caulfield12

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 3, 2007 -> 09:22 AM) This team looks dead to me. I thought we'd never see an Ozzie coached team play like this. He's the great motivator who keeps everyone loose....or at least I've been told that numerous times over the past few years. A week or so ago, when we went on that 6 of 7 run that started with Buehrle's no-hitter, we looked like a totally different team. You would have thought we would be able to sustain it, to some extent. Of course, winning is the best "fix" for any team...as Ozzie said, these are the times when the coaches earn their money and they have to collectively figure a way out of this malaise. At least in 2005 down the stretch, you'd seen that they have the ability to play much better baseball. This time, we've been on a 45-54 stretch (essentially 100 games played) and we're just looking mediocre.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 3, 2007 -> 10:01 AM) That sounds about right. How would Dye have dropped in value by 50%? He has six home runs, and a very reasonable contract...the value of Dye is based on a team needing a RF or DH. What other players are available that would be considered better than Dye? Although I do wish we'd traded McCarthy for Soriano last July, that would give this team an entirely needed injection of speed and excitement. Even though Buerhle is not the best pitcher in baseball, he will get at least $15 million next year in the FA market because he is the best available pitcher, just like Zito and Schmidt were this past offseason.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:19 PM) It is going to get worse before it gets better. We may not score a run, a single run this weekend. I do not expect much but I believe they will come out of this and be fine. The pitching is fine. We are missing our 1 and 3 hitters. I do agree with the other thread thought to sign Buerhle and trade Crede or Dye. I think the lack of running ability (not speed) is killing this team and Konerko, AJ and Thome are to viable. We can get good ML return with a Gio and Crede/Dye move or something like that. Another approach would be to trade Dye and Gio for Rich Harden. That would be a franchise-defining move which could backfire horribly or give us the best rotation in baseball and insurance for Contreras and buy a little more time for Danks in AAA...as well as insurance for the possible loss of Buehrle.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 2, 2007 -> 07:44 PM) You know, I hate to be a complete buzzkill, homer, Hawk-lover right here, but the Twins were 11-18 on May 5th of last year. They won 96 games. I'm not comparing the Twins and Sox, but one of the changes that the Twins made during last year was a change in hitting coaches early on, and they also got rid of their mediocre talent and replaced it with younger talent. In other words, get rid of Walker to light a fire, get Fields up to play LF, get Sweeney in to play RF, and get Dye into the DH spot until Thome comes back. When Thome does come back, demote one of Fields and Sweeney who is doing the worst. It's a long shot to work, but that will atleast bring some talent into the lineup rather than trotting Mackowiak, Terrero, and Ozuna out there every game. There are some key differences... 1) We don't have two nearly automatic wins in our rotation with the potency of Santana and Liriano 2) There are three teams for the White Sox to contend with, not two 3) Our bullpen already has more blown saves leading to losses (3) than the Twins had all last year 4) Fields hasn't played LF for more than two weeks 5) There's no obvious "villain" like Tony Batista to release in order to send a message 6) Gardenhire's a slightly better manager than Guillen

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 2, 2007 -> 06:45 PM) Our pitching is pretty damn good right now. Nobody thinks this offense is going to be amazing but it's certainly not going to be anywhere near this bad all season. To give up in May is pretty ridiculous. Who's to say we couldn't play better with Josh Fields at 3B and ??? player in RF? Seriously, many Sox fans thought we were committing suicide by replacing Garcia and McCarthy with Danks, and that's turned out to be the best move, hasn't it? We need an injection of youth, speed, enthusiasm, excitement....something. QUOTE(elrockinMT @ May 2, 2007 -> 06:48 PM) Mr Caulfield is taking a very extreme negative view of this teams chances after just 24 games or so. I respectfully disagree with him also. I think the Sox should be trying to sign Crede, Dye and Buerhle now and not at the end of the year or never whatever the case may be. Thome and Pods will be back soon enoigh and hopefully Hall. The hitters will hit again and things will be better. Right now it's frustarting for sure though. If we ARE able to keep Buehrle, we then have four starters in the vicinity of $45-50 million....and then Danks. We can't keep Crede and Dye AND Buehrle. The math's impossible for this franchise. And it makes no sense to keep Crede when we have a farm system that has produced a replacement in Fields. As some of the BA backers have mentioned, BA and Sweeney and Fields HAVE to succeed for this franchise to be a viable, competitive member of the AL Central in 2008-2010. We can't afford free agents for those three positions AND Thome/Konerko add another $22-23 million per year. Right there, the four pitchers and Thome/Konerko would equal our entire payroll for the 2005 championship team. And you still have to figure out what to do with Iguchi and Uribe...

QUOTE(knightni @ May 2, 2007 -> 06:40 PM) Teams would like him. They just wouldn't offer the Sox anything for him. Then why were so many people coming into this season saying we should sign him to a 3 year, $45 million extension...and that we were headed for the worst possible outfield (offensively) in baseball history with Mack, Pods, Ozuna, Owens, BA, Erstad and Sweeney?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 2, 2007 -> 06:31 PM) This is quite the overreaction right now. Since the series at Boston last year before the All-Star break, what reasons have you had to be encouraged about this Sox team being capable of competing in the AL Central? Without Pods, Thome and Hall...? Since that series, we're 45-54 and just came out of any abysmal spring training. After a certain point, you have a trend and not a blip on the radar. I'm willing to bet pretty much anything you want that we don't win more than 86 games this season.

QUOTE(knightni @ May 2, 2007 -> 06:25 PM) I respectfully decline your thesis and request that you fornicate yourself. No one will give a decent return in trade on a free agent to-be that is Dye's age. I could see trading Crede but I'm not willing to give up on him quite yet. I disagree. If KW makes Dye available, there won't be a bigger impact bat available on the market. Dye, the #5 finisher in the AL MVP race and still a very potent bat, makes any contender twice as dangerous. Think if he was added to the Angels, and how much more dangerous that line-up would be. He could go back to Oakland. He's perfect, because he would only have to be paid around $2.5-3.5 million for 2-3 months and you wouldn't be committing yourself to a huge, long-term deal like Abreu's. You don't think the Yankees would have rather have assumed Dye's $7 million salary than Abreu's $15.5 million, if both those sluggers were put on the market last year at the same time? Over the last year and one-half, Dye is one of the top 10-15 hitters in the game, a World Series MVP and a proven clutch performer.

This is the best option to field a competitive team for next year. I think Mark really wants to stay, and I think John Danks would really prosper by spending more time with Buehrle. The chances of us making the playoffs are down to 20-25% at this point. Obviously, KW won't trade Dye and Crede any time soon, and trading Crede for less than full value while he's struggling would be dumb, but I think we really need to deal both of these guys in June or July. It also gives us the ability to really see what Sweeney, Fields and hopefully Anderson or even Owens can do. It's not going to be a fun season, but the best news is that our starting pitching and bullpen is going to keep us very competitive over the next couple of seasons. We have the flexibility to stay with Erstad, Iguchi and Uribe at those three positions or take totally different approaches. AJ and Hall will still be the catchers, and Konerko and Thome will still be around as well. In the meantime, you spend the next 2-3 months doing "due diligence" throughout the AA, AAA and major league rosters finding players that will fit. We can't have all contact or small ball hitters unless we move the fences back to Old Comiskey dimensions. Heck, at this point, any option should be considered. There are SERIOUS questions whether Fields, Anderson or Sweeney will ever be everyday major leaguers, let alone All-Stars. KW can't go out into the 07 offseason without full knowledge of what those three guys, and even Owens, can do. I think the odds are pretty high that Pods is also done for this year as a "sparkplug" and that he will return to 2006 form (tentative on the basepaths and defensively) if/when he comes back. Not only that, but he has to be careful physically because he's playing for a 2007 contract with another organization. With all that said, we're in much better shape than if we had to replace 2-3 starting pitchers and most of the bullpen. Finding offensive players is cheaper and easier than finding pitchers, especially lefties, and it looks like we have two special ones (and maybe even three, with Gio) with Mark and Mr. Danks. The best thing we can do right now is find a new SS and a younger, power hitting OF to replace Dye, who is about 6 months away from being a full-time DH. And we can't keep Jermaine in that role due the presence of Thome through 2008. 2B and LF will be easier to replace, and we simply have to hope Sweeney can hit with 15-18 home run power, which will allow him to be an everyday player if we get a power hitter for LF and a leadoff guy from SS or 2B.

QUOTE(DaGame2584 @ May 2, 2007 -> 04:01 PM) Is it possible to lead the league in homeruns and be at the bottom avg wise? Danks' ERA would be 3.86 if not for the Uribe/Erstad/Mack disaster in DET. He's outpitched both Garcia and McCarthy, there's no argument. He looks a lot like Buehrle each time and out....working very quickly today. He will learn a lot from being around Mark this year, and hopefully in the future. Unfortunately, he's the Todd Ritchie of April/May 2007. Horrible luck, that ball doesn't kick off the wall and they have to hold up Vidro at 3B. I hope Ozzie pulls Danks so he can't take another loss, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. The White Sox are likely to go to the pen.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ May 2, 2007 -> 02:49 PM) Konerko looking to top the worst month of his career. Real tough inning there. .351, 7 HR's, 23 RBI's last year at this time... He was eaten alive on that second strike on his hands. Another $100 donation to Alex Snelius for scoreless White Sox innings.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ May 2, 2007 -> 02:45 PM) only baserunner of the day? We now have someone over .260 in the line-up. YAY!

QUOTE(BFirebird @ May 2, 2007 -> 02:36 PM) Seems as though everyone is as confident as me in this team right now. Can someone tell MLB.TV that annoying the PAC-MAN graphic and silly jingle is getting really annoying, and it has only been one month? Also, does anyone want to predict that Batista DOESN'T get a quality start? Heck, Denny Bautista could throw a no-hitter against us, or Danny Bautista...

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 2, 2007 -> 12:56 PM) The Crime Dog can fix em! Hard to believe, but we will only be 1/2 game ahead of the Cubs if they hold on and we lose our game today.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 2, 2007 -> 11:56 AM) Rogowski is not that good of a good hitter, and being on the 40 means he's taking up room for someone who could potentially help the club at some future point in time. Right now, it's Luis Terrero (so in other words, it's still someone not helping the big league club, but he can atleast play outfield). Add to it, Rogowski's putting up a .136/.222/.227/.449 at Charlotte right now, and it would be flat out dumb to add him to the 40 man right now. And seeing those quotes, maybe Walker will finally do something and someone will get going. That would be good. This offense was mediocre when Thome was getting on base at a 55% clip, and it's horrendous otherwise. While we're at it, we might as well start Aaron Cunningham or Anderson Gomes in the OF.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2007 -> 09:04 AM) No offense, but for his sake I hope there is more to it than just that. If the kid is that mentally weak, he wasn't going to be a major league pitcher for long anyway. How was Tracey any different from Jeff Bajenaru or Joe Valentine? Did anyone really expect him to be a part of the future once all the relievers were acquired this offseason? No, we knew we needed to upgrade...Tracey has a very herky-jerky delivery for someone who only throws 90 MPH, and he wasn't the answer any more than Montero.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 2, 2007 -> 11:12 AM) Three words College of Coaches. Two words Tom Emanski. http://www.tom-emanski-baseball-videos.com/ Maybe they could get Fred McGriff, two for the price of one!

QUOTE(Beltin @ May 2, 2007 -> 10:59 AM) That is an interesting idea. Can Baines and Walker swap roles? Harold always had a pretty good approach at the plate. I don't see why Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs couldn't be brought in for a couple of weeks as "guest" instructor, although anything like this in the middle of the season smacks of desperation, and it would also cause Walker to feel insecure. Then again, with our line-up struggling like this, a hitting coach should be willing to try almost anything if seemingly nothing is working, even a sacrifice of bats like Jobu in Major League.

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 2, 2007 -> 10:54 AM) Give me a break. You would trade our best hitter for Aaron Rowand? It sucks having grinderstad and pods in the outifield, but you have to be on crack to trade Thome for Rowand. Your what hurts? This is so ridiculous as to be almost beyond comprehension. One month of a hot Aaron Rowand doesn't equal Jim Thome's presence in the line-up. Actually, his absence is showing exactly how valuable his presence is...

QUOTE(Jimbo @ May 2, 2007 -> 10:46 AM) Ozzie needs to chew this team out, break things, hell sacrifice Cora to the baseball gods. Walker will be gone before Cora. Heck, Baines will be gone before Cora.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 2, 2007 -> 09:33 AM) Not loyal to Walker, I worry that wholesale changes would take weeks to learn and ultimately hurt more than help. It almost smacks of a white flag move way too early in the season. The change, as I posted earlier, should have been made before Spring training began. Most studies have shown that changing pitching or hitting coaches in mid-season yield temporary positive results (2-4 weeks), but the overall performance after the change is almost indistinguishable from pre-change performance. It needs to be done in the offseason, and it needs to be a system/organization wide change in philosophy.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:45 AM) I say anyone from the twinkies organization. They been doing things the right way for so long. The middle of the Twins' line-up is an exact replica of ours. The only difference is the players like Punto, Bartlett, Tyner, Casillas and Castillo are better fundamental players than our "all or nothing" attack of Uribe, BA, Mackowiak, Molina (worst catcher in WS history by far), Crede, Cintron, etc.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:00 AM) Something that should have been done in the offseason needs to be done now. Wake up front office. Someone tell Williams the meter is running and there is no indication things are changing. Firing hitting coach wont put a threat in the line up. Fill in players like Mack, Osuna Terrero and Cintron just arent every day players. Therein lies the problem...you can't go out and give up your resources (minor league pitching) to fix problems like LF or DH unless you have almost 100% certainty that neither Pods or Thome will come back 100% Mackowiak and Ozuna is fine as a 4-6 week solution, but not six months. Although there are quite a few that would prefer that option to having re-signed Pods, or at least it seems that way. I do think KW's really going to have to do some serious "stewing" about the direction of this organization, and it might have to come even before the trade deadline. We are aging (Thome, Contreras, Iguchi, AJ, Erstad, Dye) and slow...(Crede/Konerko). Or both. I think the end of the line is coming for this particular line-up, as there just seems to be something "missing" with this team, and its now been evident for at least three months of regular season play. And it's not just BA, Garcia or Brandon McCarthy you can blame...it's institutional, endemic, a "system" problem that permeates into the minor leagues. KW was so fortunate to put together that mix of talent in 2005, we started thinking the same things people were saying in 2000... Dynasty. Waves of pitching. Minor League Organization of the Year. Joe Borchard. Atlanta Braves. The only thing different today is we have better pitching, but our core of position players is much older than the 2000 group...Durham, Lee, Konerko, Valentin, Ordonez, Thomas and Singleton were all in their 20's or early 30's at that time. And that line-up wasn't enough to offset the pitching problems, injuries and lack of development at the minor league level (compared to the immense hype for the 2000-01 pitching prospects). QUOTE(Brian @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:13 AM) What's Eddie Murray doing these days? Actually, I think he is LA or something. We would probably just promote a minor league coach to the position. Don't think that would help much. Make a change if you replace him with someone respectable. I think Murray's probably a better hitting instructor than the -ss he was with the media during his playing career, but he doesn't exactly inspire me. With the veterans in our line-up, it's got to be someone they will listen to and respect. I know that Charlie Lau Jr. is always hyped here in KC by Royals fans, but I don't know much about him, as we're all more familiar with his father's books and what he did with George Brett. Believe it or not, the Royals' offense is actually in worse shape (especially driving in runs from scoring position) than the White Sox "arsenal." QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:10 AM) It's a joke, an absolute joke. I can't remember ever watching an offense this anemic. I mean, how many times have we gone up 1-0, 2-0 and just said "That's all they will score, better pitch a GEM " only to see it become true, and (generally) like last night, the pitcher blows it? The offense is so damn predictable. Homerun or out. Homerun or out. Thats all that happens. The ENTIRE LINEUP sucks right now. There is not a single person in the lineup that I would keep if I were to completely rebuild the team in my own fashion. Not a SINGLE one. Something needs to change. Whether it be Walker going, Ozzie going, new players, etc. etc., SOMETHING needs to change. We can not just become complacent with this s***. That's the problem for KW...he doesn't have the luxury of completely rebuilding this team in the middle of the season. Those changes can't be made entirely until the offseason. Just like 2003 was the beginning of the end for the Lee/Ordonez/Valentin/Thomas group, I think this year will be the same thing for our current offense. A few of our contracts (Thome, Hall, Konerko and AJ), go through 2008 and beyond. Iguchi, Uribe, Erstad, Pods, Dye, Crede and most of our bench could easily be gone after this season. The complicated thing is keeping Thome and Konerko if you're rebuilding an entire offense around an aging player (Konerko) and one in the twilight of his career (Thome). I think Jim would be willing to accept a trade if they do go through a massive overhaul and completely change the complexion and "rebuild" for the future ala the 2002-2003 Cleveland Indians.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ May 2, 2007 -> 12:06 AM) well he was mediocre last year and they scored 875 runs and they've returned essentially their entire offense, or perhaps improved it. So if Peralta is strong this year, people really need to watch out because they might score 1000 runs. Not to mention the fact they were playing Marte/Boone as well as not getting great production from their OF platoons...and 2B was a wasteland as well.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ May 1, 2007 -> 09:59 PM) Cleveland still has bullpen issues. Minnesota is the team to beat as long as Ortiz keeps pitching well for them. Ponson tonight. Don't think you can favor MIN over DET or even CLE at this point, however.