Possible Back-Up Outfielder?

[bigruss]

The Sox seem to need another bench player who could fill in if Anderson and co. fail to produce or get injured, and i was looking at an mlb.com article and it mentioned how Bernie Williams would be available if the Yanks keep Melky Cabrera, and immediately i was intrigued since its Bernie, but i doubted his stats from last year, well he hit .281, with 12 homers in 420 ABs, and committed only one error, i know he is aging and his defense prob isnt great or even above average now, but he would bring experience and a dependable batter onto the bench, plus maybe some swagger that i thought the team was missing last year, if he would come at a reasonable price i think the sox should atleast consider him over Owens or terrero

[Shamrock4Life]

i think williams would retire before signing on as a bench player. and having him as a starter makes our offense even slower.

[EvilMonkey]

i think williams would retire before signing on as a bench player. and having him as a starter makes our offense even slower.

You may be underestimating the tremendous egos of alot major league players. The desire to play, and the money, can be strong influences.

[Shamrock4Life]

the money, as a 4th outfielder we better not be paying him starter money.

[Hatchetman]

he'd be a hell of a lot better than pods.

[klaus kinski]

He's a career Yankee and would never fit in anywhere else

[Baines3]

Some guys don't care if they start or not as long as they get enough playing time. He'd be better than Pods.

[Kyyle23]

I could have sworn that Williams said that he was going to retire before playing for another team

[CanOfCorn]

You may be underestimating the tremendous egos of alot major league players. The desire to play, and the money, can be strong influences.

 

That is true, but in THIS case, Bernie Williams has more money than he needs, has won many World Series titles AND probably most importantly, has a career as a musician (and a good one at that) all lined up for him. He will retire a Yankee.

[greg775]

Do you all think Pods is capable of a strong comeback year, or is he finished?

I think his 40 stolen bases and 19 caught stealing would indicate his days as an

ultra productive leadoff man are over. His .261 batting average, 45 RBIs are pathetic

numbers. He did, however, score 86 runs which isn't half bad. Do you agree with

me the 86 runs scored is acceptable?

 

My other question is ... the signs are we are getting an aging, slower Pods for this season.

If he does suck, who do you think will replace him in lf?

Our team is pathetically slow on the bases and Pods getting caught 19 times shows

he may be another plodder this season.

Edited December 19, 2006 by greg775

[Kalapse]

Do you agree with me the 86 runs scored is acceptable?

No. It's pretty horrible, 86 runs put him 69th in all of baseball last year which is pathetic for the leadoff hitter of one of the best offenses in baseball and hitting in front of 3 guys who knocked in 100 runs last season. Hell even Iguchi scored 97 runs last year.

[chitownsportsfan]

Do you all think Pods is capable of a strong comeback year, or is he finished?

I think his 40 stolen bases and 19 caught stealing would indicate his days as an

ultra productive leadoff man are over. His .261 batting average, 45 RBIs are pathetic

numbers. He did, however, score 86 runs which isn't half bad. Do you agree with

me the 86 runs scored is acceptable?

 

My other question is ... the signs are we are getting an aging, slower Pods for this season.

If he does suck, who do you think will replace him in lf?

Our team is pathetically slow on the bases and Pods getting caught 19 times shows

he may be another plodder this season.

 

Who cares how many runs he scored? He scored a bunch of runs because Kong, Dye, and Thome are REALLY REALLY SUPER GOOD.

 

I look at rate stats that show he had a .683 OPS, which was so good that on a scale with 100 being completely average, Pods scored a 73.

 

That sucks.

 

Get this guy off the team.

[mike12345]

I understand Pods underachieved, but we really don't have an alternative, so unfortunately Pods is gonna be out in leftfield and leading off for us.

[JoshPR]

Say No! Bernie is on his lst leg. Bernie is a good guy and all, but his time has passed

[bpib]

Say No! Bernie is on his lst leg. Bernie is a good guy and all, but his time has passed

Agree

[Balta1701]

Do you all think Pods is capable of a strong comeback year, or is he finished?

I think his 40 stolen bases and 19 caught stealing would indicate his days as an

ultra productive leadoff man are over. His .261 batting average, 45 RBIs are pathetic

numbers. He did, however, score 86 runs which isn't half bad. Do you agree with

me the 86 runs scored is acceptable?

 

My other question is ... the signs are we are getting an aging, slower Pods for this season.

If he does suck, who do you think will replace him in lf?

Our team is pathetically slow on the bases and Pods getting caught 19 times shows

he may be another plodder this season.

As pointed out earlier, the Runs scored thing is pretty much not a useful stat because it depends a lot on who is behind him.

 

Here's the reality with Podsednik; we have no idea what we're going to get from him this year. Last year was a disaster for him, but it was a predictable disaster, because he was still recovering from health issues. In late 2005, he was really banged up, had a bad hamstring IIRC and wound up having a hernia surgery in the offseason. That slowed him down for the better part of 2 months in 05. Then, to start off 06, he went into Spring Training having had no real offseason to recover because of the surgery, then he wound up not having a Spring Training because of scar tissue, so he was basically inserted into the lineup on opening day with no time at all to get in baseball shape, and probably still with some nagging pain from those injuries.

 

As far as I know, he hasn't had any major injuries lately that will interrupt his offseason, so he at least has some shot to both relax and to get his body back in playing shape. That could give us a significant improvement. On the other hand, with a guy who relies on speed to make a difference in a game, it's also entirely possible that this series of injuries will cost him a step on the basepaths, thus leaving him as a 60% stolen base guy for the rest of his career.

 

If the only other option was giving Dave Roberts $20 million over 3 years, I understand going with Podsednik for 1 more year, but it's definately a big gamble.

[Chisoxfn]

I think Bernie would be a tremendous addition. He can still hit pretty well in around 300 AB's (which would give him AB's in LF, DH, and maybe once in a blue moon out in CF or RF). He'd also be a tremendous role model for a guy like Brian Anderson and would be an overall fantastic addition to the club.

 

That said there is no way he'd take our job, but if he were to go elsewhere I'd think we'd be one of the handful of teams he'd consider going to (considering he isn't about to go play for a team with no chance at winning and fact of the matter is the Sox are still one of the more talented teams in all of baseball).

[CanOfCorn]

As pointed out earlier, the Runs scored thing is pretty much not a useful stat because it depends a lot on who is behind him.

 

Here's the reality with Podsednik; we have no idea what we're going to get from him this year. Last year was a disaster for him, but it was a predictable disaster, because he was still recovering from health issues. In late 2005, he was really banged up, had a bad hamstring IIRC and wound up having a hernia surgery in the offseason. That slowed him down for the better part of 2 months in 05. Then, to start off 06, he went into Spring Training having had no real offseason to recover because of the surgery, then he wound up not having a Spring Training because of scar tissue, so he was basically inserted into the lineup on opening day with no time at all to get in baseball shape, and probably still with some nagging pain from those injuries.

 

As far as I know, he hasn't had any major injuries lately that will interrupt his offseason, so he at least has some shot to both relax and to get his body back in playing shape. That could give us a significant improvement. On the other hand, with a guy who relies on speed to make a difference in a game, it's also entirely possible that this series of injuries will cost him a step on the basepaths, thus leaving him as a 60% stolen base guy for the rest of his career.

 

If the only other option was giving Dave Roberts $20 million over 3 years, I understand going with Podsednik for 1 more year, but it's definately a big gamble.

 

Excellent post Balta. And if I may add one more thing: with an injured and declining Podsednik, the Sox still had an excellent first half of '06. Now, if Pods is still strug-a-ling by the trade deadline and the White Sox are still contending, a $2.9 million dollar/1 year contract is going to be easy to dump as part of a deal to get a new LF and/or leadoff hitter. It'll be an expiring contract with no strings and cheap for a team that might need to plug a hole until 2007.

 

What if Roberts or Pierre struggle? Now you've got them for 3 and 5 years, respectively. Yikes.

[Vance Law]

I would bet MacCowiak plays a better CF than Williams at this point, and is better offensively.

[YASNY]

I would bet MacCowiak plays a better CF than Williams at this point, and is better offensively.

 

Bernie doesn't have any speed, but he does know how to read a fly ball. No way Mack is better.

[Vance Law]

Bernie doesn't have any speed, but he does know how to read a fly ball. No way Mack is better.

Whether or not he's better would depend on exactly how much not-any-speed he has to go along with his superior technique.

 

According to Baseballmusings, Mackowiak had a slightly better out ratio in CF than Williams had in RF last year. Williams ranked as 2nd worst RF, ahead of Burnitz. Mackoviak ranked at 5th worst CF ahead of Griffey, Lofton, Bautista, and Cory Sullivan. I doubt the move back to CF would improve Williams' #s. Also, this isn't going to happen.

[YASNY]

Whether or not he's better would depend on exactly how much not-any-speed he has to go along with his superior technique.

 

According to Baseballmusings, Mackowiak had a slightly better out ratio in CF than Williams had in RF last year. Williams ranked as 2nd worst RF, ahead of Burnitz. Mackoviak ranked at 5th worst CF ahead of Griffey, Lofton, Bautista, and Cory Sullivan. I doubt the move back to CF would improve Williams' #s. Also, this isn't going to happen.

 

No way that Mack was better than Griffey of Lofton. Eyes are better than any defensive stats you can find.

[elrockinMT]

Do you all think Pods is capable of a strong comeback year, or is he finished?

I think his 40 stolen bases and 19 caught stealing would indicate his days as an

ultra productive leadoff man are over. His .261 batting average, 45 RBIs are pathetic

numbers. He did, however, score 86 runs which isn't half bad. Do you agree with

me the 86 runs scored is acceptable?

 

My other question is ... the signs are we are getting an aging, slower Pods for this season.

If he does suck, who do you think will replace him in lf?

Our team is pathetically slow on the bases and Pods getting caught 19 times shows

he may be another plodder this season.

 

 

If he is healthy PODS can still produce and steal lots of bases. I would also think we have plenty of yougsters that can fill the role as super sub in the OF, but if not I am guessing another low cost, but helpful signing will be made from the FA group still out there.

[greg775]

Thanks Balta,

I guess I missed reading much about Pods' injuries.

The writers sure didn't make many excuses for Pods in that regard

unless I missed it.

It seems Pods was a pretty big fan whipping boy.

But if he was hurt, maybe like you said his body will relax this offseason

and he could be OK.

Like you said however no way we'll know what we're getting with Pods

til it actually happens.

I'd rather have him than Roberts.

[EvilMonkey]

It seems Pods was a pretty big fan whipping boy.

B

Because he looked pretty pathetic when he stood there looking at strike 3 going right down the middle of the plate a little too often last year. But I still have faith he can be productive.