greg775

I agree he should be gone. I would say for a guy considered a total liability, he's been a decent member of the White Sox. I don't understand why so many people hate a No. 25 roster guy; or care about him that much. I am tempted to point out the names of some guys who deserve a lot of criticism for their play this year, but seem to get a free pass by many. Wise at least did his job reasonably well; he was a decent No. 25 man; outfield sub, sub with speed. Oh wait ... the guys that failed have track records. Wise has none. And on it goes. I don't know why you say Wise isn't fast. Especially on our team he looked like Edwin Moses in his prime compared to most of our plodders. Another reason he was good to have around.

Why? His speed. He can pinch run, steal a base. Add some speed to a slow team. Let's say Paulie gets a hit in a tie game in the ninth and we want Wise in to run. Wise can run. His defense. He can come in the latter innings and help in that regard. Let's say somebody is trying for a perfect game. He can come in and sub for Pods in the ninth and maybe save that perfect game. Or if we lead by one in the ninth. I do not want him back; I'm just saying he's not worthless. The fans' hatred of him alone is a good enough reason to not bring him back. We don't need the distractions. Fans booed him; let him go.

I think a lot of his stuff could be classified as intelligent. And entertaining. Say what you want about his "easy" job. It's still a lot of hours and a lot of travel and dealing with volatile personalities on a daily basis. No matter how you slice it, he probably works 80 to 90 hours a week and gets paid for 40 and how many of us can say that? I like him.

We're gonna go with CQ in left, Pods in center and Rios in right? On paper, lotta question marks in that outfield. Speed in center and right, though. All up to CQ to provide some power and stay healthy.

This No. 25 man has contributed us to winning games. What part of that statement don't you believe? I've cited some games he's helped us win this year and last. You think his defense and speed can't help a team in the latter innings? Or as a spot starter? Give me a thorough analysis of all No. 25 players; I believe Wise will not be the worst by a long shot. I just don't agree he is a worthless major leaguer. He is not worthless. He's not a starter; he's a damn good sub. I pray he doesn't come back cause I'm sick of people blasting him when all he does is his job. I hope he's gone as well.

If Jenks goes, Thornton is the closer and we have not one reliable set up guy. Hopefully KW can find somebody to fill that role or go with Hudson. I'm not too high on Torres.

Small moments?? My god. Those were all huge moments. I agree he's not a starter. I do not agree with those who say he doesn't deserve to be a 25th man. He has some value in that role. Are all 25th people on a roster stars? Wise can help a team. Is he a 400 at bat guy? God no.

Give me your brother's email address so he and I can start a Weezy fan club.

I don't see how any MLB reporter who writes as much as Cowley can be assused of mailing it in. The travel alone means he puts in oh, about 80 hours a week of work for his company rather than the traditional 40. Granted the job is "fun."

Just me? And I dispute your claim he shouldn't be on a ML roster. As 25th man, he's great value as he proved late in the perfect game. He is good on D (didn't he throw out a Cub at the plate to save another game?) is fast and has value on the basepaths there. He should be on somebody's roster. I agree with you he's not a starter. Oz puts him in for defense and he immediately saves a perfect game. That's value right there. Didn't he also rip a home run last postseason vs. the Rays? I remember him hitting a blast against somebody that mattered. Give me a list of every team's 25th man. I'm sure many suck as badly as Wise.

I doubt there will be many comments, considering the article was a great representation of Pods' season. Very consistent at the plate; bad reads on defense; some bad baserunning gaffes. Team MVP candidate.

Reporters shouldn't do the wink, wink thing. Tell us about Rios' night life; it's not fair to him or us to just imply it. He also referred to Freddy as the same way. This kind of implies Rios has a problem; not fair to just word it the way Joe did.

Amen. Why he is the whipping boy is beyond belief. He had 2 of the top moments of the season, definitely in the Sox's top 10. The catch, which is one of the best glove plays in Sox history and didn't he have a walk off hit versus the Yankees? I think he also gunned somebody at the plate to win another game didn't he? Wise is all right in my book. Go Wise!

As you said in the article, it's all about the money. The Sox know Pods and won't be offering 5 mill a year even though that's the going rate for suspect middle relievers. Like you said if the money is right there's no reason to not bring him back.

I love these pieces; they are non emotional, just logical. I forgot how he reported out of shape in the spring. It's interesting to see your take on how he's regressed a bit but may have a bounceback year left in him.

I think I agreed with every one of his comments. Great great stuff.

I definitely wouldn't argue with those who chose AJ. But Pods is in the top two for MVP of the team. He had some amazing games in getting on base. Time after time he amazed me. And didn't he steal 30 bases? 20-30? Yes that one game KILLED us when he got picked off. Then he did it again. Dumb. But for this season he really was damn good in my opinion at least. I wonder where he'll wind up next year. If he winds up back with us, fans will be pissed (on this board at least) all season, cause Oz will play him in center and Rios in right. Pods will be treated like Wise by the fans this year. We just know Oz will put him in center. CQ ain't moving and Pods ain't playing right, Should be interesting to see where Pods, Thome and Dye play next season.

Wise actually isn't a bad reserve. He's fast and isn't a bad fielder.

Cardinal fans can show their true colors. They shouldn't bury Holliday since he was a f***ing god this season and helped them win the division. I haven't heard any reports yet. But if their fans are classy they'll just shut up and leave Holliday alone. They still have a chance to win two at home and tie the thing. Granted, it was huge though. Game's ova if he makes the easy play. s*** happens. Interesting quote after the game: “That ball got lost in 50,000 white towels shaking in front of Matt’s face,” Wainwright said. “It doesn’t really seem fair that an opposing team should be able to allow their fans to shake white towels when there’s a white baseball flying through the air. How about Dodger Blue towels?”

Pods. It's amazing with our team the guy many vote for MVP is a guy many don't want back. Gotta love baseball.

I love the way you say this move could improve them the most for next year, yet some Sox fans are convinced if we have Bobby as OUR closer the move will weaken our team. Why would it weaken our team to keep Bobby and help a team as good as the Rays to acquire him? If he's going to help an already good team, why don't we want him? Not flaming, just asking.

Years from now when I think of the '09 Sox I will only think of three things: Mark's perfect game and the catch by Wise; also Beckham's first season in the bigs and how he did very well. Everything else about this season sucked you know what.

I know. Any mathematicians out there know what we'd have had to do starting with the Royals and O's games at home heading into that long road trip to get the job done? Detroit really had a bad month. Congrats to Minny for taking advantage of it. I wonder if we'd have stood a chance against NY. Did Tampa beat us 3-1 last year? I forget.

True. The losing manager of last night's game could be second guessed on a lot of stuff. Like why not pitch Nathan two innings? Lots of strategy I can't remember right now. It's part of the game. I do think most people realize those 2 managers are pretty darn good.

Good article on Dye and good way to describe what's happened to his defense. This will be an interesting series of articles with some great insight I'm sure. Try to be as specific as you can about the players as it should be educational for those of us who didn't see all the games. Good stuff.