WCSox

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:48 AM) No you wouldn't. The big thing against L.A. is the time difference. By the time those games are over, 1/2 the country is watching Conan or is asleep. The East Coast would be watching the highlights the next morning. I'm not saying that they'd stay up until 1 am to watch the games in their entirety. If the Dodgers/Giants/Angels/Padres could get the ratings on the East Coast, they'd start the games an hour earlier. Monday Night Football doesn't start until 9 pm on the East Coast, and it doesn't deter people from watching. The time difference definitely plays into it, but another major factor is that a enormous portion of California's population are transplants who follow the teams that they grew up with. This is the major reason that L.A. still doesn't have an NFL team.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 07:58 AM) Haha that is true. I have a lot of family from Jersey and NY and they're proud of the bias. Most of them are Yankee fans and they feel the world should revolve around their "Yankees Baby". My wife's family lives in CT, and even the ones who don't regularly watch games have very strong feeling about their Yankees, Red Sox, or Mets. If people in California cared about their local teams as much, we'd be watching endless Dodgers/Giants highlights and analysis.

QUOTE (rockren @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 10:00 PM) Give JR credit, too. He gets it as an owner. Yep, after two decades of cluelessness, he finally got it.

How often did you hear former players say things like this about the Sox back in the '90s? Kenny and Ozzie have turned them into a completely different franchise.

QUOTE (SockMe @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) it will be hard to trade him Especially since he's still on the 40-man roster and would have to clear waivers first. He isn't going anywhere until this winter.

The Northeast is indeed completely full of itself, but let's not forget that baseball is absolutely huge out there. Much more so than in Chicago, Detroit, LA, San Fran, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, etc. St. Louis is probably on par per capita, but even during the Patriots dynasty and the recent Celtics and Giants championships, the Yankees and Red Sox still ruled the sports world out there.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 04:02 PM) I'm trying to figure out what turned Dye into such an unpopular player on this board. I'm hoping it's just because of peoples dislike for me on this board and I'm a huge Dye supporter. Aside from that, I for the life of me can't believe the Dye hatred I've seen lately. It's unexplainable. Paulie last year and Dye this year. Wow. I've always been a big JD fan and I appreciate him saying that he wants to retire as a White Sock (and would love to see this happen somehow), but telling this to the media the day that Kenny acquires Rios reeks of ulterior motivation. Express your concerns to Kenny, not the media.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) Gavin Floyd & Gio Gonzales for Freddy Garcia It still astounds me that Pat Gillick made this deal, after everybody here knew that Garcia was in clear decline. This is probably my favorite Kenny trade. His best free agent signing was JD. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 03:02 PM) AJP was probably one of the most long term stabilizing signings he has ever made. The pitching staff improved as well as the attitude of the team, and it ended an awful run at the catcher position. I agree that A. J. is way underrated by Sox fans in general. Not only for the reasons that you outline above, but his Baseball IQ swung the momentum of the 2005 ALCS in the Sox's favor.

I've been accused to being a Kenny cheerleader in the past. But I'll say this: Kenny puts a competitive team on the field and makes being a Sox fan exciting.

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:19 PM) Hank Blalock is a power hitting lefty thats a FA this offseason. He' plays third which in theory would allow Bacon back to the middle IF and we could keep Dye. If we hadn't just committed over $60 million to Rios, I think that Blalock would be a possibility. But it may be tough now. Then again, if the Sox unload Dye, Thome, and Jenks in the off-season... well, you never know with Kenny.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:33 AM) What does Dye bring that Thome doesn't? More productive years, the ability to play in the field every once in a while, and the ability to play in interleague games.

If KW offered Thome a one-year deal with a team option for 2011, I think that would be ideal. If Thome doesn't get to #600 next year and they think that the combination of his general production and the ticket sales for #600 would be worth picking up the option, they could pick it up. If not, they can move on.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:06 AM) Jim has 21 HR this season in 2/3 of the year, with a lot of time on the bench due to interleague play. If he keeps up exactly this same HR rate, he'll get there in 2010. Given that he's right at the age where most hitters tend lose bat speed and injuries become more problematic, he's far from a lock to keep up the exact rate.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:52 AM) Not really...it can certainly have an impact on ticket sales and marketing, and thus his contract can help pay for itself more. Thome's currently 38 HRs away. Given his age and propensity for nagging injuries, it's likely that he's not going to get there until early 2011. Kenny shouldn't give him a two-year deal to ensure that he hits #600 in a Sox uniform. QUOTE (mmmmmbeeer @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) I think the big question here is if Jimmy would sign a 1 year deal. If he's looking for a 3 year deal, he's got to go. His skills and health cannot be counted on for 3 more years. Hell, I'm not convinced that Dye's health can be counted on for three more years. I'm thinking a one-year deal for Thome or a two-year deal for Dye, maximum.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:32 AM) Not even as a DH. Dye has no place on this team after 2009. With the addition of Rios in CF (he should be the CF, at least), Quentin should be moving to RF. That leaves the choice between Dye and Thome to be DH, and since we have no left-handed power without Thome (coupled with his pursuit of 600, which will definitely come into play whether or not it should), Dye becomes the odd man out. I love the guy and what he's brought to the team, but it's just time to go our separate ways. Keep in mind that Thome turns 39 in two weeks. His production is going to hit the wall a lot faster than JD's. The 600 HR pursuit is irrelevant. The strongest arguments for keeping Thome over Dye would be the fact that Thome would probably accept a one-year deal (Dye would likely want a multi-year deal) and the left-handed power bat (which is basically a Band-Aid, as the Sox need a younger left-handed bat for the long term). If Kenny keeps Thome over Dye, it's going to be mostly for financial flexibility.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:19 AM) Beckham is an RBI machine which would be wasted at the top of the order. +1 For this year, Rios leading off would be fine. But they need to look for other options next year. Rios hitting 2nd and Beckham moving to 3rd might be a way to go, assuming that Rios' OBP returns to his career average.

It's nice to know that JD wants to stay beyond this year. But it'll have to be as a DH.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 09:17 PM) And where would that be? With the way that Quentin's been hitting over the past couple of weeks, it's going to be tough to bench him now.

QUOTE (GordoTheGreat @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 09:15 PM) Man, this beer isn't numbing me at all. My bourbon is the only thing that is making this game tolerable.

Ooh, and Linebirnk's warming up in the pen. The cavalry is coming!

Well, I'm glad that we're getting the 2010 roster figured out in advance.

I haven't had bourbon in a while. Definitely a little more "biting" than scotch.

Could Nix walk for a third time?

God, Alexei looks awful up there.

Q!!!