Princess Dye

QUOTE (Baines3 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 02:28 PM) There is a possibility Thome will retire. I think Dye will be the DH next year. Thome will pursue 600

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) Dye is not going to get benched (for an extended period of time). He'll snap out of his slump, he always looks awful when he's in a slump. If Ozzie benched him, that would also just be terrible for the clubhouse. I'm confident he would never even consider that. Agreed, I'm just saying it's one scenario that could happen on a given day that would interest me. I would be open to having Dye take more rests than the others over the next few weeks, though. QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) God no. In the past, Dye sitting would mean Kotsay or Wise in RF, but now it's going to mean Pods being there I would think. CQ not running well enough, and Guillen sees him as solely a LF I suppose maybe we'd see Rios in RF with Pods in CF at some point. Do you like that better though? At some point it will happen.

If Q tears it up for awhile, something may have to be done. But hitters slump, and Dye singlehandedly held this team together earlier in the year. A phenomenal first half. Guillen is the type to ride that right into the ground if he has to. Q has been improved but we need a larger sample size based on how awful he looked up til this point. If you make one rush to judgment about one of our sluggers, you are compounding it with a second one.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) Whats the current status of Pierre's bad contract? Pierre will earn $7.5 million next season, $8 million in 2008, $10 million each in 2009 and 2010, and $8.5 million in 2011. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2672676 Interesting that it's descending from this point on, and also surprised to learn Pierre is three days away from being 32. Thought he might be slightly younger. I really do think that last Thome or Dye spot will be replaced (whether in '10 or '11) by a power hitter.

The Sox will definitely not spend much if any dough on a FA 5th starter. The price on that still hasnt come down enough, and theyve invested a lot in Buehrle/Peavy

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) AND gives us a leadoff hitter, something we still do not have even with Rios. Rios with his doubles ability now going to a division with less pitching....plus somewhat better hitters park..... He could be an atypical but effective leadoff hitter. Also probably going to steal more bases and leg out more triples than the then-34-yearold Pods People wanted Coco Crisp, but Rios' speed and OBP in the years 06-08 would cut it in the leadoff spot.

As far as this year, I am intrigued by the following scenario: Pods starts in RF, with Rios in CF. Dye on the bench. Getz is still your #9 hitter. Come late moments of the game, if a good lefty comes in to face Getz/Pods..... you can then sub-in Dye for a PH and force their hand to potentially leave said lefty in to face middle of the order righties. Just one thought but ....in a lot of ways...we have lots of flexibility now. And I really like not having to depend on Thome against great lefties late. Dye is not a natural PH but based on his slump, his fielding, and our righthandedness...........I think for awhile now we have to see him coming off the bench a few times a week.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:20 PM) There's almost no chance. What point would there be to that? If we want an insurance policy, I would think we'd have better options. To have Rios and still have Thome AND Dye just seems ridiculous to me. With the dearth of leadoff hitters out there, I think Pods could actually get a nice sized one-year offer from somewhere. Look at what Taveras got--for a short-term deal, he's going to be worth more than that if he keeps this up. If faced with competing to bring back Pods vs. getting all those HRs for cheap in this park....the Sox would seriously have to ponder it. If Rios raises his OBP back to past levels, we actually could bring back the two sluggers and use Rios to solve leadoff and cf defense all in one.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:22 PM) We won't need all three of Pods/Dye/Thome. Someone is going to be out. I suppose once we signed two of them, it would be impossible to get the third to believe he'd get playing time.

OK, so now where does this leave us for next year? 2010 payroll will be at what point? Can we guess 90? From my basic, rushed counting..... 39.6 payroll adding Thornton option, Peavy and Rios brings us to $66.6M After you factor in Jenks, we might be left with 15M to spend on some combo of Pods/Dye/Thome. We're also probably going to need a trustworthy bullpen arm, I would think. If they get a bargain reliever in here instead of Jenks, they actually could give one-years to Pods/Dye/Thome and bring all back. I doubt it happens but it's possible.

QUOTE (striker62704 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:05 PM) I just think we need to get away from old sluggers, and that's what Thome and Dye are, IMO. And we will replace them with the youth of Bobby Abreu?

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) As much as I love JD (except during these friggin annual August-Sept mega-slumps)...I really can't see his future here over keeping a left-handed bat like Thomes. Hard to say...but a lot will depend on how each of them finish out the season as to who's retained IMO. Of course Jermaine can be of help in interleague and a world series away game. Away in a NL park, you give away a lot of HR potential with Rios in over Thome Not saying I disagree with your overall point but if money is close they might sway to this way of thinking.

Kenny was asked if he's worried about any of the OFs/DHs having their feathers ruffled by this move, b/c of their playing time being cut. Kenny said that the team's recent play "ruffles HIS feathers" and that the players should be concerned with ruffling management's feathers, not the other way around. Lots of feather talk. He then followed it up by saying that the way we've been playing, it leads to people being shipped out of town. I loved this for no other reason than the fact that the exact guys who've been poor outfielders are the ones who said even a little something to the media about this move. They were not out of line in their comments but it was still nice to see KW's guns-blazing response. I think Dye has been through this exact scenario before where he feels unwanted and then they bring him back. Thome seems like an all-around positive dude. I think Pods probably feels nervous because he's already been out of the league and he doesnt have the pop the other guys have. If Rios were to get OBP up he could lead off. But yea, KW is apparently not worried about telling his players to man-up. In the NBA this sort of talk is impossible from the heads, entire freaking teams just tune you out. Here, not so. One thing there to like about MLB.

This interview has been talked about in other threads, but I think it deserves its own. I personally love this kind of talk from management. Do you guys think it's a good thing? He pretty much threatens the players in this interview, about 2/3 through the tape. It might not gel with players' egos, but it's so brutally honest - you just have to love it as a fan. here's the audio: http://www.670thescore.com/topic/play_wind...audioId=3941364

Have we heard officially that they're skipping the 5th starter next time it's up? I would think it's Carrasco, since they dont want to rush Hudson and Garcia is still prepping

First of all, I think the mindset is that Pods and Rios will both be starters, for the most part. You're going to see rests and DH days for Dye, Thome and CQ. So with that in mind, their earlier initial need for a pinch runner remains. Second, rosters expand in three weeks so they dont really have that many games they need tons of pitchers for

even though it's the one game where fans really have an actual direct role to play, i'm always content watching football in particular from home

QUOTE (GordoTheGreat @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 11:08 PM) I'm gonna have to say this is over. QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 11:12 PM) It doesn't make the loss hurt less when you say this before the game is over. There's no point in saying stuff like this, as you will just have people shove it in your face if the Sox do comeback to win. Which is more passive aggressive? 2, actually

Gordon hows that beer tasting

angry prancer - whips the helmet towards the dugout, postK

"Worry about ruffling MY feathers" KW is awesome

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:31 PM) Flowers absolutely needs to be platooning with AJP next year. He needs to play everyday, and this should be even more clear based on the fact that he's trying to develop defensively

KW will shortly be on The Score with laurence

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 06:38 PM) I have loved just about every deal that KW has ever done. I hate this move. If the Sox are willing to just spend and spend like this, what is there to dislike about it? I mean, I hear ya, it brings up worries. But just on its face, without hearing anything about future spending, how can it be a bad thing? The most we can say, at this point, is it may one day be bad.

Welp, good thing that's the manager's job and not yours. Dye, particularly, should not be shocked by this when his own defensive plays recently have prodded exactly this type of move