fathom

Why is Adkins only allowed to pitch in 10 run games? It must be that veteran presence of Jackson's that allows him to come into crucial situations and continue to suck.

Am I supposed to be kissing Ozzie's ass for stupid managing decisions like pitching Neal Cotts and Mike Jackson. As of last week, I believe the Sox were 4-23 in games that Cotts pitched in. I know that's a lot of junk innings, but he's just not getting the job done.

Neal Cotts did a nice job holding Durazo to a double. Sorry, I just don't find a lot of good in a team that hasn't hit for s*** over the last 3 weeks and only has 3 reliable starters and 2 pitchers out of the bullpen. However, I will give credit to Freddy Garcia so far. He has kept us in each game, and that's why he has 3 wins.

I don't get why Ben Davis is playing. He's like 4-46 this year, so we play him against best pitcher in the AL. Also, holy cow has Uribe hit the skid. Him and Willie are just plain awful. With Crede sucking, and no offense from our catchers, there are a ton of holes on this team.

I know this is way in advance, but I pray to god that KW does not resign Loaiza. He's going to want way too much money, and it sure looks like he blew his wad last year.

Sox player development = AWFUL! There's a reaosn we keep having to trade for major league ready players. We can't develop our own.

Joe Crede has not improved one bit. It's funny that Bobby Crosby has come up for Oakland, and produced as well as he has. Meanwhile, Crede and Borchard continue to be mediocre players.

Loaiza is poitching absolutely f***ing awful. He refuses to throw inside to most batters. When he does, he's effective. However, he gave up a ton of run scoring hits on 2 strike pitches cause he continues to throw everything outside. He's nothing better than a number 5 pitcher now.

I'm pretty sure that Schoeneweis is not signed for next year, and it doesn't appear as if Ozzie likes him very much. Also, with how poorly he has been pitching, I doubt that the Sox will want to bring him back for a couple of million. The reason I thought Rauch had a better chance than Diaz or Cotts is because Diaz and Cotts look to be major league relievers, not starters. Cotts is a 2-pitch pitcher who struggles against righties...not exactly the formula for a good starter. Also, Diaz seems to get rocked his 2nd time around a line-up. I'm not even a big fan of Rauch, I just thought he would be starting for the Sox next year.

I also thought that Rauch had the best chance to be in the rotation next year. With Loaiza and Schoeneweis likely gone, we're going to need to find 2 starting pitchers. It's also safe to say that KW is not going to make any other major moves now. Who do we really have left to trade? Better not be Anderson or Sweeney.

To this point, Everett has had a terrible offensive year. With an ops under .700, we better hope that he is healthy. Watching him play last night, he looked out of shape and much slower than last year. It just seems like Rauch could have been used to bring in someone better and more proven this year. A lot of team would love the chance to work with a 6'11" pitcher.

KW has got to upgrade the offense soon. The last 10 games or so, the offense has been miserable.

This current Sox hitting slump should not be that surprising when you consider who is in the Sox line-up everyday. If you look at the 9 hitting positions, the Sox have below average hitters at catcher, RF, 3b,2b (slumping Uribe or Harris), and SS if they're facing a lefty. Considering that Maggs is still rusty, and that Rowand is primarily only good against rhp, there are too many holes in the offense right now. They're not playing small ball, and they're not really hitting homers. KW needs to acquire a reasonable hitting catcher, and a DH is important to acquire also. I really hope KW is not too infatuated with Everett. His numbers this year are not good, and I don't think he's the type of player to take the Sox to the postseason. Anyone else see the possibility of the Sox acquiring Tony G., Everett, Alomar, and Sullivan again? I think it could easily happen.

Crede: 2 pitches, 2 weak grounders. This team just can't hit for s*** right now. Way too many easy outs in the line-up.

Does anyone remember in the movie Little Big League, when the old veteran gets a dribbler for a hit and everyone goes crazy? That's how I felt seeing Burke get that flair down the right field line before.

Borchard = not major league caliber. KW is going to have to address the DH spot.

When is Ozzie going to stop this bulls*** of playing Timo in CF? Rowand needs to be out there everyday. Also, Willie Harris should not be playing. At least Uribe looks like he could hit the ball out of the infield. BTW, those umps sucked last inning.

There's no doubt in my mind that so far, Timo's 3 run single off of K-Rod last week was the biggest play of the season. The Sox were on their way to losing 6 in a row, and being 3.5 games back. However, Timo's hit sparked the comeback, and the Sox went on to win 4 in a row, and captured 1st place at the break.

Way too much first pitch swinging gainst a pitcher w/questionable control. Also, Borchard and Valentin back-back against a lefty = lots of Ks.

Burke was a mediocre catcher in AAA.

Thanks Hammerhead for pointing out that I'm not a Sox fan cause I think Ozzie handled the pitching situation terrible today. I guess I should be happy that he played not to lose by letting Loaiza get shelled before he finally took him out. Thankfully, the Sox came back to win today. Loaiza's era is now 4.77 and going up. Maybe pitching him 115 pitches every game in April and May was not the smartest idea. Just look at his K/9 ip rate from last year to this year. It's staggering the difference.

LIke I said, hard to score 3 runs off of Angels bullpen. Way to go Timo and Willie!

Today's game was a great example of why Ozzie needs to be little more instinctive during the games with his pitchers. Loaiza was not fooling anyone today, as is evident by retiring 16 batters and giving up 13 hits. Loaiza also struggled mightily against the Angels 8-9-1-2 hitters. Therefore, why Ozzie didnt' have anyone warming up in the 6th in case Loaiza got in trouble is bad managing. The Angels are not the team to fall behind by more than one or two runs heading into the late innings. They have a terrific bullpen, and add that to the Sox hitting slump, makes a 3 run deficit hard to overcome. Also, why didnt Ozzie bring in Cotts to face Anderson instead of Cliffy?

-After watching the last 5 games, it's becoming clear that this current Sox team is not good. Look at the lineup of the Angels and the Sox, and tell me who has the superior talent. The Angels have much better everyday players, and don't use the injury excuse to Maggs cause they're missing Glaus. -Sox currently have the worst catching core in the majors. Do they have a single catcher that can hit the ball out of the infield with any authority? I supported the Garcia trade, but we gave away a solid player with a high ceiling at the position which might be the hardest to get a good player. -Schoeneweis should be traded to a pitching desperate team like the Reds or Rangers. He has a bad attitude, and it getting shelled. His stuff is mediocre, and he cant get righties out. -The bigget mistake that the Sox have made since Maggs got injured was not calling up Borchard to take his spot on the roster. It's an absolute joke that the Sox have to play a weak hitting lefty right fielder against lefty starters. I know Borchard has struggled before, but he has to have been a better option than Timo against lhp, and don't get me started on Ross Gload in right field. -If the Sox were to fall like 8 games out around July 20th, they should try to trade Maggs. However, I think trading Loaiza is an even smarter thing to do. No way in hell would I pay this guy Freddy money, especially with his arm strength looking bad and that we play in Coors East. Loaiza could get us real good prospects from a pitching hungry team. -Ozzieball is horses***. I can't remember the last time that Ozzie put on a play or did something creative. Hell, at least Manuel didnt have all our pitchers allow 3 hits to start an inning and then pull them like Ozzie has this year. Mark this down: If Freddy Garcia fails during his 3 years, the two best friends will be leaving this organization at the same time.

Carlos has had 3 terrible at-bats this game. He was swinging out of his ass each time, and was an easy out. This Sox offense is brutal right now with all the easy outs.