caulfield12

According to VORP... 11. Jason Jennings, 28 years old...this might be ONE reason the Astros preferred him to Garland, besides the fact he's a lefty (Garland was ranked 54th) 26. Chris Capuano, 28 years old 27. Clay Hensley, 27 years old 29. Aaron Cook, 28 years old 43. Jeff Francis, 26 years old 56. Dave Bush, 27 years old Others to keep an eye on Juan Cruz, D-Backs John Maine, Mets Fernando Nieve, Astros

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 06:36 AM) I don't agree with Gary Matthews, Jr., being an undervalued player at all. You can see where the Cubs and, to a lesser extent the the White Sox, have excelled at breaking even (or, in the Cubs' case) at making huge profits while not spending much money on the payroll. The irony is that spending lots of money and increasing expectations at Wrigley might actually turn the fans off, as the team can't be "loveable losers" at that payroll level. Of course, KW and JR changed that philosophy in recent years. And you can also see why the Royals, Brewers, Pirates, D-Rays, Marlins, etc. have chosen the paths they have chosen, although the signing of Meche, the hiring of Dayton Moore and additional scouting/front office staff shows more commitment on the part of the Royals. And just look at the Dice-K phenomenon. How much revenue is he creating for Boston hotels and tourism with all the Japanese interest in the team now? Lots of signage with English and Japanese marketing approaches opening up new revenue and marketing possibilities. I'm sure the Red Sox are receiving revenue for games shown in Japan. They're now being able to market themselves very effectively to a small but relatively wel-off and rabid baseball "fan population" that's yet to be fully exploited on the East Coast. Each one of his starts is being covered (for now) like "an event" or happening. Matsui and Irabu didn't have anything close to the appeal of this guy. I think the Red Sox are even getting into the NASCAR marketing with their promotions and NESN somehow. By the way, my Adobe Acrobat isn't working. Is there any way you could send me the list of undervalued/overvalued players to [email protected]? That $103 million will seem like a HUGE bargain compared to the Zito contract. VORP Ratings for pitchers in 2006/07 1. Santana 17. Verlander 20. Sabathia 23. Robertson 30. K. Rogers 34. Bonderman 40. Zumaya 42. Westbrook 46. Nathan 50. El Gran Titan de Bronze 54. Garland 55. Freddy Garcia 67. Dennys Reyes 84. Jon Rauch 85. Brad Radke 88. Jeremy Sowers 89. Javier Vazquez 95. Jesse Crain 104. Juan Rincon 105. Cliff Lee 117. Chad Bradford This tells you all you need to know about why the White Sox didn't make the playoffs last year. And why Baseball Prospectus rated us so poorly coming into 2007.

QUOTE(Linnwood @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 05:59 AM) Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning. Accompanying chart shows Top 20 undervalued and overvalued players according to Vince Gennaro, a consultant to the Cleveland Indians. Says Jermaine Dye is "one of the league’s most underrated, and apparently undervalued, players. " Chart: http://files.linnwood.org/documents/what.p...wsj.14apr07.pdf (PDF 12MB) I don't agree with Gary Matthews, Jr., being an undervalued player at all. You can see where the Cubs and, to a lesser extent the the White Sox, have excelled at breaking even (or, in the Cubs' case) at making huge profits while not spending much money on the payroll. The irony is that spending lots of money and increasing expectations at Wrigley might actually turn the fans off, as the team can't be "loveable losers" at that payroll level. Of course, KW and JR changed that philosophy in recent years. And you can also see why the Royals, Brewers, Pirates, D-Rays, Marlins, etc. have chosen the paths they have chosen, although the signing of Meche, the hiring of Dayton Moore and additional scouting/front office staff shows more commitment on the part of the Royals. And just look at the Dice-K phenomenon. How much revenue is he creating for Boston hotels and tourism with all the Japanese interest in the team now? Lots of signage with English and Japanese marketing approaches opening up new revenue and marketing possibilities. I'm sure the Red Sox are receiving revenue for games shown in Japan. They're now being able to market themselves very effectively to a small but relatively wel-off and rabid baseball "fan population" that's yet to be fully exploited on the East Coast. Each one of his starts is being covered (for now) like "an event" or happening. Matsui and Irabu didn't have anything close to the appeal of this guy. I think the Red Sox are even getting into the NASCAR marketing with their promotions and NESN somehow. By the way, my Adobe Acrobat isn't working. Is there any way you could send me the list of undervalued/overvalued players to [email protected]? That $103 million will seem like a HUGE bargain compared to the Zito contract.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 10:33 PM) Any time the Twins lose a Santana start, its like 2 losses. http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindeale....xml&coll=2 Article on the Indians' philosophy behind signing Westbrook, it really does parallel with Vazquez. The problem is, they might "only" lose Sabathia and Hafner (two of their three best), but we have to keep Garland, Iguchi, Uribe, Crede, Dye, AJ, Buehrle, Pods...our team's future is definitely more "in flux." I think Thome's contract runs out after next year as well. That's a large part of the core of our current team, more than 1/3rd of the roster. EDIT: I forgot we at least have a $5 million dollar option on Uribe next year, and no replacement in place.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 11, 2007 -> 11:12 PM) thxmch, that helps my memory. I was trying to find it, but the earliest I found was that May 14th game. His velocity does take a hit when he pitches back to back days, but if he's in the 90-93 range come May, I get concerned, and all Sox fans should too. "He pitched good; it's just his velocity is not there," said Guillen, who admitted he's worried about his closer. "I want to know if we're overusing him or if it's just not there." At least we have no shortage of candidates. I wouldn't be surprised if they even considered Adam Russell converting just for this season, but that would be a last-ditch, desperation move....and they would go to MacDougal, Thornton, Masset and Aardsma first. A lot of people have really been impressed with Aardsma, and it appears his velocity is increasing a little each week. I don't see Sisco getting any serious consideration with all of his control issues and erratic performance. Boone Logan and Dewon Day would be others in the mix right now. The biggest thing is we don't need to go out like the Reds last year and make a desperation move for a closer or set-up guy.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Apr 14, 2007 -> 04:42 AM) Jon Rauch and Gary Majewski have developed into pretty solid relievers, although ATM our pen is looking quite good. And although he's done nothing so far in the majors, I still think Jeremy Reed can develop into a Rusty Greer type of hitter. He just needs to be in the right situation, and in a hitters environment to do so. Majewski was very solid, at least up until last year. Of course, like Kip Wells and Josh Fogg, he labored in obscurity with almost no pressure. KW and Rauch just do not get along, it was the best thing for the White Sox to part ways with him IMO. Fabio Castro might be a sleeper pick, although he's had his success (so far) in the NL.

QUOTE(bardsroom attendant @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 10:22 PM) Also, how cool is it that our biggest pen worries our Thornton and Bobby with his standard early season low velocity issues? Aardsma, Sisco and Masset have all been better than expected. And Javy has been a rock so far...knock on wood. Mr. Danks, you're up next. Sisco has been pretty inconsistent, just like ST. His overall numbers don't indicate the enigma that he has become....very solid one inning, next inning, you look up and it's 2nd and 3rd with no outs

Predictions? 12:35 pm start, Woody Williams (Astros) versus Garcia 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's

would you like to have back the most? I'm going to go with Frank Francisco (if he's healthy), although I think a majority would probably pick Tyler Lumsden and some would even go for Matt Guerrier or Josh Rupe. From the oldies but goodies, Bob Wickman.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 09:47 PM) Devil Rays win it 4-2. Santana has been beat. At home! What was the streak he was on where the Twins hadn't lost a game he'd started there?

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 08:38 PM) You should've seen Santana's fielding play on Upton's bunt, jumps up and tries to use his glove to throw it to Mauer, didn't work. Why can't the Sox ever score 3 off Santana let alone in 1 inning? Crawford just hit an inside the park HR, 4-1. Could be a logjam of three 6-4 teams with the White Sox 1/2 game back coming into tomorrow.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 03:43 PM) He's implying that the Vazquez signing would not have been a good one had the Sox been in a budget cut mode. However, with the payroll being steady at 100 million and it looks like that will be the case over the next couple of years the move ends up making a lot of sense. Johan just gave up 3 runs to the D-Rays in the 5th. Ex-Sox Josh Paul had the first RBI...a lot of strange plays in that inning. Upton had a swinging bunt RBI and Baldelli almost killed Punto, hitting into a Fielder's Choice RBI.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 08:11 PM) That 1-2 punch at the top of our order not so hot. I wonder what happened to all those vocal Sox fans who wanted Cintron to replace Uribe as the starter?

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 05:42 PM) Give me Johan, Howard, and Sizemore. Howard loses points due to his relatively advanced age....

QUOTE(danman31 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 11:48 PM) Last year Jenks and Anderson counted which helped. Also Lumsden was traded for Macdougal. Rasner, Vasquez, and Lujan mean 0 as far as BA is considered. Floyd probably doesn't count because of his innings. Let's call Danks and BMac a wash for this. Nothing special from our 06 draft and losing Jenks, Anderson, and Lumsden for Gio and Masset isn't going to move you up. Brandon had 67 IP in 2005. Shouldn't he have been disqualified from the list as he wasn't a rookie? And I thought Lujan was once around #9 or #10 in the Rangers' system... I guess it really doesn't matter if our top-loaded system contributes to the big league club. And they're not giving credit to the recent development of Russell (AFL and then ST) as a legitimate frontline starting candidate. Most would consider him now the #3-5 prospect in our organization. A team with Floyd/Gio/Danks/Russell and then Broadway/Haeger/McCullough/Phillips all within 2 years of the big leagues shouldn't be graded so harshly. Oh, well. And since the ratings came out in late March, they should have credited Chris Young to the D-Backs.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) Charlotte @ Rochester Floyd vs. Garza. Neither off to a good start. Birmingham @ Mobile Starts at 7, Whisler starting. Winston-Salem @ Kinston Clayton Richard starting, doing well. Savannah @ Kannapolis Matt Long starting. I's offense giving him plenty of support early 8 runs in the 1st 2 innings. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...chraaa_rocaaa_1 Josh Fields is 3 for 3, up to .200 now. Garza was pulled after 4 1/3rd and Floyd has also given up a lot of hits as well.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:22 AM) It holds more ground than I initially anticipated, but Berroa has never walked in his entire career, he strikes out at a pretty poor rate, and his power is mediocre at best. Peralta's always had atleast decent power, and he had great power in 2004 and 2005. And I just can't question the ability of the Braves to scout talent, because they've always done it and they just really don't produce many busts or flameouts. That's wrong of me, but he's pretty much great. Berroa came through the A's system, which has been very good at producing players, especially college players. But Tejada and Hernandez (Catcher) come to mind, off the top of my head, in terms of Latin prospects. The Braves have had their shares of Damon Hollins, George Lombard's, Bruce Chen's, Wade's, Glenn Williams, etc. However, they've produced a lot more All-Star caliber players than the White Sox.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:01 AM) Please tell me you're not comparing Jhonny Peralta and Brian McCann to Angel Berroa. Just making a point. Berroa, by the way, was Rookie of the Year, and the Royals gave him a guaranteed contract through this season, even though he's parked in AAA right now. And Peralta was very good but not exactly the Rookie of the Year in 2005. McCann has only had around 650 at-bats. That's essentially one season.

QUOTE(Damen @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 08:45 AM) Whoa there guvna'. This isn't little league. If our guys play soft and look miserable but sweep the tribe, I'll be happy. If they play hard and smile, only to get swept, I will need to destroy life to satiate my anger. Are you from The Omen? Destroy life? We all took the Cleveland and Tuesday night's loss as hard as the next person, but let's keep everything in its proper perspective.

QUOTE(beautox @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 08:09 AM) all i was saying was that he isn't a defensive liability; like the up and coming Billy Butler McCann is right there too Catcher Brian McCann Post-All Star Break 2006 (AVG/OBP/SLG): .324/.372/.630 As promising young backstops go, everyone knows about Joe Mauer but what about Brian McCann? The 22-year-old catcher who posted a 146 OPS+ in 2006 is highly regarded, but I am not sure baseball fans fully appreciate just how good Brian McCann appears to be. I'll still take Mauer for his superior ability to reach base, but catchers that can hit this well at such a young age are a rarity, and I think 2007 is the season McCann begins to get the appreciation he deserves. baseballanalysts.com i also wouldn't put it past McCann to put up a season like Piazza did in 96/97 with the dodgers, all the while being 1000x the defensive catcher mike was/is. I want to see one more season from McCann to make sure he doesn't go the Peralta/Angel Berroa route and his career takes a U-Turn. There's no doubt Atlanta's young players are unknowns to most of the country. That franchise is just not "high profile" like it used to be when Turner owned it and was the symbol of the organization. Corporate ownership ruins most ballclubs IMO.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 10:43 PM) Can I ask one more time why we drafted Kyle McCulloch in the 1st round? Or why we drafted Broadway ahead of Garza?

QUOTE(MnSoxFan @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 02:53 PM) We were ranked 25th How did we fall so far when we added so many pieces to our system? Doesn't make much sense to me...weren't we ranked in the teens last year AFTER we'd already given up Chris Young to AZ? In the offseason, we added Gio, Floyd (who technically doesn't qualify I guess), Danks, Masset, Rasner, Vazquez, Lujan, etc. Shouldn't we have at least stayed in the same position? Was this simply because McCullough and Broadway aren't considered to be high impact draft picks?

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 01:12 PM) I did not know that about last year. I watched the game last night, and in that atmosphere, in Boston vs DK, throwing a one-hitter was pretty amazing. However, I would like to see him do it for several starts before anointing him. Liriano seemed like a similar pick before his injury. Santana-like talent but much younger. Hernandez is definitely going in that direction. I definitely see your POV, I am just going to wait and see on him. Mauer is an interesting pick, because some say his time as a catcher is numbered due to his size. He probably has less value as a 1B or DH. Conversely, if Mauer stays at catcher with the added two inches of height, you can't help but feel that he will hit with even more extra base power and pick up some additional RBI's due to the higher slugging percentage.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 12:12 PM) Any of the above picks could work out. I was thinking Johan, Felix, and a player to be named later. Pujols would be nice, A-Rod was another choice. I was also considering a catcher either Mauer or Martinez, maybe Varitek. If I had to narrow to three, I guess I'd go Johan, Felix, and Mauer. Taking it a step further, I'd next be looking to draft the AAA guys from up the middle, SS, CF, 2B.l Then look for a closer, IF corners, relievers, more starting pitchers, OF corners, relievers . . . Victor "I Only Threw Out One Runner in 2006 and now Scotty Pods" Martinez? Not a possibility, because he's average to below average for 1B offensively...Mauer is the only choice at catcher, it's not even close. Cabrera is 24 and has a little bit more than 100 homers right now. If he averaged 600 AB's per season the next 10 years, he would end up having 300 homers and 1,170 RBI's. I just don't see him hitting much more than 500 homers, IF IF IF he stays healthy. QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 12:24 PM) He's beyond bad now. His bat speed has decreased dramatically. For me, I'd go with Felix Hernandez, Sizemore, and Miguel Cabrera. I'm confident in saying all three will be Half of Famers if they stay healthy, with Cabrera putting up some of the best offensive numbers in history. You could have a very good competition between Varitek and Sosa to determine who's lost the most bat speed from 3 seasons ago.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) Philadephia fans are no longer happy with Rowand (check out this blog entry -- they even say his defense is below average). I like Aaron, but the Sox need to get a real outfielder with a real bat. It's past time for people to stop pining for Rowand. As for the Sox, despite my pessimistic nature, this start isn't bad. The pitching has been good overall, and that's the thing I was worried about the most. Offensively, I'm stil concerned long-term about the lack of OBP in the 1 and 2 spots (and how much Dye and Crede will regress from last season). But Uribe has been adequate and that's plus (2 walks -- he's trying!). Probably the most worrisome thing is just the level of talent in DET, CLE, and MN. Detroit's picthing has been great. Anyone that thinks 2006 was a fluke should watch Verlander, Bonderman, and Robertson pitch this season. I'm not sure the Sox have a single starter that could match any of those guys. And somehow Ramon Ortiz has decided to finally live up to all his hype as a prospect like 10 years later. I know 2 starts is too soon to predict what he'll do all season, but it would be just like the Twins to somehow get a great year out of him. Grrr. Unless Contreras is 100%, we don't have anyone who can match up as a true staff ace against Verlander, Bonderman or Zumaya. Those are three difference makers, if Jenks is healthy, he's one too...but right now, the jury is still out on both Jenks and Contreras, and Buehrle as well. I think it will take at least two months before we can make any judgments. Sabathia, same thing. Other than that, Cleveland doesn't have any dominant pitchers. Santana...after that, Ortiz might be their second most talented pitcher. Detroit is the team to worry about the most in the pitching department, then Minnesota, due to their bullpen. If Garza replaces Ponson and pitches like he's capable of, and Silva holds it together for one season at under a 5.00 ERA, they'll be REALLY tough to beat.