The Reason This Team is Bad, and Yes: It's Ozzie's Fault

[Gregory Pratt]

What's wrong with this team? Follow the music

Sorry for the lack of entries – I had a couple of days off to see the niece and nephew in Portland, Oregon.

 

While I was gone, apparently quite a bit happened.

 

What I was thinking about today, though, is: Who is to blame for this being a .500 team right now? Interestingly, everyone wants to take the blame.

 

Kenny: “It begins and ends with me. My entire coaching staff and my manager have shown they have the expertise, the teaching ability, the coaching ability, the managing ability to, if given the talent, if given the field personnel, they can win a championship. If they are underachieving it begins with me in not making the correct decisions to give them the best chance to win. Obviously with regards to the players, the players have to do their part as well, but I’ve got to provide them with a mix that makes sure that they can all do their jobs and we can end up on the W side more than the L side.”

 

Ozzie: “And as long as this continues, besides blaming the players, you have to blame me. Greg Walker is working every day, Don Cooper, the same way. My job is to put the people in the best situation to have success.”

 

The offense: “Yeah, the bullpen didn't do what we thought they were supposed to do,” Ozzie said. “But it's not easy when you're protecting one-run leads every day. We have to take blame collectively, everyone, offense, defense, everything. We sent people down because they were struggling. They were struggling; they weren't throwing strikes. I think that's the biggest reason we did it. In the meanwhile, it was tough for us to get to Bobby. The last couple of months, our hitting has been real poor. All of the sudden you look up at the bullpen and we're in the sixth, seventh inning. But how many runs are we up? Maybe once, maybe two twice, maybe three runs. But after that we'd shut it down. It's not easy for me to blame one spot or make people think we have only one weak thing.”

 

The bullpen: “We’re very frustrated with the bullpen and I think it’s the reason why we’re frustrated is because we feel like we have a chance to win a few games and we don’t get it done,” Coop said. “That’s why the frustration is there. We’ve got to try to get that better. I see Boone Logan doing fairly well. I think I see the same thing with Bobby. We need a little more.”

 

The starters: “We need the starters to be stingier. We need seven innings out of a starter,” Coop said. “It seems like when we go five or six ... Danksie threw pretty well yesterday, but pitch total we’re not going to mess with him ... It seems like there is a little bit of a gray area between the sixth, seventh and eighth inning for us. So we’ve got to plug that up. There’s a lot of other things we have to do turn this around.”

 

The defense even let the team down tonight, making two pretty key errors.

 

So, when all’s said and done, who’s at fault for this being a .500 team?

 

My vote is Ozzie, and the answer is in the music.

 

Remember all those stories about how Ozzie would come in – when he was first hired – and turn up the music after a loss? He was trying to instill the attitude of, this is just one loss, forget about it, move on.

 

Well, the music hasn’t been on after a loss in a long, long time. He hasn’t done that.

 

I think he’s a good baseball manager, a fantastic person to deal with and the right man for the job, but since the middle of last year when Detroit started pulling away, Ozzie has taken this job very seriously it’s rubbed off on the players.

 

There isn’t as much fun in this clubhouse as there once was.

 

That, in a nutshell, is what I think is wrong with this team right now. A little mindset change and they’re right back in it; if they take themselves too seriously, though, this season could be a long one.

[caulfield12]

I was listening to a conversation between our local (KC) sports talk host and Jayson Stark yesterday, talking about Piniella, along with the "interesting" Sheffield revelations (Stark admitted he hasn't talked to Sheffield for years after Gary disagreed with one of his columns when he was with the Dodgers).

 

At any rate, he (Stark) basically argued that Piniella was "disengaging" from this current team, because he had been privately telling friends in the game that the pieces just didn't fit together in Chicago, that while there was the potential certainly, he didn't have "his type of team" and there wasn't much that could be done about it. Of course, now that rumors are flying he's lost the clubhouse, he's probably going to tighten the reigns a little bit, but Piniella has done a lot of player blaming over there...his "bring in some damn players who can play the game" and constant swipes at them in the press the past two weeks are not helping either.

 

If you were Ozzie and had to choose between Bukvich, Logan, Prinz and Dewon Day to stay in a game, I bet you'd pretty much throw your hands up in frustration too. This is definitely not Ozzie's type of team, and I'm willing to give him a year or two with a White Sox team with a different composition...faster, younger, more fundamentally sound players.

 

I think these "homer or bust/push-pull" teams are more a creation of KW and this annoying theory that White Sox fans have always preferred home runs and .500 teams to "small ball" and playoff contenders...or maybe, it's the idea that if the majority of teams are going to be "average," it's best to entertain them with offense instead of defense?

 

At any rate, I think Ozzie knows the writing is on the wall with this team (the current version) and he is disengaging a little bit, which coincides with our second half slide and first half fizzle this year. And I think the whole Mariotti flap really changed him too, for the worse.

[harfman77]

KW must go first for failing to assemble a solid base of talent. He has brought in a bunch of wanna be sluggers who cannot put the ball in play consistently. The whole scouting department is a mess and that falls back on KW. I dont care who the manager of this team is, if the players cant play the game we are not going to win.

[fathom]

The Sox are last in doubles in the majors by an astonishing margin of 19.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(IowaSoxFan @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 07:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

KW must go first for failing to assemble a solid base of talent. He has brought in a bunch of wanna be sluggers who cannot put the ball in play consistently. The whole scouting department is a mess and that falls back on KW. I dont care who the manager of this team is, if the players cant play the game we are not going to win.

Who are these bunch of wanna be sluggers who cannot put the ball in play? Who is in this group. Please explain. Thank you. I bet you will mention a lot - if not all - of the same players that won the World Series in 2005 but are failing to produce now. Just a hunch. And that is KW's fault. Yep - your right.

 

 

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 07:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Sox are last in doubles in the majors by an astonishing margin of 19.

That hurts - where do they rank last year and the year before with almost the exact same cast members?

[caulfield12]

The Sox are last in doubles in the majors by an astonishing margin of 19.

 

30th in OBP, 29th in SLG PCT, for what's supposed to be a "slugging" team.

 

Who are these bunch of wanna be sluggers who cannot put the ball in play? Who is in this group. Please explain. Thank you. I bet you will mention a lot - if not all - of the same players that won the World Series in 2005 but are failing to produce now. Just a hunch. And that is KW's fault. Yep - your right.

That hurts - where do they rank last year and the year before with almost the exact same cast members?

 

 

2006, 9th (291 doubles)

 

2005, 14th (253 doubles, last by six)

 

AL Team Ranks

[DBAHO]

KW's going nowhere. For the posters hoping that he'll be fired, that ain't gonna happen, because of what he's done for this team especially over the past couple of seasons.

 

However he's coming up to an important time in his tenure as GM now. His motto has been an aggressive GM to make moves to help put us over the top, and our system has suffered because of that.

 

Now he probably needs to do a complete 180, and build up that system and get this team younger and quicker.

 

KW even said it himself when he said he wasn't happy with our system, and we needed to do a better job in the draft, hence why Duane Shaffer is no longer the man in charge there and Dave Wilder is. I think pitching wise we're getting better, but we need to stop taking safe college pitchers in the 1st round. We've hit on late - middle round picks such as B-Mac over the years which is good, we just need to do a better job earlier on in the draft, because our record there, especially over the past couple of seasons so far doesn't look too good.

 

Right now I think if Ozzie would want our team to be modeled on anyone, it'd be the Angels. Good top of the order hitters, lots of speed, great pitching and a very nice bullpen. Instead we have a team that's loaded in the middle of the lineup, but when they're not producing our lineup is going to struggle to score runs because it's not that deep. And of course the bullpen has just been a MAJOR dissapointment. We acquired a lot of hard throwers, but they haven't gotten the job done. Compare that to a team like the Padres who always have a great pen, and Kevin Towes says the secret is to acquire "strike throwers".

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 07:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

30th in OBP, 29th in SLG PCT, for what's supposed to be a "slugging" team.

 

 

 

 

2006, 9th (291 doubles)

 

2005, 14th (253 doubles, last by six)

 

AL Team Ranks

 

ML Rank - 21 in 2006. So what does this mean? Shouldn't total bases mean more than doubles? Why are we looking at doubles in order to assess this team? The Sox were still ahead of the great double producing Twins and only 3 behind the other great double producing Tigers. Doesn't this have a lot to do with your home ballpark as well? There are a lot of things that can affect doubles. I think total bases is a better gauge. Where do they rank in that category? I know they must be in last this year because they suck in every possible hitting category - but how about over the last couple of years?

 

1 TEX 357 2 CLE 351 3 TOR 348 4 KCR 335 5 ARI 331 6 BOS 327 7 NYY 327 8 COL 325 9 NYM 323 10 WSN 322 11 ATL 312 12 LAA 309 13 FLA 309 14 LAD 307 15 MIL 301 16 SDP 298 17 SFG 297 18 DET 294 19 PHI 294 20 STL 292 21 CHW 291 22 CIN 291 23 BAL 288 24 MIN 275 25 HOU 275 26 CHC 271 27 TBD 267 28 OAK 266 29 SEA 266

Edited June 6, 2007 by southsideirish

[caulfield12]

ML Rank - 21 in 2006. So what does this mean? Shouldn't total bases mean more than doubles? Why are we looking at doubles in order to assess this team? The Sox were still ahead of the great double producing Twins and only 3 behind the other great double producing Tigers. Doesn't this have a lot to do with your home ballpark as well? There are a lot of things that can affect doubles. I think total bases is a better gauge. Where do they rank in that category? I know they must be in last this year because they suck in every possible hitting category - but how about over the last couple of years?

 

1 TEX 357 2 CLE 351 3 TOR 348 4 KCR 335 5 ARI 331 6 BOS 327 7 NYY 327 8 COL 325 9 NYM 323 10 WSN 322 11 ATL 312 12 LAA 309 13 FLA 309 14 LAD 307 15 MIL 301 16 SDP 298 17 SFG 297 18 DET 294 19 PHI 294 20 STL 292 21 CHW 291 22 CIN 291 23 BAL 288 24 MIN 275 25 HOU 275 26 CHC 271 27 TBD 267 28 OAK 266 29 SEA 266

 

It doesn't mean much, besides the fact that doubles in many parks turn into homers at Comiskey and that a majority of our hitters are (or have morphed into) homer-oriented sluggers, even Uribe and Iguchi (until this last hot streak).

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 08:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

KW's going nowhere. For the posters hoping that he'll be fired, that ain't gonna happen, because of what he's done for this team especially over the past couple of seasons.

 

However he's coming up to an important time in his tenure as GM now. His motto has been an aggressive GM to make moves to help put us over the top, and our system has suffered because of that.

 

Now he probably needs to do a complete 180, and build up that system and get this team younger and quicker.

 

KW even said it himself when he said he wasn't happy with our system, and we needed to do a better job in the draft, hence why Duane Shaffer is no longer the man in charge there and Dave Wilder is. I think pitching wise we're getting better, but we need to stop taking safe college pitchers in the 1st round. We've hit on late - middle round picks such as B-Mac over the years which is good, we just need to do a better job earlier on in the draft, because our record there, especially over the past couple of seasons so far doesn't look too good.

 

Right now I think if Ozzie would want our team to be modeled on anyone, it'd be the Angels. Good top of the order hitters, lots of speed, great pitching and a very nice bullpen. Instead we have a team that's loaded in the middle of the lineup, but when they're not producing our lineup is going to struggle to score runs because it's not that deep. And of course the bullpen has just been a MAJOR dissapointment. We acquired a lot of hard throwers, but they haven't gotten the job done. Compare that to a team like the Padres who always have a great pen, and Kevin Towes says the secret is to acquire "strike throwers".

Don't you think the Padres pitchers can afford to throw more strikes and "allow" the batters to get themselves out? The ballpark is made for that - it is huge. If "strike throwers" worked for everyone then everyone would do it. There really aren't many secrets. Kevin Tower's philosophy works in SD. Would it work in US Cell? I don't think the Sox need so much a hard thrower, but at least someone that keeps the ball down consistently or has consistent sink to their pitches to reduce the number of fly balls hit. Wouldn't you agree?

[caulfield12]

KW's going nowhere. For the posters hoping that he'll be fired, that ain't gonna happen, because of what he's done for this team especially over the past couple of seasons.

 

However he's coming up to an important time in his tenure as GM now. His motto has been an aggressive GM to make moves to help put us over the top, and our system has suffered because of that.

 

Now he probably needs to do a complete 180, and build up that system and get this team younger and quicker.

 

KW even said it himself when he said he wasn't happy with our system, and we needed to do a better job in the draft, hence why Duane Shaffer is no longer the man in charge there and Dave Wilder is. I think pitching wise we're getting better, but we need to stop taking safe college pitchers in the 1st round. We've hit on late - middle round picks such as B-Mac over the years which is good, we just need to do a better job earlier on in the draft, because our record there, especially over the past couple of seasons so far doesn't look too good.

 

Right now I think if Ozzie would want our team to be modeled on anyone, it'd be the Angels. Good top of the order hitters, lots of speed, great pitching and a very nice bullpen. Instead we have a team that's loaded in the middle of the lineup, but when they're not producing our lineup is going to struggle to score runs because it's not that deep. And of course the bullpen has just been a MAJOR dissapointment. We acquired a lot of hard throwers, but they haven't gotten the job done. Compare that to a team like the Padres who always have a great pen, and Kevin Towes says the secret is to acquire "strike throwers".

 

If you look at the Angels, they have Willits, Murphy, Matthews, Cabrera, Figgins, Aybar, Wood, Kendrick...Anderson is breaking down, but Vladdy is still a decent athlete, although his body is breaking down a little.

 

Even from what I've seen of Kotchmann, Morales and McPherson, they're much more athletic than say Thome, Konerko and Crede.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 08:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It doesn't mean much, besides the fact that doubles in many parks turn into homers at Comiskey and that a majority of our hitters are (or have morphed into) homer-oriented sluggers, even Uribe and Iguchi (until this last hot streak).

Uribe has always swung for the fences. This is is M.O. He is known for this. He always was.

 

 

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 08:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you look at the Angels, they have Willits, Murphy, Matthews, Cabrera, Figgins, Aybar, Wood, Kendrick...Anderson is breaking down, but Vladdy is still a decent athlete, although his body is breaking down a little.

 

Even from what I've seen of Kotchmann, Morales and McPherson, they're much more athletic than say Thome, Konerko and Crede.

Come on - how do you know who is more athletic? You are opening up a big can of worms there that is impossible to tell. Plus just because someone appears to be more athletic does not mean anything as to how a body will break down or how they will produce. I really have no idea where you are going with this.

[DBAHO]

Don't you think the Padres pitchers can afford to throw more strikes and "allow" the batters to get themselves out? The ballpark is made for that - it is huge. If "strike throwers" worked for everyone then everyone would do it. There really aren't many secrets. Kevin Tower's philosophy works in SD. Would it work in US Cell? I don't think the Sox need so much a hard thrower, but at least someone that keeps the ball down consistently or has consistent sink to their pitches to reduce the number of fly balls hit. Wouldn't you agree?

Well obviously the Padres can have more success because it's easier for their pitchers to do well in their ballpark.

 

But I do think for the Sox it's something they should consider more in the future. Pitchers like Sisco and MacDougal have often fallen behind early in the count because of their control problems, and it puts more pressure on them in that situation then if you're ahead in the count.

 

I don't mind acquiring hard throwers IF they can throw strikes. Unfortunately, many of our bullpen pitchers can't. Whether it's KW fault or Don Cooper's, I don't know, probably both are to blame.

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 6, 2007 -> 08:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well obviously the Padres can have more success because it's easier for their pitchers to do well in their ballpark.

 

But I do think for the Sox it's something they should consider more in the future. Pitchers like Sisco and MacDougal have often fallen behind early in the count because of their control problems, and it puts more pressure on them in that situation then if you're ahead in the count.

 

I don't mind acquiring hard throwers IF they can throw strikes. Unfortunately, many of our bullpen pitchers can't. Whether it's KW fault or Don Cooper's, I don't know, probably both are to blame.

So then you would not have acquired Thorton? McDougal seemed to be able to throw strikes last year. I think Sisco and Aardsma could be very good with some time in the minors. Massett could be outstanding with a little more time. If anything - that could be KW's biggest downfall - he was counting on too many younger arms producing in the bullpen. I think he may have needed a little more experience there and allow these young guys to develop a bit more. However, he should have been able to count on Jenks, Thorton, and McDougal. Plus - I would not blame a coach or GM for a lack of production from a player that usually produces. That is on the player. Counting on too many young players to come through in the same position - that may be on KW. However, 3 bullpen arms that you can count on is - in many situations - common and enough.

Edited June 6, 2007 by southsideirish

[caulfield12]

Don't you think the Padres pitchers can afford to throw more strikes and "allow" the batters to get themselves out? The ballpark is made for that - it is huge. If "strike throwers" worked for everyone then everyone would do it. There really aren't many secrets. Kevin Tower's philosophy works in SD. Would it work in US Cell? I don't think the Sox need so much a hard thrower, but at least someone that keeps the ball down consistently or has consistent sink to their pitches to reduce the number of fly balls hit. Wouldn't you agree?

 

 

The whole theory for trading McCarthy in a nutshell. I think Broadway was adding a "two seamer" like Garland's, and I think we need to concentrate on sinker ballers or pitchers (like Vazquez) who have enough stuff to avoid contact. With "pitch to contact" approaches (see Garland, Buehrle or Baldwin), our infield defense has to have range and above average throwing arms to counteract all the ground balls hit. It looks like Danks could evolve into a pretty good strikeout pitcher, not 9/9 IP, but 6.5-7.5 I would think, especially if he can refine that curveball just a bit.

 

I really wish they could move the fences back to their old dimensions, but that doesn't seem practical. But it would force Iguchi, Uribe, Anderson, Sweeney, AJ, Pods, Fields, etc., to concentrate on not trying to jack the ball out of the park.

 

And Thome/Konerko have enough power they would still hit plenty of homers with Old Comiskey dimensions.

 

Uribe has always swung for the fences. This is is M.O. He is known for this. He always was.

Come on - how do you know who is more athletic? You are opening up a big can of worms there that is impossible to tell. Plus just because someone appears to be more athletic does not mean anything as to how a body will break down or how they will produce. I really have no idea where you are going with this.

 

 

Simple, measuring times to 1B from the batter's box, first to third, second to home....triples would be another category.

 

We are a slow, station-to-station team. It's incredible the difference when you watch someone like Owens out there compared to the rest, or Ray Durham, or even Willie Harris (in the past).

 

Of course, those times indicate speed and quickness/explosiveness, there are lots of other indications, such as stolen bases or fewest times grounding in a DP per plate appearance.

 

Nobody will dispute the fact that we're one of the slowest teams in the majors, if not THE slowest, without either Pods or Owens in the line-up.

 

There are no positions that we are above major league average in terms of athletic ability for that particular position, just think of it like that.

Edited June 6, 2007 by caulfield12

[thedoctor]

there's are any number of reasons that this team hasn't played well. when things are going this way it's extraordinarily simple to just say "it's ozzie's fault" or "it's kw's fault." certainly they are accountable for this current mess, but i tend to hold the players most responsible. here are a few factors i'd point out.

 

key players performing well below their career averages: konerko, dye, macdougal, and iguchi in particular are really underperforming at this point. all were expected to play integral parts of this team but instead they've mostly flopped. their issues are exacerbated by...

 

injuries: yeah, i said it. people hate this excuse but c'mon. we've now had (in succession) podsednik, thome, erstad, and crede head to the dl. now there's no doubt these players themselves (excepting thome) have debatable overall value to the team depending on who you ask. that said, you can't jockey the top three players in your batting order with regularity and not expect that there will be some kind of residual effect.

 

it's the bullpen, stupid: wow our bullpen is bad. this goes on kenny. the fact that we currently have bukvich, day, and prinz on the major-league roster is not a good thing and just emblematic of how bad of a failure this year's bullpen experiment has been. aardsma, sisco, and macdougal have all imploded leaving us with a a huge gap. the fact that we've mostly replaced those guys with journeymen is not helping anything.

 

the kids can(t) play: some teams can weather injuries or players not meeting expectations. many times they do this by bringing up young players who at least don't appear totally overwhelmed here. while sweeney looked good in spots, it's been a long, long time since we brought up a product of our system who provided an immediate and noticeable boost to the big club. that has to change.

 

anyhow, my two cents.

[DBAHO]

So then you would not have acquired Thorton? McDougal seemed to be able to throw strikes last year. I think Sisco and Aardsma could be very good with some time in the minors. Massett could be outstanding with a little more time. If anything - that could be KW's biggest downfall - he was counting on too many younger arms producing in the bullpen. I think he may have needed a little more experience there and allow these young guys to develop a bit more. However, he should have been able to count on Jenks, Thorton, and McDougal. Plus - I would not blame a coach or GM for a lack of production from a player that usually produces. That is on the player. Counting on too many young players to come through in the same position - that may be on KW. However, 3 bullpen arms that you can count on is - in many situations - common and enough.

I actually think Thornton is a bit overrated because of that stuff he posseses, and I still have a question or 2 whether he is a set-up man in the long - term. THis season his BAA is up to .270, and he's lucky the ERA has risen more as he's only given up 1 HR in 25G which is the major positive for him.

 

Sisco I think should be converted into a starter. 2 lefties in the pen is enough for me, and Boone Logan has shown enough in the majors this season to keep him up permanently. And it's what Andy wanted when he was acquired. I still liked that trade for Ross Gload, and I think it'll pay dividends over the long - term, IF, Sisco can get his control issues straightened out.

 

MacDougal's just been a bust this season, which I don't think anybody saw coming. 1.80 ERA in 25G for us last season, and in 2 more games he's pitched this season he's issued 11 more walks, and his BAA is up over .300. Can he get it back? Absolutely, but he's got to get everything working 100%, motion and throwing wise.

 

As for acquiring a veteran reliever, well that's all well and good, but top FA veteran relievers such as Justin Speier and Jamie Walker from this off-season got pretty sizeable contracts. And if you sign a bullpen guy to a deal like that, and he doesn't produce, you're in trouble, because as we've seen, relievers are very hit and miss from season to season.

[southsideirish71]

there's are any number of reasons that this team hasn't played well. when things are going this way it's extraordinarily simple to just say "it's ozzie's fault" or "it's kw's fault." certainly they are accountable for this current mess, but i tend to hold the players most responsible. here are a few factors i'd point out.

 

key players performing well below their career averages: konerko, dye, macdougal, and iguchi in particular are really underperforming at this point. all were expected to play integral parts of this team but instead they've mostly flopped. their issues are exacerbated by...

 

injuries: yeah, i said it. people hate this excuse but c'mon. we've now had (in succession) podsednik, thome, erstad, and crede head to the dl. now there's no doubt these players themselves (excepting thome) have debatable overall value to the team depending on who you ask. that said, you can't jockey the top three players in your batting order with regularity and not expect that there will be some kind of residual effect.

 

it's the bullpen, stupid: wow our bullpen is bad. this goes on kenny. the fact that we currently have bukvich, day, and prinz on the major-league roster is not a good thing and just emblematic of how bad of a failure this year's bullpen experiment has been. aardsma, sisco, and macdougal have all imploded leaving us with a a huge gap. the fact that we've mostly replaced those guys with journeymen is not helping anything.

 

the kids can(t) play: some teams can weather injuries or players not meeting expectations. many times they do this by bringing up young players who at least don't appear totally overwhelmed here. while sweeney looked good in spots, it's been a long, long time since we brought up a product of our system who provided an immediate and noticeable boost to the big club. that has to change.

 

anyhow, my two cents.

 

If the offense is medicore in April and May we can tack on about 6 or more wins onto our tally. The offense is to blame for our place in the standings. They decided to take April, May and it looks like June so far off. The bullpen has been bad, but we dont score runs. How many times have we put up 3 or less runs, in the American league. You need to score 4 or more to have a chance to win. We should be scoring 5 or more with our park, and with the guys we have.

[thedoctor]

If the offense is medicore in April and May we can tack on about 6 or more wins onto our tally. The offense is to blame for our place in the standings. They decided to take April, May and it looks like June so far off. The bullpen has been bad, but we dont score runs. How many times have we put up 3 or less runs, in the American league. You need to score 4 or more to have a chance to win. We should be scoring 5 or more with our park, and with the guys we have.

 

pretty much. the offense's shortcomings have really magnified what could otherwise be small issues. i think the underperformance (dye, konerko, iguchi) and injuries (podsednik, erstad, thome, crede) have taken a toll here. it's just been one big ball of suck.

[caulfield12]

I actually think Thornton is a bit overrated because of that stuff he posseses, and I still have a question or 2 whether he is a set-up man in the long - term. THis season his BAA is up to .270, and he's lucky the ERA has risen more as he's only given up 1 HR in 25G which is the major positive for him.

 

Sisco I think should be converted into a starter. 2 lefties in the pen is enough for me, and Boone Logan has shown enough in the majors this season to keep him up permanently. And it's what Andy wanted when he was acquired. I still liked that trade for Ross Gload, and I think it'll pay dividends over the long - term, IF, Sisco can get his control issues straightened out.

 

MacDougal's just been a bust this season, which I don't think anybody saw coming. 1.80 ERA in 25G for us last season, and in 2 more games he's pitched this season he's issued 11 more walks, and his BAA is up over .300. Can he get it back? Absolutely, but he's got to get everything working 100%, motion and throwing wise.

 

As for acquiring a veteran reliever, well that's all well and good, but top FA veteran relievers such as Justin Speier and Jamie Walker from this off-season got pretty sizeable contracts. And if you sign a bullpen guy to a deal like that, and he doesn't produce, you're in trouble, because as we've seen, relievers are very hit and miss from season to season.

 

I just don't see how Sisco would possibly be a better bet than some of our other prospects, like Gio.

 

Let's say, worst-case scenario, Contreras and Buehrle are both traded.

 

That leaves you:

 

1) Garland

2) Vazquez

3) Danks

 

If you were to line up candidates for 4/5, they would probably look something like this:

 

1) Gio

2) Russell

3) Masset

4) Broadway

5) De Los Santos

6) Sisco

7) McCullough

8) Haeger

9) Phillips

 

The thing that works in Sisco's favor is that he's left-handed, throws hard and is still relatively young. That has value to SOMEONE in MLB, since LH starters are the #1 commodity in the game today, especially young/affordable lefties. Which is why we are in very good shape with Danks and Gio IMO.

Edited June 6, 2007 by caulfield12

[Kyyle23]

It doesn't mean much, besides the fact that doubles in many parks turn into homers at Comiskey and that a majority of our hitters are (or have morphed into) homer-oriented sluggers, even Uribe and Iguchi (until this last hot streak).

 

 

Iguchi was way more of a homerun oriented hitter in Japan, his power is moderated in the MLB. Uribe I agree with, but not Iguchi

 

If the offense is medicore in April and May we can tack on about 6 or more wins onto our tally. The offense is to blame for our place in the standings. They decided to take April, May and it looks like June so far off. The bullpen has been bad, but we dont score runs. How many times have we put up 3 or less runs, in the American league. You need to score 4 or more to have a chance to win. We should be scoring 5 or more with our park, and with the guys we have.

 

How many leads has the bullpen blown after the 6th inning?

Edited June 6, 2007 by kyyle23

[caulfield12]

Iguchi was way more of a homerun oriented hitter in Japan, his power is moderated in the MLB. Uribe I agree with, but not Iguchi

How many leads has the bullpen blown after the 6th inning?

 

I think we're now at 12-13 leads blown from the 6th inning on.

 

As Hawk said, we had the lead at one point in most of the games on that roadtrip, with the exception of the Halladay start.

[Gregory Pratt]

Just so we're clear: I don't think it's Ozzie's fault because he doesn't play music anymore after they lose.

 

I was being very sarcastic with my title.

 

I do think it's interesting if he's gotten tighter. He needs to relax with his players. That said, I've heard that most of his players are still with him, but he should loosen up more.

 

He really doesn't have the horses to win, though. Terrible, terrible f***ing bullpen. Terrible station-to-station team. Terrible bench.

[BearSox]

Why this team is bad: because we're old and slow, and have no bullpen.

[kwolf68]

When you are relying on Alex Cintron, Rob Mackowiak, Jerry Owens as starters and a host of aging, slow-footed slumping power hitters, very little ability to run the bases and manufacture runs, combined with a bullpen that is in serious meltdown mode it's amazing to me this team isn't 15 below .500

 

Without some pretty good starting pitching we'd be well out of this thing.

 

I don't think Whitey Herzog could get much more out of this team. It's laborious to watch and the talent is very one-dimensional. Our minors looks depleted (although Gio, Egg, Cunningham, Russell and maybe Getz hold some promise) and we are playing in a division with 3 wrecking crew teams.