fathom

Rowand and Uribe better be starting for the Sox for at least the next 3 years. However, please tell me that you're not telling me to go look at Valdez's stats over the last week or so to try and prove he should start at the MLB level? If we go by end of the year stats, Craig Wilson would have been an MVP for the Sox about 5 years ago. Valdez could be a utility guy in MLB, and nothing more. Even Ozzie has said that.

Also, if Gload does start, then Konerko would not be on the team. No way Gload will start in the outfield next year. I've been incredibly impressed with Ross this year, but I think he'd be much better off starting 2-3 times a week, and not everyday.

So you really think a team that starts Gload, Burke, and Valdez would be able to compete for a division title? It''s not a shot at those players, it's called being a realist. You could have the best pitching staff in the world, but if your hitting sucks, you aren't going to win consistently. Just look at the Dodgers last year.

No offense 3E8, but if those guys are starting next year for the Sox, the Sox would be one of the 5 worst teams in baseball next year.

With 2 guys on, and no outs, Ozzie had Rowand bunt against the hard throwing Macdougal. It didnt take long for Rowand to pop the bunt up to the pitcher. Uribe grounded into a dp on the next play.

Am I crazy for thinking it's obvious that Ozzie's managerial strategy won't work in the AL? All this bunting is worthless when you have a slugging team. Even if we get some more "grinders" (which is slang for cheap average players), I still don't think that frequent bunts is the way to go.

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie: Stop having our guys f***ing bunt. Absolutely terrible managing.

I've been concerned w/Freddy's velocity ever since he came to the Sox. I used to remember him throwing 95-96 mph. Now, everything is 91-92. I wonder if he fell in love with the offspeed pitch too much.

A lot of times, when you play for one run, that is all you get. Playing in a hitters park at the Cell, and with our pitchers not exactly being dominant, rarely will one run when you the game.

I would love to know an approximate percentage of what type of success the White Sox had in innings that they attempted to bunt a runner over? I've always believed that on a team with power hitters that aren't very good situational hitters, you're better off saving as many outs as possible.

Honestly, what more does KW have to do to put his job in jeopardy? What a total loudmouth jackass. His decisions are poor "on" and "off" the playing field.

I still remember going online after the Sox/Cubs game the day the trade was made, and I thought it was a joke. Honestly, it felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. On one hand, it sucks that Frank and Ordonez got hurt cause we couldnt compete for the division. On the other hand though, it sucks that our front office is going to escape this disaster of a season by blaming it on the injuries. It would have been great to see how things would have went.

I think that if Juan Uribe is either the 2b or SS for the Sox next year, and they find a replacment as the other position, then I have no problem with Crede at 3b. 3b are pretty expensive to find, and Crede can give you solid power numbers if he's batting in the 7-9 range. However, a starting lineup of gload at 1b, everett at rf, harris at 2b, and crede at 3b would not be the way to go.

If Cotts doesnt learn a better offspeed pitch, he's never going to be the pitcher that many on this board think he can be.

Congrats to Crede for an impressive night. I still think this organization will have a hard time getting rid of him after all the years of praising him through the system.

I'm 50-50 on Bonds for one reason: he's so arrogant that he would never think he needed steroids to make him a better player. If Bonds would have been a worse player this year, than I would have thought he was on the roids. Rather, he's as dangerous as ever this year. I don't think there's any doubt that Giambi and Sosa were on the juice, and I'm 50-50 on Boone. Other players that I always thought could be on steroids are Jose Guillen, Richard Hidalgo, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, and Willie Harris. Ok, kidding w/Willie. I had a very reliable source that said many of the Red Sox players last year were involved with steroids. Take that for what it is.

The pitchers being on steroids was a common discussion earlier in the year because there were a handful of guys that were throwing like 7 mph less than they were the year before while saying that there was nothing wrong with their health. I don't think that Loaiza had been throwing 95 mph the few years before joining the Sox. From what I've heard about steroid use, it's not easy at all to maintain your build after getting off the juice. There's a reason why guys like Giambi and Sosa are noticeably smaller now. Don't you think these guys would love to maintain their build in order to deflect controversy?

Ok....I look forward to Jose improving on his 6.18 ERA with the Sox next year. Is that good enough for you? I honestly think there are 5 people who have no area to be critcized from the Sox this year: Rowand, Lee, Shingo, Konerko, and Uribe. These are the only 5 main Sox players that exceeding expectations this year.

Did you ever think that Bonds just became extremely good because he learned so much about the game from playing it that he's been able to conquer it? Look at Sosa for an example of someone who used the juice to boost his power, and now is an average hitter without it. Taking steroids wont enhance your ability to never swing and miss, etc. BTW, has anyone ever considered that Loaiza might have been on the juice last year? I've heard a lot of rumblings that Borowski on the Cubs was thought to have been on it last year. It would explain a lot of things about Esteban.

Of all the players in MLB, his numbers this year suggest that he wasn't on the roids. Look at Sosa, Boone, and Giambi. All these guys have gone to s*** since the steroids became a big issue. Rather, Bonds continues to be absolutely awesome.

And that's exactly why I think our organization is a lot worse now than it was before the season. Before the season, we still had hope that Crede, Olivo, Bochard, Reed, Rauch, and Honel could be a nucleus for the team in like 6 years (of course not all these guys would pan out). KW's philosophy of win now just doesnt work well when you can't develop any prospects from your system, and the guys that you trade for are not nearly as good as he believes. BTW, Contreras has an ERA over 6 for the Sox so far, and Garcia hasn't exactly been lights-out for the Sox this year. The Mariners really are sitting pretty getting Reed and Olivo in that deal.

The Sox had thoughts of acquiring Contreras to be their closer earlier in the year, but the Yankees didnt want to trade him at the time for Jeremy Reed. The incredible success of Gagne has made many teams believe that they can turn struggling starters into good closers. I agree that he should not be a closer due to his command, but I'm beginning to think that a 2-pitch pitcher without any command isn't exactly the makings of a successful starter.

Can the Sox really afford to have such an inconsistent starter, making 6 million a year, on the squad for the next 2 years? Hopefully, he will improve his command for next year, but he seems a little old for such a turnaround to occur. Any chance that the Sox would try him out as a closer? I know we need all the starters we can get, but it's going to be hard to rely on him to be a consistent starter.

Don't get me wrong, I love the attitude of Matt Morris. However, I can't see JR spending a lot of money on a pitcher coming off the worst year of his career. Will you explain to me how attendance is up this year if we're not matching last years total? I would like more information on that. One quick thing about Morris...I've heard from numerous places that he's likely to go to the Yankees. I believe he's from the northeast, and they've wanted to get him for a while now.

I'm going to have to pretend that I didnt read that line where you said that Jeter was a great defender. Jeter and Nomar have about as much range at SS as Drew Bledsoe has in the pocket. Jeter is a very clutch hitter, but for 18 mil a yr, I'll pass.