Mid Season Evaluation

[RME JICO]

The Sox are currently 53-28, 2 games off last year's pace of 55-26. Even with the recent pitching troubles, this team is setup for a solid second half. Overall the team has exceeded my expectations along with Crede. The biggest disappointment has been Politte.

[hi8is]

i write in Uribe for failing to meet my expectations.

[RME JICO]

i write in Uribe for failing to meet my expectations.

I had him in both but after I realized he has lead the league in RBIs since June 15th with 23, I removed him.

 

I probably should have just left him in there.

[Butter Parque]

It's tough between Crede, Thome, and Ozuna, but I picked Crede. He's been teh best 3B in the league.

[BigSqwert]

I picked Ozuna since I don't think anyone would have guessed he'd be such a spark. He was getting close to Timo territory last year.

Edited July 3, 2006 by BigSqwert

[chitownsportsfan]

My biggest disapointment is Garland. I thought he turned a corner last season with his improved BB/9 and better use of his sinker. He can still have a good season, but I was expecting more.

 

My biggest surprise is Thornton. This guy was junk, a scrapheap claim that probably would be out of MLB if the Sox hadn't traded for him on the advice of Cooper. Thornton has performed very well, and he needs to be seeing more high leverage innings. He is pitching aggresively and has confidence in himself.

 

The team is slightly ahead of where I pegged them. I predicted 93-95 wins before the season started. The offense is certainly outperforming expectations, and the pitching underperforming. According to various metrics, the team D is still very good.

[iWiN4PreP]

I picked Jenks as the biggest exceeder in expectations. Hes been LIGHTS OUT, and at teh beginging of the year, i remember not picking him in fantasy leagues cause I thought he would bust.

 

but he proved me wrong. thankfully.

[Allsox]

Voted for Joe for exceeded and Politte for disappointment. Joe, Thome and Bobby could share 1st half MVP but Cliff's definitely hurting this team right now.

[PJBMD]

You fail to meet my expectations!

 

What kind of BS poll is this? You pre-selected who has and hasn't lived up to expectations.

 

Do you work for the Tribune too?

[Felix]

You fail to meet my expectations!

 

What kind of BS poll is this? You pre-selected who has and hasn't lived up to expectations.

 

Do you work for the Tribune too?

uh..

[hi8is]

You fail to meet my expectations!

 

What kind of BS poll is this? You pre-selected who has and hasn't lived up to expectations.

 

Do you work for the Tribune too?

i know that your panties are in the wash right now so your kind of pissy, but really.... get off the f***ing rag.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

You fail to meet my expectations!

 

What kind of BS poll is this? You pre-selected who has and hasn't lived up to expectations.

 

Do you work for the Tribune too?

Did you mean for this to be sarcastic? If so use green for the text.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Player that's exceeded my expectations the most: Matt Thornton. I didn't even think this guy would make it past April. He's been argubly our second best reliever.

 

Player that has dissapointed me the most: Javier Vazquez. The talent/stuff is undeniable. I figured he would be able to turn his career around here. Everything pointed towards the direction of him having a big year. You had Ozzie, who he's close with. You had Cooper, who's one of the best pitching coaches around. Unlike New York and Arizona, where he was counted on to, more or less, lead the staff, he was simply brought in to make an already great staff better. I still have hope he'll turn it around after the break.

 

Has the team met my expectations? Well, no. One, I expected this team to be in first-place by the break. Yes, I know they have a good record, and that they're only 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers, but I expected them to be in first by now. Offensively, they've gone above and beyond anything I could've expected. I knew it would be better. But I didn't expect guys like Dye and Crede to do what they've done. Even Konerko has exceeded what I expected of him. The bench has done just about what I've expected of them.

 

The starting pitching, defense and overall fundamentals have all been inconsistent. Can we still win 95 games and get into the playoffs? Sure. The Red Sox did just that last year with mediocre pitching and defense. But we saw what happened to them once the real season started. I don't care how many runs we score. This team will go as far as their pitching takes them. And the defense and fundamentals have to improve as well. That's what made us so good last year. We didn't have to score 6-10 runs every game to win. We could beat you in a variety of different ways. Not just out-slugging teams. Which we've pretty much done all year to this point.

 

So, yeah, while there's alot to be excited about, there's a few concerns. I will say this much, though: If and when this team puts it ALL together, and I believe they will -- it's gonna be really, really scary for the rest of the AL.

[PJBMD]

i know that your panties are in the wash right now so your kind of pissy, but really.... get off the f***ing rag.

 

How am I not correct in what I said?

 

And how are you not a

[Heads22]

Player that's exceeded my expectations the most: Matt Thornton. I didn't even think this guy would make it past April. He's been argubly our second best reliever.

 

Player that has dissapointed me the most: Javier Vazquez. The talent/stuff is undeniable. I figured he would be able to turn his career around here. Everything pointed towards the direction of him having a big year. You had Ozzie, who he's close with. You had Cooper, who's one of the best pitching coaches around. Unlike New York and Arizona, where he was counted on to, more or less, lead the staff, he was simply brought in to make an already great staff better. I still have hope he'll turn it around after the break.

 

Has the team met my expectations? Well, no. One, I expected this team to be in first-place by the break. Yes, I know they have a good record, and that they're only 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers, but I expected them to be in first by now. Offensively, they've gone above and beyond anything I could've expected. I knew it would be better. But I didn't expect guys like Dye and Crede to do what they've done. Even Konerko has exceeded what I expected of him. The bench has done just about what I've expected of them.

 

The starting pitching, defense and overall fundamentals have all been inconsistent. Can we still win 95 games and get into the playoffs? Sure. The Red Sox did just that last year with mediocre pitching and defense. But we saw what happened to them once the real season started. I don't care how many runs we score. This team will go as far as their pitching takes them. And the defense and fundamentals have to improve as well. That's what made us so good last year. We didn't have to score 6-10 runs every game to win. We could beat you in a variety of different ways. Not just out-slugging teams. Which we've pretty much done all year to this point.

 

So, yeah, while there's alot to be excited about, there's a few concerns. I will say this much, though: If and when this team puts it ALL together, and I believe they will -- it's gonna be really, really scary for the rest of the AL.

 

 

^^

[Steff]

My evaluation is "They all suck, they are doing horrible, we are doomed, we will not repeat, let's just cancel the rest of the season now."

 

 

[Rex Kickass]

Bobby Jenks is a monster. To become a premiere closer in less than a year is frankly amazing. Totally exceeded my expectations.

[RibbieRubarb]

You fail to meet my expectations!

 

What kind of BS poll is this? You pre-selected who has and hasn't lived up to expectations.

 

Do you work for the Tribune too?

 

 

 

How am I not correct in what I said?

 

And how are you not a

 

Some friendly advice:

 

You best find a polite way of expressing your opinion...or find another message board.

 

 

 

My choice is "They all suck, they are doing horrible, we are doomed, we will not repeat, let's just cancel the rest of the season now."

 

Are you a pessimist or a realist?

[Steff]

Are you a pessimist or a realist?

 

 

 

Undecided.

 

 

I really just wanted to see if I could get something to fall from the sky...

[BigSqwert]

Are you a pessimist or a realist?

I find it funny that you have a playful, witty response to Steff's post yet you roll your eyes in another thread where I post a similar response as hers. Perhaps if I had breasts you'd be more playful with me?

[Steff]

I find it funny that you have a playful, witty response to Steff's post yet you roll your eyes in another thread where I post a similar response as hers. Perhaps if I had breasts you'd be more playful with me?

 

 

 

They're ok, but I don't think they deserve that much credit...

 

 

Actually, Rib and I were discussing this topic off the board and he knew my witty comment was comming. Plus, I think it's common knowledge that I'll be one of the last ones holding on to the wagon wheel, or have fear about the Sox - especially in July.

 

 

And with that... I am off to watch this s***ty team again tonight.... They better beat the O's or else.... Grrrr....

 

 

 

[RibbieRubarb]

I find it funny that you have a playful, witty response to Steff's post yet you roll your eyes in another thread where I post a similar response as hers. Perhaps if I had breasts you'd be more playful with me?

 

Even more so...

 

They're ok, but I don't think they deserve that much credit...

 

Agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rowand44]

The rally one and Thornton have exceeded my expectations the most. Coming into the season I really wasn't expecting that much more out of Joe then he has given us before but obviously he has far exceeded that. Thornton on the other hand is becoming a dominant set up man and has just been awesome as of late. I thought maybe he could be something decent given some time but definitely not this good. Thome and Jenks I expected to be great so not really that surprising to me.

 

Vaz has been the biggest disappointment to me. I expected him to come in here and basically be a pretty solid 3 starter because he has pretty darn good stuff and with how Kenny has been after him for a while, I thought maybe there was something that the Sox knew was wrong with him. Unfortunately, the thing that is wrong with him is his mental toughness and that's not something that can be fixed. I definitely haven't given up on Javy but he's the one pitcher on our team that I'm not sure can turn it around. Garland I expected to regress back a little bit but definitely not this much, so he's been disappointing but I expected it to a point, but he'll get a better this season, there is no doubt in my mind.

[hi8is]

Some friendly advice:

 

You best find a polite way of expressing your opinion...or find another message board.

 

i did tell him that his panties are in the wash and that he was acting like he was on his period

 

hahaha

 

i think its hard to take that without saying anything in return. hahaha

[WCSox]

Great thread.

 

Exceeded expectations:

 

1. Thornton - The M's thought that this guy was never going to develop into a major-league pitcher and his market value was equal to Joe Borchard's at the beginning of the year. After a rocky start, he proved them wrong and has only given up 5 runs over the past 19 innings. He's gone from long-shot to stay in the majors to decent middle-reliever in 3 1/2 months.

 

2. Crede - I thought that he simply hit a hot streak at the right time last year. I was wrong - he continues to improve as a hitter and his defense is still top-notch. Joe's already one of the best third-basemen in the AL.

 

3. Thome - I was going to be satisfied with 100 games played, a .270 average, and 30 HRs. Wow...

 

4. Jenks - It's not every year that a 270 lb alcoholic gets claimed off of waivers and dominates in the postseason. It's even less often that he adds a nasty hook to his repertoire and becomes one of MLB's elite closers the following season.

 

5. Count - Dominant in the second half of last season and even better over the first 2 1/2 months of this year.

 

 

Failed to meet expectations:

 

1. Garland - Last season looked like a turning point, but he's regressed back to the '02-'04 Jon. He needs to stop relying on trying to locate his sinker and two-seamer perfectly every time and to throw his offspeed pitches for strikes. That said, he's looked better over the past month, so perhaps he'll get himself back on track.

 

2. Vazquez - Has the stuff to be one of the dominant pitchers in the league, but serves up way too many gopher balls - especially when he's ahead in the count. If Coop can't fix him by the middle of next year, it'll be time to give up on him.

 

3. Anderson - Spectacular defense, but hitting 25 points below the Mendoza line is inexcusable - even for a rookie. Has looked better at the plate lately, though.

 

*I would've put Politte in this category as well, but it's obvious that he's not healthy.