WCSox

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ May 20, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) Teams never fire their managers over poor managing or the team being s***? In five full seasons as manager, Ozzie is 433-378 with two division titles, a pennant, and a ring. Three of these five seasons have resulted in 89 or more wins, with only one under .500. If the Sox go 72-90 for the next three seasons, it's possible that he may be on thin ice. But it would be almost impossible to fire Ozzie based on a lack of winning at this point. While I don't see JR keeping Ozzie around forever like Bobby Cox, talk of him getting the boot soon doesn't make any sense AT ALL right now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) That won't happen today. The Sox learned that lesson when that blew up in their faces. I agree that the current ownership group won't do anything THAT extremely controversial again. But my point is that this organization is more interested in the long-term than winning at all costs right now - and has been since JR and EH took over in the early '80s. If the Sox were absolutely 100% going for it this year, there's no way that they trade Javy for a prospect and rely on Contreras and Colon to shore up the back of the rotation.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2009 -> 12:31 PM) The positives of winning out weigh anything else. Remember that the Sox traded away their best pitcher and closer while 3 1/2 games out in July, 1997. The long-term matters, and this team isn't any better prepared to win in the postseason than the mediocre '97 squad (nor did Kenny invest anything near what Schueler did in that team). I could see Ozzie moving Floyd to the 'pen or them putting him on the DL with a fake injury and a rehab stint in Charlotte. But I think it's more probable that they keep pushing him out there until he's able to make the necessary adjustments. With Contreras sucking even worse and Richard's inconsistency, it's not like they're flush with replacement options.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 20, 2009 -> 08:56 AM) There is no way in hell they would put Gavin in the pen or on waivers, thats just a retarded argument. He is one of their young guns that they have invested a hell of alot more than they have in other players, he'll pitch every 5th day or go on the DL. Since he isnt hurt, but only is out of rythmn, he should be out there every turn until he figures it out. I agree with this. Given his contract and what he did last season, there's no way that you give up on him at this point.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 20, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) Ozzie shouldn't be fired. I'm frustrated with whats going on as a fan but as I calm down here, I also realize that he can't exactly snap when the team isn't performing due to putting out a lot of guys that just flat out aren't major leaguers or aren't quite ready to produce. He's still the right man for the job. I agree. If Ozzie gets fired any time soon, it won't be due to his team's place in the standings.

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ May 20, 2009 -> 06:12 AM) Comiskey Park had a ton of space behind the plate and the backstop IMO, Old Comiskey had the best upper deck seats of any ballpark I've been to. You were literally right on top of the action.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 19, 2009 -> 09:37 AM) But there's a huge difference when you are at 95-97 and in the low 90's. Your margin for error on fastballs is razor thin...Jose got away with bad location because they would foul off the pitches when he was the best pitcher in the game that they are now dialing in on. The other thing is that he consistently worked quickly, got ahead in counts and had that equalizing weapon nobody could hit, the forkball. The majority of his pitches were fastballs, but he was punching out batters with the off-speed stuff. Now, they just wait on the fastball, which he throws it 90% of the time from drop down. That's not enough variation. If he threw that slurve/slider 20-30% of the time, to the outside corner of the plate against RH hitters, he'd be much more effective. He comes inside almost every time with the fastball against RH hitters (08/09), but he doesn't ever knock batters off the plate, his velocity isn't a weapon anymore and everyone knows they can wait for a good fastball. Well said.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 19, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) They probably would have. Hoyt going in game 5, and they were a better team than the Phillies. Maybe. They couldn't hit for crap in the postseason and Kittle would've been out for the remainder with back problems. It's still sad that Brit Burns pitched the game of his life and the vaunted Sox offense responded with a goose egg. Reminds me of some of the recent Sox teams.

QUOTE (Special K @ May 19, 2009 -> 08:00 AM) In all seriousness though, this team is lacking the key ingredient to any successful season a White Sox team has had over the past few years, and that is pitching. I know Danks has been underachieving, and im still hoping Floyd can turn it around and figure some things out, and Richard looked solid yesterday too (by the way that just proves how bad Ozzie is for running Contreras out there for almost 25% of the season to get shelled while Richard continually pitched well in long relief) , but clearly we don't have what it takes to make a run at this division. I don't see any reason why we can't bring these young guys (Beckham/Poreda) up and let them see if they can contribute now. If you look back at the past decade, most of the superstars playing right now came up at about the age these guys are at right now(with the exception of Jerry Owens). Are you guys going to tell me Beckham doesn't contribute more to our squad than Lillibridge? I say get the expermient started now, stick Ramirez in center to see if he can play, Becks at short, and lets get Poreda some starts. The Sox are lacking several key ingredients right now, with the most important one being pitching. I agree with much of what you're saying, but would rather not see Beckham and Poreda until the rosters expand later in the season. No need to push those guys right now.

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ May 18, 2009 -> 10:38 PM) well whatever happens, DONT trade Linebrink or Dotel, if we really are serious about 2010, we are going to need a good core in a bullpen to go with Jenks, I know Dotel is a FA after this season, but I say sign him to another 2 seasons Linebrink is on record saying that he doesn't know if his shoulder will ever be 100% again and is owed $10.5 million over the next two years. Dotel will be 36 next season. The production of those two has nowhere to go but down, and Kenny would be crazy to go out of his way to keep either of them around next year. (Unfortunately, Linebrink's contract and NTC will make him difficult to deal this year.) Since Kenny wasn't serious about this season, I doubt that he's going to make a 2008-like push next season. It's more likely that he deals Dye and Dotel at the break and lets guys like Beckham and Poreda develop in the bigs in 2010. And as much as I hate to watch bad baseball, it's the right thing to do. This current lineup isn't going to win in October and the Sox are going to have to suffer through another 1999-esque "The Kids Can Play" season or two while the current crop in AA sinks or swims in the majors.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ May 18, 2009 -> 04:03 PM) To be honest, KW didnt make the moves to put us in a good place EITHER last year or this year. Agreed about this year, but I completely disagree about last year. Kenny overpaid big-time for Linebrink and Dotel to shore up what was an awul 'pen in 2007. He also traded for Cabrera (an upgrade over Uribe) and Swisher (who was a pretty solid player at the time), signed Alexei and Quentin for depth, and decided to give Crede and his chronically-bad back one last shot. Outside of over-paying for Torii Huner or Rowand (and it's not like Swish sucked in CF), he did just about everything he reasonably could to make them competitive once again. He even took a flyer on Griffey midway through the season. Unlike this past winter, Kenny did a pretty good job of addressing needs last season. QUOTE (fathom @ May 18, 2009 -> 01:47 PM) It's the perfect time, because I truly don't believe the fans will be upset if they blow it up now. I agree. Lots of our young players had better-than-average to great seasons last year (Danks, Floyd, Quentin, Alexei) and it still wasn't enough. With the core of our lineup is either in or entering the downside of their careers (Konerko, Dye, Thome), it's time to move some of these dinosaurs. With their NTCs, I don't see Paulie or Thome going anywhere. It seems most likely that Dye and Dotel will be gone by the deadline. If he pitches well for the next two months and Kenny's willing to eat some of his salary, I could even see Linebrink potentially going to a contender.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2009 -> 11:06 AM) Do you honestly believe that Brian Anderson will be treated as a starting CF when he comes back? He's hitting .231 against lefties and .308 against righties on this season. But we have another Lefty OF on the Roster in Podsednik...so when we platoon him, if those numbers hold up, his batting average is going to go steadily downwards over the next 2 weeks because he's hitting RHP better than LHP but he'll never face RHP again, and he'll wind up confined to the bench. It will not be the first time we've seen it. Has it been written in stone that Anderson and Pods will platoon? Why not just use Pods off the bench as a 4th OF?

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) Alright, but hes not ML-ready. So whats the harm in giving someone else a shot? Clearly, he can't perform at the major league level. Kenny wants to give Beckham some time to develop in the minors. The same goes for Poreda. And that's fine with me. No point in rushing their development in a year when the Sox aren't playing that well. If somebody other than Beckham is possibly ready to make the jump, that would be fine with me. Agreed that Lillibridge is worthless.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) I'm really enjoying the selection of songs the score is playing coming back from commercial breaks. Don't they usually play these songs all of the time?

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:48 AM) So can someone PLEASE explain to me why Lillibridge is still on this team? What does he bring to this team? Why do we accept failure and under performing? Because this is a rebuilding year and we lack young, ML-ready talent.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Never will happen. Brian Anderson is lost in the void forever. We'll probably keep offering him arbitration just so that he can't go somewhere else. I'm wondering if Anderson goes public with a trade demand at some point. Not that he has any clout or that the Sox will get anything of value in return, but you have to think that he'd be willing to do anything to get the hell out of this organization at this point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:27 AM) It means Anderson is staying in AAA and you're going to have a Ramirez/Podsednik Platoon in CF, and Lillibridge is taking over at the starting SS spot. God, I hope not. If that's the case, just f'n trade Anderson. Let some other team give the guy a shot.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:25 AM) I think it's funny we hear about this on the day Ozzie's not with the team. Suspended? (Sorry, I've been uber-busy at work over the past few days.)

QUOTE (tommy @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:16 AM) Does it mean what I think it means? Given that Hawk is the official PR representative of the front office, I'll bet that it does.

QUOTE (tommy @ May 16, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) Carlos not playing? Who's in LF/CF ? Pods in LF, Lillibridge in CF

What's up with Quentin being taken out? Are Hawk and Stoney giving any info?

QUOTE (YASNY @ May 15, 2009 -> 12:37 PM) Ozzie better be careful or the 'First Fan' will taxing him for methane in the atmosphere.

That kind of sucks, but it's understandable why he wouldn't want to work without getting paid. Nice to see that Smells Like Mascot is continuing, though.

As was mentioned earlier in this thread, Jose's arm tends to drop down when he's not healthy. This was evident when he began experiencing back problems a few years ago, and he's practically been throwing sidearm again this season. And whether it's pain or atrophy, I could easily see his not-quite-100% Achilles messing up his release point (just as his back did).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 12, 2009 -> 12:49 PM) They probably spent more money than that in salary-time investigating it than the actual fine amount. Why bother? "To send a message." As I said earlier, I'd much rather a pitcher does this than plunk a hitter. Kudos to Bobby for sticking up for his teammates and not injuring somebody in the process.