witesoxfan

QUOTE (Cali @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 01:31 PM) For comparison sake, what's the first half record? 2002 - 2-2 2003 - 7-5 2004 - 7-3 2005 - 4-1 2006 - 5-2 2007 - 5-7 2008 - 7-4 2009 - 5-4 2010 - 2-3 44-31

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 01:16 PM) I agree. There's a lot more to signing a player since they have an agent with demands, owners have budget restrictions ect. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/2606...fe.suntimes.com There's some intelligent comments (not by the author). Did anyone ever consider that Thome may be a better fit for the Twins than the Sox? 31 teams balked at signing Thome and the Twins may have offered his last chance at being on a team only at their demands. The DH by committee is only a failure because it's filled by Kenny's lightning in a bottle approach. Kotsay was kept to help give PK a rest at 1st while Paulie can DH. Thome gives you no options other than needing a pinch runner. His 2009 numbers are not what you want from a DH anyway. 1B isn't a hard position to play, and backups at 1B are not particularly hard to find. Mark Teahen could have been a perfectly adequate backup to Konerko at 1B with Vizquel filling in on the left side, and if someone else was needed, you can call up Josh Kroeger or sign Jeremy Reed or sign Jermaine Dye or call up Dayan Viciedo or even retain Mark Kotsay while getting rid of Randy Williams. A backup 1B should not be on the priority list of things a contending club needs. Beyond that, I don't understand how a .249/.372/.493/.864 is not something you'd want from a DH. He keeps innings alive by walking a ton, and he gets runs on the board by being on base and hitting for power. Mark Kotsay is not very good at either one of those things, and he requires a pinch runner too (or he should, at the very least). But by god, has he played a remarkable backup 1B this year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 01:04 PM) I'd love to know what the Twins record against the Sox has been post-ASB since Gardenhire was their manager. Sox record 2002 - 6-9 2003 - 2-5 2004 - 2-7 2005 - 7-6 2006 - 4-8 2007 - 4-2 2008 - 2-6 2009 - 1-8 2010 - 2-5 30-56 in the second half (The most interesting tidbit I found out doing that wasn't against Minnesota, but I didn't recall how important the Sox first series out of the ASB was in 2005. The Sox swept Cleveland in Cleveland in a 4-game series to knock them 12 games back in the standings. Of course, that team was phenomenal on the road too)

The Twins have won 2 divisional titles, 2006 and 2009. Other than that, I have no idea. It seems as though the Sox have no sense of urgency until it's either forced upon them or it's too late. In regards to the Sox actually realizing that their backs were up against the wall and they were about to be put into a position of potential elimination, I can only think of 3 memories in my history as a Sox fan that the team, in some fashion, actually responded. In chronological order... 1) (Rally) Crede walk-off homer against Cleveland. 2) Pierzynski's strikeout in game 2 of the ALCS 3) Game 163 (and really, that was 3 guys who did most of the dirty work in Thome, Griffey, and Danks). You can argue they did it in game 162 in 2008 too, but they were playing a Tigers team that ultimately finished in last place, so it wasn't stepping up against good competition, it was simply beating a bad team.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 12:54 AM) Somewhat rough day for Addison Reed. 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Now has 28 K and 3 BB in 20 IP. The only bad thing about Reed's performance is the home run he allowed. You're going to walk people, it's a part of the game, and he was still striking people out.

BADM 482 - Business Policy and Strategy BADM 336 - Entrepreneurship I BADM 490 - Seminar in Sport Marketing ENGL 205 - Business Writing ENGL 463 - Modern Drama and Theatre ENGL 478 - Creative Writing: Poetry I didn't take business writing earlier in my scholastic career because we could take other writing classes instead. I didn't realize then that I would still have to write a final research paper to actually graduate, so I figured I may as well get credit for the class and learn a few things in the process as well. Along with that, the two upper level English classes allow me to finish my English minor as well. It should be my final semester.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 12:14 PM) Seriously? If anything, people underrate the heck out of their starting pitching. Replacing Blackburn for Duensing has completely solidified that rotation. Along with Slowey and Baker performing up to their abilities, and Liriano getting out of his mini-funk. I still don't understand how Duensing has been so successful, but I never understood how Joe Saunders could be an effective pitcher either. At the end of the day, they are, to varying degrees, so I can't argue.

Honestly, he wouldn't be a terrible sign. He's a huge project, but all prospects are. He just has extra baggage.

The Sox were only good, not incredible, against the NL under Manuel. It's not surprising that they were able to beat AL teams more often when they had 6-7 guys in the lineup capable of hitting 20 homers, and 3-4 of those guys capable of hitting 30. Being able to score runs in more than one manner is a good tool to have when utilized properly, whether it's taking extra bases or stealing bases or stringing hits together or hitting home runs. It's not good to construct your lineup to do solely that, because giving up outs to score runs is very, very inefficient and leads to low scoring offenses.

QUOTE (Big Daddy Kool @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 11:21 AM) Wait they signed most of their draft picks, last time I checked. The 1st pick is currently a LOOGY on the MLB club. How are they being too cheap? Because the guys they drafted and did sign signed for relatively cheaply, and they knew this would be the case before the drafted them. The White Sox spend something like $3.75 mill on the entire draft. As was pointed out earlier, there are a number of smaller market teams that spend anywhere from $6-8 mill on the draft, and as a result, their minor league systems have improved vastly in the past few years. It's obviously not all about spending money on the draft, and some of the contracts handed out to players is wasted...the Sox have dealt with personally with Joe Borchard, who was projected to be a huge power hitter and his game fizzled out...but the best way to improve a minor league system is to fill it with talent. It's one thing to take relatively untalented players and turn them into major league players, and the Twins have executed this as well as any organization over the past decade. It's a completely different story to actually take risks and spend some money on highly talented players, and then develop them. When that is accomplished properly, you can create teams that can sustain success while allowing yourself some room for error. As of right now, if everything doesn't go according to plan for the White Sox, they generally have to scramble to make up for mistakes that have occurred due to the inconsistent nature of humans. Jake Peavy got injured, so the Sox traded for Edwin Jackson. The offense has been a major problem all year, but due to the lack of depth within the White Sox farm system (completely ignoring the Sox not signing Jim Thome), they weren't able to add anyone else besides Edwin Jackson, and they now have to hope and pray that the offense can become productive again, or that Manny Ramirez either clears waivers or makes it to the Sox, they claim him, and they can handle the rest of the money that is on his contract.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 11:16 AM) I for one don't think I know more than a major league manager and his coaching staff. The Sox have struggled and the fact we had a winning period seems to have clouded all that has gone wrong for some reason. /deviladvocat'd

I'll give him one more year. Maybe next year he will complain that they're discriminating against crab grass by using blue grass all the time. JUST BECAUSE IT'S THICK AND UGLY AND HURTS WHEN YOU FALL ON IT DOESN'T MEAN IT HASN'T STRUGGLED THROUGHOUT ITS TIME ON THIS PLANET

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:16 AM) Bumgarner's ERA & WHIP is lower than his anyway. It is surprising, but its not like the rest of their staff are a bunch of slouches either. Oh I knew that, I just figured someone would bring up the fact that he's only pitched in 10 games and used it as reasoning for why he's not better.

Not that I care for Nick Punto, but he's an incredible defender and has shown a propensity in the past to get on base at a pretty good rate. In years past, the Twins have gone into the season with Punto in a bench role with others starting ahead of him, and those players have performed poorly and Punto has been forced into action. This season, he's been injured, but it appears as though the Twins may be able to keep him in his bench role all season.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:54 AM) I think it's been mentioned in a few scattered posts but our farm system has a lot to do with it. We rarely have guys that can come in and fill in for an injured player or add value when the September call ups arrive. I have to believe that is a big factor. And is there something with our strength and conditioning program that doesn't prepare our guys for the long haul? Or are we acquiring players that tend to fade quicker? I don't know. Older players generally break down faster than younger players do, and it's something that's been highlighted since the banishment of all amphetamines. I don't think Jermaine Dye completely lost his ability to hit a fastball at the end of last season. I think he was simply worn down from the everyday grind of playing baseball for 5 months. It's something Ozzie thought he could help prevent by rotating his DHs, but it hasn't worked to this point, and the pitching has begun to fall off the tracks recently too.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:52 AM) Going way back to 2000, that season 100% defined slipping and crawling into the playoffs and peaking early. So that's the question, why? What is it that allows other teams, usually the Twins, to peak in the last two months? (Yes, I know, we "peaked" the last week of 2005 and into the playoffs, we "peaked" for 3 days in late September, 2008). In 2000, Ron Schueler threw together a patchwork starting rotation that stayed healthy and performed well for half a season, and began to fall apart in the second half. Meanwhile, the offense gelled early and it stayed relatively strong throughout the season. And Cleveland's rotation fell apart, as they had 13 guys start atleast 2 games for them (including Jamie Navarro, Bobby Witt, and Jason Bere).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:47 AM) The White Sox were without Quentin, Crede, Contreras and Linebrink in 2008. They're without Peavy, now. The Twins have been without Morneau for 2 years now...(and) Mauer's been hurt all season long, basically. Well now you are fabricating the Twins injury issues. Justin Morneau has played in 216 games and had 938 PAs over the past two seasons and has put up a .300/.390/.553/.944 line during that timeframe. He's been banged up but he hasn't fallen off the face of the planet. Beyond that, Mauer had a contusion on his foot, and he's had shoulder soreness this year. It's not as if he's been fighting a hamstring strain all year. Hell, Brent Morel is playing with a torn labrum, and now he's not even going to have surgery on it. Unless you are a pitcher, it would appear as though you can play through shoulder soreness.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:29 AM) When you look at the years though...in 2004, the Sox were without their 2 biggest bats for the full 2nd half of the year. 2005, check. 2007...they were a bad team the full year, and Hell, they might have been better in September than they were at any other point that yera. 2008, above .500. Basically, it comes down, so far, to 2006 and 2009 being the years where they were unusually bad in the 2nd half. The 2004 White Sox also had Freddy Garcia for the second half and Jose Contreras from August on. Garcia wasn't anything special and Contreras was bad, however, Loaiza had put up an ERA of 6.04 in his final 11 starts with the Sox, and wound up pitching to the tune of about an ERA of 8.50 with the Yankees. They'd also reacquired Carl Everett, Rowand and Uribe had great years, Lee had his best season as a member of the Sox, Konerko put together a great, full season for the first time in his career, Gload was great...I won't argue that they weren't banged up or anything to nature, just that, even without Thomas or Ordonez, they still weren't a bad team. The 2007 White Sox may have also played their best baseball in September, but they also played their worst baseball in August. During that time frame, they went 9-20. And, just because they were a bad team doesn't mean you can automatically discount their contribution to the White Sox ineptitude during the second half of seasons over the past 6 years. If you can do that, then I can discount the 2005 White Sox second half record simply because they were a good team. Looking further into the 2005 season, the Sox were a worse team in the second half than they were in the first half by 110 points (57-29 for a .663, 42-34 for a .553). Perhaps they played over their head in the first half, but I'd also say that they played worse than their talent (or productivity) level in the second half. Again, just because they were a good team doesn't mean we can suddenly ignore that they were not nearly as good as they were early on. Throughout Ozzie Guillen's tenure as manager, his teams have historically performed worse in the second half than they did in the first half. There is no evidence to the contrary.

If the Sox sweep the Twins and somehow end up winning the division this year, they'd be better darlings of baseball than the Twins. Teams generally don't make the playoffs after being 9 games below .500 and 9.5 games back in the standings, and it's pretty significant when it does happen. The Twins were expected to win this division from the onset of the season, and anybody picking someone else was going out on a limb. Pre-season favorites aren't "darlings."

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 02:39 PM) Let's clear up a couple of misconceptions: 1) We had a winning record in August in every year from 2000 to 2003. 2) We had a winning record in September in every year from 2000 to 2005. 3) From 2000 to 2009, we had a winning record in 6 augusts, and a losing record in 4 augusts. We had a winning record in 7 septembers, 1 .500 record, and a losing record in 2 septembers. 4) From 2000 to 2009, the White Sox' winning percentage over August and September is .513. The aggregate winning percentage for the club over those ten seasons is .529. It's not that we don't play well enough percentage-wise, it's that a certain team beats us almost every year, head-to-head. EDIT: I'm including October games in September where applicable. These include 4 years under Manuel, and the team generally played better in the second half under Manuel. There are also only two players on the current roster that played on those teams - Konerko and Buehrle - and a few of the players weren't even playing professionally yet. It seems a bit outdated to use that data when looking at recent trends. You surely aren't going to invest with Bernie Madoff now a days because of his reputation in 2002. Here are the second half records under Ozzie Guillen 2004 - 37-41 2005 - 42-34 2006 - 33-41 2007 - 33-43 2008 - 35-33 2009 - 34-40 2010 - 16-15 That is a record of 230-247, for a winning percentage of .482, and, not including 2010 because it has yet to be completed, that's 2 winning second half records in 6 seasons.

One thing they really need to incorporate is the trading of draft picks. In every other major sport (and, for the most part, in baseball as well), you can trade any player or pick that is under your control (with a few exceptions in basketball where you can't trade two first round picks in a row or something to that extent). However, you not only can't trade draft picks, but you have to wait a full year until after they sign their first contract to trade them. That seems outrageous to me.

Who has the highest ERA and WHIP this season among active Giants' starting pitchers? If you answered two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, you'd be correct. (Bumgarner only has 10 starts to his credit, and Wellemeyer was brutally awful and is no longer on the 40-man roster, but it's still crazy to think about)

I think you are seeing part of the fall out of the Edwin Jackson trade. Even if the initial deal was Hudson and Holmberg for Jackson (which is arguably an overpay to begin with), it could also mean the Sox lost out on signing Grimes and Terry. It's been pretty clear that the Sox philosophy is to sacrifice spending on the minor league system to spend at the major league level. That philosophy won't change next year with something like $88 million committed to 14 players and a first round pick that is going to be in the middle of the first round at the earliest and could still realistically end up in the early to mid 20s. You have to figure that 2012 is probably the soonest the Sox can realistically spend any amount of money on the draft, but I still find that highly unlikely unless there is a completely different regime running the show.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 07:06 PM) He was coming back from a 10 day rest which was necessary because of shoulder stiffness. Probably not a good idea to immediately have him throw 140 + pitches when he was already coming off of a slight injury before. I'm definitely not arguing with the decision, as I think it's dumb to let a pitcher go above and beyond his normal pitch count no matter the situation. I don't really believe no hitters with walks are all that impressive anyways, and it's pretty damn difficult to throw more than 120 pitches in a perfect game. There are a few times I would let a pitcher throw more than like 120 pitches and those are pretty much solely in must win games in some manner. If it's the postseason or a late season series against a division rival, and the game is close enough that the pitcher should remain in the game and the pitcher is absolutely cruising, I would. In a game in the middle of August against a team that isn't that good in a series in which you've already won and especially when the pitcher is making his first start in a week and a half due to injury...it makes sense.

Not sure if actually went without mentioning on here, but Kevin Slowey was pulled from a no-hitter yesterday. Apparently Gardenhire agrees with J4L that no-hitters don't mean s*** anymore.