scenario

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) I disagree. I think we would have added a bat had we been in contention and would have been in very good shape. I'd much rather be working from a position of strong pitching than vice versa. Sound to me like we agree rather than disagree. I strongly agree that I'd rather be working from a position of strong pitching. But that doesn't mean that we should have built a team that, by design, was going to be at-best mediocre offensively and pray that our pitching would save us.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:41 PM) Well I think you have to look at how the team was built. He sunk the majority of our money into the SP. It's true that the offense was a bit of a wing and a prayer, but given the capability of that pitching staff, I really thought his wing and a prayer would be plenty to get the job done. The problem is the part of the club that was supposed to be it's strength has turned out to be it's biggest weakness... The difference is that the pitching is talented enough to turn things around and be very competitive... But the offense is middle of the pack at best even if they play well. We were counting on the pitching to be outstanding and save us. That's a bad position to start from.

I am a pretty optimistic guy. But I had a bad feeling about this offense from the get go. IMO, you simply can't put so many guys into a lineup simultaneously who are 'at-risk' for having sub-par seasons. In general, I'm a KW fan, but just seems to me that he's hell bent on building teams that have to "exceed expectations" just to compete... in a relatively weak division. That may be fine for a small market team. But it shouldn't be the case when you have a $100M payroll.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 12:37 PM) Holy s***, I just peed my pants. Down boy... heel.

FWIW... Danks is batting .303 in his last 10 games. I think he'd be better off just staying in AAA and see how things play out over the course of an entire season. He played pretty well in April. No sense overreacting because of one bad month (May).

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 4, 2010 -> 08:16 PM) Charlie Shirek, he of great control, managed to walk Josh Vitters, he who does not believe in walks. He's also given up 10 hits in 5 IP. 3rd game in a row he's struggled.

Sally Notebook - 5/20/10 Gac making most of his chance with new organization At 24, Kannapolis' Ian Gac realizes a player his age in the South Atlantic League needs to post big numbers in order to move onward and upward sooner rather than later. Fortunately, the Intimidators' first baseman is doing his part by hitting the ball hard nearly every time he steps into the batter's box and emerging as one of the circuit's most feared middle-of-the-lineup sluggers. Getting to this point in his career has required Gac to experience the highs and lows the Minors have to offer. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound first baseman began playing professionally in 2003 after he was drafted in the 26th round by the Rangers out of high school in Washington. Gac hit 107 home runs during his seven seasons in the Texas organization, including a career-best 22 last year at Class A Advanced Bakersfield in the California League. He became a six-year Minor League free agent in November and signed a month later with the White Sox. "In some ways it feels like I'm starting all over, like when I was first drafted," Gac said. "I went to Spring Training and didn't know anybody. I was trying to impress people and show them that they made a good choice in signing me. It's been fun so far. I definitely enjoyed my time with the Rangers, but I'm having fun playing with these guys. When the White Sox signed me, they said they wanted me to play every day and I've been doing that. Things have been going well." Gac has been the catalyst in the middle of the Kannapolis order. In addition to tying for the league lead with 16 doubles and 22 extra-base hits, the right-handed hitter tops the team with six home runs and 22 RBIs. He is also hitting at a .292 clip, thanks to a .322 norm with four homers and 10 RBIs in his first 15 outings in May. "I'm trying to keep things simple by seeing the ball and hitting it," Gac said. "Sometimes I get in a habit of trying to do too much, such as trying to hit a ball too hard or too far. That's when I get in trouble and fall into bad habits. When I'm going good, I'm putting the ball in play consistently. That's what I'm trying to do every time I go out there." Gac posted a seven-game hitting streak from May 1-8, during which he had five multi-hit outings while going 13-for-27 with three home runs. He proceeded to post three multi-hit performances in his next six games to reach the .300 level, unchartered territory for much of his career. Although the numbers give him good reason to expect a promotion, the first baseman knows that worrying about things that are out of his control is fruitless. And until he gets the word from manager Ernie Young that the Chicago brass is transferring his services to another team, Gac plans on punishing pitchers as much as possible at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium and throughout the rest of the Sally League. "I've definitely learned over the last seven years that you have no control over where you're playing," Gac said. "I've expected to go to Double-A in the past and didn't, and then later I'd get promoted when I wasn't going that great at the plate. You can't try to figure any of that stuff out. All you can do is go play hard every day and that's what I'm doing."

Didn't see this anywhere... sorry if it's a repeat. Surgery performed Thursday morning on the right middle finger of White Sox third baseman Mark Teahen was a success. A pin was inserted in Teahen's finger to aid the healing process. Teahen is expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 04:24 PM) So, Negron's in AA now, huh? This is pretty much the end of the line for him, sadly. Just activated from his suspension. No surprise they'd start him in AA.

I doubt there is much to it. The Red Sox are desperately looking for someone to dump Lowell on. And since Teahen is on the DL, the Eastcoast Sports Programming Network is simply working up a good rumor.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 08:22 AM) I hope Nix gets legit playing time over the next 1.5 weeks. He has received too inconsistent playing time this year to make any sound judgments on his performance. I really think if he gets starter's at-bats, he would post these type of numbers over a full year: .260, 25 HR, 75 RBI with good SB numbers. If he were playing in Charlotte... maybe. In MLB? No.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 30, 2010 -> 02:38 PM) Stop wasting opportunities when Shields has nothing. Exactly. What the HELL was the thinking there? The pitcher is digging himself a hole and we bail him out? Geezus.

QUOTE (zenryan @ May 28, 2010 -> 04:08 AM) I'm willing to bet that West went into that game knowing he was going to call a balk on MB. Hmm... Interesting thought... hadn't considered that. But he is such a self-promotional SOB that I wouldn't put it past him. Baseball doesn't need umpires who manipulate the outcomes of games for their benefit. That's a recipe for disaster. (See Donaghy, Tim) I say put his a@@ on a lie-detector, ask him the question, and if he fails... fire him.

"West is always promoting something. His country music CD. His line of umpiring gear." QUOTE (WCSox @ May 27, 2010 -> 09:12 PM) I hope that Passan was being sarcastic here. Because that would be really sad. West Vest Equipment http://www.umpirejoewest.com/products.htm

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 27, 2010 -> 08:22 PM) Its interesting Viciedo moved back to 3B in Charlotte. Wasn't he playing first? I think KW knows this Teahen thing isn't going to improve much. He's played 80% of his games at 1B this year.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 27, 2010 -> 04:06 PM) Source: Umpire Joe West to face discipline from MLB. Punishment will be suspension or fine. Umpires union and MLB talking about severity. via Jeff Passan MLB plans showdown with umpire Joe West by Jeff Passan Very good article

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 27, 2010 -> 07:54 PM) Take a f***ing pitch, Kotsay. Why don't any of these bastards work a count? I'm in Florida listening to the Rays TV broadcast team announce the game. They were talking about the difference between how the Red Sox (the series they just finished) and White Sox hitters approach the game. They said the Red Sox hitters were much more patient and worked deeper into counts... and that the White Sox were much more notorious first ball hitters who went up to the plate swinging and didn't walk much. Sounds about right.

Charlotte - off tonight Barons PPD Winston-Salem @ Salem Griffith Kannapolis @ Savannah Collop

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 22, 2010 -> 01:11 PM) I actually took that from the Marlins broadcast last night so it appears their onscreen graphic was wrong. The average age of a White Sox player is 30.1 the average age of a Red Sox palyer is 30.7, and the average age of a Yankee is 30.8. Still not as sizeable a difference as you’d think and we are up there in age. I think the stat is actually that we're the third oldest team in the A.L. You have to look at the makeup of the team too. Most of our 'age' is in the bullpen... Linebrink 33 Putz 33 Thornton 33 Randy William 34 Or reserve players... Vizquel 43 Castro 34 Kotsay 34 Two areas where age doesn't have the negative impact it does with starting players. There are quite a few teams with aging lineups and starting rotations. And we are not one of them.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 21, 2010 -> 10:34 PM) I believe we're the oldest team in the A.L. and the third oldest team in the majors. A lot of that has to do with Omar Vizquel. Not a chance. We have ONE player on the roster over 35 (who is a bench player). And only 4 starting position players over 30. The Yankees have 7 players over 35 on the roster. And 6 starting position players over 30 The RedSox have 3 players over 35 including 43 year old Tim Wakefield. And 6 starting position players over 30 I could keep digging but I'm not sure I have to. A quick review of rosters suggests there's quite a few teams with older players (and starters) than us.

I don't think KW has ANY responsibility to lay out his thinking.

QUOTE (girlslikebaseballtoo#26 @ May 20, 2010 -> 07:44 PM) My apologies, but idk what that means!! lmao Go to this link. It's for the section of the board called "Adopt a Prospect". Here you can add a player that you want to "adopt"... add info about, etc. The person who adopts a player is responsible to update information about them on occasion. You'll be able to see other examples. Go ahead and add Chase if you'd like.

QUOTE (girlslikebaseballtoo#26 @ May 20, 2010 -> 04:26 PM) I'm not sure his fan base is any bigger ..people don't really seem to be on his side!! lol I don't care though, I'm always going to support my favorite catcher and you better believe I'll be right behind any naysayers and half story tellers, with the truth and the full story. GOOD and BAD. ..I'm a fan, but I'm not delusional ..i see when he messes up, but I support him anyway!! We're very happy to have you aboard... And happy to learn more about Chase. We're very interested in and supportive of our minor league players. So please keep posting!

Saw this note in the SunTimes today... Lucas O'Rear of Nashville, Ill., who helped Northern Iowa's basketball team upset Kansas in the NCAA tournament, showed up at a predraft showcase Monday and threw 91 mph heat on the pitcher's mound. Northern Iowa dropped its baseball program after the 2009 season, leaving O'Rear without a team, but he'll likely play pro baseball this summer. Scouts told O'Rear, a 6-6, 255-pound right-hander, that he can touch the mid-90s with a few mechanical adjustments. I'm not suggesting he'd be a great pick... just found it interesting that UNI doesn't have a baseball team... so he tried out at a showcase and threw a 91mph fastball. With those sideburns of his, he'd look like a 1970's throwback on the mound.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 19, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) oh, and Dodger fans are IN LOVE with John Ely. This week. Two weeks ago they knew nothing about him.