Just someone who should be cheap and hits lefties well. Couldn't believe the giants non tendered him and then offered 7.5 mil to LaRoche...
So, the Eyetalians have been up to something... other than reinforcing 'waste-management' stereotypes, by coming up with a deck of baseball cards featuring portraits of Baseball's SOI (Sons Of Italy), including White Sox'ers like Konerko (?), Ventura, Fregosi, LaRussa, Sax (?), and other wops I cant recognize. Now, far be it from me to diss the great contribution of the Boot-Landers, as I lived in Rome for a fantastic year, but I am still going to hold out for a deck of great Honkballers before shelling out any coin. Take a look, and comment on your favorite portrait. My vote is for Bart Giamatti- Burl Ives' long lost brother.
1. Jared Mitchell, of 2. Tyler Flowers, c 3. Dan Hudson, rhp 4. Brent Morel, 3b 5. Jordan Danks, of 6. Trayce Thompson, of 7. Dayan Viciedo, 3b 8. David Holmberg, lhp 9. Clevelan Santeliz, rhp 10. Miguel Gonzalez, c
In memory of Bill Gleason, Sun-Times columnist and unapologetic White Sox homer, video of the Sports Writers on TV saying goodbye to Old Comiskey.
The Offseason-Episode 4: Happy New Year from Oral Sox Podcast.
5. The White Sox trade Jon Link and John Ely for Juan Pierre. The same affliction that led the White Sox to believe Scott Podsednik was a talent to be leaned upon as often as possible has now led them to trade for Pierre. Pierre would make a perfectly useful fourth outfielder. He is not, however, an adequate major-league regular. Still, the White Sox have penciled him in as their starting left fielder in 2010. Left field, as you know, is a power position, and Pierre, as you know, has no power. That vaguely adequate .757 OPS he posted last season -- his highest such mark since 2001 -- will also likely come down. He's moving into the tougher AL; his season was built around one hot month (May); and his batting average on balls in play, a bit on the high side last season, will probably come back to earth. With it, so will the rest of his numbers. As for Pierre's speed, it's an asset, but he's not an efficient base-stealer these days. Yes, he pilfers a lot of bases, but he also gets caught too much. In fact, in his nine full seasons he's led the league in times caught stealing on five occasions. In reality, he's something close to a break-even base stealer (you have to be successful at least 75 percent of the time to make stealing bases even slightly worthwhile). Of course, Ozzie Guillen will probably let him run wild. He'll swipe a lot of bases, but he'll be a solidly below-average hitter. Defensively, he doesn't take proper routes in the outfield, which means you can't put him in center on an extended basis. Sure, the Dodgers will pay $10.5 million of the remaining $18.5 million that Pierre is owed, but if Link and Ely, the two pitching prospects given up by Chicago (both with success in the upper rungs of the system) turn out to be of consequence, then this deal will look even worse.
At one point or another, everyone has been exposed to the concept of the spring training position battle. Whether it comes down to the fifth rotation slot or the final bench spot, these competitions are always made out to be the stories of the spring. Undoubtedly spring training has lead to some dismissals and promotions over the time, but should it?
Hey we're long on news so here is Beane's stable which consist of a few former pale hose. For those without a subscription, Mr Chris Carter ranks as number 1. Fautino is 12.