fathom

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 08:36 PM) Well Getz has limited tools (which I've said many times here) and wasn't high on him at all like some people cause of his AAA numbers in a bandbox. But with that said, a guy like Getz is what you need for the future. I believe he'll be one of those guys who walks as much as he strikesout, be a good contact hitter, hit for alittle pop now and then and hover around the .750 ops line. I wouldn't mind at all seeing him man 2B for a long time and Slayer over to SS and perhaps Alexei to CF/or traded. You gotta have that 2B and SS communication on the field. I called him the poor man's Pedroia for a reason. I still believe that if you want an above average team, Getz is your #9 hitter. In the AL, that's not really a bad thing.

VMart has really sucked since he hit that early 3 run homer yesterday.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 08:08 PM) The basic problem that the Cubs have isn't their hitting. That's pretty likely to come around a bit, especially when the great and always-hustling Aramis Ramirez comes back. The real problem they have is their bullpen (which their late rallies tend to obscure, interestingly). Kevin Gregg is not effective. Marmol hasn't had good command for most of the year. That's going to be an issue for them all year, I think. And, finally, the most telling thing that happened all year with that team was when the Giants were in a few months ago. Lincecum pitched. Lou's response? "Rest" most of the regulars. His reasoning was that they were in a long stretch of games, but it just said a lot to me about their makeup. They get fat off 3rd and 4th and 5th starters in Wrigley all year. But they couldn't hit good pitching in the playoffs the past 2 years, and when it's time to face a good one this year, well, Lou basically folded up. Seemed very . . . quitter-like. Ascanio and Guzman have had very good years for them under the radar. You forget they even have Heilman.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 08:06 PM) Being overly skeptical about prospects is what leads to the attitude that they're all just trade chips for mediocre veterans. I think this site is very, very optimistic when it comes to prospects, even though the Sox have a TERRIBLE history of developing their own. I think some of the backlash toward Gartrell is from people who don't get the David Cook love. One thing people need to remember is not every prospect is supposed to be a superstar. Maybe Gartrell can come up and be a 4th outfielder. Same goes for Shelby, who's been destroying LHP this season. Getz is an example of a guy that was way too overhyped, as people were expecting a .400 OBP and 40 steals it seems like. He's a decent little player, but probably will never be near All-star caliber. That's fine though.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:04 PM) I will be very disappointed in Sox management if Jenks is on this team August 1st. I don't expect him to be. That's why if this team continues to show no upward movement away from .500 ball, they have to blow it up. I think by the end of June, if this team is more than 6 games out of 1st, changes need to happen. We have a very difficult schedule next week, as we face some terrific pitchers.

The issue with Jenks is that of all the contenders, very few actually need a closer. The Phillies are w/o Lidge, but I can't see them making a huge deal with Lidge returning soon. The Brewers bullpen is ok with Hoffman back there.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 06:56 PM) What can you say? It's a team full of frontrunners. Once 1 or 2 get it going, a bunch of the others will, especially against lousy pitching. That's their makeup. (It's one of the reasons that they've been a bad playoff hitting team, when they can't feast on bad pitchers.) Hell, you know they're getting it going that way when Fukucrappo gets a hit. A positive I was thinking about yesterday is that even if the Cubs do make the postseason, there's almost no chance they'd have home field advantage throughout if the Dodgers make it past round 1. I'm assuming that the wild card will come out of the NL East (Mets and Phillies both make it).

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:55 PM) Who will be our closer now and in the future if we trade Jenks? I realize relievers arms fall off (poor Soria) but cmon. Thornton is not a closer. Thornton absolutely could be a closer. Do you realize Jenks is going to become very expensive, very soon? His effectiveness this year is way down, and I think it's pretty scary that he has not only lost a few mph on his fastball over the years (on average), but he also is struggling with his curve. Look no closer than his home run rate against for proof.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:49 PM) I still say some of you are in a dream world regarding Jose. He's not going to bring anything decent in return. I give him credit for his performance of late. But No GM is going to give up anything but crap for him. At this point, I wouldn't mind a trade or two but Jose isn't going to bring us squat. Ok greg, which pitchers are available that anyone would actually want? Bedard's going nowhere with his injury issues. Marquis is going nowhere with the recent success of the Rockies. I'm all for freeing up a few extra million while giving Poreda the chance to start some games after the ASB.

Ugh, they're getting some big time clutch hits now. Must be nice to have a lefty power bat on your bench.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:45 PM) Well, DeRosa is in town. You're awesome!!

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 06:03 AM) I don't know. I do get that 'awakened sleeping giant' vibe. No kidding, Lee even admitted yesterday that Thursday gave them the confidence to fight back at the end of a game. Lee's at it again today...him and Soto must have got their shipment finally sent to them this season.

I disagree a little Marty, but good stuff...I hope to see you post more.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:08 PM) Highly doubt you could get Gamel for Contreras and Jenks. Why would we want Gamel? If Fields and Viciedo can't play 3rd, it's likely Beckham will play there.

A more realistic person the Sox would be interested in is the hard throwing, pot smoking Jeremy Jeffress.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) And if Jose comes out and pitches like he did in the 2 games before that would you want to keep him then? Absolutely not...even before last night, I said he should have been traded last Saturday. It's not like he's all of a sudden throwing 96 mph again. This will probably come across as bashing Jose, but it's really not meant to...but his first two games back were great conditions. The Tigers game was the 2nd game of a DH with the Tigers going through the motions, and the other game against the Brewers was a game where they couldn't see anything due to the shadows. He's throwing better than he did prior to going down to AAA (obviously), but last night is probably what you can expect.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 04:17 AM) The cliff notes of points in this thread on why we should NOT trade for Ankiel would be pretty pathetic. Why can't we just say that he's a Boras client with an expiring contract who hasn't been very good this season?

With Jose losing his forkball tonight, I would again pray that we can trade Jose while he still has some value. And after watching Looper and Parra pitch recently, the Brewers would love to add Jose.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:01 AM) Paulie belted a hard FB, that alone should tell us he's okay to turn and rip a pitch. Last year when he was in his funk he'd have had no shot at hitting that type of pitch (even though it was a cookie the velocity would have killed his thumb). I think it's more mental with him, and that he has to convince himself he can turn on an inside fastball.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:58 AM) Arroyo is the worst of the three starters we're gonna face. We're SCREWED. Look at this lineup we have right now. You can't expect it to do much damage against a RHP, especially with Dye injured and PK's ability in doubt. I'm sure Arroyo got excited when he saw we had TWO lefties in the lineup tonight.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 01:56 AM) I assume that is sarcasm? Or was the pitch he hit for a grand slam not a FB? of course

Made good contact...sure seems like our offense will get dominated this series by the 3 Reds starters.

Swing hard and hope you hit it Slayer.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:53 AM) A myth. He throws harder than Cotts, for sure, but 91-95 is what we should really expect I think, sometimes at 96, with accurate guns. Joins the club with Felix Diaz, Jon Adkins and Nick Masset with pitchers overhyped for having dominating stuff at the minors or in winter ball or wherever that mysteriously disappears at the MLB level. Cooper preaches control over velocity. It works for some, not for others. I've seen Masset and MacDougal throw harder this year on other teams than they ever did for the Sox.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:53 AM) It's all about taking the calculated risk. Right now, the best people to judge Poreda and his future are the Sox. We have seen him for what 3 innings? While it's way too early to be casting judgments on a guy making his 2nd career big league appearance, it speaks volume the Sox best pitching prospect was already traded once this season. There is no reason to think if someone like Oswalt is made available, Poreda will be the first one to go. Don't you mean there is plenty of reason to think that?