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QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:32 PM) Alright Gordon at first on an E by Encarnation. man that guy may be a decent hitter but he sure is a butcher!!

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:26 PM) I'd like it if I wouldn't have to experience posters regarding him and his contract as an albatross more than 1.5 starts into 2010. yeah he certainly is a better pitcher than he is doing tonight. he just doesnt have good stuff tonight. he needs to battle like mark did yesterday and shut them down the rest of the way

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:24 PM) Take note Jair Jurrjens of Atlanta gave up like 8 in 3 innings. i dont think jair is as good as he showed last year

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:17 PM) Yeah, I think Hawk is missing (or obscuring) the point here. It's not that Peavy is hard, hard, hard. It's that the difference between his fastball and slider is about 1 mph. His fastball blows. That's physical, I'm afraid. and the slider has no bite on it. it needs to break much sharper

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:13 PM) He's our ace? mark is the ace and always will be

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 07:04 PM) Interesting by Jones -- swinging from his heels until 2 strikes, then a nice, short stroke up the middle. yeah i hope he goes more with the short stroke and maybe he can hit for a decent average. this tallet guy is horrible, throws lots of cookies

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 12:18 PM) Game Time is 6:20, on Comcast Sports Net The theme of my topics will be insulting the other team/pitcher. It worked with "Hackburn", let's hope "Blow Jays" is also a success. sounds good as long as we dont have to hear about how well your fantasy team is doing again

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 11:53 AM) You cannot possibly make that comparison this early. I agree I think the pen has the potential to be very good, especially if Santos puts it together. I don't think Bobby is a dominant as he was but overall I think we certainly can be as good as 2005. From year to year bullpens are awfully inconsistent on most teams. Thats why its a bad idea to invest a lot of money in set up guys.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) Pitching, including both rotation and bullpen, have been great. Defense is improved too. The good news is, as much as we all bash guys like Pierre, Kotsay, Jones and Teahen (with good reason), even those guys are NOT going to continue hitting like .100. No they are not going to continue to hit that poorly. But you gotta think ahead and recognize that Kotsay should not even be given the chance to hit his way out of it. He is on the downside of his career and hasnt been a regular since 2006, when he hit a whopping 7 hrs in 502 ABs. He is a role player and any significant at bats he is given is detrimental to a team that is going to be in a dogfight for a playoff spot. Why do we need to see him get 100 ABs to recognize that? He is not going to suddenly become a productive player. Jones hasn't been good for years but I suppose he may have some upside if you believe in his newfound health and fitness. I have my doubts but I am willing to see if he can help. Pierre and Teahan are both average at best players. We don't really have any other options there however.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 11:30 AM) Randy Williams has been awful out of the pen. Randy is a nice story of a long time minor leaguer who battled his way to the bigs. He is what he is. He has been given far too great of a role thus far. He has no business ever pitching to a right handed batter in a meaningfull situation. He needs to return to be the 12th man out of the pen and a left handed specialist only.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 11, 2010 -> 03:07 PM) you really shouldn't have to pinch hit for your 5-hole guy... your 5 hole guy shouldnt be known as a great pinch hitter

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 11, 2010 -> 02:50 PM) Well, that was predictable. This whole season has been very predictible. We knew we had an excellent rotation and a pretty good bull pen. We knew we had a poor offense. We knew Kotsay was the worst #5 hitter and DH in all of baseball and not deserving of a starting spot. This season has played out exactly as expected so far. This should not be suprising to anyone.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 11:02 AM) I never said 2-3 runs per game. That's crazy. From what I've heard/read (and I'm in China so I can't go back through the play by play and analzye every opportunity he's had, which plays he missed which might have been made by a defender with superior range, the Valbuena "bunt" that shouldn't have been fielded...a play that Vizquel has masterful instincts with) over the course of the first three games, he MIGHT have saved 2-3 runs (TOTAL). Does anyone who's watched each of these 3 games personally agree or disagree? there was a swinging bunt on opening day that he would have made the play. teahan caught a line drive in game 2 that vizquel probably would not have, simply due to height.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 10:40 AM) Omar Vizquel would be an absurdly bad option to play everyday in the AL. He cannont hit, all the defense in the world, isn't going to make up for that. yes vizquel would be a horrible option. hes not an option to start at ss. thus 3b would be much worse. no 3b saves 2-3 runs a game with defense, they simply dont get that many plays. and to have a guy in the lineup for "situational hitting" and bunting purposes is nuts. you would hear a lot more complaining about that lineup. the only way you would move beckham back to 3b is if we had a stud hitter at 2b, which nix is not.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 10:38 AM) Let's hold off on pronouncing Viciedo at 3B dead for now. Playing Vizquel at 3B isn't worse because he gives you much better defense at any position you play him (certainly better than Teahen) and he can lay down a bunt and advance runners at a very minimum. He's not a good hitter, but he's a smart situational hitter. you can hold off on pronouncing him dead for now if you wish but the one who actually makes the decisions buried him 9 months ago

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 10:20 AM) Right, now? We play Vizquel at 3rd, Nix at 3rd, We move Beckham to 3rd and Nix plays everyday at 2nd, or we promote Viciedo (and cross our fingers). none of those options are any better. playing vizquel at 3rd is much worse. moving beckham around again is dumb. and as i have stated before viciedo is not ever playing 3b in the majors

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:14 AM) And its a lot easier to hide a bad reliever in the back of your bullpen. Teahen was signed to be our everyday 3rd basemen, cant hide him when hes in the lineup daily. and unfortunately to an extension

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 02:29 PM) Just like we boo'd the hell out of Crede when he came back last year. no reason to boo the guy. he was here for a few seasons, had some nice moments. but it was all at the end of his career. he wont go down as a sox legend. i consider him more of an afterthought as a sox player, sorta like a zisk or gamble.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 02:18 PM) It's hard to win with pitching when your "best" guy gets pulled after 5 because he can't locate his pitches and then you bring in Randy Freakin' Williams. Well the Indians had about 15 lefties in a row coming up. Plus since Jake could only go 5 we had to go deep into the pen. The other choice was Linebrink or Santos and I don't think Ozzie has any intention to use Santos in a meaningful spot.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Apr 6, 2010 -> 06:29 PM) That is a completely different argument. Positions on the field are irrelevant in determining positions in the lineup. I seriously think we need to stop overvaluing this DH thing, I do not believe it will make or break them. Its not a different argument. It was a response to someone comparing AJ to Kotsay offensively.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 6, 2010 -> 05:00 PM) They are similar, but A.J. is slightly better. A.J.'s career ISO: .142 Kotsay's: .132 Plus, you have to take into account that A.J. can actually post a .142, while Kotsay is hovering around .110. And you cannot tell me that there is not a Kotsay mania going on when Hawk talks about him like he's the most perfect player ever and that he can do no wrong. He's the new Darin Erstad. The difference of course is that AJ is the C and Kotsay is the DH. I expect far greater production out of the DH. He was a vaulable player when he could play above average CF. He can't do that anymore and he should be a role player. He has no business being a DH. He has no business being a starting player and he has no business batting 5th.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 6, 2010 -> 09:14 AM) Do we think Krause is actually gonna be doing any work? Or was this more of a hire a friend for a BS consulting job move?? he went on a scouting trip last week to look at players for the amateur draft

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 6, 2010 -> 09:18 AM) I thought it would be interesting to have a thread for people who went to Opening Day, to share with the SoxTalk crowd some of the sights and sounds that people who watched/heard it broadcast would have missed. Here are a few to start with... --The radar gun at the park was not working properly at the start of the game. MB's first fastball registered at 93 - which we all thought was strange. Then it got weirder, when another one hit... 107. After that, the radar wasn't showing at all anymore, then later in the game it came back on, and seemed back to normal. --Not one of the four Blackhawks throw a pitch even vaguely near the strike zone. But they did get some real nice applause when they were announced. --Saw KW and Big Frank having what looked like a very happy conversation, while getting ready to go on camera. Surprised to see that. --They had a moment of silence reel on the scoreboard during the opening ceremonies, showing people who had died during the past offseason. A couple jackasses in our area decided this was their big chance, and start yelling and hollering during it. They eventually left the area, to the cheers of people nearby. --Ballpark looked the same, didn't notice anything new. The Red Line CTA station now has TSA guards all over it, instead of just CPD officers. Other than some new ads the park looked the same. There is a new asian food stand in left field. The silly between inning games were the same except for a new hawks zamboni race. Some new talent among the chevy girls. And Mark Kotsay still can't hit.

Go Sox We will be tailgaiting at 10:00, going with a mexican theme of steak and fish tacos on day 1... See you guys out there!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 30, 2010 -> 03:00 PM) They really seem like they want to try Jones there. And frankly, if he's healthy and earns the at bats, I don't think I can complain. Pierre, Jones, Rios in the OF and there shouldn't ever be a ball that hits the ground. they do want to play Jones a lot in CF this year. Also I was not a Pierre fan at all but apparantly he is one of the hardest workers the sox have ever had. He gets to the workout facility at 5:30 every morning.