WCSox

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 12:08 PM) Nix has shown he's a competent baseball player and his swing and approach at bat lead to potential success. Fields is about as clueless as you can get at bat, and has a god awful swing and approach. If he hasn't learned how to swing a bat yet, how will he ever learn? That's a nice emotional argument, but the truth is that Fields has had a lot more success at the plate at the ML level than Nix has. They're both just shy of 27 (Fields is actually 4 months younger), so I don't see Nix suddenly morphing into Gordon Beckham. Maybe Nix will get it together and post a .300 OBP at some point in the next year or two, but there's no evidence at this point to suggest that he's a better long-term option as a starter than Fields. That said, Nix has a really good shot to be a utility infielder for the Sox next season. His defensive versatility is a plus.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 11:29 PM) Well, our offense was only hitting .241 at home...pretty hard to win any division when you don't have a clear home field advantage like we did last year. Bingo! I can't say that I'm supremely confident in our #4/5 pitchers, but how about some freaking run support for these guys? The Sox have failed miserably to capitalize on mediocre pitching this season. As for Contreras, he's been pretty effective since returning from his rehab stint. That leaves the #5 spot as the only real concern (to me, at least) at this point. And it's pretty difficult to find a team with a really solid #5 starter.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 08:05 AM) He's got a better shot at becoming a decent every-day player than Fields does. LOL, based on what? Nix's awesome .268 career OBP? Even Fields is doing better than that, and has also shown power at the ML level (23 homers two years ago). And with Beckham looking more like an eventual middle infielder than a 3B, Nix would have a lot more competition in the middle infield than Fields would at 3B.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 09:38 PM) Fox hates baseball fans. Any network that subjects its viewers to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver is nothing short of sadistic.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 07:28 PM) Because spending money wildly with no plan is a terrible way to do business and it wrecks your franchise real quick if you don't have Yankee resources. And note that the Yankees stopped winning pennants after they broke $113 million in payroll. Not surprisingly, this is right around the time that they started going nuts and signing/trading for overpaid/declining players (Giambi, Sheffield, Randy Johnson, Damon, etc.). They also got hosed by investing way too much in Carl Pavano. The last thing that we want is for the Sox to mimic the Cubs' spending habits. If avoiding that results in a perception of cheapness, so be it.

I hate the stupid West Coast sports teams. Thankfully, the Sox will be on ESPN Sunday night.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 01:29 PM) Nix is a good option for a utility guy. Probably nothing more though, from everything I have seen. Agreed. I don't see any evidence that he's suddenly going to break out as a ML-caliber hitter next year at age 28. But I'd be all for him as a utility guy. I think that some people here are way too focused on the idea of moving Beckham to 2B. It's a good idea in the long-run, but we need somebody better than Fields at 3B for it to make sense in the short-term.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 09:51 AM) Without knowing what the Sox think of him behind closed doors, I wouldn't complain if he got another chance, esp. if he played some winterball, worked on his swing, etc. We know Fields can legitimately hit MLB pitching, he's done so before. With Allen gone from our system, we're looking at having Getz, Beckham, Fields, Alexei, Konerko to cover the infield and DH positions next year prior to any trades or FA moves, with a hole in RF. It's plausible someone could be re-upped to fill 1 or 2 of those slots, but right now he has to be an option for next year, and hopefully the people in the back rooms feel like he's working better than Anderson did with the team and with the coaching staff. I'm not opposed to keeping Fields around, but not as a 3B. I can see him hitting .270 with 25 HR power at some point, but I don't see his defense improving significantly at 3B. If Kenny doesn't tap free agency this winter, I'd rather just move Fields to a corner OF position, keep Beckham at 3B for the time being, and get solid defense at 2B from Getz for the league minimum. And who knows... if Fields develops as a hitter next year while playing LF or RF, he'd probably be worth a lot on the FA market (and possibly a keeper as a corner OF).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 08:37 AM) Agreed, though I believe you have to go into next year with Beckham as your 2Bman. I realize that Fields hit a slam yesterday, but the Sox need a better option at 3B before they even consider moving Beckham.

QUOTE (HoosierSox @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 09:02 AM) I highly doubt Charlie Weiss could have made that catch. I laughed when I heard Obama pronounce it that way. I realize that he's busy, but he needs to pay closer attention if he's going to play the role of "First Fan." I'm really happy that Wise is getting some well-deserved attention in the sports media. As much as I think that Anderson should be on the 25-man roster instead, it's nice to see a guy that was getting booed and treated like crap by the "fans" back in April getting the positive attention that he deserves.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 03:47 PM) Lower ERA is definitely a biggy. If he gets it to 2.80, he'll win it. Not sure about that. But if he gets it under 3, wins at least 18 games, and the Sox win the division, I think that he has a good shot. Based on WHIP, this is the best season that Mark has had since 2005.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 03:28 PM) Hopefully, Torres goes down and starts throwing more strikes. His command wasn't great last night, and left a number of off-speed pitches up. But I like the way that he came out and attacked the hitters. This guy may have a future at the ML level.

QUOTE (Nokona @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 03:01 PM) How terrible Moose Skowron was in the booth My God, talk about a voice not fit for broadcasting.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 02:56 PM) Well there is no doubt that a perfect game on the resume will help a ton. Two things he really needs to do is win at least one Cy Young, and win 20 games at least once. Yep, and that's (unfortunately) what'll likely keep him out of Cooperstown. Mark can dominate over the short-term, but he's never really been dominant over a full season or a 2-3 year span. Mind you, he's put up a number of very good seasons, but he's just never been considered the best at his position at any point in his career.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 02:53 PM) I still disagree with it, but I love the guy now. That's pretty much how I feel.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 16, 2009 -> 12:35 PM) If MB can win 300, he is in no doubt. There aren't any pitchers who have won 300 and not made it, right? I don't think Mark sticks around that long. I don't think he needs baseball as much as we need Mark Buehrle. I'm not sure that Mark will stick around long enough to get 200 wins (he's at 133 right now). But if he does and leads the Sox to another pennant, he'd definitely be in the conversation (especially with a ring and two no-hitters already under his belt). I'm not sure if it'd be enough, but he'd probably end up on the ballot.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) And if he only comes in for defense in the 8th and 9th innings...he won't be hitting much. As long as Pods continues to post an OBP in the .350 range, that would be fine for me.

QUOTE (Linnwood @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 01:15 PM) I will never talk s*** about Wise ever again. I won't hesitate to correctly point out that Wise can't hit for sh*t. But he's beginning to grow on me defensively. Dude's made some VERY nice plays out in CF this year, and I give credit where credit is due.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 01:18 PM) Should have been his 2nd perfect game to be honest. He did face the minimum 27 in his no-hitter two years ago.

Couldn't have happened to a better guy. :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 11:58 AM) You're narrowing the window so tight that nothing can fit in. Of course he's never done EXACTLY that. But he does complain about the umps, show replays, unnecessarily complain about a call later in the game and pretty clearly imply that it's the umps' fault the Sox are in whatever situation they're in. There's a difference between complaining about the umps and scapegoating the umps. After the Sox took the lead, the Rays announcers didn't say a f'n thing about Upton's inability to read a routine fly ball or Bartlett's error that same inning. At least Hawk has the stones to call out his own players.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 11:40 AM) anderson had every opportunity to be the everyday CF when quentin went down, but he didnt get it done. He had the opportunity, but he didn't seize it. The opportunity was gift-wrapped and given to Wise after Anderson had a better Spring Training. The opportunity to be the 4th outfielder was again handed to Wise when Quentin returned. As bad as Anderson is at the plate, he still trumps Wise's pathetic .562 OPS. He's also vastly superior defensively to Wise.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 11:43 AM) Not that exact situation, but yes he does do things like this. All the time actually. I've been listening to Hawk whine about questionable calls for 27 years, but I've never heard him squarely blame an ump for a loss on a questionable ball/strike call AFTER Sox players committed two bone-headed defensive plays in that same inning that CLEARLY cost them the game.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) brian anderson has a .225/.288/.364 line in 782 career major league ABs. 782! people still treat the guy like he's never gotten a shot at success but thats not true at all really...he's a good defensive player, probably better than good...but he's not a starting calibur major league player...so if we can get anything of value for him, i'd be happy He really hasn't under Ozzie. I mean, come on, he's gotten benched and sent down this season in favor of Dewayne f'n Wise. There's no reason why he shouldn't have been our every-day CF for most of this season (until Pods crowded him out). And even then, he should've stayed on the 25-man roster. I agree that Anderson probably isn't a starting ML center fielder. But at the very least, he'd be a good fourth outfielder on most teams and an excellent defensive replacement.

I'm surprised that he was able to bite his lip for this long. That's a pretty classy response, given how badly Ozzie has dicked him over.