Balta1701

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:27 PM) Sure looked like BA in CF for the first 80-90 games that I saw. But my reception is bad. So, games played where Mackowiak has more than 3 plate appearances from last year, followed by Wins and Losses. By month. Games W L Apr 9 4 5 May 15 10 5 June 11 7 4 July 8 3 5 Aug 9 4 5 Sept 5 3 2 Mack was pretty useful in May and June when he was on fire and Anderson was pretty bad. But he was getting games right from the start of the season. That adds up to 57 games. For the first half of our season, Mack and Anderson essentially split time, and Mack was the starting CF for more than a month. There are an awful lot of other games where he got 2 at bats which I didn't count.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:24 PM) not to mention his ability to handle the bat better than Brian. Which he neither did during Spring training nor is he doing so now.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 08:47 PM) Really, I get it -- Anderson had his shot and blew it. Just ship him to the Marlins already instead of repeatedly telling the beat reporters that he sucks and failed as a ballplayer and professional. I'm tired of reading that story. Call up Terrero and use him the way a defensive replacement should be used. Starting 90% of the games in CF because Erstad isnt' that good?

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:09 PM) Yeah, that worked great last year. 3rd place. woo. We only saw that lineup in what, 30% of the games? Hell, Mackowiak was in CF for half the season.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 09:01 PM) Thome will be attractive to other AL teams, and his contract wouldn't be impossible to move, since we're only paying a little more than $9 million....with the Phillies' subsidy. I'm not sure if he still has a no trade clause to certain teams, off the top of my head. Konerko could go either way IMO. Big Jim still has a full no trade clause. According to his people Jim was only willing to waive that clause to go to either Cleveland or Chicago when the Phils wanted to clear space for Howard. Basically, the only chance we might have is in dealing him to another AL Central team.

Like I said, if I wanted to, I could do this weekly. Maybe we should also mention the $25 billion in bailouts that the Congress gave those companies after 9/11 as well. So there goes some of your fancy tax dollars. Enjoy!

I don't think you resign Javier Vazquez to the contract he received if you are planning to drop salary by $20 million. I think KW is trying to do the best job he can to make sure he can compete every year. So if he loses JD and Buehrle this offseason, he hopes that Sweeney, Fields, and some of his young pitchers can step in to make a difference. But he spends some money on people he thinks can be relative bargains if they start to perform, and rolls the dice. If Vazquez performs for the next 3 years exactly how he has in the past few, he is probably worth his contract, but barely. But Javy also has the ability to pitch well above those numbers, and that's what Kenny is hoping for; a little luck with that money. Buehrle though seems almost certain to get a lot more than Vazquez no matter what, even if he stinks up this season, and it sure looks like he'll be paid at or above what his ceiling could be. KW is trying to find a way to keep this team winning.

Government mandated study on abstinence only programs discovers...Abstinence only programs appear to do exactly nothing.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 06:43 PM) Of course no need to panic but I am not impressed. Erstad looks worse at the plate to start the year than BA did a year ago. Or just as bad. And Iguchi is pathetic right now. Crede has been bad and our big bats are doing nothing with the exception of Dye of late. No need to panic, but we're not exactly playing good baseball. Today we got some guys on base and not once could anybody pick up the team and knock in a run. I'd give us a C about now. So, I'm sure this is the mirror image of an argument I would have made last year...but the way I see it, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Jermaine Dye are not going to have horrible seasons. These guys are still going to hit 30+ home runs and drive in somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 runs even in the worst case scenario. All 3 of them have had a habit of being poor starters at some point in their past. Konerko and Dye started slowly in 05 and before, Thome has been a legendary slow starter before last year. The offense will heat up. Iguchi and Crede certainly have the ability to improve, even though that's far less guaranteed than the other guys. Thus far, the bullpen looks solid except for the missing fastball at the end. The starting rotation has so far looked a lot better than last year; after the first 3 games, once guys got into a groove, they've been putting up quality start after quality start, whether or not they win or finish the 6th inning. And Uribe and Podsednik have been hitting, which is an unexpected bonus. If these hitters heat up, as they're going to unless they're hurt, and we don't lose the pitching in the process...we'll start looking a lot better. Based on the last 2 seasons, I'd much rather be worried about the offense than about the pitching. Especially with Thome, Dye, and Konerko. Now if we could just do something about Cf...

What exactly has Erstad done to earn sympathy?

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 07:31 PM) It's only semi-sarcasm. Anderson probably isn't a major league caliber CF (at least at the plate). If it were my team, I'd give Anderson a shot at starting again. So the bottom line for me is that if the Sox aren't going to start him he needs to be out of the organization and the Sox need to find a CF. Brian Anderson was not a major league caliber CF at the plate last year for 4 out of the 6th months. But there's some ray of hope...Brian Anderson is still a couple years younger than me. Brian Anderson has plenty of room to learn. Brian Anderson supposedly spent the winter working out some of the kinks in his swing with Paul Konerko over the offseason. Now, look, Brian Anderson may never hit .350 with 30 home runs. Brian Anderson may not even have a good season with the bat. But IMO the White Sox are not going to win another championship giving Darrin Erstad 650 at bats this season. Brian Anderson at least has the ability to be a lot better. Darrin Erstad is not going to be better. This is who he is, an at-best inconsistent hitter. Brian Anderson was an at-best inconsistent hitter last year, who has the ability to be a lot better, and plays stellar defense. At least make it a damn platoon and give the kid a reasonable chance.

An observation about Erstad: He's a decent backup OF.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 07:35 PM) 29 AB .207 avg, .604 OPS, 18 or so weak groundouts. 1 for his last 16 w/ 5 K Grindingly.

Well, that could have gone a lot worse. QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 04:28 PM) Good jump by Erstad...that could have been a much worse inning with the LF/RF situation. Erstad has been getting better jumps out there than I anticipated. I think everyone expected him to get great jumps, the question is always going to be his closing speed. And his OPS of course.

Chris Shelton says hi.

QUOTE(Soxy @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 02:24 PM) We need to change something somehow in our approach over there (and I don't count the surge as a new idea), so I'm not exactly sure what fresh ideas are being brought forth. All I know is if we keep doing the same stuff (that isn't working) then we're never going to make any headway. But I don't think we can, in good conscience, leave it in such a mess. So now, I'm going to fire one more bit of reality into this discussion. There is one more key point, and that is that George W. Bush thinks that things over there are doing fine. He has acted this entire time like he has thought everything is great, and all we need are patience. George W. Bush wants us 100% to stay the course, exactly as it currently is. No matter how many great plans we come up with here, no matter how many problems we identify, no matter what people think the solution is, George W. Bush will not accept them, because anything that would acknowledge even the slightest mistake or failure seems anathema to him. Therefore, there are 3 things that can happen. Either we have to take control of this war away from Mr. Bush, which essentially can't happen because he can give orders to the military, or the Congress makes use of its budgetary authority to take the troops out of his hands. Or...we sit around just like this until January 21, 2009, at which point we'll have been nearly 6 years into a civil war, thousands more will be dead, and the situation will be 18 months further into the depths of Hell.

Give em Jell, Javy.

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 03:04 PM) Did Piniella got nuts in the post-game? If he's blowing up already, he'll be dead way before this team ever wins the big one. Seriously, he'll have a heart attack if he goes off every time the Chicago Cubs implode "The Cubs are who I thought they were!"

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) Giving a 30 year old starter who strikes no one out, walks around 50 and gives up a s*** load of hits $11M a year when your payroll constraints seem to be right around $60M (having the 25th highest attendance in baseball last season will not help matters) could be a BIG mistake. CC and Hafner hit the open market after the '08 season and they'll pull in about $30M per year combined if they please. ~$40M for 3 players? I don't know. Like I said, it depends on what they're willing to spend. Almost every other team in baseball has had its revenue explode the past few years, and Cleveland has maneuvered themselves into some very good deals wiht some of its folks like Sizemore, along with having a good stream of youth on the way up. If Cleveland is willing to pump up it's total salary to hold onto Hafner and CC for a few more years, or at least Hafner specifically if they don't think CC can stay healthy, they're in ok shape, but that all depends. It's like Vazquez's deal. If the White Sox were looking to cut back on salary to get back to $80 million, it's a pretty bad deal unless he turns into Johan. If the Sox are looking to stay near $100 million, it's an ok to pretty good deal because that's relatively fair market value and still allows him to be traded.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:14 AM) I hope he has fun in Tampa then That'd be a great place for him to wind up IMO. Although I doubt they'd want to even pay that salary. He could fit in well in Washington.

That's only a good deal IMO, not a great deal. It's a great deal if Cleveland is able to increase salary to still be able to hang onto guys like Hafner and CC when they hit FA in a couple years.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 06:59 PM) What the heck is up with Terrero? This guy has been raking since the start of spring training. Terrero put up an over-900 OPS last year in AAA. He just hasn't had a chance or hasn't put things together in limited at bats in the big leagues.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 05:44 PM) From what I remember, I think the Cubs offered Prior, O's wanted Zambrano. Chicago Sun-Times, January 3, 2006. Chris DeLuca, Chicago Sun Times, January 5, 2006. NBC News, Dec 23rd, 2005.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 04:48 PM) No wait, Nifong is still employed, at least at this moment, along with his bosses, the guy who helped him hide the DNA evidence, etc. Who's the more agreived party here, the Duke 3 or the women basketball players? With the way CBS is acting now, you would think being called a nappy headed ho is worse than rape. Imus was an idiot, but this overreaction is just wrong. CBS had no problems with all the money he made for them, maybe they should donate the profits from his shows over the last year or so to Nappy-headed Hoes Anonomyous, or something. You know, get rid of that tainted money. Is there anyone out there who doubts that the DA in the Duke case is going to rapidly get what is coming to him, including major lawsuits and a disbarment (the process for which I believe is already under way)? And I think that CBS and MSNBC donating a chunk of their advertising moeny to a worthy cause would be a wonderful way for them to show actual atonement for having employed Imus, and it'd send a great message to the companies carrying Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, and their ilk; keep giving these people airtime and expect to be really burned eventually.

Dave Stewart.