Molto

Crede's problem was he was taking the first pitch and they were called strikes 90% of the time. now, being a smart player, he is being aggressive on the first pitch. swinging at first pitches isn' a great strategy, but when pitchers are just laying first pitch strikes on ya, you gotta start swinging. one other player who should take this approach is Jimenez. his patience has led to a lot of first pitch strikes. every once in a while, he has to jump on the first pitch.

you can probably give him less since Ordonez doesn't seem like the one to leave for a few extra mil. he's a quiet guy who, at least it appears, likes it here. I think at the minimum, you can sign him for $13 a year.

you'll have to give him the same money he's making jas. you'd have to pay him 4 yr, between $55-$60 mil. he won't get much more than what he's getting now since the market is no longerl like that.

I agree, we are far from out of it, we have to give this to at least the all-star break. IF we were to completely collapse in the upcoming Twins series', then I'd start shopping. until then, don't end the season.

Ordonez is someone they have to keep, at least until he hits 32 or so. He's one of the better player's in the game. Only way trading him would work is if you get READY, PROVEN major leaguers. if you were to deal Ordonez for prospects, god, I can't imagine the reaction from the fans.

also, if that deal were to happen, then we'd basically gave up Biddle, Liefer, Osuna, Lantigua and Gordon for Sanchez, Fossum and Nixon. The only guys we give up who are worth something is Biddle and Gordon as Osuna is back on the DL, Liefer was released. we would have to shop for another reliever though too.

I like the trade, but it says in there scouts see Sanchez as an ideal second baseman? and really, Nixon isn't a natural CF. I mean, if they can do the job there, great, but keep in mind a lot of people don't like the Sox because they rely on guys adjusting to a position, rather than putting them at their natural spot. if the Sox scout believe Sanchez is a shortstop, I would do the deal. I like Nixon and Fossum looks to be solid pitcher. Problem is, where would Nixon play? if he were to play CF, we can't afford to have Lee in left, instead we'd need Borchard and Nixon in left/center in some fashion and defensively we are fine in the OF. that would be cool with me as Lee could then move to 1B/DH with Thomas, but then we still have Konerko and his $7+ million. UNLESS, the Sox were to trade Lee and hope Konerko can return, but not sure dumping Lee would be wise considering we can probably sign him to a rather cheap deal.

I plan to be closer to the team within the next year or so, then is when I'll make my judgement on Jimenez. I don't think anyone can comment on him unless they know it for a fact. and I think it is funny how people "claim" to know people who hear all this bad stuff from the players on Jimenez. player's don't rip teammates that openly, and if they do, they are no better. as far as Jimenez as a player, he's solid and APPEARS to be, as someone said, a laid back player.

lol, yeah Alex. actually gonna write it up tonight and not sleep on it, lol. as far as the sox against the twins. I didn't say we will beat them, I said we will face them. also, if you recall, we beat them two out of three the first series and beat ourselves the second series. I think the momentum from this series and Cubs series, if all goes well, can fuel them over the Twins.b

6.5 out, or so it seems, and we are just six games away from playing them in a three game set. so freaking weird how this team isn't out of it. I mean they realistically have somewhat of a shot. it will all be found out after this stretch of games. so far 1 for 1 with 15 left.

yeah, we know. Tollberg was still on the team and scheduled to start when the preview was written

what did we tell you about making that stuff public alex? lol

WSC, we aren't trying to attract other baseball fans. if that were the case, we'd name it baseballtalk.com. this is soxtalk.com. we are not gonna stray away from what we are. BTW, good thinking jas on the box scores, nice idea.

I would've pulled him after the third hit, but I still don't think it was a MUST to take him out. I just believe sometimes you have to give the pitcher the benefit of the doubt. After the third hit, although I would pull him, I still honestly thought he could've gotten out of it. just so happens he didn't. I don't think he was tiring though, he simply got hit.

I would have also had Marte pitch. with the bases loaded, the game tied and one out, you have to go with your best reliever. matchups are useless at this point. Marte is our best relievers and he's actually done better against righties than lefties.

I dissagree. Colon should've started the inning, should've pitched to Colon and should've stayed in. Perhaps after the single I would've taken him out, but I think you gotta let your pitcher, especially one like Colon who was on few pitches, try to finish it out.

there was nothing wrong with what happened. Leaving Colon in was smart, pitching to Bonds was smart, keeping him in was smart, bringing in Marte was smart. we played to win, but ended up losing. just the way it goes. I'll say this. one of the more accepting losses in a long while.

I think EVERYBODY needs to cool down. all sox fans, true sox fans, have teh right to bash this team as they do at times deserve it. However, I don't see the point in a fan getting pissed at the same stuff every night. I see no reason to say confidentely that a team is bad, yet get mad when they continue to play bad. If you think this team is bad from the getgo, don't get pissed when it becomes fact, you obviously knew it in the first place. In short, everyone needs to cool down.

Glover has to pitch more. he can't pitch once a week and do fine. he was good in the early going, but then JM slowly cut down his appearances

I expressed concern for Buehrle in the begining of the season, as I was wondering how he would handle things if the Sox didn't score runs for him. It is very easy to pitch 8 IP, 2 R ball when your team scores 8 runs, but can you do that when your team scores 3? I think that, along Buehrle's inability to hold the slightest the lead and just lack of confidence has killed him this year. This is the first time in his career he is going through a slump. Since 2000, he's gone out there and pretty much dominated and was one of the more confident pitchers I've seen. Now, he looks shot out there and needs to get that fire and not rely on his teammates to the point where you hope they score a ton of runs or play perfect baseball. I think Buehrle will be fine. He just needs to learn that there are times you have to step up and overcome mistakes by your teammates. Although he's pitched good the past few starts (except yesterday), he hasn't really taken over or overcome anything.

I really don't have a favorite player. You can say I'm a fan of Jimenez, Olivo, Marte and Garland those are guys I either like to watch or want to see succeed.

I can't explain baserunning, that will come with work, but defensively, I look at the fact that this is his first full season at one position. he's been bounced between short, third and second until he came to the sox. I think it is rather harsh to say someone isn't a good defensive player when he hasn't been given the chance. Right now, Jimenez is an above average with the potential to be a good player. people need to lay off him and wait and see.

let us be realistic HSC, Jimenez could be batting .400 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs right now and you'd still somehow say he's hurting this team. been on his ass since day one.

I think that is funny and definately well deserved. hopefully they will look at this and realize how good this team was supposed to be and actually go out and do it.

have you guys forgotten what Foulke did with us? he did the same thing, had a really great stretch of games. eventually, or at least history may show, he will lose the feel on his changeup and will get buried for it. as BMR said, Foulke didn't exactly show the ability to close out big games for us over his time here. either way, he's still a great reliever and will put up big numbers, as will Koch over his career.