10 questions for Kenny

[southsider2k5]

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

[MEANS]

pretty good read. AS all of us, I would be psyched if the changes this off-season = number 10(ws win), but i still believe we are 1 season away from that, a nice showing in the playoffs will make me happy, but don't get me wrong a ws championship is always the goal.

Edited March 16, 2005 by MEANS

[mreye]

10. What is your goal for this season?

 

KW: We have one goal here -- to win a World Series title for White Sox fans and the city of Chicago. Anything short of that is a failure.

 

[Butter Parque]

Jees, Eye, what did you think he was going to say, "our goal is to finish at .500 and in 3rd place". Every teams goal is to win the World Series.

 

I just don't believe him anymore. I believe he tries every year, his hardest to put the best possible team on the field, but I don't really have any reason to believe in him anymore. This guy just makes bad mover after bad move.

 

I want the Sox to win the Worls Series more then ever, but I don't like our team this year. From Analyzing our team, I'll tell you why:

 

Scott Podsednik: Had a great rookie season, but tailed off dramatically.

 

Juan Uribe: How in the hell are you going to get a guy who wants to swing for the fences, to be a small ball player.

 

Tadahito Iguchi- So far we've heard a lot of disheartening talk from scouts and from MLB players who have seen him ex) Ray King, He's also never played in the majors before.

 

Paul Konerko- After a terrible 2003, he rebounded in 2004 to hit over 40 HR's. But doesn't he have the capabiluty to hit .300 and hit 30 HR's. I take that instead.

 

Aaron Rowand- Everybody's hyped on him, like myself, but wasn't this guy and underachiever hisa whole career until he finally had one great year.

 

Jermaine Dye- Never even came close to repeating his career year, always hurt.

 

AJ Pierzynski- Has no defensive capabilities, and has been known to be a clubhouse cancer.

 

El Duque- Can't get through 1 healthy season anymore. His arm might fall off this year.

 

Contreras- Has no control and no confidence. So far, a bust

 

Shingo- Can hitters finally catch up to him this year.

 

Buehrle- Is eh a true ace/

 

Garcia- Struggled since coming to Chicago

 

I hope they win they win this year, but there are a lot of ?'s

[YASNY]

Scott Podsednik: Had a great rookie season, but tailed off dramatically.

 

Juan Uribe: How in the hell are you going to get a guy who wants to swing for the fences, to be a small ball player.

 

Tadahito Iguchi- So far we've heard a lot of disheartening talk from scouts and from MLB players who have seen him ex) Ray King, He's also never played in the majors before.

 

Paul Konerko- After a terrible 2003, he rebounded in 2004 to hit over 40 HR's. But doesn't he have the capabiluty to hit .300 and hit 30 HR's. I take that instead.

 

Aaron Rowand- Everybody's hyped on him, like myself, but wasn't this guy and underachiever hisa whole career until he finally had one great year.

 

Jermaine Dye- Never even came close to repeating his career year, always hurt.

 

AJ Pierzynski- Has no defensive capabilities, and has been known to be a clubhouse cancer.

 

El Duque- Can't get through 1 healthy season anymore. His arm might fall off this year.

 

Contreras- Has no control and no confidence. So far, a bust

 

Shingo- Can hitters finally catch up to him this year.

 

Buehrle- Is eh a true ace/

 

Garcia- Struggled since coming to Chicago

 

 

Posednik: Has stated he tried to do too much last year and will get back to what he was successful at. He has also proven he has the ability to have success at this level.

 

Uribe: How can he be considered a bad move. He exceeded all our expectations last year. He can possibly be a small ball player because that what the team is stressing. He's also a GG caliber SS, and the team is stressing defense.

 

Iguchi: Unknown quantity. We'll see. It's early though. He hasn't achieved a comfort level yet.

 

Konerko: He hit .298 in '00 and .304 in '02. He's hit over 30 HR twice. He's proved he has the capabilities.

 

Rowand: No. He was a young player that was set back by a stupid, unfortunate accident. He's for real.

 

Dye: A series of freak accidents. Let's see what happens with him. Maybe it's time luck went his way for a change.

 

AJ: No one complained about his defense in Minnesota. He didn't fit in SF, so he got a bad rap. I think AJ will be an asset to this team. He's got the chip on his shoulder that this team has been lacking.

 

El Duque: It takes two years to fully recover from his surgery. It's been proven time and time again. He's healthy now.

 

Shingo: Maybe. But then again, he's proven he can be successful at this level.

 

Buerhle: Take his stats over the past 3 or 4 years and compare them to the rest of the starters in the AL. He ranks as one of the best. most consistant starting pitchers in the league.

 

Garcia: He struggled while he was injured. He was effective while healthy. Check it out.

[AnthraxFan93]

10. What is your goal for this season?

 

KW: We have one goal here -- to win a World Series title for White Sox fans and the city of Chicago. Anything short of that is a failure.

 

About time KW realized that he is a failure in this town.. now if only the majority of Sox fans, and the Owners would see it as well.

[YASNY]

We really need an irradiator.

[AnthraxFan93]

We really need an irradiator.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That is what I am here for..

[Yossarian]

Jees, Eye, what did you think he was going to say, "our goal is to finish at .500 and in 3rd place". Every teams goal is to win the World Series.

 

I just don't believe him anymore. I believe he tries every year, his hardest to put the best possible team on the field, but I don't really have any reason to believe in him anymore. This guy just makes bad mover after bad move.

 

I want the Sox to win the Worls Series more then ever, but I don't like our team this year. From Analyzing our team, I'll tell you why:

 

Scott Podsednik: Had a great rookie season, but tailed off dramatically.

 

Juan Uribe: How in the hell are you going to get a guy who wants to swing for the fences, to be a small ball player.

 

Tadahito Iguchi- So far we've heard a lot of disheartening talk from scouts and from MLB players who have seen him ex) Ray King, He's also never played in the majors before.

 

Paul Konerko- After a terrible 2003, he rebounded in 2004 to hit over 40 HR's. But doesn't he have the capabiluty to hit .300 and hit 30 HR's. I take that instead.

 

Aaron Rowand- Everybody's hyped on him, like myself, but wasn't this guy and underachiever hisa whole career until he finally had one great year.

 

Jermaine Dye- Never even came close to repeating his career year, always hurt.

 

AJ Pierzynski- Has no defensive capabilities, and has been known to be a clubhouse cancer.

 

El Duque- Can't get through 1 healthy season anymore. His arm might fall off this year.

 

Contreras- Has no control and no confidence. So far, a bust

 

Shingo- Can hitters finally catch up to him this year.

 

Buehrle- Is eh a true ace/

 

Garcia- Struggled since coming to Chicago

 

I hope they win they win this year, but there are a lot of ?'s

I agree somewhat and have also been posting about how "iff"y this team is. Having said that I am cautiously optimistic about our new Japanese addition and think Pierzynski will be solid enough at the plate. He's not Johnny Bench, but I think he'll do OK. I think that Buehrle and Freddy will put up good numbers and Contreras will be his usual erratic self. I wouldn't be surprised if Hermanson or someone else will be called upon to join the rotation. I am concerned about El Duque. There is evidence that he was born in 1965 and not 1969 like his baseball card says. Dye, Posednik, and Uribe do not excite me in the least. Neither does Timo Perez who seems to have lots of fans on various message boards. Rowand may regress a little but I expect him to be pretty solid. It's do or die time for Crede and I'm not sure that he just hasn't been solved by ML pitching. Josh Fields ain't nowhere near ready. I have a little more faith in Shingo than you do. In short this looks like about a .500 team to me. The ALC is weak and maybe some of the question marks will fall on the positive side, but as for me I don't see this as a particularly good team.

[mreye]

Wow. A lot of pessimists. I don't think we should be down on Iguchi yet. Shingo sucked in ST last year too.

 

I'm encouraged my KW's optimism and his confidence. I like his "tinkering."

[YASNY]

Wow. A lot of pessimists. I don't think we should be down on Iguchi yet. Shingo sucked in ST last year too.

 

I'm encouraged my KW's optimism and his confidence. I like his "tinkering."

 

Oh, I can understand the pessimism. There are as many reasons to be pessimistic as there is for optimism.

[mreye]

Oh, I can understand the pessimism.  There are as many reasons to be pessimistic as there is for optimism.

I don't agree. The moves he's made that have back fired were good at the time save for Todd Ritchie. The Wells move was brilliant. Shingo. Uribe. Garcia. On and on.

[YASNY]

I don't agree. The moves he's made that have back fired were good at the time save for Todd Ritchie. The Wells move was brilliant. Shingo. Uribe. Garcia. On and on.

 

 

This team is one big question mark. I'm generally an optimistic type Sox fan, and I am again this year. But, there are a lot of "ifs" that need to fall our way.

[greasywheels121]

The only one that I really see as a concern is health. Our pitchers will be fine, if healthy. Yes, we gave up some bop, but it's going to be impossible for this team to still not have power. The only thing that scares me about that is that we don't have as much as before. Therefore, if health is a problem with say a Frank, Rowand, or Konerko, it could hurt a bit.

 

I just see everything going back to health.

[Yossarian]

mreye- Billy Koch for Keith Foulke was NEVER a good idea. Foulke is gone, I'm happy for him and he ain't coming back. Nonetheless that trade was a stinker from day one. It's amazing to me how KW has "rehabilitated" himself the last couple of years. We'll have to see how all his deals work out. I give him credit for working his butt off in a restrictive setting. His boss is Jerry not George and I never forget that. Still he's made some bad trades and like I said it will take a while to judge his more recent moves.

[JUGGERNAUT]

This team has avg'd 33L at Home the past 5 yrs & 45L on the road the past 4 yrs. They won it in 2000 because they were road warriors.

 

What does that tell you? Just about any decent ballplayer can hit at the Cell. AJP & Pods are road warriors. You can look up their away stats to see that. They are significant upgrades at leadoff & #7 in that respect. I challenge any pessimist to refute that.

 

All of this "will they catch up to Shingo" talk is pure BS. There is nothing in last yr's stats to suggest any of that happening. Shingo doesn't just thow frisbees. He throws them for strikes. On the other side of the page Marte showed slight weakness vs RH last yr & still dominates LH. Cooper has him taking a much more aggressive stance this year & is pushing him to go inside on them. If he can nail that inside corner pitch on the RH's I expect him to return to his 03 form.

 

Vizcaino & Hermanson represent huge upgrades over last yr's pen.

Between Marky B, Freddy G, El Duque, & Jose C, & Jon G the Sox expect to have only 50 poor starts. That's a major improvement over the 2004

rotation. The other 112 starts are expected to be quality or winnable.

[YASNY]

This team has avg'd 33L at Home the past 5 yrs & 45L on the road the past 4 yrs.  They won it in 2000 because they were road warriors. 

 

What does that tell you?  Just about any decent ballplayer can hit at the Cell.  AJP & Pods are road warriors.  You can look up their away stats to see that.  They are significant upgrades at leadoff & #7 in that respect.  I challenge any pessimist to refute that.  

 

All of this "will they catch up to Shingo" talk is pure BS.  There is nothing in last yr's stats to suggest any of that happening.   Shingo doesn't just thow frisbees.  He throws them for strikes.  On the other side of the page Marte showed slight weakness vs RH last yr & still dominates LH.  Cooper has him taking a much more aggressive stance this year & is pushing him to go inside on them.  If he can nail that inside corner pitch on the RH's I expect him to return to his 03 form. 

 

Vizcaino & Hermanson represent huge upgrades over last yr's pen.

Between Marky B, Freddy G, El Duque, & Jose C, & Jon G the Sox expect to have only 50 poor starts.  That's a major improvement over the 2004

rotation.  The other 112 starts are expected to be quality or winnable.

 

You keep pounding on the road record thing. Here's a newsflash for you. We all know the Sox have to win more on the road. It's an old baseball axiom that to be successful, you have to play .500 or better baseball on the road. You can ease up on the topic, because all that were not aware of it, certainly are by now.

Edited March 16, 2005 by YASNY

[DBAHO]

That is what I am here for..

Irradiator

1)i) To expose to radiation.

ii) To treat with radiation: irradiate farm produce so as to destroy bacteria.

2) To shed light on; illuminate.

3) To manifest in a manner suggesting the emission of light; radiate: irradiate goodness.

[DBAHO]

Scott Podsednik: Had a great rookie season, but tailed off dramatically.

 

Juan Uribe: How in the hell are you going to get a guy who wants to swing for the fences, to be a small ball player.

 

Tadahito Iguchi- So far we've heard a lot of disheartening talk from scouts and from MLB players who have seen him ex) Ray King, He's also never played in the majors before.

 

Paul Konerko- After a terrible 2003, he rebounded in 2004 to hit over 40 HR's. But doesn't he have the capabiluty to hit .300 and hit 30 HR's. I take that instead.

 

Aaron Rowand- Everybody's hyped on him, like myself, but wasn't this guy and underachiever hisa whole career until he finally had one great year.

 

Jermaine Dye- Never even came close to repeating his career year, always hurt.

 

AJ Pierzynski- Has no defensive capabilities, and has been known to be a clubhouse cancer.

 

El Duque- Can't get through 1 healthy season anymore. His arm might fall off this year.

 

Contreras- Has no control and no confidence. So far, a bust

 

Shingo- Can hitters finally catch up to him this year.

 

Buehrle- Is eh a true ace/

 

Garcia- Struggled since coming to Chicago

 

I hope they win they win this year, but there are a lot of ?'s

Since this seems to be the popular post to quote, I'll give it a shot.

 

Podsednik - He's not going to post his 2004 numbers. He's in a better hitters park, and so long as he doesn't go the flyball route, he should be fine. .260 with an OBP of around .340/.350 is what I'm expecting.

 

Iguchi - I suppose you haven't been watching much of Iguchi in Spring Training so far. Would you rather Willie Harris and his .190 average in ST so far be given the starters job instead?

 

Konerko - How many first baseman in the league are able to hit .300 with 30HR's every year? There are going to be a lot of unhappy people if Konerko packs up and heads for the Bronx in 2006, but I don't expect that to happen. He's our clubhouse leader, and that was probably the deciding factor in him getting moved instead of Carlos Lee.

 

Rowand - Aaron has never had a season in his career where he's hit lower than .258, except for 32 games in Charlotte where he hit .243. This guy has one of the best and quickest swings, and so long as he lays off the pitch low and away he'll be fine. And last season's numbers came off a .226/.268/.453 start in April.

 

Dye - Dye has been injury prone yes, but a lot of those have been of a freakish nature. Last season he hit .265/23HR's/80 RBI's, in a pitcher's park in Oakland, and from only playing 137 games. IF he can stay healthy for a whole season, from hitting at the Cell, Dye will have better power numbers than Maggilo Ordonez. Book It.

 

Pierzynski - Defense won't be the key stat for Pierzynski. It'll be pitchers ERA. Ben Davis would be our best catcher defensively, but that didn't mean squat, when he had the highest ERA for the pitchers he caught out of all 4 we had last season, aith it about 5.30 IIRC. Clubhouse cancer? Only time will tell, but Brett Tomko should be thankful he doesn't pitch in the AL. And of course Pierzynski hitting about .280, 15-20HR's, 90RBI's OWNS Ben Davis's .231/.276/.400 splits.

 

El Duque - Calling Arnie Munoz. Calling Felix Diaz. Calling Brandon McCarthy before he's ready and starting the arbitration process early before he reaches his peak. KW has said there are no problems with his arm and it's been in the best condition for a few years. There's no doubt he'll be on the DL at some stage, but would you rather him for 2 years $8 million, or Esteban Loaiza for 2 years $9 million and his 5.50 ERA?

 

Contreras - Meh, I agree with you on Contreras as do a lot of people. The talent's all there, but whether or not we'll or anybody in America for that matter get to see it, I don't know. In any case, I expect him to be gone mid - season with B-Mac moving up, and some team will definitely want him because of his stuff, so long as the Sox pay some of his deal. It all depends whether or not we get the Jose Contreras we saw in August or September, that will determine his future here.

 

Shingo - 1.52 ERA in September. He ain't going to be as good as he was last season, I think that's a given. But look at the previous alternatives we've had. Billy Koch, you want him back giving up huge homers? He's Toronto's problem now. For $2.5 million, we're getting a cheap closer with the potential of about a 2.50-3 ERA with about 35 - 40 saves.

 

Buerhle - He's our ace, and will be for the next 3 years. Let's just hope all those innings he's pitched don't have a negative effect on his arm in the future.

 

Garcia - 9-4 with a 4.46 ERA, hardly struggling when you pitch at the Cell for half of your games, even though I'll admit he should have better numbers than that. The key stat for him will be HR's given up. 14 from 16 games for us last season. If he can cut that ratio down to .75:1, he'll have a sub 4 ERA and the oppurtunity to win 15 to 20 games. And for 3 years $27 million, compared to the likes of Derek Lowe (4 years $36 million) with his 5.42 ERA and Kris Benson (3 years $22 million) where he's had only 1 season with an ERA under 4, well you get my point.