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Cowley and his Takes on the Sox


elrockinMT

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Joe Cowley-Chicago Sun-Times 100209

 

... Buehrle was sitting with a plate of food in Guillen's office, having just talked Guillen into letting him pitch once more -- despite supposedly having been shut down for the season -- because he knew the Sox were shorthanded.

 

Reporters came in to talk to Guillen, and as Buehrle got up, he grabbed the remote and flipped Guillen's TV to the Dallas Cowboys-Carolina Panthers game.

 

Guillen could only smirk.

 

Yes, Mark Buehrle, you receive the first 2009 ''Scowleys'' award for Biggest Set of Marbles. Here are the rest:

 

TEAM MVP

Candidates were Scott Podsednik, D.J. Carrasco, Matt Thornton and A.J. Pierzynski in a tight race, but the Scowley for Sox MVP goes to catcher Pierzynski. He's hitting .302 with 22 doubles and 13 homers, but his durability behind the plate is what really separated him from the pack. He has caught at least 1,000 innings for an eighth consecutive season.

 

CY YOUNG

Thornton. The reliever did it all for the Sox as the bridge guy and lefty specialist, and by picking up the load first for struggling Scott Linebrink and now for injured Bobby Jenks.

 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Chris Getz and Jayson Nix made an impact, but Beckham has ''star'' written all over him. The shortstop-turned-third baseman led American League rookies in doubles, RBI and slugging percentage and was second in homers.

 

PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Buehrle touched perfection July 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Too bad the Sox hype machine wouldn't let it go. Guess whom we'll see on the postseason media guide?

 

BIGGEST SURPRISE

No one saw Podsednik coming. His rebirth as a leadoff hitter was one thing, four years after his role on the 2005 World Series team, but his rebirth as a player who can enjoy the game he plays was just as unexpected.

 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Carlos Quentin was an MVP candidate last season, seemingly shedding the ''injury-prone'' image he developed in Arizona. But guess who was hurt most of the season and struggled?

 

MOST IMPRESSIVE FIRST IMPRESSION

Jake Peavy. The future of the Sox' rotation is here. General manager Ken Williams has the pure ace he has searched years to find.

 

LEAST IMPRESSIVE FIRST IMPRESSION

Alex Rios -- 'nuff said.

 

JEKYLL & HYDE AWARD

Jermaine Dye hit .302 with 20 homers in the first half. Since the All-Star break, he's hitting .180 with seven homers.

 

BEST TRADE IN HINDSIGHT

Peavy.

 

WORST TRADE IN HINDSIGHT

Jeff Marquez and Wilson Betemit from the New York Yankees for Nick Swisher. (Who would have thought Swisher's tired ''me, me, me'' act would play on Broadway?) Acquiring Tony Pena is a close second.

 

WORST HANDS

Betemit had it won until he was released, but MLB.com writer Scott Merkin won it with at least 12 drinks spilled in the press box.

 

DEFINING MOMENT

The road trip from hell in which the Sox lost three of four in Boston, were swept in New York and only avoided a sweep in Minnesota with a miracle comeback.

 

QUOTE OF THE YEAR (RUNNER-UP)

''It's a bunch of [expletive] out there watching football games like a piece of [expletive] with no pride the way they play the [expletive] game, and that's embarrassing. If you don't have pride to play this game and you don't care about it, get another job because I know I'm going to be all over the stinking place when I talk about this. I'm not in a pennant race, but at least I have some pride and at least I have something to fight for, and at least I have something to show up to this ballpark and play [for]. And when you go out there and you turn your TV on and watch stupid [expletive] football when those [expletive] football players don't give a [expletive] about you, that's embarrassing.'' -- Ozzie Guillen, after the Sox blew a 5-0 lead and lost 12-5 to the Detroit Tigers last Saturday.

 

QUOTE OF THE YEAR

''I don't need Carlos to have [expletive] fun. I need Carlos to produce.'' -- general manager Williams, on Quentin.

 

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QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:09 PM)
Agree with his awards except the "Least Impressive First Impression" part. Rios is a worthy candidate, but I'd have given that one to Tony Pena. If Pena could have stepped up we could have won a few more ballgames.

 

That's a shocker.

 

There hasn't been a less impressive first impression than Rios in a long time. I don't know how it could be anyone but him.

 

For all the s*** Cowley deservedly gets, this article is pretty much spot on for the most part.

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QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 12:18 PM)
That's a shocker.

 

There hasn't been a less impressive first impression than Rios in a long time. I don't know how it could be anyone but him.

 

For all the s*** Cowley deservedly gets, this article is pretty much spot on for the most part.

Pena stepping up would have would have meant a lot less of Linebrink and Randy Williams. IMO that would have helped us more than Rios could have.

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QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 12:30 PM)
Pena stepping up would have would have meant a lot less of Linebrink and Randy Williams. IMO that would have helped us more than Rios could have.

 

I agree with Pena eating up Linebrink innings, but not necessarily with Randy Williams. Randy Williams in my mind was necessary more because of Jenks failures and Thornton having to assume more of the closer role, removing Ozzies lefty specialist from the 7th and 8th innings for the most part.

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QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 12:34 PM)
I agree with Pena eating up Linebrink innings, but not necessarily with Randy Williams. Randy Williams in my mind was necessary more because of Jenks failures and Thornton having to assume more of the closer role, removing Ozzies lefty specialist from the 7th and 8th innings for the most part.

Yeah Williams would have still been out there as a lefty but Ozzie used him as a regular reliever instead of a lefty specialist quite a bit because he had nothing out there.

 

It's a lot easier for one guy to save a bad bullpen than for one guy to save a bad offense. I get that Rios has sucked for us offensively, but he helped us on defense, and we weren't going to do much of anything anyway with the middle of our order being so unbelievably terrible.

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QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 11:53 AM)

Good to see Cowley got his requisite shot on Swish in on this one

 

 

 

Good to see you whine about it 3 posts later

 

 

--------------------

 

 

 

 

Thunderbolt

 

 

 

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:04 PM)

Good to see you whine about it 3 posts later

 

Good to see you have nothing better to do then call me out for making an observation.

 

 

 

Now you guys behave :lol:

Edited by elrockinMT
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QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 12:53 PM)
QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 11:53 AM)

Good to see Cowley got his requisite shot on Swish in on this one

 

 

 

Good to see you whine about it 3 posts later

 

 

--------------------

 

 

 

 

Thunderbolt

 

 

 

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:04 PM)

Good to see you whine about it 3 posts later

 

Good to see you have nothing better to do then call me out for making an observation.

 

 

 

Now you guys behave :lol:

 

i will behave when you learn how to quote ;)

 

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Little surprised in all the Peavy love he didn't mention Clayton Richard ihas a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts, held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings in his last start and has allowed 15 hits in his last 24 innings. Richard is 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA and the Padres are 9-3 in his starts.

That deal couldn't have been made w/out including Richard?

 

Yes I love Peavy. Yes I'm a Richard fan. Yes I realize 10 posters are now going to shrug off Richard as a prospect because he put up these numbers "in the National League."

 

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:17 PM)
Little surprised in all the Peavy love he didn't mention Clayton Richard ihas a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts, held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings in his last start and has allowed 15 hits in his last 24 innings. Richard is 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA and the Padres are 9-3 in his starts.

That deal couldn't have been made w/out including Richard?

 

Yes I love Peavy. Yes I'm a Richard fan. Yes I realize 10 posters are now going to shrug off Richard as a prospect because he put up these numbers "in the National League."

 

Take a look at Richard's home and road numbers, and you can see why people aren't jumping on Clayton that hard.

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:17 PM)
Little surprised in all the Peavy love he didn't mention Clayton Richard ihas a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts, held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings in his last start and has allowed 15 hits in his last 24 innings. Richard is 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA and the Padres are 9-3 in his starts.

That deal couldn't have been made w/out including Richard?

 

Yes I love Peavy. Yes I'm a Richard fan. Yes I realize 10 posters are now going to shrug off Richard as a prospect because he put up these numbers "in the National League."

Probably not. Considering we traded for a Cy Young winner who is locked up for several years through his physical prime, we actually got a steal in that deal. It would have been nice to keep another lefty but we actually gave up very little compared to what Peavy is worth.

 

I'm sure we could have kept Richard had we thrown in another bigger prospect, but then again maybe that deal has to wait until the offseason. Kenny and the Padres made that deal happen right at the deadline so if someone else had been involved other than the 4 players they had originally talked about then there might not have been enough time to get everything okay'd. And who knows, if we're forced to wait for the offseason, then Peavy still gets moved, but maybe he decides he'd rather play for the Angels (who are losing Lackey it looks like) or some other club. I'm just happy we're able to get Peavy for what we did. We gave up good talent but we paid dimes on the dollar.

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 2, 2009 -> 01:17 PM)
Little surprised in all the Peavy love he didn't mention Clayton Richard ihas a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts, held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings in his last start and has allowed 15 hits in his last 24 innings. Richard is 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA and the Padres are 9-3 in his starts.

That deal couldn't have been made w/out including Richard?

 

Yes I love Peavy. Yes I'm a Richard fan. Yes I realize 10 posters are now going to shrug off Richard as a prospect because he put up these numbers "in the National League."

Lets just say Clayton Richard does turn into a good starting pitcher, who really gives a s***? If Jake Peavy pitches up to expectations - and there's really no good reason to believe he will not - then the Sox added one of the best pitchers in the game to the top of their rotation for the next 3+ years. You can't always trade garbage for valuable assets, every once in a while you have to give something to get something.

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