Is 2006 the year the Sox pass the 100 mark?

[VAfan]

I am curious to see how the batting order will play out.  It seems like the only slots that are pretty much locks are #1 and #4.  There is a pretty big difference between the #3 and #5 slots, so that will be interesting to see how it plays out.  It would almost seem better to sandwich Thome in between Paulie and Dye to provide a nice R - L - R punch, but it looks like it is going to be either Dye-Paulie-Thome or Thome-Paulie-Dye.

 

I think a case can be made either way.

 

My point about Dye is that he'll draw more walks hitting 3rd than if he hits 5th or later, thus increasing his hitting value, while I think Thome will be the same hitter in any slot. Plus, hitting Thome behind Paulie will force him to continue being selective, knowing that if he walks, Thome could hit a 3-run dinger behind him.

 

It is also possible to hit Dye 3rd against lefties but drop him against righties, with Thome moving up. I'd leave Konerko hitting cleanup when he's in there, but wouldn't hesitate to move other guys.

 

As Juggernaut points out, however, the key may be Uribe in the #2 hole.

[TLAK]

Sorry, it is an Army term derived from Ash and Trash that I probably use too often.  It means other missions, or secondary missions. 

 

Cool. I had never heard the term before so I took it literally. I feel like Emily Litella.

 

But, I also think the bottom of roster played a key role on the '05 team and even though that now I know what the hell you were talking about, I'm concerned that it may prove a weakness next season.

[RME JICO]

Cool.  I had never heard the term before so I took it literally.  I feel like Emily Litella. 

 

But, I also think the bottom of roster played a key role on the '05 team and even though that now I know what the hell you were talking about, I'm concerned that it may prove a weakness next season.

I feel better now, I was like man I really pissed him off. I use that term so often that I didn't even realize it, but I didn't want to discount what those players did, it took all of them to win the championship. I just thought that even though they contributed, they could be upgraded or replaced with comparable players.

 

I think the Mackowiak signing might be the diamond in the rough for the Sox. He is so versatile and is an upgrade over every guy on the bench in 2005. You take him with Ozuna, and Widger, then throw in Borchard, Gload, or even Owens and the bench looks pretty good. The most glaring need right now is middle relief, and at least one Lefty.

 

Emily Litella = Old School SNL

[Balta1701]

I think a case can be made either way. 

 

My point about Dye is that he'll draw more walks hitting 3rd than if he hits 5th or later, thus increasing his hitting value, while I think Thome will be the same hitter in any slot.  Plus, hitting Thome behind Paulie will force him to continue being selective, knowing that if he walks, Thome could hit a 3-run dinger behind him. 

 

It is also possible to hit Dye 3rd against lefties but drop him against righties, with Thome moving up.  I'd leave Konerko hitting cleanup when he's in there, but wouldn't hesitate to move other guys. 

 

As Juggernaut points out, however, the key may be Uribe in the #2 hole.

I disagree with a couple of points. First, I disagree with the statement that Thome will be the same offensive threat in any spot, for 2 reasons:

 

1. In the 5 hole, behind Konerko, people just have less of a reason to pitch to him. I could understand it if we had another 30 home run guy to hit behind Thome (i.e. Crede catches fire or something like that), but without that, if you have Tad hitting .280 with 15-20 home runs behind Thome (decent numbers), if you've got an open base and the choice of which one to pitch to, you pitch to Tad. If Konerko's hitting behind Thome and you've got an open base, the walk to Thome may very well give Jim the chance to waltz home.

 

2. Jermaine Dye even in his best years is not going to take nearly as many walks or have nearly as high of an OBP or knock in as many runs as Thome. Dye's Career OBP is .334, and that's basically what he has put up every year except 1 or 2. Thome's OBP for his career is .408. JD's best year by far in terms of OBP would be one of Thome's worst years. JD has knocked in 100+ runs twice. Thome has done so 8 times. We will score more runs with Thome hitting behind Podsednik and Uribe than we will with Dye hitting there, and we will score more runs with Thome hitting before Konerko and Dye than if he hits after them.

[knightni]

8/4/06 - NY Post headline - "DPs by Small/Wang beat S-M's"