fathom

I've been clamoring for Alexei in the 2nd spot, but my initial impression is we might want to move Beckham there next year and keep Alexei farther down the order to drive in more runs. Alexei seems to struggle with Pods on 1st, as he's been hitting a lot of weak balls to the right side. He's too talented of a hitter to just be trying to advance the runner. Beckham has more of a natural swing to go to the opposite field (hopefully he becomes our Michael Young). As for his defense, we all know he struggles going to his right. Thus, he should shade a little more towards the hole. It's shocking being at games seeing how far up the middle he plays everyone. If he shades a little more to the hole, it should give him a lot more range. A great example of this was Inge's game winner on Monday.

Hey, at least Milton didn't throw a foreign object into the crowd this time! I'll be honest, I'm rooting for the Twins to sweep the Cubs. As someone mentioned earlier, if there was any indication it would be the Sox/Twins battling it out this year, I'd root for a natural disaster at Wrigley instead.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 04:51 PM) And Flash, Fathom is one of my favorite posters on Soxtalk. Ah thanks! I wasn't going to chime in on this thread, but as a known pessimist, there's a lot that can be learned. There's a way to articulate your thoughts so that they're not a personal attack on a player, and rather more of an observation. Something that I have tried to do more of and will continue to do is make a comment so that it opens up for further discussion. Saying "Ozzie is pathetic" isn't quality posting and myself and others should improve upon that. As long as people follow the rules, I've not seen anyone get suspended/banned for stating any opinion regarding the team (and that's what separates this site from WSI). I tell this to numerous mods/admins, and that is that if they have a problem with my style of posting, please PM me and I'll be happy to do whatever I can to improve the quality of the posts. I would also add the quality of conversation in the chats is better than that of the game threads, as there's some great baseball people in there (kyyle, daa, flash, SSI, etc.).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 12:38 AM) Gavin Floyd y'all. Looks pretty good once he corrected his posture and tempo huh? And once he realized that he has one of the most "plus" pitches in all of baseball, and he should use it more.

It's amazing how close 4 of the games in this series were.

Nice win started by 3 of the young guys in the 9th.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 11:16 PM) In KC he was hitting 97. He's an elite closer, you trade him only if you are in White Flag mode, which i dont think is coming. We need to keep Bobby for at least 2 more seasons. Personally, I'm in the boat of trading Jenks for a huge package, and making Thornton your closer. Also, I don't trust that gun in KC, as they had Dotel at 96 and he's been around 91 all year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 11:12 PM) I literally sat there and said to my TV, first pitch slider gets him here Bobby. Sure enough he was in swing mode and anything other than a fastball probably gets a ground ball. I kid you not...the scouting report on Granderson when I faced him in high school was to not throw him first pitch fastballs. We'd always just throw get-me-over curves to get ahead in the count.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 11:13 PM) Come on people, when a player messes up stay away from the "trade him now" stuff. It happens. But what if you feel that they really should be traded for the benefit of the organization, no matter what happens on the field? Last Saturday, Jenks was throwing 91 mph against the Indians, and the same things were being said. I agree with your general point though.

Jenks just dominated Granderson earlier in his career. It's amazing how many homers Jenks has given up since the last few months of last season until now (in comparison to the start of his career). Trade him now before his value decreases more.

Pull Floyd before he can be in line for the loss. Hell of a start by Gavin.

Oh Geoff, you magnificient son of a b****

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 09:34 PM) He's look very defensive over the last two weeks. His calf is hurting, and he looks like he's really struggling to get his lower half going in time to hit a fastball.

A hit with RISP! Good job Thome!

It's crazy that Dye only has 2 homers with RISP all season. I wonder how many of his homers have come on curves compared to homers this year?

No one can hit Cubs pitching now. It's amazing how many low scoring games they're involved in.

That was one of the more predictable homers.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 05:46 PM) I agree. The reaction to Beckham helped any fears I had about a mass fanbase revolt. There will be some murmurs if PK, Danks and Dye go, but people will get over it quickly. Also, KW will mix young players with vets next year with the payroll flex... hell I could see him doing it at the deadline this year, ie getting a younger player off a bad team who's locked up for a few years. Danks?

I know a lot of people are worried about how the fans react to the Sox unloading players (to start the rebuilding). However, if we lose today, I think it goes a long way to erasing any concerns about the reaction fans have. The only who fans will struggle with getting traded is Jenks.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 06:39 PM) yeah, but he's still young enough that even if he struggles he can impress scouts agreed, as long as he's over 94 mph on the radar gun, no one will care about his actual results (regarding scouts)

The more I think about it, the more I'm shocked the Sox basically gave up on Colon. I love the fact they did it, as it was obvious he wasn't adding to the fastball as the season went on. It's definitely a move that you wouldn't see them do in year's past.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 06:29 PM) Plus we get to see Danks and Floyd battle through and hopefully get themselves ontrack. Floyd appears to have turned the corner and I'm hoping for his 4th straight good outing. Hopefully danks turned the page yesterday You can tell Danks focused more on his landing area last night. He did a great job with it until the 7th, but it's still promising.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 06:15 PM) I think I'm passed that stage. I was there a few weeks ago. At this point for me, it's about watching Beckham every day, and now hoping to see Poreda get some innings. On top of it, we are getting to see how Getz and Anderson handle starting every day, Ramirez dealing with playing short, and seeing who is going to be in the team picture for next year. Maybe the biggest thing of all is seeing if Danks can show he can be counted on as a top-tier pitcher in the upcoming years. If he can't be, then the whole retooling process is in deep s***.

Can Lillibridge play 1B?

Perry and Schlereth