Kalapse

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:27 AM) I think if Williams looks really bad, then the LOOGY job gets interesting, with Threets and maybe even Leesman in play. But that seems unlikely. The final righty spot... I think there are still three guys in play - Santos, Hudson and Torres. That might be interesting in the next week or two, possibly. The bench? Assuming we are carrying 7 in the pen, then three guys are set: Castro, Jones/Kotsay, Vizquel. That does leave one open slot for Nix, Retherford, De Aza or someone else, if I am not mistaken. That final bench spot is almost undoubtedly going to Nix, both of their DH's are capable of playing the outfield, the only bench player capable of playing the infield is Vizquel and he's 42, Nix is out of options and Retherford isn't even on the 40 man roster. Nix did enough last year to earn himself a spot on this year's roster given his competition and they're not going to open him up to waivers in order to carry a 24 years old who's never hit above AA in Retherford. The only think working in De Aza's favor is his great speed and I think the coaching staff sees Nix/Vizquel as an acceptable pinch running combo or at least enough so to not require a bench job be allocated to a player who's sole purpose would be such. I don't think Hudson is making the team, he'll go down and get consistent innings in AAA as he should. So that last spot is between Santos and Torres in my mind and I think Santos has already shown enough that they wouldn't want to open him up to waivers either (even though there's a 89% chance he'd clear), he'd have to blow up to fall behind the incredibly underwhelming Torres (good god is his arsenal banal). Even so, a battle for the final 2 spots in the bullpen (roles that are often influx during the season anyway) aren't exactly what I would call interesting.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:19 AM) I think Dolsi, Cabrera and possibly Threets have made bad enough showings (early) that they may now be out of the picture. Williams has the LOOGY job unless he looks awful. The last spot in the pen will come down to Santos or Hudson, and I'd bet they want Hudson getting more innings, and they keep Santos. This is shaping up to be one of the more boring spring trainings in recent memory, the roster is basically set so we have no interesting roster battles left to watch. All that's left is getting a sneak peek at the young talent in the system before they start getting cut, the next month is going to be excruciating.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 10:24 AM) It seems that all of my opinions have already been stated, but I have no problem repeating them. This is very good news for the White Sox since Nathan has been the best closer in baseball for a while, although you never like to see this happen to such a (seemingly) good guy. I had no idea Nathan was that old. And if any team can throw in some nobody and not lose a step, it's the Twins. One of, one of. Mo has held the crown for quite some time and still does.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 10:23 AM) I don't mind being wrong. And in this case, I actually prefer it. I think it was the language about voiding the 2012 season and the club option that threw me. Sounds like free agent language. Yeah, it can be confusing. The key is to look for a clause such as the one in Hideki Matsui's original contract with the Yankees: If that's not in there then he's under team control for the full 6 years of service. Such clauses are typically only given to a 30+ year old Japanese free agents (since they're considered far more proven than your typical Cuban, Thai or Korean free agent) however, they're only given out in very special circumstaces; very good relievers such as Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito didn't get the release clause (much to Okajima's surprise and chagrin when he found out a few months ago) but Hideki Matsui and Tadahito Iguchi did. If someone like Jose Contreras didn't get a release clause in his original deal (he even got a no trade) then prospects like Ramirez, Viciedo, Morales and Betancourt aren't getting them either (though 3 of them did get arbitration void clauses, I believe Alexei is the only one to not have such language included in his contract).

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) This doesn't change that much. I’m not trying to make this issue a referendum on my opinions of the closer position, but I fail to see how losing a closer accounts for the large gap in offense between the two teams. This is good news for us, just not the biggest news we could have hoped for. Yeah, well you just turned it into one.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 09:32 AM) Per Cots... He has a clause in his contract that states "if Viciedo has enough service time to qualify for arbitration after 2011, he may void the 2012 season. If voided, the club may exercise an option at $3.5M." Again... not sure but... doesn't sound like 6 years of control to me. Hate to say it but you're wrong. That clause is just in there to protect him from getting screwed in his first year of arbitration if he made the team his first year in America and lit it up, he still would have been under team control for 3 more years but he also would have gotten himself another million dollars. It's a lot like the clause is David Price's contract where he can void his entire deal if he's eligible for arbitration by a certain season, it's a common clause thrown in there to protect players who sign long term deals when they are very young, the Rays are in no risk of losing him before he reaches 6 years of service, same goes for the Sox. (Kendry Morales also has such a clause) He did sign a major league contract but that just means that he's burning options each year he spends in the minors not that he's gone after his contract runs out. He's still gotta earn service time like any other player and he hasn't been doing so. He's under our control for at least another 6 years, that's from Rick Hahn's mouth, it makes sense and I have no reason not to believe him. Viciedo signed a major league contract before even playing a professional game, so did Rick Porcello, Alexei Ramirez, Andrew Miller, Kendry Morales and David Price but none of these 6 players will be free agents when their contracts run out because they don't have a release clause. It has to be included in your contract that if you don't have a new deal in place 2 months after your original deal runs out you must be released by the club, Viciedo and Ramirez's deals do not contain such a clause. (they were considered closer to prospects than proven major leaguers so there was no way a team would go along with such a clause unlike the contract of most Japanese ball players.) We control Alexei for 2 extra years beyond the length of his deal and the same goes for Viciedo.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 07:39 PM) Unless they don't think he will recover. And if I remember correctly, Texas has a pretty damn good farm system. Maybe they have the OF pieces to replace him. Lets just say that you're right and they don't believe in him and think his production can easily be replaced (I don't think this is the case but whatever); you still have to give him a chance to up his value during the season because it's pretty much s*** right now and you can't just let a talent like him go for a couple ok prospects.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 05:45 PM) Is it how the system is now in the AL? Pretty sure AL pitchers have hit in AL games somewhat recently, though that was due to managerial error rather than them actually being capable hitters. EDIT: OK, yeah I was right. MAtt Garza hit against us in 2007. Hipolito Pichardo in 2000. There's been a few more too, pretty sure. Andy Sonanstine hit 3rd vs CLE last season due to a f***up by Dave Martinez. He actually went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI. And Garza ended up hitting because Mike Redmond got hurt very early in that game and the backup catcher (Joe Mauer) was the starting DH so they were forced to forfeit the designated hitter for the remainder of the game when Mauer took over catching duties. Even without a DH the Twins still pummeled up something like 12-0.

Quotes from Ozzie via Cowley:

QUOTE (earthshiner @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 05:21 PM) I think it is technically optional That's actually true and a reason why his scenario makes little sense. The DH in the AL is technically optional yet you never saw the Indians forfeit the designated hitter and allow CC Sabathia to hit for "matchup" purposes because even though he has the 6th highest OPS and 4th highest AVG of any SP over the past 10 years (min 50 PA) he's still a well below replacement level hitter, oh and an enormous man who could easily injury himself running the bases or swinging a bat.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:50 PM) Did Mitchell just pass De Aza on the depth chart? No, no he did not.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:36 PM) I agree. If Kotsay falls flat on his face, this guy good be looking at some serious at-bats. But that probably won't happen. Eh, if Kotsay falls flat on his face Andruw Jones steps in and gets those ABs. If Andruw Jones falls flat on his face and we're still in contention someone outside the organization gets those ABs. However, if Juan Pierre hits the DL for an extended period of time that could mean an opportunity for De Aza. De Aza's a slap hitting speedster with next to no power, he's not a viable option as a DH replacement, of course neither is Mark Kotsay.

God of War III is getting glowing reviews. Unfortunately, I've yet to even begin begin GoW II.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:15 PM) Melton butchering Markakis's name. One of the better players the last few years. Come on, Bill. Get with it. I didn't hear it, did he say Mar-cack (as in yack) -is? As opposed to the correct "cake" pronounciation?

It's pretty simple. Putz is pronounced "puhts" as in Yiddish for penis/fool But JJ pronounces it "pŏŏts" as in "puts" due to its Yiddish definition. Somehow the announcer has decided his name is "poots" which I have never heard before.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 03:41 PM) Just saying it should be optional game to game for each team. They would just have to declare DH or no DH before the game started. And every team aside from the Reds 20 times a season would declare DH every time.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 03:20 PM) I prefer the DH, but how about making it optional? Say the Brewers and the Cubs play. Milwaukee decides to use the DH with Prince Fielder, but the Cubs have Zambrano pitching, so they don't. Let the individual teams decide what to do game by game. Aside from 2008 Carlos Zambrano has been a well below replacement level hitter and he's about as good as it gets (sans Micah Owings) when it comes to offensive production from a SP. If you have even a decent major league hitter on your bench (Xavier Nady for example) you're going with the bench player over the SP 100 times out of 100. And that's even before taking injury risk into account *cough* jakepeavy *cough*. The 2 best offensive pitchers over the past 10 years are Brandon Backe and Mike Hampton (the only starters sans Owings with 50+ PA and a .700+ OPS) and they're also two of the biggest injury risks you're ever gonna see. No sane manager would allow either to hit and open themselves up to additional risk of injury when they could just pencil Jeff Keppinger or Darin Erstad into the lineup. And no Carlos Zambrano pinch hitting in the 7th inning or Jason Marquis pinch running in the 10th isn't the same thing. That's late in a close game using National League rules where position players start to get scarce so you use one of your athletic pitchers for a half inning rather than burning a position player that you may need for extended innings later on in the game.

@InsideTheSox: #WhiteSox vs. Sea: Pierre7, Beckham4, CQ9, PK3, AJ2, Rios8, Kotsaydh, Teahen5, ARam6. Floyd pitching. Not only is this today's lineup but I do believe it's the opening day lineup.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 10:23 AM) Oh gosh...is being a professional hitter like being a grinder? Screw being a professional hitter, give me a talented hitter. I believe a professional hitter is a 33+ year old who tends to hover around a .700 OPS but thrives in small sample sizes in order to win starting jobs, he then holds the job much too long due to his grindiness. And saying Mark Kotsay is "nothing special against RHP" is far too kind to Mr. Kotsay unless you like sub .740 OPS's and non-existent power as part of a platoon.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Mar 6, 2010 -> 10:47 PM) Yes yes yes! and thats not the fanboyism talking either.. This game is flat out spectacular, and the attention to detail is amazing all the way down to the little things like a relative unknown guy like Jon Rauch's tattoos being done to perfection. its pretty darn cool. I would pay as much as 67 dollars and 43 cents for this game. It's that good.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 6, 2010 -> 10:51 AM) no catcher is worth 22 mil. If first baseman Mark Teixeira who has no where near the offensive potential of Joe Mauer is worth $22.5M then I'm fairly certain Joe Mauer and at least 4 years at the catcher position (probably much more) is worth at least $22M.

Totally forgot I was in this league. I'm in for 2010. Holy crap is my team horrible.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 04:04 PM) Buehrle is going to skip a start. Next one in ten days. I think it's important to note that this was a scheduled skipped start.

I think I'm already bored with Spring Training. It only took, what? 13 innings?

Roethlisberger accused of sexual assault, again.