Thome not going anywhere after this year

[kwolf68]

 

LMMFAO at Thome for Clement. I wish.

[Bubba Philips]

LMMFAO at Thome for Clement. I wish.

wouldn't it be cool to be watching a sox game with the other team at bat and a runner is off on a steal Clement throws him out.. Wow... You know ...when a lion and other beast are picking their prey from a herd they usually pick the slowest ones.. This is called "natural selection" in AJs and Hall's cases I believe they are practicing this instinct and thus perpetuating the "circle of life".

[witesoxfan]

Trading Thome would be the best thing the Sox could do. Don't tell me his amazing stats, tell me what he does to win. Tell me what he does when the games are on the line. Tell me how he will go with an outside pitch when he has a huge f***ing hole due to the Thome shift (and there are runners on base and the club is in dire need of a run). Oh wait, he doesn't do any of those f***ing things.

 

I'm not excusing what he's done this year. He's been terrible. However, to suggest the Sox don't win games when Thome's in the lineup is absolute bulls***. In 2006, when the Sox team ERA rose an entire f***ing run from 3.68 to 4.68, there was only a 9 game drop off in wins. There were two major changes made to the lineup, and one of those was a colossal failure. The other was adding the bat of Jim Thome, and that alone saved the Sox an even bigger disappointment of a season. And even suggesting that anything had to do with Thome last year is absurd - the Sox had Erstad and Podsednik in CF and LF, a mediocre starting rotation, a terrible bullpen, and a banged up team in the first half of the year. If the Sox didn't have Thome, they probably would have lost 100 games (which would have been just fine in some circumstances, but the point remains the same).

 

He's terrible right now, but if you are just going to assume that a hitter of Thome's pedigree just falls off the face of the earth like this and doesn't figure out a way to fix himself, then you're wrong.

 

He hits home-runs when the team is already up big or in a big hole. He is all or nothing and the Sox have enough power bats in the lineup that they should move Thome. At least Crede will shorten up his swing, Paulie attempts to (and yes I'd be willing to move Paulie too), AJ usually tries (sometimes he's awful at it), Swisher has been terrible (he's been as feable if not more than Thome, but I'll give him a chance to prove that this is an exception to the rule, Thome has shown me over a few years that what I see of him now is pretty much exactly what he is). Hell, I'd rather have Uribe up with runners on 2nd and 3rd than Thome because at least Uribe will do what he needs to get a sac fly or get a run in.

 

I quite frankly don't give a s*** if he's all or nothing because he's been on base more than anybody in the Sox lineup in the past 2 or so years. What's wrong with either killing a ball, taking a walk, or striking out? He's turned in a Hall of Fame career doing just that and he's been the biggest home run threat in the middle of some of the best offenses of all time.

 

And suggesting that you'd rather have Uribe up than Thome with runners on base late in a game is probably only because you're assuming the opposing manager will merely walk Thome to get a force at every base. Uribe's just as prone to striking out, less likely to hit a flyball or homer, and least likeliest to actually get on f***ing base. You're better than that.

 

 

 

 

What's really funny to consider is that Thome actually hasn't been that bad this year - he's only hitting .214, but he's been on base 54 times in 36 games, half of his hits have gone for extra bases, and a quarter of his hits have been round trippers. If his average creeps to even .250 (and considering that he's a career .280 hitter, hasn't hit below .270 since 2003, and has never hit below .260 in a full season EVER), he'd be a damn good player and he'd probably end up with .250/.375/.550/.925 line, which is almost assuredly going to be better than any hitter on the Sox and could potentially be the second best OPS in the AL Central next to Miguel Cabrera.

 

I overrate Thome a bit but that's only because so many people absolutely hate him, when all he has ever done is produce. I don't understand it and I never will. The same applies to Jermaine Dye too, quite frankly. Not to open a can of worms (but I'm sure it will), it's quite odd to me how Thome and Dye are scapegoats while Crede is given a free pass by many. Maybe I just haven't read around enough, but it's crazy.

[lostfan]

Considering he is a lefty power bat in a righty-dominated lineup I don't have any issues with Thome in the lineup and to be honest, despite the b****ing, I don't think most Sox fans do either. Thome is what he is, a declining Hall-Of-Fame-but-still-productive slugger. Having said that, he is a pretty one-dimensional player and I don't think his abilities are best utilized at 3rd in this lineup. 3rd is where you want your most consistent hitter, which at one point would've been Thome, but these days. He still belongs in the heart of the order but Dye is a better 3rd hitter now (in spite of those maddening 3 pitch strikeouts on pitches that bounce in front of him).

[Chisoxfn]

I'm not excusing what he's done this year. He's been terrible. However, to suggest the Sox don't win games when Thome's in the lineup is absolute bulls***. In 2006, when the Sox team ERA rose an entire f***ing run from 3.68 to 4.68, there was only a 9 game drop off in wins. There were two major changes made to the lineup, and one of those was a colossal failure. The other was adding the bat of Jim Thome, and that alone saved the Sox an even bigger disappointment of a season. And even suggesting that anything had to do with Thome last year is absurd - the Sox had Erstad and Podsednik in CF and LF, a mediocre starting rotation, a terrible bullpen, and a banged up team in the first half of the year. If the Sox didn't have Thome, they probably would have lost 100 games (which would have been just fine in some circumstances, but the point remains the same).

 

He's terrible right now, but if you are just going to assume that a hitter of Thome's pedigree just falls off the face of the earth like this and doesn't figure out a way to fix himself, then you're wrong.

 

 

 

I quite frankly don't give a s*** if he's all or nothing because he's been on base more than anybody in the Sox lineup in the past 2 or so years. What's wrong with either killing a ball, taking a walk, or striking out? He's turned in a Hall of Fame career doing just that and he's been the biggest home run threat in the middle of some of the best offenses of all time.

 

And suggesting that you'd rather have Uribe up than Thome with runners on base late in a game is probably only because you're assuming the opposing manager will merely walk Thome to get a force at every base. Uribe's just as prone to striking out, less likely to hit a flyball or homer, and least likeliest to actually get on f***ing base. You're better than that.

 

 

 

 

What's really funny to consider is that Thome actually hasn't been that bad this year - he's only hitting .214, but he's been on base 54 times in 36 games, half of his hits have gone for extra bases, and a quarter of his hits have been round trippers. If his average creeps to even .250 (and considering that he's a career .280 hitter, hasn't hit below .270 since 2003, and has never hit below .260 in a full season EVER), he'd be a damn good player and he'd probably end up with .250/.375/.550/.925 line, which is almost assuredly going to be better than any hitter on the Sox and could potentially be the second best OPS in the AL Central next to Miguel Cabrera.

 

I overrate Thome a bit but that's only because so many people absolutely hate him, when all he has ever done is produce. I don't understand it and I never will. The same applies to Jermaine Dye too, quite frankly. Not to open a can of worms (but I'm sure it will), it's quite odd to me how Thome and Dye are scapegoats while Crede is given a free pass by many. Maybe I just haven't read around enough, but it's crazy.

Wite, I'm not at all saying Thome is the reason the Sox lost last year. He was far from it. He is one of the reasons they are struggling this year though. I also have been very consistent to the fact that this team doesn't need more pure sluggers, it needs less. If this team had a lack of power, acquiring Thome would be a tremendous move (ie, if you are the Angels of a few years, adding one power bat to go with all that speed would be a brilliant move because it gives the offense more blow-out power).

 

I also should point out that I feel the same way about Adam Dunn. I don't think he's the type of guy you build your lineup around. Jim Thome in his prime, yes, in fact I would never compare Thome in his prime to Adam Dunn, but I will compare Thome at this stage in his game to Dunn. I've been very consistent that I don't believe OPS/OBP is the tell all be all for a middle of the order hitter. OPS is very important, but a middle of the order hitter needs to have solid power, they also need to be able to hit for an average (because it is hits, not walks, that drive in runs and unlike the top of the order where I feel OBP is the tell all be all, in the middle of the order, average/power is probably the most important stat, imo because it will lead to knocking in the most amount of runs).

 

In fact I'd have no problem with Thome if he was hitting in the 4/5 hole and Konerko was moved and the Sox found a new 2B and a very good athletic outfielder to come in (Swisher moving to 1B or Swisher moving to LF, Quentin to RF, Dye to learn/play 1B). You would than hopefully have the 2B go to the top of the lineup with Cabrera, move Quentin to the 3 spot (or Dye), have Thome in the 4 spot and than the other hitting in the 5 spot, than Swisher (once he gets things going, He's a solid fit here), Crede, AJ, Young Outfielder.

 

At that point, you are talking about only having Thome/AJ/Crede who are slower guys and that will make a major difference. I really think this comes to my personal preference to having good athletes who can hit for an average because while you won't score 10 runs as much as you would compared to a team like the Sox (who should have quite a few double digit games) but you would consistently score 4-5 runs and be able to get 1 run when its needed a hell of a lot more than the White Sox do.