Lillian

The Sox are likely not going to catch the Twins. The Angels have always liked Konerko. He's a perfect solution for the rest of this year, with no commitment beyond. L.A. is one destination that Paulie would approve. He likely won't be resigned. The Sox would probably not want to offer arbitration, so they'd lose their draft pick compensation. This would be an opportunity to get something worthwhile for Konerko. The Sox could play Kotsay at 1st. Who cares? Ozzie will be thrilled to have his "kid" in the lineup everyday. (what a joke) If the Angels have a good left handed hitting prospect with whom they would be willing to part, please get him. I don't care what position he plays. Forget Trumbo. Not that the Angels would be willing to trade him, in the first place. However, even if they would, he's another right handed hitter. The Sox need a left handed power bat. I keep repeating myself, because no one here seems to remember that. We do not have one single left handed power hitter in the entire organization.

I pointed this out some time ago, but worth mentioning again here: He stopped extending the thumb on his top hand. I've never seen another hitter do that, but he had been doing it consistently for as long as I can remember.

QUOTE (T R U @ May 26, 2010 -> 09:41 PM) the closers job is to come in and get the save, which Jenks has done except one time so far.. and I know Jenks has sucked, but as long as he keeps saving the game even if its close to being blown, its whatever.. when he starts blowing saves on a regular basis im all for getting him out of the role.. May I respectfully ask you just one question? Have you actually watched Bobby pitch?

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 26, 2010 -> 10:11 AM) Mark Buehrle is getting paid an ace's salary and has been almost as bad this year. Where's the indignant outrage over his performance? Peavy won a Cy Young 2 1/2 years ago and was lights-out for us last year. So I don't see where the excessive pessimism is coming from. If you're a GM, you're looking for a veteran starter to help put your team over the top, Jake Peavy is available, your owner gives you the green light, and all that the other team wants in return is Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, and a couple mediocre prospects, you do that freaking deal. If you don't, you're not doing your job. With PK and AJ coming off the books this year and MB and Linebrink coming off the books next year, available funds to re-sign Danks aren't the problem. The problem is that Danks isn't interested in signing a contract extension. In other words, Jake Peavy isn't going to cost us a chance at extending Danks. Yes, now that you mention it, I'm not thrilled with Buehrle either. The difference is that his contract is up at the end of the year. I haven't leveled any criticism at K.W. I'm the first to admit that I was excited when the Sox acquired Peavy. However, that doesn't change my dissatisfaction with Peavy and his contract, now that I've seen what we have with him. Yes, I understand that Danks is reluctant to extend his contract, but one way or another the Peavy contract will greatly inhibit flexibility with the payroll.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 26, 2010 -> 09:29 AM) If Jake Peavy, throughout his tenure with the White Sox, ends up with an ERA of around 3.50 or lower, it will be a good trade. That, at the very, very least, qualifies him as a damn good #2 and really, it qualifies him as an ace pitcher. I'm hoping he ends up with an ERA of 3.25 in his career as a Sox pitcher with about 45-50 wins, but I don't think he's going to be anywhere near as bad as he's been in his 9 starts this season. Oh sure, if he produces like that, and stays healthy, I would think that most of us would be happy. Unfortunately, I don't share your confidence in his ability to do that. However, since no one is likely to take him and that contract, we'll all just have to hope that you're right.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 26, 2010 -> 08:57 AM) Precisely. Aaron Poreda has been converted to a reliever. He currently has a K:BB of 19:21 in 20 innings in AA. Dexter Carter has a put up a BB/9 of 6, K/9 of 8, and a HR/9 of 1.3 in 56 innings for the Padres' A-ball affiliate. Adam Russell is a mediocre reliever. That leaves Clayton Richard as the only piece of the deal that has hurt the White Sox in any way, shape, or form. Considering his mediocre peripherals (1.36 WHIP, 3.5 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, all of which fall in line with his career norms) and his unsustainably low HR rate of 0.2 HR/9 (where he is at 1 HR/9 throughout his entire career), I would say that Richard is not only likely but is bound to regress toward his career averages sooner rather than later. Just to prove the point...Clayton Richard put up a 4.65 ERA with the Sox last year and a 4.08 ERA with the Padres. His ERA+ with the White Sox was 100 and his ERA+ with the Padres was 91. That means that, due to ballpark disparities and the general inferiority of the National League, Clayton Richard's 4.65 ERA with the White Sox was better and more valuable than his 4.08 ERA with the Padres. Just wrap your mind around that for a minute. --- At the end of the day, by suggesting you regret the deal, you are stating that you'd rather have Clayton Richard, Adam Russell, Dexter Carter, and Aaron Poreda - 4 very mediocre arms who are afterthoughts in other organizations - than Jake Peavy, who has a legitimate arm and is, at the very least, a generally damn good pitcher. I know which of those two groups I am picking, and I'm not going to let a month and a half of baseball fool my judgment. My response to your post is the same as it is to anyone defending the Peavy trade. It's all about the money!!! He has to pitch like an Ace, not a "generally damn good pitcher". See how you feel in a couple of years when the Sox are obligated to give him $17 million for his last year of the contract, and face either giving him $22 million the following year, or having to buy him out for $ 4 milliion. A contract like that only makes sense for an Ace, or some other legitimate "impact" player. I just don't envision him as that kind of pitcher in the A.L., especially at U.S. Cellular.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 26, 2010 -> 08:55 AM) There is. jphat spent a good 6 months ripping Alex Rios ad nauseum. I get the feeling there's a part of him that hates the fact Rios would get some MVP votes if the season ended today. And now he's turned his attention (IMO obsession) towards Peavy. I have no problem with criticizing Jake's performance to this point. He's been bad. But pining for Clayton f***ing Richard? I don't think so. Jake can go on to be Jamie Navarro the sequel (won't happen), and no logical baseball fan would look back and say "Gee, if only we had Clayton Richard? How much better off would we be?" Any discussion of Peavy should take into consideration the money. At this point, I would just be happy if someone would take him and his contract. The worst thing that can happen to a roster is to have someone being paid a huge portion of the total payroll, who is not performing well. Ask the Cubs about how they feel over the "Big Z" dilemma.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 26, 2010 -> 08:19 AM) Because comparing Clayton Richard pitching in AAAA ball in the best pitcher's park in the league to Jake Peavy pitching in the MLB and in a huge hitters park is completely fair. Richard has actually pitched pretty well on the road, as well. Moreover, just not having to pay Peavy's huge contract would be worth undoing that trade. And we're not even mentioning Poreda or anyone else in that questionable deal. Personally, I really regret that trade.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 26, 2010 -> 06:35 AM) Exactly. The Sox are stuck with Peavy right now. In light of his performance this year, nobody's going to trade for that contract. And even if he was dealing like Halladay, I think that Kenny considers Peavy a long-term project and wouldn't be interested in moving him. That's all a shame because this guy will be earning an "Ace's" salary for the next 3 years, and I don't think he'll ever be the Ace of the staff. If he does become the Ace, it will probably only be because everyone else is so bad. Danks is the Ace, and has been for two years now. Few pitchers have turned in as many quality starts as he has, over that period. We could use that money to resign Danks to a longer term contract, which he seems reluctant to do.

To return this thread to its original topic; please add Peavy to the list of players for whom the Sox should be hoping for a suitor. His contract is going to get worse next year, and that $22 million option with a $4 million buyout in 2013 is very problematical. I fear that those who argued that he would not be the same pitcher in the A.L., especially away from Petco Park, were right. The Sox need to decide who the core players are going forward, and shed lot's of salary in order to make room for some significant free agent signings. There are almost no players doing really well in the organization. They are going to have to try to acquire some decent prospects and make a few good draft choices, or this organization won't be competitive for years. Here are my core players going forward: John Danks G. Floyd D. Hudson M. Thornton - I don't know how much it would take to resign him, but a dominating lefty reliever is just too valuable to let get away. Sergio Santos Brent Morel Tyler Flowers Jared Mitchell - A very high ceiling prospect who could become a very good lead off hitter Gordon Beckham - I still think that he will make the necessary adjustments, and become a star. Carlos Quentin - He has too much upside to give up on him. Alex Rios - Finally, a true 5 tool centerfielder, and a contract to keep him here for a while Dayan Viciedo - At his age, he does provide some very promising upside Anyone else should be completely expendable. Needs: 1) A serious left handed hitter should be the number one priority. There is not a single good prospect in the entire organization to fill that role. I'm talking about a high OBP, power bat. 2) At least one more good young starter. Too bad that they had to give up Richard, along with all of the salary that they took on in the Peavy "folly". That's a start. What do you think?

There are said to be "a couple of teams" scouting the Sox. What other teams besides the Phillies? For what are they looking?

Forget Mayberry. He's another right handed hitter. This organization needs to find a left handed bat. How about someone like this: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=502126

If the Phillies are ready to part with someone worthwhile, I'm in favor of moving Jenks, whether this team can get back into the race, or not. Let the Sergio Santos era begin!!

It's bad enough that Vizquel was in the lineup. It's worse that he was the DH. First of all, that means that he was the best hitter the Sox had on the bench to fill the role of a purely offensive spot in the lineup. Jeeeez! That's really pathetic. If Omar had to start the game, why wasn't he playing somewhere in the infield? He could have played third, and let Teahen DH. That way he would have at least had a chance to contribute on defense, which is the only thing he still does well. Moreover, it would have provided some rationale, and cover for Ozzie to explain why he was starting. Having him DH makes the decision to start Omar look really bad. It's almost like Guillen is trying to get fired.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 13, 2010 -> 04:53 PM) Originally posted here: here. From looking at these statistics, it simply looks like we are a terrible hitting team. It makes you wonder about the approach of these hitters: Ozzie wanted a athletic, fast lineup and he got that exactly as we excel in stealing bases as a team, we are a decently patient team where it comes to walks, right in the middle of the bunch. Surprisingly for me we strikeout the least out of all baseball teams yet we can't get on base at a decent clip. One conclusion I come to is: terrible approach when it comes to hitting, I don't know who is to blame for this but maybe the 'fire Walker' threads have some basis here. With the White Sox it's constant 'swing for the fences' approach that's why we are up there with HR's but everything else is a pop up or a grounder to infielders. I mean look at the hitting stats other than HRs, absolutely brutal. The hitting philosophy of this team needs a change so we can start scoring runs and winning games. Discuss. If it's really true that you don't hit many home runs when you're trying to hit them, then it would seem that perhaps the Sox aren't swinging for the fences as much as we may think.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ May 12, 2010 -> 08:43 PM) his stance used to be more open as well. NOw he's almost lined up directly at the pitcher. I don't know why he, or anyone, changes with something they have been successful with. It's like the young golfer who wins early on in their career and then decide to change their swing only to never be heard from again. Yes, I noticed that as well. That's exactly to what I was referring when I said that his back foot was "especially further from the plate". Moving that back foot even further away from the plate, relative to his front foot, results in his stance becoming much less open. Thanks for the concurring observation.

It appears to me that he has altered his stance as well. He is not in as deep of a crouch as he formerly was. That is to say that his knees are not as bent. He's also standing just a little further away from the plate, especially his back foot. I also noticed today that he did not have the thumb on his top hand extended with his thumb pressed against the bat, as he always did before. He's the only player whom I've ever seen do that, and so I usually notice it. Another change is that he was wearing one of those rubber thumb guards on his left hand. I'm not trying to suggest that any of this is the cause of his problems, but rather simply making an observation. It might be more of an indication that he is searching for answers and experimenting with different things. Why not use the video and try to go back to what he did so successfully before?

Santos seems to have the right make up to be a closer. He certainly has the stuff. It's probably more a question of durability. Why not use whomever matches up best on any given night, taking into account who is rested? Thornton would be an obvious choice on a given night when the hitters due up in the 9th are left handed. That could happen tomorrow and Wednesday, versus the Twins. Matt is not nearly as effective versus right handed hitters, nor when pitching two days in a row. Putz is not 100% yet, and although he's progressing, it would probably not be wise to ask him to close on a nightly basis yet. Santos could be given save opportunities but no more frequently than every other game. Moreover, by not annointing him as "the closer", any potential problems with the pressure would be greatly reduced. If Thornton is going to close on occasion, they're going to need another left handed specialist. Erick Threets was doing very well at Charlotte before going on the DL for a week. He had a pretty good Spring and could be a servicable lefty, when he comes back.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ May 7, 2010 -> 07:59 PM) So with the bases loaded, up 1 run, you are for leaving the pitcher in, who the current batter at the time, Vernon Wells, was lifetime 18 for 36 against? I agree 100%. I couldn't believe it. It was the 8th inning and Mark had thrown close to 100 pitches. Wells not only owns Buerhle, but he's right handed. The Sox have 3 very good right handed relievers in the pen. Why not use Jenks, Santos or Putz? Ozzie is driving me crazy.

As has been stated many times in these threads; They don't need another right handed bat. If they're going to acquire a hitter he has to be left handed. Dye doesn't fit for that reason alone. This year, Sox LH batters have a .250 OBP vs LHP and a .297 OBP vs RHP. Their slugging % is even worse: .218 SLG vs LHP and a .300 SLG vs RHP. Berkman would make sense, if you could get him. Although he is a switch hitter, he's better from the left side. His OBP vs right handers is very impressive, and that could really help a lot.

This may be an interesting read: http://www.royalsreview.com/2010/4/22/1436838/on-alex-gordon How good is Gordon's defense at 3rd? Is he that much better than Teahen?

Many of us have remarked how poorly the Sox do against pitchers whom they're facing for the first time. In addition, Sox offenses have rarely demonstrated an ability to approach any pitcher, familiar or unfamiliar, with a good game plan. The way the Rays came into tonight's game with a very sound game plan against Buehrle, is just the kind of thing to which I'm alluding. Their right handed hitters took away that outside pitch by going the other way. The absence of any similar kind of sound preparation to face either an unfamiliar pitcher, or to just have a game plan, suggests to me that Sox teams are not as prepared as they should be. I just don't see other teams demonstrating the same consistent lack of preparation. Why is it that other teams don't struggle against any pitcher whom they have never seen?

I was one of the first, and most vocal supporters of Jones. I've been screaming that he should be in the outfield and in the lineup everyday, ever since Spring Training. I'm still hoping that he continues to play well, but for a different reason. Now I'm thinking that he might net us a decent prospect at the trade deadline. Let's face it, if Jones has a big year, he'll want more money than the Sox will be willing to give him, and if he has a bad year, well then they won't want him. However, it he's playing well, and with that contract of his, he could help someone who is in serious contention this year. I know that it's too early to be talking about a "white flag" sale, but if this pathetic team doesn't get it going pretty quickly, maybe they should deal anyone of value, who is not under contract for next season. and maybe sooner rather than later. That includes Jenks.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 09:14 PM) I think he's behind Jenks, Thornton and Putz right now. Perhaps even Pena. That may be where he is officially, but Santos' stuff is better than Jenks' or Pena's stuff. I'm also impressed with his poise. He looks pretty confident out there.

QUOTE (daggins @ Apr 12, 2010 -> 09:10 PM) There should be no platoon. Jones shoud DH/LF/RF, Kotsay should be an off-the-bench option, and other starters like Q, Kong and Pierre should rotate in when they need a day off. Haven't some of us been "beating this dead horse" enough already? For me it's quite simple; Jones has the capacity to be a big run producing threat and presence in the middle of the order. Kotsay does not have that potential. Who knows what either of them will actally do, but this should be a no brainer. This team needs a power threat in the number 5 spot, and Kotsay is not capable of filling that need. He is a terrific bench player, and left handed pinch hitter, but he's not a middle of the order hitter.