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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 19, 2011 11:35:03 GMT -5
I'd love to see if Ricketts will be creative and go after someone like Bob Brenly or Steve Stone to replace Hendry. They see every player on every team come through town and they pay attention. Plus, they live on the business end of the team.
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Post by Crowfan on Aug 19, 2011 11:40:07 GMT -5
There was talk of interviewing Pat Gillick, but not sure if that's going to happen. Personally, I think the Cubs should just blow it up and start over. They need to get rid of Soriano and Ramirez for sure, and Zambrano if they can find a taker for him. They need to play guys like Tyler Colvin, to see if he fits into their plans for the future or not. And they need to figure out what's wrong with Carlos Marmol. His velocity is down, and if he's hurt, shut him down and let Kerry Wood close.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Aug 19, 2011 11:58:10 GMT -5
I'd love to see if Ricketts will be creative and go after someone like Bob Brenly or Steve Stone to replace Hendry. They see every player on every team come through town and they pay attention. Plus, they live on the business end of the team. The worst part of them hiring Steve Stone would be that I'd have to listen to Hawk without him. <shudder>
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Post by Mod City on Aug 19, 2011 12:29:43 GMT -5
All this Cubs and White Sox talk is lame. I love Chicago, why do I hate their baseball teams so much? Speaking of sending general managers packing, there's a rumble of that flowing around the Twins' camp lately. Bill Smith has really struggled this year for various reasons, including: • A rash of injuries that totally derailed the season. I know this can't be helped in some cases, but the GM is responsible for all aspects of the staff, including the trainers, who are charged with keeping these very expensive players healthy. Morneau has barely played a single season's worth of games in two years. Mauer missed most of this season with what really appears to be a BS injury. Then there's Span, Nishioka, Kubel, various pitchers and Casilla. Take care of these guys! • Rotten trading. Why did we give up JJ Hardy? For Nishioka? I like Nishi and I've been rooting for him from the beginning, but the guy doesn't have a shortstop arm and it shows. Hardy was a solid shortstop and right now I don't care if he would have batted .200. Then we trade Delmon Young three-quarters of a season too late, get virtually nothing for him, and then have a bunch of our outfielders go down to the point Mauer ends up playing left field. We're probably going to have to ship Span, too, if we want any return on our investments. We also dumped some killer catcher prospects - again for squat in return - and now we're stuck with terrible-hitting Butera as Mauer's backup (and possibly permanent replacement if they pull Mauer from the position). It's been a frustrating year. Gonna finish below .500 for the first time in a loooong time. The real kicker is this looked like the year we might beat the Yankees in the playoffs. Now we're just trying to stay out of the division cellar. Sigh...
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Post by Crowfan on Aug 19, 2011 12:33:14 GMT -5
I don't think the Yankees are going to get far in the playoffs. Way too many questions about the starting pitching. After Sabathia, there isn't anyone else.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 1, 2011 10:27:06 GMT -5
So, ModCity, after that last sad little series, I think our bet on which of wins the division is pretty much moot. It's been a sad season for both of us. I know it isn't totally over yet for the Sox, "matematically," as they say. But it might as well be. Ozzie's last gasp? It may well be.
I may find myself to be a Tigers fan in the postseason.
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Post by Mod City on Sept 1, 2011 11:11:13 GMT -5
I wasn't gonna be the first to bring it up, but yeah, what a sad sack of a division we have this year. With the Twins, I just don't even know where to begin. Injuries, shoddy individual performances from stars and role-players alike and a handful of awful GM moves. A few notes: • Nishioka. Why, for God's sake, didn't we resign J.J. Hardy? He'd be leading the Twins in home runs right now. • The bullpen decides to eat it after years of solid rotation backup. We can't seem to get rid of Slowey and his awful attitude. • We trade Jim Thome to Cleveland for a player to be named later? And Bill Smith says it's what's best for Thome? Who cares what's best for Thome? You're the Twins GM, for crying out loud, do what's best for the TWINS! • I'm thinking the entire training staff needs to be fired. Between the concussions BS (I know it's serious business, but COME ON ALREADY) and Mauer's "soreness" we haven't had the opening day starting lineup on the field but maybe twice all season. • Pavano and either Cuddyer or Kubel probably won't be back next season. Nathan may end up traded. I don't know, dark days may be ahead in Twinkie Town for some time. Now the White Sox. • I like Ozzie, despite some of the opinions that seem to come from his mouth (more on the social morality side, not the baseball side), he's a pretty colorful manager, though I'm not sure he's right for every combination of players on a team. I mean, no manager is, but he's kind of the manager where everybody either clicks or spirals out of control. It's kind of hard to imagine the Sox without him. • Dunn, what a season. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise, though. He's only a .244 career hitter who can put 30 homers over the fence in a good season. The surprise is that he's a DH and still plays fairly regularly. • The rotation has been pretty serviceable, not sure why things aren't getting done there. And I'd kill to have Crain back in our bullpen. And I'm with you. I'll be pulling for Detroit if they make it, though I don't think they can beat the Yankees or Red Sox in five. I think I owe you a couple of eps from Sky, if you're a sick enough man to cash in on a devastated Twins fan
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 1, 2011 11:58:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I'll miss Ozzie. I think it's really hard to judge a manager's influence in the AL. Their actual direct interventions are so few and far between for the most part that it doesn't quite hit baseball critical mass. But his personality has definitely left its mark. With all the buzz about him heading to Florida, though, and his recent smack talk, it just seems like this might be it. Dunn: just painful. How can I guy implode so quickly? Rios has also just been a wash. Yesterday was a case in point. Pitching has been pretty decent, Peavey notwithstanding. Chris Sale is downright exhilarating, and I'm stoked long term for what he might be, with the Sox or somewhere else. And it's just sad that Konerko hit his stride of awesomeness when the rest of the offense got tired. And don't worry about anything from sky...unless we end up somehow making a run. We're in 3rd at the moment since the Indians are up by 1/2 a game. I see no reason to celebrate or demand a reward.
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Post by Mod City on Sept 1, 2011 13:32:03 GMT -5
Hey, I was the one who said whoever finishes higher. But if you're going to be enough of a gentleman to accept only if you actually win the division, well then, a tip of the hat to you, sir
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 2, 2011 21:08:27 GMT -5
So this series against the Tigers is pretty much it for the season. We win, we can compete. We lose, it's over.
And after tonight's performance...I'm afraid it might be over.
But maybe there's hope for next year. De Aza, Viciedo, Flowers, three new guys that may be improvements. If Konerko can keep swinging, than that's one. And maybe if they put Dunn on a treadmill for 4 months straight, he'll at least look less saggy when he strikes out.
I'm still hoping he makes the record for having more strikeouts than his batting average in a single season. He's close.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 12, 2011 23:31:42 GMT -5
Detroit won their 10th straight against tonight. But the White Sox are still in it mathematically. We have a .15% chance of still making the playoffs! (Not 15% -- 15 one hundredths of a percent.)
I BELIEVE! I'M STILL ALL IN!
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 26, 2011 22:32:50 GMT -5
No more Ozzie. I am sad. But not surprised.
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Post by Mod City on Sept 27, 2011 2:03:58 GMT -5
Here's to ya, Ozzie. If the Florida thing doesn't work out, consider playing shortstop for the Twins. You'd get an honest look at this point
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Post by Dave Walker on Sept 27, 2011 9:38:21 GMT -5
Look at the bright side to your lost seasons, you don't have a collapse (maybe) of epic proportions like the Red Sox and Braves.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 27, 2011 9:43:19 GMT -5
Look at the bright side to your lost seasons, you don't have a collapse (maybe) of epic proportions like the Red Sox and Braves. Let me introduce you to Adam Dunn, then let's talk about collapses of epic proportions...
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