Chisoxfn

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) Dye and Konerko seem to be sitting. Kotsay will be at 1st. My guess is that the Sox want to get as many lefties in the lineup as possible to go against King Felix. I like the idea of sitting Dye since he'll be able to get two full days off, which will hopefully help him get a mental breather (which should do good things for his bat).

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 01:07 PM) I think he'd need regular work though and that would be hard for him to find as a righty. IMO we'd be better off staying with Nunez because we could freely send him up and down depending on what our needs are ATM, specifically with the 5th starter situation until Peavy gets back. I'd also like to call up each one of Link, Harrell, and Santeliz for a quick cup of coffee before Aug. 31 since they're already on the 40-man roster. That way, if any of those 3 or Nunez goes on a run at the end of September as September call-ups that player will be playoff eligible. However I do hope Kenny is looking at Wagner and any other power lefties he can find who might be able to clear waivers. I don't trust Randy Williams. I'd name more lefties but I can't think of any other ones that would slip through waivers. Doesn't Wagner still have a year left on his contract? Harell is currently on the 7 day DL, I believe. Link hasn't pitched well. Santeliz and Nunez are two guys the Sox like though. I think you'll see Nunez back shortly not sure when we'll see Santeliz, probably after the Barons playoff run.

QUOTE (rockren @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) As a resident in the Madison area...the Crew are kind of like my 2nd team. I look forward to watching Escobar. I wonder if he'll hit enough. He might be one of those guys that got insanely hyped but just doesn't end up hitting enough to stick. Kind of like a Pokey Reese or Cesar Itzuris (so to speak). I'd have traded him while the value was high. He has a very nice set of tools though.

QUOTE (beautox @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) unrelated to the sox but the pirates just signed Zach Von Rosenberg as a sixth round pick for $1.2 million, i would love to see us offer goodwin that kind of money and bring him into our system. Given what the Sox just spent on Peavy, Rios, I'd be very surprised to see them sign anyone remaining. I'd hope they'd get Morgado but even that is doubtful. I don't know what the hell Morgado is thinking. He wasn't slated to go as high as he did and didn't have a team to play for (He wasn't staying at Tenn).

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) Jenks off of waivers. A.J. off of waivers. Loaiza off the scrapheap. AJ was a FA signing.

Time for Victory #1, since the PG of course.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:54 PM) Great article. Great analysis on all the players who deserve to play. Has Oz or KW been quoted as saying Rios, CQ, Pods and Dye and Thome will all continue to play a lot? Was that written somewhere? Personally it's not fair but I think if Rios has to play everyday and for that money he probably has to play every day, then you have to take out the guy who he's better than on paper. And that's Pods. Problem is Pods has been amazing. I wouldn't think juggling the lineup every day will work in this day and age of me first ballplayers. I guess I'm in favor of juggling the lineup and seeing how it goes, but we don't have much wiggle room here. We have to win and win now. That said ... on paper ... if you have to make a decision it's a no brainer. Pods must sit for Rios. Rios makes WAY more money and on paper Rios is the better player. I think it has been hinted that whoever gets less at bats they need to deal with it. Or at least that is what I'm taking out of the comments Williams has made. No one has specifically stated how the club will handle the roster but with the way the team is set-up it really makes sense to handle the lineup like Mario is suggesting. You have two older players who could use rest in Dye/Thome. One younger player whose playing hurt (Quentin). I will state that I think Rios should play the most out of everyone and I say that because defense is one of the clubs biggest weaknesses and Rios is the only plus defender in the bunch. We'll see what Oz does though. Either way we'll have a nice bench with one of Rios/Q/Thome/Dye/Pods joining Kotsay (that should be 2 solid PH candidates). Plus Wise as a pinch-runner/bunter.

It really is nice to see that the Sox positioned themselves and used there money smartly. I remember a lot of people being smart-asses in February/March after the Sox shed a ton of money in trades and lost FA's (ie, Javy/Swisher/Crede/Uribe) and really didn't reinvest it (with the exception of Viciedo). Well, quietly Kenny and Company realized that baseball was in for a rut and that if he waited patiently he'd be able to use that money which was banked on very good players. Fast-forward to July/August and the Sox took the money saved (plus some of what will be saved starting in 2010 with Contreras and at least one of Dye/Thome coming off the books) and got himself an under 30 glove caliber CFer and an under 30 Cy Young award winner while giving up a total of 1 top 50 prospect (Poreda), one young starting pitcher (Richard...best piece in the draft), a AAAAer/LongMan (Russell), and a talented A ball arm (Carter). The Sox now have the following young core that is under 30: Danks, Floyd, Peavy, Ramirez, Quentin, Beckham, Getz. Waiting in the wings you have: Danks, Flowers, Viciedo, Hudson Less Hyped but still solid: Leesman, Burdie, Shirek, Nunez (Sox like the kid), Nate Jones, etc. There is no reason to think that the Sox can't own the Central for the next 5 years (and contend (hopefully win) for the Series ever year)

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) You suck at writing, Badger. I'm sure I still have that article Badger, I'll have to dig around for it but everything is still online, just in a hidden spot, I believe.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 10:23 AM) I'd believe it. With the bullpen struggles from both clubs, one of them may as well give him a shot. Very low risk move too. Its been two years since he's been good, but he was really good for a 3 year run.

Great article Mario. It will be interesting to see how Ozzie handles the options but there is no doubt in my mind that there are plenty of at bats to go around and everyone should be happy. In fact, if we play the match-ups right I think this will be a very good situation for this season. The big question to me is who leads off in games that Pods is on the bench? You have 3 possibilities: Beckham, Getz, and Rios I'm going to assume that if Pods is sitting it is most likely because we are playing a righty so in those instances I think I'd go with Rios at the top spot in the lineup while keeping Beckham in the 2 spot (he's comfortable there and this prevents any major shake-ups in the lineup). In situations where Pods is sitting against a RHP, I'd think you could make a case to go with Getz/Beckham in the top two spots in the lineup. Getz is hitting over .290 since the break with a .350+ OBP. Pressure comes from the top spot though so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sox still go with Rios in order to keep Getz in a lower pressure situation in the back of the order.

This is going to be a huge game. Hopefully the Sox can find a way to beat one of baseballs best.

In Ozzie's Shoes: The Lineup Card By Mario Scalise There's a lot of thought that goes into making out a lineup, but once you find one that fits (and works), you stick with it, making minor tweaks along the way. So is the case for most managers. But starting tonight, Ozzie Guillen won't have that luxury. Alex Rios will be playing his first game in a White Sox uni tonight, which means somebody will find themselves on the bench. Same for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and every other game from here on out. It won't be the same person. That would be easy for Guillen, but that isn't possible. They all have a case to start...Rest of the Article Note: What is your take? What lineup would you go with?

White Sox Take Advantage of MLB Market By Steve Harnden The news of the White Sox being rewarded the waiver claim of two-time All-Star Alex Rios on Monday afternoon came to no surprise to those following the news around internet sports sites such as ESPN and Soxtalk. However, this does not lessen the effect of such an unprecedented talent being given away during the prime of his career on the mindset of the economic stability, or rather, instability of Major League Baseball....More at the Link

I'll be at the Steelers game.

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) Can I have 2 minutes back in my life for reading this story...I now feel dumber for being subjected to that. Enjoy the suspension. And to all members, get the hint, posts like the above do nothing to add to the discussions or conversation and you will be suspended or banned.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:23 PM) No. It does buy him an extra year to develop though. It also allows the Sox to stick Danks in RF if they wanted to and ease him into things too. I can't see the Sox trading any of there young players for high contract guys. If anything I see them making prospect for prospect trades or something along those lines (basically to fit needs). And Danks is still the only near ready OF prospect the club has.

QUOTE (BFirebird @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:20 PM) Good point about the 5th starter...but I figured we would use one of those guys even before Rios. They definitely need a left-handed bat. If we can keep Dye for cheap...to play RF and DH....is there a left-handed 1B/DH we can get for a Raul Ibanez type in FA? Like a Casey Kotchman, Adam LaRoche...someone like that? Interesting idea with Kochman who could play a plus defense but obviously doesn't have the plus left handed power. He's also had a surprisingly poor season after putting up pretty good numbers for most of last year in Anaheim (prior to his trade).

QUOTE (G&T @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:19 PM) Wait. So JP wouldn't make a deal when he could have gotten talent for him, but would then dump him for nothing? Well the initial talks probably involved the Sox giving up prospects and getting cash plus Rios in return so my guess is the Jays and sox couldn't agree to how much cash the prospects the Sox were willing to give up were worth.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:18 PM) Is it 5 years 60 mil remaining or 6 years 60 mil? 5yrs 60 or so with a 6th year option.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:14 PM) I don't see anyway in which we can trade Jenks. We need more bullpen arms, not less (thought I understand your sentiment). We have nobody in our bullpen that we can really trust for this year or next right now other than Jenks or Thornton. I think we'll see Jenks spun for some above average prospects and also see the Sox make a play at a reliever or two at 1-2 year deals. Bottom line I fully expect Thornton to be the Sox closer.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 05:13 PM) And you know I'll be thrilled when we trade Jenks. Cowley was saying earlier today that there's no way Dye doesn't return to the Sox next year, as he really wants to be here. However, I think today's move might have changed that. If it doesn't, the Sox would have to add a left handed bat that could play some left field for cheap. A Raul Ibanez or something (not that Ibanez is available, but just throwing out random names). If they could do that, than you can also sign Dye to a fair deal for 1 or 2 seasons and let him Dh and play outfield. I would just be hard pressed to see how the Sox did that. Either way I don't see them handing out any major contracts this off-season, in fact I see more of what they do will be 1-2 year deals or involve trades where they shed some payroll and try younger guys at some non-key positions within the pen. I also think this puts an end to the Sox giving any money to a 5th starter. Our 5th starter next season (if the front 4 is healthy) will be one of Hudson/Torres/Garcia.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 04:45 PM) I like the move, as even if it means the end of Dye next season, we will have improved our outfield defense. We just got Peavy and Rios for at least the next 3 seasons without giving up any of our top 4 prospects. The biggest sign to me this was a good deal? It's the fact that if the Cubs did this, we would have been b****ing about how lame it is to acquire a player this way. I think it means at least one of Dye/Thome is gone and that Jenks will be traded in the off-season. No way will the Sox be paying a closer massive bucks, imo.

So what are the full details of his contract?

Konerko has said no one knows how the playing time is going to be split up yet.