shago Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 23 White Sox Before you start sending cards and letters: I recognize that the White Sox were a playoff team last year. I also recognize that my calendar currently reads "2009," not "2008" or "2005." ... The rotation should be solid enough, even assuming some regression from 2008 surprise Gavin Floyd. It's the everyday gang that should give Chisox fans pause. I count one guy on the way up (Carlos Quentin) and four on the way down (Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski), plus nobody seems to know who will man third base (a Fields/Betemit platoon?), second or center field. This could be ugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipps Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 thanx for the knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkfan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Don't forget the chances of the slayer and the cuba kid commondeering a spot at third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 By the time the season starts we may get several last place votes in the entire MLB. Thats kinda how people do it. Yanks/RS/Cubs at the top of the heap, who care about who fills in the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Hates Prospects Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 This guy obviously knows nothing about the Sox. Betemit is not a candidate for 3B. Fields is the man and Viciedo is the challenger. The pitching looks anything but solid. Paulie on the way down? He can't fall much further than he has the last two years. JD is like 35, not 45. He's a power hitter who makes enough contact to stick around and be productive for a couple more years. And only ONE guy on the way up? Um, have you heard of Alexei Ramirez? People who don't research topics shouldn't write about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) We hear this crap about Konerko, Dye and AJ falling off every year. I'll believe it when i see it. Edited February 17, 2009 by Thunderbolt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Amazing that with only two days of ST behind us that anyone of these so called baseball experts can predict any teams finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenksycat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 yeah I don't know how we are going to cope with the losses of Big Game Jave, Dirty .120, or Crede's back. The only "significant" loss was OCa(ncer)b. PK can't be any worse Thome will be Thome JD has been the most reliable RF in the past 4 years, why will he decline? AJ will be AJ. Pitching is the one area to worry about having only 2.5 solid starters. You kinda have no idea what you're talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Chappas Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 It really is funny how the injury plagued seasons of Posada and Matsui are non factors going into this season for the Yanks as well as Derek Lee and Soriano not aging at all. The media really just tells stories and lays out expectations that people want to hear, not the reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamshack Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) Hah, we fans will rip the hamburgers out of our team all day and night long. And that's fine. But when an OUTSIDER does it for us, well that's when the hamburger really hits the fan! What a no-good, know-nothing, fat, pathetic loser! White Sox fans have become fairly noteworthy for writing in and harassing these writers for unfavorable predictions... Edited February 17, 2009 by iamshack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sircaffey Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Hah, we fans will rip the hamburgers out of our team all day and night long. And that's fine. But when an OUTSIDER does it for us, well that's when the hamburger really hits the fan! What a no-good, know-nothing, fat, pathetic loser! White Sox fans have become fairly noteworthy for writing in and harassing these writers for unfavorable predictions... Amen. Other than not mentioning Alexei, I see nothing wrong with what this guy wrote. In fact, he may be giving the rotation too much credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Hates Prospects Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Hah, we fans will rip the hamburgers out of our team all day and night long. And that's fine. But when an OUTSIDER does it for us, well that's when the hamburger really hits the fan! What a no-good, know-nothing, fat, pathetic loser! White Sox fans have become fairly noteworthy for writing in and harassing these writers for unfavorable predictions... There's nothing wrong with a predicting a bad year for the Sox so long as you have an actual reason to do so. If he'd said the Sox don't have the SP depth to win I'd be fine with that. But he says Quentin is the only up-and-coming position player the Sox have and doesn't know that Betemit is a UT player. He doesn't know who Dayan Viciedo is either, and he says Paulie is on the way down like he's been on top of some mountain for the last two years. What's he going to do, hit .212? If I had been tasked with writing a prediction for say the San Diego Padres, the least I'd do is go to their MLB page and read a few stories to find out what's going on. The dude wrote this without even thinking of doing any real research into the matter and comes off like an idiot as a result. How much time does it take to read a couple of Scott Merkin's mailbags? If I may be Canadian for a moment, what a hoser... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:01 AM) We hear this crap about Konerko, Dye and AJ falling off every year. I'll believe it when i see it. a .782 OPS IS falling off, seeing as how it's 60 points less than his career OPS right now (which means it was probably more going into last season) and Pierzynski has only ever been an OK hitter, but decent for a catcher. I would say that AJ is probably pretty close to becoming a platoon catcher. So yeah, it's pretty believable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sircaffey Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) There's nothing wrong with a predicting a bad year for the Sox so long as you have an actual reason to do so. If he'd said the Sox don't have the SP depth to win I'd be fine with that. But he says Quentin is the only up-and-coming position player the Sox have and doesn't know that Betemit is a UT player. He doesn't know who Dayan Viciedo is either, and he says Paulie is on the way down like he's been on top of some mountain for the last two years. What's he going to do, hit .212? If I had been tasked with writing a prediction for say the San Diego Padres, the least I'd do is go to their MLB page and read a few stories to find out what's going on. The dude wrote this without even thinking of doing any real research into the matter and comes off like an idiot as a result. How much time does it take to read a couple of Scott Merkin's mailbags? If I may be Canadian for a moment, what a hoser... First, he mentioned a Fields/Betemit platoon. You know where they split time. Josh has a TON to prove, especially the ability to hit RHP which is was god awful at in the famed 2007 season so many sox fans point to. Betemit very well could see significant time at 3B vs RHP. As for Viciedo, many people around baseball don't believe he's going to step right in and be a starter in his first season. Edited February 17, 2009 by sircaffey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamshack Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) There's nothing wrong with a predicting a bad year for the Sox so long as you have an actual reason to do so. If he'd said the Sox don't have the SP depth to win I'd be fine with that. But he says Quentin is the only up-and-coming position player the Sox have and doesn't know that Betemit is a UT player. He doesn't know who Dayan Viciedo is either, and he says Paulie is on the way down like he's been on top of some mountain for the last two years. What's he going to do, hit .212? If I had been tasked with writing a prediction for say the San Diego Padres, the least I'd do is go to their MLB page and read a few stories to find out what's going on. The dude wrote this without even thinking of doing any real research into the matter and comes off like an idiot as a result. How much time does it take to read a couple of Scott Merkin's mailbags? If I may be Canadian for a moment, what a hoser... Ahh, give him a break, the guy is writing a Power Rankings article. He has to cover every team. Sure, it's a bit bland and he didn't mention Alexei or Dayan, but he covered the basics, and I really don't think he is too far off in terms of the result if you compare him to where other writers will ultimately place us. Bottom line is, the theme is pretty spot-on. We've all been posting on the jurassic-ness of Pauly, JD, and Thome for months if not years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Decent enough analysis. We are predicting how humans will perform over a six month season. It is always a crap shoot, if he was a poster here, he would be called a realist. This is probably the most fluid spring training in the past decade. The guys he predicts are on the downside of their careers, are. They may resist the aging process a little longer, but if you had to bet up, down, or stay the same, stay the same or down are the safer picks. A playoff spot last season was a shocker, as would this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) Hah, we fans will rip the hamburgers out of our team all day and night long. And that's fine. But when an OUTSIDER does it for us, well that's when the hamburger really hits the fan! What a no-good, know-nothing, fat, pathetic loser! White Sox fans have become fairly noteworthy for writing in and harassing these writers for unfavorable predictions... It's like when a bully roughs up your brother. You can kick your brother's ass all you want because he's your brother, but when someone else does it, you kick their ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) Decent enough analysis. We are predicting how humans will perform over a six month season. It is always a crap shoot, if he was a poster here, he would be called a realist. This is probably the most fluid spring training in the past decade. The guys he predicts are on the downside of their careers, are. They may resist the aging process a little longer, but if you had to bet up, down, or stay the same, stay the same or down are the safer picks. A playoff spot last season was a shocker, as would this season. Congrats on your drinking buddy award Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 11:54 AM) It's like when a bully roughs up your brother. You can kick your brother's ass all you want because he's your brother, but when someone else does it, you kick their ass. actually, that's pretty much perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkfan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Whats with the lack of consideration for the slayer at third? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREEDY Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I agree 100% with his analysis. With that being said "power rankings" are retarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) Because Beckham and Viciedo are seen (by most of the baseball pundits and media) as being more impact players in 2010 than 2009. The comment about the rotation is spot on...something we've acknowledged all offseason, although I do think there's at least a 50/50 chance Colon gives us one surprising year. There's also the concern about Linebrink that many of us have...or Jenks becoming just an average closer, or Dotel and/or Thornton falling back to mediocrity. It's hard to imagine Ramirez will have even more of an impact offensively...and, as with Floyd, many are expecting him to fall back, and perhaps even struggle to hold SS defensively. Unless you're projecting comeback seasons for Fields, Brian Anderson and Konerko, it's hard to imagine the offense really improving, and there's concerns with Quentin and Danks repeating as well, coming off astounding seasons that almost nobody predicted. Sure, Contreras might rediscover the fountain of youth, Marquez MIGHT be the second coming of a "mediocre" Garland and/or Poreda has an unexpected/breakout impact (along with Richard being JP Howell out of the pen), but there's a lot more scenarios where things can slide backwards. We are starting to have a much nicer blend of youth and veteran leadership, but the Thome/Konerko/Dye/AJ grouping, you have to expect at least one of them to seriously regress or be injured. If it's AJ, we're really in trouble from an offensive standpoint, because Flowers simply isn't ready yet. We have a lot of interesting pieces and "spare parts" (Lillibridge, Getz, Betemit, Anderson, Owens...probably Fields, too) but nobody knows exactly what to expect out of any of them over a full season...or if any of those six are capable of being full-time major league players (yes, I realize you can stick Andy Gonzalez out there and call him a regular, but that doesn't mean he will perform, same with D.Richar and Willie Harris in the past). Edited February 17, 2009 by caulfield12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamshack Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) It's like when a bully roughs up your brother. You can kick your brother's ass all you want because he's your brother, but when someone else does it, you kick their ass. Agreed wholeheartedly. But sometimes your brother is acting like a dumbass and needs to be taught a lesson. So you let him get schooled. Edited February 17, 2009 by iamshack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) QUOTE (GREEDY @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) I agree 100% with his analysis. With that being said "power rankings" are retarded. I agree power rankings at this point in the season are completely pointless. But I just scratch my head reading some media experts analysis of our team as 'aging'... with 'guys on the downside'... etc., while giving other teams with players the same age or older a pass. On most rosters in baseball, Konerko (just about to turn 33 in March) and AJ (just turned 32) would not be considered 'old' guys. But I guess guys like JD Drew, Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, Posada, Jeter, ARod, Damon, Matsui, Derrek Lee, Soriano, Eric Byrnes, Carlos Delgado, Maggs (and most of Detroit's roster), Vlad, Torii Hunter, the list goes on and on... (who btw are all older than either Paulie or AJ)... don't age. And in what bizarre twisted parallel universe do the Cardinals, Reds, Orioles, and Giants rank ahead of the WhiteSox? Edited February 17, 2009 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 11:44 AM) a .782 OPS IS falling off, seeing as how it's 60 points less than his career OPS right now (which means it was probably more going into last season) and Pierzynski has only ever been an OK hitter, but decent for a catcher. I would say that AJ is probably pretty close to becoming a platoon catcher. So yeah, it's pretty believable. I'd be surprised if Konerko's puts up that OPS again though, but that would be based on him being completely healthy throughout the season, which I doubt he can do. Still I think he'll get over an .800OPS especially considering he was our best hitter in the 2nd half of last sason argubly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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