ILMOU

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 03:48 PM) I feel comfortable with a ball hit to the right side of the infield with Nix over there. I second your cough fit. Agreed, but I'd still rather have Getz in the lineup, than either Fields or Wise. Getz has been much worse defensively than his MiLB track record lead me to believe. Still, he has a lot more value (to us, and in a trade down the road) if he's not strictly a platoon player.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 01:01 PM) something that no one has been talking about as an idea... Let's say that the Sox move Quentin to RF next year as its been discussed. So then, you have a hole in LF and CF. (Anderson, Pods are options) But knowing how much the Sox have stuggled to fill these positions, would it be better to do the following.... Leave Quentin in LF and Dye in RF. Make Fields the DH and then just fill one position CF (or go with an Anderson/Pods situation) So the lineup could look like... 1) Pods- CF 2) Ramirez- SS 3) Quentin- LF 4) Dye-RF 5) Konerko-1B 6) AJP-C 7) Beckham-3B 8) Fields-DH 9) Getz-2B The Sox could then use the $ they save from Thome, Contreras, Dotel and Colon ($30 million in total) to either... -upgrade CF -upgrade the Bullpen -Get a solid #4/#5 starter -lock up John Danks I'll be frankly very surprised if Fields is on next year's team.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 02:01 PM) This offseason though you'll see him moved. I would agree that this is a strong possibility. BBB's save % and track record virtually guarantee him ~$10M through arbitration despite the economy and his current ERA. He should still have decent trade value despite this, however.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) I'm having horrible visions of Juan Gonzalez right now. When he came back and on his first swing ran down the line and pulled up lame.... A negative prediction? I'm shocked, Cali.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) FWIW Cowley was just on WSCR saying the plan is that Quentin will be starting 75% of the time. So expect Wise to be getting a quarter of the starts plus probably coming in late in games as well. Actually, I think that in half of the remaining 25% of games, we'll see Nix in LF against lefties. Lefty or righty doesn't matter too much with Q, so resting him vs. a lefty is no biggie.

QUOTE (shakes @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 02:06 PM) Hopefully, Kenny can acquire a bench outfielder better than BA or Wise. I believe this is what will happen, rendering the BA/Wise argument moot.

ESPN has compelled me to hate both the Yankees (who I hated anyway) and the Red Sox (who I used to kind of like). As soon as I get a better job, I'll be getting MLBN, and I'll NEVER watch BBTN again - 50 minutes of RedSox and Yankees, 10 minutes for the other 28 teams.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 01:34 PM) It's like Ozzie is using this opportunity to prove his point he made yesterday. Point proven. AP was afraid of the plate.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) DWEEZY! Nice call by Hawk!!! DWeezy sucks, yes, but that was crushed. I don't think I've ever seen BA come close to hitting a ball that well.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 18, 2009 -> 04:52 PM) Beckham is arguably our best hitter, right now. Amazing from a guy who has scouts on his ass the minute that 0-20 was his primary offensive statistic. We've got a lot of guys going good with the bat right now. Thome, Paulie and JD hare hitting like the first half of '06. Pods and Lexi setting the table very well. Getz improving a lot. We're a potent offensive team, even with a liability like Wise or BA forced to play. If Q can make it back...look out! But, yes, Bacon is a stud, and he should only get better.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 18, 2009 -> 04:42 PM) Nice job Buehrle, Bacon and Thome were both very good as well, and we won. Other than that, I'd like to try and forget about today because we did a lot of things wrong, gave away a lot of runs we should have scored, and i'm a bit worried about our bullpen at the moment. But 1.5 back is as close as we've been since May 3rd, so I will take it. This may sound weird, but in a way, I kind of like it when the bullpen falters and we win anyway. It makes me thinks they'll perform better next time. We're on our way, baby!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 18, 2009 -> 02:47 PM) Wow Anaheim could look very different next year. Based on the reports I'm hearing about the Jays' demands for Roy, I think Ricciardi is just jerking us all around. He'll wind up trading him next year at this time, for far less. He's not a great GM by any means, despite having learned the craft from Beane.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 15, 2009 -> 09:46 PM) He always pitches from the stretch by the way, never from a wind up. So he probably can hold runners as well as anyone on our staff, sans Buehrle. I'm liking everything I see and hear about the guy. Considering his body of work this year, he deserves a look soon. And he might even have a bit of trade value now. Not like he's ancient.

They train the kids well. It seems like all the prospects know how to endear themselves to the fan base. Gotta love it!

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jul 15, 2009 -> 12:11 PM) 2. when you trade a ram i think that makes the defense a lot better because you can slide becks to his natural position where he should be a lot better than he is at third and should be an upgrade over lexi. 3. yes lexi has the ability to carry this team offensively but i believe and im sure many of you agree that becks can be just as good as if not better than lexi offensively so your.e not losing much there. 4. the moving of becks to short makes d there better as it does with 3rd base because you get becks out of there and you can plug nix in over there who is a wizard on d. 5. nix has the ability to put up the kind of power numbers lexi did last year and that would be coming out of the bottom of the order, Beckham made a boatload of errors while PLAYING SS at Birmingham primarily. His fielding needs improvement no matter where he plays. To say he'll be better at SS than Lexi is pure speculation at this point. All things considered, it will be best to have him at 2B eventually. Nix can't hit right handed pitching, AT ALL. That makes him ineffective 70% of the time. He's being utilized perfectly right now.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 06:12 PM) I was Alexei's biggest fan, but the more I see him play, the more I think he'll never come close to reaching his potential. He shy's away from contact at 2B for DP's, has no range to his right (at least at SS), isn't very bright, and I really dislike his approach at bat. He's gonna be a decent player for a while, but a very frustrating one due to his lack of consistency/concentration/baseball IQ. I got no problem trading him while his value is still very high. I'm frustrated with Lexi's defense to this point, but I couldn't disagree more regarding his approach at the bat. Despite another horrendous start, he's now hitting .281, and he's walking at more than twice the rate as he did last year. His OBP will continue to improve, and he remains uncommonly dangerous as a middle infielder. I think his concentration level at the plate looks VERY good recently.

We win the division by three games.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) Heard Don Cooper say this morning that Colon is on the right rest to pitch in the DH on July 24th. But he also said that some others in the organization were, too. Given that Torres followed Colon last night, I'd think that Carlos is also in the picture to possibly start in the DH. I wouldn't mind seeing Torres get a shot on the 24th. He's having a great year. What's the book on him, anyway?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 11:17 AM) Charles Johnson in the prime of his career, but not for that short half-season in 2000. He was actually much better offensively (especially that season) and more so-so defensively than I expected. That reminds me, Miguel Olivo has to be considered a close 2nd to Karkovice/Skinner. Sosa was awesome defensively when he first came up...with the only exception that he had so little control of his arm/throws, but he had an absolute rifle before he started getting bigger (a notch below Guerrero, Larry Walker, Dwight Evans and a bit better than Dye when he came up with ATL...maybe equal to Jose Guillen in the 1995-2000 time frame). C: Kark 1B: Squires 2B: Cora SS: Guillen 3B: Ventura LF: BA CF: 1Dog RF: Baines P: Buehrle

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 11:16 AM) Agreed, although I'll be encouraged when Beckham comes out of his mini-slump offensively and defensively. These Twins' games on the road are definitely going to be a test psychologically for an inexperienced rookie. The week spots will continue to be Beckham (moreso defensively), the health of Pods and CQ and Getz. Still, those are MUCH less challenging problems than Fields/Lillibridge/Owens/Wise/Anderson/Miller/Betemit getting playing time. Another thing to mention is that Nix and Ramon Castro are much more potent threats offensively than what we began the season with...both "under the radar" moves that many in baseball were probably scratching their heads at when they were announced (KW at his best, like the Jenks/Thornton/Marte moves....if JVB ever does anything, then KW has to win Executive of the Year). That's a good point about Castro. Our production from the backup C has been non-existent for a few years, and Castro at least, is a bit dangerous, and might get some big hits for us before it's over. I also like that they're basically playing him every 5 days, with Jose, giving AJP a little more rest, and hopefully helping him to avoid a late season fatigue and slump.

In about two weeks or so, we'll know what we have in Q, for the rest of the season. When he replaces Anderson or Wise's bat in the lineup that's a bit of an upgrade, no? Good to see Getz show Ozzie what he can do against a lefty, and still using Nix. Looking at the team stats today, we've got 4 guys hitting 300. Dye, Paulie, AJ, and Pods all having great years at the dish. It may be beyond the fluke stage with Pods' resurgence, and injury and running into outs too much could be the biggest concerns with him going forward. Lexi's hitting, and Beckham will hit better as the season progresses, I believe. Getz is getting it. If Q looks like he can return to health and be a solid contributor, our lineup will rock. If he doesn't, we'll know before the trading deadline, and we add an outfielder. I'm guessing it will be in a trade for a FA to be, or an otherwise low-risk proposition.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) Anyone want to guess what Ozzie will do if Richard bombs? Does he keep him in the rotation for another start or 2? It will be getting very close to "decision time" if Richard has a poor outing. Would Poreda get the first crack at it? DJC?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 08:48 AM) I'm not feeling confident that he'll be masterful this afternoon. Hope he proves me wrong. Let's score a ton early, and allow him to cruise.

Could we possibly see him as the pinch runner, 25th man on our playoff roster this year? I'm optimistic, yes.

QUOTE (brendol @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) Redsox Bard-Delcarmen-Masterson-Okajima-Papelbon-Ramirez-Saito I'll give a slight nod to the BoSox, but ours is pretty darn good overall, especially with the recent additions/subtractions.