103 mph screwball

I wanted Anderson to have a shot at center this year. He failed to capitalize on his opportunity. He has not proven to be a good hitter and should no longer be considered as a starter. For this year, Anderson makes more sense as a 4th outfielder because of his defense which could be utilized nearly every game to rest Q or upgrade Pod's D. Both are bad hitters and should not pinch hit for anybody except the pitcher in the World Series games the Sox will be playing in NL parks. I wish Wise well. Hopefully he proves us all wrong. Ozzie must like his speed/base stealing potential, the fact that he is a lefty, and my purely speculative guess is that he likes Wise's personality better than Brian's. I disagree with the move, but if he takes the field in a Sox uniform, I hope he plays like an MVP.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 02:12 PM) It's the principle of our organization not keeping the best players on the 25 man roster which bothers people. Plus, Anderson has use as a defensive replacement when we're healthy, Wise has literally no use on this roster. I agree. With Q needing to take it easy on the foot, and Pods a less than stellar CF, Anderson would have been a nice defensive replacement nearly every game. Anderson is just getting some AB's before they trade him now. Good luck to Wise. Hope Wise shuts us up. Welcome back Q!

Jim will be back at a contract around 6 million plus incentives. Konerko loves the man. I can't see them shutting the door in his face. After Jim, I do not want the Sox to have a dedicated DH. I want JD, Q, Pods, whoever to play DH once in a while. If you have a guy mostly DH, at least have that player maintain the ability to play a position without being a complete injury risk or defensive liability. If your best hitter or highly talented highly paid player can only DH, it hurts when playing the National League and makes the team much less flexible. Would AJ/Flowers be a better hitter if he got 20 fewer games behind the plate and 30 more at DH?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:35 PM) Got no problem with walks... but players with passive, Nick Swisher esque approaches at bat is a different story. Hopefully Mitchell doesn't fall into that group. I agree. Passive is the perfect word for what I saw close and late. With a winning run on second, I don't want Swisher up there to walk. The opposition knew it too and struck him out. I'm very happy the Sox will not be paying Swisher's crappy contract. Sure, I wish the Sox could have gotten a better deal for him or not dealt for him at all. But if his crap contract kept the Sox from making future moves, I would have traded him for the Washington Nationals batboy. KW took a shot and it didn't work out.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 07:30 AM) Hawk and Stone I believe were letting the fanbase know to stop the Halladay dreams yesterday. They mentioned Philadelphia and Boston as destinations and a couple more teams, never even mentioning the beloved. Hawk and Stone could have been letting Toronto know that they are asking too much by indicating to the fans that is not going to happen. The Jays are probably leaking the huge packages to drive up the price and the Sox are saying we aren't going to get another outfielder and Halladay is too expensive for the Sox. The Jays are hoping to cash in on the aggressiveness. KW is letting them know he doesn't have to make the trade. The truth is somewhere in the smoke and mirrors. I'm willing to bet that KW has made his final offer.

My guess is that he is not running well enough yet. He keeps playing DH to get his swing fine tuned for when he is able to come back. If he can't run well and isn't hitting for power yet, he won't help the Sox much and would still be risking reinjury. I want healthy Q.

QUOTE (OldSmoky2 @ Jul 15, 2009 -> 12:09 AM) I just don't see KW shaking up this team right now by trading starters like Alexei in a big deal, a la Halladay/Rolen, etc. It just doesn't seem to be his mid-season MO. And given his recently-stated money concerns, KW has to love Alexei's contract long-term. I think they see over the next week or so how CQ comes back. If he's good to go, KW and Ozzie probably feel pretty good about their outfield and starting offense at this point, especially with how the bottom of the lineup has produced lately. Based on KW's past track record (Geoff Blum), I do think the Teahen rumor is one to watch. KW and Ozzie keep Wise around because they want a left-handed bat for certain situations. I don't think they're blind though to Wise's .198 average; given a chance to replace Wise with Teahen without giving up the farm is a tweak I think KW is probably looking to make. Teahen is also a lot more versatile than Wise, again like Blum. It may not end up being Teahen, but I think KW is probably looking for a LH hitter like that. The other obvious concern right now is fifth starter. With the second-half schedule, KW knows we can't keep blowing every fifth game right out of the box, let alone wasting the bullpen in games where we're down several runs early. I wish I knew what the scouts and coaches are telling KW about Freddy's progress in AZ. I know KW and Ozzie would love most of all for Freddy to come back and pitch some clutch games for us down the stretch. If they don't think he can, though, as they watch him over the next week or two, a competent fifth starter (not an ace) may be high on KW's shopping list. Again, that's another mid-season KW-type move that wouldn't cost us the farm. Welcome to Soxtalk! I curious about Freddie as well. Alexei's contract is reasonable, but I do think it is Kenny's MO to go after the big fish, especially a cy young quality starting pitcher.

No matter how you spell Roy Hollyday, he would make the Sox better. Not only would he win a definite number of games more that Richard/Colon/?, all of the rest of our pitchers could end up winning a game or two more from facing lesser competition. The revitalized Bronze Titan will be the #5! Floyd would be ripping up on #4 pitchers. I realize that the rotation of pitchers inevitably gets off so that 1's don't always face 1's. That does not change the fact that the Sox will have more games the second half with a starting pitching advantage. He is worth Ramirez and a prospect package in my mind. However, the idea of trading Floyd would NOT work because of money, years, and the loss of the starting pitching advantage I just described.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) MLB Network showed the 300 homer back-to-back on their highlights for the first half. MLB Network >>> ESPN. In fact with NFL and MLB networks plus CSN, screw ESPN I don't need them.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) It is surprising to see guys like Masset, MacDougal, and Aardsma actually doing good. I thought they were all pretty much done when they left the Sox. I hope the Sox and Coop are paying attention to that fact so that they understand that maybe everyone does not fit the standard plan.

Rogers is high. No way.

I do not mind heckling as long as it doesn't get laced with profanity and doesn't get into personal stuff. Making fun of a 3b corner power is fair game. Making fun of somebody's wife's affair or sick relative is despicable.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 12:40 PM) He's had three weeks off already and there's less than 2 months to go on the Minor League season, f*** giving him a rest lets see him out there. Per the FutureSox twitter feed: "FutureSox is hearing the Jared Mitchell is not injured and the White Sox are just giving him some rest. He is expected to debut Thursday" If the kid wants a break before starting his professional life, let him if that is what makes him a happy number one pick. He could have just not signed for a few more weeks.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 08:36 AM) Whoa, put on the brakes. The last time this happened, two weeks later, the guy was traded... It would not surprise me. If a club the Sox were dealing with wanted to see how he could handle AAA, the Sox might promote a guy to showcase him.

I'm guessing it is a week of vacation. Just a little break to get things in order after his college career.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 08:11 AM) Scott Rolen's #'s: .320 AVG, .377 OBP, 35 RBI, 6 HR and 26 2B. He has missed 13 out of 90 games, but hasn't spent time on the DL since August of last year. He appears to be 100% healthy and ready to go. And if KW does try to get this guy, im positive its with the attempt of having the Jays take half his salary for next season. . Similar to the Rowand deal. Rolen's expirering contract also fits in pretty well with the other veterans such as Konerko and AJ after next season- Hopefully to make room for Viciedo and Flowers- so if KW plays his cards right he could make this work and still look forward to a youth movement at the same time. The whole 'Getting Younger On The Fly' would still work. Not to mention the upgrade defensively at 3b. Rolen's bat would definitely have an impact. If the Sox need to take salary from the Jays, I'd much rather it be Rolen than Rios or Wells.

My two favorite twitter streams for the Sox are the quality info FutureSox and the timely Crowley cst_sox. For those not into twitter, I'll do my best to describe it but it may be better to try it. You basically choose to follow the streams of information from people. You can get the info almost immediately after they post it which makes it nice for news. It also can be used for funny our interesting thoughts, announcements, or links. I have it coming to my phone so I can get it anywhere. My favorite Sox resourse is FutureSox. There are quality frequent updates. The coverage during the draft was excellent. There is a lot of news of note about our prospects performance. I love the Future Sox website as well, but I don't get there every day. The FutureSox twitter stream is a nice way to supplement the site and a good way to let interested people know when there are new articles posted and provide a link. Here are some examples of recent tweet of info, "For those who missed it both Quentin and Colon are continuing their rehab at Kannapolis while Charlotte are off." "Joe Serafin continues his spell of dominance, he's given up just 1 ER in 23 IP since being drafted with 13K/1BB." Keep up the great work guys. If you frequent Soxtalk, I highly recommend you check it out. FutureSox Twitter Another Twitter stream that has been mentioned frequently on Soxtalk is Joe Crowley's aka cst_sox. Crowley has had some great info and insight since I've been following in the spring. You will get info on injuries and some insider news stuff before it can even make the major news outlets. There is one catch, you have to put up with some of Crowley's negativity and opinion. Overall, I give him props. Here are a couple of examples, good and bad, "Ramirez will miss tomorrow, at least. X-rays coming" and "Smell that? Smells like heartbreak coming." Crowley Twitter Has anyone else found any good Sox info on Twitter?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 08:13 PM) Leadership qualities? How do you know? He doesn't seem to have leadership qualities to me either. I have not been in the locker room, but he does not have the body language of someone who is confident. In fact, it seems like someone who gets picked on or yelled at. Just my observation. I don't dislike Alexei. I just drool over the starting rotation of Halladay, MB, Danks, Floyd, Count. The way Jose has been pitching, that is a deadly rotation. When you add an ace like Halladay, all the rest of your staff moves down a notch and faces lesser talent. Floyd a number 4! I think the improvement with that starting staff would be more than any drop off between Ramirez and Beckham/Nix. As far as 3b, KW will get one of those too. There is already a Teahan rumor and it is not too far fetched to get Rolen if the BJays really need to cut salary. Would it really be that hard to find a 3b better than Fields?

QUOTE (Cowch @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 03:53 PM) Which prospects do you think are touchable/untouchable at this point? Danks because he changed agents to play with his brother and we want to keep big brother happy. I'd even trade Beckham for a Cy Young potential starting pitcher who would be under the Sox control for a long time. Everyone else is fair game as long as KW has a plan B and is improving the team.

Might end up being buyers and sellers. We may need to trade a contract like Dotel's in order to afford whoever KW has his sights on. Mostly buyers.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 11:50 PM) Does anyone else have an impending sense of… not doom… just… change? I honestly think something relativity dramatic is going to happen to this team, sooner rather than later. Yes. I think the roster will have as many as 4 new faces after the deadline. I think this team is better than last year because of the starting pitching. The Sox will win the division and they will do it by taking care of business in the central.

(speculation) Teahan would play third when the Sox trade Ramirez for Halladay. Beckham to short.

Hell Yes indeed Hawk. Hell Yes.

Nice move Ozzie!

Bacon had a much better jump on that SB. Best jump I've seen him get. This kid is still learning on the job.