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Sox impressions


fathom

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With the season dwindling down, here's some thoughts on Sox players this year:

 

-Carlos Lee is quietly having his best overall season. He'll likely bat above .300, have good power numbers, and has played very good D in LF. No complaints.

 

-Paul Konerko: He's almost become an all or nothing player this year. He's great at home, bad on the road. He used to be more of a line drive hitter, but seems to have changed his approach to hit fly balls. Therefore, he's hit a ton of infield flies this year. Still, a great rebound year, and if you're going to trade someone, he has a lot of value right now.

 

-Jose Valentin: Yuck. Completely disappeared down the stretch. It would be great for the Sox to get a dependable SS who can hit against both lhp and rhp. Still wouldnt mind Uribe as everyday SS, but Ozzie obviously doesnt want that.

 

-A. Rowand: Most improvement I've seen by a Sox player from one year to the next I can ever recall. He went from a platoon player that you didn't necessarily want up to our best all-around player.

 

-Willie Harris: I still don't feel like he's doing what he needs to in order to be an effective MLB player. He doesn't really steal bases, he's not a good bunter, and even though he has good range, he doesn't finish off the plays very well (weak arm).

 

That's it for now

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-Carlos Lee is quietly having his best overall season.  He'll likely bat above .300, have good power numbers, and has played very good D in LF.  No complaints.

So true. We really haven't talked about Carlos much this season with the exception of him watching his HRs :lol: ...and his hit streak earlier in the season. However, it's really been because he hasn't been much of a problem this season. He's getting the job done.

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And I'll throw in my props for Timo Perez. He's been great. He knows how to play the game - be it being one of our most clutch hitters, being able to lay down a bunt (best bunter on the team, hands f***ing down - he better work with Harris in the offseason), be it his cannon from the outfield, or distracting the pitchers (the one I think of his he distracting Zambrano on the Crede homer :headbang ).

 

Cotts, Buehrle, Shingo, and Uribe also get some love. :cheers

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Willie Harris - Very impressed in his first full year. If anyone would of said in the offseason that he would hit .260+ and have almost a .350 OBP at this point in the year they would of been nuts. He proved them wrong.

AROW- Finally showed why I, and a few other people, had so much faith is his ability to be a top CF.

Jose Valentin- Awful

Joe Borchard-I didn't have an opinion on him coming into this year. He's worthless and he's dead weight. No hope.

Joe Crede-He's regressed badly. Hopefully he can get back on track. At least has shown flashes of Quality in the past.

Jon Garland-Has been able to consistantly give up 3 or 4 ER's most starts. His few bad starts have really hurt him numbers wise though.

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Willie Harris - Very impressed in his first full year. If anyone would of said in the offseason that he would hit .260+ and have almost a .350 OBP at this point in the year they would of been nuts. He proved them wrong.

I was hoping for more, actually. Like maybe a .280 average with all the speed and bunting ability he has ... oops.

 

And I was expecting more than 15 stolen bases. And some semblance of consistency.

 

How did you like that 0-5 last nite, with the multiple poor at bats? That's what Guillen has been saying about Harris. No consistency, poor at bats. He'll get close to 400 at bats by the time this is over, that's more than enough chance.

 

Bottom line here, if you want to win a championship, it's not gonna be with Willie Harris as your every day 2nd baseman.

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I was hoping for more, actually.  Like maybe a .280 average with all the speed and bunting ability he has ... oops.

 

And I was expecting more than 14 stolen bases.  And some semblance of consistency.

 

How did you like that 0-5 last nite, with the multiple poor at bats?  That's what Guillen has been saying about Harris.  No consistency, poor at bats.

 

Bottom line here, if you want to win a championship, it's not gonna be with Willie Harris as your every day 2nd baseman.

:notworthy

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Let's examine how pathetic Jose has really been. Let's quantify it, shall we??

 

I think this tells the whole story.....

 

Okay..... so the html table didn't work....

 

Jose has hit .150 (23-153) since the All-Star Break. He is 27-178 since June.

 

He has a whopping OBP of .216 and a slugging % of .340 since the All-Star break.

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I was hoping for more, actually.  Like maybe a .280 average with all the speed and bunting ability he has ... oops.

 

And I was expecting more than 15 stolen bases.  And some semblance of consistency.

 

How did you like that 0-5 last nite, with the multiple poor at bats?  That's what Guillen has been saying about Harris.  No consistency, poor at bats.  He'll get close to 400 at bats by the time this is over, that's more than enough chance.

 

Bottom line here, if you want to win a championship, it's not gonna be with Willie Harris as your every day 2nd baseman.

Didn't we go through this with Ray Durham when he came up. Great on the tough plays, fumbles the routine plays...doesn't bunt or walk enough...should steal more...swings for the fences (alright Willie doesn't or can't do that). It took a year or two of faith until Ray Ray came around and he did. So, why not one more year as the starting 2B and see what happens. If Willie doesn't come around or doesn't work hard at his deficiencies...let him go. But until then, he is still a rookie, let him make his mistakes and get better.

 

Oh yeah, and keep him at 2B.

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Didn't we go through this with Ray Durham when he came up.  Great on the tough plays, fumbles the routine plays...doesn't bunt or walk enough...should steal more...swings for the fences (alright Willie doesn't or can't do that).  It took a year or two of faith until Ray Ray came around and he did.  So, why not one more year as the starting 2B and see what happens.  If Willie doesn't come around or doesn't work hard at his deficiencies...let him go.  But until then, he is still a rookie, let him make his mistakes and get better.

 

Oh yeah, and keep him at 2B.

Good points, I have to disagree though.

 

Durham was a switch hitter, that was another big plus for him. Durham had much more power, but I will qualify that by saying on this team, Harris having zero power isn't that big of a deal. But it made more sense to keep Durham because his power potential was very intriguing. Durham was an above average bunter even from the get-go, Harris is below average.

 

As for base stealing, there are similarities. Durham never got great reads off pitchers and never became a prolific base stealer. Same is true with Harris. If we want a really good leadoff man, or a guy who drives the opposition nuts, we need a small guy like Harris to be able to steal bases. There are really no others in the lineup who can do it. Even if they change some pieces, how likely will it be they get a 3B or a RF who can steal bases, seeing as those are traditionally power positions?

 

Maybe they'll get a SS to do that, but I doubt it. I really see Vizquel coming here, so they don't have to trade for a SS - and it gives them time to further groom Uribe.

 

The pitching staff will be pretty good, they've already said they're targeting a starter and a couple of bullpen arms. If your starting pitching is above average, maybe even really good (Garcia, Buehrle, Free Agent, Contreras, Garland), you are in "go for it" mode. I don't see Harris being a guy who can spark the team via small ball. If his bunting and base stealing were improving over the course of 2004, I'd maybe feel differently. Unfortunately, he's just as inept (maybe too strong a word, but you get the point) as he was last year, in terms of the little things.

 

My last point is very subjective and open for debate, and that would be to my eye, Ray Durham had more obvious talent and potential at that point than Harris ever had. Just my own observation from watching both players quite a bit.

 

But your point about patience is well taken. They've sure shown it with Garland. The thing is, though, I strongly believe Guillen has his mind made up on certain players, and it's just a guess but I bet if I sat down for coffee with Ozzie, he and I would have similar opinions on Harris.

 

Might make both me and Guillen dummies :lol: , but based on his comments, I can't see Harris having a key role on this team, or even being on this team.

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