fathom

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 08:24 PM) First thing Jim said to me was "f*** Timo" and I liked him immediately. See, him and I have something in common!

QUOTE (Ranger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 08:10 PM) Yeah, I think Beckham will hit 2nd. Pierre/Beckham/Quentin/Konerko?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 08:54 PM) Eh, I actually met Jim and Quick in person and liked them quite a bit. The internet is the internet. I've actually had great conversations with him via PM. Honestly, I don't even remember the "invite" to meet him and quickman out for a drink. I'll say this about Jim...he makes everyone a better poster when talking about baseball.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 06:45 PM) Cubs sign Xavier Nady over Dye pending physical... may fail because of elbow. (Tommy John last year) Nady's a very good player, but I'm happy Cubs didn't sign Dye just so I don't have to root against Jermaine.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 05:44 PM) Not when Dye is letting fly balls drop in the outfield at Wrigley. They will have by far some of the worst corner OF'ers in the game when JD and Soriano are out there. Reed Johnson is such a better fit for the Cubs.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 06:37 PM) For sure... it'd be tough to see Dye on Cubs and Thome on the Twins. and Kotsay on the Sox

I wonder how the mood of this thread will change if Dye signs with the Cubs today like it's being rumored.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) Cubs may sign Dye today. Wow, not a good 24 hours of PR for the White Sox if that's true.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 01:10 PM) Too bad really, because he's a knowledgeable poster. He really does have a great baseball mind and has a lot of valuable information. I'll be the first to agree with him that I should have never made the Gavin Floyd guarantee that I did.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 05:41 AM) Its the DH spot. Given the injuries to White Sox players over the last few years, im not exactly sweating the idea of giving guys like Beckham, CQ, etc a day as DH and not take so much punishment. I more meant that Ozzie is betting big on not taking Thome just because it would cost the Sox so little to do it, and seemingly every one would be fine with it. He must really not want to have the pressure of playing Thome. As Steve Stone said, the Sox don't think Thome has the type of swing/approach that would flourish playing only twice a week. After seeing some of his PH ABs with the Sox and Dodgers, I don't blame them.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 06:05 AM) Q sure as hell better be the opening day DH, and Jones better have his ass in right or center field. I'm incredibly frustrated at how thick-headed this team is acting. Q will be in RF, and rightfully so.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 04:44 AM) Can we say the Twins will hit a lot of homers for sure without seeing how their park plays yet? And I don't have a problem with the Sox playing small ball. I do have a problem with them telling a guy who OPS'd .850 against right handed pitching last year that they can't get him enough at bats because they have to rotate 3 guys who can't hit (except Kotsay against righties, and his numbers in that category were not as good as Thome's last year) in the DH spot though. I don't have a problem with small ball either, as long as we don't overuse the bunt. It's why Nick Johnson and his great OBP would have been a great addition as a DH, but it seems like he wanted to go to the Yankees.

Pretty sure jphat meant he hasn't felt this way about our lineup during this decade. It's going to be interesting when the Twins are the team hitting 200 homers, and the Sox are playing small ball.

After looking at some stats from last year, I had no idea how many of our core hitters thrived against LHP. - Alexei hit .370 with an OPS of .960 vs LHP - Konerko had an OPS over 1 - Beckham's OPS was .890 - Rios traditionally is strong against LHP, and was performing well against them prior to the trade - Nix's OPS was .822, while homering 8 times in 121 ABs vs LHP This makes Kotsay's performance in 2010 even more important, as there's a plethora of RHP in the AL Central. So what's the proposed lineup if you platoon Jones/Kotsay? 1- Pierre 2- Beckham 3- Quentin 4- Konerko 5- Rios 6- Teahen 7- Ramirez 8- AJP 9- Kotsay (Jones would probably bat higher vs LHP, while Castro would bat 9th)

Of all the stuff JimH said there, I actually agree that getting guys like Konerko, Quentin, and Ramirez fewer ABs over the course of the season could really help them. Maybe we'll see more consistency during the second half of the season, something we haven't had in a decade it seemsIt's funny that it might look to some that I really wanted Thome back, which couldn't be more false. I'm more disappointed that it seems it will be harder for KW/Ozzie to bring in someone like Blalock, Branyan, or Gomes now.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 03:45 AM) Guillen said the Sox haven't ruled out bringing back Thome if they have a need for a left-hander power hitter later this season if he's available. That's after saying he'd start 1-2 times a week. Mark Kotsay is officially the new Timo Perez.

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 03:39 AM) True - I mean, I'm not saying it will be perfect and dandy, but it gives us alot of options. We haven't even started spring training yet, we got alot of adequette ball players on the team, if things fail, we have enough prospects to make almost any trade we want! We have the options, let's see how it works with a more... abstract approach. Options for what? Mark Kotsay is very injury prone, so what's going to happen when he pulls a muscle? I'm sure we'll see Lillibridge back up and leading off. And we don't have many prospects at all. Compared to the big market teams that have the resources (Boston and Yankees especially), our farm system is pathetic compared to theirs.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 02:17 AM) Kenny needs to muzzle his ass. I can't believe no one else commented on Ozzie saying he wouldn't put Omar into a blowout game because that's not fair to a future HOF.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 03:05 AM) I didn't realize you were holding back before. I've been saying all along I thought it was 50/50 that we'd bring in another hitter. I would still love to bring in Blalock, but it seems like it was Thome or nothing. BTW, your post above this one is perfect!

Am I now allowed to say that this offseason has sucked, as I'm not impressed at all with the job KW and Ozzie have done? And I'm usually pretty optimistic in the offseason, but it's ridiculous how bad our lineup is on paper.

Having a better DH also slightly decreases the damage done if someone like Quentin, Rios, or Beckham struggles this season.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 11:54 PM) Yes, but Longoria, Pena, Upton and Crawford are better than nearly anything that the Sox are throwing out there this season. Don't forget what Zobrist did in the first half last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 10:34 PM) That makes a ton more sense. You said it well yesterday....no one is really going to choose the White Sox over the Yankees if the money is even close.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 10:25 PM) Even with KW in the GM's slot? Just league wide, midseason trades do not work out that well. There was a huge report on this at the deadline last year showing how little impact midseason trades have had in the postseason. Beltran is one of the only ones to really make a difference.

How about the fact that it's important to get off to a good start based on our previous history of fading down the stretch while the Twins always play strong? We got into a hole last season with the Wise debacle, and even when we made a run, it was too hard to overcome the slow start. I keep hearing people say "we'll just acquire someone during the season if it's not working out". That rarely ever happens in a positive way.