heirdog

Why not just get rid of Walker and insert a guy that could actually hit... Baines. He can now have the role of 1B coach, Guillen controller and hitting coach. I'm not sure if hitting coach requires a special talent (i.e. good basketball players not always good basketball coaches) but it seems logical that Baines who was a great hitter and had a good approach at the plate could tell these guys what he sees and how to possibly fix it. Quick fix...in season, no big changes.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) Swisher came to this team and in spring training, the first person he went to for hitting advice was Jim Thome, not Greg Walker. That doesn't speak towards Walkers lack of knowledge, but more to the fact that Thome is an established hitter, HE is the one that goes to the plate and swings the bat, and has an established career. Just like when Frank went to Oakland, Swisher always followed him around getting advice on all the little nuances of hitting, not the A's hitting coach. But hey, it's not your job that's being lost right? So let's fire him. That's total Bull**** if you ask me If players don't use the hitting coach, then the hitting coach is unnecessary. So either way, get rid of him. If players aren't going to him, then the position is not needed. If the players are going to him, then he hasn't been effective and should be replaced. And please don't tell me that Carlos Quentin is the only one that Walker is working with....

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) You're tired of Ozzie, and reporters saying it, oh.. you mean Baseball People. Gotcha. I have no doubt that Walker has told a lot of these guys what they're doing wrong, but ultimately it's up to the players to translate that information in their at bats. And they're not doing it. If you think Greg Walker just trots around, not dissecting their swings/approaches vs certain pitchers, amongst other things that hitting coaches do, then he WOULDN'T have a job because that kind of lethargic non-coaching wouldn't be tolerated by this organization. Walk is telling these guys what's wrong, they're just not able to execute this information right now because they're MENTALLY slumping, they're psyching themselves out at the plate, it's that simiple really. The only person who's going to get these guys out of a slump is themselves. Firing Walker is a knee-jerk reaction because your angry that you are helpless and can't do anything about these guys' poor performances, and only they can. Your lack of control of the situation is leading to this mob-mentality on firing him. Just my $.02 You're right, Greg Walker has probably pointed out some fixes for the players which leads you to a few conclusions based off the piss poor results for pretty much the entire team to date (and last year as well) 1) Greg Walker isn't finding the right fixes 2) Greg Walker isn't effectively communicating the quick fixes 3) The players aren't responding to Greg Walker All of which are more likely than the following conclusion which Greg Walker supporters would like us to believe: 1) Greg Walker has found the mistakes and communicated them effectively. The players are responding to the coaching and just about every one of them (including career .280/.290, future Hall-of-Famers) are struggling to execute the fine plan he has laid out. If Thome is struggling or Konerko is struggling, its one thing and its on them. But to have 1 full year and more than a month now when almost the entire line-up is struggling...well something's just not right. These are not the same guys as last year too so it smells even more of a poor approach to managing or coaching slumps.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 6, 2008 -> 01:07 PM) The problem is...I think every one of those things you suggest is a possibility...and every single one of them winds up giving the a spot of someone on the current team to someone who is performing worse than the current person. Owens isn't lighting the world on fire down at AAA yet he knocks Anderson out of the rotation. Swisher isn't performing, yet he takes time away from Konerko/Dye/Thome, with BA the odd man out again. Fields isn't lighting the world on fire at AAA, but he replaces Crede. Ramirez has looked terrible yet he replaces Uribe. Ozuna has looked bad, but Bourgeois is hitting around .220 at AAA. I think you're mixing up performance to date vs. how they are currently performing. Crede started off red hot but to come back down to the .248 after his fast start...screams to me that he is struggling. Fields started off extremely cold in AAA and has since raised his avg albeit, he has hit a tough patch again...a call-up may shake things up. You don't know what you have with Ramirez with consistent at-bats. In the spring, with consistent ABs he was solid. You know what you have with Uribe...sub .200 and a ton of wasted at-bats. Before yesterday, Bourgeious was tearing the cover off the ball in his last 8 games. He may be hot right now so take advantage of it. Swisher doesn't take anything away from anyone but gives each player a day's rest. Anderson's role really doesn't change. I agree that he could have a bigger role but my changes are to infuse some speed, energy and fresh hitters into the line-up...not a means of getting Anderson more or less PT.

QUOTE (Colorado Sox Fan @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:26 PM) Extremely well put. People are always looking for a quick fix. You guys need to chill. This team is going to turn it around. So veterans don't need hitting coaches to help them out of slumps?!? Why not just have minor league hitting coaches, then and when you have a young team (DBacks, Royals), bring up that hitting coach. I agree that its not 100% the hitting coach's fault but there must be some accountability in that job description...team is last in hitting, well it has to have something to do with the hitting coach. Or else, don't terminate Greg Walker, just eliminate the hitting coach position.

My predictions: 1) Crede traded...the "migraine" was a way to fly under the radar and Josh Fields called up to play 3B 2) Uribe released...Alexei Ramirez now full time 2B 3) Owens called up to play CF and bat lead off..Swisher moved down in the order and filling in for RF/LF/1B/CF as needed to play every day. New line-up: CF Owens SS Cabrera DH Thome 1B Konerko/ Swisher (Dye bats 4th and Swisher 5th when subbing for PK) RF Dye/Swisher LF Quentin/Swisher C AJP 3B Fields 2B Ramirez 4) And if Ozuna continues to struggle, then Bourgeios will be up in no time.

The game ppd yesterday, is it this one or the next one? And if its this one, does that means that Danks technically is coming out of the pen for this one?

Isn't Broadway known for his curveball? With Gio and his 12-6 gone, who has the best curve out of the Sox prospects? I always remember he was known as a lower velocity, plus curve pitcher coming out of college. He was the safe pick and Carillo was the one everyone was clamoring for. Well, Carillo started off well but I lost track of what he has done of late.

Kansas City in the bottom of the rankings? Hah, that team is for real. Ok. Just kidding.

Literary genius! I think this guy is the Soxtalk version of Ice Cube making up key words like "narcotta" and catch phrases such as "me and Lorenzo rollin' in a Benzo." Keep 'em comin' oh ye rebel o' soxtalk.

#1. Greatest White Sox player of all time, with or without shoes. He better be a 1st ballot HOFer.

QUOTE (Steff @ Apr 21, 2008 -> 02:33 PM) I'd love to see that article. I'd also love to see a teammate saying something negative about him. Even Paul apologized for his stupid ass comments about his "fake" ankle injury. Frank was a s*** to one person, and that person deserved it. Who was that one person? KW? Konerko? Ventura? I met Frank once and thought he was extremely friendly. I won't pass a full positive judgement because it was like a 30 second meeting but he seemed like a very affable fellow. Unlike that Soxtalk guy that stalked Owens at an ESPN zone and then tried to ruin his good name on this board because Owens was annoyed by being harassed for an autograph. That was one of the funnier threads this year.

Greatest player in White Sox history. Great for baseball because he is in no way tainted by the PED cloud.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 21, 2008 -> 02:45 PM) After this year you're looking at Furcal, Eckstein and maybe Renteria ($11M TO for '09) at short and Mark Ellis at 2B. After the '09 season Bobby Crosby, Khalil Greene, Miguel Tejada and probably Jack Wilson ($8.4M TO) will be Free agents at SS and at 2B DeRosa, Polanco, Roberts, Scutaro, Iwamura ($4.25M TO) and maybe Freddy Sanchez ($8M TO.) Though a few of these guys could get new deals by then (Greene and Roberts being prime candidates to get new contracts before they hit the market.) Who knows, he may be 45 by then.

So when is Owens coming up? We could use his speed on the base paths. I think the BA ship has sailed...great spring and now 14 ABs, with 2 hits and 6 Ks. Too bad Ryan Sweeney has that nice average in Oakland. When is Richar going to replace Uribe? Uribe is still a free swinger with a nice glove...Richar can do that. I think we trade Crede's glove for Fields' bat. Crede has 3 throwing errors this year...maybe the back affecting his throw causing a tail. Fields has a cannon. Boy, Lucy or Phillips in for Toby Hall sure would be a shot in the arm for this team. Oh wait, this thread was about Iguchi and what we should have done in July 2007. Who did we get for that guy any way, Michael Dubee? He hasn't been so bad in the minors, right?

Whether important or not, Owens gives us a dimension that this team just doesn't have. Stolen base capability. Granted, he may currently just have to pinch run with our current OF situation, he would not play every day but I would much rather have Owens up here soon and send Ramirez to AAA to get some ABs (which is what I think he needs most). Let Uribe get hot over the month of May and then when Richar is ready, send Uribe packing in a B prospect or couple of C prospects deal. If I would trade any one of the veterans, it would be Konerko. We can have Swisher play 1st and get BA/Owens out there in CF. Even if we keep Swisher in CF, get Fields up here and play 1B. Konerko is good and will bring a ton more value in prospects/pitching then what he provides this team. His slumps and his attitude during slumps are depressing not to mention we don't need 4 station-to-station guys on this team (Kong, Thome, Pierzynski, Crede) I'm sure Ozzie is sick of it too. Thome can get in a slump but he just seems to work through it and keeps his head up...happy about drawing walks, etc. Konerko has always just been too self-critical. Swisher and from the sound bytes I have heard, Quentin can both be the vocal leaders with Thome, OCab and Pierzynski/Dye leading by example.

Filn you Konerko!

Come on, Kong...give us another 1 with a base hit.

I know you can't really send Kong to AAA but he should consider it himself to helf his team and his stats out.

Yes. 0 earned because he would have been out of the inning if not for the Kong error. Man, I really am displeased with Kong right now. Why not just send him to AAA for April and then let him come up. He probably would challenge for the batting title if you took his April's out each year.

Floyd with only 81 pitches so hopefully he's back out for the 7th to get the W.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Apr 15, 2008 -> 04:30 PM) Could have one BOAT of these games ! Could have one boat of D's games !

Detroit about to go 0-7. That offense looks anemic.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 8, 2008 -> 01:04 AM) Joe Crede abruptly interrupts a masturbating Joe Mauer by hitting a grand slam

"Quent-awn is eeeeeein, let the fun beeeeeeegin" (Can't Buy Me Love, '87)