dmbjeff

QUOTE (Ranger @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 08:26 PM) Dave Matthews Band Jeff, you're making hyperbolic, blanket statements about those two players. You said neither of them could start on any other team in baseball, which implies that only the Sox would have given them starting jobs (which by the way, they don't have anyway). Kotsay could maybe start in teh outfield for a number of NL teams (ATL, Giants, Astros, COL maybe, Padres maybe). I just don't think you can say with absolute certainty that he could not start anywhere else. Same for Jones. But it doesn't matter anyway, because NEITHER OF THEM ARE STARTING HERE. I can't stand hyperbole, negative or positive. Rongey,I understand neither of them will be true starters here since they are in a platoon. But between the 2 of them, they will be responsible for about 500AB's assuming that is the tandem for the season. Under a true platoon the lefty starts over the righty, about 65-70% of the time due to most SP's being righties. I'm not comfortable with Kotsay having 350 AB's out of a power position. To me, that is the biggest problem of the platoon. I'm actually OK with Jones DHing for 150 AB's but it is the 350 AB's with a light hitting 4th OF that worries me. A Thome/Jones platoon would have been fine. They would have put up 40HR 110 RBI with an OBP of probably .380 between them. Kotsay/Jones about 15-20HR and 70-80 RBI with an OBP of 340-350. It's easy to see why Kotsay has no right to be part of the platoon.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 07:45 PM) That's really not true. Rongey, who would Jones or Kotsay seriously start for right now? They are bench players, 4th OF's. Jones hasn't been a good starter since 2006 and 2007 since being a starter at all. Kotsay hasn't been a starter since 2006 while putting up 4th OF type numbers. Jones has at least been good in the past but it's been 4 years since he a was good. Are we counting on him to be good again just because he is supposed to be in good shape? If he was in such great shape and ready to be good again, wouldn't another team have been clamoring for him or Kotsay this offseason?

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 07:33 PM) NO Thome No Jim Thome this year... http://twitter.com/SoxNet I think what disturbs us all, or at least me is the fact that the DH as currently constructed is doomed. It is set to fail. Thome appears to be the best available option to DH in all of our eyes. If there is someone else out there who would be better, please, bring them in, but for what we have payroll wise I don't see Damon coming and Thome seems ready to come back on a very friendly pricetag. I hope KW has something in the works we just don;t know about yet.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 07:19 PM) As has been mentioned on B&B lately, it's looking like this will finally be the first year we really see so-called "ozzieball" If he really wants Ozzieball, fine, but for gods sake, go get a bat that is a legitimate MLB starter with OBP skills. Go get Orlando Hudson, get Felipe Lopez and have them DH. Put them at #2 in the lineup, don't waste Beckham in the 2 hole. These guys can at least do the little things, bunt, run the bases and play defense giving all the IF's a break. They are real MLB starters, Kotsay and Jones couldn't start for any other MLB team, yet we count on them this season? Why?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 02:23 PM) That is a damn-good point. Ozzie wanted to use Wise, too, just like how Ozzie wants flexibility at DH vs production. It does seem like Ozzie often wants to try and reinvent the game. He comes up with these crazy ideas it seems that don't ever work. I wish KW just gave him a good DH bat, said here is your new DH, start this guy, forget about Jones/Kotsay, if you can't we will find a manager who will.

There are still alot of decent free agent options available. Damon, Thome, Orlando Hudson, Felipe Lopez, Dye, Delgado,Blalock. Maybe the Sox are so set in stone not to bring Thome back because they want flexibility from the DH spot as someone who can also play D. Maybe they want a guy like Lopez or Hudson, someone with good OBP skills, can play good defense, giving all the IF's a day off from time to time. Neither one of these guys are big power guys, but both would be excellent #2 hitters on this team, allowing Beckham to hit for more power lower in the order. Maybe they want an OF who can platoon with Quentin at the DH spot/RF. Someone like Damon comes to mind.

couldn't afford chad tracy? for real? that guy should be making about 1million a year tops.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 11:13 PM) If we go into this season with Andruw Jones/Mark Kotsay as our DH because Ozzie doesn't want a 'full-time' DH he better be gone if we don't make the playoffs. And this is from one of his biggest backers. I can't imagine KW would actually listen to him tho. Full time DH is someone who is not capable of playing the field. Getting a guy like LaRoche or Damon, they can rotate with other players getting rest where rest is needed. You can't do that with Thome. He either DH's or he is on the bench.

good move. flowers needs to be developing still, not wasting away on the bench. castro is a quality backup. we just need to sign our DH now.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Jan 11, 2010 -> 07:45 AM) What is the conventional wisdom regarding Kila Ka'aihue? Switch hitter, good OBP, but not as much pop as expected perhaps? Also, know that the Royals released Jacobs, but what are the thoughts here? I like Kila alot actually,he has a nice skill set, but the Royals would be foolish to trade a rookie, under team control unless we gave them some uber prospect back. Also, he may struggle initially and the White Sox are in need of a more proven player since they are in win now mode.

I thought we had a good fit and a need for Aubrey Huff but he goes to the Giants for $3M. And the search, if there is one, continues. My money is on Big Jim coming back. I'm OK with him playing just versus righties and Jones getting the lefties.

I really think Aubrey Huff is the best fit for our ballclub based on what Ozzie is trying to do and what Kenny wants in a DH. Kenny wants a power bat, preferrably left-handed to break up the slew of RH we have and he is an ideal Ozzie type guy with his ability to DH and also by his ability to play the field. Granted, he is certainly not the best fielder, but he can spell PK at 1B, Teahan at 3B or either corner OF spot in a pinch. I also think financially, he will be affordable after a down 2009 season. He had a great 2008 season, and a bounceback to an .800-.850 OPS seems reasonable.

2009 was by far and away Rios' worst season of his career. He reminds me of PK, who one of out of every 5 years, has a real bad season. Look for Rios to get back to a .825-.850 OPS. He is still very young and has a boatload of talent.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 03:01 PM) Esp. since we currently have no DH...the offense worries me a lot more than the pitching staff. We will have a DH come spring training and whoever it will be will put up decent offensive numbers. I expect a 25-30HR, 85-100 RBI type of guy via free agency and we will get him on the cheap. Who this guy will be, no one knows for sure just yet. If i had to bet, I would say Aubrey Huff. He had a down season last year but had a .900 OPS the year prior and is one guy who is flexible enough to start at DH, 1B,3B,or either Corner OF. I know we can all trash any available DH option for his downfalls, and each guy that we have discussed here(Thome,Delgado,Huff,Blalock, etc) all have them, but for what Ozzie wants to do this season, that type of position flexibility is a big thing IMO.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 03:07 PM) Chone Figgins got $36M, how much do you think Crawford will net? You're going to have to pay him like he's one of the elite players in baseball even though his offensive production isn't that of an elite ballplayer. Also, do you know for a fact that Crawford would be willing to leadoff because he wasn't willing to do it in Tampa. He's also not a particularly high OBP hitter, Crawford doesn't place a lot of value in walks unfortunately OBP is the #1 thing you look for in a top of the order hitter, not stolen base potential. That power never did develop, his ISO tops out in the mid 100's. Sure he's a great defensive left fielder, what value that truly holds is up for debate. It'd be nice if he weren't prone to fits of complete mental paralysis and his arm wasn't so damn ineffective. Is he willing to start in CF when asked to do so? Because that's a near necessity in my mind, even if the Sox do already have a CF he needs to be willing to move over there when they need him to throughout the year, another thing he didn't want to do it Tampa. I can't argue some of your valid points. His OBP isn't that of a .400 type guy, but if you throw out his 2008, injury plagued season and throw out his first 2 years when he was still learning the major league game, his OBP is close to .350. My point is that finding a premier leadoff hitter is much harder to do than to find a power hitting corner outfielder like CQ. As for his power, while it didn't develop as many thought, he still has power compared to many other leadoff guys in the game. As far as dollars, you certainly have to pay alot for Crawford, but he is worth the money. CQ has only had one good season. He is injury prone, it is a fact. I would personally rather have Crawford and a cheap corner OF than CQ and a guy like Pods or Crisp. The cost difference isn't all that much to be honest. Even if Crawford got $15 million, Paulie is coming off the books next season and that contract difference is only $3 million. I would rather my highest paid offensive player be Crawford than Paulie.

I can't believe those of you who are saying no to this type of deal. Everyone b****es that we don't have a leadoff hitter and the best leadoff hitter with so much speed and SB potential becomes available an some of you say NO! Are you crazy, the guy is only 28 years old. He is a much better bet to give a 5 year extension than it would have been to get the "great" Chone Figgins or swapping bad contracts and getting a Juan Pierre type.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 04:33 PM) So even if we filled the roster with nine guys between 400,000 and 500,000 dollars, we are sitting at $90,000,000ish, with zero free agents signed. I have us at about $88 million. Thats why Jenks must be traded if we want to retool the offense. If we have another $100 mil payroll, $12 million won't retool the offense with 2 hitters and get another bullpen arm. If Jenks is due about $7mil, if we trade that, we will have a payroll of $81 and you can add much more with $19 mil. I also think if we need bullpen help come mid season 2010, we can easily trade for that and JR won't mind adding another million or 2 for a setup guy as long as we are truly in the race.

cowley is a f***ing idiot....yeah lets keep jenks and have even more money tied up. we cannot go and get a bat without trading a big contract first. jenks is most likely to be dealt. no one will trade for rios,kw wont trade peavy, buehrle isnt going anywhere and PK probably won't be dealt either at $12 million. that leaves jenks as the one to go.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 7, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) Jenks and Danks are fairly easy. Jenks will get around $7.5M and Danks I'd say about $3.2M. Quentin's tough, probably the same as Danks, maybe a bit less. So somewhere between $15 and $16M total for Jenks, Danks, Quentin, Carrasco and Pena. Based off of the salary chart we have about 21 MLB players currently on the 40 man. The $71 million number for guaranteed deals will be higher obviously when you add in the ARB guys, so $15 million more for Jenks,Danks,Q,DJ and Pena sounds about right putting the total at $85 million for 15 guys...$1 million of the $85 is for Viciedo and I wouldn't expect him to produce for the big league club just yet. We have about 6 more guys who will be making on avg about $500k each in Beckham, Getz,Hudson,Nix,Torres and Flowers. that's another $3 million or so. If any of these guys like Torres,Hudson or Flowers don't make the big league squad, you can assume journeymen type guys will fill these rolls at similar salaries. That gives us 21 MLB players at $88 million with obvious holes to fill. Clearing out salary seems like a must if we plan on adding any potential big bats and bullpen help. The only problem is who to trade. Jenks is the most obvious choice to go. If we can trade Jenks our salary will be down to $81 million, assuming he gets $7 million. If we could trade Paulie instead we would be down to $76 million but this just won't happen IMO. I assume we will keep our salary at the $100 million mark, giving us about $19 million to play with in free agency and trade acquistions. If the free agent market shakes out like it did last winter, we could end up with some solid players for cheap money. I'm not sure if that will happen again but I'd love Abreu at $5 million again or an Orlando Hudson type contract for only $3-4 million. Obviously we need 2 bats. A corner OF and a DH. Hopefully the DH will be someone who can also be able to play the field to give us flexibility with our lineup giving guys more of a chance to rest. We seem to be dragging ass in the 2nd half now for the last 5 seasons. Unfortunately there are only a few guys out there who could help us IMO. I think we can forget about signing Bay and Holliday. Our best options appear to be the following OF's Vlad,Damon,Abreu,resigning Dye or Pods or bringing in less talented bats like Andruw Jones, Mike Cameron,Garrett Anderson,Marlon Byrd or Rick Ainkiel. For the DH spot, we may end up with someone like Hank Blalock, Aubrey Huff type who could fill in at 1B/3B/OF if needed. Or maybe we bring back Thome on the cheap. I love Thome, but feel we need someone with flexibility. We will shall see what KW has up his sleeve. We will also need a bullpen arm or 2. At the moment our bullpen sets up with Thornton,Linebrink,Carrasco and Pena. With Thornton being the leader to be the new closer, we will need a lefty setup guy and our last bullpen spot or 2 will probably be filled in house by Torres,Link, Nunez type guy I think.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 10:39 PM) Pardon me for being an old guy too easily offended by new methods of separating money from baseball fans. I'm watching the Sox vs Mariners and Ichiro Suzuki comes up. He had recently experienced a great accomplishment -- nine consecutive years of 200 hits. He is a fabulous player. But when he comes up to bat they shamelessly advertise a miniature bat with an insignia on it that sells for a whopping $129. And it's a limited edition; only 5000 are available (supposedly). Those pieces of trash could not possibly cost more than $10-15 to produce. I presume the proceeds are split between MLB, the Mariners, and the player. Don't they make enough money, do they have to blatently rip off their constituency? How stupid do you have to be to buy this crap? It's another example of dumbing down our country, which includes sports fans. I know the Sox did the same thing after Buehrle's perfect game, and I just shook my head when I saw it advertised. Now the Mariners do the copy cat routine. I can only expect that from now on every single athletic accomplishment will be followed by a similar tasteless rip off. Now, I bet every one of us has bought a T shirt or something similar to celebrate something, whether it was a ball game or trip to the Bahamas, etc. But the overcharge was nominal and not shoved down our throats by a free ad during a ball game. Plus, you could wear it. Probably some folks here at SoxTalk purchased the Buehrle deal, and if I offended you, I apologize in advance. That is not my intention. I agree with alot of what you say. For me, my money is better spent on tickets. But along with tickets, they have me on the hook for parking, concessions, buying a new hat or jersey before the game or even after etc. People spending hard earned money on MLB related merchandise. Everyone is out to make a buck, just some folks can afford to buy a bat or lithograph and hang it in their den and some of us either can't afford it or find no need to purchase an item like that. Certain things the White Sox do are out to just get your money and I won't have any part of going to a SoxFest, buying a brick, going to any of their clubhouse sales to buy merchandise. While other things I have purchased and had no problems doing so. The World Series Ring Raffle comes to mind. For some folks, it's part of being a fan. The more they buy, the more of a fan they are. This obviously is not true. If I had the money, I would own alot more White Sox items, but for most of us, we live within a certain budget and find alot of these type of things as gimmicks or just plain useless.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 12:22 AM) Gas how old are you? I hope you are an innocent kid 16 or younger cause I was the same way when I was in high school. I'd never give up. How can you watch tonight's game and still have any hope? How many nights have we had a chance to pick up ground on Detroit and failed? Tons. We are roadkill. It could be worse, though. Lots of teams are worse than .500ish. If you're not first, you're last....might as well be dog crap and get a better pick

the #3 hitter with a sacrafice bunt?/????? wow, not the sox i knew

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 12:30 AM) Something like 3-0 since old cloggy was traded. I like the idea of using the DH position to rest position players. If you have 9 good players then they can always play/DH. Sticking a "DH" like Thome in the DH position really cramps flexibility/playing time. Why not just have 9-10 guys who can really play is the question I'm posing. Tonight- Perfect example. Ozzie rested Q but kept his bat in the lineup. Maybe Tmrw JD slides in the DH hole, and then Pods the next day. My point is that it is an excellent way to keep guys fresh. Having Thome forces actual athletes to not play. I completely agree. This organizations philosophy regarding the DH positiong the past 15 years or so has been to stick a bad fielding hitter in the spot. I'm tired of having Thome/Baines/Thomas type guys in the spot when we can use the spot better like the Yankees and Angels tend to do and give guys more rest.

How bout them apples? wow just wow

we might be worse than the fans from the early part of Major League