BainesRules

A lot of fans on here seem to think if you're negative, you're not a real fan. Well guess what, I am a bigger fan than almost any of you, and I am 100% positive this team will finish in 3rd place and out of the playoffs. I will continue to follow and cheer for them, as I have for the last 25 years, but I'm not going to be some blind optimist. This is hands down the most disappointing season in all my years as a Sox fan. I would much rather watch a team of prospects lose 95 games and show improvement and promise each month, than a defending champ with a big payroll and talent "on paper" that will underachieve to 88 wins, well out of the playoffs, and limp towards many more 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the next several years (or worse if Cleveland gets it together and Liriano stays healthy). As great as the WS win was last year, we needed another playoff team this year, and probably the next, to ensure the popularity of the Sox. Why is that important? You so-called diehards may claim that you don't want a bunch of bandwagon Cubs fans going to games and buying hats. But guess what, the next time the Sox draw 15,000 a game and noone cares or knows about them except your fellow posters, don't complain when Jerry and his management group can't afford a decent free agent. Kenny, the formula is simple. Less power hitters, and more complete players. You got it right last year - smart ball. Some power, some speed, players who care and show emotion (Paulie and Jermaine-can you act like Tori Hunter and show that this game means something to you?) and lots of defense and pitching. I think this will be the sixth straight year of 200 plus home runs as a team. And what do most of those teams have in common? They'll be watching the postseason on tv just like the rest of us.

Hey everyone, frequent visitor but infrequent poster here. Last year I got flamed after posting a rant about how I hate being a White Sox fan while they looked like they were going to give the division to Cleveland. We all know how the season worked out, so thought I'd try it again. This team is the most disappointing team in history. First, I wanted Politte cut, and he was cut. Then I wanted Widger cut, and he was cut. Now, I want every pitcher not named Jon, Neal, or Brandon cut, and that's just too much salary. Jon Garland is our best starter, and Joe Crede is our best hitter. We are the Devil Rays without the glamour. All I know is this: Pods still does a lot of little things noone on this board recognizes and the fans and media are about to have him run out of town...Thome hits more meaningless homers than anyone in Chicago since Steroid Corky Sosa...Mark is a head case...Freddy, I won't say it since you pitched seven strong in the greatest game of our lifetimes...Javy, you must be a Republican party contributor because you are getting away with stealing tens of millions...and Paulie, you're the freaking captain of the world champs, try some Rogaine and date a supermodel. Now that that's out of the way, I feel better, but seriously, we need dump Freddy, Javy, and every prospect to land Dontrelle Willis and Jason Schmidt (the offense and bullpen are fine), or dump Freddy, Javy, Mark, Thome (while he's hot), and Crede (I'm sorry Joe Clutch), stack up the farm system, and put up with 3 100 loss seasons while we wait for gravity to catch up with the Tigers and Liriano and Santana turn into Wood and Prior. Flame away-we'll turn this thing around. GO SOX.

I am a frequent visitor to the boards, but rarely post. As a long time White Sox fan, I have been conditioned to fear the worst. However, I believe we have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs. In fact, I will be shocked at this point if we even match last seasons win total. Am I alone; am I crazy; does anyone else have any optimism left. I always try to change loyalties; I wish I could give up Sox fandom and become a Yankees fan, so I can cheer for a winner, but no matter how hard I try, I always find myself going straight to stories on the Sox. Forgive my unfocused rant, but I am just trying to make sense of why I keep wasting my time rooting for a team that will never, ever amount to anything better than second place.

I know not crying about losing, being cursed, etc., is a matter of pride for a lot of White Sox fans. But if the media gets behind a White Sox curse, that would be the best possible thing that could happen to this team. What would the curse do for us? Attention, fans, and REVENUE. The supposed curses on the Cubs and Red Sox have led to them becoming among the most popular sports franchises nationally. MLB runs the league like a junior high popularity contest now. The Red Sox have their World Series, and I bet the Cubs have one within five years. I haven't lived in Chicago for many years, and I am always running into Cubs and Red Sox fans. I have not met one single White Sox fan since leaving Chicago! Why is this important? Two reasons: (1) Teams with fans and media coverage get better attendance and higher merchandise revenues. It would be a lot tougher for the ownership group to claim they are operating with a tight budget when kids in Nebraska are wearing Shingo jersies and the Cell is drawing 3 million fans a year. (2) The best players want to play for the glamour teams, like the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Braves, and now the Red Sox, and sadly, the Cubs. What do you think is going through the Adrian Beltre's mind right now-I can stay for a division winner with a huge payroll and national following or I can play for the White Sox and be buried in the back pages of the Cubune's Sports Page. Would it cheapen a World Series victory if we shared it with a bunch of bandwagon fans? I don't care if I'm the only one in the bar who remembers the player behind my user name as long as I'm watching the White Sox win the World Series.

I have to agree with a lot of the original post. As long time Sox fans, we have all become conditioned to hope for the best but expect the worst. Just like every year since 2000, I allowed myself to buy into the hype, only to have my hopes dashed. The bottom line is that the Twins are a better team. I don't care about individual talent. For all this talk about individual talent, the Twins have been beating up on us for three years in a row. I find it funny that all the Sox and us fans do is complain about Torrie Hunter and what a dirty play that was. Ozzie actually defended Hunter's actions and said not only was it not dirty, it's the way the game should be played. That's the way the Twins play, and that's why they keep winning the division. And this core of Sox players has had too long to prove that they are willing to play just as hard. Yeah, it's true that 3 1/2 games out going into August isn't unreasonable. But watching this last series, it wouldn't matter if we had a 3 1/2 game lead, because the Sox are a defeated team now. And with the way the Indians are playing, we'll be lucky to finish second. I hope I'm wrong about all of this, but recent history doesn't give me much faith. I say keep Ozzie, keep his staff, keep KW (I applaud his proactive approach), dump the players, and load up the farm system with speed, defense and pitching (and get new development people-I'm sick of all these can't miss prospects hitting .220 or having an ERA over 5).

Sadly, I have more faith in Rauch as a starter than anyone else on the staff. Entire pitching staffs don't suffer from deadball for over 2 weeks when it's still June.

Looks like KW needs to get us another starter. I think that brings the total to 5. Why do we have to go in the tank at the same time that the Cubs are getting hot?

Ultimately, this is a moot discussion because the Flubs will not be going yard in our house! And in the unlikely event they do, no, we should NOT throw the ball back.

It's too early to panic, but it's not too early to analyze the current roster. With the weak competition in the Central, the Sox have enough to win the division (which they will need to do, because there are too many other tough squads to think about the Wild Card). However, with no dominant starters, and only two reliable ones, the Sox have no chance in the postseason. As a newbie, I know I will get trashed for this, but if at all possible, we need to trade Maggs for two quality starting pitchers. This will shore up the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation, and then we can kick Shoey back to the bullpen, where he belongs. And the bottom line is, we don't need Maggs. The offense is one of the best in baseball without him, and I don't know where all of this "Maggs is our best hitter, he's a superstar" talk came from. He is a very good player. He is not a superstar. When he can put up Vlad numbers, or Manny Ramirez numbers, or even Frank numbers, then we can talk. But if he hasn't been able to make that leap to the next level yet, I don't think he's ever going to, and his trade value can bring this team what it needs, and that is starting pitching!