witesoxfan

I'm gonna burn a paper sack full of poop, set it on fire, and put it on Old Man Clemens front step.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Apr 24, 2011 -> 08:15 AM) On another note, I am surprised no one has started the annual fire Greg Walker thread?!!?!?!? Oooooh, foreshadowing!

First I would flip the order completely. Because why not? Then I'd call up John Franco to see if he wanted to pitch because he couldn't be worse than Ohman, right? Then I'd talk to scientists about cloning Carlos Quentin so the entire offense would become even more inconsistent. Then I'd kidnap Hanley Ramirez, paint him with white face, and call him Henry Smith. Then I'd get a hot Italian sandwich. Then I'd talk to Carlton Fisk about coming out of retirement to be the first player/coach since Pete Rose. Then I'd remember that I hadn't fired Ozzie yet. Then I'd fire Ozzie. Then I'd bring in Sir-Mix-A-Lot and MC Hammer in to be motivational speakers for the team. Then I'd break up the fight that Sir-Mix-A-Lot and MC Hammer got into. Then I'd have a Zeppelin filled with Hydrogen fly over the stadium before the game. BAD IDEA BAD IDEA Then I call the fire department. Finally, I'd give away sauerkraut and sausage to the first 10,000 people that came to the next home game. It would be a thank you for the fans who stuck around while the team stunk.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Apr 23, 2011 -> 03:45 PM) I saw Hudson pitch twice against the Rockies last year after the trade, and he was lights out. Unless he's hurt, I think he'll get it together this year. You saw Hudson pitch twice last year. That's 2 starts. And you're sure he's going to turn it around. Yet, Adam Dunn has hit 358 homers in 10 years, and he's chopped liver. Oy vey.

I think he's likely to go to Arby's. In fact, the entire team should go to Arby's. Because they have good mood food.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 24, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) So wait, through 23 games in 2007, the team was above .500, and they finished 18 games under .500? And no one takes any lesson from that? Are you saying the 2011 White Sox are going to finish 24 games under .500? I'M ON BOARD

Why not just bring in Tim Raines? Atleast they'll have drugs then.

I mean seriously, it's his job as bullpen coach to make sure these guys are jacked up when they enter the game and to make sure that the bullpen gets people out. And even if the bullpen has been better recently, it was really bad earlier and that is what has triggered this losing streak! I have also heard that he didn't supply enough candy for the bullpen, which was Bobby Jenks' job when he was here, and so the relievers all have low blood sugar when they are entering the game, which makes them irritable and cranky. He has just not been doing his job and as a result the White Sox are way below .500. This is unacceptable and he needs to go. He can take Mark Salas with him too for all I care.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 23, 2011 -> 07:37 PM) I am SO amused by the people who say "it's only April" when, if we're being honest, the reason we missed the playoffs last year is the hole we dug in April and May was so big that extended periods of hot play afterwards weren't enough to overcome it. However, I hope this thread (or anything) can remove the "hex" on our team right now. Or they went 5-13 against Minnesota. I prefer to use that one.

And why the f*** are these two talking about the standings? There are 140 f***ing games left.

Mark Grace should go smoke another cigarette.

Jose Bautista has reached base 10 straight times. Single in the 8th on Wednesday, 3 hits and 2 walks yesterday, and 3 hits and 1 walk today. Of course, he's only stayed on base 7 of those times. The other 3 he got to trot around real slow. He's like really, really f***ing good

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 23, 2011 -> 07:08 AM) That just tells me that we have no chance in the post season if we somehow got in. They can't beat good pitchers in April, so they won't be good pitchers in October. That's perfectly rational.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 23, 2011 -> 11:51 AM) Getz has an OPS lower than Beckham's is currenty. Sweeney is hitting .222 with 1 RBI. I thought April Fool's Day was 3 weeks ago? and a .778 OPS, so he'd be like the 3rd best hitter on the White Sox! He has 21 plate appearances.

I still think Sweeney has plenty of upside. Part, though obviously not all, of his lack of power comes from playing at the Coliseum...that is a pretty huge park. On top of that, power is something that, to some extent, can be developed or taught, especially as hitters mature. The comparison Cheat over at SSS made early on was to Alex Rios, as their career paths were pretty similar, similar body type, similar minor league numbers. In his rookie year at age 23, Rios hit 1 home run in 460 plate appearances. The next year he hit 10 over the course of the full season. Then it was 17, and then he shot all the way up to 25. Those last two pretty well signify his range of power - anywhere from 17-25 homers. He was 25 when first showed any type of home run power at all. Sweeney is 26 this year...I don't think people realize how young he is still and he does 3 things well that can provide a foundation for hitting for a bit more power. 1) He is disciplined enough that he can draw a few walks. 2) He hits well enough that he can and has hit for a pretty good average. 3) He doesn't strike out a whole hell of a lot. You basically have him swing for the fence a bit more because it would appear that he has never done that. In theory, you sacrifice a bit of average and a few more strikeouts for a little more power. You don't really sacrifice OBP though because he has shown the ability to hit for power, so pitchers will be just a bit more timid with him at the plate and, because he has a good enough eye, he will walk a few more times a year as well which will cancel out a few of those singles. So, instead of a .290/.340/.380 kind of player, you have a .270/.350/.420 type, which is more valuable and probably makes him worth 1 full win more than he normally is (typically about a 2 WAR player). I would gladly take 3 WAR in LF next year no matter how I got it.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 23, 2011 -> 03:53 AM) Is Crisp a better defender than Sweeney? Is that why he is the better OF? I've always seen that he's generally regarded as a better defensive outfielder, especially in CF, and he's probably a bit better offensively too (though he seems to be a guy that, at least at one time and perhaps still today, was really overrated offensively).

Who decides when postponed games are to be made up? The Twins and Indians got rained out tonight and they didn't schedule a double header for this weekend. Not only does that seem like something that should be made up ASAP as opposed to scheduling something in the future (not real reason I'm upset), but the Twins will almost certainly be healthier and playing better and the Indians more banged up and s***tier when the teams finally do meet. THAT'S BULLCRAP

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 05:41 PM) Chris Getz is a consistent .636/.637 OPS no matter where he plays. Fields and Anderson? Don't think so. Ryan Sweeney finally ended up losing his starting job in Oakland for a lot of the same reasons he wasn't believed to project as more than a 4th OF in Chicago. Chris Young and Greg Walker don't have anything in common. Even C. Carter has turned out to be a big bust (based on early returns), and the verdict's a bit discouraging on B. Allen. We all know about Jeremy Reed and Michael Morse. Basically, we've simply sucked at developing position prospects since Durham, Ordonez, C-Lee, Crede and Rowand. I suggested in the Catch-All that Sweeney would be starting for quite a few other teams, and I think I'm right. He plays good to great defense at all 3 outfield spots, draws a walk here or there, hits for the tiniest bit of power, and hits for a pretty damn good average. He's not starting in Oakland simply because they have 4 better players than him in Willingham, Crisp, DeJesus, and Matsui. Honestly, if the Sox aren't sold with Viciedo's defense in the outfield or if Quentin decides to take a dump the rest of the way and is non-tendered, I think he'd be a good buy-low candidate to start in either LF or RF next year, and I really don't like Sweeney at all. I think his upside is probably that of about .300/.350/.450 hitter - and I know he's never shown that type of power, but I think it's about the most he can do - and he would be a great 4th outfielder even if he didn't do that. Oh, and Chris Carter a bust? Already? Dude's 24 and has never been given a real shot in the majors. I think he might have a bit of Mark Reynolds syndrome, but he should certainly be able to hang in the majors.

For the record, I'm getting frustrated too, but the optimist in me is saying that a lot of this pain is natural and to be expected and that some of it is phantom pain or Peavy being extra cautious. It's like when you sprain your ankle and shortly there after you kinda land on it awkwardly, but not really that awkwardly, and you think you may have re-sprained your ankle but really that's just your brain playing tricks on you. Well I'm kinda wondering if Jake isn't feeling some of that and he's just noticing pain that he never noticed before - not that it wasn't there, but that he is more cognizant of it now - and is just being weary of reporting anything and everything and coming off when it isn't comfortable because he wants like hell to get back to Chicago to help this team win ballgames. Of course, the pessimist in me is saying that the Sox will be 17 games back by the time Peavy is ready and he's going to be garbage and throw it underhanded because he can't throw it overhanded, but he'll strike out Butch Heddo and the Sox will make a miraculous comeback and only finish 6 games out for the division crown.

QUOTE (DukeofChicago88 @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 11:51 PM) TONY PENA FOR CLOSER BABY!!!! YeAh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like

QUOTE (Andrew @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 11:10 PM) Ryan Sweeney, Chris Getz, Gio (Part I and II).... all "just guys". Just guys we MISSED and now produce elsewhere better than what we settled with. They won't light the world on fire, I agree with you. But they look better when they leave our organization then when they had chances here. That is telling. Ryan Sweeney isn't just a guy. He was a top rated prospect coming up through the White Sox system. He's got a very quick, smooth, compact swing, and it wouldn't have been far fetched to suggest that he could have Grady Sizemore-esque numbers back then (though he would have been coming up with Grady Sizemore, so you couldn't have made the comparison back then). The power never developed but he did turn into a pretty good average hitter. He just doesn't fit into the A's starting lineup, but there are several teams he could start for, one of whom is the Chicago White Sox if Guillen and/or Williams ever decided that the leadoff hitter didn't need to steal bases. Gio Gonzalez isn't just a guy either. You aren't included in trades for Jim Thome, Freddy Garcia, and Nick Swisher because people think you have no talent. He's probably a top 30 starter in the AL right now, which would technically qualify him as a #2 starter. Chris Getz is just a guy. He is a hardworker and busts his ass at all times and I can appreciate that not only as a baseball fan, but quite frankly as an American - a guy is doing what he loves and is working as hard as he possibly can at it. The fact of the matter is, he's just not very talented and has gotten as far as he has due to hard work and that there are numerous players throughout the minor leagues and on the benches of a ton of Major League teams that have a very similar skill set. He's not going to hit for a very good average because he doesn't hit the ball hard enough, and he's not going to hit for a lot of power because he's not strong enough, and due to both of those, he's not going to walk a lot because pitchers are going to go attack the zone against him because he is very unlikely to hurt them badly. He can steal a base too but much of that has to do with being pretty quick and having worked on his stealing technique over and over and over again. He's an OK ballplayer, a ceiling of someone like Aaron Miles or Jamey Carroll. A nice tool to have off the bench but not a guy you want in your starting lineup. He's merely a placeholder in Kansas City until some hot shot prospect takes over for him either midseason or next year. --- Oh, and the reason those guys look better in other organizations than when they leave the White Sox is because they GET better. When they were with the Sox, they were young and inexperienced ballplayers, and as they continued their development as a baseball player, they matured and learned and got better. It has next to nothing to do with the fact that they left the Chicago White Sox organization. Look at what Gavin Floyd has done outside of Philadelphia; is that an indictment on the Phillies organization? Look at what John Danks has done outside of the Rangers organization; are the Rangers doing something wrong? Look at what Quentin has done since coming over from Arizona; do the Diamondbacks suck at developing players? In 100.2 IP since joining the White Sox, Edwin Jackson has an ERA of 3.31, a WHIP of 1.25, a BB/9 of 2.3, and a K/9 of 9.3. From 2003 to 2009, those numbers were 4.66, 1.51, 4, and 6.3 respectively. Are the Dodgers, Rays, and Tigers incompetent? Of course they aren't. They simply traded players away, for whatever reason, and they got better someone else for some other reason. That is baseball.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 11:00 PM) J4L said he'd trade Rose for CP3. That is the statement I have found so insulting and will not concede ground on. So that's what this entire b****fest is all about? One guy says "I'd trade Rose for Paul" and it explodes for like 100 posts? From my vantage point, Rose and Paul are pretty much equally valuable players who perform in different ways. Paul is a distributer who can control the tempo of a game and will get his teammates open looks all the time, but still has the ability to score and drive to the hoop on occasions. Rose is very much the focal point of the Bulls entire offense as he controls literally everything for the entire team, and whichever way Rose goes so go the Bulls. If you put Derrick Rose on the Miami Heat, they probably wouldn't have won any more games. If you put Chris Paul on the Heat, they probably win 5-10 more games because it allows Wade and James more freedom and allows them to actually run offensive sets instead of getting like 99.4% of their points off of fast breaks and isolation plays. But, if you replace Rose with Paul or Paul with Rose, neither the Bulls nor the Hornets would have been nearly as good. The Hornets a probably a similar team to what the Bulls had for Rose's entire career - a .500 team that can fight and scrap their way to a couple playoff wins and then go home. The Bulls are probably an inconsistent offensive team that lost more games down the stretch than they already did and they probably "only" win about 50-54 games. They are both really f***ing good at basketball. So a few people think Paul is better, and a few think Rose is better. And a couple of them might trade Rose for Paul. Who cares? Let it go. Talk about basketball, because I like reading that. I don't like reading people b**** about Rose v Paul.

QUOTE (since56 @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 10:20 PM) More a discussion of Getz plus what the Sox could have got for Beckham, vs. keeping Beckham. This site often points out the lack of home grown talent. Getz came up through each level of the Sox system. Starting slowly but improving enough to advance all the way to the big league team. He continues to improve now batting leadoff as Kansas City's regular second baseman. Beckham hits eight for the Sox and has had one half of a rookie season that was good. I am not so pro Getz as I am not so enamored with Beckham. I don't care where he was drafted, at this point Getz is producing as much as Beckham. The Sox could have got more for Beckham than they did for Getz. Did the Sox keep the wrong guy? No. Who knows what the Sox can actually get for Beckham? And who knows what Beckham will actually become? He hasn't even played 2 full years in the majors and has shown great signs of success. He's also still wildly inconsistent, beating upon himself too often. He's an extremely talented baseball player who could end up being the face of the franchise for the next 10 years. Naturally, he can bust too. Chris Getz is "just a guy." There are players like him all over baseball at all levels. His peak production, when he gets lucky, is probably that of a .300/.350/.400 player. When he is not getting the breaks, he will be a .240/.300/.300 player, which is horrendous. There is no upside there, and his downside is far, far worse than Beckham's downside. Beyond that, you are making a statement about Chris Getz as if he's magically improved and is suddenly an extremely patient hitter at the plate while getting doubles and is similar to Beckham. He has like 80 plate appearances. You are also suggesting that he is good because he's leading off for the Royals. As cool as the Royals story has been so far, it's still April, and, depending upon how much of their young talent they bring up in June, they're still a 70 win team. Just because he's leading off for them doesn't make him good. Hell, Juan Pierre is leading off for the White Sox and he's terrible offensively. No, the White Sox would not have been better off keeping Getz. The White Sox already have a superior option to Getz waiting in AAA in the form of Eduardo Escobar. He isn't pretty with the stick but is with the glove and he appears to have a bit of power too.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Apr 22, 2011 -> 10:05 PM) Trading for this guy was a joke...now all we're looking for is if the dude can play long toss or a simulated game. And when he does come back...how long until the next muscle pops out of joint. YEAH MARK PRIOR HAS MADE AS MANY APPEARANCES IN AAA AS THIS FOOL

Carlos wanted me to send a message to the team. "GET THE f*** ON BASE OR GTFO"