WCSox

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 11:01 AM) People here are not worried about the Cubs. They may hate the Cubs but are not worried about them. Oh? QUOTE (shipps @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 10:55 AM) Naw,I have been worried about the Cubs because I have to hear Cubs fans mouths everyday.They have forced me to make more of this series than it is. Perhaps I missed it, but I don't recall multiple people here saying that we HAD to sweep the Giants, the Dodgers, the Pirates, or any other not-terribly-relevant NL team. That's fine with me, but if Ozzie decides that AJ, Quentin, Linebrink, or another key player needs a day off, I'm not going to complain. This is a marathon, not a sprint against an irrelevant rival across town.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 09:50 AM) People here are worrying about the Cubs today because that's whom the Sox are playing tonight. LOL, whatever. If the Sox had just taken the first two against the Dodgers, nobody would be yelling and screaming that the Sox HAVE to win the third game tonight.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 10:43 AM) Of course. Because you can't sweep if you don't win the first two, and winning the first two guarantees a winning series. That doesn't mean you relax and look past the third game to the first game of the next series. When you win the first two, you focus on the sweep. Of course you TRY to win that third game, but you don't see it as a "must-win" or anything ridiculous like people are suggesting in this thread. People here need to stop worrying about the Cubs. They're not a division rival, and they're not even in the same f'n league.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 09:17 AM) But you seemed to be suggesting that a loss today wouldn't be so bad because we've already taken the first 2 games. I disagree because every loss is equally bad and every win is equally good. In one of the 2005 World Series DVDs, one of the players said that their goal was to go out and win the first two games of each series. That was their focus throughout the regular season. Apparently that strategy works pretty well.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 08:39 AM) Are you kidding me? Last I checked all games count the same. At the end of the season, teams are judged by how many games they've won and lost, not how many regular season series they've won and lost. Each team's goal should be to win every game. Obviously that won't happen but we can't be satisfied just because we won the first two (and this works for every team against every opponent). So, despite the fact that it's almost impossible to win every single game, a team shouldn't be satisfied because they won 2/3? That doesn't make any sense to me. A team that wins 2/3 of their games is a lock for the playoffs with 107 wins. Of course you want to win every game that you can, but it's a lot more practical to focus on winning each series. That's the strategy that the Sox employed in 2005 and it seemed to work pretty well for them. My point was that people are letting their hatred of the Cubs cloud their minds. A win tonight would be valuable in the sense that it'd give the Sox a chance to go up an extra game on the Twins. "Payback" for last weekend's sweep at Wrigley is nothing more than a bonus. The Sox need to worry about the Twins, Indians, Tigers, and Royals. The Cubs are irrelevant.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 29, 2008 -> 01:30 AM) We NEED to sweep this team. Lose tonight and this series was a failure. How many times have we taken the first two games of a series against these guys only to take a dump on ourselves the third game? I'm sick of that s***. They've swept us twice the last two years. It's time to repay them. Forget that 2/3 s***. I don't agree with that at all. A sweep would certainly be nice, but a team's goal should always be to win a series. They've already done that have atoned for last weekend's embarrassment. The Sox need to focus on the big picture, not sweeping the Cubs to fulfill some retarded "bragging rights" claim. The Sox will have those rights until the North Side Chokes win a championship.

Great performance and way for the O and the 'pen to pick up Javy. A sweep would be a nice response, but even 2/3 is a nice response to last weekend's embarrassment.

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Jun 28, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) Got a little Captain in ya? That was awesome. Swish cracks me up.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 28, 2008 -> 01:35 AM) At worst, this team is going to find itself in the playoff hunt for the rest of the year. Because of that, attendance will stay solid. Do you really expect the Sox to cut payroll by 15-20 million next season? Losing Uribe, Crede, and O-Cab will cut it by over $19 million alone. I suspect that Kenny will do SOME spending in the off-season, but he's not going to spend just to spend, especially when they're not drawing like they were a couple of years ago. The Sox are currently 19th in the league in attendance, averaging just over 28,000. That's not bad but, if it doesn't improve, I don't see why they wouldn't let the payroll slip down to $90 million. Especially with a good-but-not-great team whose high-paid veterans aren't producing. QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 28, 2008 -> 04:45 AM) OPS my ass. When you have a leadoff hitter, you want someone who can get on base, and has some speed to steal a few bags and advance from 1st to 3rd on certain hits. Steals are a nice bonus, but agreed that OBP is absolutely the most important thing. If a contact hitter like O-Cab could theoretically sustain a .370 OBP, there wouldn't be threads about finding a legitimate leadoff hitter here.

Awesome effort, especially with regard to hitting with RISP.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 01:12 PM) A guy I actually had in mind was Reggie Willits (who I would love as a 4th OF if you could find a better alternative BTW). But Taveras could be a possibility also. Although IIRC, he's not having the best season numbers wise in Colorado currently. But if we could get a Furcal to replace OC in the off-season, we wouldn't need a leadoff hitter then. Just a balanced hitter with a bit of speed who has a good OBP. I would be fine with any of those guys. QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) Jenks is ARB eligible for the next 3 years. With a guy like Jenks, you take it on a year by year basis. His body, along with elbow is just such a toss up, not locking yourself up with guaranteed money is smart. Good info here as well.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 05:40 AM) offense is down around the league. I wonder why.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 11:19 AM) Swisher could still easily play CF though in that scenario, if you could find a OF to play a corner spot. Another Quentin type of trade by KW would be nice here. Who are the FA CF's out there in the off-season FWIW though? If Kenny could find another Quentin then, hell yes, I'd be fine with Swisher in CF for another year. I'd like to see Kenny go after a solid-but-not-great defensive CF this winter. Willy Taveras has been mentioned here. If Kenny could give up Owens and maybe another prospect for somebody like that, it'd be worth a shot, IMO. Somebody who can play good defensive CF and get on base enough to lead off would obviously be ideal, but that's most likely a pipe dream.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 09:19 AM) Whoa now. In 06, both Thome and Konerko were fantastic. Can't really say which one was better (unless you judge that soley on OPS). Thome was better in 07 though, but this season they've both sucked. But only one of them has sucked due to an injury. Thome has sucked because he's getting blown away by low '90s fastballs. Throw in Thome's previous injury history, and you're absolutely correct that Paulie is the much, MUCH better option for the long-term.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 07:43 AM) I'm not who the major FA CF is though. But Swisher could always stay there (he's been a pretty decent defensive CF), and you could just bring in a 1B/DH instead to replace Thome (but I doubt they'll do that). As surprisingly effective as Swish has been in CF, the Sox need a natural CF for the long term. I wouldn't mind him platooning with another player there, but throwing him out there for 150+ games with BA at their disposal is pretty silly, IMO. Also, with Crede, Thome, Contreras, etc. coming off the books over the next 6-18 months, the Sox are going into rebuilding mode (or at least MAJOR retooling mode). They're better off addressing the CF situation sooner than later. Perhaps more importantly, Dye needs to be moved out of RF next year for defensive purposes (and to limit the stress on his 35-year-old body). That would pretty much move Quentin to RF and Swisher to LF, opening up CF.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 27, 2008 -> 04:13 AM) $22 million=$22 million. Whether they paid the White Sox off in 3 or 4 years isn't very significant. In fact, it probably is better if it were only 3. As I understand it, when a team agrees to pick up part of a contract, they just give money to the other team, so its not like Philadelphia is actually paying Thome. Its not like they are sending the Sox money every payday. The White Sox can spend that money on whatever they like. There was no way that option was going to vest. I think if Thome plays decently the last 3 months, he will be back, but it will be a reduced rate. I'm hearing conflicting reports about how many plate appearances he needs for it to vest. It was reported here as 400-some earlier this year, but now I'm reading 500-some. He'll probably be pretty close to 400 by the end of September. I'd hate to see them bench him just to avoid it, especially if we're slugging it out with the Twins for the division title. Even at a reduced rate, I don't know if I'd want Thome back. We're going to need either Anderson or somebody acquired via trade or FA that can play CF well and lead off. That means that Dye has to move to DH. I'd love to have the extra left-handed power hitter but, unless he hits really well over the second half, I don't think that it's wise to clog our already overcrowded roster with him.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Jun 26, 2008 -> 09:17 PM) However, if we can't find a "better" option, than there's no point in refusing to pick up the option. Anderson in CF, Swisher in LF, Quentin in RF, and Dye at DH is a better defensive option than Thome at DH. Is Thome with a .350 OBP, 30 HRs, and 160 strikeouts a better option than the improved defense in the outfield and the downgrade of Anderson's bat in the lineup? It might be.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jun 26, 2008 -> 03:30 PM) I assume you mean Swisher at first. Moving Konerko to DH downgrades the DH position. Moving Swisher to first base downgrades first base offensively. How is that beneficial? Swisher offensive numbers just aren't that great to put him in a spot were you can afford to trade defensive in for offense. If Swisher can put up an .840 OPS and hit 20 home runs, I can live with him in CF. If he can't even do that, I don't know why we would put him at first where the offensive demand is much greater. What does it matter if Swisher hits less than .840/20 as a CF or a 1B? It's not like Kenny's going to replace Thome with Pujols or Ryan Howard. This would be beneficial defensively... JD to DH Quentin to RF Paulie stays at 1B Swisher to LF Anderson, Owens, Wise, and whoever else battle it out for CF

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 05:28 PM) 10 years ago, 1998, Jeter owned a Rate of 95 and a -7 FRAA. So no, he wasn't absolutely horrible, but he was still below average. Ironically enough, 10 years ago was his best defensive season up until 2004. No, defensive stats never tell the whole story, however Derek Jeter has always been a average to below average shortstop defensively. I don't rely on sabermetrics or message board groupthink (or ESPN, for that matter) to evaluate players. I do it the old-fashioned way: I watch the games. While nobody would confuse Jeter with Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel, the way that his defense is ripped here is ridiculous. There's a difference between overrated and overexposed. Yeah, Uribe was more deserving of those Gold Gloves in '05 and '06. Geez, get over it.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 04:09 PM) Since when does saying someone is awesome defensively sound like a Derek Jeter comparison? He didn't exactly suck at SS 10 years ago.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 01:56 PM) How is Uribe better than Pablo at the plate for this role? Pablo hits for more contact, can actually bunt and hit to the right in situations. Uribe can only lift and pull the occassional homer, he hits for much less contact, isnt as good of a bunter and hasnt shown the ability to work the ball over the field. This role has nothing to do with OPS, or SLG or anything, its a simple player who can play in situations in the AL. Neither Uribe or Ozuna are going to be kept around based on their hitting, which is below-average in both cases. That decision will likely be based on who can better fit the role of utility infielder/defensive sub (which likely means that Uribe stays). Wise will be the one pinch-running... QUOTE (daa84 @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 01:20 PM) not to mention down the stretch we will have owens on the team (at least in sept) that will be our designated pinch runner ... and Owens is an even better option for that role. I could see him getting called up if Wise falls into a slump. Unfortunately... QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 02:03 PM) My point is with Wise emerging how much is Anderson really going to get utilized ... our outfield is crowded as all hell and Ozzie/Kenny have decisions to make there as well.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 02:09 PM) Uribe can cover 3B defensively as well as Pablo, or better. Uribe can also play short and second with plus defense, which Pablo couldn't hope to do. Neither can hit, though at least when Juan does hit, it goes far. The only plus I see for Ozuna is speed, but with Wise and Anderson on the bench providing some of that, Pablo's value as a PR is miniscule. And Uribe might actually have a small amount of value in trade - Ozuna has none. Mr. Ozuna, you served a purpose well for this team the last few seasons. But its time to go. I agree. Sadly, as Pablo was one of my favorite bench players. Outside of bunting well, the only thing that Pablo brought to the table was his base-stealing ability. As long as Wise is on the roster, I don't see the need for a 35-year-old pinch-runner down the stretch.

QUOTE (kageman129 @ Jun 25, 2008 -> 09:20 AM) I know. I watched on MLB.TV and really enjoyed Vin Scully. He is very insightful and, well, actually an amazing broadcaster. He also does it without a color commentator to fill in the gaps, which makes him even more amazing. Yeah, props to Mark for not only that, but for having a huge game and giving us a win after a demoralizing sweep. The timing couldn't have been better.

QUOTE (ROC Sox Fan @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 08:03 PM) I'm watchin the LA broadcast on MLB.tv. Don't believe I even saw it. On the positive side, Vin Scully was certainly a nice break from Hawk and DJ.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 24, 2008 -> 07:15 PM) In June, Jim Thome is hitting .302 with a .406 OBP and a 1.048 OPS. Hopefully he won't lose his improved stroke after riding the pine in all of these interleague games. Because he can't go back to hitting like he did in April and May.