In search of a new lead off hitter for next year

[santo=dorf]

Furcal's career OBP isn't that good for the money he makes, and I can't see LA dealing him, let alone throwing more money to get rid of him after his productive year. If they were worried about money (which I don't think they are,) I think it's more likely they owuld move and eat money on JD Drew.

 

Personally I like the idea of Byrnes/Mack at the top of the lineup, but I'm not sure if Byrnes would come here for a platoon role. Put them at #1 and get Omar Vizquel, a true #2 hitter behind them.

 

Vs. LHP

Mack: .208/.208/.276

Byrnes: .329/.384/.595

 

Vs. RHP

Byrnes: .247/.291/.443

Mack: .304/.380/.438

Edited September 28, 2006 by santo=dorf

[RockRaines]

Furcal's career OBP isn't that good for the money he makes, and I can't see LA dealing him, let alone throwing more money to get rid of him after his productive year. If they were worried about money (which I don't think they are,) I think it's more likely they owuld move and eat money on JD Drew.

 

Personally I like the idea of Byrnes/Mack at the top of the lineup, but I'm not sure if Byrnes would come here for a platoon role. Put them at #1 and get Omar Vizquel, a true #2 hitter behind them.

 

Vs. LHP

Mack: .208/.208/.276

Byrnes: .329/.384/.595

 

Vs. RHP

Byrnes: .247/.291/.443

Mack: .304/.380/.438

So you are campaigning that to win the World Series next year, a good idea would be to have our lead off man be 50 percent Mackowiak, and 50 percent Eric Byrnes, with a 40 year old SS thrown in there for good measure at the #2 guy.

 

Helllllllllllloooooo 3rd place again.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 28, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So you are campaigning that to win the World Series next year, a good idea would be to have our lead off man be 50 percent Mackowiak, and 50 percent Eric Byrnes, with a 40 year old SS thrown in there for good measure at the #2 guy.

 

Helllllllllllloooooo 3rd place again.

No, I don't want Mack and Byrnes getting even playing time, and I don't want one or the other in the lineup everday.

 

Also, Omar Vizquel > Uribe.

 

Have you bothered to look at Omar's production lately? The guy can still play, and he's a cheap option (which was brought up by Northsidesox72)

[Balta1701]

No, I don't want Mack and Byrnes getting even playing time, and I don't want one or the other in the lineup everday.

 

Also, Omar Vizquel > Uribe.

 

Have you bothered to look at Omar's production lately? The guy can still play, and he's a cheap option (which was brought up by Northsidesox72)

But the question on Vizquel is...are the Giants ready to go into "we're old, time to rebuild" mode yet? I don't think they are, especially if a certain monster of chemistry is in the outfield for them again next season. Bonds and Schmidt are IIRC their only 2 real key guys who are free agents at the end of this year...and they do have some amount of talent that could fill in for Schmidt (Matt Cain) if they do lose him. I think it's pretty likely they'll try one more year with the old guys before rebuilding...especially if the enemy returns.

[santo=dorf]

Giants are in bad shape. I thought there was an article on this awhile back, but guess their farm system is terrible, and in addition to Bonds and Schmidt, both Alous (Felipe has a team option,) Durham, Finley (team option for 7 million,) Steve Kline, Feliz (arb eligible???,) and Mike Stanton are all free agents. Matheny's career is probably over with the concussion, and Tim Worrell's career is likely over as well.

 

The Giants are in some deep, deep s***.

[beautox]

Abreu is signed thru next year.

Damon thru 2009

Matsui thru 2009.

 

I'm just saying, if we gave them pitching...and maybe an OF prospect or Brian Anderson...yah never know.

 

 

WoW, Andersons glove = 1337 Sauce. yes Melky is younger but still no dice. maybe deal someone like Cotts or something of that nature if Marte could bring us Mackowiak & Lopez could bring us Riske maybe Cotts could brin g us melky.

[GaelicSoxFan]

Okay, the Nationals were shopping Soriano at the trade deadline. Here's the problem: they didn't just want McCarthy, Sweeney or Fields. They wanted all the top prospects. I praise Kenny for not selling the farm in order to get an aging, whiny veteran with a big contract and even bigger ego.

 

IMHO, the leadoff hitter for the 2006 Chicago White Sox will be Jerry Owens. He's their top speed prospect. The reasons why they traded for Scott Podsednik are 1. Owens was two years away from being ready for the big leagues and 2. I liked seeing Carlos Lee hitting walkoff grand slams against the Cubs, but he's a member of the 'swing hard in case you hit it' club.

[RockRaines]

No, I don't want Mack and Byrnes getting even playing time, and I don't want one or the other in the lineup everday.

 

Also, Omar Vizquel > Uribe.

 

Have you bothered to look at Omar's production lately? The guy can still play, and he's a cheap option (which was brought up by Northsidesox72)

He can stil play? Great. Lets give something up for 1 year of someone who "can still play." 2 years ago, maybe, no, no freaking way.

[ShoeLessRob]

Okay, the Nationals were shopping Soriano at the trade deadline. Here's the problem: they didn't just want McCarthy, Sweeney or Fields. They wanted all the top prospects. I praise Kenny for not selling the farm in order to get an aging, whiny veteran with a big contract and even bigger ego.

 

IMHO, the leadoff hitter for the 2006 Chicago White Sox will be Jerry Owens. He's their top speed prospect. The reasons why they traded for Scott Podsednik are 1. Owens was two years away from being ready for the big leagues and 2. I liked seeing Carlos Lee hitting walkoff grand slams against the Cubs, but he's a member of the 'swing hard in case you hit it' club.

 

*Cough*

[Flash Tizzle]

IMHO, the leadoff hitter for the 2006 Chicago White Sox will be Jerry Owens. He's their top speed prospect. The reasons why they traded for Scott Podsednik are 1. Owens was two years away from being ready for the big leagues and 2. I liked seeing Carlos Lee hitting walkoff grand slams against the Cubs, but he's a member of the 'swing hard in case you hit it' club.

 

/puke

 

If it were up to Guillen Owens probably would be the starting LF next year. However, it's difficult to use your speed when you're not on base. Or atleast the clip you'd expect from a soft hitting leadoff hitter.

 

Anyone willing to project how he'd fare over an entire season? More than likely Podsednik-lite if his last two seasons in AAA are any indication. Perhaps he'd steal more bases with a better CS%, but that doesn't mean much.

[GaelicSoxFan]

*Cough*

Sorry, I meant 2007.

[Kalapse]

Okay, the Nationals were shopping Soriano at the trade deadline. Here's the problem: they didn't just want McCarthy, Sweeney or Fields. They wanted all the top prospects. I praise Kenny for not selling the farm in order to get an aging, whiny veteran with a big contract and even bigger ego.

 

IMHO, the leadoff hitter for the 2006 Chicago White Sox will be Jerry Owens. He's their top speed prospect. The reasons why they traded for Scott Podsednik are 1. Owens was two years away from being ready for the big leagues and 2. I liked seeing Carlos Lee hitting walkoff grand slams against the Cubs, but he's a member of the 'swing hard in case you hit it' club.

That's funny because Jerry Owens wasn't even in the White Sox Organization at the time Podsednik was acquired, the Sox got Owens 2 months after that from the Nationals for Alex Escobar. Plus Jerry Owens at this point in time is probably worse than Scott Podsednik.

[ShoeLessRob]

That's funny because Jerry Owens wasn't even in the White Sox Organization at the time Podsednik was acquired, the Sox got Owens 2 months after that from the Nationals for Alex Escobar. Plus Jerry Owens at this point in time is probably worse than Scott Podsednik.

 

Speaking of Escobar, what has he been up to?

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

Plus Jerry Owens at this point in time is probably worse than Scott Podsednik.

 

disagree

[Kalapse]

Speaking of Escobar, what has he been up to?

He's hobbling around D.C. somewhere, he made a brief appearance with the Nationals around midseason and played well but was hurt soon after.

 

disagree

So what exactly has Jerry Owens done to make you think he can put up a .260 BA/.330 OBP in the majors?

[Frank the Tank 35]

So what exactly has Jerry Owens done to make you think he can put up a .260 BA/.330 OBP in the majors?

 

Because he just did in AAA?

 

.262/.330/.346

40/52 in SB = 77% success rate

 

 

 

Duh!

[GreatScott82]

This team can't afford to have both Anderson and Owens in the OF next year. I understand they want to develop within to save money, however, we have guys like Thome and Pauly getting up there in age, the time is now to win. I dont want to spend another season having a guy learn at the big league level. We tried that with Anderson, and im sure the experience helped the guy and all but this team needs a guy with experience out there in LF. A guy like Crawford. If it takes trading Sweeney and BMac to get him, then do it. We have too many OF prospects anyways, not to mention Fields will be playing out there in winter ball.

[VAfan]

People here want to spend a ton on both LF and SS, and trade BMac. But money-wise, that ain't happenin'.

 

More realistically, think like you have a financial stake in the business, and that you have a budget to work with. Better to move one of the expensive starting 5 than BMac. And you probably won't be able to spend HUGE money on both LF and SS. So, with that in mind...

 

Trade Contreras or Garcia. Also send off Pods and Uribe. Consider moving Fields as well.

 

In trying to acquire new LF and SS, spend big money on one of those, for someone with a high OBP and who plays solid D. The other, go cheap...

 

SS: Best available on the market, use some of the above as trade bait.

LF: Ross Gload

 

If you lose the 9M per year from Garcia/Contreras (replaced by BMac), and a few more million from Uribe and Pods (replaced by ??? and Gload)... That leaves you with 14M or so to play with per year for a SS and some bullpen help. Sounds pretty good to me.

 

The SS? Furcal. Yeah, he's owed 13M next two years. But guess what? That is just KW's type, like Thome - negotiate LAD out of some cash. Pay maybe 9 or the 13M, and throw in Fields. So...

 

Your lineup would be:

 

Furcal, SS

Gload, LF

Dye, RF

Thome, DH

PK, 1B

AJ, C

Crede, 3B

Iguchi, 2B

Anderson, CF

 

You just increased OBP by a lot (and added speed), maybe lost a bit at SS on defense (about even in LF), and freed up money for the bullpen.

 

So since you are all so good at it... tell me what's wrong with my idea!

 

EDIT: If Gload struggles in LF next season, that gives a chance for Owens or Sweeney.

 

I would have LOVED for Ozzie to play Gload in LF this year and hit him in the #2 hole once it was painfully obvious Pods wasn't going to snap out of his slide. I'm sure I started at least one thread pushing this idea back in July or August. Gload would really be a great #2 hitter -- high average, lefty, very low strike out totals, hits lefties reasonably well.

 

But if Ozzie wasn't going to play him THIS YEAR in LF, when we had such a desperate need, he's certainly not going to play him there next year, even if he's the only guy on the roster. Ozzie just has a blind spot when it comes to Ross Gload. Plus, you can hardly make the case that Gload is a quality defensive player in LF.

 

As for adding Furcal, that's just too complicated.

 

I don't think the Sox are done with Uribe, and I'm not sure they should be, given his 20+ dingers and 70+ RBI. (AJ, hitting behind the best 3 OBP guys we have, hasn't driven in that many runs, despite a .300 average most of the year.) Remember, it took a lot of years before Joe Crede finally did what he needed to do to become a solid offensive player. Uribe shows enough promise to suggest the Sox should hang in there with him too. And, until he gets it offensively, he's still a better defensive SS than we've had in a VERY long time.

 

So, keep it simple. Keep Uribe, but replace Pods. Adding a RH DH to spell Thome against lefties and give him more rest, adding a RH catcher who can hit and/or play great defense (Stewart ready?), and adding a lefty CF who can field the position so we don't have to let BA sink us (Sweeney?), will also help.

 

Okay, the Nationals were shopping Soriano at the trade deadline. Here's the problem: they didn't just want McCarthy, Sweeney or Fields. They wanted all the top prospects. I praise Kenny for not selling the farm in order to get an aging, whiny veteran with a big contract and even bigger ego.

 

IMHO, the leadoff hitter for the 2006 Chicago White Sox will be Jerry Owens. He's their top speed prospect. The reasons why they traded for Scott Podsednik are 1. Owens was two years away from being ready for the big leagues and 2. I liked seeing Carlos Lee hitting walkoff grand slams against the Cubs, but he's a member of the 'swing hard in case you hit it' club.

 

 

Jerry Owens????? No way. That guy isn't ever going be a major league regular.

 

 

*****************

Edit: So far, I'm sticking with making a run at Soriano. If he demands to play 2B, I'd say we'll give him a chance to prove he can field the position once Tadahito plays out his contract.

Edited September 29, 2006 by VAfan

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(VAfan @ Sep 29, 2006 -> 01:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think the Sox are done with Uribe, and I'm not sure they should be, given his 20+ dingers and 70+ RBI. (AJ, hitting behind the best 3 OBP guys we have, hasn't driven in that many runs, despite a .300 average most of the year.) Remember, it took a lot of years before Joe Crede finally did what he needed to do to become a solid offensive player. Uribe shows enough promise to suggest the Sox should hang in there with him too. And, until he gets it offensively, he's still a better defensive SS than we've had in a VERY long time.

Uribe has to go. His OBP is killing the team. Finding a defensive SS with some bat is easier to find than a third baseman (who should hit for power) that plays gold glove defense. That's why Crede was given more time. Crede also won two MVP's in the minors with the Sox organization whereas Uribe was acquired from another organization that threw him around different positions and was known as a very streaky hitter. I don't see how the two can be compared

QUOTE(VAfan @ Sep 29, 2006 -> 01:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So, keep it simple. Keep Uribe, but replace Pods. Adding a RH DH to spell Thome against lefties and give him more rest, adding a RH catcher who can hit and/or play great defense (Stewart ready?), and adding a lefty CF who can field the position so we don't have to let BA sink us (Sweeney?), will also help.

Jerry Owens????? No way. That guy isn't ever going be a major league regular.

*****************

Edit: So far, I'm sticking with making a run at Soriano. If he demands to play 2B, I'd say we'll give him a chance to prove he can field the position once Tadahito plays out his contract.

 

11 pitchers

2 catchers (AJ and a guy who can hit and catch {so why would he come as a back up?})

2 DH's (Thome and a guy like Perez of the Mariners)

2 First basemen (Gload and Konerko)

2 CF's (Anderson and ???)

1 RF (Dye)

1 LF (Mack)

1 3B (Crede)

2 2B (Iguchi and Soriano)

1 SS (Uribe)

 

There's your roster right there. No backup at short, a weak back up option for 3rd (Mack,) and maybe 5 OF's if you count Soriano (who I guess wants to only be a second baseman.)

 

Your scenario is very unrealistic and doesn't make much sense.

[cgaudin]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned our All-Star bullpen arms. Oh, right! We ain't got none! The Bullpen killed any slim chance this team had at the post-season. We need proven arms that will get outs, instead of these "hold your breath till the inning's over" pitchers who serve nothin' but cheese to opposing hitters. A BIG PHAWK U to Neal Cotts, for good measure.........