Special K

I'm in Orlando FLA on vacation, anyone know where i might be able to watch the sox game on TV tonight? Bars, restaurants, etc...

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jul 1, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) Welcome aboard The Sox needed to see what their players could do in the majors, given ample playing time. Instead of overpaying for vets and getting locked into bad deals [Milton Bradley, Gary Matthews Jr, Joe Crede, etc] the sox tried to strike gold with a young guy having a breakout year. What was the likelihood of all those guys doing well? 90-10 against. Yet is cost nothing except maybe a slow start. The Sox missed a few chances to improve. Yet they are sitting in a good position [financially and talent wise] for the rest of 2009 and beyond. I for one wanted the sox to take a flyer on a CFer who was coming off a bad year in 2008, which wouldn't have cost a ton in terms of talent. Michael Bourn was one guy I thought could have been a good fit. I thought he had an upside that was better than Owens, Wise and BA. Yet I couldn't argue with the othe rmoves/ non-moves. Fields was just as good an option as any out there for 3b. It made sense to see what he could do when healthy. Colon was a cheap reclamation project, like most teams took a chance on a few guys becomeing a 5th SP/ 1st option in AAA. Lillibridge was at least a good field/ no hit guy--someone who could be a decent backup. The bullpen guys were no-risk, high reward. Some guys come out of nowhere in the pen and have good years. Now, everybody has a sense of what all those players are about-fans and coaching staff both. That's why, after all is said and done, I'd expect none of those players you listed to be with the sox come Spring training 2010, with two already gone. Agreed... One guy who i would have loved the Sox take a shot at was Orlando Hudson, but I can't really complain with what Chris Getz has done for us this year at all.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jul 1, 2009 -> 10:25 AM) I don't like Wise either, but I'm going to trust the guys who have a ring. I agree. That comment was more of a criticism of Ozzie's ability to judge his players sometimes, or his inability to know who should play where, or when they hit in a lineup. I think Ozzie is very mediocre when it cmoes to doing those things. There is a laundry list of examples like MacDougal, Lillibridge playing over Nix, Fields hitting in the 2 hole, Wise leading-off, Richard not starting, etc. I mean, even Lexi batting in the 2 hole was a product of Joey cora in Guillen's absence. I know there are times when he makes the right move as well. I was just saying that I question his judgment sometimes.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jul 1, 2009 -> 10:05 AM) And how many of those people said the same thing about Floyd, Pods and Count? I think there's quite a difference between being able to see Dwayne Wise is not a major league starter than people saying Gavin Floyd might not be as good as he was last year.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 1, 2009 -> 08:30 AM) I'm personally not sure about Fields yet, I think he was taken out when he was just starting to make positive adjustments. But Beckham has certainly adjusted quickly and has been great offensively, while learning a new position, so I can't complain really. You misunderstood me though, I said Fields was not a starting 3rd baseman, I don't think he can play the field adequately at all. I do see improvements in his swing, and I can realistically still see him hitting 20-25 hrs if he played full-time the remainder of this year (but he won't). That's why I can say there may be room on this squad for him as a possible 1B or DH when/if we lose PK or Thome next year. Personally, I'd rather him stop bothering w/ trying to learn the field, and get his offense polished to be a very positive offensive producer so we could fill the possible need of a DH or 1B internally, and it would also be for years to come... Not to mention we'd have a pretty young and talented infield in that event.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 08:46 PM) Simple... look at opening day roster and todays roster. Much more talent (minus Jimmy Gobble and missing CQ) Opening day: C- AJ P 1b- Konerko 2b- Getz SS- Ramirez 3b- Fields/Beckham RF- Dye CF- Wise/Anderson LF- Quentin/Pods DH- Thome Bench: Betemit/Nix Lillibridge/Fields Corky/Castro Anderson Buehrle Danks Floyd Colon/Richard Not ready Contreras/ready Contreras Macdougal/Poreda Thorton Dotel Carrasco Linebrink Broadway/Gobble All the Sox could use is a healthy CQ and I think they will have one of the best lineups in baseball and can easily take this division. Team got rid of the pudheads and are finally hitting. Mix in the good young talent, speed, and the great pitching and the easy schedule the next few weeks, I don't think first place is too far away. What really bothers me though about this all, is that I think a good majority of us knew Anderson should play over Wise, that MacDougal, Lillibridge, and Broadway had no business on the roster, that Colon is finished, and that Josh Fields is not a starting 3rd baseman. My question is why is it so hard for Guillen to see all this. I know a couple of those guys cost us at least 1 or 2 wins. I know Pods has been a savior that no one and expected and you need to go through a little trial error, but if Guillen/KW realized all these things in the beginning of the year, like I think many people here saw, I think we would be sitting atop the division.

So what do those who want Pods traded suggest we do? Trade him while his value is high, pretend like were going to go after a leadoff hitter in the off seasos (not pick one up), or pick up Chone Figgins (who is very comparable to Pods in age/ability) for a ton of money? Or how about trade Pods and have an open competition for the spot in CF between Brian Anderson and Dwayne Wise, b/c that's also turned out great. Then a year from now we'll all be crying for them to bring up Mitchell or Danks because we don't have someone who can leadoff. The guy is doing well, the Sox would be in the cellar without him, and realistically, you're not going to get too much in a trade for him, b/c GMs all know the same thing we know, he is injury prone and older. Let's ride him out and enjoy the success, especially if we want to make a run at the division.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 04:06 PM) you didn't read the rest of his post? ahh... Forget it. Obviously that post was a joke for those of you with a great sense of sarcasm. In all honesty though, BA is starting to come around. He had a solid Cubs series, and I think as he gets more playing time he will only improve. My thoughts on Ankiel are this... He had a real good last year, but you can't combine numbers the guy had from one season with another and say he's great, or go ahead and combine Field's numbers from '07 with this year, and you're looking at a guy whose hit 25 home runs... obviously that is not very indicative of how he has been playing. With that being said, I would rather keep what we've got going now, rather than mixing it up and waiting for Ozzie to figure out what works, b/c it seems to take him a while to do that, i.e. D-Wise leading off and starting. We've also been playing better lately, and i think once it stays warm, these old men on our squad will start heating up.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 03:45 PM) I guess that's where the "special" in Special K comes from huh? Alright. Fine. I'd throw in Poreda too along with Beckham and Quentin to get Ankiel. But that is absolutely it, I wouldn't want to mortgage our future for him.

QUOTE (tommy @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) What do we give up for him? At the very most, i'd be willing to put together a Quentin/Beckham package for Ankiel, and I'd be willing to pick up whatever is left on their contracts too. But that's it. 2009 StL 4 HR .307 .417 .724 .245 No thanks, BA is having a great year as he gets more PT. Once Quentin gets back, we're going to have too many outfileders as well. And no, i'm not looking to replace his stick with JD's when he leaves.

Can someone tell me how to listen to the game streaming?

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) Let's try this one again. I'll guess I just have to listen to the stream at work. Do you need to have MLB Gameday to listen to the stream, or is there a way you can listen to the live stream of the game for free? If so, please tell.

Try this. Drink all the beer and eat all the food you want. Then right before you leave, break a chair or something. The cost to repair would more than make up for any food you purchased. This was a joke for those who cannot tell.

Yeah, but you can't deny Fields doesn't look really good striking out or making an error. And Wise just has a ton of potential, so you kind of have to keep him in there too? By the way, is Jerry Owens still available?

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 01:30 PM) Fill-in the blank with name of manager of your choice and you have your typical manager slam post found on practically every baseball board on the Internet. Yawn. Reality check... the team has won 90 or more games in 3 of the last 4 years. In the bottom line, it's about winning games. And Ozzie's teams consistently outperform their Pythagorean projections. So, if it makes you feel better to rag on him, knock yourself out, but don't expect to influence alot of people to your point of view. Managers make the difference in the playoffs and close games. They win championships with their decision making during games. In OG's case, he was fortunate to ride through the playoffs through complete game after complete game by our starters. A monkey could have sat in the dugout and managed us to a championship with that pitching. People get upset b/c they realize Ozzie sometimes hinders us from further success... i.e. letting Javy start game 1 of the playoffs last year, or not taking Colon out last night in the 5th when he walked the bases loaded, BEFORE he gave up the double that cost us the game. Instead, Ozzie lets him give up a double and then decides to pull him two outs later after the game is out of reach. That is why people complain about Ozzie being a bad manager.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 01:06 PM) you mean how he was handed the starting job in spring and by June still couldn't hit his weight? Wasn't D Wise handed this job... It came down to Jerry Owens and D Wise in Spring Training... KW said himself Owens would have started if he could hit something besides air, but he couldn't. All they wanted was a leadoff hitter, and Wise and Owens were the noly one's who could do it in there eyes. Again, KW said Wise got the job b/c it came down to who fit the mold for a leadoff hitter. Yet now we have a leadoff hitter, and Wise is still out there. There is no excuse for BA sitting if we go by that logic. If he had the flu, I've got no problem with putting Wise out there. I have no problem with Wise being on the roster while Quentin is gone, b/c he can be a decent utility guy in the meantime. With that said, he is not an everday player. The guy is a career minor leaguer. Many organizations have had a chance to look at him, and all have concluded he's not good enough to be on a big league roster. I don't think anything is going to change.

QUOTE (almagest @ Jun 3, 2009 -> 11:42 AM) If we're going to DFA Wise, why is he playing? We know when Quentin will be back, Pods is already in the lineup so at least we have "speed", and Anderson can at least play good defense in CF. Why even give a player who won't be on your roster in a week at-bats? I love Anderson as much as the next guy, but Guillen has a never ending vendetta against him, and that's what pisses me off with all this. It's not that Andersno is slightly better than Wise (even though he is WAY better). The better player should be out there, not the guy Guillen likes more for whatever reason. ' Guillen is trying to get Wise a lot of playing time now for these two weeks b/c if Wise gets hot, when Quentin comes up, he finally has an excuse to get Anderson off this roster. Guillen is sitting there and praying Wise has the 2 weeks of his life so nobody can say anything when he keeps Wise instead of BA. Unfortunately, Wise just isn't good enough to do it.

A little off topic, but kind of a similar thought... Why does Guillen refuse to put Nix at 3rd and pull the garbage that is Josh Fields. I see only good things come out of Nix this season. He will play much better D at 3rd, even though it's not his natural position. And he has twice as many homeruns at 3rd than does Fields in half as many at-bats... And Fields imaginary power is the only reason we have him there. Nix at 3rd BA in center, and this team will be in real nice shape.

I heard on the Score 670 yesterday during Mike Murphy's show when he had a beat reporter for the Sun Times on air, that the KW is pursuing Matt Cain pretty hard. Im not trying to start any rumors or anything, I just wanted to know if anyone has heard any truth to this and possibly get a little feedback.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 24, 2009 -> 03:38 PM) Speaking of Pierzynski, how much longer does he have to be our C? He doesn't do anything well anymore. Not selective at all at bat, very streaky hitter, is labeled as a good base runner but more than likely is just lucky a lot of the times, plays lazy D, has no arm, and I'm not even so sure how much of the game he actually calls (I think most of it comes from the dugout). What constitutes a streaky hitter for you? Since AJ has been a Sock he has been consistently hitting between 260-280 every season, always hits roughly 15 home runs, and has never struck out more than 70 times in a season. In fact, I think he is actually one of our most consistent hitters on the team. AJ never has the occassional off year you will get from Paulie, or the slow starts you will get from Ramirez or Thome. He is actually one of our most dependable hitters since he has been on the squad. You can always count on AJ to give you a 270 average, 15 HRs, 70 RBIs, and most importantly make contact at the plate. AJ was forced to hit in the 2 hole last year, a spot he is not accustomed to, but since nobody else seemed to get the job done, Guillen knew he could depend on Pierzynski who got the job done helping us win the division. I will concede he can't throw runners out very well, but let's be honest, the pitchers do not help him out. The pitchers don't hold runners on, and guys like Contreras who didn't hold runners on combined with their extremely slow deliveries didn't even give him a chance. Bottom line is, Pierzynski is far and away the best catcher we've got, and is the least of our worries.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 19, 2009 -> 08:45 AM) Linebrink is on record saying that he doesn't know if his shoulder will ever be 100% again and is owed $10.5 million over the next two years. Dotel will be 36 next season. The production of those two has nowhere to go but down, and Kenny would be crazy to go out of his way to keep either of them around next year. (Unfortunately, Linebrink's contract and NTC will make him difficult to deal this year.) Since Kenny wasn't serious about this season, I doubt that he's going to make a 2008-like push next season. It's more likely that he deals Dye and Dotel at the break and lets guys like Beckham and Poreda develop in the bigs in 2010. And as much as I hate to watch bad baseball, it's the right thing to do. This current lineup isn't going to win in October and the Sox are going to have to suffer through another 1999-esque "The Kids Can Play" season or two while the current crop in AA sinks or swims in the majors. Is the Big Hurt still available? I think he is exactly what this team needs, some solid veteran leadership. In all seriousness though, this team is lacking the key ingredient to any successful season a White Sox team has had over the past few years, and that is pitching. I know Danks has been underachieving, and im still hoping Floyd can turn it around and figure some things out, and Richard looked solid yesterday too (by the way that just proves how bad Ozzie is for running Contreras out there for almost 25% of the season to get shelled while Richard continually pitched well in long relief) , but clearly we don't have what it takes to make a run at this division. I don't see any reason why we can't bring these young guys (Beckham/Poreda) up and let them see if they can contribute now. If you look back at the past decade, most of the superstars playing right now came up at about the age these guys are at right now(with the exception of Jerry Owens). Are you guys going to tell me Beckham doesn't contribute more to our squad than Lillibridge? I say get the expermient started now, stick Ramirez in center to see if he can play, Becks at short, and lets get Poreda some starts.