BaseballNick

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 20, 2009 -> 05:53 PM) After another awful performance by Brent Lillibridge (0-4 w/ 3 K), his BB/K ratio now stands at 1/18 on the Spring. He has no business making the opening day roster. Maybe baseball isn't his thing.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:32 PM) terrible. all around. lousy offense, wimpy defense, no rebounding No energy. Way too many second chance points for WKU. Poor overall effort (aside from Brock). McCamey is the laziest guard I've seen in a long time. Oh, and god-awful perimeter defense. Where is Tisdale? Where is Davis?

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 08:49 PM) Hurt, no. Undervalued, yes, woefully undervalued. Woefully undervalued? That may be overstating it a bit. Javy Vazquez was a solid #2 starter when acquired. You don't get starting pitching w/o giving up something of value. By the way, Nick Swisher (.332) reached base at a higher rate than Chris Young (.315) last season - and what did we think of Swish's performance?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 05:55 PM) Lillibridge 0-5 w/ 3 K. That's a 1/14 BB/K ratio for the spring. That's well over 200 Ks over a full season's worth of AB. He has 4 more strikeouts than total bases. Wouldn't be surprised to see him reassigned to minor league camp early. Don't worry, it's something mechanical in his swing and it'll be addressed. I know it's early, but I just don't think he's got it. He has hardly put up a fight for 2B, and played himself out of the utility role.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) Unfortunately for us taxpayers, AIG wrote these fantastic contracts for their upper-level people that resulted in bonuses under pretty much any circumstance. They are contractually required to pay them and the government couldn't change these as a requirement of the stimulus money. Guaranteed bonuses? I need this guy negotiating my contracts. Sounds like a very unusual and dangerous business practice.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) They should have just called it a stimulus plan. Then it would have been unpatriotic to question it. The company I work for laid off 7% of our workforce, eliminated bonuses, and cut salary by a considerable amount. AIG would be in far worse shape than my company if not for government intervention. The fact that they were loaned billions of dollars from the govt. and chose to reward their top talent with loads of cash in the worst bear market in 70 years (due in large part to their own poor decisions) warrants their choices being called into question. They can do what they wish with their profits, but now that AIG is essentially a worthless pawn of the govt., I am free to question what they are doing with my money (especially since there's a lot less of it now). I understand that companies need to keep top talent around, and they do so by awarding bonuses, but how strong is your talent when you've bankrupted a "former" global, AAA rated conglomerate? The short answer is: not strong enough to justify $1.2B in bonuses paid with govt. money.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 11:24 AM) slow news day Market is up and news came out that AIG has paid out $165Mil in bonuses. AIG pisses me off.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) If both Contreras and Colon are ready to go with the Sox out of the gate, I really hope whomever is the 6th starter goes to AAA to stay stretched out and to be ready for a problem with one of the starting 5. It doesn't make sense to me to keep your most qualified set of substitute starters in the pen, which would most likely force the Sox to go to something like their 7th or 8th best starting pitcher. If we felt that Contreras and Colon were going to give us 30 starts or so, it would be a different story. But when you feel that a DL trip is a basic certianty, you have to plan accordingly. Two of Marquez, Poreda, and Richard should be at AAA Charlotte as starters. I don't recall Contreras missing a lot of time in any season aside from '08. He appears to be in terrific shape with all of the weight he's lost; that combined with it being a contract year for him gives me really high expectations for Jose this year. In all likelihood, he's auditioning for the last contract of his baseball career. Colon is the guy I'm worried about. He spends a good amount of time on the DL so anything beyond 15 starts would be great from him. I think Marquez, Egbert, Richard, Poreda, and maybe even Broadway should be able to fill in nicely for the other starts.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 05:48 PM) He didn't look good today At least he got the hold. 3 HRs allowed for a sinkerballer isn't very encouraging. I liked what I saw from him earlier, but there's no sugarcoating today's performance from Marquez. That's an ugly line: 3.1 IP, 6H, 4ER, and 3 HR allowed.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 03:50 PM) In a given season he only has to start at SS what? 8-10 times at the most? He shouldn't kill you there. Agreed. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a major concern.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 03:44 PM) Love that guy. I'm sure it was a bomb. I don't trust him at SS, but he's showing us this spring that he can hit a little bit.

9-0 Sox. 3 run HR for Betemit. SEA radio guys already calling for the mercy rule.

6-0 Sox. Olson had trouble finding the zone. When he did, he was hit hard. TCQ with a double to center off the fence. AJ with a 2 RBI single. Olson finally gets pulled.

Harold Baines is 50 today. Happy birthday Harold.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) I don't think they expect Nix to make the team. Why would they not have claimed him on waivers if they saw so much potential? Don't forget they had an extension offered to OCab, so the Sox probably felt that 2B and SS were on the verge of being locked up.

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Mar 3, 2009 -> 09:42 AM) Then again, that's usually how the Cub's hitters look - fooled. The Sox lost that game 13-0. If there was one team being fooled that day, it wasn't the Cubs.

Ozzie commented on this just the other day. He doesn't think Alexei looks or feels comfortable at the top of the order. He likes him in the middle to lower part of the lineup and said something to the effect of Alexei being a dangerous hitter with men on base. I think we can expect to see him at 6 or 7 for the majority of the season.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 03:38 PM) If Thome goes on the DL for an extended period of time, I think we see #35 back in a Sox jersey. I remember KW not being too happy with a #35 not too long ago. I can't see it happening.

The Cell Wrigley Field Fenway Park Yankee Stadium PNC Park Great American Ballpark Jacobs/Progressive Field Camden Yards Miller Park Citizen's Bank Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha My favorites have to be Camden, Fenway, and PNC. The College World Series is a blast too. I definitely want to head back for another.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Feb 25, 2009 -> 03:33 PM) Update? 3-2 LAA still in front.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 20, 2009 -> 02:10 PM) I realize this is now turning into Diamond Club material, but, who is even left now who would be interested in O-Cab? Oakland was talking to him earlier this offseason. Money was the hold up, not the fact they'd lose their 2nd round pick.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:11 AM) The question is though, if Getz does that and Beckham tears it up in Birmingham, what do the Sox do then? I love finally having IF depth. It's been a long time. I would let Beckham play SS and move Alexei to CF.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) I just don't understand how we offer 8, but he gets signed for 5. I would think our offer was contingent upon Dye being moved, or never formally offered at all.

San Francisco Chronicle:

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 6, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) just reading it sends chills down my spine. I still do this day can't believe that ball left the yard...I was sure it was going to land on the warning track with Pods ending up on 3rd. Just eerie. I didn't stand until after the ball had cleared the fence. I thought for sure it was a triple - glad I was wrong.