C.Rector

The options for this poll should be doing better than expected, same as expected or worse than expected. I voted same as expected since he did pretty well for us last year as a reliever and he seemed pretty determined the learn a new pitch or 2 so he could become a starter again.

Figures that Ozzie is a cultural illiterate............

Adkins has been solid while Cotts has been having problems as of late. Jackson has said that if he's sent to the minors, he'll quit. Solution: Keep Adkins, Jackson and Wunch on the team and send Cotts to AAA to fix his walk problem.

From: http://www.all-baseball.com/archives/2004_04.html#012926 3. Chicago Sox (8) The Southsiders trail only Oakland and Baltimore in the AL in ERA at 3.67. The starting staff has an ERA of 3.56 but has walked just as many as they've struck out--33.

I didn't make up the stats, just got my math a bit wrong, that's all.

Following is the the three year decline of starter Mark Buehrle as evidenced by his stats from 2001, 2002 and 2003 (in order): ERA: 3.29, 3.58, 4.14 K/BB: 2.63, 2.20, 1.95 K/9IP: 5.12, 5.05, 4.65 BAA: .230, .260, .278 Buehrle’s decline is an indication that his arm is getting progressively tired. One would think that the Sox would opt to limit Buehrle to no more than 5 innings per start or to a strict pitch limit in the 75-100 range or perhaps even place him in the bullpen in order to at least lengthen out his quality service for the team. This is especially the case since Buehrle recently signed a 3-yr. $18 Mil. in guraranteed money contract with the Sox. However, the Sox have not evinced any awareness of Buehrle’s decline and appear to have their problematic pitcher on course towards lengthened stays on the mound. Up until last night's disaster at Comiskey Park vs. the Yankees, Buehrle was throwing an average 112 pitches per game. Folks, this is Dusty Baker territory. Unless Guillen institutes a strict pitch count on Buehrle, his decline will only continue to worsen.

Well, then have Adkins start for the 1st 3 innings or so and then Wright can take over on long relief. That way, Wright can overcome his phobia or whatever it is of the first 2 innings and become a solid member of the staff. Send Cotts down to Triple-A until he gets over his propensity to issue walks like crazy.

Send Wright down to Triple-A and have Adkins become the 5th starter.

How do you know that Ozzie isn't harming his pitchers by keeping them in too long? If there ever was a good manager who made sure that his pitchers didn't stay in too long, it was Jerry Manuel.

So you don't care if Buehrle is sidelined due to injuries stemming from unnecessarily high pitch counts?

Buehrle threw 110 pitches today, so he continues down the same road that Mark Prior was on last year.

Jon Adkins is clearly the best choice for closer.

If you bring up Josh Stewart, then which of the Sox players would you send down to the minors?

The New York Press recently did a list of the 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers and Commissioner Bud came in #36. From: http://nypress.com/17/13/feature/feature.cfm?page=4&last=3 36 Bud Selig MLB Commissioner HIS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS evoke William S. Burroughs' "commissioner of sewers" character. And maybe that's just what 69-year-old Allan H. "Bud" Selig is. Major League Baseball's greed machine has shifted into high gear under his reign as he mishandles one crisis after another. For years he's childishly trumpeted increased attendance as an actual barometer of the sport, while relying on MLB's dubious marketing schemes and false-fronted emphasis on "internationalizing" baseball to carry all the public relations weight. Once a below-average auto dealer, he's Wisconsin through and through, but Bud's office is up there on Park Ave. with the rest of the league royalty, probably pissed that he goes unrecognized when eating at nearby Smith & Wollensky.

From: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-re...e/s_189004.html Please, leave me a message... Growing up in Chicago, Rob Mackowiak rooted for the crosstown White Sox instead of the Cubs. That has not stopped his friends and family from hoping he could sneak them into Wrigley for yesterday's game. "I turned off my cell phone four days ago," Mackowiak said. "People I haven't heard from in years are calling, 'Hey, can you get me tickets?' It's crazy." Yesterday, Mackowiak made his third straight start, and his second in a row in right field. Because he is so versatile -- he also can play third, second and the other two outfield spots -- Mackowiak gives manger Lloyd McClendon a lot of lineup flexibility. "He's a great security blanket, so to speak," McClendon said. "I like (that role)," Mackowiak said. "If I played every game, but played a different position every day, I would be just as happy as if I played, say, right field every day."

What do you have against Adkins?

And on just what basis do you say that he wasn't a good pitcher on the minor league level? Because Michael Lewis dumped on KW about taking Adkins in the Ray Durham trade in the overrated book, Moneyball?

Adkins was a starter with a pretty good track record in the minors. Just because the Sox are playing him as a reliever now does not mean that he has to remain in the bullpen. Remember, Mark Buehrle originally started out on the Sox as a relief pitcher.

Adkins is a great pitcher.

What the Sox need to do is put Wright back in the bullpen in the long relief role that he was born to play and put either Adkins or Cotts in the 5th starter position. Or to put it another way, if Wright kept to being a long relief pitcher, he could become a perennial All-Star, but as a starter, he's nothing but a DS: Designated Scapegoat.

What the Sox need to do is put Wright back in the bullpen in the long relief role that he was born to play and put either Adkins or Cotts in the 5th starter position.

If that postseason experience is so good, then why is Wood's ERA at 7.20?

Well, Rooney's off to a bad start this year. However, if you look back, he's been a lot better in the past. He should get better as the season goes on.

When the Sox have a buffoon as manager, what else do you expect?

Fire Ozzie and bring in someone who actually knows how to manage a MLB team.