Priorknowledge

Why can't he pick Jones to throw under the bus?

Take your blinders off, watch it again, and tell me its clean. I love how people expect a guy going full speed into home to gauge where exactly the ball is and what velocity it's coming in at. Barrett was blocking the plate. That's all that needs to be said. Clean play. Maybe...but then AJ got up and started walking past Barrett when the dugout was the other way....AJ was trying to mix it up. Hughes said he was walking to pick up his helmet. His helmet wasn't over that way though. It was near the 3rd base line. There was no need for AJ to go left except to walk near Barrett. I don't mean to JFK you, but the helmet was nowhere near the 3rd baseline if you watch the replays. It hit the ground and rolled behind Barrett.

From the Yahoo game recap. My problem with Dusty is that, if anything, he sticks up for his players way too much. I just wish he would call out Jones for the shoddy baseball running.

Listening to 720 all game, Hughes said AJ was walking to pick up his helmet. That's pure speculation. He may have, he may not have been, Pat Hughes certainly doesn't know any better than anybody else that watched it. Whether you believe it or not (and I am not sure I do), AJ said that's what he was doing on the Fox postgame. The Helmet WAS behind Barrett though.

If they do, I'm sure the Reds will be stupid and demand the pitcher be Contreras or Garland. Both Contreras and Garland have no trade clauses for this season.

Me either. And I've been perhaps his strongest supporter as far as Garland turning the corner. Then your position is nuts. Look at what the AJ Burnetts and Kevin Millwoods of the world are getting. It's a below market value contract, especially given that it is only a three year deal. EDITED: My bad.

Can the Cubs even trade Perez because he was resigned as a FA?

Oakland does not get nearly enough in this exchange.

You lost me right there. The Cardinals had 92 million to play around with. The White Sox had 75. 17 million isn't an insignificant figure.

Did he say anything interesting?

Um, if anything, this was his worst year in four years. Check out his ERAs since 02: 2002 2.83 2003 1.58 2004 3.42 2005 3.77

Lo Duca obviously didn't have the same emotional connection to the Marlins that he did have to the Dodgers and that should be quite evident to any outside observer. I never said it was a good trade for the Marlins either. You don't trade for a catcher and assume he'll immediatelly assume the same role he did on his previous team. Obviously, he doesn't know the staff as well and team doesn't know him well enough to rally around him. It can take years to earn credibility as a leader. Plus, it was obvious he didn't like the trade at the time, which couldn't have gone over well with his new teammates. We'll never know. But perhaps they play 4 games better in September and end up hosting the Astros, which would have been a better matchup. And if they did play the Cardinals, you never know. You change one thing about that series and it could have been a completely different result. Listen, I know Lo Duca isn't a world beater and that the Dodgers likely weren't championship material, but I didn't like the trade at the time for either teams, especially for the Dodgers. You don't normally get better by removing your team leader. I am sure the Dodgers would like to have that deal back and positive that Lo Duca's former teammates would have liked the chance to go into the postseason with their catcher and leader still behind the plate. Instead, their GM used statistics to justify a trade that just didn't work for both teams.

Yeah, that one really came back to bite them when they made the playoffs and Florida didn't. Lo Duca wasn't that great, and he's been downright bad since he went to Florida. The Dodgers, who were likely to make the playoffs even if they did nothing at the deadline, saw their pitching ERAs go through the roof as they went only 16-15 in September and October of that year. They then sleepwalked and lost to the Cardinals in four games. They certainly could have used their emotional leader. And I don't agree with the downright bad characterization, as Lo Duca a better year this past season than he did in 2002 or 2003.

It seems to me that you are calling the Twins a "weak" team or at least grouping them in with the other two teams. Shouldn't they be considered a "significant threat" since they were 4 games better than the Rangers, who you give that designation to? I am sorry, but this is where we part ways. It might be well researched and hard work to come up with statistical analysis like pythagorean record and projected win totals and stuff like that, but those people are wrong just as often as they are right, if not more so. There is no validity and reliability to any of these statistics. They just keep refining their models and assigning blame on underperformance and overperformance when their projections are wrong instead of just admitting its one big crap shoot. Show me any methodology that had the Astros or White Sox in the world series prior to the season. What really worries me is how some real life baseball GMs are letting this stuff override common sense. For example, the Dodgers trading Lo Duca last year.

Pythageowhat? I don't believe in that stupid Baseball America and Billy Beane crap. All I know is that the good teams find a way to win in real life. The White Sox finished six games better than the Indians this year and then went on to win the World Series. If both team return the exact same rosters, it stands to reason that the White Sox would be favored until the Sox demonstrate that they aren't as good or the Indians demonstrate that they are better.

Oh, no doubt. Konerko would be a huge loss for the White Sox and their aren't many attractive replacements that would match his power. If they lose him, there has been a lot of talk that they will move Dye to first base and bring in an outfielder because it's easier to find a replacement there. It all comes down to Konerko. If they resign him, they are the clear favorites in the division. If they don't, the Indians are likely the better team . But keep in mind that the Indians also have to retain Millwood and Wickman to maintain where they are. But again, the Sox have the advantage of only really worrying about one team. The Cubs don't have that advantage. They have to hope the Cardinals and Astros come back to earth, that they find a way to improve by more than ten wins and that the Brewers don't improve at all. Obviously, if they can pull off something like signing both Giles and Furcal, the Cubs are right back in it. But nothing good is coming to them unless Wood stays healthy and one of their marginal prospects steps up as fifth starter.

This postseason he clearly out managed two skippers that had previously won world series titles before he vaporized that idiot Phil Garner in the WS. The White Sox had a lead in a crazy amount of games consecutively to start the season because of his direction of the squad and his idealogy to at least get one run on the board before doing anything else. On top of that, the White Sox had the best record in baseball in one run games by a wide margin. Would that be your evidence to the contrary? What's your evidence in support? Witchcraft? Oh, the classic “angry because they missed the playoffs” argument. Show me where in baseball history that translates into victories. I mean, the rest of the NL East must be really really really furious enough by now, so surely the Braves will not win the division, right? Oh, as for the Sox “coasting” into the playoffs, the Sox went 18-12 in their last 30 games. The Indians? 19-11. Wow. They played a whole one game better than a team “coasting” and with nothing to play for. Oh crap, I forgot the newly added SAT and ACT components of the World Series next year. And the potential for a champagne induced hangover to last five months into the regular season. Anyway… You can argue that the pitching staff raised their level that is unlikely to be replicated, but the career year argument can cut both ways. Their hitting was awful for most of the year with not one hitter having a career year and Rowand and Uribe seeing precipitous drops in production. It's rather amazing that they won the World Series despite not one hitter doing anything extraordinary. Their hitting almost has to be better next year. As for the pitching staff coming back to earth, it's certainly possible, but not entirely likely that it declines enough for the Sox to be looking at third place in the division. I would hope that you would at least see that Buehrle has been doing this for three years now, although his ERA may fluctuate. Ditto Garcia. And even when Jon Garland sucks, he still brings 200 innings and 12 wins. The fifth spot had around a 4.5 ERA and that wouldn't be hard to match or improve upon. The only real wild card is Jose, but it looks like he has it figured out and has improved confidence in an environment that he is comfortable in. Still, he's the biggest concern, but I just don't see him reverting to back to what he was in New York. His first half wasn't anything special and the Sox still got up 10 games. And in case of injury, they have six starting pitchers. And the great thing about the Sox bullpen is the depth to compensate for down years. If Jenks fails, they have Hermanson and vice versa. If Politte has a down year, Vizcaino can fill his role. Marte had a crappy year (3.77 on the Sox is crappy), but could still cover for Cotts if he falters. It would take a bullpen meltdown of massive proportions for it at least to not be very good. It is two deep in every role. And while it's nothing like what happened to the Cubs, which no team could have survived (well a non-Bobby Cox team,) the Sox had their fare share of injuries. Pods missed three weeks and even after that, he was never the same, which contributed to his crap September. El Duque had back problems, which forced McCarthy's first stint, which was generally woeful and that of course affected both the bullpen and starting staff. But most importantly, the White Sox's greatest power hitter and walk drawer missed 130 games. Even if you cut his projected numbers in half, Frank Thomas could have hit 40 Home Runs this year and tell me a lineup doesn't miss that. Would the Red Sox have done anything without Ortiz in the lineup? (A bit of hyperbole, but again, look at Thomas' numbers in limited time and with injury. He obviously wouldn't have hit for Ortiz's average, but his HR, RBI and walks would be right there. And this is someone who would be hitting fifth or sixth.) Many of the same people talking about how the Sox are in a "weak" division are also touting the Indians as World Beaters? Guh? If they are so good, why couldn’t win a "weak" division this year? You could make the same exact argument that the Indians also got a career year out of its pitching staff as well and also will never replicate their how hot they got at one point just like the WS, so I don't see how they are all that different from the Sox and why some talk them up as an inevitability. The weak division argument is getting old. If the Sox don't sweep the Indians the last weekend of the season, it has two representatives ala the NL Central and another team (the Twins) who had owned the division previously with a staff that includes the CY Young. The AL West is easily weaker with its 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams all having worst records their equivalent AL Central counterparts with the added bonus of only needing to be better than three teams to win the division. The AL East is probably better than the AL Central, but that's only because the Devil Rays are better than the Royals. And just maybe, the division was so "weak" because the White Sox tore it apart with the Indians having a record of 82-64 against teams not named the White Sox. As a whole, the American League is better than the National League as well. The White Sox aren't a dynasty in the making, but the level of disrespect they face is amazing. The survived the AL bracket against three teams with payrolls of at least 20 million dollars more than them and then SWEPT the World Series. I don’t think the White Sox will win the World Series next year either, but that’s because it is so hard to win in the first place. However, the Twins are done (finally payroll issues are catching up to them as they will lose a few pitchers to FA and might have to trade Hunter, while their minor league system has finally emptied) and the Tigers and Royals aren’t doing anything soon. It’s probably a two team race with the Indians, but one that is very winnable for the Sox. And if they win the division or WC, it’s been demonstrated that the pitching staff can carry them. Finally, I don’t see how any reasonable person can make the statement that Cubs are closer to a World Series than the White Sox. Not on any level. To start with, the White Sox have a better team right now. On top of that, for the next two or three seasons, all the Sox probably have to do is be better than the Indians to have a chance, while the Cubs have to leapfrog the Cardinals and Astros, while holding off the Brewers. And even for the foreseeable future, the White Sox have the better minor league system, according to every ranking publication that I can think of. On top of that, the Cubs revenue stream will stay the same, while the White Sox have already improved their ticket base for next season and beyond by thousands and that was even before they had won the championship and before they will probably and unfortunately raise ticket prices as most World Series teams do, so that should eventually translate into an increase in payroll. Organizationally, they have a manager and general manger with championship credentials on the same page and under contract for quite a while. The Cubs have Dusty Baker. Finally, I put some credence into the theory that it’s harder to win when you play such an irregular home schedule that no other team has to deal with. It will eventually catch up to you. And we all know that that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Better team now. Better future. Better management. Better playing conditions. Any team can catch lightning in a bottle like the 2003 Cubs or 2005 White Sox, but you have to capitalize when your chance comes and the White Sox look to have more chances in the next five years.

Oh grow a sense of humor man. Guillen coached Vlad in Montreal and the two remain on good terms. It was a joke.

Some buffoon writes a web article and that means something somehow? You oughtta know better than that. Who's in the playoffs and who isn't? That's all that matters. Like I said, individual stats: overrated. Team wins: the name of the game. Wow Soul. You're missing the point. What CPatt and the rest have been saying is true, Kenny Williams simply isn't a good GM. The article proves it without discrediting Pods' year. Lee's importance to the Brewers is far more than Pods to the White Sox, as the VORP is stating. He's fortunate that Pods became a sparkplug. Would a good GM make a trade to acquire the SAME OF/DH (Everett) twice in back to back midseasons? Seems like a waste of prospects to me. Let me see what I'm gathering here, your argument is based off of what? Miracles and luck? No doubting the White Sox have been good this year, but come on. Statistically they shouldn't even been close (hence my comment that they will fall hard in the standings next year). You should know better... What that mediot fails to realize as do most others who look at that trade, is that it was also a salary dump, which saved the White Sox 7 million, which they used to sign AJ, El Duque and Iguchi.

AFAIK, Shingo has options, so he doesn't get a choice of becoming a free agent.

No, no you can't Vance: From http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=/mlb/news/AAN3933904.htm : Pujols, who is hitting .333 with 14 homers and 45 RBI this season, has received 748,844 votes and holds a comfortable lead of more than 300,000 votes over his nearest competitor at 1B, Chicago's Derrek Lee. Full Results: http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050606&content_id=1078138&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb#results