fathom

If Ozuna can continue to play solid 3b defense, that would be a huge boost to this team. He's one of those players that makes things happen when he's at bat. We need to do more hit-and-runs with him at the plate, as he's very good at hitting the ball on the ground.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 08:03 PM) You could be right. Minor league splits are hard to come by. I was going by personal observation on that one. I'm not worried about relief, but if Sanders is on the roster, he's in danger of being used. (I've used that line before for other players. Namely Kevin Walker, Jon Adkins, and Timo Perez -- We know how they have performed this year) Civic...you and I share the same concerns about Ozzie's use of our personnel. Anderson and Gload should be great weapons off the bench...but you know Timo will get the first shot likely. I also think Borchard should be given a few starts to see if he can swing the bat well this last month. The one thing I don't want to see is games where Ozzie starts 5 benchers (unless division race is decided). Rather, he needs to mix in one, or at the most, two bench players with our core starters.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 07:56 PM) No, I think we have 3 guys who are capable of contributing to a playoff contender. Gload, Baj, and Anderson. But from what I've seen of the player management this season, I have no reason to believe that any of them will be given a chance to contribute ahead of Timo, Sanders, and Ozuna respectively. You know Ozzie is going to use Sanders as a LOOGY in an important spot, with Neal Cotts and Marte still in the pen. Not to mention that Baj's slider appears to be more effective to lefties, and he'd probably be a better choice that Kevin Walker version 2.0. Anderson should be the first righty bat off the bench, getting the occasional start when the matchup favors him. But he'll sit and watch Ozuna and Timo make first pitch outs. Gload should get as many at-bats as is possible. I know he's not going to supplant Konerko or Jurassic, nor should he. But I fear we'll still see a line-up down the stretch with Blum at 1B and Ozuna at 3B, and that's inexcusable with Gload on the bench. (Hell it was inexcusable yesterday) I thought Baj had struggled against lefties all season? The one thing I'm not worried about is relief....as Ozzie seems to be living or dying w/his starting pitcher.

Maybe I missed it, but is Borchard getting called up?

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 07:52 PM) Casanova instead of Burke? Why? Is Casanova better on defense than Burke? That would be the only reason I could think of as a 3rd string catcher.

QUOTE(Whitesoxfan56 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 03:56 PM) We all knew that August would be a horrible month, and it was, but now it is September, and it is time to put August behind us and go out there and cheer on the best team in the AL. LETS GO SOX!!!!! Why did it have to be horrible, because we were playing good teams? If that's the case, then a playoff run isn't probable. Also, just cause you're playing good teams, it doesn't excuse the terrible execution, awful defense, and horrible managing.

You can be a fan of a team without having blind optimism. A lot of the most optimistic posters on this site are disgusted with the team in the last month. Some of the same people saying the Sox are done are the same people who were buying their White Sox World Series replica rings 2 months ago. I honestly think some people really have felt all year that this team was going to collapse if improvements weren't made (myself, Milkman, SSI, etc.), while others say things like "the Sox are done" as a defense mechanism in case they don't make it.

The one thing that's dead-on in this article: take those stupid playoff commercials off of the radio!

All I know is that when the offseason comes around, I wish there's just a thread with actual updates and tidbits of information. I have no problem with people wanting to discuss and analyze information (it is a message board!). However, it got a little difficult to follow what was actually rumor, and what was just opinion.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 06:02 AM) People want to add a bat...maybe KW already thinks the bat is in house. Podsednik off the DL perhaps, or maybe, just maybe, it is Gload. The 40-man comes into play, so Gload should come up. It's a matter of Ozzie playing him. Meaning the only time, absolutely ONLY time Geoff Blum should play is when he is backing up the guys at 2B and 3B. If KW thought Gload was the offensive answer, you can bet your ass he would have been on the MLB roster during the last few weeks. Also, since when did Blum become the whipping boy? How quick we all forget how poorly Crede was playing in August.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 05:59 AM) fathom, you're a solid poster but this should be in green right? I mean Anderson and Iguchi won the Seattle game on Friday and Bmac and Jenks combined for a CG SO of the Texas @ Texas, both games during a downturn... those are big in my book Oh yeah, very sarcastic. We've received some big time performances from rookies lately. I love the energy that Jenks and Anderson has given us recently, and of course McCarthy showed up huge last night.

Why can't the Sox ever get a rookie to have a big performance late in the season?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 05:49 AM) I agree 100%. Hell just the fact that we get to watch THIS TEAM play meaningful games this late in the season is so unbelievable. Watching the Indians game today was great, the games have more meaning, you can actually watch other games with intent because they directly affect the Sox. You look at the talent on the Indians squad, as well as their very underrated pitching staff...and you wonder how in the world this team ever got 15 games up on them. I mean that as a compliment to our players, as I honestly think the Indians are one of the 5 best teams in baseball. BTW, my "projected" 2007 starting rotation is: - Buehrle - Garland - Garcia - Cotts ( I bet we give him a shot to start games again) - McCarthy If, for some reason, these 5 guys can fill these roles, you'd have a lot of chips to use in order to attract offensive help.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 05:42 AM) I tend to agree with this, but that is the exact same thing that was said during the 2000 season. Yes, but we actually have good starting pitchers now. I also think that KW has improved greatly since that time, and even if he happens to get fired, I'm very confident that his possible replacement (you know who) would do the job.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 05:41 AM) You're scaring the s*** out of me. I'm actually enjoying reading your posts. Well, the last few days, I've taken a step back and looked at the big picture. What I see is a 2005 team that completely overachieved in the first half of the season, and is now slumping heading down the stretch. In reality, this is about a 85-90 win team. I'm just grateful that we have meaningful games for the rest of the regular season, and quite possibly the playoffs. I said this a month ago before the slump, but this Sox team being in the position they've been all season is the greatest sports surprise of my life so far (by greatest, I mean best). You look at the Cubs roster, and they're much more talented than the Sox. However, their season is already over, and the rest of the season is meaningless. How fun was it for the handful of us following the Indians game tonight?

How's this for a prediction: The 2007 White Sox team is the year we're building towards, and this year happened as a fluke. While we've had a great season so far, I don't think this team has enough to win the World Series. However, our team in 2007 should give us another great chance at competing for the World Series.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:34 AM) Sweeney/Young/Owens. Take your pick they'd be in the Cubs system tomorrow had we gotten walker. Sweeney or Young. Owens wouldn't have been enough. I was thinking someone like Honel would have been in the deal.

Buehrle would be incredible in the NL.

Well, now that it's over, I can say this: I'm happy we didn't trade for Walker. Knowing the way Hendry is, I have a feeling we would have been very upset with who we had to give up to get a rental player.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:24 AM) Neither are starters and you can argue that Blum is more valuable as a bench player but he is terrible offensively. Everyone here seems to think we'd better off with him starting yet Crede still remains a better option with two herniated discs. Blum is definitely a better offensive option than a slumping Crede. If Crede is playing decent, then he should be the everyday starter, of course. But Crede was definitely in a bad frame of mind at the plate the few weeks before he got injured.

I love having BA off the bench. The one thing we've lacked all year, besides in games where Thomas was off, was some righty power off of the bench. If there's 2 outs and we're down 1, as much as I like Ozuna, Anderson is a much better option against someone like J.C. Romero.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:20 AM) You will feel real sick to your stomach when Timo is the man that comes off the bench in the playoffs instead of someone good. It would have happened no matter who we got.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:18 AM) It's over, finally. No more speculation. I feel relieved and rejuvenated, yet at the same time I feel sick to my stomach that we couldn't get anything done. I'm definitely happy it's over with. I honestly think that all the talk (Griffey Jr.) might have been a distraction to the team. In a way, you could get the sense we kept waiting for someone else on the team to spark the offfense. Now, it's up to the team we've had all year to get it done down the stretch.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:16 AM) .206/.254/.286 Why does Blum get a pass? Because he's been able to play every single infield position. You can't find many MLB caliber players who can play all infield positions. You can find plenty of guys who could do what Timo is doing. Also, it's not like we gave up a lot to get Blum.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Sep 1, 2005 -> 04:12 AM) I was thinking the same thing...I looked at his numbers and they haven't been as bad as the hate he gets... I mean, we have high expectations for someone playing in place of crede, especially at the plate??? Blum's not the type of guy who's going to spark a team. He's very soft spoken, and not very dynamic on the field. He's very much like Crede in terms of his personality. I sure don't mind the guaranteed 0-4 that we were getting from the 3b position before the injury to Crede.