The White Sox have added Manny Ramirez in what appears to be a straight waiver claim. The White Sox would pick up the remaining $3.825 million on Manny’s two year, $45 million contract. There is still a chance that the teams could work out a trade that would involve a mid-level prospect going to the Dodgers in exchange for L.A paying a portion of Manny’s contract.
This is a great move that has nothing but upside. The Sox get a huge upgrade at the DH position and add a big piece to the offense to try to make a run at the Twins in this last month of the season. Worst case scenario is that we don’t make a charge to the top and Jerry Reinsdorf’s retirement account is a few million dollars lighter.
If nothing else, this season just got so much more entertaining. Things have just been kind of sluggish lately as we sit 4.5 games back and can’t find a spark. Manny pretty much brings a spark and some excitement wherever he goes. I can’t wait to have Manny and Ozzie in the same clubhouse just to see them try to one up each other every day. So much crazy shit is going to happen.
I’m wondering if Konerko is going to like the Manny Hug or not? He doesn’t seem as touchy feely as Big Papi.
Well if there was ever a must win game in the middle of August, tonight was just that. Buehrle gave the White Sox 7 strong innings and the offense just wiped Carl Pavano’s mustache all over the field. If we got swept tonight we would have been 6 back but now we are just 4 back and still have a shot at the Central Division with 41 games to go.
Give the Twins credit for continuing to roll and taking 2 out of 3 to extend their lead. This was a series that the Sox could have swept and absolutely should have taken 2 out of 3 but of course it was the Fucking Pirhanas that we just can’t beat. It doesn’t matter if we are playing on shitty carpet or in a nice new stadium, we don’t beat the Twins in Minneapolis. I’m still having nightmares about Thome hitting the walk off on Tuesday night…..it was one of those losses that left me not wanting to talk to anybody on Wednesday….I think I said a total of 9 words at work. What is done is done and it is time to move on.
Everybody knew the White Sox were not going to continue their 25 out of 30 pace. Hopefully we have gone through our cold steak over the last 10 days and can start playing better baseball. The Twins are playing great baseball but there is no way they can keep this pace up. If we can stay within 3 games when they come to Chicago in mid-September, we can win this division.
Well today was probably the worst and most painful loss of the season. The White Sox were up 6-3 in the ninth inning and in a great position to get a solid split up north and then all hell broke loose. Bobby Jenks and the bullpen just completely imploded and the game went from an easy 6-3 victory to a 7-6 loss. There are days when a pitcher just doesn’t have it and I think it’s safe to say that Jenks “didn’t have it” today.
The new Target Field is a really good looking stadium and still proves to be a tough place to play but it just doesn’t scare me the same way that the Twinkie Dome did. I say this because I think when they designed the stadium they had three main concerns in mind: Mauer-Proof it, Morneau-Proof it, and then once those two were done….Kubel-Proof it. I mean you are kidding yourself if you don’t think some architect from Edina, Mauer, and Adam Banks sat around a table just smashing cake and drawing up the worst possible stadium design.
The entire strength of the Twins lineup and the faces of their franchise for the next ten years are left handed hitters, yet they have a ballpark that couldn’t be further from their strengths. No longer can Mauer slap balls into the first two rows in left and left center like he did in the dome. No longer can Morneau and Kubel use the gaps and slap balls over the weak ass garbage bag that they used as a fence. The new Target Field is a massive park and the ball just dies in the deep gaps. Mauer has a grand total of 0, yes 0, home runs at home this year. Morneau has a grand total of 4 and Kubel has 6 so the big three has a total of 10.
The twins are a very good team and the AL Central is going to be a three team race the whole way but I just don’t think the Twins have enough pitching to win the division in their new pitchers park.
Well this wasn’t what we needed. As soon as the Jake Meister left the mound in pain last night, I knew we were in a lot of trouble. Not many guys pitch through more pain than Jake Peavy so when it forced him out, I knew we were fucked. If I needed any more confirmation of that, I listened to Hawk say: “Stoney, I don’t know where the Latissimus is, but it don’t sound good.”
The official diagnosis is that Peavy’s Latissimus Dorsi is detached from the bone and he is headed to see the dreaded Dr. James Andrews. Best case scenarios have him being out two months and worst case scenarios have him not touching a baseball until next February in Glendale, AZ. Either way, we are going to be without one of our best and hottest pitchers for a long time.
The silver lining is we get to see top pitching prospect Daniel Hudson show us what he can do. I hope he lives up to the hype but no matter what, the White Sox just took a serious blow in trying to win the AL Central.
Well that went exactly how everyone expected. One team sucks, the other team is playing real well. One team plays in the big boy league, the other team plays in AAAA. One team has a psycho baby for a starting pitcher, the other team has a starting rotation that is showing signs of being top notch (12-1 in last 17 games).
Is anyone surprised that the South Siders went home with the illustrious BP cup this year? This weekend just proved everything we already know. The Cubs suck and the White Sox are pretty good. Even in the Cubs lone victory they coughed up an 8-3 lead and almost blew the game in the 9th.
This team and its manager is deader than dead. At some point it becomes evident that a team just stinks, and the past 2 weeks have proven that for the Cubs. Theyre 9-14 in the month of June and 8.5 back in the central. And the baffling part about the Cubs is that they suck across the board. The batting is mediocre, the team era is mediocre, the defense is mediocre, the manager is mediocre. Just a collection of middle of the road talent and overpriced veterans, a truly depressing team to watch.
But hey, look on the bright side, Lebron and Bosh will be Bulls in about 2 weeks.
The White Sox are on fire. I’m talking Ron Burgandy hot…..
I don’t want to give myself too much credit but you may remember that about two weeks ago I said this team was about to go on a run. Well after Paulie’s big two run homer today, make it 9 in a row and 13 out of 14. If you weren’t a believer after sweeps of the Pirates and Strasburg’s, I hope you are back after a sweep of the Braves who came in with the NL’s best record.
The pitching has just been dominant as the big 5 starters are pitching like we all expected them to. Combine that with Jenks finding his curveball and Quentin and A.J. starting to hit, and we have ourselves a real team. I’m not talking about ordering playoff tickets or anything like that, I’m just happy to have a competitive team that is playing like we all thought they would. If Minnesota isn’t careful, we may just be in first place at the All-Star Break. White Sox fans should be ready to beat up the Cubs this weekend and get Big Z to smash a Gatorade cooler tomorrow.
Oh and Kenny, now that I don’t have to give you any more lists of guys to sell off at the trade deadline, I’d like to put in an order for Prince Fielder. Thanks.
The Sox make the red line trip up to Wrigley this afternoon to start what is the least anticipated city series in recent memory. Maybe its because the Stanley Cup is currently making its way up Michigan Ave or that both teams have woefully underachieved thus far this season, but one thing is for sure, it certainly doesnt feel like a Cubs vs Sox weekend. In years past, for 2 weekends a year, the entire city had a certain buzz that was undeniably linked to the cross town rivals squaring up.
This year the rivalry feels different. Its extremely difficult to get excited for a baseball series when in reality both teams sort of suck, bad. Throw in the jump the shark aspect with this new “crosstown cup” that the teams are playing for, and it seems like a rivalry is being forced down everyone’s throat. Honestly, is a trophy really necessary? I know there is usually added juice to these games but why commercialize it and create a trophy? Just seems so planned out and inorganic.
We’ll see, maybe when Peavy and Randy Wells take the bump this afternoon everything will change and the city will get swept up by the rivalry. My guess is people will care more as the weekend goes on and the Blackhawks hangover passes. But to say this Friday’s game has even 1/10th the hype as the rivalry in years past would be foolish.
Maybe a good old fashioned brawl would wake these two teams and the city up, get the blood boiling again. Where is that hothead Michael Barrett when you need him?
This just perfectly captures what summer in Chicago is like. Here you got some old balls guy who probably didn’t leave his den in Naperville for 4 months straight coming out to Wrigley and absolutely killing it. Like the catch was one thing but the chug was just taking the party to the next level. And you know every chick in that section will be sweating his balls after this. Even that preggers chick on his right, she was like “Damn, I need me some of this ball grabbing beer drinking old guy”.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that summer is finally here. Baseball, beer, and pregnant chicks, that’s what Chicago does.
PS
Don’t give me the typical White Sox line of “Classic Wrigley, everyone goes to party and doesnt give two shits about the game”. Who cares if people are there to get drunk and have a good time its about a thousand times better than what would have happened at the cell in the exact same situation. Guys would have been throwing punches, running onto the field and acting like lunatics. Fuck, that pregnant chick probably would have stabbed like a dozen people by the time the ball was found.
If the White Sox continue to drop series after series, it will just be a matter of time until Jerry Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams do their best Nicolas Cage impression and start selling off all of their assets to try and rebuild. I hope the Sox start playing up to their potential so a fire sale doesn’t happen but if it does, there are a few likely candidates to be wearing another uniform soon.
1. A.J. Pierzynski - A.J. is the perfect guy to be traded soon. On June 14th, the 10-5 rule kicks in for him. The 10-5 rule gives a player a full no trade clause at 10 years of MLB service when the previous 5 are with the same team. This clause give Kenny a lot of incentive to move A.J. soon and there will be plenty of teams, like the Rangers, who would love to add a catcher with a World Series ring. Another incentive to trade A.J. is top prospect catcher Tyler Flowers waiting in the wings to take over the pitching staff.
2. Andruw Jones - Yes, Andruw has probably been our third best player behind Paulie and Alex Rios but do you really see him fitting in the long term plans? Andruw’s great start to the season has really increased his trade value as teams are always looking for a good outfield bat. Some people may be upset getting rid of a hot hitter but you need to sell high instead of holding on too long.
3. Paul Konerko - I just cringed as I typed in the P-A-U….It sucks even thinking about trading one of the staples of the organization and the guy who handed Reinsdorf the World Series ball at the parade but his value is about as high as it is going to get right now. He is having a huge year and is a free agent after this season. The White Sox may look to go a bit younger next year at the first base position in the form of a Carlos Pena or Dayan Viciedo so this could be a big opportunity to get quite a bit in return.
I really hope that none of these things actually happen because it will mean the team is starting to play better baseball. There are a ton of games left and these three players should play a big part in getting things turned around to take down the fucking piranhas (the Twins for those who don’t speak Ozzie’s language).
Well April didn’t turn out the way Ozzie had it drawn up leaving Glendale, AZ. The White Sox came out of spring training with a starting rotation that was supposed to be one of the best in the American League and an offense designed by Ozzie to be a mix of speed, contact hitting and power. After a much needed win today they sit at 9-13 in April.
I’m not the kind of guy who is going to drown you in stats but there a few that I think are noteworthy. The pitching which is the “stength” of the team has compiled a team ERA of 4.55, good for 20th in the big leagues. John Danks has looked unreal so far and Kenny Williams trading Brandon McCarthy for Danks a few years back looks better and better every time John takes the ball. Speaking of great trades Kenny was involved in, the Jake Peavy trade has been a huge move….for the Padres. As I said a few weeks ago, I’m still confident in the Jake Meister but he needs to turn it around and turn it around fast because he needs to be an ace for the White Sox to win. The rest of the starting pitchers need to do more of what Danks is doing.
Now on to the offense. I just got a little sick to my stomach thinking about them so I won’t spend too much time here. The White Sox are 30th in the majors in team batting average (yes, that is dead last) at a cool .221. I need to give some credit to Paul Konerko and Andruw Jones for carrying the rest of the team and keeping April from being an even uglier month. These guys have turned back the clock as the ball is just jumping off their bats.
April Highlights: Mark Buehrle’s Play of the Year and Paulie leading the Majors with 10 HR’s
April Lowlight: April 21st 12-0 loss to the Rays that included having peanuts dumped in my beer and a kid puke behind the Big Cat, Spy and I
My grandpa always tells me that you can’t win a pennant in April and he seems to be all over that one. I’m surprisingly confident about where this team is going and I’m looking forward to a much better May.
