2007 White Sox !!!

[airspuds]

i predict white sox will beat the cubs in the world series  !!!

[stpitner]

well at least you put the Cubs in the world series.  I'd like to see how both of those starting rotations will turn out.

[Dan Michler]

My prediction:  The Sox are going to suck and end up unloading payroll before the year is over.  Its going to be a depressing year Sox fans.  Your lineup stays the same as last year.  Thome had a great year after the hot start, but eventually his back acted up on him.  Realistically he could be a .280 30 hr guy this year, but no way will he be hitting 40 hr and 100 rbi again.  Dye just had a career year, he should be good again but probably not the same numbers as last year.  Overall I think it will not be a horrible lineup, but not quite as good as the Indians (Sizemore, Martinez,Hafner) or the Twins(Mauer,Morneau,Hunter,Cuddyer).

Sox pitching:  WTF?  Why did you trade your #1 prospect McCarthy?  Plus you lose Garcia who is a very consistent pitcher.  Between Buerhle, Garland, Contreras, and Vazquez, you have no ace on the staff.  Its just a bunch of mediocre starting pitchers, with very little upside.

In summary, the White Sox suck and their GM will continue to make baffling decisions this year as his teams heads back towards the cellar.

[airspuds]

suck must mean/equal  winning 90 or more games

Your lineup stays the same as last year -  good veteran teams dont freak out when things dont go their way
every one knows looking around them what to expect

ekstad adds a good presence in the club house and will push anderson and pods

Overall I think it will not be a horrible lineup -  i think kenny and ozzie will agree

Why did you trade your #1 prospect McCarthy? added good prospects or u can believe the rumors about not getting along with ozzie on his "night " habits

Garcia  - how can u preach defense to a team when the  pitcher cant hold a runner
makes the catcher look horrible and the defense falls asleep when hes throwing 40 pitches early in the game
again added  prospects

i dont agree with trading Cotts ( great we got a former cub middle releiver)
and boone logan is not the answer
but the bullpen is strong overall

the #  5 spot has me concerned but they dont need one til teh 3rd week

added a better right handed hitting catcher again deep bench

Buerhle, Garland, Contreras, and Vazquez, you have no ace on the staff.  Its just a bunch of mediocre starting pitchers, with very little upside.  dont agree with that statement at all 

In summary, the White Sox suck (original ) and their GM will continue to make baffling decisions this year as his teams heads back towards the cellar  ( thats right after you win a world series the downside is that there is really one place to go - which would be down )

baffling decisions  -   310  million in free agent spending  still wont make a lick of difference
once a losing team always a losing team

white sox  - greater than 90 wins
cubs  -  will not win 90

[Dan Michler]

this thread isn't about the cubs so why do all the white sox fans have to bring them up?

you can not possibly deny that some of those off season moves by the Sox were WIERD.  hmmm..lets trade our #1 prospect for.....prospects.  trade proven lefty in the pen for bad middle reliever.  Who trades starting pitching in this day and age anyways??  mccarthy and garcia?  thats just strange.  I've seen strange things from the White Sox before though.  Like being 3 and half out of the playoffs in (95?)  and i recall them trading away their best players just before the deadline.  I don't even think they are committed to winning this year.  They added nobody of consequence to a disappointing 2006 team that is only getting older.

I can't believe you don't agree with my opinion of your starting pitching spuds 

Seroiusly though, I think you can easily concede that Buerhle, Contreras, and Vazquez (lifetime sub .500 pitcher) are CLEARLY on the downside of their careers.  They should all make all their starts which makes them a decent rotation, but they are still missing an ace of the staff.  There are 3 other teams in your division that have better rotations.  Buerhle used to be that ace several years ago, but those days are gone.

I love that you bring up Erstad as if thats a solid addition to the squad.   HA!  You are right though, you would be better off with him in center than Podsednik.  He is a horrible leadoff hitter.  OBP of .330 last year.  Strikes out.  Kills innings when he does get on by getting thrown out on the basepaths (19 CS in '06, 23 CS in '05, well below the 75% SB success mark that is expected of a base stealer).  2003 is the only year he ever reached 100 runs scored.

Sorry if these words hurt, its not because I hate the White Sox and all of their fans (although I defnitely do), its just an honest analysis of a team in a downward spiral.  And again, don't respond by comparing them to the Cubs, because thats totally irrelevant when considering whether or not the Sox are a good team.


P.S.  your manager is mentally ill and will write his own ticket out of town before long.

[airspuds]

typical start

slow

wait til the bats  heat up and the staff gets their stuff together

[Tom McManus]

My prediction:  The Sox are going to suck and end up unloading payroll before the year is over.  Its going to be a depressing year Sox fans.  Your lineup stays the same as last year.  Thome had a great year after the hot start, but eventually his back acted up on him.  Realistically he could be a .280 30 hr guy this year, but no way will he be hitting 40 hr and 100 rbi again.  Dye just had a career year, he should be good again but probably not the same numbers as last year.  Overall I think it will not be a horrible lineup, but not quite as good as the Indians (Sizemore, Martinez,Hafner) or the Twins(Mauer,Morneau,Hunter,Cuddyer).

Sox pitching:  WTF?  Why did you trade your #1 prospect McCarthy?  Plus you lose Garcia who is a very consistent pitcher.  Between Buerhle, Garland, Contreras, and Vazquez, you have no ace on the staff.  Its just a bunch of mediocre starting pitchers, with very little upside.

In summary, the White Sox suck and their GM will continue to make baffling decisions this year as his teams heads back towards the cellar.

It is still early but:
Vazquez 2.5 era
Buerhle  2.59
Garland 3.95

Freddy Garcia hurt and a 4.65 era
Brandon McCarthy 10.2 era 4 starts 15 innings pitched.

I think the Sox GM Kenny Williams has made pretty good decisions the last few years. I still would like to see a better defensive center fielder for the Sox.

[Dan Michler]

yes tom, its still VERY early.  20/162.  If we're judging the season already then I guess Pujols may as well retire now and the Brewers are headed to the World Series.  lets atlesat wait until july before we decide if kenny williams is a genius.

[tacimala]

Just went to the game and being a Tigers fan I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Tomorrow will break the 2-2 tie for the season. Speaking objectively, I don't think that the Sox starting pitcher tonight is the real deal or really worthy of being a starting pitcher for a big franchise like this. I could be wrong though!

[pearso66]

My prediction:  The Sox are going to suck and end up unloading payroll before the year is over.  Its going to be a depressing year Sox fans.  Your lineup stays the same as last year.  Thome had a great year after the hot start, but eventually his back acted up on him.  Realistically he could be a .280 30 hr guy this year, but no way will he be hitting 40 hr and 100 rbi again.  Dye just had a career year, he should be good again but probably not the same numbers as last year.  Overall I think it will not be a horrible lineup, but not quite as good as the Indians (Sizemore, Martinez,Hafner) or the Twins(Mauer,Morneau,Hunter,Cuddyer).

Sox pitching:  WTF?  Why did you trade your #1 prospect McCarthy?  Plus you lose Garcia who is a very consistent pitcher.  Between Buerhle, Garland, Contreras, and Vazquez, you have no ace on the staff.  Its just a bunch of mediocre starting pitchers, with very little upside.

In summary, the White Sox suck and their GM will continue to make baffling decisions this year as his teams heads back towards the cellar.

The trade of McCarthy was a prospect, for 2 prospects, one of which is a lefty, who is rated much higher than McCarthy, and the other is a solid bullpen guy, who has a chance to start in the future.  2 pitchers for 1 is a steal, especially with one with the upside of Danks.

Garcia's velocity was down 6 MPH last year, and so far this year, he is injured for the 2nd time, and his velocity is down even more.  Gio Gonzalez is again, a highly rated prospect, and a lefty at that.  Garcia wasn't going to be resigned after this year, so why not get something for him now.

While there may not be an ace in the White Sox staff, all 4 of those pitchers are solid #2's with the potential to have ace stuff (Garland, Contreras, Vazquez especially).  Buehrle has had exactly 1 bad year, how is he washed up?  Oh, did I mention that it was also a year in which he pitched a career high in innings, and also the Sox won the World Series?.

The White Sox lineup was not the problem last year, the pitching was.  So not changing the lineup that much is not a bad thing.  They will hit, they just need the pitchers to keep pitching well, after all Pitching wins championships.

The Sox rotation is one of the tops in baseball, and while the Twins have an ace, he is their only pitcher who is better than any of the Sox big 4 that you mention.  The Tigers have a solid rotation, but I wouldn't be suprised if you see the same things that happened to the Sox rotation last year, they will be tired, and it already looks like Rogers might be done for at least 1/2 the year.  The Indians are a favorite pick, and have been now for 4 years, in that time, they have failed to win the division even once, and their pitching still hasn't lived up to their potential.

The Sox won 90 games last year, and missed out on the playoffs because they played in the hardest division in baseball.  If they can win 90 games again this year, it won't be a disappointment, and this year should win the division, but who knows, maybe they will need to win 100 to even get in the playoffs.  But I guess even if they win 95 and miss the playoffs, you would still say the Sox suck.

[Dan Michler]

i'll say they are all solid #3 starters, but i'm not giving Contreras, Garland, or Vazquez a solid #2 status.  Contreras is a pretty erratic pitcher and just looks like he's on the downside.  Garland has had 1 season in his life with an ERA under 4.5.   Vazquez has been under .500 the last 2 years and at his age I'm not sure why you would think he's suddenly going to turn it around?  Unless you are a sox fan i guess....

I'm glad you are so content when your team doesnt' make the postseason.  That will serve you well the rest of your life as a sox fan.  Also, if the Sox win 95 games I will not say they suck.  But right now I will go ahead and say that they suck   

[discmonkey]

I'm glad you are so content when your team doesnt' make the postseason.

And we don't do stupid things like blame a goat, either.   

[pearso66]

i'll say they are all solid #3 starters, but i'm not giving Contreras, Garland, or Vazquez a solid #2 status.  Contreras is a pretty erratic pitcher and just looks like he's on the downside.  Garland has had 1 season in his life with an ERA under 4.5.   Vazquez has been under .500 the last 2 years and at his age I'm not sure why you would think he's suddenly going to turn it around?  Unless you are a sox fan i guess....

I'm glad you are so content when your team doesnt' make the postseason.  That will serve you well the rest of your life as a sox fan.  Also, if the Sox win 95 games I will not say they suck.  But right now I will go ahead and say that they suck   

My team didn't make the postseason, I wasn't happy about that, but they did win 90 games.  It's not like they went out and won 60-70 games, and then made a ton of crappy moves in the offseason to make it look like they did something.  They didn't need to improve much this offseason, just the bullpen, and I'd say they improved that quite nicely.

Vazquez won 11 games last year, but there were at least 3-4 games where he gave up 1 run, and took the loss.  A lot of his problems stemmed from not being able to get out of the 6th inning.  He would go 5 and give up 1 or 2 hits, and then get blown up.  If he can get over that, he could be one of the best pitchers in the game with the stuff he has.  Garland has won 18 games in each of the last 2 seasons.  Did he get some run support? sure, everyone needs run support at some times to win 18 games.  I'll give you  Contreras, because no one knows how old he really is, but he's only 1/2 a season removed from being the ace of the White Sox staff, and not losing a game in 18-20 consecutive starts.

[stpitner]

a ton of bad offseason moves?  Soriano was a bad pick up?  Daryl Ward, one of the best bench players in the game?  Cliff Floyd?  Ted Lilly (2-2, 2.82 ERA), Jason Marquis (4-1, 2.09 ERA)?  Resigning Aramis Ramirez too?  Those were all bad moves?  sounds kinda bitter...

[Dan Michler]

Yeah those were terrible offseason moves by the Cubs.  Filling holes in CF, SS, 2B, the starting rotation and adding a superstar in Soriano.  And bringing back one of the top 3B in the game.  What was Hendry thinking??  We should have defnititely just stood pat with last year's team!  They were awesome!

[amdiscgolfer]

With all the Moves that Milwaukee did we are still the lowest paid team in the Majors - oh and did I mention that we are leading the MAJOR LEAGUES FOR THE FIRST TIME since the early 80's - Finally we have something to cheer about again!

[pearso66]

Yeah those were terrible offseason moves by the Cubs.  Filling holes in CF, SS, 2B, the starting rotation and adding a superstar in Soriano.  And bringing back one of the top 3B in the game.  What was Hendry thinking??  We should have defnititely just stood pat with last year's team!  They were awesome!

Soriano is a DH who they signed to play CF, Ward really isn't a big signing,  A backup 2nd baseman to become a starter at a bunch of money, throwing a ton of money at 2 mediocre pitchers, they are pitchign well right now, but Marquis had the highest ERA in the NL last year, and they threw 7 mil a year at him, Lilly is a below .500 pitcher, who got 11 mil a year.  Ramirez is an average fielder, and last year only hit when there wasn't any pressure, but was still a no-brainer resign, even at a huge contract.  All I have to say, is at least they were smart and finally weren't relying on Wood and Prior, but they threw a ton of money at a couple of players.  the Cubs didn't need to sign Ward and Floyd, when they already had 3 OFers that could only play corner positions.  Now they have 5 players who should only play corner positions, not all that bright when you only have 5 bench positions.  At least they finally brought up Pie and gave him a shot in CF.  And Theriot is playing well, but that wasn't a signing this year.

[Dan Michler]

your comments about Aram can only be ignored because they are ignorant.

as far as spending too much for everybody, i really don't care!  there is no salary cap bud!   the only people that should be worrying about the payroll is the people paying it.  i'm not sure why you personally would stress out about it.  and since you are selecting which seasons you choose to ignore when evaluating your starting pitchers, i think we can do the same with our staff.  sure lilly was under .500, but if his team just would have scored a few more runs here and there he could have had 18 wins just like Vazquez!   

oh and as far as Soriano goes, yeah that was a horrilbe move by the Cubs.  I bet you are real glad the Sox didnt' get sign him!   

[discmonkey]

As much as I hate to admit it, the Cubs have a good team this year.  They are, of course, still being a little Cubbish and not playing to their potential, but a good lineup none the less.  I still hate them, but I can at least acknowledge that. 

The ball park still sucks my balls and is, in my opinion, one of the worst places to see a sporting event out there (pales in comparison to the Cell, and Miller).  Whoopeee, the weeds growing on the walls is turning from crap brown to green.

See, I'm perfectly able to find a multitude of other things to knock on instead of your players for a change.   

[airspuds]

spin the excuse wheel

injuries, bullpen issues , lack of timely hitting, starting pitching issues, weather

every wheel and even the spare have blown up on the white sox bus this season

still a veteran team (attitude wise) 

maybe the sox can be spoilers by beating teams rather than rolling over because their season is over

baseball economics imply that dye will be gone by the deadline

gooooooch  is likely to stay put

its going to be an interesting end of the season


i asked my co worker cub fan how did he deal with football season starting in june for the last several years

go white sox !!!!