001, and he only played 111 games that year too. Also, his batting numbers might compare favorably, but defensively is another story. For the amount of money still on his contract and his injury history I'm not so sure it's that big an upgrade. Is he going to play a better centerfield than Aaron? doubtful. Is he going contribute any more than Everett, who's role he'd probably be taking? I'm not so sure. I certainly wouldn't consider it for the players proposed in the article. That's just lunacy.

I'm still experimenting with my sliders, but I don't get bombed to death so much as they hit a drag route and someone either misses the tackle or takes a bad angle. I can still hit bombs at a pretty good rate, even at 40 accuracy and 45 catching (if I drop it anymore I get back to guys dropping passes that hit them in the chest).

He may not be healty, but he's also much better at the plate than Konerko or Thomas when he is. Hell, just last year the guy hit .274 with 42 homers and a near .400 OBP. If we could give up one or two decent prospects at the end of the year to get Philly to eat some money, that'd sound pretty good to me. I'd rather have Thome at about $12-14 mil than Konerko somewhere in the $10-$12 mil range. However, it would be nice to see if his back could hold up toward the end of the year before committing all that money. I know it's not a great comparison since he's about 5 years older, but I remember 2 years ago when people were worried about Vlad's back and several teams shied away. The two had similar injury histories before the back problems and obviously similar hitting talents. If you could get Philly to eat some cash and he shows some signs of health before the end of the season, it could be worth the risk.

No way I deal Rowand for him. He's hitting well now, but he's long overdue for a hamstring pull or something. The guy's been a walking DL trip since his last year or two in Seattle. He's still got some talent, but he's nowhere near the player he once was. If we could get him without giving up a ton of talent I guess it works, but not for anything major. Also, I'm not sure he "puts us over the top" as the article says since his numbers are a little weaker than Carlos Lee's last year. I suppose you could argue we'd be in great shape with Lee, but that's another story.

I just thought of a guy. He's a multi-time all-star, but because he's currently a shadow of his former self people don't mention him anymore... Mike Piazza. Say what you want about him being a subpar defensive player, but his numbers are damn impressive, especially for a full time catcher. He hit over 30 homers 9 times, 8 of them coming consecutively, drove in 100 runs 6 times, and he has a career .313 batting average. People forget how solid a hitter he was in his prime.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 25, 2005 -> 02:11 AM) Anyone know how good the NIU defense is? My Northwestern offense, at Evanston, scored 27 points on them. I'm still playing the game, but there's about a minute left and I'm not gonna score again. It was a pretty crazy game, 'cause the wind was about 22 MPH and it was raining. I'm gonna win by 20, so I'm trying to guage what sliders I need to fix... I'd say maybe another score against them. NIU has some players on offense, but IIRC the only good player on D is their safety. NU's offense should do fairly well, Basanez is an 85, Jordan an 84, and their receivers are all 80+, and they have an okay line. I personally prefer to use the games against better teams like Michigan and OSU to determine what I do with the sliders however, or at least decent teams like PSU and MSU.

I gotta take Baltimore. I don't want to see Oakland for obvious reasons. I don't want to see the Twins because I still think they are a decent club and they've owned us the past 4 years when it mattered (of course in the ALCS I'd live with it). I don't really want to see the Yankees because they can still rake, Rivera/Gordon can do some damage, and you never know when Johnson/Mussina is going to nail you. Again, I'd wouldn't complain too much about the Yanks because of their inconsistent pitching, but they wouldn't be my first choice. Cleveland would be a team I'd love to face in the ALCS, but I don't want them getting the wildcard because I think the odds are good that the Angels/Boston would stomp them, allowing those teams to lineup their rotation against us. Baltimore winds up as my favored team because their starting pitchers are mediocre at best (Bedard looks decent, but not against Buehrle/Garland/Garcia), their pen is basically B.J. Ryan, and most importantly, I don't think their offense is as good as advertised. Tejada is a beast, no question, and Palmeiro is still okay. However, Mora is only a decent hitter, and Roberts has tailed off considerably since his hot start. The rest of their lineup hasn't done that much. Mora just can't beat you on his own, and Roberts is realistically about a .280 hitter. They're highly beatable, which is why I'd want to play them, and why I doubt they'll be there.

I got a couple of guys that are all-time greats that never seem to get the credit they are due... Stan Musial. Check Hammer's post on the extra base hits, he's number two. He's also one of few players to win 7 batting titles, and despite the fact that he wasn't a major power guy for much of his career finished with 475 homers. Jimmie Foxx. Career .325 hitter with 534 career homeruns. Walter Johnson. He may be the greatest pitcher ever. #2 alltime in wins, a miniscule career ERA, and the only pre-1960 pitcher with 3000 career strikeouts. I can't really come up with a list of lesser known guys that were better than their reputation since I've only been watching baseball since about 1993.

QUOTE(Da Sox @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 10:29 PM) He'll probably win the MLB triple crown but not the NL triple crown. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I doubt he's going to win the MLB triple crown. He's going to have a tough time beating out Manny and/or Ortiz in RBI. I'm also of the opinion that a career .276 hitter isn't going to keep it up. He's got a nice lead, but I say chances are decent he ends up in the mid .330's by the end of the year, making Cabrera and Pujols a major threat. RBI should also be a nice battle between him, Lee, and Pujols. To be honest, I think he might not even end up first on his team in homers. Ramirez has been hitting a ton since starting out slow. My vote is he gets 2/3 for the NL and 1/3 for the majors. He's got a good lead in average, meaning he'd have to drop off quite a bit, and I personally don't think Jones keeps it up in the homerun department.

I'll admit things look good for the Bear's D, but they still have a long way to go on offense. Benson is a rookie and Jones is a previously part time player who missed several games last year. I don't think those two add up to an above average running game this year. Grossman is still a major question mark at QB. He hasn't stayed healthy, which has stunted his development seriously. Also, we only have one legit receiver at this point, and Mushin is not likely to repeat his career year. The line looks good, but it has to stay healthy. One issue I see that no one else seems to think is there is whether or not Tait can play LT. Just because he was a pretty good RT doesn't mean it will automatically transfer to the other side. If he is only passable, the line isn't quite as strong as we think. I think the Vikings win the division almost by default. I think they'll be good enough on both sides of the ball to win 9 or 10, which should be enough. As I said, I don't think the Bears will score enough to have a good year, although they might sneak into the wildcard. The Packers don't have much on defense, but again, Favre and Green might sneak them into the wildcard. I just don't see it with the Lions. Their D isn't exactly stellar, and Roy Williams is the only one of their touted receivers that has done anything (Rogers may or may not perform after the injury issues, Williams will probably struggle a bit like most rookies). Unless they can consistently score in the high 20's I don't like their chances.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 10:24 PM) they are the chicago cubs of baseball Actually, I'd say the Chicago Cubs are the Chicago Cubs of baseball.

NFC North- Vikings NFC South- Falcons NFC East- Eagles NFC West- Rams NFC Wildcard- Carolina NFC Wildcard- Packers AFC North- Ravens AFC South- Colts AFC East- Patriots AFC West- Chiefs AFC Wildcard- Steelers AFC Wildcard- Broncos NFC Title game- Eagles over Vikings AFC Title game- Patriots over Ravens Super Bowl- Patriots over Eagles By the way, I found the AFC much harder than the NFC.

QUOTE(soxhawks @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 03:58 PM) what exactly are sliders Go to game settings, AI. There you can adjust the relative abilities of both the human and CPU. Everything is set at 50 and it could be changed. Drop your sliders and your player's abilities drop, like your running back suddenly won't bust through the hole as fast if you drop RB ability, and visa-versa. It allows you to tweak the performance of both the human controlled players and the computer in pretty much any area.

I've got some really wierd and varied tastes. I listen to a lot of rap and R&B. I don't really have a favorite in R&B, but I really like 2Pac when it comes to rap. I also like some classic rock, with The Rolling Stones, Creedance Clearwater Revival, and Aerosmith as my favorites. I also listen to a lot of salsa music, which sounds kind of wierd. I'm a big fan of DLG/Huey Dunbar and Marc Anthony.

QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 03:45 PM) try my sliders. heisman is ridiculous Heisman is definitely ridiculous. I couldn't stop Ohio. That's right, I said Ohio. I just bumped everything to 45 for me, 55 for the comp on everything but INT's, which I dropped to 45 because with my lower accuracy I was throwing at least 2 picks every game, even though my QB is an 85 impact player. I think I need to tweak it a little more though. I crushed ASU 49-14 with Hagan, lost to PSU 35-28 (Robinson ran all over me), and smoked Michigan about 56-14 without Hart (he seems to get hurt a lot in this game). I kind of like the passing where it is. I get fewer shots at the deep ball because they double my outside receivers, and I catch fewer once i get there. But I need to drop my running ability more. I still get a lot of big plays, although my runs out of the shotgun are less effective than they once were. I also need to increase the comp pass blocking, but it's nice to see the comp getting some solid running plays for once.

Aubrey Huff is not a 3rd basemen. He is an absolute butcher at third. In his career he has 38 errors in 211 starts at 3rd, and a pitiful .930 fielding percentage. He's basically an OF/1B. That doesn't help us very much this year, although he could be a solid replacement for Paulie, or Dye if he ends up moving to first.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 02:05 PM) Our problem is that we have too many defensive specialists on the team. Guys who have great gloves but offer nothing up at the dish. Player A vs Player B Player A .232 BA 11 homers 24 RBI's .270OBP .379SLG vs Player B .235BA 7 homers 43 RBI's .266OBP .367 SLG Player A is now the starting CF for the Iowa Cubs and Player B is the starting SS for the best team in baseball. Remember they sent Corey down because he couldnt get on and he couldnt hit and struck out a bunch of times. If he was on this team he would be exhaulted as a defensive wizard. The difference is that Corey was a touted propect that is expected to be a force at the top of the lineup, Uribe is a bottom of the order hitter and we know that he is there for his defense. That doesn't mean that Uribe is a problem at the plate, but it does tell you why one is in AAA and one isn't.

I'll be happy to participate and whoop all your asses. I haven't done weekly NFL picks in a while, but I won my Mom a lot of money by making her pool picks from ages 10-18. I did win the Soxtalk College Football pickem last year, but I think that was basically because everyone gave up on it in the last couple weeks. I'd run a college football or college basketball one if there is enough interest.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 09:40 AM) Is it true we now have a losing record against teams playing above .500?? At least we still have chemistry. That number is extremely misleading because some of them are at or below .500 in large part because of our head to head numbers. How good do you think Cleveland's record would be if they weren't 3-10 against us? And is there really any difference between Cleveland's 2 over and Detroit's 2 under? I'd say no.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 21, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) Those monster lineups sure hurt Boston and St. Louis last season. QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 21, 2005 -> 11:22 PM) Well, they did win the World Series last year...? In case you guys haven't noticed, the Red Sox pitching isn't the same as it was last year. Their bullpen was a lot better, Schilling was healthy, and Pedro Martinez was their #2. That's a much better combo than this year's team. St. Louis didn't have to go through the AL, and they eventually got smacked because they couldn't score runs. I know our offense isn't perfect, but it can work with our pitching. It has for most of the year. Crede seems like he is starting to hit, which will help, and our offense gets much better if Frank ever gets it figured out. Frankly Boston's lineup doesn't scare me that much. Ortiz and Ramirez are monsters, but that's only two of the 9. The other players aren't going to beat you with any regularity. In a playoff situation, I think our guys will get through without getting hurt that bad.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 21, 2005 -> 11:14 PM) Look at our lineup, and look at the Red Sox lineup. We don't match-up well at all against teams with great offenses. We have very good starting pitchers, but we don't have pitchers that can consistently strikeout hitters with 2 strikes. Thus, the opposition gets a lot of opportunties to put the ball in play. The Red Sox, Yanks, Rangers, etc. don't have any John Buck's to help bail our pitchers out. Where has having the monster lineup gotten us in the past? How many times do you see the monster lineups get shut down in the playoffs? Their offensive prowess is offset by their pitching deficiencies. Even assuming they consistently get 4 or 5 runs against our staff, which I don't see as that likely with our big 3 getting most of the games, there's a good chance that our guys do the same thing against the likes of Wells, Wakefield, and Arroyo.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 21, 2005 -> 11:02 PM) Did Clement have his best stuff tonight. Was that a great pitching performance. He was off. We should of killed him tonight. When he was 2-0 to a bunch of hitters and was throwing rollers up instead of his biting slider he should of been launched. I am sure the cubans will shut the bosox down. Who cares if he had his best stuff or not? That's Clement for you. He's an inconsistent pitcher who often has control problems. That's why I don't get the massive panic over facing him in the playoffs, especially when he is their #2 starter, and #1 unless Schilling gets his s*** together (he looked awful by the way)4 runs should have been plenty, and if not for the errors it might have been. Buehrle didn't exactly have his best stuff either. I don't really care about whether or not the Cubans shut down the Red Sox because the Carmines aren't exactly sending Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale out there. The vast majority of teams have iffy 4 and 5 starters. I'm not worried about the lead until it drops to about 5, and frankly I'm not overly concerned about our playoff matchups.

Chill out. We put up four earned runs against Clement, someone that many on this site have thought would own us. We only allowed 3 earned runs, the other three were very out of the ordinary. Iguchi committed two errors and Crede committed one. Both have been spectacular defensively. That isn't going to happen very often. Also, Vizcaino isn't going to pitch an inning and a third in a close game in the playoffs. We lost one game to a pretty good team. Let's lay off the panic button a bit.