Wealz

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 28, 2006 -> 10:49 AM) You really don't know that. For all you know, KW was ready to pull the trigger and acquire a 4th OF but Ozzie nixed it saying he likes his team the way it is or KW went to Ozzie and asked him what he thought his team was missing and Ozzie like Konerko said this team was good enough. There's just too many factors involved to completely exonerate Ozzie. The GM is responsible for the make up of the roster.

It's a difficult task to develop players in a pennant race, but that's exactly what Guillen has done with Anderson. The problem is he's the ONLY CF'er on the roster. That isn't Guillen's fault.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 08:51 PM) I've always learned that if a player is going well, you keep playing him. Maybe I was just taught wrong. I think you were taught wrong. I've seen your posts in this thread.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 08:34 PM) You said that the way Ozzie handled Anderson is the reason why he has blossomed. Earlier in the year he was being platooned with Mack, thus I don't get how Ozzie has handled Anderson well. If we're talking about the present then you don't need to look much further than this weekend to figure out that Ozzie still has no clue when it comes to how good of a player Anderson has become. Guillen has been nothing short of extraordinary in developing Anderson this year. Anderson was lost at the plate for much of the first half of the season. To make the transition to being the tough out he's become is remarkable. His development remains a work-in-progress, but kudos to Ozzie for understanding how important Anderson is to the near future of this team and not throwing him completely into the fire.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 08:17 PM) So platooning Anderson against lefties when he hits righties much better helped his development? Explain that one to me. Anderson's not being platooned. For example Silva, last I checked, is a right-hander.

QUOTE(stretchstretch @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 07:22 PM) Yes, and that was a mistake by Ozzie, and now he's hitting great and he benches him?? another mistake by Ozzie. The kid has the game of his life in the 10-0 route at Detroit and then come home and bench the guy, what kind of message is that????? In yesterday's game MN only went up 5-1 due to a ball way over Mak's head that BA at least would have had a shot at (as would Rowand;-). The defense wins championships philosophy is either there or it's not, and if Ozzie practices what he preaches BA and Uribe start, period. He stuck with the guy when he was struggling, supposedly for his D, so what in G's name can be the reason not to play him now??? Anyone know BA's avg in the second half, we know it's good, but I never see it stated by anyone? Guillen's handling of Anderson, choosing which pitchers he faces, is a big reason why he has blossomed. Sure, it sucks to have Mackowiak in center at times, but that's the price you pay to make sure Anderson develops properly. You could blame Williams for not furnishing Guillen with a better alternative than Mackowiak in center.

You can't pot McCarthy in the rotation because the trade value this offseason of whoever he replaces will become next to nothing. It's critical to the master plan to get as much as they can for one of their starters. At the very least, if it's Vazquez that gets trade, you want the team trading for him to pick up most of the remainder of his contract.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 11:20 AM) In 2005, Guillen and this team were carried by great starting pitching and a great bullpen. The Sox won last year despite Ozzie's poor managing which nearly sunk this team in the stretch run. Now, the pitching isn't carrying the team anymore and Ozzie's HORRIBLE managing is exposed. He doesn't know how to fill out a lineup card. He doesn't know when to play regulars and when to sit them. He doesn't know when to pull a starting pitcher and he doesn't know how to handle a bullpen. Even worse, he doesn't know how to motivate a team and wake them the hell up. He sits there and yawns while the team sleepwalks its way to loss after loss. Ozzie has done a horrible job this year. He is a bad manager. Fire Ozzie. The pitching isn't just not carrying the team anymore. It has been terrible. Guillen has done a great job as evidenced by having a legit shot at the playoffs going into September.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 10:39 AM) Why do you think no one else is near Ozzie's level? How can you possibly support the way he's handled Vazquez, BMac, and Anderson? He won a WORLD SERIES with the Chicago White Sox for goodness sake. Won 99 games, went 11-1 in the postseason, with a team that many didn't think would finish higher than third in its division, some said fourth, before the season started. That's why no one is near Guillen's level. Kenny Williams traded for Vazquez, gave up an awful lot for him and is paying him big money. How should Guillen handle him? I don't understand what's been bad about the handling of Anderson or McCarthy.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) You give Joe Torre, Leyland, Gardenhire, etc. the success of the White Sox pitching staff last year and they win, easly. The pitching this year has been far from great. Part of that is Oz's fault because he routinely leaves his pitchers in too long and misuses the bullpen. Another part is playing a different lineup every day and not putting the best defense out onto the field. Far from great? Call it like it is, the starting pitching has been brutal. Give any other manager THIS year's starters and they are nowhere near 5.5 games behind the best team in baseball, in the toughest division in baseball. The pen hasn't been much better either.

It's fine to be negative, but a little perspective is always welcome.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 11:38 PM) That's a losing philosophy, and I'll teach you why. In a game as important and winnable as tonight's game was, a manager must use his best pitchers first, because it allows his team the best odds at winning that game. No one is saying Riske should never be expected to record outs in the 6th, just that he should not have entered tonight's game before McCarthy, Thornton, MacDougal and Jenks have. Riske has been more effective than McCarthy. Maybe he should have brought Jenks in to face Hunter in the 6th, huh? QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 11:30 PM) He had exactly 0 holds for the Indians last year. They couldn't wait to get rid of him. He's not horrible, but not a guy you should be comfortable putting on the mound when a game is on the line. A game is never "on the line" in the 6th inning.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 11:16 PM) I'm trying to confirm the stat, but someone said he had no holds for the Indians last year. And with 10 outs to go in the game, that's a huge situation. Again, if Riske can't be trusted to get an out in the 6th inning, he should not be on the roster. Your problem is with Kenny Williams.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 11:06 PM) Riske is a horrible pitcher in close situations. Cotts shouldn't be in unless it's mop-up duty right now. First off, where do you get your information that Riske is horrible in "close situations"? Second it was the 6th inning.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 10:54 PM) For those 10 outs, there's no doubt in my mind we had a better chance to win if we would have just used our big 3. I would have sacrificed my bullpen for tomorrow in order to give ourselves the best chance to win tonight. We still have this solid pitcher named McCarthy in the bullpen....but Ozzie doesn't like him. Why are Riske and Cotts on the roster then? Riske has been solid, btw, and you're acting like he's Cliff Pollitte.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 10:53 PM) You absolutely could have brought in Thornton or MacDougal in that situation. You don't burn Thornton in the 6th when you know Mauer and Moreneau are going to have another AB. The worst Moreneau could have done in that situation was tie the game. Tie game in the 6th - big deal.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 10:39 PM) Lets see....in the biggest game of our season, we bring in Neal Cotts to face a very good lefty. Cotts can't get any lefties out right now. Predictably, two pitches later, there's a hit. Then, we bring in our 4th best righty out of the pen, and the guy is notorious for being terrible in clutch situations. One pitch later, and we're trailing. Then, with two guys on in the bottom of the inning, we let one of the worst starting players in baseball hit against a tough lefty. Predictably, he hits a weak grounder to 1B. Cotts should be replaced on the roster if he can't be used in the 6th to get a lefty out. That's a GM problem. Would you have preffered MacDougal & Jenks pitch the last 3.1 innings? That's a great way to burn out your pen before September.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 09:26 PM) The 6th inning was the worst managed inning I've ever seen. Ozzie violated my #1 rule for a manager, which is to always put your team in the best position to succeed. What should have been done differently?

How can anyone not be happy with the position the Sox are currently in given the year-long performance of the rotation?

Tons of free UDR vouchers given to Sox Training campers were used for the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday's games. Probably the same for the series later in the month against the Devil Rays.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 01:45 PM) Let's put it this way...if the 2nd part of those wasn't true...if Ozzie hadn't won that ring last year...games like last night are the kind of games that would have cost him his job, just as stupid decisions by Jerry Manuel cost him his job. So you're going to evaluate Ozzie on a game-by-game basis starting now? Why now and not from the start of the season? They are 20 games + .500.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 11:56 AM) I have no idea what Tom Kelly's winning percentage is, but conceding it's less than .586, are you saying that stat means Ozzie is a better manager than TK? I'm saying that it's ridiculous to want to replace a manager who is 20 games over this year, won a World Series last year, and has a .586 career winning percentage. It's beyond ridiculous really.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 12:24 AM) So you don't think Tom Kelly is a better manager than Ozzie Guillen? Is Kelly's winning percentage better than .586?

You know why Ozzie's a terrible manager? Because the Tigers are 73-30 in games not against the White Sox.

QUOTE(shoota @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 11:04 PM) Yet a better manager might have lead Ozzie's teams to a better winning percentage, 2005 World Series victory, and have the 2006 team playing much better baseball. Call me crazy, but I'll keep the World Series trophy and forgo whatever is behind curtain #3.