fathom

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:57 AM) I'd rather throw him on the DL if the value isn't there and see what happens. I have no doubt that he was effected by the WBC along with him getting a bit out of shape after winning the world series. I do think he can regain his velocity with the proper work ethic over the off-season. The thing people forget is that his velocity decreased pretty drastically from his first year with the Sox to last season. People act like he was throwing 95 mph constantly for the Sox last year. He was more in the 91-92 range. When we first traded for him, he was absolutely electric in his first start at Minnesota. It's pretty sad how far his stuff has fallen. His K rates are extremely evident of this.

QUOTE(iguchi=dank @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:57 AM) sad thing is we can be mad at pablo there.. but would anyone on this team have done better? .. Hitting is not a strenth anymore for us Fixed QUOTE(Jimbo @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:58 AM) Pods is the worst batter I have ever seen against lefties. How soon people forget Jose Valentin.

QUOTE(ottawa_sox @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:52 AM) I find it amusing that we are considering that Ozzie needs to be more demonstrative. I think he has often treaded a fine and effective line when it comes to overdoing it .......... to the point where nobody listens. I am sure he feels that a giant rant at the moment might backfire, especially if it serves no purpose. Personally, I think he has shown himself to be incedibly intuitive as far as when to push the buttons and when not to. I trust his decision making. Have you considered that nobody could get this team going at the moment. Would it surprise that many people if, despite the way they are playing, they turned things around. Perhaps he feels that he needs to be supportive at this difficult time, rather than assuming the scolding parent. Screw motivating...how about better strategizing? We seem determined to let the other team's best players consistently beat us with 2 outs.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:52 AM) . THe question is who do we replace, Freddy or Buehrle. I'd love to think we could move Freddy for prospects but thats a sign of a team giving up and I don't think Kenny is willing to do that. I'm convinced Freddy got fat and lazy over the off-season and thats why his velocity is down. In Buehrles case he can't locate and his velocity is a bit down as well, but he has had success for an extended period this year and I'd prefer to be on him re-figuring things out. No matter if we trade Garcia now or in the offseason, I don't think we're going to get much for him at all. I'm all for trading him this weekend, and opening up the position for McCarthy. That type of shake up could really wake up the team, and make them know that no one's role is safe.

This is a situation where Anderson has to shorten his swing.

So Hawk....if our offense isn't going to keep up their productivity all season, and the pitching staff has shown no overall signs of improvement, why is KW not upgrading the offense?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:41 AM) Can Ozzie please try to be agressive. This team has been so fishing passive the past few weeks its disgusting. Our fastest and best base stealer has reached based twice tonight and he's yet to run. He even had a few pitches that got in the dirt (one of which he should have been on 2nd on) where he didn't attempt anything either. Our offense is in a funk so find other ways. Use hit and runs to force the hitters to shorten the swing and use right field (not to mention put pressure on the defense) and try to steal to get your guys in scoring position so you just need one single as opposed to a couple strung in there. We can't just sit back and wait for the HR. I don't give two spiffs what a stat guru will tell me about it being dumb to run in front of Thome or Paulie because they can hit HR's, fact of the matter is right now we ain't hitting hr's so you got to push and find other ways to create offense. Ozzie stop sitting on your ass and start making some agressive calls. Thats what we hired you for, we didn't hire you to sit around and start calling an American League style of baseball (which I consider sub-par baseball because it has no creativity or art and it tends to fail in the playoffs...look at how the Angels, Marlins, White Sox have all succeeded in recent years playing another style). Ozzie's best asset (by far), is his ability to motivate his team. Whether or not it's the players fault, he massively failing at getting these players "up" for the game.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:42 AM) Are hawk and DJ advocating a trade for tejada? He'd be the best possible addition this team could make.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:42 AM) Too bad he couldn't realize this before unloading Lumsden. Terrible trade. We might as well start MacDougal now, and take advantage of him being healthy.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:40 AM) I don't rip on PK very often, but that's just BS coming from a guy of his caliber. He's got to get that run in. fk me. He used to be such a professional hitter at the plate. Now, he's in complete pull mode. All he does is either K, homer, pop up to the right side, or hit a weak grounder to 3rd base.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:39 AM) The offense was so due for a long tough stretch. Most of their numbers are still better that what you could have reasonably expected. If they hit like their career norms the first half of the season, KW would be the #1 seller on the trade market. And that's why I hated the stupid argument that we shouldn't worry about our starting pitchers, as they'll revert back to their career numbers. Ummm....wouldn't that mean our hitters would revert back also?

This is absolutely awful. It's amazing how we finds way to actually look worse from one game to the next. Maybe it's time to put Dye 4th, and PK 5th in the order. I don't get why we seem afraid to make changes.

PK has turned into Rob Deer. Our bad base running is going to cost us another run.

Nice swings by Thome. You can tell you're in a slump when there's a big play, and you still manage to mess it up a little.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:33 AM) I'll hold the players responsible, since they're the ones ultimately responsible for getting the job done. Everyone sucks right now. If the "team" doesn't pick it up, they're going to be awfully disappointed with how this season ends.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:30 AM) I've thought of that, and wonder if they would give him that much more velocity. I doubt it. Man, our hitters are taking a ton of strikes, and swinging at balls.

Last year, McCarthy was a huge spark plug for the team. We were slumping when he made a big start at Texas, and his great performance got this team back on the right track. However, by the time he'd be ready to throw 100 pitches in a game, we might be 5 or 6 games back.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:26 AM) Ozzie needs to try something. His response so far has basically been *yawn* "so what?" And his team is playing the same way. Maybe he should act like this is unacceptable and light a fire under them. That's what he gets paid for, isn't it? That what he's supposed to be good at. Because he sure as hell isn't good at the in-game part of managing. Don't worry, he'll be fired up next time we play at Texas.

THE CURSE OF THE WIDGE!

QUOTE(bulokis @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:22 AM) I dont know why we dont shake this lineup by adding new people, trading our under achievers and get some young blood in here. Its not like last year that we are so worried about our chemistry. I think we can all agree this team needs a spark. We look unbelievably old and slow on the field.

If we do shake up the roster, I hope it's with guys that are signed beyond this season. I honestly wonder if giving up someone like Garcia, for below market value, might change the complexion of this team.

QUOTE(iguchi=dank @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:19 AM) Magglio fishin rocked liriano to the wall, scored both runners. The atmosphere and confidence levels of these 2 teams is so different than our sox. sad Don't forget that the Yankees are winning also.

Garcia is just brutal. When you have no velocity, your breaking ball doesn't get the hitter off-balanced.

Is it possible for a team to be terrible at every aspect of the game?

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 12:11 AM) they seem to be very stubborn on some points, and the starting pitchers is the biggest Plain and simple, if these 5 starters don't improve, we're done. McCarthy won't be taking the spot of anyone in the rotation this year.