mmmmmbeeer

This team reminds me of my golf game, they can't seem to get the 3 main phases of their game working well at the same time. If they hit, the defense of pitching lets them down. If they pitch and play D, the offense doesn't show up. If they pitch and hit, there will be some miscues on D that make the game close. It's incredibly frustrating and points to a lack of focus and/or an expectation of failure. Also, I don't think it's fair to compare our April expectations to our expectations here in August. This team had a bunch of minor league crap on the roster in April.

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) Didnt Anderson already ace us once so far this season? He was one of the few pitchers the Sox faced for the first time/failed that actually looked like he had outstanding stuff. He was on a roll then, not so sure now, haven't looked at his game log. I sure hope Count decides to show up tonight.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 11:58 PM) he's a psychic ninja sniper. I'd have to go with the Thornton deal. I just think that this deal was the epitome of KW's ability to identify talent, get input from his coaching staff on what they see, evaluate character, and after all those things show up as positives, he was able to convince Seattle that they were sending him trash for trash. Granted that was Bavasi who we all know was a horrible GM, but still, I just loved this move. Very similar to Jenks and TCQ but in Thornton's case he just showed raw talent and had never shown the success of Jenks, TCQ, Johnny Danks which, imo, proves that KW is indeed a psychic ninja sniper.

I think the big question here is if Jimmy would sign a 1 year deal. If he's looking for a 3 year deal, he's got to go. His skills and health cannot be counted on for 3 more years.

So when is Rios joining the team and/or starting a game?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/rios-wells From last month, a bit of statistical analysis stating that Rios' contract is a good buy. Some interesting debate in the comments as well.

I like this move. Rios needs to learn some plate discipline and I'm not so sure Walk is the guy to teach him that, but he's got some pop, speed, and D. The best CF we've had in quite a few years. I didn't read through the 60 some pages in the waiver thread nor have I read all 10 of these, but I sure as f*** would like to know where all this money was at when Bobby Abreu was on the market for, what, $5M this season?

It just says "The Catch".....that's it, no depiction of DWise or anything, just those 2 words at the top of the wall where "The Catch" happened.

I don't think I've seen him go opposite field yet, but yes, he's looking as if his swing is improving every game.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Jul 31, 2009 -> 11:17 PM) Sox pick up Cy Young pitcher to complete the perfect roster dont trade the farm cubs lose cards win twins lose tiggers lose not gonna beat this baseball day for al ong time I mean really....what a day!

QUOTE (whitesoxmanager @ Jul 31, 2009 -> 06:53 PM) look it up guysmiley. find the game and score. he NEVER did jack in any game that mattered. that doesnt matter to you? 2 playoff starts. 0-2. You're right...we shouldn't have traded for him

Gotta give KW some praise for this move. The most impressive thing to me about this deal, outside of the players we had to give up to get an ace, is the fact that this was so hush-hush. "Under the radar" indeed. As Black Jack mentioned in his blog entry, I too am somewhat concerned about that elbow pain Peavy had at the beginning of this season but it apparently healed and he was throwing the ball pretty well before being shutdown. Next year is going to be a lot of fun.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 29, 2009 -> 09:57 AM) That's never been a concern for us before, I don't see why we'd start now. The Sox said "to hell" with defense in centerfield when they gave away Brian Anderson and to keep Wise on the roster. Wise is no amazing defensive player in CF, either. Not terrible, not by a long shot, but he's no BA. So if Wise had been dealt for Kotsay leaving us with Kotsay, BA, and Fields, which would you send down? Obviously it would be Fields, which was my point that Wise has nothing to do with Fields getting sent down.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 29, 2009 -> 09:42 AM) So we get rid of decent, young-ish backups to keep Wise and his .190-something batting average on the roster. He DID make a catch, I guess. What does Josh Field's demotion have to do with Wise?

Not to be a dick, but it was Alexi Casilla that was walked to break the streak. What a sweet run....very impressive. My son asked me if I thought MB's face would appear on the outfield wall some day, lol, I think that's pretty much a given at this point.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 29, 2009 -> 09:09 AM) 3. Lance Broadway to the Mets earlier this year Man, you're right, forgot about him. Jeez, we've just had some MISERABLE first rounders.

Good riddance. From complaining about the clubhouse to complaining about playing time to now complaining about being demoted, all from a kid who has shown NOTHING at the ML level outside of one nice power run, he needs to go. Earning playing time isn't all about just putting up numbers imo, I think it also takes being a good teammate who knows their role on the team and doesn't complain. It would suck to lose two #1 picks in succession like this, but sometimes you just have to chalk it up to a learning experience and move on, which is what I think KW will do.

Considering this came from a CR press release, I think this was probably a promotional thing. I'm sure there's more to come.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 28, 2009 -> 07:27 AM) To be fair though, Fields was pretty damn close to hitting a flyball go-ahead homer tonight. I thought it was gone when he hit it, and it probably was, but I'm sure the air conditioning was going and it would have been gone had Brendan Harris hit that ball. I'm glad I'm not the only one that had that run through their head last night. That ball looked gone off his bat, looked like he hit it on the screws. The ball flight looked like a 9 iron against the wind. Paranoia probably, but off his bat it looked like he made better contact than PK had on his homer.

Man, my wife would have kicked my ass had I even suggested getting married at a ballpark. You've got a good woman there, dude...congrats.

Money aside, because we don't know who would cost what, but in my opinion Thome is showing some diminished skills while Dye is/has been in peak form for the last several years. If the game is on the line or we need a big hit I just don't have the confidence in Thome as I do with JD. I'd love to see Jimmy stick around, just not sure that he should do so at the cost of losing JD.

Did I log into the wrong site? Voodoochile?

CR --- 3.2 IP 6ER 7R 2K 4BB 8H Hate to be pessimistic, but if CLE and KC can slap him around, TB will destroy him. I hope I'm wrong.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 04:54 PM) Agreed. In fact $20,000 would be a haul for Dewayne Wise. So with TCQ playing on one foot and no depth in our system, you don't think DET or MIN would drop $20k to leave the Sox without a 4th OF (assuming one of Pods or TCQ go down before the end of the season)? What disappoints me is that we're stuck arguing about Wise or Anderson as our 4th OF, THAT is the real failure on KW's part, not any decision he made today. Anderson sucks and if you really believe that all the leaks we've read about his bad attitude don't carry a grain of salt, well, I can understand why you're upset today. Wise sucks too, but the one thing I gained from that interview where he called out the fans for booing him was that the dude loved the franchise and was giving 110%. Give me a guy who understands he's not a great player over a guy who has no clue how bad he is any day of the week. Welcome back, Carlos.....if he and Pods can stay healthy this could be one helluva fun 2nd half.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 11:59 AM) The Morrissey idea is just stupid. We are a worse team trading Danks and Ramirez for Halladay. And if we give up just minor leaguers for Halladay, we kill our system and again have a one-year window to win it all next year with very little flexibility in FA and nothing ready in the minors. I am content to sit and play with what we have. We will be competitive for a division this year clearly, but keeping everybody and adding two pieces in FA + the solid minor league players next year, we have a window of at least 3-5 years of highly competitive teams. Everybody would love Halladay, but the price is just outrageous. There's no way that's the price, no sane GM in baseball would offer up 2 IMPACT MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS with ridiculously low salaries for a single pitcher with a year and half on his deal. Absolutely ludicrous to even imagine. The Twins didn't even get CLOSE to that when trading Santana who, IMO, is a better pitcher than Halladay AND agreed to an extension.