ILMOU

Sometimes a manager just needs to move on because, as noted above, the players just aren't responding the way you'd hope. It's rare, but a change sometimes DOES turn a team around. It happened just two years ago here in Colorado. Clint Hurdle was obviously such a horrendous manager and Jim Tracy such a genius that we see today why their respective teams are headed in opposite directions. Except it's the other way around. My point is that a new voice, coupled with a healthy dose of guilt, can be strong motivation in the short term. And F it, heads need to be a rollin'

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 06:33 PM) It's pretty bad when the Twins announcers are embarrassed for the White Sox. I heard comments such as.... "The White Sox are just letting the Twins exert their will on them. They're listless and lacking in energy... Do the White Sox even read scouting reports? How many times has Gardenhire played hit and run over the years and yet the Sox seem to have no response to these tactics?" There was a sequence of events today where Alex Rios made about 3 errors and yet none of them would go down in the scorebook as errors. Poor technique, misreading balls off the bat consistently....missing the cutoff men and letting runners advance to 2nd or 3rd (maybe it's because he assumed AJ couldn't throw them out and was trying to protect his SB/CS %) Even Konerko has gotten into the act the last week, in terms of defensive lapses. Passed ball/wild pitch situation in the 9th totally sucked the life out of the comeback when it really should have been 5-4 had we been able to muster one lousy hit with Beckham in scoring position. There's just something "broken" with this current roster that can't be fixed mid-season and can't be quick-patched with a "Camp Cora" or even if the players spent the entire All-Star Break working on these issues (which, of course, the union would never allow). Essentially, we have the same number of losses as the Twins, so I look at the Sox essentially as having three teams in front of them. As Dick Allen pointed out, we have a murderous stretch of games coming up, we'll know soon enough what this team is made of. But you can't imagine them going on any kind of run without Rios, Dunn and Peavy. And Jake's probably another half year away, stuffwise. And maybe we have to deal with the reality he never gets it back...just like the Twins are dealing with Nathan post-surgery. There's just very little to be positive about right now, other than Paul Konerko and Dayan Viciedo. I suppose if you REALLY want to look for the silver linings in rainclouds, you could add Sale and the "improvement" in Gordon Beckham over the last 2-3 weeks. Yet it seems to be defeat to think his upside right now is a 675-700 OPS/"great glove and range" 2B. Better than league average, but meeehhhhhhhhh. And this whole "gay slur" imbroglio is the icing on the cake. He's gone from "future face of the franchise" to someone KW is calling out for bring down the integrity of the White Sox. LOL. With the dysfunctional environment around the team, which starts at the top by the obvious lack of cohesiveness between KW and Ozzie, you have a recipe for disaster. yep.

I'm expecting it to be a .080 to .100 BA dropoff from AJ. Hope to be pleasantly surprised.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:53 PM) No sure thing, but he hit well last year when he was here, and is having a very productive season in the minors. He's a pretty good prospect, and, by all accounts, is a hard worker. I think his time has come, or should have come. Gotta be Friday, right???

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:27 PM) Frankly, I don't see all the recent optimism around Flowers. He's hitting .255 with 84 K in 220 AB in AAA. Yeah, he walks and has power, but that contact rate should put him barely above Adam Dunn's territory right now. I'm totally with you. I don't expect him to succeed. More wishing for a pleasant surprise/showcase for trade.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 03:14 PM) Are we sure here? Because I heard the same s*** about the Sox' current 2B. There really are no sure things. I think he's going to be a hitting machine, but I could be wrong, too. Beckham never spent enough time in the minors to get a feel for how his numbers would translate from that level to the bigs, but I was front-and-center on his bandwagon based on his '09 performance. Haven't quite yet given up on Gordo becoming that player, though I will soon if nothing changes.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:12 PM) Do you expect him to get more than 6 PA per week? I'm not so sure. It was Castro that got hurt after all. Yeah, I guess AJ will play even more, but if they don't play TF hardly ever, it'll be pretty obvious he's not the long term plan A. I'm guessing he isn't plan A and KW would love to trade him.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:06 PM) September call-ups the last 2 years. 3/16 with 3 BB and 8 K in 09. 1/11 with 4 BB and 5 K last year. Cups o' coffee. This will be a better look that I'm rather looking forward to.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:58 PM) Pass on that. He does a great job with the pitching staff. Let him focus on that. And let him know very clearly that you want him to $tay. Coop is a still under-appreciated godsend.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:51 PM) Flowers just a hit a homer. He's 2-2. .261, 15 homers, 32 RBIs I expect a ton of K's, some walks, a .200ish BA and occasional power. Maybe he's turning a corner.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:47 PM) Wow, we won it despite Ozzie that time. Alexei Ramirez, have yourself a game. At least we've solved the problem of who's our #2 hitter. It was one of Ozzie's dumber moves to move Ramirez out of the two hole, where he was having one the best stretches of his career, and replacing him with Morel, who never deserved to be there. Hopefully, he's back.

So much clutch on this team. Reverse jinx.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:18 PM) Well done Ozzie. 0-4 for Dunn against a lefty, now 2 for 60 on the year. That needs to be the last time we see this scenario for a long time.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:15 PM) Let me rephrase that for you: South Beach in the summer or Lake Michigan in the summer? Miami girls on the beach, or Chicago girls on the lake? Thanks. And FWIW, if they get Ozzie, Loria will be his b****. He's been waiting for Ozzie for 3 years. They'll double Ozzie's annual salary for 4-5 years. Two more for you: Miami's media, or Chicago's? Miami's laid back fan base, or Chicago's hard nosed, blue collar fan base? Exactly. There's no ? in my mind Oz will wind up there, but it's not such an ideal gig, really.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:07 PM) Let's see. Miami, or Chicago? Miami. Marlins, or the Sox? Tie. Their young guys (Morrison, Hanley), or the Sox (Beckham, Sale, Morel)? Florida. Loria and Hill, or KW? Loria and Hill. Can you blame him? Miami vs. Chicago for a summertime sport? Definitely Chicago. Loria's no day at the beach and will fire Ozzie no-questions-asked if his kid is disparaging the org on Twitter.

That shouldn't be an earned run after the passed ball, should it? Do the Twins EVER fail to execute against us in late and close situations? It's unreal.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:00 PM) What part of Morel's game can you honestly support? He plays solid D and that's about it. The support is waning, believe me.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 03:58 PM) He will never hit in the majors with the mechanics he has. He can't pull a ball with any authority, and he doesn't have enough power to try and drive the ball out to right. It sure looks that way. It seems odd that he was able to hit so many XBH last year at Charlotte given his obvious lack of pop this year. You expect a dropoff from AAA, but it's been more of a free-fall.

I've been a supporter of Morel to this point, though it seems he's overmatched.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 03:46 PM) This is as good as Buehrle's looked in a long time. Vintage. It'd be a damn shame to waste it, again.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 03:04 PM) Stay hot offense We've got it in our familiar shutdown mode. 56 deserves better.

QUOTE (OilCan @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 12:31 PM) You don't get 92-94 FB throwing lefties on trees. Haven't you heard of the Hector Santiago Tree? They're sprouting up everywhere.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 11:51 AM) Off topic somewhat, but that Gammons expects Guillen to be fired at the break and there to be nary a word from a Sox beat writer is yet another example of how bad the Sox beat writers are. Good point, and it is curious if he DOES get fired this weekend. If not, it just means Gammons has better access to BS rumors.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2011 -> 05:22 PM) If the Sox fall behind early again I'm totally switching to Braves/Phillies. Arguably the two best teams in baseball right there. Beachy looked pretty good, I thought. If that trade happens, it will likely be the first of several, as we'll have quite the SP surplus at that point.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 10:33 AM) He also seems like a real good kid. I think the future is quite bright. I am actually incredibly confident that he will be a .300/30/100 guy at the very least in his prime. It will be fun to see him progress. His strikeout ratio compares favorably with the busts of the recent past/present (Anderson Fields, Danks, Flowers) who all strikeout at a ratio of ~ 1.1 K/game - a very good predictor of MLB failure. DV's is ~.75 K/game which is well within the "acceptable" range for power hitters and is a good predictor of his future success. Those making the Dan Pasqua comps will soon be flossing for crow feathers.