2008 White Sox Catch-All Thread

[southsider2k5]

Question in my office...

 

Have the Sox and Cubs ever played each other while both teams were in first place. My inclination is no, but I don't know for sure.

[Brian]

Question in my office...

 

Have the Sox and Cubs ever played each other while both teams were in first place. My inclination is no, but I don't know for sure.

 

Interleague play has only been around for a decade, so I would guess no. Cubs were far away from 1st in 05 when we played.

 

Not sure about the exhibition games.

[YASNY]

Question in my office...

 

Have the Sox and Cubs ever played each other while both teams were in first place. My inclination is no, but I don't know for sure.

 

Yes. It happened in 1906.

[Gregory Pratt]

Yes. It happened in 1906.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Per whitesox.com, the Sox re-activated Danny Richar off the DL, and then optioned him to Charlotte. Doesn't look like we'll see danny any time soon in Chicago.

 

After Uribe gets back to Chicago, that means that either Getz or Richar will probably move to SS for the Knights, which may be an interesting experiment.

 

[Balta1701]

Couple of Directly Sox Related nuggets in Jayson Stark's piece today.

Right on Q: Another question we could have posed in that opening section was this: Can Carlos Quentin win the home run title?

 

Scouts we've polled are a little dubious of that, and with reason. So far, 19.2 percent of Quentin's fly balls have left the park -- a higher percentage than David Ortiz, Chase Utley or Manny Ramirez. But Quentin is also a guy who had a .527 career slugging percentage in the minor leagues. So even if some of those balls turn into doubles over the last four months, the White Sox would still have themselves a heck of a player.

 

"I've heard a number of guys say, 'Man, I sure missed on that guy.' But I don't know why we all did," said one front-office man. "He was an uber-prospect at one time. Then he got banged up and kind of fell by the wayside. But I've seen him hit good pitching and really turn some stuff around. He's proved he can handle the ball middle in, and he can handle the ball down and away, and he can sure as hell handle the ball middle-middle. So I don't know what stops him from being real."

 

Pitching coach of the year award, part 2: Here's another name to drop into the competition for our nonexistent pitching-coach-of-the-year non-trophy -- the White Sox's Don Cooper. Every pitcher in his rotation this year, with the exception of Mark Buehrle, has taken a big step forward. That's no coincidence.

 

"He's one of the best, and he might be the best," said one scout. "He doesn't look for the fame or fortune. But he takes each pitcher individually and gets the most out of their ability. He doesn't try to cookie-cutter deliveries. There's no absolute this or absolute that. Just look at that staff. He's got all different types of guys, and they all get better."

Couple other details strewn throughout.

[SoxFan1]

No doubt in my mind Don Cooper will be an MLB manager one day.

[knightni]

No doubt in my mind Don Cooper will be an MLB manager one day.

Being a good coach doesn't always equal becoming a good manager, though.

 

Just like being a good co-ordinator doesn't always equal becoming a good head coach.

 

Ray Miller, Leo Mazzone, Pat Corrales, Lloyd McClendon, Larry Bowa, Jim Tracy, etc.

 

All were very good coaches who failed as managers.

[witesoxfan]

Being a good coach doesn't always equal becoming a good manager, though.

 

Just like being a good co-ordinator doesn't always equal becoming a good head coach.

 

Ray Miller, Leo Mazzone, Pat Corrales, Lloyd McClendon, Larry Bowa, Jim Tracy, etc.

 

All were very good coaches who failed as managers.

 

Jim Tracy had 4 of 5 winning seasons in LA, won 90+ games twice and took them to the playoffs one year. He gets thrown in here because Pittsburgh is absolutely f***ing terrible?

 

Leo Mazzone has never been a major league manager.

 

 

And furthermore, damn near every manager in today's game was, at one point in time, a "coordinator," if you will. So basically you are stating that some guys aren't good managers even when they were good coaches while others are good managers.

[BearSox]

Per whitesox.com, the Sox re-activated Danny Richar off the DL, and then optioned him to Charlotte. Doesn't look like we'll see danny any time soon in Chicago.

 

After Uribe gets back to Chicago, that means that either Getz or Richar will probably move to SS for the Knights, which may be an interesting experiment.

yay, great news. We will get to see some of Uribe's garbage, and see less of Alexei at 2B in a couple of days it looks like... such BS. How Uribe was not DFA'ed a long, long time ago is beyond me.

 

To answer you're question, I think Getz will play SS with Richar at 2B. It seems, and I agree with this, that the org. views Richar as a future 2B, while they see Getz as more of a utility player.

[BearSox]

It's official, DLS had Tommy John surgery this week and will be out for the rest of the season. Looks like if he ever gets over this injury, his future is now in the pen.

[knightni]

So basically you are stating that some guys aren't good managers even when they were good coaches while others are good managers.

 

Not every coach makes a successful manager.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Yes. It happened in 1906.

 

So... How was it?

[YASNY]

So... How was it?

 

The usual. Sox win, cubs lose.

[Dick Allen]

Gammons was just discussing Wilder on Baseball Tonight. He basically said he was singing to the feds and its probably going to implicate another organization. He also thinks it will ultimately lead to an international draft.

[justBLAZE]

Just put on the Cubs - Rockies game, man does Colorado SUCK.

[witesoxfan]

Gammons was just discussing Wilder on Baseball Tonight. He basically said he was singing to the feds and its probably going to implicate another organization. He also thinks it will ultimately lead to an international draft.

 

The only question I've ever had about an international draft are the ramifications on international free agency. What would have happened to Contreras, Ramirez, Matsuzaka, Ichiro, and the others as a result? Would there be a pardon to those that have played at a professional level within their own countries?

 

It'd be complicated, but some form of an international draft would be for the best of the game.

[LittleHurt05]

The only question I've ever had about an international draft are the ramifications on international free agency. What would have happened to Contreras, Ramirez, Matsuzaka, Ichiro, and the others as a result? Would there be a pardon to those that have played at a professional level within their own countries?

 

It'd be complicated, but some form of an international draft would be for the best of the game.

 

No doubt an international draft would be so good for the game, as it would keep the richest teams (Yankees, Red Sox) from automatically grabbing the best international guys, but, like ya said, the complications would be endless(assuming all older international players would automatically be in the draft too like college guys here)...

 

-why would japanese teams give up their signed guys when they just got $50 mil from Boston just to talk to Dice-K

-how do you decide between an 18 year old with all the potential or a 30-year old with experience that will contribute now...

-does the worst team get the first pick in both drafts?

 

i know the questions go on and on, just something i've thought about it a lot before

 

 

[greg775]

After Uribe gets back to Chicago, that means that either Getz or Richar will probably move to SS for the Knights, which may be an interesting experiment.

 

Are we sure he gets back to Chicago?

Time to dump Juan. I don't care how much he's making.

[joejoesox]

wow, here's a mindblowing stat

 

the white sox this year have given up 1 run or less 15 times

 

that's an MLB best, btw.

[southsider2k5]

Gammons was just discussing Wilder on Baseball Tonight. He basically said he was singing to the feds and its probably going to implicate another organization. He also thinks it will ultimately lead to an international draft.

 

I'll be honest, that, and a NBA like slotted salary system would be wonderful. It would really tip competitive balance back towards the small market teams for once.

[YASNY]

Are we sure he gets back to Chicago?

Time to dump Juan. I don't care how much he's making.

 

Given the choice, I'd rather give Ozuna the boot and let Uribe take that utility slot.

[Chisoxfn]

Gammons was just discussing Wilder on Baseball Tonight. He basically said he was singing to the feds and its probably going to implicate another organization. He also thinks it will ultimately lead to an international draft.

He didn't just indicate another organization, Gammons indicated that what Wilder was screaming was going straight to the top of some organization (which leads me to believe it could be as high up as a GM). Gammons also indicated that such organization(s) he was telling the feds about were not related to the White Sox (it sounds as if the fallout from the Sox is pretty much over).

 

The question is whether its the Brewers (could you imagine if it were the case, considering Selig's general closeness to the franchise) or Braves as those are the two organizations that Wilder was in the longest (IIRC).

[Chisoxfn]

The only question I've ever had about an international draft are the ramifications on international free agency. What would have happened to Contreras, Ramirez, Matsuzaka, Ichiro, and the others as a result? Would there be a pardon to those that have played at a professional level within their own countries?

 

It'd be complicated, but some form of an international draft would be for the best of the game.

I think that is the major question and something they will have to figure out. At the same time, this would really help put a competitive balance within the international market and would be great as a whole for international players. Having this sort of draft not only enables small market teams to get some of the best international talent, but it also enables international players to get a better say in the contract situation (since the whole thing will be better monitored and long term that is beneficial to these guys cause I'm sure long term it will lead to International Draft picks getting sizeable bonuses as well).

 

The next question is if the International Draft is separate from the Amateur Draft.

[Chisoxfn]

No doubt an international draft would be so good for the game, as it would keep the richest teams (Yankees, Red Sox) from automatically grabbing the best international guys, but, like ya said, the complications would be endless(assuming all older international players would automatically be in the draft too like college guys here)...

 

-why would japanese teams give up their signed guys when they just got $50 mil from Boston just to talk to Dice-K

-how do you decide between an 18 year old with all the potential or a 30-year old with experience that will contribute now...

-does the worst team get the first pick in both drafts?

 

i know the questions go on and on, just something i've thought about it a lot before

Clearly if another league holds the rights, than a team drafting them would be taking its chances on negotiating a deal with the International Team that owns the rights (whether its the Seibu Tigers or someone else). I'm guessing there will be rules for what makes someone an International Free Agent (ie, someone who would no longer be eligible for the draft).

 

Look at the NBA, players drafted high often times are under contract with a Euro Team. Heck, the Spurs drafted Thiago Splitter (sp?) in the 1st round this past year and were anticipating bringing him over this off-season but he's opting to resign with his international team for another year (and at that point, if he wants out of his contract to come to the NBA, the Spurs and that franchise would have to work out a deal).