BamaDoc

I agree that it it is not necessarily Walker's fault and am advocating change for change sake. I agree it is unfair to blame bad numbers on him and not give credit for good although you can argue Konerko only up in power, Rios has relaxed, and Jones is in shape as reasons.

There is an old adage in baseball that since you can't fire the team, you fire the manager which is not what I am suggesting. We have played 20 percent of the season and look horrible. Threads of Ozzie is outmanaged appear daily but he hasn't lost the ability to manage, the players aren't executing. On most nights, we are trotting out a line up with seven hitters hitting under .220. These hitters can be expected to return toward there norms and should in time. We are not talking about severely aged players who have crashed........in fact the most likely one to do so Konerko is having a good start. We have to move Walker. I loved him as a player and respect his effort as a coach but for several years we have seen the same struggles. Ozzie can be loyal to a fault and has said he will go before his coaches. How about a compromise, Walker is not fired but reassigned as a minor league roving instructor while someone new comes in. I loved Charlie Lau/ walt Hriniak school of hitting but that is to drastic an in season change. Rather, I stay with a current philosophical hitting coach with a polar opposite personality. Sometimes hearing the same stuff a different way works. The new coach should be energetic as opposed to laid back. He should succeed because the players are due to revert to form. Ozzie becomes smarter because the players do what they are capable of doing. It's the players and Ozzie is right in that regard but a shake up is needed. If no change in performance during the next month fire sale. Remember Whitey Herzog's comment when Bruce Sutter signed with Atlanta....."Well, I just got fifty games dumber....."

There are some options out there. JJ Putz, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez...any of there guys could replace Jenks Not to be to mean Joey but if your statement above is correct, why would I trade players for Jenks and pay him 8 million or so if i can sign these guys for less and give up no players in trade?

To me he doesn't fit for more than an inning at a time thus not mid relief. His early in the year numbers were better than almost anyone we had. Could we prolong that success by only using for one inning, 7th or 8th, and space it to give him maybe one day absolutely off ( not even warm up) and maybe two. Could you use his work days as the days you try to rest Thornton? It would be tricky to pull off, but a year of a guy with a 2.5era vs half a year at 6 to me would be worth it.

Lets make the assumption that Linebrink is a 2010 White Sox. Due to his contract that seems likely. So how do we maximize his effectiveness? Many have pointed out his pre and post all star break numbers. He has been great early in many of those years then fades. He doesn't look grossly out of shape but it appears he has a fatigue/injury situation. In his early years, he was a guy who pitched in 70 plus games routinely. Perhaps that use caused some problem. The Sox to their credit appear to recognize this to some degree. I checked his year long stat line for pitching back to back games which he only did seven times. His line was 7ip 11h 5w and 4runs..........so I will begin with never using him back to back. I have no way to know the times he warmed up and didn't go in but that probably needs to go away as well. I would love to hear what his shoulder/elbow scans look like but a vigorous strengthening program may help. Although he will be 33, perhaps a mid season two week break like we did with EL Duque in 2005. I still think he can be a effective pitcher if used properly. It creates a problem that the more effective he is the more you want to use him which is why I think you have to have some arbitrary but absolute rules to keep from over using him.

Ok Danks has 200 innings get him out. Congrats AJ. Tigers screwed because they had to use Verlander.

It is all but decided. Twelve teams with a worse record. Tied with Milwaukee at 79-82 so it looks like pick 13 or 14. Someone failed to sign their high first round pick so that may bump us back one. So, no worse than 15th which should be protected first rounder if we sign a type A free agent. Correct?

Boy I am putting on a flame retardent suit because I will make an unpopular suggestion. Before we trade Alexi, a young player with cost certainty for several years, we have to be sure Beckham can play shortstop at the major league level. Don't get me wrong, I love Beckham I just haven't seen him play SS. I am confident that Nix is not an everyday SS. Alexi in the field has perplexed and frustrated me, but if the staff thinks he can improve, I keep him. Figgins makes sense for this team, but creates 4 players for 3 positions. (I like Getz/Nix at 2b as decent production and cheap). If Rios is your best defensive centerfielder, what about Alexi in left? The two would cover a lot of ground.

I know it is a fifty game sprint but this is where Rios and Kotsay can help spell them. Some of it may be physical with nicks and bruises accumulated to this point and some may be mental in regards to job security and the future. Thome missed time due to interleague and came back invigorated. Hopefully others will also. I think Beckham has played a lot without a break and the league is adjusting or he is also dropping production a bit. We need to get it together soon.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 07:20 PM) White Sox home attendance has been on a steady decline since the World Series excitement has worn off. 2006= 36,511 (avg.) 2007= 33,140 2008= 30,877 2009= 27,803 It just goes to figure. Attendance has returned to normal. As for road attendance it doesn't surprise me but certainly is disappointing that the Orioles, Indians, Twins, and A's in particular outdraw the White Sox. THE FREAKING NATIONALS OUTDRAW US on the road.

using data from espn, the sox are 18th of 30 in home attendance. (1,668,220) avg 27.4k A bigger surprise to me is that only Toronto and Kansas City are worse road draws than we are. Do road teams get half the gate? KW mentioned better walk up. Since the begining of Aug, 7 of 8 crowds were greater than 30k so maybe he was right. There were good teams to draw so this week vs KC and Balt should show if it continues. I bring this up since the Sox claim to operate on a budget. Better crowds and winning may mean better toys!

I will chip in with the typical retrospective analysis that since we did not score, it was absolutely totally incomprehensible not to do a suicide squeeze in that situation because since we didn't try it I know it would have worked..........green

I wish pride was enough to motivate all players. I hope playing games in the second half that matter, instead of knowing you have no playoff chance, will bring out his best.

Or is it his job to execute?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:16 PM) The new edition of JPNese is in, I'll continue to take requests here for next week's blog. Great to meet you in Birmingham. Nice article on CJ. He looks thick for a secondbaseman, like a Glen Hubbard. Not saying fat just thick. Seemed to move decent. Did I notice some kind of knee brace on the left?

A Club and can of whoopa##. No they are good people. I think they are going to try to get Sandberg to sign a ball. I just wish all our players from the begining of the year were hear to put a beating on the baby scrubs.

My son and a friend are at the Birmingham baseball showcase this weekend and we plan on catching the game Sat. Anyone going, I may need help his friend and dad are Cub fans!

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 04:12 PM) Hi all, I'm driving the family to Disney next weekend and convinced my wife that we should go through Birmingham so we can see the Barons, I'll be there on Saturday night. If anyone has any interesting tips of has any idea as to whom might be pitching, it would be appreciated. I was born in Springfield way back in 1962. Now live in Alabama and may be going to the game that night. What is your story?

At the break I had a thread stating our performance this month would indicate where we are as contenders. I am neither a sunshine pumper or doom and gloomer but this is not a world series caliber team. We might win a weak division but I don't want to mortgage the future for a playoff birth. If you truly want to win it all, I think you sell veterans who don't fit beyond the next two years like Pods, Dotel, Contreras, Thome possibly Dye and Konerko and Jenks for any decent prospect package or payroll savings and sign our last couple over slot draft picks.

Does anyone have stats on Clayton Richard the first time thru the lineup. That would give some idea of his relief ability. Our pen has been less than stellar of late.

Totally agree just saying he has done his job.... now thru six. It does bother me how the ESPN announcer were creaming over Porcello while he was hit early and Richard was hitting 94 and hardly getting talked about and much more effective.

First off congrats to the young man for now pitching well twice in a row after struggling. (Only 1 run thru five vs eight righthanded tigers). Also as much grief as we have been giving, congrats to Ozzie and Coop for helping/sticking with him. I know I would have had him in the pen. He still looks great first time or two thru the lineup. If he goes to the pen, he should help. ESPN is postulating that Colon stays in rotation.

I have gone back and forth as to wether we should be buyers or sellers. I struggle with a make the playoffs and hope vs clear cut world series contender. I think many understand there can be a difference. My greatest fear was treading water and getting nothing done. No playoff run and no addition of promising youngsters. I really looked at our schedule until the trading deadline. 16 games in 15 days before the 31st is up with the last sets of 4 home Tampa Bay 4 in 3 days at Detroit 3 at Minnesota 2 home Yankees(third post July 31st) I think that schedule will show what we are and may explain why we added a reliever already in a trade.

Looks like Marquez tired. No runs first three innings. 37 of 58 pitches were strikes. Hopefully improves.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 07:25 PM) The Sox have 3 options with Dye. Option 1- Trade him to a contender for minor league prospects. The question with this option is, with Dye's age and his mutual option, would we get much back for him? Option 2- Take the option at 12 million. This is something i just can't see happening in the current state of the Sox and in the economy in general. We saw a big decrease in pay for free agents this year. Option 3- Decline his option and sign him to a new restructered deal. He could very well be our new DH. I actually see option 3 the most likely. Why trade Dye for crappy prospects? I could see Dye re-signed for a 3 year 21 million deal. Dye could easily be the new DH going forward. SO far, he is showing no signs of decline offensively which is encouraging. I agree to an extent. If his contract is bought out can you still offer him arbitration to gain draft picks? Also, the link in the arbitration post indicates you can cut a free agent >80%. I agree that he could still have a future here as DH. This would be good as I think he would be a good mentor for young players(as would Thome Konerko I just don't see all three here next year). In a trade he could impact not only by prospects which would depend on if any salary picked up, but also if cash saved is applied to signing some of the tough draft choices. The sox actually seem to follow a budget so perhaps savings in one area could be applied in another.