hitlesswonder

QUOTE(fathom @ May 30, 2007 -> 03:12 PM) Like you've said lately, stop trading for guys on perennial losing teams. MacDougal's 05 and 06 numbers were really pretty good -- I don't know how anyone could foresee this level of ineptitude from MacDougal. Plenty of teams have made trades with perennial losing teams and done well (e.g. the Astros deadline deal for Beltran). This isn't to defend MacDougal at all, but $20M worth of Garland and Konerko sucked today at least as bad as he did if not more.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 30, 2007 -> 02:19 PM) If the Sox go on to lose this game, it will be the 9th game they've lost when leading in the 6th inning or later. That's f***ing pathetic. The Sox revamped bullpen is worse than last year. I think the offseason can officially be declared a failure.

QUOTE(tony72 @ May 30, 2007 -> 02:14 PM) Someone should tell Konerko it 10 to 0 so he can get a clutch hit.. Tie Game = PK Strikeout... He did a great job keeping the bat solidly on his shoulder and then whining about the call though.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ May 30, 2007 -> 01:25 PM) I hope we can get a few more runs off their bullpen. The twins don't have to hope -- they can pencil in a good 4 or 5 runs scored on the Sox pen today. And the Sox won't touch Neshek Rincon and Nathan.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 30, 2007 -> 01:04 PM) Farmer was only tolerable when Rooney was sitting next to him. I actually like Singleton better than Farmer. I agree. I actually like Singleton the best out of all the Sox announcers.

QUOTE(beautox @ May 30, 2007 -> 05:08 AM) no offense but i totally disagree with this statement. we've got some interesting pieces coming up thorough our system. No offense taken. I'll go ahead and disagree in return though. I don't see anyone in the Sox minor league system that is likely to be even an average major league starting position player or a top of the rotation pitcher. Of all those guys, only Gio has major league quality stuff (low-90's fatsball and a quality breaking pitch). And he has to prove he and his straight fastball can avoid HRs in a park like Charlotte's before anyone can really predict major league success. Egbert and Russel are having OK years in a big park and can at least be considered prospects. De Los Santos has had a good game in A ball. Floyd, Haeger, Broadway, and McCulloch are non-prospects at this point. Does anyone think the Sox are going to get a sub-6.50 ERA out of any of those guys at the big league level? The big problem is that the Sox don't have a single prospect as good as any of one of as Baker, Garza, Slowey, Bonser, and Liriano. No one in the Sox organization projects as a top-flight starter. Fields has an atrocious contact rate and will struggle just like BA at the big league level. BA still has his own contact problem and simply cannot hit major league pitching (I saw a stat about his contact rate against breaking balls recently -- I don't remember what it was precisely, but it was terrible). In any case, BA is done in Chicago. Sweeney has never hit for power, even in Charlotte. He has never dominated at any level of the minors. The Sox will be lucky if he has Sean Burroughs career. Cunningham has been struggling in A ball after a hot start and guys like Carter (decent A ball power numbers and suspect 1B glove) are all over the minor leagues. It's true the Sox have some prospects, but just because they are the Sox top prospects doesn't mean they are good prospects. I can't comment on most of the proposed trades because I just don't know enough, but I'm pretty sure that package wouldn't bring back Saltalamachia alone let Salty and Escobar. An aging overpriced starter, a bullpen guy with an ERA over 6, a CF prospect that hasn't hit a lick for a player that could bring back someone like Mark Texiera or one of Tampa's OFs? I don't see the Braves doing it...

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ May 29, 2007 -> 11:59 PM) WTF would we want McPhereson for? To pair with Collaro and cool the Charlotte dugouts as they fan a combined 350 times? Hawk would love it. He was pimping Collaro on one of the recent broadcasts. Power at the corners, feisty.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 29, 2007 -> 11:50 PM) He has? I'm fairly confident MacDougal will bounce back. If he had a noticeable decline in stuff I'd be more worried. Has he lost stuff? From my watching I don't think so -- he's still in the mid-90s with his fastball and his slider is still there. He's just wild as s*** right now, which is a problem, but I'll give it another couple weeks before I become really worried. I know Lumsden and Cortes haven't performed, but at this juncture the Sox are paying MacDougal millions to pitch like Dewon Day. The fact that the Royals aren't paying MacDougal makes the trade a win for them. I thought MacDougal was going to be a strength of the club going into this season. His 2005 & 2006 numbers were really good & the idea of getting a "closer quality" setup man is great. These days, starters get you into the 7th so you need both a decent closer and setup man. Plus Mac seemed like good insurance in case Jenks arm fell off. So far, I've been very wrong. Since I don't know why Mac has pitched so poorly, I really have no idea how likely it is that he'll pull out of it. He is 30 with high impact delivery. It's possible that he is injured even though his velocity isn't down.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 29, 2007 -> 11:01 PM) Did you just call me wimpy? Ha! I don't have faith that the 2008 and 2009 White Sox will be any good. It's looking like we'll be a fourth place team. Fifth if the Royals prospects pan out, and they've got some fantastic ones. Our minor league system is garbage. I don't think we have the will to win too many bidding wars and we'd have to to build a good team, what with our system. There's lots to dislike about this organization's future. Too much to dislike about it. I don't think there's anyway to argue with this post. The Sox system doesn't look like it's even capable of producing competent backup players let alone major starters. It has to be the worst system in baseball. Even if drafting somehow measurably improves this year, that's a 4 or 5 year wait for that draft to have an impact. And the Sox are not going to win bidding wars for free agents -- the payroll will drop with attendance if the Sox stay true to history. An unbiased observer would have to pick the Royals next 5 years as more promising than the Sox -- the Royals have players like Gordon, Butler, Teahen, DeJesus and possibly a great GM (signing Meche looks great and Moore has won both his trades with Williams so far). I know that lots of people will disagree, and that's fine, I'd love to be convinced that I'm wrong.

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 29, 2007 -> 10:53 PM) this post is right on, except that the twins lose santana after next season (?). Also, there's no guarantee the white sox will not drastically change the team in this offseason You shouldn't assume Santana is automatically gone. The Twins will have a new ballpark and added revenue. With their rotation in 2008, they'll be a championship quality team and might have playoff and World Series revenue. Santana has indicated he'll offer a discount to the Twins. And, historically, the Twins have rarely lost their best player to free agency -- they ponied up a bunch of money for Puckett. Anyway, for the Sox the truth of the matter is that they are on a collision with the Royals to battle for 4th place for the next 5 years unless something unlikely happens to turn things around (e.g. fantastic deadline trades of Buehrle & Garland that bring in a bunch of talent). I'm sure that sounds overly pessimistic, but the minor league system is so utterly devoid of talent that you're looking at a 4 or 5 year wait for an impact player to be brought up from the minors because they would have to be drafted this year. The rebuilding process could be accelerated by keeping the payroll high and getting a decent free agent or 2, but I doubt the payroll stays high when attendance drops.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 28, 2007 -> 11:21 PM) With how hard is has been to get a decent closer on the southside, I wouldnt trade Jenks at all. He is young, and is cheap. Who would you put there in his place, Day, MacDougal. I just think Jenks is an injury waiting happen. We've all seen the decline in velocity over the last 2 years. I think it would be wise to sell high. Plus, it's not like he's putting up astronomical numbers like Rivera (in his prime) or Nathan. I don't know who the Sox should replace him with. If Masset could throw the ball 96 MPH as advertised rather than 92, he would have been a good choice. I'm really disappointed in MacDougal -- his 2005 and 2006 numbers were really very good. Anyway if DET and CLE can get by with Jones and Borowski, I'd be happy if the Sox took the same route and signed a scrap heap to battle with Aardsma and MacDougal (if his arm isn't falling off) for the closer role next season.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 28, 2007 -> 10:52 PM) Nope, the only thing I've heard in the last two weeks is how bad the talent level is in the Sox organization. Which is why a firesale would be the best thing for the club. Any pitcher except for Danks should be on the market starting yesterday. I'm including Jenks in that group, as he's one of the few players that might bring a major league quality player in return. Here's hoping Dye heats up so he can be moved. And I would love it if Erstad played out of his mind and could actually be traded at the deadline for a prospect. The talent level really does seem to be abysmal. I was completely unimpressed by Day's stuff in today's game, and he's the best relief prospect the Sox have. QUOTE(joeynach @ May 28, 2007 -> 10:21 PM) I Iguchi is done in my opinion with this team. Hes getting older, slower, less agressive at the plate and in the field, and doesn't seem to know if he wasn't to hit for power or try and shoot the ball the other way. I agree he's slowed down (not surprising given his age). But I think a lot of his hitting problems are related to his finger injury -- hand injuries seem to have a pretty big impact on hitters.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 28, 2007 -> 09:28 PM) Why don't you like Pierzynski? His little drama with Mike North and Guillen really bugged me. Being upset about losing at-bats is understandable, but taking it to the media and feeding the sports media circus was a poor move, I thought. Also, he really does seem to be a jackass. As a player, he think he's perfectly acceptable -- best catcher the Sox have had in a long time.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 28, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) It's the same thing every year for the Sox. We play them ok during the first half of the year, and then they dominate us towards the end of the year. Whatever AJ did wasn't too smart, as it seemed to pump up the Twins. I don't like AJ at all, but I have a hard time seeing why this should be a big deal. I'm sure a bunch of Twins board are calling for AJ's head because he ALMOST stepped on Morneau's foot TWICE! Whatever. It is unfortunate, because now with Footgate the Twins will roll to their ordained sweep of the Sox. And Ozzie will inevitably play it the wrong way -- he'll either watch AJ get beaned and approvigly nod his head and tell the reporters he wishes the Sox played that way or he'll retaliate at the wrong time and hit Punto to put the winning run on base for Morneau & Hunter.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ May 28, 2007 -> 04:52 PM) Hawk finally had to move on from Casey Rogowski. After Collaro, it will probably be Brandon Allen because he's a "big, strong guy" as well. And to think that Hawk was GM of the Sox at one point...

QUOTE(fathom @ May 28, 2007 -> 01:21 PM) I wish we'd have the balls to platoon Thome, as he's so mediocre against LHP. Platoon him with whom? Cintron? The Sox don't have enough real hitters to fill out the every day lineup, let alone to provide a platoon partner for Thome...

QUOTE(fathom @ May 21, 2007 -> 07:31 PM) Lidge and Burke for Crede and Anderson. I'd like to see that deal, even though I'm sure many on here would hate it. I'd make that trade in a heartbeat. I'm absolutely sure the Astros wouldn't. Burke is under control cheaply for years and despite being sent down is still Biggio's heir apparent/ QUOTE(fathom @ May 21, 2007 -> 08:55 PM) Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I'm against it. Lidge has to be close to a big payday soon. Lidge is a FA after 2008. Why would you be against the trade? Crede has a bad back and 1 year max left with the Sox. Anderson is done in Chicago. The Sox wouldn't give up much and they would get a youngish 2B to takeover for Iguchi and possibly leadoff and Lidge gives them the flexibility to make another deal.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 21, 2007 -> 03:31 PM) Measuring the potency of a ball club by the projected number of home runs, eh? My, my, have we learned nothing. I realized you prefaced that with "That's a lot of power to sacrifice in the OF," but, that is still a very dangerous mindset. You measure the potency of a ball club by the number of projected runs scored--a derivation of which comes from statistics other than a simple home run tally. That is how you build a winning ball club. The home runs will more than take care of themselves playing home games in US Cellular Field. We'll probably disagree, but I think power is an important component of an offense. I'm perfectly happy to sacrifice power in a lineup in return for a high OBP. But in the OF in question, neither Sweeney nor Erstad can be considered a high-OBP player in 2008. With Fields likely to be at 3B and I don't know who at 2B (Mack? Ozuna? Andy Gonzalez?) I'd like to see the Sox bring in another OF that packs more offensive punch than Erstad or Sweeney.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 21, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) As I've said previously, Erstad is not worth $6M. But, if the White Sox want to pay it, who am I to complain? He's a fine ballplayer and has preformed admirably thus far without any injuries. I don't know if that is a vesting option, but in the event that it is not, a reduced contract can always be worked out. I think Erstad will be a part of the 2008 ball club in one capacity or another. Signing Ichiro would be great, IMO. But I'd rather see him in CF than RF. A Sweeney, Ichiro, Erstad outfield would be lucky to have 25 HRs between them in a full year. That's a lot of power to sacrifice in the OF.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 21, 2007 -> 11:05 AM) For 2008 and beyond: Sweeney-Erstad-Ichiro (a free agent signing that the White Sox should be willing to overpay for given the needs of the roster as it is currently constructed) ...if Ichiro doesn't tickle your fancy, think a different free agent signing or someone like Crawford who can be acquired via trade; but, for 2007, you leave the outfield as is. For 2008, you want the Sox to pay $6 million to keep Erstad? For all that he may have exceeded expectations, he has a .307 OBP and a .650 OPS. I'd rather see the Sox stick Sweeney in CF in 2008 and sign/trade someone with power for LF ( the Sox will need it losing Dye and Crede and probably Iguchi).

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ May 20, 2007 -> 11:01 PM) Thome helps a ton, but no. We need JD and Pauly back to driving the ball in the gaps before the offense is repaired. While we're at it. Let's call up Fields. He can get on base (or not make outs, however you want to put it) at a better rate than anyone who we'd put at 3B or LF right now. Having Crede hurt would seem to open that door, but it won't happen. The White Sox policy seems to be to keep hurt players off the DL, play a man short, and get Pablo Ozuna as many at-bats as possible.

The social security system is not on the verge of collapse. This article in the CS Monitor describes the latest forecasts: There are a lot more immediate problems facing the US than SS (Medicare actually is headed toward a rapid collpase for example). But I'm all for changing it if people want to. Making it a progressive tax (i.e. removing the cap on earnings taxed) and means-testing would probably "fix" the fund. Alternatively, a truly conservative solution is fine with me. Abolish it and have everyone take care of their own money. What I don't want to see is the fund shifted to be invested in the stock market by some set of financial management companies the government picks and who will get rich off the managament fees. Give me a real choice of what to do with my money. I find a lot of the rhetoric about market-based solutions to be disingenuous. If they really "trusted you with your money", they wouldn't make you stash it in a private account with limited choices. As it is, I like the idea of having money "invested" in SS, it's a valuable diversification from money in market-based retirement accounts (like IRAs).

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 14, 2007 -> 05:29 PM) Actually more like a #3 (1 + 2). On another note, BP's 5 highest VORP ratings for Sox positional players (hilarious and sad at the same time): Thome - 13.9 Uribe - 4.5 mlbtraderumors.com mentioned that the Sox would likely decline Uribe's $5MM club option for 2008. I don't understand that at all. I mean Uribe isn't a great player, but he does play GG-caliber defense and can hit 20 HRs a year. And who would replace him? Don't anyone say ARod...it's not going to happen.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 15, 2007 -> 11:00 AM) I'd also like to add that I think people are seriously underestimating the amount of Free Agent Salary inflation that went on last offseason. There are probably going to be even more teams with money to burn this offseason than last, and a better crop of players to spend it on. I think a lot of the estimates being thrown out are going to be proven to be way on the low side, just as they were the last 2 years. Agreed. Unless the Sox move Contreras and Garland (along with dumping Buehrle, Dye, and Iguchi) they simply won't have the money to sign an impact free agent. In any case Williams has stated the organization is philosophically opposed to spending on FAs because they don't like the market prices. My prediction: the Sox sign Rowand and that's it for FAs. They've committed to building through young players -- they want to be the Twins. Unfortunately, they don't have the Twins minor league system, manager, or GM.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ May 14, 2007 -> 09:41 PM) i agree(although i dont think, even with the year hes having, that erstad will get 6 mill) The year he's having is a .250 batting average, a .297 OBP and .643 OPS. He is not having a good year. And Kalapse is right, all signs point to Erstad being the Sox $6M dollar starting CF in 2008 (it's in his contract -- he's going to get the 600 PAs). BTW Erstad is hitting .107 against LHP. You would think a manager that wasn't unconscious would at least platoon Erstad. Anyway, if Erstad is starting in 2008 the Sox will be a bad, bad team. $6M for a .650 OPS outfielder. Geez.....