caulfield12

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 09:48 PM) And through his first 400 or so AB in the majors has not been considerably worse than a lot of stars/solid MLB players were in their first 400. It's called maturation and development, something our stupid no good couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag Larussa esque over managing bigot of a leader has no use for. If you think I'm being too hard on Ozzie, read what he had to say about BA last night. How f***ed are we gonna be when we're employing more than one young white guy in new positions over the next few years? You're kidding, right? You think Uribe hasn't been hard on Uribe, Padilla, Escobar, A-Rod or Magglio over the last two years? He loves Konerko, Thome, AJ, Crede and Erstad. He talks about Ryan Sweeney in God-like terminology. That's as WonderBread white as you can get. It's not like he's playing Luis Terrero over Anderson. Heck, they axed Eduardo Perez for Anderson, who many thought was going to be sent down. If he's a racist, why wouldn't he keep the son of a family friend (Tony Perez)? I guess his taking Molina (countryman) over Wiki Gonzalez also proves his blatant bias for Venezuelan players too. I think next week, he will bail Ugueth Urbina out of prison and replace Logan (who he hates and deliberately left in the game last night to conflate his ERA) with Urbina in the White Sox bullpen. You're also forgetting African Americans now make up only 9% of MLB players.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 11:26 AM) Masset is a future guy in our rotation for sure. The guy has the stuff, makeup and size to be durable. Its possible our rotation a couple of years down the road will look like this: Gio Danks Masset Russell Fill in the blanks Eggy, Heath, Floyd etc It would also require trading Contreras and Vazquez for that to happen.

QUOTE(quickman @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 11:13 AM) First nobody cared or even considered Russell until spring training. Jury is still out on him. GIO will be a bullpen guy. But we will see who makes it, most won't but I do agree they will keep GIO. Trouble I see, is most people here believe we have some great talent in the minors, which we really don't, we are a C grade minor league system, so I think we tend to over evaluate our system. Ryan Freel is a good outfielder with speed. Giving up our crappy minor league players won't cut it. need not worry about belaboring the point, they won't trade him anyway. Broadway, McCullough, Phillips, Haeger, Egbert, etc. I think most would agree they would profile as 4 starters at best, 5 most likely and career minor leaguers just as easily. That leaves Floyd, Gio, Danks and Russell to POSSIBLY take Buehrle's or Garland's place. Other than that, we have to trade (since we won't sign a FA pitcher) or convert Thornton, Sisco or Masset to a starter.

QUOTE(quickman @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 10:40 AM) heath Phillips is a career minor league pitcher who most likely will hang on for a cup of coffee in the pro's, but that is it. Personally I would trade any of our minor league pitchers for Freel. in fact I would trade two of our minor league pitchers for freel, plus I would give them brian anderson to boot. Just saying Phillips sucks. If we trade Gio and Russell for Freel, we would have ZERO chance of developing a 1-3 caliber starter in the next 2 years.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 09:50 AM) If a guy has ZERO power, ZERO discipline, and ZERO line drive ability then you have to reexamine why he's playing. His ability to "put pressure on the defense" with groundouts to the right side is not an adequate reason. Anderson is not perfect, but he could provide the things Erstad doesn't excel at (if he develops like he has in the minors). Apparently you haven't watched any of the last six games. QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 11:02 AM) Cool. He found a hole. Still sucks at baseball. The ball in KC of Meche was a line drive up the middle, hit as hard as any ball this season. He also ripped a double down the right field line on Tuesday night and then his double last night, which apparently was lightly hit as well.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 09:50 AM) If a guy has ZERO power, ZERO discipline, and ZERO line drive ability then you have to reexamine why he's playing. His ability to "put pressure on the defense" with groundouts to the right side is not an adequate reason. Anderson is not perfect, but he could provide the things Erstad doesn't excel at (if he develops like he has in the minors). Erstad has three late-inning tieing or go-ahead RBI's in less than a week. Anderson might not have that in a single year.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 09:20 AM) Striking out is the same as grounding out. Outs=bad---whether or not you ground out a lot or strike out a lot the end result is the same. Umm...I'm sure with a runner on 3rd with less than two outs or a runner on 2nd with no outs, I would rather have the ball put in play. Striking out once every four at-bats puts ZERO pressure on the defense.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 02:21 AM) Can we place BA on a mormon trip for 2 years....god hes awful. Hey, I resent that comparison. Sincerely, McKay Christensen

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 09:06 AM) Anderson could develop that kind of power with adequate playing time. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/battin...nd=a&pos=cf The only players who ARE even in the remote vicinity of not being power hitters yet striking out a ton are Granderson and Figgins (once every six at-bats). Sizemore strikes out a lot, but he's producing tons of extra bases AND stolen bases. Figgins and Granderson at least have the ability to steal a base. Anderson hasn't hit for power or learned how to steal, and he's made errors in two of the last three games. The White Sox would be ELATED if he could just replicate Mike Cameron's career. Lower on the list, you have Freel, Taveras and DeJesus, but they're also stolen base threats (to some extent at least).

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 08:49 AM) Anderson's not a slap hitter, and other cfs with moderate power have similar strikeout rates. Mike Cameron strikes out 1 in 4 abs, Torii Hunter about 1 in 5. It's not by itself very important. That would be fine, if Anderson could be counted on for 24-30 homers per season.

QUOTE(chisox72 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) It was a wretched at bat. He helped Cy Durbin out the whole time.... Frustrating.... "Right now, I think Erstad is playing the best center field in the league," Guillen said. "If you look at the games, the balls in the gap he chases, he has been great. Our defense is better with him playing center field right now. In right field, I want [Rob] Mackowiak to stay there. If I lose Mackowiak, I can't switch one of those guys during the game. It's easy for me to make a change when Mackowiak's on the field

QUOTE(daa84 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 07:51 PM) i feel like there was a lineup that had borchard timo and sandy.... Maybe Blum too.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 02:51 PM) Sorry Balta, but I don't buy all that. Coming into the season, we had OF of Podsednik-Erstad-Dye. That was the starting 3, and it was awful. The Sox were counting on a guy for LF that was one of the worst regulars in the big leagues last season, and was oft-injured. As it stands on April 25th of 2007, nothing has changed. I really don't need to go into Erstads previous numbers, because if you read this site at all, you have seen them more than once. My problem goes beyond Anderson. That really isn't my issue right now. I beleive he would be hitting better if he was playing regularly, but there is nothing to back that up, and he hasn't done much to back up that claim. He really has done nothing to show he should be the starter, and thats why I really don't have a problem with him not being in the lineup. BUT, if your not going to have Anderson in lineup, get someone in here that is significantly better. Williams didn't do that this off-season, and he should have. Heads mentioned Brady Clark. Perfect. I'm sure we could have offered the Brewers a little more than Elmer Dessens, especially due to the need we had for a quality OF that can hit LHP. I don't agree with the way Williams constructed this OF, and I expect more from this club. After the OF adventures we had last season(you were one of the Macks biggest critics), it should have been significantly upgraded. It wasn't. Brady Clark is two years older than Erstad and is another fourth outfielder. I would hardly call him a significant upgrade, plus he makes a lot more money than Darin will make this year. You can throw out OPS and it doesn't mean much, because he's never performed any pressure like Erstad has with the Angels and even on the college football field. It's like assuming Kip Wells would have pitched as well for the White Sox in 2002 and 2003 as he did for the Pirates.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 10:41 AM) OH RLY. Do you happen to know his numbers as a lead off man? And hes still better defensively. Yes, because a .344 OBP at leadoff deserves a trip to the waiver wire.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 10:11 AM) Wrong. He has a six year track record of being pretty god damn terrible at hitting. I could f***ing care less what he did during the Clinton administration. If .278 is "god damn terrible" from 2001 through 2006, what is Anderson? Anderson tries to get started April 25, 2007 BY JOE COWLEY Staff Reporter KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- While White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was the first to admit that being a bench player and getting a start once a week, at best, wasn't the easiest way to make a living in the major leagues, he also wasn't going to have any sympathy for Brian Anderson. The seldom-used second-year player finally was in the starting lineup Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals, and his manager wasn't about to cut him slack. ''That's his job,'' Guillen said. ''Everybody has a job in the big-league level. Everyone has a job in baseball, and unfortunately that's the job for him this year. ''I expect him to get good at-bats, like everybody else does. I'm trying to find a better situation for him right now, but it's still early in the season.'' Guillen said the biggest obstacles to getting Anderson playing time have been frequent days off, few matchups against left-handed pitchers and the stellar play of Darin Erstad in center field -- Anderson's natural position. ''Early in the season, it's hard to get him playing time,'' Guillen said. ''I try to put him in against righties just because I know how hard it is to go 10 days without playing and then all of a sudden try to perform.''

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 09:18 AM) I missed the error...what happened? There was a ball hit to RCF that was a gapper and he booted it around and made a mess out of it up against the wall. This just so happened to come at a time when our bullpen was falling apart, Ozuna was running around on roller blades at the Boston Garden and we needed someone to man up pitching-wise or defensively.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 09:21 AM) CREDE HAS A HISTORY OF SUCCESS AND DOES NOT HAVE A YOUNG GUY ROTTING ON THE BENCH WHO IS BETTER THAN HIM. Caulfield, stop comparing good baseball players to Erstad. It is not the same thing. Erstad is a whole other beast just because of the situation. Yeah, Erstad is 32 and has an 11 year track record of being an above average MLB player. Crede is 29 (I think) and has one and one half seasons of real success and another 3-4 years of being a top quartile defender and a third quartile hitter. Is Crede better now? Yes, but don't assume anything in baseball. And don't keep saying someone is bad because they're coming off a season of injuries (see Dye in April/May 2005) when they have a track record behind them and you would prefer the ballclub played someone else.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 09:17 AM) How about how he hits in the two hole? Leadoff or second he is still in front of the big guys and needs to get the f***ing job done. And Caulfield, please tell me what makes Ozzie so infallible. If Ozzie wants Erstad to leadoff, it is NOT fine for me. You don't put a terrible hitter in position to get the most AB. The fact that we're playing well recently coincides with Erstad also starting to come around. Of course, it also has to do with the great starting pitching we've received (last night notwithstanding). The White Sox are tied with the Indians for the 7th best record in baseball despite playing the toughest schedule and having one of the five worst batting averages and being tied for the most blown saves during that time span. I would say that's pretty good. Nobody ever said Guillen was a great strategic manager, but he's a very good manager of personnel/people/players. That's what you need in a 162 game season, because the "geniuses" of the game might win 2-3 games by themselves, but their personal styles are often so arrogant and off-putting that they end up losing their teams some games. What did Leyland do that was so great last weekend? He beat us on a pitch-out. WOW. He used Rodney in a tie game when he was 1-3 and had an ERA of around 7 or 8. It's a lot easier to manage that Tigers' pen if you have Jamie Walker or Denys Reyes (versions 2006) than Jose Mesa, Jason Grilli and Aaron Ledezma as the key components. Ozzie is giving Logan a chance to put up or shut up...and last night, hopefully, will be something that Boone can build upon.

QUOTE(Allsox @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 07:32 AM) The jury's still out in my world on Darin Erstad. Nice game last night but one good game in the last two weeks still isn't cutting it. If Anderson had 3 hits in a SINGLE game (like the game DE had against the Tigers), of ANY variety, half of this website would be clamoring for him to be reinstalled as the starter for the rest of the season...Erstad isn't a great player (by the way, you don't get drafted first overall without having some skills), but he is a GREAT fit for this team and the mindset Ozzie is trying to instill or inculcate in this ballclub. Not only that, but Erstad has had two HUGE hits in two games, tying the game against Meche Monday and givig the White Sox (seemingly) the game winning RBI's last night. Not too shabby.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 08:37 AM) Erstad is still terrible on the season. Nice to see him play well, but Anderson needs AB right now and he needs them in CF. Erstad sorely needs to not get 600 PA so we're not paying six million for a lot of grindouts. And Caulfield, this is not little league. We do not need to "set an example" for other players. Also, wasting outs early in games is f***ing stupid. Save that bulls***, overmanaging, "fundamentally sound" baseball for late innings. Doing it early will kill a team, especially ours. We're built for the longball, so we need guys who can actually get on base, not guys who grindout to the right side. And so is Crede and AJ. Since we advanced and scored runners less effectively than a Little League team in July, August and September, why do you think Ozzie sent them to "boot camp" and placed even more emphasis on it this spring? You can trade Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Hunter for Thome, Konerko, Dye and Crede without any distinguishable difference. Of course, most would rather have the Twins' players because they are younger and cheaper, but, statistically, pretty similar in terms of average, homers and RBI's produced. We simply need to get better execution from Iguchi, Mackowiak/Ozuna, Uribe, AJ and CF. And you've seen some signs of that in the last week or so. Iguchi's hitting to the right side (twice last night) to advance Erstad. Uribe's coming through with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Even Paulie is 6 for 8 in getting the runner home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. AJ hit a double to the opposite field. Anderson hit a single through the middle. Why do you think Ozzie plays Erstad? Simply to get revenge on BA, at the expense of the rest of the ballclub? That's ridiculous. Ozzie has given every pitcher a chance in big situations, and he's always been that way...this philosophy with new and younger pitchers dates back to Marte and continues through Logan and Aardsma and Masset in the late innings Sunday. If you can consistently get the job done, then you have a place in the line-up. BA has made errors in two consecutive games...one a mental one on Inge's ball Sunday, the other a physical error last night when the inning was falling apart on our relievers and we needed to keep the score tied. It's fine that he actually took a decent approach and hit a solid single up the middle, but he looks like Uribe up there usually, without the more consistent pop in his bat. Right now, his main responsibility is defense, and he's 0 for 2 in that category. With Pods out until at least June, it doesn't look like there's going to be an immediate move to send him down though, where he can play everyday and get a more positive mindset playing alongside Fields, Sweeney, Rogowski, Owens, etc. QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 08:49 AM) Let's see. Even after today, here is a guy with an embarrasing .278 OBP, and he is our leadoff hitter. And oh yeah, he was the DESIGNATED FREAKIN' HITTER last night with his horrible numbers. So to answer your questions, we're still here, and Erstad is still a joke to be starting on this ballclub. Now, if he is putting up solid leadoff hitter numbers (OBP of, say, .350) with decent defense (and is still healthy) around July, then I will gladly eat crow. But as of now, he can't even see a .300 OBP. Erstad has a career BA of .299 as a leadoff hitter. If his OBP isn't .300 by June 1st, then by all means, play Anderson/Terrero everyday and-or make a trade. The problem with that is that starting Mackowiak/Ozuna in the leadoff spot isn't exactly a great option either. Past history tells us that Erstad has been the most successful in that role of all the players on our team. Unless you want to gamble by bringing up Owens and putting him in CF, where he's not suited to play, just so we have a leadoff hitter to replace Erstad? He's batting .300 with a .344 OBP this year as the leadoff hitter. From 2004-2006 (including the injury-plagued 2006), he's still at .278 with a .330 OBP. Pods was at .351 in 2005 and .330 last year in terms of OBP. If Ozzie wants him to lead off, that's good enough for me. QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 08:49 AM) Let's see. Even after today, here is a guy with an embarrasing .278 OBP, and he is our leadoff hitter. And oh yeah, he was the DESIGNATED FREAKIN' HITTER last night with his horrible numbers. So to answer your questions, we're still here, and Erstad is still a joke to be starting on this ballclub. Now, if he is putting up solid leadoff hitter numbers (OBP of, say, .350) with decent defense (and is still healthy) around July, then I will gladly eat crow. But as of now, he can't even see a .300 OBP. Who should have been the DH with Thome out due to injury and Mack already in LF against a RH pitcher? Alex Cintron? That was the choice Ozzie had, and I don't think Cintron's 100% yet (fielding or hitting) since that surgery or Ozzie would be playing him more.

QUOTE(Craig Grebeck @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 08:39 AM) The difference between Paulie and Erstad is immeasurable. It's like comparing apples and some fruit no one's ever heard of. I still want to DFA him, good game tonight or not. A sub .600 OPS is horrible, especially for a guy who gets so many AB. So we should DFA Crede too? He's only at .594, despite the homer last night.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 06:54 AM) *raises hand* Not only that, but Thornton's fastball is down 2-3 MPH as well...there's a difference between 94 and 96-97, we're seeing it with some of our other relievers as well. When you don't have much movement and you drop down in velocity like that, you risk becoming another Alan Embree. On the plus side, Logan manned up and got out of that inning instead of totally imploding, as many might have expected. Sisco's overall stats "appear" good on paper, but he's been shaky recently.

QUOTE(Wanne @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 01:43 AM) Dude...I think 9 for his last 27 is a nice start. He's a career .299 hitter in the leadoff position. You can't do that easily and still "suck" as everyone claims. Is he going to win the Triple Crown, no? Will he be a player that White Sox fans will slowly grow to appreciate, yes! I'm sure many will be saying next year, gee, it would be nice to have someone who could accomplish A, B, C or D instead of flailing away or swinging for the fences. Someone to set an example for the other players, so that our entire team gets in the mindset of playing fundamentally sound baseball.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 12:14 AM) Pablo Ozuna our protection for our number 4 hitter. I don't think Gordon has ever played 1B...at least not in the pros.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Apr 25, 2007 -> 12:11 AM) they hate sweeney. it's because he makes $11 million and has been consistently injured for much of the last 3 years...almost to the point where many thought he might retire that's a big chunk of their payroll, along with Meche...those two players make up around 35% of the team in those two "baskets"