greg775

I think if you are a true Sox fan you should give a warm round of applause in recognition of Danks today. That home run he hit was a true bomb. It banged off the facade in the upper deck, kind of like a South Side Hit Man home run when the ball was juiced that one year. A rocket!!!

Like what I've seen so far at the plate. He's another statue in the field, however. When the Sox become contenders again, this lousy defense thing is going to hurt us big time in big games. But as far as Jose the hitter. BOOM! I like what I've seen despite that 1-for-25 or whatever it was.

Semien seems to be a better hitter than his .200 average would indicate. Maybe I'm just hoping that's the case but he's a likeable second sacker. I wonder why I like Semien and despise the thought of Beckham returning?

I did enjoy the game immensely (how many blowout wins did we have all of last year? not many the second half at least), but feel I must point out Adam the Great went 0-for-6. Ouch. He's still hitting over .300 though in his contract year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2014 -> 07:57 PM) We have literally the 2nd worst pitching staff in baseball right now. A bit of tinkering would not have done it. We would have to fundamentally have changed what we were doing, and that includes not giving Johnson a shot to learn the big leagues (that he has earned), so adding 2 starters at least, as well as not relying on rookie relievers so basically 4 additional bullpen pitchers. "A bit of tinkering" = replacing 1/2 or more of the pitching staff. We already have Danks, Sale, Q for gosh sakes. Add one GOOD starter not named Paulino with the money bulging out of Jerry's pockets and a couple good relievers not named Downs and those other stiffs and what about my post isn't true?? There has to be some accountability. Four out of five starters in my scenario would be damn good starters. How many do you need??

I get the feeling Hawk thinks DeAza is a stiff.

Hawk telling it like it is. No other announcing crew in baseball freaks out like that. Love it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2014 -> 08:45 PM) And look what has happened already in reality. Garcia out for the season, Jones out for an extended period dramatically weakening the bullpen, Lindstrom injured most of ST and poor out of the gates, Beckham hurt and hitting below .200 at AA in rehab stint, Semien seeming very much not ready, Eaton banged up, the one bullpen pitcher we did spend money on disappointing, Abreu needing coaching even about basic footwork at 1b. A couple guys have achieved, Gillaspie and Flowers and Viciedo for example, but this team is a really weak team right now. They might not be by the end of the season as these guys grow up, but this is a basement team right now. A couple guys overachieving would almost always be balanced by a couple guys struggling, and now we've got one of our pieces that destroyed his shoulder on a dive to boot. I am of the belief we could have an excellent pitching staff right now with the right bit of tinkering last offseason.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2014 -> 08:20 PM) They are 2 games out of first...and 4th in their division, 0.5 games out of last. I guess overachieving isn't on the table in sports nowadays. If we had gotten a good starter instead of that stiff Paulino we'd have a rotation of Danks, Sale, Q, good pitcher. Not half bad. Then acquire a couple good relievers (Sox had the money) and let some guys overachieve. But no. We suck on paper so we have to suck again this year is how some people seem to feel.

Semien, but we obviously lose big again.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Apr 19, 2014 -> 02:30 PM) Hating him forever? Why do people "hate" him at all? So ridiculous. Plenty of other people in the world to hate other than a baseball player that has given his all and been a good teammate. Greg you bend over backwards to defend PK who hasn't even had as good of a career as Dunn has. Stop posting for awhile champ, you are embarrassing yourself. Konerko has had a much better career than Dunn. Is that even up for debate?

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 06:32 PM) Did you switch teams on us, greg? Jake, with all due respect, how could you read that sentence and not realize I'm a Sox fan? That sentence doesn't come close to indicating I am a Royals fan.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 04:33 PM) With Beckham now rehabbing in AA and Semien going cold, I'm all in favor of handing the job to Beckham one more time and sticking Semien in Charlotte. I think Semien's process at the ML level has been really good, some time in AAA should boost his confidence and get him in a groove. Beckham gets one more hail mary, but I think he ultimately gets waiver-traded or DFA'd/ Stats don't lie. I would have cursed this post earlier but now it's accurate. It's Beckham time as soon as possible. Anytime a player dips under .200 there's a problem.

He's got to go. Geez there has to be somebody who can take the hill as a fifth starter who doesn't get lit up like this. Are there any Freddie Garcia reclamation projects pitching in independent ball? This is embarrassing to trot him out there as an MLB starter.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 19, 2014 -> 01:27 AM) Abreu and Semien have been automatic outs as well. Oh well, my guy Semien is under .200. Will make it easy for me to take when Becks replaces him. It amazes me how our prospects struggle so much at first. Do all prospects struggle like this? Now Abreu isn't hitting. 1 for 23 and down to .213.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:22 PM) Yes. When Robin himself pitched an inning of scoreless ball for the Dodgers in 2004. Was it a tie game? I'm talking about a tie game not when one team is getting drilled 15-2 and a position player pitches. QUOTE (Vance Law @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:29 PM) It happens multiple times pretty much every year in the major leagues. Last year Casper Wells pitched an inning for us. After we released him and the Phillies picked him up, he pitched in a game for them. In 2012 Dewayne Wise pitched an inning for us. He had, earlier in the year, pitched in a game for the Yankees when he was with them. Again, in tie games?? I disagree it happens every year. Blowouts, sure. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:29 PM) Instead of talking about how embarrassing it was, tell us how you would have managed that game differently so that the Sox wouldn't have run out of pitchers and we will tell you how it would be perceived on this site. Otherwise, it's empty criticism and you're not going to be taken seriously. I defer to the poster who gave you an example. But I would have done what Stoney suggested. Get a pitcher to volunteer to take one for the team. A starter. QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 09:18 PM) MLB network guys criticized Robin but you are right too. We need a bullpen that can throw strikes. We had like 11 walks? Ridiculous Hmmm, MLB agrees with me? Not all my positions are that outlandish. Seriously, folks, I find it disturbing that a lot of posters seem to again have just written off the entire season and Robin gets another free pass. So we are in a rebuild and pretty soon we're going to be hoping for all losses again. Notice we haven't won since the "give-up" game. I guess any team that is trotting Paulino out there as a starter perhaps really has given up on winning a very very mediocre division. I'm very frustrated by that "give up" game but I'll drop it if you all will consider the topic and the thread over and done with.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:10 PM) How about two teams running out of pitchers? http://content.usatoday.com/communities/da.../1#.U1GGkym9LCQ Really Greg, you are being ridiculous about this. Bottom line is, you use your bullpen to win, you aren't supposed to plan for extra innings when you are winning in the 8th You found an example. Thanks. QUOTE (MEANS @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:13 PM) so u started a thread b/c you can't remembered or do some research on your own? WHO CARES I thought it was an embarrassing mistake for a manager. When you trot a position player out there you are basically conceding a game and we were in first place at the time.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 08:31 PM) Danks pitched that night and was not eligible to pitch again because of baseball rules. Johnson pitched the night before and was entirely unavailable. So... -Sale was going to start the next day - do you want him throwing 4 innings in a rushed warm up session in a game that can end at any second, thus making him unavailable to start last nights game? -Do you want to throw Paulino in there, in a rushed warm up session, which then makes him unavailable for Friday night and forces someone like Dylan Axelrod to start? -Do you want to throw Jose Quintana, in a rushed warm up session, and then take him out of commission for Saturday's game with Axelrod or Rienzo pitching that game, or a young arm in Erik Johnson throwing on short rest? C'mon greg. Put some blame on the players. If this were your boy Ozzie, you'd have put this all on the pitchers like you should be because they walked 15 batters. My point is I don't remember this ever happening? If anybody can give me an example of a team throwing an infielder out there in a tie game, I'm listening.I'm saying this is a monumental managing mistake. Teams just don't do this.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 06:55 PM) It's really easy to second guess. It was a low-risk, high reward type move. He's being paid $1.75 million this year and he's got a team option next year with a $250k buyout. That's chump change for a guy who could possibly eat 160-170 innings for you (which Paulino still can do). Has Jon Garland retired yet? I'd rather find him and let him eat 150 innings than watch Paulino again.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 03:21 PM) Dunn's current production? He's playing himself into what will be roughly a 4 year..mmm...56M deal. Roughly What GM would risk that with his fanbase? One year 2 million is about right if his career must go on. QUOTE (southside hitman @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 04:15 PM) His small sample size slashline of .294/.468/.618 was my dream when we signed him, but not sustainable now. However, I think he'll settle in at .240/.375/.530ish and net a prospect or two at the deadline for a power hungry club. Glad he is shutting up the off-season haters. Shutting up the haters? You don't think Adam Dunn has done enough bad things in the batters box for Sox fans to "hate" him forever?

What scout(s) thought it would be a good idea to acquire Paulino? Yes I want heads to roll over that acquisition. A common fan could tell you that was a bad idea.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) I especially like all the "Robin is the worst," "Robin has no business managing," "Robin never does anything right why is he still here" when the last manager made just as many or more reprehensible moves, but because the Sox had an incredible year all around in 2005, he gets a free pass as a result. All managers will look bad when their players fail, and all managers will look good when their players succeed. There are questionable moves that have been made, but someone is going to have a coronary if they continue to analyze every single move he makes under a microscope. The point of the thread is he ran out of pitchers which is flat out embarrassing if he didn't have a starter willing to help out in a pinch. I still would like to know if Robin EVER played in a game in which his manager ran out of fricking pitchers. Sad to just flat out forfeit a home game as the Sox did. But no games matter this year anyway I guess is management's mantra.

Rock, please ask your management friends why they are laughing off this season when every other team in our division is just as rotten? Do they have something against winning a crappy division? Just because we'd get killed in the playoffs doesn't seem to me a good enough reason to not take this mediocre division in which all the teams are screaming they are .500 at best. If the Sox had a bullpen better than Class A level they'd be 10-6 right now at the minimum and right there.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 04:21 AM) How old is he and how long do we have him? They could give two s***s about 2014 and that's a quote from someone in management. You have the word from management, so what's the big picture? Are the Sox supposed to have a dominant rotation in 3-4 years and have all the position players set by then? I thought most of our minor league outfielders are busts. If that's true, the outfield still needs to be rebuilt with only Eaton and maybe Garcia suitable fixtures. I guess we have a minor league shortstop phenom, right? We have a third baseman in Davidson. Semien is future second baseman. Abreu at first. We have no catcher right now. We have a bullpen that can be built in free agency year to year i guess. But what is management's plan? Just to keep sucking and drafting good starting pitchers and eventually build a kick-ass starting rotation? It appears to me defense is not a priority of management.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 02:24 PM) Semien now hitting .206 with a .275 OBP and on pace to whiff 205 times. If Beckham did this, posters would be calling for his release. Semien does it, he's a professional hitter with nothing to prove in the minor leagues. LMAO It looked like he was going to hit acceptably and make us clamor to get rid of Beckham once and for all, but you are right, at this rate he'll be sent down and nobody will care. He passes the eye test, but numbers don't lie. If he's hitting .200 and change none of us will care when he gets the demotion.