spiderman

I never thought that the White Sox would be done on May 10th. This team isn't good enough to overcome the eight game hole they've dug, and I see no reason why this won't get worse when they visit for 2 more games this week. What a disaster. When does training camp open?

QUOTE (fathom @ May 9, 2010 -> 08:11 PM) Doesn't seem like Bobby is too happy with possibly being removed. It will be interesting if we go with Thornton as the closer, because it would be similar to how the Cubs moved Marmol to closer. When that happens, the 7th/8th innings you used to take for granted become a lot more difficult. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5175927 I could care less what Jenks thinks. He's been bad since last season, and it's carried over. Santos is the future at closer with the way he's looked, but I don't think they make a rash move like that for now - I think it's more likely that Putz/Thornton share the role for now. They can't be blowing the few games that they are actually leading.

At the very least, if they are going to keep him in the majors, it's time to move him down the lineup - 7th, 8th or 9th. He isn't hitting. I'd give him another 5 games or so hitting down the order to see if that helps him at all. From there, it's either bench him a few games, and try him again (with Nix as a capable 2B, they could actually do this first as well, but I think I'd rather see the Sox fall 10 games out with Beckham and the rest of the guys we expected to help the team in the lineup) or send him to the minors to work out his problems.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2010 -> 08:37 PM) The Indians got one of the top catching prospects in baseball for Casey Blake. The key is...you deal for a guy at the lower levels, and you let him develop. That is a good point. I will concede it's possible. We'll have to see how this plays out.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ May 8, 2010 -> 06:40 PM) Unfortunately not. Maybe AJ can get hot and a catcher gets hurt somewhere. I think Paulie will bring something nice. But the three players we really want to get rid of (Pierre, Teahen, Jenks) nobody is going to want. I can agree with this. Konerko will provide something if he continues a strong HR total although obviously he will slow down. The problem with A.J. that I see is that he doesn't throw runners out - I'm assuming he'll get his average back into the .280 range in time, but would a team like Boston trade for him if he doesn't improve the defense? To me, if the Sox are down on Flowers, I would actually try to resign A.J. for another season.

I don't think we'll get back much of anything for our players unless it's Konerko, and he's got 25 HR in July. Even then, with him being a free agent, some teams won't go overboard.

I think they are, if not done, clearly on life support. I think there's a 90% chance that they already aren't good enough to catch the Twins, and it's probably closer to 95%. The offense is flat out horrible, and the starting pitching still leaves us wondering what we're going to get from everyone except Danks. These guys have to be near perfect to win a game with an offense that can't score consistently. To answer the original points from this post. 1) Konerko will probably eventually be dealt in July, but I also expect him to slow down considerably. Just the same, I don't see the White Sox adding Goznalez - they need to more young players, not trade them away. This team is more than one really good player away. They have holes right now all over the place. 2) A.J. is a free agent after the season, so there's a pretty good chance that he'll be mentioned as well come July. I don't think he'll bring much in return though. 3) Peavy and Rios will be here. 4) Teahan and Pierre will be here, neither guy has any value. 5) I don't expect Ozzie to be in any trouble.

The problem isn't Ozzie Ball, that's for another debate (whether they should be moving from a home run team to a more balanced lineup given their ballpark)....Look at the batting averages througout the lineup - no style of ball is really going to work with the struggles so many of their hitters have had.

Am I over-reacting to suggest that the season is on the brink of being over....in April? Being 5 games out with a bad offense, a starting rotation that is showing some inconsistentcy and having TB coming in, if something doesn't change quickly, this team is going to find itself 7 or 8 games back by the end of the month. I know some will read this, and laugh, say I'm over-reacting, etc, but seasons have been lost before in April, and I'm not sure this team has the capability to play catchup beyond a certain point.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 1, 2010 -> 03:43 PM) Cowley isnt very respected in the locker room or by the players, his good sources are personnel and other media people. As for A-Gon, dont count on it. But I would keep an eye on a big bat down in Houston. Who are you referring to, and is this something the White Sox have been linked to?

I like the pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation, but I feel that our lineup is going to put too much pressure on the rotation to hold teams down day after day. I feel that a potentially very good pitching staff will be wasted by an offense that doesn't score enough runs.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 29, 2010 -> 01:29 PM) Year - Projected/Actual (Performance over Projected) 2004 - 79 wins/83 (+4) 2005 - 80 wins/99 (+19) 2006 - 82 wins/90 (+8) 2007 - 73 wins/73 (0) 2008 - 77 wins/89 (+12) 2009 - 73 wins/79 (+6) So, if they predict every year that we'll do worse than we actually do... are there other teams that get the same treatment? They can't predict every team will do worse than they actually do. Somewhere their predictions have to break even. Is there another team that they are too optimistic on every year I wonder? The 2007 White Sox were 72-90

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 12:38 PM) Jenks - closer Thornton - set up Pena - 7th Linebrink - 7th Putz - 6th Williams - loogy Nunez - long relief I think Putz and Thornton will sort of team up for the set up role, based on matchups and situation (if one guy needs a rest or has to give Jenks a day off). Of course, Putz still has to prove he can be counted on, but I think that's the expectation.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jan 11, 2010 -> 12:08 PM) Leading vote getter, way to go! Great picture, I'm sure she's your pride and joy. Thanks, very kind words. We're now behind so I need everyone's help to vote at home/office!

I have a fat little puggle (75% pug, 25% beagle) that is now 2 years old. I bought him at 3 months old, and crate trained him while I was at work all day. I also taught him to use the bell. At first, very frustrating, because he rang it for fun, and living in a condo, it's not a fun chore to take the dog out. After about 5 months of having him, he was good to go. I no longer worry about him using the bathroom in my house, he goes almost 10:30-10:45 minutes everyday (I leave at about 7:00 AM, get home at about 5:30 PM), but even though I wish I could get home faster for my dog, I also realize that he sleeps most of the day and doesn't exert much energy.

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QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 10:48 AM) According to Terry Boers and his people, the Sox did not think they would be stuck with Rios' salary. That was unplanned. I don't believe the White Sox, based on Williams repeated comments regarding the budget, are the type of team that makes claims on struggling players with long-term deals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Williams has reportedly liked Rios for awhile, and they had Dotel, Thome and Dye coming off the books after the season. They had the room to add payroll in light of who was coming off of it, and along with Peavy, Williams simply acuqired two players that he coveted during the season.

Perhaps the White Sox believed that Pierre was a clearly better option than Crisp or Podsednik and/or combined with speculation on my part that they were asking for more money than the Sox were willing to pay.

My guess would be that, if they sign a DH, it would be on a year deal, and not until the market is further reduced to those players looking for a job.

The state of the bullpen depends on the success/failure of the starting rotation. The White Sox are expecting 6-7 IP on most nights from their starting pitchers (outside of perhaps Freddy Garcia). If that holds true, the White Sox only need to worry about 2-3 IP per night. Assuming the White Sox keep Bobby Jenks and Matt Thornton, they have their 8th and 9th inning options. Tony Pena and J.J. Putz will be in the mix as well, but both are coming off underwhelming seasons. Both have the ability, assuming they are healthy, to be pretty nasty. So, in a perfect world, the White Sox can mix and match in the 7th and 8th innings with Thornton, Putz and Pena in order to get to Jenks in the 9th. Randy Williams has value against lefties as well so I'm sure they will work on using him where he can be most effective (vs lefties), and, of course, Scott Linebrink. One thing that I would avoid doing with him is using him on b2b in the 1st half of the season. I'm not sure if he becomes worn down as the season progresses or if other teams simply figure him out, but he'd be a guy I'd prefer using only in the 5th and 6th innings of games. Finally, the long reliever will be probably Sergio Santos, Carlos Torres or Daniel Hudson to fill out the bullpen. So, obviously, we do have 3 guys (4 if you count Jenks) - Pena, Linebrink and Putz - who need to bounce back this season, but they, on paper, shouldn't have to be overworked with our rotation being strong.

Would Danks (or Floyd), Quentin and a couple of our best prospects get the job done for Gonzalez or at least put us in a competitive race for him? Can Boston decide if they want him or not - in other words, even after trading for Victor Martinez last season, do they still have enough to blow us, and other teams, away?

Do you guys know of anyone who does a similar spreadsheet for the Bears? this a tremendous tool!

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 05:45 PM) Wow this just makes no sense...esp since our pen still has questions. I don't like it, I really liked the job that he did last season (and the year prior), but the Sox probably feel that he is a luxery that they can't afford, and may have peaked. Think about it like this - they have at least 4 starters who they feel are going to go 6-7 IP most games so they don't feel that paying a long-reliever is as big a need, especially if they are cash strapped. They'd rather put their money into the late innings. If they can get the 6-7 IP from their starters, that leaves Thornton, Putz and Jenks (assuming he's part of the plan) for the late innings. It also frees up a roster spot for Daniel Hudson to earn a major league job, and have a defined role.

I would have preferred to keep him, but this shows how cash strapped the White Sox are. They added Putz for $3 million, but can't afford Carassco for around 1.5 to 2 million. They still have to find a lea d-off hitter, probably a LF, and possibly a DH still, and that is why I am wondering how they can add a few pieces (even if they don't cost much money) for the offense, and keep the payroll under $100 million. Right now, they are at about $81 or $82 million with I believe 16 players signed. Jenks, Danks and Quentin will probably cost another $13 million for next season, and if you add in 2 or 3 guys like Hudson, Randy Williams and Carlos Torres (guys who make the minimum), we're at 22 players or so at about $95 million with so no upgrades made to the offense (or holes filled). Don't they have to find a way to get better now without increasing the payroll? If so, I would guess we're looking at a trade of some sorts, either to free up money or trade salary for salary.