Paulie Konerko

[Misfit]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Trust me. Me and a lot of other Sox fans appreciate what Rowand brought to the table for us. A hard nose CF who is excellent defensively. The problem is that Rowand isn't more than just an above average player. While Jim Thome is a potenial HOF player with some more years to play. He's only 35. And a 35 year old player is still in his prime in baseball.

Kenny Williams had to make a choice. Keep a popular player who is no more than above average TO shoring up a weakness in our line-up(lack of power outside of Konerko) with a potenial hall of fame player. I like how Williams operates. He thinks with his head and not with his heart.

Thome is NOT in his prime. If he plays like he did last year, he won't even be average. You can't possibly think he's in his prime. And 35 for most power hitters is not their prime. A normal player's prime is usually between the ages of 27 and 33.

[Nyrican127]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Thome is NOT in his prime. If he plays like he did last year, he won't even be average. You can't possibly think he's in his prime. And 35 for most power hitters is not their prime. A normal player's prime is usually between the ages of 27 and 33.

Unless of course you got more juice in you than a Florida grapefruit.

[jt45]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Unless of course you got more juice in you than a Florida grapefruit.

wait...no one would ever do that...lol

[Dice]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Thome is NOT in his prime. If he plays like he did last year, he won't even be average. You can't possibly think he's in his prime. And 35 for most power hitters is not their prime. A normal player's prime is usually between the ages of 27 and 33.

Last year was the exception. He was hurt last year. And it was the only year he was ever hurt in his career.

Here are some power numbers of some guys at the age of 35:
- Hank Aaron, 1969, 44 HR, 97 RBI
- Ken Griffey, 2005, 39 HR, 92 RBI
- Frank Thomas, 2003, 42 HR 105 RBI
- Larry Walker, 2002, 26 HR, 104 RBI
- Barry Bonds, 2000, 49 HR, 106 RBI
- Dwight Evans, 1987, 34 HR, 123 RBI

Thome is not yet on the downside of his career. If he's healthy he'll still produce 40+ HR's and 100 RBI's.

[dalnet22]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Last year was the exception. He was hurt last year. And it was the only year he was ever hurt in his career.

Here are some power numbers of some guys at the age of 35:
- Hank Aaron, 1969, 44 HR, 97 RBI
- Ken Griffey, 2005, 39 HR, 92 RBI
- Frank Thomas, 2003, 42 HR 105 RBI
- Larry Walker, 2002, 26 HR, 104 RBI
- Barry Bonds, 2000, 49 HR, 106 RBI
- Dwight Evans, 1987, 34 HR, 123 RBI

Thome is not yet on the downside of his career. If he's healthy he'll still produce 40+ HR's and 100 RBI's.

And how many of those guys weren't on steroids?

[Misfit]

Re: Paulie Konerko

All of those players you cited are far different than Thome, in terms of body type. Thome has more Mo Vaughn in him than Ken Griffey Junior. And even so, Griffey hit 39 home runs at age 35 in one of the best hitter's parks in the game. Thome was hurt some last year, but even when he was healthy he was horrible. To say he is still in his prime after the year he had is ludicrous. And the two years prior he hit .266 and .274 and hit 42 home runs in the sandbox that is Citizen's Bank Park. If he hits 30 with a .260 average with Chicago you should be happy, but don't expect much more. Maybe he'll come out and prove me wrong next year but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Dice]

Re: Paulie Konerko

And how many of those guys weren't on steroids?

Definatley NOT on the juice:
Hank Aaron
Ken Griffey
Dwight Evans

Not too sure:
Frank Thomas
Larry Walker

Suspect juicer:
Barry Bonds

[Dice]

Re: Paulie Konerko

All of those players you cited are far different than Thome, in terms of body type. Thome has more Mo Vaughn in him than Ken Griffey Junior. And even so, Griffey hit 39 home runs at age 35 in one of the best hitter's parks in the game. Thome was hurt some last year, but even when he was healthy he was horrible. To say he is still in his prime after the year he had is ludicrous. And the two years prior he hit .266 and .274 and hit 42 home runs in the sandbox that is Citizen's Bank Park. If he hits 30 with a .260 average with Chicago you should be happy, but don't expect much more. Maybe he'll come out and prove me wrong next year but I wouldn't bet on it.

Same body type as Mo Vaughn? Vaughn was 6'1" and about 230 lbs(possibily bigger). Thome is 6'4" and about 220 lbs. Seems like Vaughn is wider and Thome is taller. Different body-type to me.

[Diadem]

Re: Paulie Konerko

Mo Vaughn was pushing 300, if not more.

[Misfit]

Re: Paulie Konerko

I didn't say he had the same body type as Vaughn, just that he is closer to Vaughn than he is Griffey. Comparing Thome to the lean build of a center fielder is like comparing apples and oranges.

[Dice]

Re: Paulie Konerko

I didn't say he had the same body type as Vaughn, just that he is closer to Vaughn than he is Griffey. Comparing Thome to the lean build of a center fielder is like comparing apples and oranges.

OK. Your right. You did say that he has a closer body type to Vaughn than to Griffey. But going back to the original debate, what does body type have to do with players still in their prime? Are you saying heavy players go on the decline sooner than leaner players? This may be true but I wouldn't classify Thome as heavy. Since you were talking about Thome being closer to Vaughn how about Frank Thomas? Big Frank was a combination of both Thome and Vaughn. He was about as tall as Thome and thick like Vaughn BUT not as heavy. He still hit 42 HR's at age 35. So please clarify. Thanks.

[Misfit]

Re: Paulie Konerko

I just meant that Thome doesn't look like he is in as good of shape as those other 35 year olds, plus he isn't on the juice (in the case of comparing him to Bonds). And players not in good shape usually break down faster than those who are. Kevin Millar turned 35 last year, and he put up career low numbers. Mike Lowell isn't even 35 yet and look at the numbers he put up a year ago. I think it's more likely Thome puts up subpar numbers rather than the numbers he put up in 2002 and 2003.