[The deal is done.]

AP indicates the deal might not be final.

 

Updated: March 3, 2007, 2:17 AM ET

DirectTV acknowledges agreement with MLB in letter

Associated Press

 

NEW YORK -- DirectTV acknowledged an agreement with Major League Baseball to become the sole television distributor of the sport's out-of-market package in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, saying the deal will benefit consumers.

 

While the seven-page letter from DirectTV president Chase Carey to the FCC on Friday referred in the second paragraph to "DirecTV's agreement," company spokesman Robert Mercer said later that the letter was incorrect.

 

"The letter should have said proposed agreement. There is no agreement as yet," Mercer said.

 

Carey's letter was released by Edelman, the company's public-relations firm.

[Milwaukee Brewers]

They've had several players popping off about playing time lately. Jenkins, Menche. Thats a sign of disrespect for the Manager (or at least they're not afraid of him) and a bad omen for a baseball team.

[Jim Parque attempting a comeback]

From RotoWorld:

 

Jim Parque began his comeback bid with two scoreless innings Sunday against the Giants.

 

He allowed three hits, but all of them were singles, and he struck out three while walking none. Parque is a long shot to make the Mariners out of spring training, but it's believed he's willing to head to Triple-A for the beginning of the year.

[Official ST Game Thread Sox vs Cubs, 3/4/07]

Danks 16 pitches 14 strikes

[Official ST Game Thread Sox vs Cubs, 3/4/07]

It looked like a fastball to Lee. Was Charlie 3-0 on that pitch or did I just see it wrong

3-1

[5th Starter Race]

Gavin Floyd's effort yesterday brings us to one appearance from each of the 5th starter candidates. Here's the numbers. While one appearance doesn't mean much, at least nobody's arm fell off and each one got some guys out. It'll take a couple weeks for these guys to sort themselves out, fun to watch.

[Guillen responds to McCarthy's comments]

Okay, let me explain it to you.

 

Javier Vazquez was in the game when the batters were hit. Vazquez had MULTIPLE chances to throw at a Texas batter. Did he do it? No. Did he get berated? No.

 

Even if you think Tracey was wrong for missing (because he did throw at a batter) -- you yell at him in public. There's absolutely no need to do it to him in public for all the cameras to see.

That was quite a chain of events. Vincente Padilla had an earlier start against the White Sox where he just had a terrible night. The Sox blasted everything he threw up there, he was searching, groping for something to work and took an eternity between pitches. He ended up throwing 87 pitches in 3.1 innings, 7 earned runs, his night in baseball hell, the game took 3-1/2 hours. A.J. rode him unmercifully from the dugout all night long for taking so much time. Mr. Padilla said nothing but he remembered.

 

10 days later in Texas he came at the White Sox loaded for bear. He threw 8 innings, 3 hit shut out ball in a game that took less than 2-1/2 hours. He remembered A.J. too. Plunked him leading off the second and again in the 4th, in the middle of a shut out. During the game many thought is was Showalter ordering it but the story came out later that it was all Padilla and only Padilla, he didn't even tell Showalter about it.

 

So the Sox were in a position of defending A.J., who had pretty much got what he deserved. To maintain street cred in baseball they had to throw at somebody but this fight was between A.J. and Padilla, not the two teams. Then Tracey somehow misses the guy and the snowball was rolling!

[Brian Anderson Number Change 44 to 32]

So Ozzie won't know who he is.

[Baseball Prospectus]

I get BP every season, and they are no less accurate over the years than all the "experts" that get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on various networks. I don't buy 72 wins, they use PECOTA and that probably has the offense a lot less effective than last season. I'm sure Gavin Floyd doesn't project too well with just about anybody's systems. And the rest of the White Sox pitching staff is loaded with questions. They could be great, they could be awful. I would think if everything turned bad the Sox would win more than 72, but assuming they are going to win 96+ games is probably equally as crazy.

How does PECOTA handle rookies? Detroit wouldn't have made it last year without Verlander and Zumaya so going on past MLB performance would have missed them (as I and everyone else did).

[Sox on Veterans HOF ballot/results tuesday]

4th best player on the team in 1969??? Give me a break. I was 11 years old and REALLY into baseball that year. Santo was the star of that team.

 

Look at the stats if you need confirmation of that. Lead the team in homeruns, rbi's, OBP, slugging... he WAS the reason the Cubs made a run in '69

 

Stats for the '69 Cubs on baseballreference.com - http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1969.shtml

 

Its the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Cub

 

Here's his great year Vs the league leader in 1969

 

HR 29, McCovey 45

RBI 123, McCovey 126

OBP .384, McCovey .453

Slugging .485, McCovey .656

 

He did lead the league in one area, GDIP 21 and was second in the league for 3B errors 27 (lead all positons for the cub in errors, though).

 

One can spin the numbers any way they want, in the end Santo was a good player, not a great player. He deserves appreciation, but was a cut below the best players of his own era.

[Frank Thomas Blue Jays Story]

I want Frank for it to be against us too, even if its a game deciding run.... its just 1 game and Frank can have 1 game to hit the milestone in my opinion.

I don't know if he can turn anyone in the White Sox bullpen around anymore. Last year he hit two dings off Garland, and you may recall that the Sox coaches were absolutely livid with Jon and Widger over how they pitched to him. Then one off Vazquez (6th inn) and, finally, Contreras during his September funk.

 

Frank is still a great mistake hitter but if the pitch is hard and over the plate I think you can get him every time. Detroit pitched him this way in the ALCS and made him look bad.

[Interesting Stat]

As miserable a time as Pods had last season he was one of the more consistant players in terms of doing something - anything positive at least once a game ll season. A lot of guys on the White Sox had bad second halfs and the standings reflected it.

[WhiteSox.com Article on BA]

I'll bite.

Good article.

I hope he has a great year. He's still a great prospect.

Crede didn't tear it up right away and he's great now.

It was encouraging to read what Walker had to say.

 

You got all of that one greg775. He has the potential to be a fine player and, unlike last season, the White Sox have protected themselves by getting a legitimite veteran CF in Darin Erstadt. I hope Brian does well, but I feel much better going into this season than last year.

 

Just picking numbers out of the air, I'd expect the season to begin with Brian starting about half the games, he'll sit out all righties and the tougher lefties, and then gradually increase his playing time as he masters the game situations (and Darin inevitably gets hurt). He doesn't have to hit .300 to help this team, with the way he can run down a ball he can be a valuable player just advancing runners and working counts when he is in a bad match up.

[Big Year for Vazquez?]

that is an excellent point. i think this a HUGE year for javy and for some reason i think he is going to deliver. call it a hunch (or just call me crazy)

You are crazy.

 

He was a dog in Montreal for Felipe Alou, Jeff Torborg and Frank Robinson. He was a dog in New York for Joe Torre. He was a dog in Arizona for Bob Melvin and he was a dog last year for Ozzie Guillen -despite the divine intervention of Don Cooper. None of these fine baseball men could turn him around. Life time 100-105, 11-12 with the White Sox at a No 1 starter salary.

 

He is a 12-1/2 million dollar Jason Grilli.

[Would somebody explain something to me??]

And with whom are we going to force the issue with?There isnt any team speed.We are gonna be a station to station team and thats it.

With every player on the team. Even Kong and Thome should go for second on a throw home after a single. Dye can charge a ground ball single to keep a runner on first from going to 3rd. Aggressive doesn't mean the '82 Cardinals, it means taking advantage of your opportunities and denying them to the other guys. Most of all it means not taking plays off. Its a mind set.

[Would somebody explain something to me??]

Mostly I want to see this team manufacture runs again and not be the softball team waiting on the 3 run homer again...

Spot on. My keys are:

 

Aggressive

 

Team

 

Baseball

 

The White Sox have to force the issue on both sides of the ball. ST will be interesting, I'll be looking for signs that the vets are into the games, guys like Crede. To an extent, last year I got the vibe that each one thought if he only put up his 'numbers' the winning would take care of itself.

[MLB Rules Changes]

From MLB.Com, here are the first rules changes in the last 10 years:

 

Potentially most consequential is the manner in which games that end in a tie, due to weather or other uncontrollable elements, will be resolved. While previously such games were considered official and replayed in their entirety from the beginning, hence they will be "suspended" and resumed at the point of stoppage.

 

Addressing issues relating to the pacing of games, fair play -- and even the fairer sex -- other rule changes highlight:

 

Time between pitches: The allotment for delivering the ball with no one on base has been reduced, from 20 seconds to 12. The price for each violation is a ball.

 

Batter's box presence: Conversely, an automatic strike will be assessed each time a batter violates the rule requiring they keep one foot in the batter's box throughout his at-bat, except for certain game-play conditions -- during which he is still not allowed to leave the dirt area surrounding the plate.

 

Ball scuffing: Rule 3.02 now calls for an automatic 10-game suspension for any player who intentionally defaces the ball. (Previously, a first offense led to the pitch being called a ball, a warning to the pitcher and an announcement of violation.)

 

No reason for rosin: The same Rule 3.02 now specifically prohibits placing "soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sandpaper, emery paper or other foreign substance" on the ball. The rule's penalty phase dictates, "The umpire shall demand the ball and remove the offender from the game. In addition, the offender shall be suspended automatically for 10 games."

 

Gender objectivity: The rulebook now includes the disclaimer that references "to 'he,' 'him' or 'his' shall be deemed to be a reference to 'she,' 'her' or 'hers'" where applicable.

 

Also:

Changes to Rule 10, governing official scoring, may have the most direct bearing on fans' perception of the coming season by affecting the game's lifeblood: statistics.

 

For instance, the guidewords for deciding whether to credit a batter with a sacrifice bunt have changed from him being possibly retired on a "perfect play" to "ordinary effort" by the defense. And fans weary of hearing "defensive indifference" on stolen-base attempts will be heartened to learn that the scorer must now base that call on all game circumstances, not merely on whether someone covered the base or the catcher got off a throw.

[Incase you are a betting man...]

If Prior is healthy, if Dempster is a solid closer and if the line-up raises their OBP, ... then they still have to find somebody who can catch a baseball.

 

They better hit because that defense is going to kill their pitchers. DLee is very good, everyone else is between below average and terrible.

[Sox Sign Eduardo Perez]

That's something that has come into my mind now regarding Anderson.

 

It almost seems he's really going to have to produce from the get go in ST, because if he doesn't, with these guys that they've brought in, he could find himself down in Charlotte sooner rather than later (although I certainly hope that isn't the case).

Ding! Ding! Ding!

 

I too hope BA sticks because that will mean he's hitting. I don't care about his numbers, but what he does with his at bats. Hit .250, take a walk, move runners, bunt -think when your at the plate Brian!

[Why was MB wearing a Cards cap?]

I think itz qll the perzon. With the wreztling, I grew up going to Iowq cqmpz qnd I hqve zo much Iowq wreztling clothez. I don't even touch it. I think it'd be q lot different if he wore q Cqrdz hqt in the clubhouze etc. I hqve no problem with whqt he did, I juzt know q lot of people who would never do it.

 

Just trying to help.

 

Keyboard

[Soxtalk Softball Info]

the office I need to talk to is at 541 North Hendricks. I will give it another chance or two over the phone as I have a couple of questions I need to ask, but thanks for the offer. I am really excited about this, as if this works out, it will be a really awesome event.

Ask Stef to pull a few stings, maybe Roger will let you use the Cell.

 

As to the name controversy, I went to one and once you are there nobody cares what site you favor, its just a bunch of White Sox fans having fun and watching the boys. We saw Zoomer steal home but lost the game at the one I went to.

[Sox Sign Erstad]

Last year, Erstad hit as well as Brian Anderson despite playing on one leg. At the very least he is somebody who Brian has to compete with for playing time. Should Erstad hit .273 like he did in ’05 and field CF responsibly, it will provide a floor for Brian. Having watched virtually every game last year, I don’t think Anderson has reached the maturity to be entirely self motivated, and knowing he has to play better than Erstad or grab some pine will make him an improved player.

[Soriano in Center]

Top 5 LF Assists in 2006:

 

yearID POS Player Assists

2006 LF Alfonso Soriano 22

2006 LF Craig Monroe 12

2006 LF Melky Cabrera 12

2006 LF Raul Ibanez 11

2006 LF Jason Bay 10

 

Top 5 LF Assists since 1996 (before that all OF positions were lumped together):

 

yearID POS Player Assists

2006 LF Alfonso Soriano 22

2000 LF Bobby Higginson 19

1996 LF Bernard Gilkey 18

2001 LF Pat Burrell 18

1997 LF Bernard Gilkey 17

 

Amazing. Teams must have started running on him during batting practice. You run on a guy when you think you can press him into a bobble, he doesn't know where to throw the ball and/or he has a poor arm. This is an elegant expression of disrespect by the opposition.

[USA Today]

The writer did his homework, not a bad piece. Nothing that we didn't know, but a nice piece.

He says Ryan Sweeney has a 'short right-handed stroke'. Must have missed a class.

[Are we really out of contention this coming season?]

If the White Sox play aggressive team baseball in 2007 nobody is going to beat them.

 

Aggressive

 

Team

 

Baseball