caulfield12

Brian Anderson is still around, and so is Dewayne Wise. Anderson has obvious ability and has culled a cult-like following among Sox fans despite getting limited play the past two seasons. In 2006, Anderson played in 134 games and batted a subpar .225. Last year, he started only 39 games but appeared in 109, often as a late-inning defensive replacement. "I think he grew up a little bit as a player last year, and I think he grew up a little bit as a man," Guillen said. "He will get a legit shot to win the job." Guillen said the same about Wise. The battle at second base is even more crowded, with Getz, Lillibridge and Jayson Nix set to compete. General manager Kenny Williams said top prospect Gordon Beckham needs a full season in the minor leagues. Lillibridge is a product of the Atlanta Braves' system, and Nix comes over from the Colorado Rockies. Much like Williams, Guillen is eager to see Lillibridge when camp opens in Glendale, Ariz. "I think this kid is going to bring a lot, because I talked to (Braves scout) Jim Fregosi and he's really high on him," Guillen said. "He's a player; he shows up every day trying to beat you. That's what I hear." from dailyherald.com

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1340 Notice he didn't say anything about Yadel Marti, just Gomez?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1145510.story Yet another story on Owens. You would think he was Jesse Owens or Terrell Owens, as much coverage/ink as he's gotten this off-season after not even being recalled last year.

Then, the every-day lineup could be viewed as a wonderful blend of veteran and youth. You also could argue there are only a couple of – if any – players in their primes (depending on your definition), leading to the kind of offensive inconsistencies the White Sox endured last season. from cbssportsline.com

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Jan 31, 2009 -> 01:50 PM) I think Mark Shapiro is awful. Particularly because of Borowski and then the follow up, Kerry Wood. Awful. Getting Kelly Shoppach (20+ homers from catching position) has been one of his best moves, and one of Epstein's worst...on the other hand, you have the likes of Andy Marte, Josh Barfield, Jason Michaels and Joe Borowski as a closer...which most were quite skeptical of. Totally rearranging the infield with DeRosa, the bloated Peralta (is now a 3B/1B/DH) and Cabrera should definitely help offensively. Garko's also a butcher, and they need to find space for Martinez and Hafner as well. A lot will come down to the contributions of LaPorta and the pitcher they got in return for Sabathia...that will be telling. I also think that the pick-up of Reyes could turn out to be as good as the signing of Pavano turns out badly (from a clubhouse perspective). Also think that the trade of F. Gutierrez was a puzzling one and they're really depending on Choo to be an everyday player when he hasn't been for the last couple of years at the big league level. Shapiro seems to always coast because of the Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff Lee deal. Of course, he definitely missed the potential with Phillips and gave up way too quickly on him, creating a hole that took 2-3 years to fill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-remingt...l_b_160456.html

Adding intrigue is the supposed/rumored "relationship" between Evan Rachel Wood (who also dated Marilyn Manson, 19 years her senior) and 56 year old Mickey Rourke.

Well, players like Tony Gwynn, John Kruk and David Ortiz have had pretty "decent" careers (to say the least for 2 of them) at least less ideal body weights....same with Manny Ramirez.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 12:30 PM) Depends on how desperate we are. Based on last year and the AFL, I think both Danks and Beckham will probably start off the season in AA this year. If they continue to hit there, and a position opens up due to, I dunno, Matt Wise not being the best leadoff hitter...You could see Beckham this year and maybe Danks this year to next year. More time is obviously better, but if you need a CF... I think you mean DeWayne Wise, not the pitcher...or Rick Wise.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 12:10 PM) Quite frankly, yes. For the 2nd half, Anderson had an OPS only 11 points below Mackowiak and a batting average .001 below him. And I swear, every time he was in CF, Mack missed a play Anderson would have made that would have cost the team at least 1 run. The problem with measuring BA's statistics is they were almost always put up against the most favorable match-ups possible....whereas Mackowiak faced a steadier diet of top pitching. I know that BA somehow managed to hit two dingers off Felix Hernandez, but typically he gets owned by dominant/ace-caliber pitchers.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 12:01 PM) Agreed. Unless his demands are ridiculous or he wants to leave for some reason, Kenny will be with the Sox for a while. I realize that anything can happen in baseball, but this appears to be the last year that the Sox will have a really good shot at the playoffs again, before losing a number of vets to FA this winter. If that turns out to be true, the Sox are going to have to begin somewhat of a rebuilding phase next year. So if they start slow, I wouldn't mind seeing guys like JD or Thome (if he'll agree) dealt mid-season. The money saved this year can be spent at a later date. Would anyone trade Jim Thome's homer against Minnesota in the play-in game if they knew they could exchange his 2009 contract of $13 million for $6.5 million and Bob Abreu/Adam Dunn AND another veteran starting pitcher at the back of the rotation (like Wolf, Byrd, Looper, Glavine, Pedro Martinez, etc.)?? Interesting question. That's going to be the memory of Thome that stays with most White Sox fans when he retires...vanquishing the Twins. Psychologically, losing the Central to them for the 5th time in 7 years really would have sucked, I almost can't imagine this past offseason, as boring/frustrating as it has been.

I think this all depends on how good Minnesota's rotation becomes (have they peaked or will they regress?) and how healthy Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez are with the Indians. The Indians have improved the most, on paper, and the Tigers and Twins basically stood pat, particularly the Twins...who are hamstrung by having to commit a significant sum of money to their new stadium (in fact, the big issue going forward will be keeping Mauer in the fold). I don't know if Edwin Jackson, Brandon Lyon and Adam Everett are enough to make the Tigers anything more than a 3rd place ballclub...and their revenues will dwindle with the Michigan/Detroit economy in tatters. If Beckham, Poreda and Viciedo all step up and play as expected, and Flowers can put up a line of .260, 25, 80-90 in 2010 or 2011...then we should remain very competitive. Allen, Shelby and Danks could all make an impact before the end of 2010 as well.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 11:58 AM) Trying to make a player into something he is not, never has been, and never will be? I agree. What choice did Guillen really have that year...to keep running Anderson out there every day in July and August when he wasn't even sniffing the Mendoza Line? We can hate on Mackowiak, Erstad, Swisher, Griffey and Wise all we want, but KW was the one who provided those players to Ozzie and traded away Chris Young. You're only as good as the talent you have on your team...or as bad. If anything, Ozzie had to cut the cord before Anderson got to the point where he would never recover as a ballplayer. He still has a chance to be a regular somewhere else, but probably not in Chicago...maybe with an NL team. One could certainly argue Felix Pie had LESS of an opportunity than Anderson, in fact.

I think this is definitely dated/old news. Juan signed a minor league deal with the possibility of making $1 million if he makes the major league club...and Crede's workout is being hyped by the Boras Machine, but the likelihood of getting guaranteed numbers over $5.1 million is pretty laughable at this point as a concept. Adam Dunn and Abreu might not even get $5 million the way things are going right now.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01...d?currentPage=5 Interesting article in the New Yorker about movie marketing today and opening numbers... Also, saw The Mist and could have done without the downer ending...then again, it was atypical, I'll give it that. What I really expected was for the survivors of the store to go by Thomas Jane and taunt him...but that didn't happen either.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) So if Lillibridge is leading off, what position would he be playing? You'd have to think Getz would be on the bench against lefties (assuming he makes the team)...so he would be either playing 2B (unless they keep Nix over Getz) or CF, in which case he would obviously be taking bats away from Anderson. If he's playing against lefties, leading off out of CF, then Anderson has no role on this team at all, except as a defensive replacement.

Getz....you're going to be very fortunate if he has a career like Mark Grudzielanek. Ramirez and Beltre? Seriously? Body-wise, he's more like Soriano, in terms of generating tremendous power from his wrists...I think of him as a taller/thinner Ray Durham with even more pop in his bat but without the stolen bases yet. He's definitely the most exciting/dynamic player to watch on the White Sox right now.

Well, I'm not sure that ANY of this is going to be a "selling point" to get the casual fan to come out to a game. It's nice for KW to have financial flexibility going into the future...but only if he does something instead of sitting on his hands and hoping the youth develop. There are plenty of players (especially another pitcher) who could be very helpful this season. Well, I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see how everything develops.

It was weird that Nunez was highlighted (from the Yankees) as one of the building blocks of the future...you don't hear his name mentioned very often, it's always Marquez, Flowers, Lillibridge and Viciedo that receive all the attention.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 05:57 PM) Julio Franco Chris Sabo Roberto Alomar Carl Everett Pablo Ozuna If you're going with Franco, you might as well add Kruk in there as well. Wil Cordero...that one worked out just great. Seaver and Steve Carlton. Alomar was already 80% done when we brought him in, just like his brother. Dave Sveum.

It seems we were always the team that was bringing in reclamation projects like Ellis Burks or Mike Devereaux or Shawn Abner to play RF/LF. Some others that come to mind: Loiaza for sure Julio Ramirez D'Angelo Jimenez Alex Escobar (flipped for JO) Jeff Nelson Jose Paniagua E. Sierra Politte Hermanson this Jimenez kid (claimed from TOR) Jenks (obviously) Brooks Kieschnick (went on to play for MIL after he was in our system) Canseco one can even make an argument that Konerko was, in a way...because the Dodgers/Reds gave up on him pretty quickly and the degenerative hip condition concerns that some bring up even today many...many in the 80's, when we were operating as a small or mid-market club

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) And I doubt there are teams looking for speedy guys who can't take a walk, hit for power, or play one of the 8 most important defensive positions. Willy Taveras was nontendered; no one traded for him. Felix Pie went for garbage. Taveras is twice the player Owens is because he can play defense in CF and Pie still has the kind of potential that a team like the O's would want to gamble on, plus he also can play CF. Baldelli and Kotsay both signed to be 4th/5th OFers and they are also worlds better than Owens. f***ing Andruw Jones lost weight and is available for the league minimum and yet no one wants him. Basically, I doubt there's a single team in baseball that would want Owens except for this one. Even as a pinch runner it's nice to have a guy with more versatility than Jerry. In fact we've already got a super versatile UT guy with great speed in Lillibridge and an actual CF'er in Anderson, yet here we are moving closer and closer to ST and Jerry Owens is the man to "beat" once again. But obviously Taveras had/has a lot of value to the Reds (definitely a small-market franchise) or they wouldn't have given him $6+ million in this market. And I'm not sure how well Lillibridge's "great" speed will translate to stolen bases (see Harris, Willie) but I want to see him prove that he can hit at least .250-.270 before we call him anything but a utility player. Also, we're not sure how well he will actually play 2B and CF yet...just lots of speculation. Ramirez has lots of natural ability and speed, yet many aren't convinced he will be great (or even very good) at SS or in CF.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 11:49 PM) Ah, I see, and agree. Soriano-lite might not be a bad comparison actually. I thought about that one before making the Lorenzo Cain comparison but I've never heard anything about Shelby being so bad in the outfield. But yeah, Soriano with better defense, a lesser arm, and not as much power. Also, from the little I've seen of Shelby he appears to be more of the smarter, "baseball player" type than Soriano. I was referring more to his versatility (in terms of playing all over the field, but even being an average defender at any of them) rather than his speed/power combination. To compare him with Soriano is a bit much....maybe Bill Hall would be more appropriate. I just can't imagine what starting position he would be able to hold down on the White Sox two years from. He's got some power and speed, but doesn't project as a corner player. So that leaves CF, SS and 2B, and he's definitely not going to be playing SS with us. I would be surprised if he had the same impact at the big league level his father had...maybe, but I'm not counting on it. This year will be a big season for him, as a college player, you expect him to do well in the low minors and move more quickly than just one level per season...college players SHOULD take no more than 2-3 years to get to the majors, high school players usually 3-5. I'm not saying he's going to be worse than Jerry Owens or anything like that, but the Soriano comparison raised my eyebrows.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 12:04 AM) Fields went to Miami to work out with Cora who hit groundballs to him... drilled him in fundamentals... worked on his technique, etc. It would only make the story more perfect if Anderson was there, wouldn't it? The only offseason story I ever remember about him was the fiasco in Venezuela with Razor Shines...or his going out and partying. I guess "cautiously optimistic" is the best phrase to use here. Worse-case scenario, he platoons with Betemit and really builds his confidence up with favorable match-ups (what Ozzie has TRIED to do with BA to limited success). Or perhaps Viciedo takes the position by storm and Fields ends up traded or in Charlotte. Way too early to predict what will happen, injuries, etc.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 05:31 PM) Is there a chance the Magneto prequel will be nominated for best movie of the year when it comes out? It takes place during the Holocaust, Sir Ian McKellan is gay and Magneto has never been seen with a woman, and he is discovering the effects of his body. Hmm, what else do we need? A musical number? A dead parent? Well, I see the criticisms of The Reader....not a great film, but good/solid. The bar has been set pretty high by the likes of Schindler's List and Life is Beautiful among many. McKellan already played a very gay man in a movie (Gods and Monsters?) and so I'm sure that won't help with the Academy. Plus there's the Brokeback Mountain backlash...maybe Milk will have a breakthrough, but mainstream Hollywood still prefers uplifting Slumdog stories, as long as they can still make the case they're recognizing/tolerant of superior movies with themes of homosexuality, lol. If Magneto went through a body-altering/aging transformation like Benjamin Button, gained weight or lost it (Charlize Theron in Monster, Winslet aging in The Reader, Russell Crowe in The Insider or A Beautiful Mind)...maybe that would do the trick. But a cartoon/comic-themed movie has no chance if Wall-E didn't make the cut this year.