macsandz

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jul 2, 2011 -> 05:41 PM) From what I can tell of the audio broadcast - it's gonna be Thornton in the 9th still. Eek. hi8is is scared. If anybody gets on, Thornton will sh*t his pants and start missing up...

Swing the bat Donkey!!

Can we get DUNN THE HELL OUT OF RF for the 9th ...please?!

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 2, 2011 -> 01:18 PM) (mis)Adventures in RF today. Wrigley known as the toughest RF in the NL maybe MLB. Dunn out there is really stupid.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 2, 2011 -> 01:56 PM) http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...y-attitude.html I can see what Peavy is saying, and after taking the ball and getting the team a win twice in three days recently the guy is gaining credibility to speak out like this. Though baseball is not an "effort" sport you can leg out contact, take wide turns, advance a base whenever possible, go into 2B hard, work a pitcher, pitch inside, give yourself up at the plate to move runners...etc.

Best part of that lineup? AJ batting 5th. He's been awesome for weeks now.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jul 1, 2011 -> 02:54 PM) It's embarrassing getting owned by somebody like Wells. Fire Greg Walker!!!! Change up = death. Sinker = quick death.

QUOTE (C_LEE45 @ Jul 1, 2011 -> 02:51 PM) i hope am wrong but i dont have a good feeling about this weekend You're not wrong. I have a terrible felling about this series. I hoping for a win on Sunday.

QUOTE (C_LEE45 @ Jul 1, 2011 -> 02:43 PM) this is F****** RANDY WELLS QEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,and can hawk get off castro D*** Randy Wells featuring the two pitches that the Sox as a team cannot handle: sinker & change up. The Sox will not score another run off of Wells today. NO chance.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 1, 2011 -> 11:24 AM) Looking at the OPSs of both teams, one would think the Cubs would have won 6 more games than the Sox, not vice versa. And this doesn't include Adam Dunn's sparkling .619. Pierre lf - .626 Morel 3b - .564 Quentin rf - .886 Konerko 1b - .970 AJ c - .723 Ramirez ss - .757 Rios cf - .594 Beckham 2b - .653 AVERAGE OPS - .722 Fukudome rf - .761 Barney 2b - .676 Castro ss - .778 Ramirez 3b - .797 Pena 1b - .806 Soriano lf - .818 Johnson cf - .940 Soto c - .745 AVERAGE OPS - .790 Yeah, seriously the Cubs can hit. It's the defense and bullpen that is their undoing.

If Wells has ANY kind of sinker, the Sox are toast.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 1, 2011 -> 09:47 AM) That Cub lineup is so awful. How do they ever win any games? The Cubs have a bad looking lineup, but they have been hitting more than the Sox. As usual, if Jackson doesn't have his slider he's gonna get beat. I hate the Cubs as much as anybody here, but they may just take 2 of 3 this weekend...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 26, 2011 -> 08:19 PM) And those Tigers and Twins teams were flat out good or better than us that season. We ran out of gas. But the first half, we just crushed teams. I remember, in particular, feeling sorry almost for the Cardinals. We were a juggernaut. 26 games over .500 and yet the Tigers were there with us every step of the way. And then the Twins with their amazing stretch. I can't imagine anyone expected the 2011 team to be nearly as good as 2006. I was hoping for 88-90 wins, but wasn't sure that would be enough to win the division. In some ways, I was more excited going into 2009 because I was buying into the hype that Viciedo would be ready to contribute right away. And I thought the Twins "fear" was past us with the breakthrough in Game 163. This year, the Tigers have that dominant starting pitching, closer, and they have Boesch, Avila, Cabrera and V-Mart, but their offensive punch is nothing compared to what it was 3-5 years ago. They used to have dangerous hitters at every spot in the line-up. Magglio's on his last legs, too. The Tigers don't have dominant starting pitching. They have a dominant starting pitcher.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jun 25, 2011 -> 06:21 PM) Once he learns to keep his breaking stuff down and his change down he'll be nails. When he's been in trouble this year - it's mainly been in situations with 2 strikes. LOTS of 0 - 2 get me over stuff has been hit yard. He's growing still and I'm stoked to have him... he's a win for this organization on a number of fronts. Great post. Spot on.

I knew Zimmerman is a good pitcher, but I didn't know how great he's been. This could be a tough one tonight, but I think the Sox will take 2 of 3 from the Nats.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 01:37 PM) Well, Ozzie is showing supreme faith in a guy (Pierre) that has a proven pedigree and you have to admire that about him. Ozzie always sticks by his vets and that's a decent trait to have. I thought you were leaving...?

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 21, 2011 -> 09:50 PM) I bet he'll be up after AS break. I read somewhere that if they bring up now, it has something to do with free agency, arbitration or something like that. Plus he needs to spend more time getting you to playing the outfield. Service time. He'll be up in a couple of weeks.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 18, 2011 -> 02:41 AM) This guy is absolutely clueless for what was supposed to be such an advanced college hitter. Offensively, he's been every bit as bad as Pierre. Major disappointment is an understatement. As usual, don't let actual reality interfere with your hyperbole: Beckham last 28 days: .265/.351/.718 Perfectly acceptable for a 2B.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 18, 2011 -> 01:03 AM) I don't even think Ozzie is fooled by a 50 PA sample size. JP is awful and needs to be benched for at least a week. He needs to be DFA'd yesterday.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jun 18, 2011 -> 12:58 AM) it's not a shake up. We are facing a lefty. It's the arbitrary I can give aj and jp a day off. Ozzie officially has no f*cking clue: Pierre: .316/.451/.784 this season vs. Lefty pitching

Do it, AJ!

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 17, 2011 -> 12:23 PM) If CQ sits instead of Pierre than I'm done with this team. We'd be 15 games out if not for CQ. If Dunn plays the OF, which is going to be extremely entertaining, it'd better be in LF for that POS. Please be done with this team. Please.

Welcome back Donkey.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 15, 2011 -> 04:20 PM) True, my leadoff hitter with the .324 OBP needs to do more than pull a 3-hit night out of his ass once a month for me to not hate him. Pierre historically hits Pavano very well...

QUOTE (Cali @ Jun 15, 2011 -> 04:07 PM) I meant more on the hitting side of "Where's our _______?" GREAT ARTICLE: (Call up Tank / DFA Pierre / eat $3M / win Division) By JJ Stankevitz Dayan Viciedo appears to be moving closer to forcing Juan Pierre out of the White Sox's plans. But what would the repercussions be if the Cuban Tank was called up from Charlotte to play for the White Sox? Jun 14, 2011 - Kenny Williams is ready to unleash the Tank upon the American League. But Juan Pierre is standing in the way. Dayan Viciedo has belted 10 home runs with an .886 OPS and improved plate discipline numbers with Triple-A Charlotte this season, doing everything in his power to force the hand of the White Sox to call him up. The home runs are nice, and so is the OPS, but it's Viciedo's increased walk rate and decreased strikeout rate that are the most encouraging developments for the 22-year-old Cuban. Well, that and his major league-ready defense. Yes, a walk rate of 6 percent isn't too impressive. But for a player whose walk rates in Double-A, Triple-A and the majors in the last two seasons have been 4.3 percent, 3 percent and 1.9 percent, 6 percent is a step in the right direction. Plus, Viciedo's strikeout rate sits at 16.2 percent, down from over 20 percent between Charlotte and Chicago in 2010. Viciedo's powerful bat would fit nicely in a White Sox lineup that has considerably less depth than expected. The 2-3-4 combination of Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko has been fantastic, but with A.J. Pierzynski/Alex Rios/Adam Dunn hitting fifth, the Sox have struggled to score beyond the cleanup spot. Dunn and Rios have shown signs of life in the last few games, but Rios is statistically the worst hitter on the team and Dunn is the offensive equal of Pierzynski. Getting power into the No. 5 or No. 6 spot in the order could do wonders for the Sox. But there are a few problems with calling up Viciedo to play right field (Quentin would shift to left) and hit in the middle of the lineup. The first, and most glaring, would be the hole left at the top of the order. Or maybe there's been a hole in the top of the order to begin with. Pierre had a fine month of May, posting a .365 OBP. He stole four bases in five attempts, showing he understood his aggressive tactics on the basepaths wouldn't fly after being caught seven times in 12 attempts during April. June hasn't been as kind to Pierre, who has a .311 OBP for the month with one steal in two attempts. It's a small sample size, sure, and his walk-to-strikeout ratio of 3/1 is more in line with May (12/6) than April (6/13). But with Viciedo hitting so well in Charlotte, the onus is on Pierre to play well enough to fend him off. But if Pierre is taken out of the starting lineup, somebody still has to lead off. The best option would be Ramirez, who has a .357 OBP with some halfway decent plate discipline numbers. Ramirez, however, has been the ideal No. 2 hitter for the White Sox. He can't bunt, so Ozzie Guillen rarely feels the urge to waste an out with one of his better hitters at the plate. And he's hit pretty well, too, with a wOBA of .349 that puts him squarely in "above average" territory. Moving him away from No. 2, though could actually have a positive effect on his offense. As the guy who hits ahead of Quentin and Konerko, Ramirez has seen the highest percentage of fastballs (55.8 percent) of his career. And he hasn't hit them well, according to FanGraphs' pitch type values. In theory, Ramirez would see fewer fastballs and more breaking balls—against which he's been great—as a leadoff hitter. But Ramirez has started a game as a leadoff hitter just three times in his career. While he's been much more patient at the plate this season, there's no telling how he'd respond to having to be patient as the No. 1 hitter in the Sox lineup. The best thing the Sox could do is move Ramirez to leadoff and tell him to absolutely nothing different. Better to have Ramirez hacking at the first pitch than forcing him to be patient. Ramirez forced patience in 2009—his walk and strikeout rates of that year are nearly identical to 2011—and had the worst offensive season of his career. In 2011, he's been able to strike a balance between patience and aggression, and the Sox shouldn't do anything to mess with that equilibrium. Moving Ramirez to No. 1 would mean a hole would open up at No. 2. Gordon Beckham would be the most likely candidate to move there, as he's hit a Ramirez-like .282/.365/.418 since the start of May. Unfortunately, moving Beckham to No. 2 would probably result in a lot of bunting. Maybe if Beckham does as horrid a job of giving up outs as Ramirez did, the Sox will eventually stop asking him to sacrifice. That'd be nice. So, if Pierre is replaced in favor of Viciedo, the lineup would ideally go as follows: 1. Ramirez 2. Beckham 3. Quentin 4. Konerko 5. Dunn (hopefully) 6. Viciedo 7. Pierzynski 8. Rios 9. Morel I'd have to guess Rios would hit sixth and Viciedo eighth until Viciedo proves to Guillen he's better than Rios. And I also expect Pierzynski to be entrenched in the No. 5 spot until Dunn really starts hitting, which is a shame because as mentioned above, they're offensive equals. But Dunn has the much higher offensive ceiling. The last issue the Sox would have to address would be Pierre's place with the club. Brent Lillibridge isn't going anywhere, the same goes for Omar Vizquel. Ramon Castro is safe as the backup catcher. The Sox won't dip below 12 pitchers, so dumping a reliever is out of the question. To make room for Viciedo, that leaves Pierre and Mark Teahen as the potential odd man out. The Sox will have to eat salary either way—for Pierre, it'd be a pro-rated $3 million, for Teahen it'd be a pro-rated $4.75 million and then $5.5 million for 2012. Neither player is an enticing trade target, so designation for assignment is the route the Sox would probably take. DFA'ing either player would probably result in a clearing of waivers and then a refusal of a minor league assignment, meaning the Sox would be on the hook for the remainder of either contract. The Sox don't exactly have $7 million or so laying around, so Teahen isn't a viable option for dumping. Pierre would cost about $2 million for the Sox to get rid of, so he would have to be the odd man out in this scenario. It'd be a tough pill to swallow for the Kenny Williams, Guillen and the entire White Sox organization which holds a high amount of respect for Pierre. But if it makes the team better—it would—and increases the Sox's chances of making a playoff run, there's no reason why the move shouldn't be made.