fathom

Why has Burgess fallen so far? If he's still around, I have no problem taking a high ceiling pick with a possible 40 homer a year outfielder.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 01:39 AM) But having AJ as our only lefty with any power, an injured Rowand and a 5-7 games over .500 record for April and May with Thomas instead of Thome, I don't think that Thomas' second half surge would have been enough alone to reverse 8 games under .500 to, let's say 20 games OVER .500, if you're willing to make the assumption that Thomas versus Thome in the first two months would have been a huge difference with the way the season played out. But we'll never know. And we still would have been without a CF when Rowand went down, which was just as likely to happen here as in Philly, just like man suspected Pods and Erstad, for instance, to go down. Rowand got injured on a collision....not exactly the same type of injury frequency as Pods pulling a groin, etc.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jun 2, 2007 -> 10:15 PM) Rock getting divorced? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and wife Dany Garcia Johnson announced to "People Magazine" that they are separating. The following is the statement both released to the media: "While certain aspects of our relationship have changed, we are both vitally important to each other's lives. We will continue to advance and manage our business interests, our philanthropic efforts, and most importantly, the raising of our child together as a loving team. We've been fortunate enough to spend the last 17 years together as a couple and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together as best friends and business partners." I wonder what celebrity he'll start dating just in time for his movie to come out (and boy, does the preview look awful).

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 01:15 AM) Could that be a conditioning problem? Ozzie makes it a point to play all of the bench guys during the first months in order to save the regulars for the stretch run. Could it be that the players are not properly conditioned during the off season? This would also explain the loss of velocity for the pitchers the last couple years. Who is our strength and conditioning coach? Torborg's son? Like you and I have been saying too much lately, who knows. There has to be serious changes made in this organization, as the core group of guys that we've had make us an above .500 team for the last 5 years or so is going to get broken up after this year. The thing is, the AL Central is going to be an amazing division for the next 3 years or so. I don't know if we'll be able to compete for the division crown even if we do make changes.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 01:06 AM) So if we had Rowand, Perez, Blum, El Duque, Thomas, Everett, Harris, Vizcaino and Marte, we would have won in 2006? I don't think so. It's hard to tell....Thomas ended up having a fairly equal season to Thome. Our CF position was a disaster, so Rowand would have helped that. Rowand isn't great, but he's better than what we had last year. McCarthy very easily could have put up better numbers than Vazquez, especially given the run support that Vazquez received.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:32 AM) What's your point?? I take it as they are a better team. The Twins get players to come up and help them as the season goes on. Meanwhile, our core players always seem to tire, and then you get the dreaded "corpseball" efforts late in the season. Also, it helps when you can guarantee you'll win at least one game in a series against the Sox when you can put Santana on the mound.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:29 AM) But our offense played more smallball in the first half of 2005. Pods would get on, steal 2nd, Iguchi would get him over, and then we would drive him in. If I remeber correctly, KW and Ozzie said it themselves that they put that team together based on the TWINS. They said that more than once all throughtout the year in 2005. As for not wanting to have 5 piranhas in our lineup, welp, those pirahnas took it to us in that last series in Minnesota. I'd rather have couple piranhas than what we have now in Uribe, Crede. Exactly, we could play to only score one or two runs, and we'd still have a chance to win thanks to our pitching. However, it's not realistic to have a situation where half the pitchers have career years. And look at the numbers of those "piranhas". They suck! Maybe it's just because we don't pitch them or shade them the right way, but other teams are getting them out at a huge rate.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:19 AM) That's even more emabarssing. We spend 100 milion on a team and a team that doesnt come close to what we spend wins the division 5 out of 6 years. The reason Minnesota wins every year is because they are fundamentally a better club than we are year in and year out. Pitching, defense, situational hitting eberything they do an a ballfield is superior to what we do, except of course THE LONG BALL!! They develop players that play the game right and play the game hard. Like I said, they won the division 5 out of 6 years, they gotta be doing something right. They don't fade during the last two months of the season the way we have in about 4 of those 6 years.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:10 AM) Like I said, of course we need homerun hitters, but not every f***ing player in the lineup swinging from their heals. We played smallball in the first half of 2005 and look how good we did, and I think we stillplayed in the same park as we do now?? Yep I checked we still do!! We had unbelievable pitching during the first few months of 2005. Our offense was horrible to start the year. Also, if I recall correctly, it was colder than normal for a longer period, which made the park less lively. We're a high payroll team.....we don't need to be worried about having 5 piranhas in our lineup.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:08 AM) I don't know how true that David Ortiz stuff is. If that is the case then why has Morneau and Mauer shown good power? David Ortiz was very inconsistent and very injury prone while with the Twins. There was an article in SI last year about how the Twins organization stressed to Ortiz to always try to get the runner over, etc., and that they discouraged him from basically swinging for the fences. It was a pretty fascinating article.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 4, 2007 -> 12:05 AM) We need homerun hitters. We just don't need everyone trying to blast forty when they're not capable and we need guys with wheels. We need guys who can hit over 20 homers and still have good enough speed to steal 15 bases and be able to score from 2nd on a single. You know....guys like Chris Young.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 11:58 PM) The whole orginazation needs to be restructured, from A ball to the big leagues. The whole philosiphy needs to be changed and geared more toward like the Twins. We have been a homerun or nothing franchise for too long now. We need to structure our teams like the Minnesota. Starting pitching, relief pitching, defense and slap hitters and bunting. Sure you need homeruns, but not to the point where it's homerum or nothing. You have to be able to score whether you hit homeruns or not. The Twins have won the Central 5 out of the last 6 years. We need to follow what they are doing they gotta be doing something right. Yep, let's play smallball while we play in a launching pad. We can keep giving up outs with bunts in the first inning, and then the opposition will get that one run back by hitting the next pitch of the inning for a home run. The Twins are the same organization that made a terrific power hitter, David Ortiz, be a slap hitter.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 11:33 PM) Erstad can bunt. But point taken. Yep, and shockingly, he's just joined the organization. The fundamentals was more directed at every single lousy prospect we call up from the system.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 11:26 PM) I thought he never had any managing ability? The simple truth is he doesn't have the horses right now. This team is bad! I've never thought he was a good manager....but I'm not going to be ignorant and say he never had any managing ability when he led us to a World Series. Read my post in the blame KW not Ozzie thread....not having Logan face Lind was a horrible decision!

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 11:24 PM) OK, so now Walker is teaching long and looping swings? As far as I can tell from when he talks this is not what he teaches at all. Maybe this is an organizational problem starting in the minor leagues? WIll changining the team's major league hitting coach really have any sort of affect on this? Who the hell knows what he's teaching....all we can go by is what we see, and there's way too many long swings from our players. The fundamentals on this team sucks though, as even our slappy, no power guys can't bunt.

Ozzie not bringing in Logan to face Lind was his worst managerial move of the week (high praise after how poorly he coached on this road trip). When you have Rios on deck there, you have to try and get their weakest hitter against LHP out. There's one thing that Logan can do, and it's get lefty hitters out. Now, I'm sure someone will say: how do you know he would have got Lind out? YOU DON'T! However, you have to play the match-up in that situation when someone is basically twice as good of a hitter against righty pitchers as he is lefties.

This would be the perfect time for Ozzie to prove me and a lot of his critics wrong and show that he's not lost his ability to manage. And please KW, don't trade for any aging veterans with the few prospects we have.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 08:13 PM) it's still ozzies fault, duh. everything is I'm sure he's telling the coaches what moves to make.

Haha....Mackowiak acting like he's down 0-2 in the count.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 08:09 PM) IT'S A MIRACLE!!! I thought for sure AJ would be thrown out. that would be fitting. A good throw, and he's gone.

Will someone explain to me why AJ is still on the field?

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 08:08 PM) let me guess, you hate Weber too. Yes, but not because he's a bad recruiter. He's a fine game coach, but I hate his personality and some thing that have gone on behind the scenes.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) Why do I get the feeling we are just going to ride this season out with the same s*** can bullpen, let all of our free agents walk for nothing, and finish in 4th place? If that happens, and we bring back this same GM/Manager, then I honestly think we'll finish in 5th place next year. QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) The merryman on this board would tell you we are saving him for the bottom of the 9th. Rack 'em up, maybe Day is saving his job here. Can we not use merryman on this board like the illiniboard uses it to describe pro/anti Weber fans?

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 07:58 PM) If you recall, in Ozzie's first career game managing, his BP blew a 7-3 lead as he pointlessly used his closer and I remember Stairs having a double off of Botch. Of course I remember that game. However, I think KC put Stairs into the game, but then Ozzie brought in Marte, and Mendy Lopez hit an absolute bomb against him. That was the worst sports day of my life.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 3, 2007 -> 07:57 PM) The starting pitcher leaves after 3 innings and we still can't get a hit off the BP. Good lord. I'm telling you, it's been deja vu recently.