whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:40 PM) I don't know why, but the standings thing I was looking at showed 7.5 games and I was thinking that this was a 3 game series. I agree an 8 game deficit is large, but there will be significant swings during the season and very rarely will a team play without a cold spell. That means it is quite possible that the Sox have had there significant drought where the Twins have not yet been subject to that. So just that alone will be a regression towards the mean. On top of that we have a buttload of games left with the Twins/Tigers and the regression to the means on our team averages will allow for a significant increase to our production and a likely hot-streak. The pitching should also improve, well at least from the rotation. Our bullpen will likely see regression amongst certain members but 2/3rds of our team should improve and I expect we'll see at least one big run. So as much as it might sound cliche, I believe that this team has talent and will be better. That doesn't mean there aren't holes that won't continue to be holes, but right now there is a s***load of holes, most of which will go away (for example..Jake Peavy is not a hole). Certainly, which is why you wait until July to decide what kind of trades you want to make (if any). I'm not sure how much the Twins are going to regress though. They'll probably have a mild regression, but if the Sox are going to get back in the race, it'll be because they play really well. And while I do feel this pitching staff could get hot, I can't say the same for this offense. As much as some guys will eventually hit better, I think it's unrealistic to expect guys like Konerko, Rios, and maybe even Andruw Jones to keep hitting as they are right now.

Red Sox fans are a mixture of Cubs fans and Yankees fans. With that in mind, they are without question the most obnoxious, insufferable fans in the sport. Easily.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:38 PM) The Yankees were 21-29 in 2007 and made the playoffs. Point is the season is far from over. Well yeah. That's why you wait until the month of July to sell off parts even if you're in sell mode. Every once in a rare while, a team might surprise you.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:34 PM) The 2001 team started 14-29 and got all the way back to 8 games over .500. 1983, 16-24 to winning the division by almost 30 games and 100 victories. It's never, ever good for the White Sox to lose, because it crushes our attendance and depresses our payroll going forward historically. Can this team play at the clip necessary based on the hole they've already dug to reach the low 90's win total necessary to even have a shot at the postseason though? Very unlikely.

If the team does continue to be irrelevant standingswise as it has been so far this season, attendance this year is going to be absolutely brutal, which means the payroll next year isn't going to be a pretty picture either. That's why I think this might finally be the year significant sell-offs occur in July (assuming there are willing partners in trades) if we're out of the race at that point.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) Give me a motherf***ing break. The season has been "over" for at least 3 weeks according to some. Don't act like this s*** just started with this thread. How the f*** is losing to the Twins the next two nights going to benefit the organization? "Now were 10 games out instead of 8 games. Now the fun begins!" I didn't say it would, I just said this team isn't going to the playoffs anyways no matter what happens the next two days. There is no tangible benefit to the organization either way, because we're still going to be eating Minnesota's dust in July anyways. Unless of course a rally that would surprise most of us occurs. Such a rally is unlikely, but that's why you wait until July to trade away parts, because every once in a blue moon, the 2006 Twins occur. Such a team is still a rare exception, not the rule though.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:24 PM) Stupid comment. Sox sweep and they are 4.5 games back. That is great for the organization as a whole. Losing is rarely, if ever good, especially when you have a lot of key parts and to me aren't incredibly far away. The offense is one of the worse of all time at this point in the season and it won't stay that way (judging by career norms). This team has some holes, but to act like there aren't very very good baseball players on the squad, we'd be lying. I'm not saying there is an easy fix, but this team isn't near as bad as the record indicates. The Sox will be 6 back if they sweep. I agree losing is rarely, if ever good, and you could certainly argue this team isn't as bad as their record indicates. But this is simply not a playoff team, and if people are worried they'll linger half a dozen games back in July, leading to a bad win now trade by KW that won't change the fact that Minnesota and the loser of the Tampa Bay/New York AL East battle are better than us, I can understand that concern.

QUOTE (The Critic @ May 11, 2010 -> 10:46 AM) I think they've been burnt by so many "can't miss" prospects that whenever a kid starts to fail, they immediately think "oh, great...ANOTHER one...." But doesn't the booing kind of fly in the face of the "nobody's paying attention to the game" stereotype? The fans who are out at 9 or 10 PM on a Monday night watching a crappy Cubs team lose to a crappy Marlins team on a cold, damp night tend to be the type who are watching the game. The fact they are booing a 20 year old kid who belongs in AAA shows they still aren't very smart though.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) Just wanted to say good work@shack. These perpetual whiners really need to go out and find more constructive things to do with their time. I wouldn't even bother with a professional sports team in any way shape, or form, if they reduced me to a miserable, whiney, "SEASON'S OVER" every 2.5 seconds joke of a "fan." Huh? It's not whining to point out the very obvious fact that there is a more than 95 percent chance that the Sox aren't going to the playoffs. If you want to focus on the less than 5 percent, that's your right. I'd love for you to miraculously end up right and the team end up in the playoffs because it'd make things a lot more interesting, but that's just not realistic. I don't think anybody is miserable and whiney over this team either, or at least I know I personally am living a fine, happy life without them being relevant. It's more fun when they are, and I'll still watch the games even though they suck, but don't hate on people for being realistic.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 11, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) Alex Rios is fifth in all of baseball in WAR. Well when you consider the question what is it good for (absolutely nothing), I can't take such a fact seriously. He's still having a great season so far though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 11, 2010 -> 08:58 AM) Every day. Stop buying tickets. Stop watching games. Stop talking about the team. Well I'm going to stop buying tickets, because I refuse to waste money on crap. Spending money on Sox tickets this year is like going to a restaurant, getting poor service and crappy food, and smiling and coming back for more several more times in response. I'm still going to watch games and talk about the team though, because I'm not a bandwagon fan and I really doubt anybody else who posts on this board is either.

Considering we're going to be out of the race in July regardless of what happens in this series, I don't think it's that earth shattering either way what happens in it.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ May 11, 2010 -> 12:19 AM) Arianny Celeste should be alot higher. Rihanna should be alot lower, but thats just me. Rihanna has no business even being on this list, and agreed on Arianny Celeste.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ May 10, 2010 -> 11:51 PM) I am still shocked he is up here, especially with limited abs in AA and not sniffing some AAA at 20 years old. But he has really impressed me with his discipline at the plate. He's got a chance for sure. Hell if we wind up trading guys (and of course keeping our core), I would love for trade Alexei + and get him (though I'm sure Hendry will hype his ass and ask for the ransom) to pair with Beckham. He's got a chance to be really good. But rushing him up in early May isn't a great start for the kid, and that's not his fault.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 12:14 AM) Yeah, not really. That's a great defense of him. His record isn't though. If you make the safe assumption this year is going to end after 162, that's 8 seasons of 10 under him not in the playoffs, and the 9th saw us win a whopping 1 playoff game after narrowly taking a bad division. (And yes, I know he found a great batch of smoke and mirrors in 2005, I enjoyed it as much as everybody else. It's kept him and Ozzie employed for quite a while now.)

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 12:09 AM) Yeah, everybody knows Sox fans know better how to run a team than KW. They don't, but a lot of baseball executives do, which is a problem.

Bobby's salary, club control situation, and stuff combined with our record all indicate we shouldn't bother with him closing anymore in my opinion. The question is, do you want to try Thornton to see if he can close, try Santos to see how a young guy with incredible stuff does in that role, or try Putz and hope he does well so you can get something for him at the trade deadline? Honestly, I'd like to keep Thornton in the role he has now. As for Putz vs. Santos, I wouldn't mind giving either a shot at the 9th inning.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ May 10, 2010 -> 09:10 PM) 3 errors for the golden boy tonight. I just don't understand why they rushed him up, he really could use (and needs) more minor league at bats, they could have put off arbitration for another year had they waited even a few more weeks to call him up, and rushing him up to a team that is going nowhere anyways makes no sense. Things like that, rushing guys up, proclaiming them as saviors, and putting a ton of pressure on them, is in large part why you see so many Cubs prospects end up busts.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 10, 2010 -> 09:19 PM) Well Juan Pierre is now all alone. Chris Coghlan, in his 114th PA of the season, picks up his first XBH (a double) leaving Juan Pierre (139 PA) as the only player in the game with at least 70 PA and no XBH. His closest peers would be Mark Grudzielanek (59 PA, 0 XBH) and Chris Getz (57 PA, 0 XBH). I don't have any statistical evidence to support this, but to the naked eye, Chris Getz had as little power as any Sox hitter I can remember seeing before Juan Pierre. He did have two home runs last year (one against Cincinnati, one against Baltimore, and I remember them both because oddly enough, I was at both games) and despite witnessing them both in person, I still have no idea how he hit the ball far enough to get it out of the yard twice.

As much as I expected this team to suck, I find it pretty mind boggling that there is a very real chance we'll leave Target Field on May 12th 10 games out of first. I never thought I'd see the day where mid-May wouldn't be too early to start the fire sale/major trading of veterans talk, but that will be the case if things go poorly in the next couple of days.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 9, 2010 -> 01:13 PM) 100 pitches? I think Peavy can handle that load for the money he's making. Huh? He's our best pitcher (when right as he has been the last two times out), AND one of our more expensive investments. There is simply no excuse to leave him out there for 120 pitches when the game is already over. The "can handle that load for the money he's making" argument is dated and ridiculous. Arms have to be protected, it's not 1980 where you just keep guys out there forever.

QUOTE (spiderman @ May 9, 2010 -> 10:58 PM) Juan Pierre is really good at....making outs. Indeed. IIRC, Orlando Cabrera set the single season White Sox record for outs made a couple of years ago. Juan is an absolute lock to break that if he stays healthy and keeps hitting leadoff.

Good to see that McCamey and Davis feel playing their season year at Illinois is a better decision than being undrafted. I actually thought McCamey might stay in the draft. Illinois has no excuses to not be a very solid team this upcoming season now.

Would somebody explain to me why Ozzie left Peavy in for the 8th? He had thrown over 100 pitches through 7, and we had a 6 run lead, yet Ozzie decides to leave one of our most important assets out there for what ended up being 120 pitches in a game that was already over. I seriously wonder if Ozzie actually wants to be fired with the job he's done this season. The game itself was awesome though, great one to be at other than the weather and Peavy's stuff was wicked.

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ May 8, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) KW has really wrecked this team. You get the ball started toward "remaking" the team by trade and you always give up more than you get when you are looking for short term results. Not having taken the long view will be KW's demise when players like Getz start fulfilling their potential. The Peavy trade is really evidence of just how much KW would give up in potential for someone he thought could be a difference maker right now. In retrospect, it looks like it was done out of desperation. Here's looking back on the Jake Peavy deal. So far this year, Peavy is off to a horrendous start with the White Sox. Jake was 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA in 5 starts in April and went winless in a "full" month for the first time since June of 2006 (0-3, 5.28 ERA). He lowered his ERA to 6.31 after beating the Royals. Peavy went to the White Sox in a trade that sent Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter to the Padres while Jake Peavy was still on the DL. What did KW give up? Clayton Richard was 5-2 last year for the Padre's after the trade. Line for 2009 in SD? 12 GS 64 IP 4.08 ERA .244 BAA. 2010 line? 6 GS 3.34 ERA Aaron Poreda was rated the #1 prospect in the White Sox entire system in 2008 by Baseball America. In the 2009 Baseball America Top Prospects listed him as the #63 prospect overall. He's got a 1.93 ERA as a AA reliever this year. Adam Russell is a 6-foot-8, 255-pound AAA closer for the Padres. He had a 3.15 ERA in 15 games with the Padres last season and 2.45 ERA in Spring Training line securing one of the final spots in the bullpen. In 3.1 innings of work he did not surrendered a hit and walked just one batter. He was sent back to AAA when the Padres re-called a player that had been on the DL. Dexter Carter started this season in the minor leagues in Single-A Fort Wayne. When the Padres acquired Carter last season, he was leading the Class-A South Atlantic League in strikeouts. In fact, at one point was leading ALL of the minor leagues in K's! He was 6-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 2009. In 2010 Carter is a starter with the Single-A Fort Wayne is 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA in 25.0 IP and 23 K's. Because Richard is producing better than Peavy, it is clear that the Padre's robbed KW. When these other players start having an impact at the MLB level(especially Poreda), KW will be looking very stupid to everyone. Kenny definitely deserves a lot of blame for this mess, considering we have a payroll of about 100 million dollars, and a roster full of holes. I'm not going to blame him for the Jake Peavy trade yet though, still too early to call that one. But if you want him gone, I can't blame you. A payroll this high should produce a roster much better, and at the end of the day, KW had the power to say no to Ozzie's insane and idiotic lineup ideas, and he didn't. That's on him.