macsandz

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 11:38 PM) Look, I really like Jones. I think he will flourish here. But come on now. This offense is nowhere near talented enough to preclude the addition of Jim Thome at $2M. Offense extends beyond the plate out onto the basepaths where Thome is among the biggest wastes-of-space on the planet. He single-handedly would cost the Sox runs time and again by dragging ass around the diamond and not allowing this team's good speed to play ANY kind of factor. Sorry. We've seen enough station-to-station to last a lifetime.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 10:23 PM) After looking at some stats from last year, I had no idea how many of our core hitters thrived against LHP. - Alexei hit .370 with an OPS of .960 vs LHP - Konerko had an OPS over 1 - Beckham's OPS was .890 - Rios traditionally is strong against LHP, and was performing well against them prior to the trade - Nix's OPS was .822, while homering 8 times in 121 ABs vs LHP This makes Kotsay's performance in 2010 even more important, as there's a plethora of RHP in the AL Central. So what's the proposed lineup if you platoon Jones/Kotsay? 1- Pierre 2- Beckham 3- Quentin 4- Konerko 5- Rios 6- Teahen 7- Ramirez 8- AJP 9- Kotsay (Jones would probably bat higher vs LHP, while Castro would bat 9th) This is the goods:... 1- Pierre 2- Beckham 3- Quentin 4- Konerko 5- AJP 6- Rios 7- Teahen 8- Jones/Kostay 9- Ramirez How much will it help Pierre to not have a pitcher hitting in front of him, but Alexei instead?

" I haven't felt this bad about a team pre-season starting since before 2000. Our offense is going to be THAT bad" The Sox went 95-67, won the AL Central and had a a VERY productive offense in 2000,...LMAO.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 09:51 PM) Let's put it this way. One half of our DH platoon was acquired for Brian Anderson last year and the other is being paid half as much as Anderson, who is now a reserve outfield for the Royals. That should put into perspective the lack of resources we are actually putting into the DH spot. Also, I don't care if Kotsay and/or Jones could start in the OF for an awful team like the Pirates, they have no business getting semi-regular at-bats as our DH for a team that hopes to contend. Is there a chance Jones (and to a lesser extent Kotsay) has a solid year? Of course there is, but the odds are so low, why even take the chance when a better option is available at a reasonable price. Rongey - I remember listening to you defend Dwayne Wise at the beginning of last year. After watching him struggle during the first couple weeks of the season, you kept telling us listeners that we had to give him more time. You said he may not amount to anything, but it was too early to come to any conclusions. Why in god's name did we have to give him more time? Anyone with half a brain knew he sucked in the minors and would continue to suck in the pros. This is no different than the rotating DH bulls***. Why wait to be dissapointed when we can use the last four years right now to predict poor production from Kotsay and Jones out of the DH spot. I really hope I'm wrong and they make me look like an asshole, but the evidence is strongly against them being productive. Regardless, this "versatility" idea for the DH spot is completely stupid without a ninth quality batter, and as of today, neither Kotsay or Jones counts as one. Rongey was only saying don't BOOO Wise like a bunch of Neanderthals at the beginning of last year.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 07:28 PM) i normally agree with ozzie but this idea of a rotating DH is a load of crap The Yankees, Angels and Twins have been doing it for years.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 09:17 AM) i love this lineup... Pierre LF Beckham 2b Thome DH Quentin RF Konerko 1b AJ C Rios Cf Teahen 3b Ramirez SS plus its not like Jones wont play plenty vs. lefties spelling thome at DH (perhaps playing the OF with one of pierre or quentin DHing). Kotsay will also play a decent amount giving konerko, and the OFers days off. Vizquel backs all of the IF positions. Its nice that in a pinch, all of Teahen, Beckham, Vizquel and Ramirez can play 2b, and all those guys but Teahen can play SS, and all of them but Ramirez can play 3rd. Gives us alot of protection if there is some injury Something about batting Thome third just doesn't sit right, but I can see the benefits. It breaks up the RH bats, he gets on base, he hits for power. I just hate to have a clogger on the paths again so high in the lineup.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 23, 2010 -> 08:35 AM) Now, that's a decent platoon. Let's get this done, and say, "thank god for sanity." The pressure from the players (Konerko & AJ), the recent charity connection, the SoxFest experience and Kenny's lack of trust for Ozzie's "plan" are motivating the Thome resigning. You can just feel it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 09:43 AM) You know the scary thing? If you look at Becksy's numbers after he got over that initial 30 ab's of nothing, he hit .286 with 28 doubles and 14 HR over his last 350 at bats. If you simply project up to 550 at bats, that's 22 HR and 44 2b...if he does absolutely nothing in terms of improvement beyond where he was once he adapted to big league pitching. "Becksy?"

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Jan 22, 2010 -> 08:27 AM) Sounds so much more confident to me If you ever want to know what "quality make-up" sounds like for a ball player, listen to this interview. Beckham just gets it.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 08:32 PM) Damon/Beckham/Quentin works great for me at the top of the order. Pierre should bat 9th. I really don't understand why anyone wants him leading off. He's our worst hitter, so we give him the most PA's? Seems completely devoid of logic. A .301 career hitter is the worst hitter on the Sox?! ...OK.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 09:26 PM) Pierre only got on at a .365 clip last year because he hit .308 in the NL and got hit by a pitch 8 times. Pierre's career OBP: 2000: .353 2001: .378 2002: .332 2003: .361 2004: .374 2005: .326 2006: .330 2007: .331 2008: .327 2009: .365 He'll be playing in the AL for the first time in his career and he will also be playing in a small ballpark. I'd expect something more like .280/.325/.360/.685 out of him next year, but with a ton of SB and CS and a lot of hot air from the Hawkaroo. As a .301 career hitter, Pierre will BENEFIT by hitting in the AL by not having a pitcher giving away at bats 3 times a game in front of him. I'm projecting a line of .290/.340/380/.700 with 50 bags and quality defense in LF.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 01:54 PM) Really, the only downgrade is Carrasco to Torres, and that spot shouldn't be needed a lot with this staff. Torres is not the long man. He's living in AAA this year and forever. Hudson is long relief and he's not gonna be much of a fall off this year from DJ.

" At any rate, I really don't care about Pierre's arm. It really won't make a significant difference over the course of the season." Some people don't like Pierre. For those people, why acknowledge he was a stellar LF last season, when you can claim he has a "girly arm" and convince some other readers he's a liability in the field. It's been a long, long time since a White Sox LF managed to play out there as well as Pierre did last season.

QUOTE (WHITESOXRANDY @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 12:27 PM) Before last season every Sox fan on here would've have been thrilled at a Rios acquisition. He was considered a star already and likely to get better. But, even with that his contract was large. So, he would never be a steal but if he continued at that level then this Sox would have a great player at market price. However, he had a bad year last year. That's what all of this hand wringing is all about. If he plays next year like he always had prior to 2009 then all will be good. The Sox will have a great player that costs a lot of money. Oh, well. They've been paying Dye, Konerko and Thome $ 10-13 mil. per season and he could be more valuable than any of them. We'll have to wait and see. It could still turn out very well for the Sox. You hear SO MUCH about Rios contract, but if he plays to his averages, it's pretty much market value. Certainly so for the time in which he received it.

QUOTE (scotty22hotty @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) I bet kenny looked at this WAR and couldn't resist http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OF 5.6 in '08, 4.8 in '07? Hes comparable to Ichiro Those WARs are off the charts. Wow.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 11:05 AM) I don't believe the White Sox, based on Williams repeated comments regarding the budget, are the type of team that makes claims on struggling players with long-term deals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Williams has reportedly liked Rios for awhile, and they had Dotel, Thome and Dye coming off the books after the season. They had the room to add payroll in light of who was coming off of it, and along with Peavy, Williams simply acuqired two players that he coveted during the season. Yep. Good post.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 05:45 PM) I don't mind overpaying a little bit given the hole we've had there and the fact that he's going to grab a bunch of steals as well, so I'll say I'm happy with an .800 OPS. But frankly, coming from Torotno to the Cell, he ought to see a spike in his HR numbers and an OPS above what he's done in the past...if last year was truly a fluke. Yeah, I would stay that's a good call. Rios is never gonna be a make or break guy here. He just needs to reach his career norms and he would be a nice mid level contributor for the Sox the next few years. As a complete package, if he hits .280 / .780 OPS / 20 SBs, he's good for 2 to 3 wins a year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) Rios will not repeat his 2009 next year. I don't know how close he will get to career norms, but he isn't going to be horrible again. I'd take his final totals as long as he plays plus defense in CF which I'm sure he will. Sox fans remember his poor play for us, even though he really picked it up at the end. He hit .333 / 2HR / 5 RBI / 3SB over his last 10.

QUOTE (chisox2334 @ Dec 15, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) http://twitter.com/SoxNet # With the leadoff spot filled, Kenny has turned his attention to the middle of the order and we are told he's close on another deal. about 2 hours ago from web Brad Hawpe.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 06:17 PM) MLBTraderumors.com is reporting that Matsui has officially agreed to a 1 year $6.5M deal with Angels. So basically we can all just forget about him. The Sox forgot him at least a week ago.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 14, 2009 -> 08:01 PM) I dunno I felt like Matsui was the best option for DH as well. I dont really want Vlad "I can hardley move" Guerrero. I guess its Nick Johnson, Troy Glaus, Jack Cust, Garett Atkins, Hank Blalock, Aubrey Huff, etc. Kenny is gonna fill the DH position via trade not FA.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) I'm just surprised we couldn't trade him for something. Why would any team trade for him when he was likely to be non-tendered?! They'd just wait for him to become a FA...

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 05:18 PM) This dont make any sense, he was the best guy out of the pen last year.. another KW move I don't like.. and to be honest I don't think he's made a good move since the Peavy trade. It makes perfect sense. Why is everyone so lost on this? 1-They just signed Putz 2-They want to season Hudson as a long reliever to prep him for next year's rotation 3-The Sox now have a rotation that allows them to need a long relief guy less than last year 4-They need the flexibility of an open roster spot or two to sign and/or trade for an OF and a power DH 5-They need to save money wherever they can

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) They already had him under team control for 2 years. His contract is essentially a 1-year extension. So, what part of my reference to the Sox signing Teahen to a 3 year contract was incorrect?

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 04:31 AM) If you're trying to compare Carlos Quentin and Brett Gardner in there relative situations, Carlos Quentin was a former first round pick who at least showed a lot of potential (especially power wise) at the major league level. Gardner is a completely different type of ballplayer. What I'm comparing is the fact that they both started their MLB careers as a 4th outfielder for an organization in which they had minor league success and then initially had some struggles in MLB. They both were blocked at the major league level. Quentin went on to flourish with another club when he played every day. Gardner may very well do the same. He's not gonna get a full time opportunity for NY.