CF Talk

[Balta1701]

Nelson got away with one Why, oh why, were we in the 11th inning of a game and still had not used our 2 best relief pitchers?

Centerfielders to keep an eye on: Steve Finley, Darin Erstad, Juan Pierre

Seriously, you are out of your mind, have you actually looked at the numbers for those people? We're better off with Mack for crying out loud.

[Ndgt10]

Centerfielders to keep an eye on: Steve Finley, Darin Erstad, Juan Pierre

 

None of those guys excite me. Pierre is having a horrible season, Finley is 60 years old, and Erstad I have no clue about.

[Kalapse]

Nelson got away with one to Glaus. He walked a guy in this inning. He grooved one to Hllenbrand. Anyway, I hope he gets better with some work.

 

Why, oh why, were we in the 11th inning of a game and still had not used our 2 best relief pitchers?

Centerfielders to keep an eye on: Steve Finley, Darin Erstad, Juan Pierre

OMG are you serious? Steve Finley is just about done, Darin Erstad is a horrible offensive player and Juan Pierre is just a pathetic ball player in general.

 

Oh yes, Erstad is also constantly hurt, like right now.

[Balta1701]

None of those guys excite me. Pierre is having a horrible season, Finley is 60 years old, and Erstad I have no clue about.

Erstadt is hurt, gets paid like $9 million a year, has never hit worth a damn, and is several years away from being a good defensive CF.

[winninguglyin83]

OK -- what about a really desperate move?

 

Pods back to CF while finding a corner outfielder.

 

they're easier to find.

[Kalapse]

Erstadt is hurt, gets paid like $9 million a year, has never hit worth a damn, and is several years away from being a good defensive CF.

What Darin Erstad's career 97 OPS+ doesn't excite you? Oh yeah, and 89 last year.

[Kalapse]

OK -- what about a really desperate move?

 

Pods back to CF while finding a corner outfielder.

 

they're easier to find.

So you're sacrificing defense for a possibly offensive upgrade?

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Seriously, you are out of your mind, have you actually looked at the numbers for those people? We're better off with Mack for crying out loud.

 

Mack can't judge a fly ball. In a pennant race, I guess I'm thinking that's a problem.

 

And, yes pal, I've looked at their numbers. Erstad, Finley and Pierre are all in walk years. They each have some issue with them (Erstad: not a great hitter at this point/health; Pierre: having a really bad year/no arm; Finley: old (but actually hitting; have YOU looked at his numbers?). But that's why you can actually get them. They have experience, having each won a World Series. They'll catch the ball and hit at least a little. And they're going to be batting 8th or 9th -- for crying out loud.

[Dick Allen]

Erstad had 1 great year, is injury-prone, and KW already traded for him once. Garland for Erstad a few years ago, which was agreed to only to be vetoed by Angel ownership later.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Erstad had 1 great year, is injury-prone, and KW already traded for him once. Garland for Erstad a few years ago, which was agreed to only to be vetoed by Angel ownership later.

 

Which is exactly why I will not be surprised to see him playing centerfield for the White Sox this year. If KW wants you once, KW wants you forever. And, with the salary and injuries, it ain't gonna cost Jon Garland this time around.

[Kalapse]

Mack can't judge a fly ball. In a pennant race, I guess I'm thinking that's a problem.

 

And, yes pal, I've looked at their numbers. Erstad, Finley and Pierre are all in walk years. They each have some issue with them (Erstad: not a great hitter at this point/health; Pierre: having a really bad year/no arm; Finley: old (but actually hitting; have YOU looked at his numbers?). But that's why you can actually get them. They have experience, having each won a World Series. They'll catch the ball and hit at least a little. And they're going to be batting 8th or 9th -- for crying out loud.

Well, Erstad will be really good for you on the DL, which is just about what he does now, not to mention the fact that he's slow as s*** in CF and can't hit worth a lick.

 

Finley is 43 years old and is currently in the NL, last year in the AL he put up a 73 OPS+ and spent plenty of time on the DL, fun.

 

Juan Pierre is just a bad player in general, I don't want him anywhere near my Sox, he really does nothing well right now. As Dan Bernstein would say, he's a "toy player". He's basically a pinch runner at this point.

 

Darin Erstad is old, injured, expensive and bad. GET HIM KENNY!!!

[Dick Allen]

I wonder if KW could get Carl Crawford. I think he could play CF. It would cost a ton, but would be worth it. I actually don't think the Sox need another CF, but a guy on the bench who hits right handed would be nice, and some bullpen help.

Edited May 28, 2006 by Dick Allen

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Well, Erstad will be really good for you on the DL, which is just about what he does now, not to mention the fact that he's slow as s*** in CF and can't hit worth a lick.

 

Finley is 43 years old and is currently in the NL, last year in the AL he put up a 73 OPS+ and spent plenty of time on the DL, fun.

 

Juan Pierre is just a bad player in general, I don't want him anywhere near my Sox, he really does nothing well right now. As Dan Bernstein would say, he's a "toy player". He's basically a pinch runner at this point.

 

I know Erstad's injury prone. Hell, he's on the DL right now. But you'll have a chance to watch him for a month or two here. If he looks okay, and the price isn't much, where's the downside? Are you afraid that he'll take Ross Gload's valuable spot on the roster?

 

On Finley, I'm just looking at his numbers right now -- look pretty respectable to me.

 

And, as for Pierre, he's having a bad year. I know there was a lot of discussion about him last winter. But you're not going to have to give up nearly as much, pay him as much or count him for anything more than getting to balls and catching them from innings 1-7 (Anderson's going to come in anyway), and maybe being an igniter at the bottom of the order, which sorely needs it.

 

The bottom-line is this, guys: having Robby Mack as your starting centerfielder on a championship team doesn't look real workable. (christ, he's f***ed up 3 plays in the last week.) I love what Anderson might be able to do at some point, but maybe not now. So . . . if you agree with these two points, what would you propose?

 

I mean, besides Carl Everett.

[Frankensteiner]

I wonder if KW could get Carl Crawford. I think he could play CF. It would cost a ton, but would be worth it. I actually don't think the Sox need another CF, but a guy on the bench who hits right handed would be nice, and some bullpen help.

 

So who's the starting CF? Anderson can't hit and Mackowiak can't field.

 

I'd stick with Anderson though and hope he gets out of his funk. There's really no use in playing Mackowiak because we already know he's not a viable CF option.

Edited May 28, 2006 by Frankensteiner

[Frankensteiner]

Finley's having an OK season for a 41 year old man: .265/.344/.434. I'd take that from my #9 hitter.

[Brian]

So who's the starting CF? Anderson can't hit and Mackowiak can't field.

 

I'd stick with Anderson though and hope he gets out of his funk. There's really no use in playing Mackowiak because we already know he's not a viable CF option.

 

Finley's having an OK season for a 41 year old man: .265/.344/.434. I'd take that from my #9 hitter.

 

I'm all for leaving Anderson out in CF. He's a rookie. Let him play.

 

Uribe is the one pissing me off. He is s*** without his defense and todya he throws another DP ball away and than can't bunt. I hope Cintron is playing tomorrow.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Finley's having an OK season for a 41 year old man: .265/.344/.434. I'd take that from my #9 hitter.

 

Amen.

[Kalapse]

I know Erstad's injury prone. Hell, he's on the DL right now. But you'll have a chance to watch him for a month or two here. If he looks okay, and the price isn't much, where's the downside? Are you afraid that he'll take Ross Gload's valuable spot on the roster?

 

On Finley, I'm just looking at his numbers right now -- look pretty respectable to me.

 

And, as for Pierre, he's having a bad year. I know there was a lot of discussion about him last winter. But you're not going to have to give up nearly as much, pay him as much or count him for anything more than getting to balls and catching them from innings 1-7 (Anderson's going to come in anyway), and maybe being an igniter at the bottom of the order, which sorely needs it.

 

The bottom-line is this, guys: having Robby Mack as your starting centerfielder on a championship team doesn't look real workable. (christ, he's f***ed up 3 plays in the last week.) I love what Anderson might be able to do at some point, but maybe not now. So . . . if you agree with these two points, what would you propose?

 

I mean, besides Carl Everett.

Steve Finley is currently in the NL, where the pitching is weak and the teams are weaker, look at what he did in his second trip to the AL last year, he f***in sucked. I'd rather not trade for a 43 year old bad CF. But hey that's just me.

 

Juan Pierre is a bad player, the discusssion last year about him, well Soxtalk had a mighty large Juan Pierre thread and I was one of the main people saying how horrid of a baseball player is he is. A pathetic arm like his is not going to help you in centerfield, baserunners will be taking the extra base on every play and every tag play from 3rd will score a run. A run in the 1-7 is equal to a run in the 8th or 9th. He has a horrible OBP, currently a few points higher than Brian Anderson and he can't buy a f***ing hit. All this comming in the NL which I mentioned in the last paragraph, is weak as all hell.

 

Erstad will not be comming back anytime soon he's been on the DL since May 1st and his ankle is still bothering him. He's 1.) old 2.) Expensive 3.) injured 4.) bad. The risk? Paying a pahetic ballplayer a pretty penny and having him hit worse than Anderson.

 

Also, the Giants are currently 3.5 games out in the worst division in baseball. Why again would they trade us thier "productive" CF?

[Heads22]

Split out from game thread.

[Frankensteiner]

DickAllen's post was not split off for some reason but I wanted to respond:

 

KW is not going to trade for crap to play CF. That would rule out Pierre, Erstad and Finley. If the Sox do get another CF, its going to be a great one. That is unlikely to be available, so KW needs to fix other spots, specifically the bullpen, and the bench is too left handed. There is no reason Ross Gload should be on the roster. Its a wasted spot.

 

I hope that's not what KW's thinking. We probably have the worst CF situation in the AL, so it would be foolish to hold out for only "great" players when even average ones would suffice. With that said, I don't want anything to do with Pierre or Erstad, but Finley is worth following for the next couple of months.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Steve Finley is currently in the NL, where the pitching is weak and the teams are weaker, look at what he did in his second trip to the AL last year, he f***in sucked. I'd rather not trade for a 43 year old bad CF. But hey that's just me.

 

Juan Pierre is a bad player, the discusssion last year about him, well Soxtalk had a mighty large Juan Pierre thread and I was one of the main people saying how horrid of a baseball player is he is. A pathetic arm like his is not going to help you in centerfield, baserunners will be taking the extra base on every play and every tag play from 3rd will score a run. A run in the 1-7 is equal to a run in the 8th or 9th. He has a horrible OBP, currently a few points higher than Brian Anderson and he can't buy a f***ing hit. All this comming in the NL which I mentioned in the last paragraph, is weak as all hell.

 

Erstad will not be comming back anytime soon he's been on the DL since May 1st and his ankle is still bothering him. He's 1.) old 2.) Expensive 3.) injured 4.) bad. The risk? Paying a pahetic ballplayer a pretty penny and having him hit worse than Anderson.

 

Also, the Giants are currently 3.5 games out in the worst division in baseball. Why again would they trade us thier "productive" CF?

 

Hey, Kalapse, I hear you about this stuff, particularly Pierre's arm. It makes me laugh sometimes.

 

But we have an issue here. We're a team competing for the world championship again. We have one CF who is not adequate defensively. We have one who is not minimally competent offensively, at least right now. That's untenable. Do you think that Ken Williams is going to tolerate that? I don't.

 

There is no optimal solution. Each of the players I identified would be available relatively cheaply. There are other players who one could think of who might be available at a steeper price. But some here won't want to do that either.

 

So, what do you do? Because, here's the thing: if we are playing Detroit in September, or the Red Sox in October, and the network goes around the diamond showing the White Sox defense, and Rob Mackowiak is the centerfielder, you're going to be uneasy. And you'll be right to feel that way.

[beck72]

I'm all for leaving Anderson out in CF. He's a rookie. Let him play.

 

Uribe is the one pissing me off. He is s*** without his defense and todya he throws another DP ball away and than can't bunt. I hope Cintron is playing tomorrow.

Well said. If Crede wasn't ranging far to his left, I'd hate to see how badly Uribe would be hurting the sox

 

Hawk mentioned that the sox have just surpassed the missed DP's from all of last yr with Uribe's miss today

 

DickAllen's post was not split off for some reason but I wanted to respond:

 

 

 

I hope that's not what KW's thinking. We probably have the worst CF situation in the AL, so it would be foolish to hold out for only "great" players when even average ones would suffice. With that said, I don't want anything to do with Pierre or Erstad, but Finley is worth following for the next couple of months.

 

The sox are far from the worst Cf situation. Esp with Anderson's above avg glove and range. The guy's a rook with skills on defense and offense. He needs some time. IMO, he'll be around all year and be a big help down the stretch.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Well said. If Crede wasn't ranging far to his left, I'd hate to see how badly Uribe would be hurting the sox

 

Hawk mentioned that the sox have just surpassed the missed DP's from all of last yr with Uribe's miss today

The sox are far from the worst Cf situation. Esp with Anderson's above avg glove and range. The guy's a rook with skills on defense and offense. He needs some time. IMO, he'll be around all year and be a big help down the stretch.

 

I want to add that, notwithstanding my thoughts about possible centerfielders to keep an eye on, my preference is to stick with Anderson, provided he can hit about .210. Seriously. For some reason, in my mind, that's my magic number -- because he's a superb outfielder.

[beck72]

I want to add that, notwithstanding my thoughts about possible centerfielders to keep an eye on, my preference is to stick with Anderson, provided he can hit about .210. Seriously. For some reason, in my mind, that's my magic number -- because he's a superb outfielder.

 

He'll hit .210. More like .250 before all is said and done.

[winninguglyin83]

Anderson would have to hit over .300 for the rest of the year to get his season batting average to .250.

 

Not happening.

 

he needs a chance to regroup. His confidence has to be shaky -- and if we start losing and he's getting more blame, he'll feel even worse.

 

We need a legit CF.

 

But there aren't many out there.