White Sox fans, as the Southsiders get ready to host the Los Angeles Dodgers and rematch the Cubs in this latest 6-game homestand, I think the time may be near for the 2009 team sell its high-priced veterans and start humming choruses of "Wait Until Next Year". Even though the Sox were 5-3 on what was an 8-game Interleague road trip in National League ballparks, I'm not all that confident that the Sox can FINALLY get their acts together on their home field. The Dodgers haven't skipped much of a beat since MLB suspended Manny Ramirez for violating the league's drug policy for starters, and I'm not so sure Sox hitters REALLY know much about who the James Garner/Joe Pesci-looking Joe Torre will be starting in this series. Tonight, the Sox know very little about righty Hiroki Kuruda, and in all likelihood, leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik will be the ONLY familiar face Hiroki has seen in tonight's starting lineup! The Sox record vs. unknowns is awful. I believe the Sox are ONLY 3-9 so far vs. starting pitchers they've NEVER seen. The Sox have a much lower BA at U.S. Cellular Field this season compared to the road by about 70 points, plus they've been shut out 9 times in the first 2 months or so of the season. Get the picture? The Sox start the night 5 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the A.L. Central in 3rd place, and I haven't really seen a great deal of proof that this team can string a bunch of wins together to stay in the race. I think if the Sox fall some 10 games or more out of first, the likes of Jermaine Dye, Bobby Jenks, Octavio Dotel & Paul Konerko could be a contending team's...if the price is right.

Stranger things have happened, but its always possible that new blood could spark something.

I realize that, but does anyone have much confidence in tonight's L.A. starter, righty Hiroki Kuroda, who has ONLY faced Podsednik & Jayson Nix in his career dating back to when Scott & Jayson played for the Colorado Rockies? Does anyone think the White Sox will have better luck tomorrow night vs. Randy Wolf or Thursday afternoon vs. Chad Billingsley? The '09 White Sox have been awful at the plate this season! They've got I believe the third worst team BA in the American League, dreadful with runners in scoring position, plus their defense has been terrible at times, and their pitchers don't always get the strikeout when they need it! It's not winning baseball and the Sox have been terribly inconsistent!

The Sox are toast for the next 3 games-I don't dispute that. The only guy they might have a chance against is Billingsly-he can get a little wild sometimes (and all of their hitters like to stare at pitches with 2 strikes). As far as I'm concerned, blow the whole thing up and bring up some youth (of course, I was bitching about that at this time last year too-I still wish they had blown the whole thing up and went younger-damn the division championship)

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paragraphs make it easier on the reader.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I see no reason to sell off assets until after the All-Star break.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

The heat index is getting closer to 100. Lets see if they start hitting more HRs and winning more at home.

They're a mere 5 games out. They have 10 games left against Detroit, including 6 out of the last 9 games to end the season. No reason to actively seek a trade until post all star break.

And if you're going to trade people, thats fine. Do NOT trade Bobby Jenks.

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I'd like to see the Sox be buyers at the deadline. There will be a lot of teams looking to dump salary and will be willing to take less talent in return to shed these contracts. The Sox have a lot of money coming off the books and can afford to take on one of these contracts. If they can get a player that would have cost 3 top prospects a year ago for 1 top prospect and a couple fringe prospects they should do it.

If you can get something good in return for Jenks-take it. He's declining. He has a history of arm trouble before coming to the Sox, and he may have weight issues as he gets older.

I think the guy that you will really get something for is Matt Thornton-everyone needs left handed relief that can get out both rightys and leftys.

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The only guy who's being possibly on the block who would bring back anything significant is Bobby Jenks. Nobody is going to trade a top prospect for 2-3 months of Jermaine Dye. Dye and Dotel wouldn't bring anything more than a mid-level prospect at best. They aren't going to help themselves much for next year, beyond saving some money on the remaining contracts for this season on some of these guys, so hopefully they can go on a streak, win 10 of 13, and give Williams a reason to keep what they have together, and maybe add a piece.

I think if anything, Williams may actually look for a trade where he brings back a veteran who is under contract for next season, sort of like he did for Contreras a few seasons ago.

I would disagree that he's declining- his K's are down, but he's a very good pitcher. The weight issues are a small concern but he has not eaten himself out of the league yet so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there as well.

Agree that Thornton could bring a lot, but if Williams thinks he has some good young talent, and a solid nucleus here already, why not keep these guys, retool in the off-season in what is a weak division?

I see nothing wrong with retooling. I think that if they are not going to win the division, they should consider moving some of the older players who are not going to be here next year. I don't know whether Jim Thome has a no-trade clause or not, but if there is an AL team looking for a DH, and they can make a trade that makes sense-not .50 on the dollar, take it. If Contreras continues to pitch well, someone may want to make a deadline deal for a pitcher with positive World Series experience (translation: pitches well and wins). I would love to see Colon move on when he comes off the DL, move Jose, and see what the staff looks like with Buehrle, Danks, Floyd, Richard, and Poreda. If you can get a solid righty for Richard, even better because they are too left handed in the rotation with that setup.

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Declining? He has 17 saves. He doesn't throw 100 anymore. He is a pitcher, not a thrower. His arm trouble was WAY back when he was a starter. The DL stint he had with the Sox had nothing to do with his arm, shoulder, or elbow.

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Thanks for more baseball brilliance....I hear your quite the "catcher" yourself!

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Fair enough. I will admit that declining was a little strong. What you don't want to happen is have a team that gets the pieces together, and suddenly the back end of the bullpen starts crapping out. Look at Boston pre-04. They were a decent bullpen that could be trusted away from taking the Yankees out. The shelf life of closers is so short, I would like to see something come back in return if the team is not going to be any damn good anyway. If you can't get some sort of apples-apples deal for Jenks, don't take it. This is retooling, not a firesale.

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Jenks' K's per 9 innings are up from 5.5 in '08 to 8.3 in '09. Not that I care that much about K's. Save percentage is all that matters and he's at 89.5%.

They need to score runs and get leads to have save opportunities.

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By the way, the Tigers beat the Cubs 5-4 at Comerica Park, and with Hiroki Kuroda all but shutting down the White Sox offense for about 8 2/3 innings in the Dodgers' 5-2 win over the White Sox, the deficit is now 6 games in the A.L. Central! The '09 Chicago White Sox are a seller!

Bullpens are a crapshoot from year to year. The fact that the Sox had THREE closers in 2005 proves that. The fact that Cliff Politte was out of baseball shortly after 2006, and Neal Cotts is back in the minors proves that.

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Agreed. I don't hear much Dustin Hermanson love these days. There are much more important positions than closer. If I could get an every day starter for Jenks, I would probably do it in a heartbeat.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I'd be more optimistic if the Sox had a solid home record, but they don't.

The team is 4 games under .500, have a losing record at home and are 6 games out of first place. They have a tough stretch at some point in the season against the Yankees, Red Sox and, I believe, the Rays. If they can't even beat Oakland and Cleveland at home, what makes one think they're going to get "hot."

It ain't happening. When one player gets out of a slump, there's always another to fall into one. Quentin will be no savior.

Call up some minor leaguers to see what they can do.

Send Richard down to the minors to develop a freakin' breaking ball. Put Poreda in his spot.

If Jordan Danks keeps up his hot bat and overcomes his injury, why not call him up?

You don't trade the guys who will get decent multi year contracts next year for nothing. If a team won't give up some goods for Dotel, you keep him, offer him arbitration and when he declines, you get high picks in next year's draft.

Dye has an option for next year so I don't think he can be offered arbitration. If he cannot bring good prospects, I would look into signing him for two years before the end of the season.

You have to get rid of Thome for whatever you can get. He would accept arbitration and you don't want that. He would be a pure money dump.

I think Pods is a perfect example of a guy you keep. He makes nothing, going to arbitration would not be scary if he accept. On the other hand, I would think someone would take a shot at signing him, which gets you the high draft pick for a guy you signed off the scrap heap.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Thome will be gone next year one way or another. That said, KEEP Dye around! Pick up his option and use him primarily as a DH, but he could still play RF a few times a month.

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Which is why you GIVE Thome away...it saves you $3-4 million.

They cannot pick up that Dye option for $12 million. But if they sign him for two years at $15-16 million total, then you have a market contract for a guy that is still producing....which is why I say see if you can get something really good for him, if not, get an extension done before the end of the season.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

dolphin, Pods will not be a type A free agent to net that high draft pick

+1. Who is the best candiate to be the primary RF for next year?

+1. Who is the best candiate to be the primary RF for next year?[/quote]


Someone not currently in the orginization

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Someone not currently in the orginization[/quote]


Unless they get somebody productive, they better hold onto Dye then.

Go get a true CF, shift Brian Anderson to RF.

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or to Charlotte...either way