WCSox

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 08:44 PM) I would give Matt the next save opportunity because of circumstances tonight. If he sucks, I'd start closer by committee first with Sergio/Sale. I'd give Matt at least a couple more opportunities before I entertain the thought of moving Santos or Sale into the closer role. But that doesn't mean that I can't be concerned about him right now.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 08:39 PM) People need to have a beer. As much as I don't like Matt as closer, he can't be blamed for tonight's implosion. He just can't be. The defense f***ed him. And then he f***ed the team by blowing the lead. Plenty of blame to go around, but closers need to overcome bad defense. Especially when they still have the freaking lead. And, yes, I will have a beer.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 08:34 PM) You can't blame Thornton for this one Bullcrap. Even after the two errors, he still had a two-run lead. You can't allow a single and a three-run homer at that point if you're a closer. There's plenty of defensive blame to go around, but Matt still takes his share.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 08:26 PM) Did we seriously commit two errors with two outs? I don't know how you can blame this on Thornton when that happens. Because he gave up a couple of singles and a homer with guys on base in a save situation. No matter how those guys got there, you can't do that. Thornton's body of work will rightfully earn him the benefit of the doubt. But I've never been comfortable with a Farnsworth-like one-trick-pony on the closer role, and his two outings this year have made me even less comfortable.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 04:32 PM) I liked the Javy deal. Same here. We needed pitching more than we needed Chris Young back in 2006 and 2007.

Regardless of how Hudson pans out down the line, it's difficult to argue that Jackson didn't give us a better chance to win last season. And that was the entire point of the trade.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 01:42 PM) I wonder if he gets in the hall of fame after he's dead and gone? I bet Palmiero does. I have a feeling all of the steroid users will, they just won't live to see it. I don't think that either of them do. And it's a shame, because both probably would've been HOF material without the PEDs. Of the known PED guys, my guess is that Bonds is the only one who definitely makes it in. His saving grace will be the 3 MVPs, 400 HRs, and 400 SBs he had before he began juicing in the late '90s.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 8, 2011 -> 01:30 PM) Figures. Dude was a fraud. Too bad, because he was one of the best hitters I have ever seen. +1 I remember him hitting a ball onto the Mass Turnpike a few years ago. That got me wondering.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 7, 2011 -> 03:19 PM) Nothing complicated about the decision. Hopefully the kid stays with the Sox system. He has a ton of talent and hopefully he can harness it with us I'd be fine with this as well, especially with Pierre's contract expiring after this season. If the Sox fail to go deep into the playoffs this season and decide to take a step back next season, giving Milledge a shot to win the LF job wouldn't be a bad idea. He needs to watch those Tom Emanski videos in the off-season, though. Yeesh...

With Peavy constantly battling injuries and Mark (apparently) beginning to show his age, trading for Jackson last year was huge. Even if he's up-and-down all year, we're going to need him if we want to go deep into the playoffs.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Apr 7, 2011 -> 08:03 AM) we certainly needed another bullpen arm (with the state of this pen...we certainly need to carry 12 pitchers, not 11), but its a joke that lillibridge is on this team instead of milledge...so im guessing there was something this guy did that didnt win him favors in the clubhouse If you value defense and versatility, Lillibridge's ability to play 2B, SS, CF, and LF reasonably well makes him more valuable. Or, to put it another way, Lillibridge fills a role on this team. He's a nice utility player. Milledge's bat may hit a lot better, but he can't play defense well enough to take Pierre's spot in the lineup or fill the OF utility role.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 6, 2011 -> 03:17 PM) Can't overlook the Sox were down 3 runs with 2 out and nobody on in the 9th against Soria. That alone makes this a great win. Indeed. After watching what looked like a team giving up down the stretch two years ago, it was refreshing to watch these guys claw back tooth-and-nail today. A team that wants it more can overcome holes in their roster.

Woo-hoo!

QUOTE (Real @ Apr 6, 2011 -> 02:03 PM) Sale would be better as a closer. He has 2 above average pitches, AJ just puts down 1 finger when Matt pitches Thornton has always reminded me of a lefty Kyle Farnsworth with much better command. I've never been comfortable with a one-trick pony closing. But it's very difficult to argue with his last few years, especially considering that he was often brought in tight situations against accomplished hitters.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 6, 2011 -> 12:06 PM) And just to rub salt into the wound, they manage to score no runs with no outs and men on first and third. Vintage... I'm still in the optimist camp, but I agree. Vintage Corpseball.

While I agree that it's about three months too early to give up on the season, Milk's complaint about this team's historical inability to get out of the gate being a problem is a very fair one. And I'll add that this team's historical inability to play competitively in August and September has cost us multiple playoff appearances. So, yeah, there is some justification for "here we go again" impatience right now.

The thing that really set '05 apart was that Hermy, Cotts, and Politte were nails. Few teams ever get that level of performance from three relievers. And when Hermy's back gave out, Jenks did a remarkable job of relieving him. And, as was mentioned earlier, Vizcaino had a decent year outside of a few bad outings. I'm sure that our bullpen won't be 2007-bad this year. But what troubles me is that only two members of our current bullpen have strong track records. Two more have looked good in the recent past, but they're more or less still wildcards at this point. And the rest of the 'pen pretty much sucks. As much as I like Sale and Santos over the long-term, I can easily see both struggling. We're going to need at least one other consistent reliever to complement Thornton and Crain.

Interesting that Dunn's timetable seems much shorter than Holliday's ("out indefinitely"). Was Dunn's surgery less invasive or something?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 6, 2011 -> 05:43 AM) Some interesting stats from the 2005 season in the first half (through 86 games)... 57-29 record Sox lost only 8 games during that entire eighty-six game stretch when they were leading after 5 innings, and 6 times when they were leading after six innings. Another way to look at is that the probability was 93% if the Sox were leading after 6 they'd go on to win that game, pretty amazing!!! Perhaps even more impressively, during that same first half, the SOX only coughed up two 7th inning leads and two 8th inning leads (once was against San Diego, a 2-1 game we led the entire time until giving up 2 in the bottom of the 9th, ironically Linebrink was the winner with Hermanson taking one of his few losses that season...the only other blown save that resulted in a loss was Takatsu giving up a 5-2 lead in the 9th, an April 7th game which the Indians ended eventually winning 11-5). So far already, we've managed to blow a 5th inning advantage and then yesterday's 5th-6th-7th inning leads. And the weird thing about that time period is Takatsu was REALLY struggling, enough to lose the closer's spot to Hermanson. Our bullpen looks like dogsh*t right now. Pena and Ohman both suck and have no business being on our roster. Due to their relative lack of experience, it's difficult to tell what we're going to get out of Sale and Santos going forward (though both looked great at times last year). I imagine that Crain and Thornton will be fine going forward. So until these guys get it together, we'll be seeing more disappointing losses to bad teams. We don't have the depth of the '05 bullpen to overcome an ailing Shingo.

Found out today that we're getting a generous refund from the IRS, so I'll go ahead and throw the $120 down on MLB.TV. I like the option of being able to watch games archived from earlier in the day.

I have a bad feeling about our bullpen. Other than that, I'm still on the optimistic side.

I don't believe in sustained luck, or lack thereof. Last year was Mark's second-worst in WHIP AND K/9. Combine that with the fact that he's struggling to throw a major-league fastball, and I'm not feeling great about him a couple of years down the road. (In his worst year in both categories [2006], he at least had a legit excuse of a dead arm from the previous year's playoffs.)

That's good to hear. I tried MLB.TV back in 2003 and it blew - slow, choppy, and I couldn't get on at times. I may give it a try this year, as it gives me the option to watch at work. I also don't really feel like switching from cable to satellite just for Extra Innings.

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 07:23 PM) I won't make the obvious: "how can you have time to make thousands of posts to an internet board about the white sox, but not have $200 to watch the games" comment. Why are you equating time to money?

QUOTE (OsweGo-Go Sox @ Apr 3, 2011 -> 02:58 PM) Of course it is, but if I had no way of watching the Sox otherwise I'd pay that in a heartbeat. And mlb.tv is $120. Some people are at work when the Sox night games are televised at 5 pm. So paying $15 for the MLB At Bat app makes more sense Monday through Friday.