False Hope

[CWSGuy406]

Well looks like I stumped ya on my question.....If no one can point out where teh sox are better than the twins then why do u think we have such a good shot...."Cuz they play a weaker schedule"....ya maybe we can sneak into the playoffs and get spanked like we did in 2000....I dont wanna sneak into the playoffs and maybe get hot....I wanna f***in win this thing outright...not becuz the twins f***ed up but cuz we played good baseball and derserve to be there

OK - the Twins are better than us. You are 100% correct, we are all dumbasses. I bow down to you.

 

Will you leave now?

[Bighurt52235]

Well looks like I stumped ya on my question.....If no one can point out where teh sox are better than the twins then why do u think we have such a good shot...."Cuz they play a weaker schedule"....ya maybe we can sneak into the playoffs and get spanked like we did in 2000....I dont wanna sneak into the playoffs and maybe get hot....I wanna f***in win this thing outright...not becuz the twins f***ed up but cuz we played good baseball and derserve to be there

I don't think anybody has ever "won it outright". maybe the 1998 Yankees, but that was a special team.

[qwerty]

Well looks like I stumped ya on my question.....If no one can point out where teh sox are better than the twins then why do u think we have such a good shot...."Cuz they play a weaker schedule"....ya maybe we can sneak into the playoffs and get spanked like we did in 2000....I dont wanna sneak into the playoffs and maybe get hot....I wanna f***in win this thing outright...not becuz the twins f***ed up but cuz we played good baseball and derserve to be there

I am done with you, i pointed how i think the sox fair against them in three categories but it was not good enough for you.

[Bighurt52235]

Also, why the f*** do some people want to be he f***ing best at the opening of the playoffs, or not go at all? I would kill for a wild card birth or anything. If you want to have homefield advantage throughout or you would rather sit on your ass in October, you have a problem.

[DBAHO]

If no one can point out where teh sox are better than the twins then why do u think we have such a good shot

1 - Back end of the rotation. Lohse and Mulholland against Garland and Shoe.

2 - Bullpen - Besides Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon, Twinkies bullpen has been overworked and it'll show soon.

3 - Center Field - Aaron Rowand is out producing Torri Hunter.

4 - Twinkies top 2 starters - Radke and Santana have been on fire in the past month. Don't forget that Santana really struggled early, and Radke wasn't at his best either, so I doubt they'll be still pitching this good at the end of the season.

5 - Paul Konerko vs. Justin Morneau - Say what you will about Morneau's power potential, it's still a risk for the Twinkies to play him everyday.

[AngelasDaddy0427]

Seriously Pasqua I think you need to get a grip.

I was pissed and depressed last night and maybe even sounded worse then you but by now you should of had plenty of time to come to your senses.

The season is not over and there in plenty of time left.

We'll see in a few weeks if you still feel the same way

[Bighurt52235]

DBAHO, I'll disagree with you on number three. Sure ARow has a better average, but he has less homeruns (less AB's though) and very few RBI's for 11 homeruns and a plus .300 average. I would rathr have Hunter than Rowand any day.

[qwerty]

DBAHO, I'll disagree with you on number three.  Sure ARow has a better average, but he has less homeruns (less AB's though) and very few RBI's for 11 homeruns and a plus .300 average. I would rathr have Hunter than Rowand any day.

I would rather have rowand's contract and and his numbers, compared to hunter's contract and his numbers.

[fathom]

The biggest advantage that the Twins have over the Sox is at the catching position, even with Mauer out. However, when he comes back, it's not even close. Also, Juan Rincon is a lot better than Politte. Marte is better than Romero, their lefty specialist. It's just very hard to compare the Sox to the Twins right now with Frank and Maggs out. BTW, Frank and Maggs account for nearly 33 percent of our payroll. Hard to win a division with that happening.

[CWSGuy406]

The biggest advantage that the Twins have over the Sox is at the catching position, even with Mauer out.  However, when he comes back, it's not even close.  Also, Juan Rincon is a lot better than Politte.  Marte is better than Romero, their lefty specialist.  It's just very hard to compare the Sox to the Twins right now with Frank and Maggs out.  BTW, Frank and Maggs account for nearly 33 percent of our payroll.  Hard to win a division with that happening.

I'm glad you brought that up, fathom, because their bullpen is a lot like ours:

 

Nathan and Shingo have both been two of the best closers in the league, advantage a bit to Minny.

 

Marte and Rincon (I know, ones righty and ones lefty) have been the best relievers outside the closers.

 

Politte and Romero have both been pretty decent, a little better than average.

 

Balfour and Adkins have both done very good, IMHO, jobs for mop-up middle relief.

 

Unfortunately, that is the only extent of it, as Mullholland has been much much much > than Cotts/Jackson.

[ZoomSlowik]

I gotta say, as a long time baseball fan, I see these teams as being even right about now. The Twins are playing a little better right now, that's about it. The Twins have Mauer on the DL, we have Frank and Maggs. If either of them come back ahead of schedule I gotta say we take a decent lead.

 

Santana is on fire right now, and Radke has pitched fairly well. But if you look at the numbers from week to week, the advantage is going to change. Ours was better last week after Buehrle and Garcia smoked the Indians, theirs are better right now. If I ultimately had to pick 2 between the 4 of them, I'd take Garcia and Santana, but I'd rather have Buehrle than Radke.

 

The back end of both of their rotations are pretty weak, but I'd rather have ours. Garland and Loaiza come up with some good starts and seem to have better potential when they are on, while Lohse and Silva are consistently mediocre. Both of their 5th starters blow. I don't think adding Benson to the Twins really changes this, he looks like Ritchie Part 2.

 

I'd rather have our lineup, with everyone healthy or not. Lee, Rowand, Konerko, and Everett give us 4 pretty decent hitters right now. If one of our other guys hits a hot streak we'll do well, and it's a monster with our sluggers back. Many of the Twins are merely mediocre. Mauer can hit but is hurt, which seems to be a regular occurence. Stewart is a pretty good hitter, and Guzman is an okay hitter that is doing well. Ford looks like a fluke, his numbers are still solid, but they are dropping. The rest of their guys are mostly hitting .260-.270, with Jones at .250 and Koskie down around .240.

 

The pens are both pretty medicore. Both teams rely heavily on two guys that are doing well. The Twins have a decent advantage in defense, although I think that drops a little with Morneau replacing Mientkeiwicz(I really don't care if I spelled the prick's name right).

 

To me it looks like it is going to be a close battle the whole way, and I would give us the edge because of our much easier schedule. As for the playoffs, it all depends on what happens to Thomas and Ordonez. All of the AL teams have flaws; none of them are unbeatable.

[YASNY]

The Sox have some adjustments to make. They have somewhat gotten used to playing without Frank OR Maggs in the lineup, but now they need to learn how to win with Frank AND Maggs out. Different players have to assume new roles and step up to pick up some slack. I think Lee, Konerko and Rowand have done a good job of that. Valentin, Uribe and Harris have not maintained their earlier level of play, and that is what's really hurting this team right now. Crede will be fine even with a gradual improvement. Timo Perez needs to learn the meaning of the word "hustle" or I'd bench his ass. Everett will produce, he's a known quantity so that's all good.

 

I think our middle infielders will determine the level of success the team has. If they don't get it going, we're sunk. If they can we'll win the division.

[Butter Parque]

Starting pitching is practically the same, radke is not as good as he is pitching.

 

Yeah your exactly right, Radke he's not that good, you know he has just been an ace for years now and one of the most successful pitchers from the mid-90's to the present day. Thats really showing your intelligence. Wow if we had a series against them and it was Radke against Loaiza, I really think we would have a good chance. Yeah because Radke never pitches this good and Loaiza won twenty games one year and now his ERA is a very nice 4.8. We've got a great shot.

[cwsox]

I am a sox fan

No, you are not.

 

You are someone with a keyboard.

[ZoomSlowik]

Yeah your exactly right, Radke he's not that good, you know he has just been an ace for years now and one of the most successful pitchers from the mid-90's to the present day. Thats really showing your intelligence. Wow if we had a series against them and it was Radke against Loaiza, I really think we would have a good chance. Yeah because Radke never pitches this good and Loaiza won twenty games one year and now his ERA is a very nice 4.8. We've got a great shot.

Ace of the staff? One of the most successful pitchers from the mid-90's to present? Are you high? His career ERA is 4.28 and he has had one year with more than 15 wins, even though he's been pitching since 95. His ERA's from 2000 on are 4.45, 3.94, 4.72, and 4.49. He's on pace to beat his career best ERA this year, which was 3.75. Even this year he is only 7-6. He's been a .500 pitcher his whole career. I'd rather have him than Loaiza but it's not like he's a pitching stud. Esteban has as many 20 wins seaons as he does. Besides, if you're going to compare our staffs you'd compare him to Buehrle since they would likely face each other in the second game of the series, where it is much more even.