gosox41

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 19, 2009 -> 05:45 PM) Doesn't he have 6 blown saves? Is that his worst career blown saves mark? He hasn't been automatic, but he does have some saves. I wonder how many "blown" assignments or equally inept performances guys like Linebrink, Dotel, Pena, Carrasco have. I know Dotel and Linebrink have at least six; Pena probably close to that even though he was a late addition and Carrasco may be great, but he's had a few horses*** outings. If Bob has to go, I hope they give it to Thornton, though that means we'll have another hole in our set up situation. That other lefty we have, I forget his name, is not good. What I'm saying is you may hate Bob for his six blown saves, but it's possible our next closer could make you pull out your hair also. For a lot less money. For the $7MM or so he will get in arbitration, he isn't worth it if he pitches like he did this year.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 07:55 PM) When I was listening to the game today, Farmer and DJ brought up the fact that Pods, Getz and Rios all have 20+ steals. I know there's a Sox historian who has the answer, but I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened since the early to mid 90's team with Ray Durham and Lance Johnson leading the way. If you throw in Ramirez (15-25 bags per year, possibly), Beckham (10-20), Nix (10/10 this year so far, you'd have to think 15-25 for him too) and Quentin even (although we don't want him to be stealing, he's a pretty good athlete), we have six or seven pretty athletic players for the first time in many, many years. (I know someone will point out that Anderson, Fields, Wise and Owens were also athletic, unfortunately they are/were also dubious baseball players). Then you look into the future and you might have a Shelby, Danks or Mitchell added into the mix, that's quite a turnaround from the 2000-2006 offense. With those guys, you're not thinking more than 1 of the 3 will make it, and it's possible all three flame out, but still it's something positive to think about for our future. And there's a lot of excitement about Trayce Thompson's potential too, (of course he's 3-5 years away right now.) And now KW has some interesting questions with Pods and Kotsay going forward (especially because Konerko will need to be rested more at 1B and also he will DH a bit). Both of those guys definitely deserve a spot on the team (I feel), but how much should KW will be willing to pay either one? Is Figgins a realistic option at 3 years and $27 million? Dare we risk that with contracts on the books for Rios and Linebrink already? When you think of Ramirez, Beckham, Rios and Quentin all playing up to their potential offensively and defensively, you have a "youngish" group of players in their prime, then the Konerko/AJ veteran presence. Maybe Pods and Kotsay...then we're left with those nagging questions about DH, LF/RF and 3B/2B. Let's assume KW leaves the infield set with Getz as the starter at 2B and Nix/Fields as "trade bait." This team could change in many, many ways going into 2010 or almost not at all...especially with Pods, Kotsay and Castro back. Does KW replace Pods with an upgrade or go for the big, left-handed power hitter to replace Thome and that can rest Quentin/Konerko from time-to-time? It doesn't seem possible to do BOTH things. Do you really believe this team has turned a corner again organizationally and the new speedier/younger/more athletic Sox will be the future "stamp/imprint" of KW??? Are you still sad Brandon Allen isn't part of that future? (Just kidding about the last one). I hope he has finally figured out that this team needs more speed. The extended slumps are ridiculous. We do need a balance of power and speed but we definitely are more weighted toward power now.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 01:09 PM) In the most recent White Sox Q&A there was some speculation that Walker might not come back next year. Not that Walker is getting fired, more that he might resign or retire. Just thought it was worthy of news. Interesting. I'm not sure how much I blame Walker for Rios, Dye, and Quentin pretty much being the primary reasons the Sox offense has been bad during the second half. On the flip side, if we get rid of him, we better get a proven, real good hitting coach. We needa guy with a major league track record be it the guy inTexas or Hriniak. I don't want someone without experience dealing with major leaguers.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Jul 28, 2009 -> 05:58 PM) Dwayne Wise is the 2009 version of Andy Gonzalez from 2007...a garbage player who somehow manages to make it on the roster all year batting less than .200. At least...that's what I think his name was...he was so awful I tried to block that memory from my mind.... Or Julio Ramirez.

QUOTE (ChiSox420* @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 12:50 PM) I don't know why but this Manny situation really bothers me. Manny may be the best right handed hitter of our time, and the interest he is drawing is insulting. Yeah I know teams are afraid of Manny being Manny but I am the only one who has heard of behavioral clauses in contracts, and yeah all teams are crying poor but lets be honest all of these teams are multimillion dollar franchises, and Manny may being in more dollars then he cost! Just had to get that out. Thanks. I don't think Boras or the union would ever go for behavioral clauses. Besides how do you tell when a player is faking an injury and crying like a baby like Manny at the end of his Red Sox days to the sudden fountain of youth he foun when he got to LA. Funny how an 8 hour plane ride makes the knee all better.'

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 8, 2009 -> 07:47 PM) The main argument out there is the assertion that the Sox made a profit of $70 million from 2005-2008. I think if people didn't have that in their heads, they wouldn't be so upset...and the prices for most franchises keep appreciating (even in this market), so the average fan always feels like the owners of their teams have to spend wildly like Steinbrenner or Cuban or they're not "good" owners who care the most about their team winning. Not sure if that number is accurate, but I bet at least 1/3 of that profit came in 2005. Bob

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 18, 2008 -> 03:27 PM) They're all waiting for Teixeira to sign, and then the dominoes will fall from there. Unfrotunately with Bora$$ as his agent, that could be quite a while from now. Not if the teams stop bowing to him.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Dec 18, 2008 -> 02:39 PM) Obviously Garland would fit back into our rotation perfectly with the emergence of Danks and Floyd. It would give Ozzie the flexibility to have a L,R,L,R,L rotation the entire season. If Stone is right and the market drops in January i would love to have Garland for $8 million/season with incentives. . But im guessing he gets nothing less than 10 mill/season... Garland had a bad year last year. If memor serves, he gave up 250 hit s (or so) in about 190-200 innings. That's not so good. I don't want him back.

QUOTE (quickman @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:41 PM) fathom we will not be back filling payroll, we are totally rebuilding, cutting payroll. The Sox are a blue collar team, and the economy right now is not great for a blue collar crowd. Look for 2010. In the meantime we are trying to pick up some higher end players that are suppose to be ready. This trade though needs more from cinci even though Homer Bailey was arguably one of the best pitching Prospects in 2005 and 2006. How do you know this? Do you have sources?

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 4, 2008 -> 09:23 PM) Prepare to be dissapointed if you think there is some major overhaul coming. The Sox are cutting costs for economic purposes...like EVERY OTHER BUSINESS right now. The fact that Kenny moved on the Vazquez deal now and didn't wait a few more days for the meetings tells me he has nothing really going on the market. He's not gonna move Dye or Jenks or any other key player and you don't want him to. We need a damn RF that produces like Jermaine and we need a damn closer the likes of Bobby. He knows that. He tried to create a market for them earlier and will listen if he's approached, but I'm telling you aside from some secondary moves like a Broadway-Taveras deal and maybe a free agent 4th starter & catcher signing, this team is pretty well assembled for 2009. Like it or not. Do you know anything about this for a fact or is this just opinion? Since the season ended, KW has cut $36 mill in pay roll. While I'm well aware of the economic situation and that some players are due raises, I have a hard time believving payroll will be cut 33%. I have no inside info right now, but the team won a division last season and drew well. Season ticket prices are going up, not staying the same or decreasing. I just don't see payroll remaining at this level. I may be wrong but logic tells me othewise. KW has to know this team can't win a next year the way it's currently set up. If you're going to rebuild, you trade Jenks and Dye (and PK and Thome if possilbe) not keep them and hope Richard and Marquez win 15 games each and hope Anderson learns to hit, that one of the 42 second basemen KW has picked up become starts and that Fields hits and fields better. too many quesiton marks.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 09:16 AM) Traded for a good reliever in Ramon Ramirez. Thankfully, we won't see Crisp playing on the southside now. I wonder if this means Cubs will target DeJesus. The asking price on Crisp has gone down a lot. Didn't Boston want a lot more for him from us a couple of years ago?

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Oct 10, 2008 -> 05:43 AM) ....and yet they still won the division. Why are people so focused on breaking them up and trying to acquire fast, but perhaps not as talented, baseball players? We should focus more on our holes at 3rd, CF, and pitching. While losing ing PK & or Thome would be great, it's not going to happen. So how about filling the 3 holes with speedsters? If memory serves, this team finished 6th in the AL in runs scored. The Sox have allocated a lot of money to slow, power hitting players. 6th in the league is merely average

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 11:13 PM) I agree it seemed like Tuesday was our WS. It was a great night, but if it was our WS then at least admit we gave up on the big picture without CQ. Somebody told me to not blame injuries in one thread. Well are we simply admitting with CQ we had a shot and without him merely outlasting the Twinks was our WS?? You can't have it both ways. I truly think we could have and should have won today and agree with the Trib columnist that the Rays do not look like a 97 win team right now. We had them today early but refused to open a massive lead like they would have opened on us had our starter loaded the bases with no outs. Maybe I have a selective memory, but it seems like in most of the Sox/Rays games this year, we have failed to take advantage of huge opportunities.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:17 PM) Fire away! I'm not really even upset, I haven't been able to get tense like the 3rd game in Minnesota or the one game playoff against the Twins. I think our Sox just left everything in Chicago, and any momentum we had was squandered by Vazquez. All things considered, we're just not as good as the other three playoff teams, who have better starting pitching (at least none of them would have to start Vazquez), speed, fundamentals and especially the middle relievers. Pitching and defense in the playoffs >>> Softball approach I feel the same way. I hate the losing but I remember not being able to sleep in 2000 and 1993 when the Sox lost in the playoffs. I was livid after 2003 (and was one of the "classless" people who booed Manuel at the All Star game. That being said, I'm pissed when we lose now, but it's easy to see the teams gaping holes as they been problems in most of the KW era.

I heard on the radio that one is being negotiated right now. Does he deserve it? Why reward a guy who continually puts teams together that finish lower then the Twins while spending a ton more money. I can put together a team that is wose (though I'd like to think I can do better but it's not that eas) then the Twins and spend more. Most here can. And most here would work for a fraction of whatever KW is making.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 05:30 AM) Williams wondered how many days the Sox had spent in first place since 2002. He said he couldn't believe they had been there so often and won only the one title, in 2005. He almost looked like he wanted to cry. Imagine how he felt after Carlos Gomez and the Twins kept fighting back and the Minnesota bullpen—the one that had been 4-14 since Aug. 4—handcuffed Chicago hitters. The Twins eventually tied the score in the eighth inning and won 7-6 in the 10th on Alexi Casilla's two-out single off an exhausted Bobby Jenks. Minnesota had completed a sweep that was imperative, moving into first place by a half-game over the stunned Sox. They have led the Central for 145 days this season and 464 since the start of 2002—almost exactly 40 percent of the time—but the Twins are the team that stands up at the end. from chicagosports.com (Phil Rogers) 1) Fact, in Williams' time, he has won one AL Central Division title (1/8=12.5) 2) Fact, in Williams' time, the Twins have won 5 out of 7 (71.4%) I would also like to point out a fact I brought up in me earlier open letter to KW. The Sox have finished behnd the Twins in 6 of 7 years in the KW era, and more likely it'll be 7 of 8 unless the Sox get going here.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 10:28 PM) Those guys have slumped. It would have been nice to have Quentin's bat in the lineup to help carry the load, rather than count on Wise/Swisher/Anderson/Owens. Thats where the injury hurts. It would have been nice. Maybe next year KW should build a team with more balance (aka speed). Power hitters tend to slump for longer periods then speedsters. If you have speed there is more then one way to generate runs. If you're a power hitter, it's live and die by the long ball. There are no other options to generate runs for these guys.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 12:37 PM) Add in like 30 bunt hits... He's not a professional hitter. He's just using his speed at this point. He's also getting some fat fastballs 24% of the time too. Then the Sox should be truly embarassed that they let a guy like this beat us.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 07:19 AM) Injuries. Too many to overcome. Occam's Razor. All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best. Injuries are part of the game and not good excuses. Sure losing Quentin hurts. But ws losing him the reason Dye (before tonight) hasn't hit a homer since late August? Was losing CQ the reason future HOFer Thome has disappeared this month? How about AJ's slump the last couple of weeks? CQ again?

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 10:16 PM) Ozzie's the one who chose to play Griffey in Minnesota over Anderson. He did. And I posted before the series that I thought BA should start and I think Ozzie made a mistake. But Ozzie had a logic (though flawed) behind it and it had nothing to do with being obligated to play Griffey because he owes it to him. It was the wrong decision imho, but I've seen a lot worse from other managers.

QUOTE (CarlosMartinez @ Sep 26, 2008 -> 06:46 PM) I respect what he's done on the field, his D has not been of the gold glove variety though. What I'm saying is the guy has rubbed people the wrong way from the day he got here. And how many teams has this so called leader played for? If he was so valuable and had was such a great clubhouse presence, he would have stuck with a team by now. I love that he's been a fairly consistent bat and filled our leadoff role, but it is a contract season.... I just think feel his comments this week may not have been the best thing, no matter how much truth he spoke. Those words should have come from AJ, PK, JD, Thome, or Crede if he were playing. Guys who have been in the clubhouse for a few years. Not a guy who's a 1 year rent-a-player. PK couldn't say those words. Our captain was too busy talking about how the Minnesota series wasn't a big series.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Sep 25, 2008 -> 10:23 PM) Dear Kenny, As a fan I expect more than positive attitudes out of the players I root for. I also expect something more than a media circus out of the manager running the show. Please give us some players who can play and a manager who can manage. If necessary, make Guillen watch tape of the men he supposedly idolizes in Gardenhire and Cox so that way in the future he'll understand why he's supposed to idolize them. Balance the attack and don't be afraid to put players capable of playing defense on the field. Thank you. I don't think Ozzie is that bad a manager. Not great, but he has repeatedly asked for a speedsters and instead gets more old power hitters. Not much you can do but play station to station and wait for the 3 run home run.

KW- You didn't listen to me and other rational fans last season and that's fine. But maybe after this latest debacle, you'll swallow some pride instead of trying to show how much you think you know. 1. If you want to save on air line tickets, here's an idea. Instead of looking in a players eyes before a big game, just read their quotes. You have a wuss in Carlos Lee---I mean Javy Vazquez. He's more concerned about retiring then winning the biggest start of a distcintly disappointing career. He's a .500 pitcher for a reason. He only seems to pitch well when the stakes are low. While you're at it look at PK, treating this just like another series is a joke. A 2.5 game lead with 7 to paly and you're facing the second place team and your capitan comes out and says it's no big deal if they lose this series? That's worrisome. Last, ask the clubhouse attendant after the games which players had dirty pants because they crapped themselves in a big situation. Or better yet, look at the stats. 2. This is not football. It's not an issue of an oppenent walking out of the locker room and seeing all these huge linemen lining up. There's no need to have the beefieist, strongest, or biggest name team (no matter how many years those players are past their prime). The beauty of baseball is that it's not all about strength and power. Go back to football if you want that. I've heard people say, that given 2 teams with equal pitching staffs, they'd take the team who has the more balanced scoring attack and can play the game of baseball. Not the team that lives and dies by one dimension. The fact is (and I'm willing to put money on teh Sox not making the playofs this year even though we're tied in the loss column) that since your tenure as GM, 87.5% of the time the team that actually played baseball had a better record and made more playoff appearances then the high budget power hitting fantasy team that had a lot of 200 homer seasons. And before I here the standard "How many rings do the Twins have" comment, I'll respond to it this way. 2005 was awesome and will never be forgotten. But it was also 3 years ago, and as Ditka used to say, living in the past is for losers. I'll always remember 2005, and may even flip on the CDs if I can swallow the painful end to the Sox season to avoid watching the other Chicatgo team stampede through the pathetially weak NL. But in no way does that get you a free ride. Great memories and an incredible experience?? Absolutely. But 2005 doesn't make this year any easier to swallow. 3. So what to do for 2009? Offensively let Cabrera and Crede walk. Move Ramirez to third. Keep QUentin, Dye, and AJ. Dump either PK, Thome or Swisher. Odds are it'll be Swish as he's younger, cheaper, more versatile, and doesn't have a no trade clause. Now comes the tricky part. Getting speed. Sign Orlando Hudson and trade for Willy Tavarez and Chone Figgins. Thati s assuming you have anything left in this pathetic farm system to trade. The goal should be to shoot for a team that is more balanced, say 175 HR's and 125 SB's. The Twins outscored the Sox this year while having a tone less power. And before I here the old OPS argument (which there is some truth too) keep this in mind. A speedster who hits 25 doubles and steals second base 40 times essentially hit 65 doubles. Add this back into the OPS. It does raise it. Also keep in mind the value a speedster has in screwing up defenses and distracting the pitcher. Or better yet, look at the last 3 games and see what a real baseball team does while our pathetic power line up averages less then 4 runs per game. We saw it with Pods in 2005. We saw it so much, fans made him an All Star because we saw the value added by a speedster who can change the complexion of a game without hitting a home run. It's a valuable weapon that shouldn't be underestimated. and it adds more value when this speedster can take an extra base more often then not instead of this station to station garbage we watched this year. So, KW, hopefully you'll learn something here. Ozzie has been asking for lightning for 4 years now and you keep giving him more thunder. Stop it. More often then not it fails. It's like buying a penny stock. 97% of them are going out of business, but you may make a lot of money on the other 3%. The question is does that 3% make you profitbale when you consider all the money you lost. I'm not even going to get into the bullpen in this post, but may later. But there is not excuse to get swept in Minnesota. 2 of the games were 1 run games and the true grinders won out.

White Sox Twins Year Wins Losses Finish Wins Losses Finish 2001 83 79 3 85 77 2 2002 81 81 2 94 67 1 2003 86 76 2 90 72 1 2004 83 79 2 92 70 1 2005 99 63 1 83 79 3 2006 90 72 3 96 66 1 2007 72 90 4 79 83 3 OUtside of 2005, this says a lot about KW and the Sox as an organization. In each of these 7 years, we have had a payroll at least $15 mill more then the Twins and as much as $40 mill more. And outside of the magical 2005 year, we can't finish ahead of these guys let alone have more then one playoff appearance. Why do I bring this up?? Because it shows that KW has to have a change in philosophy. It's been spoken about here a thousand times, and yet every year the same freaking team is trotted out. It's getting to be where mayble KW's slow, old power line up theor will out play good fundamental basbeall with a well balanced team about 10 of the time. Why can't KW get it already? I know we're not done yet this year, but does anyone feel good about the Sox after the last couple of weeks. And some fans make excuses about how we lost our 2 best hitters in 2004 or how TCQ and Crede were hurt this year. And while those have some validity, shall we discuss the players the Twins have lost over the last 7 years? It's time for KW to figure it out and put a balanced team in place that actually knows how to do more hten hit home runs. HR's are exciting, but you know what's more exciting winning. And you can win (and score lots of runs) if you have a more balanced offensive attack then this plodding station to station crapfest. Maybe people reading this will say this has been talked about way too much and it's old news. Appearantly it hasn't been talked about enough to reach KW and his ego. GET SOME GUYS ON THIS TEAM WHO KNOW HOW TO DO MORE THEN SWING FOR THE FENCES

So much for rose colored glasses. This series was decided before before game 1 started. Cabrera is 100% right about this team. They pretty much have no guts. I won't even get into why BA isn't starting and Griffey is. I should preface this by saying I flipped on the game to check a score and lo and behold I saw Minnesota use the bunt to score a run. Surprise Surprise. Then I put my daughter to bed and flip on the game and see Wise batting with 2 on and none out. Do we bunt with one of our better bunters? Why do that when we can wait for the 3 run homer??? While I know we're down 4 I could have guess we wouldn't score one run waiting for the big hit that yet again doesn't come. So my idea is this. Start Richard and Broadway in the next two games and save Buehrle and Floyd for a the Indians, a team we don't psych ourselves out on. This team pretty much mentally forfeited before the series started. I think that happened back in July when they blew those games up in Minny. Ozzie was right a week ago, we go into this series trailing by half a game and we have 4 left to play.