heirdog

1) Putz 2) Thornton (L) 3) Linebrink 4) Pena 5) Williams (L) 6) Torres 7) Santos Jenks traded, Hudson starting in AAA (up if any of the 5 starters injured) I think Putz will be fine and even if he's not the "closer" right out of the gate (Guillen will want to mix-n-match like he wants with the DH), there are enough people that can cover the slack until he is fully ready...which again I think will be the start of the season. All these Jenks has lost 25 lbs and "he is our closer" is aimed at increasing/keeping his value. Not sure what that value is but a team like Seattle could sure use a closer if they really have intentions of winning it all this year. I'm sure they have a couple pieces that would intrigue us.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jan 11, 2010 -> 11:29 PM) I wish you are the Sox top scout and decision making. I agree with you. They need to stop BS with Viciedo and send him to RF. Another exciting and promising offseason in Camp Cora. Last year it was more of the same. Fields is history. Viciedo was a colander in AA. I forgot who else trained with Cora. You'd have to think Getz was there as he meets all the necessary criteria: 1) Young infielder 2) No real impact from training carrying over to season 3) Gets traded

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 12:08 AM) No. You don't move a 21 year old power hitting 3b off the position for a 28 yr old journeyman. It had nothing to do with Teahan. They decided DV can't play defense there. I think you bring a "journeyman" like Teahen in when you realize your "20 yr old power hitting 3B" can't actually play 3B. So yes, he wasn't moved because of Teahen but Teahen was brought in because of him.

Caption: Gordon Beckhams them to the ball park Quote: "Hi this is Gordon. Can I interest you in a season ticket? No?!? How about a partial plan. We have great seats and concessions. Did I tell you about our new covered parking by Gate 5? Sir, please don't hang up! If I can't sell at least 5 tickets, then Ozzie is going to platoon me with Lillibridge...he's the Lloyd Braun of ticket sales."

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 20, 2010 -> 03:45 PM) No, Buehrle did not have a tired arm, he was in PAIN. His shoulder caused him problems to the point where he was in alot of pain when throwing. He lost velocity, location and spin on his pitches because of the pain. I don't know why but reading your post reminded me of the great line in Rocky III when the reporter asks Clubber Lang his prediction for the fight and he replies: "PAIN!"

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 20, 2010 -> 03:00 PM) So what would you all rather hear, nothing? or... - Jones said he's fat and should have retired but why do that when he can sit on a bench and make $500,000 - Greg Walker watched Rios's swing and said we are f#$%^ed. - Jake Peavy said he misses the San Diego weather and wants to go home. He also thinks the Padres pitchers will out hit the White Sox DH platoon in 2010 Is it a question of what you want to hear or whether you should put a lot of stock in the fluff pieces you hear this time of year? I think its the latter. Hey, give me more fluff pieces, I like to read them as it gets me excited for the season to start. I don't drink all the Kool-Aid and think everything will be perfect but it gets me excited to think about a few of these guys having big years...

Draw: Matt Guerrier Discard: Scott Linebrink Bring back a Sox prospect. I think most people mentioned the fantasy versions of "DRAW/DISCARD" so I decided to go subtle.

You can definitely catch lightning in a bottle if all pitchers hit their stride at the right time (i.e. 2005 with Count, Buehrle, Garcia, Garland) but that 2005 White Sox rotation probably wasn't listed as a top 5 unit at the start of that season. Looking at it in hindsight is easy and not based on opinion or any projections. Projecting is harder but on paper, its hard to argue that the Sox don't have a top unit, with the same caveat as all teams should have "barring injuries."

I'm confused if: Rios came down, took five swings and left...leaving Walker pleased with what he saw or After 5 swings, Walker knew Rios' swing was perfect...and Rios continued to hit and hit well Is there a metric to judge the performance of Hitting Coaches other than "objective observation." I would think one way is whether individuals remain in prolonged slumps. Granted its not all the hitting coach but seems like our guys stay in slumps for a long time (months as opposed to weeks) and don't get better until they "shut it down" (i.e. get away from Walker for awhile).

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jan 20, 2010 -> 02:17 PM) Christ, he hit .249. He was also limited to 417 PA with the Sox and still hit 23 HR or about 1 HR every 18 PA, approximately the same rate he showed in '07. If it were as simple as just getting in shape Andruw Jones would have turned his career around by now. It's humorous that we get this standard pre-spring training fare talking about people being in the best shape of their lives or taking up Yoga/Pilates/Balet or getting laser eye surgery or discovering some new training technique that's going to turn them into a superstar and every year people just gobble it up and of course every year it amounts to jack s***. Andruw Jones hits the StairMaster and suddenly it's the year 2000 again. LenDale White gave up tequila, got in the best shape of his life and he ended up riding pine while Chris Johnson shattered all kinds of records. Maybe shedding a few pounds will increase Jones' bat speed again but its likely the age factor, looping swing and overall declining of skills will play a bigger role in his performance than shedding a little off the love handles.

QUOTE (since56 @ Jan 20, 2010 -> 02:05 PM) What me worry? How many of our starting five were hurt last year? That would be all of them right? I'm just realistic it looks good on paper but lets see how it goes. I'm being realistic not pessimistic or optimistic. I still think you are a Sox fan with a cub's fan mentality. But couldn't all teams' starting pitchers have injuries. I think its a factual statement to note that the Sox have one of the top starting staffs in the bigs...right now. You can add the caveat "barring injury" to all teams on that list. I don't understand your last sentence. Probably because I'm not a Cub fan...what is a "cubs fan mentality?"

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 20, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) Good to hear, but there seems to be a glut of positive spin Sox stories out there. Danks circulation problem...check. Linebrink ready to go...check. Jones in great shape (no need for another DH)...check. Rios's swing is perfect after five swings...check. It's all good for now, and I'm looking forward to this season, but I'm not buying into all of the hype. I'll believe the hype when translates to wins in April. And... CQ looks like TCQ from 2008 (after Walker's visit in Oct) Teahen a 3B fixture Peavy is hungry Buehrle is strengthening his arm Destiny of coming to Sox finally realized for Pierre Looks like they are going down the list of players: I'm buying all of the hype...cause I'm an optimist unless, I hear a story like: "Lillibridge putting it all together for 2010"

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Jan 15, 2010 -> 01:57 PM) I don't think they signed Putz to replace Jenks. They signed Putz to replace Linebrink. If you trade Bobby, the bullpen is thin again with Linebrink as your setup guy along with Thorton. If we rely on Linbrink in this way you are going to see a ton of blown holds before a save opportunity arises. I think they signed Putz to close with the hope they could move either Jenks or Linebrink. If you look at it this way: Linebrink usually good early and sucks after all-star break and Jenks usually slow starter (low velocity) until he works himself into shape and weather warms, then you have 1 good set up man for the whole year. I think they try again earnestly to trade Jenks now, use Linebrink to set up. Trade Linebrink in June when he value is high (hot start) and trade for a more dependable set-up man or look in-house for that role (Pena). I know its a lot of movement but in the end you get the best bullpen results over the year. Rarely do relief men have outstanding seasons from start to finish. This mitigates the chances of collapse based off the historical evidence of performance. If we can get a valuable piece or two from Jenks it will help offset the lost prospects the other trade I think will happen will cause: AGon!

I think its more likely later in the off-season than earlier. They need to be as certain as possible that Putz is healthy enough to handle the role. He seems to be and based off Jenks' poor conditioning, both are equally likely to get injured (Putz coming off an injury and Jenks coming off lesser injury and being out of shape). Of course, it can be motivation on Oz/KW's part. I just think the clause in Putz' contract about "games finished" was the main clue and we've been "shopping" jenks for a couple off-seasons now...we just never had a secure back-up plan, but we do now with Putz.

*Yawn* and

I still think we trade for AGON. Yes, we may or may not be able to extend him (I think we will) but we have a 2-3 yr window to win with our current pitching staff and we can think about replenishing in the future and Kenny has to be thinking that. So if they want, we will give them Flowers, Hudson, Danks or Mitchell (PTNBL) and Torres if they are so inclined. We got Flowers amongst others for Vasquez...so I don't think we'd hesitate one bit to including Vasquez in that deal instead of Flowers. Look at it like we get to keep Lilly, Santos Rodriguez and the young 3B whose name escapes me. If you're KW, after next year, would you rather have: Scenario A: Flowers (catcher), Konerko signed on a 1-year deal or Viciedo (1B), Viciedo or Konerko (DH); Hudson (5th Starter) Scenario B: Pierzynski signed on 1-2 yr deal (catcher), AGon (1B), Viciedo (DH); FA, Rookie or Garcia (5th Starter) It seems it comes down to Pierzynski vs. Konerko and the 5th Starter. I think Pierzynski is more valuable at his position and production than Konerko. Also, AGon and any 5th starter is better than Hudson and a team without an AGon-type player, especially since we don't know that Hudson is a sure thing.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 03:28 PM) Makes sense. Allows Flowers more time to work on catching (more important even than getting at bats for him, IMO). Also allows KW to trade Flowers if necessary (but that won't happen unless its a blockbuster). $1M is cheap. I'd guess Armstrong is DFA'd, not Marquez, because KW liked Marquez so much. I'd bet they want to give him a chance to show his stuff in AAA when healthy, before giving up. I know most people feel this way but I tend to disagree. Putting him in AAA for the entire season may allow him to catch every day and improve his fundamentals. But then the only time he will learn the MLB pitchers (Peavy, MB, Danks, Floyd, etc.) is in spring training next year (outside of a Sept call-up). If he spends the whole season with the big club, he can catch the bullpen sessions, etc. for the major league pitchers and be prepared to catch them full-time next season. He can learn how AJ handles himself, understand what Guillen is looking for, sit next to Coop every game (he would be the DH on most occasions) and watch/listen as the team is in the field. If his hitting is MLB ready already, then giving him a spot start at Catcher and DHing him a lot would keep him fresh in that aspect. If this signals that he will be traded, which I hope not unless, its for AGonz or some major masher, then Miguel Gonzalez could be the future.

Dye has already said he does not want to be a full-time DH. He is willing to play 1B but not DH only. It was in the whitesox.com article after we exercised the buy-out.

I thought it was an nice read. Not all of us can access all of the rankings and the thinking behind them. This piece summarized the various reports well and provided some additional insight. Thanks Dan.

Wow, I guess I need to improve my written communication skills. I am a huge Thomas fan and think there shouldn't even be a 1 second lapse in voting him into the HOF. My point is these people that even question it may look at the last few years, which are still pretty damn good but not as great as he was. I gave the Cust example as a guy who hit for a low avg but had a high OBP and slugging (thus the high OPS). My point is that if you judge him by those numbers alone, then you're missing his whole body of work and might question his HOF criteria. These people, and let me be clear, are dead wrong. JP brought it up in his article so I just commented on that note.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 4, 2010 -> 03:17 PM) On the other hand...where did that monster 2006 season come from. I don't get it, are you suggesting PEDs? He was an incredible hitter in his prime ('90s) and became a low avg, higher relative OBP, slugger in the end. His 2006 was clearly due to ZizZazz and not anything else:

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 4, 2010 -> 02:59 PM) I don't think you can emphasize enough the run Frank had in the 90's. Its too bad money issues forced him to play longer than he should have. Yes, I think the people that question Frank's HOF credentials look at the 2003-2007 Frank Thomas and think he's a glorified Jack Cust and forget the monster he was for the majority of his career.

I think Hudson, Viciedo, Torres and Mitchell will be traded for AGonz. The hold-up is likely that SD wants Flowers and Mitchell and we are offering Viciedo and Danks 2...KW will give in on Mitchell. PK is your DH as Kenny convinces JR to take on more payroll due to the sponsorship monies brought in by the Marketing dept (we keep hearing about "sponsorships" and "marketing dept" from KW so it must play a role in this plot). There is plenty of playing time for Guillen's boy Andruw Jones as he rotates around the OF giving guys days off. Kotsay will be the best PH in baseball and will spell AGonz/PK at 1B/DH. This will make us serious contenders next year and we can replace Konerko's contract with AGonz's extension in 2011. By doing well in 2010, we can keep our payroll higher since AGonz will cost more than Kong's current deal. We can sign a stopgap DH in 2011 or use an in-house option depending on how 2010 went. LF: Pierre C: Pierzynski RF: Quentin 1B: AGonz DH: Konerko 2B: Beckham CF: Rios 3B: Teahen SS: Ramirez 2011 LF: Pierre RF: Danks 2 DH: Quentin 1B: AGonz 2B: Beckham CF: Rios 3B: Teahen C: Flowers SS: Ramirez

I would add Josh Paul's ball flip on AJP's strikeout to any list cause if we lose that game, we are down 2-0 and may not even make the World Series.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 10:53 PM) I remember trying to convince you all this guy was a huge pile of s***! Uh oh, here comes another Bud Light Radio Ad post from the creative poster that did it to Steve9347 in the past... Here's to you Mr. I Convince People Players are Piles of Stool We thought he could playyyyyyyyyy But Steve 9347 told us nooooo wayyyyyy And so on, I'll leave it to that other guy...