Lip Man 1

Just for discussions sake though recently things have not been looking good from that standpoint...consider: Fulmer, Burdi, Burger, Collins. All recent high picks, in some cases very high, who so far have basically produced next to nothing for the Sox. Personally I've written off Fulmer and Burdi. Burger is close to that as well because the guy (like Burdi) is one injury after another. Not ready to go there yet for Collins who has produced some at the minor league level and really hasn't had a real chance yet with the Sox.

Certainly changes the dynamic. Though I can't believe yet they are writing Collins off. I mean if they haven't written off Fulmer yet I can't see them doing that to a kid who is barely getting a chance at the big league level. If they are though, that's another black mark against the drafting / developmental part of the organization since Collins was also a first round pick.

I could see Cordell maybe as a 4th outfielder or so moving forward depending on the progress of some of the other minor league outfielders in the system but certainly not as a regular.

Always happy to help out those who are behind on things. if ever I can be of service to you in the future again please let me know.

Considering he twice led all Minor league baseball in home runs it's worth a shot, not like they have anything to lose right now.

On MLB and the "juiced baseballs." Hard to argue with the future Hall of Famer https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/justin-verlander-blames-mlb-for-juiced-balls-home-run-spike-major-league-baseballs-turning-this-game-into-a-joke/

Guy was a top prospect just a few short years ago. Nothing to lose here, if he pans out it gives the Sox more options / flexibility.

Reading is a lost art I see. It WASN'T A GOOD HALF for any team under normal circumstances. Having a losing record going into the All-Star break is never a good thing. However, again, I said for the Sox in this part of the rebuild with little starting pitching it was. It's not that hard to understand. I guess my point is that for far to long Sox fans have put up with mediocrity and with losing, that's been part of the problem. They accepted it. So just because the Sox have shown improvement, let's not get comfortable with it, let's not be satisfied...there's still work to do, there's still miles to go as the poet wrote. A very good start in year three of the rebuild to this point. So sorry I offended your sense of propriety.

Because some folks actually don't get it. See the post saying the Sox were on pace for 84 wins. And if you looked six words to the right of my post, you'd see I said for the Sox in this case it was. Lighten up Francis.

Actually they wouldn't get 84, they've already played 86 games. The halfway mark is 81, so you'd need to see how many wins they had at the 81 game mark, multiply it times two and that would be the pace they were on. I think it came out to 78 if I remember right. Still good though in this case.

Actually under normal circumstances it isn't. However for the Sox in this phase of the rebuild with very little starting pitching it is.

Break out your tapes and DVD's of games from past good seasons.

Correct. Surgery on the pateller tendon. (Sorry about that spelling)

Anybody but the Cubs

No

Considering both were basically one dimension players it seemed to be a good possibility. Neither brought a lot to the table other than the occasional home run, they can't run well and don't field their positions well. I honestly thought bought could be a bench contributor moving forward at one time but their flaws far outweighed the one benefit they brought (occasional home run)

National League Central is an interesting race. Looks like no team wants to actually "win it" by playing well. Mediocrity rules!

Yes and no. To make a deal someone has to want to take that money.

No reason to see him at all...period...with some of the up and coming outfielders in the system.

Nova can't seem to pitch well or beat anybody else but the Cubs and Cleveland...but on this day you give him his props as he was very solid. As Joe Garagiola once said, "Baseball is a funny game..." Giolito's an All-Star and the Cubs hammer him twice...Nova is anything but an All-Star and he beats them twice. Sox by the way scored three runs in every single game against the Cubs. Just an unexpected nice win today to shut up the Cubs and their clownish fan-base.

History shows it doesn't happen often...not today. To me accomplishing something like what the Braves did, win the division, what? 12 straight seasons and make the playoffs all those times is mind boggling. Yea they only won one World Series, but continuing to do what they did year after year with different guys....you just don't see that anymore.

Given that the White Sox are the only one of the original 16 Major League teams to have NEVER made the post season in consecutive years....I'd happily take that issue myself. Which is why I said what I did in my original post.

All I can think of is that it's a mental thing with him. It's happened to pitchers before, just can no longer find the strike zone and the more they think about it the worse it gets. But with him it is incredible, going from leading all minor league pitchers in strikeouts to a guy getting ready to take a quick ride to retirement. With Fulmer I think it is a combination of his bizarre delivery which cause him to miss often his release point, the fact that the Sox rushed him in my opinion to the majors in some misguided effort to "justify" their selection of him and then having had his delivery tweeked and changed so often that the guy no longer knows which way is up.

Agree completely. I'd be ecstatic if the Sox made the playoffs three years in a row or four out of five. Even if they fell on their faces in the postseason, getting there in the first place indicates you've got a pretty good club. That would be a very refreshing change. One you get to October it's a crap shoot like Jerry Koosman told me, one freak injury, one bad bounce, one blown call by a bad umpire and you can be D.O.A.

It may be they are getting somewhat complacent after having made the playoffs four straight years...maybe they think they can "turn it on" whenever they want. That's hard to do. What the Cubs have going for them is the ability to take on salary at the deadline. I don't know if the other clubs in the diviksion can or have the will to do that...maybe the Cardinals.