caulfield12

http://dailyherald.com/article/20110731/sports/707319804/ This pretty well sums it up nicely enough.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:50 PM) If Kuhn finishes strong, I want him up in September playing LF and leading off every day. Assuming the Sox will be 8-10 games out by then. I'm not so sure Kuhn will even get a chance to play for the Sox this year. Probably not. Viciedo, DeAza, Milledge and Jordan Danks will all be given at-bats first. Kuhn has a much better shot to get extended time in the Arizona Fall League to see exactly how legit he is...and what, if any, permanent position he might be best suited for.

GO Pirates! Go Indians! Rooting for both those teams. Diamondbacks as well. They play the game the way it's supposed to be played. And I hope the Braves learn that you have to be willing to "think bigger" at the deadline than what they did. They're a mirror image of the Angels in terms of risk-aversion, especially after the TEX deal to the Rangers burned them.

Swisher, Beckham, Rios and Dunn are the main ones. Teahen was never any good in the first place. That was a huge reach by Williams. Peavy, it's pitching in the AL outside of PetCo Park and having lost his stuff (especially the slider) due to a once-in-a-decade freak injury that's at least partially attributable to the way he was handled by the Sox from the time of the trade. But most of it was simply bad mechanics in the first place.

"(Dunn's) a good guy, a very, very good guy. He's going through a tremendous slump," Thomas said. "He's never seen anything like this. No one else has. He's going to come out of it. "I told him the other day, 'It's OK to punch in a single every now and then. If they want to shift on you, punch the ball through the shortstop. There's nothing wrong with it.' " And Rios, who played with Thomas in Toronto? "Right now, he's fighting himself," Thomas said. "I would change that stance. We talked about it the other day. There's nothing wrong with going in the cage and messing around with it." So is there a hitting coach career in Thomas' future? "We'll see. One of these years ... you never know," he said. Wonder how Walker feels about this? I remember when they got Rios in 2009, Walker was very clear they weren't going to try anything to change him in mid-season...that the whole focus was going to be on the offseason and spring training 2010. He seems so wedded to that awful stance, but the hand position/s, stepping into the bucket, pulling his head, UGH. With that frame, he should be generating big-time power and yet now he's nothing more than a more inept version of Brian Anderson offensively with an even surlier attitude and sense of self-worth. Maybe that's what happens to anyone who thinks he deserves $12.5 million per season just for merely showing up to work each day. www.chicagotribune.com/sports

One pitch pitchers (even a 95-97 MPH fastball) in their mid 30's making over $5 million a season (going forward with the extension) aren't in as huge a demand as we thought.

Or Jordan Danks. Or Milledge. If you want Lastings Milledge over Rios to improve the morale in the clubhouse, you know you've got problems out the ying-yang.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:46 PM) With the game so long and Dunn and Rios back to back in the 9th, we made our way down the LF line to get a Lance Johnson jump to the Red Line as soon as the final out was recorded. That we did, making our way down the ramp quickly, but who had a better Lance Johnson jump out of USCF than us? It was KW. He had as little faith in his high priced "sluggers" as I did. He does have a sweet silver Benz though. Dealer plates. Was KW "on point" too? "I love to watch Lance/Ray Ray/Sugar Ray (or KW) run." Hawk Harrelson Oh, to have a good CFer again. Those were the days. He was my favorite player back then.

It would be logical to assume that Danks and Buehrle have had enough of our offense the last couple of seasons to drive them both to other teams. Anyone would be driven to drink watching Beckham, Teahen and Rios for the past two seasons and now Dunn (and Pierre the first half) this year. It's infuriating for us watching or listening at home, imagine being in that clubhouse everyday? We've been dealing with the same exact issues for roughly two full seasons...or 3, if you want to count 2009's "lost season" and they have to be exasperated to see not a single change with our offensive philosophy or coaching staff. And pitching on eggshells probably hasn't helped Humber at all the last month. We just have no choice to hope and pray that Humber and Peavy can somehow turn things around, but reasons for optimism are dwindling at this point.

QUOTE (jenksfart @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 08:50 PM) at soxtalk? the dark skinned guy, of course. I really wish I could take back all my rants about Brian Anderson over the years. Or Mark Teahen. Because BA would look like Torii Hunter Jr. compared to Rios offensively the last three seasons (with the exception of 2-3 months of steady line drives in 2010). APR 2011 480 OPS MAY 2010 630 OPS JUNE 2010 685 OPS JULY 2010 382 OPS APR 2010 796 OPS MAY 2010 1.106 OPS JUNE 2010 760 OPS JULY 2010 735 OPS AUG 2010 712 OPS SEP 2010 645 OPS AUG 2009 604 OPS SEP 2009 480 OPS Brian Anderson's Career OPS is 660. Alex Rios has failed to produce that 660 OPS mark for 6 of his months playing for us (out of 12 total). And BA could have put up a 685 easily enough. It's crazy to say we would have been better off keeping Anderson as our starting CFer, but financially, it would have made sense. In reality, something that to be done. But it's still maddening that we've reached this point of no return. Fathom has pointed out numerous times the plan for him to be the leadoff hitter in 2012. If that happens, well...I just won't know what to say other than feeling sorry for any fans who actually choose to spend their hard-earned dollars attending the games in person.

Just waiting for Moneyball 2 when all those former White Sox players lead the A's to the World Series. Not counting on it happening. Might need the DBacks to send Chris Young and Hudson that direction, first.

Alexei and Rios really have regressed defensively, compared to last year. Pierre, we all know about. Thankfully, with all the stats out there now, I'm hopeful someone won't express the "well, we're the best in the AL in fielding percentage argument." Even our own scouts are telling other teams it's not actually true. Morel and Alexei, for all their abilities, have still messed up a number of routine plays. But especially Alexei. And Brent's a rookie...so I'll leave him alone for now. Ramirez is 29 or 30, this should be the prime of his career, and he's regressing again. And Morel (whenever he makes some positive contributions) will probably be benched tomorrow for some random reason, just to start Vizquel. This season is just so annoying. We won't give DeAza any chance against lefties when he was hitting over 300 in Charlotte in those situations. We didn't play Lillibridge when he was hot, and now he's getting more playing time when he's completely lost up there with his swing. Same with Viciedo. KW has done about 3 things right the last 18-24 months. Humber, Santos and NOT resigning Bobby Jenks. Clearly, Thornton didn't have the offspeed stuff or the right mentality/make-up to be the closer either, and we had to go through that devastating early 4-18 reversal in order to find that out. Yeah, yeah...it would have SEEMED crazy to name either Sergio or Chris Sale as the guy coming into 2011 (both) with so little experience, but that's what the scouts would have argued.

He should now add Guillen and KW to that 9.whatever unemployment rate.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:58 PM) Like this one. 8) We're going to regret not trading Quentin, Danks, Floyd, Ramirez and Thornton when we had a chance...the payoff in the offseason won't be as good. We have no idea what was really offered on the other side. Our source is media speculation. So I consider that statement ignorance at the Phil Rogers level. Of course we can trade them whenever we want...but the timing on this season sucks. If we would have played the Twins instead the Tigers the last 2 weeks, we would have probably ended up selling off some pieces. We in the process would have expedited the process of starting to look at Stewart and Sale as starters and Dayan as well. The Indians and Tigers both made moves to improve, and we stood pat or went backwards, really, because Humber and Peavy might not last the season. Humber due to the increase in workload, Peavy because....well, we all know this soap opera plotline by now. I'd love to imagine in some fantasy world we keep Danks/Buehrle/Floyd/Quentin/Thornton and have a similar payroll heading into 2012, but does anyone really believe that's going to happen? The excuse will be that the fans didn't support the team....downward revenue projections and declining season ticket renewals...blah blah blah, so we're cutting the payroll down to the $105-115 million neighborhood. I could be really pessimistic and say $95-105 million but with Rios/Dunn/Peavy/Konerko/Floyd/Danks/AJ/Quentin/Ramirez/Thornton/Danks....that's already $70-85 million committed right there. The numbers just don't add up.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 06:01 PM) I'd rather have tossed some of these players just to get a different look out there. It's going to be a struggle watching the next two months. This team is just so annoying. Paul Konerko is the only reason I tune in any more, since I owe him that much. (PS - hopefully his leg is alright). X-Rays were negative. Normally, with Ozzie, if a player's pulled from a game due to injury, they will sit the next day, too. Which probably means we're left with only a Carlos Quentin "lift and pull" solo homer in terms of our offensive threats against Sabathia. Unless CC decides to throw Gordon a change-up/curve/slider.

QUOTE (Mattchoo @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:55 PM) I agree with everything except about the part where Alexei Ramirez should be a top SS. I'm probably the only one, but I feel he is an average to above average short stop. I roll my eyes every time I hear a comment indicating that he is so great.... IMO he is serviceable. If I was a GM, I'd pay him $5-$7M annually at the very most for him. Of course our GM is going to be paying him $10M in '14 and '15 Which is why he should be traded sooner rather than later. In response to a previous post...what if he's a Satan-worshipping Michael Bolton fan? And has a ponytail? Or looks like Colin Farrell's character in Horrible Bosses and does coke in the USCF bathrooms?

Kenny Williams

It is when you use the last pitcher in your bullpen against Adrian Gonzalez in the late innings when you're only down 4-3.

I actually thought first of the former White Sox minor league relief pitcher (Josh Fields)....maybe he came from the Giants?

1) Tyler Flowers is never, ever going to be the starting catcher for the Chicago White Sox. That passed ball was inexcusable. Without it, the game would have been tied 3-3 in the late innings. You have to block that pitch, turn your glove to get under it...just lazy or horrible fundamentals/indecision. You can tell Ozzie doesn't trust him, as AJ has played in, what, 27 consecutive games? If the runners were kept at 1st/2nd, then Pedroia's single/"double" leads to just that one run and the Gonzalez grounder to 2B probably ends up in a double play and out of the inning. 2) Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham need a new hitting coach. Beckham will never, ever be able to hit any fastball over 92-93 MPH. If they won't change out Greg Walker, they should just send Beckham to AAA so that he can totally re-engineer his swing with a different coach/perspective. Everyone knows the mechanical issues with the loop/hitch. It sucks sucks sucks we didn't trade him for Adrian Gonzalez when we could have. If we had Gonzo and Konerko, then no Dunn as well. 3) Dunn should never be hitting 3-4-5 against LHP. He will strike out either 3 or 4 times against Sabathia tomorrow night, and undoubtedly the White Sox will be 3 games under .500 and within a week of getting wiped out unofficially in Minnesota. 4) Alex Rios, a game after making one of the most lackadaisically inept plays in the history of outfield play, did something similar today. The only reason it wasn't so glaring is because the run didn't eventually score. On Pedroia's single to LCF, Rios ONCE AGAIN made a horrible throw to the wrong place and let Dustin LASER LIGHT SHOW end up on 2nd base. Inexcusable fundamentals. We don't hold any of the veterans on this team responsible...just lip service. Everyone just does whatever they want to do. Alexei Ramirez could be one of the best overall SS's in the game and he just consistently has bad at-bats with runners in scoring position. What happened to the Ramirez of 2008? Yeah, I know he got a single today to drive in the go-ahead run, but he should be a GREAT player, and he's just a very good one. 5) Chris Sale has been excellent, but we need to begin his career as a starter beginning as soon as next week. 6) There's just ZERO EXCUSE why your 3rd lefty is facing Adrian Gonzalez with only a 4-3 lead in the late innings. PATHETIC. HORRIBLE. We were remarking last night, why the heck are they wasting Thornton in a meaningless came, and of course it came back to bite Ozzie in the butt. 7) Welcome, Yankees fans!! It must be embarassing to JR and KW that your own home fans were drowned out by cries of YOUK and "boos" for Alex Rios and Adam Dunn moreso than cheers. Get ready for four more games that continue to exhibit how very few White Sox fans are willing to be pay exorbidant, sky high, jacked up ticket prices for what is a clearly inferior product. 8) We're going to regret not trading Quentin, Danks, Floyd, Ramirez and Thornton when we had a chance...the payoff in the offseason won't be as good. Quentin and Danks will both be 2 months closer to free agency. Quentin and Ramirez are never going to get any better in terms of situational hitting with Greg Walker. 9) I'm officially changing my position on Rick Hahn as of today. I heard from a former Harvard Law School classmate of his that he was the biggest, yuppiest Cubs fan in the world and also known as the hugest prick possible in his group. Say what you want about Guillen and Williams, at least they've always bled White Sox Black. Goodbye, you're out with Williams and Guillen. Never can I stomach a Cubs fan running the White Sox.

28,278 Disappointing they didn't get at least 30K.

100 pitches....great play by Lillibridge at a new position, glad Teahen's not over there. Crain warming up. Crawford will be running soon. Just keep him off 3rd.

Great play by Morel. It's just a shame that Rios/Dunn/Beckham are so offensively challenged or we could really be patient with this kid. Unfortunately, every single player in that line-up's pressing because those guys aren't coming through enough. Indians with yet another run in the last 3 innings. 4-3 now with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th. Soria's got to be freaking out knowing he's coming in again versus the Cardiac/Comeback Kids.

Diamondbacks got Brad Ziegler from the A's. That really will solidify their bullpen. We'll see if the Braves can hold everyone off now.

So Pierre/Quentin/Dunn/Rios? Murderer's Row, 2011 Version.