Who are you pulling for as the DH?

[ThunderBolt]

Google it.

Wow, really? Seems to be like all the proof i need is right there. I'm also immersed in Yankees news out here almost daily, (i get ESPN 1050, The YES Network, the Local Papers) and i can't seem to recall Swish truly waning at all (outside of a few slumps) EXCEPT in the playoffs. So, yeah. I don't think i'll be googling it.

[NorthSideSox72]

Christ, we're on the Swisher nonsense again?

 

He was a player with no position on the Sox. No one in 2009 would have benched Dye or Quentin for him, and he can't play CF. Not to mention he obviously was hated by many of his teammates and coaches. He's gone, he had to be gone, and who gives a crap what he did later with the Yankees. Let it die.

 

[SoxAce]

Cust struck out 197 times in 08 and 185 times in 09. Strike outs are rally killers. No thank you.

 

No. I consider a double play a huge rally killer than a strike out that only counts as one out. Paul Konerko as been one of the biggest rally killers in the last 50 years according to an article qwerty brought up to me, but he will be our 1B and he will GIDP/SO/PO/etc... (and he can get clutch hits at times as well [05' W.S. reminds us of that]) I like Cust, but I keep telling people if you hate Nick Swisher, you will hate Jack Cust as a player and I was a big fan of Swisher's game. I know Jason hates Cust and Swisher. To each his own.

Edited January 5, 2010 by SoxAce

[BaseballNick]

Christ, we're on the Swisher nonsense again?

 

He was a player with no position on the Sox. No one in 2009 would have benched Dye or Quentin for him, and he can't play CF. Not to mention he obviously was hated by many of his teammates and coaches. He's gone, he had to be gone, and who gives a crap what he did later with the Yankees. Let it die.

 

Swisher will forever live on through the successes of Wilson Betemit...oops, I mean Jeff Marquez...oops, I mean Jhonny Nunez.

[NorthSideSox72]

Swisher will forever live on through the successes of Wilson Betemit...oops, I mean Jeff Marquez...oops, I mean Jhonny Nunez.

Nunez may yet be of value. But ultimately, he was a guy the Sox had to get rid of - he brought net zero value to the team at that time. Anything they could get was worthwhile.

 

[Balta1701]

Nunez may yet be of value. But ultimately, he was a guy the Sox had to get rid of - he brought net zero value to the team at that time. Anything they could get was worthwhile.

I still wouldn't count out Marquez either, depending on what they've done to get him healthy.

[ThunderBolt]

I still wouldn't count out Marquez either, depending on what they've done to get him healthy.

The stuff i've heard about his elbow bothers me, but his sinker really sounded like nice when he first came to this organization. Hopefully, he'll turn it around.

[Balta1701]

The stuff i've heard about his elbow bothers me, but his sinker really sounded like nice when he first came to this organization. Hopefully, he'll turn it around.

It's bone spurs, its an injury many people have come back to pitch from, but it depends a lot on the actual injury

[Fantl916]

i havent read the whole thread, but has anyone floated the idea of Russell Branyan? Looks like his options are dwindling and he was pretty dam good against righties last year. one or two year deal at $4 million per? Use Andruw against lefties, Branyan against righties? Sounds pretty hot to me!

[Jerksticks]

Yankees fans don't like Swisher. All you have to do is go to one of their message boards. If they got ousted in the first round they would hate him even more, like we did. They won the world series so he gets a pass, but i'd say the majority consider him the weak link in the outfield. And that's with his .900 OPS! Perhaps OPS doesn't tell the whole story?? Hmmm????

 

As far as this team is concerned, I'd much rather not sign anybody than take Thome or Cust; total opposite direction we are headed. Why go from trying to have all good baseball players to signing fluff stat players. Can't we let AJ get some RBIs this year? Do we really have to put 3 slow guys in front of him and his .300 average again? Ughhhh.. We are so close to being so good; no steps backward please.

[Kyyle23]

i havent read the whole thread, but has anyone floated the idea of Russell Branyan? Looks like his options are dwindling and he was pretty dam good against righties last year. one or two year deal at $4 million per? Use Andruw against lefties, Branyan against righties? Sounds pretty hot to me!

 

I was thinking about this the other night myself. Branyan is passable defensively as well. Im wondering if he has a pretty hefty pricetag that he has given himself because of last year.

[chunk23]

Yankees fans don't like Swisher. All you have to do is go to one of their message boards. If they got ousted in the first round they would hate him even more, like we did. They won the world series so he gets a pass, but i'd say the majority consider him the weak link in the outfield. And that's with his .900 OPS! Perhaps OPS doesn't tell the whole story?? Hmmm????

 

As far as this team is concerned, I'd much rather not sign anybody than take Thome or Cust; total opposite direction we are headed. Why go from trying to have all good baseball players to signing fluff stat players. Can't we let AJ get some RBIs this year? Do we really have to put 3 slow guys in front of him and his .300 average again? Ughhhh.. We are so close to being so good; no steps backward please.

 

When you have a lineup like the Yankees of course a .900 OPS is the "weak link". However, he would've been our best OFer last year. And either way, the Yankees weakest OF was Melky Cabrera. Besides, why would a player like him be considered the weak link? Since when is a .869 OPS weak? That doesn't make any sense.

 

 

Who would you have the Sox bring in to DH?

[Kyyle23]

When you have a lineup like the Yankees of course a .900 OPS is the "weak link". However, he would've been our best OFer last year. And either way, the Yankees weakest OF was Melky Cabrera. Besides, why would a player like him be considered the weak link? Since when is a .869 OPS weak? That doesn't make any sense.

 

 

Who would you have the Sox bring in to DH?

 

In the playoffs, Swisher was very much the weak link. Yankees fans dont forget playoff performances

[35thstreetswarm]

Google it.

 

Swisher did get benched in the World Series.

[witesoxfan]

Yankees fans don't like Swisher. All you have to do is go to one of their message boards. If they got ousted in the first round they would hate him even more, like we did. They won the world series so he gets a pass, but i'd say the majority consider him the weak link in the outfield. And that's with his .900 OPS! Perhaps OPS doesn't tell the whole story?? Hmmm????

 

As far as this team is concerned, I'd much rather not sign anybody than take Thome or Cust; total opposite direction we are headed. Why go from trying to have all good baseball players to signing fluff stat players. Can't we let AJ get some RBIs this year? Do we really have to put 3 slow guys in front of him and his .300 average again? Ughhhh.. We are so close to being so good; no steps backward please.

 

yeah, "fluff stat players" don't hit home runs in the last game of the season to send their team to the playoffs

 

Fluff stat players? You mean to tell me that 30 homers and an on base percentage in the .375 range is really going to hurt this team and that they are fluff stat players? There's nothing wrong with a player that hits 30 homers, walks 80 times and strikes out 120 times so long as they are hitting right around .250. In fact, if you have that type of player on your team, there's a good chance you are scoring a lot of runs.

 

Thome or Guerrero make all the sense in the world to this team. Thome doesn't have to play everyday and Guerrero can play a little bit of outfield here or there if needed, they will require a short-term and relatively cheap contract, and they will be good at what they do. It's not like we're talking about signing Darin Erstad to be a full-time DH.

[WHITESOXRANDY]

yeah, "fluff stat players" don't hit home runs in the last game of the season to send their team to the playoffs

 

Fluff stat players? You mean to tell me that 30 homers and an on base percentage in the .375 range is really going to hurt this team and that they are fluff stat players? There's nothing wrong with a player that hits 30 homers, walks 80 times and strikes out 120 times so long as they are hitting right around .250. In fact, if you have that type of player on your team, there's a good chance you are scoring a lot of runs.

 

Thome or Guerrero make all the sense in the world to this team. Thome doesn't have to play everyday and Guerrero can play a little bit of outfield here or there if needed, they will require a short-term and relatively cheap contract, and they will be good at what they do. It's not like we're talking about signing Darin Erstad to be a full-time DH.

 

I agree with you. However, I have to believe that Guerrero is out of the Sox price range. He can probably still hit a ton and would be great in the Sox lineup but I don't think they can afford him. I would love to see that happen though.

[Jerksticks]

Chunk I meant that he's looked at as a weak link next year. Probably because of the playoffs, Yankees fans are more excited about Gardner.

 

Who cares about the Yanks, on to our DH. I'd rather let spring training play out before signing anybody. Let's see if we have 10 Major League producers for 9 positions before we do anything. Our division isn't running away if we wait til May, June or even the deadline to sign an out of work DH.

 

What if Flowers rakes in ST? What if Andruw Jones is a beast? And these guys can play important positions.

 

All we need is someone to be Hot Carl this year.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Jerksticks

[witesoxfan]

Chunk I meant that he's looked at as a weak link next year. Probably because of the playoffs, Yankees fans are more excited about Gardner.

 

Who cares about the Yanks, on to our DH. I'd rather let spring training play out before signing anybody. Let's see if we have 10 Major League producers for 9 positions before we do anything. Our division isn't running away if we wait til May, June or even the deadline to sign an out of work DH.

 

What if Flowers rakes in ST? What if Andruw Jones is a beast? And these guys can play important positions.

 

All we need is someone to be Hot Carl this year.

 

What if I s*** bricks of gold and it smells like roses?

 

Besides that, if those two hit and they are DHing most of the time, it won't matter that they can play important positions.

[Jerksticks]

What if I s*** bricks of gold and it smells like roses?

 

Besides that, if those two hit and they are DHing most of the time, it won't matter that they can play important positions.

 

Yea the best case scenario here is that Kenny turned a couple bricks of s*** into gold. It's actually a possibility. All I'm sayin is that with this pitching staff, we can afford to wait to see what the bricks taste like. If the bricks stay nasty and start to decompose, then let's sign a DH.

 

Wait, are there going to be good leftover hitters? How many good hitters are left to fill how many rosters?

[gatnom]

Chunk I meant that he's looked at as a weak link next year. Probably because of the playoffs, Yankees fans are more excited about Gardner.

 

Who cares about the Yanks, on to our DH. I'd rather let spring training play out before signing anybody. Let's see if we have 10 Major League producers for 9 positions before we do anything. Our division isn't running away if we wait til May, June or even the deadline to sign an out of work DH.

 

What if Flowers rakes in ST? What if Andruw Jones is a beast? And these guys can play important positions.

 

All we need is someone to be Hot Carl this year.

 

Our division may not be running, but our options will be.

[daggins]

Not that he's an exciting option, but Cust is out.

 

Blalock? Thome? Nobody?

[knightni]

Branyan would be interesting if he was semi-reasonable financially.

 

3 years - $4 mil base plus options to bring it up to $8 mil might be what he wants.

 

Thome does about the same stats for less, though.

[2nd_city_saint787]

I am personally all for Andruw at DH full time he more than likely wont hit for a high average but he has the potential to drop 30+ HR.

 

If we were to go another route here are some options that could be better than jones.

 

Rick Ankiel

Hank Blalock

Russell Branyon

Joe Crede

Jack Cust

Johnny Damon

Carlos Delgado

Jermaine Dye

DARRIN ERSTAD!

The Giambino

Brian Giles

Vlad

Mike Hampton....dirty pop

Orlando Hudson... Doesnt give you pop but him in the 2 spot and movin becks down would add a lot to the team.

Mike Jacobs

Adam Laroach

Xavier Nady

Gary Sheffield

Miguel Tejada

Jim Thome

Randy Winn

and last but certainly not least DA MEAT HOOK Dmitri Young forgot all about him

 

thats 21 guys who have the possibility of comin aboard to dh and have the possibility of being better than jones.

 

Idk how many teams have how many holes to fill but IMO a few of those guys will be available in spring training if jones or flowers dont emerge as clear cut everyday players

 

 

[2nd_city_saint787]

Not that he's an exciting option, but Cust is out.

 

Blalock? Thome? Nobody?

 

 

what you mean cust is out??

[bigruss]

what you mean cust is out??

Resigned with the As.