gosox41

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 10, 2007 -> 09:52 PM) That's the thing, unless we get an offer for one of these players that is going to be better than getting 2 high draft picks, then you hang onto them, simple as that. And honestly I don't mind that, although you'll get the pessimists like quickman saying we'll waste the draft picks or something. Have you seen the Sox srafts lately? It shouldn't be hard to beat that. The Sox better have harsher criteria. Bob

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 09:54 PM) Regarding Our Top Prospects - whether it be Gio Gonzalez, Lance Broadway, Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Josh Fields, or others - does our organization overrate them ? I'm thinking specifically about the OF's right now as a lot of our pitching prospects still haven't made its way to the majors, but is Ryan Sweeney going to be a complementary OF or a difference maker. Same for Brian Anderson. It's looking like quite a few of them could become key players in the next year or so for the MLB team. So, just wondering, which ones do you think will become successful difference makers (if any) as opposed to just journeymen who we shouldn't get excited about (I'm sure Brian Anderson's name will come up here). KW did say Fields can be an All Star. I assume he is being realistic and not blowing smoke becuase technically any player could be an All Star just like 5 super models could stop by my house tomorrow becuase they want to have a pillow fight in front of me. But reaisticaly 5 super models aren't coming by (maybe 4). Bob

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 7, 2007 -> 04:43 PM) He has nothing but a fastball...hasn't been playing baseball too long...was an "under the radar" pick...has weak secondary pitches... ...and we took him first round? I'll be happy to admit I was wrong but I think this is a bust pick. What the f*** is this? -- Maybe the thing that bothers me most is: Cooper will have him throwing with less velocity to harness "control." f*** The Sox have wated lots of picks on pitching unde KW. Why stop now? Bob

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 2, 2007 -> 04:33 PM) If you dont think that this team tries to pull just about everything this year then I guess you just show up here to argue with people and you dont actually follow the team. We just happen to run into Cy Young every game. Its just a simple coincidence that the pitcher spots us low and away. They are pitching us there just based on plain luck. No plan of attack, just pure luck. So the hitters need to adapt. Is PK going to be benched if he starts getting base hits to RF because he's not pulling the ball??? Experienced hitters need to make adjustments on the fly. That's what good hitters do. Z Bob

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jun 2, 2007 -> 03:05 PM) well, i'll take the slightly optomistic view that, other than Indians, the AL is not running away, and the Sox are still in a WC chase. With that said, I agree with your drastic bullpen blowup. That's long overdue. I s***can Walker, the 0-50 does it for me. I blame the Sox offense for the 0-50. Was Walker the reason PK had a great year in 2005 or 2006? Becuase if you want to blame him for the 0-50 then he should be given his due when players have great years. This is a veteran team. Most know how to hit. Some may need tweaking every so often, but I hardly blame Walker for a veteran team of proven hitters pretty much sucking right now. How is Walker to blame? Bob

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Jun 2, 2007 -> 04:27 PM) Whenever fans of other teams would say the 2005 team was a fluke I defended them. Nothing to say anymore. I'm starting to see more and more that KW is aggressive but not very bright. In fact he might be the dumbest GM in the AL Central now that KC got rid of Baird. Bob

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 11:19 PM) Probably because there are more important stats than wins. And for most people when talking about an ace caliber player 2 things are taken into consideration, statistical production and pitching talent (stuff). Both of which Zambrano has. He's also still only 26 years old (a year younger than second year player Rich Hill for example.) It's pretty much impossible to answer this question the way you worded it. If he were to fit the budget that means he'd make something along the lines of 4 years, $12-$14M per (a contract he would never sign) if you can sign a pitcher as talented as Carlos Zambrano to a deal that cheap you have to do it. If we get into more realistic numbers say 7 years, $17M per then no, I'd probably take a pass. I think if Zambrano keeps pitching like this then any team that gives him $50 Million is crazy. That would eb a lot of money for a player you hope turns it around. The season is 1/3 over, is he having a bad year because he's hurt or because he can't handle the pressure? Either way I wouldn't want him. Bob

In light of the recent events, I just wanted to know how everyone felt about signing this guy. I don't want to get into how much he'll make and for how long. Assume it's affordable to the Sox and fits in their payroll. I know there is a lot of love around here for this guy, but he hasn't been impressive this year. Is it due to the pressure of being an FA? Is he hurt? Is he certifiable? Personally, I wouldn't sign him because there's something not right about him. How would signing him affect the clubhouse. Isn't 'Big Z' the guy who shows up fielders after he makes an error? We all know he's emotional, but there's a point where it affects performance. As much of a horse as he's been, the flip side is he's thrown a ton of innings and pitches the last 5+ years and isn't getting any younger. He also has never won more then 16 games in a season which makes me wonder why he's an ace. Bob

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 03:13 PM) Not me I'll pass. His velocity is way down, and he is just too f***ing emotional. He's got something wrong with him both physically and mentally if you ask me. I agree, I don't get the love fest with this guy. Heck, he's never won more then 16 games in a season. At least Zito has a Cy Young Award to his credit. He's a distraction. Bob

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ May 31, 2007 -> 08:10 PM) KW has had the highest payroll in the AL central every year since 2001 and has won one division. He needs to go, its his time. Clean out the organization, its clear we are not headed in a great direction. Our minor leagues are horrible and our major league team is old and slow, worst possible combo. Promote Rick Hahn who is a more numbers guy and not a feel guy and lets see where he takes us. And Ozzie just needs to go, plain and simple. How quickyl the tide has turned. Even I'm not that much against KW as I used to be. I see the logic of some of his moves and can't complain about most of his trades of late--though that Garcia trade still pisses me off. Bob QUOTE(Shadows @ May 31, 2007 -> 08:22 PM) We are ONE GAME under .500 with over 100 games to play Our hitting ALL AROUND has vastly underachieved so far The pitching is prolly gonna be like this all year.. I dont think they are performing over what they can do or under, the bullpen will prolly shape up soon anyways it was apparent they werent going to dominate as long as they did as it is.. I wish everyone would just relax here, jesus, yeah its tough as hell to watch this but we are not out of anything.. The hitting HAS to come around or we are toast, I cant see us being last in offense for this whole season.. If we are 10 under and way out of it in July blow it up, but RIGHT now? Gimme a f***ing break I agree. This panicking is ridiculous. People need to chill out around here. This team won 90 games last year and made some improvements on paper. It's up to the players to perform. Injuries have hurt us. Funny how in all the complaining about the lack of hitting, PK gets a free ride. Bob

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 1, 2007 -> 10:16 AM) http://www.nypost.com/seven/06012007/news/...in_new_york.htm With all the controversy of this past week, I think Steinbrenner and Cashman might be just about ready to cut their losses with A-Rod. The controversy surrounding him seems to have reached the point of no return, and it's beginning to affect his play again, just like the fielding/throwing problems he went through last year. Assuming the Yankees would take Crede and possibly Uribe, who else would you be willing to trade (if anyone) to make this deal work? Sweeney, with the above combination? Gio, with the above combination? Russell, with the above combination? Of course, after Ozzie's comments last year on A-Rod and the Olympics, can the White Sox withstand having three personalities like Guillen, KW and Rodriguez all together in one organization? It's a huge gamble, but it might be the one trade that allows us to stay competitive and not bottom out over the next two seasons, like the Indians in 2002-2004, and they had the luxury of the second best trade of this half decade, Sizemore/Lee/Phillips for Colon. Any tradde involving A-Rod would need to mean that he'd have to sign a long term contract before hand. And the way I see it, knowing A-Rod's personality (and his agent's) he is going test the FA market and whore himself out to the highest bidder. See, IMHO, here's the thing about A-Rod. He is just a self serving ego maniac. All this stuff about winning is crap. It's all about the $$$. Everytime he opens his mouth he's lying or something stupid comes out. He is a great player but a tool who is s\overly concerned about his image, and he has to be for all the right reasons. Because the true A-Rod is in it for A-Rod and nothing else. He's a weak minded fool. Bob

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ May 30, 2007 -> 06:03 PM) if we start dumping, all I have to say is this: We'd better get legitimate prospects. Not Mike Caruso. Not Jon Adkins. Guys like Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee, whom Cleveland stole from the Expos for Colon. Guys like Bonderman, who the Tigers got from the As, I believe. Guys like Bonser, Liriano and Nathan, whom the Twins got for AJ. The pressure is on Kenny Stanford. Step up, Big Man. But we do have Gavin Floyd Bob

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ May 30, 2007 -> 03:16 PM) We have a bullpen of hard throwers, not pitchers. These so-called "power arms" would be, most importantly, locked up for years on first contracts. But many, many people on this site noted that several of these guys had problems getting the ball over the plate. And guess what? They can't. But they are locked up for years at reasonable rates. We have a roster -- and minor league system, apparently -- that rewards guys who swing hard, strike out a lot, and look great in a uniform. But they don't seem to play the game with intelligence or heart. We have little to no offense from LF and SS this year. Last year, we had little to no offense from LF and SS. No improvements were made, other than a heavy investment in wishful thinking about guys turning it around. This one's on the general manager, for hedging this season -- and sacrificing mightily -- for the promise of payroll predictability and undefined, uncertain and unlikely tomorrows. The next time he wants to go on a rant about wanting to see better performance, he should start with himself. Then equal blame should go to Ozzie since he has a say in personnel moves. Ozzie ball has always been a myth anyway. Look at the stats, even in 2005. Bob

QUOTE(Felix @ May 28, 2007 -> 11:59 PM) From 2004 to 2007, we've been 19-14 at the Metrodome, including tonights loss and the series win we had there earlier this year. I guess I'm sort of confused as to how this means we're "so bad in Minny." Do you think we'll be an over .500 team at Minnesota when the 2007 season is over? Becasue when 2008 comes around and IF Francisco Liriano is healthy, that's another 4 losses for this Sox team. Bob

QUOTE(JohnCangelosi @ May 29, 2007 -> 07:34 AM) I'd like to see what our record @ Minny was from 2001-2003. It was probably pretty ugly, and my guess is Bob remembers those games as well... But there is no doubt, in my opinion, the Twins enjoy the best home field advantage in baseball. And they pull out games like last night because it. Not to mention, Ozzie helped out the cause last night by leaving Contreras in way too long... Maybe it's selective memory because I didn't realize what the stats were. But it seems like there were numerous games in the last few years that the sox lost to the Twins due to being outplayed and out-hustled. Also, does anyone know our record in the Metrodome during the second half of the year. Maybe that's why I have such a bad taste in my mouth, because we're always pissing our season away there. Whatever it is, losses against Minnesota (especially those at Minnesota) stick out a lot worse in my mind then one's against the rest of the AL Central. Bob

Again, I'm pissed. This isn't one of those 'our season is over let's trade everyone' threads. But I am frustrated that with all the personnel changes this team has had over the last few years, they continually choke out there. It's almost like this team expects to lose. Sure the stadium sucks, but it's the same crap fthe Twins deal with. The constant temp. makes it a god hitting environment. The astroturf supposedly helpes a team that allegedly plays Ozzie ball (even with Pods in the line up, they seem to suck out there) so what's the deal? I don't thing the a/c being turned on/off is the root of the problem. I think it's bigger then that. I think deep down, this team almost expects the worst to happen out there. There's no doubt in my mind, the Sox are more talented on paper, especially without Mauer. But they can still be counted on to lose to a team that has 5 very good players and 20 average players. I've made that analogy and it holds true. Before the Pirate gave up that cheap hit to Torii Hunter today that scored the go ahead run, I turned the game off. While I'm a big fan and hate doing that, there's only so much frustration I can take. The issue wasn't if they were going to lose, but how much once the bottom fell out. And I don't pride myself on being some great prognosticator, but one can almost sense the doom and gloom and it's pissing me off to no end. Enough is enough already. This team needs to get over their issues with the Twins and more specifically the Metrodome. Don't the Twins always seem like one step ahead of us. They exectue the basics better, they seem to catch us napping on the basepaths and it doesn't seem to matter which no name reliever they bring in, they're going to shut us down. Does anyone else believe the same thing? If so, why do the Sox have so many problems with this team? Bob

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ May 28, 2007 -> 10:36 PM) uribe will be fine, he's taking more walks than he ever has. That will pay off eventually. agree on mack, he's gutting it out. It's too bad he's got to gut it out right now. I appreciate the effort, but I think some time on the DL will help him and help the team. Of course that's assuming the Sox had a farm system they could rely on. Bob

QUOTE(rangercal @ May 25, 2007 -> 01:29 AM) We might as well grab Jr Griffey from them, it would balance out them nabbing pedro lopez from us on waivers Plus we need somone to play DL for us. Bob

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 20, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) Will apparently go down sometime this week. I find it highly hypocritical that baseball "hushes" those who are outspoken and honest about their past usage (like Giambi) but does nothing about Barry Bonds. Obviously the Players' Association will file a grievance, but I'm sure there was something in his contract about "illegal substances." I wonder if they can void a contract based on his admission and not an actual, failed test? I can see it now, we'll trade them Thome for Melky Cabrera. Wasn't this an issue 2 years ago? That was the time to do it, after he admitted he did steroids and was struggling. Why do it now? Bob

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ May 20, 2007 -> 06:58 PM) As I've said before, I wouldn't want to be in a foxhole with some of the posters here. Sure we all get frustrated when the Sox don't play well, but people were advocating Fire Sales and blowing the team up when they were playing over .500, only 3-4 games out of first in early May, even while most of the team was hitting way below their career norms. Unbelieveable. It's as if most of these people never went through an entire 162 game baseball season before. A lot of posters here are an embarassment to true Sox fans if other team's fans ever lurk here and read their whinning. I agree about the foxhole comment. People need to chill. Sure it sucks losing. Some people just don't get it. The team's biggest strength is hitting. It's been slumping and it's been very frustrating. But one would have to think they'd break out of it. If this team hit up to their individual career averages fir the last 6 weeks, the Sox would be in first place by a couple of games. But since we haven't people start crying for mommy. As for the bullpen, a couple of rough outings don't make a trend. The team should always be looking to improve pitching anyway, but I'm not going to panic because of the last 3 games. I will be frustrated that we didn't sweep this series (or at least get 2 of 3) but what good is that going to do me? Bob

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ May 19, 2007 -> 05:50 PM) Not sure I agree with everything, but there needs to be a major-shake up in some form. We aren't going to go to the play-offs hovering around .500 all season. For starters, how about not pitching Logan in a tight game until he gets more confidence. He's 3rd on the depth chart of 3 lefties. Bob

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 20, 2007 -> 09:15 AM) "I wonder what would be happening now if Williams and the front office had had more faith in some they cast aside. Aaron Rowand, Neal Cotts, Geoff Blum, Luis Vizcaino and Freddy Garcia and youngsters like Brandon McCarthy and center fielder Chris Young. Maybe even the high-maintenance man, El Duque." The Vazquez trade has been a bad one and could get worse-Chris Young's OPS for Arizona was higher than that of all but one Sox regular after Friday-especially if the Sox wind up losing Buehrle and Garland because Vazquez and Contreras were easier to sign. more easily signed." No mention of Thomas and Everett, even the incomparable Willie Harris and Timo Perez? Geoff Blum? SERIOUSLY? Well, Rowand would be playing CF when he wasn't injured. Chris Young would be struggling against the much tougher AL Central pitching. The defense would be much better, but we wouldn't have a leadoff hitter within sight. Cotts was pretty bad 2 out of 3 years here, but I guess we were supposed to have faith he would be better because it's an odd year in 07 (like Saberhagen's success every other season). Vizcaino was the 6th man for most of 05 and MIGHT have been the 4th or 5th in 2006, but I doubt he would have become the primary RH set-up man and prevented us from having to trade for Riske and MacDougal. I guess Rogers assumes that his NL numbers automatically translate to the White Sox. Garcia, El Duque and McCarthy would probably have the same record as Danks and Vazquez, although odds are VERY high at least one of those first two would have gone down with injuries. At least we have Danks and Gio Gonzalez, LH starters are the most valuable commodity in baseball. I don't think that the theoretical Sox "stand pat" team would have finished at 90 wins last year or much higher than .500 this year. The only major loss is Chris Young, but we might get someone just as good or better (or we might not) if we flip Vazquez for prospects. I read this article and just shook my head. Imagine if the Sox kept most of these guys. Phil would be writing about how KW wasn't aggressive and allowed this team to get old and expnsive. Bob

QUOTE(Hideaway Lights @ May 18, 2007 -> 01:03 PM) that is not possible Yeah it is. He'll just have a different on the field title: Pitcher. Bob

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 16, 2007 -> 04:24 PM) It was brought up on the post-game show, while Danks was being interviewed. Doesn't make a lot of sense not to start Danks for the following reasons... 1) Cubs bat .252 vs. LHP, .285 vs. RHP 2) You don't want Danks and Buehrle back-to-back 3) Ozzie seems to really trust him and I don't think would try to "protect" him from the Cubs' hysteria But I can't wait for the Gavin Floyd era to start Floyd would crap himself pitching in the Cub/Sox series. Bob

I'm really frustrated about this team's lack of hitting. Outside of Erstad and maybe Uribe, who of the healthy players is consistently helping offensively. This is pathetic. It's worse then that. 20% of the season is gone and 2 of our 3 big boppers are hitting about .200, Crede is sucking wind making some wonder whether the second half of '05 and all of 06 was a fluke or not. Sure losing Pods hurts a little and losing Thome hurts a lot. But, man this is beyond bad. I know good hitting (and good pitching) our contaigous (or so they say) so does bad hitting have to be contaigous too? There's no doubt the players are trying their best so I'm not questioning that. Effort isn't an issue. Sucky perfomance by proven vets is. It's one thing to have a few guys in the everyday line up not hitting, but it's like 2/3 of the line up blows right now. Why? Is JD trying to hit 7 run home runs because PK isn't hitting? That's not how it works. It's one thing for the Sox to struggle, but their offensive stats are beyond struggling. They're bad. A team BA under .230 into over 20% of the season---crappy. A .302 team OBP? Beyond laughable. That OBP is a good year for Uribe and is stil .033 below the league average. It's time for this to end. It's time for the vets to start actng like vets and lead this team by action. That goes for PK and JD. It's not Walker's fault a team ful of vets all suck at once. If these were young hitters struggling I'd understand but this goes beyond a hitting coach blowing off his job so that the vets are all lost at sea. This team should be ahead of the Tigers, if they were averaging as many runs per game as last season. But it's not like we're .5 or 1 run worse. They fell off a cliff. How much team do you give these guys to turn it around before something happens. I think they will hit, but I've been thinking that since April 2 and am still waiting. If this keeps up too long, we'll be out of it. I'm guess by the end of the year the team pitching staff has an ERA above 4, which is higher then it is now. I hope things change soon or else it's going to be a long summer. Bob