Alexei Ramirez to start at CF on Opening Day?

[jackie hayes]

The only thing muddled is Ozzies mind. He talked about Ozuna starting and Thome batting 5th against tough lefthanders then did neither. Against the Cy Young winner you have to have your best defense on the field. If you want Ramirez in the lineup just DH him and put Anderson in center. Thome batting 3rd with his 0-11 & 7 K lifetime line against CC . Ozzie puts the most plodding team in against a guy who if he allows base runners won't even need to worry about holding them on. Ozzies convinced by Ramirez' spring that he deserves to play but not Anderson's spring ?

BA will never, never, never, never, never, never, never get a chance with the White Sox. Never. Never, never, never. I got my hopes up this spring, too, after telling myself at the beginning of the spring that it wouldn't matter one damn what he does, but it's the same old same old.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

On Thome, these were his overall numbers against lefties last season;

 

.196/.314/.350

 

So pretty average. It's be great for the Sox if a Quentin or BA could really step up against lefties and give Ozzie that 2nd option as a DH. Jim still got 289 AB's against righties and crushed 29HR's, that's 1 every 10 plate appearnce.

 

Whether Ozzie would ever platoon him though, I don't know. It's something he needs to consider though.

 

He's got to consider it . Thome is no spring chicken and should be rest once every week to 10 days when a lefty is on the mound. This would seem to be an easy decision considering his age, injuries and averageness against lefties. I love Thome against righties and he would be the best option to PH once we get a righty reliever into the game.

[Disco72]

Just to clear something up - Ozzie never said Thome would bat 5th against lefties. I'm trying to find the Tribune article which said that (I can't find it in the archives). The day AFTER the Trib posted the "Thome to bat 5th vs lefties" article, an article stated that Ozzie never discussed that with Thome and that Thome would stay at #3.

[lostfan]

Well, if Owens didn't get hurt he probably wouldn't be on the major league roster.

edit: nevermind

Edited March 30, 2008 by lostfan

[HuskyCaucasian]

It's official, Ozzie holds grudges. Anderson should be in CF and Ramirez as 2B.

[CWSGuy406]

as much as i like pablo...now that we have alexei, is there really a need for a guy like pablo on this team?

 

No, not at all, but the Sox have to justify a mistake(giving a guaranteed contract to a mediocre bench player). The worrying thing about Pablo is that (arguably) his greatest asset -- his speed -- looks to have deteriorated a bunch since 2005. Take yesterday, for example, where two instances stand out. On Pablo's first single down the line, that's a play where Pablo always goes (or at least attempts to go) to second. The second was his caught stealing -- cripes, he was out by a good five feet. It wasn't even close.

 

It's even worse because not only does A-Ram make Ozuna completely redundant, but the Sox have an equal (probably better) version of Ozuna at Charlotte in Bourj-wahhhh.

 

Then again, the Ozuna decision pales in comparison to the Masset/Wasserman catastrophe, Carlos Quentin's deal -- "We wanted Carlos Quentin -- not somebody like Carlos Quentin, but Carlos Quentin himself..." to be a fourth outfielder, apparently -- and the Crede/Fields situation. Cheat said it well over at his blog -- the Sox sure know how to make an 85-win talent team into a 78-win team.

[TheBigHurt]

I haven't watched much Spring Training, but what I've seen and heard about BA I can't imagine Ramirez was that good offensively AND defensively.

 

IMO, this spot is Brian's. WTF.

Edited March 31, 2008 by TheBigHurt

[jackie hayes]

I'd rather see Thome and his career 0-for-11, 7k line against Sabathia riding the bench, personally.

 

Obviously won't happen, I know.

Shows how much I know.

 

What sucks is that I benched him for Billy Butler in 2 fantasy leagues. Goddammit...

[lvjeremylv]

Shows how much I know.

 

What sucks is that I benched him for Billy Butler in 2 fantasy leagues. Goddammit...

Yep, I sat him today, too. In favor of Swishy.

[jackie hayes]

 

Yeah, I called that one.

[mr_genius]

I'm sure it's been posted already...

 

 

but Ramirez at 2nd and Anderson in CF seems like a good idea.

[lostfan]

I'm sure it's been posted already...

but Ramirez at 2nd and Anderson in CF seems like a good idea.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that was thinking this, but watching Ramirez, he just looked overmatched against CC, those fastballs were blowing right by him. If anything, Anderson def. should've been starting in CF, and Ramirez over Uribe if he had to be in the lineup... Uribe looked BRUTAL at the plate, as usual, before finally making contact on that double. Saw him ahead on a 2-0 count and he waved at the next 3 up and out of the zone, after already striking out twice. ugh.

[mr_genius]

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that was thinking this, but watching Ramirez, he just looked overmatched against CC, those fastballs were blowing right by him.

 

It did look like that. But the scouting on Ramirez is that he is a great fastball hitter, maybe he was a bit nervous about first MLB game or was looking for off -speed stuff too much.

[lostfan]

It did look like that. But the scouting on Ramirez is that he is a great fastball hitter, maybe he was a bit nervous about first MLB game or was looking for off -speed stuff too much.

I hope that's what it was. Cuz he looked like .5 seconds too late on every fastball, and it'd either blow past his bat, or he'd just stand there.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I hope that's what it was. Cuz he looked like .5 seconds too late on every fastball, and it'd either blow past his bat, or he'd just stand there.

 

You have to remember CC wasn't just throwing fastballs to Ramirez . He was setting him up with the changeup. CC didn't win the CY for nothing. He's a helluva pitcher not just a flamethrower. He K'd Ramirez on one AB with a perfect pitch (fastball) on the outside corner the ARAM swung and missed but most hitters would've just went down looking at that pitch.

[lostfan]

You have to remember CC wasn't just throwing fastballs to Ramirez . He was setting him up with the changeup. CC didn't win the CY for nothing. He's a helluva pitcher not just a flamethrower. He K'd Ramirez on one AB with a perfect pitch (fastball) on the outside corner the ARAM swung and missed but most hitters would've just went down looking at that pitch.

This supports my position that Alexei, talented though he might be, did not really look like he had any business out there yet. If he should've been starting over anyone, it should've been Uribe.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

This supports my position that Alexei, talented though he might be, did not really look like he had any business out there yet. If he should've been starting over anyone, it should've been Uribe.

 

I think it just supports that CC is a great pitcher. I would've preferred to see Anderson in center but think Ramirez and Anderson will probably split time in center. Weather Ramirez can make the jump to the major leagues and be successful will not be discovered in one game against a quality pitcher. As far as starting over Uribe, 2b base is arguably the position which he is the least adept. But again we might see him there at times depending on the match up. We're going to be seeing a lot of mixing and matching with Uribe , Ramirez , Anderson and Quentin which is fine by me. You don't produce you sit or get sent down.

[VAfan]

It sickens me as a Sox fan to see management be so boneheaded. Why in hell don't we see Brian Anderson in CF after another very good spring? Because Ozzie is still holding some grudge from two seasons ago? That's ridiculous, Ozzie.

 

Anderson is the only good defensive outfielder we have. And he appears to have begun to turn the corner offensively. At the very least, he deserves a solid month to see if he can build on his spring offensive numbers, not an occasional shot as a pinch runner (?)/ defensive replacement. We ought to see if 1 of the outfielders we drafted and developed internally can amount to something, as we've traded away or let go everyone else.

 

Frankly, after nearly 40 years of being a Sox fan, I'm getting sick enough of it that my new hometown team, the Nationals, are appearing quite good by comparison. I live outside DC (thus my VAfan moniker), and I must say, the Nats are running circles around the Sox these days. Not only do they have a manager who gets it -- he makes all the right decisions between competing players -- but the front office has made some very astute deals to infuse the club with some young talent without surrendering anything of real value in return. Millege for Schneider and Church? That's a steal, especially when you can just sign Paul LoDuca to replace Schneider. It improves two slots at once. They also added Elijah Dukes and Wily Mo Pena for nothing. Perhaps they won't pan out, but the potential is there, and it is probably higher than Carlos Quentin's potential (for which we gave up more).

 

I'm never NOT going to be a Sox fan. But I'm fed up with the direction we've taken since winning the World Series. Anderson should be starting in CF. Uribe should have been let go on waivers, with Ramirez starting in his place. (Ozuna then would have value as a backup.) Crede, who I once backed strongly, should have been traded even if the return is not what we hoped for, because we can't start jerking around Fields the way we jerked around Anderson. I don't see why we made the Quentin trade if we were going to make the Swisher trade. One or the other. Not both. Now all we have is a logjam that will get worse when Owens heals because Ozzie will play Owens most of the time even if he's our WORST outfielder. AAAACK.

 

And, listen, before anyone dumps on me for being upset about not starting Anderson, who has proven nothing in the majors (except stellar defensive play), all I'm saying is that he deserves the shot. At least one or two solid months where he's in the lineup 5-6 days out of 7. And you have to give it to him out of the chute, since he's had the best spring of any outfielder on our team. Then the message to the whole team is -- I'm going to play the guys who produce, not just the guys I personally like. Ozzie's failure to live by that philosophy just sickens me. I have to be eternally grateful for the guy helping bring us a World Series title. Not many managers could have done that with the 2005 squad. But, since then? I think his actions have hurt this team more than they have helped.