caulfield12

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 07:22 PM) I'm torn on how to feel right now. I have been at the Cell the last 4 games, and it has been exhausting. There is a part of me that will call this season a failure, as any season without a title is a failure, but big picture, it was a very productive year that hopefully is the opening of a new "window" of White Sox Baseball. This is also my favorite time of year on the board, the dog days of winter with new rumors coming out daily, and terrible trade proposals by the hour. Toby Hall, Boone Logan, Horacio Ramiez, Mike MacDougal and Wasserman for a back-up catcher who can actually throw someone out and occasionally demonstrate some power (like Miguel Olivo/John Buck/Henry Blanco).

It makes sense only from a Lee/Pods sense, depending on KW does with the money saved. If it was Figgins and reliable 5th starter=Konerko, then maybe. Or solidifying 2B, 3B and CF. Like the Garza/Bartlett for Delmon Young deal...same idea.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 07:08 PM) I guess it depends on your perspective and expectations. I fully expected this team to be very competetive in this division, and I thought the division would be much better overall. So I don't see winning the AL Central as some odds defying accomplishment. I mean this was a team with a $120 M payroll and a veteran core of players. I would hope they'd be able to compete in this sad sack AL Central. It was a good season. They won the division, but it was the 2nd worst division in baseball. They were also regularly outplayed by other good teams and we could make an argument that there were two other AL teams that were better than the White Sox who didn't make the playoffs (Toronto and the Yanks). It was nice to find some young players but this team is still very old and getting older. I'm not really seeing how it's going to get better next season. Apparently you didn't notice last season, because there were few reasons to be optimistic heading into this season? Jerry Owens? Andy Gonzalez? Fields? Wasserman? We won't be favored to win the division going into next season, probably 2nd or 3rd (unless we pull off something crazy like getting A-Rod and Ichiro simultaneously)...Cleveland, if they get a couple of more pitchers and shore up their bullpen, should be strong all season long, especially if Sabathia miraculously ended up there again (odds of that are approximately 2-3% with Dolan). I would prefer to see the positives rather than dwell on the negatives. It was a very enjoyable season...the glass is half full.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 07:06 PM) Great points. This team made some huge strides this season. After 2007 I was one of those people who thought there was no choice but to rebuild. Thankfully Kenny made some great moves to get this thing back on track. His only bad move was Swisher, but in hindsight he looks smart so far by selling high on Gio and DLS. I just wish he'd done it for a better player, but oh well. The other moves have more than made up for that one bad deal, and I'm hopeful that Swisher still brings us a solid player over the offseason. One last thing: please Kenny, for the love of God, make Thome put down a f***ing bunt every once in a while when he's being given almost the entire left side of the infield. All he has to do is show he can get the damn thing down and if he does it a few times then teams will reconsider the shift. He could raise his batting average 30 points by just doing that. It's not like there are no home run hitters behind him. If the Sox don't care about taking the free baserunner and actually prefer the typical Thome groundout into the shift or strikeout, then please get him the f*** off this team. Please. I can't take this s*** anymore. Dear Ozzie: 1) Please work with the outfielders on throwing to the cutoff men properly. Let's use some better judgment about when to thrown home and when to eat the ball. 2) BA, if you're around, please learn to tighten up your swing and hit to the opposite field or go up the middle instead of that long/looping Borchard/Crede/Fields swing. Also, knowing how to bunt wouldn't be such a bad idea, either. 3) Uribe, if you are back, that blonde soul patch is ridiculous. AJ, please let your hair go back to a normal color. You look like a coked out Billy Idol wanna be from "Less than Zero." Or one of the vampire gang from "The Lost Boys." ENOUGH! 4) Gavin and Jenks and all relievers. Learn from Buehrle and Danks how to hold runners on...don't let the opposition run wild. It's demoralizing. 5) Clayton Richard, you were the Michigan QB, you should be able to pick up a ball and throw it to first base routinely or throw to first base on pick-offs. Please spend your off-season working specifically on this area. 2)

I would love to see the Angels knock off the Red Sox, to see the match-up of the two most balanced teams in baseball and two managers completely familiar with each other strategically...either way, it will be fun. I will be rooting hard for the Rays no matter who they are playing. In the NL, would like to see the Dodgers, just for the sheer symmetry of Ramirez facing Bay and the Boston fans again...to see their reaction...and to see Torre bring a team not named the Yankees into Boston with very little or no pressure to win the World Series against the Red Sox. Lots of interesting possible scenarios.

I think it's all because of 2005. I wasn't upset, Upton's just a very talented player, and he showed why the last two games. This year, the palpable relief wasn't making the playoffs, it was somehow, improbably, beating the Twins in the fashion that they did when logic and past history argued against it. When AJ's ball was caught by Gross at the top of the fence, I had the feeling it was going to be a long day. That's the kind of ball that goes out June through August, pretty easily...of course, the wind was blowing in a little as well. I wanted to mention how good a job Clayton Richard did the two times he was asked to keep the White Sox within striking distance. I'm leaving this season having a positive feeling about Ken Griffey, Jr., wouldn't have imagined that a month ago. Props to Dewayne Wise for rising up from obscurity to become almost a "folk hero" over the final five weeks. Danks has become a star...our equivalent of Cliff Lee. Gavin Floyd is a very good 3rd starter, and matches up with anyone in our division. Alexei and Quentin are amazing and it's easy to get excited about following their careers the next half-decade. At no point in this series did I feel that I could make an argument with myself that we were the better team. I think they even out-homered us this series, or it was very close to even. I think we're about 3-4 correct acquisitions away from being a 95+ win team again...of course, the wrong moves, a couple of key injuries and we're back to .500 like the Indians. With all the money to Jenks (arbitration), Dotel, Thornton and Linebrink, I don't think KW will spend much money in this area. I think 90% of the concentration and focus will be turned toward improving the speed/defense/contact/patience/fundamentals of our ballclub at 3B, 2B and CF. That and adding a "cheap" FA (not named LIvan Hernandez) as insurance for Richard/Broadway/Carrasco/Ramirez/Poreda. Maybe Sisco will amaze everyone and have a breakthrough in ST! Or MacDougal...Logan, I guess he's about done with the Sox as I'm concerned.

Griffey won't be around. The bigger question is whether or not Brian Anderson and Fields will be, along with Swisher and Vazquez.

Thought I would put this back on the first page...I'm sure those who feel inclined (maybe not tonight...give it a day or two) will chime in with their thoughts as KW approaches the off-season with the goal of somehow getting us back into the playoffs next year without blowing the budget or giving away Aaron Poreda.

Greg Walker isn't going anywhere, forget about it. It's Ozzie's call, it won't happen coming off a playoff appearance.

QUOTE (Sox It To Em @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 04:33 PM) Ugh, nice play by Upton. 1 out. He's killing us. Upton just has a lot of athletic talent and ability that nobody on our team has but Ramirez and Cabrera when he was younger.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 04:30 PM) Next season our offense woes will be a thing of the past. We will add good things, especially Quentin back in the lineup. Then hopefully Rafael Furcal at SS and Casey Blake at 3rd. So that is adding a .800 OPS 3rd baseman, a near 1.000 OPS LF and a top-notch leadoff hitter. KW is probably the sickest person watching this s***, I am confident they will go out and get an impact player somewhere and then hopefully a Alexei-type pickup also. I'm not counting on finding another Alexei Ramirez and Quentin in the same off-season, that happens about once every 25 years. However, I do expect improvements in the htting/offensive approach...unfortunately, I think Walker will still be around. That might not have been the case had the White Sox missed the playoffs, losing on Sunday to complete the Indians' sweep. Think how much different that off-season would feel than this?

Our left-handers haven't done very well against Carlos Pena the last two days. But it is what it is...better than having Horacio Ramirez or Boone Logan out there. At this point...I almost wouldn't mind seeing Vazquez out there, lol. Just to see if he could actually be productive for this team down the stretch.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) It's mind boggling that our heart of the order hitters miss 88mph 2 seamers by a foot. The offense is just pressing...in the first inning or so, they were waiting for the curveball and hitting the ball pretty well. Now, down 3-4 runs, they are all trying to get too aggressive and hit 3 run homers with nobody on. It's the problem with a power-oriented line-up, we don't have enough singles and doubles hitters to get on and set the table. The entire line-up starts to echo itself and even the "small ball" guys think they are HR hitters.

Griffey has been one of the hitters who came to play this post-season. Cut him some slack...the guy's almost 39 years old. We can't expect THAT much out of him at this point.

One run at a time...we can do this. A few people are giving up too easily...they haven't watched this Sox team come back AND give away huge leads this season apparently. Anything is possible playing in our bandbox.

Actually, Sonnanstine's fastball is slow enough that it's below the "hitting speed" and it is quite difficult to hit because the average MLB fastball now is 89-91 MPH. They've seen this guy 3 three times this season and had decent success...it's just difficult to hit homers as the pitching improves and the weather cools in September and October.

QUOTE (FranktheTank35 @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) No, I didn't expect another ring. But I can't tell you how many times I watched these games and just got so frustrated. I think we could have done so much better. But losing Quentin, and Contreras was frustrating. Nick Swisher sucking was frustrating. Kong and Thome batting sub .250 was frustrating. Joe Crede finally hitting again, but playing the worst D of his career was frustrating (and then he got hurt). Having to watch Juan Uribe play half the year was frustrating. Just my opinion I guess. If you can't recognize how much more talented (that's what happens when you have so many high first rounders over the years) and quick and efficient the Rays are, then I don't know what to say... Yeah, Gavin picked a bad day to lose his command, but he's had a great season, overall. It's almost like you can't find anything to cheer about or be optimistic about. Frustrating yes, but trying be a Cubs' fan.

Okay...give up on the Sox if you want, but Sonnanstine isn't Josh Beckett out there. We can get back in this game. The Twins pecked back from a five run lead, anything can happen, as long as we don't get down by much more and the bullpen can hold them down like in Game 1.

The same thing happened to the Brewers, oh well. Cabrera with a the ill-advised throw to home when Floyd should still be on 2nd base...or maybe 3rd after the single.

Well, obviously we're going to have to work with Gavin on holding runners better next year and with Clayton Richard on fielding and throwing the ball over to first...I'm not going to get upset, no matter what happens in this game. I expected the season to be over at least a week ago...so this is all a bonus for the White Sox IMO, playing without Quentin.

QUOTE (G&T @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 03:59 PM) Could this ump give any more breaks to the Rays? It would have been nice had he got the call on the curveball against Upton, but our offense still needs to score to win the game.

Well, there's still six innings to go, but I don't like the vibe about this game at all. Maybe things will change, they have all season long when we counted the Sox out, but you have to tip your cap to Upton for hitting two balls like that through the teeth of the wind.

Personally, I still would rather have Richard or even Carrasco as the long man if Gavin or Mark struggled. I just don't trust Vazquez anymore...unless it's just one batter at a time, and as soon as he gives up a hit or walk, I would pull him immediately. Richard at least has the confidence that he can get these guys out and that he belongs on the same field. I think Javier is just "shot" mentally and needs to be anywhere but back on the mound right now. He needs to observe the way winning pitchers go about their business at playoff time.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 07:46 AM) Not to get completely off track, but I believe there is a less looked at aspect of trades, and that is the set-up trade. The one that shows that you aren't going to be taken by the other GM. For instance, the Vazquez trade, to me, set up the Quentin-Carter trade. What I mean is, you are always trying to get the best talent you can out of a trade, but if a GM doesn't feel like they other GM is trying to take the house, the lot, the car and your children (I'm looking at you Chuck LaMar), then it sets up the next trade where you might just fleece a guy. There are two sides to each trade, too, short-term and long-term. There are just too many aspects of a trade to just disqualify one because it hasn't been 3-5 years. Anyway, Danks showed some major cojones the last week...gotta love him. Hopefully his brother will do the same as he comes through the system. Then there's the reverse "set up" trade, which we have going with the Mariners organization. Thornton for Borchard, sounds great! Two former first rounders nobody can fix. Garcia for Olivo, Morse and Reed! Wow. Three for the price of one. Sounds like those amazing trades Cubs fans come up with at hot stove time and call into sports radio with. Of course, none of those guys did much of anything in SEA. So KW calls on the cell from the owner's box and says, I'll give you Swisher, Fields, Getz and Poreda for Ichiro...I don't think the M's would consider it, lol. They would be too scared.

Ummmm...Mark Buehrle will be starting Game 5. There's no need to even have a discussion/debate about it. Already decided.