almagest

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 24, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) Speaking of ignorance, the results of that year's draft completely disagree with your statement. Rowand coming out of Cal State Fullerton was deemed to have approximately equal draft value to a phenomenally-talented-but-still-raw-and-untested Mark Prior. Prior even being picked in the first round straight out of high school speaks volumes about his ability, and it was very obvious to anybody who knows anything about baseball that Prior had MUCH more upside over the long-term. But it's clear that ML organizations often value experience and ML-readiness over raw ability on draft day.You can't say teams shied away from drafting Prior solely because he was raw. Plenty of high-school players are top draft picks, and a number of other reasons could also have contributed, such as Prior had already committing to USC by draft day, knowing he could raise his draft stock beyond a supplemental pick with a good college career, and/or wanting top 5-10 money (or more).

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 23, 2009 -> 06:41 PM) Wow, these are some absolutely awful straw man arguments. The fact that the Sox spent a first-round pick on Rowand suggests that he was at least a solid prospect. Not a can't-miss bad-ass, but certainly somebody who they projected to contribute in the bigs. If you're not saying Rowand was a good draft pick because high-school Prior was taken right around the same spot in the draft, then what exactly are you saying? I have absolutely no idea what point you could possibly be trying to make otherwise.

Adam Eaton is still pitching? Wow. I didn't think a guy who couldn't put an ERA of less than 4 up while pitching in Petco would stick around.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 23, 2009 -> 12:19 PM) Im just really encouraged by BA at this point, which I think is getting lost in the back and forth debate of vets who will produce. If BA can continue to walk, hit the pitches he can hit and turn the lineup over, we may have something here.This is the best approach I've seen from him... well, ever. Even when he was killing the ball he'd look bad at the plate. He's taking bad pitches, and swinging at the hittable ones, for the most part. He's probably still going to strike out a fair amount because of the holes in his swing, but if he keeps this up there's no reason not to play him every day. He's hitting everything hard right now. I'm not sure if he can keep it up, and I think he needs to be more patient sometimes, but he's still better than anything we've had since 2005.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 07:39 PM) No, I mean Prior. He was drafted out of high school at #43 overall by the Yankees in '98. They couldn't agree to terms and Prior went to USC.So Rowand is better than a high school pitcher who didn't even sign with the team that drafted him that year, and was later a #2 overall pick at the same experience level as Rowand? I honestly don't see how that makes Rowand a good prospect. I agree that we shouldn't move Beckham up any time soon, though.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 22, 2009 -> 08:36 PM) I would not be a primary machine. I have a 17" Dell and a Desktop.In that case, I have a 10" Asus EeePC that I love. Highly recommended.

I wouldn't use a netbook as a primary machine. If you're concerned about size, there are plenty of lightweight 12 and 13-inch laptops out there.

Rolling forkballs get hit hard. At least he's getting them over the plate, though.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) It's the 3rd frickin' inning.It's never too early to overreact!

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 06:37 PM) Rowand was a first-round pick (selected before Mark Prior, actually). Not as highly regarded as Beckham, but pretty far from a "meh" prospect in my book.Uhh... do you mean Mauer? Mauer/Prior went 1/2 in 2001. Rowand was drafted #35 overall in 1998.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 11:04 AM) The real question is, should I divorce my wife for hindering my ability to attend a Sox game?I don't think anyone has ever had a better reason to get divorced, ever.

Sad to see. Gordon had a good chance to break out this year.

I second AT&T Park. Had a fantastic time there last year. Was at the game where Zito walked the world, and Alexei hit a hr. Planning on Safeco this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) I'm sure you're open to the possibility of a Mike MacDougal turnaround. He's got a 3.56 WHIP in his first 2 starts. He was horrid last season. Marquez blows.Except MacDougal has a history of sucking. Marquez has last year, and a whopping 5.1 IP this year. You're cherry picking again.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) He better learn how to hit righties if he's going to really be our everyday CFer.Hopefully we'll see if he can with regular playing time in the next few weeks.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 02:07 PM) i'll play devils advocate a little bit and say....middle relief looks horrible, Alexei looks really, really bad out there, and unlike my fellow sox faithful, im really worried about him. I personalyl don't think hes a very good hitter, and i honestly am not sure that he is the hitter he showed last year...i mean only 18 BBs in 400+ ABs...pitchers are really going to take advantage of him...CF looks like an even bigger hole than I expected (and I didnt expect much), and the defense looks terrible....also our base running has been as bad as ive seen.... also, as you pointed out earlier, ozzies philosophy of having someone fast leading off is really unsettling I've also been worried that Alexei's year last year was a bit of a fluke. The scouting reports on him were not encouraging at all when we signed him. That being said, I think his problems right now are correctable. He just needs to stop looking for the fastball all the time.

Carlos Gomez is actually a really good defensive centerfielder. Maybe he would have caught that ball, who knows. His problem is hitting.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Apr 10, 2009 -> 06:37 PM) anyone get MLB 2k9? i'm thinking about buying it, even though i should know better. It's next on my Gamefly queue. I heard it had lots of bugs at release, but hopefully they've been patched since. Also, I'm very much looking forward to this.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 07:19 PM) What makes you think BA is going to hit .250-.260 while playing everyday? I'm not hating on the guy, it's just what the stats tell me.Career minor league numbers of .293/.362/.474, which includes his awful 2007 season when he was hurt. Shot through our minor league system in 3 years. Highly ranked prospect during his time in the minors. Has shown offensive talent in spurts, during the second half of 2006, spring training, and in very limited MLB action since 2006. He's also never really been given a chance, outside of 2006 (and even then he didn't play a full season) to show if he can cut it as a full-time player. This should be his chance.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 02:53 PM) But, a key part of why we were able to get him in the first place is that his #'s in 2007 were down from his #'s in 2006 as well. So you actually had a 2 year downward trend, starting from 2007.Actually, he was pretty much the same production-wise in 2006 and 2007. More HR and higher SLG in 2006, more doubles, higher OBP and higher average in 2007. Last year is the aberrant year, so far, especially considering his fast start this season. I didn't really like the Swisher trade at the start, but warmed up to it based on the rave reviews I kept hearing about Marquez and Nunez. I'm slowly moving back towards not liking it, though. I'm guessing the trade was made mostly because Ozzie, KW, and/or some of the players didn't think he was a good fit.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) I know one thing for sure... with all of the power we have in the minors, I don't see a way Thome is here in 2010.Or Dye.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) Swisher for Betemit is a terrible deal.How come?

QUOTE (tommy @ Apr 10, 2009 -> 02:13 PM) So i got a little surprise check in the mail today from a 401K plan I had when working for a bank right when out of high school. I'm in a market for a laptop as I never had one! I was wondering what you guys like as far as brands go? I remember someone here swore by Lenovo laptops, that's new name for IBM home products, correct? I'm trying to keep this purchase under $800. Probably going to go with Dual T6400 processor, those are standard.. Is Intel better then AMD? I want 4GB operating memory, decent size hard drive, trying to keep in around 15" for portability. Wirless b/g/n would be great, decent sounds, can't think of anything else? Do you guys have some suggestions? I know most of the members here are very computer savvy any tips or advice would be great. It really depends on what you're looking to do. Most of the time, I recommend getting the smallest laptop you're comfortable working with (12 or 13 inch screen should be fine), and monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers/docking station for home use. You don't need 4 GB RAM unless you do lots of video or photo editing, play lots of newer games (not recommended on a laptop anyway), or for some reason keep 70 copies of applications open constantly. 2 GB should be fine, and believe it or not less RAM can help a bit with battery life. Ditto on processor speed. I have a Linux EeePC with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom which runs everything I throw at it. If you can find a great deal on a machine with a faster processor, go for it, otherwise get something more reasonable and use the extra money for a nice bag, and/or the accessories I mentioned above. Intel offers better performance than AMD, but AMD is generally more reasonable. You almost certainly won't notice a difference, so go with whatever is the better deal. Lenovos are workhorses, but really ugly. I like ASUS, HP, Toshiba, and Dells are okay. Check Newegg for some pretty good deals. I buy all my hardware there, and really can't recommend them enough.

I knew this topic would eventually draw out fellow nerds. D&D is like the lightbulb and we're the moths.

Yeah, this'll most likely get tossed out of court pretty quickly.