balfanman

QUOTE (flavum @ May 7, 2012 -> 04:24 PM) KC and Min---later. It's been real. I think that you're right on the Twins. I'm not so sure that I'd say that about the Royals though. Their offense could wake up and if they even get a little bit of pitching they could blow right by the Sox. With the way the Sox have gone recently, other than Peavy and Reed, you could argue that the Royals have better pitching than the Sox now too.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 4, 2012 -> 09:50 PM) The Kenny Williams Jr. line is .190. You think it's bad looking at the box score, imagine witnessing it in person. I wanted a rebate on my tickets last year for having to endure his awfulness. He has a curved spine too, seriously. It's curved forward at the top. I'm not a K. W. hater, but if getting rid of him is the only way to get rid of Jr, then so be it. I don't really care if Early, Gilmore, Shoemaker, or whoever are legit prospects or not, it seems to me that they have a better chance than Jr. of making it to the show. Let alone the bad vibes that this situation has to be sending to other Sox minor leaguers about earning playing time in this organization.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 7, 2012 -> 03:49 PM) No he won't that contract is huge. You could be right, but don't you think someone like the Tigers owner (Mike Iltch ?) would pay dearly for another top notch starter if Peavy is still pitching well? Hasn't he already mentioned that he wants to win at all costs, or something to that effect. Money owed or not, someone desperate will pay a hefty price, especially if we could get someone like the Yankees in a bidding war with them.

I think that the worst thing that the Sox could do at this point is play 500 ball for the next couple of months, making our management think that we're only a move or two away from a playoff appearance. Not a successful playoff run mind you, but an appearance. I really hate to say this, I hate losing, but it might be for the best if we lose more games than we win for a while. Anyone else feel this way, or is my depression over this team a solitary experience?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 7, 2012 -> 02:36 PM) Dunn isn't a #3 hitter that's one of the problem's with this team. I approve of this statement.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 7, 2012 -> 01:53 PM) Sometimes I think people just want us to be so bad they don't even have to worry about catching a game or a score. They want a 40 win team so we are totally irrelevant. How bout we BUILD a team like the f***ing Nationals. That's how you build a team; draft pix AND free agent signings.I guess it'll be nice to get rid of every decent major leaguer we have so we can win 50 games max. I don't totally understand that logic, though. Isn't that the same way Tampa did it? How many years in a row do we have to finish with the worst record in baseball to get all those high picks anyway?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 3, 2012 -> 08:24 AM) And one thing, IIRC, that they needed him to work on was actually being able to pull the ball to more effectively exploit his natural power. Where's Greg Walker when you need him?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2012 -> 06:38 AM) Plus they still owe $189 million to Mauer and Morneau (counting this year). To put that in perspective the Sox owe $91.5 million to Peavy, Rios, and Dunn. That's got to be a near death sentence for that franchise the next ...., how many years is that over? I can't say that I would ever feel bad for the Twins, but those were pretty foolish contracts that they gave to those 2 guys. I know that they had to answer to what would have been an angry fan base if they would of let Mauer go in free agency, but that would of looked like a brilliant move now. I believe at the time they signed those guys they had at least a strong clue to the long term health prognosis of both of them. It would of taken a G.M. with some stones not to do it, but it would of been the correct move to let them walk, or trade them a year or so prior to them walking. Does anyone remember the prospects that they were offered for Mauer ( I think from the Yankees) a year or so before his free agency?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 2, 2012 -> 11:31 AM) Like in the parable in the Bible, they wanted to summon all the doubting Thomases, to see how low attendance could go and fan frustration and despair would mount, what valleys could be reached and denials of our Sox faiths uttered...only to come forth and proclaim their true natures to the unbelievers who had no faith without proof. (This is fun...whatever we actually see, it's the opposite that we're really seeing. Good is now "bad" and bad is good.) I believe....Pleae help me in my unbelief!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2012 -> 06:55 AM) Last year was such an incredible statistical outlier in terms of baseball history. We are talking about multiple guys having multi-generationally bad seasons. Sure you can always throw out the "you never know"'s for anything. A meteor could smash into the earth tomorrow and destroy the entire planet, but the reality is the odds of that are pretty damned small. When people post stuff like that it isn't to say that it is a 100% guarantee. I understand this point. It just seems kind of odd to me that all of a sudden multiple guys had extremely bad years. It seems to me that there must be somekind of explanation for this, and it is probably something that we would have no way of knowing. especially when you have others starting out this year (Pulhols) with extremely bad seasons. I realize that we are (supposedly) in the post PED era, but who really knows for sure. I am definitely NOT accusing anyone in particular, but multi million dollar athletes can usually afford to be 1 step ahead of the testing. I just don't believe that it is a foregone conclusion that the Tigers are a power house getting ready to take off into orbit. They might be, but to me it is more than remotely possible that they wind up, between injuries, bad years, bad defense, average pitching; being a 500 team. It's happened before. As always, JMHO; & Go Sox!

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 1, 2012 -> 09:59 PM) Knights lost 4-1 Johnson with another HR Barons lost 4-3 Dash won 15-6 Semien HR Thompson 2-6, 2 2B, 3 K Black 5-6, 2B Yes! Way to go, my AAP & Paulies future replacement.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 2, 2012 -> 12:06 AM) There was a lot of smoke and mirrors with their team last year...the fact that Valverde didn't blow a save is reason enough...but there are just too many good players on that roster right now for them to not be a better than .500 team, again, barring crazy injuries. They've been predictably bad defensively (UZR is right around -12, which means their poor defense by itself has cost them a full game in the standings, roughly speaking) but, according they have produced negative value offensively thus far, meaning in this young season, they have lost more games than won because of their offense. This is essentially the same team, minus Victor Martinez, plus Prince Fielder, that finished 5th in the entire MLB last year in offensive value at 90.8 batting runs above value meaning, when not taken out of context for positional adjustments, their offense alone won them 9 games. The offense is good and has plenty of talent. They're going to hit. There may be a few guys who regress a bit - Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta come to mind immediately, plus Betemit was really good down the stretch for them last year too and he's in Baltimore now - but they're going to hit. The main thing at this point is getting Scherzer and Porcello straightened out. I half tongue-in-cheek stated they'd win 100 games after signing Fielder, but I really can't see any scenario where they win fewer 85 unless it involves someone getting injured. That is a very, very top heavy organization (no offense intended to Cabrera and Fielder, who are going to eclipse 600 combined pounds before they do home runs), and one significant injury to Verlander, Cabrera, or Fielder puts their season in very serious jeopardy very quickly, and if two get injured, they may as well pack it in. Again, not against you personally, but how do you know this? How many seasons have people been saying this about the White Sox lineup? They may well take off and start hitting, but you're stating this as fact when it is at least somewhat possible that it won't happen. This is one thing that really bothers me about message boards, again, not you personally. People take something that could, and probably should, happen and state it as fact. I think that there is a decent chance that the Tigers have a poor overall year offensively, which combined with a poor defense and average pitching would mean they might not finish much better than a 500 team. JMHO

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 10:59 PM) I honestly never thought that Greg Walker was a bad hitting coach, but by the end of his tenure, his methodology and sermons were obviously not getting through to the hitters. I was tired of him and I did want him gone, and so did others within the organization. The team looks a lot better this year, and I think Greg Walker being gone is part of the reason. A lot of times, players just need to hear it from someone new to have it click for them again. I agree with this. I actually liked Walker, but it was time for him to go.

Because Scherzer and Porcello aren't going to combine for an ERA of 7 this year. It's possible that they have a down season, but they'll be better than .500, barring any sort of crazy injuries. Again, I ask why? How do you know this? I'm not knocking you individually, but it seems to be a consenses that Detroit is just going to take off one of these days and the best we can hope for is to stay within 10 games and maybe a shot at the 2nd wildcard. It may happen, but I think that it is at least evenly possible that they are stuck around 500 most of the year. Their pitching overall doesn't look that good to me. Their offense, for that matter, doesn't look like the powerhouse it was supposed to be either. JMHO

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 11:16 AM) 11-11, not bad, probably where I thought we would be. I wish we could have capitalized on some of the games we lost because Detroit isn't going to be playing .500 ball forever. Why? It seems a lot of teams, most notably us, have a bad season when expectations are big. Who's to say that Detroit doesn't have much better than a 500 season? Sure they could take off, but how many years have we been saying that about a White Sox team that was supposed to do better than they did?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 27, 2012 -> 12:34 PM) Personally I hated it when they brought him in the booth to ramble on, but he seemed like he was an awesome guy to hang out with. RIP Moose. I agree with this. I liked Moose, but it was already hard enough sometimes to know what was happening in the game with just Ed and D.J. When Moose, or anyone else for that matter, joined them in the booth it was as if there was no game going on. As someone who can only listen to the games on radio it was extremely annoying. Why couldn't they of given Moose 2 innings to be in the booth and at least mentioned what was going on in the game occasionally?

Just curious for other opinions on this. I for one, thought that the Royals would be improved this year and even though their record thus far does not reflect this, maybe they are getting closer. When young teams are in the process of improving, don't most of them go through a stage where they are very streaky and inconsistent? A stage where ups and downs rotate back and forth, more pronounced than more experienced teams. While the Royals are in a very down stage right now, assuming they have good leadership (players, manager,etc.) they may just rebound and go on a winning streak. It is within the realm of possibility that in the process of growing up this year, they could wind up still achieving somewhere around a 500 record. Next season, if they get some pitching to go with that offense, watch out! JMHO.

Anyone know anything about Michael Pinedas' condition?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 10:39 AM) Some people do call Steve Miller that, though. Nice catch, Love it!

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 18, 2012 -> 01:47 PM) I don't know about Rios leading off, but De Aza in the 2nd slot is intriguing as a future possibility. I just don't see any real leadoff hitters in the lineup right now. KONERKO !

I would like to give the Soxtalk Administration team some kudos. One thing that really bothers me about message boards is the infighting that goes on, as well as the posters who insist on posting as "know it alls" when they don't know anymore than the rest of us in most cases. I used to visit some other Sox sites (which will go nameless) and these problems were all pretty rampant even though Soxtalk was probably a little better than the others. So I stayed here predominately. I don't know what you folks have done to police these problems, but whatever it is, keep it up. I've noticed less and less of these issues and it really makes the whole board more enjoyable in my opinion. I really like some of the insights and questions coming from most of the posters here and it's great that most of the responses, even the contrary ones, are presented in a respectful manner. Soxtalk is now the only board that I visit and this is why. KUDOS TEAM !

QUOTE (hi8is @ Apr 16, 2012 -> 12:12 AM) Awesome bleepin quote and an absoluetly true observation based on all the heart we displayed in our first week in 2012. Bring it! That was an awesome quote coming from someone who knows baseball. The problem with some of the people who agree with Leyland is that most on this site agreed with the "experts" before the season began in that at best we would be a slightly above 500 team and that we would be miles behind Detroit. It's amazing how a good start to the season can change a few minds. Not calling out anyone in particular because I do not remember who voted for what on the poll a few weeks ago, but just sayin.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Apr 12, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) It is cool in the media to hate on the White Sox. There is no magic player that they can hop on the bandwagon of or side show antics so the media will just over look them. Media today is horses*** there is no time or effort put into anything, simply speak to Phil Rogers and call it a day if you are outside of Chicago and Phil Rogers is a f***ing idiot. I got a laugh out of that one. I'm so bored today, I've even read a couple of Phil Rogers colums for a laugh. When do we play next, it can't come fast enough? I despise early season off days.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 11:49 AM) Winston-Salem could be that hitters' park so he could have a big year. Maybe he can have a big enough year to be considered just a little more than a throw in if K.W. starts dealing for whatever reason this season.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 12, 2012 -> 08:49 AM) Yeah, it's pretty illogical for the Sox to start one spot behind Cleveland, sweep Cleveland (albeit in two games) and end up losing 4 spots while Cleveland stays the same... However, baseball is a marathon, as they say, so I'm not sure any set of 5 games is going to change their opinion of the Sox much at all That's just it though. opinion of the team overall should change slowly if they're basing this off of future projections. How then can you justify dropping 4 spots, while both Cleveland and the Cubs stay approximately the same if this is what they are basing this on? If they are basing this on the way the teams are currently playing, again, how can you drop them 4 spots and leave Cleveland where they are at based on the first weeks performance?