SI AL Central Preview

[chitownsportsfan]

I know I'm going to be pissed if it's a tight race in late August and Ozzie sends Widger, Ozuna and Borchard out to do some damage on a Sunday.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Doesn't mean much.  The Cubs were *the* team for many years as well, look at what it got them.

 

The Cubs were never defending champions.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I doubt it.

 

Nuke will be back with his ALL CAPS TITLED posts if the Sox win or lose.

 

People who are sports fans overreact good or bad.

 

This is gonna be the least non stressful year for me as a Sox fan ever. What's the worst that can happpen in 06? We don't repeat? I got my dream in 05. If it never happens again, I'll be cool.

[pale_hose]

Previews always piss me off...they are fun to read, but the "experts" are never right about their previews....i do believe that SI had the Sox 3rd in the central last year

[Jordan4life_2007]

Previews always piss me off...they are fun to read, but the "experts" are never right about their previews....i do believe that SI had the Sox 3rd in the central last year

 

Some had us 4th.

[TheBlackSox8]

Previews always piss me off...they are fun to read, but the "experts" are never right about their previews....i do believe that SI had the Sox 3rd in the central last year

i like the fantasy baseball previews more......gives you a better analysis of the teams and the players, rookies and all.

[RockRaines]

Previews always piss me off...they are fun to read, but the "experts" are never right about their previews....i do believe that SI had the Sox 3rd in the central last year

I bet you would like it if it questioned whether or not Brian Anderson is ready

[SoxFan1]

I that the only "expert" who predicted the White Sox to win the division in 2005 was Mike Greenberg.

Edited February 16, 2006 by SoxFan1

[Jordan4life_2007]

I that the only "expert" who predicted the White Sox to win the division in 2005 was Mike Greenberg.

 

And me.

[chitownsportsfan]

Should this be the official experts "prediction" thread?

[TheBlackSox8]

Should this be the official experts "prediction" thread?

more like "experts" prediction thread

[chitownsportsfan]

Yea, I should have just said "expert prediction"

[TheBlackSox8]

Yea, I should have just said "expert prediction"

or you could have said "expert" opinion thread...........but then again not many people would check the thread out.

[witesoxfan]

Add Joe Crede to that list. 

 

The guy is put up on a pedestal here for his contributions down the stretch last year.  Little do people remember the fact that he was one of the easiest outs, in one of the most friendly offensive parks in the game, for over three-fourths of the season last year.

 

He had OPS's of >.823 in 4 months of the season(April, June, July, and September), and also had a .941 OPS in the playoffs. He was injured for about half of August, so by my count, he was an easy out at the plate in like a month and a half of the season, which would be the exact opposite of what you said.

 

I that the only "expert" who predicted the White Sox to win the division in 2005 was Mike Greenberg.

 

The beloved Rob Neyer also did. He backed off of that after a month, which made no sense whatsoever.

[SSH2005]

Sizing up which teams belong on top

By Jerry Crasnick

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...erry&id=2331387

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

New York Mets

 

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

St. Louis Cardinals

 

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

San Francisco Giants

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

New York Yankees

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Chicago White Sox

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

Oakland Athletics

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Chicago White Sox

 

GM Kenny Williams spent half his winter doubled over in pain because of kidney stones, but it didn't impede his ability to think clearly. He changed the look of the batting order by acquiring Jim Thome, dipped into the farm system to pry Javier Vazquez loose from the Diamondbacks, and picked up Rob Mackowiak as a third-base hedge in case Joe Crede's back acts up.

 

It remains to be seen whether manager Ozzie Guillen, now a full-fledged celebrity, is as good at maintaining harmony as he was in cultivating it, or whether Thome can rebound from injury to upgrade a middle-of-the-pack offense. The Sox went 61-33 in games decided by one or two runs last season. Don't expect that again. And closer Bobby Jenks still must prove he can handle success, keep his weight in check and answer those nagging maturity questions over the course of an entire season.

 

The division is also packed, with Cleveland coming off 93 victories, Minnesota stacked with pitching and Detroit a potential dark horse under new manager Jim Leyland. But the Sox are loaded in the rotation, and Williams, to his credit, didn't let sentimentality stand in the way of self-improvement. The White Sox are just back from the White House and they've gotten better. You sure can't pick against them.

Edited February 16, 2006 by SSH2005

[whitesoxfan101]

I will enjoy this season and those after a lot more now that I did get to see us win it all once. That's the only "downer" of us winning it all, I won't have an unhealthy emotional attachment to us winning it all, since I've finally seen us do it, but i'll be as big a fan as ever of course.

 

And with that said, I agree with all the complaints mentioned in this thread will be mentioned in 2006. As for me, the only one I think I will have is that I think Ozzie Guillen is easily the worst in game manager in our division among the top 4 teams.

 

And you can put that quote in your sig if you want, because we could win the World Series again and I'll still think that. This team is ALL about pitching and home runs, and luckily we are going to be damned good at doing both.

[YASNY]

I can't believe you guys still can't see why Ozzie made the in games moves he did during the season. He kept his subs sharp and his regulars rested. He also showed in the post season that he can change when circumstances do. He kept running his regulars out there with a 'win today' mentality, which so many of you think he should have game in, game out throughout the course of a 162 game season. He shouldn't, and I for one am very happy he doesn't.

 

Of course, I preached this all throughout the season last year, but I thought a WS championship would have convinced most of you doubters. I should have known better.

[The Ginger Kid]

Personally, I'm interested to see who KW will trade to bring back Carl. Cause you know it's coming.

[southsider2k5]

I can't believe you guys still can't see why Ozzie made the in games moves he did during the season.  He kept his subs sharp and his regulars rested.  He also showed in the post season that he can change when circumstances do.  He kept running his regulars out there with a 'win today' mentality, which so many of you think he should have game in, game out throughout the course of a 162 game season.  He shouldn't, and I for one am very happy he doesn't. 

 

Of course, I preached this all throughout the season last year, but I thought a WS championship would have convinced most of you doubters.  I should have known better.

 

There are plenty of people who can't see past the next pitch to understand that sometimes a loss can be beneficial down the road.

 

Many other people have been preaching about Ozzies "Not for today, but for October" managing style since he got here. I'll say this again for everyone who spazzes out over every detail in a game...

 

IT.DOESN'T.MATTER.

 

Ozzie is looking at a game, a pitch, an AB today as an insight to what he can use and do in the playoffs/pressure games. How would Ozzie have known that Neal Cotts was his best set up man last year, if he had never tested him out in the roll early in the season, and instead stuck with the Jerry Manuel style of pigeonholing pitchers into specific rolls and innings? He wouldn't have. Its not a 100% science and sometimes guys aren't cut out for what he needs, and yes, it costs us a game in July. But if you will notice, in September and October, Ozzie always had the perfect move up his sleeve. That isn't a coincidence. That came because Ozzie knew his players and their abilities better than any other manager in baseball, because he had already tested them.

 

Now I know that as soon as the season starts we'll have the usual suspects freaking out over everything, and that I am probably wasting my keyboard with this post, but maybe... just maybe, it will click for someone, and they can actually enjoy the games a little more, instead of losing sleep because Ozzie used Cliff Politte in a situation instead of Bobby Jenks.

[whitesoxfan101]

I can't believe you guys still can't see why Ozzie made the in games moves he did during the season.  He kept his subs sharp and his regulars rested.  He also showed in the post season that he can change when circumstances do.  He kept running his regulars out there with a 'win today' mentality, which so many of you think he should have game in, game out throughout the course of a 162 game season.  He shouldn't, and I for one am very happy he doesn't. 

 

Of course, I preached this all throughout the season last year, but I thought a WS championship would have convinced most of you doubters.  I should have known better.

 

There are certain things Ozzie does as a manager right now that will cause me to never be sold on his in game skills, regardless of what we win (hell, we could win again this year for all I know). He's a great clubhouse leader and the best manager in baseball during the 21 hours the game isn't being played, by a mile and a half, and that's worth something obviously. But his in game manager skills and strategy simply aren't very good, and I can't look past that.

 

Yes, we won the damn WORLD SERIES last year, which means after a bad loss, I won't be on here freaking out all the time. But, I will sit whereever I was watching the game, whether it be at home, a friends house, or some restaurant, and think "Ozzie, WTF are you doing?" like I did after a lot of games the last 2 years.

[whitesoxfan101]

There are plenty of people who can't see past the next pitch to understand that sometimes a loss can be beneficial down the road.

 

Many other people have been preaching about Ozzies "Not for today, but for October" managing style since he got here.  I'll say this again for everyone who spazzes out over every detail in a game... 

 

IT.DOESN'T.MATTER. 

 

Ozzie is looking at a game, a pitch, an AB today as an insight to what he can use and do in the playoffs/pressure games.  How would Ozzie have known that Neal Cotts was his best set up man last year, if he had never tested him out in the roll early in the season, and instead stuck with the Jerry Manuel style of pigeonholing pitchers into specific rolls and innings?  He wouldn't have.  Its not a 100% science and sometimes guys aren't cut out for what he needs, and yes, it costs us a game in July.  But if you will notice, in September and October, Ozzie always had the perfect move up his sleeve.  That isn't a coincidence.  That came because Ozzie knew his players and their abilities better than any other manager in baseball, because he had already tested them.

 

Now I know that as soon as the season starts we'll have the usual suspects freaking out over everything, and that I am probably wasting my keyboard with this post, but maybe... just maybe, it will click for someone, and they can actually enjoy the games a little more, instead of losing sleep because Ozzie used Cliff Politte in a situation instead of Bobby Jenks.

 

That is a good post, but to condense it it seems to me you think the problem people have with Ozzie is his experimentation with players in key spots, especially early in the year. To be honest with you, I have no problem with him doing that. It drives me nuts, but I understand it. There are many other issues with Ozzie that are of far bigger concern to me.

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 11:19 PM)

The beloved Rob Neyer also did.  He backed off of that after a month, which made no sense whatsoever.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

if you remember following the 04 World Series, the ESPN panel was given a quick oppurtunity to say who they thought would win the World Series in 05 and Peter Gammons called on the White Sox as the favorites.

 

He later changed his tune, but its interesting to note.

[SSH2005]

Rob Neyer was right about Jermaine Dye being the best bargain outfielder signing last offseason but then when he did his preview on the 2005 White Sox he didn't even mention that the Sox had signed Dye.

Edited February 17, 2006 by SSH2005

[kevin57]

I can't believe you guys still can't see why Ozzie made the in games moves he did during the season.  He kept his subs sharp and his regulars rested.  He also showed in the post season that he can change when circumstances do.  He kept running his regulars out there with a 'win today' mentality, which so many of you think he should have game in, game out throughout the course of a 162 game season.  He shouldn't, and I for one am very happy he doesn't. 

 

Of course, I preached this all throughout the season last year, but I thought a WS championship would have convinced most of you doubters.  I should have known better.

 

Personally, I've not had a problem with Ozzie's resting and rotating of players. In fact, any analysis of the post-season reveals what a genius he was.

 

The only I have about Ozzie sometimes are his bullpen moves. I probably agree with him 80% of the time, but the other 20% are truly baffling.

[Rowand44]

if you remember following the 04 World Series, the ESPN panel was given a quick oppurtunity to say who they thought would win the World Series in 05 and Peter Gammons called on the White Sox as the favorites.

 

 

He more or less said that as a joke but I do remember what you're talking about.