How bad are the Sox?

I agree with you Roman. This is Kenny Williams's fault. He made a great acquisition on Mike MacDougal, a legitimately very good reliever whose only major question was injury. It was unfortunate and relatively unforseeable that MacDougal would experience a non-injury related collapse. Other than that bit of bad luck, Williams has done nothing to solidify the bullpen. There's no way he should have expected Cotts and Politte to repeat 2005 in 2006, just as he should never have expected a repeat from Thornton this year. Changes needed to be made, and he didn't make them.

With Dye and Crede coming off career years that coincided with Jim Thome suprisingly having what was one of his top years in his career, some regression could be expected due primarily to aging and luck this year. The pieces were set for Kenny to make a couple of good acquisitions/trades in the offseason to beef up the current roster and win while win-now talent was present, but instead, we got.....Darin Erstad....a guy who scrapes mediocrity on a good year these days. As a result, PECOTA predicted the Sox to go 72-90 before the season. I didn't believe it at first, but I guess I was blind to how lucky the Sox were before with health and overperforming players. Even though the team was a year older, Kenny Williams insisted that this made the team "a year better", rather than making necessary changes.

And now the Sox are paying the price. And the way they're doing it is, as you say, "laughable".

Yes, I would blame Williams. I really don't care for Ozzie but what is he supposed to do with this sorry mess called the White Sox bullpen?
Williams thought that it was a good idea to give up pitching year after year and now look at the results.
I have no faith in this team even when they are up by 6 or 7 runs because you can just sit back and wait for the fireworks show from this collection of scrubs and they never disappoint.

It's getting really old hearing Williams and everyone else on the Sox say "we have a lot of talent". Obviously they don't. How long are they going to let the ship flounder in the water - till it sinks? Dump the chumps and get some young talent to build for the future before it's too late, which it may already be. Being stubborn will only make the rebuilding process longer and more painful. Also tired of hearing Jenks make excuses every time he gets knocked around. What, no one ever hits a ball hard off him? Did last night, AGAIN!

Roman responds: Good post.

That is a GREAT question! Top to bottom, they are a good club. When clicking on all cylinders, a very good club. Their record indicates they are a rock bottom team, when they are not. Rotation is solid. Players are good. Management is good. That means you SHOULD be doing fine but we are not. Injuries hurt us. HITTING DROUGHTS (no timely hitting). CONSISTENTLY HORRIBLE BULLPEN. when things are out of sorts like that, its very hard to do all the other little things right, like execute bunting, getting guys over and stealing bases. And I can imagine if you are a starting pitcher, it makes it even more difficult not knowing if the lineup is going to score, or if the pen can hold your lead. Anything that could go wrong has with the Sox. Its been uncanny and difficult to explain, yet they go into every game with a legitimate chance to win.

Its as simple as 1-2-3, get rid of the manager. He's responsible for all the problems with this team. Ozzie has the mindset of a 15 year old child. The underlying factors are not obvious to the naked eye. He has a latin temper and a very irrational way of looking at things. What he does and say to these young ballplayers in the clubhouse is one big factor why this team is going so bad.

Roman responds: A Latin temper? What kind of temper does Bobby Knight have? Scott Skiles? Mike Ditka? Let's not stereotype.

Can Bobby Jenks still be considered an elite closer this year? He is 2-4 with a 3.89 ERA. He has blown 5 saves and is 25/30, which is only 83% effective. Elite closers are above 90%. Heck, Dempster is 89% effective on save opportunities and I don't consider him an elite closer. The velocity on his fastball has been down all year. The only thing that looks to be on the rise, is his weight.

Roman responds: He has gained some pounds, hasn't he? And no, I wouldn't put him among the top five closers. But he's better than Dempster.

Time to wave the White Flag.

Tell me something Roman. Are we going to see another "bash Ozzie" column from Mariotti this week? Are we going to see Mariotti put up the record of the Sox since the break last year and claim it's Ozzie's fault?

Are you going to have the guts to put up a poll asking whether your "readers" flock to the internet because they don't want to spend a time on the paper when Mariotti writes in it?

White Sox fans have known the truth since Kenny took over. He got lucky in 2005. Guys in that bullpen had career years. A one-time flash. Kenny had fail to lay a strong foundation in the minor leagues for relievers like Detroit and Minny have. That was obvious in 2006 and even more so now in 2007.

So here we are in 2007 with arguably the worst bullpen in the majors. What's worse is that we are having to convert starters (Russell) to relievers just to try and salvage the season. With no hopes of a post season any more the best the White Sox fans can hope for is that their team is capable of competing in their remaining games.

Roman, it's ridiculous to blame Ozzie for Kenny's obvious failure. Try to talk some sense into your colleague about that or better yet tell your boss fans aren't buying the paper any more because Mariotti's lost all credibility in this city.

Roman responds: I thought Greg Couch wrote a pretty good column about the Kenny and the Sox today. Check it out.

I don't blame Kenny Williams. The blame lies with two areas. 1. The players. It comes down to execution, which oddly enough we hear as a frequent criticism so often in sports. 2. The scouting team. Either they have little knowledge of what it takes to be a major league caliber ball player or they see one good thing and allow it to overshadow all other negatives.

I said it at the start of the season that the Cubs would go on to the WS and that the Sox would be in the basement (I also added that Ozzie would finally blow up and assault Bobby Jenks leading to formal charges…you never know, there’s a lot of time left for that to happen).

They are now as bad as the traditional Cubs. I realized that as soon as I saw them getting swept by the Cubs. I wish I could say I was the Sox fan hiding his face in a paper bag in the last game versus the Cubs.

The Sox hit rock bottom this year because of their atrocious bullpen, and also because a number of their key players usually wait until July to start hitting the ball, and by then it is too late. Plus, Juan Uribe, the most aukward hitter I've ever seen. With Uribe playing, guys pitching for other teams only have to get 24 guys out instead of the required 27, because they know Juan is an automatic out. I was dismayed yesterday to see him coming to bat late in the game with a man on base. Cintron could have done a better job.

Back to the bullpen. I believe that baseball has been ruined in recent years with so many bullpen pitchers being used. In the old days, a starting pitcher was expected to pitch a full game and a reliever was usually called out in the 7th or 8th inning to put out the fire, and this usually happened during a hot summer day when the starter would get tired. Guys like Don Mossi, Hoyt Wilhelm and Dick Radatz,if they were playing today, would receive credit for some 500 career saves or so, because they went out on long and short relief, and in those times they were required to face 9 hitters to be credited with a save. Coaches didn't count pitches or used a radar gun. There were no more injuries to arms in those days. Pitchers did not throw sideways, so with a faster delivery it was tougher for the runner to steal the base. So, how come a Sox pitcher earning thousands, or perhaps millions cannot pitch as good as guys making $18,000 in their days? I say, it is time to stop playing college-style baseball. Reliance on bullpen pitchers (most of them are no good, as statistics show), should be ended and baseball should go back to basics.

In the old days, teams were loaded with players drafted from independent southern leagues, the American Legion, the Negro Leagues (as black leagues were called), or from sandlot parks in Latin America. Most players did not attend college; however, I can assure you that they were useful because of their ability to do what they were expected to do, whether stealing a base, clutch-hitting, or pitching a good game. Team-playing, that's how it was called.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but here I go again. The Sox must get new bullpen RIGHT NOW and leave the starting rotation as it is, except Contreras. I would wait to see what Dewon Day can show, as he seems to have a good slider. Iguchi is good for one more year. Jermaine may have to be let go and a free agent brought in. And be aware that in a couple of years the team may need a new catcher...

Everyday someone new takes blame for this mess. The best thing about this season may be to see Williams's inflated ego get punctured.

Leave leadership out of this because they WISELY did what Jerry Krause unwisely did, and that is try to win more championships. Was a no-brainer people. Time to blow it up NOW, and we just found that out - THIS SEASON. We have players that other teams will need. Time to have a Florida Marlins fire sale and rebuild. Kenny has NOTHING to be ashamed of. THE PLAYERS are supposed to be getting it done and they are NOT! Sox should have no regrets and I am not sad. They tried! They rolled the dice to WIN and I LOVE IT! Just did not work out. I still trust those that brought us a Championship. I will not bail on them after one bad season No-Sir-Rheee!

Bill, good point. I'm a lifelong Sox fan and I appreciate the fact that they won it in 05. What I don't like is Kenny Williams preening around town like he's the king of the city. I also blame the players for not executing. At some point, it has to boil down to those guys and also to the one that acquired them. He needs to stop overvaluing these guys and start moving them for some great young talent. The biggest mistake he made was underestimating the impact of losing Aaron Rowand. He was the heart and soul of Sox blue collar pride. I like Thome, but he doesn't have the look or resolve of a Rowand. This is the worst bullpen I've seen in years. It is certainly not the 1990 Reds. Hell, it isn't even the 06 Sox. Kenny needed a reality check and this year may get him back to work on proving that he is better than a 1 year wonder.

Even with the lack of hitting this year, if the bullpen were amoung the top third of the AL, we would be contending for a wild card. If we can move or dump Contreras, Vasquez, Uribe, Pods and Erastad and sign a quality SS, like Eckstien and a quality leadoff hitter /CF, sign Dye, move Fields to LF and play Creede at 3rd until we can trade him or resign him, and aquire a bullpen with the aformentioned trade bait, we just may contend next year. All of that being said, contenders usually are limited to their "ifs" being to stay injury free and have a few people have career years. With so many other "ifs",locgic says keep Buhrle, Garland, Fields, Paulie, AJ, Sweeny, Owens and 2 or 3 of the minor league pitching prospects and blow the rest up. Garland and Buhrle are young enough to stay through a rebuilding and be the anchors of a 2010 staff that could compete for a championship. Finally, if we look back to 2003-4, who would have predicted 2005?? With $$ and savy, a contender can be built/bought in two years! If the Cubs win (I hope not), perhaps it will pressure Reinsdorf to bust out the checkbook!!!

Even with the lack of hitting this year, if the bullpen were amoung the top third of the AL, we would be contending for a wild card. If we can move or dump Contreras, Vasquez, Uribe, Pods and Erastad and sign a quality SS, like Eckstien and a quality leadoff hitter /CF, sign Dye, move Fields to LF and play Creede at 3rd until we can trade him or resign him, and aquire a bullpen with the aformentioned trade bait, we just may contend next year. All of that being said, contenders usually are limited to their "ifs" being to stay injury free and have a few people have career years. With so many other "ifs",locgic says keep Buhrle, Garland, Fields, Paulie, AJ, Sweeny, Owens and 2 or 3 of the minor league pitching prospects and blow the rest up. Garland and Buhrle are young enough to stay through a rebuilding and be the anchors of a 2010 staff that could compete for a championship. Finally, if we look back to 2003-4, who would have predicted 2005?? With $$ and savy, a contender can be built/bought in two years! If the Cubs win (I hope not), perhaps it will pressure Reinsdorf to bust out the checkbook!!!

Keith Lifetime Southsider - The line of thinking you just posted is everything wrong with what the White Sox are trying to do. Rotation is solid, yes that's true. But then you say "players are good". Players are not good, Keith! Thome and Konerko are good. The true Jermaine Dye is above average for a RF. The true Tadahito Iguchi is above average for a 2B (though his defense is dismal). Other than those four guys and 3/5 of our starting rotation, no, we don't have good players. You even said yourself that the bullpen is horrible. Aren't those guys players too? The 2 injured outfielders aren't any good anyway. Crede is pretty valuable, but you probably saw the best of him last year. His injury more than any other significantly hurt the team. But most teams lose a very good player for an extended stretch of time. The fact of the matter is, Keith, this team ISN'T good. It was projected to lose 90 games before the season started.

"its very hard to do all the other little things right, like execute bunting, getting guys over and stealing bases."

This is not an effective way to accomplish the goal of an offense, which should be to score the maximum amount of runs....not to trade an out (a scarce resource) for a base.

"yet they go into every game with a legitimate chance to win."

This is possibly the least insightful thing I've ever read about baseball ever.

Ozzie Fan - THANK YOU! Mariotti puts WAY too much emphasis on the impact that a manager has on a team. The players and the guy that puts together the team of players, the GM, are both much, much more important factors than a manager. Yet he's all Lou-this and Ozzie-that. And he bases all of his criticisms on results (wins and losses dependent on PLAYER performance) than process (the strategy the manager implements to win games). But I don't want him to get better at his job. The ridiculously stupid things he says are too funny for me to want them to go away.

I personally blame just about the whole team and organization for this year. That being said, I've been quite satisfied with the starters as a group, especially Garland, Buerhle and Vasquez. Danks has been solid as a rookie, and perhaps Contreras will bring back some decent young player.

The bullpen simply sucks. But this has to be the hardest thing to figure out year to year. I don't think there were many people out there saying Politte and Cotts were going to be terrible in 06 (before the season started), or that MacDougal was going to blow up, and the Sox' bullpen was going to be horrible this year. I admit that I believed the hype and expected a decent bullpen this year. I thought Jenks, MacD and Thorton would be a respectable trio, and that from the likes of Masset, Sisco, Aardsma, etc we would have a few decent relievers...even if their ERA was in the high 4's/low 5's it'd be acceptable b/c of our top 3.

The offense has had more than it's share of disappointments as well. Who can say honestly that they predicted the Sox to have one of the worst offensives in baseball? This is the player's fault.

Injuries don't help either. I know the Sox have been extremely healthy as of late until this year, but the law of averages is coming back to bite them bigtime. Losing a starting CF, LF and 3B for most of the year, and having the RF, DH miss time hurts. It's not the main reason why this team is so bad, but it certainly doesn't help.

The minor league system is a disaster. Kenny is a part of this as he's traded some good talent away and now has a bad team and below ave. minor league stock, but the system has produced no starters, no good relievers, and only Fields as a solid fielding prospect as of late. The long list of OF prospects has underproduced, and all the pitchers we've brought up have gotten pounded. I understand that this is the process sometimes (see Rowand), but I am very glad that someone's head rolled over this pathetic system (Shaffer, right?). (I think the main reason the other teams in the Central are so good is that they've been able to develop their own players, kept costs down, and put great teams on the field at an affordable price)

All these are reasons why, while I am not excited with what Kenny has done to this team this year (the team did win 93 games last year, and shouldn't be seen as a big disappointment IMO), I will give him the benefit of the doubt to turn it around for next year. At that point, if the team is still close to this bad, he should be fired.

Whoever's fault it is, this has been the worst year in my memory as a Sox fan.

Whatever happen to small-ball?

"Small-ball" as a general baseball strategy to follow, is very dumb, because you waste outs to move runners over instead of trying to score the maximum number of runs in situations. There's mathematical proof in the form of an expected runs matrix that can be found on baseballprospectus.com that sacrifice hits, etc. are not good for an offense. "Small-ball" was never the reason the Sox were great in '05....the offense was mediocre at best. The reason was that a lot of pitchers on the White Sox coincidentally had career years to form what was arguably the best pitching staff in baseball.

Actually the real reason I came back to post was that with all the random Mariotti complaints showing up here (most recent being Ozzie fan's), despite the topics having nothing to do with Jay, I figured I'd toss a link to the Fire Jay Mariotti blog on here. It's by no means all about Jay Mariotti....there's plenty on many members of the sports media. But if any of you want to check out some Jay-related humor, go there and click the "jay mariotti" label on the far right to see specifically the things written about his columns.

The bullpen is horrible, give the rest of the team some credit. If the bullpen was average, the Sox would be a .500 team and still be in contention for the Wild Card. I feel like a Cub fan...Wait Til Next Year!

I've been a Sox fan since the early sixties when I was playing catch with my grandfather over on 38th and calumet. One of my favorite players was Frank Thomas and i'm telling you until Williams the G.M. publicly apologizes to Frank, the Sox will have bad luck. They have a very good team but....NO LUCK. Tell Kenny to eat crow for the sake of us fans and then and ONLY then will we get back to the top.

Time to wave the White Flag.

Posted by: Julie B. | July 18, 2007 08:27 AM
*********************************************
Not yet Julie B., not yet!

I don't blame Kenny Williams. The blame lies with two areas.
1. The players. It comes down to execution, which oddly
enough we hear as a frequent criticism so often in sports.

Posted by: Ray | July 18, 2007 09:03 AM
****************************************************************
Agree with these statements, but by now all Big time
players should be able to scout a pitcher or team
tendencies from watching film on their own.

Millions of dollars to play a game!
But do baseball players
watch film like individuals in other sports.
I think some of these hitters just go out swinging
at air sometimes.

Go White Sox!!

Noles I like the cut of your jib! But my friend those players you are talking about are all wearing hardware and you don't get to be champs without being Good. Players you said that were good, are REALLY GOOD. Dye was an MVP candidate last year. Sox have a good team and good players, just ask Cleveland. The whitesox have a chance to win every game because of pitching and the lineup. Our starting pitching are favored to win against 85% of the starters in this league. If our bats do what the players AVERAGE, we tear a hole in teams. We can hang up 10 points without us fans even being impressed. I know what this team can do, and its just not doing it. There was a time when Minnesota, Yankees, Boston, came to town and I would think we were lucky to get one game, but not anymore. We have the advantage matchup wise in all these series. Yohan Santana, Justin Verlander, yes, but all the rest of these guys, fahgetaboutit! Buerhle, Garland, Vasquez, Danks, Contreras, Jenks - and those bats are supposed to be getting it done. Boston and NY have been laying eggs by the basket. No one is saying they are bad squads. I STAND BY WHAT I SAID. Whitesox are beating the Whitesox, not these bums. Only thing I surrender is that "BULL" pen.

My frustration with this season lies mostly with the media and the fans. The White Sox continue to be one of the most entertaining and talented ballclubs in baseball. Playing championship caliber baseball year in and year out is very difficult (especially in the current AL Central). Thus being why the Braves and Yankees are the only two clubs to consistently produce championship caliber clubs. Whats amazing to me is how most fans seem to underappreciate everything that goes into a championship season. So many things beyond your control must go right. Is it a contract year for some players, do injuries play a part, does the clubhouse mesh well? Sometimes the strategy doesn't unfold as envisioned. Despite this tough year, I am confident that Kenny and Ozzie will do whatever it takes to give the White Sox that chance for greatness next year. To all of those displeased with Ozzie I say, you cannot argue with his passion nor his genuine concern for every one of his players. I'll take that guy on my side any day. I find it funny that the critics will be right back on the bandwagon when the Sox are on the way back up. Enjoy being a hippocrit.

"I feel like a Cub fan"? Tom, if you were a Cub fan your team would be playing great ball and on the way up, not struggling to say out of the cellar!

Unfortunately, the Sox are in the toughest division in baseball, the AL Central. The Sox' window of opportunity is probably closed for this season, unlike the Cubs, who have taken advantage of being in the pitiful NL Central.

Both Chicago teams have suffered from the same problems this season, stretches where the offense has completely disappeared and horrible work by the bullpen.

What the Sox need to do is find that one guy who can solidify the bullpen, take pressure off some of the underachievers, and help define everyone's role. The Cubs found that one guy in Carlos Marmol. With the team in such a good groove right now, people tend to forget how awful the Cubs' bullpen was the first two months of the season. Marmol's emergence has changed everything.

Is Charlie Haeger the guy? Time will tell. Down the line, I'd be more worried about the everyday lineup if I were a Sox fan. There seem to be a lot of holes now, and it looks like it'll be even worse next season.

Keith Lifetime Southsider,

Konerko and Thome are REALLY good, as you say. Dye, however, is not REALLY good. 2005 is more representative of his skillset than 2006. He's a pretty decent starting RF. That's it.

Buehrle, Garland, and Vazquez are pretty good pitchers. Danks is a rookie who is performing around league average. He may get better, but THIS YEAR, he is not above average. Contreras has lost movement and velocity. He hasn't learned to survive on guile like he needs to, and so, he is now a bad pitcher. A lot can happen in 2 years. When you average the five of them out, the Sox do, in fact, have a solid, above-average rotation. But when your preseason plan is to have Podsednik and Erstad bat 1/2, run them into outs, bunt, slap sacrifice hits, etc, you're just BEGGING for your offense to not score a lot of runs. And just think, that was plan A. Now you're seeing plan B in action which is....Jerry Owens? He gets a spot on the roster while Ryan Sweeney plays AAA? Pierzynski has mediocre power, doesn't walk, and on good years, posts a decent batting average. He's an average catcher. Iguchi's underperforming this year, I grant you, was unexpected, and you're right, he is better than this. Uribe is bad. Anyone who thinks his overrated but still above average glove is worth his ridiculously low OBP is crazy. The best argument you can really make in your case is that the Crede injury and Dye/Iguchi being THIS bad is unexpected. But given the presence of Uribe, Podsednik, and Erstad in the lineup, added into aging of the veteran players, this offense never projected to be amazing.

One other thing. The community of Sox fans, "Soxdom" as Jay Mariotti would have it called, need to understand that Bobby Jenks is nothing special. Not at all. He was hot and great in 2005, and we loved him. And last year seemed successful too. You know what his ERA was last year? 4.00 even. He's just getting less lucky this year with regards to WHEN he gives up his runs. You want a closer to have a 4.00 ERA? Therefore, when we talk about the bullpen being crap, please talk about the WHOLE bullpen, not the bullpen minus Jenks. And a bad bullpen can KILL your team....look what it did to Cleveland last year. And our bullpen this year is worse than Cleveland's from last year.

I believe it was the arrogance of both Kenny Williams and Ozzie that has the Sox where they are. Williams' lashing of Frank Thomas is the best example of his arrogance as well as his failure to make any moves at the break last season, when the Sox were still solidly in the race.

As for Ozzie, one championship does not make you a hall of fame manager. As a basketball coach myself, I know that what I do and say can become a distraction for the team and may cause the team to lose focus. Ozzie, though he has humbled himself a little this year(did he have a choice?), was a definite distraction and you cannot minimize the impact he and his mouth have had on the teams focus.

Please don't forget the players, at one point, we had not one starter hitting more than .250 and you definitely cannot win with that.

So Kennys men in the Pen didn't come through, in April they were terrific. Certainly not his fault or Coops who works hard every day. The Bull Pen pitchers as a whole not executing lies only on their shoulders..Seems contagious so suppose it is...All this clamor about trading Javier Vazquez comes from a bunch of(KNOW NOTHINGS) Javy has the best stuff on the staff. With run support last Sept. could have had 4 more wins and this year another 3-4 as the same with Buerhle, Garland and Danks early on each of those 4 with 2-3 more wins would have the Sox in a decent position. Even with the firehouse out in the Pen...Give "Big Bobby" some slack , he is not perfect, but overall has done a superb job and the other 6 blown save by others. Ardsmann a big dissapoinment the way he was way-laying the baseball in April. He looked like the real deal. And will probably turn it around. Many hitters early on young, falter and come out of it and I will lay odds some of the Sox young power arms will rebound.. But yes #1 need a middle reiver and a short-stop with better offense.

Some say that Williams and Guillen are inept. I wish I could give those folks a better GM and field manager, and if I could, I would fire Williams and bring in Salty Saltwell or Ken Harrelson, or even Hendry, fire Guillen and bring in Terry Bevington or Preston Gomez and I assure you that the team will get fixed for the next 100 years or so. On top, as a bonus, I would add the Bill Veeck dog and pony shows to the program.

I am not saying that Williams and the team manager are error-free, but they are fairly good at what they do. They successfully put together a team that brought the first championship to Chicago in almost a century. They will again improve the team with some changes to its personnel.

Some folks blame Kenny and Ozzie for all bad things that have happened this year to the Sox, including injuries, slumps, bad pitching, etc. The Yankees of the old days fired their manager because he could ONLY lead the team to something like 8 pennants and 6 world series in 10 years. The Sox are not the Yankees, so this kind of scapegoating should not be emulated.

Very BAD!!!

The Sox are so bad this year that they couldn't even win a series from the Bad News Bears. The Sox may as well turn in their pinstripes and instead wear T-shirts that show they are proudly supported by Chico's Bail Bonds.

Victor and Don,

The fact of the matter is, many of the guys that aren't performing well were never projected to perform well in the first place before the season. Aardsma, Masset, and Cisco were PREDICTED to give up a lot of runs by PECOTA. They had a hot April, yes, but then the REALITY that they AREN'T GOOD PITCHERS set in. PECOTA predicted that Thornton would be worse than he would be in 2006, and anyone with common sense could tell you that a closer with a 4.00 ERA was bound to blow more saves than Big Bobbo did last year. The lone mystery, really, is MacDougal. His awful performance this year is puzzling, and for that, the blame falls on him. The rest of them just can't help the fact that they actually aren't better than they are. The general manager slapped together a bullpen of the quality of those six guys and only really got unlucky once. When that's true, and you get results as poor as the Sox have, there's only one direction to point the finger, and that's directly at the GM. We talked about needing an outfielder, but the market wasn't good for signing one, so the bullpen issues should have been addressed instead. Williams chose to resolve neither concern.

For whoever said that Kenny Williams has been a good GM, look back at when he gave Ray Durham to the Oakland A's basically for free in a trade that resulted in 1) the 2002 A's becoming one of the best teams in recent history, 2) Jon Adkins embarrassing himself in a White Sox uniform and 3) the Sox losing compensation draft pick(s) in 2003 that they would have had if Durham, a class A free agent, were to leave the team to free agency. Also, look back at when he kept underrating Chad Bradford and never giving him a real shot despite good performance, allowing Billy Beane to steal him for nothing. Bradford went on to become a very good reliever for several years. (Okay, I admit it, I LOVE the book "Moneyball")

Noles,
The 2002 A´s becoming "one of the best teams in recent history"?? What have you been smoking?? The A´s lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Twins. I loved Ray, but he at best had some above average years and I would rank him as a servicable journyman ball player. He has great pop in his bat for a 2nd baseman, but limited range and speed on the basepaths. He never has been one of the top 5 at his position in the league. The last time I checked, Kenny put together THE 2005 world championship team and the 2b on the 2005 Sox was a big contributor and made about 6 mil less in 2005 than your man Ray. That "great" A´s team you didn´t win any titles and were also dismantled (Yes, $$ and a small market factor in.) They were the second best team in their division in 2002. People who gripe about losing Ray, Frank, Mags, etc have very short memories. I have been a Sox fan since the mid 60´s, thus I am still savoring our title and still have faith in Kenny as he built a title team which no other Sox GM did in the previous 90 or so years!

Depends on the way you look at it, Noles. To me, there should be no dispute that Kenny Williams solidified the team by acquiring Jermaine Dye, Iguchi, Pierzinski, Podsednik, Freddy Garcia, Pablo Osuna , El Duque, and maybe Everett. He was working like a mad man prior to and during the Great Year to make the team better.

I concede that Carlos Lee, Rowand and Magglio should have stayed with the team, but I also remember that folks thought that the team was slow, ergo, the Sox acquired Podsednik in a trade for Carlos, and took the Rowand gamble after the championship year because fans were then concerned that the championship team needed a steady hitter with punch to be able to win another flag. It was regrettable to see the core of the outfield go, but there was a purpose behind each transaction, except of course, not signing Magglio. And even then, the player who was brought in to replace Magglio, Jermaine, was a steady producer up until recently.

So, there were reasons behind each trade and move. Some trades worked out and some did not. But to say that Williams has not done a good job is incomprehensible to me. Players come and players go; the Sox are not the only team to drop out of sight in the standings after winning it all. Remember the 1966 Orioles or the 1990 Reds under Lou Piniella? I use them as an example of two good teams that quickly flopped after winning the world series. This is not unusual in baseball. What is unusual is not winning a world series in almost a century, a problem that Williams took care of.

From here on I will measure Williams by his ability to fix the destructive bullpen situation (which not even Merlin the Magician could have foreseen, since bullpen pitchers, except the very few top-notch ones, are usually inconsistent). I will also judge him by his future ability to bring in guys who can start hitting the ball early in the season, and keeping and improving the starting pitching rotation.

As far as Guillen, I am not his fan at a personal level, but the man knows baseball. I would hate to see him fired and replaced. If it happens, the Sox may go the same route a the 1954 NY/SF Giants who, after taking a clean sweep from Cleveland in the WS, lost their manager, Leo Durocher (whose style was similar to Guillen's managing style) over some personal squabbles. To this day the Giants have yet to win another World Series and, as we all can see, their only empty consolation at this point is Barry Bonds' notoriety.

Fuff I like your post! Disagree about Frank, but I am right there with you on the rest. Last nights game is more of an indication of who the Whitesox are. That is the minimum effort they should be offering every night. They are beating themselves with untimely hitting and that Bullpen. They just need to be professional and SHOW UP. Tigers and Twins are the only teams that impress me. And even they can't dominate the SOX team that plays to its potential. Last nights game shows theyre good even when they play badly.

fuff,

I'm looking at the standings right now. The Oakland A's won 103 games in 2002. They won their division by 4 games. Just because Tim Hudson pitched 2 awful games in the playoffs (which no one could have predicted) after being very, very good all year and the Angels got hot in the playoffs does NOT mean that the Angels were a better team. The playoffs have a ton to do with luck....you sound like you're under the impression that the team that wins the championship every year is the best team. Do you really think the 2006 Cardinals were the best team in baseball? Not only were they the worst team to make the postseason, but they were probably like the 12th or 13th best team overall just because the AL was a much better league. And what about the 2003 Marlins and the 2004 BoSox? Neither of these teams were the best team in baseball their respective years.

I don't gripe about losing Frank or Maggs. I gripe that the Durham trade was one of the very dumbest things a GM has done in history. The compensation pick(s) we would have gotten for letting Ray walk in free agency probably would have been better than Jon Adkins. Like literally, the conversation could have gone like this.

Kenny Williams: Hey Billy, you want to win 103 games this year?
Billy Beane: Yes. I want to win 103 games this year.
Kenny Williams: I'll give ya Ray Durham for some Triple-A guy.
Billy Beane: You like guys that have no talent for getting outs but can throw pretty hard anyway?
Kenny Williams: Me likey fastball! Me likey fastball!
Billy Beane: Adkins is your boy.

I think the sox blogs need some edge to them....arent there any scandels, or racism claims or anything that you can use as a story line? Keith, your home court blog is hurtin brotha!

How bad are the Sox, well...in blog terms, it is baseball season and a thread about an NFL player getting a speeding ticket just about oct-tupled the amount of posts this one gets. Thats bad!

Noles,
The best team is the team that wins the championship. That is why they have a championship!!!I take it that you were an A´s fan? What do you say to an Angles fan who claims that his boys with the RINGS were the best team in 2002?? Sure, the A´s had the best record in the regular season, but if you ask Billy Beane or for that matter, any A´s player from that year, they would have much rather won 88 games, snuck into the playoffs with the wildcard and then got hot and won the WORLD SERIES. Baseball is about timing, preserving you weapons for the post season, not allowing your starters to pitch too many innings in the heat of the summer (as the A´s are/were notorious for doing) so they are "fresh" for the stretch run and most importantly it´s about getting clutch performances when it matters. Perenial championship winners and contenders evaluate their starters more on the question,"Is this guy gonna come through when it matters (In September and October?)and less on putting up big regular season stats by beating teams like The Royals and Devil Rays mutiple times between May and July. If you want to win, you have to ask if your starters have the moxy, cool and clutch element that it takes to duel with the Clemens, Santanas, Shillings, Pedros, Schmoltzs of the world when it really matters, IN THE playoffs....I will give it to you that the Sox probably could have gotten more for Durham at the time, BUT the point is moot because he left at the time that the Sox began to put together a World Champion!!!! A baseball season is an endurance race and the finish line is the Series. The best racer isn´t who leads for the most laps, it is who leads the last lap.

Ro and Noles,
One more and I will put this issue to bed. I know that this isn´t an A´s blog, but I just can´t have people ranking on my man Kenny when he brought us the ring that my family has been waiting for since my long since passed grandpa was a boy.
This is from an A´s page. It discusses Billy Beane:

I love Billy, but I can't shake the nagging suspicion that he's on a dealmaking losing streak, and that perhaps he drafts better than he trades - certainly recently. And the free agent signings mostly stink, too. I won't discount the outright thievery of deals of earlier years, but the record the past couple of years has been pretty dismal.

Let's start with the exception: certainly the Mulder for Haren trade appears to be a total victory, the rare stud trade. The A's killed the Cards on that one. If Barton develops, it's just sick what the A's got in talent and salary dump. Calero has had a tough season, but my arm hurts when I throw every day, too.

But let's face it: the A's got absolutely nothing for Huddy. We're talking about Tim Hudson, people. The heart and soul of the team. Look at a healthy Meyer's stats, folks, and get over it: it ain't going to happen. Hudson-for-nothing. The question is, would you trade Mulder and Hudson for Haren and Calero? Of course not. (Some will want to bring up salary dump, but they'll then choke by having to admit that the A's probably could have kept both if they just hadn't signed Kendall, so let's leave salary sort of aside for a bit.)

And though we can discount the first injury plagued months of the season, who would you rather have the rest of this year, and perhaps the next several years as well, the oft-injured and always-volatile Milton Bradley, or Andre Ethier? (Or, to dredge up an old one, Chavvy or Miggy?)

As for recent free agent signings, Ginter is a zero, Loaiza has been a zero (and keeps suggesting he doesn't really feel he's hurt) and Kendall is the weakest hitter I've ever seen. (Statistically, Kendall is the single weakest hitter in the game since joining the A's.) Forgetting Kendall's $11 million price tag, which is hard to do, who would you rather have, Kendall or Damian Miller? OK, now throw the price tag in!

The A's threw in Bonderman to get Lilly, who was an all star (for another team) the year after the A's traded him. Bonderman is a total stud. The A's dump Lilly and his salary for Kielty, who has delightful red hair, an ingratiating spirit and, sadly, an inability to hit. Would you rather have Kielty out there or Eric Byrnes? Or, for that matter, Jermaine Dye?

Yeah, it's really easy to pick and choose and be critical with the benefit of hindsight. But when I look at what the A's had and what they got, it doesn't look pretty.

Let's hear it: shall we adopt a defensive it's-too-soon-to tell? Or am I just plain wrong? Or am I right?

Culzie, do yo have spell check? You definitely win the award for worst speller on the blog. And btw, it's "Peyton."

I do have spell check, and that the problem. I have become so dependant on spell check that when I dont have it (like on this blog) it exploits i mean exposes my achilles heal.

Also, I was talking about Jerrod Payton ;)

I think you purposely misspell to annoy me. Jerrod Payton? Now there's someone who might be a fair trade for Vick.

Wow! Everyone seems to be letting out their anger.... I like the team that we have. Very solid starting pitching. Several excellent vets and a good stopper. That being said I would certainly like to have a better bullpen or have them pitch different. Bukvich pitching inside last nite was a good start. We certainly have been snake bit this year. We have lost our starting 3rd baseman and leadoff man, right fielder with a down year, and can't seem to find a centerfielder. And luck does play a part in a 162 game schedule, so it is hard to throw out managemnt for these things yet.
I will complain about one thing. Good pitching deserves great defense and I think we have gotten away from that with losing Rowand and the ss and 2nd base players. This needs to change and maybe there wouldn't be as many crunch times for the pitchers. I always wonder how many more at bats we allow by having less than stellar defense.

Sox fans rule. You guys are very informative! Keep em coming!

Remember my aforementioned insomnia? I wouldn't get any sleep tonight if I didn't correct myself. It's "Jarrett Payton."

Sox fans, we can do all this Kenny and Ozzie bashing all you want, but think about this. In the previous 88 years before 2005, no General Manager, owner or manager or Sox team won a world series. Frank Lane, Bill Veeck, Rollie Hemond, Ed Short,Tony Larussa, Gene Lamont, Hawk Harrelson, Arthur Alleyn etc.

They made trades like Earl Battey, Johnny Callison, and Norm Cash, and got a washed up Roy Sievers in return or an over the hill pitcher, and never won.

In 2005, it was a magical year. All the pieces came together and had career years and it worked and we finally got a World Series banner for Chicago.

It's not easy to win all the time, or even some of the time. Look at the Atlanta Braves. They won something like 14 consecutive division championships and only one World Series, and that's when they had Shmoltz, Maddox & Glavine in their prime.

The Yankees and Boston always have top talent, and it took the Red Sox 80+ years to finally win a Championship, and the Yankees with their vast payroll, and all the stars, have no pitching and haven't won in the last 7 or 8 years.

Williams tried to put together a good bullpen based on past, present and future potential, and it hasn't worked. Hundreds of general managers have made the same mistakes.

If it were that easy to judge talent and build winners, then all of the critics would have all the answers and be successful general managers.

One major mistake in building the current Sox team is that it is not the way it won in 2005. Great baseball is speed, pitching and defense. You get Thome, Konerko, AJ, and Dye on base, and you need a triple to score them.

The Sox have a lot of holes to plug and much changing to do, but I think Ken Williams has as good an eye for talent as any of the other guys, and will do what needs to be done in the future.

We waited 88 years for this Championship, so if it takes another 3 years to compete for another one, let's give it a chance.

Pitching wins the rings 90% of the time and our bullpen is PATHETIC at best. Kenny gambled and lost. I, for one, thought these guys may have been capable. These same bats may have career years in 08'. Things happen like that. Julie, no bout adout it, the flag is up; Jose makes that a given. Somebody better find that guys birth certificate so we can put him in the 'fossil room' where he belongs. A.J. is done, Erstad isn't the answer in center, and I still believe in the starting pitching and hitting core. Is it football season yet?

I agree with your comments 100%, Marshall. This proverbial case should be put to rest now.

I have never seen so many people in denial in my life. This team is probably the worst in baseball and given more time will be one of the worst in history. Has A.J. thrown out ANYBODY this year? Why would anyone in their right mind want that whining scumbag on their team? I am having the time of my life watching the daily meltdown of a team with no leader and a manager who is losing his team right in front of everyones eyes. His only job is to motivate the players to play up to their capabilities. Being in the American League he doesn't have to worry about strategy, just fill out the lineup card and get the players to perform. Since he can't even do that, why is he still employed? Unless this whole team of losers is dumped for young talent the Sox will continue their old ways of meager attendance, more excuses and the baseball team in Chicago that no one cares about. Too late, that is already the case.

The last blogger may have never been a true Sox fan. Some fans don't understand that things happen to all baseball teams. May he move his loyalties to the North Side, but I caution that there will be nowhere else to go if the Cubs don't win, which may happen. I became an Aparicio fan circa 1957 and have ever since followed the Sox. I will always be their fan through thin and thick.

I also agree with Marshall. Its not easy and we are asking the Sox to produce like the Yankees, Boston and Atlanta, and they are not spending that kind of money. It just doesn't work like that. Cubs spent a TON of money for what they have now. And even with that, the odds are, they won't win a Championship. Baseball is not like Basketball where you can get two great guys and win. I have always been happy with the Sox because I was always sure they were giving a sincere effort. Nothing has changed, except the pressure they are now under to not just win, but win it all.

I am so sick of teams going through the heart of our line up. Sox had their chances in this last game. Bases loaded twice with no outs and they just sold out. I am not concerned about the opposition. I am concerned when we squander all of these opportunities. I am concerned when Paulie, Dye and Thome are being our easiest outs. The middle of our lineup is sprinkling out hits when we don't need them, and I am not talking about the at bats against Beckett, but the average middle of the road guys. I flat-out believe we have the horses to match or best Boston. We should have split or won that series. Hitters and Pitchers are letting us down at KEY Clutch moments that we desperately need them. The blowout games are nothing to worry about is the other 90% of games that we are legitimately in like today's game that hurt. Todays game was ripe for the picking and we just left it there. I attribute that to us and not Boston.

How bad are sox? Id say last place bad! They are currently tied with KC & will be looking up at Royals after Tigers take care of them. Another poorly played game . Versus Bosox today Allot of free passes that scored on three hits . The supposed big bats failed again.Both Konerko & Thome failed with men on. This sox team is so bad they are predictable bad! I figured Paulie would end game with his tendency to hit into DP's & he did.GM WIlliams must be in a coma? You have got to put this club out of its misery. Iguchi,Dye,Contreras,Uribe & entire pen needs to find new homes or unemployment line someplace.Walker & Cooper still have jobs? With all the ex-SOX doing so well GM Williams isn't looking so smart of late. He should resign or be fired. 05 seem to be a fluke. Williams is right on something! He failed big time in making a world champion team into world chumps.

How bad are the White Sox? Tied for last place with the KC Royals. That should answer your question.

C'mon, Kenny - time to do something. Why is Ozzie going around saying nothing's in the works? Leaving this team intact would be worse than having to say goodbye to some of our favorite players. Not making any moves should warrant a pink slip as far as I'm concerned.

fuff,

Please, PLEASE get the idea out of your head that the bset team is the team that wins the World Series. Every year, the best team in baseball has like a 15% chance of losing to the worst team in baseball in a 5 game series. Are the Devil Rays better than the Detroit Tigers if they win 3 out of 5 specific games in October? No, no they are not. This kind of stuff happens every year. Inferior teams knock off better teams. Why? Luck luck, luck lucky luckity lickety-luckity-luck. The postseason matchups are played over such a small sample size of games that luck causes the best team to get knocked off nearly every year. You didn't respond to me. Do you really think the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that only managed to win 83 games in the inferior league and a HORRIBLE division last year, were the best team in baseball in 2006? All because Jeff Weaver and Adam Wainwright decided they could actually get outs and Jeff Suppan decided to step out of mediocrity for a month? They also had timely hitting. Play the 2006 playoffs 1000 times. I guarantee you that the Cardinals don't win the World Series more than 125 times. They probably wouldn't break 100. I'm not saying get rid of the playoffs....they're exciting. But they're exciting BECAUSE anything can happen, not because they determine the best team in baseball. They just determine the champion. Those are two different things. Tiger Woods doesn't win every golf tournament. About 50% of the time, Michael Jordan missed his game-winning shot. The Dallas Mavericks were kncoked off by the Golden State Warriors this year in a sport where upsets are much harder to come by than in baseball. I could go on forever, man. The fact of the matter is, sometimes the best lose, because there's luck involved in every sport.

And your Billy Beane claims are COMPLETELY untrue. Like literally, the dumbest. You asked me who I'd rather have....Mulder and Hudson, or Haren or Calero. Hmmm....would I rather have 2 fallen stars, or an ace pitcher and a pretty good reliever. That's a tough call there fuffy. Oh and I'm not sure if you knew this, but the A's are a small market team. They have very little money. They didn't have enough MONEY to sign Hudson, Mulder, and Zito. Beane kept the right one, and needed to trade the others because he couldn't AFFORD them. The way he handled that situation was nothing short of brilliant DESPITE the failure of the Hudson trade. As for your Ethier/Bradley thing, yeah, of course I'd rather have Ethier this year. Beane had a win-now team, and decided to make a win-now trade. Are you going to bash him for that? Of course you are. The A's didn't get LUCKY last season, and didn't win the World Series.

Noles,
If the Devil Rays and Tigers get to October, and the Rays beat them, they are a better team!!I did mention in one of my blogs that the A´s are a small-market (financially challenged)team.They are indeed very competative considering the lack of $$, but that is a lame excuse. St. Louis, Minnisota,Miami and numerous other "Smaller Markets" have overcome this and won championships. What the A´s are is cheap and disloyal to loyal fans like you. They come close every year, but in the end, the ownership is too cheap to spend an extra 10 mil on a quality closer or on that one extra big bat that it often takes to overcome bad "luck" in September and October. The A´s are basically a farm team for teams who spend$$ to become champions. The A´s develope the talent, then let it go because they are cheap!Do you care about winning or about the ownership turning the highest possible profit??Again, winning the world series is what matters. The whole season is about getting to the series and being in a position to win it. They don´t give rings to the teams with the best regular season record! Heroes, losers, chockers and legends are made in October!!! As for luck, the old addage states that good teams make their own luck. Champions are built and prepared to overcome their opponets "luck"! Modern-day baseball is driven by making $$$. In the old days when there were no playoffs, only a pennant winner, the regular season was more important and exciting and the league champion was determined over 154-162 games instead of over a few series. BUT the best team is and was who wins the world series! You and (I) may not like it, but it is reality. Using your logic, they should just bag the playoffs and award the championship to the team with the best record at the end. Perhaps they could abolish the leagues, play a balanced schedule between all teams and have one list of standings????(It is intreguing huh?)Being that the A´s play in a division (sans the Angels) of teams who have a lower average payroll than some other divisions, can we assume that they played an easier schedule and thus their 100+ wins were easier to obtain than say a team like Boston winning 98 games, but having to play numerous games against the big-spending Yankees and Blue Jays?? Is the difference between winning 102 or 98 games not often a few meaningless May games, or a schedule that leaves you playing KC in late August when they are 20 games back and thus evaluating double A prospects for next year which leads to an easy sweep?? Some teams clinch their division in late-August and then rest their starters for the last few weeks of the season to position themselves for a playoff run!Once you are positioned in the playoffs, late regular season wins are meaningless! What if a team is riddled with injuries, barely gets into the playoffs, but finally is healthy in October? What if a team plays .500 ball and then makes a few big trades in July which leads to them playing the best ball record-wise in August and September, but not finishing with the best record?? TWhat if the Red SoX win 110 games, but loose 20 straight games to the Yankees who in turn win the wild card with 88 wins? Are The Red Sox a better team than the Yankees???here are far too many variables!! Again,it is all about putting yourself in a position to win the World Series. Champions are not determined by the quantity of wins, but rather by who can win when it really matters!!!I suppose that you think that the Dallas Mavericks were the best NBA team last year or that Buffalo was the best NHL team?? I enjoy bantering with you, but how about we leave it at the A´s had the best regular season in 2002, but they(for various reasons) weren´t a championship team? Finally, great GMs are also evaluated by fans, (not owners and investors) on how many championships they built. Mr Beane is still trying to build one! GO SOX!

In order to get to the World Series the White Sox have to be able to beat either the Red Sox or the Yankees. These are teams that will likely spend 50-100 mil more than the Sox for talent.

You can't win a World Series from the AL unless you take risks.

But you can't expect to remain competitive year in and year out if you are taking such risks. That's the dilemma for Sox fans with Williams at the helm. He doesn't have the payroll to build a winner based on consistent talent. He has to do it by gambling on proven talent coming off a bad year or promising talent that's never had a good year.

So is there a GM available more likely to get us out of this mess sooner than Williams? I don't think so. But if Williams is not willing to clean house (coaches and scouts) then he must go. The Sox need to do that because the minors aren't producing enough major league ready players any more.

We can expect some major turnover in 2008. Dye, Iguchi, Uribe, Jose, Mack, and Alex all figure to be gone. Some probably before the deadline. Kenny will once again gamble on cheaper promising talent than expensive consistent talent. That's what Sox fans should come to expect from now on.

I understand people's mounting frustration, but the LAST thing Kenny needs to do is panick. He needs to wait until folks start gearing up for the playoffs and then open the bidding like Billy Ray Valentine in Trading places!

Fuff,

While I admire your stark adherence to your principles of feel-good stories and "clutchness" and "heroes are made and broken in October", I refuse to believe that Tim Hudson has some genetic disorder that causes him to be horrifically "unclutch" in October. You have a cause-and-effect mixed up. "Clutch heroes" don't determine how the playoffs go. Rather, the playoffs determine who are "clutch heroes" (I think the whole concept of clutch is bogus, so it pains me to type that anyway). Whoever happens to be performing well in October is made into a hero by fans and the media. It's not like that player was born with some magical force that makes him better in a certain month of the calendar year. With the Cardinals last season, it was Suppan and Weaver. Suppan is mediocre. Weaver is awful. Can you honestly tell me that these guys are championship-caliber players and someone like Alex Rodriguez is not?

You missed the point on my assumption with the Devil Rays, I think. I mean, lets say they're the exact same team as they are now, and they finish with the worst record in baseball, but then for some hypothetical insane reason, they are awarded a playoff spot instead of Boston. The Tigers play the Devil Rays in the first round of a best of 5 series in the playoffs.

Game 1 - Brendan Harris hits a line drive off of Jeremy Bonderman's pitching hand in the 2nd inning. Bonderman has to leave the game. Zach Miner comes in, and Dioner Navarro, the worst hitter in baseball this year with 200 logged ABs, clubs 2 HR off of him. The Rays win easy, 6-2, behind a nice performance by Scott Kazmir.

Game 2 - Shields has problems, and the Tigers get a good outing out of Verlander. Tigers win 6-1.

Game 3 - Edwin Jackson, a horrible pitcher, keeps the Tigers at bay for 5 innings, letting up 2 runs. The Tigers' Kenny Rogers gives up a 3-run homer to Carlos Pena. Casey Fossuum, another bad pitcher, throws 2 innings and gives up 1. Gary Glover throws a perfect 8th. Todd Jones comes in the 9th and beans Akinori Iwamura. Greg Norton pinch-hits. Iwamura takes 2nd on a passed ball. Norton hits a sharp single, and Iwamura scores. Al Reyes gets the save. 4-3 Rays

Game 4 - Andrew Sonnastine is outmatched by Nate Robertson. Tigers 9-3.

Game 5 - Bonderman can't throw because of the injury to his hand. The Tigers go with Verlander, recognizing the need to win. Kazmir throws a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10, and simply outpitches the fatigued Verlander. Rays 4-0.

See? It's very feasible for a bad team to beat a great team in a 5 game series. There's so much luck involved. Even if the Tigers outscore the Rays (as the better team is expected to do), they still may lose the series.

Also, when the A's had that great 2002, the standings were in inverse order of the team's payrolls. The Rangers had a very large payroll, and the Mariners had a bigger one than the Angels, contrary to your allegations. And like I said, I agree there should be a playoff system because it's much more exciting. But I also like it BECAUSE it allows 8 teams a chance at the title, rather than just the best one. The best team is the team with the highest overall quality of players. It is by no means determined by a few games in October.

Noles,
Hudson´s problem isn´t genetic. He just CHOKED or lost to a BETTER team!And don´t come back with your bad luck BS. In my 45 years on this planet, one thing I am fairly sure of is that those who complain about bad luck or use it as an excuse, are or are defending LOSERS! The best teams and players are those who win championships, and championships are won and lost in the post season! Big whop di do, the A´s won more REGULAR season games than anyone else in 2002!They also lost more games than their opponent did in the playoffs when it really mattered. Answer this, or bag this dead issue: If the A's had had the 4th best record in th AL in 2002 and went on to win the World Series, would you have traded it for 103 wins and an early exit from the playoffs??? Would you be running around saying that they weren´t the best team that year? I am finished with this subject. If you want to talk baseball or any other sport. Keep blogging, but stop trippin!!!

I can just imagine what your ideal "championship" caliber starting lineup of this-generation players would be.

LF - Scott Podsednik
CF - Dave Roberts
RF - Luis Gonzalez
3B - Scott Brosius
SS - David Eckstein
2B - Adam Kennedy
1B - Darin Erstad
C - A.J. Pierzynski
SP - Jeff Weaver
Set-up-guy - El Duque
Closer - Bobby Jenks

My prediction: Your team of champions scores 400 runs in the 162 game season and allows eleventy billion. But boy are they "clutch" "winners"!

Kenny brought in El Duque knowing that he was old and prone to breaking down, but that if a situation arose where you needed a consumate vet with tons of experience and a track record of coming up big in big game, that Duque was the guy. Low and behold! As for Jenks, if I didn´t have a big budget and I was looking for potential closers, I would probably give a 6´7 250 pound guy who was prone to wildness and threw 97 MPH a shot.
As for my lineup, do you mean a line up winning the seventh game of a series, or for a season? There are too many variables, but I can say that I would rather put the ball in a guy like el Duque´s hand(not today, he is finally over the hill) for a game 7 than the Colons, Hudsons, Musssinas, of the world. And if I needed my guy to lay down a sac bunt or slap the ball through a drawn-in infield in the 9th inning of a tie game, I would take Eckstien over A-Rod. Over 162 games, you need a mix of guys who are gonna put up the numbers and guys who can do the dirty work, but when it is all on the line, in one game, one at bat, or pitch, I´ll take the guy with heart and smarts.

Ask the first place TIGERS.

Wow...where to begin. You just said that if you want to win a lot of baseball games, you want good players, but if you want to win one specific baseball game, you want players that are not-so-good?

In NO situation. EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER. Do you want Eckstein to swing a baseball bat instead of A-Rod. A-Rod is one of the best players of all time. Eckstein is a mediocrity elevated to "hero" status by bad members of the sports media.

Also, I never said Kenny wasn't smart for bringing in El Duque, just that he's horrendously nearsighted for not recognizing that Contreras would break down. Now we have an awful pitcher who we are paying too much money for through the next couple of years.

You do NOT by any means NEED players that are going to do the "dirty work". Have 9 A-Rods bat for you. You'd score 8.09 runs per game. If you use this-season-A-Rod, he would give you 9.62 runs per game. Let's say we have our 2005 team, and instead of Podsednik in left, we have Adam Dunn, and he's batting leadoff. Please, PLEASE don't tell me you think that we're a worse team with Dunn, because we are SIGNIFICANTLY better. A guy that hits 40 HR and gets on base at like a .380-ish clip is ALWAYS way more valuable than some .300 slappy hitter with no power that steals 50+ bases and get on base at like a .350 or so clip. If you want your best chance to succeed in any situation, use your best player. David Ortiz is heralded for being "clutch", but the fact is, he succeeds because he is a very, very good hitter, who has coincidentally succeeded more than usual over a small sample of "clutch" at-bats.

Yes Noles, but A-Rod would pop up up with the winning run in scoring position in the 9th inning of the 7th game of the Series. He keeps getting moved from team to team because he is a club house cancer and a selfish individual playing a team sport.He will go down in history with the Vince Carters and Barry Bonds' of the sports world, freak talents, but LOSERS! He doesn't get along with teamates everywhere he goes. If he is so great, why have 3 clubs failed to be able to build a champion around him if he is one the greatest ever as you claim? He will finish his career with at least 2 fewer rings than Eckstien because he cares more about money and stats than winning! It's all about the rings baby!!...The true greats,i.e., best players on championship teams, as opposed to great talents are indeed determined by a small number of clutch at bats over a career. He is of course a far far better player than Eckstein, but I would never want him as my marquee player. My definition of a super star is about being a winner and having those clutch hits or shots on your resume. Just watch Noles, A-Rod will leave NY to take more $$ from a team that isn't a contender.

Roman, we need another Sox blog.....something like "how has the Whitesox miserable season destroyed their fans".......cuz honestly I am mad as hell right now after getting the proverbial "crap" kicked out of our asses this weekend by the BOSOX.