Kalapse

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 27, 2009 -> 04:43 PM) If Fields continues to improve as he has the last few games, I'm guessing that means either Fields will be traded, or the Sox have a tough call to make. I personally would rather, if Fields does indeed continue to improve, that they play Beckham at Short where he belongs (remember, his weakness in the scouting reports was his arm and defense generally), and move Alexei to CF. I realize I'm in the minority on this, but, I think it would have been better to either send Fields down a few weeks ago, or to stick it out now that he's showing signs of life. Right now is the exact wrong time for this. Flame away. .375/.375/.438/.813 over his last 16 PA and he's only struck out in a quarter of them!

Wow, I didn't think he'd ever play for Charlotte. I just assumed he'd jump right to the pros when his time came.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 27, 2009 -> 04:12 PM) He's 32. He's no more than a big name (with a big contract) at this point in his career. So what happened over his final 21 starts last year when he threw 139.2 IP, 1.87 BB/9, 7.22 K/9, 3.86 K/BB, 0.52 HR/9, 2.51 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and a .225/.270/.310/.585 against? That includes a 32.1 IP scoreless streak in early September in which he threw back to back shutouts. Those are some pretty gaudy numbers for a #3 starter.

The Diamondbacks aren't going to pay a quarter of Eric's Byrnes' remaining salary for that package. The point was also made earlier that putting Dan Haren on the market would garner much more realistic interest in teams compared to Peavy, given the increased competition for Haren and the fact that they don't HAVE to trade him you're likely going to have to blow them away to get them interested in your offer.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 27, 2009 -> 03:57 PM) I'd gladly eat the rest of Byrnes terrible contract if it helped us get Haren. Byrnes only has 1 year left on his contract, and while 11 million is a lot for a 4th OF who was likely a juicer, getting Haren in the process would be worth it. That $11M could very well get you a very good player on a 2 year deal this offseason, I also don't think the Sox are in a financial position to pay Byrnes' salary. $11M is a huge chunk of this team's payroll.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 27, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) Just think, a few more losses and we could have been holding Pedro Alvarez and his .784 OPS in high A ball. And even despite that Pedro Alvarez still has incredible trade value, a few poor months in high A ball don't overshadow his talent.

This is why I was cheering against the Sox at the end of the 2007 season. Gordon Beckham could very well be bust but RIGHT NOW if Kenny saw fit he could mark Gordon the centerpiece in a deal for a star major leaguer. The value of a top 10 pick is quite high.

Matt Wieters is getting the call. He'll be up for Friday's game vs the Tigers. Can't wait to see him in action.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 26, 2009 -> 06:38 PM) Nothing, IMO. But the concensus seems to be that because he does this weird thing at the plate (he's actually running up through the batter's box towards the pitch, like he's a 16" softball player or something), which is considered bush league, he deserves to get nailed. I don't think anything deserves a head shot, though I could see a pitcher putting one in his hip. I never said I'd bean him personally but what he's doing has been considered a no-no for a very long time, if he goes up a against a pitcher who takes offense I wouldn't be surprised if he gets one thrown at his head. Hitting him in the hip or back (he got hit yesterday) wouldn't suffice, hell that's what Pods wants. Lucky for Scott there aren't many head hunters left in the game and there's really nothing but young pitchers coming up in the next week or so, no doubt in my mind someone like Pedro Martinez would look to send a message.

QUOTE (hogan873 @ May 26, 2009 -> 09:00 AM) Yeah, I heard Hawk saying that he'll end up with a ball between the eyes or in the ear, dag gummit. I think Hawk's right on. It's going to take the right kind of pitcher but Pods is going to run up on the wrong guy and take one in the ear. What he's doing has been considered bush for a very long time.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 26, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) Peavy and Oswalt are actually best friends. So, getting Oswalt would make the Peavy trade far more possible, assuming we didn't trade the desired package... What? A man can dream, can't i? Just for fun: that would be near $70M for 8 pitchers.

The Sox actually got burned pretty bad on a "four" year deal very recently. Contreras was under contract for 2006 but the front office extended him 3 more years before the season even started, Jose then proceeded to put up a 5.40 ERA from June 1st, 2006 to present. So the Sox have gone against their philosophy a few times in recent years. It's a damn good philosophy though, the number of starting pitchers who have even come close to living up to expectations on a 4+ year deal over the past decade or so can be counted on one hand this is why I would have been ok with dealing Buehrle at the deadline in '07 instead of extending him.

QUOTE (tommy @ May 25, 2009 -> 08:09 PM) Let me add that we only trade for Figgins if we are still contending. If not, then yes, have Fields play the summer see if he can turn it around, I'm not calling him a bust just yet. Not sure of Figgins' contract status, he would do us great this year tho. He's a free agent.

I'd love to see Podsednik run up on a veteran pitcher, someone with balls. He'd hit the dirt on the next pitch. I'm confident Pedro Martinez would put one in his ear.

Just one of the reasons why Alexei in the 2 hole works. Good contact and an ability to put the ball where he wants, within reason.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 25, 2009 -> 06:39 PM) Well, it's ref***ingtarded to platoon him to start against just lefties when he's hitting them at .200 and righties at .320 so far this year. Even simpler than that: it's ref***ingtarded to platoon him when his platoon partner is a 32 year old bad baseball player and of the two Brian is the righty which means the 32 year old gets the majority of the starts.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:57 PM) How come Hawk's not getting on Pods for all the weak fly balls he's hitting? The funny thing is that Pods is showing more ability to bunt now than he ever did in 2005 and 2006. This is by far the highest his FB% has been since 2004 when he hit 12 HR. He's already popped up 5 balls on the infield, he had 12 total in 2005. He's also only gotten down only 1 bunt so far this year, he does have 7 infield hits. One more observation: his contact rate is through the dam roof (95%). This is likely a product of increased aggressiveness at the plate, he's swinging at hitable pitches rather than going deep into counts and chasing pitches out of the zone. This is evidenced by his career low pit/pa of 3.76 (below league average) this season and the fact that he's first pitch swinging in 24%, 8% higher than his career average.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 25, 2009 -> 06:07 PM) So if you were KW, you would release Wise and/or Pods and just give Anderson the job (against all pitchers) for the remainder of the season? Yes. I'd give Wise the 4th OF job and send Pods to AAA (shouldn't be a problem if he's willing to take the assignment). I don't see why a platoon is necessary or at all productive.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2009 -> 12:45 PM) Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros came in to today 3rd in MLB with a 1.83 ERA. It's up to 2.55 after a 5 run first put on him by the Reds. Actually he lowered his ERA to 1.71 after the official scorer reversed his atrocious ruling from the first inning (Tejada straight up muffed a grounder from Taveras, ruled a hit) making all 5 runs unearned. The Reds added a 6th unearned run in the 3rd.

On a positive note: can't wait to watch Danks throw tonight. He hurled 6.1 scoreless in Anaheim last year.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:46 PM) Just listen to Hawk: the Sox think Pods is doing great on offense. Nevermind his OPS around .635 and the fact he should be 0 for 4 on the bases. He's not striking out much, but he's not drawing walks either. He's hitting .268 with 2 [real] extra base hits and has displayed some atrocious baserunning, the fact that he's getting the most PA on this team is just sickening. And before anyone mentions it Pods is hitting .231/.286/.308/.593 in the leadoff spot. I feel like I'm falling back into t la-la land again just as I did at the end of spring training. It's like I'm watching a different f***ing game.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) Question: why Dotel and not Linebrink in the 8th yesterday? We're paying Linebrink a ton of money to get 3 outs in the 8th inning. He pitched the day before (18 pitches)? Aside from that I have no idea. Am I the only one who would have pulled Jenks and gone to Thornton with Niger Morgan at the plate after the game had been tied? In that situation you just have to get to the bottom of the 9th with the game still tied, Jenks didn't have it and Morgan has less than no chance against Matt's fastball.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:15 PM) just a guess BA hasn't seen Santana much in his limited career. I think only 2AB's... now he did hit one of the 2AB's out of the park, 3 years ago. Scotty Pods has seen Santana a bunch in his career, not a lot of hits, but a bunch of walks. (OBP= .375) Ok, I just checked the numbers and I'm left wondering from where you got your information. Scott Podsednik career vs Ervin Santana: 2/12 w/ 4 K, .167/.286/.167/.452, bunch of walks = 2 Brian Anderson's the only hitter on this team (sans AJ) with any real success against Santana. Pierzynski's the only one with an OPS north of .607 (.769).

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:29 PM) Cora's the one doing it tonight. From what I can tell they're pretty much interchangeable.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2009 -> 05:23 PM) Me, after yesterday's game, in the game thread. This series, we face a righty, a lefty, and then another righty. Anderson will play tomorrow and will sit the other 2 games. We'll be lucky if we get him as a defensive replacement. That's simply how it is. He also had an excellent throw to the cutoff man that resulted in Alexei catching a runner off first. Good call and I agree, I think 2006-2008 taught us a lot when it comes to the Anderson/Guillen relationship. He was hesitant to use Brian as a defensive replacement even then despite the fact that Podsednik was heading flyballs in LF and Swisher isn't a major league CF.