Fotop

Hey guys, checkin' in here...good to see everyone hasn't jumped off the cliff yet. Anyways, I've been in Texas the last few days for the games, rainout sucked and today we just flat out got beat. I assume most of this has been hashed out but here are just a few things I observed today: -As funny as it may seem, our hitters approach at the plate is getting a bit more positive. They are working counts, evident by Chan Ho's high early PC and I actually saw *gasp* uribe take THREE straight pitches. Leaving the guys on base...well that's a completely different story. But it's good to see at bats longer than 1 or 2 pitches these days (except for Konerko, who seems to have completely changed his approach because he used to NEVER swing at first pitch). -I'm not all that worried about Garland. He was jamming guys, getting them to hit off the end of the bat, and the ball just fell in the right spots. Granted, he made a mistake to Mench...but Mench owns us. The only thing I worry about when it comes to Garland is what will this do to his confidence, and frankly I don't think it'll have that much of an adverse effect. -As for the rest of the pitching, it's the same old story. Politte = good, Cotts and Takatsu = Bad. Pretty simple. I was really impressed with Politte who was hitting 96 on the gun in the park. He seems to be in a whole different gear this year. Basically, we caught Texas at the wrong time. We all know they have the potential to mash the hell out of the ball and all of their hitters are clicking right now. What impressed me the most though is that throughout their 8gm winning streak all of their SP have the wins. That's pretty impressive. I can't say I'm all that angry about losing since they are REALLY playing well. Either way, I'm kind of glad for our sake that saturday's game got rained out because we'd probably be seeing a bunch of tired bullpen arms back at the cell. As for Arlington, it's really a nice park. Very big, lots to see, and overall a good place to watch a game. This is the 12th park I've been to and it ranks right up there. Anyways, just thought I'd toss my two cents of live observation into the fold. Let's bounce back tommorow w/Buerhle!

Good news for the Illini, certainly. But I'm especially happy about this since Demeterius Jones will not go to the same school as Williams, and Illinois was ND's main competition when it came to Jones. So everyone wins here

QUOTE(nvxplorer @ May 25, 2005 -> 11:41 PM) Good game. Great dingers by PK and Widge. Excellent start by Freddy. Hermanson still perfect. I'll say this though. I'd rather face Clemens than another Angel rookie pitcher. Well ya, that's a no brainer. The White Sox OWN Clemens.

SOX WIN! 33-14! And we have a....gasp...chance to win 3 of 4 in anaheim?

Holy s*** did Hermanson luck out.... SOX WIN!

Scared me for a second there... one more, Dustin.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 25, 2005 -> 11:33 PM) Excellent managing by Ozzie here. No matter what happens, he made the right decision with the pitching this inning. eh I don't know if I buy the logic, Marte pitched two innings yesterday. To me, this is just another example of Oz being obssessed w/lefty righty matchups.

leadoff knock for Garrett. Get Hermy up.

DJ trying to get Donn Pall to sing = funny stuff. 4-2 Sox heading into the bottom of the ninth.

QUOTE(skidoochic @ May 25, 2005 -> 04:56 PM) Boy I saw the thread title here and thought this is my lucky day A.J. is a god! Welcome to Soxtalk!

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ May 25, 2005 -> 02:43 PM) Blalock could be had for the right price, Tex was a 3b coming up too, and the Rangers system is stocked with hitting prospects. For the right SP, the Rangers probably will entertain all offers. Sb Teixiera = Boras client, so the Sox probably wouldn't be looking at him in a trade w/the Rangers. Blalock makes a world of sense. Cheap (for now), left handed, plays a good 3rd base. In my mind he wouldn't have the immediate impact Chavez would, but I would much rather work a trade for Blalock than Chavez. The financial burden is much less, Blalock isn't much worse than Chavez, and maybe just maybe we'd be able to get Blalock without dealng McCarthy. The only problem is would Texas really deal a guy like Blalock while still in contention? I don't know, but if we could give them something like Crede, Tracey, Diaz or some sort of combination like that I'd be ecstatic.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ May 25, 2005 -> 02:32 PM) David Wright is a good hitting 3b. Might even put up better numbers than half the players on that list, and most importantly hes a rookie. SB I hope you were just mentioning Wright as an addition to the list and not as someone the White Sox would acquire because there's no way in hell the Mets deal him. The s***storm they received after the Kazmir trade is reason enough for them to not trade another top prospect for a long time. That, and of course the fact is Wright is just as good as you say...defintely a future stud at 3rd.

QUOTE(qwerty @ May 23, 2005 -> 04:21 PM) That is all. LMAO. Good one, qwerty.

QUOTE(Fotop @ May 23, 2005 -> 03:28 PM) In his first start in the majors he got shelled by the indians, who are struggling this year on offense. QUOTE(longshot7 @ May 23, 2005 -> 03:39 PM) That's true, but he got destroyed by the Indians last week. Anyways, bad record at home + banged up team = good odds for the Sox.

QUOTE(shakes @ May 23, 2005 -> 03:24 PM) I just heard Danny Graves was designated for assignment. I don't personally have an interest in him, but I'm sure some people might. Danny Graves? Unless we're giving Cincy a gatorade cooler for him, I want no part. That guy is like the Eric Milton of relievers, always giving up the longball. I can just see him giving himself whiplash in US Celluar by the amount of times he'll be whipping his neck around to watch balls fly out of the park. Just say no to the likes of Danny Graves, Jose Mesa, etc. If you want to make a decisive impact on the bullpen then you have to target the lights out guys (Wagner being the most likely). Not saying I am either for or against this, but all of this talk of these "closers" (they wouldn't be on a good team) coming in to help our bullpen is nonsense. I for one wouldn't want to give a team like Pitt or Cincy a B+ prospect for someone who could be just as bad as what we already have.

Santana is a rookie, yes, but he's highly touted. If I recall he is/was the #3 prospect in the deep Angels farm system. Supposedly has really good stuff, yet already has a good amount of injury history. In his first start in the majors he got shelled by the indians, who are struggling this year on offense. With that said we should be able to score some runs tonight, we just need to be patient. Make him throw strikes, see if he makes mistakes, etc. Don't go up there swinging at everything. Either way, I expect Garland to stick to his current form against an anemic looking offense without Vlad. Erstad was their three hole hitter last night, Quinlan their 5th, ick. So let's get Garland his ninth win tonight!

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 22, 2005 -> 09:27 PM) BTW -- Durazo is playing first tonight for the A's, Sunday Night Baseball. Has anyone watched? I don't think that first base is that much of a key, as far as having a superb defender at the position. If the guy can make up for his lack of range with his bat, then I guess it's not a huge deal -- to me, at least. I agree with you on the fact that production is the first thing you want out of 1st base, but having a superb defender there can make a world of difference. Look at Derrek Lee, he basically saved the game today on that liner double play. His ability to stretch for balls also save the team a few outs. Add in the fact that he makes Aramis Ramirez look like a decent 3rd baseman (even though aramis has improved), and his impact on the defense is paramount. Also, the 3-6-3 double play is a tough play to make, but pays high rewards in the fact that a first baseman can turn two outs on one play. I know it sounds like I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too here (production AND defense), but with the amount of payroll flexibility we may have in the off-season, plus the fact that our team is focused on pitching, speed and defense makes me feel as though defense is key when it comes to deciding who our first baseman will be. Either way, an above-average defender at first would be a great luxury.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ May 22, 2005 -> 08:07 PM) BMac won't be staying up. There's no point once El Duque becomes 100% again which should only be 1 more start. No point on keeping him on the bench in the ML's. He'll be a Sept callup. Unless someone pitches piss poor, BMac isn't staying with the team. This is a highly speculative scenario, but what if BMac gets multiple starts while Duque is out for an extended period of time and basically forces the White Sox to keep him since he's pitching so well? I personally believe that if he puts up some damn good numbers over his next couple of starts he deserves to stick until he proves otherwise. BUT this is the real world of baseball and the only place BMac would go once Duque is healthy is the pen. Would I want BMac in the pen? No, I think for him he's better off honing his skills as a starter. I know that Buerhle got his start out in the pen, but i think with BMac it's different since our staff is pretty deep in comparison to the time buerhle was brought up. However, it will be interesting to see what is done w/BMac if he strings a few quality starts together, but this is all dependent on how long Duque is out.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 22, 2005 -> 06:56 PM) MB's numbers are better than Woods, at least as good as Prior and he's far more durable than both of them. Considering that and also considering that Wood and Prior are "aces" then how is it that MB is not an ace? Ace is such a subjective term because it's definition differs from person to person. A "true" ace to me is someone who has elite stuff, isn't hurt for prolonged periods of time, and has the stats to back it all. To me, there are very few of these pitchers in baseball (Prime Clemens, Prime Pedro, etc = aces). Buerhle is an interesting case because by modern definition his "stuff" isn't elite. However, his stats resemble that of someone who could possibly be an ace. Is Buerhle our "staff" ace? Yes. Does he bring "ace" intangibles to the club? Yes, ask Garland. But by the pure definition of ace Buerhle falls just short in my book. A great pitcher, but he won't be remembered as truly elite. Wood is only ace due to his reputation and what his pure stuff used to be. He is a paper ace, and he doesn't back it up. Prior is an ace in the truest of forms. I was watching this guy today and was pretty amazed. His 125th pitch was 94mph. That's impressive alone, and the guy has impeccible command. Will he hold up? Possibly, but he needs to learn to pitch through pain a bit more. Ultimately, the term ace is hard to define. I think people need to be careful when using the word because they usually don't differentiate between "staff ace" and "ace pitcher". MB is a staff ace, no doubt, but he falls short of possessing all of the qualities of an ace pitcher (basically just the pure stuff qualification). But we need to remember this isn't a bad thing, ace pitchers are few and far between and we're most certainly lucky to have 6 pitchers that can keep us in games everytime they take the ball. And as a ballclub, that's all you can ask for...who cares about how they compare to the rest of baseball if they just WIN. EDIT: Btw, I am very much in agreement w/wite when it comes to Buerhle. In fact, Jamie Moyer is the name I always bring up when talking about how MB's career will pan out. I don't think I hold a grudge against soft-tossing lefties, either.

First of all this is a very GOOD problem to have. You can never have too much starting pitching. However, I'm wondering what we're looking at in the Free Agent market next year. With Everett and Shingo coming off the books and Konerko possibly coming off as well you're talking about 14million right there. Then of course if you deal a pitcher to make room for BMac, let's assume contreras, then you've freed up another 8million. That's 22 million of space, and the payroll will probably increase slightly due to better attendance let's say 25 million of room for the sake of the post. So what do you do? 25million to spend and the glaring hole would be 1st base. First I'd assume we'd re-sign Frank...maybe 5million? Pay increases go out probably to AJ and Garland...probably another 4-5million in raises, maybe less. So that leaves 15million for first base and probably relief, plus whoever you get in a potential contreras trade. Which leads me to be quite curious about who's an FA after this season. There's going to be a good amount of cash for us, and signs point to us being able to make a big splash in a trade or the FA market. If anyone could help me out and link me to potential FA's, I'd love to see it. 4 Aces or not, the importance of BMac being a quality pitcher is paramount to our sustained success. Getting good/great production out of him for the league minimum gives us the ability to make the rest of the team quite strong. Needless to say, I like our future, and I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...but Gio could give us a McCarthy-like boost in the distant future as well.

I was also shocked to see very few changeups from BMac, like Cerb said he threw one to Lee and I don't think to anyone else. I find that a bit odd because some people have said his changeup is now one of his best pitches. However, just getting back from the game I can't say that I'm unhappy with today's transpiriings. Really this is the first time after a Cub/Sox game loss that I'm not all that angry. Brandon pitched really well, I would have loved to see him stick out there in the 6th and really questioned the move at the time...but what can you do. He was practically outdueling Prior, and if this wasn't his first start it would have been great to see them both go the distance. Physically, Brandon defintely has room to fill out a bit. He's very skinny, and if he puts some more muscle on, I'm sure that with his mechanics he should be able to add an mph or two on his fastball. He looked very composed out there, not getting too up or down, very much in the Garland-Buerhle mold. So ya, we may have lost today but the future is bright for Brandon and the White Sox. It's really wonderful to see one of our pitching prospects live up to the early hype. Here's to BMAC!

Nick Setta WAS Lockport football when he was there. My high school played his in the playoffs and he hit nearly everything (except for the deep field goal for the win). So he's most defintely a hometown kid. I was able to see him the whole time he was at ND, and he's a great kicker. Accurate and has good range. I'm confident he can be just as good as Edinger was when Edinger was hot. More importantly, he's a great guy and I'm really pulling for him. I lived in the same dorm as Nick for his last two years (he was a senior, I was a freshman), and the guy is really a class act. I really hope he gets the fair shake in all of this, because his talent will speak for itself and he deserves a fair shot.

Mark AJ Dye PK Way to get the series! Onto Wrigley this weekend!

Another sign of Judy never showing her face again: 2nd and 3rd no one out, Jon gets two k's and a popup to maintain the lead. Hell yes, Jon! Keep it up! Let's take the series tommorow, Buerhle v. Drese

QUOTE(greg775 @ May 17, 2005 -> 04:23 PM) I'd pass on Sweeney because of his back woes. I think it's time to give up on Dye, however. Bring up Anderson and let Dye go. Paulie just needs to suck it up and start hitting. The team is probably just patiently waiting for frank to return to have murderer's row of Everett, Dye, Frank and Pauilie. p.s. Interesting that Jeremy Reed hasn't done much this year. He gets hits and scores runs once in a while but nothing remarkable yet. And Olivo has been horrible. Reed and Olivo's performance is making the Garcia trade look better and better each day. I still think Reed is going to be a good player, but when Wiki Gonzalez is starting over Olivo you have to think he may not put it all together. So even if Reed does pan out, it would be Reed/Morse for Garcia. I'd say that's a win for the White Sox. And to think of all the people we had to keep from jumping off a building after that trade. It's just a solid reminder that potential is potential and production is production. Just ask Joe Borchard.