fathom

Something ironic about this article by Rogers is that something that's really hurt the Sox this year is bringing back Pods, who apparently was the greatest catalyst in history during 2005. QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 20, 2007 -> 04:00 PM) Well when KW publicly whines about contracts, and JR has his "No more than three years!" policy, there's reason for pessimism. Brilliant!

I disagree with the premise of the article, but there was something said in it that is very true: we better hope that re-signing Vazquez and Contreras doesn't make it impossible to keep Buehrle and Garland around.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 20, 2007 -> 02:42 PM) I doubt Zell would countenance such a move, because the Cubs' revenue is pretty much maxxed out for the year already, it's hard for a media conglomerate to do a cost-benefit analysis and justify adding another $15 million per season. I'm not even convinced that a Zambrano deal will ever be done, now. The Yankees would want to replace Abreu, Matsui, Damon? Not sure about that one. They might get the M's to take Cabrera, but they have nobody else the M's would want. They're not going to trade Philip Hughes or Cano, so there's not really anything of interest besides Cabrera on their roster, and that's far from enough to get a possible Ichiro deal through. Every team needs pitching, and I think Rasner might be on the DL now, after getting hit by a ball up the middle yesterday. I would guess the Red Sox, Mets or Angels. If it looks like the Cubs can make the playoffs, I guarantee they'll give them the green light to go ahead and add a lot of payroll. Don't forget that Pinella has a history with Ichiro.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 20, 2007 -> 06:43 AM) Yeah, Young is up to .268/.307/.465. It's apparently okay, though, because we got an ace in return for him... That trade was a turning point in this organization's future....and I've said it from the day it was rumored.

QUOTE(beck72 @ May 20, 2007 -> 01:09 PM) If the sox are close around the trade deadline, I'd expect KW to make a splash to improve the team [the sox have some depth that most teams won't part with]. Just get to the playoffs and a team can win. I could see Ichiro brought in to help win now, and as a trial run for 2008. Few other teams will be willing and able to go after Ichiro. The sox are one of them. The Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Cubs could all go after Ichiro....we're not winning a bidding war against those teams. QUOTE(beck72 @ May 20, 2007 -> 02:21 PM) The Cubs aren't important. If they want to spend $400 million who cares? The long term outlook for the cubs is dreadful. They'll be saddled with horrible contracts and be unable to fill glaring holes. The sox should be far more consistent, win more games in the reg. season and playoffs in the next decade than the Cubs--which is all that matters. I'd trade our next 5 years for the Cubs next 5 years. Most of the teams in their division are on the decline, while basically every team in our division looks to be improving over the next 5 years. Don't forget the Cubs have the 3rd pick in this upcoming draft, and their new owner will likely spend a fortune to bring in talent.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 20, 2007 -> 02:19 PM) I was joking about Walker. I have no inside information on any swing changes that Walker has tried to incorporate that have changed Sweeney into a prototypical Sox "lift and pull" hitter. I think he'll be fine. The only question is how good he will be...Garret Anderson, Olerud, Grace, Palmeiro (before the roids) are some of the comparisons that have been made. He's only 22 and learning on the go. I think he will figure things out. He still has (by appearance) good at-bats, even though the results aren't what we would like. He's not just up there flailing away like Anderson or Terrero, or even Iguchi and Uribe. You conveniently left out Sean Burroughs. There's not many scouts that think he'll be at the caliber of the four guys you listed there.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 20, 2007 -> 05:00 AM) A few points. • Pods could never be a fourth outfielder, beacause a fourth outfielder needs to be able to play more than one outfield position. • Sweeney has talent, but his youth and inexperience has caught up with him. Owens might be a better option. • Some of you may hate Pods, but you can't deny that he seems to have some sort of positive affect when he's healthy. • We have s*** in LF right now, poo in center, and crap in right. We need two of the three to start producing more than they have been. • I hope some of you stop posting if we ever fall below .500. That's one of the main reasons we dislike him....he's either always injured, or he's "back in the lineup but isn't 100 pct yet". Pods really has turned into the Sox's version of Kerry Wood.

So Contreras is our ace? http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

I know this doesn't really matter, but I heard the Cubs are between Wieters and Vitters.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 20, 2007 -> 03:20 AM) Sad thing was I read it online in the morning. Ozzie should read the paper instead of listening to North. After all the s*** that's gone on the last two years with the Cubs, I really wish we'd put a ball in someone's ear tomorrow. Their hitters are way, way too comfortable at the plate. I still can't believe that we've never retaliated against Barrett.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 20, 2007 -> 03:19 AM) Its not bothering the starters. They are going 6 or 7 every night. Jenks has the 9th, so that's 2 innings tops they have to get through. If they are already blown out by it on May 19th, they suck even more than words describe. How dare you say all these 97 mph guys suck? Last time I checked, only Jenks and Thornton have sniffed 97 mph. Aardsma, MacDougal, and Sisco have all been around 92 mph consistently this year. Aardsma got off to a great start, but he was also able to throw the ball wherever he wanted. He's not nearly as good of a pitcher as he showed during the first month. He needs to stay on top of the ball, or else he's going to continue to tail that fastball over the heart of the plate for righties (a big problem for Vazquez as well).

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines Ozzie admitting that Pinella got him today. I guess no one in the clubhouse was watching the TV coverage when Pinella said Lee could definitely be used to PH.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we've had two games all year that weren't save situations going into the 9th inning (that we lead)?

Gio's not doing too well tonight.

Sisco shouldn't be in the majors right now. It makes no sense for us to have 3 lefties. However, Logan can only face lefty hitters at this point in his career.

Two of the overall worst days of baseball in a long time the past two days. Not a single team I wanted to see win, won.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 20, 2007 -> 12:56 AM) That goes hand in hand with lack of control. Maybe if they were throwing 97 like advertised, they could get away with it more often. I wonder why White Sox pitchers seem to lose velocity quickly. Cooper has to be stressing to these guys that they'll have more command if they don't try to throw as hard.

QUOTE(AirScott @ May 19, 2007 -> 11:54 PM) Dye has always been awkward in the field, I guess that normally comes with being 6-feet-5-inches and 240 pounds. Even his diving catches look odd. But he's got an arm. Iguchi has never been that slick of a fielder, but that's not why we signed him. I don't think there's much doubt that Dye is the worst overall defensive right fielder in baseball. His arm might be strong, but it's not effective because he's not aggressive in charging the ball. At least we haven't had any of the annual Jermaine Dye dropped fly balls yet.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 19, 2007 -> 11:48 PM) Yeah our defense is atrocious, I haven't even got to that, lol. It's called being unathletic and aging. It's sad to see how teams have easy it is for teams to score on gappers against the Sox.

I really wish we could get Anderson back up to the majors for an extended time this year to see if there's anyway he can be a starter for the Sox in 2008.

Here is the bullpen's ERA by player: 3.18, 3.63, 4.63, 4.66, 5.40, 6.61, 6.75 That sucks!

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ May 19, 2007 -> 11:35 PM) I only mentioned one situation, hes come in with and without lead. Dont need to rub it in. Not like I was giving all the details. It wasn't directed towards your point exactly. We've actually been talking on this site about how he overthrows in clutch situations, and it results in his ball tailing back down the plate for players to crush. He even admitted to doing that during the Tigers game.

I've been told by a booster for a certain team that Dar's decision had a lot more to do with things off the court than on it.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ May 19, 2007 -> 11:25 PM) Whatever havent been counting, hes had many quality outings this just happen to be one of his poor ones. Pressure situations? Hes come in with guys on base one game in particular I dont remember against who but it was bases loaded and he struck out the side. Huge difference though in pitching with the lead and without the lead.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 19, 2007 -> 11:25 PM) Well nothing is going to happen in terms of moves until at least July anyways, so they will get their time. And if everybody suddenly wakes up, I'll admit I'm wrong. I just highly doubt it, I mean they can't keep being THIS bad, but they aren't going to recover to career averages. This is like last years starters in terms of our lineup and everybody seeming to have a below average year at the same time. The difference is our everyday players are a lot older, and we have no everyday player help in the minors. And even if we do recover, Cleveland and Detroit are so much better than us that we aren't making it to October anyways. Detroit is a fantastic team. They've had more injuries than we have, and they just keep going out there and playing well. For all the s*** we give the Indians and the Tigers, their bullpens are performing better than our overrated mess is.