caulfield12

Does anyone think the starts on short rest are catching up with Buerhle now? I know Mark wouldn't use that as an excuse, but his pitches just weren't quite as crisp as I've seen before...his fastball averaged 84-87, usually, he's a tick faster. I just hope we can get starts for both Danks and Floyd in the post-season, it's going to be a great experience for both of them moving forward I think.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 08:29 PM) Hell, a week from now we'll probably be pretty darn content with how the season went. But personally, and I hate to say it, I blame Quentin's stupidity... Even with Quentin, we never matched up very well with the Rays. I also think Uribe is showing us why a healthy Crede is so dearly missed at this time of year. Finally, we don't have that one dominating presence in Contreras, where you just felt every start from August of 05 through May/June of 06 that it was inevitable the White Sox would somehow win. The Cubs and Angels are showing that no matter how well you do in the regular season, you can get knocked out so quickly you can't even comprehend what just hit you.

I love Thornton, as long as he doesn't come in with runners on base or have to pitch more than an inning or so. He's been solid this year, with a few blips on the radar screen, but very good. Unfortunately, we're spending so much money on Linebrink, Dotel and MacDougal...because our minor league system couldn't produce anything better than Wasserman and Russell. However, this season is a far cry from Jerry Owens, Josh Fields and Andy Gonzalez, thank God. Things were so bleak last year.

The White Sox obviously match up better with the Rays in Chicago. But it's no mistake that we're 4-18 now in dome games and turf. Our team is not constructed in a way to win those games. The players who would fare just as well on artificial turf as grass are probably Ramirez and maybe Cabrera. Brian Anderson, once again, showed me pretty much nothing and he's never going to be the starting CFer for the Chicago White Sox...maybe Couch will write that tonight, but I doubt it needs to be said.

Fire away! I'm not really even upset, I haven't been able to get tense like the 3rd game in Minnesota or the one game playoff against the Twins. I think our Sox just left everything in Chicago, and any momentum we had was squandered by Vazquez. All things considered, we're just not as good as the other three playoff teams, who have better starting pitching (at least none of them would have to start Vazquez), speed, fundamentals and especially the middle relievers. Pitching and defense in the playoffs >>> Softball approach

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 08:08 PM) Not bad. How about: trade Quentin for Lincecum trade Thome for _________________? sign Manny DH Manny, keep Dye in RF How many AL teams would want Thome, and could afford his contract? When's the last time we signed someone for the kind of money Ramirez will make? Albert Belle? That didn't work out so well. No way we give $20 million plus to Manny Ramirez. That's insane.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 08:04 PM) Fire sale? We should have won 78 games this year, but instead, we won 89. We have to keep Dye, Konerko, Swisher (well, we don't HAVE to, but we will), Alexei, Danks, Buehrle, Jenks, Thornton, Linebrink, Carrasco, Quentin, and AJ, and then a few more guys I'm not thinking of off the top of my head. Unfortunately, Thome has that dopey clause in his contract. I think we should bring in Uribe, trade for a 3B (Mora, Beltre, etc.), hopefully Q stays healthy for a season, get Brian Roberts, and trade for/sign a CF'er. I wish we could get a guy like Manny to DH, but again, we have Thome, and KW would never want Manny (along with many on this board). And, if we do trade Thome and don't want Manny, get someone to play RF and DH Dye. Bring in Uribe? What does that mean? Have him player even closer to home, so he won't stop any balls from getting past him?

We are not as good as the Rays, Red Sox or Angels. What's the surprise here? We showed some cajones to get to the playoffs, and hopefully we can take at least one game, but we're not close to being in their league. Notice the difference between the Rays' bullpen and ours?

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:57 PM) Didn't we already spend a zillion dollars to do #1 this year? Total agreement with #2 in your comment. Maybe we can obtain JP Howell. Howell is a former Royal. We get four from their pen and have almost no luck (Carrasco was good earlier in the season). But Howell was absolutely horrible and completely lost in KC...they simply gave up on him too quickly.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:55 PM) Ugh...Ozzie's decision to leave Buehrle in for this inning was just pathetic. Well, bringing in Thornton to face the likes of Upton and Longoria doesn't make much sense either. If I was Ozzie, I would have more confidence in Buerhle than anyone in our crappy bullpen.

QUOTE (DonkeyKongerko @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:52 PM) Can I play? Our 2nd baseman makes a silly error. Japanese 2B hits the game winning homerun. Ummm...Ramirez is one of the main reasons we're here. Our offense is the reason we lost this game, period. Buerhle was probably going to give up a run that inning, anway. We had Kazmir on the ropes in the first three innings and we let him escape.

At least the idea of Brian Anderson being the savior of anything is over. Realistically, we have a healthy Joe Crede, I think he comes through with one of those clutch hits in Uribe's spot. Their pitching has just been better than our hitting, especially with RISP.

Pitch count up to 83. He should have no more than 2 innings left. Of course, the Rays' bullpen isn't chopped liver. We just can't seem to get that big hit so far this series....Uribe, Konerko, Dye. They've all had chances to break this game open and couldn't get it done.

Can Anderson swing the bat please? He looks like he is just trying to take a walk every time up there.

Well, if nothing else, we've elevated Kazmir's pitch count into the mid 60's already. Would certainly be nice if Konerko or Uribe would have come through. Kazmir seems to be missing something, his control, his fastball is off 2-3 MPH. Either we put together a big inning or take their bullpen apart in the middle innings.

According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins are interested in free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Christensen guesses Cabrera could receive a three-year, $30MM contract this winter. Cabrera, 34 in November, hit .281/.334/.371 in 730 plate appearances. He has a reputation as a strong defensive shortstop, though the plus/minus system says he made just one more play than the average shortstop this year. He's much better on balls hit to his left than his right. I like that the Twins seem willing to throw around a little cash, but Cabrera seems a questionable target. Rafael Furcal is risky too, but at least there's upside. from mlbtraderumors.com

This is NOTHING compared to past White Sox controversies since the Ozzie Era began in 2004. Seriously, if the White Sox are MORE intimidated by the fans today, then they don't deserve to be on the same field (like the Cubs are demonstrating by their play). I expect a much different atmosphere today, more nervousness in the fans...because they realize how important this game is for advancing. Win, and they can look forward to another match-up with the Red Sox in all probability. Although I wouldn't be surprised if we took one or maybe even both games in Chicago to send it back down to Florida for a final game.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 04:05 PM) I have to disagree with his comment that the joy surrounding this team, beating three teams in three thrilling days to get here, is gone. I mean yeah, we lost game one, but that's still better than sitting at home. Agreed...we're playing on a surface where we have an abysmal winning percentage, with our #4 starter. And the home field advantage has been paramount this season, not to mention the White Sox had/have the worst winning percentage (overall) on the road as well. If you want to talk about the joy being gone, you should go to Anaheim and the North Side. They have more reasons to be upset than South Side fans. No matter what any writer tries to say, we've successfully eviscerated the ghost of Minnesota demons of the past, and anything positive we can take out of this series (Wise, Richard yesterday) will only help us in 2009. By my saying that, I'm not convinced that Wise will even be with the team, or that Richard will be much more than Nick Masset as the long guy out of the pen and 2nd lefty option after Matty.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 03:55 PM) It's a shame the Sox don't have a few higher end pitching prospects. If they had another arm or two outside of Poreda, I really think you could see a match. Remember, Cashman and Williams have a very good working relationship. One name to consider is Swisher. It's a forgone conclusion in NY that Giambi is gone, and the Yanks OF situation certainly isn't set in stone. We could pry Melky Cabrera away now, but not Cano. He's the type of player that KW targets...someone who used to be in high demand, still young, but with the potential to turn things around. Cano just doesn't fit the profile of the normal KW find...he's been a great player and an All-Star. The only similarity is he's coming off a very disappointing year.

QUOTE (watchtower41 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 04:16 PM) Any word on Pena? Pena's in the line-up tonight. The only real change is we'll see Baldelli in the starting line-up this time.

QUOTE (scenario @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 10:56 AM) For all the complaints about the Sox being a softball team that can't score runs without hitting homers... How does adding a guy with a .300 OBP (that can occasionally knock the ball out of the park if he connects) really help us? Isn't that just more of the same 'ol that everyone curses at the Sox for? We've got bangers. We need more people who can get on base in front of them... and people not prone to going into long early season slumps. If we had Young back here, I could just picture it... people would be piling on calling him an outfield version of Uribe. Adios Chris Young... and take your 'legend' with you. All those things said... 1) Young is a very good defensive CFer, minus a plus arm 2) He can definitely go 1st to 3rd on singles, and 1st to home on doubles 3) He has a lot more upside than Nick Swisher, because Swisher isn't a natural CFer 4) A better comparison with Uribe would be Brian Anderson, if he was to play on an everday basis...except Anderson would hit 15-18 homers, not 30+.

I guess it comes down to whether we'd be better off with someone like Byrd, Maddux or Washburn than Vazquez next season. Anthony Reyes and Blanton were out there...Chad Gaudin. Not very much to get overly excited about. But that's the state of pitching in the game today. To the Twins, Washburn (and his contract), was definitely not worth parting with for either Blackburn or Perkins.

Cashman's not dumb. You don't trade someone with that talent (Justin Upton would be another example) based on one down/disappointing year, lack of hustle, lethargic play, etc. The guy should/could be competing for the batting title year after year. It's not as if Poreda is even one of the consensus Top 50 minor league prospects in baseball. It will take a lot more than Poreda.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 08:50 AM) The only thing that you could get on Ozzie for is if he calls pitch selection and/or not pinch hitting Swisher for Uribe. It really wasnt a game where managers decided it, more was decided by the players on the field, and in this case the Sox being unable to score runs with 2 outs versus the Rays being able to. Who were you planning to play 3B if you pinch-hit in the 7th? You'd have a subpar defender, on turf, for at least two and maybe more innings. Uribe is a very good fastball hitter, and Swisher, with the lack of playing time, I don't know how he's going to get Balfour. Yes, he got Zumaya, but that was when he was getting regular AB's.

We're not the Red Sox. With Ramirez's success and so many erroneous scouting reports projecting him as a fringe player or utility guy, every team will look over all these prospects with a fine tooth comb. No scouts want to be made to look foolish twice in a row. The Ramirez contract might turn out to be the best bargain in sports over the life of it. We're not going to easily unearth another diamond in the rough this time.