Jerksticks

Check out Florida Marlins OF Chris Coghlan. This guy's stats are pretty good for being a rookie, yet I have heard nothing about him. Maybe he could be had. Does anybody know anything about him? Are his RBI totals low for a reason other than having to play on the Marlins?

How much is left on each of their contracts? A straight swap would make our rotation dead nasty, but it leaves us with 2 OF spots to fill. If those spots can get filled correctly then I'm all for the swap. I don't mind giving Rios 2010, but Pods Rios Quentin isn't ideal.

Hammerhead johns, Many people on this board feel the team might be better without Jim Thome. Get used to that opinion. Your comments above do not promote discussion

It's great we all agree that we will look back on this trade as the best thing to ever happen. Thome was a cancer on this team and I smelled a rat from day 1. Mr Nice Guy Class Act s*** was just that, an act. His pull-happy, strikeout machine style of play has ruined us. Konerko can stay for as long as he wants, but Dye has to go too.

QUOTE (dmbjeff @ Sep 5, 2009 -> 12:35 AM) I completely agree. This organizations philosophy regarding the DH positiong the past 15 years or so has been to stick a bad fielding hitter in the spot. I'm tired of having Thome/Baines/Thomas type guys in the spot when we can use the spot better like the Yankees and Angels tend to do and give guys more rest. Bad fielding hitters, yes. A player like this makes one less good fielding hitter available. And even worse, to throw 8 figures at this type of player?! Now your bench is forced to be filled with guys who make near league minimum that aren't very good. If this money were spent on 2 good players I think the Sox would be much better off.

Freddy can stay on the team as long as it's just to pack the pipe for his teamates and mentor Felix. Hudson looked efficient tonight from my seats; get it and pitch it (God I love that philosophy). Between him and Torres we may have something here.

Something like 3-0 since old cloggy was traded. I like the idea of using the DH position to rest position players. If you have 9 good players then they can always play/DH. Sticking a "DH" like Thome in the DH position really cramps flexibility/playing time. Why not just have 9-10 guys who can really play is the question I'm posing. Tonight- Perfect example. Ozzie rested Q but kept his bat in the lineup. Maybe Tmrw JD slides in the DH hole, and then Pods the next day. My point is that it is an excellent way to keep guys fresh. Having Thome forces actual athletes to not play.

QUOTE (gravybread @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 05:29 PM) Fun Fact: Jim Thome is currently tied with Sammy Sosa for 2nd place all-time in strikeouts. Also an important fact IMO. Apparently on this board strikeout kings are heroes. Yea Jim Thome is great. I love how a left handed pitcher will get him out almost every at bat too. That makes him extra valuable in pressure-packed late inning situations when a lefty specialist is brought in. An automatic out is always acceptable because he's a nice guy. Let's have him play with us til he's 45, where the defensive shift will actually be just a line of guys down the right field line. Sign me up for another decade of pull-happy, captain strikeout, can't go from 1st to 3rd unless it's a triple Thome.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 02:47 AM) You don't have to sprint around the bases after you hit it out of the park. That, and the Sox don't have any type of left handed power in the lineup, and I imagine he's only going to sign with the White Sox or maybe Cleveland. If he doesn't get an offer from either, I think he hangs it up. Yay he hits 30 homeruns, but over 500 plate appearances. That leaves 470 strikeouts with a a few walks and hits scattered in there. Too bad his walks and hits are completely useless since it takes 3 more consecutive hits to score him.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 12:48 AM) As said before, we traded him so he could get a ring. I'd pick him over Dye for DH next year though. I'd thank both of them for their services and say "Never step foot on my field again, either of you. Take your slow beat up legs to another city."

cuz he sucks and he's slow and his high K rate kills any and every rally since 2006.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:52 AM) I think it's pretty much what I said the post before yours. One other point. Wouldn't Flowers as a full time DH and AJ be 3 base cloggers in your lineup when you just said only one ? Man I just don't view AJ as a baseclogger since he runs the bases so well. Is Flowers really that slow or is that based on him being a big guy with a high OBP? If Flowers mashes this September I see no reason to keep Thome or Dye. They are just too old and pull happy for this team.

Our starting pitching is now our most dangerous weapon, so we need to make a run for the cup in the next 2-3 years. More or less the future is here starting in 2010, not 2011. Like some of you guys are sayin, I think the smart move is to put the best defensive team we can behind these 4 guys. I don't know why Beckham at short scares me, but it does; so keep him at 3B where he is excelling. Lexi is fine at short, and Paulie picks everything at 1B. Get Dye the hell outa my outfield and pray to God Rios hits next year. That leaves us short a corner outfielder and a second baseman; but I wouldn't mind a Getz/Nix platoon next year, especially since both would be valuable bench hitters. Neither is bad IMO. So really all I need is a great defensive corner outfielder and a new DH. Only 1 baseclogger is allowed in my lineup and that's Paulie. 2 Cloggers can really hurt us in a given inning. Dye and Thome go away. I actually didn't mind Pods at DH when he was there. With our pitching staff we don't have to outslug anybody (even though we still have plenty of pop). My point is that DH doesn't need to be filled with a big guy who can only hit. It can be filled with a good overall hitter who gets on base, he doesn't have to be an RBI guy necessarily. We'd be built ike 2005 again only better IMO. What do you guys think of these points? What about calling Tyler FLowers up for September and seeing how he would look for a fulltime DH/backup catcher to AJ. Oh man would that be sweet if it worked out.

This guy would have been one of the major parts in the Mark Buehrle deal 2 years back. Imagine if we were still waiting on this guy from that trade? That would suck.

And there is a HUGE delay between my MLB.tv and your comcast broadcast. maybe 5-10 minutes, so i can't update this page without spoiling the game!

What's with this infield?

Damn, the balls were really juiced that year. And was 98 one of those years where Frank somehow totally sucked?

This isn't a "Call player X up cuz we are losing" thread. I would say Flowers is as good or better than advertised. Something will have to give eventually here, and I think it will be before AJ's contract is up. Can't keep him down there another full year, can we? Like Balta was sayin, AJ can be Brett Favre to Flowers. Maybe Flowers is our DH in 2010 while AJ plays out his contract/tutors.

DH? I mean maybe someday when Phegly is ready, but this kid is going to play catcher for us in the near future. AJ is an awful defensive catcher who supposedly calls a good game; again, supposedly. I don't see how Flowers could be any worse defensively. His bat is special and it belongs in the major leagues. And average??? haha who cares what his average is when he gets on base over 40% of the time. Haha average. You guys that still think we are going to have a bunch of guys who hit over .300 one day crack me up. What evidence suggests this?

It really is pathetic. We need better players.

Flowers OBP is ridiculous. Since patience at the plate is one of his best assets, there's really nothing left for him to learn in the minors offensively. I think AJ goes to a contender before the break if we are out of it. If we are still in it then he goes after the season. My thoughts. What are yours?

I agree; we are the definition of consistency. How can you argue that? Are you going to spit that 5-1 roadtrip garbage at me haha? Or are you gong to grasp at the 4 series wins in a row? Haha. Get a grip, offense stinks.

Man, you guys are talking about counting on a lot of rookies next year, and that's never been Ozzie or KW's MO. Can we really have an outfield with Allen and Danks next year? Plus Beckham and Fields, or Beckham and Getz. Sounds like a bad year, maybe in the right direction, but a bad year.

My theory as to why we suck has something to do with the mental state of the team. I feel nervous every single game, I feel that the players feel nervous or something similar to this as well. It's akin to the feeling when say everyone expected you to have something completed and you hope nobody calls on you because it will reveal your lack of preparation. I feel like our whole offense is on defense at the plate. I feel like the pressure is always on us in every single at bat..And oh lord the pressure is DOUBLE if we have a man in scoring position. When we have a RISP, the opposing pitcher always has the advantage against us. Why is that? I feel like we do not intimidate any teams except the Tigers, and that trend might change this year. Something about this team feels like the p**** kid of the neighborhood, as Clint Eastwood would say. It's more than just "Fire Greg Walker". There's some disease that's found a home here.

Our bullpen is nails right now; I don't want to blow that up. Same with the SP, it's 1 guy away from being damn good. I like JD too, so who are we gonna sell when we blow this ship up?