VAfan

With much better lead off hitters available as free agents, I wouldn't trade ANY talent to solve the lead-off-left-field hole we have. As I write on a separate thread, Alfonso Soriano and Gary Matthews Jr. are both much better choices. Both are just better hitters than Crawford, with better OBPs and more power. Plus both hit lefties much better than Crawford. After watching lefties KILL us this year, we can ill afford not to try to address that problem at the same time. Crawford's splits. vs. Left 162 24 46 6 3 4 26 10 3 31 11 1 .284 .337 .432 .769 vs. Right 426 62 132 14 12 14 50 26 1 52 45 8 .310 .349 .498 .847 The only benefit to Crawford is that he is younger and will be cheaper than Soriano or Matthews. But this trade off isn't worth making since we would have to surrender an equal talent that is also younger and cheaper to get him.

Below is the ranking, by OPS, of the major league players who had 350 or more plate appearances this year in the lead off slot. You can see that Alfonso Soriano was first in OPS by a wide margin b/c no one else could come close to his power numbers. Yet he was also 4th in OBP. But, perhaps critically for a White Sox offense that was paralyzed all year by left handed pitching, his splits suggest he could go a long way to solving this problem by himself. vs. Left 162 35 49 10 1 12 23 29 1 42 19 6 .302 .411 .599 1.010 vs. Right 474 83 130 31 1 34 72 36 8 116 22 11 .274 .334 .559 .893 I think the White Sox should make a strong bid for Alfonso in the offseason. He proved he could be a capable left fielder. He hits best as a lead off man -- it seems to motivate him to play his best. We desperately need a new LF and lead off hitter. And Soriano has the speed that Ozzie craves. If it means trading off one of our 5 starters (I'm not in favor of this, but I understand the Sox have a budget), it will probably be a worthy trade off. If the bidding gets too rich for Soriano, then Gary Matthews Jr. is the guy we should target. He'll likely come a lot less expensively. Yet he also hit lefties at a very good clip. vs. Left 134 25 43 13 1 7 19 15 0 24 1 3 .321 .382 .590 .971 vs. Right 472 76 148 30 5 12 60 43 4 73 8 4 .314 .372 .475 .847 His "weakness" is no stolen bases to speak of. To me, this is not that great of a handicap, but I'm sure it would be unacceptable to Ozzie. By signing one of these guys -- both free agents who won't cost us any talent in trade -- we can answer two of our biggest problems from this season. If I were KW, I would put adding one of these players at the top of my offseason list. *************** Sortable Batting RK PLAYER TEAM AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Alfonso Soriano Was 541 102 159 38 2 39 81 38 16 58 .294 .368 .588 .956 2 Grady Sizemore Cle 635 132 184 52 11 27 74 22 4 77 .290 .376 .534 .910 3 Reed Johnson Tor 430 77 140 31 2 11 48 6 2 32 .326 .395 .484 .879 4 Gary Matthews Jr. Tex 605 101 191 43 6 19 79 9 7 58 .316 .375 .501 .876 5 Jose Reyes NYM 635 119 192 30 17 19 80 63 17 49 .302 .353 .493 .846 6 Johnny Damon NYY 578 112 166 35 4 23 77 24 10 65 .287 .359 .481 .840 7 Rafael Furcal LA 618 110 190 30 9 15 61 37 12 68 .307 .375 .458 .833 8 Jimmy Rollins Phi 647 122 183 43 6 25 77 36 4 56 .283 .341 .484 .825 9 Hanley Ramirez Fla 513 100 148 39 10 11 48 41 14 49 .288 .354 .468 .822 10 Kevin Youkilis Bos 387 73 111 26 1 9 47 3 1 63 .287 .387 .429 .816 11 David DeJesus KC 442 76 132 34 4 7 48 6 3 38 .299 .367 .441 .808 12 Curtis Granderson Det 553 84 149 31 8 16 62 8 5 64 .269 .346 .441 .787 13 Ichiro Suzuki Sea 678 105 217 20 7 8 47 44 2 48 .320 .368 .406 .774 14 Brian Roberts Bal 545 83 158 33 3 10 55 35 7 54 .290 .351 .417 .768 15 Jamey Carroll Col 363 68 107 18 4 3 29 6 8 43 .295 .370 .391 .761 16 Dave Roberts SD 472 75 139 18 13 2 42 46 6 46 .294 .359 .400 .759 17 Ryan Freel Cin 429 61 115 28 2 8 24 33 11 52 .268 .359 .399 .758 18 Craig Biggio Hou 352 53 93 25 0 11 38 2 0 20 .264 .310 .429 .739 19 Juan Pierre ChC 667 82 196 32 13 3 38 56 19 32 .294 .333 .394 .728 20 Jason Kendall Oak 368 59 112 16 0 0 31 8 3 39 .304 .378 .348 .726 21 Randy Winn SF 520 77 136 32 4 11 51 9 7 45 .262 .324 .402 .726 22 Luis Castillo Min 386 54 114 14 5 1 29 21 8 37 .295 .355 .365 .721 23 Marcus Giles Atl 453 71 115 23 2 8 49 10 4 53 .254 .339 .366 .705 24 David Eckstein StL 489 68 144 17 1 2 23 7 6 30 .294 .351 .346 .696 25 Scott Podsednik CWS 498 82 129 27 6 3 43 40 18 51 .259 .328 .355 .683 26 Craig Counsell Ari 331 48 87 13 4 2 25 13 7 24 .263 .326 .344 .670 27 Chone Figgins LAA 532 77 134 18 5 5 48 44 14 57 .252 .323 .333 .656

I love stats, but I find VORP to be nothing but a nuisance. The numbers have no real meaning, and seem counterintuitive in many respects. For example, was Brandon McCarthy really an 11.2? The guy lost almost every key game he was put into down the stretch. Sure, Ozzie misused him more than any player on the club, but he also failed to perform on most of the occasions when he was used. And is Juan Uribe really a negative player? I realize the guy NEVER walks, and his batting average is horrid. But he drove in more than 70 runs!! AJ Pierzynski, who had the three highest OBP players on the team hitting directly ahead of him nearly every game, didn't match that. Plus, was Thornton almost as valuable as Bobby Jenks?? (16.1 v. 16.9) Really??? So, just take these numbers with a heavy dose of salt.

I believe the key to this coming offseason is deciding what to do with our starting pitchers. Here is their 2006 performance. Jose Contreras 29 29 13 8 0 16 0 194.1 187 88 95 19 55 132 6.11 103.6 1.25 4.08 Jon Garland 31 30 17 6 0 16 0 197.2 229 96 97 25 38 103 4.69 104.2 1.35 4.37 Freddy Garcia 31 31 15 9 0 17 0 202.1 215 104 111 31 47 129 5.74 101.2 1.29 4.63 Javier Vazquez 30 29 11 9 0 13 0 183.2 185 96 101 20 53 153 7.50 101.9 1.30 4.70 Mark Buehrle 31 31 12 13 0 16 0 199.1 238 106 117 34 45 96 4.33 96.8 1.42 4.79 Brandon McCarthy 51 1 3 7 0 0 11 76.1 71 42 42 15 29 57 6.72 83.0 1.31 4.95 While here is their 2005 performance. Chicago White Sox Team Pitching Statistics NAME G GS W L Sv QS Hld IP H ER R HR BB SO K/9 P/GS WHIP ERA Mark Buehrle 33 33 16 8 0 20 0 236.2 240 82 99 20 40 149 5.67 105.4 1.18 3.12 Jon Garland 32 32 18 10 0 22 0 221.0 212 86 93 26 47 115 4.68 103.6 1.17 3.50 Jose Contreras 32 32 15 7 0 18 0 204.2 177 82 91 23 75 154 6.77 99.1 1.23 3.61 Freddy Garcia 33 33 14 8 0 20 0 228.0 225 98 102 26 60 146 5.76 103.0 1.25 3.87 Brandon McCarthy 12 10 3 2 0 5 0 67.0 62 30 30 13 17 48 6.45 94.7 1.18 4.03 Given the fact that every one of these starters was significantly better in 2005, and those performances are closer to their historical norms than their 2006 totals, if I were Kenny Williams, I think I would go to bat with these guys for another season -- returning all of them to a starting role in 2007. I also think I would not be too quick to insert Brandon McCarthy into the starting rotation. Notice that he was the worst of the 6 pitchers BOTH YEARS. This doesn't suggest he would be an improvement over any of our starting five in 2007. I think another reason to come back with what we have is that it is nearly impossible to rank our 5 starters with any clarity. Buehrle went from best ERA in 2005, to second worst in 2006, but he's probably been the most consistent guy up until this season. Freddie Garcia seemed to have nothing for long stretches this season, but has pitched back-to-back gems, and had a 1-0 shutout in June that was the last game we won when scoring less than 4 runs. Jose Contreras blew up after his winning streak ended, but before that he won how many games in a row? He was also the stud that led us to a World Championship. Jon Garland went from #5 starter last season to our most consistent starter this year, and he's the youngest guy on the staff. Javier Vazquez blew up in the 6th inning of nearly every start, but through 5 innings, had an ERA in the low 2's and could have won 18 games easily if Ozzie had used him right and we'd had a bullpen we could rely on. Which of these 5 guys do you trade?? And, given how they pitched this season, would trading any of them bring equal value?? I may change my mind about this, but right now, I would be inclined to keep these guys for another run. All of them ought to be pissed watching the other teams in the playoffs knowing that we would have a better team than any of them if they had performed. Instead of "fixing" this area of the team, I'd concentrate on: 1. Getting a new lead off hitter and LF 2. Making adjustments so we can hit lefties as well as righties 3. Strengthening the bullpen We have a better team than the Tigers or Twins or A's or Yankees if our starters perform at career norms instead of all having off years. It would be unconventional for Kenny Williams not to make a lot of moves, but right now I think that might be the right choice.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Sep 21, 2006 -> 09:24 AM) I'm going to narrow this down and say: Pitching and managing. Those are certainly at the top, but they aren't the only reasons. The offense was also inconsistent, and couldn't beat lefties at all. Compare the splits v. lefties and righties below and you can see why we were beaten so badly. Only 4 players on our team hit lefties well -- Dye, Konerko, Crede, and Ozuna -- and Ozuna went two months getting only 2 hits after his hamstring injury, so that leaves only 3 reliable players against lefties. Iguchi should have been the 4th player, but for most of the year, he completely sucked in this department. Now look at how many outs we had in the lineup against lefties. Take Jim Thome, who Ozzie continued to hit in the #3 hole for most of the season regardless of the pitcher. His .709 OPS and .356 slugging is PATHETIC for a slugger. Ross Gload would have been a better choice (or Frank Thomas, but I realize that was not an option). This is one hole we need to fix in the offseason. Or take Uribe-Anderson-Pods, who often hit back-to-back-to-back against lefties. None hit as well as Thome's pathetic numbers. And their primary subs -- Cintron and Mack -- hit lefties even worse. Then look at AJ's .591 OPS. That's at least 5 automatic outs in the lineup most games against left handed pitchers. You can't win that way. Chicago White Sox Team Batting Statistics against left handed pitchers NAME G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Jermaine Dye 77 159 31 56 8 0 15 109 35 27 33 0 1 .352 .442 .686 1.128 Paul Konerko 86 180 32 58 10 0 13 107 35 22 32 1 0 .322 .403 .594 .997 Joe Crede 79 169 27 47 13 0 9 87 33 17 15 0 1 .278 .349 .515 .864 Pablo Ozuna 51 134 18 43 9 2 2 62 15 6 11 1 4 .321 .355 .463 .817 Ross Gload 23 37 4 11 1 1 1 17 5 2 5 0 0 .297 .333 .459 .793 Tadahito Iguchi 84 196 26 52 11 0 6 81 19 24 39 1 0 .265 .344 .413 .757 Jim Thome 96 180 23 42 4 0 6 64 21 29 62 0 0 .233 .353 .356 .709 Juan Uribe 74 178 14 42 11 1 4 67 27 5 36 0 0 .236 .254 .376 .630 Brian Anderson 78 149 17 32 10 1 1 47 8 16 34 0 2 .215 .292 .315 .607 Alex Cintron 35 59 8 16 1 0 0 17 3 3 5 2 0 .271 .306 .288 .595 A.J. Pierzynski 70 129 11 33 3 0 1 39 13 3 19 0 0 .256 .289 .302 .591 Scott Podsednik 68 134 19 29 4 1 1 38 8 12 30 11 4 .216 .284 .284 .567 Rob Mackowiak 33 51 5 11 0 0 0 11 6 3 12 0 0 .216 .286 .216 .501 Chris Widger (9 Bal) 25 47 3 7 2 0 0 9 1 6 12 0 0 .149 .241 .191 .432 NAME G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS White Sox 127 1850 245 489 89 6 61 773 237 178 355 16 12 .264 .333 .418 .751 Chicago White Sox Team Batting Statistics against Right handed pitchers NAME G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Jim Thome 133 288 82 92 19 0 35 216 81 70 75 0 0 .319 .448 .750 1.198 Jermaine Dye 139 357 66 109 19 3 28 218 83 28 81 7 2 .305 .360 .611 .971 Paul Konerko 145 361 60 111 18 0 19 186 70 38 66 0 0 .307 .372 .515 .887 Joe Crede 142 354 47 104 18 0 20 182 60 10 41 0 1 .294 .317 .514 .831 Rob Mackowiak 90 191 23 59 9 1 5 85 16 23 41 5 2 .309 .382 .445 .828 A.J. Pierzynski 131 360 52 110 18 0 15 173 50 17 49 0 0 .306 .345 .481 .825 Ross Gload 56 98 14 34 6 0 1 43 11 4 7 5 0 .347 .375 .439 .814 Tadahito Iguchi 131 334 67 100 12 0 11 145 45 31 66 9 4 .299 .363 .434 .797 Pablo Ozuna 56 42 7 14 1 0 0 15 2 1 5 4 2 .333 .378 .357 .735 Juan Uribe 121 261 37 61 15 1 15 123 36 8 40 1 1 .234 .261 .471 .732 Scott Podsednik 132 368 65 102 22 5 2 140 37 42 63 29 14 .277 .350 .380 .731 Brian Anderson 105 188 28 46 13 0 6 77 24 14 47 4 3 .245 .309 .410 .719 Alex Cintron 80 210 26 60 7 3 4 85 34 7 28 8 3 .286 .312 .405 .717 Chris Widger (9 Bal) 22 29 3 7 1 0 1 11 6 3 8 0 0 .241 .303 .379 .682 NAME G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS White Sox 152 3477 580 1015 179 13 163 1709 559 297 626 72 32 .292 .350 .492 .842 In the offseason, Kenny must restore some balance to this lineup. He should start by replacing Pods at the top of the lineup. Bobby Abreu would have been perfect, even if he's too expensive. I don't believe Ozuna is an option (he hit way over his head at the start, then went two months with only 2 hits). And I don't think Jerry Owens is ever going to be a player. Rob Mackowiak should have been used in this role this season against right handers instead of subbing for Anderson in CF, but I don't think he's the answer. Then he needs a right handed player that can DH or play 1B (using Konerko as DH against lefties). Ross Gload should have been used a lot more than Ozzie used him, since we had no other good options this year, but he's not the answer. We also need a right handed catcher that can hit something. It is hard to believe that you can't do better than AJ's .591 OPS, yet Widger didn't and Alomar is WAY TOO OLD. Then we need to decide if Anderson and/or Uribe can learn to hit. We can afford to carry one of them, but having both (plus Pods) puts more pressure on the team. I'd be inclined to give them another chance, because Uribe has a ton of power and drives in a lot of runs for a SS and shows stretches where he kills the ball. Anderson is young and came up a year early. In other words, we need a more balanced and consistent offense, and Ozzie needs to learn to play the guys who can hit the other team's pitcher (instead of just hoping they can). Look at the Yankees. Having a great offense can cover up a lot of pitching inconsistency. I expect them to ride it to another WS crown (though I'll be pulling for anyone to knock them off).

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 19, 2006 -> 07:55 PM) Nice comments VAfan, i don't think the lack of post season is on KWs head, he asked all the vets in the club house if they needed anything to make a post season run, and they said no, he addressed his BP the best he could, Thornton and MacDougal are excellent pick ups, and he knew cotts and politte wouldn't be lights out but he didn't expect this, basicly everyone on the pitching staff from last year sans Bobby, Garland, Jose all decided to s*** the bed at the same time, its ok we've got the ring last year and the future is still bright for the Chicago White Sox. the AL Central is going to be GREAT for a long time, embrace it. The problem going forward is that the Tigers and Twins have great YOUNG pitching, while, except for Garland and Buehrle, all of our starters are on the wrong side of 30. Sure, we have McCarthy, but after the way he pitched this year, don't some of you have doubts about him? I think Ozzie mismanaged him more than any player on the team, but I still think he should have sucked it up and performed better. He was given several chances to win ballgames down the stretch and he lost every one.

Keep Crede. I was for signing him long term before the season b/c I expected him to put up the kind of numbers he put up this year (though even I wouldn't have predicted he'd go this high). But now that you've missed a chance to get him at a relative bargain, I still wouldn't let him go. He's a huge reason for our increase in runs scored, but he also plays defense better than any of our other offensive stars -- by a long shot. Plus, he's a clutch hitter. Those guys are worth the money invested in them. I don't think I'd take any other 3B in baseball ahead of him at the moment. Fix the spots in the lineup that are holes. Don't "fix" the parts that aren't broken (i.e. Dye, Konerko, Thome, AJ.)

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2006 -> 06:52 PM) Absolutely no way you do not pick Buehrle's option up. The decision is what you do with Buehrle after 2007. He is a free agent that year. If you hold onto Buehrle without signing him to an extension, the most you'll get for him is a couple compensatory draft picks. Which is significantly lower than Buehrle's value right now. I think you have to sign Mark Buehrle to an extension this offseason if you feel there's a good chance he'll return to his pre-June 06 form. If you think he's a 4.50 ERA pitcher for the rest of his career, you deal him now while his stock is still at its peak and he could bring back top-caliber players. Personally, I try to re-sign him to an extension unless his demands are through the roof...and after this season, I think they might soften a little bit. But there are 2 things that should not happen. Mark Buehrle's should not be a free agent this season. And Mark Buehrle should not start the next season pitching for the White Sox without an extension. This makes some sense, but it is going to be VERY difficult to arrive at a proper value for Buehrle's extension based on this year's performance. The Sox could go on "faith" and pre-2006 performance and offer him Jon Garland's or Jose Contreras's 3-year extension. But would Buehrle take it? And, if we get more of 2006, would he be worth it? I would be inclined to keep him because (a) there aren't many better options out there, (B) he's not hurt, and © he's had bad stretches before and come out of them. But an ideal contract for the Sox would probably be to blend in his option year with the extension, so that he only gets 3 more years. That's less risk for the Sox and Buehrle should take it because he would be free again in time to land another lucrative contract if he performs well.

Though it aint over till its over, or until the fat lady sings, I'm ready to write my postmortem to the 2006 White Sox at the risk of being perceived as a fool if, by miracle, they rebound. Why did they fail? Here's my list. 1. Poor starting pitching. This was supposed to be the strength of the club. But, aside from Jose Contreras's early run, and Jon Garland's excellence from June forward, the starting pitching has been pretty damn bad. Mark Buehrle does not resemble a pitcher worthy of a contract extension. Freddie Garcia no longer has a fastball. And Javier Vazquez developed an uncanny ability to get torched in the 6th inning of every game he pitched. Not to mention that Contreras was also getting beat regularly once his streak ended. The result was a staff that even a huge jump in offensive production couldn't compensate for. (At one point in a 2-1 9th inning lead against Boston, I wrote that we hadn't won a game since mid-June scoring less than 4 runs. Jenks promptly gave up the lead and we lost 3-2 in 10. Last season, we bookended the first and last games of the year as 1-0 victories.) 2. Inconsistent relief pitching. Last year the bullpen worked hand in hand with the starters to keep us in virtually every game. This year, we had a lot of guys blow up big time -- Politte, Cotts, McCarthy, Logan, Riske, and even Thornton, McDougal and Jenks on occasion. The bullpen has lost 21 games, including 7 losses by McCarthy, while winning only 17. That's not a good ratio. 3. Too many outs in the lineup. Uribe, Anderson, Pods, Iguchi. Having these 4 guys hit in a row, especially against left handed pitching (see below) or on the road (see Iguchi's splits), killed the Sox in game after game. This is why our offense was inconsistent. If Thome, Konerko, Dye, AJ, and Crede didn't score at least 5 runs themselves (see starting pitching for why this was necessary to win), we were destined to lose. I thought the Sox should get Bobby Abreu to replace Pods as the lead off hitter to solve this problem. Unfortunately, Abreu is likely to be a chief reason behind the Yankees return to post season glory -- as they were the only team able to pay his contract. That just sucks. 4. Poor game management decisions by Ozzie. My biggest problem with Ozzie was how he managed Javier Vasquez. We lost at least 9 games (I stopped counting) where he had the lead after 5 innings, but proceeded to blow up in the 6th inning. How many times does it take for the manager to realize we need a different plan for the 6th inning? Why not get Brandon McCarthy ready to take over to start the 6th inning of those games, from the windup, like a second starting pitcher? We should have won more than 50% of those ballgames and would be at worst tied with the Twins at this stage if we had. Ironically, the last game JV won was the game against the Yankees when he was pulled, for the first and only time this year, after 5 innings. 5. Complete inability to beat lefties. Part of this was Ozzie's doing. During a huge number of games Ozzie used Pods, Iguchi, Thome at the top of the lineup, even though Pods was HORRIBLE against lefties, Iguchi couldn't hit them at all, and Thome was much worse against them than he was against righties. This trio were susceptible not only to left handed starters, but made it easy on opposing managers to use their LOOGYs on 3 guys in a row late in tight ballgames. Some of this could be explained by Pods and Iguchi not having such terrible splits in the past against lefties, but at some point you have to adjust. Of course, what could he do to adjust? Kenny Williams, who was applauded for strengthening our bench, didn't notice that everyone on the bench was a lefty or switch hitter who couldn't hit lefties either. The only one who could -- Pablo Ozuna -- went almost two months with a total of 2 hits after he pulled a hammy. Yet we never made any roster adjustment to address this problem. 6. Better competition. We killed the AL Central last year on the way to 99 wins. But this year, every other team in the AL Central is better, except the Indians, and they had their own motivation to knock us off. Not separating ourselves from the pack early made the season a struggle, and when we hit our rough patch, we fell out of the race rather than just being worried about holding on. It was just a different dynamic. Plus, all of our chief competitors have stronger pitching or much stronger pitching. It is hard to beat that game in and game out. 7. The Tigers and Twins beat us at our own game (which was the Twins game before we stole it in 2005). The 2005 team led all the way with the league's best starting pitching, great defense, a solid bullpen, and the ability to manufacture runs and score with HRs. The Tigers are now the best team at executing that style, with the Twins and A's close behind. Even the Yankees starting pitching was better than ours. There's nothing wrong with scoring a lot of runs (see the Yankees), but you've got to pitch well to win. We didn't. 8. Kenny Williams didn't make the right adjustments. At the trade deadline this year, we added Mike McDougal, who was a critical need for our bullpen, and Sandy Alomar, who was not a critical need for anything. The most obvious impact player on the market -- Bobby Abreu -- was probably beyond our means, but I wish he had found a way to make that happen. Abreu would have eliminated the HUGE hole at the top of our lineup, strengthened our defense, and enabled us to beat lefties (check out his splits). Most of his contract could be covered next season by trading a starter (take your pick -- Garcia, Vazquez, or even Buehrle), and Rob Mackowiak (bring up Sweeney to platoon in CF and back up the other outfield spots), with no loss of prospects. Since there was no way to fix the starting pitching, adding offense was the best way to salvage this club. Unfortunately, the Yankees understood this, and they are likely going to win the World Series because they made the move we should have made. So, that's my list. Of course, I'm totally bummed. But this season doesn't take away any of the magic of 2005. And I think we have the core of a club that will have every chance of going after it again in 2007. The key, of course, will be starting pitching. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 08:52 PM) This game is going as expected. Buehrle's getting rocked and the offense will likely have trouble scoring. All that stuff about us turning a corner yesterday was nonsense. Well we certainly can't beat a lefty with this lineup. Fields should be on a plane tonight. But Ozzie has to take the blame for putting our worst hitter against lefties in LF. Pods is better.

BTW -- Where is Josh Fields when we need a right handed 3B?? We need a chance to win these games.

Get McCarthy up. Give us a chance.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 7, 2006 -> 06:44 PM) Mackowiak in LF against a lefty? That makes no sense. We might as well put Ozuna in LF, and Cintron at 3B. Nice to see Ozzie can't even keep his decisions straight, as he said Sweeney would be playing tonight. This is an awful lineup we have tonight. This is worse than awful. And Ozzie said just yesterday, wasn't it, that if you couldn't hit, you wouldn't be in there! Sheesh. So much for that. Buehrle can't afford to give up any more runs. (HR by Sizemore, probably while I was sending.)

Sweeney over Pods? Certainly the defense would be better, but it is a little early to know whether Sweeney wouldn't start with a stretch of .200 hitting and not much power. Cintron over Uribe? Sure, in certain circumstances. But Cintron can't hit a good fastball, has no power, and doesn't walk any more often than Uribe. Ozzie said the other day that the guys who hit the best are going to be in the lineup. Well, in that case, Ozuna ought to hit against lefties, and Ross Gload or Rob Mackowiak ought to hit against right handers as the new platoon in LF. (I like Gload a little more, since he doesn't have to be removed if a lefty reliever comes into the game, while Mack is an automatic out against lefties this year. Plus, Gload never K's. But Mack's LF defense would be better, so flip a coin.) Sweeney, to my way of thinking, ought to be the new left handed platoon player with Brian Anderson in CF. I doubt he can be relied on to hit righties better than Gload and Mack right now. Iguchi should hit lead off, with Ozuna/Gload #2, since neither of them strike out much and both can bunt. I would also drop Thome to #5, and flip Crede and AJ. So, my lineup would be: Iguchi 2B Gload (Mack)/Ozuna LF Dye RF Konerko 1B Thome DH Crede 3B AJ C Sweeney/Anderson CF Cintron/Uribe SS I would pretty much platoon the guys with slashes b/w the names, including in-game platoons if the other team switches up relievers. This lineup would still be vulnerable to lefties, unless Juan Uribe can find his September form!

There were quite a few things I enjoyed during last night's game. 1. Pods not hitting lead off. Has Ozzie finally seen the light? Don't bet the season on Pods turning it around. Put your faith, instead, in the team. We have guys who can perform up top for a month. Use them. 2. Contreras cruising. We have to have Jose go on another win streak to have a chance. 3. Dustin Hermanson! Boy it was nice to see him on the mound again. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy ended up helping us in some key moments this month. 4. Thome's 4 for 4. He had some easy pickings, but he didn't miss them. 5. JD's catch in RF. JD's a gamer. Sore back and all, he didn't hesitate to dive and catch a ball that completely extinguished any hope Boston might come back. His bomb over the monster was pretty good too. Nice to outplay Big Papi in Boston. 6. Detroit lost, and Minnesota lost a late lead to a team they completely owned. The herky-jerky rookie reliever Neshak got tagged for back-to-back dingers. Let's make this the start of a beautiful winning streak. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have not won a game scoring less than 4 runs since Garcia's 1-0 gem over St. Louis on June 22nd, when Jim Thome's HR was our only hit.

I'm all for dumping Pods, but the Sox should go with Gload in LF for the rest of the year, and consider hitting him second and moving Iguchi up to lead off. Gload is going to hit .300+ and walk a little. Plus, he never strikes out, and can bunt. I'll take him over an untested Sweeney as a hitter for the next couple of years at least. Then I would sub Mack for defensive purposes whenever we have the lead.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 05:17 PM) Sweeney Well, if Sweeney has been recalled, why not Sweeney and Fields as a platoon? Seriously, you can't throw a rookie into that position, as much as you might fantasize he would immediately start hitting. I still like my idea of Iguchi as a lead off hitter, where he could probably steal at a much higher percentage than Pods, with Ozuna and Gload platooning in the 2 hole. Mack is the defensive replacement and pinch hitter if Ozuna's in and a righty comes in from the pen. I'd give that a solid week before I'd let Pods see the field. Then I'd give him a few more games to see if he can get hot like he did after his huge funk to start the season. Y'know, I wonder if his postseason wasn't helped out last year by his stint on the disabled list. Maybe he just needs a good rest.

QUOTE(Drew @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 04:05 PM) On a similar note, I want someone not named Podsednik in the leadoff spot. Ozuna has been hustling his ass off, swinging the bat well and making some solid plays in the field the last few weeks. Right, see my other post on this topic. Who do you want? Personally, I would move Iguchi to lead off and use Gload/Ozuna to platoon in the #2 hole, since both bunt well and neither one strikes out. They could actually HIT AND RUN! We're stranding so many guys at 3rd in part b/c Pods/Iguchi/Thome are 5/3/1 on the K totals for the team. We could use some contact hitters to break that up.

I think most of us on this board think we can and must do better than Podsednik these critical games down the stretch. What are our options? Here's Mack's splits: Home 113 12 28 5 0 2 15 12 3 27 3 0 .248 .333 .345 .678 Away 107 14 38 4 1 2 4 13 0 21 2 1 .355 .425 .467 .892 vs. Left 46 5 10 0 0 0 6 3 2 11 0 0 .217 .294 .217 .512 vs. Right 174 21 56 9 1 4 13 22 1 37 5 1 .322 .399 .454 .853 Last 7 Days 11 1 4 1 0 0 2 2 0 4 0 0 .364 .462 .455 .916 April 35 3 5 2 0 0 4 4 1 9 0 0 .143 .250 .200 .450 May 64 7 22 4 0 2 5 8 1 10 0 1 .344 .425 .500 .925 June 46 8 14 2 0 0 3 5 1 11 0 0 .304 .377 .348 .725 July 36 5 15 0 1 1 3 4 0 6 4 0 .417 .475 .556 1.031 August 39 3 10 1 0 1 4 4 0 12 1 0 .256 .326 .359 .685 Total 220 26 66 9 1 4 19 25 3 48 5 1 .300 .378 .405 .782 Here's Gload's splits: Home 66 8 21 4 0 1 7 4 0 7 2 0 .318 .352 .424 .776 Away 49 9 15 2 1 1 7 2 1 4 1 0 .306 .346 .449 .795 vs. Left 30 3 7 1 1 1 4 2 0 5 0 0 .233 .281 .433 .715 vs. Right 85 14 29 5 0 1 10 4 1 6 3 0 .341 .374 .435 .809 Last 7 Days 20 2 8 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 .400 .455 .600 1.055 April 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 .200 .333 .600 .933 May 18 0 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 0 .167 .158 .222 .380 June 30 3 10 1 0 0 4 0 0 3 0 0 .333 .333 .367 .700 July 28 6 10 1 0 1 5 0 1 2 0 0 .357 .379 .500 .879 August 34 6 12 3 0 1 3 5 0 2 2 0 .353 .436 .529 .965 Total 115 17 36 6 1 2 14 6 1 11 3 0 .313 .350 .435 .784 And, since Mackowiak sucks big time against lefties, and Gload isn't that good against them, here are Ozuna's splits: Home 72 10 24 3 1 2 11 0 2 8 2 2 .333 .351 .486 .837 Away 74 10 25 4 0 0 6 5 1 7 3 4 .338 .388 .392 .779 vs. Left 107 13 35 6 1 2 15 4 1 10 1 4 .327 .357 .458 .815 vs. Right 39 7 14 1 0 0 2 1 2 5 4 2 .359 .405 .385 .789 Last 7 Days 9 0 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .556 .556 .667 1.222 April 16 4 8 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 2 1 .500 .556 .625 1.181 May 34 4 12 3 1 1 6 3 0 4 3 2 .353 .405 .588 .994 June 38 10 18 0 0 0 4 0 1 2 0 2 .474 .487 .474 .961 July 23 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 .087 .125 .130 .255 August 35 2 9 1 0 1 4 0 1 3 0 1 .257 .278 .371 .649 Total 146 20 49 7 1 2 17 5 3 15 5 6 .336 .370 .438 .808 My vote would be a Gload/Ozuna platoon, because Gload is hot and Mack is not. But if you want better defense, then go with Mack/Ozuna in the lead off hole. (With Mack having a pretty big road/home differential, if you really want to go by numbers, play Gload at home and Mack on the road.) Pods just isn't cutting it: Home 236 38 60 15 3 2 24 29 1 46 16 7 .254 .337 .369 .706 Away 215 42 58 10 3 1 19 20 1 41 20 7 .270 .331 .358 .689 vs. Left 129 18 28 4 1 1 8 11 1 30 9 4 .217 .282 .287 .569 vs. Right 322 62 90 21 5 2 35 38 1 57 27 10 .280 .354 .394 .749 Last 7 Days 20 3 6 0 0 0 1 3 0 6 3 0 .300 .391 .300 .691 April 90 13 21 5 1 0 5 5 1 11 4 4 .233 .281 .311 .592 May 85 25 27 6 3 1 9 20 0 16 14 3 .318 .443 .494 .938 June 94 19 23 4 2 1 17 11 0 22 6 4 .245 .318 .362 .679 July 94 14 27 7 0 1 6 5 1 18 6 2 .287 .330 .394 .724 August 88 9 20 3 0 0 6 8 0 20 6 1 .227 .289 .261 .550 Total 451 80 118 25 6 3 43 49 2 87 36 14 .262 .334 .364 .698 We carried Brian Anderson all year, but we can't afford to carry any offensive zeros, especially not in the lead off position, these last 30 make-or-break ballgames. Gload/Mack/Ozuna aren't going to scare anyone. But at least they can actually hit the baseball and won't whiff every time up. (Frankly, if I were manager, I'd move Iguchi into the leadoff position and use this new platoon in the #2 hole. Gload and Ozuna can both bunt and they don't strike out.)

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 04:23 PM) The irony is if McCarthy had been used to start the 6th inning the day before for Vazquez, and he had pitched two to three innings, he wouldn't have been available for nearly as long as he was for relief of Contreras. So guess what... we still would have had Cotts and Riske trying to protect the team again, just on a different day. But we would have WON one of the two games, instead of losing both. QUOTE(cgaudin @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) "Half-game" Vasquez has been consistently inconsistent, ergo his .500 record. He does however have a lot of value to a team that is DESPERATE for pitching, Baltimore, Texas, St. Louis, Philly, Boston, and Washington to name a few. Vasquez can bring the Sox a lot of "proven" talent in a deal. I'm sure KW is thinking the same thing. But one thing is certain, he has to go. But can you imagine the value he would have if Ozzie had protected the team by yanking Javy after 5 innings and going with McCarthy? He could easily be an 18-game winner already. Most teams don't have a Brandon McCarthy, who could have protected Vazquez's leads for 2-3 innings and given a lead to Jenks. But we do. I'd have to say, this is the issue that has frustrated me the most about Ozzie this year. The mismanagement of his tired starting staff and underulitization of Brandon McCarthy. But you know what?? Right now we're 1/2 game ahead of the Twins for the last spot in the AL playoffs. If we make it to the playoffs, then all is forgiven. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(vandy125 @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 01:56 PM) If the guys in front of him get on base, there would be more opportunties to do hit-and-run and be more aggressive with Dye at the plate. He makes contact and puts the ball in play at a higher rate than Thome does. Thome is actually the worst on the team at putting the ball in play (about 70%, watch out when he does get a hold of a pitch though). Dye does it at about a 79% clip (This is based on (AB + SAC - K) / (AB + SAC) AB-----SF-----K------BIP %--------Player 115----1------11-----0.905172414--Gload 458----7------47-----0.898924731--Crede 146----2------15-----0.898648649--Ozuna 62-----1------7------0.888888889--Sandy 424----4------54-----0.873831776--Pierz 241----2------31-----0.872427984--Cintron 376----11-----62-----0.839793282--Uribe 446----11-----83-----0.818380744--Pods 467----7------88-----0.814345992--Kong 461----7------92-----0.803418803--Iguchi 441----6------95-----0.787472036--Dye 290----3------72-----0.754266212--BA 405----5------120----0.707317073--Thome I posted before the season I thought Ozzie should hit Dye #3, and that was before we all realized how good he really is. And I didn't even have to make the argument above, though it is a good one.

I have no clue what our record will be down the stretch. But I like Jermaine Dye in the #3 hole. I like how Ozzie finally used Brandon McCarthy in long relief and it nearly paid off with an improbable win. I like seeing Mark Buehrle shut down a team that had beaten us 5 in a row. I like having survived our 24-game stretch from hell being within 1/2 game of the playoffs. I like the fact we have only 3 more games with the Twins. I like the fact that Brad Radke got another cortisone shot and Liriano is still on the DL. I like the fact that we still haven't played up to our potential. I like the fact that we've got several players on our roster who really turn on the hitting in September, including Joe Crede and Juan Uribe. I like the fact that Brian Anderson now has a clue at the plate and still plays great defense in the outfield. And I like the fact that we have enough guys on this roster who have been through the pressure cooker and performed fabulously, so that once we find that spark, we are going to be unbeatable. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!!!! 2006 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

McCarthy was actually used properly the next night to bail out Contreras after he gave up 5 runs early. His 1-run performance kept us in the game against Santana, and we actually tied the game 7-7 in the 9th, only to lose in 11 innings. So many guys want McCarthy in the rotation. I don't. The man could have won so many games for us if he was used in LONG RELIEF -- for Vazquez, Buehrle, Garcia, and the Count (and even Garland before he got his act together). I'd rather have 3 long stints out of McCarthy per week than 1 start. By now, our starters would have been given the rest they needed to bounce back. Anyway, I think we always do well after rally games that fall short, like the 8-7 loss to the Twins. We could use a little 9 game winning streak right about now. GO WHITE SOX!!!

Last night was another example of a game lost b/c Ozzie does not understand how to manage games started by Javier Vazquez. 6th inning, ahead by 3 runs, pitching a shutout, it seems natural to send JV back out for the 6th. The result, 4 runs given up, and the lead, b/w JV, Cotts, and Riske. Where is Brandon McCarthy???????????????? He should start the 6th inning of every game pitched by JV that's within 3 runs. I think we're up to 10 games blown by JV mismanagement at this point. Sure Javier Vazquez should pitch better. But we all know what's going to happen, and we have the perfect player to help us win those games. Just use him.