lpneck
07-21-2006, 10:03 AM
I want to admit that until last season, I was the darkest of dark clouds, and in most cases I believe, justifiably so, particualrly given the track record of some of the decisions that White Sox management had made in the past (read: New Comiskey before the renovations, Terry Bevington, White Flag, Jerry Manual, Todd Ritchie, etc. etc. etc.)
At this time last year I was in full fledged Ken Griffey Jr. mode. I wanted to know when we were going to get a REAL third basemen. It was clear with Hermanson's back problems that there was no solution within the organization for a closer.
I think we all know how that turned out. And I am proudly a reformed dark cloud. For the first time in my life as a Sox fan, I have CONFIDENCE in the management of this club from Ozzie, Kenny, and Jerry.
Could we all please RELAX for a minute? Yes, I understand that it is frustrating that the Sox have not played well the last 10 games or so, but let's look at all of the things that has everyone up in arms for a second.
Starting Pitching-
1.) Contreras: 9-2, 3.43 ERA, BAA .238 No problems here... wasted a great outing yesterday.
2.) Buehrle: 9-7, 4.43 ERA, BAA .286 Everyone is absolutely FREAKING OUT about Mark right now. Stop it. He has had 3 terrible starts in a row, and everyone wants to throw him under the bus? His ERA prior to those starts was 3.22.
3.) Garland: 9-3, 5.12 ERA, BAA .292 OHMIGOD! Garland's ERA is over 5! Should we trade him??? He is 5-0 with a 2.77 ERA in his last 6 starts. Stop it.
4.) Garcia: 10-6, 5.07 ERA, BAA .285 I can't argue that Freddy has struggled most of the season. Solution? Let's trade him! Stop it. If the White Sox make the playoffs does Freddy's history of success (going back to the Mariners) make him more valuable than, say, Jason Schmidt?
5.) Vazquez: 9-5, 5.20 ERA, BAA .274 Yes, Javy has been maddening to watch. He also has *9* wins as our *5th* starter. How many YEARS did it take to get 9 wins from the 5th starter from 1997-2004? It seems to me that he continually pitches well for 4 or 5 innings and then has a meltdown about the third time that he faces the lineup. It also seems to me that will make him the effective right handed arm coming out of the pen that we are looking for in the postseason, when we only need 4 starters.
Bullpen
Somewhere along the way it became fashionable to say that the White Sox bullpen hasn't been very good, and I just don't buy that at all. Jenks is obviously lights out. Cotts, McCarthy, and Thornton have been very good. I think Riske was a good pickup. If we make the playoffs, you can throw in Vazquez. That only leaves Politte's former spot.
Lineup
Pretty tough to complain about the starting lineup, other than we need to do a better job bunting and moving runners over. Even Anderson, as had been noted, is hitting the ball much better lately.
So here are the changes I think the White Sox should look at as the trade deadline approaches:
1.) A servicable veteran right handed reliever with some postseason experience.
2.) Possibly a center fielder. (I like Anderson, but if you have a chance to significantly upgrade- Andrew Jones? I think that you have to consider it. It also would allow us to stop playing Mackowiack in CF, where he has no business. Anderson could be the backup outfielder that we really are missing right now by throwing Ozuna and Mack out there. If the cost for a big time CF is too high or they are not available, then the Sox need to at least look at bringing in a servicable backup outfielder who can play some defense. This would mean you would need to cut Gload for the roster space.)
3.) A backup catcher upgrade. Widger is just not getting it done right now. The Sox have lost 6 games in a row that he has caught and he has gone 2 for 31 since May 30.
NOTHING should be done to the starting pitching... the Sox have made their bed with Contreras, Buehrle, Garland, and Garcia. They will either get us to the postseason or they won't, but that decision was made last winter- a bad 10 game stretch in July is NOT the time to panic and make a poor decision.
Finally, everyone who is freaking out because we are 5.5 games back... the White Sox have the 2ND BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL and are on pace to go 100-62. You can not control what the Tigers do. If they win the 109 games they are currently on pace for, guess what, it's wild card city for us. Oh well. If the Sox win 100 games, finish 9 back of the Tigers, and win the wild card by 5 games, I have no problem with it if we are set up properly to win 4 out of 7 from the Tigers in a short series.
But most importantly, I TRUST the management and the coaching staff that brought a world championship to the south side of Chicago to make good decisions regarding the last 3 months of this season and future ones.
At this time last year I was in full fledged Ken Griffey Jr. mode. I wanted to know when we were going to get a REAL third basemen. It was clear with Hermanson's back problems that there was no solution within the organization for a closer.
I think we all know how that turned out. And I am proudly a reformed dark cloud. For the first time in my life as a Sox fan, I have CONFIDENCE in the management of this club from Ozzie, Kenny, and Jerry.
Could we all please RELAX for a minute? Yes, I understand that it is frustrating that the Sox have not played well the last 10 games or so, but let's look at all of the things that has everyone up in arms for a second.
Starting Pitching-
1.) Contreras: 9-2, 3.43 ERA, BAA .238 No problems here... wasted a great outing yesterday.
2.) Buehrle: 9-7, 4.43 ERA, BAA .286 Everyone is absolutely FREAKING OUT about Mark right now. Stop it. He has had 3 terrible starts in a row, and everyone wants to throw him under the bus? His ERA prior to those starts was 3.22.
3.) Garland: 9-3, 5.12 ERA, BAA .292 OHMIGOD! Garland's ERA is over 5! Should we trade him??? He is 5-0 with a 2.77 ERA in his last 6 starts. Stop it.
4.) Garcia: 10-6, 5.07 ERA, BAA .285 I can't argue that Freddy has struggled most of the season. Solution? Let's trade him! Stop it. If the White Sox make the playoffs does Freddy's history of success (going back to the Mariners) make him more valuable than, say, Jason Schmidt?
5.) Vazquez: 9-5, 5.20 ERA, BAA .274 Yes, Javy has been maddening to watch. He also has *9* wins as our *5th* starter. How many YEARS did it take to get 9 wins from the 5th starter from 1997-2004? It seems to me that he continually pitches well for 4 or 5 innings and then has a meltdown about the third time that he faces the lineup. It also seems to me that will make him the effective right handed arm coming out of the pen that we are looking for in the postseason, when we only need 4 starters.
Bullpen
Somewhere along the way it became fashionable to say that the White Sox bullpen hasn't been very good, and I just don't buy that at all. Jenks is obviously lights out. Cotts, McCarthy, and Thornton have been very good. I think Riske was a good pickup. If we make the playoffs, you can throw in Vazquez. That only leaves Politte's former spot.
Lineup
Pretty tough to complain about the starting lineup, other than we need to do a better job bunting and moving runners over. Even Anderson, as had been noted, is hitting the ball much better lately.
So here are the changes I think the White Sox should look at as the trade deadline approaches:
1.) A servicable veteran right handed reliever with some postseason experience.
2.) Possibly a center fielder. (I like Anderson, but if you have a chance to significantly upgrade- Andrew Jones? I think that you have to consider it. It also would allow us to stop playing Mackowiack in CF, where he has no business. Anderson could be the backup outfielder that we really are missing right now by throwing Ozuna and Mack out there. If the cost for a big time CF is too high or they are not available, then the Sox need to at least look at bringing in a servicable backup outfielder who can play some defense. This would mean you would need to cut Gload for the roster space.)
3.) A backup catcher upgrade. Widger is just not getting it done right now. The Sox have lost 6 games in a row that he has caught and he has gone 2 for 31 since May 30.
NOTHING should be done to the starting pitching... the Sox have made their bed with Contreras, Buehrle, Garland, and Garcia. They will either get us to the postseason or they won't, but that decision was made last winter- a bad 10 game stretch in July is NOT the time to panic and make a poor decision.
Finally, everyone who is freaking out because we are 5.5 games back... the White Sox have the 2ND BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL and are on pace to go 100-62. You can not control what the Tigers do. If they win the 109 games they are currently on pace for, guess what, it's wild card city for us. Oh well. If the Sox win 100 games, finish 9 back of the Tigers, and win the wild card by 5 games, I have no problem with it if we are set up properly to win 4 out of 7 from the Tigers in a short series.
But most importantly, I TRUST the management and the coaching staff that brought a world championship to the south side of Chicago to make good decisions regarding the last 3 months of this season and future ones.