Paulie4Pres

Knowing what he wants to do with the team is probably really easy.... Dump Rios, Peavy, Teahen, and trade from the Sox positions of strength(pitching), to bolster positions of weakness(hitting), while trying to get younger. Actually accomplishing it? That's another story altogether. You have to keep Dunn and hope this season is just an anomaly. If not...wow. We're in really, really bad shape.

Seems so, doesn't it? How else can this team be explained? Look like world beaters one week, and then look like total bums against teams like the Royals, Nationals, Orioles, Twins, Bluejays, etc. Really, there's just no excuse for the complete lack of competitiveness against BAD teams. You have to win the games you're supposed to win. That is the mantra in any sport, in any league, at any level. The Sox just don't do it. They have been embarrassed by the Twins and Royals this season, who don't seem to be beating anyone else. Then they come out and smoke a team like the Red Sox, in Boston. At what point do you look at the organization and the management as the problem? Aside from obvious blunders like Teahen, Peavy, and Pierre, you also have to question their ability to get the team ready to play, and up for games against teams they SHOULD beat. Seems like accountability just doesn't exist here, unless you're in Ozzie's doghouse.

This team is an enigma. When playing to their potential, they are capable of beating the best teams in the majors. The Sox have the pitching and the hitting to do so, and there is no reason this team, as assembled, cannot win the World Series. The problem with this team is that they are so wildly inconsistent. The "clutch" factor is also missing most of the time. In 2005, pretty much every player was "clutch". They just don't seem to WANT it enough. Motivation and desire are very strong factors that just seem to be missing more often than not.

With how terrible this division is, and how badly we have big money players underachieving, how can you be out? If just one of Rios or Dunn pulls their head out of their ass, we probably run away with the Central. If just one of Kenny/Jerry/Ozzie pulls their head out of their ass and benches one of them, we likely run away with the central. The Sox control their own fate. There is ZERO excuse for them not winning the central this season. NONE.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 11:10 PM) they are eating their contracts, they're still being paid by the sox whether they play or get cut nobody in their right mind would release Rios or Dunn in this situation, especially Reinsdorf Well, then someone explain to me why Dunn and Rios continue to play. I can think of one reason, and one reason alone. They aren't paying those guys that much money to ride the bench, or admit they made mistakes with them. You replace those two with ANYONE else, and the Sox are likely a better team, possibly even in first place right now. As I've mentioned, B. Anderson is an upgrade over Rios at this point... Dreadful. Bringing up DV and giving him the full time DH spot until he shows he can't hack it there, is probably a HUGE upgrade over 2011 Adam Dung. The ownership/management of this team obviously DOESN'T care about winning, because if they did, they have options in house to get those two out of the lineup and help our pathetic offense. Trading away one of the few guys that actually looks like he cares out there, and is performing, sends what kind of message? That the Sox welcome lazy underachievers, and will pay them big money to play every day and suck? That they won't pay and keep guys that perform and actually earn their money? Awesome. Pierre comes off the books next season. $8.5 mil Buehrle comes off the books: $14 mil Teahen isn't worth $500k, let alone the $5.5 mil we're paying him. Thornton will make $5.5 mil next season, and likely has good value. There are other options. But let's trade away CQ... Ok.

Then you live with your dumb ass mistakes and eat their contracts. Trading away CQ just makes this team weaker. How much money do they lose when attendance falls to the basement, if they trade away CQ and go into rebuild mode? Suck it up and just deal with it, and hope those clowns get better. There are a lot more disposable pieces on this roster, making pretty big money, with some value, that you dump before CQ. I guess I'm just used to an owner over on Madison that actually cares about winning. You know, the guy that ate nearly 6 million last season to dump Huet in Europe, and will do the same this season? If Rios was a hockey player, he'd be in the AHL right now, and never play in the big show again. I hate the finances of baseball. Trading away GOOD players because you have a bunch of overpaid bums on the roster is f***ed up. Maybe what we really need on the South Side is a new owner.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 10:47 PM) because his arbitration value is getting up there, and rios dunn and peavy contracts could be forcing kennys hand, since he may believe he can get similar performance from viciedo+whatever we get in return for CQ So dump the guy that might actually be worth what he's paid next season...and keep all the overpaid, underachieving, or perpetually injured jackasses. Makes sense.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 10:13 PM) not if youre rebuilding Why would you get rid of Quentin, even if you ARE rebuilding? I don't understand the logic. He's 28. He is one of the best hitters the Sox have. He seems to have bounced back pretty well from the injury issues. Trade away a known commodity, for unknown prospects that may or may not be as good as the guy they are trading away? Sounds pretty stupid to me. See what he's looking for as far as salary when the season is over, and go from there. At the very least, you bring up DV and see what he can do before trading away one of the very few power hitters the Sox have. If the salary he is going to command is an issue, get Rios the f*** out of here first and foremost. Trading CQ away will be just one more position the Sox need to fill next season. I just don't get it.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 09:45 PM) That was on Ozzie. Elf shouldve been running for Dunn Very true. There is zero reason to leave Dunn in the game there.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 09:43 PM) what was stupid about it? it was a double, its not like he could stay at 2B The fact that he still kills us, even if he gets on base?

QUOTE (FlySox87 @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 09:42 PM) Walking Rios to get to AJ? Umm...I'm lost.

Yes, Rasmus is likely an upgrade over Rios. I'm not sure how much, right now, but he is likely an upgrade. Especially going forward. The problem is, Rios is still here. He hasn't gone anywhere. He hasn't been waived, traded, or killed. The Sox won't acquire him and bench Rios. Unfortunately, room would need to be made for Rasmus, since Rios is likely going NOWHERE. That probably means Quentin is going somewhere. Pierre/Rios/Rasmus is NOT an improvement, now, or for the future. Until Rios is somehow removed from the equation, what sense does it make to acquire another CF?

How does acquiring Rasmus make this team better? Now, or in the future. Maybe it's just me, but Rasmus reminds me an awful lot of Rios, who I absolutely HATE. One good season does not a great player make. That's all he's had. One good season. His first season was MEH. This season is MEH. Have Sox fans not learned a f***ing thing about overpaying for flash in the pan players? What do you do with Rios, if you make this trade? Who sits? Adding Rasmus and keeping Rios does nothing to improve this team. Adding Rasmus only improves this team if he doesn't turn out to be Rios PART 2. I don't do this trade unless they want JUST Jackson. Thornton and Jackson? No, sorry. Get bent. The biggest problem with this team is the garbage player we have in CF right now. Get rid of him, somehow, anyhow, and we improve immediately. BRIAN ANDERSON would be an upgrade in CF right now. How pathetic is that?

Seeing as CQMVP is a pretty terrible name, could one of you admins change my name to Paulie4Pres?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 18, 2010 -> 08:00 AM) Tough to take a guy seriously criticizing a hitter with the User Name CQMVP, the classic underachiever. Would I be a more credible poster if I came out and said that CQ has been a shell of his former self, since breaking his hand, in an IDIOTIC fit of rage? A fit that is typical of guys on the juice, or 10 year old kids playing little league?? CQ has been garbage ever since he took himself out of that season, and I WILL not defend him, regardless of my username. He has had injury after injury since that season, and I wouldn't doubt that he was on the juice, just like a good 25% of the MLB. If I could change my username, I would. I think CQ should be dumped at the earliest opportunity. Ok?

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Sep 17, 2010 -> 11:44 PM) If you hate Manny just come out and say it but attacking his productivity is ridiculous. He's hitting almost .300 with us and has been taking walks and showing more patience at the plate in less than one month with us than anyone on our team has this whole damn season. You bashing Manny here just makes no sense. Sorry if the guy is coming up with 2 outs, DOING HIS JOB and no one picks him up. No mention of that, right? But of course we have to bring up every times he strikes out because you hate him, right? Meanwhile, let's ignore the fact that overall he's looked like a better hitter than almost everyone on our team has this entire season. Instead of looking at the big picture, you're trying to generalize to make him look bad. Biased people seriously just shouldn't be allowed to post this crap. I don't have to generalize to make him look bad. The guy hasn't gotten a hit in a clutch situation in his entire time here, and he's had plenty of chances. ONE RBI. Thome had an amazing OBP most years too. So what? When you're old, fat, and slow, how does getting on base really help the team, unless you've got guys batting behind you that can string together 3-4 hits in a row? Manny is as base to base as Thome was. So what you're telling me is Manny is a great leadoff hitter, if only he was fast, could play the field, steal bases, and actually do something productive once he got on base? Awesome. Stats don't tell the whole story, sorry. They never do.

It took him fifteen games to get his first RBI, and it came in the form of a HR. He has 14 SO in 15 games. He has ZERO extra base hits. He has scored an amazing....four runs, one of which was a home run... Every critical situation he has come up to bat in, he has pretty much struck out. What have YOU been watching to think that Manny has been ANY help to this team, whatsoever? All that for a measely million dollars a week. As I said, he should just retire. He's been a shell of his former self since he got caught juicing and got suspended. Maybe he should go back to juicing. At least then he'd be useful to us... as you don't have to pay him when he's suspended.

Kenny is just average. There's really no other way to put it. For every good move he makes, you have a Kotsay, Linebrink, Manny, Teahen, etc. It is what it is. Our organization is nothing more than average, from top to bottom. Our scouting is, arguably, below average. I mean, the Sox just don't develop major league talent, and it's pretty f***ing sad. Even teams that finish in the top 8 year after year develop major league talent, despite their poor draft positions. There's just no excuse for it. We have to start at the beginning and work our way up. The biggest, most glaring problem this team has, is our scouting staff and minor league development. It's just downright brutal. Reminds me of the Bears and Jerry Angelo.

The Hawks didn't suck until Bill passed away. They actually had several successful seasons under his time as owner. They have pretty much sucked for the last ten years or so, but it wasn't for lack of spending money, much like the White Sox. The franchise started to turn around when ownership showed the fans they were serious about putting a winning product on the ice again. Not just spending money to FILL SEATS, which is what Dollar Bill did, and what JR does with the Sox, but spending money to WIN. You really think the White Sox made moves like Griffey, Peavy, Manny, etc to WIN? No, they made big splash moves like that to SELL TICKETS and MERCHANDISE. Peavy is awesome, for the 1/4 of the season he is healthy. Griffey was awesome, ten years ago. Manny was awesome, five years ago. They make these moves for the hype, and because it sells tickets. Nothing more, nothing less. JR is a snake oil salesman.

Or, since we seem to be one of the worst teams in all of baseball at drafting and developing talent, maybe we should spend some money on our scouting staff instead of guys like Manny, Griffey, etc? You know, offer some of those Minnesota scouts big money to jump ship? Improve our minor league system FFS. Who was the last legit STUD to come out of the White Sox organization?

A team in a market like Chicago, crying about money, and not being able to spend on talent, is ridiculous. If you spend on talent, the money is there to be made. We aren't a small market here. If the Sox competed every year like the Yankees, the Cell would be FULL more often than not. Just common sense. The better the team, the more people go to games, the more people drink at games, the more people buy merchandise....

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:13 PM) Would you be happy with making the playoffs and losing ever year? How do you value success, if winning is all that matters then shouldnt it mean nothing if you aint got no ring? Sox spend to win. I will support them as long as they try to win. For most of my life they tried way less and I supported them, why am I going to go give up now? Not spending money on the team isn't giving up. It's investing wisely, and not throwing your money away.... If Chicago fans understood this, we might not go 50-100 years between championships. One could make an argument that the biggest reason the Cubs have sucked for years and years on end, is the fact that Wrigley is filled, win or lose. Same with the Bears and Soldier Field. Honestly, the only Chicago fans that "get it" are Blackhawks fans and Sox fans. The team sucks, and makes no efforts to get better, and you stop spending your hard earned money on them. It is common sense. Why should I pay for an inferior product? WINNING is the best marketing strategy you have as a sports franchise, so it's in your best interests to win.

QUOTE (Real @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:09 PM) Ticket sales equal roster payroll. Want the Baltimore Sox in 2012? Really don't care. If the team isn't willing to spend money out of their pocket to get better and correct their mistakes, it's not a team I want to support. The fans should NOT be paying for our organization's inability to draft well and develop players.

QUOTE (daggins @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 10:59 PM) Trust me, you don't want the Sox to win 60 games next year. Sixty games, ninety game, what does it matter if they don't make the playoffs? It doesn't.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 11:03 PM) Ridiculous pickup. We were already 3/4 buried when he arrived. Even so, he just has nothing left to offer the game of baseball. The guy NEEDS to be juicing, that much is obvious to anyone that has watched him bat since he got caught. The end of the season and the end of his time as a White Sox player cannot come soon enough.