Marty34

Santos is not a closer. The most value he has is to deal him to a team who thinks he is.

I'd like to know what the bullpen's ERA is in appearances where they have the lead.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 03:45 PM) Avila deserves some MVP votes Agree.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 03:15 PM) Am I wrong that cutting a guy = paying off his entire contract at that moment? I think you are.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 03:05 PM) Aw, I think you're at the anger stage of the grieving process. It's OK, you'll accept that you're going to lose your beloved dog, I mean, manager soon enough. Wrong again. Usually though you're not this clever.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 03:02 PM) If nothing else...cutting him immediately means coming up with $42 million immediately, as opposed to paying it out over 3 years. THat's a very steep cost for a roster spot. Source?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:58 PM) You judge a lot by Spring Training, give him as much time as humanly possible and push him hard. You start him off in April next year for a couple weeks to see what he's got. You might give him a longer leash if he has a really good spring training. If he continues to struggle starting next season, you transition him to the bench and you use him to give Konerko days off/days at DH against RHP, while hiding him from LHP as much as possible. You hope then he either snaps out of it or retires. Once he's signed, the money is a sunk cost. If he is not good enough to play in July of 2011, he should not be on the roster in 2012.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:57 PM) You work his ass off during the winter, and then bring him to spring training and evaluate him. If he continues to suck, you bench him as much as possible. Bench him? Why use a roster spot on him?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) Because he's not putting up those numbers now? Hank Aaron averaged a .305 average and a .928 OPS. How could you fault Ozzie for playing him 150 games this year? If Williams signed him for $56M, you couldn't.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) Once they are signed, and hitting 100 points below their career average, plus no power, how could it not be Guillens fault if he keeps running them out there after 4-5-6 months of the same thing? So what do you do with Dunn the next 3 years?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:30 PM) Williams signed a guy who had put up at least 38 homers and 92 RBI every year since 2003. This is a guy who put up .260/38/103/.356/.536/.892 last year. Problem #1 is Adam Dunn, problem #2 is Ozzie Guillen. I cannot fault Kenny Williams for putting up the money that the market was dictating other teams were willing to spend for a guy who had been incredibly consistent for pretty much a decade. If you really want to hold that over Williams, you have to be willing to call him a f***ing idiot for resigning Paul Konerko to two big contracts because Dunn was actually way more consistent in his production when those deals were signed. How can you fault Guillen for playing a guy with those averages then? The problem isn't just Guillen, it's Williams too, more so. I will be very disappointed if Williams is retained after this year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:27 PM) No, their terrible performance, lack of hustle, and better available options is what makes him wrong for playing them. GM should get rid of players like that, better yet not even acquire them.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) this could be absolutely true and still doesn't absolve Guillen one bit. But it doesn't mean he was wrong for playing those guys either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:20 PM) And perhaps a couple extra years of development. So Williams is the problem here or no?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 02:08 PM) Here's the thing...the 2 guys who really carried the weight...Lincecum and Cain...both top 10 picks in the draft. The White Sox have had 1 of those, well, pretty much in the time since I became a fan they've had 1 of those. So yeah...the fact that the Giants stank for a couple years really helped. KW hasn't done that yet. So the difference is 1 top 10 pick?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 01:54 PM) Rios plays every day. Didn't the Giants just win the World Series with Zito and Rowand taking in about $29 million and giving them virtually nothing? You're right. And that's an indictment of Kenny Williams then, correct?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 01:46 PM) Whoever the manager is next year i will guarantee that Rios and Dunn are starters in April. If they continue to have dismal seasons after a couple months, I'd expect the manager to get creative in using those guys less....something Ozzie failed to do until it was way too late this year. And it still won't make a difference.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Sep 14, 2011 -> 12:13 AM) But he doesn't have to f***ing play them. That was the entire point of the previous 3 posts. I don't get why that's confusing. When your highest paid players don't perform you are not winning anything. And by the way, they haven't been playing for regularly for a while now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 05:22 PM) I didn't realize that the Indians and Twins borrowed our roster for the last 1.5 weeks. What rule are they allowed to do that with? Fair enough. You are among those that believe the Sox win this division if they play De Aza and Viciedo sooner. And here I thought I was doing you a favor.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 05:06 PM) Detroit has put up a >.900 OPS as a team for the last 2 weeks. The Sox have lost ground because Detroit has been on fire. Same thing really.

Nothing Earth Shattering here: Per Jason Stark, Sox officials say they need to cut payroll. Also, Buehrle only wants to pitch for the Cardinals or Sox next year. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/09/star...walt-rays-.html

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 11:00 PM) I honestly believe we could have won the division or came within a game or 2 if our lineup was made by a 6 year old who only had BA/HR/RBI to look at after July 15th. Since De Aza and Viciedo started receiving regular playing time the team has lost ground in the standings. Your belief has no merit.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 02:48 PM) Like I said, even if you are of that thought process, we have much more pitching than we do position players. And we are .500. The point is to get as much of the pitching staff together as you can while waiting out the albatross contracts to come off the books. Once they come off the books you can fill in the position players. Hopefully, by that time Viciedo, Beckham, and Morel have firmly established themselves as regulars. Look, the Sox are in the worst position you can be as a team. Mediocre and really expensive. There are no clear-cut ideas that will get us out of this mess. I think this is the best way to go though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 02:42 PM) If you are focused on 3-4 years down the road, you are still going to be more worried about the offense. No.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 02:42 PM) Then in 3-4 years when all those pitching prospects come around, we'll have to trade them to replenish out somehow even more horrific offense. No.