caulfield12

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.

Who would you look at for fifth starter next year? I'm already penciling Richard in at #4, lol. 1) Broadway 2) Carrasco 3) Horacio Ramirez 4) Vazquez 5) FA 6) Trade 7) Poreda 8) Egbert 9) Haeger 10) Sisco 11) MacDougal

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 08:09 AM) http://www.baseball-reference.com/y/youngch04.shtml it's a wash trade as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, you save money with Young, but the Sox are a top 10 payroll team, so Javy's contract won't cripple them. Javy is fine as a 4-5 starter and Young is an average offensive player with plus defense He was the #12 MLB CFer in terms of OPS, and that doesn't really take into account/factor in stolen bases and his defensive abilities (minus the arm). And this was admittedly a downer/disappointing season for Young and the D-Backs. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/battin...ull&minpa=0

QUOTE (BlackBetsy @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:44 AM) +4. I love it when you analyze. Free up $11.5 million for Vazquez, $4.5 million for Uribe, $8 million for Cabrera and $5 million for Crede and you've got $29 million. If insurance pays off 60% of Contreras, you've got $35 million. Even with raises to folks like Jenks, Swisher etc., the Sox would have a bunch of money to spend in the offseason if they wanted to keep the budget flat (I'm assuming they do). I think the Sox will have to pay Thome his full salary next year (i.e., he gets a $8 million increase from the payroll perspective as Philly will not contribute another $8 million to the option year), so my guess is that they have probably $20 million or so to throw at free agents if they dumb Vazquez, Uribe, Crede & Cabrera. That will land them pretty much any of the big names on the market, or even two lesser names. Think Orlando Hudson at $8 million or so and Jon Garland at $11 million. 1) Who would be interested in Vazquez, assuming we basically give him away to the top bidder? 2) If we let Uribe go, is Getz then our "supersub" or do we find another player through trade or FA? Bring Ozuna back? Find another Cuban, lol? 3) Is there serious consideration being given to either Anderson or Fields ever being regular players for the Sox again? 4) Would we really want Garland back? Would he even want to come back? 5) Would anyone be interested in signing Freddy Garcia again...if his contract was almost 100% incentives-based? 6) What if Cabrera is offered arbitration and accepts it? What then, lol? It will be like Kiffin and Al Davis! Doubt that happens, though. 7) Who's the starting 3B if you shed Uribe and sign Hudson and a pitcher? 8) Where do you put Ramirez next year? SS seems the most logical, since it's easier to find a 2B more cheaply and his offensive potential is a huge net plus coming from that position.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:30 AM) Thank you very much Jermaine Dye, Shingo Takatsu, and Tadahito Iguchi for keeping up from signing Fukudome. KW offered him the most money, but he wanted to only play RF and play on a team where no other Japanese player had played before. I was pissed we didn't get him to play center but turns out we got lucky he didn't sign with us. And about the CBY trade, Javy is our 4th best starter. Compare him to other #4 starters in the league, and I think it is definitely good we have him, and he still takes the ball every five days, even if it seems to be reluctantly. We win one game in the Metrodome, and then we get to set up our rotation, and then he doesnt have to pitch until Game 4, it was the Sox fault he had to pitch game 1. And I have no doubt Young has the potential to be a star, but right now he would be the last thing this team needs in the lineup, another guy who doesn't get on base very often and seems to constantly swing for the fences. But, if KW can come up with Danks and Floyd, who's to say he can't find two better options with $20 million plus that would be going to Vazquez and Contreras? We are so lucky to have Floyd and Danks at reasonable payroll levels, they are the ONLY things that make Vazquez and Contreras and Buehrle a possibility in the rotation. That said, we had about $55 million sunk in Buehrle, Garcia, Contreras, Garland and El Duque...which is just TOO much for any team, except for the top 2-3 payrolls in MLB. We can rationalize that Vazquez is okay as an innings-eater and 4th/5th starter, but at $11.5 million, there simply are too many better and more logical options out there, whether through trade or FA.

Kind of an aside, but this is a very interesting article, FWIW. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...tors/index.html BP tried to measure the factors that most account for post-season success, and rated defense, closer and strikeout pitching/pitchers as the three most important individual categories/predictors. Actually, our rating was just ahead of TB and sixth in the majors. Of course, our weakest point is defense and speed. (Although Javier is probably our biggest "asset" in these rankings as a strikeout pitcher, yet anyone who's watched him for 3 seasons knows those numbers always come with caveats). If we put a line-up out there with Crede (healthy), Uribe at SS, Ramirez at 2B, Swisher at 1B, Anderson in CF...with Dye and Quentin on the corners, we'd be in much better shape. But then we'd lose Konerko's offensive numbers, which wouldn't be offset by the defensive gain by having Swisher there. We just don't have any easy answers at the corner outfield spots and with AJ's throwing (although 50% relates to Floyd/Contreras/Jenks, Vazquez doing a horrible job of holding runners on or paying attention to them once they reach).

Anyone pretty happy about right now we weren't able to sign Fukudome? That one definitely went KW's way. If Piniella has a doghouse this late in the season, Kosiuke definitely just found his way there.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 07:50 AM) Relaxed. I had zero expectations of them making the playoffs to begin the season. I thought they were finished this time last week. I'll be excited if they advance, and I'll be more nervous if they are playing an elimination game. But other than that, I'm just enjoying seeing the Sox play some October baseball this year. If you add that on top of all of the positives this year (Buehrle back on track, Floyd and Danks really stepping up, strong AL MVP and ROY contenders in Quentin and Alexi), it's a good season no matter how it ends. I'm not one of those fans happier if the Cubs lose than the White Sox win...but watching yesterday's defensively fiasco unfold was sweet. They've now lost 8 games in a row in the playoffs. Pretty incredible. All season long, the talk was if the White Sox would be good enough to make the playoffs and face the Cubs? The question now is how bad will all the Cubs' fans feel if we advance at least one series, or, heaven forbid, get back into the World Series again. I think we have about a 30-35% chance of winning this series, which was right around the odds for us to take the AL Central after last Saturday's Vazquez disaster. Thankfully, John Danks was embarassed by his Friday effort and wanted to hide from the world, while Vazquez, once again, is acting like it was no big deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Kazmir threw a shutout, and I wouldn't be surprised if we won either. Its been that kind of a season, all year long. Almost no consistency from game-to-game, except for the pitching in our three elimination games being stellar, and our bullpen handling the job as well.

Knowing what he knows now? Would the White Sox be in better shape with Chris Young for the next five years than Brian Anderson in CF...? Do you consider the trade to be Young/Vizcaino/Carter for Vazquez, money and Carlos Quentin (one of the reasons Quentin was dealt was due to Young's 2007 season)? Young's salary (because of the pre-emptive five year deal he signed) for the following years: $1.75 million in 2009, $3.25 million in 2010, $5 million in 2011, $7 million in 2012 and $8.5 million in 2013. Can we bet a better CFer for the same amount of money? Can we consider the trade a success, because we made the playoffs with Javier on the team? Can the D-Backs also consider it a success already, after last season? How much did not having Vizcaino on the team hurt in 06? I almost got the feeling that KW wanted to make this trade work so badly, that he gave Javier another contract, which is now looking quite questionable...and I guess we could say the same thing for Contreras, although Jose's deal was also a little bit about "reward" for 05/06 also. Personally, because we've had such poor luck developing homegrown players that have major league impacts, I really would have liked to hold onto Young. Yes, he strikes out too much. Yes, he doesn't have a very good arm. Yes, he has a low OBP. The closest player we've had (recently) to Young was Mike Cameron, and we also traded him, interestingly enough. You have to go back to Buehrle/Crede/Rowand, then Ordonez/Carlos Lee....and Ray Durham, that's about the sum total of players we've developed in our system the last 15 years, in terms of players that have had huge impacts on the major league roster.

I have a sense that if we held the lead to two runs (I think Clayton gave up a single up the middle to Crawford) that we would have been in a much better position to come back and win. (Of course, overall, Clayton pitched a wonderful game). The TB pitching staff is too good...with the exception of Wheeler and Howell, I'm convinced they are vulnerable. I remember when the Royals drafted him, and I saw him pitch in KC, most of his pitches were 82-85 and I thought of the White Sox drafting Broadway and McCulloch in the late first round as well. But, lo and behold, there's a former Royals relief pitcher (not named Carrasco, Ramirez, MacDougal, Sisco) who's gone out there and had a very good season. Howell, with his stuff (what was Harold Reynolds talking about???), is never going to get it done as a starter, but he's very good (I think of him and Jamie Walker in a similar vein) in his role.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 06:37 AM) I think Javy's performances remind people every day of that garbage. One difference, the Sox weren't paying that garbage $11.5 million a year like they are the current collection of rubbish. At least with Richard, Poreda...maybe even Broadway and Carrasco, you have a HOPE they can get it done. The results don't see foreordained before the game even begins.