Lemon_44

where was this thread when he was hitting .170? He's on a hot streak.Leave him down in the order this year to go through his growing pains,because he will slump again, and then find his permanent spot next year. The lineup, right now, is finally flowing with guys getting on base and running.No need to mess around with it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 04:33 PM) Not that we know of. He does have a limited NTC to a handful of teams I believe. it doesn't read very clearly but here's an excerpt from the article: Dye's contract includes a $12 million mutual option for 2010 that becomes a player option if he is traded. The Sox would receive two draft picks if Dye stays with the Sox but his option isn't picked up and he leaves for free agency.

didn't it say that if Dye gets traded his option becomes player only and no longer mutual? So, he'd most likley exercise it.

If Peavy comes back and gets a few productive starts in prior to the trade deadline do you think KW again tries to land him? I don't know if the price tag has changed because Richard and Poreda have both pitched pretty well for the most part. Richard has struggled a little bit lately but he has shown he can be a viable starter down the road. SD is 15 games out and already just playing out the string. I think a top of the line starter is what KW wants, who doesn't?, and it looks like that could put the Sox over the hump. Out of the usual suspects, Peavy,Oswalt, Haren,Bedard,and Cain, Jake is probably the most attainable unless SF goes on a monstrous downturn and Cain becomes available but that's not likely.Houston is only 4 out and Oswalt probably isn't going anywhere. There's probably no return for Brandon Webb anytime soon.Other's that come to mind, maybe the Sox try and swing a deal for Zambrano, weren't the Sox rumored to be after Lannan last year? Also, has Ben Sheets's arm officially fallen off or is he is out there rehabbing somehwere?

one thing you don't have to worry about is seeing any good-looking women in Cleveland. I've seen numerous Sox games there over the years. Cleveland has to be a the top of the list for ugliest women unless you think Rosie O'donnel is hot because what they all look like.

The surprising play of Pods has lessened the need for top CF. I think the Sox ride out this year with Quentin in LF, Pods in CF, and Dye in RF. If they are in it, and likley will be, the only possible moves i could see are trading for a top end of the rotation starter or maybe making another run at Brian Roberts. Getz may have a nice future,maybe not, but a guy like Roberts inserted into 2b would look awfully nice in this lineup. CF-Pods 2b-Roberts RF-Dye DH-Thome 1B-Konerko LF-Quentin C-AJ SS-Alexei 3B-Beckham that's a pretty strong lineup

i like what i've seen out of Richard. I think he can be a legit #2 or #3 starter down the road. He's like alot of young pitchers that will throw 4 good innings and then get dinged. He'll start making the adjustments as he gets more experience. The rotation is looking like a strength for the coming years as these guys continue to mature.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 09:36 AM) If you factor our the Bacon Slayer's first 4 games where he went 0 for 13, Bacon Slayer is hitting .263. Just thought I would pass that along. He's been looking very good recently. well, if you take Fields 5 for 45 slump out of it he's hitting .262. I don't think either of them have been overly impressive yet. Beckham looks to have a nice upside but you never know. 2 years ago, Fields was looking like the real deal as well.

i'll be there Sunday. There are definitely some good bars.Like others said, most of the good ones are across the river in Covington.However there are a couple on the Cincy side on Pete Rose way.

i see your point. I come in from Ohio every year to see a Sox/Cubs game and my friends always ask me why i don't go see the game at Wrigley. I refuse to give them any support and would see a game on the Southside anyway.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 03:01 PM) What are you talking about? Ozzie's job is to GET THE MOST OUT OF HIS PLAYERS. Why would he start attacking Beckham after 2 weeks of being in the majors? You are acting like Beckham is the one who made the call to be promoted to MLB. other than some people's assumptions, where/when has Ozzie attacked Beckham? Calling him cocky is not attacking him.

what do you guys want Ozzie to do? He's played about everyday and is hitting under .100. Should Ozzie be praising him? He hasn't slammed him he just mentioned the fans infatuation with him. The " he's cocky" remark was meant in a good way. At least that's what they said on TV last week. He's said Beckham will continue and probably was harder on Fields than on anything he has said about Beckham. I don't get all the giddiness for Beckham either. He may turn out to be great but, so far, he has shown men nothing that makes me think he's anything special.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 10:39 AM) If Konerko can't play, I'm going to be crying in Milwaukee. 9 games in a row without a DH means no Thome. So it would be no Thome, Konerko or Quentin for 9 games. I believe it was Alice Cooper who said Welcome to my Nightmare. when i was a kid i went to Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare concert in Milwaukee. If it's anything like that, you should have fun.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 8, 2009 -> 11:37 PM) The Sox aren't trading for a Cfer unless its a stop gap guy and the only way they do that is if this team goes on a big run and it looks like a CFer puts them over the top. Otherwise you'll see them ride Pods and than eventually hand the show over to Jordan Danks who is said to be major league ready by Buddy Bell. That isn't to say he's going to come in and be a star right away but that he might be able to hold his own up here and I do think another month or two will benefit him, but the second the Sox fall out of contention or Pods falls apart, you can expect to see Jordan Danks join Gordon Beckham in Chicago as the Sox get ready for next season. They'll still try to sell themselves as contending and in this division you'll almost always be contending, but I think the Sox future is brighter in the next couple years, imo. you may be right. If that's the case though, the sooner the better for Danks. He can't be any worse than what's out there now. Still an OF of Danks,Upton, and Quentin would look awfully nice in the near future .

Since CF is, by far, the weakest spot on the team,i was looking at all the CF's and trying to see who could had via trade. There seems to be 3 categories. Guys that i'd like but likley aren't available in Beltran, Hunter, Victorino(he'd be the guy i want),Granderson,McLouth, Kemp, Adam Jones, Sizemore and Ellsbury. Guys i don't really know a whole lot about in Bourn, Hairston, Rasmus,Schafer and Folwer. Guys i don't want in Young, Sweeney, Crisp, Tavares, Guitireez, Fukudome, Cameron, and Rowand. So that leaves 3 guys i came up with that could possibly be had in a trade. Ichiro, Vernon Wells, and,possibly, BJ Upton. We match up well with TB as they need bullpen arms. Upton is struggling and he wasn't one of Maddon's favorites last year. He's probably not on the market but if the Sox start throwing names like Jenks and Poreda,for starters, around they may listen. Seattle and Toronto would probably have to fall further out of the race and, especially Ichiro, will take a slew of propsects. In other words,it looks like the Sox are going to be stuck with the hapless combo of Anderson and Wise out there for the near future. I guess we could rekindle the Chone Figgins to CF rumors but i think that would have happened already if it was going to.

at least Beckham reached base tonight and now has an obp of .071. We'll see what happens,but i can see Fields point. It's not like GB is up there raking. That being said, Fields is probably a goner.

i agree with him.The timing was horrible to call up Beckham. The team,and Fields, was winning, playing decent and had just gotten back into it.Since the callup they have stunk.What has Beckham done, or shown, to deserve to play everyday? Beckham will probably turn out to be the better player but there was no need for him to be called up when he was. I would have agreed with the callup if it was for Beckham to play SS and Alexei to CF. That would be their best offensive lineup. Fields had just raised his BA 30+points after going through a 5 for 40+drought. Every young player goes through that. Beckham is on his way to 5 for 40+ start.I'm sure nobody will be writing him off if he does that. Why do it with Fields?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jun 7, 2009 -> 09:07 PM) If they fire Walker now the organization looks like a bunch of asssholes, especially Ozzie Guillen. They are playing SO bad all around that if you single out one guy - a guy who by all accounts is doing his job right now, despite the results - then you are nothing but a bunch of pusssies in my book, and that starts at the top. If Williams tried to fire Walker now (and I wanted him gone a LONG time ago) and Guillen didn't offer his resignation first, I would lose all respect for Guillen as a manager. I don't get that. Ozzie shouldn't offer up his resignation at all. He has produced a winning ballclub every year but one. The weak link throughout the past few years has been situational hitting and scoring runs when the home run ball isn't working. That's on Walker,well mainly it's on the players but they aren't going anywhere. I'm not one for making a change just to make a change but we've seen pretty much the same thing for 4 years running and it doesn't seem to be improving. Look at this past week.The Sox were shut down by 4 rookie pitchers that have struggled against the rest of the league. That's been a trend for years as well.The Sox see a guy for the 1st time and they are clueless. You don't see the other teams getting consitiently shut down by rookies.It may happen every now and then but, with the Sox, it's happens almost every time. Is that coaching? I'm not sure,but i tend to lean that way since it isn't happening to other teams like it does with eth Sox. Ozzie says Walker is doing his job and working hard so it's tough to fire a guy like that but,in the end, you have to get results and they haven't been there.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Jun 7, 2009 -> 12:53 PM) Those other four guys are not on the verge of losing their job and possibly careeer to a player that may or may not be better than Josh Fields. My personal belief is that Beckham could not have been called up at a worse time as the tension has to be somewhat high in that clubhouse. i agree. I didn't understand why he was called up when he was either. Then KW basically said he's going to play everyday. That would be OK if it wasn't at the expense of Fields, who has been hitting well lately.

i've never called for his firing but the time seems to be right. The situational hitting is atrociuos and has been for awhile. But where i think the main concern is that all the young guys continue to struggle. Are any of them hitting over .250? Guys like Konerko, Dye,and Thome don't really need a hitting coach,maybe just some fine tuning every now and then. But none of the young players have really shown any improvemet in their approach or plate discipline. I know alot of that is on the players themselves but maybe a new voice,or new ideas, are something that could change things around. ESPN did a nice piece on Mattingly as a hitting coach. The main thing is the players believe, and trust,him. Walker has had about 4-5 years and it's pretty much been the same thing every year.If they're hitting the long ball, they're scoring.That's not too hard to coach that.When is the last time the Sox had a .300 hitter,much less multiple .300 hitters? Nobody over the last few years is popping into my head. I don't know why the Sox would expect anything to change if they keep him around. PLus, the team need a shakeup.

i think you can get enough AB's for all 3, Fields,Getz, and Beckham, by rotating Beckham around to different positions. I think Beckham will eventually take over the 2B position with Getz becoming the backup. Fields, i think, will continue to improve and end up being an above average 3B in a couple years. The Sox main problem is the heaping pile of trash they continue to thow out in CF with Wise and Anderson. Getz and Fields both have had a couple bad streaks but that's to be expected of young 1st/2nd year players. I think they have both bounced back pretty decently and it will play it outself throughout the next couple months.

to me, the most overrated guys on that list are LaRussa, Leyland, and Piniella(and i like Piniella). Gardenhire the most underated.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 04:36 PM) I believe every word. Seriously, it doesn't take a genius to walk Justin Morneau with 2 outs and a first base open with a small lead. THAT'S stupid. It doesn't take a genius to put your best defender in the game in the 9th with a small lead. It doesn't take a genius to pinch run for a slow man on 2nd with 2 outs and the game on the line. It doesn't take a genius to pull a struggling pitcher with nothing left when you're barely ahead. If you're telling me you couldn't figure out how to do this stuff yourself, I feel bad for you. LOL how childish. Again I stand corrected. Another lazy poster with no valid point to make. there's alot more to it than what you see from your couch.Maybe the bullpen has been burned out or some guys aren't 100%. You don't manage every game like it's game 7 of the world series. That's what Larry Bowa's problem was. I wouldn't walk Morneau with 1st base open and a small lead.Make him earn it. How about showing some confidence in your pitcher to get the guy out. Besides why would put the potential winning/tying run on base?

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 03:31 PM) Ok, yeah, we have a good record in the last 5 years or so, we won a series, we won the division MIRACULOUSLY last year. But yet that has NOTHING to do with the simple fact he's not that good a manager. in my short time here, that may be one of the funnier things i have read. that's kind of like saying Tiger Woods really isn't all that good because he misses alot of fairways off the tee.Nevermind the fact that he wins all the time, he needs to straighten out that driver.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 03:31 PM) I stand corrected. I guess I rest my case. There's just no point anymore. Denial is not a river in the Amazon. I don't see how asking people to actually make a VALID POINT is being "insulting" or "pushing a line." You'll have to explain that one to me. Again, as another poster here said, I'm waiting for someone to add something to the discussion instead of blind praise for a man who has clearly showed his ignorance, ineptness and incompetence in his managing. Ok, yeah, we have a good record in the last 5 years or so, we won a series, we won the division MIRACULOUSLY last year. But yet that has NOTHING to do with the simple fact he's not that good a manager. Whether some of you believe it or not, it's just changing the subject. JUST BECAUSE YOU WIN DOESN'T MEAN YOU ALWAYS PLAYED IT RIGHT. That's the point. "Yeah, but we won!" doesn't mean it was played well. The term "winning ugly" was invented for a reason. It seems kinda like this around here: Ozzie's managing is atrocious! "Other managers are bad too, so it's okay!" Ozzie's being a complete idiot! "But we won, so no, he's a GREAT manager!" So as I said, stop with the "Well, we win games!" it may be true but in the end it has nothing to do with the point. I'm just saying that Ozzie's managing is atrocious. Somehow in many of your minds that simply isn't true because of our overall record. All you are doing is denying the truth and changing the subject. let me get this straight. You'd rather have a manager that makes all the correct moves, IN YOUR EYES, and finishes 71-91 than a guy who does things you disagree with yet wins 90 games. Okay then. I get it .