almagest

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 12, 2008 -> 11:45 AM) There has been so much complaining about us going with Danks and Floyd that this puts things into perspective. The kids may falter, but then again we could pay a mediocre pitcher a king's ransom and still be no better off. Yep. As I've said in other threads, though, I don't think its any of our concern as fans to care what the White Sox payroll is, or how much they "save" by not signing a player. That being said, if the Sox are going to give a pitcher close to 10 mil/year, it'd better not be someone like Kyle Lohse. I don't want to go to the Cell next year and pay close to $100 to see him consistently give up 4+ runs over 5 innings. I'd rather go see players who at least have the chance to have an upside.

No. Thanks. John Danks' final numbers last year are about equivalent to what you could expect from Kyle Lohse. Do we really want to pay Lohse 7 mil + a year to consistently give what Danks gave last year? At least Danks has an upside, and should probably pitch better than he did last year. Lohse has no where to go but down, especially since he'd be coming back from the NL.

Looks like I was right about the BCS. I missed Gladiators tonight, though. How was it?

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Jan 7, 2008 -> 12:56 AM) I hear there's some sort of football game on. I've a feeling it's going to be another lopsided college bowl game, and I need something else to watch, just in case.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 11:56 PM) well, I think Young will be a decent player, but a lot of people here are proclaiming him to be the next Carlos Beltran or something, and thats bs. I agree about Chris Young completely. Even with his power, and even trying to maximize the number of his ABs given said power, I have no idea why Arizona batted him leadoff with his robust .297 OBP. He's like Alfonso Soriano, but without the high average. I'd think he'd be better off hitting lower in the order, where his power would be more valuable, and low OBP less of a hindrance. Beltran was a bit overrated too (IMHO) because of his performance a couple years ago in the playoffs, though he actually has become a pretty good value, given his .878 2007 OPS, an ~.850 career OPS, and salary of 13.5 million. Torii Hunter put up an .839 OPS in 2007, with a career OPS of .793, and he's getting what? 18 million a year? Even Rowand is getting $12 mil/year now, and he's no where near worth as much as Beltran. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 06:08 PM) I wouldnt mind seeing the reactions from when Reed was traded. I remember that. I was lurking here at the time -- quite a few doomsday prophecies, I believe. I can't say I didn't feel the same way, though. That was one of the deals that helped me realize how worthless hanging on to prospects can be.

That old blonde guy really annoyed me. I'm glad he almost had a heart attack and lost. I also am amazed at how much they've improved upon the old show, in almost every aspect. And that was no small task, since the original show had the considerable force of nostalgia behind it. So who else will be watching it tomorrow night?

The more I think about this trade, the more I like it. I'm also wondering if perhaps Quentin wasn't meant all along to be a replacement for Sweeney. There isn't much space for Sweeney in our outfield as of now, even if Quentin doesn't do well. I'd imagine Owens would take over in CF, moving Swisher to LF. The thing that worries me a bit, though, is when Dye leaves, or has to move to DH/1B. We don't really have anything to replace him, unless they're actually going to give Brian Anderson another chance. Also, I've seen mention of using free agency to fill a majority of our holes. Financial concerns aside (in reality, we as fans should seldom if ever worry about how much a particular player costs. The White Sox aren't going to lower ticket prices because they saved money by not signing a player.), each worthwhile free agent we sign is going to cost us draft picks anyway, which is what we really need at this point. We have to fill our lower minor leagues with quality prospects, since they're so barren. I don't feel including DLS in this trade hurts us as much as some seem to think, either. Whether we trade him or not, our minor leagues are in dire need of legitimate prospects, and Kenny needed to help keep the team competitive now. I think people forget that the minor leagues are there to help the parent club, whether it's through producing good MLB-caliber players, or helping to acquire good MLB-caliber players through trade. Whether the players we traded end up being stars, or busts, Swisher helps us quite a bit this year, and will likely help us for the next few years as well. In my eyes, that makes it a good trade.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Anyway, I'd like to compare last season, and career numbers for two players - Jack Egbert, and Gio Gonzalez: Egbert 2007 W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP GB% 12 8 3.06 28 28 0 0 0 0 161.2 138 63 55 3 44 165 6 0 7.68 0.17 2.45 9.19 1.13 -- Egbert Career (4 MiLB seasons) W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP GB% 35 24 2.93 104 90 4 3 0 -- 529.0 461 215 172 12 179 468 23 -- 7.84 0.20 3.05 7.96 1.21 -- Gio 2007 W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP GB% 9 7 3.18 27 27 0 0 0 0 150.0 116 57 53 10 57 185 5 2 6.96 0.60 3.42 11.10 1.15 -- Gio Career (4 MiLB seasons) W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP GB% 31 28 3.49 91 89 0 0 -- 0 492.1 400 215 191 43 206 577 23 -- 7.32 0.79 3.77 10.55 1.23 -- Egbert is two years older, but the stats are pretty close, with an edge to Egbert (IMO) due to the extra innings thrown, starts made, lower HR/9, BB/9, WHIP, and ERA. I guess the point of this comparison is to ask why so many people seem to think Gio was such a "can't miss" prospect with a ceiling of a #3 or #2 starter, when Egbert has anywhere from a slightly worse (considering the difference two years can make development-wise, though considering they both have four years experience, I'm not sure this is the case) to slightly better career line, but is considered a 4th or 5th starter at best. I think we as fans need to stop over-hyping our prospects, and realize we got a guy who can play all outfield positions as well as first base, and easily put up an 850-900 OPS for five years without breaking the bank like we would have for Hunter or Rowand. People also seem to forget we would have lost draft picks in signing either of those players as well, and that Swisher is a much safer bet to produce over the long-term than either Hunter or Rowand. And really, all we lost was a solid pitching prospect with some durability issues (Gio), an A ball pitcher who seems to project best as a short reliever (DLS), and a guy who couldn't hit over .280 in AAA, nor hit more than 13 home runs in a bandbox stadium (Sweeney). For a player with the ability and contract status of Swisher, I'd make that trade anyday.