ZoomSlowik

Losing 3 out of 4 against the A's kind of sucks, I'm really mad at Esteban right now. But the two in Texas don't scare me too much. Their pitchers in that series aren't that great. We do get Lee and Sabathia in Cleveland, but we have Buehrle and Garcia going against them. I can easily see us taking 3 of those 4. These games aren't as important as when we play Minnesota after that.

He pitched okay today. He was ahead in the count pretty regularly today, which he hasn't done much recently. However, he still threw some bad pitches, especially with two strikes. The Dye double and the Crosby homer were with two strikes, and I think Dye's other double was with two strikes also. He really needed to get out of the 6th inning with the lead, and he failed at that miserably. For someone trying to get a decent sized contract next year, he's really pitching poorly. I agree with you on his pitch selection, I don't see a lot of breaking balls of any kind.

I can't really blame the offense today. They got 3 runs against one of if not the toughest starter in the AL. We gave him a 3-1 lead going into the 6th. If he can't at least get out of that inning, it's his own damn fault. And this is the guy that wants a $9 mil contract? He Gawn.

Not a chance Lidge gets traded. He's kicking serious ass in is making less than $500 grand. Pettite is doubtful also, he's had a couple of DL stints this year and is locked up for a long time for a lot of money. There really aren't a whole lot of pitchers out there, that's why we jumped on Garcia. Benson is the only decent starter that will definitely be there, we aren't even sure Johnson will be.

Kip Wells doesn't equal Kip Wells of last year. Plus he's in the National League. I doubt he would do that well if he had to face real #9 hitters again. Who someone was traded for doesn't really mean anything. Teams make terrible deals all the time, especially when they are trying to win. I got nothing against trading for RJ, I just think giving up two everyday players is way too much. To quote Brando from a while ago "Why should they get everything they want?! He's a 40 year old starter with some injury risks, has lost some of his skills, and has a ridiculously large contract."(sorry if that is a little off Brando). I really think that taking guys off of your roster is counterproductive. We give ourselves a much better rotation, but then we create 5th starter problems again, and then we suddenly need a CF. The only guys on the current squad I would deal are Crede, Borchard, Timo, Gload, Harris, Shoney, and anyone in the pen not named Takatsu or Marte. I realize that these guys don't have a ton of value, but I think dealing anyone else would really hurt.

I'm not exactly thrilled with Everett, but I guess he's better than nothing. There aren't a whole lot of proven hitters out there. The only one's that definitely might be available are Finley(not entirely thrilled with him either) or Beltran(he'll cost way too much). If we can get Palmeiro or Cattalanato, or someone along those lines, I would feel much better. Another problem is that Everett doesn't really have a place once Thomas comes back. We can't put him in the outfield(in my book he's about a draw with Gload). I'd try to wait until the deadline to see what other players will be there.

I think we will make the playoffs because our division is awful. The Twins rotation is even worse then ours, and most of their hitters are terrible this year. Plus the second half schedule is greatly in our favor. My problem with this question is define "deep" in the playoffs. Is winning a series "deep", or do we need to go to the series? In my book, they need to make the series. I think they can win in the first round if they play Texas or Boston, but the way they are playing right now, I'm not so sure about Oakland or New York(much as I think their rotation is weak, they have a pretty good lineup and pen). I think our chances of winning go up a ton if we get Johnson(I still think this is a longshot) or a solid on base guy like Kendall. Of course if Frank is back in Mid-September, my belief is we have a decent to good chance of winning a series.

I think some of your conclusions about Garland are a little off. Obviously numerous people felt he had some talent since he was a first round pick by another team who has some pretty good pitchers. I remember, he had a really big curve when he was drafted, but IIRC the Sox wanted him to stop throwing it because it wasn't effective in games and he couldn't control it. He threw some pretty good breaking balls in his last start, specifically to Crosby(not sure why he went to the high fastball, that's another post) He may only hit 93, but he has good movement on the fastball. That's often more important than the gun reading. Two prime examples: Billy Koch getting rocked when he was still hitting about 96 on the gun, and Shingo kicking ass when he is hitting 87. The Sheets comparison really isn't that far off. Both of them were highly regarded prospects that haven't done so hot in there first few years. Sheets didn't always throw this hard either. I read an article in SI that said he was usually at 91 last year, but added 5 MPH in the offseason. Maybe Garland won't take a massive step like Sheets, but he is starting to look good. As much as we b****, his ERA is better than a whole lot of pitchers, he's right around 60th in all of baseball, which would make him one of the better third starters. I'd rather not trade a guy who is going to be at worst a decent 4th starter for a while for a short term guy, no matter how good that player is. I'd also rather not depend on Shoney as our 5th starter. He started out well, but he has really sucked in his last few starts. He allowed at least 4 runs in each of his last five starts, and didn't go very deep. I'd rather not deal with the 5th starter issues again. I'd rather give up an extra prospect or two than deal Garland. By the way, since when is a 93 MPH fastball "mediocre"? The Sox have, what, 4 pitchers that can throw that hard? Hell, the Yankees probably have like 5.

There's a reason he was still in AAA at the age of 27. As was mentioned, he doesn't have much range, speed, or power. If he isn't hitting, he doesn't have much value. Uribe is faster and stronger, has more range, a better arm, and is only 24. He's probably not as good a contact hitter, but he offers a lot more.

Why in God's name would we give up that much? It's clear that they are under more pressure to make a deal since Randy will only agree to go to a few teams, an most of them won't give up a whole lot. The Angels have more ammo, but probably won't deal MacPhearson. The rest of the teams certainly won't give them two regulars on their team, or if you equate that to prospects, 3 studs(unless the Cubss somehow get involved, which I doubt). The deal that seems most likely(Yankees) centers around Robinson Cano and Dionar Navarro. So how do we suddenly have to give up two guys on the major league roster and prospects, for a 40 year old starter who will be here for a year and a half, tops, that will make our payroll skyrocket? I'd love to have the Big Unit if he would agree to come here, but damn, we don't need to give up that much to beat the other offers. A package centering around Borchard and Rauch with Munoz/Diaz and/or Anderson/Sweeney should be more than enough.

We faced better pitchers in the Seattle series than we did in the Anahiem series. Piniero and Moyer both have a lot more talent, and have generally produced better. As for the Cubs, when we face a team without Maggs or Thomas with the pitcher batting, just about any pitcher is going to slow us down. None of those things will happen in the AL playoffs. I've made my views known about the staffs of the other probable playoff teams. Just for fun, I'll go 1 by one on the 5 teams we would be most likely to see(I'm not counting Minnesota, since I doubt they would get the Wildcard if we make it): 1) A's- could be a major problem, especially considering the last two games and that they are without Hudson. Hudson and Mulder are deadly, Zito, Harden, and Redman can all come up with solid starts. However, we aren't exactly hitting well, and Zito and Harden came up with solid starts, neither of them have done it consistently. Harden scares me as a potential pitcher out of the pen though. However, if our offense can put up 4 runs(that's not a whole lot, mind you) I think our chances would be good, because their offense is not stellar and their pen has had some problems. 2) Red Sox- Schilling and Martinez are an issue. Schilling is a stud, but there have been some chinks in Pedro's armor. He doesn't go deep into games much anymore, he's been pretty inconsistent in his starts, and he doesn't have as much zip on his fastball as he used to, making him more vulnerable. The rest of their starters are a collection of crap. Unless Lowe really straightens things out or Wakefield's knuckleball baffles us, we can definitely beat these guys. 3) Yankees- Vasquez is a stud, but the rest are a bit of a question mark. Brown is a pretty good starter when he is healthy, but that doesn't happen very often. He hasn't really been a stud that can alter a series in a while. Mussina has sucked this year. We are complaining about how bad Loaiza has been, Mussina has been even worse. Hernandez or Contreras would also have to start, and they have all kinds of problems. El Duque has pitched one game in two years, and probably isn't dependable, and Contreras has had all kinds of problems. They also have some problems getting to the back end of their pen, which has been stellar. As long as the Sox staff doesn't get pounded they should compete, and I don't think the Yanks offense is THAT good to be able to put up 6 or more every game. 4) Angels- Not a very good rotation at all. They are depending heavily on Washburn and Colon, which has not worked out. If Colon doesn't get back to his old form, they are in major trouble. 5) Texas- Their only two starters that have been effective are Drese and Rogers, neither of which are the kind of guys you worry about in the playoffs. Their pen looks pretty solid, but they really aren't a pitching threat. In summary, in my book Oakland is the only staff that I would be worried about is the A's. The Red Sox and the Yankees would create tough series, but that's true about anyone in the playoffs. All of these teams are far from unbeatable. Basically, let's worry about it when we get there.

Wow, something that happened 4 years ago has a huge impact on the current team 11-8 is just fine. Asking for any more than that is just ridiculous. A AAA team would probably win at least 3 games just on dumb luck. There's no reason that we need to bury them. They're a 3rd place team that is probably going to drop off unless their pitchers step up big time. Minnesota isn't going to be dominating any of these teams, especially the way they have been playing recently. We have bigger fish to fry then the Tigers. As long as we don't lose the series, we'll be fine.

I think it has less to do with where the game is than the pitchers they are facing. I'm not going nuts yet. It may be a problem if we face them in the playoffs, but considering we got medicore at best starts from Garland and Buehrle and our offense in not hitting well right now, I'm not ready to jump yet. I'll be really interested to see how Garcia and Loaiza do. I think Garcia will be fine, and I'm hoping E-Lo steps it up. That would ease a lot of my concerns.

We still won the series. Those few extra losses didn't do it, even assuming that the Twins won on all of those days. It was the losses against the Twins. That sweep in early October killed the season. We've killed the Twins so far, so I'm feeling much better. In the end, the Tigers' pitching still sucks, I-Rod is good but not this good, and Guillen is a .276 career hitter that is currently hitting way over that. Other than that it is the same team. We got better by switching Garcia for Colon and Takatsu for Koch. The only guy I really wish we had back from last year is Gordon. In the end, a team that is 3 games under .500 just doesn't strike as much fear in my heart as others. I'm much more worried about how we do against Minnesota the rest of the year, since those losses hurt a lot more.

Do you really think Guillen and I-Rod are going to keep hitting .325 and .363? I highly doubt it. Plus we are more likely to put up 5 or 6 runs against their pitching staff. I have no doubt we will win at least 10 against Detroit. By the way, IIRC, we still won 12 games against Detroit last year. That's not exactly kicking us around.

I understand your point, I'm just trying to be a smart ass . I think we can find better options than someone hitting .250. I think Kendall might be the answer, or maybe Cattalanato if we can get him.

I agree, but I really wish we could take advantage of the situation. Can we please give Borchard more than 15 at bats before we cruxify him? I think the bigger culprits right now are Ordonez and Valentin. Ordonez has a couple of hits, but doesn't look like himself yet, and Jose hasn't done much in a while. I think for now, we really need to keep Rowand in the lineup, we can't afford to give up outs with Timo or Gload in the outfield, especially since they are weaker defensively(I guess we can throw Harris in here too). It'd also be nice to see Uribe or Harris start about 5 games a week instead of always shuffling. My vote is Uribe, since he seems to offer more as a defender, even if he isn't hitting.

Detroit and KC do not worry me because their pitching is terrible. Even Texas doesn't worry me a ton, although considerably more than the other two. Teams like Oakland and Cleveland worry me a lot more because they have several pitchers that can shut us down. I think our pitching is decent right now. Considering that Garland and Buehrle didn't have their best stuff, we still only allowed 9 runs in two games. I wouldn't mind another good arm in the pen, but I wouldn't get a starter unless we could get someone like Johnson. I'm still don't think the sky is falling when it comes to our offense. Another stick would be nice, but I try not to use games against the Oakland staff as a guage on our offensive ability, otherwise pretty much everyone needs offense. I'd like to see what happens when we play a lesser staff in Texas before we do something rash.

He's got 2 homers in 37 games. That's not a whole lot of power.

Delgado's agent came out and said he will not waive his no trade clause. Beltran is going to cost a ton, and I don't think it will help THAT much. We already see what a bunch of guys hitting between .270 and .300 with power and not a whole lot else can do. We can see with what is happening in Houston that he can't carry a struggling offense. Besides, I doubt Maggs is going to react well if we ask him to DH the rest of the year. Kendall is starting to look good.

Take a look at the league, there are only 6 teams that are 10 games over. We're six games over despite the fact that we have played like s*** against solid teams like the Cubs and A's. I know these last couple games have been disheartening, but as Whitesox says, our schedule the rest of the year isn't all that tough. Plus, it's not like we faced two scrubs on the mound the last two games. Our lineup sucks right now, but what do you expect when Maggs is still getting back in a groove after and injury and Jose is sucking? Paulie and Lee can't do everything. A lot of teams have holes in their lineup. Even the all powerful Yankees have problems in center and at second, and the way Giambi is playing now first is a hole too. I know we need to play better against teams like the A's, but a lot of teams have trouble against their staff.

I agree(in fact, that is pretty much what I said). I don't expect us to do much more than split most of these series on the west coast. Oakland, Anaheim, and Texas are playing pretty well, and two of them are just awesome at home. I just don't want to see this 1-for or sweeps that have happened in the past. I really don't think we are going to lose all of them again. In fact, our last two in Oakland were pretty close, and we would have won one of those for sure if it wasn't for the since departed Koch.

I don't know about all of that. They did get hosed on that double play call, but Garland could not spot his fastball that inning, or most of the game. There were a few close calls, but it just seemed like his stuff wasn't that sharp tonight. I wish he would have thrown some more breaking balls that inning instead of stubbornly trying to throw that two seamer. He threw some good breaking balls, but it was clear that fastball or whatever it was that moved away from the lefties just wasn't getting him anywhere.

Regardless of tonight's loss, I'm still not overly concerned about this series. I thought tonight was either a rout in our favor or a tough, close game like it was, since Harden is very inconsistent but has good stuff. I think we can still get a split. Zito and Redman are decent but not great starters, and I like our chances with Buehrle and Garcia going those two games. I just hope Loaiza can get his s*** together for the last one, because Mulder is tough.

I thought he pitched pretty well. I didn't see a whole lot of pitches down the middle, except for some high fastballs and a couple of changeups(or whatever his breaking ball is) that we took. We swung at some bad ones, but for the most part he was spoting his fastball pretty well, and when a guy can do that while throwing anywhere from 94-98 with some movement, it's going to be tough on the hitters.