Mark Gonzales Interview By WSI

[nitetrain8601]

ML: Earlier this season Jack McDowell in his blog talked about the Sox not having any vocal leaders. This is a hot button issue with me because I’m convinced you have got to have some guys with a chip on their shoulder, some guys who simply won’t take a half hearted effort like we saw to many times this year to really, really bad teams. Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle, the departed Jim Thome…all class guys, good players, quiet leaders but you’ve got to have some aggressive voices in that locker room in my opinion. What do you think on this?

 

MG: “You nailed it, that’s a very valid point with this team. When I was with Arizona for example, Todd Stottlemyre would absolutely get in a guys face if he was just going through the motions. Greg Colbrunn was another guy who’d speak up if the game wasn’t being played right. This team was missing that factor.”

 

Don't make this a flame war about WSI. It's a great read and I suggest members go there. Confirms a lot of what I heard regarding Orlando Cabrera as well as guys like Swisher and the vets.

 

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...=11&id=3906

 

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

 

[bigruss]

Don't make this a flame war about WSI. It's a great read and I suggest members go there. Confirms a lot of what I heard regarding Orlando Cabrera as well as guys like Swisher and the vets.

 

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...=11&id=3906

 

Thoughts? Opinions?

Doesnt Konerko not like vocal leaders? Wasnt that the one of the big issues with Cabrera?

[nitetrain8601]

Doesnt Konerko not like vocal leaders? Wasnt that the one of the big issues with Cabrera?

 

That's what I was saying in the Swisher Vazquez thread I believe a while back. This just confirms it basically that guys like Dye, Konerko, Thome didn't like guys who spoke up and tried to lead vocally. From what it sounds like, they're the ones led to Orlando Cabrera becoming an outcast and eventually off the team when he was providing the fire and being vocal about what this team was and needed. Were they right about Swisher? Most would say yes, and I'll probably now say yes considering Ken Griffey, whom Swisher said he was one of his biggest fans, tried to give him tips on his stance which Swisher just ignored.

 

In the end, I think this confirms Cabrera got a raw deal, obviously, no one but Ozzie wants to speak up, and the Vets kind of are ruining the clubhouse like Everett alluded to when he was off the team in '06. Gonzales pins the most blame on the vets for last season.

[danman31]

If the consistent performers of the team didn't want a vocal leader why do you want to piss them off? Seems to me that if you have someone who can't get fired up playing Major League ball, some dick yelling at him isn't going to make him play better. Not everyone responds the same way to everything. A player should perform on his own and it's respectable to get pissed at a guy for yelling at you.

 

Any blame for 2009 should be assigned for a lack of talent on the team. They lined up pretty evenly with the projections going into the year.

[Kyyle23]

MG: “Team chemistry was an issue this year. The vets got all over Chris Getz early in the season when I quoted him as saying the young guys brought more energy to the club. Chris was only telling the truth.”

 

“The more I think about this 2009 team, the more I think the veterans should be ashamed of their performance - especially down the stretch. How many times do you see veterans - not kids - fold down the stretch. It's pretty revealing about their character (or lack of).”

 

The first part of this quote is unbelievably disappointing

 

The second half of this quote I agree with wholeheartedly

[nitetrain8601]

If the consistent performers of the team didn't want a vocal leader why do you want to piss them off? Seems to me that if you have someone who can't get fired up playing Major League ball, some dick yelling at him isn't going to make him play better. Not everyone responds the same way to everything. A player should perform on his own and it's respectable to get pissed at a guy for yelling at you.

 

Any blame for 2009 should be assigned for a lack of talent on the team. They lined up pretty evenly with the projections going into the year.

 

Meet

 

The first part of this quote is unbelievably disappointing

 

The second half of this quote I agree with wholeheartedly

 

Not everyone is going to respond to not being held accountable either. You don't have to get in everyone's face all the time, but at the same time, staying quiet in a corner while you're slumping and leading by example doesn't always work either. There needs to be a balance and what Mark is saying I think, and this is from what I've gathered as well is that the "leaders" of this clubhouse don't want a balance. They want it their way or no way. Until we get rid of PK and Dye, I think it's always going to be like that. Like seriously, how are you going to get on Chris Getz for saying what he said?

Edited November 3, 2009 by nitetrain8601

[scenario]

Any blame for 2009 should be assigned for a lack of talent on the team.

 

Not sure I agree.

 

The problem, IMO, was a lack of production from key veterans... specifically Quentin, Dye (in the second half), Linebrink, Rios, and Contreras (who melted down after having a brief hot stretch).

 

That, and a cold streak that sucked the life out of the team at a time where we were right on the brink of competing.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

The most interesting part of that is the winter meetings are going to be in Chicago this year.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

That's what I was saying in the Swisher Vazquez thread I believe a while back. This just confirms it basically that guys like Dye, Konerko, Thome didn't like guys who spoke up and tried to lead vocally. From what it sounds like, they're the ones led to Orlando Cabrera becoming an outcast and eventually off the team when he was providing the fire and being vocal about what this team was and needed. Were they right about Swisher? Most would say yes, and I'll probably now say yes considering Ken Griffey, whom Swisher said he was one of his biggest fans, tried to give him tips on his stance which Swisher just ignored.

 

In the end, I think this confirms Cabrera got a raw deal, obviously, no one but Ozzie wants to speak up, and the Vets kind of are ruining the clubhouse like Everett alluded to when he was off the team in '06. Gonzales pins the most blame on the vets for last season.

 

Well, I don't know if it's credible, but the Twins clubhouse apparently loved Cabrera. He was a winner in Boston, and Scioscia loved him in L.A. So, at some point, yeah, I've always wondered if he was the problem -- or if it was the clubhouse of set-in-their-ways guys who had gotten too comfortable. Those are the some of the same guys, by the way, who pretty much shut down in August of this year, and who Gonzalez is referring to in very, very direct terms as having no character. For a beat reporter to say that is unbelievable.

[danman31]

Not sure I agree.

 

The problem, IMO, was a lack of production from key veterans... specifically Quentin, Dye (in the second half), Linebrink, Rios, and Contreras (who melted down after having a brief hot stretch).

 

That, and a cold streak that sucked the life out of the team at a time where we were right on the brink of competing.

Nothing was expected out of Contreras this year. Rios was having a bad year when the Sox got him. The Sox were trailing most of the year and only flashed signs of being a good team, before Dye and Linebrink went into the tank.

[ThunderBolt]

Half of this interview has merit the other half is riddled with the same chemistry bulls*** the press has been feeding us for years. Winning builds chemistry, and really, if Konerko and Dye are that uncomfortable with people trying to take active charge in the clubhouse then they are far from the leaders we need them to be. This doesn't mean that they're not great players.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Thunderbolt

[SoxFan562004]

I don't have any insider info on this subject, but from the outside looking in, it seems like Ozzie wouldn't like any vocal player leaders. He likes to be the voice of the team and that's it.

[witesoxfan]

Reading this, it almost seems like Konerko and possibly Pierzynski are going to be made available (with the assumption that Linebrink is already available). Gonzalez talks about how the Sox have $71.5 mill locked into 10 players - I can check on Kal's spreadsheet, but I imagine that's Peavy, Buehrle, Floyd, Linebrink, Thornton, Konerko, Pierzynski, Ramirez, Rios, Viciedo - and out of those, I can't see him moving Peavy, Buehrle, Floyd, Thornton, Ramirez, Rios, or Viciedo, leaving Konerko, Pierzynski, and Linebrink. Linebrink is going to be tough to move just because of that contract, but it may be possible to deal him to a higher payroll club in need of a reliever. It was mentioned on here that Pierzynski is a huge Florida fan and was probably one of those watching the game during the disasterous road trip, so I imagine Ozzie's pretty pissed at him, and the fact that Flowers is practically ready will help in some regard as well. However, Pierzynski had a fantastic season, and he's relatively cheap still, and I don't think it's going to hurt Flowers if he spends a season in AAA.

 

That leaves Konerko, who has become a relatively average 1Bman who doesn't do a whole lot defensively, is slow, and is owed $12 mill next year.

[greg775]

That was very good stuff, reading the opinions of a guy who covers the team on a daily basis.

It dealt with a lot of topics, pretty much all the topics fans like to debate concerning this team: Walker, lack of fundamentals, lack of veteran leadership, how a lot of money is tied to 10 players, what to expect next year.

Interesting that Gonzalez has no idea what the team will be like next year. He says the only thing for sure is the team appears to have a very good starting rotation.

Gonzales comes across as a good guy full of good information.

Edited November 3, 2009 by greg775

[SoxAce]

Half of this interview has merit the other half is riddled with the same chemistry bulls*** the press has been feeding us for years. Winning builds chemistry, and really, if Konerko and Dye are that uncomfortable with people trying to take active charge in the clubhouse then they are far from the leaders we need them to be. This doesn't mean that they're not great players.

 

The main reason why I've kept the same quote for a while here. Don Cooper knows this s***.

 

It was mentioned on here that Pierzynski is a huge Florida fan and was probably one of those watching the game during the disasterous road trip, so I imagine Ozzie's pretty pissed at him, and the fact that Flowers is practically ready will help in some regard as well. However, Pierzynski had a fantastic season, and he's relatively cheap still, and I don't think it's going to hurt Flowers if he spends a season in AAA.

 

I've said it all along at if there was ever a perfect time to trade him.. now is the time from his great year. I just wish we had Joe Mauer waiting in the wings, though I hope Flowers can be at least serviceable though as of right now, wouldn't be wise to deal A.J.. KW has been known though to trade guys a year too late at times however.

Edited November 3, 2009 by SoxAce

[scenario]

Nothing was expected out of Contreras this year. Rios was having a bad year when the Sox got him. The Sox were trailing most of the year and only flashed signs of being a good team, before Dye and Linebrink went into the tank.

 

 

Regarding your comment about "the Sox trailing most of the year"... yeah... technically... but they were competing for a long stretch. For example: They were 2.5 games out of first during the first week of July. They were only one game out on July 21st. They were one game out on August 5th. And they were only 2 games out on August 19th. In other words, they hovered around 1-2 games out of first for 6 weeks... and kept it going until almost the end of August.

 

But lack of production by vets late in the season... Dye batting .179 after the allstar break... Rios batting .210 in August and .173 in September... Quentin batting .236 on the year... Linebrink with an 8.49 ERA in August and a 10.29 in September... etc... simply killed their chances.

 

Also, Rios wasn't having a horrible year when we got him... he batted .264 for Toronto. The problem is that he batted .199 after we acquired him.

 

Bottom line: it was not a lack of talent problem. We had some talented players who simply did not produce.

Edited November 3, 2009 by scenario

[nitetrain8601]

I don't have any insider info on this subject, but from the outside looking in, it seems like Ozzie wouldn't like any vocal player leaders. He likes to be the voice of the team and that's it.

 

I disagree. From the Ozzie OC situation, Ozzie doesn't mind if you talk, but he wants you to back up your mouth. I think that's why he didn't really like BA who we can agree on, was full of himself early on until Ozzie benched him in '06 and gave him a huge reality check. Ozzie just doesn't want you to talk and be a crap player.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Lip is a good guy. He should post here.

 

As for the clubhouse leadership issue, just win. Just play up to your abilities, work as a team on the field, and don't get caught doing s*** off the field that becomes a distraction for the rest of the team.

 

But that said, any veterans taking exception to Getz's energy comments can STFU and GTFO. He may have only hit in the .260's as a rookie, but he hustled out there and he didn't take his role for granted. If you bust your ass down the line and beat out a single because the SS was sleeping, then I don't care if you blow off your teammate's birthday party after the game because you were out late cruising for hookers. Just don't get caught.

[sayitaintso]

I liked the interview a lot, it gave a lot of credible insight on the team and I thought it was a very good read.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

If the consistent performers of the team didn't want a vocal leader why do you want to piss them off? Seems to me that if you have someone who can't get fired up playing Major League ball, some dick yelling at him isn't going to make him play better. Not everyone responds the same way to everything. A player should perform on his own and it's respectable to get pissed at a guy for yelling at you.

 

Any blame for 2009 should be assigned for a lack of talent on the team. They lined up pretty evenly with the projections going into the year.

If the vets are hitting then they can b**** about vocal leadership all they want. If they're not hitting, STFU. Ozzie should hang a big sign in the clubhouse that says "Play Well or STFU."

 

I agree in some ways about blaming the season on the lack of talent out there (and also the learning experiences the young guys went through) but there was still quite a bit of talent out there offensively. Watching Paulie, Jermaine, Thome, AJ, etc. hand their starters losses and no decisions after great outings because they couldn't get a hit off a bunch of rookies and 6th starters was pathetic. Linebrink was garbage in the second half and he has all kinds of talent as a reliever. They still had enough talent to take 87 games in a bad division IMO.

[iamshack]

If the vets are hitting then they can b**** about vocal leadership all they want. If they're not hitting, STFU. Ozzie should hang a big sign in the clubhouse that says "Play Well or STFU."

 

I agree in some ways about blaming the season on the lack of talent out there (and also the learning experiences the young guys went through) but there was still quite a bit of talent out there offensively. Watching Paulie, Jermaine, Thome, AJ, etc. hand their starters losses and no decisions after great outings because they couldn't get a hit off a bunch of rookies and 6th starters was pathetic. Linebrink was garbage in the second half and he has all kinds of talent as a reliever. They still had enough talent to take 87 games in a bad division IMO.

Yeah, I don't think you can really blame the talent factor when you see what the Twins got by on. We have consistently had more talent on our team, but we simply fail to execute. The Twins execute. The Tigers executed this year. We did not.

 

At some point, the GM has to start looking at the failure to execute and go out and get players that will, and I think that is exactly what Kenny and Co. are doing right now. Hopefully they don't go overboard and bring in a bunch of Nick Punto's, but 1 or 2 of them isn't necessarily bad.

 

This team needs some changes. Hopefully, some will be made.

[danman31]

Regarding your comment about "the Sox trailing most of the year"... yeah... technically... but they were competing for a long stretch. For example: They were 2.5 games out of first during the first week of July. They were only one game out on July 21st. They were one game out on August 5th. And they were only 2 games out on August 19th. In other words, they hovered around 1-2 games out of first for 6 weeks... and kept it going until almost the end of August.

 

But lack of production by vets late in the season... Dye batting .179 after the allstar break... Rios batting .210 in August and .173 in September... Quentin batting .236 on the year... Linebrink with an 8.49 ERA in August and a 10.29 in September... etc... simply killed their chances.

 

Bottom line: it was not a lack of talent problem. We had some talented players who simply did not produce.

I guess it's a matter of how much the improvement of those guys would give. You can't just talk about the guy who underachieved though. Podsednik had his best hitting year since 2003. Carrasco had good numbers despite the worst stuff on the staff. Freddy Garcia was solid despite being out of baseball halfway into the season. It depends how you look at it. You could say the Sox were pretty bad if they caught 3 breaks like that and still only won 79 games.

 

Watching Paulie, Jermaine, Thome, AJ, etc. hand their starters losses and no decisions after great outings because they couldn't get a hit off a bunch of rookies and 6th starters was pathetic. Linebrink was garbage in the second half and he has all kinds of talent as a reliever. They still had enough talent to take 87 games in a bad division IMO.

Blaming Paulie, AJ and Thome is harsh. I guess it says more about the state of the AL Central that the White Sox had enough talent to come close if more things went their way.

 

Yeah, I don't think you can really blame the talent factor when you see what the Twins got by on. We have consistently had more talent on our team, but we simply fail to execute. The Twins execute. The Tigers executed this year. We did not.

 

At some point, the GM has to start looking at the failure to execute and go out and get players that will, and I think that is exactly what Kenny and Co. are doing right now. Hopefully they don't go overboard and bring in a bunch of Nick Punto's, but 1 or 2 of them isn't necessarily bad.

The Twins have the best hitter in the AL, a damn good bullpen, a former MVP and solid infield defense. It's fitting that in a year where the AL Central winner wasn't good, a default winner so to speak, it was the Twins who took it. Never bad, never great.

[RockRaines]

I dont want to glaze over the fact that this guy had the balls to ask some really tough questions, nice article.

[southsider2k5]

I dont want to glaze over the fact that this guy had the balls to ask some really tough questions, nice article.

 

He was asking a reporter. Its not like he was asking someone who had a personal stake in things. That makes a big difference.

[klaus kinski]

Watching the Phillies this post season, I could see a destination for Linebrink