caulfield12

The idea of Viciedo catching errant Teahen and Ramirez throws isn't so palatable. I think Viciedo/Flowers will need to DH and play the field occasionally, but I'm more and more in favor of trying to retain Konerko at $5-6.5 million per over two years with a club option for 2013. We certainly can't have Josh Kroeger et al there or our attendance will be bottom 3 in the majors.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 12:17 PM) Caul, couldn´t the same be said for Gavin and Peavy?? I think these are more command/control/location/pitch selection issues. They've both flashed very dominant fastballs and offspeed stuff from time to time this season, just not on anything close to a consistent or sustained basis.

Buehrle with an ERA now of 5.21, Lord knows what it is since OD. Obviously if he's hovering around 84-86 MPH FB, he's a full 3-5 MPH behind what he used to throw.

Buehrle needs to be DL'ed. He either has a dead arm or there's really something physically wrong that sending him out there over and over again isn't going to help. Give Hudson or Torres a shot. He's too important to this franchise to let him suffer like this when he's obviously not right.

That character thing again.... Not having Uribe, Crede, Rowand, Everett, Cabera...."winning" players.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 10:49 AM) If I'm Kenny Williams, I want to see Viciedo and Flowers for at least 3 full months to make a determination whether these 2 can be counted for next season (of course, there is never any certainty - see Gordan Beckham). If they don't trade A.J, let Flowers DH 4 times a week, and then use him as a cather once or twice a week, and, to play Viciedo, obviously, Konerko would need to be moved. If the White Sox can find a young SS prospect in a trade, I'm in favor. Ramirez is just not that good, and the organization needs to have higher expectations than what they are getting out of that spot. For next season, Mark Teahan has to be a backup. Why Kenny Williams gave him a 3 year deal will go down as an unsolved mystery, he is not a starting 3B....He can have some value as a backup player, but, thanks to Williams is being overpaid for that role. In the OF, we can no longer depend on Carlos Quentin. Rios shoudl be our CF for years to come. The guy just looks so graceful as a player, and things seem to come so easily to him. Hopefully, his strong play continues. We're stuck with a mediocre hitter in Pierre. So, for next season, I expect Konerko to have been traded for a decent prospect, but Kenny Williams has 3 months to decide if Viciedo and Flowers can be counted on at C/1B, and has gaping holes to address in RF, and 3B. He needs impact players, no more of the Mark Kotsay types as this is a BAD offense. Pitching, I think the Sox should look to stay where they are for the most part. If someones comes along and wants to pay for Buehle, they have to consider that, but I don't expect that to happen. Floyd has been bad, but he's under contract, and has shown the ability to get major league hitters out. I think they need to figure out how to get him on track. Daniel Hudson hasn't been very good this season in the minors, but I'm still hopeful that he can become a starter, so that may be the one move I make - either let him come in as a starter for next season (give him time this year in the rotation), or let him start as a reliever next year. Outside of that, Putz will likely be moved because of his contract, (1 year deal) for a prospect nobody has ever heard of, and Jenks won't be back so Santos needs (if they go with him) time as a closer this season. I suspect that Thornton will be kept in his 8th inning role and I don't want to move him. So, for the pitching staff, I expect it to be relatively stable for next season, they may have to add another reliever in free agency, but I think what we have now will be here for next season despite how mediocre/bad the starting rotation has been. Given the attendance drop, I suspect Williams will have to be extremely creative in addressing holes, and it's not likely to become a drastically improved offense next season, in fact, it may be about the same, but I do think he'll make some pretty interesting changes. Ramirez has had nearly an 800 OPS since May 1st. How many SS's can you find with that ability at such a cheap price as his contract currently pays him? I think the list there is basically to be counted on a single hand, and none of those players are available for anything less than a Gordon Beckham or J. Danks or Thornton. Just wait until Escobar is doing his Esteban Beltre/Caruso impression and you'll see what I mean.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 10:42 AM) Santos is a guy I would think about trading. His is a nice story, but its hard for me to believe he's not going to eventually struggle with his lack of experience, not that he wouldn't be able to eventually overcome the struggles, but he has no options left and he'd never clear waivers. Which is exactly why another team would be scared to part with a huge package to get him. What would the White Sox give up to get, for example, Joel Zumaya? Not very much, I'd think. As a very cheap bullpen option who throws 96-98 and can be your possible solution to the Jenks mess (if Thornton/Pena both fail)...it would be pretty silly to trade him. If we can keep Linebrink and Williams on our roster for god knows how long, we can keep Santos even when he goes through some inevitable struggles.

You have to keep pretty much everyone in the starting rotation (except Garcia is swapped for Hudson eventually) and you're overwhelmed with an offer on Danks (knowing you'll lose him at the end of his six year service period at the end of 2012). Keep: Ramirez Quentin Rios Beckham AJ Pierzynski is unlikely to be a long-term solution, so you MIGHT keep him around in 2011, but that's definitely the terminus of his Sox career. I don't see a heckuva lot of difference with Flowers playing everyday (and significantly more upside) or even Castro/Lucy...plus you save $5 million or whatever. Konerko gets flipped for Viciedo. Jordan Danks and Teahen share Kotsay's role. You probably trade Putz and keep Pena, Santos and Thornton unless you're overwhelmed with a deal for Matty. Threets comes up to replace Williams. You're also stuck with one more year of Linebrink, unless you flat out release him, which I don't think they're quite ready to do that just yet...although he is nearing MacDougal territory quite soon. Morel isn't going to be ready until at the earliest, mid-season 2011. Even then, it will take a lot to convince me he can hit for enough power to justify a line-up spot if we also have Viciedo and Flowers breaking into the line-up and no Andruw Jones. We really need to take all the savings we can get from Jenks/Konerko/AJ/Putz/Vizquel/Kotsay et al and put it into a FA 3B as a stop-gap, a Tyler Wiggington/Miguel Tejada/Melvin Mora veteran type with some pop.

Thornton could be almost like Zumaya (your 5th-8th inning situational "shut down" guy in critical situations) but significantly better and left-handed. And cheap. That has a TON of value to a lot of playoff-contending teams. Whether KW pulls the trigger, it all depends on whether he believes Matt can do the job as closer for 2011. If it's not Thornton, it has to be Pena or Santos, two big if's, but better than risking Jenks for another year.

Okay, Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 10:18 PM) Agreed, he's one of the most dominant forces in the game and we're lucky to have him. I just think that if we can get something significant for him, you have to do it. If you're trading him for the sake of trading him. don't do it. Ricardo Rincon for Brian Giles comes to mind right away.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 10:13 PM) Teams are really going to give up that much for Thornton? Say a team wants him to be a set-up man, they're not going to give up ultra-prospects for him. Thornton has more value to the Sox than he does other teams. Who can bring us the most back in trade over Matt? Danks, of course. Who would be #3? Putz? Pena? Alexei Ramirez? We have no idea what we'd get for Rios or Peavy...Buehrle, Floyd, Konerko, etc. Trading Quentin or Beckham would be the definition of insanity, especially Gordon.

This was my pet peeve at WSI. The "faithful" fans who ripped on Dark Clouds but who disappeared whenever the team wasn't playing well...I'm not saying you have to follow every inning of every game, that's ridiculous, especially when the Blackhawks are playing (understandable), but it seems a little hollow to blast posters for giving up or not being optimistic when you're not really following the team as much either. Actions speak louder than words, as they say.

Maybe we really do need to look at trading Thornton. The odds of him becoming a successful closer are 50/50 at best. Sure, he's pretty cheap, but he's had a lot of wear and tear on his arm the last 2-3 seasons....and, once again, I'm not convinced he would be a closer who would end up with an 85% or above save conversion rate. We have to listen to any offers out there for Buehrle, Peavy, Danks, Floyd, Thornton, Jenks, Putz, Pena, Konerko, Quentin, Ramirez, etc. However, the only players close to "peak" value right now are Konerko, Thornton, Danks and Rios. We'd be selling "low" on almost every player on our roster....maybe Jones and Putz would get some interest as well, just Jones has done another nosedive like 2009. Ramirez could be intriguing to a number of teams, but then we can't put Beckham there (at SS) unless we want to have Lillibridge/Vizquel/Nix/Retherford (two of the four) playing 2B/3B everyday. Teahen either sits or is 1B/DH and takes Kotsay's role as 25th man. We also have to seriously consider the possibility of selling high on Rios, even though it seems anathema and a bit illogical, since he's currently our best player. Unfortunately, it's hard to trade Buehrle, Peavy, Jenks, Konerko....which means, as the Tigers learned, you have to cross your fingers and trade players like Granderson and Jackson and hope to get the best of those trades (as DD seemingly did).

I hope Pierre bunts into the final out of the game on a pop-up to the pitcher or an infielder.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 07:45 PM) The pitch to get out Marson was a terrible hanger, but thankfully Marson is a terrible hitter. Wasn't he (Lou Marson) the manager in MAJOR LEAGUE? I have to correct myself, I guess we'll be 3-8 against the Indians (3-9 if we lose tomorrow). I forgot that series we took 2/3. The point remains that it's inexcusable to lose 9 of 12 against the Indians. Talbot is 3-0 against us.

I would rather watch UT and UK play in football or basketball than watch this game. UT/UF or UT/UGA would be fine, too. And I hate the SEC.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 07:37 PM) Greg Walker should have been fired like 3 years ago, and if JR was as pissed about the performance of this team over the past few seasons as he's said he is, then other changes should have been made. JR wasn't even happy in 2008. How did he feel about 2007, 2009 and 2010? Something's gotta give. THREETS with the save, perfect inning with a strikeout. Williams should be out of here ASAP. Rios misreads the ball, doesn't always turn well and go back on balls hit over his head. Shouldn't have been tracking the ball with his eyes..."drifting" with the ball if you don't turn and go run to where you think it has to end up and then readjusting.

Jenks, undoubtedly, will either get rocked (give up an additional 2-3 runs.) or pitch a rare 1-2-3 inning. Cue booing of Jenks off the mound if that happens.

If we go into Monday with a 10 1/2 - 11 1/2 game deficit and are 1-9 against the Indians this season, something has to be done. (That would mean something like 9 of their 21-22 victories, nearly half, would have come against one team). There will be no choice. (Crosses fingers) Arguably our best overall player (along with Rios and Konerko) Thornton wets the bed. Great. Mitchell will probably reinjure his foot while rehabbing and Josh Phegley will develop a herniated disc while sleeping on throw thread-count sheets.

Yeah, you can't really blame Walker for Owens (largely terrible and one-dimensional), Fields (slider speed bat), Anderson (he's been dissected endlessly) and Andy Gonzalez (terrible). Cooper always said his lack of success with Aardsma, Masset and Sisco was directly related to their inability to 1) work on their secondary stuff or 2) get them to feel any confidence in going to it regularly, the same could probably be said for Aaron Poreda. I do think it's interesting with Contreras. He was throwing 96-97 MPH regularly in 2005/2006. He was devastating when his forkball was 80-82, but he was always basically a two pitch pitcher, even at his best. I do think that with Jose's health problems, probably Jose made an adjustment himself to ease pain and discomfort and ended up losing some of the velocity/stuff. Pretty amazing he's still throwing so hard at his age, almost like Nolan Ryan when you think about it. Jose might be 42-44 years old. I'm especially concerned about trusting Walker with Danks, Retherford, Flowers, Mitchell, Morel and Viciedo. OTOH, we don't have so many internal options. Gary Ward was run out of town on a rail and I have no conception of why he was brought back into the organization. I'd rather have Chambliss as our hitting coach than Ward. Another thing, the 2006 collapse was basically blamed on the 2005 workload catching up with the starters, and maybe Jose's decline was an equally important part of that. Cooper wasn't able to "cure" Vazquez, but no pitching coach has had sustained success with him. And we should thank Cooper for getting Javy to the point we could get Flowers/Gilmore/Rodriguez back in return.

With Andruw Jones struggling, we're seeing the worst possible offense that we all imagined/predicted in the spring. Nobody was sure about Rios coming in and Konerko was expected to tail off, and while Quentin's numbers overall look so-so (like Peralta) it keeps coming back to CQ and Beckham (along with the pitchers and AJ) looking like shadows of their former selves and not being able to get on sustained hot streaks.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 08:10 PM) Really, bunting on 3-2? STOP BUNTING, you suck at it Pierre. Seriously, what more has to happen to get people fired? You have a pitcher called for a balk, not backing up 3rd, and now that? Who failed to back up 3rd? Peavy? The catcher?

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 08:06 PM) Anyone surprised by 30K+ crowd? Is it a special KW fundraiser to pay for AJ's, Buehrle's, Jenks', Peavy's, Konerko's, Linebrink's, Pierre's and Teahen's contracts? Idiotic decision by Juan Pierre to bunt there with 2 strikes when he's been swinging the bat well and hasn't beaten out more than 3-4 bunts the entire season. How many brain cramps can you have in 1/3rd of a season? 3-4 successes out of 20 bunt attempts is atrocious. Pods was/is really much more successful in this area, whatever you say about him.

I guess they still have to get 20,000 in attendance with the ever-popular fireworks show tonight. But it will be interesting to see the numbers on a Sunday if they've somehow managed to start the season 1-8 versus the Indians.