caulfield12

Maybe we can get a good return for Putz, eventually...if/when his live fastball comes back. Jenks, not so much. Rios, you'd still be pretty fortunate to get one of the big market teams to take the contract off your hands for free. There's only one player in our line-up anyone would really want, and that's Beckham. Quentin and Ramirez have a lot of question marks hanging over them.

It's not going to be a good thing to face Toronto's pitching on the road in the offensive slump we're in. And the pitchers are going to start becoming too "perfect" anticipating getting no run support at all from the offense.

Well...this is starting off well. It would be nice to actually beat the Twins once every three games at home at least.

And that team was considered a big failure by everyone...because we didn't make the playoffs and come close to defending our World Series title. By White Sox standards, sure, a 90 win season is a relative rarity, but I don't think many fans felt content that year, certainly not after being 26 games over .500 at the ASB.

That 2005 team was also coming off a World Series championship... Yes, we can always point to the recent Cardinals team or the 1987/1991 Minnesota Twins and make the argument that you only have to reach the playoffs and get hot at the right moment and sustain it for 2-3 weeks. Pretty much a given. But the difference is that team also had the best offense in the major leagues through the All-Star break. Whereas a lot of things have to break right for this offense to be even close to the "average" that was the 2005 team. Not only that, but hitting with RISP as well as fundamentals/execution, something we have only done well for one out of the last 3 1/2 seasons.

Jones hit 158 home runs in 1,038 minor league games, big numbers possible only for a player unwanted by the major leagues. Drafted in 1999 by the Atlanta Braves and released in 2002, he was picked up by the Minnesota Twins and languished in the system behind Justin Morneau(notes) at first base and Michael Cuddyer(notes) in right field. Rochester is a Twins’ affiliate, and Jones was there so long he could have been elected mayor. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire liked his power potential, but others in the organization didn’t think he made enough contact and doubted his defensive ability. Jones’ batting average rose and his strikeout total dropped, but his only taste of the big leagues came in four short stints in 2007. When he delivered a walkoff home run to win Rochester’s season finale in 2008, he figured the Twins would make him a September call-up. He figured wrong, the last in a long line of disappointments, and he left the organization as a minor league free agent. His best opportunity had come and gone a year earlier when it appeared the left field job was open in Minneapolis. But the Twins made a trade they have since regretted, sending pitcher Matt Garza(notes) and shortstop Jason Bartlett(notes) to the Rays for outfielder Delmon Young(notes), who in more than 1,000 at-bats since the deal has hit one fewer home run than Jones has hit in about 325 at-bats with Pittsburgh. “I felt that if I’d had a shot I definitely could have competed for that spot,” Jones said. Instead, it was one more year at Rochester before free agency. www.yahoo.com/sports

Wherever Quentin plays, please please please start going back to the RCF and stop pulling off every single try to pitch. Try to adjust and be more of a situational hitter instead of flailing away as if you're trying to hit a 7 run homer every time at the plate. You're even starting to rub off on Beckham a little. The entire offense, which was never good in the first place, is collectively starting to press and make things happen now instead of taking what's being given to them. We're watching good strikes go by and getting ourselves out on pitcher's pitches. Oh, the humanity.

Wherever Quentin plays, please please please start going back to the RCF and stop pulling off every single try to pitch. Try to adjust and be more of a situational hitter instead of flailing away as if you're trying to hit a 7 run homer every time at the plate. You're even starting to rub off on Beckham a little. The entire offense, which was never good in the first place, is collectively starting to press and make things happen now instead of taking what's being given to them. We're watching good strikes go by and getting ourselves out on pitcher's pitches. Oh, the humanity.

I'm back to the get the best hitters the highest possible number of opportunities to bat school of thinking. That means Juan Pierre at #9 and moving someone like Rios up. Ten years ago, Vizquel would have been perfect...AJ can do it, but that's really not a very good idea, either. Ramirez, certainly not in April, if ever. Teahen, see Pierre, Juan. I really wouldn't mind Rios leading off and Beckham hitting 2nd. I'm sure Ozzie will have some line-up changes, but it's kind of like re-arranging the life boats on the Titanic, 1500+ people are still going to die no matter how pretty we try to make things look!

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 10, 2010 -> 10:50 PM) It's simple, Ozzie wanted his "versatility", which was basically the dumbest idea in the history of baseball. Mark Kotsay was on his way to being out of baseball last year before being traded for Anderson. Now, he's our #5 hitter. It's bad when I feel like Jayson Nix needs to be getting a lot more at bats. Vizquel getting at bats over him against a LHP is just retarded. Also, time for Randy Williams to get released. He's terrible. BTW, even though I blamed Ozzie above, Kenny Williams has not done a very good job as our GM the past two seasons. He needs to take a lot of the credit. I can't see anyway our team can stay within 5-7 games of the Twins. Just a superior team with better baseball IQ and manager. And yet the argument will always be that the Twins didn't win the World Series (heck, they only made the second round once, and that was by beating the A's, another small market team) and that we did. Looking back on this decade, it will feel like a squandered opportunity...especially the 2006 season, when the organization had all the momentum in the world going for it and the wheels just came off. I almost think that 2008 caused us to lose our pessimism too quickly... Quentin is the only player who hasn't been the same (since 2008), you can argue that Ramirez regressed a bit last year, but Danks and Floyd are even better than before. And then with Beckham, I think we were all too quick to annoint him as the latest version of Chase Utley before he even made it through his dreaded sophomore season. Williams is between a rock and a hard place....it's almost impossible for him to tear everything up and admit defeat and the consequences to our attendance are well-documented (whenever we do something approximating a rebuild), but it's getting close to decision time with this group, particularly Konerko and Jenks. Santos MIGHT be the real deal, and that could save us the money we would be using for Jenks in 2011, but there's absolutely zero answer to fix the current mess. And that answer of trading for a Gonzalez and parting with Jordan Danks, Hudson and Tyler Flowers (as a starting point) seems very ill-advised. But squandering the kind of starting pitching we have on a season-long basis, you just wonder what KW's thinking right now and how quick that itchy trigger finger will be. It's not like we would automatically be 4-1 or 3-2 with Johnny Damon, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility, either.

I think you're underestimating the national responsibilities and how serious they are to most Koreans... It's not like the Cubans, sure he could possibly "defect," but I think he would rather try to work out something with his government first. I think the idea of the WBC or Olympic gold is a serious goal for the country, to beat the Japanese, that's the most important thing. In the end, I think it's better for the Korean government if he can serve as an ambassador and continue to play in the US. Choo has been the first position player to have this type of an impact.

Saw some eye-popping stats. We've now lost 13 of 15 to the Piranhas. In our last 12 tries in Toronto, we're a robust 1-11 (going back through 2007). Included in that is getting outscored 48-22. At that pace, our offense actually might be headed for a further "mini-slump" in RPG.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 10, 2010 -> 07:16 PM) You are just assuming guys like Fields and Anderson and Teahen are fixable. Not everyone is. Like I've stated before, who has ever left the White Sox after working with Walker and had a ton more success elsewhere under a different hitting coach? The only guy I can remotely think of is Swisher, and the big reason they dumped Swisher was he wouldn't listen to Walker. The list of players who struggle before they came to the White Sox and picked it up after working with Walker is a list that is more than just a little longer. The blame he gets when older broken down one trick pony hitters hit a certain way is beyond ridiculous. If Teahen doesn't hit, how in the world could that be because of Walker? Maybe its just Teahen isn't very good. Ryan Sweeney, although his "sort of" success with the A's doesn't have anything to do with Walker or the lack thereof, arguably

Meanwhile, Minnesota is posed to win 6 ALCD championships in 9 years. Luckily for the White Sox, it's not 7, but only because of Rick Hahn's kid making a 50/50 guess on a coin flip. The scary thing is that the Twins can outspend us (as well as the Tigers) now, too.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 10, 2010 -> 02:36 PM) The Sox are going to score this inning. Your what hurts?

It's still early. And hey, they have Jon Rauch as their closer. He sucks, doesn't he?

We get out of bases loaded and no outs....miraculously. But does anyone on our offense care to step up and actually make it matter?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 10, 2010 -> 09:42 AM) The funny thing is if we win the next 2 games, the same posters will be talking about how great they are. You're joking, right? Since the All-Star break of 2006, we haven't been close to great. We have some great individual players on this team, but even in 2008 we weren't great....Carlos Quentin was great, for that one particular season. We have GREAT starting pitching, but that doesn't do much good unless we have at least a mediocre offense.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 10, 2010 -> 12:50 PM) Seriously? Really? Honestly? This thread is a joke, no? It might be the most reasonable thread you see if we do our normal disappearing act against the Blue Jays in Canada.

I'll just put it this way. The team identity can form pretty quickly in a season. In 2005, it was there seemingly in the first week. "We win almost all the close games. The bullpen doesn't give up a lead. We'll get the clutch hits and pick up our teammates. No, 'oh, oh...here we go again' mentality, so to speak." Now nobody is saying that can't happen YET. Having a chance to win each game is much better than if we were getting blown out, although perhaps more frustrating for the fans. It's just that we have seen this act for one season already, and the offense, at least on paper, doesn't look like it has improved at all. Maybe we can chalk it up to "bad luck" or "duck snorts" or bad bounces, but, after awhile, you also create your own good and bad luck and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, on the other side of the coin, you start waiting back on your heels for something bad to happen. It's just a bit scary to think about going up to play in SkyDome right now with our recent history there. It hasn't been pretty. Probably our starting pitching is simply too good to start 1-9 or 2-8, but it's no longer possible to be surprised by anything that has happened with this team since the beginning of the 2006 season.

The scary thing is that Teahen in the line-up the entire game might have made things even worse, if that's possible.

The problem isn't that the season is over. The problem is that our starting pitching is way too good for the season to ever end...it will be a long, slow, lingering death because of the offensive shortcomings, which were apparent last year and all too apparent again in the early games in 2010. That it was predictable and completely avoidable...that's what is most upsetting. It's doubtful the Twins can run away from the rest of the pack with Rauch as the closer, and the Tigers have a bundle of holes, too. I have no doubts the White Sox will be "in it" for most of the season.

I don't even know if it's an overreaction. There's just something wrong with the chemistry in our organization. I really think either Guillen OR Williams need to go, and Greg Walker definitely needs to find a new home. I guess in the end, I trust KW making personnel decisions more than I do our manager being magically transported in time to 2003 with this roster. This franchise has just gotten stale since the World Series. I can't even quite put my finger on it.

And please take Teahen, Kotsay, Pierre, Andruw Jones, Vizquel and Linebrink with you. Well, at least we have some hope for the future with Santos, and Pena actually pitched very well. Alex Rios has shown up for the 2010 season thank god, but the next thing you'll hear is trying to unload that contract on another team, lol. Other than Beckham and Quentin, it's hard to really care about anyone in our starting line-up. Alexei is the same old Alexei...brilliant plays followed by complete lapses in concentration, I don't even know what to say anymore about him. The sad thing is that with this pitching staff, we really will be in just about every game. And, unfortunately, so many efforts for our starters will be wasted, like the last three nights. Hard to imagine paying hard-earned money for what we've seen so far out of this team. White Sox fans deserve better...

Take that comment back, lol. EPIC FAIL.