witesoxfan

I understand why the A's would make it. I understand why the Royals would make it. Hell, I even understand why the Astros would make it. Where does Beltran play? And then where does Biggio play?

Wunsch = GAWN Who's to say Grilli will be any better then Jackson or Politte?

Cleveland is a pretty damn good team, and will be much, much more dangerous next year. They are scary-good. We're just playing like s*** now. If Maggs is the glue that holds us together, then he can't get back soon enough. Personally, I think the glue that holds us together has been missing all year - that being a 5-man rotation. Another reliever or 3 wouldn't hurt either.

As if Rauch didn't have pressure enough. The last 4 5th starters have made 1 start, 2 tops(one of whom was Rauch), and then got pulled from the rotation after a s***ty outing. He f***s up, and he could very well be a scapegoat, when really he shouldn't, considering he is starting his 8th career game. Let's all hope that, just for 1 day, Jon Rauch returns to 2000 form, Olympic form, and just shuts down Cleveland, and the offense scores enough runs to win. We need it. Up to this point, it really could be the biggest game of the year...almost, but not quite, make or break; that being, it will either give this team confidence and momentum heading into the Cubs series, where they then have a shot to take atleast a game, or maybe even two, against a very hot Cubs team. Either that or they will lose tomorrow(possibly even lose badly), they will lose all confidence, all momentum, and the Cubs rotation will just shut them down, sweep them easily, and we are essentially done. We are heading into not necessarily the toughest part of our schedule here, but, up to this point, the biggest part of our schedule here, and this next game, June 24th, will be huge in how the season goes on. I think you answered your own question with that last sentence.

So what are you gonna do, use only Shingo and Marte out of the pen, or just not use the pen at all? Jackson has to be used. He's in the bullpen in a White Sox uniform healthy...if those 3 things are true, he will be counted on to get outs for us. Period.

Everyone thinks Cleveland's bullpen is the worst in the majors. I disagree. Aside from Shingo and Marte, the bullpen has been terrible. Politte and Jackson are just awful. Adkins cannot be put into a pressure situation. And Cotts cannot continue to be used like he is(if he is going to be used as a long reliever, stick with him there...if not, use him just to get an out or two...he really has not figured out how to "pitch" yet it seems and he is constantly making mistakes). When 2/3rds of your bullpen is s***, you are in trouble. We need another reliever or two badly. I almost hate to say this, but, had he not been making $6 mill to blow saves left and right for us, I would not mind seeing Koch out there right now. I almost miss Koch("almost" is the key word there )

I actually don't see that happening. I don't see us winning the series, but I don't see us being swept. It's too big of a series(whether or not the players will admit it...they know exactly what's at stake, that being bragging rights until next year) for them to play like complete s*** and get swept. We'll pull out one game.

That's about what I expect next year too. And I do agree. 15-18 wins per year is a great pitcher. I don't ever think he'll average 15-18 wins a year though. He'll probably be in the 12-15 wins a year range, while winning 15-18 in his best years(much like Ramon Ortiz). In fact, Ramon Ortiz's best year was 2002(15-9, 3.77 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, K/9 of about 7, K/BB of about 2.75), and then he won 16 games last year(though his other stats were not nearly as good). The interesting thing about Ortiz is that he was just as bad in his first year...he made 9 starts, averaged just over 5 innings in each of those starts, allowed 7 homers in 48.3 innings, had a WHIP of 1.55 and an ERA of 6.52. Those numbers look pretty similar(and just as s***ty) as Diaz's stats this year.

As long as Jessica Simpson doesn't sing, she's fine. I do hate when siblings feed of their other siblings success.

There was a white guy in the town I used to live in named Mike Jordan...his full name was Michael Jordan. We always razzed his son because his dad's name was Michael Jordan. It was fun.

Felix Diaz will never be a great pitcher(unless he somehow develops a very good slider or curve within a year), but he will be solid. He knows what he's doing out there and knows how to get outs. I could very easily see him being a guy that can win you 12-15 games a year, and in a good year, potentially 15-18 games. He does not have lights out stuff, but it's good enough to be a solid starting pitcher for some team. He kind of reminds of Ramon Ortiz actually to tell you the truth. I think he's in the rotation next year, and I think he does relatively well. Maybe an ERA of 4.50-5.00, and it will come down as he matures.

This tells me a lot about Carlos Lee. These stats show that he is not worth the $9 mill he is going to get next year. He's put up very nice numbers, undoubtedly, but when you around 750 PA's in just over a year, and only walk 46 times, you have a problem. For a "slugger", he needs to be walking more. For $9 mill a year, his OPS should be .850-.900 at the very least...not .823. KW has said he is not looking to trade any everyday position players. I think he should change his mind and try and trade Caballo as part of a package for a starting pitcher. With His recent hit streak, his value could be high...however, with his lack of power this year, it could be lower then most people think. Regardless, I think he needs to be traded for something of good value. I think it's obvious that he should do that after Maggs is back and is fully healthy, but some people may not catch on to that.

Interesting read. Problem with the writer's take on the issue is is that he does not know what will happen when the offseason rolls around. Perhaps the Sox will make an offer after the playoffs are over...we don't know. You'd atleast think that if the Sox did well in the playoffs JR and KW would do all they could to keep the nucleus of the team together. Consider that the contracts of Valentin, Koch, Loaiza, and Scho are ending along with Maggs, and you have a little over $30 mill coming off the salary. Who's to say that we resign Valentin at around $2-3 mill per(probably 2 years), resign Loaiza at $8-10 mill per(probably 3 years), resign Scho at $3-4 mill per(2-3 years), and then resign Maggs at $12-14 mill(4-5 years)? You add the high end of all those and it equates to roughly $31 mill. That potentially leaves us with a little money to get Harris/Uribe/Garland/Shingo/etc resigned to multi-year contracts. I'm obviously uninformed on this issue, but I can't see why the White Sox couldn't resign Maggs. It's not like he's out of our price range.

I'd love Dotel on the South Side. He seems to be strugging as the closer right now, but in past years he has been lights out as a setup man. Have Dotel-Marte-Shingo in the 7th-8th-9th...damn.

Cotts hides the ball well...his fastball is only 88-91, but it looks like it is in the mid-90s to hitters. It gets on them very quickly. The reason he has been hit pretty hard in the majors is because he makes mistake pitches that minor league hitters foul off or pop up, or maybe just get solid hits off of them. Major league hitters don't miss those pitches. He'll learn that with time.

If I were old enough to legally bet and gamble, I would take you up on those bets in a f***ing heartbeat. It's like saying the Yankees will finish with a worse record then the White Sox and that they Yanks will not make the playoffs. The Cubs rotation is way better then the Sox is 1-5...hell, their #4 starter would be an ACE for us(Maddux), let alone Zambrano, Wood, and Prior. Bullpens are about the same, and their offense is just as good as ours is. The only thing we have going for us right now is that we play in a much weaker division(and the Indians and Twins are both fairly good teams). Once the Cubs get fully healthy, they will be the most dangerous team in the majors. And they haven't hit their stride yet. Meanwhile, we WILL not hit our stride until we get a consistent 5-man rotation, be it by acquiring a pitcher(most likely Freddy Garcia, but a wildcard could slip in there...perhaps Russ Ortiz, Miguel Batista, or Randy Johnson...who knows), or by having Rauch just step it up and start to pitch well until we get a consistent starter. The Cubs will make the playoffs. The only way they don't is if they lose huge numbers of players, because they've shown that even if they lose their two best starters and their best hitter, they can still hang around. If they have a healthy 5-man rotation for August and September, it's over, Cubs win. They still need to add a reliever or two, but they'll get that taken care of.

Yeah, as if Boston wasn't getting raped enough. Then again, Ainge could do it. He's dumb enough anyways.

Yeah or not. He would be Billy Koch all over again.

The Indians have the best offense in baseball. However, I can't make an excuse for the Expos disaster. Just that they played well and we played like s***.

That most likely would not be the offer though. It would probably involve one or two fewer prospects. Not sure what exactly it would be though. But to get RJ, you HAVE to overpay. Arizona really does not want to give him up, and I'm not sure he wants to leave. Even if Arizona did accept an offer, Unit may turn it down(and as I said, I don't even know if he'd waive his no-trade clause). Atleast 3 of those 5 would probably leave, and I could see where 4 of the 5 could go as well.

It's kind of hard for me to answer that. Afterall, I'm not him. If he thinks we have a serious shot at winning, and if he wants to end his career winning(and not on a team close to home), he could. I think, if I were him, I'd first see how long I have to make my decision(say perhaps 72 hours). I'd then take all 72 hours to determine whether or not moving would be the right thing for me. If I were him...I can't say that I would, but I also can't say that I wouldn't. I mean, I would have my ring already, why would I need more? But then again, I could be going out on top, I could be helping a team win a World Series that hasn't won a World Series since WWI, and I could even end up dueling against a friend of mine in Curt Schilling in the playoffs. That's a pretty hard question for me to answer for RJ.

I have come to expect the worst. I do feel the Cubs could win it this year, and I think they probably will. They are dangerous as all hell. However, I do mind if they win it. Not because the Cubs won it, but because of the effect it will have on the White Sox. I could personally care less about the Cubs. It is the asshole Cubs fans I detest the most.

You offer them Reed, Borchard, Diaz, Cotts, and Rauch, and ask them to take on $6 mill of his salary for next year. Then you see if they bite. I bet they would.

First of all, Jeremy Reed hit .400 for a third of the season at Birmingham. He hit about .350 at High-A ball and about .310 at low-A ball. Not .400 for the entire season. Secondly, he's hitting .270 with an OPS of .784. In no way should Jeremy Reed be untouchable. He's a good prospect, but he's nothing spectacular. If the right trade came up(for instance, Jason Schmidt), he's more then expendable. In fact, if Jason Schmidt somehow did become available, I could easily see a trade of 3-4 of our prospects for him.

Yeah you do. It's OK though. Maybe Fantasy Baseball just isn't your game.