Harry Chappas

QUOTE(Heather Lee @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 01:08 AM) Will that thing even be ready by the start of the season? I drove by Comiskey just this afternoon after work, and, from the left field gate, I couldn't see any extra bars "sticking up" leaving me to wonder what has actually been accomplished at this moment. There were huge steel support beams installed this week. Once they get going it doesn't take long.

De Luca, a baseball moron, actually thought this was a good trade. He also feels that the Sox did not improve. Imagine the lovesfest if they had signed Dye, give me a f***ing break. Take the upside of these players; Hariston has NEVER scored or driven in more than 65 runs. Burnitz was offered one other deal, by the Pirates for god's sake. Sosa has hit over .300, hit over 60 Hr a few times and can drive in >120 runs, is he going to do it, probably not but for the same price as the other two it is worth the risk in acontract year. The Kool-Aid is flowing like never before. The Sun-Times is a complete joke on this matter.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 04:32 PM) So now both MLB.com and whitesox.com are wrong? What difference does it make. LF is the easist of the 3 to play so if he is listed as a RF and we have seen him in center, he shoulsd be fine in LF. As stated numerous times, we will be fine with Pods, Dye, Thomas and Everett vying for three spots in the line-up. We need professional hitters, there is no question, he is that.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 12:13 PM) Was Washington Hated By the British.. Was Lincoln Hated By South... Was MLK hated by the Bigets of America.. Great men are not liked by the Majority when they are trying to change the non-logic of the norm. That post would make sense if we were British, southern bigots, I guess.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 31, 2005 -> 05:47 AM) You just spent these two paragraphs trying to convince me that speed is great. I totally agree with that. Speed is a wonderful, intimidating weapon. Speed kills. But, the stolen base, in and of itself, is overrated. Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas and Ichiro are the answers to this whole argument. OBP for Frank Thomas or Barry Bonds is overrated because of the chances they will do something greater than draw a walk, they also are not going to steal a base and as Maggs showed us can be easily doubled up on grounders. These OBP guys do not change the pitchers approach and therefore are very overrated. Rickey Henderson hit .220 at the end of his career but had an OBP of close to .400. Pitchers needed to change the way they worked the next hitter, (i.e. more fastballs,) because of the threat of the steal. The hitter behind them had the advantage. I do not know of a measurable stat to look at the advantage to a player hitting behind the run threat. Ichiro is the final example. He has a great average but with an OBP that is not what it should be. He also has speed and has the best bat control in all of baseball. At the end of the day his OBP is a nonissue. OBP can be used to make average players help their team do great things as well has make great players become more ordinary in certain cases. Either way the defense is on guard when speed is in the box and that player has teh ability to use that speed to affect the defense (unlike Willie Harris.)

My guess is that the contract is very similar to the Jared Wright contract with the Yankees. A-lot of voidable stuff for days on the DL and little guarantees. My bet on the surprise team for sosa, the Rangers.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 27, 2005 -> 08:27 AM) 1. I agree 2. I agree 3. I agree 4. I disagree. I think he's been brainwashed by a slick sonofab**** in Scott Boras. That's it. Apparently these guys don't have (or aren't aloud by Boras) anyone else around them to get advice from. Brainwashed? He switched agents last winter to get himself into a position to run alongside Beltran this winter and get every last penny he could. He had two agents that he must've felt were not getting him everything he is worth. Well it was a terrible error in judgement on Maggs part but I do not feel he has been misled or givin bad advice. He is grown man as are all of the others that deal with Boras, they have a choice and they make it and everything cries for them.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 10:19 AM) Especially here. Just stamped my final payment.. Ditto. Not as painful to write the check after this offseason.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 12:24 PM) If I were the Tigs GM I would be willing to offer him a 40/4 deal contingent upon his being able to play everyday in ST. None of this workout, physical crap. If he wants that kind of money he needs to show me he can play this year. So it would main a tentititve agreement until ST ends. My feelings are that he will sit this entire year. Any team taking the risk will want to be rewarded if he is healthy, not the Boras style. Wasn't he suppossed to work out at the winter meetings a month ago? We're still waiting for this workout. Any team would be foolish to offer anything more than $1M of $2 guaranteed. If I were a GM I would offer $3M for next year and two team options the following years at $8M each. Again, not the Boras style.

I am viewing all of this with guarded optimism. The 2003 team, I felt was the best in baseball. Since then I am know we have changed philosophy and team make-up. Both of these things I like. The problem there are a-lot of pieces that we are nto sure of. It will take these key pieces to dtermine our fate. Staying Healthy - Rotation, the lose of one guy is major. Also Dye, Everett, and Thomas. Attitutde - Is the clubhouse mood downgraded by Pierz and Harris? Loss of Lee and Ordonez a positive or negative? MANY MANY foreign players with vast background (2 Japanese, 2 Cubans, Various latino.) Production - Questions marks abound for Contrearas, Hernandez, Shingo, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Crede, Uribe, Pods, new 2B, Rowand, Politte, and Adkins/Cotts. The only sure things we have are Garcia, Buerhle, Marte, Garland and Konerko. I am optimistic and I like the intent the results are a whole other animal. we shall see.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Jan 19, 2005 -> 10:44 AM) Look out for the marlins as a sleeper team on Maggs. If they don't end up with delgado, I could see them benching or turfing encarnacion in favor of maggs. They saw a hole in the market two years ago with Pudge, maybe they will see one now with magglio. I year 8-10 sounds about right. $8-$10M for a guy that can not even jump???? When healthy he was not strong enough to carry the same intensity for an entire season. My feeling is that he will sit out all year and hope to make a splash next season where a workout could get him a good deal for the entire season. 8 months off an injury and not even close to returning.

Was the coverage for Soxfest as good as for the cub convention. This is totally sour grapes but the Mark Buerhle White Sox Christmas hand out was hardly covered but now we get the daily cub good deeds for the next three days. There has to be a contingency of reports awaiting the landing and arrival of Santo and the new television announcers arrival as well. I now I let this piss me off way to much but it does. There will be a Mariotti article talking about the good things this team has to offer (i.e. Nomar, how they don't let their players go to arbitration, etc,) then of course a negative one about Sosa, with this being the reason they couldn't sign anyone.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jan 20, 2005 -> 11:25 AM) From what I understand, and with Leinart (sp?) deciding to stay in school this has come up, the insurance only covers career ending injuries, they don't "make-up" lost earnings for time missed. This seems like a silly example, but it's one I know of. When Mr. Perfect from wrestling got hurt he collected on a Lloyd's of London insurance policy. But when he returned to the ring a few years later he had to negotiate a settlment with them to pay some of the money back, since it was for career ending injuries only... this is why Ravishing Rick Rude never wresteled before he died when he most likely could have Rick Rudd's dead huh. I guess steroids really do have a negative impact on the human body.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 18, 2005 -> 01:17 PM) Weaver should talk to Matt Harrington about not signing and skipping a year. That turned out real well for him... What is his story, I missed it. I love to see greedy people fail.

Peolpe it is all about cost savings. Say there are 20 jerseys per player for the season = 500 jerseys. Coaches get 9 (3 per model for the season) = 15 515 jerseys * cost to put names on $30 = $15,450. There is Billy Williams salary to coach first base. Oh and also, NOW EVERYONE'S JERSEY IS OUTDATED SO EVERYONE NEEDS A NEW ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thomas is most likely a FA after this season. I believe Sox option for $10M or a $3M buyout something like that. Also Shingo only has 2 years of service time after this season, he is not even arbitration eligible. Does his age impact this? I guess Steff's copy of the CBA may be needed. It was a nice Konerko piece though.

The streets of Chinatown would be complete bedlum this evening. I know China and Japan are not the same thing, I just like to rile up the PC folk from time to time.

I would think they would let peolpe line-up inside like they do for the garage sale and other crap like that.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 10, 2005 -> 04:40 PM) Well I've never been a huge Maggs fan to begin with. I saw & read about too many games where he collected 5 or 6 rbi's in a blowout game. It's why I don't put much stock in the accumulated yearly stats any more. Any reliably good hitter can pound the ball against the weakest pitching in the majors. Sosa & Maggs excel at that. Is it any coincidence that when Sosa & McGuire were battling for the HR title that year that the NLC had one of the worst staff era averages of any division in MLB? I prefer guys who are low-key solid hitters like Thomas & Dye who have proven their ability to hit the best pitchers in MLB. I love it when you analyze, sometimes. Oh and I think he goes AL to be a DH.

I wish there was a major paper in Chicago talking up a team that is dependable and competitive. The tigers lost almost 120 games two years ago and this little rah rah piece makes them look good. Imagine what a nice spin article would do now for the Sox with ticket sales and Soxfest coming up. Look at the maggs story in the Trib today. Sounds like maggs is falling all over himself trying to get back to Chicago. He said he is in the best shape of his life and is pain free and wants to play with the cub. On the other hand, the Sox..................... :sleep This guy writes for a Detroit paper it is his job to promote the city and the team. For some reason this is lost on half of the baseball teams in Chicago related to the press for some reason

Sun-Times today has the cubs not being interested in Bernitz or Ordonez unless they move sosa. This paper makes no sense. The story is again about sosa and different suitors (Royals, Mets, Orioles, and now the Astros.) My personal thought is there is no team going to take sosa before maggs therefore the cubs need to sign maggs to open options for sosa. FWIW, I think the cubs are done with their offseason and maggs goes to Houston, where I will then become a huge maggs fan.

The funny thing there is no proof the guy can even walk. Any team that picks him up is taking a huge risk. What kind of shape is he going to be in. Remember this is the guy that tired down the stretch every season as his body wore down. Now he hasn't worked out in 8 months. Risk is a huge understatement.

QUOTE(babybearhater @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 09:44 AM) Hold the phone. This is actually a pretty good idea. We can see now that Houston is going to be after a big switch hitting outfielder after they lose Beltran. How about Carla for them??? s***, I will take a little money and a minor leaguer for him, and it would clear alot of payroll for us. And then who do we replace him with? Borchard? Let's not forget, he is 33 and has the ability to be up very good major league numbers and is a servicable outfielder. If Thomas is not back until June who is the DH Gload?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 5, 2005 -> 11:34 AM) There is probably a good shot that maggs up on the northside though. If healthy he'll put up fantastic numbers there. Papers tend to think it is Hollandsworth and Dubois for the cub. maggs if sosa is moved. I would guess maggs goes to the loser between the Mets and Astros. Remember the Mets have Cameron for center. Think he will be moved to the Astors if the Mets sign beltran?

Anybody know how the strikezone is called in Japan? Is it the teacup MLB zone or the traditional? Could this not greatly increase the effectiveness of a hitter if the zone is smaller? Just a thought.