dasox24

I'd love to have Scott Williamson! He would be a great addition to our bullpen!

I saw the piece on Sportscenter, and I agree with you on that it's such a waste of talent when someone with that kind of "stuff," has those kind of problems.

I wish we still had Royce, his defense was so helpful to our team.

haha, lmao! I think that is the funniest thing I've seen/heard all day. It has to suck to be a Tiger's fan.

I really like the idea of the Sox getting Stanton. Keep in mind that he was an All-Star last year. And, I would love to add a reliever like him to the pen.

In Peter Gammons' latest article, he says that the Sox might trade for Livian Hernandez of the Expos. Here's part of his article: "One very available starter is 10-game winner Livan Hernandez, whose vesting option for $6 million in 2004 is about to kick in. Thus far, Omar Minaya hasn't been able to move Hernandez, although there are voices in the Red Sox and White Sox camps that think that an innings starter who wins 12-15 games annually is worth the $6 million." I am wondering what other people would think if this trade happened. Personally, I only see it happening if we get the Expos to take on most/all of Hernandez's salary. And, if they did take on Hernandez's salary, then I'd still only give up a mid-level prospect at most. Would a combination of Josh Stewart and Dylan Holt work?

Here's an article on Honel that y'all might like to read: ON THE RISE: Honel thriving for Warthogs By Dan Collins JOURNAL REPORTER There are a million and a half reasons the Chicago White Sox will give right-hander Kris Honel of the Winston-Salem Warthogs every opportunity to eventually pitch in the major leagues. The White Sox paid Honel, the 16th pick of the 2001 draft, $1.5 million to sign instead of pitching for Arizona State. It's always a big decision to pay an untested high-school pitcher that kind of money, and humans, being human, don't like to be proven wrong. But ultimately Honel's climb up the organizational ladder will be determined by one factor alone. He'll have to prove he can get big-league hitters out. Rated the fourth best prospect in the White Sox organization, Honel has handled himself in impressive fashion in his 54 professional starts. Through 18 appearances for the Warthogs, Honel is 8-5 with a 2.67 earned-run average. And his statistics bear close scrutiny. In 1041/3 innings, he has allowed just 86 hits and 31 walks and has struck out 95. Still four months shy of his 21st birthday, Honel, along with left-hander Ryan Wing, has been one of the twin aces of a Warthogs staff that has helped pitch the club back into the playoffs for the first time since 1998. 'He's been our stopper,' Manager Razor Shines said. 'He's been the guy who, every fifth day, you know you've got a chance to win the ball game. And when you've got that, it takes pressure off everybody. 'When he goes out there, I can assure you we've got 25 guys who feel we can win this ball game.' Many people, Honel among them, have wondered what he's still doing in the Class A Carolina League. Three pitchers who started the season with the Warthogs - Byeong Hak An, Kris McWhirter and Ryan Meaux - are pitching for Class AA Birmingham. But all three are at least 23 years old, and the White Sox, an organization that has moved their personnel through Winston-Salem in rapid fashion during their seven-year affiliation with the city have, this season, shown the good patience and foresight to leave Honel at a level where he can experience the kind of success he has enjoyed in 2003. 'Everyone loves to move up,' Honel said. 'But you know what, you've just got to go out and do your job, and worry about what you're doing where you're at. Your play will take care of itself. Usually the player is the last one to find out. 'After the all-star break I kind of thought about it, and asked myself 'Why am I not moving?' I kind of lost focus. So I just say 'You know what, you're going to be here, just go out and do your job, work hard and if everything goes right it will happen.' You've just got to be patient. 'Also, we're going to be in the playoffs and we've got something good going down here. It really doesn't bother me if I don't get moved up, because I know I'm going to start (in Birmingham) next year.' Honel's father, Mike, was an All-America at Eastern Illinois who coached at Evansville University. But when the White Sox drafted Honel in the first round after his 8-0 season for Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Ill., Honel decided that any aspirations to attend college would have to wait. He's already been where he wants to eventually establish himself, when he was invited to the White Sox' major-league camp this spring training. But he knows that how fast he gets back there to stay will depend on what he does at Ernie Shore Field and other venues far from U.S. Cellular Field. 'It's an honor to be named fourth best prospect in the system,' Honel said. 'But you almost have to take that with a grain of salt. That doesn't really mean anything. It's all about getting to the big leagues. 'Rankings can mess with people's heads. Some people let it get to them and some people try to put too much pressure on themselves to perform. It's an honor just to have people know that about you, but your play is going to take care of itself and people will recognize your skills for your play and not what they see in the paper.' Around and about In hindsight, Wake Forest never really had much of a chance to land outfielder Rocco Baldelli, even though he did commit to George Greer's program after a tour de force high-school career in Warwick, R.I. Tampa Bay, which invested the sixth pick in the 2000 draft in Baldelli, paid him $2.25 million to bypass college. But it's fun to imagine what it would have meant for the Deacons if Baldelli had delayed his professional career for three seasons to play college baseball. Baldelli, who would have been a junior at Wake Forest this past spring, is hitting .306 with eight homers and 52 RBIs for Tampa Bay and is a strong candidate for AL Rookie of the Year.... Promoted from Winston-Salem in June, Jeremy Reed is proving he was ready to hit Class AA pitching. In 124 at-bats for Birmingham, Reed, the White Sox' second-round pick in 2002, is hitting .395. Although Kris McWhirter has struggled since being promoted from the Warthogs to Birmingham, Byeong Hak An and Ryan Meaux have given the Barons a lift. McWhirter is 2-5 with a 5.36 ERA, An is 3-1 with a 3.64 ERA and Meaux is 0-0 but has an eye-catching ERA of 1.72.

I don't really like Dusty Baker. He seems like he blames everyone else other than his own team when they play bad. i.e. The Cubs have a bad home record because of how MLB scheduled their games and because their fans give the players a hard time so they don't play as well. That excuse that Baker gave is bulls***. :fthecubs

HAHAHA! LMAO! wow, how things must change once you get married....

Yea, this really does suck. The only thing I really look forward to during the summer is White Sox games and doing stuff with my girlfriend.

Yea, I love this time of the baseball season. Of course, a lot of years, we're out of the playoff race by now, so that's the only downside.

I forgot about the 40-man roster issue. In that case, I think I'd rather see Diaz called up to start than Cotts. But, then again, if he's gonna be ready like every seems to think he will be, then why not call him up?

HAHA!! LMAO!! But seriously, that's a very good point.

I think that if we don't trade for anyone or call someone up, we'll use Glover as the 5th starter and put Ginter in the bullpen.

wow! I had no idea he was making that much money. The yanks can keep him.

yea, lacrosse really does suck

He pitched 5 games for Milwaukee this year. He has a 5.08 ERA in those 5 starts this year. He got hurt and had season ending surgery on his shoulder.

yea, that's very true. I'm not a big fan of cliches(sp?), but I guess that's why they play the games.

That would be great if they took Porzio. But, they would probably get better offers elsewhere.

Yea, thanks for the report. It's a pretty good read.

I though it was a pretty good read, but many of you have probably seen it already. Anyway, here it is. Sox on paper need to meet Sox on field by Rick Morrissey We've been hearing for months now that it's only a matter of time before the Royals go away. This is based on the time-worn theory that, OK, every dog has its day, but the yapping Royals—are you kidding me? Yeah, that time-worn theory. That the collapse hasn't happened 103 games into the season would seem to suggest that if the White Sox are serious about the American League Central race, they will need to take care of the Royals this week in Kansas City. A minimum of two victories in the three-game series. A message. Nothing less. "We'd like a sweep," said Mark Buehrle, who will be the starter in the series opener Tuesday. "No mercy," shortstop Jose Valentin said. So, yes, the Sox fully understand what's at stake here. Not just the chance to seriously carve into the Royals' four-game Central lead, but a chance to take a broom to the Royals' spirit and beat it like a rug. The Sox are the more talented team, but you could say that about most teams the Royals have faced this season. This is the chance for the underachievers to finally achieve. The Sox's nine victories in their past 10 games have been nice, but the current success has come against B-list teams and mostly at home. They beat Tampa Bay on Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, as they should have, to take two of three against the Devil Rays, as they should have. Nothing to apologize for, of course, but nothing that would make the Royals shake in their spikes. Think about that: The Royals, comfortable in their own skin, have no more reason to be worried about the Sox than they would about any other team these days. We arrived at this point how, exactly? Well, the Royals are good, for starters. They beat the Sox three times to open the season, spawning an identity crisis in the Sox that lasted months. But April showers have brought a lot of talking in July. "We're a little different team now," manager Jerry Manuel said. "I think this team has got more of a swagger and attitude now," said Frank Thomas, who homered in the Sox's 9-1 victory Sunday. "We made those trades (for Roberto Alomar and Carl Everett), got two quality veterans added to what we have [and] there's a lot of confidence in the room." This is pretty simple. The Royals seem to understand that the Central games matter more. By beating the Tigers 5-1 Sunday, their record against division opponents is 32-11. No team has a better division winning percentage. The Sox are 27-24 in Central games. Starting Tuesday, that gap doesn't matter so much if the Sox can take what they learned in batting-practice games against Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and Tampa Bay and apply it against the only team that matters right now. There are any number of reasons for the Sox to believe they eventually will take over first place. The Royals don't have a single player in the AL top 10 in any significant offensive category—batting average, home runs, runs batted in, runs, on-base percentage or slugging percentage. They are third from the bottom in earned-run average. But that's all paper stuff, and the Sox are the kings of looking good on paper. "They play great team baseball, and that's why they're winning," Thomas said. "But we're starting to play good team baseball, too, and hopefully, we're a little more talented." Ah, the talent thing again. The Sox have it. The Royals aren't supposed to have quite as much. The Royals went into a slump in May and the general consensus was that it sure was nice for them to stop by and thanks again for coming, fellas. But they righted themselves, showing the type of resiliency the Sox have been after for two seasons. Are the Royals for real? I have a more relevant question for you: Are the Sox for real? This is a maddening team, up one moment and down the next, like a needle on a lie-detector test. True or false: You believe in this team. If you do, you're a trusting soul. Some of us need more evidence. To know what you're going to get from the Sox from series to series would be a miracle. To watch them take two of three from Kansas City would be enough for now. This is where it starts. Against a serious team. A for-real team. What else matters? The next series matters. In Seattle. Against a really for-real team.

OK thanx. That would be great if he could go straight to Kannapolis next year, but if isn't ready and gets sent to Great Falls, that would be fine with me. I just want him to go to a place that he will be ready for, and not go to Kannapolis and do terrible and lose confidence.

I'm really glad to hear this about Valido. He's been really good offensively! I can't wait to see how he does once he gets to low/high A ball, and AA. But, since he just came out of high school, do you think that he'll go to Great Falls next year, and then Kannapolis the year after and so on...?

I was over at WSI browsing around, and I saw a post that said that Bruce Levine said that he expects the Sox to make a deal for the Padres Kevin Jarvis. Has anyone here heard this? By the way, I'm asking because I trust people here more than WSI.

I wouldn't be suprised if he was good in the 'pen for us since he was Baltimore's closer in 2000(though he wasn't very good then). He has some major league experience so he could be pretty good for us.