Vance Law

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 09:39 AM) I can see either Furcal, Hudson or Ellis being one of KW's main targets this off-season. Solidfy that middle infield with Ramirez being in one of the spots, unless they want to turn it over to Danny. Not sure if you're joking or not. In case you weren't, Richar was traded for Griffey. Looks like an excellent group of candidates for a 1-2 yr stopgap at 2nd base until Beckam is ready. Hudson Grudz Durham Gooch Ellis too, but I imagine he'll command a longer contract. Furcal would be great, except I bet someone will offer more years than we do.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 2, 2008 -> 05:01 PM) The heat is an excuse. If the conditions were so terrible on the field why weren't more players affected? I knew he'd have injury problems at some point, but Day 2? Tim Lincecum came out of the Giants game with cramping and Lincecum is like 16 years old.

The f***in' Kid.

Also, all of those guys will play (with Anderson/Wise being the odd man out). 6 guys for 5 positions (OF, 1B, DH). If they played the entire year like that, each guy would get 135 starts. 135 starts. Whoever's playing well and hitting should be in the lineup.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 07:47 PM) When your 39 and had a ton of injuries its possible you are washed up. When your 32 and 27 its called a bad year. Who is going to hit better over the last 2 months of this season? This season right now. Konerko or Griffey. My opinion is Griffey.

Good stuff. Why not? Roll the dice and hope to catch Jr. Lightning in a bottle. He's old, it's taken him a while to heat up (just like Thome) and he's hot for the last month. If he breaks his leg tomorrow, oh well. We hardly gave up anything and we're right where we were. Plus it's insurance if any of Q, Swish, Dye, Thome, or Konk get injured. Strong presence in the lineup and clubhouse for the playoff push. He's gonna be pysched to be playing here and the guys are going to be psyched to play with Jr.

Why in the universe would Oakland want two months of Cabrera, while giving up their 24 year old closer, when they have absolutely zero chance at the playoffs this year? They wouldn't. Less than a non-story.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 24, 2008 -> 08:33 AM) No offense to any individual person, but this whole "let's not bring up anything negative because we're in first place" response to even the slightest flaw in this team someone brings up is getting pretty obnoxious. It's almost as bad as the hypersensitive negative responses to everything in the first place. It's not hypersensitive. It's simply pointing out how how silly the complaint is and the failure to put the stat into any kind of perspective or context. Do you know who would love to ground into an ass-ton of double plays as long as the team was still #4 in the league in scoring runs?? 10 of the 14 teams in the AL. So a more sensible post than, "Nightmare!!! We ground into a lot of double plays!!!!", would be, "Despite grounding into a relatively high number of double plays, the offense is extremely good, ranking 4th in the AL in runs scored. Why did I bother posting this." Legitimate complaints for baseball fans to make: "We've only scored 395 runs this season." - Seattletalk "Our team OPS is .699."- KCRoyals Fan Gang "We've only hit 69 home runs this season, and this hot streak can't continue." - Twins Brigade "Out of a desperate need to complain about stuff no matter what, Soxtalk poster brings up GIDP stat while failing to put it into the broader context of the success of the offense this season." - Soxtalk

QUOTE (Jeremy @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 01:55 AM) I have a number of problems with Kenny's extreme willingness to move prospects for veterans but IMO the largest problem is that by favoring high priced vets over cheap young talent It does suck to be stuck with Quentin, Alexei, Swisher, Danks, Floyd, and Jenks as 6 of your 15 main guys. QUOTE (Jeremy @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 01:55 AM) 2. Don't pick up Thome's option. He's been much better than people give him credit for this season but $13 million is a ton of money to pay for a 38 year old DH. Someone should stick this on the front page of the site as it's come up so many times: Philadelphia picks up half of Thome's option next year. Anyone who doesn't give him credit (I understand that you are giving him credit, Jeremy) for this season is an idiot, ignorant, or both. #14 in the AL in OPS. #8 in homers. He would be leading 7 AL teams in OPS and 10 AL teams in homers. That on the back of 06 and 07 where he is a top 5 AL hitter over those 2 years, probably top 3 after Papi and A-Rod.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 02:36 PM) What does Moyer have to do with Buehrle? He has been an All-Star once in 22 years. Moyer had 700IP and 34 wins at age 29, Buehrle has over 1500IP and 100+ wins. No comparison. Yes comparison. Buehrle would need to become Moyer to have any shot at the Hall. Soft-tossing lefty who stays around well into his 40s.

Nice job by Greg Walker telling AJ to hit a home run to end the game. I still don't get why he tells them to get hits sometimes but to make outs other times.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 30, 2008 -> 10:05 PM) BUT THOME SUCKS I know you are joking here, wite, (Thome being top 25 in AL OPS even before tonights big game) and others are pointing out how silly it was for people to be all over Swisher's case for a slow start while he's clearly an excellent player. But you guys need to realize, if Soxtalk posters couldn't complain about them, what could they complain about? Virtually nothing- which would have been a tragedy.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 12:24 PM) There is a lot more to hitting with RISP, it is certainly not a batting average stat. Actually, there is no time when battting average is a more important stat than with RISP. Overall OPS, OBP, and SLG are most important. With runners in scoring position (when a single drives a man in from third and usually second) is the one time when when batting average increases in importance.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 11:31 AM) The problem is, our averages are all going way up and we still can't hit with men on base. Nope. The Sox are #5 in batting average with runners on, and #2 with runners in scoring position. Fans simply immediately forget anything that goes well and dwell on anything that doesn't go well. Start thread after thread after thread to complain about a first place team with the 3rd best offense and the best pitching in the American League. If you're going to post and complain about the team hitting .289 with runners in scoring position because, "that's totally, like, failing 71% of the time," take a moment to note that the major league average is .262 with runners in scoring position. Immediately forget anything that goes well. Dwell on any failure to knock a runner in. Stack up all of those in your head as "evidence." "I've seen the Sox fail to knock in a runner like a hundred times this year! That's got to be a record. Sure, I've seen like 70 Sox games and no more than 8 games of any other team, but that coupled with my refusal to look at the actual numbers doesn't matter. What matters is the irrational cumulative effect of my frustration every time something doesn't go well for my favorite team, and my inability to perceive their performance objectively relative to the other baseball teams."

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Jun 20, 2008 -> 11:54 PM) Is team LOB recorded anywhere? I would love to see where we rank in the MLB with runners left on base. That's what makes this offense so frustrating. Our situational hitting is just plain bad. In batting average, the Sox are #5 in the AL with runners on base. #2 with runners in scoring position.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 16, 2008 -> 02:11 PM) Something needs to happen, and he can play a position that will be vacated with Swish playing 1B .259/.327/.306 .........in the minors .633 OPS Anderson is at .250/.289/.381 a .680 OPS in the majors with sporadic playing time, and he's a better centerfielder. Also, Owens is 17 for 27 in steals.....running on minor league pitchers and catchers.

QUOTE (The Bones @ Jun 16, 2008 -> 07:54 PM) Can you only write-in one player per league? yes, one write-in per league

I really like how Walker has made everyone hit really well this past week. I still don't understand why he makes them hit poorly other times. Regardless, his choice to make them hit well has been nice to see.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 10:22 PM) I was JUST about to post that here. lol. That article gave me a lot of hope for Swisher. I was thinking he looked better than his average and stuff showed, but i never realized that he was actually doing "average" with extreme bad luck. I was also just about to.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 09:28 PM) I liked a lot of this but had a suggestion. When resting Thome and Konerko why not let toby hall get a few starts at DH, at least against lefties. He has been hitting the ball in limited chances and i know he wont bat well over three hundred for the year but let the hot bat play and give the anemic konerko and thome a break. I think you don't want your only 2 catchers in the game w/ one of them at dh. If AJ gets injured or ejected, we don't have a catcher.

This non-story of the Sox bringing up the hottest bat from Charlottte to be the 25th man for a few games while Uribe's on the DL is a non-story which requires no analysis. He's a lefty. Ozzie will throw him a start, pinch hit and pinch run him.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2008 -> 12:25 AM) but Thome sucks? That is correct. Didn't you read the Sun-Times article? Top 5 hitter in the AL over the past 2 seasons but he is now definitely washed up and can't hit anymore.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 18, 2008 -> 04:03 PM) i think that's the huge problem we have. we are the exact opposite of patient at the plate. we cant work a count for s***. i really feel greg walker needs to go and soon. Walker had a great day at the plate today. Also the Sox are 3rd in the AL in walks. The exact opposite of the opposite of patient at the plate.

It doesn't make the least bit of sense. 1) Why the hell do they put the All-Star ballots out so early? 2) Why in the f***ing universe do they take the teams' projected line-ups during spring training. Thanks to the computer!, which is now commonly used both at home and in the office, it would be very easy to get the teams' all-star candidates 14 minutes before the ballot goes out, rather than 2 months. Complete morons.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 14, 2008 -> 01:55 AM) but even as poorly as Crede is playing right now, I'm not sure Fields is a better option at all. Not sure I follow as Crede's having a career year (for him) as of now. I agree with most everything you say here though, wite. Roll up all your complaints, put them in a big pile, and then look at the Tigers and the Yankees and the Blue Jays. Look at Florida and Baltimore. Look at Cleveland's offense. The sane conclusion you should reach is that anything can happen in any given 40 games. Those good teams will probably be at the top by the end of the year. Those bad teams will surely not. Our offense is right in the middle of the league despite the and half the team are not yet hitting well. If the pitching can remain close to as great as it has been we will win a lot of games this year.