upnorthsox

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 07:32 PM) I know Marte isn't as good as he used to be, but he's a lot better than a lot of teams have, and a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Think Kevin Walker..... :puke Or Alan Embree

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 06:12 PM) Can't help it. They don't know what they are missing. Can you fully enjoy the season and still not like seeing Timo at leadoff?

The best retaliation would be a score.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 03:19 PM) This is a low risk, high reward move. If Blum helps us, that's great. If he doesn't, well, we gave up Ryan Meaux. Point made. I can live with no big moves, but I was hoping for Guardado or Wagner simply because I think we'd be better served shortening the games with Politte/Cotts in the 7th, Marte/Hermy in the 8th and then Guardado/Wagner in the 9th. Since it didn't happen, back to business as usual. QUOTE(S720 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 03:47 PM) The people who are criticizing KW for not making a major trade are people who just want to make trade for the sake of making trade. The trading market is as dry as the desert. If you want a glass of water, you have to pay an arm and a leg. To those people, what would have you done if you were KW? Would you trade away Buehrle, Garcia, Garland, etc? I don't believe you know what you really want! And yet the Braves got Farnsworth for a reasonable price, same for the Marlins and Villone and even the DBacks and Groom. Maybe it was a dry market or maybe it was a market not to persue the big names. I don't know if we'll regret not replacing Bobby Jenks spot on the roster but we are putting all our hopes on Hermy's achy back and there's a chance for alot of regret there.

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 10:52 PM) would you seriously give up Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, Damaso Marte, Aaron Rowand, Brandon McCarthy, Brian Anderson, Chris Young and Ryan Sweeney. According to Scott Reifort KW was being asked pretty much to trade these guys if he wanted to get a big impact player. The first 5 are obvious and while I was in no rush to trade BMac or Young, but Anderson, Sweeney, Jenks should not have been untouchable. Btw: I'll be quite interested to hear(and it will come out) what the impact trade was that was nixed by the other teams ownership group. I'm betting it was Guardado.

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 04:39 AM) Yes we did. Good players are still obtained after the trade deadline. Larry Walker being a prime example last year. But no relievers of significance will make it thru waivers this yr, there's just too many teams that need them who'll have no qualms about claiming them. I'm definitely disappointed we didn't get a BP arm but that's also tempered by the fact that neither did Boston, NYY, or Oakland. Those 3 are hurting much worse than us by the "non-trades". That said, I'm sure Sammy Sosa will clear waivers.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 04:30 PM) Here's the deal, half the teams in baseball think they're still in it. Everyone is chasing the same 4 players. I don't think the asking price for these guys will come down. It's comical to me that teams who have a #3 starter available are asking for 2 guys they can plug into their rotation in return. It's like, sure we'll give you Garland and Contreras for Schmidt, uh huh, yeah, of course we will. I don't think that's true at all, yea half the teams think they're still in it but it's still only a couple of teams chasing those 4 players and there's no reason to think the ranks of the buyers is going to swell any time soon because little if anything will be decided in the next 10 days except that a couple of probable sellers like Seattle and Milwaukee will move to being definite sellers. Most of those teams that think they're still in it may be willing to play their hand out but they ain't betting the farm either. Philly is an excellent example, they're 3.5 out of the WC and 5 out of the East, that as good a position as anyone in the NL not in a lead, but does that make them a buyer? Hell no, they'll play their hand as it is. Sure there may be some small trades between contenders(like Mueller for Romero) in the next week to plug each others holes but as long as no one else is getting better why should they overpay. Right now, the sellers have every reason to wait to see if more buyers will emerge but as things get close to the deadline and the fear that the more sellers will be out there with still only a few buyers those demands will come way down. Or nothing may happen, Philly and SF may be telling the truth when they say they aren't selling and Seattle could misjudge the market. For the Sox, this might be as good as it gets since there are one of only 3 complete teams(the other 2 being St Louis and Anaheim) out there.

QUOTE(chisoxfan79 @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 11:27 PM) I do not know why they would trade their starting 3rd baseman to team they will probaly compete with for the Wild Card? Just goes to show how desperate they are for BP help.

I've gotta disagree with this, we were much more a rallyball/hit parade type O. Sure we could hit the 3-run HR with anyone but we were much more than that. The telling stat that yr was how many times we hit around in an inning and it seemed like it was around once every 3 games. The problem as you so appropriately pointed out was the pitching, going into the playoffs our rotation was a shambles and the pen was inexperienced and burned out. Criste our "Ace" Sirotka as late as the end of August was 10-10 and a career .500 pitcher til he went on a baby 5 game win streak to close out the season(and his career). The problem with our O was they were too damm young and inexperienced and on top of that they were expected to carry a pitching staff held together with duct tape and 5 inch screws(I still can't believe Schu actually thought Cal would be back for the playoffs). It also didn't help that our lone big Vet went and got himself in a funk futily chasing a HR title. In the end though Seattles' BP was better than our BP just like in the end the NYYs BP was better than Seattles' and the Mets.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 09:59 PM) Isn't he pitching with a torn rotator cuff, or some other extreme injury? I'm sorry, but when you get a reliever down the stretch, you need him to be a workhorse. This is Everyday Eddie, but I'm skeptical about his injury. No t, that was last yr.

Interesting that right after KW says he's gonna sit on the sidelines trades start busting out all over. Maybe he was the wildcard out there and now that he's out everyone is playing their hand.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 09:30 PM) stone hands graffy huh? But he'd have looked good in Timo or Willies spot.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 09:21 PM) Not necessarily, Graff's going to be there everday 2nd baseman for now because Bellhorn's injured. Right, it was the Bellhorn injury that made me skeptical of the Mueller trade to begin with but getting Graffy now makes at all come together. A pretty good move on the BoSox part.

This sure does setup for the Meuller trade.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 04:40 PM) The Yankees were supposedly a lock to get Garcia last year. Just out of curiosity...can anyone think of a team anywhere in history that has come out and thrown out a righty who can throw 99+ in the 8th inning and followed him up by a lefty that can throw 99+ in the 9th inning? Well my guess is that Jenks would be a part of any Wagner trade so it's doubtful we'll see that on the southside either.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 07:40 PM) When Brian and I went to the Grandstand (I think that is the name of the jersey/hat/souvenir shop on 35th) in late April, there was a girl in her late teens that was with a bunch of other people in their late teens and not one of them knew who Nellie Fox was. They kept asking each other if that was one of the outfielders. All I could do was shake my head in disappointment. Why should a couple of teenage girls know who Nellie Fox is? I think we sometimes get a little to full of our selves in what we think is important baseball knowledge. Should I be upset that they or anyone here not know who Lamar Johnson is?

QUOTE(Antonio Osuna @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 06:48 PM) I distinctly recall somebody on the radio pointing out that it was our first 5 run inning since Game 3 vs Arizona, where we scored 10 runs in an inning. This team puts up 2-spots, 3-spots, 1-spots, often many times in the same game. Unlike some of our pitchers, it doesn't really do "big innings", its more of a consistent attack type thing. The thing is, when it takes 2-3 innings for you to score 5 or more times, it's harder to do that near the end of a game, because you're up against time. And that's exactly why we need a lockdown BP, so that we don't find ourselves in that position.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 07:08 PM) Excellent points by many in this thread, I agree with Yas re: the need for a lefthanded rbi guy but the dilemna is valid ... where would you play him? The White Sox already have a very good lefthanded rbi guy in Carl Everett and it's tough enough to get him at bats. That's one reason why Gload isn't here, because Ozzie thinks Dye can play 1B once every two weeks, and that gets Everett's bat in the lineup. Everett is arguably as good a bat as you could get on the market right now, without giving up players from your 25 man roster. To me, the biggest weakness is still a pesky bat off the bench who can fill in at multiple positions and preferably add another dimension. I think our big bat addition has already been made when Frank came back, now if he can just get his avg going with his power swing we'll be in good shape. I'd really like to get Vizquel and make Juan our super-sub but I'm losing faith in that ever coming about.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 06:59 PM) Is he avail at all. I know there were some talks but i havent heard much lately. Seattle is just about out of it being 14.0 games outs and 9 under .500 Eddie Guardado could be nice bullpen help, he's also left handed. Some like this would make more sense than an Aj Burnett. Seattle wanted to wait til closer to the deadline before putting him on the market, we'll see if that's a wise move or not for them.

Sellouts and capacity are two different numbers and as has been noted announced crowd is still another number. A sellout is an arbitrary number and they can declare it at any point they like but in general for the Sox it's usually about 37,500 that they call a sellout which is about 98% capacity which is fair. You could've still gotten tickets last night if you walked up but it's better PR to call it a sellout when you can.

QUOTE(TheDybber @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 03:15 PM) Here's the interesting thing about GM's though and one that's not always brought up because it's not as highly publicized...but sometimes it's the trades that AREN'T made that can make a great GM. Overpaying for a rental isn't always what the team needs. In the Around the Horn thread, I asked if there were any deadline deals that put a team over the top? I mean, big time trades, like Randy Johnson to the Astros. That didn't get them to the World Series and they lost him the next year. Someone responded that the last big one was the Yankees in '96 or '98 and the only one I found was Sierra and a minor leaguer for Cecil Fielder. I guess that was blockbuster at the time. All I'm saying is, a big splash fades away, but a bunch of little stones keeps the ripples going. The Yankees getting Dave Justice was definitely big, don't remember the yr off hand. I don't think the Marlins get in in '03 without Urbina so that was pretty big. But yea if you go over the WS teams of the last 10 yrs the surprising thing is just how few trades were made by those teams in season. That said, we still need another arm for the BP.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2005 -> 05:42 PM) And how did he do before that? And how has he fared with SF when he switched to the mediocre NL west. He is garbage, pure and simple. Sometimes pitchers just get overused and old, and cant throw like they used to. He is one of those guys. As I said in the post before, he had a 3.32 era for the scrubs this yr. As I also said, it appears he was hurting, he had an inflamed nerve in his elbow, and was put on the DL 5 games after being traded to SF, since coming off the DL he's had 7 straight scoreless appearances.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 18, 2005 -> 05:07 PM) I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that his last 2 apperances with the Cubs were in like 7th inning situations......and he went from nightmare to comedy. In his last 7 appearances(6.1 IP) for the scrubs he gave up 1 run, a solo HR to Jermaine Dye.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jul 18, 2005 -> 05:17 PM) So let's see, my options are: A rookie with a 99 MPH fastball who has limited experience A veteran guy with a dominant changeup who has struggled with his control all year A guy with good but not incredible stuff who has been average to mediocre for 2 straight years. That's pretty close to a tossup in my opinion. If I had to pick, I'd go with the guy with the 99 mph fastball, just because he has the best chance to be completely dominating, and he's not trying to "turn anything around", only to just adapt to the majors. Avg to mediocre for 2 straight years.? '04 2.63 era, '05 cubs 3.32 era. That might not be league best #'s but it way above league avg.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 18, 2005 -> 04:51 PM) But ... since the majority of hitters are RH, then RH pitchers are needed because they are generally better at getting them out. You may not agree with reasons that there are no LH catchers, but I'd say 100+ years of baseball history with the only LH catchers being publicity stunts or whatever pretty well closes that argument. The relative scarcity of lefties over the 100+ yrs, Bias by coaches, the proclivity to put a lefty with the gun to be a catcher onto the mound instead, and maybe the heart of the matter the near non-existence of lefty catchers mitts at the little league level. All of these may be valid reasons given for the dearth of lefty catchers but some excuse about being obstructed for throws when no such thing happens for righty catchers with lefty hitters is as lame as it gets.