BMac might stay with Sox

[YASNY]

But indications are the White Sox are thinking about keeping Brandon McCarthy on the roster and using him in long relief, with the possibility of giving him some spot starts to keep Hernandez fresh or to spell Jose Contreras if he goes into a slump.

 

 

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[DBAHO]

After his 1st performance, it was pretty much inevitable that this was going to happen. As much as I would like to see continue his apprenticeship down at AAA where he still had things to work on, Sox fans probably would have gone nuts if they kept the likes of Walker, Vizcaino and Cotts ahead of B-Mac.

 

I am glad to see that they are looking to save El Duque for down the stretch when we really will need him.

[beck72]

I would definitely be for it. BMac would give the sox their best chance to win games by his throwing strikes. It won't hurt his long term development, and he could get stretched out if he needed to start. Do it Sox.

[sayitaintso]

Didn't Buehrle come up with the Sox and stay in long relief for a year or so, and look how he turned out.

[beck72]

Didn't Buehrle come up with the Sox and stay in long relief for a year or so, and look how he turned out.

Guys who throw strikes and attack hitters have a future in the majors. BMac seems to have the same mentality as MB. If he can help the sox get outs [which he can] the sox can use him this year, no matter what role

[sayitaintso]

Guys who throw strikes and attack hitters

Thats exactly what i like about brandon, he doesn't care who you are, when he pitches he is going to throw stirkes to them and goes right after hitters.

[Jabroni]

After hearing B-Mac's interview with Mac, Jurko, and Harry on ESPN 1000, you could tell that he doesn't want to go back to Charlotte. They asked him how he felt about giving the starter's spot back to El Duque once he was healthy. B-Mac said that he understands that it is El Duque's spot in the rotation but he sure sounded like he didn't want to give it up. I can't imagine that he could be worse than Jizzcaino in relief.

Edited May 25, 2005 by Jabroni

[Princess Dye]

as i've said before.... the people here who hate this idea fail to see: we really need a RH long reliever. it's not just an excuse to keep McCarthy... it's a need area.

 

as we saw last year with our 5th starters, the organization really has no one else who is ready.

[JUGGERNAUT]

I believe if you come up before Sep 1 & remain on the 25 man roster for more than 21 days it counts as a year of service. This is all about El Duque.

 

The WSox want him ready to pitch his best stuff in Aug when they take on the Twins. If that means giving BMac 4-5 starts until then so be it. If that's the plan then they might as well keep him up.

 

They likewise mentioned he could fill in for Contreras but I think Contreras is pitching much better of late. They don't need a long reliever. They need a setup guy.

 

Of course if Marte pitches more like he did last night he might be the guy.

[kapkomet]

I believe if you come up before Sep 1 & remain on the 25 man roster for more than 21 days it counts as a year of service.  This is all about El Duque.

 

The WSox want him ready to pitch his best stuff in Aug when they take on the Twins.  If that means giving BMac 4-5 starts until then so be it.  If that's the plan then they might as well keep him up. 

 

They likewise mentioned he could fill in for Contreras but I think Contreras is pitching much better of late.  They don't need a long reliever.  They need a setup guy.

 

Of course if Marte pitches more like he did last night he might be the guy.

Wow, I agree with Juggernaut. /faints

 

[Jabroni]

I believe if you come up before Sep 1 & remain on the 25 man roster for more than 21 days it counts as a year of service.  This is all about El Duque.

 

The WSox want him ready to pitch his best stuff in Aug when they take on the Twins.  If that means giving BMac 4-5 starts until then so be it.  If that's the plan then they might as well keep him up. 

 

They likewise mentioned he could fill in for Contreras but I think Contreras is pitching much better of late.  They don't need a long reliever.  They need a setup guy.

 

Of course if Marte pitches more like he did last night he might be the guy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed, if he gives us the best chance of winning we may as well keep him on the roster. He will probably be in our rotation next season anyways. If Contreras continues to have a good season, we could trade him to a starting pitching desperate team like the Rangers or the Phillies for a top 1st baseman prospect (i.e. Adrian Gonzalez or Ryan Howard) and we won't have to overpay Paulie.

[Guest JimH]

Thoughts:

 

- Buehrle wasn't a long relief guy, he was a LH specialist at first and then a 6th/7th inning role.

 

- I too agree with Jugg about needing to strengthen the set up role. maybe Vizcaino will improve but then again maybe not. They need to find out, and they also need to find out about Shingo. I sense they are working around Shingo and as such, the bullpen is a man short.

 

- Not sure why people are clamoring to trade Contreras. He's under contract for 2006 and for once, the Sox have starting pitching depth. If Brandon has to spend some time in Charlotte in 22006, that's not gonna kill him. I love having six capable starters and I bet Guillen and KW do too.

 

- Very much against keeping McCarthy up here in a long relief role, would much rather have him continue to start on a regular schedule and learn. They can move him up and down all they want now. But maybe that's just me.

 

- If KW/Hahn/Reinsdorf don't think Konerko is worth all that $$, they'll find another 1B who can do the job, it's not something I am worried about at all. I like the idea of bringing in a stud prospect who's blocked in another organization but frankly would rather trade prospects for a prospect vs. chipping into the starting pitching depth.

 

- If at some point they need a long reliever, someone will step in. Cotts is hardly pitching now, he can do it. Walker has been invisible and he will get sent down I suspect after the next Texas series. I hate to keep beating the drum on Robert Person because I know people think he's an absolute zero, but he has slowly but surely been rounding into form at Charlotte. Stats don't show it but I listened to the game last nite and the announcer talked about him quite a bit, saying he is throwing much better. He'd be a good choice for a long reliever too.

 

One thing I really like though ... KW wants the best guys on the team and isn't concerned about arbitration clock, guaranteed salaries, etc. He knows this team can go places and is proceeding accordingly.

[beck72]

It sounds like the Sox want another guy who can get outs in the pen, and who can go multiple innings, like Hermanson was looked at to do before settling in as closer. BMac can give the Sox alot of outs, w/o hurting the team by giving up walks. This is all about winning in 2005 and getting the best pitchers out there.

[Wedge]

McCarthy needs to be on the staff. Even if he isn't a starter, we can really use him.

 

Wasn't there always talk of Contreras being put into the pen? That he had closer/set-up potential?

[southsider2k5]

I don't like this at all. Brandon needs his innings and regular work. It does him no good for his development if he sits for stretches of 10 days or more like Cotts and Walker are now.

[KevHead0881]

I'm fine with keeping him around as long as we plan to use him and use him correctly. I'm reminded of how we handled Jon Rauch at the beginning of the '02 season (or was it '03). We gave him a start here and there, and then we let him rot away in the bullpen for weeks on end. And you can make good case that it had a little to do with hindering his development.

 

Now, I realize that Rauch and McCarthy are night and day as far as where they are at as pitchers, but I just don't want to see us jerking McCarthy around. It could mess him up. Like I said, keep him around and use him.

[Wedge]

He'll be up here for two more starts at the least. Who knows, maybe somebody gets injured and it forces the issue.

[Heads22]

I'd rather see Brandon getting regular work in Charlotte than sporadic work in Chicago. BMAC isn't quite there yet. I'd want Cotts in that long relief role.

[RockRaines]

I believe if you come up before Sep 1 & remain on the 25 man roster for more than 21 days it counts as a year of service.  This is all about El Duque.

 

The WSox want him ready to pitch his best stuff in Aug when they take on the Twins.  If that means giving BMac 4-5 starts until then so be it.  If that's the plan then they might as well keep him up. 

 

They likewise mentioned he could fill in for Contreras but I think Contreras is pitching much better of late.  They don't need a long reliever.  They need a setup guy.

 

Of course if Marte pitches more like he did last night he might be the guy.

Wow, didnt think I would agree with you, but yeah, I think the smart move is to save our big game pitcher for big games. Like a big game closer, he will win for us when it counts.

[JUGGERNAUT]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/alp05.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/alp04.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/nlp04.htm

 

I like to view the NPERA rankings because you get a better feel for how good your team is when you view against the competition.

 

WSox 2005 RP:

B class: Hermanson 8th, Politte 5th, Marte 46th, Vizc 67th,

C class: Cotts 10th, BMac 21st, Shingo 47th

 

WSox 2004 RP:

B class: Shingo 8th, Marte 17th, Cotts 54th, Schow 76th, Adkins 80th

C class: Wunsch 32nd, Politte 41st, Jackson 69th, Diaz 98th, Grili 104th, etc.

 

I don't know about Shingo. If he can't throw the frisbee for strikes this year then hitters will just continue to wait on his fastball.

 

But Marte is NOT going to finish 46th. He finished 2nd in 03, & 4th in 02. Health-wise there is nothing wrong with him. I think his 46th ranking has more to do with the way the Oz has used him than anything else. He should finish in the top 15 which would put him in line with MIN Romero.

 

The problem is that MIN just keeps finding ace's in relief.

Crain 2nd, Nathan 7th, Romero 18th, Rincon 24th, Mullholand 44th.

 

I hope Politte can keep it up but I doubt he will. To beat MIN we need to add a top 20 RP before Aug. As teams fall out of the contention there will be plenty of candidates to choose from. Wagner amongst them(15th in NL).

 

This is where the decision to keep BMac up past the 21 day count get's dicey. He might not be on the roster in the 2nd half.

 

Hitters: Koney, Guch, Uribe, Crede/Polanco, AJ, Pods, Row, Dye, Everett, Thomas, Gload, Harris, Widger, Ozuna/hot AAA bat

 

Arms: Mark, Freddy, El Duque, Contreras, Garland, Herm, Wagner, Marte, Cotts, Politte, Shingo

 

Harris is primarily a tool vs RH so you would like another bench player who can play middle IF & hit vs LH. That's why I think BMac won't likely be on the team when Thomas returns. If that's the case you just burned a yr of service for about a month's worth of starts.

Edited May 25, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[GreatScott82]

I think BMAC is an awesome insurance man to come up when any of the pitchers go down. If we ended up trading Contreras or El-duque to a team and bring up BMAC to replace them, what happens if some other pitcher gets hurt? Plug in Neal Cotts? Than we will go through another 5th starter black hole. What I'm saying is- its better to have 6 solid starters than 5- in case of injury.

[RockRaines]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/alp05.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/alp04.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/nlp04.htm

 

I like to view the NPERA rankings because you get a better feel for how good your team is when you view against the competition.

 

WSox 2005 RP:

B class: Hermanson 8th, Politte 5th, Marte 46th, Vizc 67th,

C class: Cotts 10th, BMac 21st, Shingo 47th

 

WSox 2004 RP:

B class: Shingo 8th, Marte 17th, Cotts 54th, Schow 76th, Adkins 80th

C class: Wunsch 32nd, Politte 41st, Jackson 69th, Diaz 98th, Grili 104th, etc.

 

I don't know about Shingo.  If he can't throw the frisbee for strikes this year then hitters will just continue to wait on his fastball. 

 

But Marte is NOT going to finish 46th.  He finished 2nd in 03, & 4th in 02.  Health-wise there is nothing wrong with him.  I think his 46th ranking has more to do with the way the Oz has used him than anything else.  He should finish in the top 15 which would put him in line with MIN Romero.

 

The problem is that MIN just keeps finding ace's in relief.

Crain 2nd, Nathan 7th, Romero 18th, Rincon 24th, Mullholand 44th.

 

I hope Politte can keep it up but I doubt he will.  To beat MIN we need to add a top 20 RP before Aug.  As teams fall out of the contention there will be plenty of candidates to choose from.  Wagner amongst them(15th in NL).

 

This is where the decision to keep BMac up past the 21 day count get's dicey.  He might not be on the roster in the 2nd half.

 

Hitters: Koney, Guch, Uribe, Crede/Polanco, AJ, Pods, Row, Dye, Everett, Thomas, Gload, Harris, Widger, Ozuna/hot AAA bat

 

Arms:  Mark, Freddy, El Duque, Contreras, Garland, Herm, Wagner, Marte, Cotts, Politte, Shingo

 

Harris is primarily a tool vs RH so you would like another bench player who can play middle IF & hit vs LH.  That's why I think BMac won't likely be on the team when Thomas returns.  If that's the case you just burned a yr of service for about a month's worth of starts.

 

 

So....you think we need another arm in the bullpen, you think BMAC should be sent back down, and you think we need another IF'er who can hit righty???

[AddisonStSox]

Put me in the camp that endorses sending McCarthy back down to stay in that starter's role.

 

This guy needs to pitch ever fifth day. I ain't budging.

[thomsonmi]

Let's see how he does in his next couple starts in place of El Duque. The issue may resolve itself.

[RockRaines]

Let's see how he does in his next couple starts in place of El Duque.  The issue may resolve itself.

I think anothe good question would be, can we do a six man rotation, or should we send someone to the pen. And who would be the best coming out of the pen? Thats a real good question.