kwolf68

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 04:27 PM) Santana out Rincon in. This is our only shot of coming back now, with Nathan lurking in the BP Ricon is terrific...we have no shot at 4 runs against these two arms they will throw at us. I'd clear the benches now and get ready for Motown.

After Javy blew up for 4 runs someone said they now expected Santana to not give up another hit the rest of the game....He's pretty much doing it now. Pathetic performance, but Detroit is scuffling as well....should be an interesting week. Of course, the Twins play against (oh now), the Orioles and won't get Bedard (pitched -not well-today). I expect the Twins to at least take 2 of 3 from the Birds.

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) Whats Santana's pitch count at? Of course the bullpen isn't much fun either. He is at 91....yea, you're right...their bullpen is tough no doubt. Well there is a bit of good news in today's situation...Texas got down 6-0 in the 2nd inning, but has just finished off their 7-6 comeback win. VERY NICE JOB by Texas to keep us 5.5 out of this thing.

I expect this is Santana's last inning if he comes out....

QUOTE(PA32R @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) That was an encouraging inning. LOL...I'm a huge fan of sarcasm. I was over this game after that 4-run meltdown and started looking in over in the Detroit game. All we can do after the cinders of another Vazquez blowup cool off is to look ahead to the next game and try to get positive for that. I like our matchup in Detroit this week...

Texas only needs to get through 1 more inning in Detroit..and their lead would remain at 5.5 .... like our game 1 matchup tomorrow (jose v. a very gased Verlander)

QUOTE(soxyess @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 04:00 PM) Do we have anyone at AAA that can take his place in the rotation. Send this p**ck to the minors!!! Yes...ANY OF THEM. The only one I wouldn't risk is Stephen Randolph...too damn wild for my taste. I'd take a flier on any AAA pitcher we got...ANY OF THEM if it meant I wouldn't have to watch this guy anymore.

QUOTE(whitesox1976 @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:57 PM) I would prefer to get rid of Vasquez in the offseason. That is when it would happen. I believe its time for both Javy and Freddy to go. I hate to say that about Freddy, because I love the guy and he is a battler, but dude is OUT OF GAS....he has an 87 mph fastball now...he's close to meat-status with his cheese.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:53 PM) If we cant score off Santana, does it really matter? Might as well save our BP for the Detroit series, where we need to do everything possible to win each game I do agree with this.

QUOTE(G&T @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:50 PM) Why is Javy still out there? Hell if I know. I was disgusted that Ozzie called out Mark Buehrle and seemed to suggest he was the real problem with the staff. Yea, Mark has struggled, but that dude took us to the top of the mountain...if he is getting hit hard, there has to be an explanation to it, becuase we've seen him bottle up people on the biggest stage in baseball... Javy getting hit hard is just the MO for him, but Ozzie seems totally dedicated to this Frankenstein experiment we have...Come on folks...Can ANY OF YOU imagine this clown pitching in ANY OF THOSE games against Houston in the WS last year? LMAO...

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) And you all base that on 4 starts? Be careful. That's all I'm saying. Again, he's going to be good - and I agree with your 'composure' statement, but he will fail some too, and many seem to forget that around here. McCarthy was outstanding last year...Outstanding after his callup. He earned a chance to start as the 5 this year. His change up and curve ball are 10x better than Javy's is...McCarthy's fastball has seemed a little flat this year and has made some youthful mistakes (he should have never thrown a get-me-over against the Yankees when Milky Cabrera went yard on him a couple weeks ago...Milky is the ONE GUY in that lineup that fishes hard for the first pitch)....That is a lack of experience... OK, so McCarthy would not go 20-3, this we can all agree on, but I can be certain that he would learn from his mistakes (like last year) and we would not see our own version of Groundhog Day starring Javier Vazquez. This idea that one would gurantee McCarthy would have a losing record in Javy's spot is pathetically hilarious seeing that Vazquez got > 8 RUNS A GAME support for most of this year...EIGHT FRIGGIN RUNS... McCarthy has been mis-managed and we traded some decent talent for this waste of space pitcher.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:31 PM) I've been saying all year that his stuff is very overrated. It is. All these people keep justifying this trade by saying he is a head-case, but with "great stuff." Whatever...I don't see it. He has a decent fastball, but both his curve and slider are not consistent...he hangs them both very often, with his curveball being about un-throwable it is so bad. I do like his change-up and while he throws that pitch fairly well, his inability to properly locate the pitch leads to 82 mile per hour cheese in the hitters wheel house. He's the clown who gave up Jason Bartletts only homer this year. Adding to the top of hit-or-miss stuff, is two other problems... 1-Lack of courage-Can't pitch around errors, bad calls, or bad breaks. If anything goes wrong, he lacks the intestinal fortitude to MAN UP and minimize the damage 2-He isn't smart-My sense is he is just as hittable on 0-2 as he is 2-0. The hitter knows 0-2 cheese is quite likely going to happen. How many 0-2 or 1-2 cheese balls has this joker thrown this year???? When some pitchers get you 0-2, its lights out. Javy is not one of these guys. I deeply wish and hope Javy Vazquez is dealt by next season, for two prospects with one being possible major league ready pitcher (Heilman of the Mets comes to mind as the Mets GM likes Javy...but the Mets are scared to trade arms). Vazquez stinks...that facts are facts...I've seen enough of him this year to know we have a subpar starter on our hands...Without our offense, he'd be 5-15 this year. At best, he could be useful in long relief.

Javy is a loser plain and simply...his "Stuff" isn't that good either...sorry folks, but how many times does he hang an off-speed pitch? There are TONS of players in the minors who can throw a good curve ball 1/3 of the time. That isnt taking into account his inability to pychologically handle the mental side of the game. This trade was a bust and I'd rather have anyone in here than him. As far as the McCarthy haters....at least the guy did have a role in our title season last year, or did we forget the 1-hitter in Texas and the shutout (for 8) in Boston? Javy would never do that.

Sad thing is we are doing a decent job on Santana...we already have 6 hits, only a couple Ks and are working his pitch count up.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:21 PM) he will be eaten alive in a starter's role if he's put there this season. So what the hell is the differnce in this and what Javy gives us?

Texas has just jumped into the lead on Detroit...down 6-0, now up 7-6....we had a golden chance today, but Javy is not capable of pitching around errors, not capable of not throwing meatballs, not capable of getting thru more than the lineup 3 times, not capable of helping this team win a title... He needs to be dealt...for anything we can get.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:17 PM) McCarthy into the rotation??? Come on now...he isn't Cy f***ing Young. And he's not Javy f***ing Vazquez either.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 03:14 PM) As someone else on this site has noted, Vazquez is the momentum killer. He is...go back and check the numbers....he has followed Garland many times...after Garland gets us some momentum, this bum comes out and does this... What the hell is Ozzie doing? Get this bum out of here and get McCarthy stretched out to take this guys role in our rotation.

Time to get this loser out of our rotation...Texas has made a great comeback on Detroit and Santana isn't quite as dominant right now, but leave it to this clod to blow it AGAIN. How many Garland masterpieces has he followed up with trash like this?

Javy = Bust.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 18, 2006 -> 11:11 AM) One of the things that you can look at for our future is that if we put Sweeney, Anderson and Fields in the OF at the same time, we have just changed the face of this team. We have put extremely athletic, fast guys in the OF, with GOOD arms. The team must adapat then as well. Maybe we come a little more of a speed team, which could fit in well with our pitching philosophy. If we still have some power coming from Fields, Kong , Crede, and whoever is our DH, we have plenty of RBI guys and speed guys to make the team well balanced. It would be an exciting transition to see IMO. I would only be in favor of Sweeney/Fields/Anderson if we had a legit leadoff hitter coming from somewhere else (Short-stop). Sweeney is likely a 3-hitter, Fields a 5 or 6, and Anderson will probably always hit toward the end of the order. But I can see a situation where Crede becomes our third hitter backed by PK and DH (RF-Dye)....Still, I would want a legitimate rabbit leading off, maybe it'd be SS with Iguchi/Getz hitting 2nd. Thing is, I don't believe we have much of a minor league at this point...Only Sweeney/Fields/Getz look like major league position players at this point and even they have questions (Sweeney limited power for a corner OF? Fields Ks a lot? Getz average is down a bit right now)...We don't have our version of Howie Kendrick in other words.

Gotta love their young pitching. Olsen, Willis, Johnson, Sanchez and a bullpen with Tankersley looking like a real find. Then you have Cabrera and Ramirez on the left side...And then some guy named Dan Uggla comes up, takes over at 2nd base, and has become one of the games best there...Olivo has seen his career resurge down there and they have an adequate first baseman. Their issues right now are in the outfield....it's a very weak outfield. Ross is a solid role player at best, but he's been their best guy. Hermida is a fine young prospect, but he probably should still be in AAA...for a corner fielder, he is hitting for little power and is at about .260 average...not ready. They traded off proven vets for some terrific young kids...they'll do it again in about 3 years after they win another title.

As long as its not Vazquez. Post-season rotation in my view depends on opponent and location. If we are At New York for the first two games, then I'd put Buehrle in the 2-hole. At boston I'd do what we have here below. Whatever the case, Javvy Vazquez should not start under any circumstances. 1-Jose 2-Garland 3-Buehrle 4-Garcia

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 18, 2006 -> 06:35 AM) If you could get say Crisp and Hansen for Garcia, that would be a deal hard to turn down. Otherwise it's more likely Garcia would be dealt to a NL team for prospects I would say. On Sweeney, I think Anderson's 1st half of this season may push the Sox Brass to start him in AAA next season. He should definitely be in the OF for 2008 though. Interesting to see Zazueta up at Kanny as well. Started off great at Bristol, and has tailed off a bit since then. He is somone to keep an eye on though. Kind of reminds me of Daniel Cortes a little, even though I don't really have a great idea on his stuff. If the BoSox will give us Crisp and Hansen for Freddy, KW will break his leg getting to the phone...that is a deal YOU MUST MAKE, if offered. Sweeney is developing, but it will be interesting to see where the Sox go with Fields. If the idea is to tie up Crede for long-term and the Sox are definately pushing Fields for left field one day, then Sweeney would have to wait on RF (Dye)....Sweeney probably has right-field talent, but Dye is still a great player and isn't using a walker. Sweeney has played some CF in Charlotte, but I believe Anderson is the guy there....we traded Young away and were very patient with BA this year, to the point where it is slowly paying off. I don't believe both Fields and Sweeney will ever both be starters in Chicago UNLESS the Sox don't think or will lock up Crede long term. My belief is Crede (as long as we can trust his back) is the most important player on this team not named Konerko. He plays brilliant defense, has become a great hitter, and is "a clutch" guy who you can always count on. I DONT WANT him traded. So that means Fields only other option is left or right. Other teams (Houston, San Diego) wanted Fields and they wanted him for 3rd base. If we are going to make the investment in him and ask him to learn another position it will be rewarded with an opportunity in Chicago. Thing about Fields is...he can do it, he can become an excellent outfielder. The kid has amazing work ethic and has shown the propensity to improve on his weaknesses. I see a kid in Fields that will be a consistent .280, 30 homer, 20 stolen base guy who brings the character you need to win it all. Sweeney will hit for the higher average, but won't hit as many homers or steals...yet his defense will likely be better. Right now I'd like to see our minor league system re-tool with middle fielders and pitchers. I am a big fan and am very high on Chris Getz, but he isn't there yet...but Lopez and Valido are starting to worry me and we have nothing left at CF...I know we hit C hard in this past draft, so we'll see how that develops.

While I'd love to have Lugo's speed at shortstop, he is still an erratic fielder. If PK went down, Thome would not EVER play 1st base for an extended period of time. It is possible Rogo or even Fields would get a look at the position. Doubt they'd do it with Fields, because we all know PK goes back to first when he gets healthy. Josh Fields future (if it's in Chicago and GOD I HOPE IT IS, he's a great kid) is in left field. Fields can steal bases, but isn't a burner like Pods, so if we moved Fields out there then I'd want to supplement Pods speed at short-stop.