Flash Tizzle

QUOTE(Greg Hibbard @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 03:24 PM) I'd take Liriano and Santana over any of our SP right now, and it's not close I'm several pages back in this thread, but feel this post needs to be quoted. We can label Contreras or Buehrle our "aces," but let's be honest -- compared to those two they're birdshirt. Don't worry. That will all change when our Liriano is either traded for or developed. Right?

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 03:20 PM) Middle Relief is a crap-shoot from year to year. These guys are usually the most unconsistent players from year to year. He'll be great again in '08. Hopefully for another team. You're right about the inconsitency of middle relief for everyteam not named Minnesota. I've adopted a new philosophy from watching Politte -- if you're a veteran with 5+ years experience, and have a career year, you should be traded immediately.

QUOTE(zygoat @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) I saw the boxscore today adn who got the loss and my heart almost stopped. Cliff Politte gave up a walk off HR to somebody (not good) on the pirates. I worry for him and i thought he would be better after coming off the DL (Granted i have to give him some time to get back into swing). I also remember Montero pitching extremely tough against the pirates last night and that got me wondering if politte should build up his confidence in AAA while Montero stays with us. Just my thoughts, what about you guys I don't believe for one minute Politte's DL stinct was due to "shoulder inflammation." I expect immediate contributions from him. Sanchez may have herpes, and may have a magic wand, but I know from this series no other pitcher gave up a HR to him. Only five on the season to date. Not a homerun hitter. Perhpas with another pitcher I"d be willing to accept the pitch as poorly placed. Or credit Sanchez all together. But this is what Politte has done all year. Personally, the entire issue of building up confidence is really a joke. When people were worried about how Tracey would respond following Guillen's tirade I said if he doesn't rebound, he doesn't deserve to pitch. I wasn't going to feel any sympathy towards his situation. And what did he do shortly following the demotion? Threw one of the best games of his career. He's tough. What could a trip to AAA possibly accomplish for Cliff? Does he need 'confidence' by throwing inside pitches to AAA players? f*** that. He's not a prospect anymore. If he can't pitch well, he can leave this team.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) The problem, is our $40 billion rotation. They have sucked some serious dick on the year, and even Contreras is having bad games now. Between Garland, Garcia, and Vazquez (I'm souring on him every passing start), whomever receives the best package should be delt next offseason. Just bring us our Liriano in a trade and I'll be happy.

Looks like I'll have to ressurect my signature. Poor Cliff, he was hard on himself last year even with career numbers. I really wish an injury could explain his ineffectiveness. We would then have an excuse to explain the magnetic charge baseballs seem to have towards bats when Politte pitches.

Yeah, and people are looking for Hernandez to be added as bullpen depth? LOL. Don't give up anything for him. This is what you can expect the remainder of the season from American League opponents. Can anyone imagine Mauer or Morneau hitting off of him?

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) I think it's stupid to look at the final series and compare who we play as opposed to who Detroit plays. We both face division foes to end the season. We both face division foes an equal amount of times. If we are behind by a couple games we have no one to blame. So, it's stupid to look forward to a possible scenario at the end of the season where the schedule may influence whether one teams goes to the playoffs and the other doesn't? I know about facing opponents an equal amount of times, but it's different when you consider perhaps the Twins will have another piece added. Or the Royals will have traded veterans and promoted minor leaguers. In the final week of the season, they just may be lethargic and ready for the offseason. Contreras' ass SAVED by Thome.

If I'm intent on winning the game I'm sure as hell not starting Contreras. Santana would be my choice. He only did it to himself. Today's game against Pittsburgh sealed it for me. When I notice Carpenter, Liriano, Santana mowing through the Pirates than Contreras getting slapped around, that's enough right there. His 5+ ERA in June only reinforces the decision.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:08 PM) Well hopefully are not in a position of being within a game with the last 3 to go for the season. We face the Twins and the tigers face the Royals. And you know Gardenhire will set up his rotation with Santana and Liriano. That is, good pitchers who aren't "blooped to death" or give up 6 runs to Pittsburgh.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:06 PM) LOL. He crushed that ball. Might not be our day today. 2 more innings. Obviously didn't "crush" it hard enough. Widger fails again. I'd take his sun glasses off and stomp on them if I had the opportunity. He's been pitiful this afternoon.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:05 PM) Why is he batting? 4 LOB so far. Make it 6. I wouldn't have had Widger bat either, but before I knew it he was at the plate and I had to make some comment before he f***ed up again.

Oh s***, an opportunity for Widger with a runner in scoring position!!!!! Time him for to come through.

God dammit Paulie, that was disgusting.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 01:55 PM) Not much you can do. There are days when you just get blooped to death. Don't start this s*** about bloop hits. More like days when you pitch like such a pussy the opposition has nothing to do but swing at fastballs down the plate. Why aren't Santana or Liriano ever "Blooped to death?" Only seems to be an explanation to explain futility with our pitchers, ideally Garland. Contreras deserves every run charged to him. Next time learn how to locate.

Yeah, if it were my decision, Contreras wouldn't be starting the All-Star game either. Not after his pitiful June. Not that I'd expect Guillen to do anything differently, but I'd rather start Santana in a game which may affect home-field advantage in the WS.

Ozzie's decision was obviously wrong, but I'm not going to entirely blame him if this team loses today. Contreras pitched like a limp wristed school girl. I don't care if half their hits were bloops. Tough s***. Work around it and figure out how to locate a damn fastball.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 01:06 PM) Farmer just said "Contreras has not had his best stuff today". Sounds like we hear that every time he picthes lately. I've become aggrivated with Contreras' pitching as of late. It's to the point where I expect a quality game every start, and anything else is a complete failure. He set the standards, not me. With the almost continual bed-wetting of Garland, Garcia and Vazquez we need consistency. Buehrle alone isn't enough. Unless we're to believe the offense can carry us; which it wasn't constructed to do, but has done well as of late. Funny, Santana and Liriano had no problem against the Pirates. I guess good pitching defeats good hitting every day aside from when it happens to us.

I work security for Bridgeview events. I've been there every game thus far. If you look hard enough you can actually see me in one of those pictures -- Number 15 posted on your blog. It's the one in which one of the Fire members are ready to kick of ball from the corner. Not very clear, but it's obviously me. I'm on the left wearing a red hat. Hell, for several of the pictures taken took you probably walked right past me.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 28, 2006 -> 02:38 PM) The reason he will never make it back into the rotation can be seen on his xrays. Its a screw, that he got from a stress fracture. Throwing that hard is murder on the arm, throwing 180-200 innings of throwing that hard would be too much. I had no idea Jenks has a permanent screw imbedded in his arm. Searching through Google for information I noticed Turnbow had one as well while pitching for the Angels.

QUOTE(loltrain @ Jun 28, 2006 -> 01:38 PM) Although the insane rambling on that pitch was stupid, it is true that noone throws a 97 mph slider. If Jenks threw a 97 mph slider he'd never have to throw another pitch. I'll believe Jenks was throwing a cutter at 97mph. After striking out Biggio Sunday night ESPN replayed the strikeout pitch and you can see the movement his fastball had. It moved a good foot over the plate. Imagine Jenks in the starting rotation. If he were in shape (key point), and a replacement was located for a closer, I'd seriously consider it. He's been a starter throughout his career. If Liriano and his odd delivery could manage, Jenks could as well.

CHOKE CREDE!

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 03:25 PM) How do you figure? B-Mac still hasnt really proven himself in the bigs and everybody in our starting rotation is still locked up for next season. Buehrle is the closest one to f/a if im correct and id hope we would resign him of all our SP's. Also we have many other SP prospects too... Phillips and Haeger dominating AAA and Broadway, Lumsden, and to a lesser extent Liotta in AA. Our starting rotation needs a shakeup before next season. No way in hell I expect everything to remain as it is. Someone needs to go. I wouldn't exactly imply our collection of starting pitching prospects makes McCarthy expendable. I'll be willing to bet perhaps one (Lumsden) could ever have a ceiling high as Brandon. Even then it's too early to determine whether or not he can be depended upon. We're not Minnesota. There isn't some machine underneath our stadium capable of producing pitching talent at a consistent rate. Our general manager hasn't exactly pulled a future Cy-young, closer, and a 4th starter for a catcher forced out. You can't just trade McCarthy, even for Tejada. If we're talking about an outfield prospect -- a position we've atleast produced average talent -- I can see Williams taking a chance; as he did with Vazquez. Any move involving McCarthy would bite us in the ASS. For the love of God, if we're trading McCarthy might as well not have a minor league system. Wouldn't it be good for our payroll to have a SP earning less than one million when his counterparts in Garland and Garcia are raping us for 8+ million?

QUOTE(zygoat @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 01:18 PM) verlander is the best young guy right now he is extremely solid and has a better pickoff move than mark (maybe) i like his style and think he is going to kick ass soon, hopefully he will too expensive for the tigers Ok. Verlander - 3.39ERA, 1.28 WHIP, .257BAA, 31BB/58SO/95.2IP Liriano - 2.17 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, .215 BAA, 19BB/74SO/66.1IP Verlander won't be too expensive for another 7-8 years.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 01:16 AM) I haven't seen King Felix pitch, but I want to know why there isn't an Emperor Fransisco in Minnesota. Given, I've only been watching baseball for about 5 years now, but I don't think I've ever seen a more MLB ready and a more composed pitcher this young, this early in a pitcher's career. Liriano has no limit. 96-99 MPH fastball? 89-92 slider that moves 2 feet? Along with a plus changeup and good control? There is no stopping Liriano. Liriano controls his own destiny. (as I recall, Liriano was a throw-in in the Pierzynski deal...if I am indeed remembering correctly, he was a hell of a throw-in) How do you suppose Brian Sabean lives his life knowing he traded Liriano for Pierzynski? Don't even factor in Bonser or Nathan. His name alone for Pierzynski is shameful. On ESPN's broadcast of Clemens/Liriano they discussed the deal. As expected, neither broadcaster could believe how much of a steal it was for the Twins. It must be difficult for Sabean to read through a newspaper or turn on the TV and not feel suicidal. It's funny -- several years ago I was livid in the aftermath of Williams' Todd Ritchie trade. Thought it was the type of move which sends a general manager to an early grave. When you consider the pitching problems we experienced from 2001-2004, Wells (and to a lesser degree, Fogg) would have been a welcomed addition to our rotation. But, as I've seen with Sabean's mess, our ballclub had it rather easy. Todd Ritche trade sent us back several years. Pierzynski's ransom will undoubtedly send the Giants back atleast five. Perhaps more if San Francisco fails to find consistent rotation/bullpen help. When Nathan leaves Minnesota -- which I'm sure he will soon -- Minnesota will either receive a good package for him or take their compensation draft pick and develop another hard-throwing relief pitcher. He won't leave for nothing. No one from Minneosta every does. I hope Williams never makes a trade near this crushing level. Has anyone ever browsed San Francisco's message board lately? You can count on a thread following every Liriano start which criticizes Sabean for trading him. No one on this board would be able to tolerate my whining if we were in San Francisco's position. Think I'm bad now with the numerous "where's our Liriano, Garza, Reyes (insert contributing minor leaguer)?" It would be unbearble for everyone. If there's anything a general manager can learn from this experience, it's the right trade is often the one which isn't made. McCarthy could have been in Boston's rotation right now if Rodriguez were dealt there. Oh, and I don't believe from this point onwards opposing general managers will openly trade Ryan unheralded minor leaguers. It's obvious the Twins scouting department does their homework.

Is it impossible for any of the networks broadcasting Whtie Sox games to buy a working radar gun? Not that it matters either way, but we're talking about something that costs a hundred dollars.