BaseballNick

I just ordered my White Sox plates. I'm a UIC grad so I went with the collegiate UIC plates where you can only have five characters. I went with WTSOX. If there are any other UIC grads out there, GOSOX and CHSOX are still available.

Link

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Jan 14, 2008 -> 10:00 PM) I really hope that a change of personel (who even knows if Porcello was ranked higher than Poreda on their board due to our s***ty/questionable picks over the years excluding Fields) from us can maybe make us do things differently or if Jerry/KW can put up with Bora$ (both unlikely) but we will see. I doubt a talent like Pedro will even be available to us even with Bora$ as his agent, but if he is, we better take him even if he doesn't sign. (get the same draft slot next year) I'm kinda excited to see how the changes we made in the farm system pan out and see if can rebuild the farm and have a future. Agreed. There will be great talent at the 8th spot in the draft and we need to take the best available player regardless of his representation. I don't care if he's a pitcher, 1B, 3B, Boras client, whatever - swallow your pride and take the best player.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 14, 2008 -> 08:37 AM) The Sox would draft a Boras client if they were the right player - you still get the guy for his time in the minors plus a bunch of cheap years after. I'd love to believe you, but if what you say is true, then how do you explain Rick Porcello slipping past us last year?

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Jan 13, 2008 -> 11:50 PM) Eldred has some pop in his bat, do i have the right person in mind?? 14HRs is 236 career ABs. Brad Eldred

Carlton Fisk Joey Belle David Wells Jose Paniagua D'Angelo Jimenez

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 03:59 PM) Still one of the biggest jokes in MLB award history. Crede was nowhere near the best offensive 3B in the AL in '06. I can't imagine the award would be given to someone who was "nowhere near the best offensive 3B". Joe hit .283, 30HRs, and knocked in 94. That's not a bad line at all. When you compare it to what guys like Brandon Inge put up, it actually looks pretty damn good.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 02:34 PM) The Angels will NOT do that deal. Joe Crede won the Silver Slugger in 2006 and we know what he brings to the table defensively. If Joe is 100% healthy, then he's worth Ervin Santana in a trade. Santana didn't exactly wow anyone last year.

Ken Rosenthal's take:

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle believes the Giants may try to acquire either Rolen or Crede since talks with Pedro Feliz aren't going anywhere. Link What do the Giants have that we might be interested in?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 11:55 PM) Wonder if Swisher is good trade bait for Bedard. We'd have had a better chance at Bedard with Gio and DLS than with Swisher, don't you think? I can't imagine Swish was acquired with the intent of being dealt. He's exactly the kind of player we need.

I suppose Rauch was no longer considered a prospect when he was traded. BTW, that is one pathetic list of pitchers.

Per Rotoworld

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 26, 2007 -> 12:50 PM) I assume that people are allowed bad days on occasion, right? The man is probably hounded for autographs everywhere he goes. Absolutely he's allowed bad days. I was probably 12 years old at the time, and the one encounter I had with him was pretty rotten, so I'm probably always going to see him as a jerk. It would have meant the world to us if he'd have simply said hello. I'd probably be singing his praises to everyone if he did.

I met Fisk once when I was back in little league, and the guy couldn't have been a bigger jerk. Since then, he was the one Sox player I couldn't find it in myself to root for.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Dec 20, 2007 -> 12:08 PM) And when he invokes his no trade clause...that'll be the end of that. I don't think Cincinnati is the kind of place he would say yes to. You're probably right. I was being hypothetical.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) KW would be committing "hometown discount" suicide if he trades Buerhle before he even starts collecting on his extension. What's there to collect? You can't just keep a player solely based on pride if he can be your biggest bargaining chip on the trade market. This team has holes; I think we can all agree on that much. Kenny can tweak the roster to make this team a competitor for maybe another year, but that's only if a lot of things fall into place. I think it makes more sense to deal Mark if he can yield the White Sox two or three good, young players. Mark is a good pitcher, he's a hero on the South Side, and there's no player on the roster that I like more than him...but he's not a world beater. Baseball is a business. As we saw this past month or so, FAs aren't out to do us any favors. The free agent route is a pretty risky, not to mention, expensive way to address your team's needs, and it burnt us this year. Trading Mark can help "fix" years of poor drafts and give us the depth we're in pretty desperate need of at the moment.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 19, 2007 -> 02:38 PM) Ladies and gentlemen, your next Chicago White Sox General Manager. Don't tease us.

QUOTE(2nd_city_saint787 @ Dec 15, 2007 -> 05:54 PM) you guys are ruthless lol You might take it as negativity, but we're just trying to be realistic. That's a pretty one-sided deal.

QUOTE(2nd_city_saint787 @ Dec 15, 2007 -> 03:19 PM) Willits has a ton of upside and is gonna be a top of the line lead off hitter for a long time in this league. From what I know (i have a buddy whos a huge Angels fan) he's got a good eye and doesnt K much. Willits is going to be 27 next year so I'd say he's closer to becoming Scott Podsednik Jr. than a top lead off hitter for years to come.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 04:03 PM) I can't critique your math, but i bet 4.8% is too high. Considering the call-ups, etc., and the fact that many of these players were mostly career minor leaguers, I'd bet the number is lower. But in terms of players that actaully did test positive in 03' when mlb first began testing, I believe the number was 5-7%. I bet the Mitchell Report didn't catch all users either...pretty much just those who went through Radomski.

Albert Belle

It would be a huge mistake not to offer Crede arbitration. They have to do it. He won the Silver Slugger in '06 and was on his way to one hell of a promising career before the back issues. I have to think he'll be around long enough to at least prove he's worth something in a trade.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 02:22 PM) So lets trade a 3rd baseman who is young cheap and has potential, so we can lose our 3rd baseman the Boras client to FA and have Andy Gonzales as our 3rd baseman next year. Cool. Where do I sign up. BRILLIANT!!!

I don't think we have hats big enough for that noggin of his.