RME JICO

Since the Boston series before the ASB, the entire pitching staff has been horrible. The Starting Pitchers have a 5.74 ERA and the Relievers have a 5.24 ERA. Now if you also include that the Relievers have allowed several inherited runners to score, then they have actually performed worse than the starters. Even in this slump the offense is still averaging 4.5 runs a game, but the pitching/defense is letting up over 6.

Hopefully Vazquez will live up to what he said in the media this week and have a solid outing. A 3rd straight win and sweep on the road would be very nice to build some confidence. With a win the Sox will gain another game on either the Twins or Tigers after tonight.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) Just a suggestion, but instead of the ESPN salaries page, you could use something like this, which is much more in depth about each players contract, etc. Excellent extension Great idea, I forgot about that page. I will add that page on the next update.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 08:20 PM) Hey RME- Your baseball musings links for the hitters are off. You have them linked to the pitching section of baseball musings instead of hitting. Here is the hitting database: http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/ChoosePlayer.py Good catch, cut & paste is my enemy. Fixed now, also added Google News player searches for all players and HR Trackers for Thome, Konerko, Dye, and Crede. http://www.pcgamingtech.net/downloads/whitesox.xpi QUOTE(shoelessjoe90 @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 12:44 AM) Yo, after I unzipped the folder, I tried opening the install file but it won't let me open it because it doesn't recognize it If you go to the URL in Firefox, once you download it, you should be able to open the file in Firefox (File > Open) and it should recognize it as an xpi file and automatically prompt you to install it. You shouldn't have to unzip anything. If you try to download it with IE, it will convert the xpi to a zip file.

http://www.mlb-trade-rumors.com/rumors.htm is so legit. You get the best information from fans who email in anonymously.

that inning was freakin Podsthetic!

Pitch Count: Johnson - 29, 17 Strikes Garland - 27, 15 Strikes

Linebrink has been really solid over the last few years. Probably one of the best relief pitchers based off numbers from 2003-2005. The only odd thing about Linebrink is that he is only average vs RH Batters and awesome vs LH Batters. Which is weird for a RHP. LH Batters- .218 BAA Lifetime, .192 BAA - 2006 RH Batters- .264 BAA Lifetime, .305 BAA - 2006

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 11:39 AM) I agree with you. He will go out and get that SS to be our leadoff hitter. You can tell who KW likes and he usually gets the players he likes. He has liked one SS for a while. That SS being Cesar Izturis from LA. I would bet money that Pods is let go and Fields/Sweeney is moved into LF and into Uribe's spot in the lineup while we pick up Cesar Izturis and move him into Pods' spot in the lineup. That is what I see happening, but I may be wrong. Cesar Izturis? He is playing 3B for the Dodgers since coming off the DL. Since returning he has 1 HR and 1 SB in 112 ABs with an OPS of .637. A leadoff hitter with an OBP of .298 is not really desirable. Actually his lifetime numbers are even worse (.260BA, .295 OBP, .338 SLG, .633 OPS). I really hope KW does not go after him.

Doubtful for Saturday from MLB.com:

Lets just hope that translates to on-field performance. I hope it does. It just seems like it is really good timing with the trading deadline looming. I guess he has one more shot on Sunday to let his arm do the talking. The best part is that Ozzie is going to pull him and Buehrle a lot quicker at the first sign of trouble. That is a huge relief.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 07:30 AM) All I have to say is Lieber sucks. Lifetime numbers: Lieber - 4.26 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 4:1 K:BB Ratio Garcia - 4.01 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 2:1 K:BB Ratio Vazquez - 4.35 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3:1 K:BB Ratio I guess they all suck.

I saw this and thought that the Sox could offer more than the Yanks for those two: The Sox could package together something with Pods and maybe Tracey with another prospect for Abreu and Lieber. What do you think? That could also allow the Sox to move Garcia or Vazquez (or both) if they acquired Lieber. Lineup: Abreu Iguchi Thome Konerko Dye AJ Crede Uribe Anderson Rotation: Contreras Buehrle Garland Lieber Garcia/Vazquez/McCarthy Bullpen: McCarthy/New Arm acquired from Vazquez/Garcia deal Riske Cotts Thornton MacDougal Jenks

I don't think the Sox will deal Fields until Crede has a contract extension. If they do, they are leaving themselves open to Boras pricing. If Fields does move to LF for 2007, then the Sox will more than likely look for a leadoff hitter at 2B or SS for 2007. The options would be: LF - Pods, SS - Uribe, 2B - Gooch LF - Fields, SS - Uribe, 2B - New leadoff hitter LF - Fields, SS - New leadoff hitter, 2B - Gooch

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 05:12 AM) Either that or Jenks has a very long term contract. I don't know if the Cosmo Sox will want him in 2101.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 02:48 AM) Seriously though, how great would Abreu be as a leadoff man? He doesn't play great defense (certainly better than Podsednik) but he does have a pretty strong arm with ok accuracy. Just think about how amazing it would be to have a guy with a .280 avg with an insane .429 OBP. He's stolen 20 bases and only been thrown out 4 times the guy is just a smart baserunner, I'll take 20SB and 4 CS over Podsednik's 29 and 12 anyday. Other than the fact that he's making a spiffload of money, the guy would be a perfect leadoff hitter. His OBP alone makes him very appealing. Just think of how many extra RBI opportunities Gooch, Thome, and Paulie would get with him leading off. The contract is really his only issue.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 04:00 AM) Brady Clark or nothing. That was one name I had but the poll only has 10 spots. With the way the Brewers are wheeling and dealing that is definitely a possibility and something that is under the radar (KW-style).

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 03:54 AM) That could of been us as that team. Actually I read somewhere that it was for Jon Lieber. I know it is mentioned in that Boston Herald article, but there was another link from Philly that said Crisp for Lieber.

I know there are several threads discussing individual trades, but with only a few days left until the trading deadline, what is the SoxTalk consensus on what the Sox will do. All indications are that nothing will happen, but that is normally when something does.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 09:15 AM) Great work! I'm loving it. QUOTE(Young Gun @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 05:57 PM) Awesome, I love it, great job. Thanks, just let me know if you find any bad links or links you would like added.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) The only reason I'd be interested in Tejada is that he has 3 years left on his deal at a reasonable price. However, I haven't heard any rumors about the Sox being interested, so it's likely a long shot. The funny thing is that when we haven't heard much about it, that is normally when something happens.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 10:12 PM) Here's the link, this will be fun to watch over the next three days. Carroll is as connected as anyone, he's the guy who called the Prior injury problems. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5355 Good info, but I wouldn't say calling Prior's injury problems is any special. Only 3 more days, this is going to get interesting.

Who would you rather have win the series? Tigers sweep, Twins sweep, Tigers 2-1, Twins 2-1. Based off the pitching matchups, it looks like the Twins will take 2 of 3. The Tigers get Santana and Liriano, and the Twins miss out on Verlander.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 01:16 PM) I don't see strikeout/walk rates or groundball/flyball rates being the issue. He's simply getting hit a lot more frequently and harder. He's leaving a lot of pitches up and out over the plate and they're getting hit hard. You don't need to analyze stats to figure that out. The GB/FB argument has some weight though. First if he is allowing a hit in 40% of the balls in play for July, that is way too high, then you add that to an increased FB rate, and you are going to let up a ton of hits and a ton of runs. Also, if he is striking out less, then there are more balls in play. The strikeout difference is not huge but 2 less strikeouts means 2 more balls in play. It all adds up. First, he is not pitching as effective as his usual self. Then he strikes out less, gives up more balls hit into play, which equates to more hits and runs. Now even if he was not pitching well, his BABIP should not be around .400 like BP suggests. That will come down and when it does, his hits allowed and runs allowed will go down as well.

BP has some insight on Buehrle's woes: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article....b9e854d19bc00b4