Cooper Looking For Starter and Bullpen Help For Second Half

With 77 games left in 2012 the White Sox find themselves in a place (First 47-38) they did not expect to be in. I guess Managers and coaching staffs do matter. (i.e, Rios in RF, Viciedo in LF).  At least most people never thought they would be buyers at this time of year. With Jake Peavy making 17 million this year and Matt Thornton making 5.5 million the White Sox front office thought they would be selling these guys off to the highest bidder this month. Well surprise, surprise. Sox lead the division by 3 games and pitching coach Don Copper is asking Kenny Williams for one more starting pitcher and one more veteran guy in the pen.
With doubts on John Danks making it back before August and doubts that Phil Humber can be a serious 7 inning starter, Cooper is hoping Williams can pull off another steal of a trade similar to the Youkilis robbery last month. Can Gavin Floyd be trade bait? Or does Williams keep sending him out to the mound and hope he gets the good breaking ball Floyd most of the time. Jose Quintana has been lights out for the Sox and is a real find by the Sox scouting department. But after Peavy, Sale and Quintana the pitching staff is a thin one.  With only one veteran in Thornton out in the bullpen Copper would love to have another,  go to guy that has "been there" before during the heat of a hot summer pennant race. If Jesse Crain comes back healthy that would be a huge help.

Making matters worse for the White Sox brass is that fan attendance for the first half of 2012 is down 5%. The good thing is with all these young players the Sox payroll is down 24%. 

But after this season they will have to decide what to do with A.J. Pierzyski, Gavin Floyd, Jake Peavy, Dayan Viciedo, Chris Sale and Alejandro De Aza. All are either free agents or have club options.  But lets not get ahead of ourselves.  We need to see how Sale and Peavy hold up and if Paul Konerko wrist can make it through another 77 games.

If the Sox can win 40 of those 77 games that may be good enough to win the AL Central.

White Sox Fans Don't Feel So Bad About First Place Team

White Sox fans it's okay. It happens. I know you feel like the girl that gets lied to by the only guy  you really cared about. Look it's not easy letting go, it's hard to forgive someone that has hurt you in the past. Really you didn't know. Everybody was saying how bad they are.  First it was Robin Ventura can't be a manager he never managed before. He needs to do what Ryne Sandberg did and go to the minors for 3 to 4 years to get the "experience" as a manager. Ok we now know that was just a lie Jim Hendry told Sandberg to get out of the Cubs hair. Of course their was the Sergio Santos trade and Carlos Quentin trade. The Sox don't care about me anymore, they let  favorite Mark Buehrle go. Boo who.  So I understand you are, as a White Sox fan a little gun shy. A little hurt. Don't forgot they traded Ozzie Guillen the best manager ever in the history of the world. Right? He was so funny with his tirades and tweets and his sons ripping that stupid Kenny Williams who signed Jake Peavy and Adam Dunn. Ouch. It all hurts. Plus when someone, some expert comes out and tells you that the White Sox may lose 100 yes 100 games in 2012. Well. That about seals the deal. Heart broken. Never, ever, ever coming back to watch this team. I mean really Ventura got beat up by Nolan Ryan. If that doesn't say he can't be a manager nothing does.  If that wasn't enough the same old Alex Rios. Ugh. And A.J., he can't throw out the garbage. So with no closer, no ace, no DH and an aging Paul Konerko, I get it. White Sox fans you are hurt. It's like when the so called Wall Street experts tell you to sell your stock in May because the slowing economy and it turns out June was the best month for stocks in years. Go figure. Lies and lies. Your heart can't take it.

And now this. You missed the cool party. Your first place team. Who knew that Dunn will blast 25 bombs. Or Chris Sale will have 10 wins before the All-Star break. It hurts. I mean really. The second half only means more heart break if you open up and let them in. No way can Dunn hit another 25 home runs. I mean really if he hits 50 that  would be the most he ever hit in a season. And if Sale gets 10 more wins. 20 wins. It's been a long time since a Sox picher had 20 wins. I hate to bring this up but Jake Peavy looks really good. I know you missed it. It's been a busy spring with work and the kids, well you know. I get it. Pain is hard. I hesitate to tell you about the season Dayan Viciedo is having in left field. Um yeah its pretty decent. He has thrown out a few runners, caught everything and he can hit for power too. Sorry. But I know you know this already. The TV and radio ratings are way up. Watching the Sox on TV is like stalking your ex on Facebook. you can see what they are up to without putting yourself out there. I get it.

But now what do you do? It's 5 games before the All-Star break and we, us, them are in first place. What? The Tigers. Yeah  yeah they will get better. Who? Yes the experts say that. That they will get hot and the Sox will suck and Peavy will get hurt and Sale will have elbow problems and Rios will stop hitting and catching, etc etc. Yes I know you need to tell  you these things. It's how people coup with hurt. So the hesitation is still there. Do you really want to come to a game and cheer? How many games in first place do they really need to be before you step foot to watch this team. How many young rookie pitchers pitching well will it take? I guess only you can answer that question.

Bad news is they only have a few home games in July. But in August...what? Oh school starts up and work gets busy, right. I see. I know its hard but maybe you can try to see one game in the second half. Maybe the game that Dunn hits his 40th or Tank hits his 20th. Or Youk blast a 3 run homer to win the game for Sale. Or Addison Reed gets his 15th save.

Anyway its okay that you missed one of the most exicting first halfs of Robin Ventura first year as manager. I mean do you really think he will win Manager of the Year. A team that was picked for last. Will Adam Dunn or Alex Rios win Comeback Player of the Year? Will Sale win 20 games? I guess you will have to continue to watch on TV. Yeah its safer that way. You can always turn it off.

ChicagoPalehose: Hickey A True Chicago Type Of Guy

ChicagoPalehose: Hickey A True Chicago Type Of Guy

ChicagoPalehose: Smoak and Mears: White Sox in First

ChicagoPalehose: Smoak and Mears: White Sox in First

Smoak and Mears: White Sox in First

A team that has a left fielder that has never played left field, a closer that has never closed, a first year starting centerfielder, a third baseman without a home run and a manager that has never coached. Introducing your first place Chicago White Sox.

Oh yeah a minor league hitting coach and Chris Sale who has never started as a professional. Other then that this team should be pretty good.

Smoke and mirrors. So far so good. Lets see what happens in June. The good news is they play a few weak NL teams. That should keep the south side faithful dreams alive for another month.
Come July they have only 9 home games. 9. Tell me that wont hurt the in the pocket book for the Sox. Of course come September when everyone is back at school and work the White Sox have 19 homes games. Go figure. 2012 is a wacky one.

Hickey A True Chicago Type Of Guy

Kevin Hickey is a Chicago kid made good. For a guy to have pitched in the Major Leagues and he never played high school baseball- that is one heck of an underdog story. Hickey was signed out of 250 other dreamers at a White Sox tryout day at old Comiskey Park. Hickey told me when he was trying out as a pitcher when one of his pitches went thru the catchers glove. Now that's fast. I guess when you see that for a left hander it would be hard not to sign him to a minor league contract. For a kid that was working at a factory in Melrose Park and playing 16 inch softball he figured what the heck I will try out for the Chicago White Sox. Well the rest is history. He has been part of the Sox family ever since.

http://youtu.be/pfN2CCE8YRc

Kevin passed away on May 16, 2012. He was 56. He fell into a coma on April 5 and never came out. Hickey will be missed by many. He loved people and baseball and they both loved him back.

Ventura Getting Advice From Old Coaches

Robin Ventura shows class as he brings back retired coaches Joe Nossek and Art Kusnyer as spring training advisers. Ventura doesn't forget the people that have helped his career. Nossek and Kusnyer were White Sox coaches when Robin played in the 1990's. Both Nossek and Kusnyer are great guys to have around.
It's great to see that Ventura is going about it the right way. He isn't saying he knows everything and doesn't need any help. The well grounded Ventura is preparing to succeed by getting as much knowledge as possible from those that can help the cause.  Below is a little background to what kind of guy Art Kusnyer is.

http://youtu.be/7EdWjjkx9yA

Sox May Look At Steve Dahl to Sell Tickets

Robin Ventura will be thrown to the wolves the first month of April. Having to make his managerial debut in Texas. Ouch. John Danks gets the start for the first game. Do you think he said to himself, "can't I start in Cleveland instead?"  Either way Danks, Ventura and the rest of the 2012 Sox will have a tough April schedule. With Cleveland on the road following the 3 games in Arlington they come home to the big, bad , they won't ever be beat Detroit Tigers. The Sox home opener will have Jake Peavy on the mound. Chances are the Sox may be 1-5 before their first home game. If Brook Boyer is having trouble selling tickets now just wait until the Sox are swept in Texas. Boyer may be calling Steve Dahl for another Disco Demolition night to get the fans to come out. After they have 3 with the Tigers, Baltimore comes in for a four game series. Then off to the west coast to face Seattle and Oakland. The west coast trip is always a hard one. After those 6 games on the road, they take on the always strong Boston Red Sox at home for four.

White Sox Pitching Not That Bad

Questions are plentiful concerning the 2012 White Sox pitching staff. For some of us anyway. A few of us already have all the answers. So they think. I have a few. But what I do know is this. Danks, Peavy, Floyd and Sale. Should be better then average. I know a couple thousands of you think Peavy is finished. Well he might be. But he will be sent out to the mound every 5 days until his arm falls off. That is what I do know. As far as Chris Sale is concern. It will most likely take him a couple months as a starter before he settles in. Lets hope Don Copper and Robin Ventura give him the time to settle in. For a yound skinny kid like Sale he will have a whole lot of learning to do this summer. With the Sox not expected to do anything this year I see no reason why you also wouldn't send Sale out to the mound every 5th day too. Phil Humber will be good for the first few months anyway. After that who knows. Maybe Kenny picks up another young pitcher or gives someone like Axlerod a chance. I know Kenny likes Drabek so maybe he will on the south side this year.

One thing WE all know is that Danks and Floyd is what you see is what you get. I don't see them getting any better or any worse in 2012. I wouldn't mind seeing Kenny Williams trade Floyd and A.J. for some prospects.

As far as the bullpen goes it looks good. Can Addison Reed be the full time closer? I think he too will take some time  getting use to that role.  So look for Crain and Thornton to close when needed depending on the batters that they face.

The Sox defense will be better this year so that will help the pitching staff. With De Aza in CF and the Tank in rightfield not everything will be caught but with Rios in LF it can't be all that bad. Can it? Okay Rios seems like the kind of player that may be jittery near the foul line and the stands when going for a foul ball. Look for a few pitchers to get upset when Rios slows up and is unable to catch a foul ball near the stands this year.

Other then that lets wish Bobby Jenks a quick recovery from spinal fluid leaking out of his spinal column last month. He almost lost his life.  Anyway go White Sox.

I Like The 2012 White Sox. So Should You!

I can see the confusion that is befalling on White Sox fans. The confusion begins with the smoke signals coming from 35 street.  One day its rebuilding the next day its retooling. Call it what you want but I call it messing with the fans.  I know the real fans understand that this team really hasn't changed that much from last year. The only thing that's changed really is what is coming out of the marketing department. Thank goodness for that. The slogan last year of "All In" was just flat out bad. Talk about putting undo and unnecessary pressure on people. Wow. This year so far we have not heard or seen anything coming from the marketing people.

Meanwhile on the field we have the same CF, 1B, 2B, DH, 3B, SS and catcher. Like Adam Dunn said at Soxfest this weekend the best moves the Sox made so far is that Rios and Dunn are coming back. As strange as that sounds its the truth. If Dunn can go back to what he did before he choked with the huge contract he will be one heck of an off season keep by Kenny. Lets just play lets make a wish. Lets say Dunn hits 30 HR this year. Nice right. Lets say Rios hits .275  and 20 HR. Not bad right. Maybe he will even run and throw like an average CF. We will take that right? Ok say Beckman goes back to his rookie year stats and hits .270 and 14 dingers. Huh? Not bad. Yes its wishful thinking but its not out of the question for these three guys to do just that. Ok lets pretend that Brent Morrel gets better at the plate. Ok not bad then. Lets say Alexi gets just a little bit better or stays the same. That's a good shortstop right there. So what about the new guys. Yes. Tank and De Aza. Bam. They will be the other pieces to this puzzle. De Aza in CF? Rios in LF? Tank in RF. Hmm. Ok. Tank hits .265 and 22 bombs. Not bad. De Aza hits .288 and steals 30 bases. Hmm. I think this team can contend all summer long. Come back next week and hear my take on the 2012 pitchers.