Lefty Of Love

Also see http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb...s_mlb&fext=.jsp

I think that's a function of coaching staffs calling pitch sequences from the dugout nowadays. I could be wrong, but I think that's been the trend in baseball for more than a few years now. It's a shame, a good catcher should be able to call his own game w/out the bench holding his hand.

I couldn't agree more. No one on the Sox goes into 2nd as hard as C Lee does. I was surprised Lee didn't steal more bases this year - he led the team in '03 and for whatever reason, he didn't even try to steal all that much this year. Late in the season at KC, a Sox batter flied out to right and Lee moved from 1st to 2nd on the fly....I remember it surprised the hell out of the Royals and Hawk & DJ too. Don't tell me this guy isn't a grinder or a balls-to-the walls baseball player.

If history is any indication, any deal with the A's (even involving one of the big 3) will end up with Billy Beane robbing us blind. That being said, Mulder went to Thornton High School (If I remember right) and grew up a Sox fan....would be cool to bring a stud like that back to where he's from.

Justify that.

I'm not sure I understand that sentiment. If the Sox get RJ, they will have to give up a boatload for him....but there's a reason for that. Is there a more dominant pitcher in baseball nowadays than the Unit? If the Sox want a top 3 pitcher, they're going to have to pay through the nose for him. Also, what of the conversations KW supposedly had trying to get RJ? Were there serious talks, or are we just talkin about a phone call or two??

Everytime Ozzie/KW/Hawk/whomever mentions "small ball," Juan Pierre comes to mind. IMO, he is exactly the type of guy Ozzie gets off about....and rightfully so. The last 2 years with Florida, he's not only played in 162 games each season, but hit over 300 each season....2nd in the NL in SB behind Podsednik....s***, he led the leage in hits this past season too. I'm generally against trading PK or Carlos this offseason, but if they could somehow get Juan Pierre, I'd part with either of those two guys....plus, he could solve our RF problem next year by taking Rowand's place in center. Would be a tremendous pickup.

When I say management, I also consider ownership part of that group. JR is the Chairman of the ownership group that owns the Bulls and the Sox. He does not own 100% of the White Sox....that being said, I would be surprised if he could throw caution to the wind and spend how much he sees fit on players....also, I have heard many interviews he has given, and one of the key things he has said is that he has a responsibility to not run the team into a deficit. He simply cannot spend more than they bring in....it would be against his responsibility to the ownership group, not to mention being bad business practice. Even so, if you ONLY want to look at payroll as a metric of assessing ownership's behavior, they have increased payroll over the last 4-5 years...that being known, it seems to me your only complaint is that they haven't increased payroll ENOUGH, which due to the constraints mentioned above, they simply may not be able to do.

*clears throat* Chat forum? Round here, these things is called message boards Just kidding. WElcome aboard

That being said, your complaint is understandable. The Sox haven't won a WS since 1917. Since JR took over, 3 division titles (4 if you count 94). Not a whole lot of success, but there has been success. I sympathize with your point. The lack of year-in-year-out success is frustrating. But you seem to think that it has been caused by management that is unwillingly to increase payroll and personnel people sitting on their hands, refusing to trade/sign FA's/build the farm system in order to create a winner. Yes, something isn't working, but there are pieces to work off of, there has been past success to use as an example, and the causes you identify that are preventing this team from winning - payroll and s***ty management - are unfounded

I4E-- It seems your biggest problem is that the White Sox don't spend enough money. How do you counter the fact that their payroll has been increasing for the past few years? The two ideas cannot go hand in hand. Secondly, you complain that the Sox don't go out and get marquee names. In August, when the Sox's push was at its most desperate, KW tried to get Delgado and Larry Walker. They didn't want to come play here. That reflects poorly on the Sox's organization, but your objection is that they make no effort to get big-name guys, and KW probably worked his balls off to get these deals done....it wasn't HIS fault they wouldn't waive their no-trade clauses. If the Sox are so reluctant to get big-name playas, how does that explain the Freddy Garcia trade and then re-sign? Or how about Jose Contreras, who, although is not a marquee name, clearly represents an escalating financial committment compared with that deal not going down? Is this an accurate assessment of your objections? If not, please clarify what your beef(s) are.

Clement was taken out of a few games late in the season....complained of neck pain if i remember. I don't think surgery was involved, but it raised questions.

First of all, the White Sox clearly won't be "staking their season" on Omar Vizquel. If he is brought in as a FA, it wouldn't be a marquee signing or a huge deal, etc. It would be signing a guy to play no doubt an important, but not make-or-break role. If there was a reason - declining production, injury-proneness - to think that Vizquel will soon hit a wall, it would be given credence. But there's nothing to support that claim. In the last 4 yrs, he's only been hurt and missed a significant amount of games once (03) and he rebounded strongly this last year. Baseball players don't just suddenly fall off a cliff in terms of their age, and I have no problems signing a 38-year old guy if there's nothing to suggest that his age is a major liability.

I saw that post as well on the ChiSox message board. The most pertainent question about Clement is obviously his health. Had he made his final two starts, however, he would've started the same number of games as 2002 and 2003, and would've come close to the same # of IP....that being said, is it likely he wore down over the long haul? His ERA maintained around the low 3's for most of the season until he started to struggle in August. In fact, he allowed a season-high 6 ER in the beginning of August, and it was only once he gave up so many earned runs. Additionally, in a hitters' park such as Wrigley, he allowed a decent 23 HR's, something which will be of concern to any pitcher coming to USCF. In all, his K numbers are very good, and he was on the receiving end of more than a few bad-luck losses (where he pitched 6+ innings and allowed only 1 or 2 runs). IMO, he's unlikely to make more (or at least significantly more) than his $6m this year...at 30 years old, I think the guy would make a pleasant addition to the Sox's rotation.

Ah, my bad. I didn't even know there was something like that on this site. I just signed up and I'm a slow learner, it may take a while. :banghead

Did anyone see the Dodgers come onto the field at the end of game 4 when the Cards clinched and shake the Cardinals' hands? Classiest thing I've seen in baseball in a while.

I really like the idea of the Sox going after Radke...someone on this forum mentioned that it would be a rare opportunity to make both our team better and the Twins worse. The guy pounds the strike zone and doesn't hand out walks - cut the amount of BB's our pitchers issue by even 10% and we become a significantly better team. Anyone got ideas how much Radke might cost?

No doubt that Ozzie has lost faith in WH....as he should have after this season. I think Willie will most certainly have to earn that spot in spring training after the season that he had, but I think Ozzie has too high of aspirations to give up on Willie after only a full year in the big leagues. As you mention Vizquel's #'s, his OB% remains around the same level....it is no doubt his slugging % that the most variance has occurred. In my opinion, that's OK. His role in the Sox's offense wouldn't be to drive guys in or to hit for extra bases - his job would be to get on base and if needbe, move guys over (which he does better than anyone on our squad right now). At 38, no doubt he has lost more than a step...unless you're Barry Bonds, that's what happens. But the skills I mentioned previously - getting on base and moving guys over - don't diminish as much with age as say his ability to hit for power. Given that he would be replacing a guy that was the poster boy of the offense's problems, and given that he is the polar opposite of Valentin, I think he would be a very solid addition to the lineup. As far as the other holes go....well....I can't think of as good of a solution. But given that we pretty much know Valentin is out while JC, Ben Davis, and Uribe will all be back, I guess the only thing that can be said about them is they must play better. But if somewhere in our lineup we have Big Frank, PK, Lee, Rowand, and a SS that can get on base or get guys into scoring position for the aforementioned guys, I don't think the offense will be in too bad of shape. Edit: Perhaps I should note, however, that in my opinion, this team's problem is in it's pitching department first and last. If you ask me, that's where they need to figure their s*** out before filling any other holes.

I'm still new to this forum, so please forgive me for my formatting....I would like to respond to your comments one at a time, but I'm not sure how... I agree w/your assessment of slick Willie. His inconsistency at the plate and timidness on the bases has been far from impressive this year. I don't think the Sox will give up on him (seeing as how Ozzie wants very badly for him to become the next Juan Pierre), and thus that's why I think he will bat leadoff next year. No question that he needs to be better than he was this past season. The same applies to Rowand - I think he may bat leadoff next year b/c he batted leadoff a good portion of this year. Agreed that his best asset is his power, but hopefully he can hit for average too. In a perfect world, I would bat Rowand in the middle, and hopefully the Sox will improve enough at the very top of the order that they can bat Aaron in the middle of hte lineup. Vizquel is no superstar anymore, but aside from 2003 (when he was hurt most of hte year) his #'s hover around the same plateaus. My comments on him merely have to do w/the fact I remember watching him work our pitchers hard, bunt well, and exhibit pretty good plate discipline. IIRC, he bats better from the left side, which obviously is desirable for our righty-heavy lineup. Given those factors, I think he improves the team from the perspectives you talk about - athleticism, multi-dimensional, and certainly a better BA/OBP guy than Jose Valentin....also, Vizquel may still be able to steal a base or two, but probably not as well as he could as a kid (although Ozzie considers everyone under the age of 75 a kid) The reason that this lineup is worse than last year's opening day lineup is simply put, the fact that Maggs ain't there anymore. Magglio adds every facet of good hitting to the middle of that lineup, and it sucks that he appears not to be coming back. However, the return of Frank will make a huge impact on the strength of the middle, and there's no reason to suspect that Lee and Konerko and Roward will decline in production I think. That being said, it comes down to Joe Crede, Ben Davis, probably Joe Borchard and Uribe mostly to be able to produce out of the 6 7 8 and 9 spots. I don't think Crede will be on the bench, but like Willie Harris, those guys simply have to be better. Like I said, I think the easy outs and lack of OB% at the bottom of the order is killing team's offense. f***, I would be happy to trade Crede's, Davis's, and Borchard's home runs for a significantly better ability to get on base. Probably not realistic, but SOMETHING down there has to get better.

I checked out some stats on Polanco, and he wouldn't be a bad option either. I suggested Vizquel b/c I barely saw Polanco play, so I couldn't make a judgement. I'm just saying that we need someone who handles the bat better and gets on base more than Valentin. Polanco and Vizquel have comparable OBP, and I suppose both can do those "little things" Ozzie talks about. My only issue is that Polanco's #'s show pretty much across-the-board decreases from 2004 vs. 2003, but by fairly small margins. Either way, I'll be glad to see Jose Valentin and his 287 OBP gone....I will miss his moustache though....best stache in the majors.

The problem w/Davis is part of the larger problem of the lack of productivity from the bottom of the Sox lineup this season I think. When Maggs and Frank were playing, they expanded the lineup and pushed guys like PK and Carlos down and the result was inevitably that there was no one to pitch around. When those 2 went down, it really contracted the lineup to the point that there were only 3 scary hitters in our batting order. When Big Frank comes back next year, I think that will help solve the problem. The more and more I think about Vizquel being the Sox's SS next year, though, the more and more I like the idea. His walk total this year is pretty consistent with his career #'s, and he handles the bat extremely well - he can bunt, something almost no one in the Sox's lineup is good at. Also, I remember he works pitchers extremely hard....finally, I think he'll have a good effect on spreading out our lineup. Imagine if you will 1) Willie or A-Row 2) Vizquel 3) Big Frank 4) PK 5) C Lee 6) Uribe As far as the rest go, that's a real s*** toss....Although I guess Uribe is unpredictable. But I think the effect is the same in terms of having the majority of the lineup be a threat. With that lineup, hopefully that will take some pressure off of Crede, Davis, and Joe B (if they bring him back to play RF) and also have some guys on base for them to drive in - meaning with basereunners, hopefully they will get some better pitches to hit. Just some thoughts.

Not this year anyway....I'm not sure even Major League Baseball is as dumb as the NHL and its players. They're taking an already unpopular sport and telling the few remaining fans f*** you. The Blackhawks blew, but Pat Foley is the best in the biz.

Here you can find who is a free agent at this season's end. Might clear up some confusion. http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/05agency.html

Hi everyone Been watching this message board, thought I would jump in. On the other end of the spectrum of your discussion on sports announers, I suggest that the guy that does Blackhawks games - Pat Foley - is exceptional. I am dissapointed in the lockout in the NHL this season more because I am going to miss Pat Foley rather than the atrocious Blackhawks.