WCSox

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) Here's photographic evidence of MacDougal leaving town. That only downside to this move is that I can no longer yell "MAC-DOUGAL!" in a thick Scottish accent when he trots in from the 'pen. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 11:29 AM) Makes sense to me. We all know MacDougal can never get to where he is aiming... of course he missed the train.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 09:47 PM) I wouldn't throw Lee in the same category, he's not as good as the other 2. I think the Sox wanted to resign Maggs, but his injury seemed to be a big deal and they simply got outbid. I'm pretty sure the Sox will at least try to resign Quentin when that day comes. Knee injury or not, I don't think that Kenny was ever going to re-sign Maggs. The problem with giving out big contracts to Maggs and Carlos was that they were on the same teams as Konerko and Frank. He couldn't give all four of those guys $50-100 million deals. Quentin's case is different. Not only is he a more talented hitter than Carlos and Paulie (and has more power than Maggs), it's unlikely that he'll be competing with the same level of hitting talent for that big contract a few years down the road. If he stays healthy, I imagine that Kenny will pay him big-time, just like Schueler did with Frank.

QUOTE (JDsDirtySox @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) I was able to get quite a bit of information on this situation from an insider. Without going into too many details... the entire team, and I mean everyone was tired of Swisher... Ozzie just happens to be the one who will talk about it. Interesting. Can't say I'm surprised, though. QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 09:44 PM) I doubt that because there were supporters of the doll incident. There were guys who loved Swisher on the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Konerko was one of the guys who didn't though. Ozzie's definitely an old-school guy, and that attitude is reflected in the personality type of the guys who've made it on his squad (Konerko, Dye, Thome, Contreras, etc.). I sometimes worry that Quentin takes the game TOO seriously. Even the "clowns" (Buehrle, AJ, Rowand, Crede) play hard and are/were visibly upset during losing streaks. For better or worse, I think it's clear that certain personality types won't work in Ozzie's clubhouse.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 10:07 AM) I'm not giving up on Fields. Well that's good, because he's currently sporting a .383 OBP. Hasn't looked too shabby at 3B so far, either. He doesn't have to be. If he's cheap, continues to put up a respectable OBP, and hits a few more homers, there's no reason to pull him from the lineup. I don't see Alexei in CF either. They'll either stick with Anderson or will hit the FA pool this winter. My guess is that if Getz continues to play well, Quentin moves to RF and Alexei ends up in LF. If not, Alexei moves back to 2B and Beckham plays SS. IMO, Beckham would have to be a complete butcher in the minors for the Sox to keep Alexei at SS.

I had a feeling that Swish's swift departure may have had something to do with the fact that he's a complete knucklehead. Ozzie tends to not get along with players who have maturity issues (Anderson). That said, I'd hate to see what would happen if a Sox player had Swisher's personality and hit .330.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) Anderson is doing just fine right now. It's odd that he has no extra base hits, but his on base is above .400. Can't ask for more. If Anderson can hit .250 with an OBP of .310 and 17 HRs, that's fine with me. Play him for his defense and bury him at the bottom of the lineup.

M-V-P! M-V-P!

QUOTE (Felix @ Apr 18, 2009 -> 08:53 AM) Fact: Willy Taveras sucks. More like Willy Taveras is a below-average player who has had a couple good seasons. The term "sucks" should be reserved for people like Wise and Owens.

QUOTE (TitoMB345 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 08:19 AM) Yeah if this guy ever pitches in a jersey other than the black and white of the Sox, it'll be the worst failure of the franchise since Kenny's been here. Holy Hyperbole, Batman!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) The biggest problem is there are no CFs out there to be had according to Ozzie. QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 01:33 PM) The problem is Kenny doesn't really want to give up a ton to get a CF, especially since I believe the organization is very high on Danks/Shelby. The thing is there are going to be at least a few spots coming open next year (Thome/Dye will be gone) so that could allow the Sox to be able to acquire someone to play CF this year and still be able to move them to another position while they also can find ways to get Brandon Allen, Viciedo, and Beckham at bats (since I'd have to imagine all three are going to be starting for the Sox or at least getting significant playing time next season). Allen is just transforming into an elite type of offensive prospect. If Kenny had planned on making a move for a proven, starting-lineup caliber CF, he would've done it by now. Heck, even a mediocre, relatively inexpensive Willy Taveras would've been an upgrade over Wise/BA/Owens. And I agree that giving up prospects for somebody like Rowand was out of the question. Nothing's going to get done this season. It's remotely possible that we may see Beckham at SS and Alexei in CF when the rosters expand, but that's about all I see happening. Also agreed that Kenny may do something next season, after all of that veteran salary is off the books... depending how Beckham develops and what they think of Alexei in CF.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 01:57 PM) Championship! No, that's after we acquire T.J. Whosyourmama.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Apr 17, 2009 -> 08:41 AM) If KW is looking for a CF, that tells me that he doen't believe BA can do the job. And if that's the case, I imagine that he would've been traded by now. It's not like Ozzie has been a huge BA supporter. This is why I call BS on this rumor.

I'd rather bring up Beckham and move Alexi to CF than over-pay for Fukudome. Hell, I'm not even sure if I'd want to pay the remainder of Rowand's contract either.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 09:28 AM) Race is definitely a factor in who fans cheer for in sports Not really. Culture is a much greater factor. White fans embraced Reggie Miller a lot more than Allen Iverson. And, as has been said before in this thread, good luck finding a Sox fan who prefers Ron Schueler and Terry Bevington to Kenny and Ozzie.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 09:13 AM) Also, I think race plays a big role in why a white guy like Joe Crede has more of a cult-like following than a black player like Jermaine Dye. One would argue that both players should have an equal cult-like following, but the majority of white fans, such on this board, were devastated when Crede left the Sox via free agency and they have no problem whatsoever to see Dye being traded or leave as a free agent when his contract is up. It's more likely that Crede was an absolute bad-ass (both offensively AND defensively) from August-October of 2005, and the Sox most likely wouldn't have won the WS without him. Crede also came up through the Sox farm system. Dye was a hired gun via free agency. Frank Thomas is perhaps the most beloved Sox player of his generation. And it has zero to do with his skin color.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 05:32 PM) Not if Beckham is still hitting .440 next month. I doubt that Beckham gets called up before September. But I could definitely see Alexei playing CF next season.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 10:55 AM) If Makowiak, Griffey, Everett, and Swisher could play CF for Ozzie then so will Pods. Exactly, and this is what I'm afraid of. I don't understand Ozzie's supposed commitment to fundamentals. In his world, it applies to bunting and base-stealing at the top of the order, but never seems to apply to strong defense up the middle.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 09:48 AM) He sucks, but................. He is better than Owens. He even is better than Wise. Let him get up to speed in Charlotte and when he's ready if BA hasn't taken over, let him play until he comes up lame. Agreed that he'd be a decent 4th outfielder and might not do too much damage in CF if he's used sparingly... but you don't want him out there every day, especially with Anderson at their disposal.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 05:48 PM) I don't think it is rushing judgement at all. Kenny Williams has a strong track record of jettisoning clubhouse cancers. Rick White made a comment to the media, then he was DFA'd the next day I believe. Jon Rauch, who at one time was a far better prospect than BA ever was, was gone because he had dinner with his family instead of hanging out with the team. Granted, Rauch wasn't the same guy he had been, but he was still a nice prospect. Lofton was also sent packing and rumors were that KW tried to find a deal for OC last season at the deadline. I'm sure there are other examples as well. If Brian was as big of a problem as has been reported in the media he'd have been long gone. I'm not saying he didn't have maturity issues that ticked some people off, but the whole thing has been way overblown. You're completely sugar-coating the Rauch situation. He skipped out on a meeting with reporters at the end of the game and didn't show up to a meeting with Kenny. He intentionally thumbed his nose at the organization, which is about as unprofessional as it gets. Look, I agree that BA should get more at-bats. At the very least, he provides Gold Glove-caliber defense in CF. The fact that he's still on the 25-man roster suggests that he's grown up at least a little since 2006. Given his strong spring, I was of the opinion that he should get the starting CF gig this year and be allowed to sink or swim. I have no idea why it took an injury to Wise for him to get there. If it's because Ozzie is in love with the concept of a speed guy at the leadoff spot (even one with a crappy OBP like Wise), then I agree that their handling of BA is stupid. If it's because BA still has maturity/work ethic issues or that his hitting hasn't improved, then I'm perfectly fine with BA getting (apparently) jerked around. The problem is that none of us know which it is.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 05:35 PM) Some players just don't fit in with their original organization, for whatever reason. Garza and Delmon Young haven't worked out very well (so far with Young) in Minnesota, and both those teams gave up VERY early on each player. And we're talking about two guys in the Top 10-25 of all major league prospects in terms of ability. Yeah, I agree. And I imagine that Ozzie's old-school approach and lack of tolerance for certain things makes "fit" very important in his clubhouse.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 04:12 PM) Also, Stone provides enough cynicism to kind of abort some of Hawk's blind excitement. I think announcers need to provide a little ra-ra, but with DJ alongside him HH had free reign to just pump the Sox fan up over informing him/her I'm one that actually think HH offers a lot when on his game. In the past Ive actually liked him more when we were losing a game. I agree. Hawk was better in the '80s and early '90s, before he became a caricature of himself. But his enthusiasm and outright homerism are welcome at times. I couldn't imagine watching/listening to a Sox game without either him or Farmer. For good or bad, both are simply White Sox Baseball to me. Also agreed about Stoney giving Hawk a few much-needed reality checks. They work well together, and Hawk obviously respects Stone a lot more than he did DJ. Stoney and Farmer were very good as well.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Apr 13, 2009 -> 04:47 PM) No organization is supposed to basically give up on a first round pick because he pouted a couple of times. That is retarded. The way the Sox have handled BA is retarded. The problem with this analysis is that you don't know for sure that he simply "pouted a couple of times." I don't think that anybody here does. A LOT goes on behind closed doors that nobody here is privy to. A friend of my sister's knew BA when she was at Arizona. And from what I've heard second-hand, he had serious maturity issues back then. So I wasn't terribly surprised that he worked his way into Ozzie's doghouse in 2006. I'm not defending the way that Ozzie and Kenny have handled BA. But it's pretty silly to rush to judgement when there's A LOT that even people who follow the team closely don't know about the situation. Oh, and he still struggles to hit .220. That doesn't help either.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 12, 2009 -> 05:12 PM) Actually, to nitpick a little more, for proper nouns that end in "s," the correct punctuation is usually 's, as in Fields's. English being English, there are always exceptions. And of course, there's the accepted alternative of not putting the second s after the apostrophe, as in: Fields'

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 12, 2009 -> 02:04 PM) Did Wise get two hits...? Woah. Yep, and good for him after all of the crap that he took last week. Outside of Richard's dismal performance, you gotta like what you saw today. Great overall effort, top-to-bottom.

They're off to a great start. I enjoy listening to Harold Reynolds again.