Chi-Sox Blog

We Have a New Home!

2008-02-12T03:17:00.000-06:00

In case anyone stumbles across this site or you still are subscribing to the feed, here's a headsup letting you know that we have moved.

Our new home is Life in the Cell. In case you adverse to hyperlinks, here's the address spelled out: www.lifeinthecell.com

We've condensed down from our SweetHomeSports empire to a cozy Sox dedicated blog again. So please, come on by and don't forget to update your bookmarks/RSS feeds

Hello RSS Readers

2007-06-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

I noticed there are still a number of people getting the feed here at CSB, so I just wanted to make doubly sure that you guys know that I moved on to a different site; I didn't just disappear. As I said in my last post with the help of James and DT Kelly we've expanded into an all Chicago Sports site called Sweet Home Sports. We currently have a healthy stable of writers and have the Sox, Bulls, Bears, and Cubs site running. We're still looking for writers to write about the Blackhawks and the Fire; if you're interested drop me an e-mail (chisoxblog@yahoo.com).

Hopefully you guys find your way over to Sweet Home Sports and Life in the Cell, our Sox' page.

Cheers,
Jeeves

Big News for CSB

2007-01-24T02:40:00.000-06:00

Hey hey folks, big news over here at Chi-Sox Blog.

We're moving on to bigger and better things.

I've teamed up with James and DT Kelly to form Sweet Home Sports. It's a blog dedicated to all Chicago sports. Our master plan is to have a stable of writers for each Chicago team (Sox, Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Fire, Blackhawks) that can essentially do what we do here at CSB but for their respective team. Each blog is hosted out of our main site, Sweet Home Sports, as well as a separate blog where we'll comment on other things that happen in the sports world.

So please come check it out; if you're looking for Sox news, check out Life in the Cell, which will be the new home to the page as well as Pander and DickdaStick (once I get them plugged in).

Also, if you're interested in joining us and filling one of the writing positions, drop me an e-mail (chisoxblog@yahoo.com), and we'll see what we can work out; just keep in mind, it is not a paid position, but rather a labor of love.

Cheers,
Jeeves

Transactions, Transactions, Transactions...Well, Only Two Really

2007-01-17T00:44:00.000-06:00

Wave goodbye to Chris Stewart. KW traded him to his favorite trading partner (the Texas Rangers) for minor leaguer John Lujan. Lujan fits the recent mold of pitchers that Kenny has acquired; great arm, suspect control/mechanics. Lujan can reach upwards of 97 mph with his fastball. Odds are the Sox were looking at him earlier for the B-Mac trade, so he may be a guy that the Sox' Organization likes. He pitched in high-A ball, so don't look for him to reach the bigs anytime soon.

I will admit Stewart was a good defensive backstop, but outside of that he didn't really bring much to the table. With the addition of Toby Hall (thank God), Stewart didn't really have a place on the team. He would have been shuffled off to the minors and eventually would have run out of options. It's a good move by Kenny to flip an unecessary player for someone who could eventually make an impact.

In the minors, that leaves Gustavo Molina as the emergency catcher if AJ or Toby go down. Molina is pretty good with the glove, and he can't be much worse with the bat than Stewart, so for the third catcher spot, it isn't much of a downgrade.

One thing of note is that the trade of Stewart opens up a spot on the 40-man roster. Does that mean a trade is forthcoming? I don't know; only Kenny does, but hopefully that means some outfield help is on the way.

----------------------------------------------------

The Sox also signed Joe Crede to a very frugal, one-year, $4.94 million contract. By signing Crede, the Sox avoided arbitration and seem to have saved a decent chunk of change. I figured Crede would get around $6 million or so, considering Boras was looking to get him $8 million.

Odds are Crede will be gone after next season or the year after, but avoiding the arbitration process is a plus if the Sox do have any intention on re-signing Crede long term. It's best not to drag your future players through the mud.

So rest assured Chicago, you man-crush is back for another season...I hope.

DA BEARS!

2007-01-15T02:19:00.000-06:00

Here are the quick hit thoughts from my beer-addled mind.

-First Bears' playoff win I've ever seen, and if was fantastic. I'm for sure heading to O'Hara's again next week to watch the NFC Championship.

-Rex was pretty decent. He wasn't great, and by no means was he terrible. Once he learns to accept a sack, he'll be golden. I don't blame him for his pick, Moose should have caught that ball. The one thing Rex needs to work on for next week is making sure to lead his receivers more; there were a few drops by receivers on balls that were behind them. The receivers should have caught them, but Rex should make things easier on them.

-Speaking of golden, that's what Robbie Gould's right foot is made of. One thing I think should be pointed out is the fact that in Madden '07, Gould is not listed as our kicker.

-Rashied Davis: Breakout game.

-I'm so happy, I can't even tell you.

-Way to have cojones Lovie; we were begging him to go for it on 4th and 1, and thank God he did.

-I think, I think (yes I think, I think) that Cedric Benson is better than Thomas Jones, but TJ showed so much heart and intensity today. On both his TD's he went nuts, and I think the whole team should have his passion.

-Devin Hester has the same problem as Rex Grossman, maddening inconsistency. He kept dropping the ball, but then for that glorious 15 second span, we all thought he returned one for 6 (until of course it was called back on a penalty). Someone out there, was that a fair call or not? Was that penalty called on Ricky Manning Jr. or someone else?

-Ricky Manning Junior just makes plays. People tohught we overpayed for a nickelback, but it was worth it.

-Didn't hear Nathan Vasher's name once today, but maybe that's a good thing because we didn't hear Deion Branch's name all that much either.

-ROBBIE GOULD!

-I'm all done for now; check back later, I may add some thoughts as they roll through my mind.

Kenny Williams: A Beane or a Krause? -- Part 3

2007-01-11T02:02:00.000-06:00

The two major trades of this off-season for the Sox have been those involving their starting pitchers, and it's these two trades that really started the comparisons to Beane and Krause in my mind.

I'll start with the most recent, the McCarthy trade for Danks and Masset. I'm optimistic about the trade, as I so often am when Kenny makes a move, but I can't help but seeing the terrors of trades past, namely one made by Jerry Krause. I don't think it will turn out poorly, but the truly unbiased part of me can't help but see McCarthy as Elton Brand and Danks as Tyson Chandler.

All us Bulls' fans know that Krause saw the upside of Chandler and decided that he potentially could (but didn't) have become a far more impactful player than Brand (who was averaging 20-10), so he pulled the trigger on the ill-fated trade. Likewise, Kenny sees more potential in Danks (as many scouts do). The difference I suppose in Kenny's situation, is that this trade isn't going to make or break the franchise as it did for the Bulls. he did get the added benefit of Nick Masset. Also, I trust Kenny more than I trust Krause, because at that point in his (Krause) career, he was desperate to put together a championship caliber team that had his stamp all over it.

The Garcia trade, on the other hand, reminded me instantly of Beane, and more specifically the Tim Hudson trade and the Mark Mulder trade; it reminded me of Beane on two accounts. First, the pure logistics of the trade, established started with one-year left on his contract for good, young pitching. Hudson was traded for Charles Thomas (an OF) and starters Dan Meyer and Juan Cruz, Mulder was traded for Danny Haren, Kiko Calero, and catcher Daric Brown, while Freddy was traded for starters Gio Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd. I realize the Hudson trade doesn't look spectacular in hindsight; Cruz is starting for the D-Backs and Meyer and Thomas are in AAA (although Meyer could join the rotation), but that's not all that surprising. There is a reason young players in the minors are called prospects; it's because their futures look bright, but by no means does that guarentee success. I'm hoping and am confident that the Sox' trade will work out better and look more like the Mulder trade, but it's impossible to say at this point and it's a moot point. KW, like Beane, knew that it was better to jettison his pitcher while he had value, rather than let him walk away for nothing during free agency.

The second part of this trade that reminded me of Beane, is a little more obscure, but has the potential for a far reaching impact. In Moneyball, Michael Lewis tries to shed some light on Beane's keys to success; the thing that gets lost in translation is that Beane's aim was and continues to be to identify undervalued skillsets and acquire players that have such skills. A lot of people assume Moneyball is merely about players with high OBP, but that's just one of the skills (getting on base) that Beane felt was undervalued on the market at that time. Due to the undervaluation, players with high OBP, but say limited power or base-stealing ability were there for the signing/drafting at a vastly discounted price. Since OBP is now a hot stat in the Bigs (thanks in part to Beane), he is undoubtedly looking elsewhere to try and exploit the market.

So how does this relate to Kenny? Well, in my eyes, he's doing the same thing. In today's market, veteran starting pitchers and even veteran relief pitchers are way over priced. (Gil Meche for $55 million, anyone?) The reason for the overvaluation is two-fold; there is a shortage of good starting pitching out there (a whole different post, in itself, that I'll get to soon) and teams are suddenly flush with money due to revenue sharing, increased gate receipts, et al. As Beane looked for players with an undervalued skillset, Kenny set out to acquire young, cheap pitching talent. Many of the teams that sought to plug holes in their rotation relied on old, expensive pitchers; as we've all seen, Kenny went in the opposite direction, and he should be applauded for it. He has taken necessary steps to try and preserve this club's future while also strengthening the '07 ball club at a dirt cheap price.

The truly impressive thing about it all, is that Kenny horded young pitching talent. He didn't just pick up a one or two players; this off-season he has acquired John Danks, Nick Masset, Jacob Rasner, Andrew Sisco, Gio Gonzalez, Gavin Floyd, David Aardsma, and Carlos Vazquez. If your eyes just glazed over, that's 8 pitchers. The reason I think this is so impressive and important is because of the volatility of prospects and relievers. As I said before, you never know if a prospect will match his potential, but while each prospect's career is independent of eachother, the thought of two prospects failing is far more unlikely than just one prospect flaming out. By acquiring a number of prospects, Kenny is insulating the team from the strong possibility of a prospect not panning out.

The place that Kenny stands out the most is the way he's dealt with the bullpen. Quick, name the highest paid reliever on the team...Mike Macdougal? Good, now, how much does he make? He's due to be paid $1.5 million (after making $0.43 million last year). Every other reliever is making somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000. This to me is smart business sense. Consistently good relievers are pretty rare in this game. For every Mariano Rivera and K-Rod (note, that those are closers, I struggled to think of a middle reliver off the top of my head) you get a Kyle Farnesworth, a Cliff Politte, or a Neal Cotts. Relievers are up and down, volatile as I said. When you pay bottom dollar for your 'pen, if one pitcher is unproductive, he can just be dumped; had he been making $3 million a year, a GM would have to think twice about dumping him. The beauty of it, is that the bullpen isn't a bunch of low-rent dregs; Kenny has established a stable of good, hard-throwing relievers that have a legitimate chance to be one of the best units in the game. I laugh when I see pitchers like Joe Borowsky and Ryan Dempster make $4 million a year. The Sox pen as a whole will make somthing like $6 million.

I realize I'm giving Kenny a lot of credit for what he's done, but he's by no means the only GM to take such measures. Beane has been doing it for a while now and ironically enough Brian Cashman of the Yankees is following a similar plan as seen by his trades of Sheffield and Johnson. I find it ironic that the Yankees are looking for cheap pitching, when they are most responsible for the game's current financial landscape.

I think many GM's in the league are waiting with bated breath to see if Kenny's gambles pan out. If he does succeed and secures the Sox' future as championship contenders for the next handful of years or dare I dream it, an Atlanta like run of a decade plus, I'm sure GM's will suddenly start valuing their cheap starters more. They'll try follow Kenny's model, much as GM's followed Beane's model the past few years.

Quick Hits on the BCS Title Game

2007-01-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

I know everyone in the world has already said their bit about the championship, but I consider myself an avid college football fan, so here's my quick hit thoughts on the game.

Troy Smith got owned

Everytime he dropped back to pass, I was worried he was going to get sacked (yes, I was cheering against Florida). Even when he was in the shotgun, he had trouble getting off solid passes.
Give a lot of credit to Florida's line for that. The Gators didn't have to do a lot of fancy blitzes, because their ends had no problem running by the offensive line.

Good-bye smashmouth OSU football?

OSU has long been known for smashmouth, run the ball up the gut, style football, but they completely abandoned the running game yesterday. Antonio Pittman had only 10 carries; naturally you would assume he had so few carries because he couldn't run the ball effectively. The funny thing is he averaged 6.2 ypc. OSU tried airing the ball out too much at the start, and once they fell behind they forgot the running game.

Zone defense against an accurate passer = gross.

The Buckeyes refused to get out of a zone scheme and Chris Leak absolutely picked apart the secondary. He gashed the defense for 6 and 7 yard passes and OSU was helpless to stop him.

Injuries can hurt.

If Teddy Ginn played the whole game, he no doubt would have made an impact, but it wouldn't have been enough. Unless they decided to put him on the line to block Harvey, and then put a headset on him and have him call a non-zone defense, then maybe, he could have won the game for the Buckeyes.

Where was Tressel?

Senor Sweater Vest was pretty much absent from this game. The only memorable move he made was that 4th-1 call on the OSU 29 yard line. I actually liked that move, but I didn't like the play they called. I fully expected Tressel to change tactics and light a fire under his team in the second half, but there was no such change.

Big ups and respecc to Florida.

They played a complete game. Their defense was early-season Bears-esque, the special teams was solid, as was the offense. They totally earned the win, but I still feel like OSU is the better team, maybe it's my Big Ten bias, but I felt like this game was the perfect storm for Florida. They just happened to have their best game (again, props for that) in the championship, while OSU had by and large their worst game.

Love for the kicker.

Florida kicker, Chris Heltand was 4-13 on the season and had the world's shortest leash coming into the game, but he came through with two 40+ yard field goals.

The most fitting half-time show ever.

Did anyone notice that the OSU band played "My Heart Will Go On" during the break? I'd say that was the most fitting song, for the occasion. The OSU juggernaut was taking on water at that point and completely sunk in the second half.

I wonder if the band director had two songs for the band to perform. The Titanic one if the Buckeyes were losing and a different song if they were winning or at least in the game.

Baines lives to see another vote… and other various opinions…

2007-01-09T19:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the warm welcome. I feel the only way to start my career here is to plagiarize myself!

For those that don't know me or my writings, I'm a realist at heart. Growing up a White Sox fan had a lot to do with that. What I say might not be the most popular, and may even sometimes sound anti-White Sox-- but trust me, it's tough love.

With that out of the way, let's move on.. shall we??

-----

Harold Baines eeked through to next year’s voting for the Hall of Fame, being only one of two freshman candidates to move on to next year's vote (the other was McGwire).

I can honestly say I’m torn on whether Harold deserves to be in the Hall. On the personal side, I have many, many fabulous memories of Harold Baines from my childhood. He was the player that always seemed to be up when the game was on the line and he was a lock to produce. And when he didn’t, it seemed like a fluke.

However, I don’t think his numbers are good enough to be enshrined-- 2866 hits, 384 HR, .289 AVG. These are fantastic numbers, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think they’re HOF numbers. And don’t bother emailing me about Player Q who had worse stats and is in the HOF. I won’t listen.

Harold, I wish you all the luck in the world in the next 14 years, you’ll always be Mr. Clutch to me.

——–

I have to say I was glad to see McGwire not make it to the Hall in his first attempt. It makes you wonder though, would his vote count have been the same sans all the steroid crap? I’m thinking no. But would his numbers have been the same? Again, I’m thinking no.

But it does raise an interesting question– what’s going to happen when Bonds reaches eligibility. Will he sail through? Or will he be met with the same (apparent) apprehension. I for one, hope so.

——–

Uribe– Will he stay or will he play?

I’m hoping he stays at home this year. And while he’s home watching the team play without him, hopefully he’ll be practicing his swing, getting rid of that gawd-awful “I’m a power hitter” mentality.

———-

McCarthy—

I’m going to say something that probably isn’t very popular– I’m glad to see him go. And BM may very well make me eat these words one day, but i don’t think he’s the pitcher he’s been hyped to be. I just hope the trade doesn’t turn out to qualify for Sports Illustrated worst trades of all time honor.

Time will tell.

Housekeeping

2007-01-08T23:05:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the hiatus, I realize these are my first three posts of the New Year. I didn't mean to go so long between posts, but Winter Break sort of disrupted my blogging pattern (namely writing when I should be doing homework). Rest assured, I'll be back in full force by the weekend. I can't make promises with regards to this week, but odds are I'll be posting prety regularly again.

Look forward to my take on the best pitcher's of all-time. It'll be similar to my analysis of the best hitters, where I won't provide a definitive answer so much as I will provide some tools to compare pitchers from different eras.

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Also, welcome to D.T. Kelly, the newest writer at CSB! D.T. for awhile ran his own sports blog, and was a frequent commentor on this site. He's recently started the blog, the Exploding Pinwheel, so between here and his site, you should hear plenty from DT.

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A Belated Happy New Year to you all! My resolution is to have the White Sox win another World Series.

Crede's Glove Gets Some Love

2007-01-08T22:42:00.000-06:00

Lee Panas over at Tiger Tales, has recently taken a look into fielding metrics. He took a look at various different measures, but due to small inefficiencies in each, he took the average rankings from various metrics to come out with his "average fielding rank." I'm glad to say that his ranking of 3B looks favorably upon our very own Joe Clutch. He's also got up a ranking for SS, and I'm sure the rest are to follow soon.

Kenny Williams: A Beane or a Krause? -- Part 2

2007-01-08T21:02:00.000-06:00

I scrounged up most of the trades that the Sox have made during the Kenny Williams era, just to see whether they can afford us any insight into his more recent trades. I also went ahead, and grouped them into categories; feel free to tell me where you think I went wrong with the categories.

Heists

1/15/2003 Acquired pitcher Bartolo Colon and infielder Jorge Nunoz from Montreal in exchange for pitchers Rocky Biddle and Orlando Hernandez, outfielder Jeff Liefer and cash considerations

6/27/2004 Acquired RHP Freddy Garcia, C Ben Davis and cash considerations from Seattle in exchange for C Miguel Olivo, minor league OF Jeremy Reed and minor league INF Michael Morse.

7/31/2004 Acquired RHP Jose Contreras and cash considerations from the New York Yankees for RHP Esteban Loaiza.

3/8/2006 Acquired INF Alex Cintron from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for RHP Jeff Bajenaru.

3/20/2006 Acquired LHP Matt Thornton from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for OF Joe Borchard.

Good Pulls

6/29/2001 Alan Embree, LHP, was acquired from San Francisco in exchange for Derek Hasselhoff, RHP

1/15/2003 Acquired pitcher Orlando Hernandez and cash considerations from the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher Antonio Osuna and minor-league pitcher Delvis Lantigua.

7/1/2003 Acquired outfielder Carl Everett from Texas in exchange for frank francisco, josh rupe, and anthony webster

7/29/2003 Obtained LHP Scott Schoeneweis and minor league RHP Doug Nickle from the Angels for RHPs Gary Glover and Scott Dunn and LHP Tim Bittner.

12/2/2003 Acquired infielder Juan Uribe from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for infielder Aaron Miles.

11/25/2005 Acquired 1B Jim Thome and cash considerations from the Phillies for CF Aaron Rowand, LHP Dan Haigwood and LHP Gio Gonzalez

12/13/2005 Acquired INF Rob Mackowiak from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for LHP Damaso Marte..

6/15/2006 Acquired RHP David Riske from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for LHP Javier Lopez;

7/24/2006 Acquired RHP Mike MacDougal from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for nonroster LHP Tyler Lumsden and nonroster RHP Daniel Cortes

Winner by a nose

1/14/2001 Acquired pitchers David Wells and Matt DeWitt from the Toronto Blue Jays for pitchers Mike Sirotka, Kevin Beirne and Mike Williams and outfielder Brian Simmons

7/13/2002 Acquired 3B D''Angelo Jimenez from San Diego for catcher Humberto Quintero and outfielder Alex Fernandez

7/29/2002 Traded catcher Sandy Alomar to Colorado for RHP Enemencio Pacheco.

2/13/2005 Acquired minor league OF Jerry Owens from Washington in exchange for OF Alex Escobar.

More or Less Even

7/26/2001 James Baldwin, RHP, was traded to Los Angeles for minor leaguers Onan Masaoka, Gary Majewski and Jeff Barry.

7/31/2002 Traded RHP Bobby Howry to Boston in exchange for RHP Franklin Francisco and LHP Byeong An.

12/21/2001 Acquired OF Scott Bikowski and IF Josh Shaffer from the Anaheim Angels for P Dan Mozingo and P Jim Sweeney in a deal of minor league players.

3/27/2004 Acquired OF Timo Perez from the New York Mets in exchange for RHP Matt Ginter.

6/17/2004 Traded RHP Billy Koch and cash considerations to the Florida Marlins for minor league SS Wilson Valdez.

7/18/2004 Acquired OF Carl Everett and cash considerations from Montreal in exchange for minor league RHP Jon Rauch and RHP Gary Majewski.

7/31/2005 Acquired INF Geoff Blum from the San Diego Padres in exchange for LHP Ryan Meaux;

Minimally bad

7/1/2003 Acquired second baseman Roberto Alomar and cash considerations from the New York Mets in exchange for minor league pitchers Edwin Almonte and Royce Ring and infielder Andrew Salvo.

7/23/2006 Acquired C Sandy Alomar Jr. from the Dodgers in exchange for RHP B.J. LaMura

Poor Trade

7/25/2002 Traded 2B Ray Durham to Oakland for RHP Jon Adkins

7/28/2002 Traded OF Kenny Lofton to San Francisco for RHP Felix Diaz and LHP Ryan Meaux.

8/5/2004 Acquired 2B Roberto Alomar from the Diamondbacks for cash and a player to be named.

(Non-Magic) Beans for a Cow

12/13/2001 Acquired RHP Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans from the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Sean Lowe, RHP Kip Wells and RHP Josh Fogg.

12/3/2002 Acquired closer Billy Koch, Neal Cotts and outfielder Daylan Holt from Oakland in exchange for pitcher Keith Foulke, catcher Mark Johnson, minor league pitcher Joe Valentine and cash considerations.

Can't judge

12/13/2004 Acquired OF Scott Podsednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino and a player to be named from Milwaukee in exchange for OF Carlos Lee.

-We got the short end when it comes to raw talent, but Pods helped catalyze the '05 World Series run; I highly doubt we would have won a title without him, so I can't really judge this one. Plus as James mentioned, it freed up a lot of cash for the likes of JD.

12/20/2005 Acquired RHP Javier Vazquez and cash considerations from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for RHP Orlando Hernandez, RHP Luis Vizcaino and OF Chris Young.

-Too soon to tell. If you believe Coop fixed Javy down the stretch (keep in mind for starters, it usually takes him longer) then this trade isn't so terrible. If you believe Javy is a bust then this is a poor trade.

I'd venture to say that Kenny has been more consistent with his trades as of late. His two albatrosses were in '01 and '02 and the results of all his good trades can be seen with the culmination of the '05 title. That probably bodes well for his recent slew of trades, unless you're the pessimistic sort and figure he's long overdue for a terrible trade.

Unfortunately (for the sake of analysis) Kenny hasn't made a trade for a prospect, where he also dealt a prospect, so we have no prior experience to jump off of. In general he has been good when he's dealt prospects. The Vazquez trade notwithstanding, Gio Gonzalez seems to be the best prospect to be shipped off, and the Sox got him back. Frank Francisco had a good shot at being something, but the chair throwing coupled with Tommy John Surgery stopped his career in its tracks.

Kenny and his staff seem to know his players pretty well. Jeremy Reed was acknowledged as the Sox best prospect and he was the minor leaguer of the year in '03, yet KW flipped him and a few others for Freddy Garcia. There were definitely split feelings over the trade, but the Sox made out like filthy bandits in the end.

Another big problem that plagued Kenny early on was trading with teams from the Bay Area, but that isn't a concern with these moves. (Ahhhh, the sarcasm)

This somewhat became and exercise in futility, looking at all these trades. They weren't as relevant as I hoped they would be, but it's interesting enough to look at. Although all this should definitely be taken with a huge grain of salt, I will say that recent history looks encouraging.

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I just want to bring up this question, see what y'all think...
Kenny has done a good job restocking the minors with arms, but what do you think is going to happen with regards to the minors and positional players? We don't have any studs in the minors outside of Sweeney and Fields, and some would even argue that they aren't studs. The Sox have no legitimate infield help in the upper leagues. Do you think Kenny will start pawning off some older players for position prospects or will he look to pick some up in the draft? Any creative trades you can think of that would net the Sox some talent without sabotaging the '07 team?

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Coming soon in the Kenny series...

-I'll outline his free-agent signings in a similar fashion. For not other reason than because I think it will be interesting to look at as a whole.

-A final comparison of Kenny to Billy Beane. I'll compare some of the Sox trades (recent trades and potential trades) to similar ones made by Beane.

Kenny Williams: A Beane or a Krause? -- Part 1

2006-12-29T03:20:00.000-06:00

To be honest, Kenny Williams reputation as a world class GM has taken a serious hit this off-season, especially in Chicago; the media, particularly, has been mercilessly ripping him ever since the Garcia trade. Going into the 2006 season, the prevailing thought (at least among Sox fans) was that Kenny was a genius. He created a World Series caliber team, capable of competing for another title; he may have slipped up with the Vazquez/Chris Young trade, but it was at least justifiable (with the chance of being a savvy trade) and a far cry from the disaster that was the Todd Ritchie trade.

It’s incredible to see so much of the media and so many fans, for that matter, forsake the fact the Sox won the ’05 title and the fact that the Sox had back-to-back 90-win seasons for the first time since ’65. Usually there’s a three-year grace period or so, after a championship, where the GM and the coach are relatively safe from being torn apart by the fans and the media, but apparently Kenny won’t be afforded that immunity.

Perhaps it’s due to our nature, as Chicago sports fans, to assume the worst and fear all is lost, that has led so many to lose confidence in Kenny. I haven’t given up my faith yet; I still feel he is undoubtedly one of the best GM’s in the majors. I agree that his moves were ballsy and risky, but I see the direction he’s trying to take and I can see his reasoning. It’s possible that I’m underestimating the radical-ness of Kenny’s moves and this season could very well end up being his downfall, but only time will tell; at this time and point, I’m willing to give KW the benefit of the doubt. He did after all help get the Sox into the position where fans could make legitimate gripes that he’s scuttling a shot at the ’07 championship in favor of taking multiple shots down the road. I’d much rather have those gripes than debating whether the Sox will finish second or third in the division.

As I got to thinking about Kenny, his recent moves reminded me of two other GM’s in particular. One is lauded by many as the best GM in baseball, an innovative GM who has changed the way people analyze baseball. The other constructed the supporting cast to create one of the greatest basketball dynasties of all time, but was later disgraced in the eyes of fans as he sought to create another dynasty, this time from the ground up, and gambled the team’s future on signing free agents and later a risky trade. I’m speaking of course of Billy Beane of the Oakland A’s and Jerry Krause formerly of the Chicago Bulls.

Like KW, both of Beane and Krause got their start as scouts. I think this is at least partially responsible for why Beane and Krause are usually such keen evaluators of talent. While all three have made their mistakes (more on Kenny’s in later parts of this series), you cannot argue the fact they possess an eye for talent. Having such an eye for talent helped both Beane and Krause establish a team that could consistently win. When Krause stepped into the GM position, he already had Michael Jordan, but he was able to twice craft a team around MJ that would win three straight championships. That’s no small feat; thanks to his acquisitions of Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, etc. he brought Chicago 6 championships, with the high point being the 72-win squad. Likewise, since Beane took over the A’s, Oakland has averaged 89 wins a season, while maintaining a super, tight budget. Although, Beane hasn’t won a championship, he’s hardly the one to be at fault, you can thank the “All-American Crapshoot” that is the MLB playoffs for that.

After runs of extended success, both Beane and Krause were faced with the prospect of overhauling their roster. Although neither move was technically, absolutely, 100% necessary, the terms at the time dictated that both Krause and Beane had to try and take a step forward for the good of their respective teams. Budget constraints forced Beane to surprisingly break up the “Big 3”, while the impending retirements of Phil Jackson and MJ as well as some bad blood with remaining players forced Krause to go into complete rebuilding mode. This is the point where the careers of Krause and Beane really start to deviate.

Krause sought free agency as the fix for the Bulls’ problems, and keyed in on freeing up cap space for the ballyhooed free agent crop of 2000 featuring the likes of Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, and Tracy McGrady. As we all know this plan failed miserable as Krause and the Bulls were spurned by even lower rung free agents like Tim Thomas and Eddie Jones. This led to the 2001 draft day disaster where Krause traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler. By most accounts, Chandler had a higher upside than Brand, and Krause banked on Chandler reaching said ceiling (keep this in mind for when the Brandon McCarthy trade is brought up, later on). Krause envisioned having Chandler and Eddy Curry team up and lead the Bulls to another period of dominance. His plan and his risk never took to fruition and eventually led to his resignation.

Beane, on the other hand, had a much more successful turn around, especially considering his team never had to sink as low as the Bulls did. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 4-years and realizing that budget constraints would cause the A’s to lose some of their star pitchers to free agency, Beane took the iniative to trade both Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, 2/3 of the Big 3. There was talk at the time of Beane trading one of the three, but it came as a shock to many that he ended up trading two of them. Beane essentially sacrificed a few wins in 2005 (a year where they did not make the playoffs but remained very competitive) to ensure that his team would get some value in return and would not be sunk by the departure of Mulder and Hudson via free agency. (Keep this in mind when the Freddy Garcia trade is brought up, later on, as well as the thought of trading Mark Buehrle).

In my eyes, the stories of Beane’s and Krause’s career follow a similar arch until they diverge greatly at the end. They established winning organizations, and are faced with trying to secure continued success in the near future. Kenny is currently saddled with a similar situation. The Sox lose Javier Vazquez, Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye, and Tadahito Iguchi after ’07 and Jon Garland and AJ Pierzynski after ’08. Kenny could forsake the future and go broke for a championship in ’07, or try and preserve the Sox chances for winning a title now, while maximizing the team’s chances for prolonged success. In the coming years, we’ll get to see first hand whether Kenny’s methodology was a success or not. We’ll get to see if he’ll be a Krause or a Beane. Perhaps most importantly for baseball, we’ll get to see if Kenny’s plan of building around young, cheap pitchers (as Beane also did) takes hold, because that could cause a paradigm shift in the manner that teams build their rotations. We all know where I stand, but here’s hoping, again, that Kenny turns out to be a Beane.

In coming parts, I’ll compare Kenny’s recent trades to moves made by Krause and Beane and examine both the similarities and the departures to the moves and what that means to the future. Also, I’ll take a look at some of Kenny’s more noteworthy trades from over the years to see whether it affords Sox fans reasons to be optimistic or pessimistic about these recent changes.

Pass the Ci(n)tron

2006-12-28T13:55:00.000-06:00

We've re-upped with Alex Cintron. It's a pretty good deal for the Sox; they signed him to a 1-year $1.9 million contract. He's a useful back-up considering the number of positions he can play, and he can hold his own at the plate.

I'm still working on the Kenny piece as we speak, so check out Jim's ranking of the top-40 individual season's in White Sox history; it'll help put JD's great season into perspective.

Coming Soon

2006-12-28T00:29:00.000-06:00

I'm working on a two or three part series about Kenny Williams. It should be pretty interesting; I hope to have part one up by tomorow evening, so keep an eye out for that.

And A Happy Jesus' Birthday to you...

2006-12-25T00:36:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

From everyone here at Chi-Sox Blog, I hope you have a great and safe Christmas!

A White Elephant Gift or Not?

2006-12-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

As I'm sure everyone has heard, the White Sox traded Brandon McCarthy and Rookie baller David Paisano to the Rangers for lefty John Danks and righties Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner.

Here's some background on the main players involved, before we take a look at the deal from the Sox side.

Over his career (151 innings), B-Mac has posted a 4.41 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Ever since his success down the stretch in 2005, he has been groomed to enter the Sox rotation. With the surplus of starters last year, though, he was relegated to the bullpen where he showed flashes of brilliance but seemed to struggle in such an ill-suited role. His career numbers only show part of the story. As a starter in 12 starts, he's 4-3 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, while often looking dominant. The two biggest knocks on B-Mac is his HR/9 rate and his apparent lack of potential. His HR/9 is 1.71 which is really high even when factoring in that he pitched at homer friendly, US Cellular Field. Because of that and other reasons, most people have Black Mac projected at best, as a third starter; I've heard a few comparisons to Eric Milton because of the homer rate. After seeing McCarthy, I'd say he could easily be a solid number 2 starter, but that's yet to be seen. McCarthy sports a sharp curve and a really good change. His fastball isn't overpowering in the low 90's, but with the threat of his change it's effective. He struggles when he leaves his fastball up and when he leans to heavily upon his change.

Danks on the other hand, still hasn't cracked the majors. If you take his stats at face value, it doesn't look like he's torn up the minors, but if you take a closer look, he's been pretty impressive. The most important thing to notice is that he's 21 years old, so he's consistently been among the youngest players in his league. Last year, he split time at AA and AAA and showed a knack for adjusting to his competition. He started out the year at AA Frisco and proceeded to post a 7.15 ERA for the month. After that he went 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his next eight starts before getting promoted to AAA Oklahoma. In his first 8 starts, he struggled posting a 5.90 ERA, but rebounded in his last 6 with a 2.32 ERA. If you take away his April and his first 8 starts in AAA, he looks really, really good. Danks has three plus pitches. His best pitch is his 1-7 curve. After getting drafted he also has added a good change, which he has developed extensively. He has been coached to not avoid throwing his curve too much, so that he doesn't hurt his arm. This tactic has expediated the development of his change. His fastball like McCarthy isn't particularly overpowering. He can get it up to 94 MPH. He added a 2-seamer last year, but I don't know much about its effectiveness.

Masset reminds me of Floyd in the sense that he has great stuff, but just hasn't made it big yet. He had Tommy John surgery his senior year, but recovered nicely from it. He has been up and down in the minors. In 8 starts at Frisco, he had a 2-2 record with a 2.06 ERA. At AAA, he made 7 starts and 17 appearances as a reliever. I can't find his splits anywhere, so I'm unsure as to wheter he struggled as a starter and was made a reliever or if it was the other way around or what. All I can definitively say is he had a 4.81 ERA and 1 complete game. He's been the closer for his Winter Ball team and been dominant, posting a 2.81 ERA with 15 saves.

As a Sox fan I'm torn over the trade. There are parts of me that like it and parts of me that hate it. I read one article and I'm happy about the trade, I read something else and I'm disgusted by it. I think I'm leaning toward liking this deal, but here's a negtive and a positive look at it.

Kenny = Jerry Krause = A fool for young talent

Kenny has sabataged the '07 squad in favor of trying to strengthen future teams. He has taken a team with the potential to win a World Series and effectively scuttled any hope. Last year the Sox had 6 good starters, now there are 4! The Sox strength was their surplus of pitching and now they have a deficit. We've all seen during this free agency period how nearly all teams are pitching hungry, which is how the likes of Gil Meche gets $55 mil. The only acceptable trade of McCarthy would be for an established pitching star. We need him or someone of comparable talent in the rotation. The whole reason the Sox were able to get rid of one of their starters was that they were able to plug McCarthy right into the rotation without seeing a drop off. Who's going to step in now? We're going to see the ridiculous 02-04 years all over again when the Sox couldn't buy a win out of the fifth spot in the rotation. Unless the Sox go to a 4-man rotation, they're going to be in a bunch of trouble.

What's the point in building so much for the future, when a championship is within reach this season. Kenny did well to strengthen the bullpen which was the big issue last season. Getting Toby Hall was a nice addition too, but the starting rotation, aside from jettisoning one pitcher, wasn't an issue. Scott Podsednik and to a slightly lesser extent Brian Anderson should have been priority number one after fixing the 'pen. Instead, the fifth starter is now the most glaring hole, a hole that didn't exist prior to this week.

Not only did Kenny sabotage the rotation, but he traded a sure thing for an unsure thing. By many account, Danks is a lefty version of McCarthy with simliar, albeit slightly better stuff. Danks has never pitched in the bigs; McCarthy has and has dominated at times as a starter. It's not as though Danks has torn up the minors, indicating that he'd make an easy transistion to the bigs.

Apparently, Kenny doesn't want to risk paying big bucks in free agency the next few years so he's mortgaged the team's immediate future.

Kenny = genius

My most account Danks is a yonger, lefty version of McCarthy with better stuff. Why wouldn't Kenny want to do this deal? Even straight up, the Sox would be getting a better pitcher. Danks has the potential to be a number 1 pitcher or a number 2 at best; Black Mac has been projected at best to be a 2, but more likely to be a number 3 or 4. There's a good chance he could even step up and fill the role of 5th starter. Last year, Baseball America thought he could very well get called up in '06 and pitch for the Rangers, but Texas wanted to bring him along slowly to protect his arm, so he remained in the minors. If the Sox want to bring him along slowly as well, they still have Haegar or Floyd to fill that 5th starter role.

Some people are pointing to the fact that Danks has struggled in the minors as a minus, but it's a positive when looked at carfully. He has merely taken time to adjust to the competition; once he's adjusted, he's been dominant. McCarthy wasn't all that dominant either. At AAA in '05 he had a 3.92 ERA, not bad but not lights out.

It's impressive that Kenny was able to commandeer Masset as well. He's another fireballer to put in the bullpen or another arm that could be worked on in the minors to become a starter. As long as Don Coop is around, the Sox are bound to have some of these arms pan out, and considering the amount of potential these two guys have as well as the others, the Sox are bound to have some stud pitchers.

The Sox also have the pieces to make an attractive offer for a good, young outfielder. Maybe they'll be able to pry loose Baldelli or Crawford from Tampa now.

There will be more coming on my views of Kenny's master plan. Keep your eyes peeled.

Edit: I keep reading about some issues of uncoachability with regards to McCarthy. Apparently it was brought up on the radio, and because of this Cooper "wasn't ready to assure him a spot in the rotation." This may have hastened this trade a bit.
Also, I realize it doesn't completely come out in the post, but I'm kinda on the fence about the trade, but I'm leaning toward liking it.

B-Mac Traded to the Rangers

2006-12-23T17:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, I've heard (and yes I've come out of my unplanned winter break hibernation); I'm doing som research so I can put out a good post with minimal bias.

KW Gives Sox Fans an Early Christmas Present

2006-12-17T14:50:00.000-06:00

We can officially put to rest the Sandy Alomar rumors! Finally, we have a back-up catcher, and thank goodness, it's a legitimate back-up! I think of all KW's moves this season, this one has made me the happiest. Seriously, if AJ were to go down with no legit back-up, the Sox would have been sunk; Sandy or Stewart behing the plate would not cut it.

We also needed a back-up that could effectively spell AJ every now and then, especially against lefties. We all saw how AJ struggled during the close of the season, as he tired. AJ only hit .228 and .280 in August and September. I think we'll see Toby against most lefties; over his career AJ has hit .248 against lefties, while Hall has hit them to the tune of a .274 average, with a .297 average over the past 3 years.

This is a great signing by Kenny, and I'm thoroughly pleased. I'm especially happy, because he's signed for more than one year. I figured Kenny would talk Hall into signing for one-year to raise his status for free agency next year, but instead the Sox are paying him $3.65 million for two years, with a club option for $2.25 million.

Now if only we can find a suitable left fielder.

Ross Gload Has Been Freed

2006-12-16T16:45:00.000-06:00

James' wish has finally been granted, although not quite in the manner he meant. For a while, his rallying cry was "Free Ross Gload," in reference to freeing hm off from the bench, but good ol' Gload was freed completely from an organization that underestimated his ability to contribute to the team.

Gload was traded to the Royals for Andrew Sisco. Sisco is a big, big lefty to say the least, 6-9, 250; add a mullet and you've got a thicker Randy Johnson (at least in body type). He had a very good rookie season, two years ago, posting a 3.11 ERA in 67 games with 76 K's, but struggled last year. In 65 games, he had a 7.10 ERA and saw his K's drop down to 52.

Sisco still has options left, and Kenny Williams says he's going to talk to Sisco about whether he (Sisco) wants to make it as a reliever or a starter. So unless Boone Logan is terrible in spring training, I figure Sisco will start in the minors.

Sisco has pretty good stuff from what I remember; a good mid 90's fastball and a so-so changeup and a curve. From what I've been hearing, he's had some control problems, so you can add him to the list of players that Coop is going to fix this season. It's quite the laundry list with Floyd, Gio, Sisco, Vazquez, Boone, The Count, and Buehrle (if he needs fixing).

So farewell Gload! You served us well; no Sox fan will forget how you hit .321 in 110 games in '04. Seeing how loaded KC is at first base, maybe we'll reaquire you later on in the season.

It's Friday, so you know what that means...

2006-12-15T12:32:00.000-06:00

...time for another Friday Five, care of DA Humber! Yours truly takes part in the weekly discussion for the second time. So go check it out.

It's Thursday, so you know what that means...

2006-12-14T16:13:00.000-06:00

...that's right, I'm going to be participating in DA Humber's Friday Five again! So come Friday, I recommend you go check it out. Hell, go check out the site now too, while you're at itl DA does some good stuff.

Time to See the Real Freddy Adu

2006-12-12T20:08:00.000-06:00

Ok, apologies for the gratutious pun. I felt obliged to make a pun since I avoided the obvious Adu/adieu pun. Anyway...

As most of you haven't heard; DC United has shipped off Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake. DC United gets a few bits and pieces, most notably the "major player allocation", but that's not the interesting thing about all of this.

I am a soccer fan, but I'm not going to say I'm big on the MLS. Frankly, it's much more boring than the international game, and I even have a hard time watching the Fire sometime. (If you're at a game, that's a whole different story; I looove going for Fire games.) This deal has me genuinely excited for the upcoming season. I'm curious, just as many are, whether or not Freddy Adu is really that good. There of course have been flashes of greatness, but no runs of prolonged genius.

A bulk of the blame for this can be blamed on Adu's former situation. DC was stacked at the attacking midfield position, which is Adu's preferred position. So instead, Adu was played at right mid-field. This position did not suit him as he has had difficulty with crossing with his right foot since he is a lefty. The other problem with his position is that DC playes with only three defenders across their back line, which forced Freddy to back track and play a lot more defense.

Real Salt Lake offers him a great opportunity. He'll be playing under his former U-17 National Team coach, so he'll likely be given the keys to the car, and will be featured at attacking mid. Just the trust situation between Freddy and his coach, I think, will boost his game a bunch. At times Adu looked restrained while playing; it looked like he would avoid riskier plays because of the fear of upsetting his Peter Nowak (his former coach, who he didn't get along with). That situation reminded me of Ben Gordon and Scott Skiles. Skiles at tiems has the quickest hook imaginable with Benny G.; one small mistake can result in a benching for him. Now that Freddy is with a coach he in on good terms with, he can play more freely and instinctively without having the fear of getting benched in the back of his mind.

Looking at the big picture, I don't think his performance in Utah is going to make or break his prospects of playing in Europe. I'd peg that more on his performance in the upcoming U-20 World Cup. Assuming the US qualifies, it will be his third such tourney, and it will pit him against the world's best and brightest prospects. If he dazzles there, or even just performs well, he will draw pretty heavy interest from European clubs.

This trade affords Freddy the chance to finally show the masses (at least in the States) what he can do. It won't necessarily make or break his chances in Europe, but it will go a long way to determining his star power in the US.

Dippin' Into the Asian Market

2006-12-12T17:07:00.000-06:00

This is slightly old news, but it hasn't gotten much press. I was going to write about it earlier, but I've been in search of more info on this topic.

Taiwan Baseball posted that the White Sox signed 20 year-old Po-Yu Lin out of Taiwan with a sign on bonus of about $300,000. That isn't a huge bonus, but it is a pretty sizable amount. According to Ben at Taiwan Baseball, Lin was considered the ace of the staff during the 2004 World Junior Championships. He's also gained extra experience playing for the Anchorage Bucs in the ABL; in 6 games he had a 3.03 ERA. Here's a clip of him pitching

His breaking ball seems to have some pretty good movement on it. Reportedly he can reach the low 90's, and if he progresses like most young minor leaguers, I expect to see him add a couple MPH to his fastball.

For the most part he's an unknown commodity; I guess we'll have to wait until Spring Training to find out what we have on our hands.

Unfortunately, Ben from Taiwan Baseball isn't all that high on him. I e-mailed him, and this is what he said,
"Regarding Lin, the guy he is most comparable to is Blue Jays farmhand Po-Hsuan Keng. Based on their physical build and stuff-wise, these 2 are near carbon copies of each other. Lin can top out at 92 mph, but throws comfortably in the high 80's. With stuff like that, I can't imagine Lin being a starter in the Bigs unless he develops pinpoint control. So, we'll see if the Sox eventually convert Lin into a reliever like the Blue Jays have done with Keng. Physically, I think Lin has plateaud. He definitely does not have the ceiling of let's say a Tsao, Kuo, or Chien-Ming Wang."

Just for reference sake, in 32 games and 70 innings as a reliever with the Class A Lansing Lugnuts, Keng posted a 2.33 ERA with a 10:3 K:BB ratioand only 4 homers.

Kudos to The Cheat for the pic and the video.

Barry Bonds Sighting

2006-12-12T14:31:00.000-06:00

Just thought I should point out that today at around 7:30 AM on my way to my math final, I passed Barry Bonds. What he was doing on the UCLA campus I have no idea. I wish I would have asked for an autograph, just to see if the media's portrayal of him as an asshole is true, but unfortunately I was too shocked and I didn't feel like bothering the guy.

Oh yes, his head is bigger in person.

The Bears Have the Best Defense, Period.

2006-12-11T00:44:00.000-06:00

(As Fornelli pointed out, I forgot to address the Bears' injuries; even without Mike Brown, the Bears have been the best defense this season. It's tough to say what the Tommie Harris situation will end up looking like; so, I'm saying on the whole this season, the Bears have been the best defense.)

I'm sick and tired of people saying team X has a better defense than the Bears. It's an exercise in futility. The latest wannabe ascendors to the Bears' throne are the Boys from Dallas, whom were championed by Sean Salisbury.
Salisbury said on SportsCenter Tuesday night that the Cowboys are, right now, the best team in the NFC. The 'Boys are playing a more complete game of football recently. But Salisbury went on to say that the Dallas defense is better than the Bears'.

Ok, it's one thing to say currently the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC; I don't think they are, but I'm not going to find fault with that, because it was defensible. Of course, Salisbury had to go ahead and stick his foot up his ass by saying that the Dallas D is better than the Bears'.

I waited 5 long days for Sunday to come, just so I could see the Cowboys exposed and Salisbury made to look like an even bigger idiot. So let's take a quick peak at the Dallas vs. New Orleans tilt, with regards to the defense.

The first thing a defense needs to do is prevent points, obviously. Let's look at the scoreboard, oh yes, 42 points for the Saints. Now, there sometimes can be extenuating circumstances. If your offense continually turns the ball over, giving your opponent a short field, even the best defense can be left helpless. Let's see, pick number 1 by Romo was returned to the Dallas 39, and pick number 2 was in the endzone, so you can't cut the defense any slack there. All those points were on the D.

Just taking a cursory glance at their past games, the Cowboys have had games where they've given up 24, 38, and 36 points. Hardly stellar performances.

One of the other criteria for a great defense, is a defense that forces a ton of turnovers. In this game Dallas had only one TO, and that was Terrell Owens. The defense had nary a pick nor a fumble recovery. On the season, the D has forced 26 turnovers. The Bears by comparison have 21 picks alone, to go with 18 FR, for 39 total Turnovers.

Also, on the game, Brees threw for 384 yards with 5 TD; Reggie Bush had 125 yards receiving; and Deuce had 111 yards rushing. This defense has certainly put the D in Dallas.

Some past poseurs...

The Denver Broncos - Early in the season, they were being compared to the '85 Bears (as all defenses, great and not so great) are. In their last game, they gave up 48 points to the Chargers, and have given 34 and 35 points in earlier games. '85 Bears, you better watch out, someone may knock you off your perch as best D ever...NOT (God bless Borat)

The Jacksonville Jaguars - They've had games of 36 and 3 games of 27. NEXT

The Chargers? Not so much - Games of 30, 41, and 27 with a 21, 24 and 25 mixed in.

The Baltimore Ravens - Not bad. Their high games have been 26, 20 and 22. I'd put them as second behind the Bears. They do lead the league in TO margin, but it's misleading because their offense masks the fact they only forced 28 TOs, again compared to the Bears 39.

DA Bears - They have a high game of 31, which as we all know, is not the D's fault. When your offense gives up a pick 6, a fumble on the 6, and a pick to inside the 20, you can't fault the D; that's 21 points right there. Besides that, the highest game was 23 (thanks to 6 TO's by the O against the Cards), 2o points, and 17.

I don't want to hear any more teams touted as the best D in the league, unless their name starts with a B-, and ends with an -ears. If you asked a coach or a player from any team, which D would you least like to face, they would respond Da Bears. The only way they could get anymore intimidating would be if they started doing the haka.

Some background on the Haka - The Haka originally was a dance done by the Maoris, the native people of New Zealand, to psyche themselves up before battle. About a hundred years ago, the New Zealand national sports teams (I think the All Blacks may have been the first) started doing the Haka before all sproting events. Other polynesian countries have their own war dances, the Tongans have their own, as do the Fijians, for examples. I bet Palomalu knows his native war dance.
The clip above shows a new version of the Haka that the rugby team made themselves a few years ago. The clip below as the traditional version that was actually done by the Maoris. I've seen the Haka in person, and can honestly say it is the most intimidating thing I have ever seen. Each time I've seen it, it has given me the chills.

In the second clip, France looks just about ready to surrender the game and their country.

Imagine Urlacher leading the Bears in the Haka, the other teams would shit themselves with fear.

UPDATE - As I'm watching the game, I'm gearing myself up to eat some nice crow.

UPDATE - I'm not disappointed with this performance. They Bears made adjustments in the second half, and only gave up more points once the game was in hand. At the end of the game they were in the prevent defense, and we all know my thoughts on that.

This is How We Do: Welcome!

2006-12-08T23:07:00.000-06:00

I think the past couple days have brought the greatest influx of readers ever to Chi-Sox Blog, thank you Deadspin! The past two days alone we've seen over 1,500 visitiors and 2,000 page views, which made me realize we have a whole bunch of new readers out there. So to those of you unfamiliar with the site welcome!

Chi-Sox Blog started has solely a White Sox blog to chronicle what I thought was going to be the a World Series winning season. Over the season the writing style has evolved and picked up from more objective to more of a fan's perspective; also, along the way I picked up DickDaStick, James, and Pander who help contribute. After the season ended though, I realized I couldn't sit by and wait for Spring Training to hit, so I just up and started blogging about all things sports. So again, to those of you who are new here, welcome, and feel free to drop a comment, positive or negative or whatever.

Our Coach Will Not be 'Ze German'

2006-12-08T19:28:00.000-06:00

(Yes, that was a reference to the movie Snatch, I couldn't resist)

After a months-long dance, negotiations between the Unites States Soccer Federation (USSF) and Jurgen Klinsmann finally fell through. It was long expected that the former Germany coach would fill the vacancy left after the Bruce Arena firing and take the US team to the next level. Had Jurgen come aboard as the US' coach, their style of play would definitely have shifted from a more defensive counter-attacking game that we saw under Arena to a freer, more fluid and offensive game.

It's a shame that we missed out on having such an aestetically pleasing style on the pitch, but it's an even bigger shame because securing Jurgen's services was the opportunity of a lifetime for the US. Signing Klinsmann would have immediately brought worldwide credibility to the team, and given the team a sense of stability.

Talks seem to have stalled over the question of how much power Klinsmann would have been given, especially with regards to the selection of players to the international squad. If that really is the case, that's pure arrogance on the USSF's part. Seriously, let the coach pick his players; he'll undoubtedly pick the players best suited for his system; so what if he's not choosing all thep players from the MLS that you want to get exposure. The point is to get the best possible team on the field, and by letting the coach pick his own players, he's bound to do that.

The biggest downside to all this is that countless opportunities have and will be wasted especially with regards to the younger players. As talks stretched on for the nearly 5 months, the US did not play any friendlies; normally those matches would have served as an opportunity for younger players to step up and get a few caps on the international stage. It would have been a prime opportunity to try and deepen the talent pool for the US, but since there was no coach, no games could be played.

You may be wondering now where this leaves the national team. Well, for the time being Bob Bradley will take over on an interim basis, with the opportunity to take over full time. Bob Bradely is a good coach, probably the best in the MLS, but I don't think he'll get nearly the same results that Klinsmann would have gotten the team. Bradley coached the expansion Fire to an MLS Cup win and turned Chivas USA into a playoff team after a last-place finish; he also has some international experience as an assistant on the '96 Olympic team, so he is indeed a good coach and a good choice on such short notice.

I don't mind having Bradley as a coach, but I don't like the terms that he's been granted. It would be one thing if he were handed the job with a four-year guarentee like Arena was, but Bradley could very well be fired the moment a more attractive coach shows interest. This fact alone is going to further hamper the US team. Bradley will be forced to play veteran heavy lineups to ensure that his team does well, so that he can earn the right to keep his job. He won't be able to play younger and more unknown players in games due to the fact that their performance could very well determine whether he stays on full time or not.

If Bradley were to get the boot, it would probably be in favor of Gérard Houllier, the current coach of Lyon (who is raping up the French League) and former coach of Liverpool; Carlos Queiroz, Alex Ferguson's right hand man at Manchester United; or Guus Hiddink. the current coach of Russia, who led the Socceroos to the knockout stages last time around and led Korea to a 4th place finish in '02.

Hopefully things will work out and when the 2010 World Cup comes around, we'll put up results closer to '02's performance than our flop in Germany in '06.

Spending Some of that Saved Money

2006-12-08T18:53:00.000-06:00

I've been wondering where the money saved in the Freddy Garcia deal would go. I figured three possibilities, sign someone to an extension, bring in someone who has a pretty fat contract, or in Jerry Reinsdorf's pocket. This may not represent a lot of money, but the Sox gave Mike MacDougal an extension. I really like this deal. With this deal the Sox avoid arbitration with Mike Mac, and they lock him up to what I think is an under maket-value deal. Next year he makes $1.5 million; he then makes $1.95 and $2.65 million respectively in '08 and '09. The Sox hold an option for '10 worth $3.75 million. Other than the option year, this contract is great for the Sox, assuming MacDougal stays healthy, which is always questionable. If you don't believe me that this is a great move by KW, mull this over; Joe Borowski will make $4.25 million next year and Jaime Walker signed a 3-year $12 million contract.

Thoughts on '07 and Beyond: Defending Kenny Williams

2006-12-08T02:28:00.001-06:00

After the Freddy Garcia trade yesterday and the apparent deal/no-deal with the Astros, Kenny Williams has taken a lot of flak from both the media and the fans. Writers like Rick Morrissey are calling KW and Reinsdorf cheap; I've heard fans say the Sox are wavin' the White Flag as they did in '97, but I don't think that's necessarily the case.

Yes, I will admit that I expected more for Freddy Garcia, but I think the onus for such high expectations came from the fans themselves, maybe a package of Milledge and Humber was a ridiculous pipe dream. I think we (myself, definitely included) got greedy when we saw the fat contracts getting tossed about; we figured Freddy is a proven pitcher and better than nearly all those jokers getting paid, so we should get a ridiculous package for him. We failed to realize that the fact Freddy would only be under control for one year could be a big time deal-breaker. It's one thing to give up a chunk of the farm for a player that you'll have signed for a few years, it's another thing to get the player for a year and then have nothing to show for it afterwards. Ask the Astros how the Randy Johnson trade worked out for them. Before you point out that we did the same thing for Freddy when he was with the Mariners, keep in mind we had Ozzie who had close ties with him, so the Sox had a the inside track to re-sign him.

I think Kenny's move was more of a lateral move with an eye to the future, than anything else. I really don't mind such a move. I'm even border-line in favor of that type of move as long as we're not taking a step back in '07. If you project McCarthy to put up similar number to what Freddy would have given us (which is a modest projection) we look as good as last year, and I mean as good as we looked coming into the season not when we ended it. Look at it from the organization's view; they thought they had themselves a team capable of winning 100 games and getting back to the World Series. Unfortunately, the Sox couldn't come close to replicating '05's pitching brilliance and they ran into two ridiculously good teams in the Twins and Tigers along the way. I don't think KW has weakened the squad we had in '06, so on paper they look pretty damn good, once again. If you subscribe to the thinking that last year's pitching was an anamoly, which I do, then the Sox can do no worse than improve. As much as we've dumped on Buehrle over the past year (thanks James, for leading the charge), he's been too damn consistent and too damn good over the years to suck it up again. I fully expect him and most of the rotation to rebound to some degree and that's not just because I'm a Sox fan.

The Sox are still in a good position for next year and in pretty good shape for '08. The Sox are only now starting to set themselves up for beyond '08. Think about it; the Sox are a veteran heavy team. If you think Joe Thome's back is creaky now, wait til the '09 season begins; Paulie, Iguchi, and Jose are no spring chickens either; Dye, Crede, Buehrle, and Garland could very well bolt during free agency. If Kenny didn't make any moves for the future, there would be a huge drop-off come '09. What if Kenny puts all his chips in for this two, three year span and inexplicably the Sox DON'T win another championship? Crazier things have happened, and afterall the baseball post-season is pretty much a crap-shoot. If Kenny did put all his chips in now and ignored the (now somewhat less) baren farm system, imagine where the team would be in '09 or '10. We'd be Cubs bad; we could even be Kansas City bad. It's one thing if the Sox pull off two more World Series titles and then crash and burn a la the Bulls, but those title are by no means even close to being guarenteed; we don't have a Michael Jordan that could almost single handedly lead us to the promised land. If the Sox come out empty handed and then crash and burn, all the goodwill and support that was earned in '05 would go right down the crapper. The Sox would once again be the second team in the second city.

Kenny deserves credit, not reprimand for trying to make the South Siders winners over the long term. Kenny has the prescience to build not only a top flight team, but also start building a top flight future for our team.

As The Cheat aptly put it, "Why are we holding 12 games from '05, 75% of which were against BAD offenses, in higher regard than the more recent 159 games from '06 that resulted in a third place finish?" As I said before, I think the rotation will bounce back, but beyond next year, I don't know. The rotation does have some mileage on it, so it's hard to project them properly.

Maybe Kenny could have waited a little while longer to explore a couple other deals for Freddy; I could see giving him some flak for that, but I say don't lump him among the other bad GM's in the league just yet. Hold judgement. See how the '07 season turns out, and keep in mind some of the absolute fleecings he's pulled (Freddy Garcia, Jenks, Thome, Dye, etc.). Before calling Reinsdorf cheap, wait and see if he reinvests some of that money he saved by offering Buehrle or Crede an extension, and keep in mind the way he opened the purse strings for Paulie and Thome the year before. Before bemoaning the Sox management as a whole, wait and see, don't overreact and remember these are the guys that brought us our first championship in close to 100 years. I know in the sports world, it's what have you done for me lately, but I still count that '05 championship as a pretty recent event.

The Sox Finally Make a Deal

2006-12-06T22:44:00.000-06:00

We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. Kenny Williams finally pulled the trigger on a deal he likes. I will admit I'm surprised by the trade, by the fact that it happened so early and by whom he got in return.

Going to the Philadelphia Phillies is Freddy Garcia, and coming to the South Side is Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.

A lot of people were speculating that the Sox would pick up one of their former players from the Phillies, namely Aaron Rowand, but I don't think anyone foresaw Gio Gonzalez coming back. If you recall, Gio was sent over with Rowand and Haigwood for Jim Thome.

I'm not going to say I'm disappointed with this trade, or all that happy with it, especially considering some of the rumors I mentioned earlier(the one with the Mets and the one with the Angels). I don't want to pass judgement on this trade, because I have the sneaking suspicion that this is just move one in a two part chain of moves for KW. Kenny made a point of saying "The White Sox are still open for business," so take that for what it's worth.

My first impression of the trade was that I wasn't blown away by it, so I did some research to try and get a better grasp of the trade as a whole.

The rap on Floyd is that he has good potential, but his mechanics are holding him back. (Cue Don Cooper). He has a good fastball reaching 95 mph on the gun, but it isn't all that special; his money pitch is his curve. He also sports a decent changeup. Looks like Coop is going to very busy this summer. After straightening out Matt Thornton and Jose Contreras before him, Coop is set to go to work on Floyd as well as Aardsma who was acquired earlier.

Gio is the more interesting of the two, personally, and not just because he used to be one of our guys. He started last year well enough, but tailed off toward the end of the year. It's possible he was injured or just plain tired. As Jim from Sox Machine proposes, Gio could very well be put in the bullpen this coming season. The Sox are in need of a LOOGY, and putting Gio there would be one effective way of filling that role, although I'd rather see him get good work done in AAA or AA.

Gio's numbers don't look all that sparkling (7-12, 4.66), but he did put up 166 K's in 154 innings. Also keep in mind he was drafted out of high-school and is only 20 years-old, that's really young, AND he's a lefty, which is always a bonus.

I'll have to mull this trade over (especially if Kenny isn't done dealing) before I decide where I stand on this trade. I will say this though, Kenny got two young arms with high ceilings, he definitely could have done much worse, especially considering the rumblings we've heard about Freddy being traded straight up for a reliever.

Here's a question for the readers. Do you think KW and Reinsdorf will go a head and use that $10 million they saved by trading Freddy and trade for a higher priced player/sign a free-agent or will that money just be pocketed? And if you have any thoughts or insight on the trade (especially about the guys the Sox got from the Phillies) drop me a comment.

The Pixie is Back

2006-12-06T00:55:00.000-06:00

Looks like the sprite, Pablo Ozuna, will be back working his magic in Chicago again. Pablo was signed to a 1-year, $800,000 contract. While he may not have gotten that much on the market, I don't fault KW for overpaying, if he did. Pablo was a very useful player for us off the bench, and he hit lefties pretty damn well (.315/.350/.423).

The Sox now have quite a few outfielders, Pablo, Mack, Pods, Dye, Anderson, Terrero, and Sweeney. It looks more and more doubtful that Gload will find time in the OF; he may be consigned to strictly backing up Paulie at first.

Here Come the Coco Crisp Rumors

2006-12-05T19:18:00.000-06:00

J.D. Drew finally signed with the Red Sox, contingent on a physical, for a five-year, $70 million contract. It's been widely speculated that if/when this deal was completed, Coco Crisp would be available via trade, and the Sox would be a logical destination. As you all know, we're looking for a CF/LF and Crisp could fill that void.

Expect to hear a lot of rumors and rumblings about such a trade.

Just found out that Maddux has signed a 1-year, $10 million contract with the Padres.

There are two things about this contract that could benefit the Sox. First, this opens up another team, looking for pitching. I'm not sure what the Dodgers' pitching situation was, but they definitely have a hole in their rotation, now. Second, Maddux got a pretty fat contract; considering Maddux is in his 40's, the Sox pitchers suddenly look even more attractive by comparison.

Let the Rumors Flow: Day 1 of the GM Meetings

2006-12-05T15:31:00.000-06:00

-Looks like Minaya is looing to focus on pitching. You know what that means, Sox fans, time to start praying Zito signs elsewhere. Minaya strikes me as the aggressive type (sort of like Kenny) that is willing to overpay a little bit to get what he feels will put his team over the top. The Mets also have some good young pitching that I wouldn't mind getting, so I think it will work out best for the Sox if Zito stays out of Queens.

For all you Vazquez haters, I bet this quote cheers you up...

"If I'm going to trade some of my young guys, I need to be able to get guys I'm going to control," Minaya said. "I don't think we're going to be trading our better young players for one year [of a pitcher]."

-The Rangers have all but locked up Padilla, which is one less pitcher on the market.

-Then there are the never ending Aaron Rowand and Vernon Wells rumors. Rowand isn't good enough; as much as I love him, there's no need for him back on the Sox. Wells is more likely, but still doubtful, seeing as he is going to cost a lot to trade for.

-I don't Kenny is going to make any big splashes during the winter meetings (watch him prove me wrong). I reckon he'll wait til Zito signs and then look to move one or more of our pitchers. I would like to see him get a back up catcher though, because it looks more and more like Ol' Creaky Knee, Sandy Alomar will be back unless we get someone else.

A Wave of Emotion

2006-12-04T02:08:00.000-06:00

The UCLA-USC tilt was just pure emotion, and I'm not talking about the players on the field, but the folks in the stands. Momentum shifted back and forth all game long. The winner wasn't certain until the last minute of the game.

I tried to keep a running tab of my thoughts and emotions as they played out, and this is sort of the feel of the game, while trying to stay in tune with which team had the momentum.

For the events, the time corresponds to the video below. I reccommend you read and then watch the clip when prompted.

Pre-Game

Event: Pre-Game fever
Thoughts: I was hopeful that UCLA could pull the upset, but the odds weren't stacked in our favor. My pre-game assessment was that UCLA would win a squeaker or get their asses handed to them by the Boys of Troy. I must say after watching USC vs. ND; there was definite possibility things could get ugly, and it would be eight straight years for the Trojans.
Momentum change:Trojans+1
Total momentum: Trojans = 1

1st Quarter

Event: UCLA goes three and out to start the game, gaining only two-yards.
Thoughts: How rusty could Ben Olson (the starting QB who had been hurt for the last six weeks) be?
Momentum: Trojans +1
Total momentum: Trojans = 2

Event: USC stopped on 4-1 at the UCLA 31, turnover on downs.
Thoughts: The dam is holding; it just better not break!
Momentum: Bruins +3
Total momentum: Bruins=1

Event: UCLA makes 17 yard completion from their 13 yard line.
Thoughts: Good, so I'm not a better QB than Pat Cowan.
Momentum: --
Total momentum: Bruins=1

Event: QB Pat Cowan scrambles 29 yards to the USC 41. (@ 16 seconds on clip)
Thoughts: If Michael Irvin were here, he'd say, "Damn, Cowan must have a little black in him."
Momentum: Bruins +1
Total momentum: Bruins=2

Event: Cowan scrambles 17 yards up the gut on first down to the USC 13. (@ 29 seconds)
Thoughts: Dorrell, time to start running the option with Cowan!
Momentum: Bruins +.5
Total momentum: Bruins=2.5

Event: Cowan sprints left for 8 yards to the USC 5.
Thoughts: Holy shit! We're going to score. Whatever you do, don't run it Pat; just tuck and run.
Momentum: Bruins +1.5
Total momentum: Bruins=4.0

Event: Cowan runs it in from the 1 on third down for a UCLA score! (@ 39 second)
Thoughts: Ben who? Pat Cowan you are a deity.
Momentum: Bruins +6
Total momentum: Bruins=10, score 7-0 Bruins

Second Quarter

Event: USC punts it to the UCLA 1.
Thoughts: I hate Lee Corso, but please, NO JUMP SHOTS!
Momentum: USC +3
Total momentum: Bruins=7

Event: 13 yard gain out of the endzone, but a flag is thrown.
Thoughts: You drunken idiots! Stop celebrating, obviously it's holding in the endzone. Two points for the Trojans; I thought I said no jump shots!
No, stop congratulating me for calling the play correctly; I would have rather gotten that penalty wrong.
Momentum: USC +7
Total momentum: Dead heat, score 7-2 Bruins

Event: 17 yard pass by Booty to Gable, to the UCLA 34 with 4:15 left in the half. (@49 seconds)
Thoughts: Crap, the damn is breaking. Hold 'em boys, you need to hold 'em!
Momentum:USC +2
Total momentum: Trojans=2

Event: Gable 1-yard TD run with 1:15 left in the half. (@ 1:00)
Thoughts: So much for going into the half with the lead; if we don't do well on defense to start the third, our goose is cooked.
Gable's an ass, he didn't need to dive there, who does he think he is, Reggie Bush?
Momentum: USC +6
Total momentum: Trojans=8, score 9-7 USC

Third Quarter

Event: Booty connects on back to back passes of 11 and 18 yard to the UCLA 43.
Thoughts: Where's the fight!?
Momentum: USC+1
Total momentum: Trojans=9

Event: UCLA punter, Perez, punts to the USC 7.
Thoughts: Good, great, super duper, filed position; just don't blow it D.
Momentum: UCLA+1
Total momentum: Trojans=8

Event: Graves returns a punt to the UCLA 44!
Thoughts: The USC punter is human afterall! We're winning the field position battle! Cowan, do your best Eric Crouch impression and run the ball yourself!
Momentum: UCLA +2
Total momentum: Trojans=6

Event: Back to back completions by Cowan for 16 and 11 yards to the USC 29. (@ 1:10)
Thoughts: Oh baby, we're going to score. I can feel it; here comes six, baby!
Sick spin move!
Momentum: UCLA +3
Total momentum: Trojans=3

Event: Cowan completes a 7 yard pass on 3-8 to the USC 5.
Thoughts: Shitty spot (that's me being biased)! He had the first down by a good few inches (more bias). Dorrell, time to man up and go for it. Medlock is all-world, but it's time to stick it to the Trojans. QB sneak Cowan, and then roll in for the TD.
Momentum: UCLA+1
Total momentum: Trojans=2

Event: Medlock kicks a 22-yard field goal.
Thoughts: You piece of crap Dorrell, where are you cojones? You gotta go for it there; I bet Pete Carrol would have gone for it.
Oh yeah, Medlock for Heisman!
Momentum: UCLA+6
Total momentum: Bruins=4

Event: John David trips for a "sack" (@ 1:20)
Thoughts: HA! John David fell on his...ass! What did you think I was going to say, on his booty?

Event: Cowan throws a backward pass which is dropped by the 'back. He then proceeds to put his hands on his hips in disappointment, as USC alertly dives on the ball.
Thoughts: You lug! Why the hell did you give up on that ball? This is the biggest game of your career, and you're not making doubly sure that you keep possession, grab some bench kid.
Great, now we're going to lose, all because of YOU! I wish I knew your name so I could curse you.
Momentum: USC+10
Total momentum: Trojans=6

Fourth Quarter

Event: Gable gets raped on 4-2 for a 4-yard loss at the UCLA 40. (@1:28)
Thoughts: That's right Gable, how does it feel to get absolutely owned?
Momentum: Bruins +10
Total momentum: Bruins=4

Event: Cowan completes a 21 yarder to Everett on 3-15.
Thoughts: Keep that clock moving...
Momentum: Bruins +2
Total momentum: Bruins=6

Event: Cowan rushes it 11 yards to the USC 6.
Thoughts: Cowan, keep the ball in your hands. When you score a touchdown, this game will be over!
Momentum: Bruins+6
Total momentum: Bruins=12

Event: On 2-3 from the 3 yard line, Cowan gives up an almost unchallegened sack for -9 yards.
Thoughts: COWAN! *holding back tears* You're costing us the game!
Momentum: Bruins -11
Total momentum: Bruins=1

Event: Medlock makes a 31 yarder.
Thoughts: Medlock for Heisman! He's our MVP!
Momentum: Bruins +4
Total momentum: Bruins 5, score 13-9 Bruins

Event: USC is ready to snap the ball for a punt.
Thoughts: Christ, just don't pull a Glynn Milburn or a Bobby Wade. Just hold onto the damn football.

Event: Keyes muffs the punt.
Thoughts: You piece of talentless shit.

Event: Keyes recovers.
Thoughts: *blank stare*

Event: Cowan gets LIT UP! (@1:43)
Thoughts: He's one tough son of a bitch! He got right back up. I think I got whiplash from that hit, just watching.

Event: Dorrell calls timeout and calls full sqaud onto the field. USC feels left out so they reciprocate. Both teams start edging together. Looks like a brawl could break out. (@1:59)
Thoughts: Crap! We're going to win this!
The feeling in the stadium is unbelivable. That huddle and that passion gave me goosebumps.
Momentum: Bruins +2
Total momentum: Bruins +7

Event: Booty sacked on USC 24 with 5:52 left.
Thoughts: We're going to win this ish! Holy crap, defense, one more stop, that's all we need.
Momentum: Bruins +2
Total momentum: Bruins +9

Event: 13 yard pass by Booty, 7 yard pass, 5 yard pass, 17 yard pass, 6 yard pass with 1:50 left.
Thoughts: Deja vu? Notre Dame - USC?
Momentum: Trojans +3, +2, +2, +2, +4, +3
Total momentum: Trojans +6

Event: McNeal bats Booty's pass and then dives and intercepts the ball. (@2:27)
Thoughts: None. Absolute pandemonium.
Momentum: UCLA+ Infinity
Total momentum: Bruins 'the importance of Ditka to the '85 Bears'

Event: UCLA WINS!!!!
Thoughts: Best football game, ever!
That's the end of the 7-year streak!
First time in 63 games USC was held under 20!
13-9!
Ov-er-ra-ted *clapclapclapclapclap*

The Season That Was: April

2006-12-02T11:47:00.000-06:00

As the Biler, I'm smart enough to know that spring training records mean absolutely nothing, but as the Biler I'm still anal enough to cry about it. Now it's time to cry and mean it -- first because the White Sox raised a World Series championship banner for the first time in 87 years, secondly because the White Sox got off to a not-so-hot start the first week.

They started 1-4 and Freddy Garcia showed signs of wear and tear from his stint on the Venezuelan National Team. His fast ball lost quite a bit of velocity and the Indians opened up a can on his ass in game 2 of the season.

And let's not even get started on my favorite target, Mark Beuhrle. In the opener he lasted all of four innings, giving up 3 runs right away, and he too had serious velocity issues with his fastball. Even lefties were teeing off on Mark, the object of St. Louis' s affection.

Another problem facing the White Sox would be the pitching of Cliff Politte, a key contributor to the Championship run the previous season. During the month of April, Cliff would see his ERA rise to a height of 15.75 before settling at 9.39 for the month of April. Providng a preview for the rest of the season and maybe something to build on for the opposition, Politte would blow a save and take a loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals that first week, 4-3. As the season progresses the Royals will prove to be quite the pain in the ass for the White Sox.

After starting 1-4 on April 8th, however, the White Sox will lose only three more games the rest of the month finishing the month 17-7. Yes, there was plenty of reason to be optimistic. I distinctly remember thinking how great is was gonna be to be talked about as back-to-back champs, and dreams of Bulls-like dynasties for another Chicago team danced in my head. The Biler in his current constitution still wasn't a glint in my eye even with sluggish starts by Beuhrle and our newest White Sox re-signee, Scott Podsednik.

So week 2 goes three -game sweep in Detroit (one of the few time Jeeves would bring out the broom pic) and 2-1 against Toronto with newcomer Jim Thome hitting homers in 4 out of 6 games. The one loss to Toronto would be Javy Vazquez's doing, and he will be giving Sox fans their second bout of indigestion for the season, as he gives up 7 runs in 6 innings. The previously mentioned Cliff Politte will really put the Tums and Rolaids crowd to work as he gives up 4 runs in 1.2 innings of work in what was a winnable 13-7 loss. (The final 2 runs given up by Sox pitching were Neal Cotts doing, but we'll get to his bile-tastic ptiching in a later month.)

The best run of the season would be the 8 game win streak that started in Toronto and would culminate in two straight sweeps over divisional opponents Kansas City and Minnesota. In those sweeps, Sox pitching would give up a grand total of 7 runs in 6 games, and the bile would be safely stored where it belongs in the duct. The highlight of the week will be defeating Cy Young winner and White Sox killer Johan Santana, 7-1. Winning pitcher Mark Beuhrle, who earlier in the week would be given his do-not-slide-on-tarp orders, had this to say about Santana after the game:

"You see him coming in with an 0-2 (record) and a 5 (ERA) and you wonder, `How? How's that possible?'"

Also that week, AJ Pierzynski and Joe Crede would get Chicago's first taste of haircut/ headband-gate as they would be told from none other than Mr. Owner himself, Jerry Reinsdorf, to get their long lanks shorn or face the wrath of god.

But with Jim Thome swinging a hot bat (.327/ .513/ .873 9 homers) and a suddenly hot Pods (9 game hitting streak) the White Sox had no worries. No worries that is until they reach Seattle where they'll lose 2 of 3 including an 11th inning loss by Brandon McCarthy -- a game highlighted by a dramatic 9th inning two out home run by Brian Anderson. This game also marks the beginning of the second guessing of Ozzie Guillen and his curious line-up calls. Even Hawk Harrelson, a notrious homer and an Ozzie apologist, will decry the silliness of Ozuna, Mackowiak and Cintron all starting at once. The Biler would like to note that this is one of the few occasions that Mackowiak and Anderson actually share time in the outfield, a source of serious consternation as the season will progress.

Another curious note will be the yapping one dinasaur-disbelieving Carl Everett -- he subsequently was plunked in what cannot be mistaken as accidental.

The month will end on a very high note with the White Sox sweeping ALCS oppenent the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and if you know anything about the White Sox and the west coast, you'll know that the left side of the country hasn't treated the Sox very well in the recent past. The good game of note for the Biler was the 2-1 victory for the Count, Jose Contreras, over Kelvim Escobar, a masterpiece that would continue the filthy run for the Count. In this game, Jim Thome will be the fastest White Sox to reach 10 HRs.

Of course another season-long theme taking place in this game would be the booing by the fans and plunking by the opponent of AJ. Forget that he was involved in the most controversial play in recent playoff history against these Angels (how Kenny Rogers' mystery sludge didn't garner more, I'll never understand). He will be the second most hated man in baseball in 2006 behind Barry Bonds, but we'll get to that more as the season progresses.

The month will end, as I said, with the White Sox having a 17-7 record, and expectations at an all time high. The offense is clicking on all cylinders, where as the pitching good enough. Sox fans are smiling even if the team is not getting much press. Right now the Biler is quite content in utero, but there are dark clouds on the horizon and the birth of bad-mouth is not far away.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, another reason for all the optimism: check out this video replay. On April 15th (yes, tax day), Iguchi makes the defensive play of the year.

April Hot Sox:

Jim Thome: .300 10 hr, 23 rbi
Paul Konerko: .360, 6 hr, 20 rbi
Jose Contreras: 4-0, 1.45 era

April Cold Sox:

Brian Anderson: .161, 2 hr, 6 rbi
Juan Uribe: .167, 3 hr, 11 rbi
Cliff Politte: 1-1, 9.39 era

Why Not Take the Risk(e)?

2006-12-02T04:18:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I apologize for the pun already, but it seems like it was my last chance to cash in on it.

Looks like David Riske is no longer a South Sider. Riske was not offered arbitration, which cuts him loose and makes him a relatively attractive target on the free agent market.

As much as I hate to doubt him, I think Kenny may have made a mistake here. As The Cheat brought up in the roundtable discussion, David Riske is a Type A free agent, meaning he would have netted us a compensation draft pick had he joined another club. In a worst case scenario, we would have offered Riske arbitration and re-signed him for somthing around $2.5 million; best case scenario he would have walked and we would have gotten another draft pick.

I don't see why Kenny didn't take the small calculated risk (I swear, that wasn't a pun); if worst came to worst, we'd have a serviceable right hander, who could give us some innings out of the 'pen. It's not as though the Sox are strapped financially; we did just set all sorts of attendence records this past year, so there should be some money in the bank. The only way this is permissable is if Kenny has some blockbuster trade in the works that requires us to pick up a lot of salary.

Head for the Hills, Podzilla is Back!

2006-12-02T04:02:00.000-06:00

Look who reared his ugly head. That's right, Scott Podsednik.

Podzilla was resigned for 1-year and $2.9 million dollars.

Before you panic, though, or go off blindly into a fit of rage, please read on. This doesn't signify the continutaion of the S-Pod reign in left field, far be it. This is a lateral move if anything.

Pods was due up for arbitration and odds are he was going to get around $3 mill, maybe a touch more. KW did the right thing by signing Pods to a slightly smaller contract while avoiding abitration all together. The important thing to remember is the fact that just because he signed with us, doesn't mean he'll be playing out his contract with us.

The winter meetings are coming up, and this move probably increases his value in the eyes of potential pursuers. Think about it, would you rather trade for a guy with a known salary or would you rather trade for a guy and THEN worry about arbitration? Yah, I'd take the known commodity as well.

Also, keep in mind this is the year of the ridiculous contract for a lead-off man. See Soriano, Alfonso or Pierre, Juan. With a bargain basement contract (relatively speaking), Pods can only look more attractive now than he did yesterday. Kenny has to be able to parlay Pods into something, he's too good of a GM not to. I say by the end of the winter meetings Pods is wearing a new uni.

My Closing Thoughts on the Greatest Hitter Debate

2006-11-30T22:18:00.000-06:00

We've crunched a bunch of numbers now, from the traditonal to the sabermetric. I've been mum on my top-five throughout this process, partially because I wanted the numbers to speak for themselves and partially because it's still tough for me to decide.

I know we'll never be able to get a universal top-five or even a solid number one, but we can agree on the fact that there are far too many factors to declare someone the greatest of all time. This isn't like track where things stay relatively the same. Yes, runners are now stronger and faster than they used to be, but time hasn't changed, the distance hasn't changed, it's all fairly comparable. There aren't nearly as many factors that have drastically changed the sport of track as there are in baseball. There was integration, the lowering and highering of the mound, the creation of new pitches like the splitter, the outlawing of other pitches like the spit ball, the specialization of relief pitchers, steroids, and countless others. There is so much that changes from era to era; we even have a time period known as the deadball era.

What would you say is more impressive? Sosa's '98 season when he posted 66 HR with .308/.377/.647/1.024 for rate stats of Yaz's '68 season when he posted 23 HR with .301/.426/.495/.921 for rate stats? The raw numbers say Sosa, but it doesn't paint the whole picture. If you look at the more realiable OPS+, Yaz actually looks more impressive with and OPS+ of 171 vs. Sosa's 160 (kudos to UCLASoxFan for brining that up). This example illustrates just how hard it is to compare different eras.

Even though it took me a good amount of time (thank you flight delays at O'Hare) I think you can for the most part throw the first data table out. It's unfair to make comparisons based on stats that aren't normalized to each year or to the competition. The whole process, though, was interesting to me; I definitely learned a lot about some of history's greatest players, and I can now make better assumptions because of it, but to make any decisions based solely on that particular set of data would be fallacious. There's a distinct possibility that I may revisit the first data chart and recalibrate things with a weighting system, but it won't be until later in the month, maybe during winter break.

The second set of data, albeit not perfect, is a whole lot more realiable. I'm willing to make some assumptions and base some of my thoughts on it.

Ruth is unbelievably dominant. He is among the all-time most dominant players of any sport. You could put up there with him, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Edwin Moses (won the 400-meter hurdles 122 straight times), Roy Jones Jr. when he was in his prime, and John Wooden's UCLA Bruins.

Gehrig and Teddy Ballgame were pretty damn unreal too. It's a shame Williams lost years to the war; he would have put up even better numbers without that gap. Gehrig had to be the ultimate protection for Ruth. If you think Manny and Papi are great back to back or Thome-Konerko-Dye is unbelievable, they have NOTHING on Ruth and Gehrig.

Although Pujols hasn't played for that long, there's no denying he is on a historical projectory. I'm praying injuries don't bite him in the ass they did Griffey.

Those that think Big Frank doesn't deserve to be a first ballot hall-of-famer are delusional. I stand by my claime that he is the greatest pure hitter (both in the sense of straight hitting ability and steroids) of the 90's.

Alrite, so the long awaited list, here is what my top-5 of pure hitting ability looks like.

1. Babe Ruth
2. Ted Williams
3. Lou Gehrig
4. Willie Mays
5. Rogers Hornsby

With Aaron just off the pace (as much as that pains me to do). I actually keep flip-floping Aaron in my mind with Hornsby. Prior to all this stat stuff, my top five would have been (no particular order) Ruth, Williams, Mays, Aaron, and Mantle.

Just to pull things together here's a final data chart which tracks how each player rated and scored in the previous two charts, and give a final ranking based on those performances.

(Chart coming tomorrow, it doesn't want to upload at the moment)

Sparking a Debate: Who's the Best Hitter, Part 2

2006-11-28T18:56:00.000-06:00

As promised here is a more sabermetric approach to the question at hand. I'm not going to say that this set of data paints a clearer picture, but it does at least try to factor in a number of different variables the first set of data couldn't. I used 7 stats to come up with my rankings, BA diff, OBP diff, SLG diff, RC/27, OPS+, EqA, and Warp-3/season. Before you freak out on me, allow me to explain what each stat means and what each stat factors in.

BA, OBP, and SLG diff - Are the difference between a player's career BA/OBP/SLG compared to the league average BA/OBP/SLG. For example, to figure out Ruth's BA diff I took his career batting average, .342 and subtracted the league average for that time period, .285, and got a difference of .057.
It's hard to compare hitters from different eras; one person may have played during a time where high averages were expected with little power and another player may have been around during a time when the averages were down and pitching dominated. By comparing them to the league average, it's possible to see how far ahead of the pack they were. This is essentially my goal for this entire data set. In the first data chart I compared the players to eachother, but here I'm trying to quantify how much they outperformed players who were playing under similar circumstances and then comparing that to the other all-time greats.

RC/27 - RC on it's own is an estimator created by Bill James (of the Bill James Handbook). RC by itself doesn't help us much since it is a cumulative stat, so those players with longer careers would logically have high RC's, but if you take RC/27 which basically measures how many runs a lineup featuring 9 of the same player would produce per game; you have a good comparison stat.
Imagine 9 Babe Ruth's in one lineup; would you ever have him bunt?

OPS+ - An OPS+ is adjusted to compare the specific season(s) to which it is being applied to. OPS+ is just the OPS of a player measured against the league average for the same time period. Sort of what I did what BA/OBP/SLG diff, but it also accounts for park factors. An OPS+ of 100 is considered to be league average. An OPS+ of 125 means the player was 25% better than a a league average player.

EqA - I'm just going to straight quote Baseball Prospectus here, "A measure of total offensive value per out, with corrections for league offensive level, home park, and team pitching." EqA incorporates baserunning but not defense. EqA is derived from something called Raw EqA, which is calculated by the following formula: (H + TB + 1.5*(BB + HBP + SB) + SH + SF) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF + CS + SB)"
It's an eye-sore, I will admit, but it's a damn good tool to compare hitters. EqA is set on a scale like that of batting average, so it's easy to tell what is good and bad. An average EqA is .260.

Warp-3/Season - Again this is straight from Baseball Prospectus "Wins Above Replacement Player, level 1. The number of wins this player contributed, above what a replacement level hitter, fielder, and pitcher would have done, with adjustments only for within the season."
Unfortunately this has a defensive component in it, but it is still a useful tool. I tweaked slightly for our purpose. Warp-3 is a cumulative stat over the span of a career, so I turned it into a players avg Warp-3 over a 162 game season. To get this, I took a players career WARP and multiplied by 162, and then divided by the total number of games he has played.

So enough talk, onto the data chart. Again, some of my thoughts follow the numbers, and if you want a good view just click on the chart and it will expand.

-Ruth is almost across the board, number 1. Considering the fact that he dwarfed most his contemporaries, I'm not surprised.

-Teddy Ballgame, Ruth, Gehrig, and Hornsby all stayed in the top-5. Bonds jumped up into the top-5 this time knocking out Pujols.

-I'm most surprised by Hornsby staying in the top-5. I think Hornsby and Gehrig are now tied for the prestigious, Player that Jeeves' Underrated the Most Award.

-I personally think Bonds' numbers were terribly inflated by his steroid use, but again there's no denying how impressive his stats are.

-A-Rod was the big dropper from data chart 1 to data chart 2, falling ten spots.

-It's disappointing to see Mays so far down the list again. He was always near the top of my list of best players, but I may have to reconsider where I place him now. More on that coming later, when I try and take all these numbers into consideration and change around my personal top-10.

-Thoughts anyone? Still think I'm crazy? Think I'm onto something? Let me hear it.

Welcome Back Gload

2006-11-28T02:44:00.000-06:00

The Sox resigned Ross Gload on Monday to a one-year $625,000 contract.

All I can say is, "yay!" Gload is a great bench player for us; I think he's vastly underrated, and I'm glad to see him back on the South Side. Hopefully he'll get some decent PT, because he certainly deserves it.

Sparking a Debate: Who's the Best Hitter?

2006-11-27T00:23:00.000-06:00

First off I have to give thanks to Baseball-Reference.com for their bevy of stats and to DA Humber for inspiring me to do undertake this post. After DA invited me to participate in his Friday Five, I was inspired to take a more in depth look at who the best hitter in baseball history was. In my original analysis, I took a cursory view of 8 different players, but I clearly left out a number of the all-time greats.

So before I delve into all the stats and their explanations, I must first give a disclaimer. The table I created (below) is by no means supposed be an end-all type of thing. I'm not trying to prove that a certain player is in fact the greatest hitter of all time. I just wanted to look take a look at the stats and see if I could get a better idea of how some of the all-time greats stacked up when compared to one another. Considering the fact that I'm still in college, I have hardly seen any of the all-time greats in action. I think my exclusion of Lou Gehrig in my analysis in the Friday Five is evidence enough that I didn't have a full for the game's history. I feel now after compiling all this data that I have a clearer picture, but not necessarily a full picture.
Please note that this is purely an exercise in numbers. It does not take into account overall play or prowess in the field. Mays is considered by many (I was among the many for awhile) to be the best all-around player of all-time, the five-tool player, but since I'm only looking at hitting he doesn't come out of this looking as impressive.
Finally, I will be posting another article similar to this (probably on Tuesday) looking at the same players but using sabermetrics to get a different view on the situation

So, without further ado, here is Table 1 followed by some observations. (Table 2 will follow in another post, most likely on Tuesday). To see a proper view of the table click on it.

Method to the Madenss - I took the career stats of Gehrig, Ruth, Pujols, Teddy Ballgame, Rogers Honrnsby, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Bonds, A-Rod, Cobb, Musial, Cap Anson, Hank Aaron, Mantle, Mel Ott, Willie Mays, Honus Wagner, Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose, Yaz, and to get a White Sox feel, I added Frank Thomas and Shoeless Joe. I crunched the numbers and compared their per game averages for runs, hits, doubles, homers, and RBIs as well as their batting average, OBP, SLG and OPS. I ranked each player in each category, and then added up the points, with the lowest number being best.

My Thoughts

-I can't believe how terribly I underrated Lou Gehrig. He was among the leaders in each category, finishing no worse than 8th. The original Iron Man was an RBI machine, averaging relatively close to an RBI a game!

-I'm shocked to see how high Pujols is. I realize that when he gets toward the end of his career, he'll put up less impressive number which will subsequently lower his averages, but it's still damn impressive that he ended up ranking third.

-It's interesting seeing hitters from the earlier years compared to power hitters from more recent times. Hornsby more than holds his own, as do Cobb, Anson, and Shoeless Joe.

-A good number of people would put Hank Aaron and/or Willie Mays in their top-5, yet in this table, they rank 15th and 18th respectively. Both Hank and Willie were consistent over long careers, which allowed them to amass their ridiculous career totals.

-In my original analysis, I left out Bonds, because the steroid cloud surrounding him takes him out of the running for my top five, but there's no denying the impressiveness of his stats.

-Clemente was undoubtedly a good player (but unless I'm missing something here) he seems rather pedestrian compared against the others. Perhaps his tragic death increased his legend.

-Any and all discussion is welcome. Feel free to leave any postive or negative feedback. If you think I missed the boat completely let me know, or if this helped open you eyes to the merits of one player's career, tell me. I'd love to head your all-time top five or ten, or your ranking of all these players. I suppose my main objective outside of braddening my view on some of the all-time great players is to try and stimulate some discussion.

Coming Soon, part 2. A comparison of these players vs. their contemporaries.

Happy Turkey Day

2006-11-23T12:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

PS - If you've been wondering about the silence from my site, there's two reasons. A.) I had to finish all my work so I didn't have to worry about it over break, and B.) I'm working on a really ambitious post, so keep an eye out for that. I think the ETA for it will be Fri or Sat.

Sox Prospects

2006-11-20T02:25:00.000-06:00

I don't know about y'all, but I don't have a comprehensive view over our prospects. I am knowledgeable about our upper-echelon minor leaguers, but if you were to ask me to name the top ten prosepects in the organizations, I'd probably get stuck around 6 or so. Luckily for me, The Cheat pays great attention to this and has compiled a list of the top ten prospects from our organization with big league aplyer comparisons. I'm re-posting the top ten list, but I highly recommend reading over Cheat's notes.

Ryan Sweeney
Josh Fields
Lance Broadway
Aaron Cunningham
Charlie Haegar
Kyle McCulloch
Jack Egbert
Lucas Harrell
Chris "Vernon" Carter
Oneli Perez

Poll Madness (The final part of the three part series)

2006-11-20T01:35:00.000-06:00

The polls are out! The polls are out!

So what does this mean for America's top football programs?

I'll take the easy part first; Ohio State, pack your bags, you're headed to Glendale!

Now things get a little stickier. Michigan retained their second place ranking in both the AP Poll (which I realize is irrelevant, just wanted to point it out) and more importantly in the BCS standings even though they slipped to third in the Coaches' and Harris' polls. Now before you get all up in arms about this, USC fans, I have some good news. It looks as though The Trojans, do in fact, control their own destiny. Michigan's hold on second place is tenuous at best. They are a Casino Royale-esque .007 points ahead of USC (.926 and .919 respecitively).

Considering the fact that Michigan is done playing for the year, they have no where to go but down in the standings unless USC, Arkansas, or Florida lose. If USC wins against Notre Dame, especially in an impressive fashion, they should be able to make up the .007 points, no problem.

Things will get interesting though, if USC loses. If they lose, then all hell will break loose. I don't think it's possible to predict how the BCS will play out in the event of a USC loss. It'll be dependent on who the computers love and how against a rematch some voters would be.

Some Observations Concerning the Polls

-One thing I noticed that could indirectly help the Gators cause would be a Louisville loss. You may be wondering on earth that could affect the Gators, but there is a correlation. Arkansas currently has a .770 ranking from the computers, while Louisville clocks in at .780. Assuming Arkansas beats LSU (which will give the Razorbacks a boost in the human polls), they would be in position to pick up the computer points that Lousiville would lose with a loss. Now stay with me; so, if Arkansas picks up those extra points, and proceed to lose to Florida, Florida's win will look even more impressive.

-Upon closer examination, if USC truly wants to control their destiny, they will need to put on decent performances against ND and UCLA. I think at this point most people expect the Golden Domers to go down (correct me if I'm wrong), so if USC struggles, their win may not count for as much in the eyes of the voters and the circuits of the computers. Their lead in the human polls is razor thin (21 votes in the Harris and 16 in the Coaches'); if they struggle against both UCLA and the ND team that Michigan destroyed, they may lose some valuable points.

-If Boise State wins at Nevada they will lock up a BCS bid. Don't assume that they will win though, they have struggled at times recently, and Nevada won't be a cake walk. The Wolfpack are 8-3 and undefeated at home. I could easily imagine Boise going down a la Rutgers.

-Sorry Badgers' fans, the Citru- er Capitol One Bowl it is. Even if Florida, Arkansas, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and USC were all somehow to lose, you would not be in a BCS bowl even though you would conceivably be 3rd in the BCS rankings. Only two teams per conference are allowed in BCS bowls.
It is pretty impressive that the Big Ten has three teams in the top 8 of the BCS rankings, granted in Wisconsin's only big game, they lost.

-It's interesting that the computers love Cal so much. I can't figure out why. They're ranked (rightfully so) 23/22 in the human polls, but 14th by the computers. Cal has lost its two biggest games of the year as well as a stinker against suddenly hot Arizona. How come Tennessee fans aren't irate about being ranked a spot lower than the Golden Bears in the BCS Rankings and 3 spots lower by the computers? Afterall, they beat Cal and their losses came against Florida (by 1), LSU (by 4) and at Arkansas, the 4, 10, and 6th place team in the rankings.

Only the Cubs

2006-11-19T17:38:00.000-06:00

I must both applaud and deride the Cubs' apparent signing of Soriano to an 8-year $136 million contract.

I have to applaud the Tribune Company's desire to be a contender in the NL. Perhaps they saw how a weak Cardinals team was able to win the Wrold Series and were inspired to go for a title now, rather than rebuild. With the signings of Pinella, Soriano, Ramirez, Wood, Miller, Blanco, and DeRosa, the Cubs have already spent $242.5 million (cumulatively speaking). I'm not going to debate whether or not the Cubs' moves are going to pay off, because frankly, (my dear) I don't give a damn.

BUT I will note that the contract the Cubs gave Soriano is absolutely ridiculous. 8 years! Only the Flubs would give Soriano an eight year contract, well maybe the Yankees would too. Soriano will be nearly 39 years old by the time his contract ends. Soriano's skills will definitely diminsh withing 5 years, if not earlier, so the Cubs will be stuck with an albatross of a contract. Soriano's deal is the fifth biggest in baseball history, only trailing A-Rod($252 mil-10 years), Jeter ($189 mil - 10 years), Manny ($160 mil - 10 years), and Helton ($141.5 -11 years). I think it's unbelieveable that Soriano got more money than Beltran did.

The interesting thing will be to see how this deal plays out over the next 8 years, and to see what this will do to the contract negotiations to such players as Carlos Lee.

A Michigan-OSU Rematch? A Schizophrenic Jeeves Debates Himself (Part two of a three part series)

2006-11-19T02:16:00.001-06:00

(See part one of the series here. A BCS Mess)

Does Michigan still deserve to play in the National Championship?

That's the question on everyone's mind. Trust me, all the talking heads are going to be, well talking about it. Judging from some college football analysts' mailbags, I think fans were more concerned about the idea of a rematch than the original game itself. I've decided to take a look at this, but I'm going at it from both angles. In this post, you'll get to hear from Jeeves, the NCAA football fan and Jeeves, the Michigan football fan.

School of thought 1: Michigan had their chance, and they blew it.

The danger of having Michigan in the title game, is the risk of devaluing the regular season. People have long regarded the regular season as the "playoffs" of college football, which is part of the appeal of the game itself. Whereas in pro football, one loss doesn't neccesarily mean much in the scheme of things, one loss in college can dictate whether you're playing in the Rose Bowl or the Outback Bowl. By having Michigan in the championship game, it would essentially be saying that the Big Ten finale didn't mean anything. Even though they lost, they would still be on equal footing to Ohio State with regards to winning the National Championship. What would happen if Michigan actually won the rematch? The first game between the teams would mean absolutely nothing. Yes, Ohio State would have a Big Ten championship, but Michigan would have the grand prize.

Such a scenario reminds me of how Nebraska backed into the title game against Miami. They were absolutely masacred by Colorado and still had a shot to compete for the 'ship. Now, I do realize that the Michigan game was very close, but that's not the parallel I'm looking to draw. The connection is the fact that Michigan wasn't good enough to win their own conference, so how do they deserve to win the National Title?

Michigan had their shot at the Buckeyes; they played valiantly and damn near pulled it out (they were maybe one Crable roughing the passer penatly away from a win), but they missed their opportunity. It's time to let another top team in the nation have a go at the Buckeyes.

School of thought 2: Michigan may have lost, but they're still the second best team in the nation.

So what if Michigan lost? They weren't blown out; it was unbelievably close. Hell, no one has challenged Ohio State this much since last year's Texas game. In my books Michigan is still the second best team in the nation, and the purpose of the BCS is to match up the two best teams so they can battle it out for the title.

Yes, Florida is a good team. If they win out against FSU and Arkansas, they can boast a strong argument for a spot in the title game, but they're not as solid as Michigan is. Florida may have an offensive mastermind as a coach, but their offense does not reflect their coach. It is still developing. Some will say that Michigan's offense isn't all that great either, so I will just refer those folks to today's scoreboard. Florida's defense isn't a match for Michigan's either; they are just overall a small notch below the Wolverines. USC? They've struggled to beat the dregs of the Pac-10, actually losing to one of them. Notre Dame? Yep, demolished by Michigan. Arkansas? That opening game really is an eyesore.

Michigan's loss was against the #1 team in the land. Ohio State has unanimously been number one for quite some time now. A three point loss to them just proves that Michigan can give OSU a run for their money in the 'ship.

Say, Michigan and Ohio State played their rivalry game Labor Day weekend a la FSU and Miami. Everything else equal, Michigan would almost unanimously be ranked #2 in the nation. They would have had plenty of time to climb up the rankings as every other team lost to lesser opponents. It's unjust to penalize Michigan for saving it's toughest match up for the end of the year. Afterall, a loss is a loss, so what if it came a few months later?

In pro football, it's quite possible that the teams set to play in the Super Bowl have played eachother in the regular season. Does that mean that the team that lost during the season should be ousted from the championship game? No. Some critics say that a rematch would lessen the importance of the first game and diminsh its importance. To an extent it would, but any regular season game is dwarfed by the championship. Plus this past game would play heavily upon the championship. Whole game plans would be set based on the results of the first game.

A BCS Mess (Part one of a three part series)

2006-11-19T01:44:00.000-06:00

Now that the long-awaited Michigan-Ohio State tilt is over, it is time to start sorting out the mess that is the BCS. Ohio State has locked up its place in the title game, but who will earn the right to be the National Runner-Up? Will USC reprise its role from last year, or will it be one of the SEC teams, Arkansas or Florida? Could we see a rematch in the title game, and see Big Blue get a second shot at the Crimson and Gray? Or will hell freeze over (making James a happy man in the process) with the Fighting Irish in the 'ship?

At this point, it's tough to say. I think odds are the Torjans will move into the driver's seat, but a lot of this is going to depend on what the voters say about Michigan's loss. Voters can either reward Michigan for playing Ohio State very closely IN Ohio State, I may add, by not dropping them that far or they can reward the Trojans for their win against Cal, thereby penalizing the Wolverines. As of last week's polls, Michigan held a 200 vote lead over the Trojans in the Harris Poll and about a 150 vote lead in the Coaches' poll (the Trojans are third in the Harris and fourth, behind Florida, in the Coaches'). I think USC will move up to third in the Coaches' poll, at the least. Living out on the West Coast, I have a good feel for how big of a win this was, having seen both teams all year long, and I think USC will be justly rewarded for their win. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the coaches won't penalize Michigan as much as the Harris pollers will. I have no evidence for that, but it's just a hunch. That difference could potentially keep Michigan in a viable spot for the title, but that's purely speculation.

We also have to factor in the computers into this mess. It's hard enough when you're just dealing with people, but things are going to change drastically in the computer rankings. Prior to this week, the comps have had a raging, mega-boner for the Wolverines. They had all first place votes from the computers, while the Rutgers Scarlet Knights(!!!) were the team favored the second most by the computers. With Michigan's loss and Rutgers' loss who abosrb all those votes?

As you can see it's all up in the air, and until the polls are released we aren't going to know anything else. When that day comes, expect a full-blown article about it, but until then, here are some of the scenario's each school is going to have to hope for to get into the 'ship.
(in order of likeliness that we will see them in the 'ship)

Ohio State Buckeyes - Need their plane to take off on time and land at the right airport.

USC Trojans - Win out. A win against Notre Dame should be enough to secure a place in the championship, regardless of how the SEC plays out.

Florida Gators - Win out and hope that USC loses against UCLA or Notre Dame. If worst comes to worst, blow out Arkansas in the title game and pray that USC has two last second victories, which probably still wouldn't be enough.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Win out and put a voodoo spell on the SEC, so that Florida loses to Florida St. but beats Arkansas in the SEC title game. OR absolutely destroy USC and hope that Arkansas winning in an unimprseeive fashion is enough to get into the game.

Arkansas Razorbacks - Steal the luck from the Irish, and then have my boys, UCLA, take care of USC (afterall, a Trojan is only good once) and then pound Florida into oblivion.

Rutgers - Fuh-get-about-it

Michigan - TBD determined once we find out how the plays out.

Boise State - Move to a BCS conference.

Texas - Get a time machine and make sure you don't lose a week ago.

Coming soon...Part 2: Does Michigan deserve a spot in the title game? (A biased and unbiased view)
and
Part 3: Now that the polls are out, what should we expect?

Rumor Mill is Churning

2006-11-18T14:43:00.000-06:00

Now it seems like Texas is interested in Garland. Ken Rosenthal reported that the Sox are close to trading Jon Garland to the Rangers for a package centering around minor league pitcher John Danks.

I'm going to see if I can find anything else about this pacakge and post accordingly. At the least, I'll make a post about Danks later in the day.

Keys to Victory in the Game

2006-11-18T14:32:00.000-06:00

I'm giddy with joy as this game approaches, and my this game yes, I mean Michigan-OSU. I may be Chicago fan for all things sports, but I was introduced to college football by my uncle from Michigan, and he converted me at a young age to a Michigan fan; so this game is a big deal for me. Rather than just analyze the game like EVERYONE in the world has done, I'm just going to point out some keys to victory for each team.

Ohio State will win if...

-Troy Smith realizes he's great at running the football. This season he has been deadset on proving himself as a pass first QB, but he most dangerous when the threat of him taking off running is present.

-They get Anthony Gonzalez going. Gonzalez gashed Michigan for big yardage last year. While Ginn gets most of the big receptions and ESPN worthy catches, Gonzalez is solid as hell and I think he'll have more of an impact than Ginn.

-Mike Hart is limited. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but Michigan has a ridiculous record when Hart has over 100 yards. It's like 25-2 or something in that ballpark.

Michigan will win if...

-They get pressure on Troy Smith, but ensure that he doesn't escape for a big scramble. Michigan has potentially the best front line in the nation. Tey can and will get seom serious pressure on Smith; it's just a matter of whether or not he can scramble away.

-Mario Manningham gets involved early. If Michigan gets Mario invovled with a deep ball, that's going to keep the OSU defense honest.

-Give Steve Breaston and Mike Hart touches. Hart, although small will wear down defenses. Breaston, like Ginn but to a lesser degree, can bust one at any moment for a huge gain. He had his first big game of the season last week, which bodes well for Michigan.

I'm not going to make a score prediction because I'm obviously biased, so all I'm going to say is GO BLUE!

Update on Ozzie's Wet Dream and Onto Jeeves' (not so wet) Dream

2006-11-17T20:02:00.000-06:00

Crisis averted. Apparently Bruce Levine reported on the radio that the Sox are not the team that offered the 3-year $15 mil contract to Alex Gonzalez. Those sounds you here are the collective sigh of relief by Sox fans and Ozzie's stiffled sobs as his dream player won't be coming to Chicago.

While that rumor died fast, there are even more rumors circulating around the Sox. It looks like yet another team has entered the Freddy Garcia derby. According to the Sun Times

Among the more interesting scenarios is a pitch that sources say the Los Angeles Angels made for right-hander Freddy Garcia, whom they highly covet. The Angels' deal would call for a package that includes right-hander Ervin Santana, who turns 24 on Dec. 12.
Santana, who went 16-8 with a 4.28 ERA, has been dangled by the Angels in talks about acquiring offensive help. But they would part with their key trading chip to land Garcia, 30, who has done some of his best work at Angel Stadium, going 8-1 with a 2.99 ERA during his career.

I'm praying that this rumor is true. While Ervin is no Johan Santana, he is still a damn good pitcher and certainly is worthy of the Santana surname. If I was Kenny, I would pull the trigger on Santana for Freddy straight up, let alone a package including Santana. Odds are, this rumor will never come to fruition, because it would be a ridiculous move for the Angels to make. Garcia looked good with his cutter, but he will be a free agent after next season, whereas Santana is locked up for four more years.

Ozzie's Wet Dream: Hold Your Breath Sox Fans

2006-11-17T01:31:00.000-06:00

I was perusing Jim's page to see what he thought about the Cotts trade, and what do you know, there's talk of ANOTHER move by the Sox. Let me tell you, if this is true, I'm very disappointed in Kenny. According to a blogger for the Boston Globe, SS Alex Gonzalez (from the Red Sox, the one that Ozzie loooooves) has received a three-year $15 million contract from an undisclosed team. Cafardo, the blogger, then goes on to say that the offer didn't come from the Bo-Sox nor the Blue Jays. He cites that sources say the team could be either the White Sox or the Reds. Not exactly the most definite proof, but it's worrisome nonetheless.

We're potentially giving this guy $5 mil a year, which I think is obscene. I'd say Juan plays slightly better D, and has slightly better hitting numbers, with Juan coming up bigger in power numbers. Jim points out over the last 3 years Juan has averaged .257/.296/.454 with 27 2B's and 20 HR's vs. Alex's .249/.294/.397 with 28 2B's and 12 HR's. Both players had their career year factored into that 3 year span. I can't speculate whether or not the Sox are actually the team that offered him the contract, seeing as I'm a modest blogger with no real industry sources, but I can speculate about the Sox options from here on out.

Option A.) Realize they are crazy and withdraw their offer to Gonzalez

Option B.) Trade Uribe to a team in the market for a SS. IE the Reds or the Red Sox.

Option C.) Trade Gonzalez to a team in the market for a SS. IE the Reds or the Red Sox. (This would be the all time sneakiest move. Take a free-agent and then trade him immediately, essentially getting something for nothing. Does anyone know if such a move would even be allowed. I know in European soccer a player isn't allowed to change teams more than once per transfer period).

Option D.) Trade Alex Cintron to a team in the market for a SS or a 2B.

Option E.) Package one of said SS for prospect and/or a good back up catcher that can hit lefties and/or bullpen help and/or a competent left fielder.

Option F.) Do didly and be ridiculously deep at one position.

Oh yes, before I forget Gonazalez is 2 years older than Juan, yet another reason why I wouldn't want him to replace Uribe as our SS.

Friday Five

2006-11-16T23:22:00.000-06:00

It is officially Friday, and D.A. Humber has officially put up the Friday Five. Check it out, yours truly is there!

Cross-town Trade

2006-11-16T15:03:00.000-06:00

That's right, KDubs has pulled off a trade with the our cross-town rivals, the Flubs, er I mean the Cubs. There isn't a clear winner in this trade, although I'll say be got the better end of the deal, whereas Cubs fans will say they got the better deal. I just hope it turns out as one sided as our last deal with the Cubs...Matt Karchner for Jon Garland.

So, to the trade. Neal Cotts is heading north, and in return we get bug-eyed David Aardsma and minor league reliever Carlos Vasquez. Vasquez, a 23 year-old lefty, had decent numbers in high-A ball and AA ball. In 85 innings he had a 2.75 ERA with 91 K's. In 45 appearances for the Cubs, Aardsma (who you may remember for replacing Hank Aaron as the player listed first alphabetically in basbeball history) had a 4.08 ERA. In 53 innings of work he had 49 K's and 28 BB's. He may not look like much, but his second half was markedly better, which bodes well. Post-ASB, he had a 3.12 ERA in 35.2 innings and had 35 K's along with 14 BB's.

The rap on Aardsma is that he has a good amount of potential, but has had trouble with his mechanics. His faulty mechanics have caused his fastball to drop from the 93-97 mph range he reached in college to the low 90's. I may be getting ahead of myself here, but I'm thinking Matt Thornton here. Coop's specialty seems to be taking high potential guys, twiddling with their mechanics, and getting results. If he can be anywhere near as productive as Thornton, this will be a good trade for us, regardless of how Vasquez pans out.

At first, I will admit, that I was a little upset about giving up Cotts for what seemed like so little, but as I thought about it, Cotts was never that great to begin with. Yes, he was lights out for us in '05, and he played a huge role in our World Series run, but outside of that year, he has been pretty mediocre. Last year he had a 5.17 ERA and always threatened to put a crooked number up on the board; in '04 he had a 5.65 ERA in 65 innings. The more and more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Cotts would bounce back. I think he bounced back last year...to his crappier ways of the past.

I think the Cubs are banking on Cotts returning to his '05 form. There has also been talks about him being given a shot in the rotation. KW had talked about such a move in the past, but it just never worked out considering how set we are with regards to starters. The Cubs on the other hand have Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Zambrano, so there's a good chance Cotts will become a starter again (he was mainly a starter in the minors, even starting the Future's Game one year). My advice to the Cubs is to stick him in the 'pen. Cotts has a decent fastball and a mediocre slider. He essentially a two pitch pitcher, which won't serve him well if he is a starter.

So good-bye to you Neal; we'll always have '05.

And welcome David and Carlos

(See he does have crazy eyes!)

Baseball Panel

2006-11-16T14:41:00.000-06:00

Every Friday during the off-season D.A. Humber facilitates a discussion about some of the hot-topic issues in baseball. He supplies 5 statements to a panel of 3 bloggers and they agree or disagree with the statement and add their thoughts. Last week's version looked like this.

D.A. has been kind enough to invite me to be part of the panel for this Friday, so I highly recommened you take a look.

The Bears Layeth the Smackdown

2006-11-14T04:01:00.000-06:00

The one thing I hate most about being a Chicago sports fan is the fact that it has been ingrained in me to be pessimistic about all things related to sports. Sometimes I combat that with undue optimism (that usually happens with the White Sox), but more often times than not, I keep all my optimistic predictions and plans in check with the cold hard reality that Chicago teams have an uncanny ability to blow a good thing.

As the Bears ran up their undefeated record, I was overjoyed. We were playing great defense and we actually had more than just a semblance of an offense. Even after watching us sneak by Hollywood Leinart and the Cards, I still had a sneaking feeling the proverbial shit was going to hit the fan (part of that could be attributed to Mike Brown being lost for the year).

The Bears sleep walked through their game against Miami and then continued to bend over and take it from behind against the Giants in the first half until there were 35 seconds left. All the while, I couldn't help but think, shit, this if this is the best we can do, cancel that victory parade. I mean, I was hoping for a win, I knew we had the ability to pull it out, but I wasn't unduly optimistic.

I was actually in town to watch this game, well the beginning at least. I left for the airport as the Bears punted with 6+ minutes left in the game. I was down in the dumps at this point; leaving home and all AND the Bears losing, but I loyally listened on the radio nonetheless.

That's when things changed. We showed some life before the half, and then as I sat at my gate surrounded by 3 Grossman jerseys, and an Urlacher jersey, watching the game on a TV that had a 20 second delay (it really did, I was talking to someone on the phone during parts of the game and for some reason the TV in the airport was way behind her TV) the Bears transformed in the team we all knew they could be, into the team we all hoped they would be again.

Everyone that watched the Seahawks game saw how damn good this team is, but in the weeks since then, a combination of bad opponents and some sloppy play rubbed off some of the luster from that win. The Bears were starting to look, dare I say it, overlooked. But after they came out all guns a'blazing in the second half they reclaimed they place as team to beat in the NFC and perhaps in the NFL.

This had to be a seriously demoralizing game for other NFC teams. The Beasts (I typoed Beast instead of Bears, but it's fitting so it's going to stay) played a sloppy first half and for all intensive purposes looked ready to prove my turnover theory all over again, yet were only down 3 at halftime. The Giants were playing well, they were bringing it to the Bears; they looked like the team that was in the midst of a 5 game winning streak. The hottest team in the NFC, the heirs to title of best team in the NFC could only muster a 3 point lead at half. The Bears finally pulled it together and blew them out of the water in the second half.

For all the New Orleans of the world and the Carolinas, how do you feel after that game? The Bears came in with no momentum, whereas the Giants came in with all the momentum in the world and were sqaushed. The Bears shut down Eli, Plaxico, and the NY passing game (note to all receivers, don't talk trash; it makes the Bears really angry, and there's no reason to give them extra incentive to beat you, shut you down, crush you, rape you wives, etc). Tiki Barber even had a 7.4 average per carry (19-141), but that gave the Giants bupkus; they still were humbled. Urlacher summed it up pretty well "We took the Giants' best shot and survived. They took it to us early, but we hung in there. That's why this was a big win for us.''

With this win, the Bears have reestablished their dominance and have made it clear that the road to the Super Bowl will run through Soldier Field. So to hell with skepticism for now. I'm going to ride this wave of optimism for all it's worth. Who cares if we got gouged again by the opponents running game; who cares if the loss of Mike Brown may end up killing us. At this moment, I'm just pumped that the Bears Layeth the Smackdown upon the Giants. Excuse me for my optimism, but 15-1 and Super Bowl number 2, here we come!

White Sox Roundtable Part 3

2006-11-14T03:03:00.000-06:00

The final episode of our Trilogy: Kenny's quest for more rings

I linked to the Elias Sports Bureau's Free Agent Compensation Ratings last week, but I didn't even think to look at where Alomar and Riske ranked. I just assumed that they were worthless and wouldn't be offered arbitration. That's not the case, however, as Keith pointed out in the comments section, Riske is a Type A free agent. My question to you: What should the Sox do with Riske?

Tom: You can find a pitcher just like Riske for less than $2.5 million. Sure, it's not much, but it's $2.5 million that can go towards Joe Crede's salary.

Keith: I'd offer him arbitration. Afterall, Wayne Krivsky could always use another reliever, right? He'll willingly throw 2 years, $4 million at Riske...

But seriously, I think that offering Riske arbitration is a pretty small risk (no pun intended). If he accepts, it'd be easy to trade him as he'd be making what, $2.5 million? And, you might get lucky and have a team sign him. The Sox could always use an extra high draft pick.

Jeeves: I agree. Worst case scenario we get stuck with an OK arm in the 'pen. Unless we make some extravagant move, we shouldn't have the need to pinch pennies, so paying him $2.5 mil won't be that big of a deal.

James: But $2.5 million for a non-closer/ non-setup guy? Yeah, my budget screams for that. Then again, I think his salary will decline if he accepts the arbitration, and how often does that happen? (I read that note at MLB Trade Rumors that a lot of teams are offering two and three year deals to relievers not titled closer more often, and in the fickle and fragile world of middle relief -- anyone that's not a closer -- I'm not sure why that's a smart thing.)

Do you play russian roulette here hoping that another team signs him and take the salary hit if they don't? I didn't realize the MLB was governed by NASDAQ and CBOE rules of trade? Or maybe I'm just naive.

Criminal Appeal: I agree that it makes no sense to spend big money on relievers, especially one's who pitch limited innings in generally low-leverage situations. Having said that, if the Sox could turn Riske into a draft pick I'd just about wet myself with excitement. I guess it's a risk/reqrd analysis. Is the market for middle relievers strong enough that you trust someone else to pay to take Riske off our hands in this scenario? It may be with all the talk about the Jamie Walkers and Justin Speiers of the world.

Jim: I'm amazed that David F. Riske has produced the toughest question so far. Everybody has good points.

If the way he ended the season was any indication (only three of his last 10 outings were scoreless), I wouldn't offer it to him, unless the Sox had a strong feeling he'd reject it.

$2.5 million doesn't mean a lot for position players, but it can make a difference in a bullpen. A difference-maker Riske ain't. I'd keep that money stored away for the deadline next year, when the Sox are only buying half a season of relief if they're in need of bullpen help.

Cheat: I'm glad you guys came up with the $2.5M number on your own. When I originally wrote the question, I sort of answered it myself using $2.5M as my guesstimated arbitration award. Either we're all really smart, or well, let's not talk about the alternative.

As for what I would do: I'd offer him arbitration. If for no other reason than some team will be willing to guarantee him multiple years on the free agent market. He's not going to get that here. So from Riske's point of view, he'd be deciding between 2.5 for a year on the southside or something like 4-5M over two years somewhere else. Most players will take the latter.

Trades: Name your three biggest targets, and try to come up with three trades you can see the Sox making. (those don't necessarily have to be for your three top targets.)

Criminal Appeal: As has been mentioned, Kenny Williams tends to come at the trade block from unforeseen directions. Plus, there is always far more smoke than fire in trade rumors. Still, the Sox need to add a left fielder, and probably a short stop or center fielder, so that they're not lugging around dead weight at more than one position next season. My guess is that they'll shop for value on the free agent market at one position, trade to fill one position, and let the kids battle it out at one position (or let Uribe sit tight if the remaining position is SS). So, where might that trade fit in? I think three of the most intriguing names are Michael Young, Carl Crawford and Coco Crisp (I'm considering A-Rod a pipe dream and hoping to be shocked at this point).

Young is coming off a season in which his on-base percentage was over .350, he hit 14 homeruns, and he played an outstanding defensive shortstop. The defense is an improvement for him, but the other numbers were right around Baseball Prospectus's projection for him. Plus, he's 29 years old. So, he seems like a safe bet to repeat his established production for the next few years.

Crawford hit 18 homeruns this season and posted an on-base percentage just under .350. He plays a below average defense in left field. He outperformed his mean projection in somewhere in the range of the 75th to 90th percentile. Right now Young is the better player, but Crawford is 24 and getting better.

Crisp is the most interesting case because of his injury problems this year. He was limited to about 100 games and his on-base percentage dipped to .317. Offensively, Crisp under-performed his 10th percentile projection this year. He's an average CF, and played excellent defense in LF in 2005, when he was out there regularly. In all likelihood, he is both undervalued, and going to bounce back if healthy. He's 26, which means he's probably full developed and will never be much better than he was in 2005. But a .350 on-base percentage, 15 home runs and great LF defense would be a welcome addition.

I guess that of these three guys, my first preference would be Young. However, if the Sox can get Crisp at a discount because of his struggles in 2006, then that's an opportunity that I wouldn't pass on. Whoever the Sox acquire, we know the bargaining chips: a starting pitcher (Garcia or Buehrle) plus a prospect (hopefully not Fields). I'd give up those two assets for any of the above.

Jim:

Coco Crisp. I think the Sox really admire his game, and he's the typical Sox target. Very good defensive left fielder, likes to run -- and while his OBP dropped as he battled nagging injuries, he stole 22 of 26 bases, by far the best percentage of his career.
Who they'd give up: Freddy Garcia. Though I'd hope to get some sort of prospect back as well, given the situation Boston's in.
Chone Figgins. He seems like he's going to be pushed out eventually with this new wave of players coming in. He has the speed Ozzie likes, and can play a few positions decently.
Who they'd give up: I have no clue. The Angels could use some high-OBP guys, and the Sox don't have a wealth of those in the minors.
Jeff DaVanon: My thinking is: If Brady Clark, why not DaVanon? DaVanon's cheaper, younger, more versatile, and just as likely to be pushed out of the AZ outfield picture. I'm not sure how much he'll cost -- from what I can tell, he'll be in the $900,000 - $1,000,000 range. He's coming off ankle surgery, which could depress his value. AZ may not want to part with him since Eric Byrnes needs to get out first, but I'd try for DaVanon before thinking about Clark.
Who they'd give up: Arizona could use pitching. Heath Phillips-caliber plus another body?

Vince: I don't know if this is the least bit likely, but I want to throw the idea out if we're talking about huge, smack-your-forehead trades that Kenny Williams could make. Vernon Wells. The Jays are interested in moving him because he doesn't want to stay in Toronto beyond the end of his contract, which ends in 2007. Wells will be eligible for free agency after the upcoming season.
The upsides are that Wells is a tremendous player on both sides of the ball, a replacement for Podsednik (albeit, one who would play center field) and a huge addition to the offense that offsets regression from players such as Dye and Crede or, in the case of Crede, if he gets traded. Another upside is that it allows the Sox to let Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney split left field.
The risks are that the Sox would have to give up a lot of talent to get Wells with the uncertainty of whether they would have him for more than one year, and another potential long-term contract if the Sox were able to re-sign him.
I agree that the Sox are targeting Michael Young. I think they will be better off without Young, unless they somehow convinced him to play second base. I worry about Young's defense, although I think he scored better on Chris Dial's Zone Rating-related metric this year.
A third big trade target? I highly, highly doubt it, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like the deal, but I'll say ... Dontrelle Willis.

Keith: I'm sorry to Vince, but I'm going to have to snatch his idea in my trade thoughts.
The first trade I see is the obvious move of a starting pitcher. With Contreras' no trade clause, moving Garcia makes the most sense. I've been preaching it for the past two months, so why stop now? Garcia + Cintron (completing the Mets' secondbase platoon) for Aaron Heilman + Lastings Milledge.
The Sox then send a package centered around Milledge to Toronto for Vernon Wells. Since question six seems geared towards these hypothetical trades, I'll say Milledge + Fields + Broadway for Wells. The Sox would empty out the farm system, but, as in most cases (/aside: damn Vazquez/Young trade), Williams gets back the best player. Wells is in his prime, and if he comes close to matching his production from last season, is a top twenty player in all of baseball.
It doesn't solve the "problem" of not having a leadoff hitter, but you could easily slip Wells into the two spot and slide Iguchi to leadoff.
BTW -- I think Terrero will end up as the 4th OFer, for better or for worse.

James: Will the Sox try the Milwaukee well again and pursue a very cheap Brady Clark? Or how about former trading partner Arizona and Gold Glover Orlando Hudson? Would KW try and justify the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow, A-Rod? Or will Michael Young be shipped our way for the enigma that is Freddy Garcia?
Let me ask this: was Jim Thome on any of our radars last off-season? Well, he wasn't on mine; that trade was a complete shock. But the Javy Vazquez trade wasn't as much of a shock cuz KW had made no secret of his desire for him. The point is...expect something from KW. He's never been shy about trading youth for talent or potential for experience. And yet we all heard about him casing Mark Prior last year. What is certain is that KW has an eye for underappreciated and undervalued talent, and he will bring someone in.
This question, though, was about specific trades, and I have to pose at least one serious scenario, so here it is...
The big trade, if it happens, will be trading from a position of strength (starting pitching). Either Garcia, McCarthy or Vazquez will be traded (Buehrle is the only lefty starter the Sox will count on) along with either Sweeney, Fields, Broadway or Owens for Ichiro (doubtful but intriguing), Mike Cameron (a decent fit) or Coco Crisp (if healthy). I really think KW's focus is lead-off hitter/left fielder with OBP and defense in mind.

Tom: Of the names I've heard thrown around the one that really makes my mouth water is easily Michael Young. I would LOVE to see that guy in a White Sox uniform. He can field, he can hit, and he's as clutch as anybody in the Majors in big situations.
Carl Crawford is another guy who I like, my only question is how much we would have to give up for him. The price would be high to get him, and how much we would have to pay him to get him to stay here would be large so I fear it may cost us somebody else.
I don't really like Coco Crisp that much. He tends to kill the White Sox, and suck against everybody else. So if he was on the Sox he would suck full time.
I will make it clear that I do NOT want A-Rod. It's nothing against his ability as a baseball player, I just hate the guy, and would feel horrible if I had to root for him.
I wouldn't mind seeing Mike Cameron back in a White Sox uniform either.

Jeeves: Most of the trades I've heard about and mulled over have been said already, so there's no point in me repeating them, but I did come across a trade proposal by some blogger (I can't remember from where)as I was surfing the net a couple weeks ago... Freddy Garcia to the Padres for Scott Linebrink and Mike Cameron. I'm not quite familiar enough with the Padres to comment on whether or not they would be likely to make such a trade, but it would plug up two holes for us.

Cheat: Elsewhere I had proposed a swap of Scott Podsednik for Yorvit Torrealba based on the rumors that the Rockies were interested in Dave Roberts and Sarge Jr. But just now after looking through the '06 Rockies roster, I discovered that they've already got a bunch of crappy light-hitting speed guys who play CF poorly. They don't need Podsednik when they've got Cory Sullivan, Choo Freeman, and Ryan Spilborghs. They've probably got a Nook Logan in there somewhere too.
Come to think of it, didn't Logan end the year with the Nationals, who are about to lose one outfielder to free agency? The Nationals don't have much of anything in their minor league system, and Bowden's not the sharpest tool in the shed; maybe he'll part with Ryan Church, whose respectability has been wasted by spending far too much time in New Orleans. Church would fit perfectly into the role that Rob Mackowiak was forced into last season. That doesn't fix our problem hitting lefties, and probably means Rob is our full-time LFer or on his way out of town via trade.
Before even reading Keith's response, I had the same idea with the exception of targeting Carl Crawford instead of Wells. I have bad memories of trading for Blue Jays named Wells, even if we did "win" that trade.
I think the conundrum then becomes which would you prefer; Garcia for Crisp, or the package for Garcia plus some of our top prospects flipped for Wells/Crawford?
I wasn't really able to find a fit for Podsednik, who I think we all acknowledge will be gone, but I suspect he's coveted by a few teams supposedly in the market for a leadoff hitter. Can you guys come up with anything that will work for both sides?
This concludes the White Sox Bloggers of the Roundtable. I'd like to thank the other Sox bloggers -- and Keith -- for their participation and the Cheat for arranging all this. Maybe we'll get something like this together for spring training, or to analyze the off-season, who knows?

White Sox Roundtable Part 2

2006-11-11T22:39:00.000-06:00

My input in MLBTradeRumors top 50 free agents list resulted in the Sox being shut out in their predictions. I couldn't see the Sox being the top bidder for anyone on that list. Is there anyone on that list who you think the Sox will be pursuing heavily?

Criminal Appeal: I could see, and would definately like to see, the Sox take a serious run at Dave Roberts. He can play an adequate CF, or above average LF, gets on base, and should come cheaper than some other options. I think he'd be a great fit.

Jeeves: I could definitely see us going after Dave Roberts. He'll be affordable (a plus in KW's eyes) and he's speedy and can steal bases (a plus in Ozzie's eye). He won't be the solution for the foreseeable future, but he's an upgrade over our current situation.

Keith: Dave Roberts: I don't think Kenny Williams really wants Pierre or Matthews, but I'd also bet that Ozzie is pressuring him to get some type of "speedster" in here to leadoff. Roberts is acceptable in that he won't get the money that Pierre or Matthews will get, but he can be a nice one or two year stop gap. Then again, it goes against Kenny's MO to just go for the stop-gap and not necessarily the best solution out there, which is why I have absolutely no idea who will be the White Sox' starting left-fielder in 2007.

Who I think the Sox will pursue differs heavily from who I want the Sox to pursue: Moises Alou. The guy will be 40 next season, but he can still rake. The reason I really want Alou is because of his numbers vs lefties. Over his career, his OPS against lefties (.952) is almost 100 points higher than his OPS vs righties. Albeit in a fairly small sample size (~175 ABs), his OPS the past two seasons vs lefties is north of 1.100. I also like Alou because I think you can get him at a pretty good price for one year, allowing Sweeney to develop and take over in 2008. I know that signing Alou wouldn't solve the leadoff hitter problem, but frankly, I don't really care. I'll take the 35+ homers that a healthy Alou could provide over the 40 stolen bases from the typical leadoff hitter.

Vince: I think a good reason not to sign Alou is defense. He was pretty poor playing right field last year (-12 runs/150 games according to Chris Dial's version of Zone Rating). Another good reason is that he adds another old player to the roster, and old players bring injury risks.

James:Unfortunately, Alou is the kinda guy KW just might pursue if his first, second and third choices are unavailable especially cuz he'll essentially be a rental player for one season until Sweeney is ready.

This will mean more leadoff for Iguchi and possibly BA, and those are ideas I can't live with. Don't be surprised to see Pods back for one more season if KW can't get his man to replace him.

Cheat: Iguchi leading off: I think that was Keith's point. He has a skill set better equipped for the lead off spot than any other player on the Sox 40-man roster. He works deep counts, is fast enough, and gets on base at a reasonable clip. I also don't understand the rush to get a sub-20 HR guy into an "rbi slot" in the lineup.

Jeeves: I think we'll make a run at Gary Matthews Jr, but ultimately he'll be priced out of the range we're willing to pay.

Personally, I think this is a good thing. I'm really unsure as to whether or not he'll put up such good numbers again next year. His numbers, across the board, are significantly better, and I don't know if it's a one year aberration or a sign of things to come. Plus, he's somehow parlayed his leaping, wall scaling catch into a reputation as a great fielder. He's decent, but not earth-shatteringly good. Zone rating actually has ranked him pretty low; he's ranked as one of the lowest of regular center fielders. And as Keith said, we need to keep a good D behind our pitchers to give them the best possible shot at rebounding.

James: I, too, think Matthews will price himself out of the White Sox price range which means Soriano will be somewhere near Mars when it comes to the Sox and money. And that's too bad; Soriano has an offensive skill set every team would die for. I'm not really that sold on Matthews, anyways. He's in his 30's already, and he's just had his career year. Regression will happen, and while left field would seem a better fit for his defensive skill set, I'm not sure he'd be willing to move.

Lets remember that Kenny Williams likes to pick up under the radar FA's with less value and more upside, so I can see him pursing a David Dellucci (I cqan't believe he's 32 alrady). I have a feeling that Dave Roberts may be a Pods-clone in the making with the weak arm and an uncertain CFer (will BA be okay?) Would you want Roberts patrolling CF?

I don't think there'll be much FA hunting from KW, instead I expect him to more actively pursue trades to fix his position holes.

Tom: I think Juan Pierre and Dave Roberts are two very distinct possibilities.

Jim: This looks to be a trade year for KW, though you could say that about every year. Given the shape and state of the market, I don't think the "big" names like Carlos Lee are going to get what they're looking for, but I think the mid-level guys are going to get a nice boost.

If David Dellucci were right-handed, he'd be ideal. Same with Frank Catalanotto. I think Dave Roberts is pushing harder for the Sox than the other way around -- it's a team that'd make him look good, even if he declines.

If only the Sox could commit to the idea of Ross Gload as a left fielder and give him playing time there in winter and spring, Craig Wilson would be a hell of an idea. He plays a decent first, a bad outfield (like Carl Everett, from what I've seen), and can crush lefties.

It'd be a great move in MVP 2005, anyway.

I probably should have asked this prior to the Free Agent question... KW and the local Sox beat reporters have been very quiet on the Sox budget for '07. I know one national online columnists keeps writing that the Sox are looking to drop payroll, which I think we all can agree is bunk. But the question is Where does the 2007 budget wind up? Is Kenny being quiet because they're ready to really step to the next level of spending thanks to a boatload of sellouts, creative marketing deals, and a new section of high price seating, or is Jerry looking to line the pockets of the investors with their newfound revenue streams? I guess what I'm really asking is Kenny going to surprise us with a big free agent signing or blockbuster trade?

Jeeves: I don't see the Sox making a big splash in the free agency markert. Zito, Soriano, CLee, and Matsuzaka are all going to cost far too much money. Outside of them, there aren't really any desireable, young free agents for us to pick up, and Kenny isn't the type to spend money just for the sake of spending money.

It's conceivable that KW would pick someone up via trade but I can't think of anyone with such a large salary that it would be an issue. We've all heard the A-Rod rumors, but I think it's doubtful that we'll get him.

Keith: I think that Kenny will be allowed to spend a number right around $105 million. I would like to think that the "cap" is a little closer to $110, but $105 is plenty. Whether or not Kenny decides to use that or not is the obvious question, and honestly, I have no idea what to expect this winter.

My strongest convictions this winter are that Freddy Garcia will be traded, and that Juan Uribe will be our starting SS.

James: I really don't see a change in organizational philosophy, i.e., spending low for FA's, splash big with trades, coming anytime soon. KW's recent big spending has been more to retain his own FA's, not sign new ones.

That being said, in order to remain even at the status quo in on-the-field performance the payroll will almost certainly increase, and if Cashman were to ask the right price, KW would take A-Rod in a heartbeat.

The White Sox revenue pool will continue to grow next season so expect the Sox to remain in the thick of things. (If the Sox are competitive next season, expect a much more active KW around the trade deadline.)

So, yes, expect the salary budget to increase this season but mostly thru trades and resigning our own (Joe Crede extension after arbitration, maybe Mark Buehrle?) FA's.

Tom: I don't think we'll increase the payroll too much, if at all.

I don't expect any kind of big name free agent signing, but I'm fully expecting KW to make some kind of trade. Whether it's a blockbuster or not, I don't know. I assume it would be large, cuz if KW has showed us anything it's that he likes to make the big move in the offseason rather than in July.

Criminal Appeal: Anyone have a copy of Baseball Between the Numbers lying around? My recollection is that the financial windfall from a World Series win lingers for five years or so, which would indicate that the Sox should be able to keep spending among the upper tier of teams. This organization has always been willing to use a fair portion of its resources to put the best possible product on the field. The decisions aren't always perfect, but the commitment has been there.

Jim: I don't see what Kenny or the Sox have to gain by disclosing the budget this year, no matter what happens. Last year, given that the Sox were going to re-sign Paul Konerko for a big deal and had arbitration for Jon Garland, it was a given that payroll was going to shoot up. I don't think they were hurting negotiation leverage any.

Crede's the only incumbent question mark in terms of this year's payroll, so they're better off saying less. Still, with the amount of roster spots up for grabs in 2008, they have to be really careful about what they do this year, for a team not needing any real face lift. I don't see any drastic changes with regards to money, maybe $105-110M.

Vince: I think the budget will go up a bit more. I think that the 2006 budget, effectively, was about $95 million or so, counting the money the Sox received as part of the Thome and Vázquez trades. I haven't heard anything to suggest that season-ticket renewals fell off. I agree with the point above that the Reinsdorf ownership group has generally been willing to use revenue increases to boost payroll. I think $105 million, if the Sox find players worth spending it on, is about right.

Cheat: I was really trying to get somebody to drop the name Mark Mulder.

He's a local boy, grew up a Sox fan.
His reduced effectiveness the last two seasons can be traced directly to the injury in his throwing shoulder for which he underwent surgery in September. The injury altered his throwing motion and resulted in a decrease in velocity.
He's expressed interest in working with "a great pitching coach," though he was referring to Leo Mazzone when he said that.
Mulder fits Kenny's recent acquisitions of (possibly) undervalued above-average starters. (see: Garcia, Contreras, Vazquez, and even Hernandez)
Most importantly, he's not represented by Scott Boras.

I haven't seen the Sox connected to Mulder, but I think they're in the mix. The only question is will one of the other 8 teams who've expressed early interest go crazy with a long-term guaranteed deal.
Jim: After Javier Vazquez, could the Sox afford to take another so-so NL pitcher as a reclamation project?
I like Mulder -- he and Buehrle were awesome in 2003, when they pitched three sub-two-hour games. If this were 2004 or '05, he'd be great. 2007? Pass.
Cheat: I don't have a good handle on what Mulder will command in this market given his current status. I'd offer him 2/$15M guaranteed (structured $5M in '07, 10M in '08), with a $15M third-year option. That'd be the Sox standard 3/$30M deal, though a little more creative because of the circumstances. But will there be a team out there willing to top that offer? Probably.

White Sox Roundtable Part 1

2006-11-09T03:48:00.000-06:00

Since the Sox demise at the end of August, it's been awfully tough to find any good discussions about the Sox. I mean, after all my year ending stuff, CHI SOX blog became just a general sports blog. To help generate some discussion, The Cheat from South Side Sox invited some of the best Sox bloggers -- and Keith. He's not much of a blogger -- to join in a friendly chat about the issues facing the Sox this off-season. Partaking in the discussion were Jim from The Sox Machine, Vince from Exile in Wrigleyville, Keith from up there in cheesehead country, James from Fleece the Pig, Flog the Pony, Tom Fornelli from Foul Balls, Criminal Appeal from around Ron Karkovice Fan Club, and your truly.

The discussion ended up being just a tad over 600,000 words, or somewhere in that neighborhood, so we're going to break it up into a few parts. Let's call this Part 1 of 24: laying the groundwork.

Before the 83-win Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, I had taken to calling the '06 White Sox "90-win Failures." I think the Cards' title might have taken some of the sting off the season, for me at least. How did you react to seeing a number of playoff teams with gaping holes playing in October? Has the fickle nature of post-season changed your view at all? Or did you never consider missing the playoffs a failure?

Jeeves: For me, the Cardinals triumph actually furthered my frustrations with the Sox season, but it didn't make it any less or any more of a failure in my eyes.

As the season wore on, I clung to the belief that as long as the Sox somehow slipped into the playoffs, they would be able to do some damage and make a legitimate run at the title. I will admit that outright homer-ism did fuel this belief, to an extent, but looking back at some of the prior World Series participants from the Wild Card era fed this feeling as well.

After all, the Sox did sputter in the second half before sweeping away Cleveland's hopes and running through the playoffs in '05. Then there's the '04 Wild Card Red Sox miraculous come back from an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS, plus the Wild Card Marlins from '03 and the Wild Card Angels from '02. I'm not trying to spark a debate about whether or not it's important to finish the regular season strongly or whether or not the best team always wins, but I do think the MLB playoffs are the biggest crapshoot of all the major sports. No matter how bad your team looks on paper, if you make it to the post-season there's a decent chance you could take the title.
The Cardinals only reinforced this idea with their win. All the pundits, talking heads, anda good number of bloggers dismissed the Cards, but they came through and won it all. All the while, all I could think, is that could have been our boys out there.

Now by all means, I don't count this season as a complete failure. Our goal coming into the season was to repeat as Champs, so in that respect we failed, but we did have a pretty solid season. This is the first time since the Go-Go Sox of '63,'64 and '65 that we've had back-to-back 90 win seasons. Some of our players regressed to their career means, but we still put together a good run. If we can improve on this performance, next year; we just may have another banner to raise. So in my opinion, the season wasn't a complete fiasco, but it wasn't satisfactory either.

James: If recent World Series winners tell us anything, it's that anyone can win in October as long as the pitching is solid. Four of the last seven WS were wild card entrants, but those WC teams had some solid pitching.

How the St. Louis Cardinals won with a pitching staff full of more holes than a wheel of Swiss cheese is a mystery to me. And that exacerbates the failure of the White Sox 90-win season even more so.

Obviously the whole team is to blame, but the lion's share of the failure lay squarely at the feet of the White Sox pitching staff, a clearly superior staff to that of the Cardinals. Were someone to play a seven-game series on paper between the White Sox and Cardinals, eight out of the ten sheets would have the White Sox winning.

How does it not feel like salt in the wound that a team with Jeff Weaver (a modern day Jack McDowell -- overrated) leading them won?

Keith: I'm dissappointed in the simple sense that this team didn't make the playoffs when it was built to precisely do that.

But unfortunately, it's not that simple. Looking within the context of this division, you had a team who had the best pitching in baseball and the best defense in baseball. You had another team that, for around three months (give or take), had arguably the two best lefties -- some could make a case to change "lefties" to "starting pitchers" -- pitching two out of every five days. That same team had two MVP candidates in Mauer and Morneau.

Looking back at it, the Sox had (in my mind) three starters who pitched a fair chunk of the season injured, in Garcia, Contreras, and probably even Buehrle. The last name might be pure speculation on my part, but when Buehrle's fastball is topping out at 86 MPH, something is wrong. Whether or not the situation of handling these "injured" pitchers was handled appropriately is another topic within itself.

It wasn't all gloom, though. Jermaine Dye put together one of the best offensive seasons in a Sox uniform that I have personally seen in my short lifetime. Joe Crede finally had the year we Sox fans have all been waiting for.

So, in the context of everything, I'm not as disappointed as one might think a White Sox fan should be. Going strictly on intangibles and the senses, this 2006 team just didn't have the "feel" of the 2005 group.

Jim: It was a failure in the dictionary sense of the word. I thought they would get into the playoffs, the Sox thought they would get into the playoffs, and they didn't. That's a failure.

But as far as the emotions tied to failure -- anger, disappointment, frustration -- those didn't surface on the radar in anything more than a fleeting state. They were outplayed by worthier teams. It's not like an AL East team feasted on three bottom-feeders to beat them out for a playoff spot.

The Tigers and Twins had to play the same schedule as the Sox, and the Sox had a bigger hole than either team -- having nobody on the pitching staff, rotation or bullpen, on whom they could rely. That wasn't a problem of planning or even usage, but getting the job done. Sometimes that doesn't happen. We move on.

Vince: I considered it a failure that the White Sox did not make the playoffs, but only a small failure. Considering where the franchise as a whole is now compared with two or especially three years ago, the 2006 White Sox have to be considered a qualified success. The Sox were legitimate contenders for nearly the entire season, reinforcing what they accomplished in 2005. Off the field, the Sox are more successful than they have been in years, with ticket sales and TV ratings up significantly. The playoffs, and specifically the success of the Cardinals, didn't change my thinking about the 2006 White Sox.

Tom: For me it pissed me off a little more. I didn't like seeing a team with so many flaws win a World Series, but at the same time I wasn't that surprised.

I think it just went to show how bad the National League was this year. Sure the Cardinals won the World Series, but they just got "hot" at the right time, and ran into Detroit when they were at their worst. Had the Cardinals been in the AL they would have been a 4th place team in the AL East and Central, while finishing 3rd in the West.

Heading into this off-season, what do you see as the Sox' 'gaping holes?'

Jeeves: The things that most people point to that need fixin' are the pitching, the outfield, shortstop, middle relief, and the lack of a lead off hitter. You must admit, that's a pretty long laundry list of things to improve. We may have holes at all of those positions, but I wouldn't necessarily say that all of them are gaping. The two things I would most like to see addressed are the outfield and the pitching.

I'll start with the outfield, because I believe that we'll have to look outside the organization to solve our problems. We are weak defensively and offensively in left, and we are weak offensively in center. I won't address specifically what we should do to solve the problem, because I'm sure that's fodder for another question (correct me if I'm wrong Cheat), but I will say Pods has to go. I think between Anderson, Sweeney, Mackowiak (only if he's in left), Pablo, and Jerry Owens, we could cover one of the outfield spots, but I would like to see a savvy (i.e. don't panic and overpay) move to plug into the other spot.

The pitching is where things get hairy. It ultimately needs to be addressed, but the question is how and to what extent. Do we shake up the rotation or do we see if our starters return to form and pitch more like the '05 staff? If we do shake things up, who gets shipped out? Those are tough questions to answer. It seems like either way we go, we could plausibly come out smelling like roses or come out regretting our decision.

Our starters weren't terrible; they were just terribly inconsistent. Any change in the rotation would require the jettisoning of one of our starters, as I highly doubt any of them would move into the `pen. When it comes down to the `pen, I think KW can solve that problem much as he has in the past with Jenks, Thornton, MacDougal, Cotts of '05, et al.

So, to make a long circuitous answer more direct, the biggest holes in my mind are left and center field and the pitching, although, the pitching has the potential to straighten itself out.

James: My White Sox gaping holes, in order of importance...

Relief pitching...Anyone who knows me knows I was pretty hard on Mark Buehrle last season, but as the numbers bear out, he typically goes thru some sort of slide from time to time, so it wasn't completely unexpected. What really came as a shock was the regression of Neal Cotts. The poster boy for the failures of the Sox relief staff not only lost his location but his confidence as well. Maybe the ball started rolling with the injury to Cliff Politte, maybe going into the regular season with a rookie left-handed LOOGY was a sign of bigger troubles. Whatever the case, outside of Matt Thornton, should White Sox fans trust anyone in the bullpen? And even they had their shaky moments down the stretch. Jenks is a balky back away from seeing a Freudian-like specialist, and I doubt torque-armed Mike MacDougal will ever make it through any season without a stint on the injured list.
Leadoff Hitter...Pods mental meltdown at the plate leads the list of position player failures for 2006, and I'm sure KW is fast pursuing an alternative to the take-strike-one, swing-at-strike-two, take-strike-three king.
Injury List...I know this is more subjective than anything, but lets be frank, in 2005, outside of the Big Hurt (pun intended), the team was very very healthy. Fast forward to 2006; 3 out of the 5 starters had ailments, we lost Politte and Nelson for the season. Pods had hammy issues to start the season; JD, Joe Crede, Tad Iguchi and Jim Thome all had ailments at the end of the season -- ailments I contend were of more than the usual "long season" variety. A return to good health would go a long way toward the White Sox success in 2007.

Keith: In order of importance (and a couple of general comments at the end):

Starting pitching. Unfortunately, I really don't think this is something that Kenny Williams can fix from the outside. Outside of moving someone like Garcia and plugging in McCarthy (which, in itself, most likely won't be an upgrade, as McCarthy certainly isn't a lock to give the Sox 215 innings of a 4.50 ERA, which is what Garcia gave the 2006 team), I doubt there is a whole lot that can be done. I've said this a lot, and I'll continue to stress it all throughout the winter: The 2007 rotation is going to be built on hope. Hope that the 2006 Mark Buehrle was nothing more than an abberation. Hope that Jose Contreras can stay healthy. Hope that Brandon McCarthy is the pitcher he was down the 2005 stretch, not the pitcher who came out of the bullpen in 2006.
Left field. This was the position that provided the least to the 2006 teams. At least with the other highly berated positions such as centerfield and shortstop, you had strong-to-superb defense coming from those spots. Scott Podsednik provided absolutely nothing to the 2006 White Sox, and he (arguably) even held them back. I know the metrics say that Podsednik was a good left-fielder, but after watching him night in, night out for the past two years, I can't really say that Podsednik is anything more than average. Kenny Williams cannot go into 2007 with Podsednik as his starting left-fielder. So how does he fix the spot? I'm looking forward to that part of the conversation, as my ideas on how to fix the hole in left have ran everywhere from Carl Crawford to Ryan Sweeney.
Relief pitching. I don't really see this as a huge problem. I believe the backend of the White Sox bullpen is as good as you will find in all of baseball, with three similar-but-still-different styles in Jenks, MacDougal, and Thorton. I think Charlie Haeger has all but locked up the "mop-up" spot in the 2007 bullpen, leaving two spots (in a six man bullpen). I think it's reasonable to guess that one of Neal Cotts or Boone Logan will take one of those two spots as a LOOGY, leaving one spot. Again, this is a spot that the Sox could go a number of different ways. They could go via free agency (Justin Speier and Kerry Wood are the two names I've liked); they could go via the international market (Japanese pitchers have seemingly excelled in bullpen spots across MLB. At the very least, they seem to have a one year 'grace' period, ala Shingo in 2004). They could also delve into their very own farm system, as Oneli Perez stormed through the ranks last year and will make some impression on the 2007 White Sox (big or small).
For the record, I don't view SS or CF as holes. I still feel the main objective this offseason should be to improve the pitching, and an indirect way of helping the pitching is by making sure you have eight damn good defenders working with your pitcher. Thus, any upgrades offensively to SS and CF are most likely (there are exceptions) to come with a downgrade to the defense and ultimately a downgrade to the pitching.
I also don't see "leadoff hitter" as a spot that needs to be addressed. I feel that the Sox have a perfectly acceptable leadoff man already on the roster in Tadahito Iguchi. I also don't think that Williams should be limited in his LF search. By that I mean that he shouldn't just be looking for that slap hitting LFer who will steal 35 bases. I'll expound on this later, but I think that one of the best options for LF available in the free agent market that doesn't necessarily fit into the leadoff hitter or number two hitter mold is Moises Alou.

Criminal Appeal: I actually don't think the White Sox have any gaping holes. Keep in mind, this team was within a margin wholly attributable to luck from having the same record as it did in 2005. The 2006 Sox had a third order expected record of 89-73 according to Baseball Prospectus. Their 2005 expected record was 91-71. In other words, the 2006 White Sox were a health dose of luck from being right back in the play-offs.

To the extent, the Sox were not quite as good in 2005 as they were in 2006, the fall off is entirely attributable to the pitching. The Sox scored more runs, more consistently in 2006 than the previous year.

I'm not sure how to fix the pitching, and, as someone mentioned, I'm sure specific remedies for specific problems are sure to be future topics. I suppose inserting McCarthy and hoping for the best is the most likely step. For what it's worth, I think Buehrle is the guy we can trade for whom we might get fair value. I'm also pessimistic that Buehrle will ever be the pitcher he was before 2006.

I'm less worried about the bullpen, QUITE FRANKLY (those words must always be shouted at the top of the speaker's lungs). I think Jenks, Thornton and MacDougall will be just fine at the back end. So, I'd hate to see the Sox use resources for the pen that could be better spent elsewhere.

As I mentioned, I'm also pretty happy with the offense. However, in a division with four legitimate contenders, you have to aim high. Since it's hard to fix your starting rotation through free agency, I'd love to see the Sox invest even more on offense. I guess it's obvious that shortstop, left and center field are the team's holes. Uribe was below replacement level offensiveley, Podsednik is essentially worthless at this point and Brian Anderson plays a great defensive centerfield, but is essentially worthless with the bat. It may be unrealistic to expect Dye, Thome and Konerko to repeat their production from 2006. They aren't kids. So, it's risky to carry a couple of dead bats in the line-up, even at short and center. Still, Pods is the worst of the group, and plays a position that should be an offensive spot. However many of these guys are replaced, at least one of the new guys must be a high percentage on-base guy. That means Dave Roberts, not Juan Pierre (also, Matthews had a great year, but it came out of nowhere, and he's a poor fielder; I'd rather spend less and get Roberts). I also wouldn't mind if the Mike Young rumors are true.

Overall, this team's remaining window is a small one. While none of their holes are gaping, I wouldn't be afraid to trade prospects to fill what holes there are. A couple of moves and a little luck, and the 2007 White Sox could be right back where the '05 edition was.

Vince:With the benefit of getting to read the previous comments, I think the only gaping hole is left field. Scott Podsednik may bounce back somewhat in 2007, but it is going to have to be with another team. I can't see the Sox giving him another chance, and I don't think that they should. At his best, Podsednik is only a marginally useful left fielder, and I don't think his body can handle the pounding of the steal attempts any longer. I'll refrain for now in suggesting his replacement.

I think most of the rest of the gaping holes are in the form of whether certain players -- Mark Buehrle, Neal Cotts, Juan Uribe -- can return to previous levels of performance.

Tom: I think getting a leadoff hitter would be huge. Yes, the pitching is important, but a large reason this team failed in 2006 was Scott Podsednik.

Why did the Sox have to rely on the long ball tactics this season compared to last?

Cuz nobody else got on base besides Dye, Konerko, Thome, and Crede.

As far as the pitching, I'm not sure I would consider our starting rotation to have any gaping holes. I think what we all felt as fans as to how horrible the starters were this year was directly related to how great they were in 2005. Sure, Buehrle fucking sucked, but I have confidence he'll get better again next season. After Freddy developed that splitter in September, I do NOT want to see him traded now. I can deal with moving Vazquez and Mark, but for all the shit we give Freddy, we seem to forget he won 17 games this year.

Also I'd like to see some competent middle relief, and I don't mean David Riske.

Urlacher is Mightier than Mere Mortals

2006-11-07T00:11:00.000-06:00

Praise the Lord! Urlacher is going to be okay! At the end of the Dolphins game, Brian Urlacher, our all world MLB, got his foot twisted in a pileup with about a minute left in the game. Bears' fans across the country held their breath as he left the field thinking shades of Mike Brown (who's gone for the season). Urlacher underwent an MRI today and broke the machine with his sheer awesomeness. Seriosuly thought, he had an MRI, and it turns out it's just a sprained left big toe.

Officially Urlacher is questionable for the upcoming showdown with Giants, but I have a strong feeling he won't miss the game. It's a huge matchup, and reportedly, Urlacher was seen walking into a meeting without a limp.

My confidence in the Bears, has just been boosted!

Freddy to the Mets Rumors

2006-11-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

They have inquired about the White Sox's Freddy Garcia, but the request of
Milledge and Phil Humber or Mike Pelfrey is too much for a pitcher a year from
free agency.

New York Post

It's long been known that the Sox are looking to deal a pitcher in order to get Brandon McCarthy into the rotation. I think the fact that the Mets are calling us, inquiring about a trade, rather than the other way around bodes well for us. The article states that the Sox asked for too much for Minaya's liking, which I think is another good thing.

This year, pitching is definitely a seller's market. Outside of Zito, Schmidt (if he's healthy), and Matsuzaka there aren't any top of the line starters out there. Now, I'm not suggesting Freddy is a number one starter, but you could do a lot worse than 17 wins and a 4.50 ERA, especially considering how he closed the season. With the lack of quality arms out there, it is essential that Kenny gets as much as possible for whichever pitcher he ends up dealing. That's the reason, why I'm happy about the Sox asking for so much. It's still very early in the off-season, so there's no reason to panic yet and accept a low ball offer. If the Mets do end up dropping out of the Zito sweepstakes, they'll definitely be very interested in what the Sox have to offer; they'll be doubly interested, if Pedro's future remains in doubt. Come a few weeks or a month, the Mets may in fact be willing to part with Milledge and Humber/Pelfry.

If Vazquez could fetch the likes of Chris Young from us, I think Freddy should net the Sox even more, and I'd be willing to accept a combination of Milledge and Humber/Pelfry.

Milledge could be a very good fit for us. He could slide into either center or left field. While I haven't completely given up on Brian Anderson (yes, I'm one of the few), Milledge would provide the most value at center. He doesn't have great power, which you generally would like from a corner outfielder; he hit 11 HR between the majors (166 AB) and the minors (307 AB), which is up from the 8 he hit in the minors in '05. The Sox have gotten away with Pods in left, so it's quite doable to have him out there, even if he doesn't have good power numbers; just as long as Dye, Thome, and Paulie can carry the offense again. Milledge is a plus defender and every place I look, lists him as having great athleticism. He has speed, but needs to refine his base stealing technique. He was 13 for 23 in the minors. His OBP is pretty good at .388, but he should probably walk more; he had 43 which is a vast improvement over previous seasons. Milledge would fit nicely into our team and at age 21 he has plenty of time to grow and progress, although he wouldn't exactly be the base stealing threat that Ozzie is looking for to lead things off this season.

Humber is young as well, he's 23. Last season was his first after recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is a bit of an unknwon commodity. He posted a 2.83 ERA in 14 starts in the minors this year. He has the potential to become a solid starter come a couple years, but it's hard to judge him from only 76 innings of work. I will say though, that his periherals look good.

Pelfrey is 22 and holds a lot of potential. In 18 starts, he went 7-3 with a 2.43 ERA. He had 109 K's in only 96 innings. I think he holds even more potential than Humber. He has a good fastball which tops out at 98 mph, and also throws a two seamer to go with his curve and circle change. Pelfrey made some appearances for the Mets and could be ready to start as early as this year, although it's more likely he'd play in the bigs consistently come '08.

I would love to trade Freddy for Pelfrey and Milledge, but it's still very early in the game. For all we know, we could get a better offer elsewhere, or the Mets could sign Zito and no longer have a need for Garcia.

Rumblings on Turnovers and the Dolphins

2006-11-06T04:23:00.001-06:00

I think I've unlocked the key to a Super Bowl victory for the Bears. No, I'm not expecting any payment as a consultant from the Bears or anything like that; a Super Bowl win would be payment enough. But after watching hours of game film, and analyzing blitz schemes and nickel packages alike, I've figured things out. Turnovers. Now, now, I know what you're thinking, that's an easy answer, it's obvious, yadda yadda, but seriously just a cursory look at the numbers paints a telling story.

Bears 26 Green Bay 0
Turnover battle- 1 :3

Bears 34 Detroit 7
Turnover battle - 1:3

Bears 19 Minnesota 16
Turnover battle - 2:2

Bears 37 Seattle 6
Turnover battle - 0:2

Bears 40 Buffalo 7
Turnover battle - 1:5

Bears 24 Arizona 23
Turnover battle - 6:2

Bears 41 San Fran 10
Turnover battle - 0:5

Bears 13 Miami 31
Turnover battle - 6:2

Against Minnesota we had equal TO's, and in the game we should lost and the game we did lose, we lost the battle 6:2. It's not coincidental at all that those numbers are the case. This game really stood out in particular. It seemed like every turnover either snuffed a scoring threat (i.e. Gage's fumble) or gave Miami points or at the least ridiculous starting position (i.e. Hester fumble at our 6, Taylor's pick for six, Hill's pick returned to our 24).

We have a ridiculously dominant defense, but even the greatest defense will give up points if the opposition continuously has a short field. The offense needs to learn to hang onto the ball, and Rex has to make sure to throw off his back foot as little as possible. I know it's an overused saying now, but Rex does have a little Favre in him, but let's use the mid 90's Favre, ok Rex?

As long as the Bears can keep their TO's in check, I have confidence that they will win, but if we have any more 6 turnover outbursts, you can end all hopes of repeating the 85 Bears' 15-1 season.

Oh yah, speaking of those Bears...Why the hell did we have to lose to the DOLPHINS? I would have accepted a loss to the Giants no problem, but of course it had to be to the damn Dolphins. Just like '85 they ruin our party. I bet Shula and all those other old timers are having themselves a good laugh. I almost hope the Colts go undefeated just to shut them up, and just to make our Super Bowl win all that much more impressive.

Don't Drink the Water

2006-11-04T16:36:00.000-06:00

Along with the news that Razor Shines is being sent home from Venezuela comes word that Brian Anderson has dropped 20 pounds in 2 weeks and is also heading back to Chicago. I still haven't found out exactly what happened; he probably just picked up a bug and got pretty sick, but this is very bad news for BA and the Sox. It's not like BA is the Big Papi type that could stand to lose a few pounds. Now along with his hitting, he's going to have to work on getting back all the muscle he's lost.

BA has struggled out in Venezuela; odds are this illness, or whatever it is, is responsible for his paltry .211 SLG in 19 games, but he needed a strong showing to earn back some of the faith that was placed in him at the start of the season. At this point it looks as though Sweeney, Anderson and maybe Owens are going to be duking it out in Spring Training for the CF job, unless KW brings in someone from the outside.

H.O.R.S.E.

2006-11-04T16:00:00.000-06:00

So Chi-Sox Blog is entering a game of horse. Maybe not quite like this, but it should be just as competitive.

Those of you who are familiar with Fornelli's Foul Balls, know about the ongoing bet he had with his editor Panger. During the playoffs, they picked the winner of each game , with Fornelli eventually coming out on top. Well, now Fornelli has thrown down the gauntlet and invited me and the Biler himself, James, to join in the basketball version of this competition. Each day (excluding weekends) we're going to pick winners from a max of three game. You get a point for each correct answer, with no penalty for a wrong answer. There is a small twist though; you can double down on a game and if you get that came right, you get two points but risk losing one point if you're wrong.

There hasn't been an anounced prize yet, maybe it'll be a Big Mac, but it should be a good battle all season long. Fornelli is still riding high from winning the baseball pick'em and James is going to be talking 'bout his pick to click win until next season. So here's hoping for a Jeeves' win or at the least a Panger win, considering we haven't had a taste of victory just yet.

Oh, by the way, I know it's early, but as of Saturday, I'm in first place.

I think I'm going track of the standings in the sidebar and I may even supply justification for my picks via posts. We'll see how it plays out. Of course, if I'm languising in last place, all that may jsut disappear.

Introducing Razor Shines

2006-11-04T15:47:00.000-06:00

No, he's not a pro wrestler, maybe you're thinking of Razor Ramon.

Anthony "Razor Shines" is the White Sox' new third base coach. He's taking over for Joey Cora who replaced Rock Raines as our bench coach.

The 49 year-old Shines fomerly was the manager for AAA Charlotte. In seven seasons, he guided them to a 508-479 record. He is thought of to be a very good coach and is known to be very aggresive. I like being aggressive on the base paths, but hopefully he's aggressive AND smart. I don't think I'll be able to stomach ad '06 Joey Cora-esque performance next year.

Shines was also the manager for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League (the team with all the Sox' players). Note the usage of the word 'was'; his firing was announced on the 2nd. Apparently there was a difference in opinion between Razor and the owners. The owners wanted to go in one direction, and Razor thought otherwise, so he got his walking papers.

Regardless of whether or not Shines does a good job, I think he's going to replace Riske as the Sox organization's most punned person. I can see it now...Razor burn, Razor's edge, etc.

Lockin' Up Cap'n Kirk

2006-11-04T15:19:00.000-06:00

I know this is old news, but I've been rather lax of late so it's about time I caught up on the world of sports.

On Halloween, the Bulls announced that they signed Kirk Hinrich to a 5 year, $47.5 million contract extension. For the math impaired that works out to $9.5 million a year. That's a pretty good deal, don't you think? Just for comparison's sake let's take a look at some other contracts I looked up.

(avg salary over course of contract, italics = former Bulls)
Wally Szczerbiak is making about $12 mil a year until 08-09
Tyson Chandler is making about $11 mil a year until 10-11
Kenyon Martin is making about $14 mil a year until 10-11
Baron Davis - $15 mil until 08-09
Bobby Simmons - $9 mil until 09-10
Jalen Rose - $17 mil this year
Stephon Marbury - $19 mil until 08-09
Jamal Crawford $8.5 mil until 10-11

Looking at some of those salaries, it looks like the Bulls come out of this deal smelling like roses, no not Jalen Rose, I mean the flowers. Of those contracts would you take any of them? No, didn't think so. I'm still shocked we were able to dump TC's salary on the Hornets, but that's another story. It's especially surprising considering the fact that Kirk wanted money along the lines of Tony Parker, in the neighborhood of $11 mil a year.

I guess Kirk granted us a home team discount. He is after all an avowed Bulls fan after growing up in Iowa. The extra nice thing about this deal is that it offsets the fact that we overpaid for Big Ben. Now if we can lock up the rest of our young guys (I'm looking at you Luol, Benny G, Andres and Greg...assuming we get Greg Oden, which I think we have a good shot at considering Zeke is coaching the Knicks) at a discount I'll be ready to proclaim Pax as one of the best GM's in the league.

The White Sox Season That Was: Spring Training

2006-10-31T15:50:00.000-06:00

Time to whip this pony into action, as ChiSox Blog welcomes you to the season that was: 2006.

This first installment : Spring Training 2006.

Your host: The Biler! Yes, that's right. The Biler is back in full effect for the season that was 2006!

It's March 2006 and the Champs are enjoying a leisurely time in the dry air of Tucsan. But trouble is a brewing! Ozzie Guillen and AJ Pierzinski are involved in a fracas with some dude, and SI is all over Tucsan-Electric Park getting the scoop on this story! What the heck do Ozzie and AJ think they're doing, distracting this team from bunting and fielding drills? Don't they know that sacrifices will come at a premium this season? Don't they know that the laze fare attitutde would come back to bite them in the ass later on during the season? WTF?

But also enjoying time in Tucsan are new White Sox Jim Thome and Javy Vazquez . What Kenny Williams hath wraught no man shall tear assunder! Gone are clubhouse cancer Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas, center field hero Aaron Rowand and playoff impresario Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. And despite the trouble a-brewing hi-jinx, the atmosphere is loose and upbeat despite certain troubles in the field. A foreshadowing maybe?

Toward the end of spring training things are somewhat falling into place. Not surprisingly Pods is gimpy with a hamstring problem, Coop is once again working his magic with reclamation project Matt Thornton (who I, the Biler, contend is the best pick up of the season), and Jim Thome is as en fuego as all Sox fans hoped he would be.

But let's take spring training at face value or rather no value at all. Remember this: Kansas City led the Cactus League with 17-10 record whereas the Sox were dead last at 10-19. (Maybe a little more foreshadowing?)

I, the Biler, was completely optomistic at this point and the idea of some bile-tastic writing wasn't even a spark in my eye. Mark Buehrle was, at this point, still to be counted on, he of a WS win and save! But maybe that hurt his 2006. We shall see as we progress along.

And now the debut of the Biler's White Sox Chances-o-meter! It's a cute little device with a nod in the direction of one Shawon Dunston who was as underachieving a player as you'll ever meet. And since the White Sox also underachieved in 2006, I thought the comparison was apropos.

Good! A Fan Getting His Comeuppance!

2006-10-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

I generally don't editorialize that much. I like to stick to the lighter side of sports and just rant about things I'm passionate about, but reading this article made me genuinely happy.

Apparently some jackass named Hooman Hamzehloui, a season ticket holder for the Magic, called Dikembe Mutombo a monkey during a preseaon game between the Magic and the Rockets. This isn't what made me happy, don't worry, what did make me happy was finding out that this shithead was banned by the NBA and by the Magic for a year.

Seriously, who does that? That's a terrible thing to say. I don't mind some good natured heckling, but that's crossing the line. That's hurtful and just plain ugly. This name even got the mild mannered Mutombo worked up. He started yelling at Hamzehloui and started gesturing at him from the floor.

I don't understand why someone would ever heckle Dikembe Mutombo. Ever since he stopped wagging his finger in people's faces after a block, (did he stop because of waht Jordan did or because he suddenly wasn't as good anymore?) he's been one of the most likeable players in the NBA. He's a constant humanitarian, spending a great deal of time and money in Africa. In '04 alone he donated $18.5 million of his own money to fund the opening of two hospitals.

Perhaps, I'm getting worked up, but just the ugliness of the taunt directed to such a good person riled me up. I mean go ahead and and heckle T-Mac for his bad back or Yao for being ridiculously tall, but don't cross the racial lines, please.

Balanced vs Front Loaded Rotation: Which is Better?

2006-10-28T01:10:00.000-05:00

Just call me the Kenny Williams of blogging. I've pulled off a trade with the folks over at Mop Up Duty. I sent over an article to them and in return K-Man sent me this masterpiece.

---Using Sabermetrical stats can be useful when looking at certain sets of data – such as comparing players of different eras-- but for the most part they just add a level of confusion. I certainly subscribe to the K.I.S.S. principle in day-to-day life, so it’s time to implement it here. Now that my little rant is over, let’s take care of business!

Recently, one of my esteemed co-columnists at the Mop Up Duty (Early), wrote an article about the Toronto Blue Jays off-season pitching needs. I’m not going to speak for him, so here is a little quote from the comments section of his article:

“… the article is proposing a balanced approach, riding Doc’s coat tails, much like Minnesota rode Liriano’s before the ASG and Santana after the ASG, all you need from the rest of your staff is to play average ball.”

(That reminds me, we’re getting a ton of visitors but few comments. Make your voice heard! If you think we’re on to something, let us know. If you think we’re full of crap, kindly let us know. That goes for us at Chi-Sox Blog too!)

Ok, so the basic assumption is this; Let Roy be Roy, have AJ produce an average AJ type year, and have the rest of staff hover around .500.

Let’s look into this. We all know that Halladay is one of the best, and certainly the most underrated pitcher in all of baseball. He should have a strong thirty or so starts as he does every year. Well, this theory is nothing new to the Blue Jays.

In the past 11 seasons, a Blue Jays pitcher has won the Cy Young award four times. Yet, in each of these seasons the Jays failed to make the playoffs. What gives? Here’s a table that shows the record of the Cy Young award winner, the overall record of the top three starters on that season’s staff, and the combined record of the rest of the staff’s pitchers.

Year - Pitcher	Record	Team Record	Top 3 Record	Rest of Staff Record
1996 – Hentgen	20-10	74-88	44-35	30-53
1997 – Clemens	21-7	76-86	45-31	31-55
1998 – Clemens	20-6	88-74	42-26	42-48
2003 – Halladay	22-7	86-76	47-31	39-45

Ouch. I think it’s pretty easy to see the pattern here. While the top three average a winning percentage 59%, the rest of the staff has an average winning percentage of 41%! That’s not good, not good at all.

What does this prove? I’m not completely sure. It’s certainly open to interpretation. I guess one thing that it does prove is that expecting a .500 record out of your back end starters and your bullpen is a lot to ask. The above examples support a staff that is “front-loaded”, i.e. made up of a few good pitchers at the top of the rotation and a bunch of average and below average pitchers behind them.

Now I’m sure there are better examples out there when thinking of balanced staffs, but I’m going to use teams that had a better record than the Jays in ‘06. These teams made an effort to build a starting staff of at least four solid pitchers, plus a few prospects that had the chance of producing if called upon. (Just a note, I realize that a Bullpen can have a big impact on a team's Win-Loss record, and if anything, these examples are a call for a strong, balanced bullpen as well.)The first table is the combined record of the top three at the end of the season. This stat includes the year-end top three starters, including pitchers such as Wang and Verlander, etc.

Year - Team	Ace Record	Team Record	Top 3 Record	Rest of Staff Record
2006 - Tigers	17-8	95-67	48 - 25	47 – 42
2006 – White Sox	18-7	90-72	47 - 29	43-43
2006- Oakland A’s	16-10	93-69	41-35	52-34
2006- Yankees	19-6	97-65	51-24	46-41
2006- Twins	19-6	96-66	43- 18	53-48
2006 Angels	16-8	89 - 73	40-33	49-40
2006 - Jays	16-5	87-75	41-26	46-49

Here’s a table of these records using pitching depth charts from Opening Day to determine the top three starters. This will obviously not include pitchers like Verlander, Liriano, etc, as they were not among their respective team's top three at the beginning of the season.

Year - Team	Ace Record	Team Record	Top 3 Record	Rest of Staff Record
2006 - Tigers	17-8	95-67	44 - 29	51 – 38
2006 – White Sox	18-7	90-72	42 - 31	48-41
2006- Oakland A’s	16-10	93-69	43-31	50-38
2006 Yankees	17-11	97-65	43-25	54-39
2006 Twins	19-6	96-66	42-30	54-36
2006 Angels	13-11	89 - 73	27- 35	62-38
2006 Jays	16-5	87-75	35 - 17	52-58

As you can see, the winning percentage of the rest of a staff category increases when you look at the second table (i.e. Tigers 51-38 with pitchers other than the season opening top three, vs 47-42 record when adjusted for the season ending top three). This is expected of winning teams, as you hope to have some question marks step up and produce (i.e. Verlander). But not so fast… for some reason the Jays percentage is actually lower at the end of the season than it is at the start!

Again, these stats are open to interpretation, but I can start to see the evidence mounting. The Blue Jays have front loaded in recent history. The other teams in this example took a more balanced approach. And it didn’t always require a bunch of money either. The Yankees and Tigers had two young, farm systems’ players step up (Wang & Verlander). The A’s received production from a player that was a prospect when acquired in a trade (Haren).

Looking at the data, I think the answer is a balanced staff. The question is, how does this get accomplished? ---

(Jeeves' Thoughts)

While K-Man’s team is the Toronto Blue Jays, and most of the data focuses around his team; this is still very relevant to the ChiSox. From the numbers, it does in fact seem like a balanced rotation is best. After all, that’s what won us the title in ’05. So what bearing does that have on ’07? Perhaps we’d be better off sticking with our players, rather than reaching for an expensive pitcher like Zito or Matsuzaka. I’ve heard some people calling for KW to make a strong run at Zito, but I don’t think it is necessary. He carries a high ERA and he doesn’t throw especially hard (remind you of any lefties on our club?); if his curveball is snapping he has a tendency to leave it up, which helps explain his high HR count. I think our best course of action would be to trade one of our starters and plug Brandon McCarthy into the rotation; then we just need to hope that our starters pitch more like they did in ’05.

K-Man is one of the writers over at www.mopupduty.com. They use statistics more than I do, and it results in very insightful analysis, especially if it's about their hometown Blue Jays. So go ahead and take a peak, they get my seal of approval.

Happy Anniversary!

2006-10-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary White Sox and Happy Anniversary Chicago. One year ago today, we won the World Series for the first time since 1917. Let's take this opportunity to reflect back on that magical season; forget the fact that the Sox could easily have been champs again this year. The stars really aligned for us that year; it was such a memorable run.

-Paulie having a kid and then ending the week with a World Series grand slam
-Pods homer against the Bo-Sox when we piled in 11 runs
-Blum coming off the bench to hit his 14th inning homer
-Juan Uribe's superman dive into the stands
-AJ stealing first base
-Joe Clutch earning his name with the AJ-scoring double
-Dominant pitching performance after dominant pitching performance
-Really, I could go on and on

Sox fans, just take this moment to savor the title, remember the joy and all the emotions. Relive the goosebumps and the elation. Pop in the World Series DVD. Smoke one more stoagie. Let John Rooney's voice ring through your ears once more; admit it, you have his call on your iPod, just like me.

If you're still feeling down, hell all I can say to cheer you up is 1908.

A View on Cheaters

2006-10-24T18:33:00.000-05:00

*Note* Those coming over from the Big Lead, welcome and feel free to leave any comments!

I like how MLB players get blasted for cheating, while NFL players seem to get a relative free pass. I realize the MLB has lost the trust of America after all those years of steroid filled baseball, but it's ridiculous how little crap Shawne Merriman is getting in the press, especially in comparison to the attention being paid to Kenny Rogers.

When comparing these two cheaters, I guess you have to look at the magnitude of the act and the magnitude of the stage it was set upon. Kenny Rogers had a little gunk on his hand, which is something pitchers have been doing for years. An unnamed bullpen coach says that pitchers regularly use shaving cream and suntan lotion to the same effect. So the Gambler having some shmootz on his hand that looked remarkably like poo doesn't seem that big of a deal, to me. I suppose the public outcry about this act is mostly due to the fact that it was done during the playoffs and the World Series, baseball's biggest stage.

Merriman on the other hand, committed an act that is banned by our government. He broke the law; he obtained and used steroids. He broke a federal law, so he gets is a 4 game suspension. It's disturbing ot me that I've heard more talk about how the suspension affects the Chargers' D and their playoff chances than I've heard about this being a black mark on his record. I remember watching SportsCenter and they did a six-pack or a Fact/Fiction, one of those gimmicks, and the first question was how does this imapct the Chargers and their D?

Frankly, it should be the other way around. We shouldn't be lambasting the guy that tried to get a small, but legal (in the court of law) advantage. We should be tearing apart the one who broke a law. In my mind Shawne Merriman is the bad guy, not Kenny Rogers.

This wasn't something I was planning on getting into, but as I was typing, I started to wonder why football players generally get a free pass when compared to baseball players. So these are just my thoughts typed out. There isn't too much rhyme or reason to it, but I just thought I'd get it out there...

I think for the most part, people hold baseball players to a higher standard than football players, but as I think about it, a lot of it comes down to the player. Rafael Palmeiro got busted and was crucified for it, because he earlier had spoken out about steroids and stated that he had never used them. Jason Giambi who was generally liked, admitted to using steroids, sort of, and for the most part he was still generally liked. He ended up winning the comeback player of the year award in '05, which is voted for by the fans. I was shocked that he had actually won. I thought there would be some sort of backlash for his somewhat admitted steroid use, but people happily focused their ire on A-Rod instead. Those are sort of the polar opposite reactions that we've seen. Unfortunately for my analysis, but fortunately for the game, there haven't been too many big name players that have been busted. Jose Canseco admitted to it, but people were more concerned with the fact that he was squealing on others. The jury is still out on Big Mac. Some people hate him for doing steroids, some hate him for not saying anything at the Senate hearing, some hate him for looking like Fat Bastard after the weight loss, with a vagina for a neck, and some like him for "saving baseball" and being a good guy.

It's funny that Barry Bonds hasn't entered my thoughts until now. That's how much of an afterthought he was to me this season. He's been grilled in the media, because for most of his career he's been as ass to the media. In the court of public opinion, he's being grilled for the fact that he apparently cheated his way past the beloved Babe Ruth. If he cheated (which I think he did) then he deserves the abuse. If he didn't, then America went a bit overboard.

I would be shocked to see Merriman receive the Barry Bonds treatment when he returns. There might be one or two signs during his first couple games back, but I highly doubt that this will end up tarnishing his reputation. As soon as he gets another sack or pick, and is back to helping the Chargers and fantasy owners with the Chargers' D win, all will be forgotten. One of the only footballers that has taken a big hit (no pun intended) is Bill Romanowski. Again, that's partially due to the fact that he's an ass and he's crazy.

Maybe I'm off and Merriman will get his comeuppance, but I have a strong feeling he won't. Just from what I've seen and I've heard it seems like footballers get a general pass when it comes to the whole cheating/steroids thing.

I apologize for the rambling-ness of that last portion, but like I said it's just stuff running through my head. It wasn't exactly something I was planning on writing about.

Thoughts anyone?

Oh by the way, some of my friends pointed out that they think Merriman gets off with a light suspension (4 games) at least compared to baseball players (50 games) but when you think about it in terms of the whole season, 4/16 = 25% of the season and 50/163 = 30% of the season.

Let's Just Shoot Ourselves in the Foot

2006-10-22T00:32:00.000-05:00

It seems like teams with leads were shooting themselves in the foot all over the country today. Unfortunately this held true about my beloved Bruins; so here's a quick look at the UCLA - ND game and some other examples of teams shooting themselves in the foot today.

UCLA -17, ND - 20

The Bruins were well positioned to come out of South Bend with a 17-13 victory, and the defining win of the Karl Dorrell era but no. Instead all we get is heartache and anger. Prior to the collapse the UCLA front four wreaked havoc in the ND backfield. They sacked Quinn five times and held The Golden Domers to 34 rushing yards. Hickman was a one man wrecking crew, upping his season sack total to 9.5 with two sacks, one of which was a 16 yard loss. UCLA had all the momentum after stopping Quinn on a quarterback keeper on 4th and 1, yet Notre Dame was able to come back.

Whoever came up with the prevent defense should be shot!

Rather than blitzing and applying pressure as the Bruins had all day long, they dropped deep and allowed Quinn ample time in the pocket. BIG MISTAKE. Quinn is after all, the most polished QB in the college game. He could even be the best QB in the game, and you should never give him the opportunity to pick you apart like that. In less than 30 seconds Quinn marched the Domers down the field and found Jeff Smarzjdoilsjdo;sidjoid for the winning TD.

Northwestern 38, Michigan State 41

If I'm this upset, Wildcats' fans must be damn-near suicidal. Northwestern was up 38-3, before suffering Divison 1-A's biggest meltdown, ever. That's nearly 2 times the lead the Cardinals had against the Bears! (Sorry to anyone from Arizona, but I had to mention that, it makes me feel that much better after UCLA lost).

This loss came down to two things. Momentum and of course, the prevent defense. The Northwestern offense and defense took the foot off the gas and like clockwork, the Spartans started putting points up on the board. The more they scored, the more confidence they got and the bigger their wave of mementum grew. This peaked with a blocked punt returned for a TD which tied the game, and then a game winning field goal. In the end 38 second half points, in 22 minutes spelled doom for the Wildcats.

I don't understand the purpose of the prevent defense. Okay, fine, every now and then it makes sense to use it, like if your team has been getting destroyed by the other teams offense, and you suddenly find yourself ahead late in the game. That's okay, I guess, but the prevent is usually used incorrectly. When you find yourself up 38-3, that means you've been doing something right all game long. Why change that? If your defense is holding down your opponents to 3 points, it seems to me you're preventing them from scoring as it is. I don't see a need to change your gameplan. Plus, the prevent defense is bound to fail considering teams don't practice it nearly as much. All week long you gameplan and scheme and simulate situations as though you're going to be in a dog fight. I don't think anyone would spend time practicing out the situation when you're destroying the other team; well maybe West Virginia does, but even that's doubtful. So stick with your gameplan and finish off the game!

Nebraska 20, Texas 22

This one didn't come down to a prevent defense as much as it came to just shooting yourself in the foot. Nebraska was up 1, with the ball, but then they caught a case of fumblitis. Zac "I forgot the H" Taylor completed a pass to Nunn with a couple minutes left, but Nunn proceeded to fumble as he crossed the first down line. Had Nunn held on, the Cornhuskers would almost certainly pulled off the upset and had a marquee win to show the nation that they are indeed back. Instead they shot themselves in the foot and will fall toward the bottom of the rankings.

Kansas 35, Baylor 36

QB Shawn Bell threw 3 TD's over the last 9:22 of the game, the last of which came with 1:08 remaining, to pull out a victory for Baylor. The Bears were down 35-17 before staging their comeback.
I didn't actually see this game, but I'd be willing to wager the prevent defense was utilized.

Oklahoma St. 33, Texas A&M 34

A&M scored with 3 seconds left. Prevent defense anyone? Then in OT the Cowboys had their PAT blocked, losing them the game. So they shot themselves in the foot twice. Ouch. So was that once in each foot or twice in the same one?

They tried to shoot themselves in the foot, but they missed
California 31, Washington 24

The Bears wanted to lost this game, they really did. They gave up a 40 yard Hail Mary TD, thrown by the back up QB, as time ran out. I swear, Cal wanted to reward Ty Willingham for his great coaching job, but apparently the Huskies were too gracious and decided to throw a pick in OT.

There we go. No lead is safe in college football, and I thought the new clock rules had killed the drama in the NCAA. Hell at this rate, make the games go even faster!

Give Me Back the Old Iron Mike, The Wordsmith

2006-10-21T03:55:00.001-05:00

Deadspinners....As always, comments are more than welcome.

So Mike Tyson kicked off his "World Tour" today, with a bang. Just one bang; he knocked down his challenger just once. After that Tyson just toyed with his challenger, at least, he did when he wasn't gasping for breath. Apparently this is Tyson's first time boxing since calling it quits after losing to Kevin McBride, and he isn't exactly fit. I guess you didn't need me to tell you that though, considering he couldn't knock out this lard-o.

Maybe it's just me, but I miss the old Iron Mike. The one with the one punch knock outs; the one that struck fear into the hearts of his opponents; the one with the high top fade. Seriously, Mike was a spectacle in and out of the ring, but now he's just a joke. A joke that could easily kick my ass, but a joke nonetheless.

Not only would Tyson dominating in the ring be a spectacle, but it would reignite his utter cockiness and brashness and allow us to hear some of those ridiculous and splendifirous comments we heard through the years. Here's a sampling, and thank to wikiquote for these.

On Lennox Lewis
My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"

My main objective is to be professional but to kill him."

"I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children."

On Razor Ruddick
"Everyone knows you're a transvestite and you're in love with me."

"I can't wait til the 28th....I'm gonna make you my girlfriend."

"You're sweet. I'm gonna make sure you kiss me good with those big lips."

"March 16th, Mike Tyson [vs.] Razor Ruddock, Razor Ruddock dies. If he doesn't die, it doesn't count. If he's not dead, it doesn't count."

Random comments
"My power is discombobulatingly devastating; I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm."

“[He] called me a ‘rapist’ and a ‘recluse.’ I’m not a recluse.”

"I might just fade into Bolivian, you know what I mean? I ain't got nuttin' to do or nowhere to go."

"I can sell out Madison Square Garden masturbating."

On getting his facial tattoo, "I just wanted to put something on my face,I didn't like the way my face was looking."

"I just want to conquer people and their souls."

"He was tryin' to scrutinize wit' my brain!"

Tyson, the romantic
[To a female reporter] "It's no doubt I am going to win this fight and I feel confident about winning this fight. I normally don't do interviews with women unless I fornicate with them. So you shouldn't talk anymore... Unless you want to, you know."

[To a female reporter] "I wanna talk nice to you, and talk about fornicating with you, and letting you suck my dick. 'Cause if I was eloquent with you, you would still look at me like a scumbag."

I may like fornicating more than other people. It's just who I am. I sacrifice so much of my life, can I atleast get laid? Know what I mean? I been robbed of most of my money, can I at least get a blow job?"

Some More Randoms to Close with
"I think I'll take a bath in his blood."

I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand - he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like an infantile retard."

"My philosophy was like people basically suck.

Fine, don't bring back Mike Tyson the fighter, at least bring back Mike Tyson the Wordsmith, the one who could write sentences around the likes of Shakespeare and definitely make him convulse like a retarded infant and could easily sell out the globe by masturbating.

An LA View on South Bend

2006-10-21T03:51:00.000-05:00

Check out my take on the upcoming ND - UCLA game at our friend's Fleece the Pig Flog the Pony

Long Lost Siblings?

2006-10-21T03:39:00.000-05:00

So when Neil Rackers picture came up (just before he botched the kick, I may add) my mind instantly thought of Bullet Tooth Tony. Here's why...long lost siblings? You be the judge.

Neil Rackers_____________________________Vinnie Jones

So it's not a perfect match, but I do see a similarity, and some people have agreed with me. It you ignore the nose, they look pretty damn similar. And not only do they look a like, but they both were professional athletes that kicked balls for a living. Before becoming an actor and starring in such movies as Snatch (Bullet Tooth Tony), X-Men 3 (The Juggernaut), She's the Man (Soccer Coach), and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, he was actually a professional soccer player in England, and a pretty good one at that.

I Still Can't Get Over the Bears

2006-10-21T03:29:00.000-05:00

I still can't get over the Bears. I wanted to write about the game, but I've been too busy and now it seems it's been discussed ad nauseum. So instead of adding new insight, here are some of the mindblowing stats from the game. Thank to Elias Sports Bureau for a good number of these.

-The Bears' comeback from 20 points behind was the largest deficit overcome by any NFL team in a win which advanced a perfect start to 6-0 or better. The previous largest was 17 points by the 2005 Colts against the Rams to bring the Colts to 6-0, and also by the 2003 Chiefs vs. the Packers to go 6-0.
It was the first game in NFL history in which the winning team came back from a deficit of 20 or more points by means of three touchdowns on returns.
It was the first win in Bears history in which they trailed by at least 20 points in the second half.

In Bears history folks! That's quite some time.

-The Cardinals are the first team in NFL history to lose consecutive games in one season after leading by at least 14 points at the end of the first quarter in each game.

-Only the Cardinals or the Royals could pull of something like this.

-In Monday's loss to the Bears, Matt Leinart became the first player in NFL history to throw at least two first-quarter touchdown passes in each of his first two career starts.

-Yah, well...

-Matt Leinart has now lost as many games in the NFL as he had during his career at that other school in LA.

-That's 3 straight losses for you keeping track at home (loss against Texas). I thought he was a "winner".

- Rex completed only 14 of 37 passes (38%), threw four interceptions and lost two fumbles on Monday and the Bears still won! The last time a team won on the road while committing as many as six turnovers was almost 20 years ago: on Dec. 21, 1986, the Bears won in Dallas, 24-10, while throwing three interceptions and losing three fumbles.

We're good at overcoming turnovers, apparently

The last time a team won on the road while completing less than 40 percent of its passes and throwing at least four picks was almost 22 years ago: on Dec. 2, 1984 the Cowboys won in Philadelphia, 26-10, despite Danny White going 8 for 25 with four picks and Tony Dorsett throwing an interception on his only pass.

- Devin Hester had an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown on Monday night after having an 84-yard touchdown on a punt in the Bears' first game. The only two other rookies in NFL history who had at least two 80-yard punt-return touchdowns in their rookie seasons were George Atkinson for the 1968 Raiders and Carl Yeast for the '99 Bengals.

That's an 83.5 yard average.

-The Bears are only the second team in NFL history to score at least twice on fumbles and at least once on a return of either a kickoff or a punt in one game. On Oct. 25, 1964 the Browns beat the Giants, 42-20, behind fumble-return touchdowns by Paul Wiggin and Charlie Scales and a punt return by Leroy Kelly.

-(My personal favorite besides the Leinart losing one) Edferrin James had a key fumble in the fourth quarter and gained only 55 yards on 36 carries. That's the most carries in one game in NFL history by a player who did not average at least two yards per rush. The old record was set way back on Nov. 25, 1951, by the Giants Eddie Price, who ran 32 times for 47 yards.

That's Da Bears shutting down a back from The U.

The 2006 Sox / The Legacy

2006-10-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

Let's face it - our Legacy has not exactly been one of great championships and dynasties of dominating teams like our bastard buddies from the boroughs, but rather one of - coming up a buck short, always the bridesmaid, woulda-coulda-shoulda....

This season was no different in that regard as we had it on paper, had it going early, then fizzled into something us older guys have seen way too many painful times before. Underacheivement, fading down the stretch, second-city blues. Mercy !!!!

I'll spare the all too fresh details as they are well covered elsewhere... but rather I'll try to put this into the overall long term perspective and see what this current unit does to our Legacy.

I'm only covering from the Go-Go Sox of the late 50's on up as I wasn't around for anything earlier though I did caddie once for Ray Schalk who was a Hall of Fame catcher for the Sox from like 1912 to 1928. He was as we used to say a "screw loop" a terrible tipper- so forget him and that skin flint Charles Comisky and the rest of the first half century. ( though Shoeless gets a "stud" mention )

The first thing I noticed about this last year, 2006, is that this was the first time since mid 60's that we had back to back 90+ win seasons in a row. We did it 3 times in the Go-Go era,'63,'64,'65 - but never won anything then as the Yanks were always a little better and the bugger Twinks somehow won 102 games in '65. We had "Go" but littler else to Show !

So, it's been 40 years since we did what we just did with the 90+ victories - so I'm taking that as some good vibe that our current identity-"Win or Die Trying" is not done winning yet and too soon to be termed as dieing. Time will tell but I think this era will be our best before it's all over. The South Side Hitmen were a powerful group of sluggers who gave us a memorable season in '77, but they extinguished quickly with 4 miserable years after that one. They were mostly "rented" players for that one year anyways and it didn't work out the way it was intended. Hit turned to shit all too soon !

Fast forward to the Winnin' Ugly boys and their en fuego season of 1983 where we looked to have it all going to Glory. Sweet swinging Baines, The Commander-Fisk, power boys Kitty and the Bull, and a starting staff that went 42-5 in the second half got me so jacked and delirious that when we got eliminated in the 1st round by Baltimore(due in large measure to Jerry F-ing Dybzinski's baserunning blunder) I was shattered...mortified....dumbstruck. I've never taken any loss before or since with that type of paralyzing impact. I had to go on a loooooonnngg waaaaallllkkkkkk after the final loss to settle myself down. I questioned Sports, Life, The Physical and the Beyond (This, of course, all got purged along with many other torturous seasons, with the WS in 2005 and that's why many "OLD PEOPLE" were crying last Oct with total relief ). That 1983 unit never recovered and soon dispersed in many directions including Lamar Hoyt's ultimate brush with the law / deja vu Uribe ??

The next big era - Good Guys wear Black saw us close out old Comiskey and welcome the new park with talents like Ozzie, Fisk and, the best of the Sox since Shoeless - the Big Hurt. 1990, '93 and '00 were all good years and the strike shortened '94 was on it's way to being one of our best ever...ah, the luck wasn't there yet though as we came up with nothing but jack-squat to show for the whole decade. Individually Fisk is in the Hall, Franks on his way and Oz has lead us to our current era - the Win or Die...squad.

So where does that leave us....where are we going....where do we fit in....

I'd say we're in pretty good shape - with the guts of a solid team due back for another run with our GM and Manager both another year older and wiser in the ways. This team needs a tweak or three - not an overhaul of the type the Cubbies and Pinella will have to endure. We've got tradeable youth and Kenny will be relentless till he tastes the champagne and smokes the stogie again. We're fortunate to have the foundation here to see a nice little run for a few more years and this era of the Sox legacy will be one that you'll be telling your grandkids about 30 - 40 years from now.

Nobody liked the way this year finished but stick around for the thrilling conclusion to this Era - I don't think you'll be disappointed !!

More Uribe News

2006-10-17T01:02:00.000-05:00

Man this thing is taking a turn for the worst.

The Dominican Republic has issued a warrant for Juan Uribe's arrest.

Authorities have already arrested a bodyguard for the Uribe brothers (his brother Elpidio is also wanted).

I earlier wrote about how Martin Arburua, Uribe's agent, claimed that he had spoken to Uribe and that Uribe had told him that he had already spoken to the authorities.

This means that either Uribe is lying of Martin Aruburua is lying.

Again, as things develop, I'll post accordingly.

Uribe: The Saga Continues

2006-10-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

According to Juan Uribe's agent, Martin Arburua, Juan did not actually shoot anyone. The agent was quoted as saying.

''I spoke to a very reliable guy I have in the Dominican, and then I talked to Juan directly,'' Arburua said. ''[Juan] said there was an altercation between an Italian guy at the beach adjacent from his property and said that he had nothing to do with it.
''Juan had spoken to police. I know that he is not hiding from anyone, and he and his family are fine. He didn't seem upset or anything like that. He said he had nothing to do with it and everything was fine.''

I don't know who this reliable guy is, but I'm still waiting to hear from Juan directly.

See Joe Cowley's article here

Got Yourself Gun? Well Uribe Apparently Does

2006-10-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

I don't know how reliable this is, but this article states that Juan Uribe is wanted in the Dominican Republic for shooting two men. He shot an Italian naval officer and a farmer for reportedly walking too near his SUV. God only know what Stephen Jack- sorry, Juan would have done had they been trying to steal his car.

So the question at hand, is will Juan join Urbina in a DR jail? Many Sox fans have been calling for a new SS, and having Juan serving a year in jail would definitely delight that segment of White Sox fans. The possibilty of Juan serving jail time will only intensify the A-Rod to the White Sox rumors. So far I've heard Joe Crede and Mark Buehrle for A-Rod, as well as Joe Crede and Freddy Garcia for A-Rod rumors. Prepare to hear a few more rumors swirling. I'm not going to comment on what I think about the Sox getting A-Rod, that's fodder for another post. I will remind you, though, that A-Rod has a no-trade clause, so A-Rod has to be sold on coming to Chicago for any possible deal to occur.

I'll continue looking into this and post accordingly as I find out more information.

You can plug the article's web address into here to translate. The colloquisims don't quite translate properly, but you can get a sense of what's going on.

Losin' Our Rock

2006-10-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

The White Sox have decided not to offer a new contract to Tim Raines.

This whole saga with Rock has been a bizarre affair. In May Greg Walker, Don Cooper, Joey Cora, and Harold Baines had their contracts renewed, but Raines, mysteriously, wasn't offered a new contract. I assumed that he would get a new contract at the end of the year once the Sox figured out what his role would be. Originally, Raines was our first base coach, but later was made the bench coach when Harold had his change of heart about the position.

I never liked having Raines shifted away from first. He was a great basestealer in his day and more importantly, he was very smart on the basepaths. It was only natural that he would be our first base coach, but he got shifted away and now he's not going to be coaching for us in any capacity.

Maybe this is like the Brian Anderson - Ozzie situtation. Maybe there's something going on between Rock and Oz. Otherwise, I can't explain why Raines no longer has a position with us. He seemed to be well liked by the players and all, and when he was coaching first, we seemed to be better at stealing bases.

So the question is, who gets his spot. I've heard rumblings of Robin Ventura coming in and filling the void and Jim from Sox Machine has a feeling it may be Sandy Alomar.

A reason why I should be writing for ESPN

2006-10-13T00:20:00.000-05:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2622131

Yep, that's the whole story.

When Did Jeff Weaver Learn to Pitch?

2006-10-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

When did Jeff Weaver learn to pitch? Can someone fill me in? Is it the moustache?

Either the Cards secretly inserted Jeff's brother Jered into the lineup or maybe Jeff finally tapped into that potential that everyone kept raving about.

I guess it comes down to pitch selection and his attack plan.

In his first start of the playoffs, Weaver lived on a steady diet of curveballs. He threw curveball after curveball to the Padres and ended up pitching 5 scoreless innings, while only giving up 2 hits. He wasn't a trainwreck like everyone thought he would be.

Coming into tonight's game, the question everyone had on their minds was which Weaver would show up? The maestro from the NLDS or the same guy that's bounced around the majors and was cut in favor of his younger brother. Seriosuly, that had to be painful. Older brothers NEVER like to lose to their younger brothers, let along lose their job to them.

Well, the maestro showed up today, mostly. He was there for all but one pitch; a Carlos Beltran two-run shot, which served as the difference in the ball game. Before that homer, Weaver absolutely dominated the high-powered Mets' offense. Even though he got the L today, I think his outing today was even better than his showing against the Pads. First off, this was against the Mets. He had to get by the likes of Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, and Wright. Second, he had a longer outing, going 5 2/3.

He also he attacked batters today. Unlike his first start, when he lived on curveballs, he reached back and threw a fastball that reached 96 on the gun and was regularly around 94-05 mph. In Beltran's first AB, Weaver challenged him with an inside fastball. That's a big step for Jeff; in years past I think he would have tried to nibble the corners. I don't know if this is something that he's always done, or something that I've notice only now after watching Jose Contreras, but Weaver throws from different arm angles. If this is something new, the arm angles may be part of his new found success. On the night, he went 5 2/3 and gave up only 4 hits. Not half bad.

Weaver looked good once again in Game 5. He wasn't utterly dominant, but you can't argue with 6 innings of work and only 2 runs against the high powered Mets. Maybe, just maybe, Weaver has turned a corner, or maybe it's a fluke.

The White Sox Season That Was...

2006-10-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

...many different things.

Jeeves so far has put together a very comprehesive look back on the 2006 White Sox, and I've been asked to add my two cents. Well, it's time I chimed in with my take. In the coming days, I'm gonna present an overview of the season as a whole -- highs, lows, expectational regressions to the mean, flying higher than expected, Guillen gaffes, etc. I'm gonna do this on a month by month basis, starting with a very exciting Spring Training/April and ending with a hugely disappointing September, and I'm adding a Sox-Chances-o-Meter so you can better gauge where the pulse of the averaage fan stood.

And since I don't have the memory of an elephant, many of my recollections will be based on the information provided for you right here at Chi-Sox Blog. It'll be a trip down memory lane, albeit a very painful one, and one I hope you'll take along with me provided you're the sado-masochistically inclined reader that I am.

Bring your tissues and a glass of wine, get comfy, and let's reminisce about the 2006 White Sox.

Checking Up on the Exes

2006-10-12T02:36:00.000-05:00

Whenever you get out of a relationship, whether it be marriage, dating, or sports, you're always curious to see how your former significant other is doing. People are always curious to see if their exes are doing better or worse after the falling out. So here's a look at some of the players we dumped prior to this season.

Carl Everett – The dinosaur became expendable in Chicago once we got Thome. Thank goodness we got rid of him. In 92 games Everett hit .227 and hit 11 HR. I’d Say Thome was an improvement.

Frank Thomas – It pained me to let go of Frank, but it was time he moved on. There was no place for him on the White Sox as they sought another championship. I’m glad Frank did well for the A’s and I hope he plays well, deep into the playoffs. On the season he hit .270 and hit 39 HR with 114 RBI. After struggling at the start of the season, Frank got hot down the stretch and carried the A’s offense as they won the division. His hot streak continued into the playoffs and we’ll see what type of damage he’ll do from here on out.

Aaron Rowand – Aaron unfortunately missed some time this year due to injury. He, of course, was hurt playing at a breakneck speed and because he put the team before his personal well-being. He broke his face (to put it bluntly) after making a running catch and crashing full speed into the wall. He also broke an ankle after crashing into Chase Utley, which ended his season. Although he made some spectacular plays, he struggled at the plate. He hit .262 with 12 HR and 47 RBI.

Willie Harris – Willie caught on with the Boston Red Sox and saw the field 47 times, mostly as a pinch runner. In 45 AB, he had 7 hits, a .156 AVG.

Joe Borchard – Joltin’ Joe didn’t catch on with the Mariners, but did see some playing time with the Florida Marlins. He played in 114 games and hit .230 with 10 HR with 28 RBI. Poor Joe, maybe he should have stuck with football. Oh well, he has the nice signing bonus he signed with the Sox to comfort him.

On the Road to Selling Out

2006-10-12T02:32:00.000-05:00

The Sox recently have sold out. No, I'm not talking about seats; I'm talking about start times. The Sox have pushed all home games originally scheduled for 7:05 to 7:11. That's 7:11, which is no accident; The Sox are getting paid $500,000 per year by 7-11 for this marketing ploy. I don't really mind that they're doing this. If anything I would have liked them to get more than (as Cheat pointed out) Dustin Hermanson's buy-out.

I also can't complain about this, because I'm on the road to selling out. I've decided to put some ads on the site. Sorry! I figured, I might as well try and a earn a buck or two with this whole blogging thing. I promise though, that if it isn't really profitable, I will just ditch the ads all together. I'm still working on the configuration of the ads; I'm going to try to make them as unobtrusive as possible. If you go ahead and click on any ads, it would be greatly appreciated!

Mets vs. Cardinals Breakdown

2006-10-11T02:32:00.000-05:00

Here's a look at the NLCS. I don't know the NL as well so we'll see how good this one is.

First Base

Cards - Albert Pujols, end of discussion. Just for the hell of it, .331/.431/.671/1.102

Mets - Delgado you're good, but not Pujols' stratosphere. Those 38 HR's look nice, but the .265 AVG not so much.

Edge - (If there was a doubt) Cards

Second Base

Cards - I liked the Ronnie Belliard pick up from the get go, but things weren't looking as nice as he struggled to adjust to the NL. Well, I'm assuming it was the adjustment factor, either that or the suckiness of the Cards was bringing him down with the rest of the team. Ronnie is normally good for a .290 avg and good power from the position.

Mets - Jose has kept his hitting going while cutting down on his errors. I suppose there's less time for the throw to go off target coming from 2B rather than SS or 3B. Jose put up a .271 AVG with 18 HR.

Slim Edge - Cards

Shortstop

Cards - Eckstein is good at two things: Intangibles and not striking out. So he's not the most useful player ever. He will hit for average though (.292) but he likes to walk as much as Crede (31).

Mets - Reyes can run, hit, and field. He had 64 swipes, 19 HR's, and a .300 AVG. He's a damn, fine player. I will admit that he will boot a ball every now and then, so it's not a complete slurpfest.

Edge - Mets

Third Base

Cards - Rolen says his shoulder is all (I apologize in advance for the pun) wright. We'll see when he steps onto the field. He ended up sitting out the last game of the DS, which thrust Scott "yes, I'm still playing" Spiezio onto the field.

Mets - David Wright is one of the top third baseman in the league. He hit .311 with 26 HR's and 116 RBI's; not to mention that he's 23! If only Josh Fields were as good as him.

Edge - Mets

Catchers

Cards - Molina (without reading on, guess which one it is!) Yadier, that is, is a great defensive catcher. He has a hose, but he just can't hit. He made a serious run at the Mendoza Line, finishing with a .216 AVG.

Mets - Not as good as Molina defensively but he can actually hit. He hit a solid .318, over .100 pts better that Molina.

Edge - Mets

Outfield

Cards - In left the Cards have a platoon of Preston Wilson and Chris Duncan, neither are great. A healthy Jim Edmonds is a must for the Cards. I reckon he is healthy based on his DS performance. He hit over .300 and looked good in the field. Encarnacion is a pretty good player. He's good in the field and hit .278 with 19 HR's. Not bad.

Mets - I think Cliff is D-U-N, done, which means Endy Chavez gets the start in left. Endy may actually be better for the Mets. He doesn't hit for as much power, but has a pretty.306 AVG. Carlos Beltran is earning some of his paycheck. I think the Mets would appreciate an '04-esque performance. Shawn Green, eh.

Edge - Mets

Bench
(which matters more in the NL)

Cards - I like Spiezio of the bench as well as former Sox player, Aaron Miles. Don't forget So Taguchi. Now re-read that last sentence and say his name properly, with heavy emphasis on the So. SO! taguchi.

Mets - Julie Franco and that's it, unless Floyd plays then add Chavez to this list.

Edge - Cards

Defense

Cards - Gold glove caliber at first, catcher, center, and third. If with a hurt Rolen and/or Edmonds they're still a good defensive ball club.

Mets - Wright is good, but no Joe Crede

Edge - Cards

Starting Pitching

Cards - I trust Chris Carpenter, but I DO NOT trust Jeff Weaver. If it was Jered, that would be something, but I can't trust Jeff.

Mets - Pedro and El Duque are out, which leave Glavine, Trachsel, Oliver Perez, and John Maine.

Based on the the fact that I couldn't immediately think of the Cards other starters (Jeff Suppan and Anthony Reyes) edge goes to

No one

Bullpen

Cards - Wainwright has done decently in place of Isringhausen. Tyler Johnson, Randy Flores, and Brandon Looper give the Cards some options.

Mets - Billy Wagner still brings heat and is still damn good. The bullpen is real good, which helps considering the starters are so shaky.

Edge - Mets

The totals...Cards get 4 categories. The Mets get 5, but they won the jumbo category for outfield, so they get a bonus point, giving them 6.

I'm going to take the Mets in 6.

A's vs. Tigers Breakdown

2006-10-11T01:35:00.000-05:00

Note* I meant to get this up prior to the actual game, but I clicked save as draft instead of post as I was going out the door. So read this as though game 1 didn't happen!

Also* Pander, your comments got moved here...sort of

Time to do an in-depth breakdown

First Base

Tigers - Sean Casey ain't the sweetest swinger of the bunch, hitting .245 for the Tigers since coming over. He won't hit the ball out of the park (8 HR), but he'll put it in play for you. He seems to be a nice guy, that's all I can really say positive about him. Oh yah, he's the joker that got thrown out from left field, I forgot about that!

A's - Nick Swisher has quietly been racking up the dingers. He has 35! The average is lacking, at .254, but it's no worse that Casey's performance in the AL.

Edge - A's

Second Base

Tigers - Placido Polanco has a solid average, hitting .295 this season. He doesn't have much power, but then again not everyone is a Tadahito Iguchi. He isn't the swiftest of fellas, but he did bat .412 against the Yanks, so he is going well at the moment.

A's - Mark Ellis broke his finger in the ALDS, so now what? D'Angelo Jimenez? Yes, D'Angelo Jimenez who was on the Sox! I suppose they could turn to Matt Ginter, nope don't know who he is either.

Edge - Tigers

Shortstop

Tigers - Carlos Guillen is damn good. He's no Juan Uribe, and I mean that in a good way; .320 AVG with 19 HR's shows he can hit for average and power. He did have 28 errors this season, but his .571 AVG against the Yanks will help you forget about that.

A's - Bobby -erm, oh right he's hurt. The A's shifted Marco Scutaro (making Italians everywhere proud) to SS and he's done decently. His numbers won't make you forget Crosby, but he's a good fill-in.

Edge - Tigers

Third Base

Tigers - Detroit has Inge manning the hot corner. It seems anytime Inge is mentioned it needs to be brought up that he's a former catcher, so now that we got that out of the way, the fact that he hit .253 is much more relevant. He'll hit the occasional dinger though; he had 27.

A's - Chavez struggled mightily with injuries this year. He could only scrape together a .241 AVG with a career low 22 dingers. (I'm excluding non-full seasons). Still, I'd rather take a dinged up Chavez with his good glove than Inge. So...

Edge - A's

Catcher

Tigers - Now that Pudge has slimmed down to, damn what do we call him now? Husky? Not-so-pudge (NSP for short?). So now that NSP has slimmed down to improve his defense (ahem, steroids, ahem) he has seemed to have lost his power stroke. NSP's hitting ability is still there though, hitting .300 on the dot.

A's - Somehow the fact that he leads off is flying under the radar. I dare you to name one other catcher that leads off...while you're thinking read on...Kendall is a contact hitter. He hit .295 and was decently good at getting on base and good at avoiding K's.

Edge - Tigers

Left Field

Tigers - Just call Monroe the Nick Swisher of the Tigers. He hit .255 with 28 HR's; not as good as Swisher but the stat line looks similar. Just throw Monroe a curveball and he's D-U-N, done.

A's - He's a slapper! Not like A-Rod (geez, no even I'm piling on him. That's it, I vow, if A-Rod continues to take a beating to defend him on my modest site, but back to Payton). He doesn't hit for power but he does slap in some doubles, (10 dingers vs. 32 doubles) and hits for a good avg (.295)

Edge - A's

Centerfield

Tigers - Granderson went cold down the stretch and ended up hitting .260 for the year. He's fast, but doesn't steal a lot of bases. The Tigers should work on that with him.

A's - Kotsay hit better that Granderson (.275) but hit 12 less homers (7-19).

I like the A's more so...

Edge - A's to a neutral party, you would probably go with tie.

Right Field

Tigers - Oh-we-oh...Maaaagglio. Mags came on strong down the stretch hitting .327. On the year he hit 24 long balls with 101 RBI's. Not bad for someone wearing a clown wig underneath his cap.

A's - Milton Bradley, seriously, what were his parents thinking? He had 1 hit in the ALDS, but if he gets hot he could rack up some hits. If he gets hot, he could also punch someone, but that's because he's craaaaaaaaazy.

Edge - Tigers

DH

Tigers - Marcus Thames

A's - Two words: Big Hurt

'Nuff said

Edge - A's

Bench

Tigers - Omar Infante ain't half bad, but Neifi Perez negates any of his goodness. Beyond Infante who's left?

A's - Bobby Kielty is pretty solid and Dan Johnson can take some AB's, but the A's better hope no one else gets hurt.

Edge - Chicago White Sox

Defense

Tigers - The Tigers have been garnering a lot of comparisons to my beloved '05 Sox, but the one department they lack in his defense. Pudge is decent, but nowhere near his Texas days. Everyone else is mediocre to bad.

A's - Chavez is the man continually standing between Joe Clutch and a Gold Glove. For a 2baseman playing SS, Scutaro is pretty good. No one is glaringly bad.

Edge - A's

Starting Pitching

Here's the question you have to ask yourself, will the Tigers young pitchers continue to roll? Or will they get tired/let the magnitude of the playoffs get to them?

Tigers - Their young guns are fantastic. Bonderman, Verlander, and game 1 starter for the ALCS Nate Robertson. Kenny Rogers looked like a completely different pitcher against the Yanks. He was bringing (relative) heat. I saw him clock 93 MPH!

A's - The A's have the bigger names, but will they perform? Zito was magnificient against the Twins, but will this continue? He let the Twins get themselves out, which is usually a good thing but can be a bad thing. He only had one K vs the Twinks. He may need a higher total against the Tigers. Loaiza is pretty good and Haren is solid. Harden makes or breaks this staff, this series. We're either going to get soon-to-be-ace-of-the-staff Haren or clearly coming off of injury Haren. Until I see Haren...

Edge - Tigers, but not decisively

Bullpen

Tigers - Zumaya throws gaaaaaaaaas, of the Bobby Jenks variety. Todd Jones is somehow effective. I don't know how, but he gets the job done.

A's - The A's pen is really solid. Calero, Duchscherererererer, and Street are great.

Edge - A's

So the totals...Tigers win 5 categories with a bonus point for getting the nod among the starters for a total of 6 points. A's win 7 categories and get a bonus point for being Jeeves' team for the playoffs for a total of 8.

So there you have it with a score of 8-6, the A's get the edge. I say A's in 6.

Update to Breaking (Non-White Sox) News

2006-10-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

It seems that Georgie Boy has had a change of heart, either that or the rumors were false to being with. Joe Torre appears to be staying put in New York. Frankly I think that's the best thing for their ball club, but I think that may mean that A-Rod is on the outs. Pinella coached A-Rod in Seattle and they got along well, and people believed that bringing in Pinella would help A-Rod, but with Torre still in the fold Steinbrenner may decide that changes need to be made and could look to his third baseman.

Here's the AP's report on Torre notbeing fired.

A Look Back at In-Season Moves

2006-10-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

6/15/06

Acquired RHP David Riske from the Boston Red Sox for LHP Javier Lopez

This move looked like a smart one from the start, but now I’m not so certain. We were dealing from a position of strength when it came to LHPs; we had Cotts, Thornton, Boone Logan, and Tyler Lumsden , but Riske closed the season poorly. When he first came to the Sox he pitched pretty well. He was decent to good for most of the season, but allowed 7 runs in his last 7 IP. Lopez on the other hand had a 2.70 ERA in 27 games and 16.2 IP for the Sawx. The ERA is nice, but he didn’t exactly get in a lot of work.

Verdict: Hung jury

7/23/06

Acquired C Sandy Alomar Jr. from the Dodgers for RHP B.J. LaMura

Being the optimist that I am, I looked at this deal as a chance for Buehrle to turn his season around. I presumed that having pitched to Sandy before, Sandy may be able to unlock the Buehrle of old. Boy was I wrong. Sandy brought us nothing. He didn’t call games well and he didn’t hit well. The fact that we gave anything up for him is upsetting.

Verdict: Bad move, again. (I hope I never see the words “Acquired Sandy Alomar Jr.” again.

7/24/06

Acquired RHP Mike MacDougal from the Kansas City Royals for LHP Tyler Lumsden and RHP Daniel Cortes

Mike Mac was out best reliever down the stretch, and had a sparkling 1.55 ERA in 29 games. As long as MacDougal can stay healthy we made a good trade. His mechanics are ugly and he is injury prone so I’m knocking on wood and hoping we get a full season out of him. Again, we were trading from our reserve of lefty relievers, so I don’t really have any regret about losing Lumsden.

Verdict: Good trade

Pick to Click Standings 2006

2006-10-09T01:41:00.000-05:00

1. James - 31 The Grand Pick Master
2. DickDaStick - 26
3. Jeeves - 25
4. Fornelli - 14
5. D.T. Kelly - 8
6. Pander - 6
7. The Count - 5
8. Tx via Chicago - 5
9. Jonathon Kelley - 4
10. Saltwater Farmer - 4
11. Dale - 1

Sox Player of the Game Leaderboard 2006

2006-10-09T01:40:00.000-05:00

1. Jermaine Dye - 16
2. Jim Thome - 14
3. Joe Crede - 13
4. Paul Konerko - 12
5. Jose Contreras - 9
6. Jon Garland - 9
7. Tadahito Iguchi - 9
8. Scott Podsednik - 7
9. Brian Anderson - 6
10. AJ Pierzynski - 6
11. Juan Uribe - 6
12. Alex Cintron - 5
13. Javier Vazquez - 4
14. Freddy Garcia - 4
15. Brandon McCarthy - 3
16. Pablo Ozuna - 2
17. Mark Buehrle - 2
18. Matt Thornton - 2
19. Bobby Jenks - 2
20. Rob Mackowiak - 1
21. Boone Logan - 1
22. Ross Gload - 1
23. Mike MacDougal - 1
24. Josh Fields - 1
25. Charlie Haeger - 1

A Look Back at Off-Season Trades

2006-10-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick look back at the off-season trades me made. I analyzed them a bit and noted whether I would make the trade again or not.

11/25/05
Acquired DH Jim Thome and cash from the Philadelphia Phillies for CF Aaron Rowand, RHP Dan Haigwood, and a player to be named later

This trade essentially came down to Jim Thome and cash for Aaron Rowand. After getting over the initial shock of losing Rowand, I realized this was a good trade, and nearly a year later, I still believe Kenny made a good move. The Sox won the ’05 World Series on pitching and timely hitting, aka Ozzie Ball. KW was well aware of the fact that if the Sox were to repeat they would need a stronger lineup, because it would be impossible to expect the rotation to repeat ‘05’s performance. He achieved this without giving up one of our pitchers or any of the key cogs in the Sox lineup. This move also paid off, because Thome represented not only an insurance policy if Paulie left via free agency, but also an incentive for Paulie to stay at home; with Thome in the fold, Paulie had some protection in the lineup. For now the trade looks good, but it has the potential to go all wrong. If Thome’s body breaks down and the Sox are saddled with his contract, this deal may be bad in the long run.

I realize that getting Thome sealed Thomas’ fate, but coming into the season I would not have wanted Thomas as my DH. No one knew whether he would last a full season, and the media certainly would have jumped on him during his early season struggles.

Verdict: For now, Good move.

12/13/05
Acquired INF Rob Mackowiak from the Pittsburgh Pirates for LHP Damaso Marte

Damaso was thoroughly in Ozzie’s dog house and it seemed like he was on his way out over the off-season; it was just a matter of to where and for whom. Mackowiak was a solid hitter for us all year long, but his fielding left something to be desired. This may be due to the fact that he played almost exclusively in the outfield, and when this trade was announced he was an INFIELDER. Damaso pitched decently for the Pirates with a 3.70 ERA in 75 games.

Verdict: Good move.

12/20/05
Acquired Javier Vazquez and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Orlando Hernandez, RHP Luis Vizcaino, and OF Chris Young

Sox fans were probably the most divided over this trade. On the one hand we got a pitcher, at a discount, who possessed filthy stuff. On the other hand, said pitcher seemed to be a head case and hadn’t pitched solidly since his days in Montreal. On the first hand, we have Don Cooper to straighten him out. On the other hand, we gave up one of our top prospects. And so on and so forth. Most people are willing to call this trade a bust for us, but I’m not ready to call it quits, yet. Yes, Chris Young looks like the first prospect that KW traded that will actually produce, but I still believe in Don Cooper. I think by next season Javy will be a solid pitcher for us. Yes, I’m being ridiculously optimistic, but I’m just not ready to give up on Javy yet. I didn’t mind losing El Duque or Vizcaino. I was actually happy to get rid of them both. To me El Duque was an injury waiting to happen, and although Vizcaino had a 3.58 ERA in 70 games, I didn’t trust him at all.

Verdict: It’s a hung jury. The trade will be retried next season, although things aren’t looking too promising.

03/08/06
Acquired Alex Cintron from the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Jeff Bajenaru

Absolute fleecing. Bajenaru spent basically the whole season in the minors and had a 4.50 ERA in 52 appearances. That isn’t promising for a 28 year-old “prospect.” Cintron on the other hand was a key player of the bench, batting steadily and fielding solidly at both SS and 2B.

Verdict: Good, shrewd move.

03/20/06
Acquired Matt Thornton from the Seattle Mariners for OF Joe Borchard

Another absolute fleecing. Both these players were looking at getting DFAed by their respective clubs since they were out of minor league options, but the Sox came out of this trade looking golden. KW gave Coop another project and Coop delivered. After lengthening his stride and making a few other tweaks, Coop turned Thornton into our third best reliever this past season.

Verdict: Great move

A look at the in-season moves are coming tomorrow.

Breaking (Non-White Sox) News

2006-10-08T01:03:00.000-05:00

Sportscenter just reported that according to the New York Daily News, Ol' Georgie Boy is prepared to fire Joe Torre tomorrow, in favor of Lou Pinella.

I'm currently looking for more information, and as I find it, I will post it here.

Edit - Here's the AP's report about the NY Daily News article; it doesn't tell much, but here it is nonetheless.

White Sox Player Grades

2006-10-08T00:49:00.000-05:00

Now that schooooool's.out.for.summer. It's time to hand out the end of the year grades. I may come off as a hard teacher and grader, but that's because I'm not grading solely on performance. I'm also grading against expectations coming into the season, so consider that the curve.

Pitchers

Period 1

Mike MacDougal, A+: You can’t argue with a 1.80 ERA
Matt Thornton, A: Most people thought he was just going to be a waste of space, but posted a 3.33 ERA, good for second on the team.
Jeff Nelson, Inc: Can’t judge on just 6 games of work. He’s like the kid that got mono and disappeared for the whole year.
Sean Tracey, A-: For performance, F: For following directions.
Charlie Haeger, B: He scared us all his first time up in the bigs, but did well his second time around.
David Riske, B-/B: He’s a good arm to have in the bullpen, but not the lights out pitcher you would want out there in a tight spot.
Bobby Jenks, A+ for the first half, and a B for the second half. Grade = A-/B+
Dustin Hermanson, Inc: Can’t judge on just 6 games of work. He’s like the kid that got mono at the start of the year, and came back right at the end.
Jose Contreras, See Bobby Jenks
Jon Garland, See Bobby Jenks, but flip grades for first and second half
Freddy Garcia, C-: Too bad he didn’t pitch like he did in September all year long.
Brandon McCarthy, B+ as a starter or in appearances where he worked like a starter, but C- as a reliever.
Javier Vazquez, C-
Mark Buehrle, D, for dreadful
Agustin Montero, F, for fat
Neal Cotts, F, for fat pitches
Boone Logan, F, for freakin' Daniel Boone
Cliff Politte, F-, for farewell

Class Average: C+

Hitters

Period 2

Paul Konerko, A: He produced after signing a fat contract, while carrying the title of Captain. An iffy back in the second half slowed him a bit.
Tadahito Iguchi, B: His situation hitting wasn’t as good as last year, but is AVG and HR were up.
Joe Crede, A-: A bad back cost him of an A or an A+ season down the stretch.
Jermaine Dye, A+: He surpassed all expectations and made a run at the MVP.
Scott Podsednik, F: Poor SB% and a poor OBP are not what you want from your leadoff man.
AJ Pierzynski, A: He produced at the plate.
Jim Thome, A-/A: Hs came flying out of the gate, but faded a bit down the stretch.
Juan Uribe, F: .235 AVG.
Brian Anderson, D+: As much as I have defended him in the past, that .225 AVG is an eyesore. I hope he comes out on fire next year, because I like him a lot.
Alex Cintron, B+/A-: He did what he was brought in to do. He was solid, but not spectacular at the plate and in the field.
Rob Mackowiak, B+: It’s not his fault he was marched out there in CF. He hit well, and played hard.
Pablo Ozuna, A: I’m overlooking his early season woes in the field, much as I overlooked Rob’s woes in the field.
Ross Gload, A: Professional hitter. He produced when he was in.
Sandy Alomar Jr., D: He couldn’t hit, and Buehrle actually pitched worse when he was behind the plate.
Ryan Sweeney, Inc.
Josh Fields, Inc.
Christ Stewart, Inc.

Class Average: B

Clearly the hitters outperformed the pitchers this year. Hopefully after a summer's worth of rest, the pitchers can rebound with a stellar year next year.

Now For A Real Award

2006-10-07T15:53:00.000-05:00

Jim Thome bagged The Comeback Player of the Year award. Nomar took the honor in the NL. The award is based on fan balloting; Thome recevied 55, 587 votes, but the totals for Thomas are unknown. MLB doesn't release the vote totals for the non-winners.

In the AL, everyone knew the award would be given to either Thome or the man he replaced in Chicago, Frank Thomas. On the year, Thome hit .288 with 42 homers, 109 RBIs and had a 1.014 OPS. Thomas hit .270 with 39 homers, 114 RBI and had a .926 OPS.

I suppose that Thome's edge in nearly all categories is what gave him the edge in fan voting. I honestly thought that Frank would take the award. I figured with his hot second half and the fact that he carried the A's into the post-season would be more than enough to make up for his slighlty lesser numbers.

Congrats Big Jim. You made Kenny look like a smart, smart man.

2006 Chi-Sox Blog Favorites

2006-10-07T03:36:00.000-05:00

My Expectations for the Season
Starting Rotation Preview
Outfield Preview
Infield Preview
Bullpen Preview
Bench Preview
Ryan Who?
Oz in Action
Off-Season Recap
Open Invite
Confidence, Character, and Chemistry
Buehrle Bile File

Deadspin Worthy Posts
Humble Pie Part 2
Introducing the Buehrle Bile File
I am officially over the ledge

Buehrle Bile File 2006

2006-10-07T03:23:00.000-05:00

And the Award Goes to...

2006-10-07T03:15:00.000-05:00

Mark Buehrle – The Tums Award – For upsetting the most stomach’s with his performances.
Jose Contreras – Egghead Award – For having the biggest head, EVER.
Neal Cotts – Worst LOOGY Award – For not being able to get out lefties.
Freddy Garcia – Cheech and Chong Award – For watching his fastball disappear behind a giant cloud of weed.
Jon Garland – Just Win, Baby Award – For just winning, baby.
Charlie Haegar – Least Promising Start Award – For absolutely sucking in his debut, but proving to be a useful player down the stretch.
Dustin Hermanson - Least Likely to Carry the Team on his Back Award – For having the balkiest back.
Bobby Jenks – Triple Digits Award – For the ability to throw gas.
Boone Logan – Most Likely to be Mistaken for a Man with a Coonskin Hat.
Mike MacDougal – Ugliest Delivery Award – For having a chronically jerky, but effective delivery.
Brandon McCarthy – Lankiest Man Award – For being tall as hell.
David Riske – Pun Award – For lending his name to an unbelievable number of puns. I.E. – Riskey Business.
Matt Thornton – Don Cooper Project Award – For being the latest project turned stud, at the hands of Don Cooper
Sean Tracey – Backside of a Barn Award – For not being able to hit the backside of a barn or the backside of the player he was supposed to bean.
Javier Vazquez – Consistency Award – For continually blowing up in the 6th inning.
Cliff Politte – We’ll Always Have ’05 Award – For being dominant in ’05 and quite the opposite this year.

Sandy Alomar Jr. – Third Times the Charm Award – For coming back for his third term of service.
AJ Pierzynski – Most Punched Award – For getting punched repetitively, once by Michael Barrett and by all those who voted for him for the all-star game during the “Punch AJ” campaign.
Alex Cintron – Alcoholic’s Player of Choice Award – For those downing Absolut Citron, the Sox offered Absolute Cintron.
Joe Crede - Man Crush Award - For making men across Chicago develop man crushes for his ablity in the clutch.
Ross Gload – Professional Hitter Award – For being a professional hitter. Free Ross Gload!
Tadahito Iguchi – Most in Need of a Translator Award – For not understanding what a waving arm means; yes I’m referring when he inexplicably stopped running home and just stood there, before getting tagged out.
Paul Konerko - PF Flyers Award - For needing a big time speed boost.
Juan Uribe – Ugliest Swing Award – For dropping to one knee over and over again, flailing at curveballs.
Brian Anderson – Sun Tan Lotion Award – The award is actually made of sun tan lotion, which he gets for the winterball he’s going to play.
Jermaine Dye – MVP – Self-explanatory
Rob Mackowiak – Abraham Lincoln Award – For desegregating, um, for being honest and owning up to the fact that he was no good in the field. “I think I've been a little surprised because I haven't played the greatest defense, and you have to have your best out there at this time of the year, especially center field”
Pablo Ozuna – Pixie Dust Award – For providing a spark to the team and winning games single handedly.
Scott Podsednik – MHP (Most Hated Player) – For having people suddenly turn on you. He was hailed as a great, integral part of this team, and not people want him not traded, but released.
Jim Thome – Worst Actor Award – For continually running toward first after taking a full count pitch that was in actuality a ball.

Joey Cora – Most Likely Person to Need Rotator Cuff Surgery – For waving his arm off like he was Wavin’ Wendall Kim.

Some serious awards though

MVP – Jermaine Dye
Chi-Sox Blog Player of the Season – (judged by most player of the games) Jermaine Dye
Cy Young – Jon Garland
Gold Gloves – Joe Crede, Juan Uribe, Brian Anderson
Silver Sluggers – Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede
Biggest Disappointment – Scott Podsednik

News and Notes

2006-10-07T03:12:00.000-05:00

The A's, my adopted team, swept the Twins. Rejoice! I'll write about them soon, I hope.

I've decided that I will definitely keep this site going during the off-season. I suppose it'll become just a general sports blog until Spring (Training) Fever comes back. The question is how frequently will I post? I guess I'll have to play it by ear.

Also, I saw my first celebrity out here in LA. Keanu Reeves. That's right, scraggly beard and all. I saw the Departed in Westwood and there he was hanging out in front of the theater. I snapped some shots on a disposable camera, so I may post a pic once I get the film developed.

Would you guys be opposed to me advertising on the site?

The season may be over, but I sure as hell haven't finished

2006-10-05T02:46:00.000-05:00

So I've got some big plans for posts coming up in the next few days. I've actually started hashing out ideas on paper! I'm hoping things don't get too hectic out here, because I really want to get this stuff out while the season is still fresh in our minds, and before we totally move onto the Bears.

Anyways, here are some of the topics I'm going to write about, if you have any suggestions or post ideas just drop a comment. James, Dickie, and Pander if you want to take a topic and run with it, just double check with me, so we don't have duplicates.

-A general view back on the season: the highs the lows, encouraging and discouraging things to take out of this season. Claimed by James
-The Legacy of this season: How does it rate? A disappointment? Something to build off? Where do we place it in our history? (This may ultimately be joined with the above topic, but I fear that it would be an uber long post, so for now it's two separate posts) Claimed by DickDaStick
-A quick look to next season: Possible off-season moves, Who I'd like to see gone, who I'd like to see back and moves I'd like to see.
-Ozzie's biggest boners of the year. Both managing-wise and speaking-wise.

-White Sox season ending awards CHECK
-White Sox player grades CHECK
-Hindsight on off-season trades CHECK
-How our in-season acquisitions panned out CHECK
-A look at how former Sox players did. CHECK

These posts will come out sporadically. I can't predict the days or the order, but keep an eye our for 'em; there will be good stuff coming even though the Sox season is done.