Sox sign Orlando Hudson

[Balta1701]

Brent Morel 2 for 3, but pulled in the seventh. Not sure what's up with that??? Injured???

More hopefully just being extra careful, if this is a 2 week stint, no reason to push things if you need a pinch runner or whatecer.

[southsider2k5]

Brent Morel 2 for 3, but pulled in the seventh. Not sure what's up with that??? Injured???

 

Charlotte feed has no mention of any problems, just that he got lifted for Kuhn.

[sunofgold]

8-O-dawg. I say that we have found our 3rd baseman. Morel can be a bench player when he is healthy.

[Andrew]

8-O-dawg. I say that we have found our 3rd baseman. Morel can be a bench player when he is healthy.

 

I agree. I didn't expect it, but I totally agree.

[jenksycat]

8-O-dawg. I say that we have found our 3rd baseman. Morel can be a bench player when he is healthy.

 

A bench player who can't hit, isn't fast, and can only play 1 position.

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

The O Dog is the most beloved .185 hitting, 2 errors in a week at 3B player in Soxtalk history.

 

His defensive gem the other day probably saved that game.

 

And he also has a .321 OBP and .654 OPS (and his average is .208 with us by the way) and has looked competent in the box and on the bases

 

Not world beating, but with Morel throwing up a .177/.225/.195/.420 line, the boost from O-Dog all of a sudden becomes significant

[southsider2k5]

His defensive gem the other day probably saved that game.

 

And he also has a .321 OBP and .654 OPS (and his average is .208 with us by the way) and has looked competent in the box and on the bases

 

Not world beating, but with Morel throwing up a .177/.225/.195/.420 line, the boost from O-Dog all of a sudden becomes significant

 

If his back is healthy, he is going to be playing much better on offense and defense.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

If his back is healthy, he is going to be playing much better on offense and defense.

 

Maybe.

 

But that doesnt change the fact that his performance this year has been abysmal at best. And because of that, despite O-Dog looking like a NL #8 hitter, that still makes his performance with us look that much better and that is largely why he has been getting as much as praise as he has been

[southsider2k5]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1987379.story

 

By Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune reporter

 

8:06 p.m. CDT, May 30, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brent Morel is eligible to rejoin the White Sox on Saturday, but there are no assurances he will assume his starting third base job.

 

Morel started his minor league rehabilitation assignment Wednesday night for Triple-A Charlotte, and manager Robin Ventura stressed Morel must show no limitations from a lumbar back strain that made him vulnerable against certain pitches.

 

Another consideration has been the play of Orlando Hudson, according to Ventura. Hudson singled in a run during the Sox's five-run rally Tuesday against the Rays.

 

"(Hudson has) added a little infusion into the lineup," Ventura said. "Part of it is his personality. Part of it is the way he plays. But as soon as (Morel) comes back, we'll see what we have."

[Balta1701]

Maybe.

 

But that doesnt change the fact that his performance this year has been abysmal at best. And because of that, despite O-Dog looking like a NL #8 hitter, that still makes his performance with us look that much better and that is largely why he has been getting as much as praise as he has been

And that doesn't change the fact that O-Dog's numbers currently would be poor for an NL #8 hitter.

 

He's helpful. But he'd be an even bigger help replacing escobar as a utility man...if Brent Morel could be 100% healthy and start showing progress with the bat.

[ScottyDo]

They say Morel's struggles were due to his back problem. It's a pretty convenient excuse and I'm not sure I believe it, but it's plausible.

 

The only reason people are slobbering all over O-Dog is because we're winning. He's played competent defense, but his bat has been close to Morel's.

 

Taking those two things into account, I'd like to see if Morel's failures were, in fact, due to injury and relegate O-Dog to a bench role while sending Escobar down. If Morel continues to fail, give the job to Hudson or find another solution. Hudson has certainly not "won" the job, he's just proven that he can successfully take his crappy bat to a new position on the field.

[Chicago White Sox]

Hudson is definitely not the answer at 3B for this year. He's been decent as the fill-in and leagues better than an injured Brent Morel, but if we continue to play well then we should look into legitimate upgrades near the deadline.

 

If you look at this roster, we don't have a ton of holes at the moment. I don't see the logic in adding a starter, as he'd have to be better than Danks or Floyd and to get a pitcher of that caliber is going to cost a small fortune. The bullpen can always be improved, but usually relievers are overpriced at the deadline and we actually have some arms in AAA/AA that could help this year if necessary.

 

That leaves the offense and bench. Right now, the only major hole in the lineup is 3B. I'm not ready to write off Morel yet, but this would be a spot where you could find a one-year upgrade and then give Morel another chance as the starter in 2013 if healthy. Doing so would allow us to move Hudson to the bench and send Escobar to AAA. IMO, this would be the cheapest and easiest way to improve the team.

[iamshack]

Hudson is definitely not the answer at 3B for this year. He's been decent as the fill-in and leagues better than an injured Brent Morel, but if we continue to play well then we should look into legitimate upgrades near the deadline.

 

If you look at this roster, we don't have a ton of holes at the moment. I don't see the logic in adding a starter, as he'd have to be better than Danks or Floyd and to get a pitcher of that caliber is going to cost a small fortune. The bullpen can always be improved, but usually relievers are overpriced at the deadline and we actually have some arms in AAA/AA that could help this year if necessary.

 

That leaves the offense and bench. Right now, the only major hole in the lineup is 3B. I'm not ready to write off Morel yet, but this would be a spot where you could find a one-year upgrade and then give Morel another chance as the starter in 2013 if healthy. Doing so would allow us to move Hudson to the bench and send Escobar to AAA. IMO, this would be the cheapest and easiest way to improve the team.

So if we can't find a legitimate upgrade at 3b, who do you go with? Hudson or Morel?

[iamshack]

They say Morel's struggles were due to his back problem. It's a pretty convenient excuse and I'm not sure I believe it, but it's plausible.

 

The only reason people are slobbering all over O-Dog is because we're winning. He's played competent defense, but his bat has been close to Morel's.

 

Taking those two things into account, I'd like to see if Morel's failures were, in fact, due to injury and relegate O-Dog to a bench role while sending Escobar down. If Morel continues to fail, give the job to Hudson or find another solution. Hudson has certainly not "won" the job, he's just proven that he can successfully take his crappy bat to a new position on the field.

The results may be similar right now, but his PAs have been of MUCH higher quality than Morel's...IMO, if you have Hudson Morel's PAs over the remaining course of the year, the results would separate themselves gradually over time...

[southsider2k5]

So if we can't find a legitimate upgrade at 3b, who do you go with? Hudson or Morel?

 

That will sort itself out on the field. If Morel is healthy I think he will surpass Hudson. If not, you still have Hudson.

[Balta1701]

So if we can't find a legitimate upgrade at 3b, who do you go with? Hudson or Morel?

Morel has to earn it. If he hits well on this minor league stint, then he's earned a callup. If he gets playing time in the bigs, his leash has to be short.

[iamshack]

Morel has to earn it. If he hits well on this minor league stint, then he's earned a callup. If he gets playing time in the bigs, his leash has to be short.

I have no problem with this...I just don't understand how if all his woes this season were related to this injury, and it was this easily fixable, why the hell they didn't do it a month ago?

[ChiSox_Sonix]

They say Morel's struggles were due to his back problem. It's a pretty convenient excuse and I'm not sure I believe it, but it's plausible.

 

The only reason people are slobbering all over O-Dog is because we're winning. He's played competent defense, but his bat has been close to Morel's.

 

Taking those two things into account, I'd like to see if Morel's failures were, in fact, due to injury and relegate O-Dog to a bench role while sending Escobar down. If Morel continues to fail, give the job to Hudson or find another solution. Hudson has certainly not "won" the job, he's just proven that he can successfully take his crappy bat to a new position on the field.

 

.185 .313 .296 .609 (5/5 SO/BB)

 

177 .225 .195 .420 (39/7 SO/BB)

 

It's not good, but he's clearly been better

[Balta1701]

I have no problem with this...I just don't understand how if all his woes this season were related to this injury, and it was this easily fixable, why the hell they didn't do it a month ago?

There's some vagueness to this, if you remember the article where he's also talking about having some dietary/weight loss issues that he didn't want to go into more details about, so it's hard to say exactly.

 

But perhaps, the best answer is...who was available? Brandon Inge might have been an option but the Sox couldn't claim him on waivers without picking up a lot of money, and he would then have had the choice where he went as a free agent. The Sox could have been in on him and we wouldn't have known. Other than that, they weren't going to give Lillibridge or Escobar everyday time at 3b, that's pretty clear, and it's so early in the season no one is trading away an adequate 3b starting option if they're not being bought out.

[iamshack]

There's some vagueness to this, if you remember the article where he's also talking about having some dietary/weight loss issues that he didn't want to go into more details about, so it's hard to say exactly.

 

But perhaps, the best answer is...who was available? Brandon Inge might have been an option but the Sox couldn't claim him on waivers without picking up a lot of money, and he would then have had the choice where he went as a free agent. The Sox could have been in on him and we wouldn't have known. Other than that, they weren't going to give Lillibridge or Escobar everyday time at 3b, that's pretty clear, and it's so early in the season no one is trading away an adequate 3b starting option if they're not being bought out.

I don't believe this.

 

There was nothing Brent Morel was doing that would have made you frightened to play Escobar or Lillibridge at 3rd in his absence in order to get him healthy for the remainder of the season.

 

 

[Balta1701]

I don't believe this.

 

There was nothing Brent Morel was doing that would have made you frightened to play Escobar or Lillibridge at 3rd in his absence in order to get him healthy for the remainder of the season.

Like I said, there's some iffyness here. I kept saying something was really off/different about him this year because of the strikeouts, but there was virtually nothing said about it being his back until he went for that cortisone shot in early May. There's no one saying he hid anything from the medical staff, no one seems negative about him at all, but they took forever in saying anything about it, and then there's that allusion to the dietary thing.

 

Whatever the answer is, in hindsight yeah, seems like giving Lilli/Esco extra playing time a lot earlier would have been the right move, but for some reason the team decided against that, and they haven't given us their reasoning.

[iamshack]

Like I said, there's some iffyness here. I kept saying something was really off/different about him this year because of the strikeouts, but there was virtually nothing said about it being his back until he went for that cortisone shot in early May. There's no one saying he hid anything from the medical staff, no one seems negative about him at all, but they took forever in saying anything about it, and then there's that allusion to the dietary thing.

 

Whatever the answer is, in hindsight yeah, seems like giving Lilli/Esco extra playing time a lot earlier would have been the right move, but for some reason the team decided against that, and they haven't given us their reasoning.

Yeah, because the injuries had nothing to do with him sucking until very recently. And now that he's hurt, everyone wants to believe the injury was the reason why.

 

I don't buy it.

[Jake]

Have to wonder if Morel hid/downplayed the injury to try to stay in the lineup. It always looks bad in hindsight, but in the moment as a player you're thinking that it'll just go away and you won't have someone potentially playing well in your position while you're resting.

 

Of course there is some chance that his injuries have been played up by the team to explain his poor play. I don't know.

[Steve9347]

Brent Morel is a terrible, terrible baseball player. The corpse of Orlando Hudson (which is what we have) has been world's better, and he's been pretty bad.

[iamshack]

Have to wonder if Morel hid/downplayed the injury to try to stay in the lineup. It always looks bad in hindsight, but in the moment as a player you're thinking that it'll just go away and you won't have someone potentially playing well in your position while you're resting.

 

Of course there is some chance that his injuries have been played up by the team to explain his poor play. I don't know.

My issue with Morel is this ALWAYS seems to be his concern, and it appears to drastically affect his play.

 

He seems to go through the majority of the season with a defensive approach at the plate designed to produce "adequate" results. Then when it is clear he won't be sent down, he lets loose and swings like he is capable of, with his natural ability, and rakes.

 

I'm not sure if this theory is correct or not, but if it is, he needs to have the confidence to take the latter approach for the entire season, and let the results speak for themselves.