witesoxfan

Decent options? Cotts? Wright? Schno? OMFG....we will be as bad as last year. Let Cotts learn to throw a strike in the minors, let Wright operate out of the bullpen and let Schno stay in the BP too. If Gordon leaves, that is even more important. Get a #5 as a FA. The last time Kenny took a flyer on a #5, we got Loaiza. Go for someone like that, an experienced vet who has bounced aroudn the league but can get us 8-10 wins Bulls*** Wright's elbow was f***ed up during ST, sat out a month, and then tried to come back.....just a good example of a guy that got roughed up early and had a sophomore slump. Cotts came up and pitched like s*** last year probably because he was a little too unagressive, and he apparently nibbled(damn school and no broadcasts didn't help me....I couldn't watch games). He goes after hitters and keeps them off balance enough(ala Mark Redman), he can be a very effective pitcher. And from what I've heard, he has dynamite stuff too. Schoeneweis is a guy that has nasty stuff and has a place on this team no matter what. He's had a little success as a starter before, and nothing says he won't have success again. Then you have Diaz, Pacheco, etc, and then probably a few NRI's that will come in and have a shot at it too(guys that have good stuff but have never put it together, ala Esteban Loaiza) or guys that are older and still want to pitch(possibly a guy like Rick Reed). If we don't have a good 5th starter, obviously considering he is a 5th starter, and we have to go through what we did last year, I will seriously wonder if we have anyone with a brain in the front office.

It's because it was such a tough loss this year. The division should have been won by the Sox...period. However, we did what the Cubs did this year in the playoffs.....only we did it in the regular season.

Oh I know....I hate him, and I always cock him too(I just wish he could hear me....kinda how I wish John Madden could hear me cock the s*** out of his fat ass when he says something so stupid that no words can describe it to the full effect it deserves). He knows 1 team, the Twins, and pretty much NOTHING about other teams. He and Bert are better then Chimp and Stony, but not by much. And IMO, Bert is to Dick what Stony is to Chimp, only to a lesser extent with Bert and Dick of course then Stony with Chimp, because Chimp is the WORST commentator by far. But even Bert can get annoying at times too. Hawk and DJ....those two are good for the booth. You get one older announcer who has seen as much of baseball as anyone there is, and you get one younger one who is getting better all the time who has played almost everywhere....it gets fun hearing their stories and how different their generations really were, and the contrast and the fact that Hawk himself could be a 2-man booth really is great. Hawk, IMO, is a Hall of Fame broadcaster....undoubtedly. He should be voted in within the next 5 years.

FWIW, I believe Gaston was the Blue Jays hitting coach in 2000, but as dismissed after the year along with their then 3B coach Terry Bevington. Just a cute little coincidence. I also remember seeing things such as him nearly becoming manager of the Angels, but the numbers didn't come out right or something and that the Angels went with who they thought was the better man(I believe Mike Scoscia), and Cleveland I believe interviewed him too, but went with Charlie Manuel(another s***ty coach named Manuel). Also, he has held a front office job with Toronto in the past....in fact, I believe he did either this past year or in 2002. So it's not like he's totally been away from coaching since 96 when he was fired, or whatever year that was. All I have to say is that if you give him talent, he will get results. So we should give him talent and we got ourselves a hell of a good shot at winning.

I wouldn't mind Lofton, assuming he did not f*** around and suck ass as much as he did in 02. I would not want to go through what we had to with him again. May, June, and July, he was the s***tiest player on the face of the planet....maybe 2nd s***tiest, depending upon how you look at Choice Klayton. If he did that, I would be pretty pissed if we didn't sign/have a good backup option. I wouldn't mind taking a shot on him though, assuming he didn't cost a whole lot.

Whatever the hell I can do to pass the time. This is the slowest time of year for me. School has just started, so time doesn't seem to be flying like it sometime does from January on. There is no snow on the ground yet, so I can't shovel or do fun things with snow; its not hot, so I can't go to the beach. So right now I get to do homework, play XBox, read, bowl, and watch TV....and that's about it(with a little yardwork every now and then). Come December, it's much colder, so there is actually stuff to do; Christmas and New Year's Day are right around the corner so we get 2 weeks off and get presents to go along with it, it's Bowl Week and there's always some good games on....really a good time for me. In January and February, there's some College BBall on, so I'll watch that a little(no too incredibly interested in the NBA, but I'll watch it if it's on....mainly the TWolves and Bulls). And I'll wonder what in the HELL dumbass move we're going to make this offseason and when rebuilding will start and we'll throw up the White Flag before the season even starts, like the Indians, Brewers, and Padres did this year(it is gonna have to start in the next 5 years, doesn't it?). Then comes March....college BBall tourney, and ST. Once the tourney ends, baseball pretty much starts. Then I repeat what I did this year.

Wow, that was such a good point, you had two post it TWICE! In all seriousness, the difference between the White Sox and Twins were the close games. The Sox stunk in close games, the Twins did not stink in close games. Simple as that.

I won't post my favorite quote, because everyone already knows it(because Hawk only said it about 200 times this year), but my favorite quite was when Hawk did his "Put it on the board" in the last game of the 12-game stretch against the Cubbies and Twinkies in the bottom of the 11th when Thomas hit his bomb off of Guardado. That and Dick Bremer's call of that shot. Something like "And that one will stay fair, and the Chicago White Sox have won." Oh man, I just get goosebumps thinking about that 12 game stretch. Most fun I've had watching baseball since 2000.

I do....$9 mill for a .320 30 100 season? Thanks, but no thanks He'd have to hit .335 45 150 for him to be worth $14 mill....and he won't do that.

Rotation: Colon ($11 mill) Buehrle ($1.5 mill) Loaiza ($3.5 mill) Garland ($1 mill) Wright/Scho/D'Amico/Suppan/Alvarez/someone else cheap (say $500,000) Total: $17.5 mill Pen: Hawkins($3.5 mill), Marte($1.5 mill), Wunsch($750,000), Wright/Schow($500,000), Mota($1 mill), Lightenberg($1 mill) Total: $8.25 mill Lineup: Castillo 2B ($4 mill) Harris/Rowand CF ($500,000) Lee LF ($6 mill) Everett DH ($6 mill) Thomas 1B ($6 mill) Cabrera SS ($4 mill) Rowand/Borchard/Reed RF ($500,000) Crede 3B ($500,000) Olivo C ($500,000) Total: $28 mill Bench: MJ C ($750,000), Graffy IF($2 mill), Ownes OF($1 mill), Hocking IF & OF($1 mill), and if gotten cheaply, Catalanotto or Grieve($1 mill) Total: $5.75 Total payroll in all is $59.5 mill....give or take some. This is including the fact that contracts raise little by little each year, so that's the reason. If this exact roster were kept for 2 or 3 more years, the payroll would be around $70-$75 mill, so this roster would not be kept together too incredibly long. Trades that occur: Magglio Ordonez to Los Angeles for Guillermo Mota and 2 or 3 prospects Paul Konerko to Baltimore for Kerry Lightenberg Maggs trade gives LA a boost offensively, while they deal from a strength, and we strengthen a weaker part of the organization, the minor leagues. Konerko traded to Baltimore to save money and get a decent arm for the pen.

Ed? I think you mean Eric Wedge Yep....my bad

I don't know how we could do worse with Ozzie....he wouldn't be half as bad as JM. I mean, I look at Ed Wedge in Cleveland....he was like 34 last year, and he had very little last year in Cleveland, and he still won 70-75 games and he put together a very good bullpen. Odds are, Guillen won't have that same kind of success when everything is considered(because even if we do make major changes, odds are, this team will still be more talented then the Indians), but I could see him winning us 85-90 games. I'd just hope that he would pull a Tony Pena and light a fire under this team's ass and that we'd go out and win 95 games or so. Odds are, that wouldn't happen.

Who's our manager? JM or someone else(I assume you mean someone else)

No, Mesa licks Howard Stern's butt cheese....as does Mike Williams. So yes, I can say and see Gordon becoming the Phillies closer.

Yeah. Every time I hear that I laugh my ass off

Don't count on it. If we just barely increase the payroll, we won't be making any big moves to make us huge contenders next year. We'll almost certainly have to trade Maggs, and if we could get teams to take on Konerko and/or Koch, then there's a possibility we'd have a productive offseason. I prefer we build toward the future...make a 2 or 3 year plan like the Cubs did this past offseason when they brought in Baker. The Cubs are probably going to win 90-100 games next year(assuming they make some logical moves in the offseason) and don't f*** anything up too badly. I think that's what the White Sox need to do....start a 3-year plan, and hope to contend this year, be a serious, serious contender in 05, and be guaranteed to win 100 games with a very balanced team in 06....and you just continue it from there.

I agree with you. I have no problem with two slower guys in the lineup, but I would like to have atleast one or two very fast guys. Lee showed this year he should stay, I would be all for Thomas leaving, and Lee or Everett (assuming we resign him) to DH. We need a true leadoff hitter, I would rather see Alomar in the two hole, if we resign him. If you want a great example of that, look at Florida. If they could have the best case scenario play out them every time, that's what their lineup would look like. They have Pierre and Castillo lead off, both with an incredible amount of speed, and then you have IRod, who has decent speed, Cabrera, who has good but not great speed, Lee, who does have great speed, but then, in their best lineup possible, I believe it is Lowell, who is a turtle and Conine, who is also a turtle. They then have Gonzalez, who's pretty quick, and then the pitcher, who hardly ever runs hard. I can handle two slow guys and a few guys who run well but not necessarily great. I would love nothing more then to have 2 speed demons.

Nope, can't say that I have....not even with a towel. Sorry

He played SS last year. He was moved to 3B before this season, so yes you are correct that he was the reason they were thinking of trading Mike Lowell. Cause it was brought up ealier that he was moved to 3B when they were going to trade Lowell. You know, I really want to get something for Lee. We need speed on the basepaths...plus guys who can play small ball so I want someone decent...so i said, Cabrera...not to mention the FA Castillo You want to get more team speed, so you'll trade the guy who led the team in stolen bases? That makes a lot of sense. How about if you want more speed, you get rid of Maggs and Thomas/Konerko, and not Lee, who led the team in stolen bases.

Rusty Kuntz? Is that in the same boat as Dick Pole?

I think you might be taking KW comments to far. Kenny has said over and over that Bart is the #1 priotirty, and I dont think KW is that stupid to make comments about signing Everret and Gordon are that important, which they are, but he knows its probalby not in his limits to sign them. Graffy isnt a KEY to this team, but a big part none the less,and he should be a priority to sign. I've heard KW say that resigning Bartolo is a priority. However, if he is such a huge priority, then we should have a $13 mill contract offer on the table, because that is what Bart and his agent are looking for. You then trade people and lessen the payroll and get Bart resigned. If that means you lose Tony G, so be it. If that means you lose Maggs and you have to bring in a "worse" player, then so be it. You get a priority list of who you need to keep, and a list of who can be dealt and how that dealing would benefit the team and how attractive that player is to another team. Like, for instance, dealing Maggs would be the most beneficial move for the organization...you get rid of $10-$14 mill in payroll, depending on how much you take, and you get a spot on the field that can be filled in easily by someone cheap(like for instance, Reggie Sanders would get $2 mill tops, and he probably wouldn't even get that). But Maggs really is not attractive to a lot of teams. So if you can deal him to LA/Anaheim/Baltimore/NYY/NYM, or maybe elsewhere even, and you can get a hell of a good deal for it, you do it immediately. I know exactly what KW is talking about. I'm just saying that if I hear the words "Graffanino" and "is a priority to resign" in the same sentence, and I see no other words, I think I know what my product on the field is going to look like next year. Graffanino should not be a priority to be resigned....guys that are easily replaced, are cheap, and do not make a major impact on the team(or in other words, bench players) should be not priorities. That is why Colon is near the top of the list and Graffanino (should be) near the bottom. A good bench player is a player who is nearing the end of his career who was great in his hey-day but no longer has the bling he had earlier in his career who can still play decently are pretty good players for the bench. If you want a good example, think of David Justice in Oakland last year.

I've always said that Cub "fans" are more concerned with Wrigley, attendance, and beer more so than winning. I like beer as much as the next guy but Miller Lite is hardly the reason why I go to USCF . Posts like this just prove my theory. They serve Old Style at Wrigley, don't they? I've never tried the stuff, but I've heard that it is s***ty-ass beer. Perfect for s***ty-ass fans. As far as the attendance issue if concerned regarding the Cubs high attendance.....I personally find that kind of funny that Cubs fans show up when their team is losing. Does that not tell you that they do not care whether the team wins or loses? I would still follow the team and support the team win or lose.....but part of that is because I love the White Sox, no matter the decisions they make. However, if I could attend games on a regular basis, and they do not want to give me as a fan a good product, I will give them a one-finger salute(seen here :fyou ), and I wouldn't attend as many games as I could....save a little cash. To me, that signifies the typical fan....and I'd consider myself a fairly typical fan....if I lived within range to the ballpark, I would go to a few games a year, but if they sucked, I wouldn't go to as many. Get what I'm saying? So technically, you cannot call Cubs fans fairwhether fans. I still do though

The only reason it didn't happen this year is because Prior pussed out of pitching against us this year. Had he pitched against us, that trend would have continued.

Well said. I agree 150% if I could agree that much.

I think that tells you which way this organization is going. I love Tony G as a player and I love his versatility and I love his clutch bat, but if a utility INF is a priority to sign, we are f***ed. Priorities should be Gordon, Colon, resigning Buehrle long term, getting Elo locked up long term, get a good 2Bman(Castillo, Alomar, whoever the hell else is available that is good), getting a good SS(there are quite a few good SS's available this year....Matsui, Renteria, Tejada, Cabrera, and there is a possibility that Eckstein is available, and if the Twins can find someone who could play SS better then Guzman, he could be available as well....if we can't get anyone above for the right price, then at the very least, resign Valentin at about $2-$3 mill next year....atleast he supplies some power), get a good CFer who can use the leather very well, and then worry about your bench. We can get these pieces from anywhere, within the organization or outside it....doesn't bother me as long as it works well. If we lose Colon this year, which will most likely probably happen, we get a s*** 2Bman, a s*** SS, a crappy CFer.....etc.....it won't matter that we have a versatile player off the bench who can hit in the clutch very well because we'll be down 3, 4, 5, and even more going into the 9th inning way too often for him to be an impact clutch player, unless you are talking about him being on another team via a trade. Point blank, if we lose Tony G, IMO, it's not a huge, huge loss. I don't think the Twins are going to bring back Denny Hocking....he isn't real good with the stick, but he can play any position too, just like Graffy, and if you are looking at it from JR's point of view, he is probably going to come cheaper too. If we lose Colon, Gordon, and a few others(say maybe Robbie, Jose, and Sullivan) and we don't get good replacements, that is a huge, huge loss