Kalapse

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 10:55 PM) Looks like OG and KW are determined to go with experience (DE over BA, Sisco over Logan, Aardsma over Floyd) and they're going to go down fighting before they sell out and go with the full-court youth movement in 2008. The only question is whether KW makes another move with the catching spot or waits on the 50/50 proposition that is Toby Hall's "rehab" to the point where he can at least hit. I guess the only counterpoint is that they took BA over Eduardo Perez, otherwise, it's the veterans-first approach right now. They had to take a younger player as the 25th man, it was going to be either Terrero or Anderson to fill the final spot on the bench otherwise there would be no one to backup centerfield. Oz would have taken a vet if he could have, the opportunity just never presented itself.

So am I allowed to criticize this move since I stated in advance my feelings on the subject? What a colossal failure this spring has been.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 07:52 PM) On another bright side, the fortunes of this team do not hinge on who's playing CF and batting 2nd or 9th. It's a fun debate, but it's not going to make or break the season. If that were the case then BA's first half last season would've put them out of contention, which it didn't. The top of the order very well could dictate the success of the team. If Thome is up with no one on base as much as I suspect he will be, this team could be in some serious trouble. The starting pitching is insanely important but it's not the only element that could break this team. And lets just say for the sake of argument that Darin Erstad plays defense in centerfield at about the same level as Mack did last season (I doubt he will be he very well could) that could very well keep the Sox out of the playoffs. Defense that bad at such a key position can destroy a team.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 07:13 PM) MacDougal, Dye, Contreras or Floyd, Pods, Floyd Yeah, that. Following Dye would be Konerko, Crede, Thome and Mackowiak.

Mark Prior was optioned to AAA Iowa.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 05:34 PM) 82-84, just as I said in february 3rd place So they're going to play 166 games, eh? Should be interesting.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 02:03 PM) I'd rather read Kalapse's sometimes negatively-tinged but always well-supported and well-thought out posts, than the unfounded, unsupported negative one-liners some people litter the board with. The funny thing is, I used to be considered an optimist.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 01:28 PM) I set a record at Builder's Square pushing the longest train of carts from the lot into the store in 1992. It stood until the day they turned it into a dollar store. The mutants that worked with me loading cars looked at me like I was C3PO in a world of Ewoks. One faithful Christmas just 2 years ago when I as well as 2 other guys from our High School football team took up employment at the local Jewel (I had already been there for like a year but they signed on for a few months to earn some extra cash) we got a train going that was over 80 carts long. This can really only be done during a holiday when there are a s*** load of carts in the lot and you have more personnel available for gathering and guiding the train. We had a lineman pushing the train from behind, while a linebacker and I (safety) guided the monster. We some how managed to get this beast from the backlot to the store front without incident and the record does stand to this day. We don't know exactly how many carts were actually on the train but it was somewhere between 85 and 100.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 01:40 PM) The pessimistic side of me hears what you're saying and agrees with most of it, except for the Logan/Thor parts. I'm pretty pumped to see Booney back. And I think Danks has a good shot at being a pleasant surprise. But beyond that, the whole Anderson/Erstad thing and the early signs from our pitching staff have me exceptionally worried about this being a down year. But consider that me playing devil's advocate on the positive side on this team. That's only the pessimistic side, in other words the worst case scenarios with a lot of that. I also like Thornton and Boone, I'm just worried about how Boone is going to be used this season if Ozzie is serious about using him as a long man. And as much as I love Thornton and I do think he's one of the top lefty relievers in baseball the guy doesn't exactly have a track record of success in the bigs. I just wish there were more definite positives going into the season, it seems like a lot of the things I was worried about going into the Spring have been either confirmed or are still completely up in the air. It just hasn't been a great month for the team. Why is it that every time I post something that's maybe pessimistic or a rebuttal to an optimistic post I get hit with some sort of sarcastic response saying maybe I should run the team since I am the all knowing? I wasn't even being incredibly serious with that long ass post, just listing a bunch of the concerns this team still has. I don't claim to be all knowing or make outrageous claims like I could run a baseball team with more success than KW or Oz like some people do (though I could probably do a better job than that asshat Bill Bavasi, that guy has no clue). Hell in another thread I said the Sox are a top 9 team in baseball, I think that's pretty optimistic. Maybe some people just take this internet s*** way to seriously. If you think I'm bad, you should try reading some of the pro sports team specific blogs out there, that will give you some perspective. A lot of those guys are just brutal.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 01:18 PM) Ozzie's been saying for a month now that Ozuna will start on opening day. Perhaps I should start listening a bit more when he speaks. Are you sure he wasn't just trying to fire up Pods with such a comment? He likes to say one thing and mean another. I thought we weren't supposed to believe anything he says?

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 01:06 PM) I never wish upon injuries on anyone, but it would nice not to face him opening day since he basically dominates us every time. First Lee, now Sabathia, Indians are sure not having good luck to start the year. We now may see Prancer leading off opening day. The Prancer will likely be starting on Opening Day no matter who the starting pitcher is. Do you really think Ozzie is going to sit his boy on opening day because there's a lefty on the mound? He lead off last year with Sabathia on the mound and I assume he'd do the same this year as well.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 12:39 PM) Sure, that they don't have people from this board managing them and running the organization. I really hope they prove a lot of people wrong here. *yawn* QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 12:46 PM) Jose Contreras's last outing was a good outing. Javier Vazquez's last outing wasn't bad, IIRC. Some of these guys have histories of performing poorly in the spring and coming out in the regular season performing well. Boone Logan and Matt Thornton have been unbelievably dominant. John Danks has actually earned the 5th starter job. Brian Anderson is on the team. Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Jim Thome, AJ Pierzynski, and Paul Konerko are healthy. We have not suffered any serious injuries in our pitching staff or bullpen. We have a deep AAA rotation. True but the pessimistic side of me can counter most of those. Boone and Thornton are still enormous question marks, with Boone you don't know how he's going to be used or if he's even going to make the team, Ozzie has already talked about using him as the long man, what the hell is that? Thornton was quite good last year and has been outstanding this spring but the guy still hasn't proven much outside of a few months of good baseball in his career, I like him a lot but he's not exactly a proven commodity. Pierzynski and Thome still suck against lefties and there's no one on the roster who could spell them from time to time and produce at even a league average rate meaning they'll probably be forced to play the same or possibly more games than they did last year which could lead to a similar downfall in their production like we saw from both of them at the end of last season. PK is entirely problem free, nothing amiss there. The pitching staff is still incredibly scary with velocity being down across the board, despite possibly past trends of failure in the Spring and success during the regular season the drop in velocity of these pitchers has got to be worrisome especially with the piss poor performance of the pitching as a whole last season. Having a 22 year old rookie with hardly any AAA experience at the backend of the rotation isn't exactly an ideal situation especially since he hasn't exactly been dominant this Spring. Oh yeah the closer has been terrible this Spring, throwing 91 MPH, getting hit all over the place and the kicker is his arm is being held together by some s*** you could find at your local hardware store. Brian Anderson is on the team and that's a good thing but he's in the wrong role. The Sox have the worst 1-2 in baseball at the top their lineup especially with the hobbling prancer leading things off with his lack of speed, spring ABs and any sort of pre-opening day production. Jim Thome is going to hit 37 solo homeruns this season. There's more but I'm starting to depress myself so I'm going to go ahead and end it right there.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) Even beyond that, he's also 2nd out of the potential regulars in strikeouts/plate appearance. This spring, he's k'd 17% of the time he's come to the plate. Only Uribe and Mackowiak are worse than that, and they're at about 18%. Oh, and has anyone other than me noticed that Podsednik is hitting a whopping .167 so far in his spring? How the hell is this guy going to be ready by Monday? He's played in 4 games and has 12 ABs this spring, how can he be penciled in as the Opening Day leadoff hitter and LF when he can't even get into Spring Training games. The guy still looks slow as s*** and when he does actually play he does nothing. Is there a single positive for this team going into opening day? It seems every facet of the team is falling apart.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 11:33 AM) And yet, even with hitting .300, and getting the most at bats of anyone in the big leagues in ST I believe...he still can't post a .700 OPS. I'm still waiting for him to show he has some sort of plate discipline or batter's eye. That 13:4 K:BB is just what you're looking for from a guy at the top of the order right? RIGHT?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 11:24 AM) I would really dislike the concept of dealing away Charlie and only getting a backup catcher in return. I know Knuckleballers don't have a very high value in trades...but that's why I think trading him before he does anything in the big leagues is a bad idea. Agreed. QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 11:26 AM) We're not going to be trading for a back-up catcher until we know Hall is out for the year. And Agreed. I was just lending a name to the erroneous mention of a "backup catcher" in the initial post.

QUOTE(wcw2323 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 10:28 AM) There's a story in the Tribune regarding the Rockies GM being interested in Charlie. Apparently they have offered up a back up catcher in exchange. That would be great for Charlie and Kenny. Since CO is a National League team, Charlie couldn't come back to haunt him! Charlie could step into their rotation. Yorvit Torrealba? He's 28 years old and hits lefties at about the same clip as Hall, they're actually very similar players.

That is some pretty faulty reasoning, it seems disinterested and rushed to me. And for the record Danks will be 22 this season, he's currently 21. And I will take offense to their rankings, the Twins, Cubs, Cardinals and Angels are not better than the Sox. I like the top of the Angles' staff (Lackey and Santana) a lot more than the Sox but with that offense, Weaver hurting and Colon being a disgusting glob of crisco and suck I don't really like them over the Sox at this point, bullpens be damned. And people call me a hater.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 10:29 PM) Erstad has played a lot lot better than BA has this spring. I've been watching quite a few games and BA is still very lost at the plate. In terms of Erstad, he's looked healthy out in the field (and thats a good thing because his defense has been solid and we'll really get to see what he's made of when the season begins) and at the plate he seems to be taking better pitches. He's already our best base-runner and at the plate he's been having good AB's. Anderson has had a couple hot streaks but he's not having good ab's and still has a terrible swing. I like BA a lot, but Darin should be starting (we could argue that it should be in LF over Pods with a quality righty platooning with him to keep him fresh) but thats another debate. I'm sorry but I totally disagree, Erstad has actually looked pretty bad at the plate hence his 13 Ks and only 4 BB, the guy has been flailing like crazy on anything with movement and is having trouble with strike zone judgment. Anderson has had some hot streaks, it's true but it's not like Erstad hasn't been doing the exact same. As of last week his OBP was below .300, he's picked up some singles along with a home run over the past few games and upped his spring numbers. Atleast Brian has stayed consistent with his approach at the plate, the guy is taking pitches nicely and getting deep into counts, he's gone 3-1 more times than I can count this spring. His swings are still choppy as hell though, he's really got to work on cutting them down. Hence his 7 BB and 7 SO. I've seen every AB the each of them have had this spring most of them a second time and Brian has earned a starting spot on this club, he's done exactly what was asked of him. If Erstad had outplayed Brian in the 24 more ABs he's had I'd be more than happy to endorse him as the starting CF because of his baseball savvy, quality fundamentals and team leadership skills and frankly I'm not a big fan of Anderson as a hitter. I'm just waiting for Erstad to show some sort of batter's eye. As Ozzie said, the guy who produces during spring is going to win the job and it's tough to argue that Erstad's spring production has been greater than Anderson's.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 10:04 PM) It would have been interesting to see how we would have worked Perez into the lineup. I don't think THome would have been happy with being platooned. And thats the only way we would have gotten him ABs for the most part. He's good against righties, but not better than Paulie so you wouldn't have wanted him in his spot. He could have gotten ~150 ABs this season taking a few at bats away from Thome as well as the occasional start in LF.

If Ozzie is worried about his second lefty walking hitters in crunch time then Andy Sisco will undoubtedly be in AAA to start the season, talk about completely erratic. Sisco probably has the worst control of any pitcher with any sort of shot at making the roster. Boone walked a grand total of 2 letfies in 34 chances as a Knight last season. I really hope Ozzie isn't putting too much stock into 1 outing in a minor league game during the final week of the Spring.

QUOTE(scenario @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 01:06 PM) What a bunch of horse**** Brian was hitting .180 something, then went on a short binge, then had another drought, then picked it up again. Erstad was consistent. Brian wasn't. The coaches picked the guy they thought did the better job and would give us a better chance to win. If you think there's any more to it than that you're deluding yourself. Darin Erstad had a .300 OBP just last week, he's now at .333 what the hell is consistent about that? The overall numbers point to Brian and that's what needs to be looked at here since that is what Ozzie said would be looked at at the beginning of the Spring. Player A: 70 AB | 10 R | 1 HR | 8 RBI | 4 BB | 12 SO | .300/.333/.400/.733 Player B: 46 AB | 6 R | 2 HR | 5 RBI | 7 BB | 6 SO | .283/.370/.457/.827 So player A was given 24 more at bats and was hitting 1-2 in the lineup every game. Player B was hitting 8-9 in every game. It's going to be fun having a 2 hole hitter who's striking out 3 times for every walk. QUOTE(Colorado Sox Fan @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 01:20 PM) He gave him a shot and Anderson proved again that he is clueless at the plate. Despite drawing the 3rd most walks on the team in spring and posting a .827 OPS? I must say Erstad's 3 strikeout days showed me just how outstanding he is with the bat in his hand.

QUOTE(supernuke @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) Maybe Ozzie gave the illusion of an open competition to try and motivate BA to work hard and improve. Maybe he felt that if he told BA sorry kid I don't think you are ready for the starting job that there would be no reason for him to work and try and get better. Maybe it was an open competition and there is still something that Ozzie wants to see from this guy that just isn't there. So he fed him bulls*** for the whole damn month about still being in the running for a starting job, every damn day going to the media saying if Brian produces in Spring he's my guy and the whole thing was just a ruse to get Brian motivated? That's just ridiculous if true. What did Darin Erstad do during the Spring to earn the starting CF job? Is Ozzie's motto: "Nothing is just handed to you everything is earned" just a crock of s***? Erstad and Podsednik were handed jobs this Spring, neither of them earned it. And to say "he saw something in Erstad that he didn't see in Anderson" or anything along those lines is such a cop out. He could say that at any time to justify any asinine decision he chooses to make. "I've decided to go with Alex Cintron as my secondbaseman, I just saw something in his this Spring that I did not see in Tadahito." You as a fan can not question that, he is immune to criticism because you're not out there on the practice fields every day watching these guys play, if he says he saw something in Cintron that makes him a better candidate to start over Iguchi then who are you to question him. What if Ozzie had used this logic in choosing Floyd over Danks for the 5th spot? "Floyd just showed me somthing that Danks didn't" Would that be acceptable? At a certain point lying to motivate a player becomes too much and the word of Ozzie as a man comes into question, how can you EVER believe anything he says? He could have some ulterior motives behind the things he says. What about Brian in all of this? He did everything asked of him this spring and beat out the competition yet despite meeting the objectives of his manager and being rewarded accordingly he's told "Sorry kid, you never really had a shot" or "Not good enough". Seems pretty slimy to me.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 11:47 AM) seriously, I have no idea what the hell that means. Tell me how Ozzie lied to Brian. It's like selective hearing only with reading, half of that post had nothing to do with anything I had posted. Ozzie gave the illusion that he was holding an open competition in the outfield, if Brian produced during the spring and beat out his competition that he would be granted a starting job. This was obviously a charade, he had Erstad penciled in as his starting centerfielder from day one and never actually intended on holding any sort of competition. That's called hypocrisy.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 27, 2007 -> 07:47 AM) Well I was one of the few who held out hope that BA would make the team and start in CF. I guess I got half my wish. I'm pretty pissed at Ozzie - not for making BA work for a position - but for apparently not intending to give BA a real shot to start. I'm happy he's on the roster though, and as people said, he may be starting sooner rather than later. It looks like Ozzie was surprised that BA actually showed up with the right attitude this spring and some positive changes, so he feels he needs to do something about that, and changed him to this utility role. Not as ideal as him starting, but better than him at AAA, as long as he actually gets to play a few days a week. Yeah basically. I think Ozzie got stuck in a situation much like Bud Selig, he got his guy this offseason and was all set to go into 2007 with the new guy by his side leaving the other guy behind to rot in AAA but he knew he had to make it look like he was at least giving the other guy a chance to be his starting CF this year or he would look pretty bad. So in order to save face he offered up an ultimatum to Brian, one that Ozzie was convinced he could not live up to. And much to the chagrin of Ozzie Brian actually stepped up and did everything asked of him but Ozzie, not wanting to give Brian a starting job went back on his word and rejected his efforts, making them out to be insufficient. Perhaps Brian could take him to court.