caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) I think you are delving too deeply in the minds of fans. The bottom line is a lot of us picked the Sox to go .500 or a little better, some people even said 90 wins in that one thread and now most everybody's expectations have been lowered dramatically. We will watch all season and see what happens. Many of us have our favorite players and least favorite players. I hate Pierre and like Pods, but I will try not to post that for the 1,000th time in the future. The Sox are what they are ... we shall assess their play on a daily basis and see what happens, but I think your talking about the marketing guy again was a bit old and made everybody cringe a bit. Look tomorrow at MLB attendance. There's a certain team 45 minutes east of your location that will be leading the White Sox for the first time this decade in that category. This, without the "real" Zach Greinke but a very entertaining offense, at least. They play the Twins at home, coming off winning 2/3 in TOR...it will be an interesting attendance battle with the White Sox this weekend.

Agreed, for the most part. The only "above average" replacement/s we could argue that we have waiting in the minors statistically would be Tyler Flowers at C/DH (assuming he could put up more than a 500 OPS), Hudson (over Garcia) and probably Josh Kroeger would get the slight nod over Kotsay, although Kroeger is really almost like Wilson Betemit as a walking defensive nightmare wherever you stick him on the diamond. Arguments could be made for Jordan Danks over Pierre, but everyone is concerned about his K percentage and lack of power, especially in LF/RF. But yes, there's a dearth of legit replacements, and there's very little talented depth...just "old/veteran/journeyman" depth, I don't even know that Jayson Nix exists in Ozzie's eyes anymore with Vizquel on the team. Nix is a Gold Glove caliber 2B, yet Ozzie has Nix benched still and going w/ Vizquel, who's a natural SS.

How do they calculate that? Taking into account the fact that pitchers like Contreras, Floyd, Vazquez, Garcia, Jenks, etc., did/do a pretty crappy job holding runners...not that AJ would be like Marson, Mauer or a Molina...I guess he's slightly below adequate, but better than V-Mart. How can they calculate gamesmanship, pitch selection, game strategy/location of attacking opponent's hitting weaknesses...? Almost impossible to develop statistics (beyond CD/field percentage) to accurately reflect a catcher's value. Then you have the fact that many catchers don't even call their own games, it's all relayed from the bench.

Break up the A's. Are they actually for real with that line-up? I'll believe someone can beat the Angels over the long haul when I see it, but good win for an improving young ballclub against the Yankees. Ziegler and Bailey make up a very strong combo to end games. Sweeney at .722 OPS w/ no homers, 9 RBI's. Gio struggled yesterday with Yanks' line-up. Of course, a lot of teams will suffer that same fate this year. Ubaldo Jimenez an early season monster, with Halladay. Will be 4-0, ERA around 1. Only 3 hits today, although it's a Nationals team with Willie Harris (he of the 927 OPS) in the 3 hole...STILL, the Nationals have been scoring a ton of run, close to first in the NL. Yes, the NATS. But their team ERA is 6 and Livan Hernandez (somehow a 0.41 ERA) hadn't even given up a run until today...how's that for bad pitching?? They really need Strasburg as soon as he's close to ready. Miguel Olivo with another runner thrown out stealing...7 FOR 9, best ratio in baseball (came to mind since another thread was talking about AJ's D). Also sporting a 978 OPS. Who would ever think that Willie Harris and Miguel Olivo would ever be doing that?

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:23 PM) Please explain...Matt Thornton blew 2 games in the first two weeks of the season, and so did Pena (though he didn't get the loss in one of them). Putz blew another game as well. Our bullpen has had no problem retiring guys in blowouts though up until last night. And you shift those 3-4 games, you get an 8-7 or 9-6 record, DESPITE the offense and inconsistent starting pitching as well as defense. That's one of many reasons this start is so frustrating.

I've maintained all along this bullpen is the most talented one we've ever had, with the obvious exception of Williams. If you substitute Threets from the LH side at 95 MPH with control...maybe the best bullpen in Sox history, despite Jenks' shakiness. Of course, I know the 2005 bullpen was better statistically. I'm talking about pure "stuff" and raw talent. Santos is one of my favorite things about this season so far that's making it somewhat more bearable.

You quote bullpen ERA as a conclusive stat. Linebrink was a lockdown set-up man in 2008...he was nails until he got hurt. Of course, after he went down, the bullpen wasn't as effective. Everyone had clearly defined roles, even moreso than now. But it's when the starting pitching and bullpen were working in unison that we won the majority of our games and got the division lead. Then we just had to hold on and gut things out on a day by day basis for the final 4-6 weeks after Quentin and Crede went down and Linebrink couldn't get back to dominating form. What does Hawk always say? It's not what you do, it's WHEN you do it. We've had a number of close games this year that the bullpen gave up late runs under pressure/duress. I'm not blaming them completely, the offense is putting too much pressure on the pitching staff...every little mistake is magnified. But if our pen was so perfect in 2010, we'd be 8-7 or 9-6 right now.

Or magnifies how desperate Ozzie is to shake things up and is now simply grasping at straws while sitting two of our best hitters, Rios and Beckham. It's like he takes darts and just throws them against the wall to see what sticks. Once again, Jayson Nix is irrelevant on this roster. If Pierre's not getting on, what the heck can Vizquel do in the 2 spot? At least Jayson has some pop and can occasionally go on a hot streak if he got some regular playing time.

If they called me, I could have told them that Teahen (despite his "plus" arm) was not the person to trade for to play 3B, and certainly not to sign to an extension. He's fine as a utility/bench player on a great team, but he's arguably not a starter on most upper-tier teams because his offense doesn't compensate for his defensive shortcomings at a power position.

I don't understand how you can sit Beckham and Rios at the same time. Vizquel is simply not part of the future...there's no reason for Beckham to be tired at this point. We had an off day on Monday. Yes, he's been scuffling, but so have Carlos, Pierre, Ramirez and AJ. Kotsay? And Vizquel belonged in the 2 spot five to ten years ago, now, not so much. I'd rather have Teahen there, and I'm not even a Teahen fan. I'm sure the Rays are very afraid.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:36 PM) IIRC, he wasn't playing every day. As a matter of fact, I know he leadoff one of those games. Correct me if I'm wrong, he not only led off, but he was playing CF, I think against the Indians.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:32 PM) I think what Caufield is saying is that he doesn't think those guys are going to repeat those performances, which were two of the reasons why that team went on to win 89 games. Not saying I agree or disagree, just making a clarification. I think Rios will be fine. AJ also SHOULD come back to his averages...but he is getting to that age for catchers, you never know when you're in your 30's. What is required for Quentin and Ramirez to be as good as they were in 2008. And for Pierre and Beckham to wake up, too. Almost everything has to go right, as we said before the season. But who on this team is capable of putting up Quentin May-August 2008 numbers? There's only Carlos himself, Beckham and Andruw Jones that fit into that category.

Or not give up any runs with poor defense. The Twins have one error the entire season...against the Sox. They've yet to make an error in 9 home games.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:00 PM) From April 17 to May 5th during the 2008 season, the White Sox went from 9-6 to 14-17. That's a record of 5-11 during a 16 game stretch. That's a rough stretch early in the season that is 1 game worse then the one the Sox are currently on, and that team won 89 games and a division title. That offense really wasn't any better or much different, and they were just fine. Sit down, relax, and enjoy baseball. It does take about 40-60 games to determine how good a team really is. I'm not about to say that everything will fix itself, but we don't know what this team is or is not capable of completely yet. Fair enough. I forgot about that stretch. Although I will respectfully disagree with you about the offense, because Quentin was the best hitter in baseball for five months. Alexei hit how many Grand Slams and carried the team on his back for 2-3 months in the middle of the season. Then you add in Thome, Dye, Konerko....I don't have the numbers in front of me for respective RPG, but I would be shocked if we match that offense unless Andruw Jones and Quentin both hit 30-40 homers. This bullpen is more talented, but that one was more effective to go along with the awesome starting pitching that carried the team through the offensive struggles in the first half.

If it helps, I'll pull an Ozzie. I am personally responsible for everything that's happened this season with the White Sox. Fire away with all your complaints...I can take it. Let's start our own FORUM...why I hate caulfield. If it makes you feel better to vent, be my guest. If you're a member of the Tea Party, please attack me as well. Because that will make everything better in the world, to have someone to blame for all of the problems of the world. I guess it works for some.

Pierre clearly showed that he can still play. He is certainly still one of the top table setters in all of baseball. For you fantasy fans it's important to realize that his lowest steal total in a season with 600+ plate appearances was 46, back in his first full year in 2001. Since then, he has stolen 55+ bases four times, coming in at over 60 twice. What's interesting here is the somewhat lateral move at the cost of the two prospects. The White Sox had the opportunity to keep Scott Podsednik in this spot and not give up Jon Link and John Ely who are now both projected to be contributors to the Dodgers in 2010 and certainly 2011. Let's look at last year's stats for Scott Podsednik and Juan Pierre. Podsednik (2009) 587 PA 39 BB 74K 7 HR 48 RBI 30 SB 75 RS .304 BA OBP .353 Pierre (2009) 425 PA 27 BB 27 K 0 HR 31 RBI 30 SB 57 RS .308 BA OBP .365 Podsednik has a career On-Base Percentage of .340, Pierre .348. Podsednik is 33 years old, Pierre 32. Podsednik is good at getting to the ball, but throws like Johnny Damon, Pierre.... same thing. Podsednik has a career stolen base success rate of 76.7%, Pierre.... 74.8% Is Juan Pierre worthy of hitting leadoff for your MLB team? Absolutely yes. But the truth here is that Pierre isn't really an upgrade over Podsednik. In making this trade the White Sox are saying no to Scott Podsednik's, $10-14 million demands in favor of a very similar player for $10 million for two season plus a pair of prospects. From where I sit they could have resigned Podsednik at approximately the same monetary cost without the waste of prospects. White Sox GM Kenny Williams has sure done some weird things lately. Last year he stalked an injured Jake Peavy and finally got the trade done through waivers only to basically have him not pitch until they were all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and then he assumed that huge Alex Rios contract from Toronto was perfectly willing to get out from the obligation of paying him with no compensation at all? The White Sox have some nice young players in Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez, but I wouldn't exactly call them thumpers. Alex Rios is only a 20 HR guy, Paul Konerko isn't getting any younger and with Carlos Quentin's health always an issue, adding the totally punch-less Juan Pierre to the line-up is certainly a questionable move. At least Podsednik had 7 HR's last year; Pierre has hit 1 in the last three years combined! It's great if you have your table all set, but if no one shows up for dinner, setting the table was a waste of time. www.athbaseball.com

Gee. You would think it would be better to send me a private message...instead of making indirect (and in this case, direct) comments in chat and in various threads. I don't think I have ever once commented on someone's posting style in my life. It's a message board, for God's sake. Nor have I ever put anyone on ignore in my life, at chisox.com, wsi.com or here. I appreciate hearing the opinions of every White Sox fan, even the ones who call into Rongey's post-game show in a drunken haze. I take that back. I make fun of Dick Allen for talking about Orlando Cabrera "almost" resigning with the White Sox and also discussing the financial issue consistently, but that's what he is interested in, so even when someone is predictable...it doesn't mean they should be tuned out, drawn-and-quartered or pilloried. Bob Dylan did a funny parody of me once, I congratulated him on his efforts. I should share with everyone what he wrote (via PM), but I wouldn't do that without his permission. It would only spark more argument and sniping back and forth. We're all adults here. Hopefully.

How old is Davey Johnson? I'm just not sure if his managerial approach (could we call it "old school"?) is the right one for a young team....if KW sticks it out with this rotation, then a veteran manager like Johnson makes a lot more sense to me. Same with Jack McKeon, for example. I always liked Torborg. He was my favorite White Sox manager...although I did get a chance to know Gene Lamont really well in 1995 when he started working as an advisor with the Pirates and was visiting all the minor league affiliates, and I found myself liking him a lot more than my perception as an "outsider" following the Sox. I even got him to sign the framed picture of Bo Jackson on the TRIB cover from when we clinched the division in 1993. The funny thing is he really liked us to play "YMCA" and I got so sick of playing that song....it was like the Macarena. He's a good baseball man. When I was in DET last year, he was giving an on-field clinic and it's obvious he still really enjoys being around the game. But I never once brought up what happened with the Sox, I know he was hurt by that a lot.

I agree with you about Don Cooper. I like his honesty and candor, seems everyone really admires and respects him a lot in the organization. The Larry Dierker type of pick. Although I think he came directly from the broadcast booth to the dugout, correct? I'm ready to go with Steve Stone as GM depending on where we stand on April 1st, 2012. I'm giving KW these two years....that's the extent of my patience to fix this mess.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) It absolutely was Ozzie's decision not to bring back Thome, as he didn't think he could get him enough at bats. All Spring Training, we were told this is Ozzie's team and the roster he wanted to be assembled. Theoretically, who would be on your "short list" of possible available managers on a note hidden away from Ozzie behind the "Big Board"?

Shutter Island and Crazy Heart are excellent. I guess a lot of critics have compared Bridges' performance with Mickey Rourke and The Wrestler, but I enjoyed Crazy Heart more and I really don't even enjoy country music very much at all.

Who is Wickswat? Sounds like Sam's name from Transformers.... Hope Griffith can continue to make progress. We need 2-3 "DeLosSantos"-es to emerge from the Kannapolis and Winston-Salem rosters this year.

There were also some very interesting comments today (Sun-Times) about AJ and his relationship with Ozzie. Seems Ozzie was a little upset with bringing up the contract issue, 10-and-5 rights and free agency...then he acknowledged that he loved AJ, he was his starting catcher (not quite no matter what)...that he had a right to speak his mind freely because his manager does the same thing. Then it seems he changed his tone, going on about how very few organizations could put up with AJ and love him like a son, that he's had more individual meetings with him than any other individual player...it was close to an interesting insight. Because they definitely have a big decision to make. Right now it's easy...they have to cut the strings, as they did with Dye and Thome. It's up to AJ to make that situation as difficult as possible with his level of play, or he can simply withdraw like Dye did when the writing on the wall became more obvious to him with the Rios deal midseason. Maybe Ozzie has lost his objectivity, a bit. It seems he's TOO close to Garcia, Ramirez, AJ, Rios, Paulie, Vizquel (playing over Nix consistently after Jayson's power displays in 2009, and obviously this team is looking for some pop/firepower somewhere), Buehrle, Jenks, Andruw Jones, Pierre...I think that sentimental side of him as a player affects his decision-making process too much at times. Unless you're a Beckham, it's hard for a young player to emerge "intact" in this organization and get Ozzie's full attention and respect.

Give me a good reason to feel optimistic, then I'll stop...I guess everyone can just tune out and stop caring. Probably what will happen to most posters here if this season continues like this...the only thing to be excited about will be trade threads and following the minor leagues. That's okay I guess. If you want me to stop being honest, maybe I should stop posting altogether. I looked through all the past White Sox teams because I really WANTED to find a reason to believe. It's just that there is very little in our club history to support that belief, unfortunately.

It's starting to feel that way. This will be the biggest challenge for Brooks Boyer, and you've seen it in places like CLE, TOR, BALT, OAK, PITT, FLA, WASH...how can or do you motivate the fans who no longer believe in the organization to come back to baseball games and "trust" the organization again? Is it only AND/OR just as simple as winning being the best and simplest promotion? The way I look at this is simple. You've seen this board go through the steps of AA in the last two weeks. We were fighting through the denial stage, now it seems like a sort of "acceptance" phase is going on where people are deliberately starting to tune out the White Sox and disengaging. Is that just a defense mechanism from years of being a Sox fan, a "protective" mechanism not to invest too much in something? I know it's cherry-picking, but this organization hasn't been "good" for 3 out of the last 4 years...at least it's starting to look that way, yes? All those young fans who started following the White Sox in 05 and 06...they have moved on and already have other/better entertainment options for their money. The economic situation is also a big issue for many of us as fans in terms of buying season tickets or how many games we can afford to go to. It's kind of a "perfect storm" turning agains the White Sox...the Twins' new ballpark/keeping Mauer, etc., it just almost feels hopeless, like in 2007 all over again. That team at least started "decently" and didn't collapse until mid-season. Then you had Andy Gonzalez/Owens/Fields/Wasserman all playing...that was sort of interesting to follow. Even though, at the time, only Fields seemed like he was a legitimate prospect. There's very little interesting or compelling about this team, it's flat-out boring. Not just becuase of the record. It was kind of the same case last year. Part of it's the lack of offense, there's just something hard to put your finger on. I still get excited to follow each game, but with each loss...it gets harder and harder to convince myself the "raw materials" are there to make a go of it this year. Maybe the Mitchell injury and the fact that Viciedo's not the monster (yet) I thought I would has been what most bugs me. I was so excited when we signed that kid, I thought he would be our version of Miguel Cabrera. He still might be, but it's not looking good at the moment. I guess we just have to be patient. Another thread offers many compelling reasons why Danks isn't going to make it...then you have the fact that our best player might be the one we have the least chance of keeping in the future, John Danks. KW and the FO aren't sold on Flowers as a game strategist or working with a veteran pitching staff...half the scouts think he won't stick at catcher and another group feels his swing is too long and he's another Borchard/Fields with a higher OBP. Where does that leave us? HUDSON? I guess the ONLY reason I take heart is that we are playing in the ALCD. In the East, we'd be abandoning the board like the TITANIC I suppose. If nothing else, DET is losing money faster than they can print out new idiotic contracts and trade away Jackson/Granderson (although Austin Jackson has outfperformed expectations so far)...CLE has totally lost the faith of its fans, no matter how good their minor league system, that team's a good 2 years away....and they will start feeling the pressure of contracts for Sizemore, Peralta, Wood, Hafner. I never worry about KC. Maybe I should. But Hillman's just a so-so manager (at best) and their bullpen has been even more of a leaky seive than CLE. That said, they're at least hitting .300 or so and very fun to watch or follow even though you expect them to blow every lead unless the game actually gets to SORIA. I guess I'll just have to hold on to my hopes for Beckham, Hudson, Flowers and then Mitchell making a complete recovery (being able to replace Pierre in 2012)...and knowing we're probably going to wind up going through a stretch possibly as tough as the late 80's and late 90's in terms of once against becoming an irrelevant franchise to most of the baseball world. Which is what hurts the most. And this happened despite our acquisitions of Ramirez/Quentin/Floyd/Danks/Peavy/Rios. There's talent there...it just doesn't seem capable of coming together and gelling until it's too late, I'm afraid.