@ Steve, why do your avatar/signature photos look so sick?

Edited April 26, 201213 yr by MEANS

He's definitely having a terrible April and won't take a walk.

We'll see if he heats up in May.

His defense isn't as horrible as I thought it'd be so might as well ride it out with him and see if he can do anything w/ 500-600 at bats.

So many guys in the league are just "guys"

 

What is worth it is finding out if this guy can shore up a few things and be special. I wouldn't normally give such a long leash on such a project, but facts are that we aren't favored to contend right now.

 

Playing Fukudome might add some wins right now but I'm not quite ready to concede developing Viciedo. He has had a year where he held off on his free swinging. It's not a lost cause, just a difficult one.

 

There are a lot of difficult causes if you aren't at the Rangers/Tigers/Yankees payroll level.

At his very best, I don't think Viciedo will be worth the patience necessary for his development. Not for a big market team like the Sox. Not a troll, nothing to do with KW. I just don't see Viciedo as the Vlad Guerro type some think he could be.

So many guys in the league are just "guys"

 

What is worth it is finding out if this guy can shore up a few things and be special. I wouldn't normally give such a long leash on such a project, but facts are that we aren't favored to contend right now.

 

Playing Fukudome might add some wins right now but I'm not quite ready to concede developing Viciedo. He has had a year where he held off on his free swinging. It's not a lost cause, just a difficult one.

 

There are a lot of difficult causes if you aren't at the Rangers/Tigers/Yankees payroll level.

 

What has Viciedo done to make anyone think he will be special though?

What has Viciedo done to make anyone think he will be special though?

 

Before last year's slump didn't he have a period where he raked the baseball? That period where everybody was clamoring for Sox to bring him up? Maybe that was 2 seasons ago now. When the Sox just wouldn't call him up and everybody blamed Ozzie cause he loved Juan.

Before last year's slump didn't he have a period where he raked the baseball? That period where everybody was clamoring for Sox to bring him up? Maybe that was 2 seasons ago now. When the Sox just wouldn't call him up and everybody blamed Ozzie cause he loved Juan.

 

A 3-4 month stretch.

What has Viciedo done to make anyone think he will be special though?

 

If you only give a shot to the guys that have proven they are likely to be special, you are leaving stones unturned all over your organization.

 

Look, not saying everyone deserves an extended shot at the major league level. But for me, it's:

 

 

*the AAA totals

*the hundred at-bats he had in the majors in 2010

*his age

*the fact that right now there's no one blocking him........

 

 

 

all that's enough for me to say -- "lets get an extended look, we aren't likely to win a title this year, so at the very least lets sit him against some righties but otherwise let him prove himself"

 

If this was another organization with tons of talented OFs, my line of thought on this might be too forgiving. But that's not where we're at.

I really hope Cowley writes a column about Viciedo soon.

I really hope Cowley writes a column about Viciedo soon.

He just did. He's trying out the idea here first to get a feel for how it would go over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry Marty, couldn't help myself.

 

Before last year's slump didn't he have a period where he raked the baseball? That period where everybody was clamoring for Sox to bring him up? Maybe that was 2 seasons ago now. When the Sox just wouldn't call him up and everybody blamed Ozzie cause he loved Juan.

 

Last year all we saw was one homer and 5 RBI's.

 

Remember last year he broke his hand or something. Could he still be hampered by that?

@ Steve, why do your avatar/signature photos look so sick?

I illegally downloaded the filter that EA uses for their cover athletes.

So lets just say for the sake of argument that Viciedo goes bats*** crazy and hits .400 in May with 8 HR's. Still not worth the wait?

So lets just say for the sake of argument that Viciedo goes bats*** crazy and hits .400 in May with 8 HR's. Still not worth the wait?

If he is honestly doing that against righties and lefties and not just in favorable matchups, then obviously you've got to wait on him a bit longer...I certainly know I could be wrong about him.

If he is honestly doing that against righties and lefties and not just in favorable matchups, then obviously you've got to wait on him a bit longer...I certainly know I could be wrong about him.

If we were only going to wait "a bit" longer on him then it's criminal that he's not in Charlotte this year.

Just for the record there are only 29 MLB teams out there watching the White Sox.

 

But just like everybody I look forward to MLB expansion into Honolulu and Anchorage in the distant future. I have no doubt that a change of scenery like Alaska would help out Viciedo.

 

If we were only going to wait "a bit" longer on him then it's criminal that he's not in Charlotte this year.

I don't think my opinion is shared by the organization.

I don't think my opinion is shared by the organization.

I certainly hope not.

 

Dude ought to get at least as long as Beckham has gotten to "Figure it out" in the bigs.

I certainly hope not.

 

Dude ought to get at least as long as Beckham has gotten to "Figure it out" in the bigs.

Why? Is there nothing to trying to learn from your mistakes?

 

If you could go back now and get peak value for Beckham, would you?

Why? Is there nothing to trying to learn from your mistakes?

 

If you could go back now and get peak value for Beckham, would you?

Do you really think Viciedo would bring "peak value" right now? Or at any point since we signed him? It's been clear since his first year that he was a project...a project with an incredibly high ceiling, but a project that was going to take one heckuva commitment to get there. That's not something that brings you "peak value".

I certainly hope not.

 

Dude ought to get at least as long as Beckham has gotten to "Figure it out" in the bigs.

 

No. 2nd basemen who hit like Beckham hit when he came up are at a premium. Slugging LF'ers are not.

Will your next column include our thoughts on this?

It is so funny, we get all of these trade and bench all of the kids right now type threads, yet no one can handle the kids playing for 18 games. If you are going to be rebuilding, retooling, or whatever it is called, this is the type of thing that goes with the territory. Kids go through struggles, and some never do pan out. This is where the Sox are right now.

 

This is the same guy everyone thought would be the savior if he was brought up last season. He'll probably get into a streak this season and no one will pitch to him.

No. 2nd basemen who hit like Beckham hit when he came up are at a premium. Slugging LF'ers are not.

Really? Because I just checked the stats for all of 2011. There were 7 left fielders in baseball who qualified in PA's and had an >800 OPS. There were...7 second basemen who met that standard.

 

The average OPS league-wide for LF's was .727 and for 2b was .708. And LF's had a needle loaded Ryan Braun who also stood out and helped carry that position.

 

It certainly seems like both are at a premium.

This is the same guy everyone thought would be the savior if he was brought up last season. He'll probably get into a streak this season and no one will pitch to him.

That was, of course, compared to Juan Pierre.