Sox Trade Possibilities, Part II

[Rocky Soprano]

Originally Posted by SoxNation05

What happened to the classic munchman33 account?

Munchie is back?!

Munch - you disappeared before paying on our Ozzie bet!

[blandman]

Originally Posted by spawn

Get it right...he said a bust of epic proportions.

Jeez guys. Stop paraphrasing. I was obviously referring to his ACL.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by Rocky Soprano

Munchie is back?!

Munch - you disappeared before paying on our Ozzie bet!

Disappeared, banned...same difference?

[spawn]

Originally Posted by SoxNation05

John Danks.

The bullpen is better.

Reed should improve.

I personally think Viciedo and Beckham will get better at the plate.

Robin Ventura gaining a year experience.

We have two options at the #5 spot in the rotation rather than Phil Humber.

Keppinger is better than Morel and possibly better than Youkilis.

Rick Hahn has also said "we're not done" and Jerry Reinsdorf had said that our payroll still has flexibility.

Well, the Tigers have 5 Cy Young candidates in their rotation, and their lineup makes the '27 Yankees Murders Row look like a little league team. With Gold Gloves at every position, I don't see how this Tigers team doesn't sweep the AL Central, the Playoffs, and finally the World Series!

[sullythered]

Originally Posted by SoxNation05

What happened to the classic munchman33 account?

Something overly dramatic, no doubt.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by sullythered

Something overly dramatic, no doubt.

[spawn]

Originally Posted by blandman

I'm fairly confident Viciedo will not improve. At least not without more time in the minors and a completely reworked approach. His problem is that he has no batting eye at all, and coupling that with a long swing that doesn't make contact very often, he's a long way from being a piece that can contribute. The league figured him out pretty quickly. Why does it take our fanbase so long? These were things scouts have said about him all along...

You were fairly confident Derrick Rose would be a bust. How did that prediction turn out again?

[sullythered]

Originally Posted by blandman

Oh please. Yes no one can 100% predict the future, but there are things that are easy to assume.

Of course we can't, but you speak in more absolutes than a damn Sith Lord. It's baseball, and it's not crazy to think the Sox can even compete. The Tigers are the paper favorites. But the Sox are the next best team in the division, on paper, and sometimes the dog wins the race. They are not the embarrassment of a team you seem to believe them to be.

[spawn]

Originally Posted by SoxNation05

What happened to the classic munchman33 account?

Originally Posted by sullythered

Something overly dramatic, no doubt.

He went down in an airplane.
Fried getting suntanned.
Fell in a cement mixer full of quicksand.
He met a shark underwater.
Fell and no one caught him.

He was caught in a mudslide.
Eaten by a lion.
Got run over by a crappy purple Scion.
He dried up in the desert.
Drowned in a hot tub.
Danced to death at an east side night club.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by sullythered

Of course we can't, but you speak in more absolutes than a damn Sith Lord. It's baseball, and it's not crazy to think the Sox can even compete. The Tigers are the paper favorites. But the Sox are the next best team in the division, on paper, and sometimes the dog wins the race. They are not the embarrassment of a team you seem to believe them to be.

The next best team on paper is the Royals. They've made a lot of improvements this offseason. I know - probably debatable. But the big thing here is not so much who's the next best team. It's the incredible cavern between levels of talent. Especially on offense. We have no offense. Sure, maybe someone gets lucky and busts out. But the talent of the hitters we've compiled doesn't make that seem likely outside of maybe two or three guys. Is that enough to carry us to even a .500 finish? Only possibly. We need much more talented players on offense if we're gonna start talking about playoffs. Remember, our division got better around us. Even Cleveland got a little better.

[dickallen15]

Originally Posted by blandman

Oh please. Yes no one can 100% predict the future, but there are things that are easy to assume.



The bullpen is better and Reed should improve are really the same thing. I don't think the bullpen was the problem last year though, and it's debatable how a better bullpen improves us.

I like our #5 options better than Humber. Keppinger is a better stick than Morel and probably Youklis, but he's even more of a defensive black hole than Youk was. And his addition does not compensate for AJ's loss.

John Danks probably won't be 100% this year, but even if he is our big problem is offense, of which we have very little.

Why do you think Beckham will get better at the plate? He's had over 1000 plate appearances and has only regressed.

I'm fairly confident Viciedo will not improve. At least not without more time in the minors and a completely reworked approach. His problem is that he has no batting eye at all, and coupling that with a long swing that doesn't make contact very often, he's a long way from being a piece that can contribute. The league figured him out pretty quickly. Why does it take our fanbase so long? These were things scouts have said about him all along...

If you are confident Viciedo won't improve they might as well start manufacturing his All Star jersey now. You said the same thing about Derrick Rose. Beasley was only going to get better and better. You really seem to be a good sport about your statements, I will give you that, but I am not going to take your personal scouting reports too seriously.

[spawn]

Originally Posted by blandman

Oh please. Yes no one can 100% predict the future, but there are things that are easy to assume.

Like Derrick Rose being a bust of epic proportions?

And yes, whenever you make ludicrous statements like this, Derrick Rose will appear. Like magic!

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by blandman

Keppinger is a better stick than Morel and probably Youklis, but he's even more of a defensive black hole than Youk was. And his addition does not compensate for AJ's loss.

For much of the 2nd half of last season, Youkilis was a statue, completely unable to move at 3B, basically watching every ball hit to the left side of the IF roll past him. Perhaps when his knee is not bothering him, Youk is a better defensive 3B than Keppinger, but I have a hard time believing Keppinger will be much of a defensive downgrade than what Youkilis was able to give the Sox.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by doublem23

For much of the 2nd half of last season, Youkilis was a statue, completely unable to move at 3B, basically watching every ball hit to the left side of the IF roll past him. Perhaps when his knee is not bothering him, Youk is a better defensive 3B than Keppinger, but I have a hard time believing Keppinger will be much of a defensive downgrade than what Youkilis was able to give the Sox.

Keppinger is a decent to bad defensive 2B. He's atrocious at 3rd. He should be playing first, really. But guys without elite sticks tend to be thrown around the infield and labeled utility. And then teams like us sign them as everyday players at their worst position.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by spawn

Like Derrick Rose being a bust of epic proportions?

And yes, whenever you make ludicrous statements like this, Derrick Rose will appear. Like magic!

And only for like the 90th time this thread!