Will KW continue to remake us into a speedier team?

[elrockinMT]

So are you saying he was playing injured during the 5 seasons that he played poorly, and was healthy the 3 seasons he played well?

 

 

That is what I am saying

[witesoxfan]

That is your opinion and no matter how bizarre it is you are entitled to it Thome can hit for power and I love having Jim Thome on this club, but Pods can make things happen also. I would prefer to have some more homerun pop in our line up as it worked in 2008 and also in 2005, but in our World Series year we had more speed (oh Pods was on that team wasn't he)

 

Podsednik is an adventure waiting to happen any time he reaches 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd base. I prefer baseball players who don't have to go on an adventure.

[Balta1701]

Podsednik is an adventure waiting to happen any time he reaches 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd base. I prefer baseball players who don't have to go on an adventure.

I have no problem with it being an adventure as long as the results are good. The 26/36 in steals and tons of other pickoffs and outs on the base paths is what I don't like. It's like an adventure where the dragon eats you at the end.

[son of a rude]

That is your opinion and no matter how bizarre it is you are entitled to it Thome can hit for power and I love having Jim Thome on this club, but Pods can make things happen also. I would prefer to have some more homerun pop in our line up as it worked in 2008 and also in 2005, but in our World Series year we had more speed (oh Pods was on that team wasn't he)

ugh, not this again.

 

We had ~~~200~~~ home runs in 2005. it wasnt speed that won it for us. It was good pitching and home runs. We hit a ton of them in the playoffs. Plus, we had 868 runs in 2006 and 741 runs in 2005. Our offense was so much better in 2006. That was the year we got Thome and the year Podsednik blew. We didn't make the playoffs because our pitching wasn't as good.

 

Thome is a much, much better player than pods.

Edited September 9, 2009 by son of a rude

[qwerty]

We had over 200 home runs in 2005.

 

Liar.

[son of a rude]

Liar.

fuk~

[elrockinMT]

ugh, not this again.

 

We had ~~~200~~~ home runs in 2005. it wasnt speed that won it for us. It was good pitching and home runs. We hit a ton of them in the playoffs. Plus, we had 868 runs in 2006 and 741 runs in 2005. Our offense was so much better in 2006. That was the year we got Thome and the year Podsednik blew. We didn't make the playoffs because our pitching wasn't as good.

 

Thome is a much, much better player than pods.

 

 

I won't lie. I like home runs a lot too

[nickofypres]

I think swapping Pods for Figgins solves a lot of problems.

 

 

Glad someone gets it

[son of a rude]

Getting Figgins definitely won't solve our problems. If we play him at 3b or 2b, we still have the problem of not having a 3rd outfielder. If we play him in RF or LF, we have another butcher in the outfield. Along with the fact that his BABIP is higher than normal this year and he is leaving his prime, he will only get worse. signing him would be a bad idea (especially with the contract that he will want).

 

Figgins isn't worth it.

[witesoxfan]

Figgins is definitely very overrated around these parts. He's a valuable player, but he's not a $30 mill player, and that's what it may take to get him. One hamstring or groin injury, and his value drops.

[southsider2k5]

Figgins is definitely very overrated around these parts. He's a valuable player, but he's not a $30 mill player, and that's what it may take to get him. One hamstring or groin injury, and his value drops.

 

How many guys are there who can play through that?

[BigSqwert]

We going to outbid the Yankees and Cubs? Highly doubt that.

[southsider2k5]

We going to outbid the Yankees and Cubs? Highly doubt that.

 

The Cubs aren't going to have any money. The Yankees are another story.

[Balta1701]

The Cubs aren't going to have any money. The Yankees are another story.

Make em pay through the teeth.

[Lillian]

Just to add a point about Figgins, in case it hasn't been mentioned: We're dreaming if we think that he would ever put up a .400 OBP on the Sox.

He is very well protected in that Angels' lineup, but he would not enjoy the same protection with us. I wouldn't expect him to produce much better than Pods has in our lineup. If that's true, he wouldn't be worth the extra money.

[caulfield12]

 

 

Yeah, the Angels have a pretty nasty line-up, Morales has really surged this year, FINALLY, and there's not even room for the likes of Howie Kendrick because "Mighty" Maicer is playing so well. Rivera and Hunter have picked it up over their career numbers, too. Napoli is second in major league homers from the catcher spot over the last two seasons to McCann. GMJ is also superfluous.

 

There aren't many holes.

 

It's like "upside down" world, because their offense is usually a bit questionable, with their defense/speed and pitching (both starting and bullpen) leading the way.

 

Brandon Wood would be getting significant playing time in many other organizations, but won't even sniff the Angels' line-up anytime soon.

[Balta1701]

Beckham and Quentin aren't good protection?

[caulfield12]

Quentin 2008 version, sure.

 

Which player do we have going into 2010? The 750 ops guy or the 950 ops guy?

 

Or something in between, not as good (perhaps ever) as the MVP Carlos, but not as low a BA and the a wrist with a full year to recover, which is almost always the case that you come back better the 2nd season (like Tommy John recovery).

[Balta1701]

All depends on his health. He's healthy and he's going to be a monster. We saw that the first 2 weeks of the season before his foot started bothering him. He single-handedly destroyed the Rays in a series.

[Lillian]

In rethinking what I just posted about the lineup protection afforded Figgins on the Angels, actually a deep lineup could argurably work against a hitter's OBP, because pitchers are more likely to go after hitters who are not big RBI producers. Therefore it could be harder to draw walks. Nevertheless, I just have a feeling that somehow he wouldn't put up the same numbers in our lineup.

[caulfield12]

Izturis, Aybar and Figgins have been pains for everyone this year...of course, you can't avoid having to attack them (compared to the "big guns" of Morales, Rivera, Hunter, Guerrero, Abreu and Napoli) as they're the Piranha-esque players who end up beating you with 100,000 paper slices rather than the big 3 run homers, via the bunting, stolen bases, wild pitches, lack of (defensive) execution because of the additional pressure on the opposing teams' defense and pitchers and catchers.

Edited September 13, 2009 by caulfield12

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Izturis, Aybar and Figgins have been pains for everyone this year...of course, you can't avoid having to attack them (compared to the "big guns" of Morales, Rivera, Hunter, Guerrero, Abreu and Napoli) as they're the Piranha-esque players who end up beating you with 100,000 paper slices rather than the big 3 run homers, via the bunting, stolen bases, wild pitches, lack of (defensive) execution because of the additional pressure on the opposing teams' defense and pitchers and catchers.

The Angels just have great balance in their lineup. They don't have a true #4 cleanup hitter IMO but that's about all they're missing. They have contact, power, speed, patience, guys who can handle the bat, etc. They don't really have any holes because each player brings something that can either help you beat really good pitching (via slap hits, bunt hits, sacrifices, SB, solo home runs, etc.) or average to bad pitching (OBP and slugging).

 

When the little guys get on base you almost always have to think about them running, and this can distract pitchers or at least force them to constantly throw over to first. Throws to first don't count in the pitch count, but they can easily take a pitcher out of his rhythm, extend the length of the inning in terms of time, make the innings more stressful so that the pitcher has to work harder, etc. And then the big boys behind the little guys all have pop, and some of them, especially Abreu who they'd be nuts to let go, can further run up pitch counts and wait for mistakes to swing at and hit hard.

 

That offense just has so many ways to win. Put that around pitching and defense and you can see why they play so well no matter if they're on the road or not. I personally hate the Angels but it's hard to overlook how well their system works.

[beck72]

KW will definitely change the sox lineup for 2010. More speed, better contact hitters, hitters not all or nothing, prone to slumps for long stretches. The sox post all star break record of 26-30, mostly due to the sox power hitters slumping, was the final nail in the coffin. I wouldn't be surprised if the sox would approach PK about OKing a deal. Esp. if the sox can add a lefty bat for 1b. I don't think having Kotsay for 1b would be the answer though.

 

Konerko-.247/.346/.467

Thome-.240/.317/.496

Quentin-.238/.321/.417

Dye-.166/.266/.269

 

Alexei didn't help either. While he has improved from the 1st half, he still has only posted on Post ASB OPS of .693. He was supposed to improve upon his 2008 numbers of .792, which he hasn't. Rios' has been worse than Dye, though with less 2nd half AB's for the Sox, with an OPS of .371.

 

AJ, Pods, Beckham and Getz have done a solid job in the 2nd half, though.

[caulfield12]

The Angels just have great balance in their lineup. They don't have a true #4 cleanup hitter IMO but that's about all they're missing. They have contact, power, speed, patience, guys who can handle the bat, etc. They don't really have any holes because each player brings something that can either help you beat really good pitching (via slap hits, bunt hits, sacrifices, SB, solo home runs, etc.) or average to bad pitching (OBP and slugging).

 

When the little guys get on base you almost always have to think about them running, and this can distract pitchers or at least force them to constantly throw over to first. Throws to first don't count in the pitch count, but they can easily take a pitcher out of his rhythm, extend the length of the inning in terms of time, make the innings more stressful so that the pitcher has to work harder, etc. And then the big boys behind the little guys all have pop, and some of them, especially Abreu who they'd be nuts to let go, can further run up pitch counts and wait for mistakes to swing at and hit hard.

 

That offense just has so many ways to win. Put that around pitching and defense and you can see why they play so well no matter if they're on the road or not. I personally hate the Angels but it's hard to overlook how well their system works.

 

 

And yet we were 23-15 against the Angels coming into this last series of the year against them (since the post-season of 05)...only AL team with a winning record against TLAAoA during that time span.

Edited September 15, 2009 by caulfield12

[harfman77]

The top priority for KW in the offseason should be getting another LH bat to play either DH, CF or 3B, or all three.

 

CF Pods

RF Rios

LF Quentin

DH Konerko/Kotsay

1B Konerko/Kotsay

C AJP

2B Getz/Beckham

SS Ramirez

3B Beckham/Fields

 

A trade with Texas might make sense to acquire a LH OF, as they have about 6 guys for three spots. Borbon and Murphy are both platoon players for them now and would fit nicely in to the Sox OF and provide a big upgrade defensively. The Rockies also have some extra pieces that they may consider moving in Ian Stewart and Carlos Gonzalez. Both trades would require us to give up some pitching, but outside of Hudson, Peavy, Danks, and Buerhle, all of our pitchers will probably be available this offseason.