southsideirish71

And to play devils advocate to your argument. Maybe what changes is that he is in the relief role. When you start you have all that time to prepare and deal with the mental part of the game. When you relieve you get call and you have probably 5 minutes to think about it before you are in the game. Maybe he performed better because the mental part of the game was removed. No one is questioning his talent, but sometimes it takes guys a bit to get into the mental aspect of the game.

The whole give the guy a chance is a great idea. But at that time we were fighting for first place. He had a series of starts were he was going less than 4 innings and giving up a good amount of runs. The loss withstanding we also had a large impact to the pen which sets up other issues for the games following. So we give Diaz or whatever 5th starter a chance say for 5-7 starts. Say its a failure and he goes 4 innings or less and gives up 6 runs or more. Now you have your relief crew streched for that period and they are overused for games that we might need a fresh starter. Our bullpen wasnt an exact strenght at that point. Its a great utopia were we give a guy a chance. But there is more impact than just the W-L record in those games.

If Mark Buehrle came up and got bombed everytime he started and then had one good start and then got bombed in the next series of starts, he would be lumped in the same fashion. But he didnt. Yes all pitchers go into funks. But you are basing your thoughts on one start against an NL team. I base this on starts against teams in our division the ones that count.

Granted it boston gammons, but he is on the dan patrick show talking about how Javier Vasquez doesnt want to go to LA because of family issues. His wife I guess goes to her parents when Javier goes on the road and LA would be too far. So maybe the trade is a real possiblity. Garland and Marte for Javier. The dodgers sign lowe and drew and they looks pretty good.

He would of stayed up if he pitched anything remotely like he did in char. Everyone talks about how quickly we sent these guys down. How many starts of watching a guy get bombed can the fans put up with. There are a long laundry list of guys who had all the talent in the world but didnt have the sack to stay up here. Diaz dominated in AAA but then got up here and started to do everything he cant afford to do. He nibbled and got behind and then had to come with his 88mph straight as an arrow fastball and got hit. It happens, Neil Cotts is another person that had the same issue. Kip Wells had a season where he would look lights out in the pen but when he would start would lose it. Garland has the tools to be a number 3 in the league. But he cannot get over mistakes or his own caused mistakes. Buerhle came up from AA, and impressed from day one. Why, because he is a gamer. He doesnt have all the physical skills but he has heart and guts. That is what makes him a stud.

But he bookended that stay in the rotation with getting destroyed two times before 6 runs over 4 innings and then gave up 8 runs in 2 against the injuns. So yes he pitched well against the cubs and in relief, but the sample of him pitching against the other teams is what causes most of the posters to flinch. The only starter we have had that came up from our system is Mark Buerhle. I was sick of seeing last year, this guy is making his first start against the whitesox and he would dominate us. We would have our minor league talent come up and get destroyed. Everyone wants us to give each of these guys an ample shot, but how patient should we be? I mean with Diaz he was constantly falling behind hitters and then giving up the long ball during his first few starts. If you dont mind a loss on the 5th starters turn in the rotation then by all means let him work through it. But last year we were trying to win, so you cant fault management for trying to put something in place to fix it. Watching him go 2 innings and get slammed all over the field was enough for me to say he isnt ready. Diaz might be fine one day, but he needs to learn another pitch.

If we go with Grilli/Diaz for the 5th, you should print up soxtalk teeshirts with that image on the back

Derrick Lowe would be good. But god only knows what boras thinks his value is.

Here is the factor that concerns me. Its not just the failure of the number 5 position. We have two possible inconsistant starters in the rotation outside of that. Contreras and Garland. Both have electric stuff when on. Both have had numerous brain farts. If these guys are solid, then we have no problem. But if they do the jeckle and hyde routine we could have the possiblities of 3 game losing streaks more often than usual. If we sign someone a perez or get someone at the top of the rotation, then it pushes Contreras and Garland down and lessens the impact. If we have a teeball stand at number 5 then Garland and Contreras must step up. They both have the talent but they must do it if we dont address the number 5 situation or we wil have more problems.

Just looking into last years numbers between the odds on favorites for 5th starter seem to be between Grilli and Diaz. I think that if we dont sign Perez or trade for something we need to consider every possible option before giving these guys a shot. Their numbers are staggering how bad they are. The Teeball analogy that people talk about is pretty correct. I think that as long as the person has had some major league experience we could take it. Even if they give us a 5.50 ERA it is still better. Preferably someone who has some sink to their pitches. Here are the stats for Diaz and Grilli for 2004 TeeBall Stand Tracker Grilli ERA 7.40 2-3 8 games started 1 complete game In 45 Innings of work he gave up 52 hits and 38 runs He gave up 11 homers and walked 20 while striking out 26 Opponents batted .294 against him Diaz ERA 6.75 2-5 in 7 GS 0 complete games in 49 Innings of work he gave up 62 hits and 38 runs He gave up 13 homers and walked 16 while striking out 33 Opponents batted .310 against him

Well just remember people, that we are forgetting one very important ingredient to the midseason trades. The loss of prospects. For a front line pitcher in June or July kiss one or more of the following gone: Bmac, Honel, Sweeney, or Anderson Yes we save on money that would be allocated between now and then but we will pay more at that point. And just remember if JR thinks we are out of it, wave goodbye to some of our contract people like Konerko, Everett, etc. Its not only a matter of money, but of impact.

I was at the game Diaz pitched against Cleveland when he couldnt hit the strikezone and then got killed on the long ball. Diaz might be a good long reliever but the two pitch pitchers is going to get destroyed as a starter.

I dont know how they have gotten worse overall. Minny's pitching is the same. Koskie and Guzman are not going to change Minny from being a front runner. And remember Sox killer Joe Mays enters the rotation. So now they have 3 guys who have our number. Cleveland hasnt dont anything good yet. They got rid of one sox killer, but their lineup is pretty deadly. I dont know if Rhodes is going to be the answer.

How has Grilli earned it. Is it based on the sox theory of he is better than the piece of crap that graced the hill before him.

Last year we did everything we could to avoid the 5th starters spot from coming up. Including going to a 4 man rotation. I really dont want to get into that spot this year. Was it me or did the 5th spot seem to come up on saturdays when we were on national tv too many times. YIKES

Mike Jackson, he has another years experience and he is cheap

I love Jerry Reinsdorf and find him to be a very generous soul.

Andy Ashby is just the type of pitcher we could use at a time like this The rainbow effect is in full motion.

I figure with the amount that most of us put down on partial season tickets, investments in going to spring training, soxfest it gives us the right to b**** on a internet board. I forget that we have the few sunny side people who think that every move is great and that we are always headed in the right direction. You are the same people who would of chastised others for making comments in 97 during the white flag trade. You are just b****ing, we are really out of it JR is right. 94 must of been just a misunderstanding of JRs intentions.

Its sarcasm my friend. Look it up in the dictionary. If you cant take a few jokes at the expense of others you need to get your mangina taken care of.

And to project our moves in the June Period. The whitesox have solidified their bench trading prospect Ryan Sweeney to the Rangers for C Sandy Alomar. Sandy is batting 234 with 5 home runs and will be in the 3 catcher rotation. Sweeney is batting 295 at AA Birmingham. He is rated as one of the top prospects and figures to be in the lineup in 2007 for the rangers. When blasted by the media KW defends his decision: We have a board in my office. A board mind you of every prospect. Jeremey Reed was a fluke. Yes I believe he will be the rook of the year, but we believe that Joe Borchard has more up side. Joe has finally started to come around and has raised his BA to 245 in AAA. We feel that he has turned the corner and will be a solid outfielder. We currently have a log jam in the outfield so Ryan was someone that we felt could be send off. Now I am going back to my office to make more deals. The board is still in motion. The board tells all. Two weeks later the whitesox announce the trade of Paul Konerko to the dodgers for two class A prospects. This time KW asked for not only their names but pictures to go with their names after being duped before to select a 34 year old OF instead of the class AA phenom he thought he traded for. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me KW was quoted saying. Sox payroll is now 55 million.

Kenny will give him the same 3 year 21 mill offer he gave Clement. Then the angels will give him a 3 year 24 million dollar offer and we will lose him. Kenny will then offer the 3 year 21 mill offer to Lowe, who will get 3 years 22 mill from the tigers and we will lose him. Millwood thinks he is still an 8 mill pitcher. At Soxfest: Before you all boo me remember how flexible our salary situation is. We have the flexibility to swoop down and get more salary in June. Jason Grilli is someone that we have targetted for years, and we believe he can be a solid number 3 starter. He has nasty stuff and is a plus guy. We still are working on improving the sox and I vow not to stop trying to make a deal to improve the team. But we will not make a deal just to make a deal. If you want to blame someone for the failure of signing wright and clement, blame the press. If I was allowed to fly under the radar we would have one of these guys locked up.

The whitesox are interested in Odlais. Thanks for that tidbit Bruuuuce. Thank god we have an inside guy like you here. Now run along and go and report on the sammee issues and how the cupcakes on the northside are going to improve their team.

Bruces phone call: Hi Bruce we have exactly what you ordered. One well hung shemale for your condo later tonight. Dont mess her up like the last one.

Who is his high ranking official. Wally the weiner cart guy.