caulfield12

Jermaine Dye is apparently too insulted to even bother to play for the Mariners for that exact $3 million price tag. Pride goeth before the fall (see Cabrera, Orlando).

This has been the case with the White Sox offense since 2000...inconsistent output, despite very good overall numbers in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, usually marked by 11-1 wins followed by 2-3 narrow losses when scoring under 4.

Of course, putting Kotsay in for Konerko didn't really work out (yet again), but at least Paulie should be well-rested for the 2nd half of the season. They really might be better off letting Nix play SS everyday at SS as the back-up option for an Alexei Ramirez prolonged slump...but then we'd have to expose him to another team, correct? What would be the odds, 50/50, that another team would scoop him up?

Dammit Nix. If you go 2 for 2 there, you might actually get to start a game over Vizquel at some point in the undetermined future. Alas.

Donny Lucy starting off this season like Corky Miller did in 2009 offensively.

Nice to see a lack of proliferation of Brandon Allen threads this year. Last year, he was something like a magical Fred Crime Dog McGriff with more athleticism to some who were overreacting.

I don't like Mark Kotsay. Is that the 3rd time already this year he has driven in a run with a GIDP?

Take that Rudy Jaramillo. Greg Walker is in the process of signing a book deal, focusing on his rehabilitation of the rejuvenated swings of Alex Rios and Andruw Jones.

Great sign when Alex can stay with an outside pitch and drive it up the middle or to the opp field. 93 MPH slider? I know Morrow throws hard, but that's a nasty pitch if it's actually a slider at that speed on the black. I think the computer misidentified a two seam FB undoubtedly.

Now back to our normally scheduled White Sox offense. By the way, is Nix sick (literally, not due to losing AB's to Omar)? He was supposed to be in the starting line-up tonight, theoretically instead of Vizquel. Any news?

Gordon Beckham?

Mauer and Pods continue to outhit the White Sox 9. 12/28 on the season already for Joe (1 HR, 6 RBI's)...Pods 13/31. Twins and Red Sox tied at 2 after 3 innings. First bit of rain at the new Target Field, although it's a balmy 78 degrees. Royals positioning themselves for another come from ahead blown loss, 3-1 over the Tigers in the 5th. PS: Please let the Royals and Indians actually show up in Minnesota and not let them sweep both teams. Deep Thoughts from Jack Handey: Will we have the first 0-0 tie in baseball history when we play the Mariners next week at USCF?

Spontaneously combust? Like Michael Jackson when he shot the Pepsi commercial? As opposed to combusting under the epidermis/skin layer? LOL. I think Ozzie might actually combust before the end of April at this rate.

Well, ideally we'd have a real DH or Pierre and Teahen as very expensive bench players...a bilingual sports psychologist for Alexei Ramirez wouldn't be a bad concept either. But alas, that's not our reality.

Which is why KW wanted to hire Cito Gaston in the first place. All things considered, you'd certainly have to argue that hiring Ozzie was the right choice. How long that might continue to be the case remains to be seen.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 06:54 AM) Bahahaa....and what about me, who was like the 5th person in and office of a few thousand. Oh well...to China I go in 2 days. Where are you going to in China? Have you ever been here? I'm in Hangzhou, about 1 1/2 hour train ride from Shanghai.

A blistering 673 OPS, 27th in all of MLB. On the bright side, fans in Cleveland, Seattle and Houston can all collectively be more frustrated than Sox fans.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 03:16 PM) I am not so sure I agree with the upside at the plate part. Upside over last year? sure, but not more so than his best years. But I agree there is no comparison. I would say that Soriano has the worst contract in all of baseball. If I were a Cubs fan I would feel sick thinking of that clown playing another 5 years for my team. I think the fact that he solidifies a position (CF) that has been a hole for 3-4 seasons, he's in his prime...and you can "overvalue" players up the middle a bit because Ramirez and Beckham are so underpaid, it's okay as long as he's an 800+ OPS player (775-850).

Where have you gone Ray-Ray or Sugar Ray Durham?

Yeah, but we'd be able to play "Rico/Suave" whenever he came to bat. Hudson's not quite up to Brandon McCarthy level, but he's a nice prospect...whether he's peaked in terms of value (like Poreda/Richard), we'll just have to wait and find out.

I'm proud to be a Jayson Nix fan Where at least I know he's free (to play) And I won't forget the Vizquel at-bats that died Who gave that right to Ozz-ee? And I gladly stand up . . next to you and defend NIX still today Cause there ain't no doubt I love this Sox Land God bless the USA (and Alex Rios, Carlos Delgado, and Chris Jackson/Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf)

But Dick Allen, in your mind, do you think that Uribe simply started tuning Walker out? It seems at times that Uribe TRIED to change his approach and go more to the opposite field instead of being a dead-red hitter, but 90% of the time he fell back into bad habits. Still, he was always a MAN about somehow managing to drive in 65-75 RBI's per season, no matter how poor his overall average. I think many here would be thrilled if Mark Teahen could replicate that typical 20 HR, 65-80 RBI URIBE line with a higher OBP. Because the fact of the matter was that Uribe was loved by every one of his teammates and the coaches as well, and he saved the pitchers countless times with his D, something Teahen won't do nearly as much. What about Alexei Ramirez? Did he overachieve in 2008? Did the league simply adjust to him, pounding him with offspeed stuff...how much of that is a product of Ramirez (and Walker) failing to adjust...how much of it is Alexei perhaps overachieving in 2008 (see Berroa, Angel, Rookie Year)? How much of it is Alexei's defensive lapses being carried over to the offensive side?

I think you have to look at the greater context. I'm sure Rios appreciates Ozzie "having his back," so to speak. It SEEMS to be coming through with his play, his homer last night...for whatever reason, Ozzie feels this might be the best way to light a fire under Rios, by encouraging the fans to boo him or Ozzie. I know it's definitely a "backwards" seeming motivational technique, but it's certainly garnering a lot less national attention than the Mariotti comments. Heck, it's almost impossible for him to say anything that gets attention anymore because everything he says is so over the top, it's hard to know where inappropriate even begins with the guy anymore. It's also part of Ozzie being Ozzie, that candidness is perceived to be one of his greatest strengths by the "common" fan, that he's not a completely "boring" guy like Bevington or Lamont or Manuel. When he calls out the fans "who wake up at 4 am," (etc.), we quietly laugh to ourselves and say, Ozzie's not poking fun at us, he's poking fun at those OTHER White Sox fans, like the ones who call into Ranger's post game show or offer to trade Betemit/Williams/Carlos Torres/Nix for Pujols, Mauer or Hanley Ramirez. He's singling out "harassing" fans who he feels crossed the line with Rios...the modern-day complaint of all athletes and public figures about their privacy being violated, about them not being role models (Barkley), etc. Of course, the irony is that Ozzie loves the spotlight. You have to the feeling if he weren't managing what he would miss the most would be the media gathering around to hear more Ozzie speak. That and being around his friends like Baines and Cora, etc., just being around the game of baseball. I guess the most important thing in Ozzie's mind is making Rios feel comfortable being a member of the Sox, and building up a "cocoon" of protection around him. Just don't get on his bad side, like BA, Cabrera, Swisher, Rauch, Sean Tracey, etc. Plus, JR has to worry about hiring lawyers and interviewing witnesses to sort out the Del Negro/Paxson mess...unless Ozzie says something that offends a particular group (like the Mariotti situation) or REALLY REALLY tees off Kenny Williams to the point where their working relationship is damaged, he's going to be backed up 100% by JR. I mean, many on this board have the idea in their heads that Ozzie is so powerful that he can influence Williams to change his whole FO strategy in terms of player acquisition and talent in order to what....hold Ozzie accountable and fire him if things go wrong? I will never understand the idea that the team failing makes only Ozzie look bad but doesn't put KW under the same amount of scrutiny and pressure. But that's me. I don't get that, any more than I ever thought Ozzie was deliberately messing with BA. I think Ozzie is smarter than a lot of us give him credit for, he saw the hole in Anderson's game all along, and it's been borne out by his results since leaving Chicago.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5084621 Dye has reportedly turned down offers because he doesn't want to DH or simply because of pride (being low-balled, in his opinion)... Gary Sheffield, not sure if that's a very good example. He had almost as many chances (and clubs) as Steve Howe despite his antics. Same with Milton Bradley. Elijah Dukes? Well, that's a very special situation, why he's not signed. Tom Gordon? If anyone could make an argument, it's Hispanic players not being signed, that's a much much longer list.

I'm sure the post-game was a fun one. At least Alex Rios had the last laugh with the fans. Imagine the boos he'll get Wednesday...