Balta1701

Another little thing I feel about this...while Riske may have been tolerable against Righties, he's also a bit disappointing against lefties, who put up an .818 OPS against him last year. Now, while Ozzie seems to obsess like crazy about the righty/lefty matchups when he's filling out his lineup, and when letting pitchers start innings, he's often struck me as not being nearly up to LaRussa's level when it comes to using a ROOGY the right way...1-2 batters and only against righties. He almost always seems to give whoever he brings in a couple of batters no matter the situation, at least to my eyes, which means that anyone we bring in would need to be able to face guys from both sides.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 09:27 AM) He's not bad if you are talking about using him as the mop up guy, but it appears that job will be handled by someone like Haeger. Which is exactly the type of guy who should handle that role: young, $400k a year, project pitcher, who can give you quite a few innings if a game goes 17. Not a guy coming out of Free Agency who's certain to cost at least a couple times that much.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 09:08 AM) I wouldn't be upset with Riske's departure. He was keen to hanging his breaking ball during crucial moments of a game. However, Williams realistically has to obtain (via trade) or require atleast one more reliable arm. What's going to be pitiful to observe is the competition for the lone relief position in spring training. You know we're going to enter March with one spot available, and all the usual talk will begin of "low risk, high reward" AAAA fodder attempting to make the team. We'll all have to endure the typical cast of characters: 35 year old in the twilight of his career, 26 year old recovering from surgery -- yet hasn't regained previous velocity, 28 year old reject from team with bullpen issues, and a collection of minor league talent from our organization. Ultimately, it'll be a huge, steaming pile of cow dung. Can't wait! Are we totally sure that such a competition is actually going to happen? As far as I can tell, to my eyes Haeger already has a pretty solid hold on the last-spot out of the bullpen. That leaves us needing to find 1 right handed relief pitcher somewhere. In the last 2 years, KW has managed to find MacDougal, Thorton, and Jenks to fill out a majority of the bullpen, in addition to finding a couple other bargains-at-the-time in follks like Hermanson. We need to find 1 righty relief pitcher. That is not an overwhelming request.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 08:39 AM) The bullpen next year should look like this: Cl- Jenks SU-Thorton SU-Mac MR-Cotts MR-FA MR-FA LR-Haeger We need two veteran arms in the pen. I am sick of having crap come in the 6th and 7th and give up the lead. Spend the $6 million or so it takes to get two veteran middle relievers. I would not mind Justin Speier and maybe even Foulke (if he would come back here, which I doubt.) Or get em through trades, but we need a solid bullpen that wont blow leads every game. In 2006, the White Sox had the fewest bullpen innings in baseball. In 2005, the White Sox had the 2nd fewest bullpen innings in baseball. So I just can't figure out why this team would need to run withi a 7 man bullpen. The last guy out of the pen already gets almost no work whatsoever...spending a significant amount of cash on guys who just won't be pitching at all just doesn't seem like good business to me.

QUOTE(Cknolls @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 08:33 AM) Show Identification. Who wants to bet that the Dems will b**** about long lines at the polling stations in Missouri on Tuesday? Then some a friendly judge will let the polls stay open until 9:00 or 10:00 P.M. so that all dead people and their pets can vote too. Or you just have someone evaluate the voter registration cards? "We caught 1400 fraudulent voter registration cards. Clearly our system for catching fraudulent registration doesn't work."

With both Sweeney and Fields waiting in the winds...I could understand Roberts as a cheap, 1-2 year stop-gap solution. But it all depends on the $$.

I saw nothing out of Riske this year that makes me want him back. Some people said he had lost some velocity over the past few years, and it was hard to disagree. He was just too hittable, especially if our other non-Jenks, non-Haeger righy out of the pen is MMac and he has a history of being hurt.

So, is anyone else of the opinion that Big Ben rushed himself back from a series of injuries long before he was ready physically or mentally?

So...it depends on how much money they're willing to spend...but I can think of 2 playoff teams this year who would be in real need of a right hand hitting, high OBP, patient DH. Detroit and Minnesota.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Oct 29, 2006 -> 09:12 AM) I would like to see a multi-year deal for Mark similar to what Jon got. I would like to see a multi-year deal for Mark for several years longer than what Jon got. I know JR doesn't like to go over 3 years, but if we're going to make a mistake going long on any pitcher, I think Mark's the best bet. Anyway, remember, we're going to be stuck going through exactly this with Garland after 2007, because he's on the FA list after 2008 if nothing else is done. I can think of few things that would look better for the White Sox for the next 5-7 years than having our 123 pitchers go Buehrle, Garland, McCarthy. But still...if we can't sign Buehrle this offseason...he must be traded. Anyway.

Linkity. Video/more text of Webb's full response can be found here. Supposedly he spends a while standing there reading reviews praising the book for its realism as well.

So, the Simpsons have taken on the Iraq war a couple of times in recent years ("I guess we learned that war is not the answer...except to all of America's problems"), but this is probably going to be the most blunt.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 28, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) Tomorrow appears to be (atleast on paper) the best day for football all year long. I'm sure I'll get stuck with the s***tiest games possible.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 28, 2006 -> 09:37 AM) Such a system, with the backup trail like that, is most excellent. Assuming the people who run them have decent amounts of training on how to use them. All of which, unfortunately, takes $.

That damn hat looks way too much like ours. Seriously, why the Hell do you make a Cardinals hat that's mostly black, white, and Grey, with only a little red?

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 28, 2006 -> 02:11 PM) From what I've read, the Padres said they wouldn't give him an extension now (he had only one year left on his Pads contract). So that's at least part of it. Whether he wanted to move on anyway is hard to tell. And based on his experience, he was going to get paid more money than the Padres wanted to spend on a manger, I believe.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 28, 2006 -> 12:39 AM) Any vote that doesn't have the 98 Yankees #1 should be throwon out. Because the only thing that ever counts is the Regular season. And there's no variation in talent of opponent.

I was so ready to put money on the Cards at the beginning of the NLCS. Man I wish I did. Damn me and my opposition to gambling based on my family history! Anyway...it all came down to pitching, and the Tigers didn't put their pitchers in a position to succeed in the playoffs. Plain and simple.

Just as a note...Jared Weaver was at the Cards game tonight decked out in full Cardinals gear to support his brother...in case anyone has a problem with MB supporting the Cards tonight.

Consider it motivation. Jerry, tell KW to spend what it takes to get yourself another one of those baseballs next year. What happened to the ball Molina had tonight anyway?

Thanks Sir! We appreciate all you did for this team, and enjoy that ring! You certainly earned it!

QUOTE(Maverick0984 @ Oct 28, 2006 -> 12:28 AM) the entire world series was full of sloppy play from both sides...i wasn't able to actually watch any game in it's entirety, just ugly, ugly play. That I don't see. I saw a Tigers team that just didn't want it enough, or just wasn't good enough to overcome adversity. The Cards got next to nothing from the best player in baseball. The Tigers pitching staff let their defense down repeatedly. But the Cardinals offense picked up Pujols. The Tigers never picked up their pitchers; every time they made a mistake, it turned into a disaster. The Cardinals just fought harder...they just played better. The St. Louis Cardinals earned a set of rings. End of story.

I think that the most remarkable thing about this year was the fact that the Cardinals managed to act healthy at just the right time. Edmunds, Rolen, Eckstein, all of them were hurt late in the season, but they all found the balls to turn themselves on at the right time to push this team through the playoffs. In some ways, yes, this says something negative about the MLB, because by turning it on at the right time, you can make a disasterous season turn into a great one. But on the other hand, it also says something beautiful about baseball, and that is that baseball has a number of hurdles you must overcome. First, you must survive the 162 game regular season, but then you must find a way to survive 1 5 game series and 2 7 game series. The MLB season tests you in different ways, endurance, intelligence, skill, ability in a short timespan, etc. You want those rings? You have to find a way to win all of those groupings. The Cardinals were not the best team in the 162 game regular season. But combine all of the qualifications, and the Cards won. They got healthy enough at the right time. And there is no one who can take that away from them. Enjoy those Rings Cards. You may not have been the best over 162 games alone, but you were the best over what Major League Baseball asked you to do, and I think that is a totally fair way of evaluating teams.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) Leyland should've pitched Rogers tonight. Worse, for him to say the reason he's not is because of the heat he would catch from Cardinal fans says a lot about the character (or lack thereof) of Kenny Rogers. But I have to say that Leyland is a terrific manager. What he did with this team this year is amazing. He damn near won it all. He got career years out of some guys and made them believe they could do it. But he couldn't overcome the sloppy play that has been their trademark all year. On paper, the 2007 Tigers will be better. But so were the 2006 White Sox, and they didn't wet their pants in the world series like the kitties just did. Detroit had their shot....and missed. In hindsight alone, yes Rogers should have pitched tonight, but only because Verlander couldnt' out-pitch 2 runs in 8 innings. Aside from the White Sox last year, that's a rough task to ask any pitcher to make, especially if no one else on that pitching staff knows how to throw the ball to a base. Verlander was not bad tonight. Weaver was just better. Do you not pitch your possible best pitcher just because some guy who was cut by the Angels might have pitched better? Do you pitch Verlander against Carpenter or Reyes in game 6? Rogers could have pitched tonight and lost just as easily, pitching without the crowd behind him. Fact is, during the regular season, Rogers had an ERA of 3.26 at home and 4.41 on the road. Verlander put up a 3.31 at Detroit and a 3.91 away. Those numbers favor Verlander. Rogers pitching doesn't have the crowd behind him, doesn't have emotion behind him, and doesn't have the umps helping him. You can debate Rogers Vs. Verlander ad nauseum, but the reality is both of them had to win, and Verlander was better on the road than Rogers this season, and Rogers was better in Detroit.