Princess Dye

Ive always liked the way Nix looks up there even if he's an uppercut addict Would be a nice problem to have if we can have two decent hitters at 2b

Eek, i thought the Tyler Flowers era was about to flow in for a second there.

08 CQ gettin close

Even though it's an out: ugh our defense.

One can just as easily look at the Joe Mauer trajectory after year one Fact is we just dont know yet, but it'll be something to watch for sure.

I'm going to need a year before I can run any comparisons on this guy.

Perhaps, but in AA he didnt get it done like Beckham did Also as a late first rounder he wasnt thought of as highly starting out.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 10:50 PM) Thome has been a member of the Sox for 3 and a half seasons. In those years, the Sox have won 90, 72, and 89 games. I believe you have already been proven wrong. Lets do an average of what that comes out to as wins-per-year. Then adjust for the kind of competition in Central vs. East. As I stated earlier, my goal is to be better than that. It would be good to be like one of those East teams. If yr perfectly happy being what we've been the last few yrs, then I would not expect you to agree. As far as the Balta list of pitchers, it's a good illustration of his point, yet it highlights all the mediocre names that Thome also is unable to get hits against. Found it shocking, and still believe in my point about wanting more cleanup hitter production. Again, I'm not saying JT off the team. Saying that based on what our payroll is, we need a different type of cleanup hitter. And I think we may have a solution in-house, as I've listed - but few seem to be fans of it. To those disagreeing with me, I again am not calling the current situation awful. But I do want better and I'll just hope to god we dont have pitchers adjusting their willingness to pitch to Thome in this home stretch.

An additional part of my fears is that a .250 hitter, his obp notwithstanding, likely has trouble hitting great pitching. In the playoffs, you face great pitching nonstop, and your 4-hitter is getting a lot of at-bats. Not saying he's only out there hitting bad pitching, but for a nice tiny sample size...in last year's playoffs: .176 OBP If we had the OBPs that lineup has up and down, I would gladly make an exception to my vision here. But with our payroll limitations we depend on a cleanup hitter for a lot, year in year out. But besides that ARod's just better

The legend of Pods' 2009 continues!!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:43 PM) Slugging percentage out of the cleanup spot this year for every team in MLB: 1 Minnesota 0.607 2 Milwaukee 0.586 3 Chicago Cubs 0.568 4 Washington 0.567 5 Texas 0.562 6 Detroit 0.531 7 Boston 0.524 8 Chicago Sox 0.517 9 San Diego 0.514 10 Philadelphia 0.512 11 Houston 0.495 12 Atlanta 0.493 13 St. Louis 0.489 14 Tampa Bay 0.488 15 NY Yankees 0.486 16 LA Angels 0.483 17 Arizona 0.478 18 NY Mets 0.463 19 Colorado 0.458 20 Cincinnati 0.444 21 Cleveland 0.442 22 Toronto 0.44 23 Oakland 0.438 24 Pittsburgh 0.437 25 San Francisco 0.437 26 Florida 0.431 27 Baltimore 0.394 28 Seattle 0.389 29 LA Dodgers 0.381 30 Kansas City 0.293 Which is why some of those teams have moved in some of the above guys I mentioned into that slot. Such as Youk, Zobrist. They see the importance of the spot and make the necessary adjustments. I hope we do the same, which is my entire point. We'll see if the K-rate and SLG we get out of the cleanup spot is enough for this year. Would love to be proven wrong.

And obviously I'd report on what just happened but I dont wanna be that guy I want a bomb in the 11th, all things I've said notwithstanding

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:31 PM) Saying that his slugging is declining from the ridiculous HOF level he was at beforehand isn't an argument for moving him in the lineup. You need to tell me how to replace the nearly .500 slugging from the LH side in the middle of the lineup. but .494 slugging at the cleanup spot would not cut it on those teams I think are a cut above, like Boston w/ Youklis, LAA w/ Guerrero (normal Vlad that is) or Tampa etc I want to be like those teams.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:31 PM) Saying that his slugging is declining from the ridiculous HOF level he was at beforehand isn't an argument for moving him in the lineup. You need to tell me how to replace the nearly .500 slugging from the LH side in the middle of the lineup. Were we to move Beckham into the 3 slot, I think that middle of the lineup gets a guy who can hit lefties and righties very well. Currently Beckham is hitting for righties for an average higher than Thome is. The walks and SLG are not there yet, but few amongst us doubt we're too far away from that point.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:21 PM) Yet you want Thome out of there. I'm sorry, but I am completely lost at this thread. I definitely tripped over myself on that line. My point should have been the following, said more simply: I dont want my cleanup hitter's best attribute to be drawing walks. SLG is on the decline as well, each year he's been here, again with the biggest drop off being post 07.

CQ last year vs Beckham this year on these boards The CQ love got pretty intense but this is somehow trumping it so far

eeeeeeeeees so unreal!!!

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:13 PM) ... But his average is up this year from last, not on a decline. Yea, thats why i said since 07 in my original post. I guess I just want that lineup with a 1 through 5 that can be multifaceted with the bat. I'm not saying, 'hey it's crazy having a power hitting lefty in the 3-4-5'. Just wishing that we would aim higher, perhaps in our offseasons, to get a different lefty power hitter. If Alexei keeps hitting the way he's going, I'm going to start wanting Pods/Alexei/Becks/Dye/Konerko. Even though it flies in the face of conventions, it reminds me of those great teams that keep punishing you and bringing your pitch count up in long five-batter sequences. There's also the option of moving AJ to 5, but with our park it's barely an option

To illustrate my overall point further, K rate is on the rise for him this year.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 09:08 PM) Who cares? We don't expect him to hit for average and if you are, then you're doing it wrong. Not to mention his average was .284 in July and overall it's 8 points since last year. But note in the post, I'm worried not about avg itself...but about what a declining average implies Less able to wave that wand the way he used to. If you're hitting in the 3-4-5, youve still got your situations that you have to make contact in.

the ole shingo frisbee reappeared just then

well since 07 that is Obviously we all like the OBP, but with his specific spot in the lineup, you need a little more handiness with the bat than he's providing. How much has it hurt us? Also who here would advocate lowering him in the lineup?

Anyone have data on Gomez and what he's like/projected to be?

What kind of irks me about sports message boards: A 25th man will be mercilessly slammed over and over for simply not being good. Even though that's what a 25th man is. But something happens like this inning, where CQ throws home instead of to second..... that's the kind of unquestionably stupid play that should be called out b/c it shows either hubris or a lack of preparation And yet it isnt. At least not en masse.

I would imagine that any pitcher would see a few of Nix's uppercut swings and be able to get him outpretty easily. EDIT: ha