Kenny Hates Prospects

I'm sure these guys are real fundamentalists. So what will be the names of these new franchises? I for one can't wait for the Podunk Lynchmob to take on the rival Centralia Whitehoods for the Georgia Basketball Championship of Non-Racist White Men. Should be a barnburner, no pun intended. Good luck getting through one game *not* held in a heavily-guarded compound out in the middle of the woods.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 05:35 PM) They did win 94 games. It really was a fun year. They won more than a couple of games on WP. Got no hit and won by 4. One ironic thing about that year as the Sox were trying to make a run at Oakland who was stacked and juiced, were the deadline deals. Oakland picked up Willie McGee and Harold Baines. The Sox added Jerry Hairston, who I think did not play, they just put him on the roster it might have been Sept. 1, as a favor for his pension, and Minnie Minoso who was going to bat as a gimmick. He was 60 or 70, but the commissioner wouldn't let Minnie play. I think it was Ueberoth. One player was very vocal in his disgust about the disparity between the teams late season pick ups in the race for the division crown. His name was Ozzie Guillen. Thanks for sharing that, I didn't know most of that stuff. I guess the one thing that can be said is that if this is what Ozzie wants, and if Ozzie gets it, then Ozzie had better find a way to win with it.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 05:29 PM) This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say involving baseball. It's funny how he ends that thought with "I want production." The historians need to go back and account for all the runs basestealers have driven in by stealing bases because it's going to put Tim Raines in the HOF.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 04:50 PM) That's where you and I really disagree at. Instead of writing a 3 paragraph essay on it, I'll just leave it at that. This makes me laugh.. In that scenario they should both take the blame, but Kenny should the one to stay put.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 05:10 PM) I think he wants to play like the 1990 White Sox. I think their leading HR hitter had 14. If they got on base, they would go. I remember one game they had 5 guys in a row caught stealing. It didn't stop them from running. It was a fun year, but I don't know it that style will work today. Ozzie was 13-for-30 that year in SB, lol. The Sox had 140 SB to 90 CS, a 61% success rate with a .320 team OBP. If it didn't work then it's not working now. The HR leaders BTW were: Fisk, 18 Kittle, 16 Sosa, 15 Calderon, 14 Pasqua, 13

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 04:24 PM) Nice rant, I hope it felt good. We didnt bring back Carrasco because he wanted to start and the Sox couldnt give him that opportunity. And that article about running early is about spring training and getting the team right by the first pitch. BS. He wanted to start ever since he got here and we kept him in the bullpen because that's where he was effective. Carrasco wasn't exactly demanding to be traded or asking for outrageous money in arb either. This wasn't anything like a GMJ/Bradley situation at all where he was running to the media and b****ing about his situation. The Sox let him go because they didn't think they needed that many innings with 5 starters and Hudson in the wings, which actually makes sense. Carrying 13 pitchers however does not make any sense. And Spring Training or not, there's never any reason to get in the habit of playing retarded baseball. Guys who shouldn't be running shouldn't be running. Situations where players shouldn't be running they shouldn't run in. And from reading that my immediate impression was we'll be seeing guys like Teahen, Kotsay, and Jones looking to steal all the time. Why? That makes zero sense. Edit: BTW, here's that article: Ozzie says he'll *start* his bulls*** during Spring Training but will carry it on throughout the season. And also, even if Ozzie were only referring to these "stupid" baserunning gaffes as happening in ST and not during the regular season, does any Sox fan with a brain actually think that players who aren't designed to play the Angels' type of speed game are going to magically become capable of playing that kind of game after about a month of practice in meaningless games against mostly minor league players? Give me a break. Ozzie has lost it.

This is in another thread, but it deserves it's own thread anyway. The 13 pitchers thing is beyond retarded. Why the f*** did we let Carrasco go then? I thought there wouldn't be enough innings to go around? Now there's even MORE innings to go around? And secondly, carrying 13 pitchers means 8 regulars + Jones + Kotsay + Castro + Omar. That means if we lose an IF for a few days we have to DL him automatically, because if someone else goes down we'd have an OF in the IF. Remember JD playing SS? We could have that again. Ozzie has never been this dumb before, this is all new territory for him. There's another article out where he's talking about running all the time for no reason, just to be different. He even insinuates that he will do stupid things on the basepath regularly, and on purpose, and that the team may look really bad early on but get better. On top of that there's the ridiculous "DH by AAAA committee" as well as the notion that AL teams will be permanently moving away from the full-time DH in the very near future. I've always said I loved Ozzie's passion for the organization and everything else, and he's one of my all-time favorite Sox players, but if he goes through with this s*** then he needs to be fired immediately. You just can't do that s***. This is seriously some Dusty Baker bulls***.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) Now Ozzie wants 13 pitchers on his staff??? ^And this is the dumbest thing Ozzie has said, and I mean ever, not just this offseason. And Kenny Williams, please, grow some f***ing balls why don't you? This is YOUR team, not Ozzie's. Jerry hired YOU to put the best AMERICAN LEAGUE team on the field possible, not Ozzie. You've given Ozzie enough crappy ballplayers already. Bring back Thome before he pisses off every Sox fan on the planet by going to Minnesota, and do it because you need a f***ing DH, not because your crazyass manager gave you permission. My God.

I'd call CJ grindy, but I can't because he's a good baseball player. I really hope this works out and if it does, CJ is going to have himself a pretty lengthy career being so damn versatile.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 08:24 AM) Supposedly he's willing to sign for $1 million. That's not even Toby Hall money. If you aren't going to bring in Damon, this is a no brainer. It's insulting for a still-productive hitter of his career caliber to sign for such a measly figure, but if this is true then Thome needs to be on this roster right now. Christ, even Omar Vizquel is making more than that. BTW at this pace the Sox would have been able to field half a team if they hadn't made that idiotic Pierre trade.

You guys could be right, but if Morel has a strong season at Birmingham this season then I think he's in the Majors at some point in 2011. Teahen runs through 2012. I think Morel is getting traded anyway though. I guess my point was that the Teahen move wasn't just about Viciedo, and it was a lot more about Teahen himself than is being suggested. You don't commit 3 years to a stopgap when there's no reason to unless you really like what you're getting.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 08:03 AM) I hope Mur wins just to see Brock ruin Mur's life. Lesnar is calling Mur his "stalker" which is funny. It's funny because it's true. Mir talked so much s*** about the advantages BJJ students have over big, strong weight lifters, and now he's spending all his time in the gym lifting freeweights so he can get big and strong like Brock. Against Kongo, Mir showed off his new back tattoo, again just like Brock. I bet in his fight against Carwin Mir will debut a new vag-shaped grenade tat on his chest and come out to a Metallica cover band or something instead of that Kanye crap. It's like his whole existence now revolves around Brock and little by little he's losing himself in it. If Mir gets past Carwin, the day after Lesnar-Mir III, Frank is going to be running around the woods with a blonde buzzcut looking for deer. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 08:08 AM) Mir has been talking a lot of s*** about Brock. Last time he beat Mir, it was to "get the horseshoe out of his ass", this time I think it will be much more personal and Brock is going to try and hurt him. Yeah, it's not like the last fight was close or anything, in fact the first one wasn't either. It was all Brock and then he made a dumb mistake and got subbed. Probably 7 out of 10 refs don't even call for the stand-up in the first fight and Brock ends up finishing Mir in that one too, in just his second pro fight, which is nuts. But that last fight was just brutal. That was like watching a gay rottweiler rape a sad poodle. Frank has the right ideas now, with all the work he has been putting into his boxing and his strength and conditioning. He's about 100X better than the fighter he used to be already, and he should thank Brock and Nog for that because he needed the extra motivation. But that said, there's Carwin, there's Fedor, there's Nog, and I can't think of anyone else right now that would make for a tough fight for Brock at the moment (and I love Cigano BTW, I have ever since I saw some of his Brazillian fights before he KO'd Werdum), and Fedor is the only one I could actually see putting money on to beat Brock. I mean, if you're a great striker, Brock will take you down and beat your ass. If you're a great wrestler, you're still not better than he is, so you have to try to catch him before he puts you in his world. If you're a great BJJ guy, well you better be f***ing awesome off your back because that's where you're going to be if you have any striking ability worth mentioning. Frank's hope is a big shot lands or Lesnar makes another rookie mistake on the ground, but Brock isn't a rookie anymore and his control from halfguard is sick, and Brock also took a big flying knee from Frank and still finished the takedown, so he's got the chin. IMO Frank's best outcome is Sherk-Franca for about 3 rounds until he's done.

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 12:21 AM) So they sign Ankiel, Pods, and BA thisoffseason, and still have Guillen, Bloomquist, DeJesus, Maier, and Fields that can play the outfield. I wonder if we can make an offer for DeJesus? then we just rotate the guys for the DH and I will be happy. And then we'd be just like them, having about 9,000 outfielders on the roster. If we got DeJesus then I don't see how anyone could argue for Juan Pierre getting *any* playing time. DeJesus would be the starting LF and lead-off man, and a much better one at that. We'd still have no DH, because a real DH is supposed to have power. But to do that we'd have to move Pierre's contract, which even by including the Dodgers' cash would be almost impossible to do, because even with the Dodgers eating what they're eating, Juan Pierre is still a bad contract in this climate.

I'm so happy Brock is back. I just love watching this guy fight. Frank Murr is going to realize his dream is more of a nightmare if he can get past Carwin, but I doubt he will anyway.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 11:52 PM) I gotta say if this is the way we are going, I don't wanna see one Greg Walker thread this year about our lack of offense/scoring runs. I mean seriously, it's bad enough I'm trying to stomach a guy whose highest OBP in four seasons was .331, prior to last season, leading off for us and now the whole rotating DH thing possibility. Walker doesn't have much to work with especially with with the lack of OBP (only Quentin, Beckham, Konerko are pretty much solid locks) guys in our lineup. We are pretty much hoping Pierre can hit like he did last season, Teahan to find that once solid "moneyball" discipline, and Rios to either have a career year, or hit like he did in 2007 (A.J. will not give you a high OBP, though he's important to the team/staff) It seems Ozzie is actually having more of a say in personnel decisions than usual. Though Ozzie did say him and KW are gonna sit down tomorrow to discuss it further on CTL today, so I'll hold my tongue till pitchers and catchers report. I know this must disappoint you, but I agree with everything you say here.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 11:42 PM) Mine is only growing over this stupid ass revolving DH of s***ty ass hitters. I could come up with analogies of how stupid it is all night, and I might keep you guys entertained for a while, but I don't have that kind of time. You have to understand what organization it came from though too - the same organization that gave a 3-year, $21 million contract to a pitcher coming off a year with a 6 ERA, that gave a $136 mill contract to a guy coming off the only year in his entire career where he actually drew walks, that signed a malcontent to a 3-year, $36 mill contract and then dealt him the next offseason, and so on and so forth. The Cubs are a dumb organization. Agree. Hendry is the worst GM in baseball, and if I followed other sports as closely as I do baseball, I imagine I'd consider him to be one of the worst GMs in pro sports. I don't see how one guy can make that many huge mistakes and still have a job. Hendry is the Isiah Thomas of baseball. But still, there are always really terrible signings. One that immediately comes to mind was the Giants going after Renteria last offseason after his deal with the Tigers ended. Nobody wanted him and yet they gave him $18.5M. Why?

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Jan 19, 2010 -> 06:18 PM) I am surprised all of these retired veterans are commenting on Big Mac so freely; I understand they are being asked to comment, but most sure aren't exactly side-stepping it. It is painfully clear that a handful of guys were on something that the rest of the league wasn't using, or at the very least were using a "quantity" of something that wasn't embraced league wide. BUT I can't imagine there are that many Major Leaguers, that in my lifetime (28 years), were clean of ALL amphetamines, PEDS, banned substances etc. And at the VERY least, most of these guys weren't exactly preaching from a pulpit about all of the drug use that was going on during this period; Now in 2010 they seem to have found their voice. Lots of stones being cast by players that played or are playing in a glass ballpark. Yeah um, how exactly is amphetamine use a performance enhancer, especially in a game as intricate in baseball? What, if you bug out do you become more adept at hitting a curveball or something? There is some story about a pitcher who said he threw a no-no on acid. I for one think that's pretty amazing, in fact way more amazing than your average no-no if true. It's hard enough just to walk to the convenience store and get a carton of orange juice without taking a detour to the forest when you're on acid. I can't imagine actually pitching a no-hitter. Steroids are definitely cheating, legality aside, but some of these other things aren't. The lines do get blurry, but drug use shouldn't be considered one of the reasons for that.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 10:50 PM) Talk about a guy who is getting screwed by a bad economy. Poor Russell Branyan finally figures out how to hit lefties well-enough to get everyday at bats and even when he breaks out for a few career years, he can't even get a decent contract. As for Thome, he obviously is the perfect candidate, he'd probably sign here for next to nothing, but Ozzie wants Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones and Omar all to like him. I sincerely believe that is what this is about. I think it's funny how all this stuff works. Branyan puts up those numbers in Seattle but can't find a job while Marlon Byrd puts up a .283/.329/.479 line in Texas and gets 3 years, $15M guaranteed. As a lefty with huge power who can play both corners and LF you'd think someone would be interested.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 11:13 PM) I thought we wanted to get past the station to station baseball we've had the "enjoyment" of watching the last few seasons...I like Big Jim as much as the next guy but time to move on. I agree that the station-to-station baseball is not the kind of baseball we want to play, but we need to strive for balance, not just identify one annoying aspect and try to get rid of it altogether. We do need guys to hit home runs and get big XBH to drive in runs, as well as guys who can draw walks to get on base. We also need another big lefty bat to balance the middle of the order so that all these #6-8 hitters we have can hit in spots that best suit their production. Plus we have little money to spend. Thome fits in perfectly. He's not ideal, but neither is Pierre, neither is Teahen, neither is Paulie, and it goes on from there.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 10:13 AM) You cut Nix. No question about it. Let him find a job somewhere else, and if he doesn't you outright him to AAA. There's no way this team or any other is going to go with only 1 MIF backup on the roster. You drop a pitcher or one of the extra OFers. Might as well drop the pitcher since Carrasco is gone and we don't have any good LR options outside of Hudson, and it's sounding like he might end up in Charlotte to start the season. If the choice is Thome vs. Sergio Santos/Freddy Dolsi/etc. it's an easy one to make.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Jan 21, 2010 -> 05:14 PM) I think you bring a "journeyman" like Teahen in when you realize your "20 yr old power hitting 3B" can't actually play 3B. So yes, he wasn't moved because of Teahen but Teahen was brought in because of him. Or maybe Kenny simply loves Mark Teahen, because Kenny committed to him for 3 years when he didn't have to go beyond 1. This also seemingly pushes Brent Morel out of the picture - maybe he can't play, either? And besides, I doubt Viciedo was Wilson Betemit at third this year, plus he's 20 and was in his first American season, so it's not like he can never be expected to improve. And even more, Kenny put Fields out there last season who has never been what you'd call brilliant either, and it was Fields' bat that got him sent down, not his glove. I think it's as simple as Kenny having a hardon for Mark Teahen the same way he has had a hardon for Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Omar Vizquel all these years. Now we have them all. I bet he won't even have to use his hands to drive the golf cart around camp this year.

I just now realized that Tyler Kuhn = Ty Kuhn = Ty Coon = Tycoon. He is THE Tycoon. That is so awesome.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 13, 2010 -> 12:06 AM) If ur correct, which I suspect you might be watch Pierre be one of those guys with much better road numbers than home numbers. If thats the case I would hope KW would unload him in the offseason to someone with a large outfield; braves, rockies, tigers, etc. That was actually the case in 2006 when he played for the Cubs. Home: .282/.323/.363/.687 Road: .301/.336/.411/.747 I'm too lazy to look at all the numbers, but during his 3 years with the Marlins all of his home numbers were considerably better than his road numbers, and the Marlins play in a pretty big park. I don't know if that proves anything, but watching Pierre is like watching somebody go to bat with fly swatter. Also, he's hitting .266/.318/.337/.656 in 622 PA vs. the AL.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 10:41 PM) Agreed. We have the pitching to do some serious damage this year, but this is shaping up to be one of our worst offensive ball clubs, IMO. The whole DH by committee idea is beyond retarded. In a league that uses the DH, and it is generally occupied by a very potent hitter, going with Mark Kotsay/Andruw Jones platoon will just end badly. Personally, at this point, I'd like to see Thome back with Flowers on the big league club, and having Flowers, Thome, and AJ do a three way rotation. So... 1.) AJ is getting up there and could use 2 days off a week. 1 day off could be a complete rest, and the other could be a day at DH. You can give Flowers the starts at C in his place. 2.) Thome needs two days off a week, period, except when he is hot. When Thome is resting, you can give Flowers the start at DH. 3.) This would be a very effective way to break in Flowers at the MLB level. He could get a couple starts a week at catcher, and possibly another one or two at DH. He could learn the pitching staff and get a good 300-400 AB's in. Agree with all this except the Flowers part. AJ will be 33 next year, so he's not really getting up there yet. Thome would need a rest, but we should have a good idea on Andruw Jones by the end of April. If Jones is doing alright then keep him as the platoon righty, otherwise if Jones is as bad as he has been, we can just DFA him after April and get a good veteran RH option to platoon with Thome. Flowers meanwhile should be raking in Charlotte every day, building up value so Kenny can spin him off for a stud who will get us to another parade. JMO. Agree also that it would be fine going with 6 pitchers if that's what we want to do. Since we don't have Carrasco anymore, and if we're not going to put Hudson in the pen, then there's no reason to carry some piece of trash as our LR. Just get a bat instead.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 11:37 PM) I realize what Pods got, but I figure we would f*** it up anyway and still overpay him. I see. BTW, I don't think JR is on Michigan Ave anymore.