fathom

QUOTE(greg775 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 04:02 AM) I agree. This has been our first real real slump. The reason we are not going to survive it is the Tigers and Twins win every series. There has been no margin for error and one critical slump is probably enough to doom us unless we get our pitching together soon and battle for the wild card. It's not like our bullpen has been dominant. If it wasn't Vaz it woulda been Cotts or Riske getting lit the way it's been going. We need to be the team beating the Twins/Tigers. We play them more in the 2nd half of the season than anyone else. It's time to nut up or shut up.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 04:01 AM) ever heard of a position change? Yeah....in the wild card standings this week at the Cell.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:59 AM) Then looks like 3 way. We get Soriano and Lee, Washington gets McCarthy and Fields goes to Milwaukee. We then flip Carlos Lee to the Mariners for Soriano and a prospect or for JJ Putz. DAMMIT IM A JEANYUS!!! R. Soriano has some injury issues right now. If we need to trade for another reliever, then the MacDougal trade was pointless. BTW, I predict now that we're going to despise MacDougal.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:56 AM) I would much rather trade Fields and Broadway for Soriano than any trade involving McCarthy. I think Fields stock is at an all time high, but I really think he's going to have trouble hitting major league pitching, at least for a long while. I have never been high on Broadway, I think he's a back of the rotation guy at best. I'd try to give up less, but if that what it took to keep him away from Detroit and Minnesota, I would do it, although you really should worry about Minnesota more at this point, and they are after CLee. Yep, if it's Fields/Broadway for Soriano, you do it. Broadway will likely struggle to have success at the Cell, and as you said, Fields stock will never be higher.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:49 AM) Soriano is exactly what we dont need right now. Sure its fun to have the power in the middle of the line up, but we need bullpen help bad more then anything. If Vas can only go 5 innings, let him and bring in someone else. Soriano wouldnt be an upgrade on defense either. Yeah, our bullpen has really been killing us lately. That damn Bobby Jenks can't be trusted. BTW, Flash Gordon has been brutal for the Phillies lately. Our bullpen is fine....I just wish Ozzie trust them as much as our underachieving starters.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:43 AM) Jas this is not the first time this has happened. This is not a lets tip our hat to the opposing offense moments here. We have a pattern. To me, Javy is the same thing as our 5th starter is to the 2004 team. He is an autoloss. I bet our team was waiting around for him to detonate. You definitely get this feeling that the team is sitting around waiting for something bad to happen. I don't think this trade deadline madness is going to help anything either.

QUOTE(Frozen_Rope @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:40 AM) I guess I'm just a typical Sox fan. I watched every pitch of the playoffs and World Series last year and I can't seem to get my mind around how bad our team is right now. We have a stronger lineup and with the addition of Javier Vasques, we were "supposed" to have a stronger staff. WHAT HAPPENED?! Oh well, I still have the Bears. We had a lot of pitchers have career years, and our bullpen was absolutely sensational. Also, we had a lot of luck last season. That's not to say we were lucky to win it all, but we're seeing this year how the Tigers seem to be catching all the breaks.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:25 AM) There is something very wrong with his line of thinking. He should be getting a lot more crap over this line of thinking than he does. The more the Sox lose, the more people will begin to question Ozzie's strategy (in the media). I'm confident in predicting that if this happens, there will be more than one Ozzie media blow-up. Why can't we just win the rest of our games, and let Ozzie look like a genius.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:23 AM) I really can't blame Ozz. Its hard to listen to the stats that say Javy can't get guys out late in the games, when he throws so dominant and had barely been hit for 5 innings. You and I disagreed on this in the thread, but I think we can both agree that if it's a similar situation in his next start, he needs to get pulled before too much damage can be done. We're facing the Twins bullpen...it's not like the KC bullpen where we can afford to fall behind and then catch up.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:17 AM) Nope this will repeat again. I guarentee that Javy will be cruising through, and will hit the 6th, Ozzie will think he finally got over the hump. And then 7 runs later we lose. I had to follow the game online tonight, and was comforted knowing Ozzie had Cotts warming up in the 6th inning. Will someone please explain to me why he wasn't brought in to face Morneau?

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:01 AM) Ozzie is managing the same way he did last year. He's going to do some ridiculous things but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after 2005. We've had a number of players underachieving, or just simply playing like spiff, so I'm going to put the blame on them. This goes for any manager.....when your starting pitchers are overachieving and doing great, it's a lot easier to manage. QUOTE(daa84 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 03:04 AM) this is the first time i really have come on here and said that ozzie is to blame for something...but the decision to pitch to mauer in the 6th was one of the most blatant examples of mismanaging ive seen in quite some time.....3-1 count, runners on 2nd and third, a guy hitting .380 at the plate and you pitch to him??? If it was Matt Stairs, he would have walked him.

This offense certainly could use a boost. The whole team is just going through the motions. All I know is that when your offense is struggling, and you face a team with a great bullpen, you need to manage with a greater since of urgency. Vazquez has now allowed 35 runs in 30 innings after 75 pitches.

No matter what happens, it's Leyland.

A manager is only as good as his player's execution though. If your team can't get a hit with RISP to save their life, you're going to lose a lot of games. I'm not going to get started on his use of Vazquez though. I don't understand why our worst starter has the longest leash.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 02:06 AM) Nice 3-1 big fat "hit me" pitch by Cotts there. This is why Minnesota has been winning and the Sox haven't lately, they execute when they have opportunities. Sox don't, on either side of the ball ... either bad pitches or failure to come thru with the clutch hit. The Twins and Tigers are playing superior baseball to us. When Tyner and Punto are looking like Rod Carew at the plate, you know things are going right. It's real simple...either we start playing better, or we won't make the playoffs. The last thing we can afford to do is fall 3 or 4 games behind the Twins. As was shown in the past, it's very hard to make up games on a team where 2/5 of the rotation is nasty.

I think Vaz could actually resemble Shields if he was a 2 inning reliever, but I'm sure we won't do it.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 01:57 AM) I've never seen his 2 seamer look so crisp, he was blowing it right by hitters. Then he hit the 6th and it all went to spiff. Once I saw on yahoo that Punto led off the 6th with a single, it really was deja vu from the Tigers game all over again.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 01:56 AM) So what's worse, the Vazquez trade or the Todd Ritchie trade? Too early to tell. There's still some hope for Vazquez, and we don't know how good Young will become. The thing I don't get is that after focusing on getting winning, grinder type players, we brought in someone notorious for not being a "winner". Damn that golf tournament that Ozzie and Vazquez were at.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 01:54 AM) Can someone give Ozzie a brain transplant? Javy had no business finishing the 6th, much less starting the 7th. It was clear that he was done, as he was in his last start. And yet Ozzie lets him start a new fire in the 7th. Ozzie isn't a horrible manager, but this kind of decision (which is makes too often) is pure incomptence. Leaving him in after the Cuddyer homer goes against the way that Ozzie has managed his struggling guys in the past.

Terrible...simply terrible. According to good baseball people like jason, he had his good stuff again tonight. It's so disturbing that he's had great stuff the last two games, and still had his typical 3rd time thru problems.

How can Vazquez get the win if he's still not out there?

BTW, Vazquez has given up 33 ER in 30 innings this year after pitch 75.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 01:49 AM) Why is Gload in the lineup? Is Dye hurt? Isn't Makowiak a better corner OF option? Dye probably got the day off cause he looked bad against Padilla, even though Padilla has had his number all year. Dye had struggled against Radke in his career, but he's hit a couple of homers against him the last few times we've faced him. I have absolutely no clue why Mackowiak isn't playing in RF over Gload. He's better in every single aspect.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 01:45 AM) Ditto And where did our offense go? It's homer or nothing. In July, we're actually 2nd in all of baseball in homers hit. However, our offense has struggled the last few weeks. This is the last negative thing I'll say about the Vazquez debacle...no one makes a lead disappear quicker than Vazquez.

I just want to know why Ozzie had Cotts warming up if he didn't intend to use him?