JUGGERNAUT

Like I said earlier Garland's story is the stuff of legends. That alone boosts his value to the White Sox & is why I think they will try to sign him to a multi-year. If he does go on to win 20 this year that will definitely boost ticket sales next year. More so than if any other guy did that. As for the Cub it's pretty sad when you think about it. They did get good years from Clement but it cost them Willis in the process. If they had signed Clement in the off-season it would have reduced some of that sting. If they had signed Lieber in the off-season it would have re-vitalized the cubby nation. But they did neither. It's only $ & they have plenty of it.

Crawford gave us problems. He beat out the throw for outs we had been getting all year. That led to men w RISP & they came through with the big LH hits. Crawford did this twice in the game last night & that led to scoring innings for them. It didn't help that Dye muffed the ball in RF but it didn't explain how Carter mowed us down after Nomo left. That was the weakest performance by our lneup I've seen in a long time. i hope we hit better tonight because I think Crawford is going to give us problems again.

It was odd. It seemed both papers try to match each other column for column today. Both had stories of Manuel, both had Ozzie's quotes about Frank, both discussed Walker, & both discussed KW.

Ozzie was quoted in both papers today as referring to Frank's return as mid-June. Saying he only worries about him running. He's swinging the bat well. When it returns it makes the team substantially better. Frank came up in discussions of what the White Sox need & might try to get before the deadline. Tampa is trying to move Aubrey Huff & it didn't seem the White Sox were interested. They mentioned role players & right away I thought of Tony G.

I think you are asking a lot of Frank to play everyday at DH. The guy is going to get on base close to 40% of the time. Let's not forget he's still undergoing shock therapy to loosen the scar tissue in the foot. I think initially the Sox should try to play him every other day so that he's not running consecutive days. Keep him available as a PH every game even if it's just for him to reach base & be replaced by a PR. We should play this one by ear. If he complains of pain after saying running out a double it might be best to let him sit the next night.

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/schedule...nt_dates_05.jsp I thought I understood it but then I saw this. There are more waiver periods then I could have imagined & I know there are different rules governing each period. The CBA doesn't help because it refers to the infamous Major League Rule 10. Which I assume is in the same document with ML Rule 5 (draft) but I can't seem to find that either. Your guess is as good as mine. Unless I read otherwise I'm going to assume that basically from the end of the season until the first 30 days of the season the previous yr's records are used to decide between two teams in the same conference (AL, NL) making a claim on a player. I've read nothing on whether that changes after a team wins a claim. Basically the rule would be then after a team claims a player off waivers they can not contest another team's claim to a player on waivers. I don't know if that's true. Rule 10 would have the details on that. I likewise know that in Aug a team has only 2 options when it comes to waivers : rovoke the player from waivers (if they have not done so already) or negotiate a trade. Ex. The White Sox put Rowand on waivers, & Minny made a claim. The White Sox could revoke Rowand from waivers. The next time in that month they put him on waivers if Minny claimed him they would have to negotiate a deal. I'm not saying they would do that. I choose Rowand because he's not a 10-5 player which complicates things. Also in Sept the 25 man roster becomes the 40 man roster. So a team does not spend an option yr on a player with option yrs to call them up. Likewise I don't know for sure but I believe any player you call up in Sept does not accrue ML service time. It's basically free-time for a club with respect to options & arbitration. At least that's how I understand it. In Jamie's case he has value as a PH off the bench as well as a C. I think that's going to lead to someone claiming him or negotiating a new deal with him. If you claim him then you accept the terms of the original deal.

It goes without saying that they will ease Frank in. He's experienced a lot of muscle atrophy in that foot & it would be better to let him start every other day for a while. Of course that's only an issue if he ran hard the night before. If he never reached base, walked & had a pinch runner, hit a HR, or any other play where he didn't really run hard you can probably come back with him the next day. But if at any time in the game he had to really run like a sprint it's probably best to give him the next day off. For a month or so at least.

I did not say defensive stats I said fielding stats. Pitching is a separate category. So yes I am saying pitching is independent of fielding. Fielding wise MIN has not performed very good. Make whatever argument you want as to why they rank in the lower 1/2 in TC"s, DP's, & PO's but you are still left with them being one of the most error-prone teams having made less plays than most. That does nothing to help their fielding%. Let's look at the numbers again: TC: CHW - 6th, MIN 17th ER: CHW - 15th, MIN 25th : Min has 22 errors, White Sox 20 PO: CHW - 5th, MIN 20th AS: CHW - 6th, MIN 11th : Both teams have 4 OFA. DP: CHW - 5th, MIN 19th It's not uncommon for teams making the most plays to rank in the middle of the pack in errors. Are the White Sox a better fielding team than the Twinkees? Hell Yeah! The Sox have a higher ranking in PO's than they do TC's. What's that tell you? There are 5 teams with more chances but only 4 teams that have converted more of those chances than the White Sox. With the Twins there are 16 teams with more chances & yet 3 teams with fewer chances converted more plays than the Twins. If you want to talk about bad, that's bad!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance Where's the love? Near the bottom at home & on the road. I can understand at home, but on the road?

There is a poll option missing & it's the right one: Keep him & manage AB's between Rowand, Koney, Dye, Everett, & Frank. Especially given that Rowand, Dye, & Koney are hitting well below career avg's. You can do that because you have Pods. You can play Everett, Pods, Dye with Frank at DH You can play Pods, Rowand, Everett with Frank at DH You can play Everett, Rowand, Dye with Frank at DH You can play Pods, Rowand, Dye with Frank at DH You can play Pods, Rowand, Dye with Frank at 1B (though I wouldn't) And when Frank does not start you have him ready to come off the bench to hit for any one of these guys including Koney.

What a crock of crap! Who're they crapping? MIN SLG% #1 in the ALC MIN AVG (#3 in MLB, #1 in the ALC) MIN RBI ( #6 in MLB, #1 in the ALC) MIN R ( #7 in MLB, #1 in the ALC) MIN RON (#1 in MLB, #1 in the ALC (921 OPS)) Someone want to tell me the last time that was the case? MIN ERA (#4(3.43) in MLB, #2 in the ALC - Sox (3.03)) They are playing well above expectations hitting & pitching wise. Even their team ERA is 1/2 a run lower than 2004 (4.03). I think they are just so pissed that the White Sox are out-performing them pitching & defense wise that they have to convince themselves they can improve. There is no way they can continue to perform with runners on like that. That's got to come down.

You lose your waiver priority then. The Blue Jays are a good example though I'm not sure if Burke is their type of player. But based on last season's record they probably have a high waiver priority. You typically want to spend that in August where teams still try to work our trades using the waiver wire. The rules are a little different then & waiver priority is a much bigger deal then. If you claim him now you will drop to the end of the priority list. So it would make more sense to work out a new deal with a player you know is going to refuse assignment then to claim him off waivers.

That's not a fielding stat. That's a calculation based on fielding stats & pitching. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/stats/teamso...y/MLB/FLD/BASIC TC: CHW - 6th, MIN 17th ER: CHW - 15th, MIN 25th : Min has 22 errors, White Sox 20 PO: CHW - 5th, MIN 20th AS: CHW - 6th, MIN 11th : Both teams have 4 OFA. DP: CHW - 5th, MIN 19th Of couse we do have weaknesses as well. SBA%: CHW - 74%, MIN - 48% That's a little scary when you consider offensively. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/stats/teamso...EXT?&_1:col_1=3 SB%: CHW 34/49 (70%), MIN 20/29 (69%) : CHW #1 in SB, MIN #9 When both teams run their success rate is about the same. But Minny is much better at defending against the SB than we are. That could tip the scales in H2H.

The rest of the article stated that he will consider offers from other teams. It sounds like he's leaning towards refusing assignment if he clears waivers. If he refuses assignment I believe he gives up his remaining salary & becomes an UFA. I believe he has the right to talk to teams while being on the waiver list so it's possible he can work out a deal for more $ then. Burke probably isn't worth a team giving up it's waiver priority but he's certainly worth signing as a UFA. I thought he played well for the White Sox when given the chance & I wish him the best of luck with a new team (with the exception of the Twinkees).

You're insane if you think Pitts would trade Mesa for Borchy straight up! Pitts is in no hurry to trade Mesa which means they can maximize his trade value near the deadline. The list of teams that will want Mesa then will be long. I don't even think the Cub with their inflated payroll due to trading Sosa can wait that long. If KW is serious about trading for Mesa it's going to cost someone in the pen (probably Cotts), plus Borchy, & another ml prospect. But I think they can & will get a better deal elsewhere.

There was a nice article in the SunTimes today that talked about the major improvement defensively in the 2005 White Sox OF. The added speed of Pods in LF, & Dye in RF has led to less 2B's & more DP opps for the White Sox. Other interesting numbers: Sox HR's: 34, Sox SB's: 34 (tops in the majors), Sox DP's: 29 (4th) Sox SV's: 15 (tops in AL), HD's: 16 (tops in the AL), ERA: 3.28*(6th in the AL) * - drops to lower than 2.28 if you remove the April 7th 11-5 debacle. Minny is NOT amongst the league leaders in the fielding stats.

Do you honestly believe that D Lee would somehow upset the chemistry of this team if Koney were traded? As for calling Shingo a flukey closer I would wager that Shingo will have more saves the entire Cub team for the remaining month of May. Doing that vs the AL is not flukey. Just reminder D Lee is not locked up for several years. I was mistaken about that as well. He's a FA in 2007. Though with his numbers he's sure to qualify for Type A & give the Cubs/WSx the option of offering arbit. If not the WSx what other team is going to offer the Cubs a trade for a closer? Pitts? Oak? You don't think they won't ask for D Lee either? Are they going to be able to offer a Koney in return? It's a fantasy trade in your mind only because you're looking at Koney's current slump & saying the Cub are getting a raw deal. That's pure BS. Who's more likely to hit more HR this year? D Lee or Koney. I'll put my $ on Koney. The Cub are desperate for a closer. Hawkins is not it. He never will be. Minny knew it & the Cub continue to learn that fact. Nor is there any one else in the organization healthy enough to fill that role.

RON 2004 vs 2005: WSx 2004 726R .279A .348O .471S .819OPS vs Opp 584R .280A .351O .460S .811OPS : All we did was out-slug the opposition. WSx 2005 130R .271A .332O .449S .781OPS vs Opp 72R .222A .303O .302S .605OPS : We are getting on more often, out-hitting & grossly out-slugging the opposition. But then so is Minny Min 2005 132R .336A .422O .508S .931 vs Opp 53R .265A .304O .455S .759OPS : They are as likely to keep up a RON 931 OPS as we are of giving up a RON 605 OPS. I can't stand the Twinkees!

We knew coming into this season that we were trading offense for improved pitching. Some felt that would lead to a worse White Sox team than 2004. Others felt it would be an improvement but not enough to overcome Minny. And yet others like myself felt overall the offense would pick up with runners on (mainly because of Pods & Iggy) and that plus improved pitching would propell the White Sox to 90+ wins. Yes, the White Sox overall have one of the worst OBP's in the majors. But they also have one of the best OBP's with runners on. Which means more when it comes to scoring runs? The team's RON stats are why it's padding it's new ML record of taking the lead into the 9th inning in all 31 games played. But I caution the optimism because those damn Twinkees look even better. They are among the best in OBP with runner's on & they are keeping the opposition of the base pads even better than we are. But are biggest hope lies in the return of the Big Hurt. His presence in the lineup is what ails us & what can make us much better. We actually don't look that much worse offensively than the 2004 team now. We're on pace for 757R scored & 533R given up. We were a +34 in R in 2004 & we are on pace to be +200R in 2005. BA: .258(05) to .268(04) - Thomas will probably give us the edge over the 04 team. OB: .323(05) to .333(04) - Again Thomas will probably give us the edge over the 04 team. SL: .399(05) to .457(04) - We will probably trail the 04 team here. But then look at how poorly the opposition is doing against us in 05: BA: .228(05) to .272(04) - Major improvement OB: .296(05) to .338(04) - Major improvement SL: .352(05) to .453(04) - Major improvement We are reaching base more often than our opponents, we are out-hitting are opponents, & we are out-slugging our opponents. That's a recipe for continued success.

I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves. That 1928 Yankee team had a killer lineup. We don't. I'm more interested in stretching the space between us & Minny then chasing these records. We're 24-7 & they are 19-11. The difference is the H2H. I fully expect the power rankings to reflect that soon. Minny will be #2.

Now that the Bulls season is over & the Cubs WC aspirations are drowning I think the Chicago sports media will be all over the White Sox. The White Sox - Twins race is the story of the 2005 MLB season. It's a bigger story than any other division because these two teams look like the best teams in the league. It pains me to say this but that's a good thing. Nationally it will be hard to talk about one team w/out mentioning the other. I just wish it would have been the Tribe or the Tigs. I hate the Twinkees.

This is another reason why I always try to get the seats next to the bullpen at home. I don't know about other teams but the guys there have always been personable when I've attended games. Koch was great .. in that regards.

New rule: If your > 9GB you don't count. Goodbye DET, CLE, & KC. Hello BOS, BAL, LAA. The splits aren't available. That F'd up my VB. Overall: http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/batt...Type=2&type=reg WSx 145R .258 .323 .399 .722 vs Opp 102R .228 .296 .352 .648 : +.074OPS, +43R http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/batt...Type=2&type=reg Minny 153R, .281A, .356O, .427S, .783OPS vs Opp 112R, .250A, .283O, .408S, .691OPS : +.088OPS, +41R http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/batt...Type=2&type=reg BAL 167R .292 .349 .486 .836 vs Opp 135R .255 .331 .379 .710 : +.126OPS, +32R http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/batt...Type=2&type=reg BOS 167R, .277 .357 .438 .796 vs Opp 135R .273 .331 .427 .758 : +.038OPS, +32R http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/batt...Type=2&type=reg LAA 133R .243 .298 .391 .689 vs Opp 123R .257 .319 .398 .718 : -.029OPS, +10R The name of the game is outscoring your opponents & no team does it better than the Chicago White Sox. However the 2nd best team is the loathesome Twinkees. It's become apparent now that these two teams are separated only by H2H play. The Sox are leading the division because they took 4/5 from Minny. Can we keep up with them? Opp have a .283OBP vs them. That's even better than the WSx who up until this last series had been pitching out of their minds. It looks like this is the year the WC comes from the ALC.

Not a chance. He's making $2.5M now. If he's in the top 20% he's doubling that.