fathom

The Cardinals have been so idiotic with the way they've handled their pitching staff over the last 10 days. Mulder and Maroth should be nowhere near the big league team right now.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 10:49 PM) On AM1000 Mac, Jurko, Harry and Levineline were saying that JR is saying this is his last management team and that after Ozzie and Kenny he is riding off into the sunset and handing the team off to his son. Can anyone find a JR quote to this effect? Or is it just Levine throwing stuff out there to see what sticks? If JR said something to this effect, this is much more interesting than just the contract extension. There's been rumors for about 5 years now that JR's son was going to be taking over the team sooner, rather than later. Especially given 2005, it wouldn't surprise me to see it happen in the next 5 years.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 10:18 PM) Oh, and Tony. I'd love to hear your expertise chime in here... Why is it a good idea to extend the manager of the most underachieving team in baseball history's contract? Not even I would go that far.

I've never been more motivated to go ask for a raise from my boss in my life!! Congrats to Ozzie...now get this organization headed in the right direction anymore.

I'd take Jack Wilson over Uribe....at least he's a great bunter and can make contact.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 08:35 PM) I'm not blaming those who want the Sox to lose for the team being horrible. Try answering this for me. If we wind up the worst team in baseball which is likely, we get the No. 1 pick and all of you will be so happy waiting for the draft. Chance are the team will suck again next year. Let's say the team goes 1-10 to open the season. So now are you going to root against the Sox every day next season starting in mid April, and the season after that and after that, just so they can keep getting top draft picks? I prefer to win every and any game possible and hope the GM signs some free agents and makes some decent trades for a change. The Royals have stunk for years. You think their No. 1 picks have been that good? Even with how awful we've been, I didn't even think there was a chance we'd be in the bottom 3 even around the ASB. If anything, I wanted this team to fall out of contention fast, when it was obvious they had nothing this year, so we'd trade Buehrle and Dye at the deadline instead of losing them via free agency. Winning 65 games, as opposed to 61 games, isn't going to make us any better next year.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:56 PM) Im beginning to think that you may go through life always wondering if the grass is greener on the other side as you arent happy with any coach or management running ANY chicago team. Pratt is the biggest Ozzie fan I know.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 04:51 PM) Well, Cleveland/Minny/Detroit all have some of the best rotations in baseball and no way is the Sox rotation worse than the Royals. Plus I still like Danks and while things have gotten rough I also think you have to factor in the horrific pen leading to an eventual wall that these starters hit (because you can only so long with getting royally screwed till you start to think you have to pitch absolutely perfect to win and in turn end up giving up more runs because you get into a funk trying to pitch perfect). KC has Bannister, Meche, and Greinke looking as a solid 3 in the rotation, and Odalis Perez and De la Rosa have been no worse than the Contreras/Danks combination.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:16 AM) Sans a few hiccups (ie when s*** hit the fan and you can't blame them...at one point or another the starters had to say f*** this and lose focus or just have all the pressure hit them as they were doing everything and than some and still getting f***ed thanks to piss poor defense, no offense, and the worse bullpen I"ve ever seen for a couple month span) this is still one fo the better rotations in the AL and baseball. How do you figure? It's arguably the worst rotation in the AL Central. For the last 3 months or so, Contreras and Danks have had a hard time getting more outs than base runners allowed. Considering how much money is invested in our starting pitching, they've brutally underachieved the last two seasons.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 06:15 AM) What about Crawford and Matusz? (I know he's not a position prospect but still) Just curious BTW. Matusz left the tournament early due to some unknown conflict.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 06:13 AM) Well in terms of the NFL, and from what I've read from scouts and rankings of prospects, Alvarez is "supposedly" as close of a Pujols/A-Rod from the left side as it gets. You draft Alvarez, and he automatically becomes the top prospect in the organization.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 06:11 AM) So once again I couldn't watch Gavin pitch. How'd he look? Stats look good again(3 straight Quality starts; 4 of 5 as well). It'd be huge if he can take a spot in the rotation next season. From the part I saw, it was the best he's looked. It actually seemed like he wasn't throwing a lot of pitches right down the plate.

FWIW, the main reason I'm so big on having the 1st pick is due to the reports I had from a first-hand source at the Team USA tournament a few months ago. The reports said that Pedro Alvarez was far and away the best player, and it wasn't even close. The report also said that Danks was god awful, and Smauk is nothing special.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 06:04 AM) Bush was definitely a top 5 pick though. Was he a reach as the #1 overall yes, but that isn't the first time thats happened. And I should say I'm not saying I have a problem with the #1 pick but I see more value in this team winning with young players than it continuing to lose. If they end up losing and the club gets the #1 pick fine, but if Floyd/Danks and the rest of the starters pitch well and AJ/Dye/Konerko/Thome/Richar/Fields/Owens all play well (more so the younger guys) and this team gets on a roll than awesome. As someone whose placed baseball very competively (prior to hurting my arm..and my high school did suck so it wasn't like we were competing for titles or anything) but winning is always key. It helps with your development, hell its part of your development (good teams learn how to win and find ways to win while bad teams do the opposite). I'd like our young players to see what it takes and do what it takes to WIN at the major league level. I also think more wins means that our young guys have produced and I think them producing makes it more likely that they are legit and that alone should help the Sox next year and over the course of the next few years. And in terms of picks...the best pick in the draft is rarely the #1 overall pick, so to me I know for sure if you win an extra ten games there is probably good reasons for the team winning more (and those things could very well likely carry over) and I don't know that the #1 pick will make a difference (compared with the #4 or #5 pick). The only time I would say different is if we were talking about a guarantee at Lebron James or something along those lines in the NBA (and in that case its the lottery which makes that a crapshoot). Why can't we be happy when Floyd does pitch well, and then a 38 year old pitcher gets the loss? None of us are hoping this team loses 10-0 every game. That Red Sox series was awful. We want to see every young player do well, but the team just barely lose.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 06:02 AM) Actually its.. "Mr Williams, with the Sox having the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, how will you justify picking someone slated for the late first round. You have heard of the top 5 guys like Alvarez right. You haven't got your blinders on just to get someone you are infatuated with right you know a certain relative of your 5th starter correct. Dear Mr. SSI: The reason that we selected Jordan Danks with the first pick in the draft was due to how he performed in the Cape Cod League. Our scouts thought his skills were projectable, and he's the player we wanted to draft. We tried very hard to sign him out of high school, but he went on to have a great career at Texas. Jordan has a lot of baseball smarts, and we're excited to have him team up with his brother.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:51 AM) To give up like many of you did with 5 or so weeks left ... to write off each and every game is amazing to me. You seem to almost be blaming some of us for this team being horrible. Right now blame the manager (who I know you think is amazing), the coaching staff, the GM, and the players? I think there's a lot more Sox fans that hate the Cubs than Cubs fans that hate the Sox.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:54 AM) Geeze...Joe Blanton could have been the Sox. I'd just as well have the additional wins (IIRC the Sox were pretty damn good during the early 2000's even if they missed the playoffs) and that still put them in position to draft Blanton. Sox just made a s***ty draft choice (which has been done). Who'd you rather draft...Matt Bush or Josh Fields??? (Bush was the #1 overall pick that year). It's not about who you pick....it's who you have the chance to pick. As someone else on this site said, what if there's one person that the Sox want more than anyone in the 2008 draft. Well, if this team happens to get the 1st pick, then they can take him without having another team take the player they want. I'd much rather they have that option than 2 or 3 meaningless wins.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:41 AM) Sad we continued to disgrace ourselves on the field. Sad we are closer to being the worst team in the league. Sad that Cub fans are happy that they won and we lost both. Sad that so many Sox fans have much in common with Cub fans these days in wanting us to lose. Yep, I'm sure Cubs fans are following every White Sox score with great intensity. The average Cubs fan couldn't even name half of our starting lineup right now.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:40 AM) Comcasts guns suck...so I'd tend to think its closer to Gamedays. One thing I notice is that Floyd's velcoity really tends to fluctuate between the 94-95 MPH range and the 88 MPH range so who knows. I haven't seen Floyd in the 94-95 range at all. I know during his first start, he topped out at 92 mph.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:35 AM) I like your post and thank you for the stats and names. But how do you know we still wouldn't have drafted those said players had we won 80 games, etc.? My point is the draft is a crapshoot. I don't care about the draft. I'd rather win. And yes I am mad we didn't win tonight. Good post by your name. I am formerly Mt. Greenwood (Brother Rice, Mt. Greenwood LL alum); currently relatives in Lisle. Greg....who would you rather have the chance to pick, Cole Hamels or Royce Ring?

Why didn't the refs challenge that catch near the end zone? Sure seemed like he didn't catch it cleanly.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:14 AM) Man, I feel sorry for Greg. He's going to wake up tomorrow in a poor mood after he finds out the White Sox lost. Win #62 means something special to him. Out of respect to him, I no longer even try to argue how obvious the situation should be.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:14 AM) AJ just doesn't even bother catching simple pitches. How dare you make fun of our MVP the last three years.

Good grief AJ, at least act like you haven't been mentally out of it for 3 months now.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 11, 2007 -> 05:11 AM) Or that Erstad is a shadow starter. Or that Greg is still employed. Or that Cintron plays too much. Or that Andy Gonzales is still out there too much. Or that other guys in AAA with Frenchlike last names cant make it up here, yet crap on a stick is put out there every day. I've made no secret of the fact I want this team to lose every game the rest of the way. However, putting Cintron or Gonzalez at 3b every game is disrespectful to our pitching staff.