Dick Allen

This bullpen makes laughers nailbiters

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 21, 2007 -> 07:10 PM) Im pretty sure the Everett comment was a joke. Brad lidge perhaps? Everett is playing for some independent team, and supposedly the Sox have been looking at him. I heard he's as large as ever right now.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ May 21, 2007 -> 02:14 PM) I think Carl Everett or another bat is on the way. That or they are going to call up Brett Printz to replace someone in the bullpen. I should point out that Printz was pretty highly thought of a few years back and from what I've heard he's been flashing some good stuff down in Charlotte. I think Printz is the guy. Everett can really only DH now and with Thome back he really would be a waste of a roster spot. At this stage, he probably would be one with Thome out. Chances are Printz won't be any better than what they currently have, but its worth a shot. The bullpen needs a good shaking and/or waking up.

QUOTE(shaneomacfan @ May 20, 2007 -> 10:06 PM) ^^^^ At least that's what I was told. I wanted to avoid back surgery at all costs, so cortisone shots were the next best option. Those didn't work for me and aren't guaranteed to help everyone else, obviously in Crede's case. And even if they work for a while, doesn't it decrease the likeliness of it working if you had to get more, and don't they limit the number of shots you can take? There's still a long way to go this season.

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ May 20, 2007 -> 09:56 PM) I have had 3 lower back surgeries. 2 of them were fusions. I have had nothing but problems since having surgery. My advice would be do everything you can to avoid it. Once you have surgery on your back you are never the same. Some people have good results, but even they will tell you, your back is never the same once they cut you. As for complications, my last surgery has left me with no feeling in my right leg, and no strength whatsoever, and I suffer from chronic pain in both legs and also in my back still. My case is more extreme than many others, so don't take my problems that I have had, and assume someone else would have the same results. I'm just letting you know the problems you can have. Hope I helped. I have heard that, and sorry to hear about the complications. I know Scottie Pippen recovered nicely from back surgery, but I really don't know if his problem was a disc problem or not. There was someone else on the White Sox at least last year that had the same surgery Crede was considering, and they didn't have issues. There are so many things going on with your back, I can see how surgery even if it seems minor, which I have no idea if this is or not, could cause other problems.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 20, 2007 -> 09:46 PM) His ERA is still near 6. Even if McCarthy is good, it's going to work out to be a very bad trade for them considering what they gave up. When your best case senario is the trade only turns out very bad, it's a bit of an issue for the GM. Maybe if Danks and Masset are the stars you apparently feel they already are. Danks has been good, but you mentioned McCarthy and flyballs. You do realize Danks has a higher homerun rate than McCarthy even with McCarthy's bloated ERA? You mentioned McCarthy's bb/k ratio. You do realize its much better than Masset's even after Nick's fine performance today? Danks and Masset both have decent potential as does McCarthy. Someone may get hurt. Someone may become bad. Someone may have a Matt Clement and get hit in the head and not be any good anymore. It will be fun to see how it turns out after a year, 2 years etc.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 20, 2007 -> 09:44 PM) The potential of losing out on his big payday if things don't go according to plan. \ Missing several days, getting cortisone shots and hiting .200 also will hurt the big payday chances. I was asking more on the line of why he just wouldn't do it. Maybe there is danger involved.

I think the big guys have definitely been showing signs of coming alive the past several days. I think I have that in another thread. Getting Thome back in the line-up will be great. I love that he walked today. Usually when he walks, he also hits.

This is going to be a problem as long as he plays baseball. Is there anyone here that could add some insight as to whether or not this would be an ongoing issue had he elected to have the surgery in the offseason, and what kind of complications go along with that surgery that would make him elect not to have it?

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 20, 2007 -> 09:21 PM) Well it's went from an all time bad deal to just a horrible trade for Texas with the recent turn of events. Still 2 k's and 2 walks though, his ratio there is not good enough to be consistently good for long stretches between that (25/21 for the year) and all the fly balls he gives up. Still way too early to judge. I wouldn't write off McCarthy. He struggled mightily, but has come around, even if his bb/k ratio isn't the greatest right now. His past history suggests that should improve and the guy is now 4-4 for a team 10 games under .500. I really don't think thats a bad thing.

Dumb Cub fan line of the day: After JD's homer, a line shot into the teeth of the wind, the dope next to me decked out in Cub gear referred to it as a "cheap" homerun.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 20, 2007 -> 06:43 PM) BMac today: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER 3-0 2.31 ERA in May. Seems he's corrected his problems.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 20, 2007 -> 10:58 AM) All right baby, mmhmm we've got our excuse for the poor offensive showing, should the expected occur. The over/under for the Sox today is probably less than 2.

QUOTE(My Dixie Normus @ May 20, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) This series has been as fugly as Dick Allen's avatar. Rosie is hot. I do know one thing, a win today and my doom and gloom feeling about the rest of the season will be OVA.

QUOTE(beck72 @ May 20, 2007 -> 08:09 AM) The 2006 Post ASB sox and the 2007 sox are not having the same problems. For Rogers and us to say they are the same sub .500 team and not much better isn't right. Both had/ have bullpen issues. Yet the sox did pretty well trying to get a better group in without signing guys to ridiculous contracts [MacDougal has to be included as well, as he was added in the 2nd half; And of the free agents, who really would have been better than what the sox have?]. I also expect the bullpen to come around, as they have good stuff with some success. Right now, they are hitting a very rough patch. I have more faith in the sox pen coming around. At least they aren't old, hurt or have weak stuff, like most pens around the league. The 2006 offense still hit well, not as well as in the 1st half. And the 2007 starters are doing very well, which was the biggest reason for the drop off in the 2nd half. If the sox are close around the trade deadline, I'd expect KW to make a splash to improve the team [the sox have some depth that most teams won't part with]. Just get to the playoffs and a team can win. I could see Ichiro brought in to help win now, and as a trial run for 2008. Few other teams will be willing and able to go after Ichiro. The sox are one of them. I think they are having the same problems. The offense the second half last year wasn't producing many runs and the pitching was horrid. The starters have been much better this year, but the bullpen doesn't appear to have improved and the offense has been anemic. They said they were going to play more "smallball" but really don't have the players to play that way. Pods is one guy, but he's been hurt for a year and a half, and signing him and relying on him to be a big part of your offense is as laughable as the Cubs waiting on Wood and Prior all of these years. Erstad wasn't a bad signing. He was cheap, but the guy isn't an everyday leadoff man at this point. He really isn't even an everyday player. KW needs to show everyone he is the baseball genius he thinks he is and fix the problems on the fly. It will be very difficult.

If you're going to the game, bring a coat. Its freezing down here.

Phil is being rather selective in his article, and the fact is teams that stand pat generally decline the next season. Keeping the 2005 team in place would not have made a difference in 2006, and there are still issues in 2007 that need to be addressed. Mediocre baseball has been played for too long now to think the White Sox are one of the top teams in the league without any doubt. I like the line about Jerry Krause Disease. While I don't know if its quite like that yet, I've noticed KW thinking his s*** doesn't stink since the title. A bold move or two, maybe even taking on some payroll may shake this team up enough to get better. The thing that concerns me is we are now all resigned to the fact that our free agents will be leaving once their contracts are up. This was the pre-championship attitude, and it seems to have returned very quickly.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ May 20, 2007 -> 07:46 AM) If people thought the first two were ugly, wait till you watch this one. Masset will get the s*** kicked out of him and there ain't no way in hell we score more than one of Big Z. My final score prediction: 9-1. I'm not a big fan of Masset, but if he throws strikes, I think the Sox have a chance today.

QUOTE(greg775 @ May 20, 2007 -> 12:47 AM) Why does everybody say the wind will be blowing in for Sunday's game? Is Mother Nature that predictable? What if it's swirling to right or blowing out? How do we KNOW it's gonna blow in??? Skilling's forecast was for winds from the NE which is straight in at the Urinal. I live by the lake a couple miles south of Wrigley and can tell you right now the wind is definitely off the lake and its pretty cold. Those coming to the game from the suburbs should bring a coat. Its probably a lot colder here than away from the lake.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 20, 2007 -> 01:42 AM) I know right, whats with all these young players having struggles???? That's a good point. Maybe if struggling is to be expected, which I agree that it probably is with young players, the bullpen of a team expecting to win a championship shouldn't be loaded with them. Phil Rogers has an interesting article today. The White Sox are 54-62 since right before the ASB last season. Maybe that's where they are at and nothing much more than that can be expected from this group. I wouldn't say blow it up as the topic of this thread suggests, but I would say its time for some changes. Its doesn't look like where we and the White Sox want this team to be in October is likely or even possible with the current arrangement.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 20, 2007 -> 12:32 AM) Cheat brings up a fair point about the bullpen btw, as much as people don't want to hear it. It would be, but not in the middle of May with the light week the White Sox have had. He didn't say the bullpen hasn't sucked, just that they hadn't as much as the offense, which could be true, but thats like someone telling you that you are better looking than Ron Karkovice. Usually I agree with his observations, but I'm not buying this one. I think the bullpen is short. Sunday Sox lose 11-1 bullpen 3 IP 7 R Monday off Tuesday off Wednesday Sox win 5-3 bullpen 2.2 IP 1 R Wednesday Sox lose 8-1 bullpen 2.1 IP 4 R Thursday Sox win 4-1 bullpen 2 IP 0 R Friday Sox lose 6-3 bullpen 1.2 IP 3 R Saturday Sox lose 11-6 bullpen 1 IP 6 R That's 12.2 IP and 21 runs allowed for the bullpen in a week. A couple of blowouts and a couple of days off. There are absolutely no excuses for this kind of performance. Actually, the excuses have to end for any of the White Sox failures now.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 19, 2007 -> 10:21 PM) How dare you say all these 97 mph guys suck? Last time I checked, only Jenks and Thornton have sniffed 97 mph. Aardsma, MacDougal, and Sisco have all been around 92 mph consistently this year. Aardsma got off to a great start, but he was also able to throw the ball wherever he wanted. He's not nearly as good of a pitcher as he showed during the first month. He needs to stay on top of the ball, or else he's going to continue to tail that fastball over the heart of the plate for righties (a big problem for Vazquez as well). I also thought pitching in "high leverage situations" was part of the job description.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 19, 2007 -> 10:17 PM) http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines Ozzie admitting that Pinella got him today. I guess no one in the clubhouse was watching the TV coverage when Pinella said Lee could definitely be used to PH. Sad thing was I read it online in the morning. Ozzie should read the paper instead of listening to North.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ May 19, 2007 -> 10:16 PM) So when was the last time they were handed a 5-run lead? 5-run deficit? They're pitching in high leverage situations EVERY GAME! Its not bothering the starters. They are going 6 or 7 every night. Jenks has the 9th, so that's 2 innings tops they have to get through. If they are already blown out by it on May 19th, they suck even more than words describe.

QUOTE(TheBigHurt @ May 19, 2007 -> 10:11 PM) Jesus, we're gonna get f***ing swept... Maybe not. At least Santana isn't on the mound tomorrow, or they probably should just forfeit. The wind will be blowing in. I'm hoping they can get into Zambrano's head, because he will be all fired up scratching his balls like nobody's business. Konerko and Dye are starting to show signs of coming to life.