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I'm back from Tucson


Cerbaho-WG

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I caught the 3/23 and 3/24 games, fun stuff.

 

I flew into Tucson on 3/22, checked into the hotel and proceeded to just sleep until the next morning.

 

3/23 game: Sox v. Arizona (Schoeneweis v. Webb)

 

Notes:

 

Schoeneweis looked very good...until the third inning. He completely fell apart in the 3rd, and got hit very hard through the 5th. His changeup had good movement to it, but he left it up in the zone too often.

 

Even though Webb got shelled (4 IP 9 H 6 R 5 ER), his delivery was beautiful. The ball just exploded out of his hand, and there was no visible effort. His sinker wasn't working too well, as he kept it up and the Sox teed off on him. I was impressed, though.

 

Carlos Lee simply demolished the ball three straight times at the plate, although he only went 1-3 on the day. The first ball he hit was about 5 feet up the batter's eye in center (405 ft), his second was a 400 foot bomb to right center that was caught at the wall, and his 3rd was a rope to right field which was caught.

 

Rowand was impressive, too, hitting one of the farthest balls I've ever seen hit. Rowand really got into a Jim Parque (more on him later) pitch and drove it two-three feet from the top of the batter's eye. The thing had 500+ written all over it.

 

Jeremy Reed came in in the 6th and went 2-2. Roped one into right and then later went back up the middle. Reed got hosed at home on a great play by Bobby Estalella, but Reed should have been safe. I liked what I saw, though.

 

Juan Uribe does not get cheated at the plate. At all. This little guy swings out of his shoes half the time, which caused hi to fly open a lot. Looked very good out in the field.

 

Politte was impressive; he got ahead of just about every hitter and only walked one. Looked very good out there.

 

Dransfeldt went 2-2.

 

Jim Parque pitched, and it was really sad. It looked as if he was pitching softball, and the Sox hitters just teed off on him.

 

Matt Kata went 3-3, needing only a 3B to get the cycle.

 

--

 

So the next morning (3/24!), I headed off to the minor league facilities to see if I could run into Bullard or Baj. To put it lightly, I felt like a kid at a candy store. Within about 3 minutes I met Brian Anderson, realy nice guy. About 20 minutes later I ran into Kris Honel and talked to him for about a minute. Honel is really, really nice. Great guy. Was just a joy to look out at the players and actually know what they did in the minors, and who they were. I saw Clint King, and man is he small. Mike Morse, on the other hand, is a goddamn beast. He's huge. There were two minor-league games that day, and I was really quite pissed that they scheduled them at the same time of the big league game against the M's.

 

Onto the game:

 

Garland v. Franklin

 

Garland's line is a bit of a lie, I thought he pitched like crap. A lot of outs were ropes.

 

Shingo pitched, and his changeup is flat out filthy. Hat some command issues, but that changeup is evil.

 

Cotts pitched as well, and I was impressed and kind of disappointed at the same time. Cotts got ahead of just about every hitter, but he couldn't manage to put them away. Changeup looked OK, and his curve looked plus although he only threw it once. I sat next to some scouts from the Texas Rangers and they were gunning Cotts. He was hitting 91 on his fastball, didn't see his changeup.

 

And then Koch pitched, and I wanted to cry. Koch's fastball ranged from 90-92, his slider from 86-88. He looked like s***, just very bad.

 

More to come in a bit....

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Thanx for the report there Cerb, I think Shoe hurt his fingernail in the 3rd or 4th of that game, and then he started to pitch bad, although at least he kept pitchin.

Reed's been gettin betta with every game, startin to look quite impressive out there now. Hmmm Texas scoutin Cotts, well no suprise really, they need pitchin in the worst way. Don't know who they would give up to us though.

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Thanx for the report there Cerb, I think Shoe hurt his fingernail in the 3rd or 4th of that game, and then he started to pitch bad, although at least he kept pitchin.

Reed's been gettin betta with every game, startin to look quite impressive out there now. Hmmm Texas scoutin Cotts, well no suprise really, they need pitchin in the worst way. Don't know who they would give up to us though.

I would love Soriano. He seems to be available. He's brutal defensively, but he's a good bet for 40/40 away from Yankee Stadium. You could move him out to the outfield when Magglio leaves, and not lose any production.

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Garland's line is a bit of a lie, I thought he pitched like crap. A lot of outs were ropes.

 

Shingo pitched, and his changeup is flat out filthy. Hat some command issues, but that changeup is evil.

 

Cotts pitched as well, and I was impressed and kind of disappointed at the same time. Cotts got ahead of just about every hitter, but he couldn't manage to put them away. Changeup looked OK, and his curve looked plus although he only threw it once. I sat next to some scouts from the Texas Rangers and they were gunning Cotts. He was hitting 91 on his fastball, didn't see his changeup.

 

And then Koch pitched, and I wanted to cry. Koch's fastball ranged from 90-92, his slider from 86-88. He looked like s***, just very bad.

 

More to come in a bit....

                                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
 SEATTLE
R Franklin (L,1-1)                 4   6   3   2   1   3   0
R Guttormson                   1 2-3   6   4   4   0   0   2
A Looper                       2 1-3   4   1   1   1   5   0
 CHI WHITE SOX
J Garland (W,4-0)                  6   4   0   0   3   2   0
S Takatsu                          1   1   0   0   1   0   0
N Cotts                            1   3   2   2   0   0   0
B Koch                             1   0   0   0   1   0   0

 

Thanks for the post Cerb, from the line you could easily get the wrong impression of guys....

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I would love Soriano. He seems to be available. He's brutal defensively, but he's a good bet for 40/40 away from Yankee Stadium. You could move him out to the outfield when Magglio leaves, and not lose any production.

I agree one million percent.

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I would love Soriano. He seems to be available. He's brutal defensively, but he's a good bet for 40/40 away from Yankee Stadium. You could move him out to the outfield when Magglio leaves, and not lose any production.

The only way we'd be able to get Soriano is if we include another prospect like a Kris Honel as a minimum along with Cotts. Plus, Soriano's makin quite a bit this year, so we'd hav to ship out sum payroll like Koch as well. Sorry but I can't see us gettin Soriano, like to, but we won't.

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The only way we'd be able to get Soriano is if we include another prospect like a Kris Honel as a minimum along with Cotts. Plus, Soriano's makin quite a bit this year, so we'd hav to ship out sum payroll like Koch as well. Sorry but I can't see us gettin Soriano, like to, but we won't.

I know it would never happen, but he is a steal at $5.5 million. The Mets were interested in him, and they don't have any top notch pitching prospects.

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I know it would never happen, but he is a steal at $5.5 million. The Mets were interested in him, and they don't have any top notch pitching prospects.

If I recall the Mets wouldn't part with their top pitching prospect Scott Kazmir and thats why Soriano is still a Ranger.

 

If the Rangers would take Rauch, Harris or Uribe, and Borchard then I'd do it. Even make it Rauch, Pacheco and Harris or Uribe or Borchard and I'd do it.

 

But if you are giving up Cotts, Honel, etc then its costly. Still, Soriano is a pretty valuable player, imo.

 

I don't think its going to happen though and to be honest, I think the bullpen or rotation are of great concern.

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I know it would never happen, but he is a steal at $5.5 million. The Mets were interested in him, and they don't have any top notch pitching prospects.

I think they wouldn't giv up Scott Kazmir or Royce Ring in any possible deal for Soriano.

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I think any of the Mets top pitchin prospects would hav been discussed especially if they couldn't hav Kazmir.

Yeah, that is a good point, but I think a top prospect would have to be dealt in this deal for the Rangers. They lost ARod, and now Soriano is their superstar. If they trade him for minor leaguers, those minor leaguers better be better than special. IMHO.

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Yeah, that is a good point, but I think a top prospect would have to be dealt in this deal for the Rangers. They lost ARod, and now Soriano is their superstar. If they trade him for minor leaguers, those minor leaguers better be better than special. IMHO.

At least now Texas is headed on the right path. They know signin guys like Chan Ho Park to $75 million contracts will bring nothing but trouble in the future. They are trying to develop young pitching, which is what they really needed to do in the 1st place. Sorinao is expendable, because they alrady hav the 2 Young's playing 2B and SS, plus they hav sum good young outfield prospects who can possibly play CF.

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At least now Texas is headed on the right path. They know signin guys like Chan Ho Park to $75 million contracts will bring nothing but trouble in the future. They are trying to develop young pitching, which is what they really needed to do in the 1st place. Sorinao is expendable, because they alrady hav the 2 Young's playing 2B and SS, plus they hav sum good young outfield prospects who can possibly play CF.

How many years does Eric Young have left. I feel they need some sort of big name presence after losing ARod, and no one from Teixeira, Blaylock, Nix, and co are not there yet.

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Looks like I might have run into (literally) Aboz yesterday. Really, really weird. :)

 

Prospect time....

 

Mike Morse looks like a giant out at SS, he just looks really out of place (in a funny way). I wouldn't be surprised to see him move over to 3B or 1B if he develops some power. And trust me, this kid can surely develop some power, he's very big.

 

Brandon Bounds got to play against Seattle, and I was pleased to see a white guy sporting the knee highs. Way to go, Brandon! He drew a walk in his only PA.

 

Scott "The Pride of Birmingham" Bikowski got into the game as well, although he wasn't credited in the USA Today box score that I read. Scott did play and laced a double off the wall in the bottom of the 8th. Atta boy, Scott!

 

Dransfeldt went 1-2, and his main competition for the last roster spot, Jamie Burke, went 0-1.

 

I think I ran into Aboz yesterday the 24th at the Sox dugout, and I got a good dose of autographs.

 

I think (learn to write, guys) got:

 

Jamie Burke

Brad Murray? (I think, #71)

It's either Brian Becker or Brandon Bounds

Someone who was wearing #51 and wasn't Jon Rauch

Kelly Dransfeldt

Ozzie

..... Sandoval maybe (don't think he's w/ the Sox, though)#57

Ross Gload

Matt Ginter (it's easy to read, thank God)

Frank Thomas

Kelly Wunsch (I asked him where his hair went)

Scott Schoeneweis

Joe Borchard

Mike Morse

 

Snagged a foul ball on Tuesday, as well. Yay.

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