ThunderBolt

I think they just improved dramatically if this Golf game story is true. I put it at 45%.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 09:41 PM) Imagine the stories Hawk will tell every time Damon comes up to bat. "I'll tell ya, Stone Pony, this kid can hit a golf ball." I love the idea of Hawk broadcasting that Golf Game." HE looks up!!! COME ON STRETCH!!!! DANGNABBIT."

I'm really excited about this. It's great to know that we're making a legit play here. I can't stress enough how much i love A.J. he goes that extra mile for the team.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 06:27 PM) Well, you'd likely still have to pay them, which would completely defeat the purpose of getting rid of them so you can create salary room. If no other team wants to pick them up off waivers, then the Sox would end up being responsible for their contracts. You can't just release a player or outright a guy without having to pay him. Again, unless somebody else wants to pick them up. I wasn't factoring in salary. Obviously, it's less than realistic, but hypothetically speaking i don't think Damon mitigates any other moves being made.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 06:09 PM) if Damon is signed, there goes the option of adding another bat at the trade deadline. i disagree. Damon goes to LF, Pierre goes to the bench and you DFA Kotsay or Jones.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 01:17 PM) So you are in favor of wasting a roster spot for a part time DH that cant even play the field? I'm not going to speak for him, but i'm okay with that. I don't think a DH has to to be able to play the field, it's nice, i mean it's an added bonus, but it's not needed.

I finally saw "Hard Eight," the 1st film from my favorite director P.T. Anderson, not great, but not bad. A pretty solid effort from a first-time filmmaker. Clearly, he learned from any mistakes he made on this film.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 12:46 PM) There's one other thing you're missing when you repeat that 7.5 games we have to make up issue...the big 20. If Carlos Quentin hits like he did last year to open and close the season when he wasn't hurt, that's basically taking a slightly below average LF with the bat and replacing him with an MVP. If Q isn't all there, then this team is going to struggle a lot again. I think the new nickname for the team should be the "X-Factors." Hell, maybe even the "Q-Factors." We have a lot to hope for coming into this year.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 12:37 PM) No one has unwavering optimism, to which you are referring. People are countering you because you are extrapolating one weak spot on the team (and most people agree it certainly is that), into meaning the whole team sucks. You are ignoring or discounting the significant number of improvements the team has made in the past 6 or 7 months. The pitching looks very good, the defense will be significantly improved, and team speed is significantly improved. Even if the offense is similar in performance as you suggest, the team will still likely be significantly better. In no way am I discounting the moves we made. I'm simply factoring them into the greater divisional picture. We made two great moves midseason, and then countered losing Dye, Thome, and Pods with Juan Pierre, Mark Kotsay, Andruw Jones, and Mark Teahen. Tenuous improvements, if improvements at all. We cannot look at these deals in a vacuum. Nearly every move that we've made has been countered by a move by the Twins. A team, in the Twins, that won the division over us by 7.5 games, and no longer, like us, has to deal with the threat of the Tigers. The Twins are almost certainly better than last year. They were better than us last year. Logic demands that KW tweak the team to a point where competition with the Twins is a certainty, not a hope that factors in universally solid play from every element of the team.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 12:35 PM) Your point of saying Peavy and Rios pick ups don't count for the offseason is just semantics. It's not semantics, it's fact. (Almost) Every trade that's ever been made has been made with the idea of improving the team towards the future. A lot of teams make deals down the stretch, and a lot of teams make huge deals to insure the future of a team. KW doesn't get a free pass for having made the Peavy and Rios moves, he get's a thank you from the fanbase and then the mandate to improve the team around these pieces. Two moves, big or small, does not an offseason make.

The unwavering optimism that some people have for this team is shocking considering we had Rios for the back end of the year, and we still finished 7.5 games behind the Twins. A whole year of Peavy and a Rios recovery will be a significant improvement to the team, but it is unlikely to be one worth 7.5 games. By all objective assessment our offense will either be of minimal improvement or exactly the same depending on what projections you want to believe, and what rebounds you want to factor in. Our defense is questionable, but I'm willing to believe that with Getz, Pods, and Dye being gone we will improve, minimally. Factoring in all of these we still have to deal with the problem that the Twins have gotten better too. We've lucked into the Tigers taking a dramatic step backward, and the Royals and the Indians content with stewing in mediocrity (albeit, the Indians doing it with a very competent new manager) These divisional issues will allow us to be a factor. A Damon signing would push the gap between the two teams to well within any statistical margin of error. I think it would assure a damn good chance of taking this team to the top of this division.

We're paying Mark Kotsay as much money as the Twins are paying Jim Thome. A guy that would have solved these problems, and rid me of my concerns. 1.5 million bucks, that's all that it would have cost. That's chump change in the pocket of Mr. Reinsdorf. If 1.5 million bucks proves to be the difference between us winning the divison, and us failing to do so. I am going to be furious. We need this Damon signing like crazy.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 11:48 AM) "The offseason" is affected by the s***-tons of money that were spent on an elite starting pitcher and a potential five-tool CF in July and August of last year. I thought that would be obvious, but apparently not. Blaming a GM for a "bad offseason" when his team went into it with an nearly maxed-out payroll is ridiculous. No, but i can blame a GM for going into a season with a GAPING HOLE in his lineup. I can also question the logic of a GM for failing to address these issues AFTER obtaining a top of the line starter and an above-average OF, and thereafter choosing not to make any significant upgrades to the team. We can't be content writing off problems with last years victories. I'm not willing to say we got two good guys last year so we should say, "f*** it," and rest on our laurels. Last year is last year. We have problems going into this year that can't be ignored, by saying we made smart moves the year before.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) The frustrating part of "ending up with Kotsay/Jones" as the DH is the fact that they chose to do this. KW could have signed Thome...easily. He could be actually pursuing Damon. He could still sign one of the few names left out there. But he's bending to Ozzie's plan of a rotating DH. They've had time and options, and there is still time and a few options left. However, I think what we see is what we're going to get. I look forward to vastly overpaying for a bat midseason when this rotating Dh things fails to work as expected.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) Over the past 6 months, Kenny has added Peavy, Rios, Pierre, Putz, Teahen, Jones, and Vizquel. I would've preferred Orlando Hudson over Teahen/Vziquel, but it's difficult for me to find much fault with the rest of those additions. Their payroll is currently just under $100M and they're in the lower half of MLB in attendance, so I'm not sure what else you want him to do. Peavy and Rios were midseason pickups. They should not be used in any objective look at the offseason moves. The rest of the names don't instill anything major in me. In fact, there's a decent chance that the production of guys like Vizquel and Jones could be replicated with in-house options. Say, Nix and Flowers. I do, however, like the Teahen and Putz moves a lot.

QUOTE (dmbjeff @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 03:31 PM) I think at that point you trade Kotsay during spring training for a backup IF. Nah, trade him to the Marlins for one of their lefty arms. You sell him as the new Ross Gload, and you try to pickup Taylor Tankersley or Renyel Pinto.

I'm in the "Damon makes it all go away" camp. I think that solves a world of problems, and brings us to the top of this division. As it stands, i'm concerned.

Love the Rotation, Love the Pen, Like 2/3's of the OF, love the infield, not happy at all with our DH platoon. I do like our bench though.

I've been trying to get T-Paine for Tony Pena to catch on. It hasn't really taken off quite yet.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 05:38 PM) It's also still a projection. The fact remains that Porcello exhibits good command of his pitches and his GO/AO of 2 is a good indicator that he can keep his numbers pretty damn good. He'll need to start striking batters out at a better clip, but it wouldn't shock me to see his ERA in the 4.25 range. I'm well aware of the wooly nature of projections. I simply can't stand people who write the process off while ignoring the obvious logic that goes into it.

QUOTE (SI1020 @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 04:29 PM) That settles it then. He's definitely going to suck this year. You do realize that there is ample statistical support for this projection?

Unless Porcello drastically improves his peripherals the Tigers are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise this year.

Chicago is a nice city and Detroit is like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. If we’re talking aesthetics Chicago wins unconditionally.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 06:32 PM) The White Sox signed RHP Ben Fritz out of the Atlantic League. Ben Fritz was another one of Billy Beane's pick back in the Moneyball Draft.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 03:38 PM) Or cause Boras knows how to manipulate Heyman? I think that's a huge factor here too. Boras knows how to play Heyman, and is very close to the Tigers management.