ISF

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 11, 2005 -> 01:54 PM) So, we've gone from the invincible to panic mode after a two game slide with the D'Rays. Surely you guys are joking about the thought of bringing McCarthy up. Right? C'mon. You can't possibly be serious. :headshake "9th Inning Ozzie" ...sounds like a good name for a band to me. Never felt invincible, and I'm not in panic mode either. Losing a couple on the road happens. There's nothing wrong with looking at how we can tweak the roster without disrupting team chemistry. Joking about bringing McCarthy up? So you don't think BMac can be successful at the mlb level? Then let's trade him and get somebody that can while his trade stock is still high. :banghead There are varying opinions about the best way to develop pitching prospects. Mine happens to be that they should start in the bullpen where the manager can control what situations they face. Give them a chance to get more comfortable with the mlb atmosphere before moving them into the rotation. Is it the only way? No. But I have no doubts BMac could contribute as an improvement over Luisa in this situation, and the bottom line is giving your team the best chance to win. I think it's a perfect situation for BMac.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 11, 2005 -> 01:38 PM) So we take a rookie who has pitched 5 games at AAA, none at the major league level, and has never been a reliever at any stage of his career, and put him in the Sox bullpen, and expect things to be fixed? That's rich. Many successful rookies don't pitch a single game at AAA. Dontrelle Willis came straight from A ball. I fail to see where not having been in the bullpen before has any relevance. Do you feel he doesn't have the mental toughness to pitch in the later innings? I thought his attitude was one of his strengths? I don't expect BMac to be a savior. I expect him to pitch long relief more effectively than Luisa, and I don't think that is setting the bar very high.

QUOTE(YASNY @ May 11, 2005 -> 08:22 AM) I don't think it's fair to judge Beane's decision until about this time next season. Branch Rickey had a saying .... It's better to trade them one year too early than one year too late. With that in mind, if Beane would have kept Hudson and Mulder for one more year, he would have gotten nothing but draft picks for them. Instead, he got some good young ballplayers to build around. I expected Oakland to struggle this year, but they are hanging close. Beane might be able to make a move in July to get them headed to the top again. I have no problem with him trading a couple of the pitchers, I'm not judging him for that. IMO, he needed to keep Hudson, not Zito. That's the decision I think he erred in making. He didn't make a very good trade of Hudson either.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 11, 2005 -> 04:28 AM) And yet despite the fact our starting pitching has been great so far (have a look at every other single team in the majors), some people still want B-Mac up. He doesn't need to step right into the rotation. I think it really helps young pitchers to start in the bullpen at the mlb level. The manager should be able to put him in situations that give him the best chance for success. He gets some innings under his belt learning situational pitching in the big leagues and has a chance to gain confidence against mlb hitters. As good as our rotation has been, Vizcaino has stunk all year, and Takatsu looks shaky.

Alright, let's just make it official: I am releasing Scott Podsednik as my whipping boy. He will now be given full respect and called by his actual name. Luisa Vizcaino, you my b**** now!

LaToya > Luisa

QUOTE(fathom @ May 11, 2005 -> 03:01 AM) McCarthy isn't exactly dominating AAA right now. Yeah, he was only named IL Pitcher of the month, leading the league in Ks. Oh wait, he had one bad outing tonight. He's a bust! :headshake I'll take BMac over the worthless arm we got from Milwaukee any day.

I think McCarthy should take the Buerhle route to stardom. Waive Vizcaino and bring up McCarthy for a year of long relief.

Shingo has at least been effective occasionally. Why is Luis Vizcaino on this team?

Thanks. By the way, Miles took a walk tonight.

The Moneyball philosophy isn't OPS or bust. The Moneyball pihilosophy is analyzing statistics and attempting to find value in areas that other, richer clubs underrate. OPS just happened to be the statistic that many clubs shortchanged at the time. Beane's draft picks are often decided based on these stats, whereas traditional scouting leaned heavily on body type, radar gun, and stopclock. Last year Theo Epstein used analysis of defensive stats to decide to make the moves for Cabrera and Mientkiewicz. It was a total Moneyball maneuver. Beane should get credit for devising a plan for attempting to keep up with the haves. The problem is, when the haves figure it out, money makes a big difference. That is why Epstein and Boston are so dangerous. he has been extremely efficient in doling out the Boston cash. I think Beane made the wrong choice on his pitching. Between that and Chavez' inexplicable slump, the A's are hurting as a result.

This is insane. We are 24-8, our pitching has been the best in the AL, we have 3 or 4 guys that can close a game, and we're talking about possible deadline deals for a closer? What in the hell do we need a closer for? Is there someone out there with a better ERA than 0.00? Hermanson was a bargain, and Takatsu is still doing ok. Marte and Politte both look very good. Spending 9 mil on a bullpen guy would be utter foolishness.

Miles's OPS looks to be about .414 That's his slg pct. His OPS is hovering just under .700 because of his low OBP. If he keeps hitting at a .280 clip, that OBP will be over .300 with room to spare at the end of the year. Very likely Miles OPS will be pushing .750 at season's end. Again, very acceptable for a 2B. I hated losing Miles, he was a hustle guy, but I was also very excited about getting an heir to SS with Uribe's potential. We had no other answers there.

Tampa's offense is just as good as ours, probably better. They have us in every category except HRs. The difference is starting pitching. Tampa is not a bad team, they just have a bad rotation. Give them our staff, they'd have a winning record too.

Miles hasn't walked much, otherwise his numbers are quite acceptable for a 2B. I love having Uribe on this team, but Miles is hardly terrible. That RotoWorld guy is judging him solely on one stat: OBP Horrible way to do analysis of any player.

Tampa has a decent team, minus the rotation. Crawford is a nightmare at the top of the order. Would be nice to see Jose C give us 7 strong innings, but he has the toughest pitching matchup in this series.

Trading Dontrelle was comparable to when we traded Sosa. 10 years later people will look back and think WTF? The reality is those trades helped each team get into the playoffs. The Garland trade, on the other hand, was stupid. Even if Garland remained mediocre the rest of his career, it was stupid. Karchner was a mediocre RP when the Cubs traded for him. You don't trade your top prospects for mediocre RPs.

Most kids don't get married at 16. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say unexpected pregnancy. Hope the daughter's ok, losing a parent that young has to be traumatic, especially since the mom was the primary caretaker.

If we go looking for a bullpen arm, it will be a lefty. We're pretty balanced, I can't see us making many moves unless we're upgrading depth. You don't want to mess with this team's chemistry.

Iguchi as the backup 2B. 3-4 of the starters. Hermanson won't make it unless Guillen goes with him full-time as closer. Who in the rotation goes will depend on the next month. Contreras is only 1-0, so he's doubtful. Garland is a lock as of now. Buerhle's star is rising in the media, he'll likely go. Garcia and El Duque could both get there or not depending on their numbers over the next month. Konerko should make it as well if he can get his average up.

Damn, and you guys thought I was skeptical of Pud.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 2, 2005 -> 02:45 PM) If its a closer that you want, its rumored that TB would rid themselves of Baez for a hot hitting outfielder. Jermaine Dye!

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 2, 2005 -> 12:52 PM) Aubrey Huff... Winner!!! Huff can play several positions and fits in the budget nicely. He won't come cheap though. Tampa will want a couple of our best young prospects.

I vote we rename this the "I told you so" board. No, seriously, Garland's been awesome, but it is WAY too early to start saying he's finally figured things out. Great month, but that's all it is, one month. Let's hope it continues, would love to see Garland starting the All-Star game this year. Maybe somebody can get Ed Lynch and Matt Karchner complimentary passes to the game.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedi...content.15.html