Chicago White Sox 2007 Thread

[MogulChamp]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Who, MacDoofus? I hadn't read anything about that - whitesox.com has an article up about how Coop is confident he can fix him.

Sisco was optioned down, so he's not on waivers at the moment, either.

I guess the big surprise is that the Sox tapped AA Birmingham's Dewon Day to take Sisco's spot.

And, boy, that worked out swell, didn't it? Granted, it was garbage time, but 4 hits and 2 runs...maybe it was just debut jitters. I sure hope it was.

Also, Andy Gonzalez was promoted to fill Ozuna's spot, which is somewhat less of a surprise.

Yeah, I was talking about McDoofus.

Just read the article, and noticed this little blurb:

"Here, he was not pitching," said Guillen of Sisco, 24, who left Chicago with an 0-1 record and 8.36 ERA. "When you're on the big-league club, you're not a mopup pitcher. You can't have that."

So... Why do we have so many pitchers on the roster then Ozzie??!!

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by MogulChamp

Yeah, I was talking about McDoofus.

Just read the article, and noticed this little blurb:

"Here, he was not pitching," said Guillen of Sisco, 24, who left Chicago with an 0-1 record and 8.36 ERA. "When you're on the big-league club, you're not a mopup pitcher. You can't have that."

So... Why do we have so many pitchers on the roster then Ozzie??!!

Because if there's one thing Ozzie loves doing (and does about as poorly as humanly possible), it's micromanage the bullpen.

You know how OOTP has that slider for "favor lefty-righty matchup"? Ozzie's slider goes so far over to one side that teh game is borken. Worse yet, he does it without seemingly any regards to how well his pitchers actually do in those situations, and he will routinely pull his best pitchers (or not use them at all) to set up those matchups.

Ultimately, this is nothing new, he did the same kind of junk in 2005 when Damaso Marte was getting hit all over the universe by lefties at the end of the year. It's just that Ozzie doesn't have the same bullpen talent he had (Jenks is the only guy left out of that bullpen - the entire Opening Day 2005 bullpen is gone), and the minor league depth just isn't there to compensate.

One of the big knocks against Ozzie has been his poor handling of the bullpen. He just got lucky in 2005 when the stars aligned and 3 otherwise mediocre guys (Cotts, Politte and Hermanson) all had coinciding career years.

The same could be said for Contreras, ultimately. Ever since Jose hurt his back last year, he's reverted to the same Contreras we got when we acquired him from the Yankees - maddeningly inconsistent.

I'd like to see Buehrle moved back up the #1 spot in the rotation. Slide everybody up one, put Masset in the #5 spot and use Contreras to bolster the bullpen. Kind of the same thing that was being advocated for Vazquez last year, really, and it's not going to happen because Ozzie is in love with Contreras, and I think he'd have a hard time justifying moving a guy they've signed through 2009 at nearly $10 million a year to a long relieve/mop-up role, but I don't sign the check around there, I just want this team to have the best chance to win, and I think moving Contreras to the bullpen might just help that out.

[eriqjaffe]

Holy moly, I hadn't realized how absoultely bat-**** insane Dewon Day's numbers at Birmingham were:

2-3, 3.60 ERA, 25IP, 26H, 12BB, 48K.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Holy moly, I hadn't realized how absoultely bat-**** insane Dewon Day's numbers at Birmingham were:

2-3, 3.60 ERA, 25IP, 26H, 12BB, 48K.

How the **** does one surrender more than a hit per inning whilst whiffing almost two batters per frame?

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

How the **** does one surrender more than a hit per inning whilst whiffing almost two batters per frame?

Well, if his inning aginst Minnesota is any indication...

Funny article here making fun of the Sun Times' Carol Slezak's column about how Darin Erstad used to be a punter at the University of Nebraska and now plays baseball really hard.

A lot of people dive for balls. A lot of people slide hard, and run hard, and play hard. In fact, like 90% of all professional baseball players play hard. And many of them are better at the actual skills of baseball than Darin Erstad.

[eriqjaffe]

...no comment...

[eriqjaffe]

...ok, comment.

As soon as I noticed that MacDougal was brought into a tie game in the 9th, my first thought?

"Ah, Ozzie's trying to lose!"

Glad it worked out for him, I suppose.

[MattH3322]

Is it just me or does this team just look like they have no fire this year and there is no sign that they are going to get it. Very very sad.

[eriqjaffe]

No kidding. It reminds me of the series against the Cubs where they had a lead every game only to blow two of them in horrific meltdowns...sure, Danks looks like a rookie (which shouldn't, ultimately, be too surprising), but the Sox put themselves in a position to take 2 out of 3 in the Twinkiedome and pissed it away. Pretty much literally today, in fact.

I can't watch these guys any more. I'm almost hoping that KW just holds a fire sale so I can stop worrying about the potential to contend and just enjoy baseball for baseball's sake again.

[eriqjaffe]

The May edition of "The AL Centrail Trail" is up...

http://soxmachine.com/blogs/soxmachi...5/31/5099.aspx

[Goodsox]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

I can't watch these guys any more. I'm almost hoping that KW just holds a fire sale so I can stop worrying about the potential to contend and just enjoy baseball for baseball's sake again.

Ditto

[eriqjaffe]

And the suckitude continues. Buehrle pitched very well, easily a game he should have gotten a W for. Hell, those were the only two baserunners he allowed. The Sox have now not scored for 15 innings, and only have 6 hits during that time.

Yay, the offense is back. To sucking. Hard.

To add injury to insult, it looks like Erstad's punting career may be ruined:

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

During the follow-through on his swing, Erstad crumpled to the ground and grabbed the back of his left leg. Erstad remained on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the field by Chicago's medical staff.

...and, of course...

Luis Terrero came in to finish the at-bat and struck out swinging.

Really, this season is over. There's just no point in trying to pretend this team is anything more than the fourth-best team in the division. I just ****ing give up.

[Unoriginal Name]

At what point do they finally blow this team up, we are never going to catch Cleveland with this team, and we finally get to see some of these young non-pitching prospects that management always raves about?

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Unoriginal Name

At what point do they finally blow this team up, we are never going to catch Cleveland with this team, and we finally get to see some of these young non-pitching prospects that management always raves about?

Unfortunately, the best guys our minor leagues have produced are currently playing in the outfield for Houston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Arizona.

If anybody thinks Brian Anderson is the answer, I don't want to know what they think the question is.

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Unoriginal Name

At what point do they finally blow this team up, we are never going to catch Cleveland with this team, and we finally get to see some of these young non-pitching prospects that management always raves about?

Unfortunately, the best guys our minor leagues have produced are currently playing in the outfield for Houston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Arizona.

If anybody thinks Brian Anderson is the answer, I don't want to know what they think the question is.

Fields started off really slow, but apparently he had a very good May - if Crede continues to battle back troubles, I wouldn't mind seeing Josh get some playing time to see what he can do, although I worry he's just going to be Joe Borchard Jr. Sweeney still needs some seasoning, he looked lost at the plate by the end of his stint - once pitchers found his weakness, it was exploited and he just looked lost at the plate.

From what I heard, Jerry Owens was pulled from the ballgame in Charlotte last night - just yanked right out of the outfield, so I wonder if he's getting the call-up...nothing's been announced yet, though.

It's really like some sort of sick joke this year. It's like the lead-off spot is cursed...1/4 of the way through the year, and 3 guys who have hit in the top spot of the order with any regularity have all gone on the DL.

[Goodsox]

According to the Tribune, it will be Owens.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...-sportstop-hed

Left-handed-hitting outfielder Jerry Owens, who is batting .305 with 23 stolen bases at Triple-A Charlotte, is expected to be promoted and join the team in time for Friday night's game against Toronto at the Rogers Centre.

At least out of all of this misery we can see what this kid can do. The article also mentions Rowand I love Rowand, but people need to get over it. He is gone, move ahead.

[eriqjaffe]

Ah, good, there's nothing up on whitesox.com yet. Hell, maybe he can provide some sort of missing spark.

[eriqjaffe]

FWIW, the Owens call-up is official, and Erstad's been placed on the 15-day DL with a "sprained left ankle".

Owens has stolen more bases (23) in AAA than the entire White Sox roster (20).

[Unoriginal Name]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

FWIW, the Owens call-up is official, and Erstad's been placed on the 15-day DL with a "sprained left ankle".

Owens has stolen more bases (23) in AAA than the entire White Sox roster (20).

Wonder if Ozzie will make him play back-up to the Mack Attack in center. [/sarcasm]

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Unoriginal Name

Wonder if Ozzie will make him play back-up to the Mack Attack in center. [/sarcasm]

I think Ozzie has Thome as the backup centerfielder on his depth chart.