bigdaddy Site Admin Joined: 09 Aug 2003 Posts: 5142 Location: Salem, NH Posted: 25 Nov 2003 10:06 pm Post subject: The Stamford Reconstruction Era begins... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...with a former Cowtipper prospect once derided by the Zoots organization! This is too rich! Quote: CHICAGO (AP) - Today the Chicago Black Sox and World Champion Stamford Zoots made a major trade. With its eyes toward next year and salary cap room, the Chicago Black Sox sent centerfieler Cory Patterson, Moises Alou, Hee Sop Choi and relief pitcher Scott Linebrink to the Zoots for Left Fielder Chipper Jones. Sox GM John Gill had this to say: "We hope that Chipper will be the missing piece to put us at the top. We absolutely love his bat. He has been a major contributor to the Zoots offense the last couple of years and we hope that will continue the next few years as well. We lose about $6MM in cap room, which is alot, but we were willing to take it on. This extra money will help the Zoots sign some free agents" Chipper will be batting 2nd or 3rd in the lineup and playing LF. The Sox lineup should be C Jason Kendall, SS Nomar Garciaparra, LF Chipper Jones, RF Aubrey Huff, 1B Dimitri Young, CF Andruw Jones, 3B Aramis Ramirez and 2B Ronnie Belliard. Gill went on to say "With Mark Prior, Josh Beckett, Brad Penny and Ben Sheets, we feel we have a nice core." Regarding the loss of Patterson, Choi, Alou and Linebrink, Gill stated "I hated losing Patterson and Choi the most. Patterson is a stud and will be even better next year and the years after. Choi needs the opportunity and should be able to get it with the Zoots in '05. He has a high OBP and has a lot of pop, and is a very good glove. We could afford to lose him though with Dimitri in the lineup and Prince Fielder in our minors." Zoots GM Paul Marazita will coment later on the trade. Back to top Shark Major League Joined: 10 Aug 2003 Posts: 1519 Location: Marlboro, NJ Posted: 26 Nov 2003 06:55 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, Paul maximized Jones' value. You can't argue with Jones' stats. He produced MVP stats all year for the Zoots, no reason he can't do the same for Chicago (though his overall OPS is down from .971 last year to .919 this year, down from 1.056 2 years ago). He is a switch hitter and perfect #3 hitter. Chicago gave up a lot to get him, if they get to the BDBL World Series then it was a great trade. I am sure Paul is now actively shopping Alou around. Back to top bigdaddy Site Admin Joined: 09 Aug 2003 Posts: 5142 Location: Salem, NH Posted: 26 Nov 2003 08:31 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marazita certainly got more for Jones than Jim did. Thank, you, Jim, for giving us two more Stamford championships. He couldn't have done it without you. Back to top bigdaddy Site Admin Joined: 09 Aug 2003 Posts: 5142 Location: Salem, NH Posted: 26 Nov 2003 10:24 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just realized that Chipper slugged .380 against lefties last year! That ranks him 330th in baseball in that category. A few players that slugged higher than .380 against lefties last year: Darren Oliver (the pitcher), Todd Greene, Chris Truby, Endy Chavez, Coco Crisp, and yes, even Sean Burroughs. I'm wondering what Jones would go for if he were a free agent this year. Back to top Mike S./Rocks Major League Joined: 10 Aug 2003 Posts: 1517 Location: Cleveland Posted: 26 Nov 2003 02:52 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's a lot of stuff for Chipper!