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QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 28, 2010 -> 02:33 AM) They need to stop this “It’s Black and White” ad campaign. It might be the most bland, humorless, buzz kill of a sequence of ads I’ve ever seen produced. There’s literally no personality there. Kind of like the team.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 15, 2010 -> 03:32 AM) I can honestly say it's a pleasure to hear Paciorek again. He was always my favorite. Also, John Rooney and Wayne Hagen. Sad when the announcers being paired (Hawk and Hurt, good radio show appelation) and Whimpy and Farmio is more interesting than the game. There were three things that Jerry R always considered to be expendible....Managers/Head Coaches...Starting Pitchers and Announcers

QUOTE (fathom @ May 15, 2010 -> 03:13 AM) It would be a shame for him to get a job with another organization, only to have KW fired a year later, etc. However, after watching Sports Sunday on NBC, I wouldn't be shocked if KW takes another position in the organization very soon. That can't happen fast enopugh for me

QUOTE (daggins @ May 9, 2010 -> 10:47 AM) Yeah, I saw a link to an article that claims the Pads already won the Jake Peavy trade... while this team surely misses CR, if you can trade an ok starter and two average-to-below average pen arms for a top of the rotation starter, you kind of have to make that trade. I understand the cost issue, and that is a big deal, but tonight seems like it might be a pretty typical Peavy outing. Lots of k's, a couple solo dingers due to the park favoring hitters, and going deep into the game. I can live with that for 3 more years. The cost issue is a HUGE deal. Especially, when we could have used that money to improve other areas on the team. If you wanted to deal with San Diego, a trade to get Kouzmanoff would have made more sense and would have cost less both in players surrendered and money. It's good to know though, that we will have that #1 starter in Jake Peavy ready to go in game 1 of the playoffs.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ May 8, 2010 -> 08:33 PM) 3. What about Peavy and Rios? Its simple, nobody are going to want these contracts and to be honest with you i dont mind. I love these 2 players. Rios has been great this year- his defense is solid and he is perfect in the 5 or 6th spot. Peavy is looking better and better each time out. If there are a few guys making the big bucks on our team the next few seasons, i wouldn't mind it being them. In fact i wouldn't mind if KW keeps the rotation in tact. If Jake continues to pitch well, there is one big market team on the east coast currently not playing very well that could be a trade partner.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 3, 2010 -> 07:45 PM) Y'all can say the Royals have screwed around with Gordon all you want, He's had nearly 1400 major league PA's and hasn't shown me flashes of being a top level talent. He looks like a fringe major leaguer. You may be right, but when you can't develop your own prospects and you're tapped out from the standpoint of team paroll, you have to try something. Maybe getting failed prospects is one approach. The Phils gave up on Gavin Floyd and that turned out fairly well.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 3, 2010 -> 07:17 PM) The idea of Jayson Nix becoming the everyday 2B does not appeal to me. Nor does the idea of committing 25+ million to one player on a team with as many holes as the White Sox. And one with supposed budget constraints. Handing A-Gon an extension does little good if you can't fill those othe holes, and, for that matter, lock up your own guys like Johnny Danks.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 3, 2010 -> 06:29 PM) Herm Schneider? Why is he even being mentioned? And I'd say Don Cooper has just a tad bit of history of helping guys realize their potential (yes, I know he can't "fix" everybody). And AG is not a "fringe" MLB player. Much of Gordon's problem has been staying healthy. It has been noted by some that Herm has a pretty good reputation of limiting time loss to the disabled list. Granted, there are many things outside of a trainer's control, but it is worth mentioning.

Okay, so the Mike MacDougal, Horatio Ramarez and Mark Teahen trades don't look so hot, what about the possibility of acquiring Alex Gordon? It seems as though Gordon is frustrating Royal's management enough that he was recently sent down to the minor leagues. As we do not seem to have a legitimate 3B prospect at the moment in our system (I am an not sold on Brent Morel), what about Alex Gordon? A change of scenery may do Gordon good, though the chronic injury thing is a concern. Could this be Herm Schneider project??

QUOTE (The Baconator @ May 3, 2010 -> 05:44 AM) Like most here, I love everything the Burls has done for us, a true competitor day in and day out. But it really does sound like he wants to finish soon so he can take care of his family, and he also really wants to play for the Cards. I would really hate to see him go and I know it would be a big blow in terms of how the fans view the front office, but I think we should play the cards and consider trading him to the Cardinals (if we can get a positive return). Think about it, the Cardinals would love to have him, and Buerhle himself said he may not want to play much longer... why try to keep him for big money when we can flip him for good talent now considering he might not be around in 2 years anyway? I say trade him while he's just barely past his crescendo and before he loses value. And that hurts to say, knowing how much he means to this franchise, and I don't like bailing on franchise players. The time to have traded Buerhle was at the trade deadline last year when his value was higher than it is now (and yes, I suggested it and was clobbered). We saw with Feddy Garcia how trading somebody a year early can net a prospect or two that can help you later. Then again, the early returns on the Javy Vasquez deal don't look so good).We were going nowhere last year and it was obvious by the end of July that we needed to reload.` Who is going to want Mark now that he is stinking up the joint? Besides, I believe that there is a contract escalation clause that Mark would have to void in the event he is traded. If we trade Mark, it most likely will be a salary dump whereby we get little in return.

QUOTE (GREEDY @ May 2, 2010 -> 12:52 PM) According to +/-, Teahen has been the 32nd best 3B this season. I do not believe there is a minimum games played requirement yet, so there has to be quite a few "eligible" players. Bill's site will not show them in list form past the top ten; but for what it's worth everyone I checked on ranked higher than 32nd. To my eye he has been terrible, and according to +/- he is the worst. He has been bad. He makes Gordon B look like Brooks Robinson.

Oh, yeah, that's right I almost forgot to mention yet another great KW move...Scott Linebrink. How long are we stuck with him? And for how much?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2010 -> 08:46 PM) Teahen almost played that into no outs. he could have had either guy. Tehan could hit .400 and it wouldn't make up for his defense.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2010 -> 03:37 PM) If you really remember the Schueler era, you wouldn't think Williams is half as bad as you do. And it is easy to say spend money on the minors, but the problem is Kenny can't go through years of 90 and 100 loss seasons to rebuild the farm system. This marketplace won't let him do that. He has to rebuild on the fly, or Sox games go back to the late 70s when 10,000 people was a normal crowd. One of the things that made the Schueler era difficult was the organizations reticence to spend money...Every contract was a prize fight dragged out in the press....arbitration hearings....refusal to sign decent free agents. Jack Gould, a former White Sox organization bean counter, took tremendous pride in winning arbitration hearings. Hawk used to make a joke about it on the broadcast. We do not have this problem now as our payroll is high and we tend to sign our guys. But, the team is lousy nonetheless. And as I recall, how many 90-100 loss seasons did we endure between 1997 and 2000? Those teams were not good but they were not horrendous. I guarantee you one thing, the longer we are in denial that this team is past its prime, the more likely we will see 90-100 loss seasons.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) Serious question. Do you remember the Ron Scheuler era? I sure do. Just because Schueler was a lousy GM means that Kenny should get a free pass? Look, even after the WC, Kenny has made some good deals- Floyd, Danks Thorton, Quentin (only becaue it won us a Div Title), Alexei.... But he has also made some horrible deals and quite frankly, I am very concerned about the future of this organization. Our minor leagues suck, and just because we have not had the high draft picks doesn't mean we shouldn't be developing decent players- look at Boston, Minnesota, New York...Instead of wasting millions on Jake Peavy, why not throw that money to the player development side- hire better scouts, coaches and expand our scouting network to other countries. Hire the right people for God's sake, instead of your buddies who end up robbing you blind (Dave Wilder). All of this is on the General Manager.

I would say about 90 losses, an empty ball park, no farm system, a high payrolled team going no where and three more years stuck with a $16 milllion washout could be just about enough to get Kenny the "John Paxon" promotion. Kenny will never be fired but being kicked upstairs is common practice for once highly regarded executives who, um, are not so highly regarded anymore. Losing is one thing, but when the mistakes that are made place financial strain on the organization (Peavy, Rios), all bets are off. The question is, who succeeds Williams? I am still not convinced that Rick Hahn will be the guy, given that he helped KW twist Jerry's arm into signing Peavy. Could Jerry end up tapping the shoulder of his buddy, Tony LaRussa to convince him return to the Sox as a GM? LaRussa is looking for a new gig outside of managing, and this could be it.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 07:10 PM) insane. very good chance richard is not even in our rotation right now. i never wanted to watch a game where he pitched. Oh yeah, like the game in Detroit last season when his performane salvaged the last game of a four game series to prevent us from being swept? Had he not come through at that time, the season would have been over right then.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 06:45 PM) We don't have time to "develop" our young pitchers, they usually have to produce right away, simple....we're not a rebuilding organization, never have been under KW, never will be under KW, period. Agree, but is the time that Rick Hahn takes over as GM approaching sooner than we think? If this team continues to suck wind with the Rios and Peavy contracts and fans stay away in droves, it is entirely possible that KW could get 'promoted' in the off-season much like John Paxon position change with the Bulls. At some point (soon), The Sox WILL have to rebuild. The talent void in this organization at both major league and minor league levels becomes more apparent as time goes on. Regarding Peavy's peformance, even if he pitches his ass off and wins 12 games, it's still a bust of a deal in many ways. Heck, with this crappy offeanse, 12 wins is a stretch.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 02:12 PM) That was also a free-agent to be on a team that was 50-50 on making a playoff run anyway. The Sox had to be cheap when it came to adding offense this offseason, because they traded for this guy and his ginormous contract. If he doesn't start pitching better soon, its gonna be trouble. Which is all the more reason why this was one of the silliest trades Kenny has ever made...If you go through the chronology of it, it gets even sillier: 1. In Mid May-Tries to trade for Peavy by offering SD a package of propspects including Clayton Richard 2. Peavy turns down trade within the ruights of his 'no-trade' contract; 3. June-Peavy hurts ankle goes on DL; 4. July- With Peavy on the DL, Kenny offers the same package of propsects to SD again for Peavy even though the guy is on the DL and it's two months later in the season!. Note that both Rick Hahn and Kenny had to twist Uncle Jerry's arm to sign off on the deal. 5. Peavy finally agrees to go the the Sox; 6. Mid-September-Peavy ends up finally getting off of the DL and pitches in a few games when the team is all but out of the race; 7. Since SD did not assume any money on Peavy's deal, the Sox are on the hook for three more years for $48 million with a fourth year buyout for $4 million; 8. Offseason-Kenny goes on the cheap to fill the reamining holes on the team in part, because of the Peavy deal and the committment to Alex Rios who was acquired at mid season, the Sox 2010 budget was maxed out; All of this for a guy who has not been right since 2007 and has had an injury rap sheet as long as my arm. I will take Clayton Richard back today.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 03:16 AM) If the Sox lose tonight, they will be 4 games over .500 since winning the WS. And on a huge payroll to boot. Too bad the GM has a lifetime contract.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 04:33 PM) If nothing else, DET is losing money faster than they can print out new idiotic contracts and trade away Jackson/Granderson (although Austin Jackson has outfperformed expectations so far)...CLE has totally lost the faith of its fans, no matter how good their minor league system, that team's a good 2 years away....and they will start feeling the pressure of contracts for Sizemore, Peralta, Wood, Hafner. I agree with most of what you said, but our GM has made one enormously egregious mistake with a big contract and his name is Jake Peavy. This guy may be a bigger bust that Todd Ritchie.

The pen has been OK, but don't grt ahead of yourself in praising them...note that in the very few game-on-the-line situations that Thorton and Jenks have had been in, they have been shakey at best.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Apr 17, 2010 -> 12:06 AM) agreed...i think we will be sellers this year....im just not sure anyone we would sell off has any real value We should have been sellers last year...For Kenny to pick up Peavy and Rios was one of the more aburd GM moves that I have ever seen. We have an aging core and all kinds of holes. Kenny moves typically appeal to the "fantasy-League' makeup of many Sox fans. We still might win this game, but I doubt that this team will contend.

While I appreciated Bell's candor, I found this assesssment to be one that offers a thoroughly depresssing view of the future for this organization. I was worried about Tyler Flowers' loopy swing when I watched him late last year, and I do not get at all excited when I hear superlatives like "super utility player", "situational guy", "great hands", and "best defensive centerfielder (read: can't hit)" used to describe our supposed "better" prospects. I will say this again and repeatedly....when this organization wants to take the drafting and development of it's players seriously, that will be all right by me. Until then, we will be choking ourselves by overspending for replacement level talent. Hiring Buddy Bell and and getting rid of Dave Wilder and Duane Schafer was a good start but is it enough?

QUOTE (since56 @ Mar 13, 2010 -> 01:50 AM) Bullpens are always worrisome. Dotel and Linebrink last year? Stomach ulcer time. Jenks hasn't been the same for about a year and a half now. He has been awful so far this spring. Putz is coming off injury any hard thrower coming off injury is to be questioned until he proves he can do it again. All teams have question marks in the pen. It is the nature of it. Most of those guys were not good enough to make it as starters so they are second tier pitchers or reclamation projects or no control hard throwers. Our pen could go either way and most guys will have good and bad outings. Ozzie and Cooper will have to place the right guy in the right spot at the right time for success. .........Except Linebrink he's done. I do not agree with the 'Bullpens are a Crapshoot' argument. The reason that OUR bullpen is even more worrisome is that our crappy farm system precludes us from having any viable reaplacement options in the minors. If you loook around baseball, even the big market teams are stocking thier pens with younger, cheaper arms....not $5 million cast offs like Scott Linebrink, Dotel Putz etc. This is why I hope that the Sox keep Hudson...I see him as a viable pen replacement as the season progresses. I hope I am wrong but my biggest fear is the bullpen on this team.