joeynach

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) They tried the Rays model. Injected youth, defense, and remade their bullpen. They weren't great at it, but it clearly made them better. I would love to see the sox do the same thing. Bring in more youth and defense, and please get rid of Tony Pena and Randy Williams, please dont let them be the future core of the bullpen, they remind me of the 2007 clown car of no names.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 12:35 AM) Look at Scott Linebrink's splits from the first half and second half of the season over the past 4-5 years. It's incredible how predictable he is. OMG its sick how correct you are. Beware these stats are ridiculously pathetic for a major league veteran. Scott Linebrink 2009 Pre All Star: 1.93 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, .242 BA, 12BB, 32K Scott Linebrink 2009 Post All Star: 7.84 ERA, 2.18 WHIP, .370 BA, 11BB, 21K Scott Linebrink 2008 Pre All Star: 2.37 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, .207 BA, 6 BB, 32K Scott Linebrink 2008 Post All Star: 9.72 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, .343 BA, 3 BB, 8K Scott Linebrink 2007 Pre All Star: 2.52 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, .219 BA, 11BB, 22K Scott Linebrink 2007 Post All Star: 5.23 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, .293 BA, 14 BB, 28K His splits have gotton worse over the years. I cant actually believe he was ever regarded as a solid setup man with that kind of inconsistency. This proves he can never be counted on in the 2nd half of the year, he will never help you make a pennant run, he will most likely destroy it. The only explanation I can really come up with is that he physically hits a break wall after about 40 IP. Not sure if his stuff physically gets worse, loses velocity, develops arm fatigue, etc. Its really mind boggling.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 12:32 AM) no. but it could've helped. When your 2nd best player is a rookie hitting .266/12/54, then you know you're in trouble. That should be the quote of the month and/or emailed to KW immediately.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 12:20 AM) I agree with this. The offense is horrible and its not going to be any better next year without a major overhaul. However 7 of these starters are back with only RF and DH to fill. Please someone tell me how we are going to win the division with such an awful lineup. Somehow the tigers got better from 2008 to 2009 and they really didnt add or overhaul anything in their lineup.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 11:14 PM) When any player's performance drops tremendously I start to suspect roids. With an older slugger I suspect age.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 21, 2009 -> 08:38 PM) Easily the bullpen. This is the second year in a row we've seen it go to s*** in the second half after a stellar first half. We barely got by last year. Not so fortunate this year. The bullpen is rapidly becoming the most important aspect of a contending team. Ask Tampa what's the #1 reason between them getting to the World Series last year and missing the playoffs all together this year. Do you think the 1st half vs. 2nd half splits in the pen are a result of aging arms wearing down. We rely a lot on Linebrink and Dotel, at least in 2008 and Ozzie carried that trend over into 2009. With both those guys have a ton of innings on their amrs is it to our suprise they were both night and day when you compare their performance in the first half to the second. They are showing the signs of age, am I wrong?

While their are numerous factors for our teams relative collapse in the 2nd half (below .500) my question is does this tell the tale. .171/.269/.264 5 Hr, 19 RBI, 42K, 27 BB, 3 2B Yes ladies and gentleman that is your #3 hitter and middle of the order run producer Jermaine Dye's post ASG numbers. Do you think this dismal production is the greatest contributor to our 2nd half? If not then what; Buehrle post Perfect Game, Bullpen woes??

the sox should only trade jenks if they are serious about remaking the bullpen and adding some serious good arms. If not whats the point of making it weaker by trading jenks and call up AAA to make a pen.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 18, 2009 -> 06:15 AM) do you remember how the Sox got their early lead in games 3 and 4? nothing wrong with how game 5 worked out...just an honest to God curious question (becaaaaaaaause I rememberrrrrrrrrrrr) Konerko hit 3 run bombs in the first inning of both games...ill never forget

As we speak Im watching game 5 of the 2005 ALCS on MLB network. Im only a few innings in and have already noticed some really interesting things about how good we used to be. First of all our lineup is really good defensively, just looking at it, not even needing to see them play. Rowand, Crede, Uribe, Iguchi are all plus defensively; Konerko and Dye are average to above average. Second contreras is pitching and made a sweet defensive play in the first inning on a pop up bunt, he looks smaller and more athletic. Also Contreras is rarely I mean rarely dropping down, he throwing nice fastballs, 4 seam over the top, no running or hanging fastballs from the side, and hes throwing a ton of splitters...in the zone for strikes...WOW. They also said the sox threw 81 of 127 times first pitch strikes to Angel hitters. Thats amazing, we could probably hardly get half that now. Also, in the top of the second we got a lead off double from Rowand, AJ bunted him over to 3rd, and crede drove him in with a Sac Fly. I would kill for that now. Damn we used to be so good, no wonder we won in 2005 we played awesome defense, executed well, pitched well, and didn't make silly mistakes.

“If we do that we won’t go into slumps like we did this year. We’re not going to be in a slump because someone will do something to break it up. We won’t have to wait for the big boys to wake up all season long. You learn from it, and hopefully we continue to improve.’’ -Ozzie Gullien Thats says it all right there. Its something most of us have been griping about, too much reliance an the old life and pull sluggers which sometimes dont slug for extended periods. Thats what leads to the anemic offense.

QUOTE (Tmar @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 09:07 PM) Either Felix Diaz or Dan Wright Nah im all for Arnie Munoz

Long overdue...this could be the end of his career unless the nationals come calling

QUOTE (soxfan3530 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 02:39 PM) no thank you. like the previous poster im fine with the garcia torres hudson options. spend your money elsewhere. like figgons! Well that being the case Id rather spend $$ on quality bullpen arms, if they are available that is. But I was originally thinking Bedard could be had for something like $1.5-$2.5M base with some IP incentives.

We all know the white sox 4 man rotation will consist of Peavy, Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd. The question is how do we anchor that down with the 5th starter. Im sure none of us want some experiment or a clown car of guys coming up and trying to fill that spot. So why not take a shot with Eric Bedard. He is a free agent and coming off an injury riddled year, but has also shown to have much success when healthy. He is probably going to miss the first month of 2010. This would allow him to be signed for the cheap with a 1 year incentive laden deal. I think he would be a good risk to try out. He is a much better option than sweaty "88 mph fastball" Garcia, though the two could forge insurance against each other for the 5th starter spot as well. Any thoughts.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) if i have the time i'll think hard abotu going to see the sox play in Pit though....that stadium is awesome Yeah it is, I live out here in Pitt. The stadium is great, its just always empty. And the the scene pre and post is pretty great too, lots of bars and places to go and be outdoors.

Seattle is where home runs and deep fly balls go to die. I cant wait to see all the deep flyouts.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 14, 2009 -> 04:41 PM) It doesn't really matter what you do, playing in the NL is way easier than the AL. The NL is an absolute joke. Oh yeah definatly, I gurantee Pedro would be totally awful in the AL. Just look what happened to Smoltz and Penny when they went from the NL to the AL and then back to the NL. The NL is a complete Joke, Brad Penny and John Smoltz take their 7.0 ERA's from the AL to the NL and become cy young caliber. I laugh at people who say they are good again.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 06:23 PM) I'm to the point where I find joy in his failures. And to anyone who complains about this feeling, your whining will only intensify my happiness. So, any potential "how can you wish ill will towards a former WS MVP" posts are just a waste of time. I've already complimented him for years. It's time for his ass to go. He will go somewhere else and do the same thing next year, post some really nice 1st half numbers, like hit .300 with 23 HR's, then completely fall off the universe in the second half. Its a basic guarantee, and some ppl on this site will b**** and moan during his good first half about why did we get rid of him and blah blah u know the story. And at the end of the year he will slump to pretty bad numbers.

Well the differnce is when KW acquired all those Journeymen they were exactly that...agining and declining players and there was no question about that. With RIOS the sox got him and yeah he was having a bit of down year hitting .265 with 15 Hr's, the crazy thing is that Rios has gotton worse since coming to the sox. You usually dont expect to get a young player in the middle of his career going over to a better a team in a pennant race and for that player to actually play much much worse. Its kind of perplexing.

QUOTE (CQMVP @ Sep 10, 2009 -> 12:21 AM) Still getting paid though... so. Once you get paid it doesnt end. I had this conversation with Robbie Gould hes a friend of mine. When your getting paid you're a star by contract. Stars want to succeed, they want to be cheered for, they want chics coming up to them, they want to see people wearing their jereseys, they wanted to be praised by media, fans, teammates, etc. It all feeds the ego. There is no player that says hmm I got my contract now I want to be embarassed, berrated, and chastised constantly. Athletes are athletes because they want to perform well and win. They dont want to be the guy that walks down Mich Ave having people boo and call you a bum, having good looking women tell you that u suck, and restaurants and clubs consider u a nobody You want to walk down Mich Ave and be welcomed, be wanted at the Top Restuarants, Bars, Shows, stores, wanted hot women coming up to becuase your studly at what you do. Rios doesnt want to be a scrub player, no one does.

Hes old and getting older. When sluggers age they have a tendency to slow down a bit as the innings and games played piles up in the 2nd half. Its not shocking, this is what normal aging sluggers do without steroids and HGH, get used to it.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Sep 8, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) I'd imagine Jhonny Nunez is definitely going to be on our roster most likely come 2010. But then again, guys like Adam Russell haven't done the job in the past either. It all depends how KW uses the money. We went through 2007 with essentially unproben no name cheap arms in the bullpen. It was disaster, the scrubs couldnt throw strikes and couldn't be relied on for anything. Therefore in 2008 KW goes out and gets go to guys in the pen, Dotel and Linebrink, that yes cost some $$. Do you really think KW is now in 2010 going to go back to let the bullpen be "cheap no names", I dont think so. I think 2007 was so embarassing, as it should be, there is no way Kenny builds any bullpen without proven "go to" guys.

QUOTE (son of a rude @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 09:33 PM) offer arb and let his ass go I agree. I think Dotel is showing you the equivalent of Jermaine Dye 2nd half weardown after age and innings pile up. Though we do need to add couple "go to" guys in the pen, i dont think Dotel fits into those plans in 2010 and beyond.

Large pepperoni Pizza with a side of wings.