JUSTgottaBELIEVE

nobody in this division is playing good ball since the all-star break it's really quite amazing: indians - 10-12 tigers - 9-13 twins - 11-10 royals - 10-11 sox - 11-12 how long can that continue? somebody needs to get hot at some point right?

this team may not have much of a chance of getting back into the playoff hunt but boy they sure could be quite the spoiler for some of these teams particularly the tigers and indians

QUOTE(AirScott @ Aug 4, 2007 -> 03:35 PM) Yeah, and we're in first if he's decent and the bullpen didn't suck ass. And we're the best in baseball if everybody didn't come out of the gate hitting their weight. i know there is a lot of blame to go around but specifically a guy that came into the season something like 20-25 games over .500 its well out of the norm that he would be 5-14 at this point in the year

sox are 45-43 in games that contreras doesnt start, damn, if he was even having a decent year (12-9) the sox are right in it (57-52, 4.5 GB)

and they had only 1 team to catch, not 3 either way it's hard to believe how far back they were and how close they got in a matter of a month and a half

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings?date=20050804 that Indians team caught absolute fire the final 53 games until the final weekend that is...

you know whats really pathetic? our pitching is now worse than our offense on the year. the sox ranked 27th in ERA coming into this game (now 28th after giving up 9 runs) and our offense ranked 23rd in runs scored coming into the game. greg walker has taken a lot of heat this year for the lack of offense but i think its don coopers time to take heat for the pitching woes because outside of buehrle, javy, and jenks they are even worse than the offense

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 1, 2007 -> 07:54 PM) Over 5 ouch, dont look now but mr. danks may be passing brandon mccarthy and his 5.18 ERA by the time this game is over and mccarthy got off to a horrible start this year

whats danks' ERA now?

i was at the game today and i have to say that richar turning DPs compared to iguchi is like night and day he gets rid of the ball slightly quicker and his arm strength is head an shoulders above iguchi. i was impressed and hopefully thats one less hole the sox have to fill for next year

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 27, 2007 -> 10:14 PM) 7-2 when Jerry Owens gets on base and steals a bag. but whats our record when owens gets on base, steals a bag and pods plays ah ha!

hey hey now 14-7 with pods even tho he nearly cost them the game today

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jul 27, 2007 -> 05:49 AM) that's a good point. While he'd be hugely overpaid for the bullpen, it would also allow the sox to get some youngsters innings. I still see the sox shutting Jose down for 3, 4 starts, and having him throw on the side working on getting his act together. Jose has had more velocity the last few outings, so he doesn't seem hurt. It's very important though that Jose gets back on track before the year is out. then the sox could trade him in the offseason for someon halfway decent without eating most of his salary. Or he regains his stuff to allow the sox to move Garland. no his problem is hanging splitters, from what i've seen...

no comments on pods eh?

QUOTE(Jeremy @ Jul 26, 2007 -> 09:16 PM) If JD can only bring a B level prospect then keep him for the draft picks. Trading Contreras becomes a lot less attractive if we have to pay well over half his salary. yea at that point we are almost better off holding onto him and taking our chances if we are going to have to pick up half his salary for the next 2 years

THE HOT 10 NO. PLAYER, TEAM POS. LAST RANK 1 Mark Teixeira, Rangers 1B 1 Mark Teixeira MARKET REPORT Maybe Teixeira will have to call a moving van between now and next week. Maybe he won't. But whether he gets traded or not, at this point Teixeira's situation might be the only ring in this whole trade-deadline circus that's worth watching. He's a 27-year-old switch-hitting bomber. He plays Gold Glove defense. And his GM (Jon Daniels) keeps telling other teams that Teixeira is going to the Hall of Fame some day. So "of all the guys out there [on the market]," said one scout who watched Teixeira recently, "this guy is the only real difference-maker." But beware of reports that the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Giants are all over him. The consensus of clubs we've surveyed is that the only teams that are seriously contemplating paying Texas' Neiman Marcus sticker price are the Braves and Angels. And just the Braves appear prepared to do what it would take to make this blockbuster happen. What it would take is the inclusion of rising star Jarrod Saltalamacchia. And that, according to one baseball man who has been in touch with both sides, is a decision that is "still being debated" in Atlanta. "It's not a given. But it's not impossible. In fact, it's probable." But we're hearing that for the Braves to include Saltalamacchia, they would want more back than just Teixeira. There are rumblings they are also trying to pry loose highly regarded left-handed reliever C.J. Wilson, and Texas is balking at that. But indications are that the two teams now have the outline of a potential deal that would send Teixeira and Wilson to Atlanta for Saltalamacchia, shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus and a pitching prospect (possibly much-touted left-hander Matt Harrison). If that deal falls apart, Texas might not have nearly as many other options as advertised. Remember, it would be unlike Angels GM Bill Stoneman to give up some combination of Casey Kotchman and either his top pitching prospect, Nick Adenhardt, or his most advanced minor league bat, Brandon Wood, for a player like Teixeira, who would be just a year and a half rental. So it's noteworthy that the Angels haven't even scouted Teixeira since he came off the disabled list, and indications now are that they're looking for a more affordable alternative (Paul Konerko?). If everyone but Atlanta backs off, that leaves Daniels in a tricky position. He clearly would like to move Teixeira now, when he can influence two seasons instead of one. But this is the most important deal of the GM's career, so he's shown no signs of lowering the asking price. "This is his signature deal," says one AL executive. "This is the biggest trade he'll probably make in his tenure. They need pitching. Their farm system is not in good shape. He thinks he needs to make a franchise-turning deal. But I think he's putting too much pressure on himself to make this one deal. Somewhere along the line, he may have to get to the point where he realizes he's not going to get two or three great prospects." 2 Octavio Dotel, Royals RHP 2 Octavio Dotel MARKET REPORT There is only one "name" player in this market we feel safe in predicting will get traded this month. And that's Dotel. The Royals have a closer in waiting, in either Zack Greinke or rookie Rule 5 find Joakim Soria. Dotel has reached a point that he'll start collecting $200,000 for every five games he finishes. And the Dodgers, Indians, Tigers, Brewers, Cubs and Yankees are all interested. So GM Dayton Moore has been basically collecting offers, and he'll take the best big league ready position player he can get back -- but not until he sifts those offers for at least a couple of more days. "I'd be stunned," says an official of one interested team, "if they move him before Sunday or Monday." The Dodgers are viewed as the favorite, with shortstop prospect Chin-Lung Hu the most heavily rumored name. But GM Ned Colletti was spotted in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, checking out onrushing bullpen prospect John Malone, whom the Dodgers have been contemplating as their best alternative to dealing for a reliever. So watch out for the Indians and Tigers, two clubs determined to add bullpen reinforcements in the next week. 3 Jon Garland, White Sox RHP 3 Jon Garland MARKET REPORT It's fascinating to see Garland rumors popping up all of a sudden -- with the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Braves and Mariners all allegedly connected with the 27-year-old right-hander, who comes attached with a $12-million paycheck for next season. The Braves have already made their run at Garland (for Edgar Renteria) and got turned down. And other clubs are reporting that White Sox GM Kenny Williams wants three sure-thing players back. So an official of another club that inquired came away convinced that Garland was sitting in Williams' showroom just to lure you into his store -- so he could trade you Jose Contreras instead. "I don't think they're going to trade Garland," the official said. "I mean, how many times have you heard this guy's name in trade rumors and he never gets traded? My opinion is, Kenny wants to trade Contreras, and everyone else you hear is just smoke and mirrors." 4 Jose Contreras, White Sox RHP 4 Jose Contreras MARKET REPORT OK, so if everything is designed to get Contreras traded, where is Contreras getting traded to? That's the question. But there are no indications the White Sox have any team with significant interest in a guy who is 9-22, with a 5.87 ERA, since the 2006 All-Star break -- and looks worse every time out (0-6, 9.41 in his last six starts). So far, the Sox are balking at paying any of the $20 million Contreras has coming in 2008-09. And unless they eat at least $13-15 million of that money, says one GM, no team would even touch this man. "We might have some interest if he was a guy we just had to pay for the rest of the year," said an official of one club that kicked Contreras' tires. "But at this kind of money, no way." Even the Mets have resisted the White Sox sales pitch that goes: "Just get him back with El Duque, and he'll be good as new." One team that had spoken with the Mets said there is "no chance" Contreras is heading for exotic Flushing Meadows. And if they're out of the mix, there might not even be a mix at this point. 5 Brad Lidge/Chad Qualls/Dan Wheeler, Astros RHPs 5 Brad Lidge MARKET REPORT There might be 10 teams hovering around the Astros' bullpen buffet line, waiting for the doors to swing open. But so far, the Astros haven't given any indication of whether they're trading any of these three guys or not. Owner Drayton McLane keeps making noises about winning this year -- when everyone but him knows that's just not happening. "Someone there needs to do the math," said an executive of one team waiting on the Astros. "It's one thing to say, 'We're not that far out of it.' But they're [13] games under .500. They've been outscored by [almost] 60 runs. And this time around, they don't have [Andy] Pettitte and [Roger] Clemens to lead them back. So this is not the year." We still hear clubs assuming that eventually, the Astros will make either Qualls or Wheeler (but not Lidge) available. But that hasn't happened yet, amazingly enough. "All they keep saying is, 'We'll call you when we're ready to do something,' " said one GM. "So I guess they're not ready." 6 Jermaine Dye, White Sox RF 6 Jermaine Dye MARKET REPORT Dye has to go somewhere. Logic tells you that. And there has been interest. The Red Sox, Padres, Mets, Angels and Mariners, among others, have all taken a look. But business is so bad that one rumor making the rounds Wednesday had the White Sox trying to peddle Dye and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to the Mets as a tag team. "It's just hard to know what to make of him," said one AL executive. "We're talking about a guy who was fifth in the league in the MVP voting last year. But he's having a lousy year (.229, 17 homers). So what do they do with him? If he was having a good year, he wouldn't be in this position because they'd keep him. But because he's not, I think about all they can expect is a B-level prospect." 7 Paul Konerko, White Sox 1B 7 Paul Konerko MARKET REPORT We didn't set out to make this column an all-White Sox edition. But with rumors floating of the Angels' interest in Konerko, we couldn't just let this float on by. Are the Angels sincerely interested? Absolutely. But what does that mean? "What that told me," said one GM, "is that the Angels think the price on Teixeira is too high." But the real question is whether Konerko is a player the White Sox would deal. We know they've been listening. But it's hard to imagine they really want to move him. "If they trade Konerko," said one baseball man, "it means they're ready to do a massive rebuilding. And I don't see how they can do that after signing [Mark] Buehrle."

mike north was finally right about something when he said that the sox need scottie to win...and when he said would start winning again now that hes back i guess only time will tell though 20 games is a small sample size

QUOTE(SoxFan77 @ Jul 26, 2007 -> 05:35 PM) Twins lack pitching depth.. Santana,Garza,Lirano,Boonser...Man, That just sucks.. yea i dont know about the twins but i do know that cleveland lacks pitching depth, despite all these so-called young arms they supposedly have even though sowers is one of those and he just sucks

that everyone always talks about how tough the AL Central division is and people on here always talking about how the white sox have no chance to compete in this division with teams like Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota...well, relatively speaking, games against AL Central opponents this year hasn't been the problem (20-18 record), the problem has been with teams in the AL East (13-16, which I really don't understand considering there are only 2 good teams in that division) and even worse still interleague play (4-14, that's just awful) and here's a fun stat: the White Sox are 13-7 this year in games that Scott Podsednik gets 2 or more at-bats. I don't think it is a coincidence over the last 3 years that when he plays this team is much more successful, just sayin

QUOTE(knightni @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 03:07 AM) I just felt like bumping this quote. haha..yea I guess we got lucky!

QUOTE(Beltin @ Jul 13, 2007 -> 09:23 AM) I would think the competitve sports biography of the majority of major league baseball players would look pretty similar. i.e Three plus sports in H.S., excelled in at least two of them. Recruited by many Division I schools to play one or two sports. Maybe picked one sport to focus on before college started or tried to do two and eventually chose which sport they loved best. Typically really good golfers, etc. i would have to disagree with that majority of pro baseball players would have a resume like his. the fact that he was all-state in track in the 100m and 300m hurdles eliminates ~90% of the guys playing in the bigs. i couldn't name one guy on the sox right now outside of jerry owens and pods that could have done that in high school. plus, there arent many baseball players that i know of that are stud hockey players too. baseball and football or baseball and basketball yes, but hockey adds a whole new dimension than those sports - skating. add that to the fact that he was named the state's player of the year (given it is north dakota) is quite a feat in itself. holding the career hits record at university of nebraska is a huge accomplishment considering he only played 3 years of college ball and considering the tradition of the huskers baseball program.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 13, 2007 -> 03:29 AM) I bet Erstad can't either. Erstad graduated in 1992 from Jamestown (N.D.) High School Erstad was a kicker and punter on the school football team, logging a school-record 50-yard field goal. Erstad also played hockey (36 goals and 24 assists in 26 games) and participated in track and field (winning state titles in 110 and 300-meter hurdles). Erstand played American Legion baseball (Jamestown had no high school baseball team), and hit .492 with 18 home runs and 86 RBI for the Jamestown Eagles in 1992. Erstad also was 10-2 with a 2.18 ERA as a pitcher, and was named AP North Dakota Athlete of the Year in 1992 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darin_Erstad i'd say he's a pretty good athlete...

QUOTE(JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 08:32 PM) whats the farthest a team has been out of the playoffs at the all-star break and still made the playoffs? i know minnesota was 9 games back from a playoff spot last year at the all-star break, but has there been a team even further than that? i would assume so, how about more than 12 games back? adding to this, the twins were actually 11 games back of the tigers at the break last season, obviously this is the same tigers team that they ran down and passed to win the division by 1 game so they made up 12 games on the tigers in the second half, thats pretty hard to imagine

QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 8, 2007 -> 08:35 PM) Sox are done. yea i know but i am curious if someone has an answer to that question i am interested to know what it is. just to put things in perspective as to how difficult it is to win games at a 70% clip for a prolonged period of time wrap your mind around this, the 2005 white sox won 68% (52-24) of their first 76 games in the '05 season. i think its pretty obvious that this team is incapable of making a run like that with 76 games remaining in the 2007 season and would still put them at only 91 wins on the season

whats the farthest a team has been out of the playoffs at the all-star break and still made the playoffs? i know minnesota was 9 games back from a playoff spot last year at the all-star break, but has there been a team even further than that? i would assume so, how about more than 12 games back?