Kalapse

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 04:10 PM) Thanks. I wish we still had Iguchi to play 2B for us right now and hit 9th. He's putting up an OPS right around .600 and showing no range to either side at second for the Padres right now. From the 12 or so Padres games I've seen this season he no longer looks like a major league player but it's early yet so who knows.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 04:04 PM) Can someone fill me in on the number of times this exact lineup has been used this season? We've got to be approaching last season's total for the most frequent lineup, if we haven't passed it already. That lineup has been used 13 times now. 1. Owens 2. Iguchi 3. Thome 4. Konerko 5. Pierzynski 6. Dye 7. Mackowiak 8. Fields 9. Uribe Was used 7 times last year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 04:02 PM) I'll take Freel over what we have at 2nd base. Heck, I'd take Todd Walker over what we have at 2nd base. Trade MacDougal for him, and call it a day. Agreed.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 03:40 PM) Konerko will be with this team until the end of his contract for sure, and will be the teams full time DH in 2010 for sure. In 2009 Konerko and Swisher will begin to share time at 1B, with Swisher playing OF and Konerko being DH the other half. IMO Thome's $13 Mil option will not be picked up for 2009 and he will become a free agent and ponder retirement vs. Frank Thomas like contracts (2 Yrs-18 Mil) from the A's, M's, and O's. Thome's bat speed and presence as a premiere slugger will continue to fade all year has he struggles to keep his Avg above .260 and his HR total above 30. Konerko and Swisher could be your 3/4 combo in the batting order in 2009 and 2010. Unless of course he gets 460 more PA this season. If Thome stays healthy he'll be back.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 02:42 PM) ... if he keeps this up. If he keeps this up Francona select him as a reserve. He currently has the second highest OPS of any OF in baseball (#1 Burrell - 1.188) But yeah if he maintains a .900+ OPS, plays terrific defense, stays healthy and the Sox maintain their hold on 1st in the AL Central then I'm sure CQ will get the nod.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 02:10 PM) To be fair again...Carl Everett was batting 3rd most of the year. So instead of being capable of driving himself in every once in a while he's relying 100% on the guys behind him to knock him in. Also, instead of getting himself to second or third via the 2B or 3B he's forcing the guys behind him to take 1-3 pitches just so he can get to 2B.

A SB is not equal to 1 base. You can drive a guy in from first on a double, the same can not be said for a single and a SB. A SB is roughly equal to 3/4 of a base. Plus you have to subtract 1 base for every caught stealing, meaning those 10 CS negate 10 singles. In '05 Pods had a ~.370 OBP and 44 SB over 282 ABs in the first half of the season, that's going to make up some for a .344 SLG. Even then he only ended up scoring 80 runs that season.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/ballot_reg.html

The Sox need to start a campaign to write in Carlos.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 12:43 PM) I realize that you hate Owens, but your OPS argument is silly. OPS isn't terribly important for a base-stealing leadoff-hitter. OBP is a lot more important for somebody with his skill set. And Owens got on enough to amass 32 steals in just 356 ABs last year. IMO, he needs to get that OBP up close to .350 to hit in the leadoff spot, but it's not like he's that far away. And speaking of OPS, Anderson is about .637. Not very good for a guy who is supposed to be the next Torii Hunter. I like that Ozzie is giving him more at-bats now, but he needs to start getting on base. Well he did reach base 3 times yesterday. Also in Anderson's defense that .637 OPS was put up over 442 sporadic ABs. hell the rule of thumb is that you can't fully evaluate a hitter until he gets to 800 ABs so he's about half way there. And just because a hitter is fast doesn't mean he shouldn't be expected to pick up extra base hits. That's all OPS is, a combination of how often you get on base and how often you're getting yourself beyond first base via the basehit. So if Owens put up a .340 OBP, stole 48 bases out of 58 and slugged .320 that would be acceptable? That's not a very productive offensive player.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 11:04 AM) I think the big difference is Anderson is a backup and we don't have to suffer through it for as many at bats. Brian also has over 2700 fewer career ABs than Uribe (Brian only has 442 career ABs.) Juan is the proven commodity at this point while Brian is the 26 year old former first round pick with the potential to be a Torii Hunter type player if it someday clicks for him. If Brian ever fulfills his potential he'll without a doubt be a more valuable baseball player than Owens (in my opinion at least) it's just a matter of getting his ABs and making the most of the opportunity. He played well over the final 3 games of the Baltimore series, hopefully he can build on that.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 29, 2008 -> 02:40 AM) It's 25 plate appearances. I wouldn't get too worked up over it yet. He's also a 27 year old in his 3rd year at Birmingham. This is what he's supposed to do.

QUOTE (rowandrules83 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 11:56 PM) It may or may not interest you then to know that there is a bootleg on Youtube of the latest Dark Knight trailer Does it show Eckhart as Two-Face? If not I'm all over it.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 11:27 PM) The 1st images of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as Two-Face leaked on the internet too! I think I'm going to go out of my way to NOT see them, I'd rather leave some things as a mystery.

For as poorly as Thome has played this season he's still sporting an .842 OPS which ranks him #1 among designated hitters. (incredibly down year for the position) And looking at Konerko's numbers he's sporting an .811 OPS which is the 5th best for 1B in the AL and only .037 points lower than his career mark. I guess if your #3 and #4 hitters are going to suck you'd want them to suck like this.

QUOTE (shawnhillegas @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 04:37 PM) This is why you don't sign him to a 5 year deal. At his rate of regression, he will have Zito velocity in 2010. Is ANYONE in favor of negotiating with Bobby at this point? There were a few who wanted him to be locked up to a long term deal this offseason, I have to think even they have cooled on the idea.

And Anderson reaches base 3 times today. Awesome.

8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB finishes April with a 3.72 ERA

Terrific outing for Javy, that's the way you finish off a month.

Dye is supposed to play tomorrow. No room at the Inn for slap hitting speedsters.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 03:39 PM) did we get bat flippage from CQ? Toward the pitcher it seemed.

Best young position player the Sox have had since Magglio. So about 10 years.

unreal

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2008 -> 02:57 PM) Didn't that team win that game? Thankfully AJ pinch hit for Molina and promptly drove in 3 runs.

It's still April, by September (or even July for that matter) a lot of these ideal offseason moves won't make a lick of sense.