GreenSox

Gillaspie

Speaking of defense, I heard an inning on satellite, and the Tigers announcers were raving about Semien's D at 3rd. Just looking at MLB.com, they have highlights on D from both of them.

Very nice One of these teams will have to win the division, but, in the meantime, let's drive both the Tigers and the Royals out of the wildcard race.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 20, 2014 -> 11:55 AM) Sox have the same fielding% as Oakland and Pittsburgh, Cleveland has the worst....again, the managers of those teams have all won manager of the year the last 2 years. I don't even know how UZR is calculated so I didn't quote it, but the Indians (Lead by the guy a lot of guys here wanted) and Pittsburgh have worse ratings. Sox -38.6 Pitt -41.0 Indians -67.3. So Terry Francona, a guy a lot of people here wish was our manager, and a 2x WS Champ is leading a team that is worse defensively. Is Tito a bad manager or are managers pretty much irrelevant? They can only deal with the talent given them. I don't think anyone's blaming Ventura for defense...except for the consistent lollygagging that was seen out of some players. Managers can make proper lineup decisions, bullpen decisions, strategic decisions, and handle the clubhouse properly so that the team plays hard. Manager is very important. One person wants to compare Ventura to Madden; the next to a 2X WS champion manager. For some reason people hold Ventura up as some White Sox icon above all critique.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 12:28 PM) What I don't understand is if people don't like Dayan Viciedo or Adam Dunn, why would they like Pedro Alvarez? Because he's not on the whitesox. Surely you've noticed the "grass is always greener" around here.

That was Danks' best outing in a long time. well-done.

?????? Was someone actually considering putting MORE mileage on Sale to improve chances at an award at which he has zero chance to win? This organization is in la la land. We're still in it!!!

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 20, 2014 -> 12:19 AM) I believe his point was to show you that "good managers" doesn't equal "good teams". Hell, Maddens team this year is only 4 games better than the Sox....With a bullpen that pans out this season the Sox are at least a few games better than the Rays. Joe Madden is widely considered one of the best managers in baseball. It's using the exception to prove the rule. Madden's teams have played above the quality of their roster. The Sox did not have a 63 win roster last year. The Sox pen has blown games...but the pen has also been under undue pressure all year due to a 2 man rotation (plus 5th starter Noesi). I hope that the front office doesn't miss the real weakness here: the rotation.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 08:49 PM) Tampa Bay must be a bunch of fools. Joe Maddon, despite losing 101 games his first year and 96 his second is STILL managing the team. So Ventura is now Joe Madden Lord this whole show is turning into the Cubs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 10:17 PM) I literally cannot agree with one bit of that statement. They have won a WS title, they have added payroll and players to contend and even though it hasnt worked out since they still are trying to win. This rebuilding job IMO shows they want to win, and they want to stay a winning club. The WS was 9 years ago. Wanting to win is different from doing what it takes to win. Sentimentality, pampering certain players, undue concerns with team chemistry (much of it as a result of the utter lack of leadership from the field manager), worries about upset fans if their favorite player is traded....the Sox over-prioritize all of the above. And Robin Ventura won't be managing this team next year if they are really serious about winning.

Well of course not. 2 horrendous seasons, but the manager can't possibly have anything to do with it. He's Robin. It's been a long time since this organization prioritized winning.

I don't know why the studs are playing every day. Eaton's been on the DL 3 times - so why play him every day? They need to look at young players. yet Robin wheels Alexei out there every day, when we could be evaluating a Semien, Sanchez duo. Ozzie was even worse in 2007, so it must be an organizational thing. Frankly Alexei should have been traded in July, when everyone knew he was at an absolute high-point, but this organization still overreacts to the White Flag PR hit they took 17 years ago. It has also become ridiculously sentimental to players, including non-icons like Alexei (and Ventura) and even Dunn.

Full value for Sale is Sale; but the, why trade Sale for Sale? So what is a fair trade - how many top prospects- lottery tickets- is one of the top pitchers in baseball worth? 3? I would have shut Sale down for the year a while back. September for a team like this should be geared 100% to looking at young players.

This team can clown around with the best of them.

He should be fine as closer. The Sox do need 2 high-end bullpen arms for real leverage situations and to take the pressure off of buys like Guerra, Putnam and Petricka.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 10:24 AM) The A's are in a serious race for a wild card spot and it would be a shame for Adam Dunn to miss out on the postseason. Absolutely ridiculous. As it is, maybe if he had hit better than 220, he'd have been in the playoffs in 2012

Nice work by Bassitt, eh?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 12:09 AM) If the A's somehow choke, it would make that Lester trade look absolutely awful. The Samardzjia and Hammel trade wouldn't look good either considering the prospects they gave up for a rental and 2 years of a decent, but not great pitcher. Part of the reason they've been so bad is because they haven't hit at all recently. Although Cespedes wasn't a world beater, he did provide some value in the middle of that lineup that they really miss right now. Plus, after Cespedes left guys who hit behind him like Moss kind of fell off a cliff. I think the Shark trade was the real bad trade. They got the ace or near ace they needed with Lester, and for an okay, not great, player. With Shark, they dumped one of the top prospects in baseball.

Very nice. Flowers has hung in all year. There are numerous holes to be filled before worrying about catching. Guerra was a nice pickup. He'll be good next year, especially if we get a couple of top end bullpen guys.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 7, 2014 -> 06:26 PM) Luckily most fans are far more sophisticated and realize it isn't the manager's fault they are losing thses games. The idea that the manager bears little to no responsibility for 2 consecutive train-wreck seasons is just daft. Where's the Ventura leadership? Where's our hero, Robin? Both hiring this guy and keeping him around is more of the absurd sentimentality that's suffocating this organization.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 7, 2014 -> 02:22 PM) LOL. Francona can't think 2 moves ahead. Tskes the bat right out of Brantley's hands. Great point. Ventura = Francona. Anyone can see that. Plus Robin's a hero.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 7, 2014 -> 08:13 PM) According to a Pirates beat writer, the MLB schedule is coming out tomorrow at noon. A couple leaks are out there. I know the Sox play 3 home/3 away against the Cubs, and 2 home/2 away vs the Cardinals. Opening Day is April 6, so that probably means November World Series games. I thought they got rid of 3 home and 3 away and do 2/2s or just a 3. I guess if your forced rival is in the division you are playing, you do 2 series.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 7, 2014 -> 02:22 PM) How are they going to sell more than 5,000 season tickets for next year? The culture of losing has engulfed the South Side. And if they keep this manager who will have lost 99 games and c. 90, they will have ratified that loyalty, hero-worshiping and howling at the moon (we are still in it!!!) are more important making serious efforts toward winning.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 03:58 PM) Beck (though he went back up a bit recently for me) I thought Beck did better in AAA than in AA. But, that just could be because the hitters are better in AA. A lot of AAA is replete with AAAA talent, whereas the real prospects are in AA.

Other than Sanchez and Semien and Bassitt, we just called up a bunch of AAAA players, right? Not much there to see, and I haven't seen much.