CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 04:58 PM) Beltran would seem to be more likely. Or Bruce. Knocking the Yankees back would be helpful to their own chances of picking from their roster. The Yankees just aren't getting a cohesive attack from that combination of all those veteran hitters in the middle of their order. And their starting pitching after CC and Tanaka has been a complete mess. Eovaldi, with all his talent, is close to being banished to the bullpen. Pineda might belong there as well. If one or both of those elements (middle of order/starting pitching 3-5) don't come together soon, they'll have to sell. The Sox front office has to look beyond just making the playoffs since adding a DH only bat will hurt in a World Series. That's why I mention Reddick even if it means having to move Eaton back to CF . Melky would still have to play left in a World Series but can DH during the rest of the season if the Sox want to go with an OF of Reddick Ajax and Eaton . Or they can go after LuCroy . Both probably get snatched up by teams with better packages to but those guys are best case scenario for the Sox having a chance beyond just making the playoffs. Someone like David Peralta of the D'Backs would be great to platoon with Ajax since he kills righties and is having a down year after his breakout year in 2015. He will be coming off the DL soon after back problems have limited his playing time. He's 28 and only had one good year so he's cheap but a bit older . He has played some CF just not sure how much speed he has or how good he is there or in the corners where he mostly plays. Maybe the D'Backs make him available. He has decent LH pop. Ajax can then become the late inning defensive OF we need desperately.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 04:22 PM) Navarro was only hitting .182 with a 619 ops against lefties in 50+ ab's, although that should be higher after today. .239 and 667 OPS vs. RHP. (675 overall now) Avila at 706 vs. RHP with a 228 average...just 7 AB's vs. lefties. That's at least workable now. One of the main reasons we're only 10th (still, after today) in the AL in runs scored is Avi Garcia. They need to be in that 7-9 range of having close to an "average" offense if they want to have a real shot at the Wild Card. Tim Anderson at 833 vs. Garcia at 650 is embarrassing. Avi is just being Avi. But Abreu isn't being Abreu nor is Frazier being Frazier at least as far as having a better batting average and OBP to contribute to keeping the line moving. When your 3/4 combo is underachieving that hurts worse then the guy who was supposed to be a bench warmer or back in the minors and hits 8th . Maybe if LaRoche had just retired earlier the Sox would've pursued another bat more aggressively. Now that we see who was available and having a good year so far we can say the FO failed . Trumbo, Daniel Murphy and your favorite Ian Desmond were all acquired for a relative pittance compared to the big boys the Sox spend so much wasted effort pursuing. You have also pointed out in the past the circumstances that have kept Avi in the lineup written about in the recent SSS article.

Morneau left the game for a PH after those 2 AB's .

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 04:20 PM) So let's ignore Avi's failures because he like every other player in baseball history didn't single-handily cause their team to go through a horrific month-long slump. Makes perfect sense to me. We've lost 14 games by 1 run. If you don't think having a competent hitter at DH might have won us another game or two you're fooling yourself. Instead we trot out Avi and his wRC+ of 75 because our front office decided to enter the season with no backup plan whatsoever once LaRoche retired (FWIW, a guy they tried giving away). It's an absolute joke and you guys should be ashamed of yourselves for arguing otherwise. This was one of our biggest misses of the offseason and one that could be costly in the end if Hahn doesn't rectify his mistake soon. I think we are on the same page IF you are placing more blame on Hahn than you are on Avi. Avi is just being Avi . Blaming him for doing what he has always done seems fruitless to me. Baltimore stole Mark Trumbo from the Mariners for less than the equivalent of Tyler Flowers. Daniel Murphy would sure look good as the LH bat we needed and he signed for a lot less than guys like Upton Gordon and Cespedes. Even Ian Desmonds was available very late into the off season. I'm sure I'm missing a few guys who would've upgraded the Sox but lets face it The Sox were going to live or die with LaRoche not Avi as the primary DH against right handers. The fact they couldn't get rid of him earlier kind of handicapped the front office into adding that other bat they needed. Avi has had 9 lives . Every time the Sox have tried to diminish his playing time something has happened to put him back in the line up. It's explained here :http://www.southsidesox.com/2016/6/29/12057860/everything-keeps-coming-back-to-avisail-garcia

Morneau 0-2 with a GIPD so far. Not expecting much his 1st 5 games or so. 9 or 10 games should be enough.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 02:28 PM) Same. 10-4 in our last 14 is nice, but the offense won't keep producing at this level. I think he will help us out I was calling for the Sox to sign him while he was rehabbing to beat other teams to the punch. Chicago isn't Colorado but he's shown enough hitting ability away from Coors the last 2 years to lead me to believe he can be a key contributor. Still need a guy like Reddick though since Morneau would have to be on the bench in World Series games without a DH. The Sox are still too right handed when they have to resort to using Avila and Navarro in the same lineup.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 09:37 AM) Not even close to enough sample size. I'm not very familiar with Deadpool but doesn't he have a sense of humor much like Spiderman ? You seem to have a little trouble picking up on people's lightheartedly joking comments. Take care, Abraham Lincoln

QUOTE (harkness @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 03:20 PM) guy continues to be unbelievable... Always happy when this gets bumped back up. Can't say say enough how much something very positive needs to be reinforced in peoples minds. It's just so easy to focus on the negative. Anderson being the Anderson he is right now for the rest of the season goes a very long way in improving the Sox both offensively and (surprise!) defensively. Then if Morneau can hit the Sox might become adequate offensively. Adding a bat like Cargo becomes less important and focusing on the bullpen should become the priority. Ynoa, Beck and Albers just won't cut it the rest of the way. Would be more than happy adding Reddick too since Hahn said Morneau was just insurance and he'd still be looking for a bat. I just don't think the Sox have enough bullets to add 2 BP pieces and a bat when they have to compete with the rest of MLB for said pieces.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 03:05 PM) The other thing is Avi wasn't supposed to see much time. LaRoche was going to DH. They weren't counting on Avi playing everyday. They tried to change him up, but e erytime they make an adjustment, either lowering his hands or opening him up, he quickly goes back to his old way. If Morneau can play fine, if he can't, I am sure they will bring in another bat. Avi wasn't the reason the team went into that horrible slide. I just came back to edit my post and add the LaRoche failure . Glad you beat me to it.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 07:04 AM) The Sox are 0-9 in the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City. 19 of their 80 games left are in these cities. No, they aren't making the playoffs, but I hope I'm wrong. My sentiments exactly when I voted no. They can make changes to better compete with those teams. Already have with Morneau but that isn't any guarantee of anything. Still need to add more while those teams can also add. They can be 10 games over when that last stretch of games against the Central starts and they will have to show they are a better team than they were. I also hope we are wrong .

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) Keep the train rolling and sweep the homestand! Thank you . I can use that Aerosmith song later hopefully

7th straight win on Independence Day so in honor of that and the 8 run outburst, the rock song for this victory is John Cougar Mellencamps' "R. O. C. K. in the USA "

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 01:44 PM) Not sure what you're arguing here, but you're flat out wrong. There may be a lot of bad on this team, but there is simply no excuse for having a DH that can't hit. It was one of biggest flaws with the team heading into the season and to no one's surprise Avi has once again failed to live up to his tools. This is an issue that could have easily been addresssed in the offseason, so I'm not sure why you're giving Hahn a free pass here. Not giving Hahn a free pass . I have been all over Hahn for his failed attempts to improve the offense. As you said there is a lot of bad. The Sox are a bad offensive team. You can't pin that on just one player. And as others have said even adding Morneau ( if he hits well) to replace Avi will not magically make this a good offensive team. You could say if Abreu had been the Abreu of the past 2 years that would also mean the difference in a win or 2. What about all the games Lawrie sucked during the 35 games the Sox sucked. What about Shields wetting the bed his 1st three starts. How about the Rollins failure ? The Matt Albers implosion ? The game they blew in the late innings ahead by 5 or 6 runs ? The failures of Danks and Latos leading to their releases ? You blame Avi if the Sox miss the playoffs by a game or two when others who have had better seasons and expected to produce have not lived up to expectations. Plus you didn't even mention Hahn in your original post. It has been and always will be a team game and I just don't think you can ever blame one player when the whole team has not hit. You said it yourself, there is a lot of bad on the team yet you can blame just one guy if the Sox miss the playoffs by a few games ? Doesn't make sense. Of course I can also add how just about everyone wanted Ventura fired. I'm wrong ? Get real and stop being a sheep following the Avi is the scapegoat for everything other sheep.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 12:45 PM) I still find it indefensible that we entered the season with Avi Garcia as a starter. Guy had proven to be an all-around bad baseball player and the Sox gambled on his tools once again. If we miss the playoffs by a game or two, Garcia will be the one biggest and easily mitigated reasons why. Oh please. It's a team game and there is plenty of fail to go around.

Kevin Cronin looks and sounds terrible. Wonder if he is sick.Great job by Duke .

Oh well that sucked however the Knights of Charlotte combine to tie it up.

Born in the USA TIM ANDERSON !!!

Need some Sox fireworks today. Calling for US born player(s) to Homer but I'll gladly take some from any Sox.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 09:25 PM) Just curious. How many of those are from Sale/Q/Latos' first 4 starts? Looks like 11 games total in April and a stretch doing it 10 times in 16 games from April 11 -27. You can look who the starters and relievers were yourself by looking at the recaps by clicking on the schedule then each individual date posted on whitesox.com. So obviously another 11 times from 4/28-7/3.

With todays victory the Sox have held opponents to 1 or 0 runs 22 times . That's tops in MLB, tied with the Giants and the Dodgers .

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) I'd rather play Reddick in left and DH Melky I'm not taking Eaton out of left. Right .......... you mean not taking Eaton out of right.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 02:15 PM) When this team gets Cabrera and Jackson back, they could go on a run. You mean the same Cabrera and Jackson who were around for all that losing after April too ? Shuck has done a decent job subbing for Ajax. I won't say it's the April Sox . Need a longer streak than winning 8 out of 12 games but if Morneau comes out hitting and Shields can pitch without imploding and Anderson continues to play well AND we get a BP arm or 2 (which might be more important than a bat if Morneau hits) , yea a fair shot at the 2nd WC.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 10:00 AM) It'll be Chris Sale and Chris and Sale and Sale, Chris. That's all folks. Mark Yeah those 3 guys and that's all folks. Q will by bypassed for a reliever in the best Q under rated tradition.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 02:09 PM) I'm officially optimistic again. 4 straight series wins against good teams (aside from the one Twins series) have been huge for us, and I think we got a huge momentum boost today in that 7th inning and the top of the 8th. For those who weren't watching, Abreu was thrown at and got hit in the arm with the bases empty and 2 outs in the 7th. Then, in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs, bases empty, and a 1-0 count, Quintana threw behind Gattis and warnings were issued, leading to Hinch's (Houston manager) ejection. Then, down 3-0, Quintana came back to strike out Gattis and walked back to the dugout pumped. Our offense followed that up with some big insurance runs in the top of the 8th. I hope we keep that momentum for this New York series, but regardless, this team is back. I'll guess this it the winners thread so in honor of what you described the winning rock and roll song is Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It "

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) I was really thinking of screwing with you at the end there. That would have been classic