fathom

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 9, 2012 -> 02:14 AM) Did you not watch the inning BEFORE?! Something to be said about taking your struggling (on the year) starting pitcher out on a high note. I'm not too mad though about leaving Danks in there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 9, 2012 -> 02:12 AM) No reason to face Hannahan with Danks. You have to use Reed and end this losing streak. Having a LHP face Hannahan was the right move.

Maybe it's me, but I can't see how Sale going for a 2 inning save is going to be no big deal on that elbow.

So why is Viciedo still in the game defensively?

QUOTE (Jake @ May 9, 2012 -> 02:10 AM) Is it bad when Morel's fly ball made me feel slightly more optimistic about him? That made me more pessimistic, as he hit it well and it was a routine 275 foot out.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 9, 2012 -> 02:09 AM) What does Addison Reed need to do to get in a damn game?!! Throw lefty

It's insane the amount of line outs the Braves have hit in against the Cubs so far in their series.

3 homers for Hamilton and he'll bat again tonight most likely, BTW

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 9, 2012 -> 01:59 AM) If Morel stays at the MLB level, you are dedicating yourself to win-never mode. Then you hope he stays up with the big league club all year and plays so poorly they're forced to go in a different direction next year. He needs to stay with the big league team for now though.

Awesome, about time we got a "bounce" to go our way. I was thinking today that Flowers' line drive foul last night was one of the hardest hit balls I've ever seen.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2012 -> 10:32 PM) If this is a bounceback season for Rios, it's still pretty darn bad so far. And yes, this was entirely predictable. We lost multiple important pieces from last year because we cut $25 million in salary. We let Mark Buehrle go, we traded Quentin and Santos for minor leagues who are unlikely to contribute anything this year. We went into rebuilding mode. That meant we couldn't just win the division if Dunn, Rios, and Peavy got better, that'd just take us back to where we were last year, we also needed a number of other guys to get better for this team to be better. We needed nothing to go wrong, and Chris Sale has already gone wrong. Maybe my favorite post of the year, great job!

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 8, 2012 -> 10:26 PM) The former manager has won seven in a row and counting. Facing the mighty Giants, Padres and Astros

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 8, 2012 -> 07:36 PM) You are not the fan base - you are one of many types of fans. And is there any evidence that the Sox have a player on the roster that generates more attendance than others? A great example is Buehrle, who was easily the most beloved Sox pitcher ever. I never once heard a statistic that attendance was up when he pitched and that TV ratings increased. There have been examples of this, as I remember hearing how KC's attendance/ratings were up on days Greinke pitched during his great season. The ironic thing is that if Buehrle was to come back and face the Sox in a game, you'd probably see an attendance bump for that night. NSS, don't get me wrong. I hate when our fans complain about too many Red Sox/Yankees fans at our games. Of course attendance matters, and it would be great if we were like the Cubs and able to still average 30k despite being a mediocre team. Unfortunately that's not realistic, but as balta likes to point out, the reason for the drastic cut in payroll this year is cause the front office knew how terrible the attendance was going to be. Now, if JR is willing to have a $150 million payroll for 2013, then all of this rebuilding is out the window and bring on Hamels/Cano.

I've gone to a Sox game one time in my life to see a particular player, and that was Pedro Martinez during his remarkable run on the Red Sox. I already had tickets for the game in which Beckham made his debut, so I probably would have gone to that game especially to see the debut also. Unless Konerko gets to 499 home runs, I wouldn't entertain going to the game just to see him play.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:46 PM) People aren't coming to the park to see PK in late June if the team is 10 games out of first place. 20,266 in attendance in first game at the Cell after Konerko's 400th homer and Humber's first start after perfect game.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:45 PM) Just win, baby. If the Sox could have built on that great 10-6 start, even with this roster there would have been mega excitement in Chicago this summer. False

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) Wait, you'd take the one "young guy" under our control for 5 more years who is actually hitting and tell him that he doesn't get to face lefties because his first 20 at bats against them haven't been good enough, so he doesn't get the chance to work on that any more? So are you saying Lillibridge shouldn't get any playing time at all outside of defensive sub and PR? Sure seems like KW could have gotten a lot more value for him this past offseason then. I've never thought De Aza was going to be anything other than a really strong producer against RHP and probably best used in a platoon. Lillibridge would at least give us something other than a terrible defensive center fielder.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:21 PM) Don't you pretty much ask for Lillibridge to play over Morel every day and pretty regularly say that it's terrible that Morel is getting playing time? I've asked for Lillibridge to play against any and all lefties, and preferrably for De Aza. I think only time I wanted Lillibridge playing 3rd over Morel was after he had some good moments on the west coast and team was actually playing well. Once the Sox sent Sale to the bullpen, the chance at contending this year went out the window (in my opinion) and I was all for Morel playing every day.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:15 PM) Good point. It'll be interesting either way. The best fit for Konerko in a possible trade would be the Dodgers if Loney gets hurt or just completely tanks. Outside of the Dodgers or possibly the Orioles/Blue Jays if they stay in contention, I don't see too many teams going after Konerko unfortunately.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:11 PM) I see you're back on the "We're not rebuilding" side of the fence. Not at all, but it doesn't mean you construct a bench so poorly that when you do give Morel time off, you're benching him with someone who has no business being in the majors (Escobar). I really don't mind Morel playing every game the rest of the way.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:07 PM) I'm really going to keep an eye on the Nationals. That team looks like it's for real. And it helps that the Phillies can't score. If they're in first or right around first by the deadline, I definitely see them being extremely interested in an impact bat like PK. They have Mr. Second Half though at 1B. Way more likely they try to get a big time center fielder. Also, they gave up a lot of their intriguing prospects in the Gio deal. Can we just trade Konerko and Alexei to the Brewers for Carlos Gomez? At least Hawk would be happy.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) There are 3 lefties, who else do you have though? Fukudome? Part of the reason the roster was constructed poorly? I do think that Fukudome could give you good at bats against Masterson and his poor command. Sure seems like there's a ton of righty starters in our division though.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 8, 2012 -> 04:47 PM) I've been mostly quiet until now, because I've favored a wait and see attitude. When they were 10-6, I didn't quite believe they were that good or lucky. Similarly, during this 3-11 stretch, I certainly don't believe they're this bad or unlucky. At this point, I don't think they can compete as-is, at least not particularly effectively, beyond a lucky win of the division and a very early exit in the playoffs. Maybe that was good enough for me in 2000, but I'm certainly not interested in that now. This is an 79-90 win team, just like the last umpteen teams have been, outside of 2007 and 2005. Williams believes that putting yourself in a position to win 80 games and then getting some breaks is good enough. I guess so, if you are getting some off the chart WARs. It struck me last night how fundamentally unsound Williams' "retool" strategy has been, at the core. It has relied on static parts producing at predicted results, paired with high-variance acquisitions to produce at or near the top of their game. It's a brutally flawed strategy, because it undermines some of the fundamentals of player development. In layman's terms, a lot of dudes in baseball just don't particularly pan out, which is why your Gordon Beckhams, your Brent Morels, your Dayan Viciedos are paired with a s***load of other prospects and brought along in tandem. This is why you bottom out at 95-100 wins for a couple of seasons. You trade talent away, hoard draft picks. and 3 years down the line you know who the the 2-3 diamonds are out of the 20 pieces of coal you throw in your pan. They are still cheap, so you can go out and spend money to get the FA you need to pair with your developed talent. You break the bank for two seasons and put together your attack run. You have a 2 year window, then you break it all down again. Why is this so hard for Kenny to realize? 2006-2012 was a series of moves designed to work IF everything fell into place. It's a bulls*** strategy, because it was based on the results of a lucky season. If Williams were a poker player, he'd play A2 suited because THAT was the hand that won him the $2000 tournament, not because it was a sound play to begin with, all things considered. Do I think it was a brilliant season? Yes. Do I commend Williams for his strategy? To a point, yes. We also got no less than 8 career years in 2005, and the playoffs of a lifetime - that still could have brutally swung the other way in the ALCS. Luckily, it didn't. Unluckily, Williams believed his own hype - that he could get career years out of "his guys" like getting water from a well. Ladies and Gents, I give you exhibit A - Scott Linebrink. We need to evaluate Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham and either cast them off as dead weight or give them the tools they need to succeed. We need to understand who Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza are, and give them the tools they need to succeed or continue to succeed at the major league level. We need to stop f***ing with Chris Sale. We need to fix John Danks. We need to trade everyone who resembles a closer and probably Jake Peavy. Most importantly, we need to stop looking at wins and losses this season, because it is the cancer that prevents us from any sustained long term success. It's one thing to act like the Yankees and go "all in" every year, it's another to half-ass your way to being "competitive" with a lackluster bottom half of the lineup. Awesome post, and you also might want to add that 2008 saw career years from a lot of players also (Quentin, Floyd, Danks, Alexei at the very least).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:37 PM) The other thing that makes total rebuilds a lot harder these days is you don't get Jon Garland for Matt Karchner anymore. At least its very rare. It used to be commonplace to trade a decent veteran for a top prospect at the deadline. Not anymore. Which is why the Sox are going to have to include money in deals if they want to get someone valuable in return for Peavy, etc.

I'm pro-rebuilding, but I'm also comfortable with the idea that Konerko should be used as a trade chip. I don't think everyone on this site would be on board with that.