fathom

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 16, 2007 -> 03:00 AM) Zach Zaidman is "celebrating" somewhere. But this is indeed good news. That was one of the funniest segments I've ever heard on the radio.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 16, 2007 -> 04:05 AM) I will throw up if Masset starts. If I had to choose someone from the minors it would be Floyd or Broadway. You'd throw up if it's Masset, but you wouldn't mind seeing Floyd or Broadway? Let's just say I'm going to be extremely pissed if we have to start Masset against the Cubs due to not playing the game last night for some stupid reason. It's similar to how we cost ourselves a chance at facing the Twins worst pitcher (Ponson) in a game earlier this year because we called a game due to the "cold", even though it was cause our bullpen was so tired.

Is it still raining at the park?

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:56 PM) Hmm, you seem to know the cubs a little too well...it's all adding up now. I'm the biggest Cubs hater around....trust me! I've always admitted that I watch all of their games, as long as it's not going on during the Sox game. My least favorite person in the universe has to be Ron Santo....I can't believe he was b****ing about the pink bats on Sunday taking away from the spirit of the game. QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:58 PM) MLB and the Feds shut down his supplier. Roids or not, he's still playing damn well this year and is a great clubhouse guy.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:32 PM) Totally disagree. The only good player they have is Lee. Soriano was passable in the AL, their strating pitching is mediocre at best, their catcher is one of the worst defensive cathers in the league, and their bench is atrocious. They also happen to have a horrendous bullpen. They would go head to head with tampa if they were in the AL east. Last year (NL). In the AL he is nothing more than an average to good player. His BA has hovered around .268-.300 and his OPS .736 to .879 That is nowhere close to one of the best hitters in baseball. Dont let the NL stats fool you, especially with the competition in the NL central. He dominated in the NL East last night in the worst hitter's park in the majors. How can you say their bench is atrocious when they have a fantastic defensive back-up catcher, a good hitting outfielder in either Murton or Floyd, a very good lefty hitter off the bench in Ward, and an outfielder they can play at every position with some speed in Pagan? If their bench is atrocious, then our bench is the worst in the history of baseball. Their bullpen does suck though...Howry is a pitching machine. Cotts does have a much better offspeed pitch this year....at least Aardsma is doing very well though. QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:42 PM) So was Gary Matthews Jr. Contract years can do wonders for ball players (WAKE UP IGUCHI AND DYE!!!) I like Gary Matthews Jr.....he would have been a great fit on this team. I agree though, it's sad how our guys are struggling in their walk year. They're the anti-Tartabull's right now. QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:32 PM) Totally disagree. The only good player they have is Lee. Soriano was passable in the AL, their strating pitching is mediocre at best, their catcher is one of the worst defensive cathers in the league, and their bench is atrocious. They also happen to have a horrendous bullpen. You don't think Aramis Ramirez is a good player?

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 15, 2007 -> 10:01 PM) Soriano is nowhere near one of the "best" hitters in baseball. Last year he was damn good, and even though he started off slowly this year, he's going to be a monster at that park when the wind is blowing out. I used to think he was one of the most overrated hitters in baseball, but last year was very impressive.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 15, 2007 -> 09:25 PM) I think tonight he'll try and throw a perfect game because he'll be auditioning with his new team for next season. I've heard Omar Minaya has told his agent he'll spend 30 million more on his contract than the next closest competitor.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 15, 2007 -> 09:22 PM) How about my guy? The one second only to Johan Santana. He's overrated by many....but I'd still take him on my team. He could be our DH right now. I have a feeling we might go after him in the offseason.

The only player more overrated than Angels players on this board is Anthony Reyes.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 15, 2007 -> 09:06 PM) ugh, the cubs would be the worst team in the AL hands down. Ha, come on now. Their talent blows away teams like the Royals, Tampa, Baltimore, etc. They have two of the best hitters in all of baseball in Soriano and Lee, they have a good hitting catcher, a very good hitting 3rd baseman, a terrific bench, and some solid to good starting pitchers.

QUOTE(Maverick0984 @ May 15, 2007 -> 09:49 AM) the rest? no way. you can't judge current struggles with substituting a player entirely...if you were GM we'd have a new team every 2 weeks. EDIT: Zambrano over Count possibly, just for the sake of age So you say you can't judge players based on current struggles, but you still would possibly take Zambrano over Contreras? Wouldn't Zambrano be the most talented pitcher for either team if you don't consider his recent struggles? QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ May 15, 2007 -> 01:25 PM) I wouldn't want Zambrano or Aram no matter how talented they are. Ramirez is better than Crede in just about every category besides defense, and even there, he's really not nearly as bad as some people think. I'd take Erstad over Pie though, but Pie's not their CF. The Cubs bench is far superior to the White Sox's bench this year.

Cubs have more talent than the Sox this year....of course, that's what happens when you spend 300 million in an offseason.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 14, 2007 -> 07:29 PM) Duckworth was a little late on it and missed it completely, but it did have a little curve on it as it went into the outfield. I was a little surprised Grudz was playing that far into the hole. There's one angle that made it seem like Duckworth definitely deflected the ball.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 14, 2007 -> 07:11 PM) Horrible read? He had to make sure the ball got by Grudzielanek. In the end he scored quite easily, so what does it matter? I swear, that on the replay, the pitcher deflected that ball. I thought it was great base running by Terrero.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 14, 2007 -> 07:02 PM) Slightly different wording in the Sun-Times: Over 2005-2006, Uribe's struck out once every 6 abs. In May, he's striking out once every 8 abs. I don't think Ozzie's saying that strikeouts are always and everywhere a 2-spot disqualifier, rather that when Uribe is being his usual impatient self, you see a bunch of strikeouts, and the lack of those now are a sign of his current approach at the plate...who knows how long it will last. And I'm usually up for some good Ozzie criticism, but imho this is an overreaction. If anything, I'm relieved to know that the Sox aren't going to try to revive the Uribe hitting 2nd experiment. I actually always thought putting Uribe in the 2nd spot could help him, as not only would he see more fastballs if Pods was on base, but he'd also get more fastballs with Thome behind him. Besides that, if he had to try and hit behind the runner, it would make him focus more on hitting the ball to the right side. I always thought Iguchi would be better down in the order, but unfortunately, he's been crappy this year.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 14, 2007 -> 05:46 PM) He was trying to say uribe is too much of a free swinger to bat #2, a concept that most everyone on this site will agree with. I guess people interpret things the way they want. All I can go by is that he said he strikes out too much. And if you think my complaining here is bad, wait until the firestorm hits when Sweeney is sent down. People are going to go nuts.

QUOTE(vandy125 @ May 14, 2007 -> 05:40 PM) It's almost like you all are scanning everything that is said to try and back up these type of claims. From what I have experienced, if you have to keep doing something like that and have to search out every little thing, you are probably wrong. I'm not saying that Ozzie does not mess up from time to time, but to go through every little thing that a non-native English speaker says is ridiculous. How does this have anything to do with any language barrier? He flat out said that Uribe doesn't make for a good #2 hitter because he strikes out too much. I don't see how that can be misinterpreted in any language. I can honestly say that I didn't read that article in order to find something to criticize Ozzie about. He's not even at the top of my Sox s*** list right now. I was just shocked at what I was reading.

QUOTE(JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ May 14, 2007 -> 05:05 PM) I know a lot of people are fed up with the offensive production out of thw white sox these days, but here's an honest question, would you rather see the sox play the way they have been playing this year or the way they played the end of last year? No offense, solid pitching OR no piching, solid hitting? I can't make up my mind as to which is more frustrating of the two but I think that last year was quite possibly a bit more frustrating, what do you guys think? The Sox's offense was horrible at the end of last season. Do you not recall getting shut down by terrible pitchers like in the Boston series at Fenways, etc. This offensive slump is just a carry over from last year's bad offense in the 2nd half.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 14, 2007 -> 02:26 PM) Anybody who believes part of the job for a #2 hitter is to take pitches, quite a few of which are good to hit, in order to allow the low percentage play of a stolen base attempt to occur and fall behind in the count simply has a flawed logic about the game of baseball. And that includes Ozzie. And to say Uribe strikes out too much to hit #2 when Iguchi has been your #2 hitter (and a good one at that in 2005 and 2006) is simply ignorant. Not as ignorant as his comment on Terrero, who should not have even been the pinch runner there (Ozuna), but pretty ignorant. Sadly, also not surprising. Yep, that's all I'm saying. If Ozzie doesn't want to make Uribe the #2 hitter for good, that's fine....just don't use the bulls*** reasoning that he strikes out too much.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 14, 2007 -> 04:11 AM) The crazy thing is that this team can't nibble. It can't rally. It's got to homer or drive one deep or nothing will happen because three singles in a row aren't a shoo-in to score runs for us. Speed kills. Like you said earlier, we have such a slow team. Erstad and Sweeney are actually faster than I thought they'd be, but that's good because Iguchi and Dye are the running versions of Jenks fastball from 2005 to 2007.

If Ozzie prefers Terrero over Sweeney, then those age-old conspiracies are going to start flowing again.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 14, 2007 -> 04:06 AM) How do you do it? You pick up the phone, dial and say, "Hello there, partner." I think you'd have to be really stupid to think that Dye was going to repeat his 06 numbers. He'd be a closer bet for 05 numbers, which are good but not great. KW shocked the Sox world with McCarthy's trade; he should've done the same with Dye and Crede, IMO, but definitely Dye because the return value would've been significant. KW He's just a tick below Gavin Floyd in the Arizona League KW tried to balance both competing and rebuilding for the future during the offseason. That doesn't work in this day and age with big contracts. We went from having one of the more talented teams in the AL to closer to the middle of the pack.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 14, 2007 -> 04:01 AM) I thought about this long and hard at the game today, and came to the best conclusion. Our hitters need to be better. But seriously, that is not only the most realistic option, but probably the best option as well. As it stands right now, one player isn't going to save this team. It doesn't matter if you put A-Rod in the middle of the lineup, it still doesn't change the fact that our 1B, 2B, RF would still not be hitting a lick, and it just so happens are 1B, 2B, and RF all bat in the top half of the lineup, i.e. major contributors. There is no quick fix right now. This is the team we have. It's the core. Good or bad, it's sink or swim with the basic lineup we have. Exactly, there's too many people struggling right now to just put a band-aid on things by making one acquisition. The damage was done by not making a few moves to spark the offense, and now we have to just hope the core offensive players can get it done. So many of them seem to have lacked significant bat speed since the start of the 2nd half last year. QUOTE(BobDylan @ May 14, 2007 -> 04:02 AM) No. If Ichiro could be had for a reasonible price, there's no reason the White Sox shouldn't jump at it. This means any prospects not involving the names Sweeney, Danks, Gonzalez or Masset . Anything outside that, I think the White Sox have to take the option into serious consideration. It could also give the Sox a heads up in offering him a new contract. The problem is that a lead-off hitter isn't the White Sox most pressing need right now. Erstad has been adequate enough--and unforutnately one of their better offensive players--and the team sorely lacks power. Konerko, Dye and Crede are absolutely awful thus far. Fact is, the offensive solution is already within the team. The question is will those players produce? But I'll always be giddy at the idea of having Ichiro in a White Sox uniform. The guy is a Class-A ball player. Great defender, great base runner, great lead-off hitter. If they think they have a legitimate chance at bringing him back for a few more years, I hope it happens. If someone's giving you talent in return for Masset, you should have no problem with that trade. The only untouchable in our entire organization should be Danks.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 14, 2007 -> 03:58 AM) I'd definitely take either of them over Crede pops up. I've never had faith in him as a player. I've always thought last year was a fluke. I'm not surprised to see him revert. I'm looking for speed in our lineup. Contact. Not bumbling sluggers, which Crede isn't good enough to be considered. As for Willits: he'll be twenty six this month. That's young. On paper, Lee for Podsednik is one of the dumbest moves in the history of sports, too. Lee for Pods was a horrible, horrible trade. The only saving grace was that it freed up payroll. The only way we should have traded Crede in the offseason is if we could get a MLB caliber player who could be a cornerstone of the franchise for the next 5 years. I'd be content if I never have to hear about another Angels prospect on this site again. They seem rather overrated.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 14, 2007 -> 03:49 AM) ...and when he gets buried by Guillen by sitting him on the bench, people are going to b**** about him not playing everyday and how it would be better to send him down. It'll be just like Brian Anderson. Even when Thome returns, Sweeney should continue to start. When Pods is ready to return in 2009, then we can send Sweeney down if he hasn't earned the spot.