Balta1701

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 08:20 PM) Smart teams will just stop pitching to Konerko. We've been saying this for 4 years now I think. Paulie is just too good to let pitchers work around him.

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 08:18 PM) Right and you know for a fact Viciedo isnt injured? No, but I'm surprised that it hasn't been tweeted, mentioned in the pregame, or noted by Hawk/Stone if he was.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 08:16 PM) If you want to bench someone, start in RF. He did bench his RF. He just moved him to LF first.

Would be nice if Peavy could show some real performance for a long game today.

Terrible work, Rios.

Career start # 2000 for the Captain. And a quick RBI.

Holland seriously bringing it past these guys. Of course, he also will now try to throw a fastball to Konerko.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) After a 100 loss season!? One year removed from a season that you said was a different manager away from being a playoff team? The majority of fans here believe this is a .500 team. They go out and are a .333 team, they will lose fan support left and right, and JR will be forced to end the Williams era. It will reflect very badly on management if he doesn't fire his GM. Yes. If Kenny Williams was told to cut payroll by $25 million this year, and there is any chance he would be given only 1 year to see the rebuilding process through, that would reflect very bad on ownership. Very few teams can cut that kind of payroll while playing for "That year". You can't demand those 2 things and be a fair owner. Firing the GM for not winning enough games after forcing that level of payroll cut would just be ridiculous. You can't ask him to plan for the long term and then fire him based on short term performance. If they were going to fire him, then it should have been after last season. If he's retained for this year, then you need at the very least 2 years of evaluation to see where the rebuilding process will go. 3 would be much more sensible.

QUOTE (coco1997 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 07:41 PM) Eh, not really, since the Sox actually had high expectations last year. And no one at Wrigley cares if they lose anyway.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 07:43 PM) What I mean is KW already knows what he is going to spend to pick up the option, whereas Danks and Quentin were going to be a lot pricier and he didn't want to deal with that. Having Floyd on a 1 year deal isn't this horrible situation you are painting it as. He has done it many times and it has worked out. Garland, Buehrle, Contreras, and now Danks all went into a season with one year left and all signed deals that worked well for both sides. And just last offseason he extended Santos and dealt him, it isn't the end of the world. Having Floyd on a 1 year deal isn't a bad thing if you're going "All in" next year. If we spend another $25 million next offseason to get the payroll back up and fill whatever holes we decide we have after this year, then fine, gambling with Floyd walking after a 1 year deal is OK. If we're focused on "rebuilding"....which we darn well should be, then Floyd can't go into next year with the possibility that he'll walk and the Sox get virtually nothing for him. Either you have to trade him or you have to extend him...he's an asset, and you can't allow an asset to walk away with nothing for the future found in return.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 07:57 PM) Sure, and JR will reward the front office and Scouts with nice bonuses. They lose 100 games with a team that KW is 100% responsible for, he's gone. If he gets fired this year, it would reflect very, very badly on ownership, IMO.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 07:18 PM) Danks and Quentin both were set to make a lot more than the Sox were willing to spend in arbitration, Floyd has a predetermined option. Not the same thing. KW also had players like Konerko and Buehrle that played their deals out and then the Sox decided what they wanted to do with them. What do you mean by "Floyd had a predetermined option"? I'm just assuming that gets picked up unless he destroys his arm, and that means he'll be on a 1 year deal for 2013. I can't see KW letting him be on a 1 year deal, that's not a good strategy, so he's in the D1 "Trade him or extend him next offseason" mode.

Charlotte Rocks the D-Train.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 06:24 PM) Shouldn't the punishment be sitting against a RHP, though? Punished for what, not having Alex Rios' contract? He at least had a double yesterday and got totally jobbed on a strike 3 call that was well off the plate. That sounds like plenty of reasons for the Sox to punish the guy. They've benched rookies for less than hitting a double.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 06:08 PM) 2 hours before game time, and no word on Viciedo. Shouldn't there be a reason for the changed lineup? If he's not hurt, at least in a year, I can rant about how Viciedo was already getting benched and punished on day 2 of the season.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 05:39 PM) Tigers have more talent than the 06 Sox, in my opinion. Plus lesser division opposition. IN hindsight of course. But going into that season,k that pitching staff looked ridiculous.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 05:36 PM) I can think of 4 hall of famers. Thome, Griffey, Vizquel, Manny. Konerko and Buehrle may not get there, but they're not incredibly far away either.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 05:27 PM) They have no choice. Who are they going to bench these guys for if they are losing? And if they are losing it might be very well be because these guys are not the players the organization thinks they are. "The guy on the bench doing nothing" didn't stop us from benching Morel for Vizquel last year.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 05:04 PM) What does holding pattern mean when you have the worst rated farm system? That you need to play and develop the multiple people you do have, especially the ones on the big league squad, even if it means losses

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 02:22 PM) Wins and losses has to be part of the mix. That is one yardstick that the team is measured against. It isn't the only, or perhaps the best for this season, but it has to be in the mix. If the Sox lose 100 games this year but Vicideo, Morel, and Beckham show promise in the 2nd half, and Sale gets to 150 innings while healthy, and Peavy and Dunn and Rios are traded, that is a successful year.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 04:57 PM) Who cares? Everyone understands the team is in a holding pattern. Cowley has an agenda. He's the last of a dying breed. He needs to generate interest. The Marty character is obviously a troll. Anybody who acts intentionally dense to garner attention is, by definition, a troll. I don't think trolls are a dying breed.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 11:28 AM) The bodies that were in front of KW were Walker and Ozzie. This isn't his first year in the organization. There are very, very few players that were here when he arrived. He can't duck responsibility for this season. The standards may be lower, but they have to meet some standard. That standard though cannot be wins and losses, not after $25 million in salary cuts. That standard is all about development and setting up for 2013.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 10:50 AM) except i don't think this year has any bearing on KW's tenure. we're not expected to compete, so if we don't, he's still fine... Cowley needs everyone to forget that the goal this year is rebuilding from last years debacle of a manager who had quit on his team. It's the only way he can call for KW to lose his job this year, when the years goal should really be rebuilding and recovering. So you get articles like this saying kw needs to be gone if the team isn't competitive and statements about how we need to forget all the previous staffs failures while still believing every negative thing the previous staff says about kw.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 10:31 AM) Guillen has as much to do ith the 2012 White Sox as Jerry Dybzinski does. You continue to live in the past. That's an excuse.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 09:35 AM) This is an excuse. Correct. Like "he was mad at the GM" is an excuse for a manager quitting on the team and throwing away ballgames. Both can be true, and there is an appropriate remedy for them...stop doing the mistake that caused the poor performance.