joeynach

I think the backup IF that would play DH is Hank Blalock.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 13, 2010 -> 12:50 AM) Every year Pierre hit under .300 he has posted OBPs of .332 or below. Pierre's good OBP years plus batting average: 2000: .353, .310 2001: .378, .327 2003: .361, .305 2004: .374, .326 2009: .365, .308 Pierre hitting below .300 isn't going to get him in that OBP range. And yes, Pierre hits a lot of ground balls, but since there's nothing on them most of the time it doesn't matter. If we had a rock-hard IF or something I'd be more optimistic, but we don't. Those flyballs he hits are weak as s***, they aren't traveling anywhere. They actually hurt him because it's pretty hard to hit a little blooper that finds a gap and turns into a double or a triple at the Cell. This guy has no power at all. If you were playing a video game where you could look at the attributes of a hitter, Juan Pierre's power, on a scale of 1-100 would be about a 1. Mark Buehrle has more power than Juan Pierre. All the winds here are going to do is, on occasion, hold up his weakass little bloops long enough for an OF to run underneath them. This guy makes Ray Durham look like Babe Ruth. If ur correct, which I suspect you might be watch Pierre be one of those guys with much better road numbers than home numbers. If thats the case I would hope KW would unload him in the offseason to someone with a large outfield; braves, rockies, tigers, etc.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 09:25 PM) If they're going to spend some extra money to get better, I'd like to see Johnny Damon join the team. I think he'd be a wise investment if they can talk him into a one year deal. Pierre and Damon batting 1-2 in either order, then Beckham and Quentin batting 3-4...that would be nice. Not that I dont like Damon, I do. But if we are trying to add a DH typically we go after more power. Dont get me wrong Damon has some power, his 24 Hrs and 82 Rbi last year were quite impressive but no really near his career norms. Hes always been more of a 15-20 Hr and 60-70RBI guy that being said do we need another alexi ramirez in our lineup holding down the DH position?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 08:06 PM) Show me one time where he has said that, and I'll stop advocating for the Sox to bring in Thome. Well here is a quote from JR himself on Thome. "I would love to have Jim Thome back on this club, but I don't make the roster. Kenny and Ozzie do. Ozzie has made it very clear that he likes the team the way it is. He doesn't want to have a full-time DH. If you're going to hold a man accountable for him to do his job, you got to get him the team that he wants." Here is the article. http://www.csnchicago.com/pages/soxdrawer

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 08:06 PM) Show me one time where he has said that, and I'll stop advocating for the Sox to bring in Thome. I cant bring the article up becuase I dont remember if it came from Merkin or some other local reporter. It was something to the tune of Kenny being asked about the DH position and available players left on the market. His response was something in the area of "I dont want to upset of go against my manager who doesn't think we need to bring in position specific DH". So it sounded like Kenny was open to bringing someone in for that role but Ozzie was set on using a rotational matchup base; something that infers move a platoon of 5 bench guys as the DH (Kotsay, Jones, Nix, etc).

QUOTE (since56 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 07:46 PM) Ozzie wants to manage. he doesn't want some one who is a DH only. He wants to mix and match in the field and in the batting order. Exactly, so consider our bench a 5 man bench. 4 bench players and 1 that starts as DH on a rotational basis

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 06:40 PM) I agree that Vizquel is the better IF defender and have said as much. My point is that there's not an enormous difference in ability between the two especially when you factor in Lillibridge's ability to play CF and pinch run. The difference between the two is definitely not worth $975K when you can't afford to give Matsui $6.5M or Johnson $5.75M. Kenny has made a series of these moves this offseason, overpaying for veteran bench players who aren't a whole lot better than what we could have gotten at the minimum, and by doing that he has priced himself out of the bidding for players he actually needed. A Kroeger/various AAAA players battle for 4th OF/1B could have saved another $1.1M that went to Kotsay; Armstrong/various AAAA player battle for backup C could have saved another $600K that went to Castro, etc. Add this stuff up, then bring in a guy like Winn instead of Pierre or trade for someone like Gardner, and now we've got enough to pay Matsui. Kenny blew it this year. I think there is no guarantee these AAAA players u speak of do anything at all. Remember 2007, Andy Gonzalez, Luis Terroro, this comes to mind...disastrous. No one wants to go back to hoping and praying these guys dont hit .210. Therefore Kotsay's and Vizquels track record for just 600K more speak forthemselves. We already know what we are gonna get and it wound be a 2007 cast of clowns.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 03:49 PM) I think we can win with Jones as our DH. I just don''t think we should have to chance it. There's no reason to have to gamble on lightning in a bottle for a position that we absolutely need results from. A gamble makes sense if we're talking CF, but we need power, and we need results. It will be a Jones and Kotsay DH platoon, its fairly obvious, Ozzie has been saying it all along.

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jan 10, 2010 -> 07:05 PM) I wish the Alderman from Chicago who represents that area would allow a beer garden so people could drink outside in a controlled environment during games, that is what destroys the atmosphere, not sure what that Daley hack is afraid of though. Probably has something to do with noise. Its much more of a residential neighborhood and most sox games are at night during the week. Its the same concern residents of wrigleyville have/had, but the armour park area is full of more working class families than young 20 something bartenders.

This would be really cool if it went down. It would be great for sox fans to have local place to hang and drink just blocks from the stadium and Cork and Kerry already has a pretty well known name and reputation with sox fans.

UPDATE???

QUOTE (tonyho7476 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 12:55 PM) Well, I called up and demanded a new rep...and I expect to get something done. I'm not as concerned about upgrade, as I am in moving to the Sox side of the field. I would hope that the $20,000 + I spent there for my wedding, might get something done. Otherwise, this might be my last year buying season tix. I would definatly hammer that point to oblivion if I were you, and perhaps CC the Sales Manager along with your rep when making that argument. No offense but believe me some ticket reps are simply inexperienced fresh out of school with a B.A. and have no clue what they are doing and how to actually develop business, something that most people is dependent on strong relationships.

QUOTE (tonyho7476 @ Jan 6, 2010 -> 11:46 AM) My experience has been that my ticket rep has done nothing for me, ever, in this area...and I have asked for 3 years in a row. I dont really have a ticket rep, but one of my best friends works as such for the sox. It all depends on who you get, and believe there is no need to feel any loyalty. My friend is very good at what he does and has never let me or my family down with sox concerns. Have you thought about switching reps, do u want my friends name and info?

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 12:32 PM) Ely went to my high school (Homewood-Flossmoor). Good guy. I have no talent for baseball but one of my best friends hit a ground rule double off him in a summer league in high school. For that reason alone, I hope he makes it in the bigs! Just disappointed it won't be with us. /hijack Me too, I went to HF, though Ely graduated a few years after me, prolly closer to my little sisters age. Sad to see the local guy go, but hey its part of the business.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 24, 2009 -> 07:38 AM) I dont know about you guys, but I was really nervous going into the first game vs Boston, but once they brought out the whoopin stick, I kind of had this feeling of euphoria throughout the rest of the playoffs and world series. It was like it made sense to me that they were supposed to, and were going to win. I cant explain it, but when things happened(like Buehrle saving game 3, Konerkos Grand Slam, Credes GW double, Pods Walkoff) it felt like it was supposed to happen and I wasnt so much surprised as I was elated. Such an awesome season Me too, I remember the same feeling. I went to game 1 against Bos with my dad and I will never forget it. Partly because it was Yom Kippur and we totally skipped going to temple for the game, and of course when we were talking about it in our seats everyone around us was like..yeah us too we skipped temple for the game....lol!! Of course we were nervous, we didn't really know how the sox would respond in the playoffs, it was the first playoff appearances for much of the team. But man when they started pounding Matt Clement all over the field and scored like 8 runs in the first few innings you just knew they would be fine. I think even Pods hit a homer that game too. It was like a Wow, we defiantly deserve to be here, we can defiantly win in the playoffs, great feeling.

There is no mention in this article, but If I recall correctly didn't the sox set some sort of crazy record that year for consecutive games played with a lead.

Im not that worried, chemistry comes from winning and/or being a hardcore gamer. The sox roster needed this turnover, we were full of old, slow, lift and pull hitters who constantly clogged the bases and stranded runners. Our pitching staff deserves better, they deserve a team that is much more dynamic so that even when he face a tough pitcher we have a good chance to win. This is just part of the game, sometimes some offseasons require a larger degree of new faces than others, but make no mistake, this is a move in the right direction.

How about he made a waiver claim to block the twins or tigers, who we were fighting with at the time, from obtaining him.

Nick Johnson is signing a 1 year deal for 5.5M with the yankees pending a physical. How do we let him and Matsui, prime Lefty DH candidates go to other teams for so little. Neither the yanks no angels are overpaying for either of the two. Why cant the sox get those guys for a similar price, they are exactly what we need. Makes no sense. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/yank...ck-johnson.html

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) My guess is Vlad/Thome/Agon/Dunn... Thome or nothing sounds most likely for $$$ reasons. Im gonna guess and say Hank Blalock or Nick Johnson.

QUOTE (Mattchoo @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 10:47 PM) I do not remember where I read this, but I could have sworn I read something that the Padres are looking for ready now players. Didn't they get four pitching prospects from us for Peavy? I could see them looking for position players. Well whatever the case we sold the padres 1 good prospect (poreda) and 1 flavor of the month (Richard) and got Jake Peavy. Neither of which are projected to be front line starters.

QUOTE (soxfan3530 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 07:21 PM) well... that sucks. im not panicking but we really need another impact bat. I dunno I felt like Matsui was the best option for DH as well. I dont really want Vlad "I can hardley move" Guerrero. I guess its Nick Johnson, Troy Glaus, Jack Cust, Garett Atkins, Hank Blalock, Aubrey Huff, etc.

MLBTraderumors.com is reporting that Matsui has officially agreed to a 1 year $6.5M deal with Angels. So basically we can all just forget about him.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 04:34 PM) Each day spent on the 25 man roster equals 1 day of service. If the player is optioned to the minors for less then 20 days then all those days count as well (ex; if he's sent down for 13 days then recalled then those 13 minor league days count towards his service time.) The day a player is sent down counts towards service but the day he's called up does not. Any time spent on the major league DL counts towards service. This is actually a problem the Marlins have been having because they're cheap f***s. They learn of a player's injury and immediately send him down, he'll then been placed on the minor league DL and it doesn't count towards service, saving them - in some cases - a year of service. This is illegal and a few players have filed grievances because of it. Suspensions count towards service. Any minor league rehab time counts towards service. Once you reach 172 days of service in a given year you're then credited with 1.000 for the season. So one day you're at 3.171 the next you're at 4.000. A player can earn no more than 1.000 years of service in a given season, once you reach 172 days for the year you're done. Awesome, thank you.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 02:32 AM) Sorry, I was just joking, in light of all the Tiger Woods controversy the last two weeks....thought they might be open to investing in White Sox baseball. Speaking of sponsors (and yes, this is off track but I don't want to start a new thread)...have we heard anything about the marketing department this off-season? "We picked the absolute worst time to have an exclusive bank deal and a significant deal with Buick Pontiac GMC. The Chicago budget for Buick Pontiac GMC dropped over $16 million, in Chicago alone. So we lost that deal in one way. Luckily, we’re in a multiyear deal with Chevy, so we’re seeing some of their other money. Our exclusive bank deal, five years ago when we did the deal, it was brilliant. All the stars were aligned. LaSalle Bank was in Chicago, it was deeply rooted in Chicago. It was a perfect match for our brand. But little did we know that five years later, we’d be in the situation that we’re in now [bank of America acquired LaSalle in 2007]. So we’ve lost Bank of America as a partner, and trying to find a new exclusive bank in this economy is not easy. We get it. Those two hits alone, and then to have Motorola in our backyard face the challenges they’re facing, have definitely hurt us." Brooks Boyer in April, 2009 Awesome quote, thanks. Hope Brooks can find some new partners this year. Maybe PNC, since they just acquired National City to get the PNC brand into new cities, just like Chicago.