caulfield12

Well, the main difference is nobody expected anything of those late 80's teams. Before Ventura and Thomas arrived, nobody cared to watch them, either. Then finally the 1990 season came and there was a reason for hope and enthusiasm about the White Sox again. This year's team SHOULD have won the division and should have piled up 89-93 wins with the pitching we have and playing in a very down AL Central except for the Tigers. It doesn't feel like 2006-07, because the idea of any type of extended run or "dynasty" of Sox dominant winning baseball was still tangible until it ended the final 2 months of 2006. With how everything KW has touched has turned to mush or sludge for the last 3 years, you can't be completely surprised by this season....well, maybe the Dunn part....but the rest, we've been conditioned to expect over recent seasons.

Why not blow an 8-1 lead in this game? Of course, Santos had a scoreless streak going again...yet another sign this season wasn't meant to be. Game over. Patented Santos implosion. Don't even really care at this point.

Is Wilkins really perceived as a legit prospect to be an everyday MLB 1B, full-time? Obviously he put up some strong numbers this season...but I've never seen him on any Top 10-15 prospect lists for the White Sox, and with the depth of our system, that's pretty telling.

Santiago pitched pretty well for the Barons. No decision, not his recent dominant self and the 4 walks were a problem Saladino continues to trend upwards, Mitchell back down.

Pretty hypocritical Ozzie thought Viciedo wasn't close to ready to hit clean-up. But batting 5th is absolutely no problem whatsoever.

Wonder if KW didn't promote Infante in order to spite Ozzie? Then again, Escobar's Venzuelan. These days, looking for any possible KW/Ozzie conspiracies.

God, Beckham's just totally awful. I think watching Joe Cowley hit in his place and whiff 100% of the time would be more interesting. I still remember the stupid "challenge" he gave to AJ that he could steal 2B on him easily...what a tool. http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports...s-it-looks.html

At least we're not firing him for torturing the English language. I do think it's a bit ridiculous the way certain writers want to focus on his mangled phonetic pronunciation or "Ozzie-isms" to undermine him from an intellectual POV. He's never apologized for his lack of formal education...or even not learning proper grammar the past 25 years in the US.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 04:45 PM) nice research terrible hitting what are the numbers since say july or so when it was clear these guys were never going to hit this year and a change should have been made? Post All-Star break...when they made their compelling "Braveheart-ish" vows to lead the team Rios 31/142, 2 HR, 12 RBI's, .218 BA, 566 OPS Dunn 17/99, 2 HR, 6 RBI's, .172 BA, 523 OPS

Just a feeling, but wouldn't be surprised at all if Hector Santiago's having more of an impact on the White Sox 2-3 years down the line than Z. Stewart.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:40 PM) Having an ace can be a big difference. Sure the Sox have 3 good starters but no ace. The Twins were always lacking one component that was always revealed in the post season. There offense numbers in 09/10 were nothing to laugh at either. I think in 09 they were the best in baseball hitting after 2 outs. Johan Santana says "hello." Unfortunately, they also never saw Liriano's devastating slider in 2006 in the playoffs, or they would have had a great chance that season. Those two were like a buzzsaw through the entire league for half that year. As far as the Tigers go, if you subtract Valverde (Papa Grande), Al Al and Benoit, there are some pretty horrific numbers. They did boost the pen with the addition of Coke as well, but they're going to struggle in the games Verlander doesn't get them to the very back end of the pen. And everything's really up in the air with their #2/#3 starter. You'd have to think they would go with Fister and Scherzer, although Penny and Porcello have had their moments all season long. too. Scherzer got his brains beaten in his last time out.

It's going to have to be a LOT of cash, as Rios is owed somewhere around $40 million (including the buyout). All things considered, as much as I detest Rios, I would rather gamble on him coming around than hoping for a "Crede" miracle in terms of Rowand resuscitating his career at this late stage. From a physical standpoint, I can't see how his body would even stand up for very long with everyday play in CF. The problem is that he doesn't have the offensive game to man a corner outfield spot, and he's definitely not a speedy/slappy leadoff hitter either.

I think you could make an equally compelling argument for Terry Ryan of the Twins being the best overall GM in the game, if you took his payroll limitations, the Pohlads and a smaller-revenue producing stadium into account. Heck, the Twins were almost vanquished from baseball and they went on to win 6 out of 9 division titles and they were a coin flip away from 7/9. Almost every single player that contributed to the 2010 Twins' team was put in place by Ryan, with the exception of Delmon Young's monster year. In the end, the DY trade turned out to be something of a bust for them. Luckily, Bill Smith has turned out to be a bottom third GM so far in his tenure. Of course, in Friedman's defense, the Rays have a much higher bar to get across with the Yankees and Red Sox, there's no doubt about that. But I would definitely take Ryan and Friedman over Beane. Seems Beane needs to see what he could do with a higher-revenue team in order to really prove how good a GM he could actually be. Perhaps, like KW, he "peaked" in the Hudson/Zito/Mulder/Tejada/Chavez days and his best years are firmly behind him in the rearview mirror.

If Peavy would have limited it to 4 runs in the first inning.... Well, we still have a 25% chance of coming back and winning this, because the Twins' bullpen is so horrible. DJ predicting a Rios homer? Hahahaha!!!

Morel actually would be more productive with the "lift and pull" approach of Ramirez/Quentin/Rios/Beckham arguably. Game over in DET.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 02:28 PM) If Beckham still has significant trade value left, you have got to look into dealing him this offseason. He's another year away from full-out bust territory. Only to a team that has a very solid offense at most positions and needs to solidify its infield defense.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 02:25 PM) Really, I don't think anyone is calling KW stupid for letting Betemit go. If they are, I'll call them stupid. The revolving door of Fields, Teahen, Vizquel, Viciedo and Morel at 3B has made KW look stupid enough, as is. Would have been better had we just kept Uribe after 2008 on a two-year contract.

Getz singles, 20th steal of season. On second base with 2 outs now and at least a chance to tie it.

It's fitting that yet another former Sox player (Betemit) has come back to make KW look stupid... Thankfully, we don't see Hudson in our division. Can't imagine if he pitched against us and beat us so frequently as Verlander, Sabathia, Santana, Liriano, etc. Too bad Tyler won't get to play enough to catch Morel in RBI's, lol.

Game basically over in Detroit unless KC can somehow score off Valverde. 2 two-out doubles. Detroit deserves the division, plain and simple. And Ozzie/KW basically just gave it to them by not making any changes to the roster or line-up.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 02:15 PM) Next Year Pierre in LF? Viciedo at DH or LF or RF or 3B Quentin in LF or RF or DH Konerko at 1B Beckham at 2B Ramirez at SS Morel ? at 3B AJP or Flowers C De Aza in CF Who are you trading Rios for? Chone Figgins? Barry Zito?

Sure, trade your 2nd fastest bat in Viciedo for the slowest bat in the majors. Makes sense, Ozzie. Go for it. Play Dunn and Rios. I dare you.

Tie game in Detroit. Alex Gordon dove for it and just missed it...this time "clutch anti-Dunn" Martinez comes through.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 02:08 PM) With Danks, the Sox should give them their best and last offer for a contract extension this offseason. If he says no, then you have to trade him. You can't afford to let him go to free agency, as the Sox will be outbid for him and honestly, getting two draft picks doesn't mean much to this organization. Kind of like KW's rationalizing a Jon Adkins acquisition was about as good as draft picks for Ray Durham. But hey, we saved a lot of money to watch Willie Harris struggle as a starter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 02:04 PM) Will Boston really be in the market for SP after 2012? Buchholz and Lester sorta give them a lot of depth. They'll lose Dice K from the payroll by then. Lackey's deal probably goes forever. Then you have Josh Beckett and the ageless Wakefield. Leadoff triple for Jackson, 4/4 today. Would have been nice if Gordon could have rebounded in 2011 like he did in 2010 and like Austin Jackson did this year in the 2nd half. 4-3 lead now for the Royals. Not counting on their bullpen holding up.