Greg Hibbard

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 12:29 PM) Well, on the other hand...I'd say that since the moment the Yankees genuinely started trying to buy everyone rather than developing their own key guys (the Giambi deal is a good starting point) they haven't been able to do so. The Red Sox have won with the #2 payroll, but it's worth noting IMO that a huge number of their key guys have been people they developed (Youkilis, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lester, Papelbon) or guys that they acquired in trades, sometimes with the talent they developed (Lowell, Beckett) or guys they absolutely stole from the FA market (Ortiz). Let's just say there's no magic formula either way, obviously. Moneyball hasn't exactly worked out for the A's either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 12:22 PM) The remarkable thing about baseball (not sure it works the same way in hockey) is that the teams who lose out on the high priced FA and have to get creative are invariably the ones who make the better decisions. Sometimes. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees haven't exactly gone 0-fer in the past 15 years of their attempting to buy championships.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) I just don't think it's possible that Colon could have a 5.30 ERA and pitch 200 innings. Ok, let's call it 5.15. Bear in mind that in 2006 Javy Vazquez had a 5.44 ERA on July 30th.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 15, 2009 -> 12:16 PM) I don't think I agree with that last paragraph, he clearly went after high priced talent last offseason though it didn't work out. I think he clearly just has a mandate to lower some payroll this year and is doing that. Call me results oriented, but as a blackhawks fan who suffered through the 90s, I'm developing an annoying allergy to teams who tell me they went after all these FAs and it just didn't work out for whatever reason.

This is a low-risk high reward move in some ways, but in other it could be disasterous. The worst case scenario is not that Colon's an outright bust, it's if he's healthy enough to pitch 200 innings and just good enough to come in with an ERA around 5.3, a WHIP of 1.45 and something resembling a 9-15 record with a team record in his starts of like 12-21. In that case, we get no player development out of that slot and we get pretty much one of the worst expected performances out of a formerly talented vet imaginable (yes there are worse examples with worse stats, but that's not the point of this post). The exact same above point could be made about JC, or Garcia, etc. Getting "veteran" production out of the 5th pitching slot, while still getting awful stats, is just wasting development IMO. At this point, with this team, it has to be built with more sure pieces, especially in the pitching staff. IMO, the expected value of this pitching staff is not looking good right now. I realize Danks and Floyd were very solid last year, but Gavin Floyd's peripherals are still not great and I could easily see either him or Danks somewhat reverting. Why are we penciling them in automatically for the kinds of seasons they both had exactly once? I don't get it. History tells us that very often players don't have back to back years in which they sustain improvement far above and beyond their projections or expectations. What irks me the most about this offseason in general is that KW has seemed to obsessively fall in love with utilizing just one method for improving the team: continually unloading who he perceives as overvalued players and hoarding ones he perceives as undervalued. The trouble with that philosophy is that you're not always going to have offseasons in which you discover the next wave of superstars, and occasionally you have to pay market value or even above market value for the right piece to add to your team. I don't understand the Sox's continual reluctance to bring in higher priced FAs, and I don't think KW understands the value of paying market price or even above market price to get the right fit for the team.

I'm not sure what exactly the downside is to offering this dude 1 million MLB contract with a ton of incentives.

Baldelli was misdiagnosed last year with "mitochondrial abnormalities" but a Cleveland clinic apparently re-diagnosed this as Channelopathy, which is apparently highly treatable. This guy is a free agent, and if healthy, is the kind of bargain KW would scoop up for value. He could play CF and hit second. links: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...;name=Neyer_Rob http://www.abc6.com/news/36301134.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 04:27 PM) Yes, next year is the last year on his contract. Beyond that, it's all a question of rehab/healing from that injury. It's plausible that he might be able to pitch at some point mid season, but that depends on his recovery rate (which of course depends on his actual age) and his physical conditioning afterwards. It's possible he could see some action from the bullpen also. We really don't know. He may just not pitch at all next year as well. That's what I thought - as long as we can somehow keep him completely off the mound I don't care about the $10 million. Sunk cost and all that.

really dumb question - what's going on with jose contreras? is he still under contract for next year?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:22 PM) because, frankly we have been lucky with JD, especially with injuries. This is a good time to sell high. So explain how acquiring Edwin Jackson selling JD "high"

QUOTE (BearSox @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) Javy might not do much in pressure games, but at least he helps us get to the point where we can actually be in the playoffs. Could imagine where we would have been this past season with Javy and either Broadway or Richard in his place? I guarantee we would not have made the playoffs if that was the case. Empty division titles no longer mean anything to this fan League Championships and World Series are all I really care about I used to hang my hat on division crowns, but honestly who the hell cares anymore if you don't go any further.

here's the point Vazquez starts a playoff game and it's an auto-loss think that will get us another title?

yeah can someone break down the financial implications of the possibilities at this point

For me, 2000 was a way more fun season, but 2008 was ultimately more satisfying. I've never had more fun than I had during the 2000 season as a White Sox fan, period (yes, including 2005 - which was gut wrenching at times but ultimately the MOST satisfyinging season as a fan). We had seen Cleveland absolutely steamroll us for 5 straight seasons and to see dudes like James Baldwin, Jim Parque and Mike Sirotka pull it together was really awesome. I savored literally every moment and I didn't care if we didn't win a single playoff game - MY team was in first place and MY guys were pulling it off. 1995-1999 seemed like utter hell. In 2008, the regular season was difficult with wild, emotional swings by the fans. People were really wearing their hearts on their sleeves for whatever reason all year and it really made the season less fun for me. Maybe it's because the internet is so ubiquitous now compared to 2000. Ultimately there are probably more bright spots though, with the emergence of 2 sure-fire stars in Quentin and Ramirez and seemingly the future of the franchise much brighter.

Has this topic been done yet? I was gone for 2.5 weeks so apologies if this comparison has already been made. Both teams won their respective division and lost in the divisional series.

what in the hell is going on

wtf?

OH OH URREEEEEEEBI

OH OH URREEEEEEEBI

OH OH UUUUUUREEEEBI

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 03:23 PM) Who is making excuses? All I keep saying is that people who expected Javy to play like a 1 or 2 starter because he gets paid a lot dont know s*** about baseball. Pay checks have no correlation to players ability. Thome gets paid more than Longoria, so he must be better? Maybe you should stop being patronizing and telling people that they aren't real Sox fans for getting on a loser who doesn't perform and was just quoted about talking about taking it easy in retirement when responding to criticism that he doesn't step up in big games. Javier Vazquez has always had the talent to be a #1 or #2 starter and has consistently padded his stats when games mean little to nothing and choked in ones that really matter. That you would defend this indefensible assclown is utterly perplexing given his stats.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 03:10 PM) I dont even understand how some of you consider yourselves Sox fans. Javy is the Sox 4th starter, due to having to play the last few weeks we could not set the rotation. Javy is not supposed to shut down the other team, he is supposed to keep the Sox in the game so that we have a chance to win. Anyone expecting more is just setting themselves up for failure. If this was any other pitcher people would be talking about how easy grounders were getting through our infield, how we let pop ups drop, how the Sox couldnt get a double play. but since its Javy you all just want to kick him around. f*** that, Im not going to sit here and say hes good, but I at least respect the effort that he has given to the Sox. Dude, seriously...now is not the time. Vazquez totally s*** the bed today, on normal rest, and has done everything in his power to s*** the bed in each of his last three starts. 4th starter or not, he has generally not pitched like a major leaguer over the last 4 months. Since April 18th, Vazquez is 9-15, and about to lose another game. That's After May, his ERA is right around 6.

I'm putting Vazquez defenders on notice: keep your f***ing mouths shut.

Plunk him. Seriously.

one way or another, this better be Vazquez's last postseason start.