Chisoxfn

QUOTE(Butter Parque @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:25 PM) the reason it isn't pissing him off is because he knows that there is nothing he can do with this team. Last year we were great for 5 months, then when we struggled, he said we stunk, he expected more. I think he knows at this point there isn't much to expect with a one dimensional offense and below average pitching. If that was truly the case than Ozzie should resign because it would make him hopeless as a manager. Note: I don't see that being the case, but i'm just responding to the idea that Ozzie doesn't think he can do anything to help. Of course he can, doing nothing could be doing something if he feels he's been getting in there way. But in this case it isn't the answer, he's been doing too much of nothing as of late and now he needs to start being creative with the baserunners.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:20 PM) So ... you think relievers should be allowed to get out of their own mess but not a starter. OK. So when a reliever comes in and doesn't have it, he should just let them stay in and you won't complain about it? Why do I doubt that? Cotts out and MacDougal in to face Mora, Tejada, Conine. He should just leave Cotts in? I can't speak for fathom, but usually I say if your plan is if a pitcher gives up a hit he's out of there, than he probably shouldn't be in there in the first place. I think thats exactly what Ozzie was thinking so why have him throw to a lefty when you have a fresh pen and guys more suited. In terms of Cotts/Jenks/Thornton I think they've proven they can get lefties and righties out so I have no problem being a little more leniant with them. In general I don't tend to matchup my relievers (if they have proven themselves capable) based on whether a lefty or righty is at the plate. An example of this was a few games ago, Bmac came in and gave up a hit (It may have been the game Buehrle started against the Twins) that scored one of Mark's run and than pitched great for a couple innings and we could have kept using him but instead a lefty came up and Brandon was takne out and Cotts got into trouble. Now whether or not Cotts got into trouble is nothign to me, but Brandon was the hot arm and I ride that arm, especially when in the back of my mind there is no harm stretching it out a bit considering the team just gave me another reliever (MacDougall) and the fact that maybe I could use this arm as a starter. Basically put if Cotts is looking goo against 2 batters and gives up a bleeder and than righty is coming up I wouldn't pull him (assuming Cotts is really looking good) cause you never know how the next guy out of the pen is going to react(you know what you got right now). The only exceptoin to this rule is when you talk about facing premier hitters (all star, game changing players) than I got no problem going to your very best in clutch situations.

I'm to the point where I don't care if we get a guy or two suspended, but if any dirty play happens to us, the player involved needs to just throw down to try and create a spark, suspensions be dammed. Teams used to try and do this stuff in the olden days and while teams shy away from it now due to suspensions, If I were Ozzie I wouldn't care about that. Any type of thing to wake this team up and get them to forget about the losing baseball and go back to just playing baseball would be a blessing.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:10 PM) I'd be willing to give up all of them. Honestly, there is no Chris Young on that list this time around. Then again, I was reluctant to give up Jeremy Reed too. I've never been a huge fan of Sweeney. Fields would be the one of the bunch I'd want to keep most, but he doesn't have a clear spot so losing him is no huge loss. I like Broadway but have doubts. We don't have any top tier prospects right now. Very good call here.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) Ozzie leaving in Freddy for what reason? WHy have him pitch to the lefty. Our pen is relatively fresh, take him out and put it on the pen.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) FYI, the Royals are teeing off on Padilla in Texas. 6-1 in the second inning. I don't think we can count on the Royals laying down like they did earlier in the season. They are playing better. And we are playing much, much worse. Its not like we have a history of destroying the Royals when we need to anyway. I remember feeling rock bottom last year when we were going to play the Royals and figured that would give us some hope against the Tribe and we really laid and egg. At that point, the Sox reached an all time low but somehow things got better and well the rest is history. Sometimes new hope can come in the most unlikely of ways. The question is if that will happen this year. And if it does, what will it be.

QUOTE(iguchi=dank @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:09 PM) When things were going good, Dye would crank one out right now. Its been weeks since we've taken advantage of another teams mistake, or so it seems. Its why we need to start being extra agressive (even if it costs us at times) because than we can try and create more mistakes and create our own opportunities.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:01 PM) Sure, if the playoffs started today the Twins would be a good pick. What it comes down to is who is hottest at the right time, which at this point in time is a crapshoot as to picking who is hot. Liriano will almost definitely drop off, if only down to solid numbers. Put me down as saying there is no way the Twins win the World Series. I just don't see it happening. Put me down as buying your notion. All I"ve said about htem being tough makes one major assumption, that Liriano and Johan are as dominant than as they are now and I don't think that will be the case with Liriano. I feel the same way about Verlander but neither of these guys will maintain with that amount of innings pitched deep into the playoffs. If the Twins do it, Radke, Silva, Baker and whoever else will have to majorly step up, imo.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:05 PM) Does anyone know anything about the minor league catcher the Sox have, Lucy? I saw him in Spring Training, and he has an unbelievable arm. Highly touted player when we drafted him out of Stanford. Great athlete, very raw and he supposedly calls a great game. The pitchers we've interviewed at FutureSox have all raved about Lucy's game calling ability and well defensive prowess. OFfensively he's still building his game and he had some troubles early in his minor league career but he's done better as of late. Still he's a few years away from the show, but the upside is definately there as he's a top notch athlete.

Vazquez is not the guy that should be replaced. He at least has hope since the stuff is there. Before we even consider moving Vaz, you better find someone better than the Garcia and Buehrle of 06.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 06:00 PM) The thing people forget is that his velocity decreased pretty drastically from his first year with the Sox to last season. People act like he was throwing 95 mph constantly for the Sox last year. He was more in the 91-92 range. When we first traded for him, he was absolutely electric in his first start at Minnesota. It's pretty sad how far his stuff has fallen. His K rates are extremely evident of this. Ya, that first start against the Twins was one of the more impressive starts I've seen out of any Sox player. I realize he ended up giving up a few that game, but early on he was a strikeout machine and on the stuff o metor he was flat out disgusting. He wasn't as nasty last year, but he still could rare back and fire early on. I've long said it was work ethic but maybe he's trending downward due to some other reasons, whether he just can't maintain with age or if he had some help. I'm not about to make accusations, but regardless, something hasn't been right for this guy and given his lax attitude and the fact that he looked "bigger" this off-season I go with laziness.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) Bottom 6TH B:0 S:0 O:0 Defensive Substitution: Ross Gload replaces first baseman Paul Konerko, batting 4th, playing first base. Can anyone explain? Paulie was quite sore after fouling a ball off his foot two AB's ago. Maybe his next AB he was still feeling it and Ozzie said thats it, he's coming out (It would have to be pretty bad for Paulie to call himself out).

QUOTE(zenryan @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) I dont understand why Ozzie must always have Pablo in there against lefties. he isnt a platoon type player. he is a nice spark to have about once a week or in later innings as a PR. As far as I'm concerned, we need his speed out there since Pods won't run and we should be utilizing it. Pablo has reached base twice tonight, how can we possibly slam him?

I should add part of my strategy would be to place Freddy on the disabled list or move him to the pen and insert McCarthy into the rotation. I think this team needs a serious shakeup and with no pitchers available on the market (I'd happily deal Freddy or Vaz and prospects for a good starting pitcher but that isn't going to happen) the best way to shake up this rotation is using the prospect we rave about, Brandon McCarthy. It will send a message that we won't tolerate mediocrity and out of everyone I'm convinced Freddy is the one that works the least. He always has his brain cramps in the first inning and while Vaz has gotten shelled late, at least he gives the taem a few innings to potentially get some runs on the board. In Freddy's case we are already in a major hole. Hopefully the team can find a way to create its own spark though, since Ozzie appears unwilling to make the agressive calls necessary to create some runs that could lead to us pulling out a few games that we may not have won otherwise. As soon as we find a way to start winning games we weren't supposed to, we'll start taking care of business the games we are supposed to and really get moving in a positive direction. I just fear that spark won't happen till too late.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:54 PM) No matter if we trade Garcia now or in the offseason, I don't think we're going to get much for him at all. I'm all for trading him this weekend, and opening up the position for McCarthy. That type of shake up could really wake up the team, and make them know that no one's role is safe. I'd rather throw him on the DL if the value isn't there and see what happens. I have no doubt that he was effected by the WBC along with him getting a bit out of shape after winning the world series. I do think he can regain his velocity with the proper work ethic over the off-season. I wouldn't even think about trading Vaz right now, not when Coop is getting so close (imo) and well Buehrle isn't the type of guy we can just give up on, especially since he works so hard and has been dominant at one point this season. Shake things up, move Freddy to the DL and see what Brandon can do (or let Freddy pitch out of the pen but I don't know how that would fly).

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:49 PM) That wasn't the question though, it was whether we would accept a White Flag trade, AKA trading our superstars for loads of soon-to-be-ready prospects? No, it would be completely assinine which is exactly what I said. There is no such thing as taking a bunch of soon to be ready prospects and staying competitive. Its one thing if you retool and move a couple guys for new pieces or different pieces that are quality, its another when you move guys like Dye/Thome/Konerko/Count/Garland. If we want to retool, we do it in the off-season, not now. If you guys want to see the fan base completely disappear than you can go ahead and deal Buehrle/Vaz/Garcia for prospects and see this organization fail to win for another 80 years.

At this point you almost have to ask yourself is it wise to just stand pat. It hasn't worked for a couple weeks and there has been a precident set this season with Liriano and Weaver, two guys who were moved into the rotation and provided major sparks for teams that appeared to have zero chances at making the playoffs. In Weaver's case he was pitching as a starter in the minors so he was pretty ready to come up, but he doesn't have the experience Mac has. In Liriano's case he was only throwing out of the pen for about a month so his stamina wasn't quiet as effected and well, I'm not stupid enough to compare Liriano and McCarthy. However, no one is going to tell me that Weaver is better than McCarthy. I like Weaver a lot but he's pitching over his head right now (no pitcher is as good as he's been as of late, but he will have a very good career if he stays healthy). Mac should have a very similar fate as well and its time to see if we can create some sort of spark by moving him into the rotatoin. THe question is who do we replace, Freddy or Buehrle. I'd love to think we could move Freddy for prospects but thats a sign of a team giving up and I don't think Kenny is willing to do that. I'm convinced Freddy got fat and lazy over the off-season and thats why his velocity is down. In Buehrles case he can't locate and his velocity is a bit down as well, but he has had success for an extended period this year and I'd prefer to be on him re-figuring things out. Basically put, now is as good a time as any to make a change and see what happens. We don't give up prospects, but we shake up the makeup of this team and tell everyone that there jobs aren't safe.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:45 PM) Trading Thome would be idiotic. The effect he has had on this offense this year is beyond incredible. He's had a major effect on guys like Dye and Crede while AJ has went away from his pull hitting ways of the past two years (Which is a major plus). However, by himself I do think Jim Thome is over-rated just a bit. I realize his stats say one thing but he's too much of a pure slugger for my liking and if this team doesn't do things well, I wouldn't be opposed to moving him for a more all around player (and yes I'm talking about getting a superstar type player in return, not just some decent guy, even if it meant we threw in a few prospects).

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:42 PM) Yes. What Greg said times a million. Anyone suggesting a White Flag trade should just quit watching baseball. Yes we suck right now, yes we may not get things figured out, but that doesn't mean we should give up and throw things away. What that would say to a fan base thats been rejuvenated is disgusting and it would probably send this franchise back to its pre-world series championship days. Even if this team can't survive the talent is there and in the off-season Kenny will just have to go out and make some minor moves. I would also expect our guys to come back with more of a fire and in better shape (and Freddy and maybe some others would probably be gone). No reason to do anything drastic because the talent is there whether or not this team makes it now, its still a team thats going to be dangerous next year and you know Kenny will try even harder again this off-season (regardless of whether we win or lose).

Can Ozzie please try to be agressive. This team has been so fishing passive the past few weeks its disgusting. Our fastest and best base stealer has reached based twice tonight and he's yet to run (Ozuna). He even had a few pitches that got in the dirt (one of which he should have been on 2nd on) where he didn't attempt anything either. Our offense is in a funk so find other ways. Use hit and runs to force the hitters to shorten the swing and use right field (not to mention put pressure on the defense) and try to steal to get your guys in scoring position so you just need one single as opposed to a couple strung in there. We can't just sit back and wait for the HR. I don't give two spiffs what a stat guru will tell me about it being dumb to run in front of Thome or Paulie because they can hit HR's, fact of the matter is right now we ain't hitting hr's so you got to push and find other ways to create offense. Ozzie stop sitting on your ass and start making some agressive calls. Thats what we hired you for, we didn't hire you to sit around and start calling an American League style of baseball (which I consider sub-par baseball because it has no creativity or art and it tends to fail in the playoffs...look at how the Angels, Marlins, White Sox have all succeeded in recent years playing another style). Don't think that I'm not blaming our players for not executing with runners on. Dye had a few blown chances for a two out clutch hit thus far tonight, Paulie went down with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs as well. Trust me, I realize the players need to execute but when they aren't, Ozzie needs to go out and be creative and try to find other ways. You can't just sit around waiting and hoping that this offense rediscovers its magic. When the magic isn't there, create...create...create.

Can Ozzie please try to be agressive. This team has been so fishing passive the past few weeks its disgusting. Our fastest and best base stealer has reached based twice tonight and he's yet to run. He even had a few pitches that got in the dirt (one of which he should have been on 2nd on) where he didn't attempt anything either. Our offense is in a funk so find other ways. Use hit and runs to force the hitters to shorten the swing and use right field (not to mention put pressure on the defense) and try to steal to get your guys in scoring position so you just need one single as opposed to a couple strung in there. We can't just sit back and wait for the HR. I don't give two spiffs what a stat guru will tell me about it being dumb to run in front of Thome or Paulie because they can hit HR's, fact of the matter is right now we ain't hitting hr's so you got to push and find other ways to create offense. Ozzie stop sitting on your ass and start making some agressive calls. Thats what we hired you for, we didn't hire you to sit around and start calling an American League style of baseball (which I consider sub-par baseball because it has no creativity or art and it tends to fail in the playoffs...look at how the Angels, Marlins, White Sox have all succeeded in recent years playing another style).

Sick

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 02:35 PM) His natural position is 3B. he conceded that spot to the elder statesman Enriquez, who was 25, in the WBC. From what I saw, he was very raw at 2B in the WBC, but never saw him at 3B. I don't know exactly how he projects in the field. I would figure that he needs about a year at AAA to get adjusted. He shouldn't be counted on by anyone, especially a contending team, to contribute right away. I believe he was just 21 during the WBC. He is awfully talented and I do think he has the bat to make a major league roster immediately. Your right about his fielding though as his range is a bit limited at 2nd, although he's a very good defensive 3rd baseman from what I've read about him in the past. I'm basing most of this stuff from whta I've read and a very small sample of him in the WBC though. But I do think he'd get a lot of money but I think of this more so as a Kendry Morales type move (in the sense that if he goes to a contender, like Morales did, you are best suited to give him some time to get comfortable and ready).

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 01:28 PM) As Hawk would say. Where are they going to play them? Lugo and Wigginton have the SS/2B locked up. Crawford and Baldelli have two of the OF spots locked up, and the other OF spot has Branyan, Hollins, and Norton vying for time. Young should have kept his mouth shut until after the trade deadline to see if guys like Lugo, Wigginton, Branyan, and Gomes are moved like they should be. Branyan, HOllins and Norton should not be taking the time when you have guys like Dukes (or moreso Young) that could step into the OF). Wigginton is nice but you got to open up a spot at 3B for Upton. Wigginton can sitll get his AB's between 1st and DH. Is Gomes going to be moved, I don't know how old he is, but he's a pretty solid player with some power.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 02:13 PM) For some reason I have a good feeling about tonight's game. It would feel so good to get back in the win column. It's been tough watching them play so bad, hell I think it's put me in a bad mood for a few weeks now. Time to get back to winning ways. A win tonight is an absolute springboard if we want to get on a winning streak as we've got guys the next two days (Chen and Benson) that we can light up. We are doomed...Freddy is at his best when we are all feeling like we have no chance. Think Cincy when we thought we were going to see a whooping and he ended up turning things around. We will win tonight though...offense is going to show up and I actually do have some confidence in Frederico