Kalapse

Even in today's loss we got to witness greatness from a White Sox player. You'd figure a guy with the resume of a Jermaine Dye would get a little more recognition for the season he's currently having. He's currently having the best season of any AL OF. He's played in only 44 games this year, the team has played 54 games. That's right, he's missed 10 games this year which makes what he's doing that much more special. In 144 ABs he's hit 16 HRs and driven in 41 runs and scoring 29 times. He ranks amongst current AL OFs: HR: T1st RBI: 4th (behind Vlad (45), Wells (43) and Swisher (42)) His OPS currently stands at 1.074 which is by far the best amongst AL OF, 2nd best is Alex Rios at 1.041. That OPS is also 2nd best in the AL behind Jim Thome who currently stands at 1.098. His SLG% of .675 is the best in the AL, 2nd best is .661 by teammate Jim Thome. The guy is playing above average defense with a cannon for an arm, holding runners to 1 base and eliminating the extra base. Oh yeah, all this while making only $5 million this season or roughly 1/4 of Manny Ramirez' '06 salary. It's a damn shame that the guy is currently 10th in voting for AL OF and is never talked about even by Sox fans.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 08:07 PM) Having the player with the strongest arm in RF isn't the most important thing. The throw to 3rd is most important when a player is tagging from 2nd. Having a CF with a strong enough arm to stop a player from tagging from 3rd and scoring a run is just as important. On the other hand, when a guy tries to stretch a double to right into a triple, the RF isn't going to throw him out on a one-hopper from deep RF. The strengh of the cut-off man's arm is just as important in that scenario. But, yes, I agree that Pods would not have been a good RF. Given how few balls are hit there, it'd be a waste of his range anyway. Then why isn't Pierre playing LF with Murton in RF and Jones in CF for the Cubs? Jones has played a good amount of CF and has good range with a very strong arm which is for the most part, very accurate. Pierre has NO arm to speak of so he should be in LF with the 2nd best arm of Murton in RF. It's been a baseball rule for as long as I can remembr that your OF with the best arm plays RF, it's just the way it is.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 07:42 PM) That's nice in theory, but having a strong arm doesn't mean crap if you can't throw the ball accurately. Opposing teams aren't afraid to run on Vlad because he can't hit the broad side of a barn. Back in his prime, Sammy Steroids was another example of a strong-arm-but-nothing-else RF. If arm strength in RF meant everything, why is former left-fielder Geoff Jenkins playing there? And if he can play the position reasonably well, why didn't Yost didn't stick Pods in LF and Clark in CF? I'm simply telling you why Pods was in CF and not in RF, I'm not sure why you're trying to debate anything here. Pods has a much weaker and less accurate arm than Clark. Brady has a strong accurate arm. Podsednik in RF with his tools would be an absolute disaster, that's why Clark stayed in RF and then moved to CF when they traded Podsednik. Clark is the superior RF to Jenkins but neither Jenkins nor Lee can play CF so Clark was forced to move to CF. After all this rambling I can sum it up like this. The only way they could field a decent OF was to put their best OF in RF and the only one out of Jenkins and Pods who could play CF was Pods because of his speed so he played there. In all, Pods is mediocre in CF and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone familiar with his history to tell you otherwise. Jenkins cannot play RF reasonably well, he's bad out there, real bad but he's better than Carlos Lee. Jenkins in RF with Pods in LF and Clark in CF would have wasted the arm of Clark and weakened their overall OF defense by not having the player with the best arm in RF.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 03:16 PM) Um, OK, so Pods can't play RF because of his lack of arm strength, but it's OK for him to play LF? Um, that's exactly right. You put your OF with the best arm in RF because of the length of the throw to 3B. You put your weakest throwing OF in LF because he doesn't have to make the long throw from there. I thought everyone knew this. That's why Vlad and Ichiro play RF and Rondell White and Carlos Lee play LF. Brady Clark has superior arm strength (not even close really) so he played RF. Podsednik in right would have been an absolute joke, you need some arm strength in order to hold the runner to one base and keep players off of third.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 03:14 PM) I agree with both of you guys' points (well, most) but was merely providing alternative choices. I'd definitely take A-Rod over Glaus but wouldn't say Dye (who I luv) is having that much of a better season than Vlad, and name recognition would obviously be a big factor in that one. Swisher and Rios aren't gonna get voted in (even if they were on the ballot) but that's how I woulda voted at this point if they were on the ballot. (I think with write-ins Rios is barely top 20?) s***, that's a lot of parentheses... Well, IMO Dye is having possibly the best season for any OF this side of Alex Rios. Dye currently has a 1.041 OPS which is tied for the best in the AL for all outfielders. And he just hit a HR so his OPS is about to go up even more. Vlad is 11th in the AL with a .901. Not even close. Fun Fact: Pablo Ozuna has the highest OPS in the AL amongst OF at 1.052, too bad he's not eligible.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 06:16 PM) Since when? His career OBP is a f***ing atrocious .295. He is worse than Uribe. This is true, Cesar Izturis is pretty brutal at the plate, the guy is slick in the field but he is just a bad hitter. The guy has a career .633 OPS compared to Uribe's .726, that's called an offensive downgrade. The guy will also be making decent money over the next 3 years and would probably be even worse offensively if he did make the jump from the weak NL to the much stronger AL. The Sox should seriously have no interest in the guy.

QUOTE(DePloderer @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 05:21 PM) Anyone else want to see one? I'd rather not see Uribe all together.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 12:06 PM) Speaking of stereotypes, I was in San Diego a couple years ago for the SOX Padres series. We chatted with a couple of Padre fans before the game, and they were very impressed at the fact that SOX fans very very knowledgable about their team (padres) and baseball in general. They were surprised at the number of SOX fans that were at the games also. One of them commented that he had heard that SOX fans were bare-chested, field-running, umpire-beating, unintelligent hooligans who dont go to the park. Was nice to see 5 Stereotypes all proven untrue in one fell swoop And yet you keep the inferiority complex stereotype alive.

This is the type of thing that breeds stereotypes and keeps old ones alive . . .

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 11:47 AM) They had nowhere else to put Pods and they figured they were better off with Clark in RF and Pods in CF as opposed to Pods playing RF. It wasn't like they were going to bench there studly leadoff hitter (Pods). Quiet Jason, reason will not work here. You are just a stupid fan, surely Ned Yost knew that Pods could play RF with that cannon of an arm but refused to because he was just so damn good in CF.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 11:45 AM) Same can be said about Rios, which is a complete joke. I didn't even check Rios. Well that sucks.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 11:29 AM) C - Joe Mauer------How about ramon hernandez? 1B - Travis Hafner------I HATE voting for someone who doesn't even play the position, gimme Paulie 2B - Jose Lopez------I wish Iguchi 3B - Alex Rodriguez------Maybe even glaus... SS - Miguel Tejada OF - Jermaine Dye------I wish, but it would be vlad instead OF - Vernon Wells/Alex Rios OF - Manny Ramirez------swisher Mauer is currently batting .359 with a .914 OPS, I'm sorry but those 2 numbers alone force me to go with Mauer. A catcher is not suppoed to do what he's currently doing. Well, since there is no DH, you just have to think of it as a combined position so it's 1B/DH meaning Thome would get the knod over everyone but you can't bank on a write-in so the 2nd best play at the position, Hafner, takes the cake. It would be cool if Iguchi did start and it really wouldn't surprise me but Jose Lopez is having the superior season. Troy Gluas is batting 42 points lower, has 4 more HRs but also has 4 less runs along with very similar OPSs. A-Rods far superior defense takes the cake. Swisher is not on the ballot so Manny and his .435 OBP/1.014 OPS should be out there. If Swisher was on the ballot he would get the spot. QUOTE(Felix @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 11:41 AM) Mauer has had a much better season than Hernandez. He's hitting .359/.420/.494, compared to Hernandez's .286/.348/.478. Even if you had a HR fetish (Hernandez has 8, Mauer 4), its hard to say that Hernandez is more deserving then either Mauer or Posada. Jermaine Dye has had a much better year than Vlad. He's hitting .298/.402/.638 with 14 HR and 36 RBI, while Vlad had put up a .318/.364/.537 line with 13 HR and 45 RBI. But yes, Swisher is more deserving than Manny too (although, not nearly as more deserving as Dye is over Vlad). Shame he's not on the ballot.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 10:52 AM) Sure, and for every legitimate post here, there are five or ten extremist, reactionary posts. Players get thrown under the bus here (and I'm assuming most other baseball MBs) whenever they make a mistake. When Ozuna misplayed a fly ball in LF in Kansas City, people here wanted him banned from the outfield. Nevermind the fact that it was extremely windy that evening. Nevermind the fact that Ozuna hardly ever plays at all. Off with his head! When Anderson failed to produce at the plate, people here wanted him sent down to the minors. Nevermind the fact that it was not even two months into the season. Nevermind the fact that he's a rookie. Nevermind the fact that his defense in CF has been stellar. Off with his head! :rolly I agree that Pods does not play CF well. But the notion that he's completely incapable of playing the position is complete crap. How about this, over the past 5 years I've followed the Brew Crew incredibly closely, in fact I've seen a great majority of their games. I watched Podsednik play out there a lot and the one thing that was extremely appearant was that he gets horrible jumps on the ball in CF. The second the ball is hit he does one of two things, either freezes up or breaks back immediately. Both of these are horribly reactions to a batted bal especally breaking back which lead to a s*** load of ball landing in front of him that should have been caught and would have been caught by a competent centerfielder. Podsednik's only real saving grace was his above average closing speed which allowed him to get to a small percentage of the balls that he missplayed, he would normally end up diving to catch these balls landing him on Sportscenter even though it was for all intensive purposes, a s*** play. That's my scouting report on Podsednik in CF, there's a reason why Podsednik was moved to LF when he got here and why he started only 6 of the 11 games Rowand missed last year. If he was good enough to play the position he would have already gotten some playing time out there this season and would have started all 11 games Rowand missed last year. The fact that Ozzie is appearantly thinking about putting Ozuna out in CF should tell you something. I can't really tell you why they stuck with Podsednik through those two years but there's also a reason why they finished in last place both those seasons and their poor team defense certainly contributed to their overall suckiness.

QUOTE(Thunderin @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 12:25 AM) Surely your kidding..... Podsednik is not a bad outfielder. I think hes made a couple of bad plays and you guys have jumped all over him. Show me video of him being a bad outfielder. He would be a suitable CF with tons of speed and can cover alot of ground. You guys need to get off the Podsednik hate wagon. Show me video of him getting a good read in centerfield first.

Just to help everyone out, I'll share with you who you should be voting for at their respective postion in the AL C - Joe Mauer 1B - Travis Hafner 2B - Jose Lopez 3B - Alex Rodriguez SS - Miguel Tejada OF - Jermaine Dye OF - Vernon Wells/Alex Rios OF - Manny Ramirez You're welcome.

QUOTE(Big Hurtin @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 12:00 AM) That's why I won't vote anymore. The system is broken. It's such a joke. I would vote for who I felt deserved it regardless of who they played for. Obviously, the Yankees and Red Sox fans are stuffing the ballot boxes voting in just their guys. On one hand, I couldn't care less. But, what bothers me is when they say player X is a Y time all-star when the whole system is a joke. This is the part that bothers me, people like to use ASG appearances and Gold Gloves won to judge a player especially at the end of thier career. A guy like Jim Thome who has been one of the best players in baseball over the past 12 years and he only has 4 ASG appearances while lesser players have a similar amount of appearances because of how poor the system is. It's just a shame that we can't use these awards and points of recognition to evaluate a player's career.

Just remember boys and girls, a team full of average hitters mediocre starting pitching can not win the AL Central this year. But hey, maybe Maroth and Robertson have just now decided to say f*** you to their career 4.80+ ERAs and finally mature at the age of 29. Oh wait, that makes no sense.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:29 PM) Izturis career line: .261/.295/.338. End.of.discussion. I was wondering how the guy with the sub .300 OBP was supposedly considered the best SS in the NL. Also, that GG should have gone to Khalil Green.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:23 PM) anyways i was talking about our lineup during interleague play, not if we switched to the NL It's the same thing, you just use that lineup while playing in NL parks.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:18 PM) im talking about like 3 yrs ago or so. lopez, reyes werent even good back then WHEN healthy izturis>>>>>>>>eckstein Am I missing something here? 3 years ago: 4 HR, 60 RBI, 90 R (nice), 43:70 BB:K, .288/.330/.381/.710 That OBP is pretty pathetic as is his BB:K and OPS.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:18 PM) wow speaking of the nl, our lineup is gunna be scary... pods gooch pk dye aj crede uribe anderson pitcher....... :headshake we better hope crede countines to play well cuz if he doesnt.... You're nuts. The Sox would have the best lineup in the NL if they swithched over tonight. Pods - CF Iguchi - 2B Thome - 3B Konerko - 1B Dye - SS Fields - RF Pierz - C Crede - LF Ozuna - P

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:13 PM) true, but when he was healthy, he was considered by many, as the best ss in the NL. i dont think he would do bad in the AL. i didnt know he was getting paid that much the next two years.well lets just hope he doesnt end up w/the twins. hey, it was just an idea, kenny interested in him.... The Twins don't really matter at this point. They're a 4th place team and acquiring a player that won't really help the club just to block the Twins would be a huge mistake. Also, Renteria >>>>> Izturis, no way he's the best SS in the NL. I won't even mention Eckstein, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes or Felipe Lopez.

Why, oh why would you EVER throw a fastball to Jacque Jones?

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:11 PM) heres my reasoning for Uribe at #5 so many times have we had 2 on and none or 1 out and Uribe and Anderson come up and blow the rally I think if we scatter about or weaker hitters their averages will improve, and less rallies will be squandered done no way I will get a response, but whats to lose? He might actually use it and we won't make the playoffs.

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ May 31, 2006 -> 09:10 PM) heres my reasoning for Uribe at #5 so many times have we had 2 on and none or 1 out and Uribe and Anderson come up and blow the rally I think if we scatter about or weaker hitters their averages will improve, and less rallies will be squandered Or Uribe will continue to suck and kill rallies at a more important spot in the lineup while providing NO protection for Konerko, which will lead to Pauly struggling even more.