Get a new deal done with Peavy now!

[balfanman]

And for perspectives sake, the only team that it has been longer since the Sox have dealt with is the Twins. (1986)

 

So I'm not quite sure what is being implied here (again, not anyone in particular). Is it being said that we don't, for whatever reason deal with the Tigers....or Twins?

 

20 + years ago is a long time, different ownership, management, players, philosophies, etc. I would think that if a deal benefits both teams, who cares who it is your dealing with. Isn't the ultimate goal to help your own ballclub?

[BigSqwert]

As long as we are in the division race...

Stopped reading after that part of the sentence. This is clearly not a contending team this year. Couple that with ridiculously awful attendance and there's no reason to "go for it" as you seem to be implying. You sell off expensive pieces at the deadline and get the biggest haul you can get.

[Dick Allen]

So I'm not quite sure what is being implied here (again, not anyone in particular). Is it being said that we don't, for whatever reason deal with the Tigers....or Twins?

 

20 + years ago is a long time, different ownership, management, players, philosophies, etc. I would think that if a deal benefits both teams, who cares who it is your dealing with. Isn't the ultimate goal to help your own ballclub?

Unless they are desperate, teams generally don't deal with other teams in their division very often, unless is a cellar dwellar dumping salary.

 

The facts are its been 23 years since they dealt with Detroit and 26 years since they dealt with Minnesota, expecting that to change wouldn't make sense.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Dick Allen

[Dick Allen]

Stopped reading after that part of the sentence. This is clearly not a contending team this year. Couple that with ridiculously awful attendance and there's no reason to "go for it" as you seem to be implying. You sell off expensive pieces at the deadline and get the biggest haul you can get.

Unless Detroit gets it going, they have a shot. I like the Sox roster a lot more than Cleveland's.

[BigSqwert]

Unless Detroit gets it going, they have a shot. I like the Sox roster a lot more than Cleveland's.

A shot at what? Miraculously sneaking into the playoffs and getting swept in the first round? This is the year we can finally start to rebuild our awful minor league system by trading away the likes of Peavy, Thornton, Konerko and whoever else has value.

[RockRaines]

A shot at what? Miraculously sneaking into the playoffs and getting swept in the first round? This is the year we can finally start to rebuild our awful minor league system by trading away the likes of Peavy, Thornton, Konerko and whoever else has value.

Whoa, you cant make predictions about getting swept in the playoffs, thats just moronic. Making it is all that counts these days as its been proven that its anyone's game.

[Dick Allen]

A shot at what? Miraculously sneaking into the playoffs and getting swept in the first round? This is the year we can finally start to rebuild our awful minor league system by trading away the likes of Peavy, Thornton, Konerko and whoever else has value.

The days of getting back top prospects for very highly paid veterans is OVA. Salary relief at most is all you can expect . Any young player worth a crap is a bonus.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Dick Allen

[BigSqwert]

Whoa, you cant make predictions about getting swept in the playoffs, thats just moronic. Making it is all that counts these days as its been proven that its anyone's game.

But can you honestly look at this team and think "this is a playoff caliber team"? Sale is no longer in the rotation. Peavy and Humber will likely run out of gas in the 2nd half. Our lineup has AA quality hitters sprinkled throughout. The bullpen is terribly inconsistent. I just don't see it.

[Dick Allen]

Whoa, you cant make predictions about getting swept in the playoffs, thats just moronic. Making it is all that counts these days as its been proven that its anyone's game.

If the Sox made the playoffs and Peavy was still pitching like he's pitching, they have a real good chance.

[balfanman]

Unless they are desperate, teams generally don't deal with other teams in their division very often, unless is a cellar dwellar dumping salary.

 

The facts are its been 23 years since they dealt with Detroit and 26 years since they dealt with Minnesota, expecting that to change wouldn't make sense.

 

I realize that you don't generally deal with teams in your own division for fear that if the trade goes bad on your end, you pay for it by facing that team more often the next few seasons. But that shouldn't mean that you never deal with them.

 

In this case, and I know were a long way from this happening because the Sox have to fall out of contention (and who knows how games out that even is in Kenny Williams mind), Detroit has to stay in, Peavy has to stay good, etc.; why not Detroit? It's not like Peavy would "haunt" the Sox for more than 1 more season unless Detroit resigned / extended him, which they could do anyway if Peavy became a free agent. If the Tigers take on a good portion of the remaining money it frees up cash for the Sox and regardless, the Sox are probably not going to get a top end prospect back from the Tigers who is going to "haunt" them for a few seasons.

[southsider2k5]

So I'm not quite sure what is being implied here (again, not anyone in particular). Is it being said that we don't, for whatever reason deal with the Tigers....or Twins?

 

20 + years ago is a long time, different ownership, management, players, philosophies, etc. I would think that if a deal benefits both teams, who cares who it is your dealing with. Isn't the ultimate goal to help your own ballclub?

 

Teams don't do business with their divisional rivals very often. The last thing you want to see is that guy you traded away haunting you for 18 games a year. I don't think it is as big of a deal to Kenny, as he deals with the Royals fairly often, but probably more on the Detroit and Minnesota end of things.

[Dick Allen]

Teams don't do business with their divisional rivals very often. The last thing you want to see is that guy you traded away haunting you for 18 games a year. I don't think it is as big of a deal to Kenny, as he deals with the Royals fairly often, but probably more on the Detroit and Minnesota end of things.

If KC and the Sox were both contenders, I'd imagine the dealing between the 2 teams wouldn't happen as much.

[southsider2k5]

Now the jinxes will start...

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...her-in-baseball

 

There was a time when Jake Peavy was mentioned in the same breath as pitchers like Roy Halladay and CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. There was a time when Peavy might have been better than all of them -- the best in the game, in fact.

 

The last year he started 30 games was in 2007. That season he led the National League in wins, ERA, strikeouts, fewest baserunners allowed per nine innings and most strikeouts per nine. He was the only starter in the major leagues with an ERA under 3.00. He collected all 32 first-place votes in the NL Cy Young Award balloting.

 

"I can definitely get better," Peavy said after winning the award. "I've got a long way to go to be who I want to be." Maybe he was referring to not throwing a complete game that season. Maybe he was referring to Game No. 163, the playoff tiebreaker in Colorado. Peavy gave up 10 hits and six runs in 6 1/3 innings in a game the Padres eventually lost in the 13th inning. He was 26 years old, a Cy Young winner with two ERA titles under his belt, but he still wanted to prove he was the best pitcher in baseball.

 

This isn't the way he wanted it to happen, but it's May 2012 and right now Jake Peavy is back on top: He's the best pitcher in baseball. That's right: Better than Halladay or Verlander or Clayton Kershaw or Jered Weaver.

 

It's an amazing comeback story from a guy who has battled four years of injuries, and not just the routine battle scars that pitchers have to overcome. In 2010, he feared his career could be over. A quick look back at that list of injuries:

 

2008: He went on the disabled in May with a sore elbow, missed a month and ended up making 27 starts and posting a 2.85 ERA.

 

2009: Strained a tendon in his right ankle rounding a base in late May, an injury that eventually landed him on the DL. Traded to the White Sox while disabled, Peavy returned in September to make three strong starts. In 16 starts, he finished 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA.

 

2010: In July, Peavy ruptured the tendon that attaches the latissimus dorsi muscle to the rear of the right shoulder. He became the first major league pitcher to undergo an experimental surgery involving stitches and titanium anchors. His season was over after 17 starts.

 

2011: Missed time at the start of the season with shoulder tendinitis, later pulled a groin and then was shut down in September due to arm fatigue. He made 18 starts.

 

Now he's healthy for the first time in a long time. "I’m a different guy than since you've probably ever seen me, just as far as feeling OK on the mound, being able to worry about making pitches, worrying about game planning not sitting in the trainer room the whole time in between days," he told ESPN Chicago a couple starts ago.

 

Watching him pitch on Wednesday, he looked like the Peavy from his Padres heyday, mixing his fastball, cutter, tight slider, curveball and changeup from that slightly herky-jerky delivery of his. For all the talk of Yu Darvish's wide arsenal of pitchers, Peavy also throws a kitchen sink repertoire. He cruised through six shutout innings against Cleveland before surrendering a run in the seventh as the White Sox scored an 8-1 victory. He threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 28 batters and while he rarely topped at more than 90 mph on his fastball, he pitched with precision while changing speeds.

 

Best in the game? A bold statement, yes, but through seven starts nobody's been better. Check the numbers:

 

4-1, 1.89 ERA, with just 11 runs allowed in seven starts.

Tied with Felix Hernandez for most innings pitched.

.189 batting average allowed, .221 OBP allowed (third behind only Matt Cain and Jered Weaver), .482 OPS allowed (fifth).

Strikeout/walk ratio of 44 to 7, third-best behind Cole Hamels and Bronson Arroyo.

 

 

What's impressive about this seven-start run is Peavy has had to face most of the hard-hitting lineups in the American League: two starts against Detroit, plus Texas, Boston, Baltimore and Cleveland. He has one start against Oakland. Weaver, for instance, has faced the Twins in three of his seven starts and hasn't faced Detroit, Texas or Boston.

 

Now, whether Peavy can keep it going and remain healthy is another issue. Entering his Wednesday start, he was the most extreme fly-ball starting pitcher in the majors, although he has allowed just two home runs. He did induce groundballs on nine of his 15 non-strikeout outs on Wednesday, but skeptics would suggest that his home run rate isn't sustainable. That's certainly likely, but you can see from his heat maps that while he's been pitching up in the zone, he's doing a good job of keeping the ball away from hitters.

 

Amazingly, Peavy isn't the only comeback story for the White Sox. Designated hitter Adam Dunn's career appeared to be in jeopardy for other reasons after suffering through one of the worst seasons in major league history last year, with a batting average I don't even want to repeat.

 

Dunn, however, has been one of the most valuable hitters in the game so far, slugging his 10th home run on Wednesday, a two-run bomb off Jeanmar Gomez in the first inning. Dunn is hitting .243/.384/.586 and he's tied for third in the majors in homers and ranks ninth in RBIs and 15th in OPS.

 

Whether Dunn can keep this up is also a fair question. His strikeout rate of 34.1 percent is close to 2011's 35.7 percent, both figures well above Dunn's career mark of 27.7 percent. Basically, last year his fly balls were caught; this year, they're landing on the good side of the fence. But he's also lofting the ball more than a year ago; only four players are hitting a higher percentage of fly balls than Dunn. When you're as big and strong as Dunn, fly balls are a good thing.

 

Still, you have to connect with the sweet part of the wood. And White Sox fans have hearing that sweet sound so far.

[balfanman]

If KC and the Sox were both contenders, I'd imagine the dealing between the 2 teams wouldn't happen as much.

 

Exactly! This whole Peavy deal with Detroit is based on Detroit being in contention, while the Sox fall out. If the Sox fall out of contention this season, it is probable that they will be out of contention for a few more seasons as well.

 

Even if the Tigers sent over a mediocre prospect that miraculously became a perrenial all star, don't you think that the Tigers would still consider it a worthy risk if they have a strong shot at a World Series ring this year and next?

[southsider2k5]

Exactly! This whole Peavy deal with Detroit is based on Detroit being in contention, while the Sox fall out. If the Sox fall out of contention this season, it is probable that they will be out of contention for a few more seasons as well.

 

Even if the Tigers sent over a mediocre prospect that miraculously became a perrenial all star, don't you think that the Tigers would still consider it a worthy risk if they have a strong shot at a World Series ring this year and next?

 

Most teams don't. When was the last time the Red Sox and Yankees made a deal? (1997) How long ago was the Bucky Dent deal? That is still loved/hated by their fans to this date.

[2nd_city_saint787]

But can you honestly look at this team and think "this is a playoff caliber team"? Sale is no longer in the rotation. Peavy and Humber will likely run out of gas in the 2nd half. Our lineup has AA quality hitters sprinkled throughout. The bullpen is terribly inconsistent. I just don't see it.

 

 

I can honestly see a contending team. Gordons starting to look like the golden boy he was his rookie year, that leaves the Cubans that need to get it going. Lexi had 3 hits and its about time for him to get hot, gotta hope that Dayan is another slow starter like his fellow Cubano.... That would make our lineup 8 deep ADA-Beckham-Kong-Donkey-Rios-Dayan-AJ-Lexi thats a pretty damn good lineup there....For the past few years the Sox biggest hole keeping them from competing has been a LH middle of the lineup power hitter and now they have that....Morel and at this point Dayan are the only guys who can be considered "AA quality hitters"

 

The bullpen has been fantastic as of late, if the sox get it right and use Reed as the closer the bullpen will be lights out.

 

At this point I believe the starters are the biggest question mark....Im a fan of Axelrod and dont know why Stults is getting the starts over him at this point. The mans been REALLY good in the minors and has had good enough success at the MLB to be considered at the least a #5 starter....Humbers the biggest question mark on this team, if hes 2011 pre all star break Humber then the staff will be good enough to compete.

Edited May 10, 2012 by 2nd_city_saint787

[southsider2k5]

I can honestly see a contending team. Gordons starting to look like the golden boy he was his rookie year, that leaves the Cubans that need to get it going. Lexi had 3 hits and its about time for him to get hot, gotta hope that Dayan is another slow starter like his fellow Cubano.... That would make our lineup 8 deep ADA-Beckham-Kong-Donkey-Rios-Dayan-AJ-Lexi thats a pretty damn good lineup there....For the past few years the Sox biggest hole keeping them from competing has been a LH middle of the lineup power hitter and now they have that....Morel and at this point Dayan are the only guys who can be considered "AA quality hitters"

 

The bullpen has been fantastic as of late, if the sox get it right and use Reed as the closer the bullpen will be lights out.

 

At this point I believe the starters are the biggest question mark....Im a fan of Axelrod and dont know why Stults is getting the starts over him at this point. The mans been REALLY good in the minors and has had good enough success at the MLB to be considered at the least a #5 starter....Humbers the biggest question mark on this team, if hes 2011 pre all star break Humber then the staff will be good enough to compete.

 

Axelrod had to be used in relief before his scheduled start in the CLE doubleheader. After that they wanted another pitcher because Sale was already out at the time, so Axelrod went down, and Quitana and Stults came up. Once Axelrod went down, he has to stay there at least 10 days, unless someone goes on the DL.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Axelrod had to be used in relief before his scheduled start in the CLE doubleheader. After that they wanted another pitcher because Sale was already out at the time, so Axelrod went down, and Quitana and Stults came up. Once Axelrod went down, he has to stay there at least 10 days, unless someone goes on the DL.

 

 

Ahh I wasnt aware, makes sense now I look forward to seeing what he can do as a MLer he hasnt had an era over 3 the last 2 years he was starting down there.... I think he can be a #4-5....which he may have to be if sale stays in the pen and humber continues his collapse

[caulfield12]

Counting Gordon Beckham in the "sure thing" category for the rest of the year?

 

Hmm...will believe it when I see it.

 

And AJ's definitely been trailing off, too.

 

Ramirez up until the last couple of games had been worse than Viciedo overall.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Counting Gordon Beckham in the "sure thing" category for the rest of the year?

 

Hmm...will believe it when I see it.

 

And AJ's definitely been trailing off, too.

 

Ramirez up until the last couple of games had been worse than Viciedo overall.

 

 

I said he "looks" like the golden boy, not calling him a sure thing yet. I like this quote from Manto on getting him back to where he was his rookie year "Where he was (during his struggles), I don't think he could have sustained a major-league season, 600 plate appearances. The bat path was a little off, and his shoulders were steep. Right now he's square, head with the shoulders.''. That change is really showing with him batting well over .300 when hes been in the 2 spot where Robin said he'll be staying at which that too I like.

 

We all knew AJ wouldnt be able to stay where he was early in the season but he'll give us what hes been giving us the past years and I'll take that out of our catcher.

 

as we all know Ramirez is a slow starter so I'm not worried about him yet and yesterdays game was hopefully a sign of things to come...its May now its time for him to get hot.

 

 

EDIT: on a side note the Manto quote reminds me of my high school baseball coach having us bite our collar to keep out heads and shoulders together. Always thought that was a great way to do things, Manto if your reading, youre welcome lol =p

Edited May 10, 2012 by 2nd_city_saint787

[caulfield12]

I said he "looks" like the golden boy, not calling him a sure thing yet. I like this quote from Manto on getting him back to where he was his rookie year "Where he was (during his struggles), I don't think he could have sustained a major-league season, 600 plate appearances. The bat path was a little off, and his shoulders were steep. Right now he's square, head with the shoulders.''. That change is really showing with him batting well over .300 when hes been in the 2 spot where Robin said he'll be staying at which that too I like.

 

We all knew AJ wouldnt be able to stay where he was early in the season but he'll give us what hes been giving us the past years and I'll take that out of our catcher.

 

as we all know Ramirez is a slow starter so I'm not worried about him yet and yesterdays game was hopefully a sign of things to come...its May now its time for him to get hot.

 

 

Yes, I know what it says, lol.

 

I put that whole article up in the hitting coaches thread.

 

 

[Princess Dye]

Ramirez up until the last couple of games had been worse than Viciedo overall.

 

By season's end, Alexei has the same type of year offensively every year, and always has the bad or ho-hum April. There aren't any surprises there.

[Dick Allen]

By season's end, Alexei has the same type of year offensively every year, and always has the bad or ho-hum April. There aren't any surprises there.

There aren't ,but he should try to mix some things up maybe next offseason, considering these games do count and it would be better for the team if he actually could be at least mediocre offensively the first month.

[kapzk]

Wonder if Kenny's buddy Alex Anthoupolous gives him a call regarding Peavy?

[shakes]

Wonder if Kenny's buddy Alex Anthoupolous gives him a call regarding Peavy?

 

May be to rich of a contract for Toronto, but if they stay in the race and draw a little, you never know. I have to agree with those who have said the Dodgers. The new ownership is ready to start throwing money around and they are a surprise contender right now. They are one of the few teams who would have room to pick up his option next year. Their starting pitching has been very good so far, but I'm not sure what Lily and Capuano have been doing is sustainable, not to mention Harang is their 5th starter. I think Peavy could get good value at the deadline if he keeps pitching this way and with his history I think you have to deal him, unless the Sox are clearly in a playoff spot at the time.