joeynach

QUOTE (soxfan-kwman @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 01:40 PM) Change the ballpark dimensions to help our team. Imagine if we signed Paulie back & made our park more difficult for the opposition to succeed against our current team. These suggestions would achieve two things: 1. Make the current & future Twins team dread playing at our ball park. Make it easier for us to win the division on a yearly basis 2. Make it tougher for the Yankees during playoff matchups. Our ballpark will still give up plenty of homeruns during the hot summer days, but I think our team should benefit if we do the following to our current ballpark: 1. Pull the fences back to the orginal distance except have the left field fence taper on the pole (like fenways right field). 2. Make the Fence 10 feet all the way from Left Field ( accept Right Field). 3. Make the Right Field Fence 18 feet high. In Right Field we could put up a regular fence & then use plexi glass the rest of the way up. Any thoughts?? No thanks. Those high walls in other stadiums are designed with the sight lines in mind. If you do that to our stadium you mess up sight lines, visual angles, the ability to fans to see certain parts of the park from their seats. If you want to move the fences the only thing you can do is move them back the 6-8 feet gap that is in place from the LF bullpen to to dead CF.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 15, 2010 -> 12:12 PM) Yep. Billy Beane is the same GM that traded Carlos Gonzalez, Houston Street, and Greg Smith for 4 months of Matt Holliday, and Kenny Williams is the same GM that gave up Ryan Sweeney, Gio Gonzalez, and Fautino De Los Santos for a year of Nick Swisher and then traded him for Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Nunez, and Jeff Marquez. GMs make assumptions and mistakes. Gillick is no different. KW also got Thornton for peanuts, got Quentin for peanuts, got Floyd for a broke down Freddy, got Danks for McCarthy, found Alexi from Cuba, found Jenks on a waiver wire, drafted Sale, etc. KW is a good GM but by no means perfect, sometimes he strikes out too. In fact from his track record It wouldn't be far fetched to say that he better at making the under the radar none dazzling moves than he is at making the blockbuster big name moves.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Oct 16, 2010 -> 03:25 AM) He actually had 2 days off, but Juan is the kind of guy who doesn't like to sit. He played in every single game from 2003-2007, and he even averages 162 games a year for his career. I really dislike his game, but it's hard not to like his attitude. Also, people may look at his .341 OBP and say he had a decent year, but this was also inflated by being hit a little more than twice as much as he ever had before in his career. If you use his average number of hit by pitches (9) instead of the 21 he had this season, his OBP is just barely .330, which coupled with his slugging percentage puts him at an OPS of 646. Juan Pierre is not a good baseball player, and a terrible fit for our stadium. Juan Pierre has consistently been a slow starter and a strong finisher his whole career. You can look at this split stats on Yahoo if you would like as I did. His strongest month is typically Sept with a .314/.359/.394 slash line. That being said, whatever happened this year really hurt as I was saying before because in September he hit .223/.279/.268. Bad timing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 16, 2010 -> 02:47 AM) For the record I agree with this post 100 percent. For the life of me I couldn't understand why Juan never had a day off? Oz loves to give guys days off. WTF? Great great post. Right on Greg.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 14, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) I too dislike Juan overall for some unknown reason. He did do what Juan Pierre does, so kudos. On his behalf I will say that he wore out pitchers probably more than anybody. How did he rank in pitches/AB? Fouled off pitches? Seems like he might be near the top of the league there; haha or sadly, maybe just the top of the Sox. The one thing I didnt like about Pierre this year was Ozzie's use of him. I can think of two things in particular. One being that as an aging veteran I think Ozzie needed to rest him a few more days. Before we even got to Sept I had a gut feeling that Pierre would begin to wear down a bit due to the immense load on his legs and body over the first 5 months, and I was right, he hit something like .232 in Sept. Second, I didnt like how Ozzie treated him like any other sox hitter. Meaning he never really realized oh wait this guy is incapable of hitting the ball to the warning track like everyone else did. That is why you would see LF for other teams playing shallow to take away his looping line drive. But Ozzie would still do dumb things for Pierre. Like with no outs and Alexi or whoever on 2B he would have Beckham bunt him over 3B with 1 out for Pierre. And Im asking why. How are you supposed to manufacture that run with a sac fly to a hitter that is incapable of hitting the ball out in even a little league park, he has no ability to hit a deep fly ball so why are you doing this. Those are my big grips with Pierre and the use of Pierre. Other than that he showed solid D, a decent OBP, and excellent capacity to steal bases. It was also nice to see a good base-runner out there, not Pods and his ability to get picked off anywhere.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 13, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) I agree I think. Danks should be used to get a younger bat. How much is Danks really worth? I think it depends on if GMs think he can get even better. Right now I'd say he's at the top of the 2nd tier of pitching, just behind aces. For the teams that miss out on Cliff Lee, Danks is a real nice consolation prize. Every team would love a Danks. We can't screw this trade up if we make it. How much is really out there that you would want in return for Danks. Sure you could go after someone's top prospects, but most likely if you trade Danks you want a young talented MLB player, like an Andre Either and such. But there are not that many of Either types out there.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Oct 13, 2010 -> 11:44 AM) AGon is not going to happen this winter. The Sox don't have what it takes to get him anyway, unless Beckham or Sale is involved (and Sale can't even be traded yet). Coming off a winning year, I don't see the Padres moving him at all (unless they are truly blown away), until July 2011 when they are out of contention. Plus why would u trade significant internal talent for a 1 year of Agon before he hits FA and signs a massive contract.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 12, 2010 -> 06:04 PM) The Twins organizational philosophy when it comes to starting pitchers is throw strikes, keep the ball down, and throw more strikes. It may produce "B rate starting pitching," but that B rate starting pitching has helped them win 6 division titles in 9 seasons. And, in case you were unaware, they didn't have any Punto's or Harris's in the lineup in the playoffs - their weakest hitter was probably Denard Span. They went to the post season last year with Punto and Harris in the lineup and opened this year with Harris a 3B again, if it weren't for a Feb signing of Hudson, Punto would have been their starting 2B again.

The title of this thread should be, white sox try to once again field a team good enough so that the organization draws enough so they dont operate in the red.

QUOTE (Real @ Oct 12, 2010 -> 03:44 PM) 2009 version 2.0 How'd that work out for you, KenKen Twins wrap this up easily in 2011 if we're starting guys like Castro/Flowers, Quentin, and Viciedo Im so sick of Twins getting by with B rate starting pitching like Slowey, Perkins and their prize FA acquisition Carl Pavano. Yeah we wont win if we play Castro/Flowers, Quentin, or Viciedo, but they can win with the epitome of average starting pitching, Nick Punto, Brendan Harris, etc. Garbage.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Oct 11, 2010 -> 04:14 PM) Here's a few... LOL Holy s***... 6 mil a year?? Kinda funny if you think about, the Twins are paying something like $23M a year to hitter more known to hit singles the opposite way rather than split gaps or drive the ball out of the ballpark. Unless his intangible assets (game calling, leadership, catcher defense) are the best ever this is a gross overpay. You can find a good batting average guy who can drive in 90 runs (his career avg) elsewhere and not spend $23M a year on him, oh say hitters like Carl Crawford, Ryan Zimmerman, or Victor Martinez all put up fairly similar offensive numbers as Mauer. ..............................

QUOTE (gatnom @ Oct 11, 2010 -> 06:06 PM) In my opinion, the Hudson trade is different than those because it set in motion the necessity of trading one of Danks or Floyd in the off season because we have just about no money to spend anymore. All of our decent prospects have diminished value due to injuries or poor seasons, which means we have to trade something from our major league roster to get value back, and the only place on our major league roster where we have some semblance of depth is our starting pitching. You aren't getting much of anything for Buehrle because of his contract, and it might be bad to trade him if you decide Konerko and AJ aren't worth what they want to be paid. Nobody will trade for Peavy because of the combination of his contract, injuries, and performance. If we try to trade Jackson himself, we aren't going to get back as much as we gave up to the Diamondbacks, which defeats the whole purpose of trading him in the first place. We can't trade Sale yet. That leaves one of Floyd or Danks that has to go. I think when the sox committed to pay Jackson something like $2M for the rest of 2010, $8.3M for 2011, and also committed $4M for 1 month of Manny to this payroll that our offseason was going to be very limited. I got the impression that that was our off season spending right there, instead of spending on the 2011 payroll the sox took a shot at 2010 bumped payroll in the 2nd half. That being said i expect the White Sox off season to be very quiet. Most likely AJ, PK, and Bobby are gone, its possible Putz and Vizquel come back because they are cheap. Your catcher is Castro and his $1.2M option, your 3B is Morel/Vizquel, your 1B is Viciedo, and your RF/DH combo is Quentin/Teahen. And with all that your Payroll is still about $95M.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Oct 11, 2010 -> 01:27 AM) Wow. That rule sucks. So that means Konerko is going to get no less than $10M/year from us if we offer him arb....? I'd offer that, and if he wants too much more than that, then say no, and we get a pick if he signs elsewhere, yes? Yes

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Oct 9, 2010 -> 11:41 PM) I think media people got too enamored with the Twins ASB record. Peter Gammons thought this was the Twins year. That kind of intensive play eventually ends. The Yankees are a better team. They got guys who show up for the post season. Look at the difference between the Twins and Yankees offseason and in-season moves. The yankees make moves to win the World Series, the Twins make moves to get past the White Sox or win the division. Of course the Yanks have way more $$ to spend but in increasing payroll they go out and get free agent prizes Mark Texeria, CC Sabathia, they trade for Curtis Granderson, acquire Kerry Wood, etc. Those are real proven impact players. Look at who the Twins go out and get during their big able to spend year; they get an oft injured journeyman 2B in Orlando Hudson, they trade for a recently demoted to AAA SS named JJ Hardy, they sign Thome and assign him to the bench, they trade for a closer that was released by the freaking Pirates a year ago, and they can wait to sign a washed up $8M reliever the angels couldn't wait to get rid of in Fuentes. DOES ANYONE SEE THE DIFFERENCE OR IS IT JUST ME!! Heck look at the Phillies back to back years they are in need of a pitcher, as are the Twins. The Phillies trade for Cliff Lee first then acquire Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt the following year. The Twins were in need of a pitcher in 2010 too, they signed Carl Pavano for like $7M. The yankees and now phillies have shown that they get it, a move or a signing isnt worth making unless its a real impact move that has the ability to effect who wins the world series. The Twins seem happy to make "B" moves, win the division, and then get swept in the first round of the playoffs. Is it any wonder why the Yanks won...again. They are above and beyond a much better team than the Twins and pretty much the best team in the AL.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Oct 10, 2010 -> 11:40 PM) I didn't know there was a figure attached to his arbitration. I just thought arbitration means they offer him the chance to pick the salary he wants, and then the Sox pick what they want to pay him, and then the arbiter picks which deal is more fair, or picks a figure in between. I didn't realize it was like an option where we already know his cost. Through Arbitration a player can make no less than 20% of what he made the previous year. So that 18M figure is like the minimum you could pay him through Arbitration if he accepted the offer since he made something like 22M last year.

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Oct 10, 2010 -> 08:39 PM) For the time being there are only 2 ways to win the AL pennant: The first way is to spend like the Yankees and Red Sox, on both the Major league and Minor League levels. The second way is to go into the s***ter for a 5 year period, and emerge with the amount of talent that the Rays have built over the last 5-7 years. Another note: When you spend or draft, at the end of the process, you must possess 2 pitchers with #1 stuff, one of which pitches like a #1, and the other of which pitches like a #2 or #3. The period between 2004-2008 was special because the Yankees made some really bad contract choices. When the marquee free agents returned to the market it was back to this way. As long as the Yankees have a $200 MM payroll and spend it wisely, these are the only ways to compete with them. It does not matter what you do, The Yankees will always win unless you have somewhere close to the amount of talent that they do. This is why, IMO there should be a cap of a $150 MM payroll in baseball. Unfortunately, there is a more level playing field in the NL. This is so true its ridiculous

The question is do the white sox offer arbitration to AJ and PK with the hopes of either getting them to comback on 1 year deals or rejecting them and allowing us to acquire the draft picks. The sox have a real opportunity to get younger and stockpile some picks here. Remember AJ, PK, Putz, Vizquel, Jones, Kotsay are all free agents. If they all leave we clear salary for sure, but may also get the opportunity to acquire compensatory picks and bring so much needed youth and turnover to the 25 man roster. The only reason I say this is because if you bring back everyone mentioned and do field the same team with $120M payroll Im still not sure its a 95 win team that can even get past the Twins....again.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 7, 2010 -> 05:08 PM) Again, I don't care what the Twins do in the playoffs. And I never said I wanted to emulate them. I've said repeatedly that the Phillies are the team I want to emulate because they're outstanding and I feel getting to their level is realistic, unlike the Yankees because they play by a totally different set of rules. I dont disagree with you, I think the Phillies are a fine model. They seem to make moves with winning the world series in mind, not just winning the division or getting to the post season. However, I read a really good article I think in Forbes that highlighted how the Phillies were able to make a sustained playoff runs, become and stay a world series contender, and really cement themselves as baseball elite. The article highlighted the sacrifices and strategic planning that was set forth in the late 1990's that laid the foundation for the Phillies team you see today and the last 5 or 6 seasons. Basically the article said the Phillies success in 2008, 2009, 2010 all started when the team made a conscious decision back in the mid to late 1990s to be bad. They traded away their best player in Schilling, committed to reduce payroll, and planned to stock pile high draft picks for next several years. The idea was that they didnt feel they could compete in the current landscape, both economically speaking and player personnel wise. They felt trapped by poor attendance and a dilapidated stadium. So knowing that their new stadium was a few years away, they decided to bite the bullet, put up with fans and media getting on their backs about fielding a poor team and plan for the future. Low and behold they get their new stadium (I think 2003), revenue increases considerably, and they have draft picks such as Utley, Howard, Hamels, Rollins, Werth, Victorino etc on the rise. Their young picks turn out to be stars and they decide to both lock up their own guys with mutually beneficial long term contracts, but also begin to spend $$ effectively to surround their talented core with solid veteran and role players (Lee, Halladay, Ibanez, Polanco, Lidge, etc) . They make splashes for real impact players, the type than can win the World Series for you not just help you get past the Braves. Several 90+ Win seasons, division championships, 1 WS title, 2 NL Pennants later the Phillies plan has come to fruition and the city, team and fans are reaping the reward of effective planning and PLENTY OF PATIENCE!!

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 8, 2010 -> 04:44 PM) I'd like to know where the White Sox stand in comparison to the rest of the league in terms of payroll (the amount they're paying, not including money that's being covered by other teams). I have a feeling they're closer to the middle of the pack than the top. I'm not saying they're cheap exactly, but I don't think they spend an especially high amount. $100 million sounds like a ton, but I'm starting to think that quite a few other teams are in that range. Im pretty sure the sox are at something like $74 before arbitration eligible players such as Jenks, Danks, CQ, Pena and before Free Agents, Putz, Vizquel, Konerko, and AJ. Bringing back all your arbitration guys your still at something like $92M before you have addressed vacancy at Catcher, 1B, Bullpen, and DH. Yikes, looks like something has gotta give here cuz we are not a $125M payroll team.

Haha this is great. And the sox made a play for Halladay, made a bid for Arod, etc etc. Just another name anyone would want but the sox will never make a real splash for.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 10:46 PM) You entire argument is a contradiction. You say that the closer is meaningless, and then say that the closer has to be a quality arm. Maybe it's just me, but by suggesting that the closer has to be a quality arm, then they can't really be meaningless, can they? Capps was also pretty damn good with Minnesota. ERA of 2.00, WHIP of 1.19, solid K/9, solid BB/9...Twins fans certainly aren't complaining. My point is the closer doesnt have to be anything different than a good reliever, it doesnt have to be a $8-$12M guy. It still cant be someone with crappy stuff and bad control (Andrew Sisco), but Im saying it doesnt have to be Bobby Jenks cuz hes a closer or Joe Nathan cuz hes a closer. Jon Rauch is good enough for 30 saves in 32 opportunities for the Twins, why shouldn't Thornton or Sale be good enough for us.

What about just letting Viciedo or some other low level play 1st base in 2011 and then sign Puljos when hes a free agent for 2012.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 10:42 PM) Nobody wants Flowers. His stock fell hard this year. Also, most of the guys on your list are under control at a very cheap price for a few years still by their teams. If Kenny called the Dodgers and offered a package Floyd, Quentin Jackson, and Flowers he would get hung up on. I dont even want Flowers on my softball team...his swing is soooooo loopy long. He reminds me of Josh "cant cover the fastball" Fields.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 20, 2010 -> 12:58 AM) I don't want to see them lose, but I wouldn't mind a Top 15 pick at all. Screw the 89 wins or whatever, I want them to lose. In a lost season that means nothing anymore I want the best draft pick we can get.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 01:28 PM) I have been saying for a while I wouldn't be surprised if John Danks has thrown his last pitch on the southside. I wouldn't be surprised if Kenny went to John and Edwin to see about extensions, and then dealt the one of them that he felt least secure about keeping. Danks especially could bring a kings ransom to help rebuild this team on the fly, and if Peavy is on schedule, he would be easily replaced in the rotation, with Chris Sale still to spare. With Jenks probably gone, and probably non-tendered. Knowing that a shut down bullpen is crucial, and KW knows this, and knowing that Putz maybe gone as well, I can see the sox moving Thornton to closer and using Sale as the go to 7th or 8th inning guy, or even vica versa. Long term yeah maybe Sale to the rotation if Danks/Jackson/Buehrle are leaving after 2011.