What the White Sox need to do to make the playoffs

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

There are a few reasons as to why this team is only a handful of games over first place right now instead of being in first place, like many analysts pegged us at before the season. We need at least one more consistent bat in this lineup. Then, and I know a lot of Sox fans would be against this, send down Beckham to AAA and bring up Luis Rodriguez. Next, send down Randy Williams and call up Hudson already! Lastly, stop hitting Kotsay in the middle of the order. Seriously, Ozzie, what is the logic behind it?

If we were to add another consistent bat, especially from the left side, that would be huge for the White Sox. And who is that player? Why, Adam LaRoche! He's a .300/.363/.546 hitter in the second half and I would put him at 1B and slide Konerko into the DH slot. He'd give us power, patience, and a decent glove at first base. ROS ZiPS sees him hitting .280/.360/.509 with 14 HR, 59 RBI, and 44 R for the rest of the year which would impact the team pretty immensely. I think a middle of the order with Rios, Konerko, Quentin, and LaRoche doesn't look too bad in the 2nd half. It wouldn't take much to get him, probably a prospect such as Clevelan Santeliz would be enough to pry him away from the Diamondbacks.

Send Beckham to AAA. He's just hitting like horseshit all season and if we really want to contend, we need to at the least platoon Beckham, but I'd prefer to send him down to AAA to work out his kinks against lesser competition to gain back his confidence. Sure, some of you may say that sending him down would hurt his confidence, and it may, but I'm sure he can do well in AAA enough to come back up in at least a few weeks or so and hit at a pace somewhere in between 2009 and this season. Have Omar Vizquel start at second base in Beckhams absence, as he is hitting .274/.343/.371 so far in June, and obviously brings his Gold Glove caliber defense to the table. Call up Luis Rodriguez, whose hitting .301/.368/.468 in AAA with modest power, good plate discipline, and passable defense.

Dan Hudson in AAA: 10-3 3.83 ERA 82.1 IP 75 H 27 BB 97 K 1.24 WHIP. Pretty damn good considering the terrible start that he got off to. His numbers in his last 10 starts: 2.75 ERA 59 IP 17 BB 69 K .96 WHIP .210 BAA. He's ready for the majors for sure. Have him replace Randy Williams as he has about as many strikeouts as walks right now which isn't good considering he gets a good amount of K's.

Stop hitting Kotsay in the middle of the order! He should only be used off of the bench and somewhere in the 7, 8th, or 9th spot. There is just no logic at all behind batting him third.

With LaRoche added with some other roster movies, this would be my new lineup:

1. Omar Vizquel 2B
2. Juan Pierre LF
3. Alex Rios CF
4. Paul Konerko DH
5. Carlos Quentin RF
6. Adam LaRoche 1B
7. AJ Pierzynski C
8. Alexei Ramirez SS
9. Dayan Viciedo 3B

The rotation would be the same and bullpen would be the same except Hudson is inserted in as LR.

 

[nickofypres]

Another bat* and another bullpen arm.

*I agree in regards to LaRoche

 

[Lefty]

1) How in the hell are we going to get Adam LaRoche? And why would you be willing to take on his contract (with a $7 million option for next year with a $1.5 million buyout) just to make a run at the playoffs with this team? Even with LaRoche, the team would still be so dependent on its pitching that almost any amount of slippage in the rotation would nix any playoffs hopes.

2) Omar Vizquel's June batting line is currently beating out his career batting line. What does that mean? It mean's he's forty-fucking-three years old and isn't going to sustain this. And not only do you want to start him regularly, but bat him leadoff? Please.

3) Luis Rodriguez isn't an MLB player. I'm sorry, he just isn't. The reason you're seeing such huge production from him now in AAA is because he's 30 years old playing in a league where the average age is in the 26-27 range. He's dominating kids that are on average three years his junior, that's not skill.

 

[Capt. Serious]

Because he's better than Mark fucking Kotsay.

 

[ChiSportsRich]

I agree the the Sox need a bat in order to win the division. I dont see Adam LaRoche as that bat. i would like to see Adam Dunn or a caliber bat like that. I know Dunn K's alot but he also hits alot of HRs which would gives us a legit DH.
Sending down Beckham now would kill his confidence and at that point you might as well send him down for good. Hudson is staying in AAA until we have regular starts for him because he is a starter. I feel that in the event that a starter goes down he would be the first Pitcher called up, but not as a reliever

 

[Lefty]

I agree the the Sox need a bat in order to win the division. I dont see Adam LaRoche as that bat. i would like to see Adam Dunn or a caliber bat like that. I know Dunn K's alot but he also hits alot of HRs which would gives us a legit DH.
Sending down Beckham now would kill his confidence and at that point you might as well send him down for good. Hudson is staying in AAA until we have regular starts for him because he is a starter. I feel that in the event that a starter goes down he would be the first Pitcher called up, but not as a reliever

Look, I love Adam Dunn, I really do. Maybe it's the stat-nerd in me that loves to see a guy scouts and baseball "purists" routinely dismiss because he doesn't hit for a high batting average, but either way, I love the guy and would love him on the Sox....

....but at what cost? To pry him from the Nationals now would take a glutton of prospects, even for the rent-a-player. And I don't know if you've been paying attention, but the Sox' minor league cupboard can't really sustain another hit. They'd more than likely want Hudson and another spect of some kind (my guess would be a pitcher from the Sox, because Morel isn't beating out Zimmerman and Flowers isn't going to stand in the way of Harper), and that would effectively put an end to the Sox producing any worthwhile players from their system for the foreseeable future. And the same goes for trying to get LaRoche, though not to the extent it does for Dunn.

The point is, to make the Sox a contender (and a dubious one at that) now, the Sox would have to sell what little future they have and hope for the best this season and perhaps next year. After that, there's nobody really left to fill the void or "reload" as Kenny tries to do.

 

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

1) How in the hell are we going to get Adam LaRoche? And why would you be willing to take on his contract (with a $7 million option for next year with a $1.5 million buyout) just to make a run at the playoffs with this team? Even with LaRoche, the team would still be so dependent on its pitching that almost any amount of slippage in the rotation would nix any playoffs hopes.

2) Omar Vizquel's June batting line is currently beating out his career batting line. What does that mean? It mean's he's forty-fucking-three years old and isn't going to sustain this. And not only do you want to start him regularly, but bat him leadoff? Please.

3) Luis Rodriguez isn't an MLB player. I'm sorry, he just isn't. The reason you're seeing such huge production from him now in AAA is because he's 30 years old playing in a league where the average age is in the 26-27 range. He's dominating kids that are on average three years his junior, that's not skill.

Honestly, this all was just off the top of my head and I wrote it in about half an hour before I went on to watch The Book of Eli. I didn't look up LaRoche's contract, but we can afford him. Now that I've looked at his contract, I think for giving them a prospect straight up for him, that we can get ARI to pay for a bit of his contract or send some cash our way, which would be the more likely option.

As for Vizquel, it's only for a few weeks till Beckham figures it out in AAA, so ride the hot (or maybe decent?) hand. I can certainly see him sustaining this production for a little while longer. I mean, he probably can't be any worse than Pierre.

As for Rodriguez, you can't say for sure he isn't a major league player without giving him the opportunity. Late bloomers happen all the time, and we're only asking him to come off of the bench, not to set the world on fire or anything. If he can just hit at least .260/.330/.350 or so with average defense, that would be perfectly fine off of the bench.

 

[WhiteSoxFan83]

a DH

 

[hsvj60]

if we pick up a LH bat it would have to be a 300+ lifetime AVG type hitter with power and then we would not have what it takes to get him here (thinking A GON) and if we did get a bat like that we still need to get rid of some deadweight we have and yes Williams is one of them and I would not send down Bacon at this point he has been bad but I really think he's gonna be fine but all in all we are NOT a WS contender we're barely a division contender and that's with a LH bat being brought in...

 

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

if we pick up a LH bat it would have to be a 300+ lifetime AVG type hitter with power

That would be Adam LaRoche, a .300/.363/.546 hitter in the 2nd half.

and then we would not have what it takes to get him here (thinking A GON)

I'm pretty sure we have what it takes to get a LaRoche, we don't need AGon to make the playoffs although he would be great.

and if we did get a bat like that we still need to get rid of some deadweight we have and yes Williams is one of them

We aren't the Cubs, right now our goal is not to get rid of dead weight right now. And if we're going to cut anybody, I can guarantee you it will be Ozzie before KW.

and I would not send down Bacon at this point he has been bad but I really think he's gonna be fine

Oh, really? What has he shown this season that suggests he will be fine? His little hot 5 game stretch he is on now?

but all in all we are NOT a WS contender we're barely a division contender and that's with a LH bat being brought in...

I'm pretty sure we're 1.5 games out right now without a LH bat, soooo that means we are a contender right now.

 

[hsvj60]

That would be Adam LaRoche, a .300/.363/.546 hitter in the 2nd half.


I'm pretty sure we have what it takes to get a LaRoche, we don't need AGon to make the playoffs although he would be great.



We aren't the Cubs, right now our goal is not to get rid of dead weight right now. And if we're going to cut anybody, I can guarantee you it will be Ozzie before KW.


Oh, really? What has he shown this season that suggests he will be fine? His little hot 5 game stretch he is on now?


I'm pretty sure we're 1.5 games out right now without a LH bat, soooo that means we are a contender right now.

:rofl:you really believe because we are 1.5 games out we are a legit contender for the division? we got there by beating the worst tteams in baseball if there are such teams worse than us. while the other contenders, in the division, are winning in this league we needed the worse of the National league to make our move at which point does not bode well in any way or convince me that we are legit as division much less WS contenders LH bat or not. Thus I think we need to sell and restock the team with good young talent for the future not give away what little we have for another year of maybe getting to the play-offs.:crying:

 

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

:rofl:you really believe because we are 1.5 games out we are a legit contender for the division? we got there by beating the worst tteams in baseball if there are such teams worse than us. while the other contenders, in the division, are winning in this league we needed the worse of the National league to make our move at which point does not bode well in any way or convince me that we are legit as division much less WS contenders LH bat or not. Thus I think we need to sell and restock the team with good young talent for the future not give away what little we have for another year of maybe getting to the play-offs.:crying:

last i checked, 1.5 back meant your fucking CONTENDING bro. some sox fan you are, *************** put yo cubs hat on u gay.

 

[hsvj60]

you have issues you sissy ass fuck, if you can't have a baseball discussion without lowering your level to the point where you have to call your daddy out of his name because you can't win an argument then your a fucken Ozzie scrotum cheese loving son of a bitch!

 

[Lefty]

you have issues you sissy ass fuck if you can't have a baseball discussion without lowering your level to the point you can't win an argument or carry a conversation without calling your daddy out of his name you fucken Ozzie scrotum cheese loving son of a bitch!

 

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

you have issues you sissy ass fuck if you can't have a baseball discussion without lowering your level to the point you can't win an argument or carry a conversation without calling your daddy out of his name you fucken Ozzie scrotum cheese loving son of a bitch!

what the fuck? I hate Ozzie, so you fail. next time make a little bit more sense.