YASNY

Let JG go to the bench knowing he pitched 8 shut out innings against the hottest hitting team in MLB.. He'll sleep well tonight.

They would play worst than Jose is playing...i dont think so. You'll either just have to take my word for it, or ask around. See what people say....ask them if a combo of Valentin-Jimenez or Jimenez-Miles looks better. IMO, DJ in SS and Miles in 2B. Jose has give too much game away... I haven't seen enough of Miles defensively, but there is a reason they moved Jimenez to 2B. We haven't seen much of Jiminez at SS. I assumed he was at 2b because Jose had SS. I think we'll see DJ at SS next season.

I think Torre's stay in NY is coming to an end... win or not.

Bulls***. Frank's job is to drive in runs. His damn walks with a runner on 2nd just sets up a DP. Frank is toast. His BBs may set up DPs, but the player has to hit the grounder to cause the DP. Frank is helping the team as much as possible right now. His bat speed is down, and whether or not he realizes that that is what is causing his struggles, he does realize that he is struggling. He is getting on base, and regardless of the fact that he is a station-to-station baserunner, he is still setting the tables to bring in runs. There should be an occassional DP....not a DP every time Maggs or Paul "Flat Tires" Konerko comes ups. Blame the guys who are hitting the DPs....not the guy who gets on base and is then a victim of the DP. Why not rag on Konerko instead of Thomas? Afterall, he is making more money than Frank is. Yes, Paulie ain't hitting a lick either. But Frank is 35 years old... he's done. Stick a fork in him. If he can't drive in runs, he's useless. IMO, you can never give up on a hitter that once was as good as Frank was. He gets his batspeed up, and he is the same dominant player that he was in 2000. I just don't know how you get his batspeed up, cause if he hasn't figured it out, then I don't know how you could get him to change it. I think he's gotten too big. He loses 20-30 pounds, and his batspeed might increase. He's had one good year out of the last 5. I think he's done... he may get on a hot streak eventually. But the consistant awesome Frank Thomas is a thing of the past.

Bulls***. Frank's job is to drive in runs. His damn walks with a runner on 2nd just sets up a DP. Frank is toast. His BBs may set up DPs, but the player has to hit the grounder to cause the DP. Frank is helping the team as much as possible right now. His bat speed is down, and whether or not he realizes that that is what is causing his struggles, he does realize that he is struggling. He is getting on base, and regardless of the fact that he is a station-to-station baserunner, he is still setting the tables to bring in runs. There should be an occassional DP....not a DP every time Maggs or Paul "Flat Tires" Konerko comes ups. Blame the guys who are hitting the DPs....not the guy who gets on base and is then a victim of the DP. Why not rag on Konerko instead of Thomas? Afterall, he is making more money than Frank is. Yes, Paulie ain't hitting a lick either. But Frank is 35 years old... he's done. Stick a fork in him. If he can't drive in runs, he's useless.

Bulls***. Frank's job is to drive in runs. His damn walks with a runner on 2nd just sets up a DP. Frank is toast.

Frank's ass needs to be in only one place... on the bench.

I'm glad to hear Garland is doing well. I still think he's going to be a very good major league pitcher.

Will he even be here in 11 months? Never know with these clowns. I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but I don't think there is such a thing as something that you can say is right about this organization. One day, some fans are declaring them world champions(like in the offseason), and a month later, you want to f***ing kill every last one of them. Then Ken Rosenthal writes an article about them that rips them apart, and they do....well....this. Garland has shutout the best offense in the majors through 6 innings. You wonder why we don't have many casual fans attend the games. Jeezus f***ing christ. Casual fans are not going to pay good money to see a boring, incompetent, lifeless ball club.

The first move they ought to make is to flat out release Rick White. Jose Valentin is a tradeable commodity if a SS on a contender goes down. We'll have to wait and see if that happens. If so, you will see Jimenez move to SS with Harris or Miles holding down 2B. Frank Thomas is old. His bat speed is non-existant and he is still afraid of the damn baseball. He'll certainly pick up his option for next year after the horrid season he's had in 2003. So, we will have to watch him either walk, strike out or pop up for another season. Thomas, Konerko, Daubach, Rios. We have too many of this type of player. Try and find someone, anyone, that is familiar with the expression "hit behind the runner".

Why does that type of game seem familiar to me?

I know one thing, our #3 hitter should not be a guy who is hitting .150 or so with RISP. Frank's done.

Oh bulls***! As we were walking in I said "see you guys in the bar!!" I got a round of "OK's". And why in the hell didn't someone (MICHELLE!!) call if they had a bit too much to drink?? You guys are so lucky I am hearing about this three days later! I am going to kick all of your asses! I'll have to take the blame on this one, not Michelle. After 24 hours of working, driving, partying and that lousy excuse of a baseball game, by the time the game was over, I was toast.

Carlos has been the only of our "big" hitters to show any consistant heart at all. Even Maggs seems like he's stuck in a rut.

I disagree that a pitcher's errors should be reflected in his ERA as earned runs. His ERA is a reflection of his pitching ability, which has nothing to do with his fielding abilities. Those abilities, or lack of, are reflected in their own stats such as errors, fielding pct, etc.

With the strength of the Dodger pitching staff, we'll be lucky to get a hit the whole damn series.

I like the Backman idea too. he seems to have a knack of being able to win without having a line up that puts a lot of runs on the board.

My point, Jason, cannot be found in stats. It's being in position to take the cutoff and knowing which base to throw the ball to. It's being vocal out on the field, telling guys what they need to know as they are trying to make a play. Sure, other players can do this too, but a majority of them don't.... They are more worried about stats (see Clayton) .... it's also doing the Sammy Sosa impression in the Wrigley dugout, then have the Cubs give up a big HR because they are all worried about Jose. He basically mindf***ed the Cubs out of that game.

You left out the speed of Luis Aparicio.

Right! A week, 10 days... is enough time for any coach to change the hitting approach of 13 major league batters. Fire the bum!!!!

And you want to bring up Greg Ritchie? First name begins with a G, and that last name... well, enough said. LOL

Who's this Nicholson guy... batting 5th, playing SS and hitting .319?

I think we maight as well face facts, folks. This team, as currently structured, is not going to win a damn thing. And to those that said that in ST, kudos to you... you were right. Konerko and/or Thomas have to go. Even though I said I like JV yesterday, I think he is expendable too. Time to move DJ to short, bring up Miles and let's see what the hell they can do. Dump Rick White and bring up one of the kids. Stewart, Rauch, somebody... I don't care who. Get a LH hitting RBI and a CF'er, both in one player if possible. If not, make the CF'er a leadoff type. Time to move old and slow for young and hungry. This is 3 years with these guys... it ain't working. Change it.

Rex, I appreciate you taking the time to put that post together. very informative from someone in the know on these guys. Thanks. Overall, our organizational depth has gone somewhat downhill in recent years, but we are now starting to develope position players in the low minors, where before it was pitching, pitching, pitching. From what I heard about Webster, I think I have the name right, was the he is very talented and athletic, but very very raw. The fact that he is doing so well is encouraging to say the least.

I always liked Rocky Biddle... though I'd still make the Colon deal.