TheHolyBovine

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 31, 2007 -> 09:59 PM) Umm...and that's because Terrero will do such a good job replacing him? Let me guess, you prefer Sweeney or Anderson in CF? Well, that's not going to happen, I highly doubt we'll ever see Brian Anderson with the major league team again. Yeah, you're right. Erstad's a MAJOR loss. It takes a lot to put up an OPS of .680 as an OFer. Worst case scenario: The Sox didn't get any worse today. Best case scenario: They just got better. Maybe now KW will be forced to go out and get a real OFer, and Erstad's injury assures that he won't be back for 2008, which is a big positive for the franchise.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ May 30, 2007 -> 04:54 PM) CF is a HUGE improvement from last year. He is actually one of the best hitters on our team this year. That is not saying much, but it's true. I knew someone would mention this. This isn't 1980. Just because a CFer is hitting .270 doesn't mean he's any good. The name of the game is scoring runs, and Erstad's low OBP and SLG means that he doesn't contribute much to the cause. A .680 OPS is horrendous, especially for an OFer. The problem is, management agrees with your line of thinking.

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ May 30, 2007 -> 03:16 PM) We have little to no offense from LF and SS this year. Last year, we had little to no offense from LF and SS. No improvements were made, other than a heavy investment in wishful thinking about guys turning it around. This is the point of the year, only you forgot about CF. This disaster is on Kenny. He needed a creative way to get another OFer this winter, and failed miserably. And I'm not talking about Crawford or Griffey...KW could have gotten Ryan Church or Scott Hairston (or someone of that ilk) for nothing in December. Eiher one of those solid guys would have made a huge differece; either one would have made the lineup more balanced, and would have made Erstad's sorry production more tolerable. But KW did the most conservative, unimaginative thing possible: He brought back Pods. I don't blame him for the pen...He got some power arms for nothing, which is what good GMs do. It hasn't worked out, but that's not for his lack of trying. The OF mess is completely his fault, and is a mistake worth losing your job over IMO...and I love KW.

Shameless bump, BUT... ...Funny how true this thread rings today. Props to me for being such a prophet.

QUOTE(BearSox @ May 18, 2007 -> 04:50 PM) Well, our offense is hardly full of mediocre players, but good players just sucking, and that bothers me a ton. Your comment bothers me a ton. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you people? I count 3 "good" offensive players on the Sox: -Dye -Konerko -Thome (when healthy) I count 3 average hitters on the Sox: -Gooch -Crede -A.J. I count 3 below-average hitters on the Sox: -Erstad -Uribe -Whoever is in LF Tell me, where are all of these good offensive players that all of you talk about so often? Open your GD eyes.

QUOTE(G&T @ May 18, 2007 -> 04:18 PM) I'm really interested to see what happens with Hall. Had a good game today, and I'm wondering how long it takes for him to end up in a prolonged slump. Well, Hall isn't a good hitter. Look at his career numbers, and you'll draw the same conclusion. Don't blame Walker when Hall shows that he isn't Jorge Posada.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ May 18, 2007 -> 04:16 PM) Right, which will make it even funnier when KW, Ozzie and every other member of the Sox say that this slump has nothing to do with Walker And they're correct. The problem is this team's lack of ffensive talent.

QUOTE(G&T @ May 18, 2007 -> 04:12 PM) He fell asleep in the fourth. Actually, he didn't tip his cap to anyone. It was an old school silent broadcast. "I LUV silent broadcasts."

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 18, 2007 -> 04:03 PM) And the offense continues to suck a$$. With all due respect, look at our f'ing lineup. It looks like a AAA product. We should be grateful we scored 3 runs. This isn't a very good offensive team, nor will it ever be with these sorry players.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ May 18, 2007 -> 03:10 PM) Santo sining take me out to the ball game, what a great baseball moment. Did he stand up to sing?

I'm not bitter, angry, or impatient...Just honest. This team is old and unathletic. It has average power, no speed, no patience (as in OBP), and poor defense. I will be forever in debt to these guys for 2005, but it's time to strip this rusty machine down and start again. Assuming you can get value for them, get rid of every player north of 30 you possibly can (with the possible exception of Konerko). If all went right for this team, it would still be an 88 win team. That's not good enough in this division, where your chief contenders are both younger and more talented than you are. It's time to build for the future.

Option "C", whoever that is.

"Grinder Bash"? Oh Lord. I'm almost starting to long for the days when we were known as the talented underachievers.

QUOTE(CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Apr 29, 2007 -> 06:36 PM) You haven't been paying attention have you ? The guy in the regular lineup with the highest batting average is the CF. And right now we have automatic outs just about everywhere in the lineup considering everyone but the CF is hitting below .225. Yeah, I've been paying attention buddy. I just know more about baseball than you. Batting average means nothing. Runs scored, power, and OBP mean everything. Your precious CF comes up short in everything that matters.

QUOTE(WinningUgly85 @ Apr 29, 2007 -> 08:56 AM) I am bothered by the fact that we have great talent and yet we can't get any runs across on the board. We don't have great talent. Without Thome, only Konerko and Dye are above-average offensively at their respective positions. Everyone else is average or below. To answer your question: We'll hit better when we no longer have automatic outs in LF and CF.

Congrats to all the boys, especially to Contreras for hanging in there with less than ideal stuff.

Sure. Nothing wrong with ignoring 6 years of overall performance when he plays a decent game against a crummy team.

I need to spell out the problem for some of you: Pods, Erstad, and Anderson don't hit very well. Two of them (Pods and Erstad) never will again because of their age, and Anderson has about an 18% chance of becoming mediocre. Arguing about whether Erstad or Anderson should start is missing the point, IMO. Neither of them should be starting on a championshp team, and Pods wouldn't be a very useful player unless he hit .330. I love KW, and I like the offseason moves he made. I agreed with his return on Garcia and McCarthy, and he did a nice job revamping the bullpen. However, KW's #1 priority this offseason was to add a legit outfield bat. The logical assumption was that he would add a LF. Well, he didn't. He resigned Pods. That's ok if you sign Pods below market value (which he did). The problem is that if you resign Pods, you MUST then upgrade at CF. I thnk it was proven beyond a doubt last year that Pods and Anderson cannot be in the same lineup without significantly diminishing the number of runs a team could potentially score. The only thing worse than an OF that includes Pods and Anderson is an OF that includes Pods and Erstad. Erstad wasn't really very good when he was good, which was a long time ago. The signing of Erstad as a potential starter is inexcusable; he should only be a 5th OF at this point, and really...why would you want him for that role? Not only is Erstad useless as a player, but he compounds, magnifies, and duplicates the original problem -- KW did not upgrade at LF. And I'm not talking about getting Carl Crawford, either. A guy like Scott Hairston could have been had for nothing this offseason...Maybe he still could, I don't know. KW will do something, I just hope it's soon. It doesn't take much to improve from the offensive production of Pods or Erstad. QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:36 AM) Just going to go off topic here for a minute, if we signed Ichiro does he play in LF or in CF for you (which he's doing this season for the Mariners)? What do you do with Pods? Do you let him go, move Erstad over, or give Sweeney the LF job? What about Josh Fields? Do you let him start in LF or do you trade Joe Crede to open up 3B for Fields? When it's all said and done, unless Darin Erstad can produce a +.750OPS, I think we're going outside the organization to address this LF/CF need that we're having. Neither Pods nor Erstad will be wearing a CWS uniform in 2008.

I'm so glad that we have these great grinders on the team. This thread should also include Pods, Molina, and anyone else who hits like Augie Ojeda. Kenny f***ed up this season by not adding a quality bat to the outfield. You can live with subpar production from CF or LF if you have a quality team overall, but you can't have utility IF production from BOTH slots. Kenny can still do something to salvage the season...Pick up someone like Scott Hairston or Ryan Church. It's not too late. That being said, KW failed with regard to the only significant task he needed to accomplish this winter.

Honestly, KW deserves blame for this offense. Heading into the offseason, we had MAJOR offensive holes at LF, CF, and SS. Now, 2 weeks into the season, we still have major offensive holes at LF, CF, and SS. Firing Greg Walker will do nothing to change the fact that we start 2 OFs who hit like utility IFs on a CONSISTENT basis. I love KW, but he f'ed up this winter. Shocking statement: This offense will not get better until we get better hitters.

Has the game been called?

Any Crede update from Hawk?

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:01 PM) Actually, he's much nicer now. He had a much worse attitude when he was with Seattle. That's amazing...and sad.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 07:59 PM) I saw the same thing. By my count, it's the third time Freddy has shown up a teammate. I thought FG's new marriage and relationship with Ozzie was supposed to "settle him down"? How come he seems like a bigger asshole than ever these days?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) OK, let's brainstorm then, what potential names are there playing SS right now who could be leadoff hitters for the right team? Eckstein - SS - under contract for 1 more year IIRC Renteria - Braves - huge contract with Boston paying 1/2 of it for the Braves, was terrible in the AL Cabrera - Angels - huge contract, good numbers, but the Halos are very reluctant to make trades Hanley Ramirez - Florida - no reason I can think of why they'd give him up Izturis - Cubs - very low OBP Anyone got any others? Julio Lugo will be a free agent this winter, and would make a nice lead off guy.