caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 07:42 PM) Tampa has a pretty damn good pen with Soriano anchoring them. They're the best team in the AL, IMO. And Soriano's fastball has really been down this year. Only 91-92. He used to throw REALLY hard when he first came up with the M's, not unlike Sweaty Freddy.

There's a snowball's chance in hell they permanently move Thompson up to High A before the All-Star break, no matter what he does. He's just too raw.

I'm not trying to argue/fight...just want someone to answer with their honest opinion. Why did Uribe completely regress offensively after his first season with us? Did he tune out those who tried to talk to him and get him to change his approach/swing? That doesn't sound like Uribe, it's more Nick Swisher-esque.

I wasn't attempting to say that's where they'll finish, that's just the up-to-date number for that stretch. Although plus or minus 4 wouldn't be a very bad guess if you're a gambling man. You do have to admit that 2006 second half and 2007 really took the wind out of the sails for those fans who fair-weathered into WHITE SOX NATION after 2005...

Okay....rephrase: Who has the best potential to be still holding a roster spot with the White Sox in 2015 of our AA/AAA pitchers?

Is it fair to say that Shirek and Santeliz have the best "potential" to make contributions to the Sox this season? Along with Threets as the LHR?

Josh Kroeger leading Kotsay in jacks 2-1. Eventually, he might be the replacement. Danks with a strange line, R, RBI, BB. That'll work. Gartrell 3/3, threatening to replace Juan Pierre. Joking again...and Brent Lillibridge sporting 765 OPS so far.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 01:00 PM) How does Beckham lose a ton of RBI opportunities if he's moved up 1 spot in the lineup (Rios on the other hand might lose a few)? It's the same guys hitting in front of him, the only difference is he'll have no one on in front of him in the first inning as opposed to the 20% he's gotten thus far this year. Last year our top 2 #2 hitters (Alexei and Gordon) knocked in someone other than themselves only 4 times in the first inning. No one would have to change their game if moved to the top of the lineup, this is the American League, just go up there and do what you do best, whatever that may be and enjoy the increase in plate appearances. Not always true. Moving to leadoff seemed to really get to Swisher and throw his game off totally. Rios is a pro, but not sure I want to mess with either him or Beckham by putting that kind of pressure on them. O-Cab managed to adjust as well and was a much better hitter in the 2nd half of 2008. It really ate up Wise, Owens, Lillibridge, etc. Of course, they were never very good to begin with, slight problem with that strategy.

1/2 with a walk. Still in mid 450 range. 7 SB. Amazing, the announcers noticed he had a "one way" lead that wasn't balanced. Recalled the infamous Manny Lee of Blue Jays fame, how he drew a ton of throws without being a big stolen base threat because of his exaggerated lead. Wonder why that was so hard to correct...that seemed to lead to many of his CS, overcommitting too quickly...maybe he is losing a bit of speed and adjusted to compensate and get an extra jump or head start and buy a split advantage on the catcher. Just thrown out stealing...that's the guy we all remember. Don't want to get gunned down with how hot Guillen has been....single.....would have scored Pods, but alas, Juan Pierred.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 12:08 PM) Sanchez has certainly gotten hot over the last few games. Wonder why Shelby isn't playing today. He has been promoted to take Kotsay's spot? Joking.. This just in, Mabee sucks. Trying to jeopardize Shirek's win with multiple walks. Tied 2-2, three walks in one inning trying to hold the one run lead. Miguel Asencio-esque.

Shirek has been pitching very well. 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. Gave up his first earned run of the season, 0.47 ERA and .169 BAA. Sanchez? Maybe he's this year's Maurice Gartrell? Psuedo-prospect who never really gets a shot with the White Sox...2/3, RBI, .393 BA. Turns 25 at the end of the season....didn't Ozzie say something positive about him before? I think he had a homer in one of the ST games I followed, but maybe I was imagining things!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 08:41 AM) Who exactly? I really don't have any idea at this point in the season, to tell the truth. Someone like Jack Cust, Aubrey Huff, Branyan, Dellucci, Geoff Jenkins, Carlos Delgado...I think the realization will set in (when/if Jones tails off) that they're going to need a bit more pop in the middle of the line-up when the weather heats up and balls start flying out of USCF at an alarming rate. Sugar Ray Durham, lol? Elijah Dukes?

Yeah, I guess, in retrospect, that was uncalled for... You can argue all you want about our "fair weather" fanbase, but we've always had a pretty dedicated core of both season ticket holders and corporate box/ticket holders through thick and thin. Ozzie, in 2005/06, the White Sox owned this town....there were articles about paradigm shifts in the fanbases with young fans who saw the championship being swayed to the South Side. Pitching dynasties (second time we heard that, first was when all the young pitchers were coming up together 1999-2001), etc. Now the only way to sustain that 2006 season ticket base was a run of division championships, and 2007 simply killed that, along with the disheartening collapse in the second half of 2006. Mariotti always used to do this...but: 2006 2nd half=-8 2007 -18 2008 +15 (-2 for playoffs) 2009 -4 2010 -4 That's 19-21 games under .500 over a 3 1/2 year stretch. With a $100 million plus bloated payroll. So if you want to blame anyone, blame yourself and KW for giving us mostly boring, underachieving and very mediocre (sometimes unwatchable) teams that were better individual pieces than they were cohesive units with the proper "mix."

Which is why they had no choice but to dump Granderson and Edwin Jackson. And which is why it was curious they went out and acquired Valverde instead of going with Perry or Zumaya as closer, as well as shelling out money to Johnny Damon. The thing is, the Tigers were somehow able to get out from under the Robertson deal....but they have big contracts still for Willis, Inge, Carlos Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Bonderman, now Valverde....before that, Sheffield and Renteria, to name a couple more. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/121409-...randerson-trade

Except there's no way in H-LL that Kotsay would stay in the line-up as a full-time player for very long in June/July unless he was playing well. The team's tanking, there's no future use for him and he'll be replaced by youngsters or another KW acquisition. Also, if the team's not playing well and he's actually hitting, he's merely trade bait. If he's not hitting, he simply will end up on the bench, traded or DFA'ed. If both Kotsay and the White Sox are blazing to glory, then obviously that's the one way he sticks, but the odds are about 1/5 X 1/2 of that happening. Or 10%. Not scientific, lol.

I don't know about profanity-laden. He said "sh--" They can say that on network tv these days, right? I was expecting an Ozzie-esque rant or diatribe, he sounded completely cool and reasonable to me, just like KW has been sounding this week in his quotes.

Wilson Betemit after ST 2009 was the perfect example of not translating results into reality of the regular season. His defensive shortcomings had a lot to do with that, too.

I think baseball purists have an appreciation for the overall talent of the Rays, but how many of them are going to see the game because of that? They're coming off a rare road sweep of the Boston Red Sox in Fenway, that might cause some to stand up and take notice of the opposing team...perhaps. They're a fun team to watch though, compared to many....one of the most exciting squads in baseball these days. I mean, if I was in CLE/TOR/BALT/KC/OAK, I'd much rather see the Rays play than to go to see the White Sox when they came to town, trying to be objective about it. It would be interesting to see our bump in road attendance in 2006 (coming off WS win) compared to some other recent seasons.

Phil Rogers' lastest power rankings. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-sp...19.story?page=2 Noted that Konerko and Braves would be a good (albeit very premature) match in a trade.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox21.article Lots of good Ozzie (I can't say I disagree with anything he said for a change, except our stadium holding 50,000 fans) quotes with some more stuff from KW...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,190323.column Phil Rogers' take on the early season struggles of White Sox, and possible recovery prognosis...

White Sox 4-1 on Monday and Wednesday. BTW, what was the attendance tonight? Just curious. I didn't see it in the box score at MLB.com. 19,260. Hmmmm.....

Yeah, there's no way you can play Kotsay over Jones for now...it wouldn't even be remotely in the proximity of stupid/foolhardy.

We'd be so much better with Crawford than Pierre it wouldn't even be close to funny/

Jenks at even 96 is a huge difference from 92-94...the Billy Koch Effect, I call it.