Every Year I Plan on Following Spring Training ... but

[greg775]

Every year I plan on following spring training, but just don't do it.

 

Please fill me in.

-- Is CQ healthy and faring well?

-- Is Beckham gonna make the team?

-- How if Fields doing at 3B defensively and Lexi at ss?

-- How are our vet slow guys hitting?

-- Fill me in, please and thanks!!!

[ScottyDo]

Here's my take:

 

CQ is healthy, he isn't raking yet but he will.

 

Beckham was originally declared a starter in AA. He's been tearing the cover off the ball, though, so KW and Ozzie have each stated that they're giving him a long look. It's anybody's guess as to whether they'll actually follow through and put him on the team, but so far he looks like a gamer. It's still early. The answer is, Beckham has an outside chance of making the team at this point, but Ozzie has explicitly stated that he will only make the team if he's starting because he's got too much talent for the bench.

 

Fields is doing fairly well defensively at 3b, but more noticeably he's tearing the cover off the ball like Beckham is. Lexi still has some convincing to do before he gains consensus around Soxtalk that SS is his best position. Could be, but we won't know for a few weeks yet. He's hitting alright as well.

 

As for our vets, Konerko's destroying the ball, although he's also living up to his nick-acronym of GIDPK. That'll never change. You just have to hope that on top of his 2 GIDP/game, he's also giving you a few power shots. As of right now, looks like he's got his feel going. Dye is also performing fairly strongly, though my eyes aren't popping yet. I personally have no concerns about Dye before the season. Thome recently mentioned he's been having back trouble. I'm not saying "uh oh," but I'm certainly thinking it loudly.

 

The current Big Questions all revolve around the Midfield (SS, 2B, CF) Triangle. Getz is doing pretty damn well and is the lead horse to win the job, but since Ozzie and KW don't want him leading off to begin the season (and, frankly, I concur) that means whoever plays CF will, necessarily, lead off. This means Dwayne Wise, who is ALSO destroying the baseball at the moment--his horrible day today notwithstanding--is the leader for the CF starting role and Sox leadoff. This displeases many around Soxtalk, who would prefer that Anderson start because he clearly has the best defensive tools of the CF candidates, and, as the argument goes, "nobody can hit so why not start the best defender?". Owens has pretty much dropped out of contention by playing like sh*t day in, day out. The general feeling is, good riddance. Some Soxtalkers have requested that, because of the dearth of talent at CF, Ozzie start Alexei there, play Beckham at SS because of his demonstrable talent (he does appear to be pretty strong defensively there as well), and put Getz at 2b. Implicit in this request is an assumption that either Beckham or Getz will lead off, which I don't think KW or Ozzie want in the slightest as they don't want to rush either player. Alexei has yet to start in CF so at this point it appears that this is a pipe dream, though it may leave the most talented group on the field. Anderson started crushing yesterday and continued today, but that's still only 2 days out of the 40 or so in spring training. The next few weeks will be interesting for the Triangle, that's for sure. It's pretty much the only sore subject on Soxtalk right now.

 

And, for the record, Viciedo looks very promising but, as it stands, Fields is absolutely winning the job. Viciedo will be up soon, and by all accounts will look good.

 

And that's what I did over my spring break!

The End.

[nitetrain8601]

I don't think there's any discussion regarding SS with the Sox. Alexei will be the starting SS period. I would be shocked if he played any other role unless it was an emergency.

[ScottyDo]

I don't think there's any discussion regarding SS with the Sox. Alexei will be the starting SS period. I would be shocked if he played any other role unless it was an emergency.

Nope, the Sox will not start anyone but Alexei at SS, that is merely a Soxtalk controversy at the moment.

[greg775]

Very nice.

You got me caught up to date. I read every word of your long post.

Thank you very much.

I'm caught up and I like what I hear from you about Fields.

Wow on Owens.

Sounds like he's done as a Sox if he doesn't make the squad.

[Y2HH]

Very nice.

You got me caught up to date. I read every word of your long post.

Thank you very much.

I'm caught up and I like what I hear from you about Fields.

Wow on Owens.

Sounds like he's done as a Sox if he doesn't make the squad.

 

Why are you surprised about Owens? People seem to think he's some 21 year old up and comer when he's approaching 30.

[Balta1701]

Why are you surprised about Owens? People seem to think he's some 21 year old up and comer when he's approaching 30.

Because usually guys don't fall off this quickly before they hit 30, especially with very few miles on the tires.

[SoxFan562004]

Very nice.

You got me caught up to date. I read every word of your long post.

Thank you very much.

I'm caught up and I like what I hear from you about Fields.

Wow on Owens.

Sounds like he's done as a Sox if he doesn't make the squad.

It's also worth pointing out that the starting pitching depth is promising. Colon and Jose have come back quicker than anyone thought and looks like they have a good shot at take the 4 and 5 spots out of spring, letting the younger starters go down to AAA and be there in case they are needed

[justBLAZE]

I'm not sure if we can say that Bartolo and Jose have a shot at making the rotation, without really seeing them pitch.

 

Jose looked really good last time out, Bartolo is pitching today, and he's wasn't all that good.

[qwerty]

Because usually guys don't fall off this quickly before they hit 30, especially with very few miles on the tires.

 

Players actually ''fall off'' much quicker than the age of 30. Major leaguers? No. Life time minor leaguers? Hell yes.

 

 

This sort of thing happens all the time, especially to players that were never very good in the first place, owens just so happens to fall into that category. Why do all the studs hit or pitch so well in high school, college, or any portion of the minors, and then go on to hit a wall? Generally when this wall is hit it is before the age of 25, thus us knowing they will likely never help out a major league team. Their best days are behind them, they are over matched, really that simple. Aberrations happen all the time in sports, the 2005 season for owens was just that.

 

This is simply beating a dead horse as you are still a backer of his, though nothing will change your mind until he hurts the sox once more with his production, or should i say his lack of production.

 

Btw, owens is really is not all that fast, so there goes his only ''asset''.

[SoxFan562004]

I'm not sure if we can say that Bartolo and Jose have a shot at making the rotation, without really seeing them pitch.

 

Jose looked really good last time out, Bartolo is pitching today, and he's wasn't all that good.

You're right, I probably did overstate their progress. I do think it is a story how well they've progressed, especially the Count

[SoxFan562004]

Players actually ''fall off'' much quicker than the age of 30. Major leaguers? No. Life time minor leaguers? Hell yes.

 

 

This sort of thing happens all the time, especially to players that were never very good in the first place, owens just so happens to fall into that category. Why do all the studs hit or pitch so well in high school, college, or any portion of the minors, and then go on to hit a wall? Generally when this wall is hit it is before the age of 25, thus us knowing they will likely never help out a major league team. Their best days are behind them, they are over matched, really that simple. Aberrations happen all the time in sports, the 2005 season for owens was just that.

 

This is simply beating a dead horse as you are still a backer of his, though nothing will change your mind until he hurts the sox once more with his production, or should i say his lack of production.

 

Btw, owens is really is not all that fast, so there goes his only ''asset''.

I'm not a big fan of the response I'm going to post, but I think your post totally deserves it... +1

[Bubba Philips]

I'm not a big fan of the response I'm going to post, but I think your post totally deserves it... +1

no one mentioned Betemit, he is ripping the ball. I skipped the game today but no matter what it costs you'll never get a closer look at the players. Sometimes the b games are as good as the ones you pay admission.

 

[Kalapse]

Betemit is going to be a huge asset off the bench working deep into counts and hitting bombs off righties. Can't wait to see what he does with a small ballpark as his home.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Players actually ''fall off'' much quicker than the age of 30. Major leaguers? No. Life time minor leaguers? Hell yes.

 

 

This sort of thing happens all the time, especially to players that were never very good in the first place, owens just so happens to fall into that category. Why do all the studs hit or pitch so well in high school, college, or any portion of the minors, and then go on to hit a wall? Generally when this wall is hit it is before the age of 25, thus us knowing they will likely never help out a major league team. Their best days are behind them, they are over matched, really that simple. Aberrations happen all the time in sports, the 2005 season for owens was just that.

 

This is simply beating a dead horse as you are still a backer of his, though nothing will change your mind until he hurts the sox once more with his production, or should i say his lack of production.

 

Btw, owens is really is not all that fast, so there goes his only ''asset''.

Actually Balta is a big BA fan.

[qwerty]

Actually Balta is a big BA fan.

 

From everything he has said about owens in the past up until this very day there is no doubt he is a fan of owens. He always gives owens the benefit of the doubt.

Edited March 16, 2009 by qwerty

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

From everything he has said about owens in the past up until this very day there is no doubt is a fan of owens. He always gives owens always gets the benefit of the doubt.

OK I won't speak for him any more but I know for sure he likes BA so ,maybe , he just hopes for the best for many Sox players as I do. If search actually ever worked I'm sure I could find many of his posts making smarmy comments about BA's lack of playing time. He's a good guy, knowlegdable and very fair minded.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Liilibridge GO up the middle (0-5 ,3 more K's) , Kroeger K's (0-4 2 K's) , Konerko GO to 2nd (0-5) game over 11-7 Royals win.

oops that was supposed to go in the game thread. my bad.

[lostfan]

From everything he has said about owens in the past up until this very day there is no doubt is a fan of owens. He always gives owens always gets the benefit of the doubt.

Balta's never once struck me as an Owens fanboy. Is it because he doesn't rant and rave about how much bad Owens sucks at every chance? Not really the same thing.

[greg775]

Why are you surprised about Owens? People seem to think he's some 21 year old up and comer when he's approaching 30.

 

Cause I thought he'd probably be our starter as much as I want BA to have the job.

I choose BA over the current candidates.

[Cali]

For some reason, I just don't think Fields' awesome spring is gonna translate into the season. I dont know why. Just every once and a while a player has an awesome spring and s***s the bed once April starts. I hope I'm wrong...

[ThunderBolt]

For some reason, I just don't think Fields' awesome spring is gonna translate into the season. I dont know why. Just every once and a while a player has an awesome spring and s***s the bed once April starts. I hope I'm wrong...

Hi, I'm Brian Anderson. You might remember me from such springs as...

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

For some reason, I just don't think Fields' awesome spring is gonna translate into the season. I dont know why. Just every once and a while a player has an awesome spring and s***s the bed once April starts. I hope I'm wrong...

I feel good about Fields. He was hurt last year but had a knee operation and had Lasik done on his eyes, showed up early to work on his fielding , looks to be making more contact and hitting the ball sharply. Of course AL Central pitching is advanced beyond spring training pitching but I think he'll be a good addition to the club and if he struggles , Betemit can get a ton of AB's against righties since he crushes them.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

From everything he has said about owens in the past up until this very day there is no doubt he is a fan of owens. He always gives owens the benefit of the doubt.

I did find this on page 5 of the recent "Ozzie doesnt think Owens is playing too well" thread dated March 12th from Balta : "With the way he's hitting right now and the fact that he seemingly can't run, I have difficulty thinking anyone else would grab him on waivers to put him on their big league roster."

 

Not only does he think he can't hit or run but doesn't even see a place for him in the majors. Surely not an Owens fanboy. I know I vowed not to speak for him but this speaks for itself and took minimum research.

 

 

[Balta1701]

Balta's never once struck me as an Owens fanboy. Is it because he doesn't rant and rave about how much bad Owens sucks at every chance? Not really the same thing.

If Owens could hit .290 and steal at a 75% clip, I think the numbers said he could have been as effective for us as Podsednik was in early 2005, because that's exactly what Pods was doing. He's patient enough, takes walks, and would be all over the basepaths. His numbers in 2007 suggested he might be able to do that in the big leagues.

 

Now, he's 0/the spring in SB's still right? And he's hitting around .220. I can take no slugging from him if he's giving me OBP and moving himself in to scoring position. He's doing neither of the things I said he needed to do. He's getting a totally fair chance right now. He can have another chance at AAA this season if he keeps struggling.

 

All I want with these guys is for them to get a fair chance. That's all I asked for Anderson...a fair chance at the position. That's all I wanted to see for Owens. He's gotten it, he's crapping his pants, that's all I needed to see. As long as we make decisions based on baseball, and not other things...I'm content.