Balta1701

QUOTE(bulokis @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 09:45 PM) All we need to do is offer Paulie close to the highest offer he gets and maybe he will sign for less money. And what if he decides he wants those last few million? I just hope we don't d*ck around with Paulie and try to offer him something crazy like money deferred to 2030. At some point, the difference between a $48 million contract and a $50 million contract isn't nearly as important as keeping the guy. Hopefully he'll be nice enough to give us the chance to match any other offer he receives, and if it is a sensible offer and not something obscene like Ordonez's deal, we should immediately match.

QUOTE(Felix @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 09:31 PM) They got a mention on the Daily Show No s***...tonight or did I miss it last week? The Colbert Report mentionned us last Thursday I believe.

QUOTE(Mercy! @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 09:16 PM) Why is my name in this thread's title? I don't believe in gasoline. Neither does Carl Everett.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 09:34 PM) 50 cents' song is called "Window Shopper" from the soundtrack for the movie of "Get Rich or Die Trying". I hate him. That is helpful. Thanks for clarifying. I just haven't bothered to notice...probably because I just don't care that much. Dah well.

Damn, now I have an actual debate...do I want to enter my reception to Thunderstruck, the Imperial March from Star Wars, or the theme from Star Trek: TNG. Dah you and your helpful ideas! Congrats anywho.

I dont' know about funny...but right now I'm confused as all Hell.

Glendon Rusch just inked a 2 year deal with the Cubs.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 05:03 PM) Kruk said crede is a superstar in the making... i tend to agree. Why does this make me suddenly doubt Crede so much more?

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:57 PM) well a walkoff grand slam would be pretty cool.......... As would a Buehrle perfect game during that game.

Generally in the $2.80's here. Although, I really don't care, since the price right now for my transportation depends on the sale price of a few Dr. Peppers and some coffee at the local grocery stores.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:45 PM) Yes Frank is a big man and he puts a lot of pressure on his ankle..... and if he played 1B it could be a problem but the man is the DH he should be able to get at least 450 bats next season. Who is the pitcher in your sig?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:42 PM) I know. I'm not sure if he can repeat his 2004 because pitchers were serving him up a lot more fastballs then. He's not seeing many pitches over the plate anymore because pitchers know he will swing at some crap off the plate. His weakness is sliders and breaking stuff low and away, just like Rowand. I do think that Uribe can put up numbers between his 2004 and 2005 seasons next year, somewhere around a .770 OPS with 20 homers. Exactly my point. His weakness with the pitches outside the plate is something that can be worked out mechanically. He swings at those pitches because he thinks they're close enough to swing at, which means we need to find a way to get him to stop swinging at them. When he added the leg kick, it delayed his swing enough that he was able to hold up on that pitch for a time, and he immediately became virtually our most dangerous hitter. This is a mechanics problem. It can be solved. Normally, when a person keeps their head still, it enables them to stay back on pitches longer and drive the ball. When their head dives forwards, they tend to lose sight of the ball earlier, and are more susceptible to swinging and missing at pitches out of the strike zone. Thus...one possible solution is to try to find a way to keep Uribe from diving forwards...and this would require spreading his legs out such that he's shifting his weight without his whole body diving forward.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:29 PM) Chris Young could hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 7 of the 2008 World Series, and it would never match my excitement level that took place when PK hit that slam in Game 2, etc. The first is definitely the sweetest and the best. Now, it's time for the White Sox to continue to be an ass-kicking machine with a loaded pitching staff. Agreed. You can only win the first world series of your lifetime 1 time.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:27 PM) They don't need to. They can just keep making stupid decisions like Jaret Wright, and the Red Sox'll cruise. Amazingly, the Yankees are spending so much more than everyone else that they can actually afford some stupid decisions, as long as they simultaneously make an occasional smart one and at the same time bring along an occasional young guy.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:23 PM) A man with Frank's size doesn't just drastically recover from two major injuries like that to be 100 pct. He even talked this season about how he could barely run, and how much it hurt him. I think we're fooling ourselves to think he can be as healthy as a 25 year old player. If KW brings him back next season, he better have a contingency plan if Thomas gets hurt again. I think the reason he could barely run was that he didn't have time to fully recover from the first injury and pushed himself so hard to get back that he wound up with the 2nd. If he were genuinely recovered...then it's possible that he could just be done with the foot problem and move on. 1 thing that might be worth thinking about is that the rest of his body hasn't really been subjected to the rigors of a full baseball season (being plunked by balls, diving into bases, lots of running) for over a year now, and it'll be almost 2 years when the season starts. It's entirely possible that this could help him stay healthier, just because he'll have been able to recover from all those other little nagging things that have been around through the years. On the other hand, he is 2 years older, so that's going to work against that theory. Meh, who knows, I still want him as my DH if he can walk.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:23 PM) I don't see why anyone wants to replace Uribe. He plays awesome defense and makes very little money. His numbers after the All-Star break when he added the leg kick and started taking more bad pitches were very good. I'd like to see what he can do with his new repertoire from the start of next season. Next season, I think Uribe will put up numbers between his 2004 and 2005. I don't see why some people want to get rid of a cheap, studly defender that puts up decent numbers batting ninth. My post earlier was me basically saying that I really think Uribe can repeat his first 1/2 of 2004, but I think he needs some serious work on his batting mechanics in order to do it.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:16 PM) how much do you guys think the angels and other teams are gonna offer him. It was only espn 1000 but they make it sound like anaheim is gonna offer a lot. Already under heavy discussion in other threads.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:13 PM) KW has to take the same approach in 2006 as he did in '05. He can't count on Frank being healthy all season. Therefor I would love to get another Lefty DH to share time with Frank. Ken Griffey? I doubt it. They will still be asking for the world. Overbay? Possibly, for the right price. Any other suggestions? Here's the big problem with that concept...how much do you want to give up for a guy who you think should "Share" time with Frank? We saw this season that we already had a little bit of trouble just with Everett sharing time with Frank - at the time, we wanted to find ways to get both of them itno the lineup, and it was just very difficult. You don't find highly paid guys to "share" time with another player. You don't find high quality guys to share time. You don't make big deals, like trading for Overbay, to share time. If you want someone to "Share" time, you need to find someone who is cheap and who offers you something. This means you need to find someone who firstly is young, and doesn't yet qualify for arbitration. Secondly, you need to find someone who is good enough such that you don't suffer when you take them out of the lineup, but yet someone who isn't so dynamite that when you take them out of the lineup for Frank, your fans don't get pissed off because he's not in the lineup (think Griffey here - would you really want him sitting on the bench 1/2 the time?) If we're going to keep Frank, the best options for platoons are probably the ones in house. Some combination of Gload (giving Konerko added rest and allowing Paulie to DH), Brian Anderson (giving the outfield added rest as well), or Joe Borchard (again, outfield, but with worse defense than BA, even though he could still somehow manage to be the biggest bat of the 3). Rogowski could figure into this as well, but I think he's still too young. We have enough youth going around that our young guys can provide a sufficient backup for the hurt at a reasonable price, and at the same time we can get them big league experience and training for the future. If we're going to go with Hurt, the best backup options are in house, and if Frank goes down for the whole season, then maybe you consider a trade. If you want to go after someone like an Overbay, he should get the #3 slot in the order, no questions asked. He cannot just be expected to Share Time with Frank.

QUOTE(chitownsportsfan @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 07:02 PM) NO way should Kenny pursue Furcal, unless JR suddenly desides a 110+ million dollar payroll is realistic for the next 3 years. And even if JR did...anyone else have other ideas on where we could better spend that green? Locking up our pitching staff, for example, or maybe making a run at a really large bat in 06. On a side note, but since someone brought up Uribe...I've been wondering about this...does anyone else think he could benefit from a dramatic change in the way he stands at home plate? I've watched Juan for a ccouple years now, as many of you have, and I've noticed 2 things about his swing: 1. He murders the ball when he is seeing the ball well. This was why the leg kick helped him...he got his timing down such that he could keep an eye on the ball and not swing as wildly at pitches out of the strike zone. When he started taking more pitches, he got immediately hot. 2. When he stands in the box, he has his feet very very close together. When he starts his swing, he moves his front foot at least 1-2 feet forward in a large step. When he does this...his head goes flying forwards. There was another hitter who in 2004 had a very similar swing problem to #2 - Andruw Jones. In 05, he came in with a new batting stance, with his legs spread out, such that his head stayed far more motionless during his swing. It allowed him to see the ball far better, and we know what the results were. I think Uribe could benefit from a batting stance change. First and foremost, I wonder what would happen with him if someone could convince him to spread his legs apart by a foot or so, so that when he took his stride and shifted his weight from back to front, his head didn't go flying and he wouldn't pull off the ball as easy. Secondly, I wonder what would happen with him if someone tried to open his legs up, such that his first motion was towards the plate. This might give him the added benefit of being able to see the ball better - we've seen people dramatically improve their career by opening up their stance so that they could see the ball better as it was leaving the pitcher's hand. Just some random Uribe thoughts.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 06:45 PM) You're pretty much saying that Theo Epstein isn't confident in his abilities to put a winner on the field? That's what it seems like. Sounds to me like he lost the power struggle between he and Luchino, not any of the theories you're concocting (sp?)... If I were running that team, right now I would not be confident about my abilities to put a world series winner on the field. They have a pitching staff with serious holes. They have 2 different key players who have already asked to be traded - Ramirez and Wells. They are in the process of trying to build the right way - from the bottom up, but that takes time. And at the same time, they're faced with major pressures to win now - this is how Edgar Renteria ends up locked up with a 4 year deal when Hanley Ramirez was only 1 or 2 years away at the same position. Furthermore, the Yankees actually started to get younger this year, which will only make it harder for the BoSox to challenge them next year. If they can find adequate, young solutions in guys like Cano and Wang...guys who just fill 1 or 2 roster spots, that gives them even more dough to spend. And they won't always make stupid decisions like Kevin Brown.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 06:52 PM) Nothing witty... lame... "Do not taunt the Rally Crede".

QUOTE(WinninUgly @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 06:37 PM) What is the possibility of Dye and Anderson splitting time between RF and DH? I would say it's possible if we wind up losing Thomas and we can't find anyone else to DH. You might even find the name Borchard thrown in there if that is the case, depending on whether or not he can hit above .100 next spring. But, this would probably be the worst case scenario...it assumes we are simply unable to do anything about the DH spot this winter. It also means that KW will likely trade for Carl Everett in June.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 06:27 PM) Is there a way for a team to talk to another GM that's already under contract to another team, such as Beane or Ricciardi? Some people around here seem to believe they can, but I'm not sure. I believe the team would have to seek the permission of the club where the guy is under contract. Before they hired Theo, the BoSox offered Beane something like $2.5 million a year to head to Boston, and Beane turned it down to stay out west. He wont' be moving anywhere.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 05:50 PM) Rather than dump on Carlos, congrats to him for being awesome. He was a big time RBI guy for that team and they needed him more than they needed Pods. If they can lock him up, he will be part of a team that will contend for the playoffs next season or soon after with Weeks, Fielder, and Hardy I just can't imagine them signing him, and if they did, I can't imagine it'd be good for them. In 2005, their payroll in Milwaukee was under $40 mil. Barring a significant expansion in revenues...when Lee hits the FA Market, he'll probably command $10 million a year or more in a long term deal depending on how badly the Yankees and Red Sox need outfielders. That would mean that the Brewers would have to lock up roughly 1/4 of their team's entire salary in 1 man. Imagine us with Arod. That would kill any flexibility that team would have to make any moves whatsoever.

QUOTE(whitesoxjr27 @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 05:48 PM) red sox boards are on fire. there fans are really pissed theo is gone. And if he waited 1-2 more years, and couldn't put a winner on the field...their reaction would have been the exact opposite. Which, I think, is probably one of the reasons he left.