iamshack

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:28 PM) It would really suck if after all KW has said about bringing in good OBP guys (something he didn't really do but he said it's his #1 regret from the offseason) he goes out at the deadline and brings in a 36 year old infielder with a 3% BB rate and a sub .100 ISO. And is he replacing Teahen? Not much of an upgrade. Yeah, I agree with all of the above.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:26 PM) I just don't understand what role he would fill. Well, if they were to send Gordo down and Viciedo back down, he can play 3rd base, or ss in a pinch. I imagine he can fill in at 2b as well. He's a guy that should be available, should not cost too much financially, that we've looked at before, and a guy that Ozzie would love to have because he was good in 2003. Again, not saying it's something I would want to do, but it's something I could see happening.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:25 PM) Anyone else bothered by the circled area or is my OCD acting up again? I'll admit, I am more bothered by the fact that Danksy looks like he is taking it in the pooper and that Mark looks like he is enjoying telling AJ all about it...

TShirts, shorts, flips. At night, jeans, button down, flips or some laceless shoes.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 02:22 PM) I would be to be honest. Well maybe you could share why?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) That's actually one of the big reasons why I think we need another impact bat: Alex Rios and Paul Konerko. They're playing out of their minds right now, like WELL above their previous career highs. Konerko's current wOBA: .416 previous highs: .394 (2006) .385 (2005) and Alex Rios' current wOBA: .402 previous highs: .368 (2007) .365 (2006). They've kept this team afloat for much of the year and I really don't know how much longer they can keep up this level of production. I agree 100%. Hopefully this is where Q steps up and helps take the load off them a bit. I expect Alexei to continue to hit well for the rest of the year, as well as AJ. Not advocating this in any way, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Miguel Tejada in a White Sox uniform in about 3 weeks.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:02 PM) BAH! I was hoping no one would ask me that. Can I give a cop-out answer and say it largely depends upon how some of these guys who will be available are playing at the deadline? Because the names I'd really want aren't all that realistic whether it be they're not available or too expensive from a financial/talent perspective making a possible trade either impossible or not at all worth it? My top 2 would be Fielder and Dunn but they fit into the latter category especially Dunn who's almost definitely not getting traded regardless of where the Nationals are in the standings and Fielder would come at a large price tag both talent wise and financially (I don't think people realize he's going to make upwards of $15M next year). Adam LaRoche would be a decent but, I wouldn't lose my mind with excitement but I'd feel as though we made a very solid upgrade to the lineup. Luke Scott would be ok but once again not all that exciting. Berkman's gotta show something before the end of July otherwise I really don't want anything to do with him. I want NOTHING to with Ty Wigginton, I'll just say that now. But those are just the names that are out there now, these will change in the next month or so, players will fall off, others with get hot and who knows who will fall out of contention making more bats available. I guess I'm holding out hope that Kenny will shock me and get a true impact guy that either I'm not thinking of or don't believe we could acquire. In the end though I suppose my guy would be LaRoche due to promise of future production and cost. Yeah, it's tough to say who you need to get now because it's still only June 25th. I have a weird feeling we might be looking at another waiver acquisition in August. The other thing we have to be careful of, and this is something Kenny is sometimes guilty of, is not acquiring the guy who has been great the first half, but the guy who is going to be great the second half. After all, great production that happens for another team really does nothing for your team, and this is something that seems to often be a landmine that GMs step into.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 12:53 PM) What's wrong with having both? You get one solid bat to replace Kotsay/Jones and we are a World Series contender and not a mere division contender. Well, I have maintained all along that I didn't agree with Kenny and Jerry's allowance of Ozzie to shape this offense as much as he did. But the fact is that they did, and so I just find it kind of counterproductive to continue crucifying them for it as opposed to hoping we can get by with it until the time comes to make the acquisition to rectify that mistake. If our GM was Bill Stoneman or something, I would agree with you a lot more. But given Kenny's level of aggressiveness, I don't see it as anything that we can't fix when the time comes.

That was a ridiculous goal by Spain right there.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:46 PM) That's where we differ. I love our Rotation and our bullpen especially but I'm just not seeing enough offense to get us past the Twins and Tigers especially if the Twins add someone like Cliff Lee at the deadline (they certainly have the means to do so). If Kenny does pick up a big time bat at the deadline though (I really wish our system were a little stronger near the top) my confidence will gain a tremendous boost. Yeah, and I understand that. That is a reasonable opinion to have. Personally, I am not all that impressed with the Tigers lineup either, but I guess that has changed a bit with the unexpected success of Brennan Boesch. From the Twins perspective, while I do love their offense, I don't love their pitching, and I think they had better add Lee because I believe Blackburn, Baker, and Pavano are all due for a bit of a cooling off period. I'd rather have the dynamite pitching staff than the dynamite offense in our division.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:24 PM) You've been right on, confident that the team would win regardless of matchups and sticking with them when they were 9.5 back because you had tremendous faith in the roster. That's great and I don't really mean it as an insult, that's just the way it feels to me. s***, you've been saying it all year and that's commendable I just look up and down the roster and I don't feel the same way you do. Kenny really let me down in the offseason seemingly giving in to Ozzie's desire to have bad, "versatile" players fill the most offensive oriented spot in the lineup and it's left me a little jaded. Well, I certainly don't think this is the perfect roster but I feel like from an offensive standpoint, it's good enough to get to where we need to be, which is in the postseason. If we can reach the postseason, with the colder temperatures, I think our starting pitching will have an edge, and I think we could win a lot of games in the same fashion we've been winning them on this streak. Were we in the AL East, not sure I would feel the same way about the roster, but we aren't. All in all, I would have rather we signed Kelly Johnson than Omar Vizquel or brought back Jayson Nix. I would have rather we signed Jim Thome as well. But I guess I don't think those are wrongs that can't be righted mid-season and I have enough faith in Kenny that he will indeed right them. Is this roster ideal? No. But able to be improved? Yes. And all in all, I do like the roster, I do think it's good enough to where if we pitch like we should, we'll be fine with some additional acquisitions before August 31.

Again, why are the Rays going to trade Crawford when they're trying to win their own division? We've got to look to add players from teams that are nearing the point of no return in terms of being in contention, or players that contending teams have no use for. Otherwise, you're just dreaming.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 12:07 PM) I'm going to stick with faith. If you insist, let me ask you this, has it paid off or not? Which has turned out to be the more reasonable mindset to have thus far this season?

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 12:05 PM) Are you filling in for greg today? Haha. Touche. I always lean towards the positive side. And maybe I am a bit slower than some here. We've gone from being woefully inept and not a factor to suddenly in this race for the long run in the course of 2 weeks. I guess it's taken me a bit to process the change in mindset from "who do we need to sell off and who do we need to keep around for our core," to "what do we need to do to become a World Series contender" like some of you. I know damn well for as much as I suffered from April to June 8th that I am going to enjoy this run and not worry about things outside of my control for at least the duration of the winning streak.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:38 AM) Enough of the negativity! We've won 9 straight. EDIT: And regarding the Kotsay comment, are you really saying you're happy with our DH situation? We have a playoff caliber pitching staff with a mediocre at best offense. A major upgrade at DH could make us an upper echelon team. Not sure why you're so content with Kotsay/Jones regardless of this nice 2 week stretch of wins. I'm not saying I'm happy with it right now. But do we always have to harp on the negative and ignore all the positives? Neither you nor I can go out and acquire a new DH, so let's enjoy the wins right now. I know we deserve to.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:44 AM) Given that we actually went into the season with he and Andruw Jones as the starting DH at Ozzie's request and now Ozzie is saying the same things he did in the offseason about us not needing another bat I'm not all that confident we'll see an upgrade. But you seem to have the faith going so I'm sure you'll disagree. Enough with the "faith" bs, Kal. There is a difference between having faith and having confidence and patience. Don't confuse them. I believe Kenny has learned his lesson and he'll add a bat if a reasonable solution presents itself.

QUOTE (tealeafreaderii @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:21 AM) I was wondering when the national media would notice. Unfortunately he is from Chicago. That always puts a damper on things a bit for me.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) I'd take him over Kotsay at this point though. I'd rather have Kotsay up with runners on than AJ. AJ just seems to come up with absolutely no intention or care about situational hitting in the least. I can't stand that.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:58 AM) In this case, I agree with him. Kotsay is being way, way, way overused by Ozzie. I'd rather see Jones in there anyway, but even better would be an actually good hitter. I'm not complaining about the point Sqwert made. I'm encouraging him to relax and be happy... It will be addressed. And honestly, Jones has been absolutely atrocious lately...Kotsay has at least gotten hits in the month of June.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:55 AM) Why can't A.J. hit 6th? AJ is seriously one of the dumbest hitters I have ever watched play baseball.

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:53 AM) It has been a fun ride, but it will end. It always does. When that happens, the hole in the DH slot needs to get better in order to maintain a normal competitive pace and have a shot at the end of the season. Not necessarily being negative as much as grounded and realistic. No matter how invincible they look, no team can keep up a pace like this for an extended stretch of the season. Really? I understand that. And I am not a person that says you can only point out flaws when the problem is actually costing you. But some of you guys need to enjoy it a bit! When the only comments some make are negative, I just think they are sadistic bastards who enjoy pain... The position will be addressed in the best way possible. I think we all know that, given the body of work Kenny has put together over the course of the last decade. In the meantime, let's keep scratching out wins any way we can.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 10:28 AM) Kenny needs to upgrade this soon. I don't know how much longer I can take seeing this. Seriously, the team has won 9 f***ing games in a row and 13 of 14. Are you ever positive, Sqwert?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 10:02 AM) Legen......................................................dary Didn't you take over for someone else though? Didn't someone else start the first game thread and you made one late for the second because he didn't come back?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 10:45 AM) Still wont believe it 'til it happens. The more I read guarantees like that, the more that I feel like I'm being set up for heart break. Yeah, I agree. It all seems a bit easy, doesn't it? I feel almost like we are being used as a pawn here to lure in a bigger fish....

Just think....this is all happening because we managed to win the lottery with a 1% chance or whatever a few years ago....none of this happens if we didn't end up winning that lottery.