BlackSox13

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 05:49 PM) Anyone who doesn't think Altuve wouldn't be an upgrade over Beckham is nuts. He's only 23 and having a 1-2 of Eaton and Altuve would be nice. I'd definitely be a lot more willing to part with Quintana + some if it meant getting Castro and Altuve back. I don't know why they'd trade Altuve though, he's been their most consistent bat and has become a fan favorite. Something like Q and one of Semien or Carlos Sanchez might intrigue them enough. This way the Astros get a replacement at second in the deal. The drawback to this would be the Sox most likely would need to replace Q with a free agent pitcher.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 05:40 PM) I think it's fair to say that US Cellular Field is an easier part to hit HRs in than Houston. I would not be shocked to see Altuve hit 10 HR here in Chicago. But even if he only hits 7 or 8, that's not his strength anyway. His strength is contact and speed. He doesn't need to be trying to hit HR from the #2 spot, where he would fit in nicely on this team. Exactly! Can you imagine how Altuve and Eaton raising hell on the bases would f*** with a pitchers head as he's about to face Garcia, Dunn and Abreu? As a pitcher I would be s***ting myself! Almost like having two Scotty Pods at the top of the order.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 05:00 PM) I mean, Castro and Altuve would be natural fits on this team. Absolutely and a damn good suggestion. Love the Altuve idea. QUOTE (TomPickle @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 05:15 PM) Altuve isn't much of an upgrade over Beckham, if he's one at all. QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 05:16 PM) Altuve is not much better than what we have. I'd prefer Beckham/Semien plus we'd have to give up something for Altuve I don't know guys, I gotta disagree. Altuve is young, under contact through 18, hits above .280 , plays solid D, and steals plenty of bases. Altuve combined with Eaton at the top of the order would be badass table setting for Garcia, Dunn and Abreu.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 03:46 PM) I'm not trading Quintana now that Santiago has been moved unless the return is ridiculous and I can't imagine what it would take to get me interested. I'm pretty high on Quintana myself and would prefer if he was traded it would be for a higher impact player than Castro. Nothing wrong with Castro, would love to have him but outside of Q I don't see what else the Astros would be interested in that we are wiling to offer in a trade. Ideas anyone?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 03:36 PM) I shoulda checked 1st, but nice, thx. More expensive, but that's an acceptable window. No problem, i was curious myself. The info didnt come up on the BR mobile site ( im on a tab) so i had to check the full site to find out. The Sox would have plenty of time to evaluate Castro then decide on trying to extend him. I'm just curious what it would take to get him. I know I asked a few weeks back and I think witesox figured It would take Q to get a deal done which makes sense. Not sure I would do that deal, kinda riding the fence.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 03:03 PM) If they prefer Stassi, he should be attainable. Make it so. Looking at when his clock would have started, 67 games in 2010, he has just 2 years before FA, not 3, unless I'm mistaken. That's not ideal, so I'd hope he's amenable to a "security" contract. Would likely perform even better in a more platooned role. Let's do this. Were in luck... http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...ml?mobile=false Looks like he will be under team control through 17.

A few comments here. Paulie- I admit I was very much against the signing from the day it happened. That said I feel different about it now. Abreu is the future 1B of this team unless he shows he's not a good defender or we simply find a better defender and slide Abreu to the DH spot. Paulie was a solid defender at one time and I'm sure can teach Abreu a thing or two on defense which benefits the Sox no doubt. I really don't like having a backup 1B but it is what it is, and that's really not too bad of a thing concidering out LH DH ( dunn) doesn't hit hit lefties well at all and we are stuck with him for the moment. While platooning a high salary player in Dunn with Paulie isn't anyone's perfect scenario its what we have to work with, plus we've put up with dunn for 3 long seasons so what's one more or hopefully less? I would rather dunn be traded but that's just going to happen right now so we just have to deal with it. Catchers- If the Sox were contenders I could see a guy like Buck as a backup to a real catcher. Unfortunately we aren't contenders at this point nor do we have a real starting catcher so I really see no point in signing a guy like Buck. Let's see what we have with Nieto, Phegley and Flowers after ST and go from there, provided a trade for a catcher doesn't happen before then. If something better comes up you grab it but for now these guys are what we have to work with. For all we know a mid season trade or the emergence of a guy like Nieto could solidify the position. As for the cluttered bench. At this point its very possible guys such as Keppinger, Beckham, Gillespie and Dunn are literally going to have to hit their way off this team (trade worthy) to make room for guys like Davidson, LGarcia, Semien etc. They just do not have the value right now, tho I hope I'm wrong.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 06:32 PM) One of soxtalk was at that game, either ss2k5 or Dick Allen I was too but the memory was wrong no doubt. My brother and I used to show up 2 hours early and split a case of MGD's in the parking lot so we were rather drunk before the game even started. I'm thinking this just might be why I didn't remember correctly. Damn beers getcha every time.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 04:32 PM) It was Robin who suggested that Foulke should go to the mound to warmup, while the real reliever quickly warmed up in the pen to come in the game. You know what, you're right. Damn foggy brain from all the beers I used to drink at games.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 10:08 AM) If we renamed every thread when it deviates from the initial subject all the admins would quit due to overwhelming workloads. Nothing wrong with a little anarchy. QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) AJ is Steve Stone's replacement. I would hope Hawks replacement. AJ and Stone would be funny together. Farmer and Stone were very entertaining on the radio. Back to Karko, has he done anything in baseball since he retired? Just trying to guage if he's a realistic possibility.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) Terry Bevington. He wasn't ready when he had the job before, but he has had some more coaching experience and managerial experience on the minor league and independent league levels. He is now ready. Maybe bring in Jaime Navarro as a pitching coach if Coop puts up a stink, and the Sox will be really rolling coaching-wise. I still remember when Bevington walked to the mound to pull a starter, motioned for a reliever but he had forgotten to get a guy warmed up first. Good ole Terry.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 10:01 AM) Well, IMO the first of many threads on who will replace Ventura after this season. Ahhh, OK. Maybe we should retitle this one and use it since its deviated from Karko anyway.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 08:49 AM) And it begins... And just what is "it"?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 11:27 PM) Greg will be thrilled. So there's that. Not as much as Ozzie coming back, though. Haha, at least I won't be viewed as the only one off their rocker. I'll have company.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 08:12 PM) You really don't see blue-chip for blue-chip deals very often. Teams always overvalue the talent and undervalue the money. I'm guessing, at least at first, you'd consistently get better money by selling than by trading (unless you're a clever scout, which is not the same as doing better in the market) I like your thinking Jake. A team could sell off a young talent, turn around and put that money towards a free agent to fill an immediate hole in an effort to compete in the upcoming season. Small and large market teams alike could really benefit from this.

I know this won't be a popular choice but I think AJP would make a great manager after he retires, whenever that is. I'm all for moving on from Ventura though. Great 3B and teammate, not so great manager.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) It's Garry Brown. http://connect.masslive.com/user/gbrown413/posts.html Been in the BBWAA since 1977. OK, thanks for clarifying that. Makes much more sense.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 05:52 PM) Thomas-less ballot: https://twitter.com/RRepoz/status/419252914310217728 Turned in a ballot with 9 names. No room for Frank. Old guy, by the way. Retired a few years ago. As far as I can tell, Frank is at 101/112- 90.2% If this is the Gary Brown referred to in the twitter link , what did he ever do to deserve a ballot in the first place? Lol http://m.bbref.com/m?p=XXminorsXXplayer.cgiQQid=brown-001gar

If I had to guess right now I'd say the rotation ends up 1- Sale 2- Quintana 3- Johnson 4- Danks 5- Surkamp with Paulino as the long man in the pen. I'm no scout but I just don't see Rienzo amounting to much of anything at all as long as he continues to walk the amount of batters that he does. There's just nothing impressive at all about the guy as far as I can tell, but again, im no scout.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 12:54 AM) Well, I don't know if it's a jealousy thing, but I also don't know why a former player would randomly make this up. What's the point in attacking Adam Eaton with lies after he left? It makes more sense that this would be true versus it being untrue. But it's also just one person's opinion. I guess that's what in getting at, there really was no point to the comments in the first place considering Eaton is gone from AZ. I agree with you that this is one anonymous persons perspective and considering this person is anonymous I guess its not worth getting annoyed over in the first place. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 06:20 AM) Someone posted something on here when he was acquired that basically said the same thing. All that matters is if he can play or not. If he plays like a scrub he will be an annoying asshole. If he plays spectacularly, he is just a focused individual. Well said. I can hear hawk now referring to Eaton as " Lil Dennis the menace".

This sounds more like a jealousy thing more than anything not to mention chicken s*** for being anonymous. I mean why else talk s*** about a young guy trying to make a name for himself after he's been traded? I love the kids enthusiasm and energy.

Good to see Big Frank getting the votes, hopefully it stays that way. Frank, Maddux and Glavin should be locks for the HOF IMO.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 30, 2013 -> 07:21 PM) Because those American-born high school players have a 1/100000 chance of being ready for the big leagues at 18. We can throw out a few examples like Griffey, Jr., or Bryce Harper, but the NBA frequently has 5-10 eighteen and nineteen year olds come into the league every year and play right away. And they still have the opportunity to get signed to huge bonuses in the draft. I'm referring to MiLB players, players coming out of high school is a very different scenario all together but even then they still have to prove they are worthy of an MLB promotion and their signing bonuses pale in comparison to the contracts that are handed out to foreign players with no MLB experience. Is it fair a guy like Tanaka is likely to come to the MLB with NO MLB experience at all and get a guaranteed contract that will easily double Chris Sale's? How about Fernandez from the Marlins who had to prove his worth for a call up and still makes the league minimum? There's lots of names I can throw out there but I think you get what I mean.

In all honesty there should be a cap as to how much foreign players can sign for. I admit there have been guys that prosper in the MLB but plenty end up busts too. If the Japanese, DR, Cuban, Venezuelan leagues and etc are considered to be the some equivelant of the MiLB then why are foreign players able to be signed for multi year/ multi million dollar contracts without ever playing in the MLB ? Minor leaguers have to 1) prove their worth in the MiLB to get the callup and 2) take league minimum pay for their first three seasons before they hit arbitration when they are finally able to earn millions AFTER they have proven themselves in the MLB at league minimum. Talk about s***ting on your home grown talent. I'm surprised the players association hasn't had something to say on this, well, I haven't come across anything anyway.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 30, 2013 -> 03:24 PM) Thank you for being my friend. I think we all need to remember were fans of the same team and are equally entitled to our opinions/ perspectives.