Friend of Nordhagen

Gentlemen, gentlemen . . . So much hatred of these fine young men who patrolling centerfield throughout baseball. Kalapse, my man, I've said it: if Anderson hits .210, he's my guy. And I'm willing to give him more time, too. But by the middle of July, if our friend from Tucson is hitting .165, he cannot -- and will not -- be this team's centerfielder. I love the guy, okay? I think he's going to be a good player. But that's not going to cut it. Not for me and not for Kenneth Williams. So, here we go. Who's your centerfielder for our 2006 World Series team? Name a guy. If you're all down on Erstad -- and believe me, I understand why -- please note that he won't be making $9 million for the Chicago American League ball club. He'll make 1/3 of that, at most -- because he'll be here for about 2 months. And that's assuming that we pay all of his salary. But, please, please, please, don't give me this garbage about how these aren't the guys -- because if it's not Brian Anderson, whoever it is is not on this roster right now. And he's not in Charlotte, North Carolina either. And -- regarding Finley -- all I ever said about Finley is that he was a guy to watch. The Giants may stay in it. They may not. They were under .500 for a lot of this season so far and got hot. I have no idea how that division will shake out. So, why don't we just see where we are in a bit, eh?

My two cents on the bullpen: With our starting rotation, the key is to have 3 dependable guys at any given time. Really. For instance, if you look at our pen last year, I think most people would consider it a strength. But in my view, we really had 3 guys -- at each stage of the year -- who were truly effective and didn't give me the heaves when they entered the game. Think about it. At the beginning of the year, Politte, Marte and Hermanson were good. Takatsu was getting saves, but he was never really very good. Jenks was in Double A. Cotts couldn't find the plate. By the middle of the year, Politte and Hermanson were still getting it done, and Cotts had joined them. Marte was occasionally effective, but extremely erratic. Takatsu was banished to the back of the pen. By the end of the year, Politte and Cotts were effective, and Jenks had emerged. Hermanson could pitch once a week, if that. Marte was a basket case. Now, this year, Jenks has been up and down, but generally good in save situations, and really in a groove right now. McCarthy was tough during the first few weeks but has been undependable since. Cotts has generally been effective, despite a rough start and some blips during the past few outings. Politte (who I now have to say, having written the above, was really our most consistent reliever last year) has outright sucked this year. Thornton's been good lately, but still needs to earn our trust. So what do we have, really? Jenks. That's one guy. If Cotts remains pretty solid and Thornton continues along, maybe you have your three. But we don't have it yet. We might not be that far away. I'm not saying that having more than 3 dependable guys isn't important. It is. But if we can get those 3, roles and otherwise will follow from there. I'd say at least one reinforcement may be on the way. That's my guess.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 28, 2006 -> 12:19 AM) Well, he did retire at the ripe old age of 33. Gang, I said it in the game thread (which was split into the CF thread), and I'll say it here. Kenny Williams is going to be looking at other solutions in centerfield, and some of them will be lower cost, like . . . ahem . . . Erstad, Pierre and Finley. They're "middle" solutions -- in a walk year, don't cost a ton, can hit enough to justify hitting 8th or 9th, and will catch the ball (even if, as in the case of Pierre, they can't throw the damn thing) until the 7th inning. And that's when Brian Anderson will be in the game. And, by the way, for those who doubt that Erstad possibility, remember two things: Gload's on this roster because he can play first base. So can Erstad. In that scenario, Anderson stays here and can play any outfield position as a back-up. And second, Ken Williams loves the guy (Erstad). Always has. And when Kenny loves you -- when he thinks you're a grinder -- Kenny loves you forever. And he'll do what he can to make you a member of the Chicago White Sox.

QUOTE(beck72 @ May 27, 2006 -> 07:31 PM) Well said. If Crede wasn't ranging far to his left, I'd hate to see how badly Uribe would be hurting the sox Hawk mentioned that the sox have just surpassed the missed DP's from all of last yr with Uribe's miss today The sox are far from the worst Cf situation. Esp with Anderson's above avg glove and range. The guy's a rook with skills on defense and offense. He needs some time. IMO, he'll be around all year and be a big help down the stretch. I want to add that, notwithstanding my thoughts about possible centerfielders to keep an eye on, my preference is to stick with Anderson, provided he can hit about .210. Seriously. For some reason, in my mind, that's my magic number -- because he's a superb outfielder.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 07:14 PM) Steve Finley is currently in the NL, where the pitching is weak and the teams are weaker, look at what he did in his second trip to the AL last year, he f***in sucked. I'd rather not trade for a 43 year old bad CF. But hey that's just me. Juan Pierre is a bad player, the discusssion last year about him, well Soxtalk had a mighty large Juan Pierre thread and I was one of the main people saying how horrid of a baseball player is he is. A pathetic arm like his is not going to help you in centerfield, baserunners will be taking the extra base on every play and every tag play from 3rd will score a run. A run in the 1-7 is equal to a run in the 8th or 9th. He has a horrible OBP, currently a few points higher than Brian Anderson and he can't buy a f***ing hit. All this comming in the NL which I mentioned in the last paragraph, is weak as all hell. Erstad will not be comming back anytime soon he's been on the DL since May 1st and his ankle is still bothering him. He's 1.) old 2.) Expensive 3.) injured 4.) bad. The risk? Paying a pahetic ballplayer a pretty penny and having him hit worse than Anderson. Also, the Giants are currently 3.5 games out in the worst division in baseball. Why again would they trade us thier "productive" CF? Hey, Kalapse, I hear you about this stuff, particularly Pierre's arm. It makes me laugh sometimes. But we have an issue here. We're a team competing for the world championship again. We have one CF who is not adequate defensively. We have one who is not minimally competent offensively, at least right now. That's untenable. Do you think that Ken Williams is going to tolerate that? I don't. There is no optimal solution. Each of the players I identified would be available relatively cheaply. There are other players who one could think of who might be available at a steeper price. But some here won't want to do that either. So, what do you do? Because, here's the thing: if we are playing Detroit in September, or the Red Sox in October, and the network goes around the diamond showing the White Sox defense, and Rob Mackowiak is the centerfielder, you're going to be uneasy. And you'll be right to feel that way.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ May 27, 2006 -> 07:10 PM) Finley's having an OK season for a 41 year old man: .265/.344/.434. I'd take that from my #9 hitter. Amen.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:57 PM) Well, Erstad will be really good for you on the DL, which is just about what he does now, not to mention the fact that he's slow as s*** in CF and can't hit worth a lick. Finley is 43 years old and is currently in the NL, last year in the AL he put up a 73 OPS+ and spent plenty of time on the DL, fun. Juan Pierre is just a bad player in general, I don't want him anywhere near my Sox, he really does nothing well right now. As Dan Bernstein would say, he's a "toy player". He's basically a pinch runner at this point. I know Erstad's injury prone. Hell, he's on the DL right now. But you'll have a chance to watch him for a month or two here. If he looks okay, and the price isn't much, where's the downside? Are you afraid that he'll take Ross Gload's valuable spot on the roster? On Finley, I'm just looking at his numbers right now -- look pretty respectable to me. And, as for Pierre, he's having a bad year. I know there was a lot of discussion about him last winter. But you're not going to have to give up nearly as much, pay him as much or count him for anything more than getting to balls and catching them from innings 1-7 (Anderson's going to come in anyway), and maybe being an igniter at the bottom of the order, which sorely needs it. The bottom-line is this, guys: having Robby Mack as your starting centerfielder on a championship team doesn't look real workable. (christ, he's f***ed up 3 plays in the last week.) I love what Anderson might be able to do at some point, but maybe not now. So . . . if you agree with these two points, what would you propose? I mean, besides Carl Everett.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:55 PM) Erstad had 1 great year, is injury-prone, and KW already traded for him once. Garland for Erstad a few years ago, which was agreed to only to be vetoed by Angel ownership later. Which is exactly why I will not be surprised to see him playing centerfield for the White Sox this year. If KW wants you once, KW wants you forever. And, with the salary and injuries, it ain't gonna cost Jon Garland this time around.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:49 PM) Seriously, you are out of your mind, have you actually looked at the numbers for those people? We're better off with Mack for crying out loud. Mack can't judge a fly ball. In a pennant race, I guess I'm thinking that's a problem. And, yes pal, I've looked at their numbers. Erstad, Finley and Pierre are all in walk years. They each have some issue with them (Erstad: not a great hitter at this point/health; Pierre: having a really bad year/no arm; Finley: old (but actually hitting; have YOU looked at his numbers?). But that's why you can actually get them. They have experience, having each won a World Series. They'll catch the ball and hit at least a little. And they're going to be batting 8th or 9th -- for crying out loud.

QUOTE(Ndgt10 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:45 PM) Nelson wasn't picked up to pitch 2 innings. Nelson got away with one to Glaus. He walked a guy in this inning. He grooved one to Hllenbrand. Anyway, I hope he gets better with some work. Why, oh why, were we in the 11th inning of a game and still had not used our 2 best relief pitchers? QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:46 PM) ATTENTION KENNY WILLIAMS: We need: A) bullpen help. B) a legit major league CF. C) somebody to lite a roman candle in Uribe's rectum. Centerfielders to keep an eye on: Steve Finley, Darin Erstad, Juan Pierre

QUOTE(Ndgt10 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:37 PM) Mother f***er Cut it out. That's offensive to Garland.

QUOTE(greg775 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:32 PM) Like the dog, the Sox have no bark today. "There's the squirrel. D.J., one time I was sliding into home plate, and a dog came out and blocked the plate. Mercy."

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:27 PM) i really feel that brian is more valuable than juan right now. As a fan, this is the type of comparison that is difficult to make, painful to think about and results in severe brain damage.

And now, it's official: Juan Uribe is providing zero value.

QUOTE(longshot7 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:22 PM) But the implication is that Jon is playing like a woman, which is pretty offensive. That Judy Garland was a real person isn't important. If you think about it, it's really more offensive to Judy. She was much more aggressive than Jon.

QUOTE(greg775 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) One more out then BA bunts for base hit. He ain't gonna homer. But he might bunt for a homer. That could happen.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:17 PM) followed by a guest appearance from Kaz Sazaki Hawk: Kaz Sazaki . . . YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:14 PM) GREAT job today for Matt. Nelson enters. Apparently we're letting last year's Mariners bullpen handle the 10th. I expect to see Guardado shortly.

Thornton showing why he's won 6 consecutive Gold Gloves.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 27, 2006 -> 06:11 PM) He takes long strides. He looks a lot slower than he really is, except for maybe that last play. Indeed. On the last play, he looked like Keith Traylor.

Anyone think that JD looks a little slower this year -- in the field, and, like, just now?

Actually, I'd say we show some respect for Judy, not Jon.

Damaso was just, um, misunderstood.

By the way, Thornton's 3.77 ERA is exactly the ERA that Damaso Marte had last year. Hmm.

And Hernandez doesn't need any help sucking. People have complained about him as a home-plate umpire for a long time.