JohnCangelosi

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Aug 8, 2011 -> 06:39 PM) You realize we could take 10/10 from them now? We should take all of these games with our pitching matchups and offense starting to wake up a bit. However, this has been the story of the 2011 White Sox. Losing games against teams we had no business losing.

I am telling you that when Alex is on, no one squares up the ball better in our lineup. And we just got back to back to back hits from our 3 most hated players (in that order). Amazing.

I want to see some energy on this field tonight.

QUOTE (JoshPR @ Aug 8, 2011 -> 05:02 PM) Hey I'm 2-0 doing the game threads just Tought I would try to continue the streak

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 09:53 PM) Good thread, but no way am I on board. Let's see if the Sox can win more than 4 games in a row and can keep hitting home runs like today. We ain't scoring runs any other way and it's time to hit a ton of home runs in August. I don't know how the Sox actually pounded Minnie three in a row, but it was nice. As far as these posts. ... 1.) Buck Showalter outmanages Ozzie? What is this, a chess match? Players win games. Buck hasn't exactly turned Baltimore around. Balt is 44-67. I'm sure people in Baltimore are already tired of Buck just as many here are tired of Oz. Guys with 44-67 records aren't exactly beloved by fans. 2.) You are correct. Sox have proven nothing except that they can actually beat the Twins. Halleluia! Finally. Not always, you've watched enough White Sox baseball to see Oz make decisions that truly cost us the game. No sense in getting into specifics but you know what I'm talking about. Surely, on paper, our pitching should shut this team down (still not convinced about our offense) and we should beat these guys senseless each and every game. But if we get into a tight one, I do worry that Showalter would out maneuver Ozzie and steal one, that's what I was talking about.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 04:59 PM) Team seemed much more relaxed with Lillibridge out there instead of Dunn at 1B. You have to go with Brent against LHP, and you'd have to argue that it's also going to help Paulie a lot to DH the final two months...if Brent were only taller and had more experience with scoop plays (needed with Alexei and Morel over there)....but he has so much more range and athleticism than Paulie at 1B. Peavy's now had two positive starts in a row. That's huge. Now the big question becomes Humber. We have to go 6-1 or no worse than 5-2 the next 7 games, and, once again, at least get back to .500. Baltimore has been playing like crap, but that hasn't meant much when the Sox faced them the last 2-3 seasons. They play like the Royals against us for some reason. Showalter is a huge jackass, and it'd be so nice to beat these guys when they're really down. Showalter also out manages Ozzie each and every game, by a wide margin typically, so we have to hope the offensive surge continues and not to get into tight games with them. With the pitching matchups for this 4 game series there is no reason why we cannot take every game, but I am not holding my breath. I've been emotionally hurt too much by this team to fully open my heart to them again

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 04:54 PM) This team played perhaps it's best baseball of the season over the weekend. Rios seems to be turning things around and the pitching continues to be rock solid. With Ozzie's motivation, I still believe the potential of this team will be realized. In the game thread, I mentioned first place by the end of the month. Looking at the schedule, I think the more realistic possibility is Labor Day weekend when we wrap up a series with the Tigers. I know some may think I'm crazy, but I firmly believe the Sox will be in first place when we leave Detroit. Who's on board? Jump on board this crazy train or sentence me to insane asylum.....than let's look back in a month and see who was right. How I hope you're right- and you can always dream. Unfortunately the mantra for the 2011 White Sox has been to tease, tease, tease just enough to keep our interest right when we were ready to move on to something else. I hope this isn't another fools gold moment but it certainly is nice to watch them play 3 consecutive ball games like this in Minnesota. Going to Baltimore against Showalter is a bit shaky as he out manages Ozzie each game, so we're going to have to rely on just beating them with the talent on the field if to continue to make up ground. I am still watching the games, hoping that we can get hot and peel off a 10 game winning streak, so from this standpoint I guess I am "in"...

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 04:38 PM) Flowers, de aza, Stewart, and sale have all shown some good things since the being called up or in sale case the start of the year. Flowers- if he continues to improve the rest of the year I would love to see him get the job next year. First of all we would save some money. Flowers also has a better arm. I think he has done fairly well behind the plate and has shown great improvement with his bat. Having Castro back him up would be great for him De aza- I think has looked good. He would also give us a better centerfield play. He has great speed. He will also be cheaper than Juan. Stewart- boy what a great start yesterday. If he could show that the rest of these year, I would be comfortable with him as the 5th starter next year. Making Floyd or humber tradeable. Sale- i want this guy starting. We have Santiago who could take his bullpen spot. Huge arm with great stuff. He then makes either either Beurhle or Danks tradeable. With the guys tradeable we could really start to stock pile the farm system. I also think quinten will get traded this offseason as Rios is untradeable and viceado needs to be brought up. Rios has looked better this searies with the twins. Lets hope the hand placement thing works out and starts playing better. One thing I think we will look for is a third baseman this offseason. If we could use our trade assets to aquifer David Wright, this would be ideal. So lets say we give them CQ and Danks for Wright and three prospects. Morel can then be a utility guy for the infield teach him second and first this offseason. So this is what we could look like Starting pitchers; 1. Beurhle 2. Peavy 3. Floyd 4. Sale 5. Stewart Field; C- flowers 1st- konerko 2nd- Beckham 3rd- Wright SS- Ramirez LF- Rios CF- de aza RF- viceado DH- Dunn Bench; Lillibridge Morel visquel Castro Maybe pick up an aging power bat for the bench too. Like maybe bring a thome back(or something like this). Ok, first of all don't be surprised if people give you some hell for the spelling of some of our players, people are pretty touchy about that. Secondly, you cannot "trade" Buehrle as he is a free agent at the end of the year, so please drop this idea. Third, since AJ backloaded his contract and will be paid 6M next season, it's going to be tough getting a taker for that price unless the Sox were willing to kick in 2-3M or so in that deal. Also remember AJ is a 10/5 guy now too so he'd have to accept the trade if I am not mistaken. Yes, it appears we have some options for 2012 and can make some moves in the offseason and even possibly "rebuild on the run" next year, it could be a totally different looking starting rotation, and the options you discuss there are legitimate IMO.

Has anyone been hurt more with the move to the new ballpark than Mauer? IIRC he had 28 HR's in his last season at the Metrodome, I don't think he's hit more than 10 HR's since.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 02:21 PM) You try to fill a 3 hour broadcast with this team. I got no problem with scores from other games. Yeah but its the way he says it. You know its more than just for informational purposes only, it's because he thinks we're still in the race.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 02:19 PM) It's ridiculous Hawk is basically giving up-to-the-minute updates on the Tigers. When the Sox get over .500 and within 5 games, maybe then you give more updates. Right now, it's more Hawk stupidity. Was thinking the same thing. We're not even close to .500 yet and have another team ahead of us as well. Just simply ridiculous to worry about anything else but the work on our own plate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 02:12 PM) Yeah Joe, Ozzie is a genius and never makes mistakes.

QUOTE (Chisoxrd5 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 02:08 PM) Thanks Ozzie. Bunting with a guy who is 2-2 with two HR's in his last two AB's, with a 3 run lead, with nobody out and a runner on second. Please to explain why I shouldn't be angry. Ozzie is an idiot, plain and simple.

I love to see Rios swinging short and quick, shades of 1st half last year

If JFP has a great 2012, he should sign for the league minimum with us as a way to pay back all of the money he stole as a member of this ballclub. Just sayin.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 12:03 PM) Well, I'll give him credit for finally taking Dunn out of the line-up. Just removing his "defense" from 1B will save 1-2 runs per game. Brent deserves a start for hitting a homer off Nathan. How many times has that happened in Sox history? Dye? Who else? We hit back to back homers off him in 2009. Beckham (when he was good) and PK. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=6430947

1. Pierre, LF 2. Ramirez, SS 3. Konerko, DH 4. Quentin, RF 5. Rios, CF 6. Lillibridge, 1B 7. Beckham, 2B 8. Flowers, C 9. Morel, 3B

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 10:30 AM) Beat the Twins, sweep the series and drill Delmon Young! Hey guys, I am missing why we want to drill Delmon again. I VAGUELY recall something (earlier this year?) but someone please refresh my memory. Having a senior moment at age 39 I guess.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 03:00 AM) Can you believe Lilly has three fewer home runs than Dunn? Yikes. It's been an interesting year, to say the least.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 7, 2011 -> 08:01 AM) Bad hitting (Dunn/Rios/Beckham/Morel) equals losing, equals bad chemistry. If the clubhouse was truly lost 100%, we would have rolled over and gotten steamrolled by the Twins. We haven't, or didn't. The losses on Sunday and Monday really knocked the Sox offstride, and momentum turned against us with the Yankees, just like we swept through Boston on the road earlier in the season. The problem is our offense isn't consistent enough to even win 5 games in a row, let alone 26/31 like last year. I think there's a lot of chaos and uncertainty because of the strife between KW and Ozzie, and wouldn't be upset to see both leave. There really are a lot of Sox fans who would rather see KW gone than Guillen, actually. I know many that never post here....even though the current "pulse" here is probably 2/3rd's favoring Ozzie going over KW. The only way to get rid of Greg Walker and actually see what we have in Dunn/Beckham/Rios/Morel is to give them a shot with a totally different coaching staff. Guillen or JW won't fire Walker, so the only way is letting Guillen go to Florida. Dumping Beckham right now would be insane because his value is almost zero since he will soon head into his more expensive arbitration years period. OK, it's off topic but: If Ozzie was willing to demonstrate some flexibility in terms of his coaching style and also hold Walker accountable for this consistent under performing offense, I would be in favor of keeping him. I think his personality is great for Chicago and I have always loved the fact that he is clearly the boss. Despite much publicized issues with players like Swisher/Cabrera, it seems that most players respect him and like playing for him. That said, at times I've seen this team just going through the motions and not playing hard for him, which is more than concerning. Beyond that, his in game decision making is awful, mainly with challenging hitters with an open base, over managing the "matchups" in late inning situations, and consistently leaving the starter in one inning too long when it's obvious to everyone even on this board that they are done. And this really isn't Monday morning quarterbacking. Sure, sometimes your decisions aren't going to work in your favor but the idea is to at least give your team the best chance to win. Similar to how the best poker players consistently have the odds in their favor because of their decision making, and sure, get some bad beats at times but over the course of the year the odds work in their favor. Example: This whole board knew we should've pulled Peavy against Detroit after he completed 5 IP. HE WAS DONE. And yet Oz tried getting another inning out of him, and we knew what happened there. Just totally handed that game to them. Pulling MB against Oakland when he was cruising in April was another AWFUL decision that I think 99% of managers would never make. Pitching to VMart with an open base. We see this happening with consistency. The bottom line is since we know Walker is a package deal with Ozzie, he must go. When was the last time our offense has performed up to its expectations?

I just got home and missed the entire game, however, can someone give me a brief summary on how Stewart looked? The line looks ok, especially the ER line, just wondering how his stuff looked as well as composure etc.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 6, 2011 -> 08:58 AM) Buehrle picked a good time to have his best season since 2005. I wouldn't overpay him, but I'd love to have him back. I'd really like to see the stats of vets in their contract years. It seems they turn it up a notch just at the right time for a nice payday. A good example of guys who over performed prior to their contract year recently and then dropped off would be Aaron Rowand, Gary Matthews Jr, Chone Figgins, etc. But they had an uncanny ability to have their career year right before becoming a FA, very nice...

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 6, 2011 -> 08:55 AM) Honestly, I have no idea why he was dealt anymore. If the Sox really had to shed some payroll, then Thornton would have been dealt as well. You didn't like the package we got in return I take it?

Mark once again has good timing in having a solid season in a contract year, and I'm sure several teams are going to be interested. What do you think the open market will offer him? I can definitely see a team offering him 3/30 with him seeing that he's pretty durable, throws with his left hand, and can stall the best of running games. Who knows if he wants to play that long, however. Thoughts?

I don't mind this- let's see what we got in him and if he can beat the Twins, great. And yes, I would say it's probably let's get Humber and Peavy another day off type of move.