Revamped 2007 White Sox

My staff is currently working out a three way trade sending Buerhle/Podsednik to St. Louis (Cards have nobody I want). Bedard, from Baltimore is the goal! This would free up an OF position, so we can go after Pierre.(yah, he's got no arm but he gets on base and how many guys did Anderson/Macko. ever throw out anyway).

Get rid of Guillen and pick up a manager that knows when to shut (edited) up

Buehrle stays at a lower price tag for one year, or he will be let go. The Yankees are willing to take a chance at any price, as may be The Cubs.

Crede is gone before he gets to be a free agent...maybe they can fill a hole or two in the trade.

Pods doesn't matter.

Uribe is not a starter.

Contreras might be over the hill physically.

Bullpen is blown up and started over again, Jenks is a setup man. 3.75 ERA is too high for a closer. They will need someone to save one run leads more often, not the two or three run leads he had this year.

McCarthy will NOT be a starter

They need to find: Another starter (or two), a bullpen, a cf, a 3b, 1b, a ss. Might be a better team without both Konerko and Thome. Konerko is healthier, keep him as DH.

Ozzie is better when he is shooting off his mouth. The sox collapsed when he got told to shut up and be nice. Nice=Loser. Winner=doesn't care if he is "nice"

The sox might have one last chance to do it next year, but there is a lot of work to do.

They don't seem so much like an awesome team right now do they?

Jesus ***** FB, how come the Cubbies haven't hired you as their GM.

How quickly things change. We've gone from titles from 2006-2010 & best and deepest staff in baseball to lets blow this team up. Disappointing year but I think lots of fans are overreacting.
This is a team that will miss playoffs by a handful of games. Fine, fine line between winning and losing when you have the talent the Sox have.
A normal Buehrle year and they're in. If Cott's is just average they're in. A couple bloopers, breaks, & calls and they're in. Granted, they don't deserve any of the aforementioned after last years mystical intervention.
Certainly, have to make decisions on some guys but they are reasonably young and healthy with a lineup many teams would like to have. Maybe they come back with more purpose next year. Is Detroit for real? I wouldn't have minded at all if the Sox went 0-162 this year but I respect their organization and talent. Too soon for wholesale changes.

In all reality, if the Sox don't win, they don't draw the crowds. For the Cubs, it doesn't seem to matter. Kenny Williams has shown he will not sit still, so as Sox fans, we are conditioned to guess who is coming in. The Sox' real problem is we have become more dependent on scoring with the home run than ever before. How many guys in the starting lineup have an OBP above the league average of .330 ?

Tuzi...
I'd be about as good as a GM as I am at being a mechanic....I can take things apart a lot better than I can put them together.

Unless you are the Yankees, the Braves and Cards to a much lessor degree it seems very tough to stay at the top these days.

Sox team BA at .282 ranks 4 out of 30.
Sox team OBP at .344 ranks 7 out of 30.
Sox team SLG at .466 ranks 1 out of 30.

Pretty nice team hitting stats if you look at it on paper. However it doesn't take in to account the game-to-game inconsistency of their hitting. You can't hit lights out and put a big crooked number on the board, and come back the next game, or next two games and put up goose eggs. Which the Sox hitting has done all year, and simply isn't picked up in these stats.

Slugging has worked when a team has had phenomenal pitching that could hold opposing team's runs way down, i.e. Earl Weaver's Baltimore Orioles of the early 70s.

Sox ERA is 4.51 which is 17 out of 30, below average.

Couple all this with not doing the little things like moving runners, keeping your mistakes minimal etc., all the good things that good teams do, and you have the 2006 Chicago White Sox.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if it walks like duck and talks like a duck, its a duck. And the Sox have been quackin all year. But watching this team over the last week, they look like they are ducks staring down the barrel of a shot gun, dead ducks.

Grinder rule 104763a, catch the **** pop-up in the infield. This is the major leagues.

How disappointing.

The pop up f-up was Crede's fault for running in front of Uribe as he was catching the ball.

Biggest problem as I have said is EVER playing Mackowiak in center. We'd be in a 3 way tie if Ozzie wasn't so stubborn on that issue.

Middle relief was brutal. McCarthy can't replace anyone on this staff unless he throws with some movement and finds another pitch, preferably 2!

Thome (especially when hurt) and Konerko are too slow to hit back to back. Konerko is terrible in the field no matter what DJ is smoking.

Except for McCarthy, I don't understand any of FBDad's ridiculous critique.

Tuzi is right on the spot. Can't play small ball with the 2 Clydesdales clogging the basepath's.

Hawk is right. They did not play "hungry ball" like they did in 05 and the Twins are right now!

Finally all that good luck last year got turned around this year. This was even true when they were 28 games over in June!

....and finally again, I'll take Uribe over 27 other SS in MLB. Best arm, 13 errors, more than 1 were other players fault. 20 dongs that he tends to hit when it counts.

Contreras will be effective until he's 45! Best shape of anyone on the team.

By the way.

Beuhrle stays. His track record speaks for itself.

Middle relief must be overhauled.

Josh Field's go's to left. Pods traded.

Crede can stay or go (in 08). Fields can play 3rd and Sweeney gets shot in left.

Uribe forever.

Coaching staff imo, cannott be improved on.

Southpaw replaced by the DuPage Dragon mascot.... "Dinger"!

I agree with most soxnole and yes I really like uribe at ss or they would not have won in 05. However that being said I thuink he would do well working with someone in the off season on some of his approaches at the plate. Mid releif definate overhaul. As far as the starters buerlhe is the only one that makes me nervous. Pods traded and the see sweeney or fields in left. crede I would like to see after 07 if he stays healthy. As far as the guy they kept putting in cf, that is all Ozzie!!!!

what else is there to say besides the white sox pitching staff may be one of the biggest let downs in baseball this year

You have to give ozzie credit....he is blaming himself...he isnt using all the horse sh** excuses dusty uses. If the marlins can compete with a 6 dollar payroll the cubbies should have been able to be around .500

They will finish 3rd place in the central...if the season ended today they would have the 5th best record in the al and the 6th best record in baseball....and yes there is no prizes for that but thats not to shabby...

It seems like everyone wants to break down the team and start over

denisr400:

Very reasonable post...thanks.

Starting two rookies is not the mark of a top team. The Crede situation is something that needs to be watched, with his agent keeping him has last year is likely to end up with nothing to show for him when he leaves.

Uribe is OK, as is Iguchi. Two rookies and an OK MIF is not promising. I'm willing to bet Dye, Thome and Konerko have a tough time repeating their 2006 numbers, as will perhaps a Garland or any other pitcher on the staff. Not even talking about a bullpen that left far more questions than answers.

On the other hand, the division isn't going to have a 93 win team in it next year either so you never know.

Next year the Cubs will be within 5 games of the sox or better. Book it.

Based upon a minimum of 116 games played and 418 ABs, Uribe's BA ranks 23/24 in MLB and the worst in the AL. His OBP ranks 24/24 in MLB (obviously worst in the AL). His slugging comes in at 11/24 in MLB, 5th in the AL. In this age of the productive hitting SS, Uribe isn't one. He's more like Don Kessinger.

Also, he doesn't play the position better than Jeter, Young or Tejada. His fielding percentage for a SS is average.

I don't know who the Sox could replace him with, but they aren't getting enough out of the SS position.

WOOPS! Sorry Sox fans. Just checked Kessinger's stats and he was a much worse hitter and fielder than Uribe.

Tuz...What were you thinking?

Kess couldn't hold Uribe's jockstrap, either hitting or fielding or arm or anything.

Kess was the lightest hitting "big" shortstop in the history of MLB.

Uribe has to stay out of Ozzie's doghouse and he'll be fine. He doesn't take well to the Venezuelan "Nut" (We love you, Ozzie.) going "off" on him!

I don't get what the Sox are trying to do with Crede on the bench; and, the light-hitting hamburger in centerfield, again.

Looks like the Oz didn't have a "plan" for the last 30 games of the season what with his sitting Pods; Anderson; Crede, etc.

I thought the object of the game was to win, when you still have a "chance"?

I'm ready to work on my Venezuelan voodoo doll.

Congrats to the Tigers and the Twins.

First to go from the White Sox: Don Cooper, pitching coach...who NEVER figured out what to do with any of the top 5 and their absolutely horrendous era's in the second half.

Why was Buerhle still in the big leagues with his 7+ era? He's at 85 tops and cruises at 82-84. Barely enough for high school varsity material. What happened to him? If I'm a hitter and I know that the guy can't throw the ball by me, guess what? I'm launching him!

Riske and McCarthy and Cotts were a disaster...No one helped them improve. They were bad and they stayed bad.

Go get 'em next year Kenny Williams...Need a centerfielder and middle relief.

We'll be back next year!

Day is done ...
Gone the sun ...
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky ...
All is well ...
Safely rest ...
Day is done ...

Uribe and a slugger to BAL for Tejada.

Anderson and Buehrle to the O's for Markakis.

Amazing how quickly the "Dynasty Team" is being revamped

6 months ago you were all calling them a dynasty

TR...They were going to be a "dynasty" team...but....

Ozzie decided to have a hamburger in centerfield; had problems with all of our middle relief; and, then virtually all of the starters went into a "funk" and no one did anything about it.

Sprinkle in quite a few "questionable" managerial decisions and you have a nice ballclub but not a winner.

Wait 'til next year.

Or, as the Cub fans would say: Wait 'til the next 100 years!

Go White Sox!

Shortest Dynasty in the history of Dynasties! The TV show lasted longer.

It was a one year dynasty nonetheless.

I found it a bit ironic that the Tribe was the team that drove the final nail in the coffin. A little payback for last year although the Tribe stunk it up this year in many aspects.

My question is, if Ozzie is a genius, then why didn't they win this year? Almost all of their offseason moves blew up in their faces. Maybe they had some luck last year where 25 guys had career years

crede and uribe to ny for a-rod
fields @ 3b
beurhle and anderson to cubs for wood and pierre

Pierre ain't worth a bag of bats.

It all depends on the bats!!!!

How about Ozzie "bowling ball" Guillen for Ron "small ball" Gardenhire? The Twins are hands down the #1 small ball team in baseball and once again are in the playoffs.

quote:

Originally posted by soxnole:
Pierre ain't worth a bag of bats.

No? He currently leads the NL with 196 hits and also has 56 stolen bases. Even with no arm in the outfield he will be in big demand if he doesn't re-up with the Cubs.

Fire cooper...fire guilled...these are grown men...they have to take the blame. Yeah cooper could have worked on some things but lets be honest....the staff didnt rise to the challenge

"you can lead a Horse to water, but you cant make them drink"

I'd keep Guillen and fire Cooper. He did nothing for any of them that struggled for the past 3 months.

I was going to launch on Buerhle, too, but I just read that he is only 27. Wow! In a 100 year old body!

Sign him and lets see if he can recover some of his "old" form next season. He'll have a lot of time for hunting with his Cardinal buddies. Talk about "tanking"...can you say the Cardinals are the Phillies of '64 all over again!

Beenthere and Bill,

Excuse me but you both show severe signs of "Chicago Sport's Fan Disease".

Luckily, I have spent some signifigant time in cities that are used to winning.

The whining and crying you guys exhibit is not only out of line, it's off the wall.

By the way, the next time y'all come in 6th out of 30, please fire yourself!

SHEEEESH!

Dirtbag....

The Twins organization is easily the best in baseball. Gardenhire is, like Ozzie, one of the very best.

As a manager, you'll alway's receive too much credit for success or failure.

One might want to term the 2005 year for the sox a career year for all players and the coaching staff as well

Ozzie aint no genius--he pressed the lucky buttons last year and did nothing this year

Want a real coach talk to Leyland (Old School) and Girardi ( New school)

TR....your comment regarding "career years" is as uninformed as it gets.

Except for Podsednik and Anderson (replaced Rowand) every offensive player performed as well or better than last year.

Dye, Konerko, Pierzynski and Crede were outstanding. Thome was Thome, as in stud.
Iguchi was better defensively. Uribe was magical at SS. Crede and Uribe should win a Gold Glove. Anderson was more than steady and will be 1 of the very best in CF.

Heck, they led MLB in clutch hitting....by a wide margin.

The pitching staff let this team down. Freddy was fine, high ERA or not. Jose had a very bad stretch but performed similar to 05. Beuhrle stunk it up after the first half and really let us down, but that will happen. Garland was OK but lost some winnable games. Vasquez had a terrible year but was very solid down the stretch when we needed him most. Cotts, Politte and McCarthy were brutal to dissapointing. Riske was and is NOT the answer. Jenks was fine.

2 other primary issues:

A)Ozzie's stubborn attitude regarding Mackowiak in center field...cost us 4-5 games!

B)The leaders (Konerko, Dye and Thome)telling the GM that they did not think Soriano would make the difference. The way McCarthy finished and the error of not adding Soriano,the 4th stud in a stud filled middle of the order was HUGE! This cost us big time.

But, hey, we could be the 94+ loss bums on the other side of town with no clue that the GM is the REAL problem. Keep in mind that although Dusty has enjoyed great success in MLB, Hendry has had NADA!

Wait till next year! And take a good look at the north side, Sox fans, thats your cure to CBATM
(constant b!tch!ng about the manager)also known as Cicago Sports fan Disease.

soxnole - baseball is pitching imho. If you do not have it you cannot win. I don't believe Soriano would have made up for the defects that you have noted above but we can agree to disagree on that one.

The Indians would have several rings right now if it were based off of superior offensive performances. They had Loften, Sandy Alomar in his prime, Robbie Alomar, Thome, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, etc, etc. On top of that, they had a hall of fame ss in Omar Visquel and Loften was pretty good at tracking them down in center. Alomar was excellent behind the plate offensively and defensively. Pitching was their one weakness. When we signed Black Jack McDowell in 1996, it was supposed to put us over the top yet all we did was get bounced in the first round of the playoffs that year.

We agree on one major thing here - the pitching was not as good for the white sox this year. In that regard, comments about several of them having career years last year may not be that far off the mark.

The phrase "they did it when it matters" was used over and over again by the sox fans in 05, and for good reason. Ultimately when it mattered the sox came through especially the pitching. That definitley was not he case in 05. The hitters rang up big numbers when it didn't matter and when it did they were nowhere to be found. Now that the pressure is off, they have been hammering the ball.

The pitchng was obviously very average and that's about all they are....average.

The sox of 05, Chicago Baseball's answer to the '85 Bears...one year wonders. The Bears were a bigger disapointment, they really did have an outstanding team with extraordinary talent. That isn't true of the sox.

The 05 Sox dominated every bit as much as the 85 Bears.

Lest you forget, my Dolphin's kicked the Bears a$$, making sure the 72 Dolphin's will alway's be remembered as SUPERIOR to the cubs parent's!

The Sox dominated in the playoffs as did the Bears but regular seasons no comparison. Sox within 1 more bad week of losing division and looked bad to average for about 6 weeks.
Bears dominated throughout entire season despite a very average offense. Ouch, that loss to the Dolphins still stings. Never forget Marino shredding the vaunted 46 defense and then reading about Ditka/Ryan fisticuffs at halftime.

Fastball & TR****,

I elect you as co a$$holes of the year.
Keep up the good work you losers.