ZoomSlowik

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jul 4, 2005 -> 12:13 PM) My ideal 12 man squad, the team that I'd send to smash all competition in the olympics: PG: Kidd/Tinsley SG: Pierce/McGrady SF: Artest/Prince/Bowen PF: Duncan/Garnett/Jermaine C: Shaq/Wallace Snubs: Amare Stoudamire, Dwyane Wade Interesting, I would think Pierce and McGrady go against your principles, and I was sure I'd see Billups. Also, which Wallace?

Everything I've heard from the Giants leads me to believe that it won't happen. They've said they're not desperate to move him because they control his option for next year, and they seem to want to make sure they will compete next year. I've seen/heard this in many places, including the ESPN rumor central and Ken Rosenthal. It seems they will only trade him if they get bowled over. The demand mentioned was two major league starting pitchers, and the only names mentioned were Jon Garland and Carlos Silva, which are obviously ridiculous. Even if they were trying to trade him, I'd think they'd wait until closer to the deadline for three major reasons: 1) see if he can string together a few good starts together in order to increase his value 2) see if his velocity gets better, reducing his risk a bit 3) try to start a bidding war between several teams.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 05:46 PM) Those Northwestern ratings are awesome. McGarigle is gonna be a stud for NU this year, and was a lot of fun to watch last season. Can't wait for it to come out for X-Box... Where are you getting the ratings from? If NU is any good I can have some real fun with this.

Jeter is going to run away with it unless we make it like the Tribune poll (forgive the computer illiterate guy if that isn't possible).

Schmidt's line tonight: 4 IP, 6 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 3 walk, 3 K's, 81 pitches. Not exactly the kind of start we are looking for (major pitcher's park) from a we would have to give up a ton for. His ERA is now 5.11.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 02:24 PM) In my main league, I lead my league in steals by 20 bags. (thanks to pods) I am thinking of trading him to someone who is 9th place in steals and 6th overall ( I am 2nd place overall) I am in desperate need for hr's and Rbis. I came up with a package of: pods Helton for Sheffield Krod should I do it? Ps Im good with saves too. I have Baez, Rivera, Reitsma and Brazoban. ( I am 2nd in my league in saves.) I am 9th in hr's and RBI's though. You'd probably be better off dropping Helton from the deal. Odds are no one wants him, meaning you'd be best served keeping him and hoping he returns to form. Also, I'd think for Pods and K-Rod you'd be able to find someone with more homers and a similar number of RBI, especially if average isn't that important.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:06 AM) Funny how the Twins didn't trade for him because they thought he was average. Especially considering most guys have an adjustment period when switching leagues.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:01 AM) I agree. Everyone talks about getting a stud SP, or that guy at the back of the bullpen -- what about an upgrade at 3B? I realize you're gonna lose a little defense if you trade for someone, but we gotta get more production out of the offense. It simply isn't that great -- adding a bat like Aubrey Huff would do a lot, IMO. But that's not for this thread, so I won't talk a whole lot about it. I'm not sure Huff is the answer. He's a butcher at 3rd and hit his 6th homerun of the year recently. History says he'll be a better hitter, but that doesn't help the D.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:58 PM) Well, it's not really all that surprising. Sox are horrible against RHP and Calero just happens to be right-handed. We should really look to replace one of Dye-Everett-Uribe-Crede-Rowand, all guys who have horrible splits vs. RHP. Everett's numbers against righties the last three years are .288/.361/501. Sounds like someone we should keep to solve that potential problem.

Harden is a flat out filthy pitcher who has been good of late. We knew going in it'd be tough. You're not going to put up 6 on a good pitcher in a pitcher's park. We'd have been in very good shape had Buehrle, Garcia, or Garland pitched however.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:50 PM) I got to remember that one. I like the other one better: "He who crows the loudest may eat the most crow."

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:48 PM) Go f*** yourself blue that was outside This games over, g'night folks Come on, what about that Phil Jackson commercial: "He who leaves before the bell tolls may not be there when the story unfolds."

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:44 PM) Let me ask this now. If Jose Contreras had an ERA of 4.34 heading into the all - star break, at the start of the season, would you have taken this? I would think most of us would after how our staff pitched in the second half last year. Here's another one: how many of you really thought we were going to win this game? Be honest!

Even after today, Contreras' ERA is 4.34. To put that in perspective, C.C. Sabathia currently has an ERA of 4.33. Other pitchers of note: Greg Maddux- 4.87, Mark Mulder- 4.55.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:38 PM) That's true. But it seems like they don't have much wind in their sails when Contreras pitches. Like in today's game they looked pretty good through the first couple innings, then after a while they just look like they're going through the motions. I don't think it matters who is pitching when you have an inning like that 5th.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:29 PM) What's the Sox' record when Contreras starts? Looks like 7-8 by my count. Not all of those losses were his fault though. One of them was the Cleveland game where Vizcaino let up a 7 spot in the 11th.

QUOTE(JohnStamos @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:25 PM) Regardless, I'd still take his sub-4 era (3.81 as a matter of fact). His splits suggest he pitches significantly better at home, so maybe Washington is just a hitter's friendly park that is the root of his success. Um, you got that backwords. Washington is more of a pitcher's park. His road ERA is 5.25, and his ERA was 4.86 with the Sox last year, and 8.50 with the Yankees. No thank you.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:24 PM) I know we are paying 6 mill for Conteras out of the 8. But in hind sight. A few more mill and you have Clement instead of Conteras. Yeah, hindsight is 20/20. I remember an awful lot of people saying we shouldn't spend that much money on a guy prone to blowups considering the park we play in. He just had his first major one tonight (8 earned in 5), which bumped his ERA about half a run.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) Tomorrow's game is absolutely critical. Garland against Saarloos is a match-up that we should have the advantage for. Since we always seem to struggle hitting homers when we're in Oakland, Ozzie really has to implement everything possible in order to create offense. No more of this sitting on your ass, waiting for the homer offense. Critical how? We might only be 8 1/2 up in the division? Some of you guys need to relax.

QUOTE(JohnStamos @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) Hey, I'd take the season ELo is having this year over Contreras or El Duque any day. He was a joke when we traded him. He's not exactly tearing it up now anyways. Add the fact that he is in the NL and not in the Cell, he'd be doing about the same. Plus he was demanding a ridiculous sum of money considering how little he did in his contract year.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:13 PM) This is exactly what he did against Boston a few times that basically got him run out of NY. Why trade a guy throwing 95 that you pay someone to take off your hands. The Yankees panic the second there is any trouble with any of their players. They never hang on to guys when they're struggling. Plus I wouldn't put to much stock in the personnel decisions of a team that willingly took Esteban Loaiza.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:05 PM) I have a question for you then. Is it completely unreasonable for someone to state that based on his history over the last few years. Including last year of pitching similiar to what we see tonight, to come to the conclusion that maybe he has regressed and lost confidence in his fastball just a bit. That he is reverting to forkball city. I know I might not be the eternal optimist. But if this performance, matched up with his last few, and his history from last few years. Does this not ring warning signs. The guy has like two major league seasons behind him. There isn't a whole lot of information to go by. The guy put together a solid two months of baseball, and things haven't changed that much. He's always going to walk a decent number of guys. In his recent struggles, the problem has been hits more than walks (4 homers in the Az game, 1 and 5 other hits in the other one). In his last 4, he's had one pretty good start, one mediocre one, and two bad ones (and this one of course). He still has to go a long way to get his numbers back to his previous totals.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:03 PM) Contreras has been sharp in like one out of his last 5 starts. His last two starts have been absolutely brutal. If he continues to struggle like he's been, we WILL need to be concerned about finding another starter. The thing with Contreras is that his approach is so different from the attitude of the big 3 starters. His overall peformance this year is still better than what we got from Freddy and Jon last year. Things could be worse.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 10:59 PM) See how great the team unity is after a few more of these types of starts. We need someone to throw strikes. He's still better than virtually any #4 starter you're going to find. He's having a bad month. The guy's ERA was 3.13 after his first June start. We're really splitting hairs if we're that worried about the back end of our staff considering how well our top 3 are doing and how far in front in the division we are.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 10:53 PM) 7 Walks. This is why we need to trade for a pitcher. Conteras doing this as our number 5, sure. Conteras doing this, and then El Duque doing the same thing with an 85 mph fastball the next day. God. We need another starter about as much as I need a sharp stick up my ass. We've got the best ERA of any starting staff in the AL, and 3rd in the majors. Giving up serious talent and spending a bunch of money for another starting pitcher would be an absolute waste. Whoever we'd get would make about 12 more in the regular season and two tops in the playoffs. It's not like we need an ace to beat most team's 4th starters anyways.