Kuzul

Will they ever get it right?

Since the All-Star game counts for home-field advantage of the World Series they should try to get it right.

Let’s take a trip around the All-Star horn shall we.

Right off the bat, why is there need for a replacement DH? So we have to find the second-best DH instead of making that spot for someone more deserving?

Cue David Ortiz:

.259 BA, .364 OBP, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 43 R

Snub Paul Konerko and Kevin Youkilis:

Konerko – .296 BA, .384 OBP, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 46 R

Youkilis – .299 BA, .416 OBP, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 65 R, 2 SB

I’m pretty sure both players can handle the hardships of the DH position, though they normally play the field. 

Okay, let’s continue around the field for the American League.

Second base looks good, shortstop looks good, third base looks…Alex Rodriguez?

.276 BA, .349 OBP 12 HR, 62 RBI, 43 R, 2 SB

Once again, Konerko and Youkilis have better numbers, yet the AL has three guys at third base and just two at first. You can even argue the fact Youkilis can play third base.

Snubbery.

We go to the outfield. Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford, Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter all look good. Wait… tell me they didn’t put Jose Bautista and his .236 batting average along with Ichiro and his .328 batting average?

Of course they did.

Bautista – .236 BA, .360 OBP, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 50 R, 3 SB

Ichiro – .328 BA, .383 OBP, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 33, 22 SB

Snubbery.

Alex Rios – .303 BA, .358 OBP, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 49 R, 22 SB

Okay, I suppose I can let Bautista go based on the fact his OBP would suggest he isn’t a Carlos Pena who just swings ridiculously hard, but Ichiro?

Rios matches Ichiro in his go-to stats of stolen bases and runs, while having an extremely respectable batting average and on-base percentage, along with far more power than Ichiro.

Let’s take a look at the pitching.

Okay, I’m seeing no Jered Weaver or Felix Hernandez for some reason, but that’s because the pitching is deep and Fausto Carmona repping the Indians because Shin-Soo Choo is DLed. Trevor Cahill got in to rep the Oakland A’s.

Phil Hughes…really?

Hughes – 10-2, 3.83 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 86 K, 94 IP

Hernandez – 6-5, 3.03 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 116 K, 121.2 IP

Weaver – 8-3, 2.82 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 124 K, 108.2 IP

Snubbery.

For the love of god, people, wins and losses are not the be-all and end-all in judging a pitcher’s worth.

I don’t even need to add any input. Just look at the numbers and remember the fact the game is in Anaheim where Weaver pitches.

When looking at the relievers for the American League the only case of snubbery would probably revolve around Matt Thornton. He was selected because the White Sox needed a representative. Had Konerko or Rios been in as they should have, you wouldn’t have needed this.

Neftali Felix – 22 saves (tied for lead in the AL), 3.00 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 40 K (most among closers), 36 IP

Rafael Soriano – 21 saves, 1.47 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 28 K, 30.2 IP

Onto the National League we go…Yadier Molina? What?

.229 BA, .309 OBP, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 16 R, 6 SB

Please, Cardinal fans, stop voting. Every year we go through this.

Miguel Olivo – .307 BA, .363 OBP, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 37 R, 4 SB

Snubbery.

Another tough first base position with Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Adrian Gonzalez all deserving. Joey Votto should clearly be there as well, having better numbers than Howard and Gonzalez, but it’s a very deep position, so there was no winning in this.

Howard – .293 BA, .349 OBP, 15 HR, 59 RBI, 52 R

Gonzalez – .291 BA, .386 OBP, 16 HR, 51 RBI, 43 R

Votto – .312 BA, .412 OBP, 19 HR, 57 RBI, 53 R

That’s a tough call. Gonzalez was the lone Padre and Howard basically won on his name rather than numbers.

At second base, Dan Uggla or Rickie Weeks should have made it, but Martin Prado and Brandon Phillips are good picks.

I think the coaching staff spelled someone’s name wrong. Omar Infante? That isn’t how you spell Joey Votto, Dan Uggla and/or Rickie Weeks.

Infante – .309 BA, .341 OBP, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 23 R, 3 SB

Uggla – .271 BA, .358 OBP, 16 HR, 49 RBI, 53 R, 2 SB

Weeks – .271 BA, .370 OBP, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 53 R, 5 SB

Snubbery.

Ryan Zimmerman (.286 BA, .376 OBP, 14 HR, 44 RBI, 49 R, 1 SB) is another person better than Infante who didn’t make it. Troy Glaus (.260 BA, .364 OBP, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 41 R) is another player better than Infante.

The list goes on and on. 

Outside of Hanley Ramirez, the shortstop position is weak in the National League. Mark Reynolds and his .221 BA and 112 Ks didn’t make it at third, so that’s good. Baby steps toward getting this correct. 

Ah, the outfield… where we stick undeserving players from bad teams. Marlon Byrd and Chris Young are having pretty good years and deserve to be the Cub and Diamondback representatives. Michael Bourn, however, should not be the Astros representative and Matt Holliday just shouldn’t be there. 

Bourn – .260 BA, .336 OBP, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 48 R, 25 SB

Holliday – .298 BA, .374 OBP, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 45 R, 6 SB

Adam Dunn – .275 BA, .361 OBP, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 44 R

Colby Rasmus – .278 BA, .369 OBP, 16 HR, 40 RBI, 48 R, 9 SB

Josh Willingham – .281 BA, .413 OBP, 15 HR, 46 RBI, 43 R, 7 SB

Carlos Gonzalez – .295 BA, .329 OBP, 14 HR, 52 RBI, 49 R, 12 SB

Andre Ethier – .320 BA, .375 OBP, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 39 R, 1 SB

Ryan Braun – .295 BA, .351 OBP, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 50 R, 11 SB

Andrew McCutchen – .295 BA, .374 OBP, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 50 R, 20 SB

Once again, the list goes on and on for players better than Bourn or Holliday in the outfield. Snubbery.

Pitching in the National League is deep, so someone like Clayton Kershaw, Matt Latos, or Roy Oswalt were going to get left out simply because there was not enough room.

What is confusing is why pitchers like Evan Meek and Arthur Rhodes made it over any of the above starters or some closers. Apparently the new thing is to elect setup men, which is fine if their numbers are insanely good.

Rhodes apparently is the Tim Wakefield of this year’s All-Star game. Old is the new good.

Rhodes – 3-2, 1.09 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 32 K, 33 IP

Meek – 4-2, 0.96 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 42 K, 44 IP

Solid numbers, but a setup man should at least have more Ks than innings pitched to make the All-Star team over closers like:

Heath Bell – 23 saves (leads NL), 1.72 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 49 K, 36.2 IP

Francisco Rodriguez – 20 saves, 2.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 52 K, 42 IP

Billy Wagner – 17 saves, 1.35 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 52 K, 33.1 IP

Oswalt should have been your Astros representative over Rhodes, Meek or Capps, which would mean Willingham/Dunn would sub in for Bourn and McCutchen would sub in for Holliday. All teams would still have a representative and you’d have two pitching positions open for Bell, Wagner, Rodriguez or the starters mentioned above.

It’s so simple, yet, we must make it so difficult.

Maybe next year…nah, probably not.

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Yet another All-Star game is upon us, which means lots of snubs, due in large part to the ESPN voters who feel no other teams exist, but the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

How many times do Steve Berthiaume and Chris Berman get to vote?

All this for a game that has consequence on the MLB World Series for some reason.

Here is a non-biased view of who should make the team.

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A month ago, the White Sox were clear sellers. After a sudden resurgence, they have become possible buyers.

On June 8 the White Sox were 24-33 and 9.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins. A reported yelling match between GM Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen occurred that same night.

The White Sox went on to win 15 of their next 16 games and currently sit two games back in the division behind the Detroit Tigers.

Thirteen of those wins, however, came against the National League-the Cubs, Pirates, Nationals, and Braves. One may recall that the White Sox did the exact same thing last year, beating up on the NL to get back into the race only to plummet back to earth as soon as interleague play ended.

Regardless, the White Sox are buyers right now, but that could change drastically in the next two weeks.

If the team stays in the race, which no human being would have the melons to bet on, Adam Dunn (a free-agent-to-be) is the name circulating around the White Sox camp. 

Unfortunately for the White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels have also begun going after Dunn, and with the Nationals most likely wanting pitching prospects, the White Sox don’t have much to offer, as they sent nearly all of their pitching prospects out in the Jake Peavy and Juan Pierre deals.

The White Sox do have Daniel Hudson, but after that, all they have left is mediocre talent in Carlos Torres and Santos Rodriguez. Third baseman Brent Morel is a movable prospect, with Dayan Viciedo and Mark Teahen being the likely first and third basemen of the future if Paul Konerko leaves for free agency, especially since Williams handed Teahen a ridiculous three-year, $14 million extension.

The problem with this scenario, however, is that the Nationals have Ryan Zimmerman at third, and Teahen continues to solidify himself as a utility player rather than an everyday player. Not only do the Nationals not need Morel, but the White Sox most likely will.

Money is no longer an issue with Dunn since he is making $12 million on the year, and half of that is already in the books.

A left-handed power hitter, Dunn currently is hitting .276 with 17 home runs, 47 RBI, 43 runs and a .366 OBP. He has hit 40 home runs in six out of the last seven seasons and would fit quite well in the DH spot that Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones have been mostly useless in.

The question that first must be answered is which White Sox team is going to stick around longer this year: the one that reeled off 11 wins in a row or one destined for third place.

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Here are the guys you wouldn’t have (or shouldn’t have) discussed with your friends or family before your 2010 fantasy baseball draft.

“How has no one drafted him yet?” you laughed to yourself.

The problem is, people did know about your sleepers. They passed on them for good reasons-or were simply lucky to avoid them.

You certainly don’t find anything funny about these guys anymore because they have forced you to hold on to them, due mostly to the hope that they will, at some point, wake up.

Who’s laughing now?

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Carlos Zambrano couldn’t even make it to the second inning of his start against the crosstown rival White Sox before throwing yet another tantrum, even being sent home by manager Lou Pinella and eventually suspended indefinitely by Jim Hendry. 

Zambrano gave up four runs in the first inning, but as usual found someone else to blame.

The inning began with a Juan Pierre double just out of reach of Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee. Lee was drawn in by the chance Pierre could lay down a bunt and the bouncer down the line was clearly out of reach for the Gold Glove first baseman.

Zambrano then was able to get Omar Vizquel to pop out, so there was a man on second base with one out. Very feasible for a sane pitcher to get out of the inning.

Alex Rios then hit a ball down the third base line scoring Pierre, which Aramis Ramirez had no chance at getting. Zambrano begged to differ as he felt a guy who just came off the DL should be able to fly.

Paul Konerko hit a base hit and Carlos Quentin hit a ball that no one outside the bleachers had a chance at catching making it 4-0 White Sox after one.

Then this happened.

Lee’s lips say exactly what most people have been wanting to say to Zambrano for years. 

Yet another water cooler hurt at the hands of a five-year-old trapped in an overpaid 29-year-old’s body.

Pinella mentioned that Zambrano had words for Hendry in the tunnel. One would think he asked to be traded or something along the lines of not being able to handle the team anymore.

Either that or Zambrano felt Hendry should have caught Quentin’s home run.

The Cubs are out of options.

They’ve been patient, hoping the talent would outweigh the immaturity.

The team has tried to move him to the pen, which I’m sure he’ll use as reasoning for his current struggles, as a timeout chair to perhaps light a fire underneath him.

Forget about the bullpen, someone needs to find this immature waste of talent a playpen, so he can play with people his age.

The Cubs have to get rid of Zambrano someway, somehow. With the talent seemingly fading away, he brings nothing to the table, but someone who will throw his plate of food.

Drop him, trade him or replace him with a bag of balls because all he is right now is an expensive cry baby.

How about trading him for a new water cooler?

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The Florida Marlins have fired manager Fredi Gonzalez, naming Edwin Rodriguez his replacement, but only on an interim basis.

Rodriguez has spent the past one-and-a-half seasons as manager of Triple-A New Orleans.

The team also said Wednesday it would be dismissing bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Presley.

Florida moved to 34-36 following Tuesday night’s win over the Baltimore Orioles. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria says he’s making the change because he believes the team can “do better and be better.”

Gonzalez was 276-279 in his three-plus years as Marlins manager. Sitting at 34-36, the Marlins began the day fourth in the NL East, 7.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves.

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Before the 2009 season, the Chicago White Sox signed the then 19-year-old Dayan Viciedo to a four-year, $10 million contract.

Now, the White Sox are calling up the 21-year-old Cuban from Triple-A Charlotte while Jayson Nix will be designated for assignment.

Viciedo is 9-for-23 with two home runs in his last six games, improving his average to .288 to go along with 13 home runs and 31 RBI. He has played first base most of the season but could find himself at third base to fill in for the injured Mark Teahen rather than Omar Vizquel.

One has to see this as an upgrade for the White Sox due to the fact neither Nix nor Vizquel are going to give you much offensively at third base. And Nix, who was seeing a majority of the time, certainly wasn’t giving the White Sox anything special on defense.

Another positive is the fact that this will get Viciedo a chance to see some major league pitching.

One pitcher Viciedo will not see however, is Stephen Strasburg, who faces the White Sox Friday. Facing Strasburg three times is the probably not the greatest way to start your career, so the White Sox have decided against that.

Nix batted just .163 in 49 at-bats this season. The White Sox have 10 days to trade or release Nix, who could be placed on waivers during the 10-day period. The 27-year-old Nix hopes to return to Charlotte after clearing waivers.

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No matter how bad the product was on the field, people flooded to Wrigley Field to see…well…the field.

It brought baseball fans to what seemed like a different decade or even a different century to see a day game with an organ playing and no flashy scoreboard or advertisements to divert the eyes of those of whom have no attention span.

Granted, the crowd still has cell phones to do that, but the field itself would have no part in helping take away from the experience of the old generation of baseball.

Now you have a giant Toyota sign above the left field bleachers, space underneath the right-field bleachers for corporate pregame events and flat screen televisions, in case the fans want to leave the beloved bleachers to watch a game as if they were sitting at home, Under Armour signs on the outfield walls, and $24,300-per-season ticket suites in left field.

The organ has been silenced for players to walk to the plate to whatever garbage is the flavor of the week.

And what classic statue do Cub fans get to see upon leaving the ballpark money has cheapened? A noodle with “You know you love it” for Kraft macaroni and cheese, which was recently put in.

Not cheesy in the least bit.

Perhaps if you mix it with the Chicago Bean , you could have a nice lunch.

Wrigley Field still has just 20 signs as opposed to Fenway’s 67, but it certainly looks as though the field that promised never to grow up or give in to new trends is doing just that.

Next stop: The Ricketts family changes the name of the stadium.

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Going into the 2010 season, the White Sox starting staff of Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Freddy Garcia was thought to be a top three pitching staff in all of baseball.

So far, however, the starting staff has simply been awful, sporting ERAs of 3.27, 4.82, 4.93, 5.62, and 5.64 in 377.1 innings pitched, while the offense has taken most of the blame for the 28-34 record.

Over the last five games, of which the White Sox won four, we may have seen a sudden awakening to the starting five.

It started with Garcia, who has been the second most consistent pitcher in the Sox rotation this season. Garcia went seven innings in a 15-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, allowing three earned runs, while striking out four and walking just one.

Danks followed that outing with seven shutout innings, striking out four, walking four, and giving up just one hit in a 3-0 win over the Tigers.

Peavy then followed that outing with a seven-inning, five-strikeout performance against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley. He gave up two earned runs on one walk and six hits in a 10-5 win.

It was then Buehrle’s turn to shine. He went 6.2 shutout innings, striking out seven, walking none, and giving up eight hits in a 2-1 win over the Cubs.

Floyd pitched a complete game in the series finale against the Cubs. He went eight strong, striking out nine, walking three, and giving up three hits in a 1-0 loss. Floyd had the unfortunate honor of getting the White Sox offense on one of its extremely useless nights, which was bound to happen after scoring 30 runs in the previous four games.

With an offense and a defense like the White Sox have, starting pitching is a must. On any day, the offense can give you nothing and the defense will give you three errors, while most likely never getting to a ball they shouldn’t.

In order for the White Sox to have any chance to compete, the starting staff has to put everything on their shoulders.

Then again, their shoulders should be pretty rested because they’ve taken more than a third of the season off.

At seven-and-a-half games back of the Minnesota Twins and five games back of the Detroit Tigers, let me be the first to welcome the starting five of the White Sox to the 2010 season; so nice of you to show up.

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Paul Konerko has had his bags packed to head to the Los Angeles Angels on more than one occasion.

Now, however, it seems as though Konerko could actually be getting on the plane.

With Kendry Morales celebrating a walk-off grand slam by breaking his leg, the Angels could use another first baseman. 

With the White Sox “grinder”/Ozzie ball/don’t score runs and have awful defense experiment putting the team in a battle for third place in the American League Central division, it could be time for the White Sox to look toward 2011…or maybe 2012.

Konerko is currently batting .262 with 14 home runs, 33 RBI, and a .366 OBP.

What it comes down to is the non-contending White Sox having a 34-year-old soon to be free agent who can still produce and play a solid first base and the contending Angels in the wide-open American League West having a vacant spot at first base.

The White Sox also have prospects Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo waiting in the wings for a chance at first base/DH.

Seems like an easy decision, although the real question is whether or not White Sox fans trust GM Kenny Williams making trades anymore.

Remember Gio Gonzalez? He’s starting in Oakland with a 5-3 record, a 3.54 ERA, and a 1.21 WHIP at the tender age of 25.

At least Williams got Nick Swisher for Gonzalez…for a year.

After a tough season with the White Sox where Swisher led MLB in the non-grinder, boring stat pitches per plate appearance, Swisher was shipped to the Yankees, where he is currently batting .318 with nine home runs, 28 RBI, 34 runs, and a .397 OBP.

But at least Williams was able to steal Wilson Betemit and Jeffrey Marquez from New York for Swisher. A who cares and a who. 

Remember John Ely? The 24-year-old is starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, sitting at 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, striking out 32 batters and walking six in his first 39 innings pitched in the big leagues.

At least Williams got Juan Pierre for Ely. The 33-year-old Pierre has a whopping .245 batting average and a .304 OBP so far this season.

And then there’s Jake Peavy. Peavy, who anyone with eyes could see lived and died by PETCO Park and the National League, is currently sporting a 6.23 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Clayton Richard, who wasn’t even the biggest piece of the trade with the San Diego Padres for Peavy, is 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 63 innings as a starter for the Padres at the old age of 27.

Wait until the Padres start using the 23-year-old left-hander Aaron Poreda. Then White Sox fans may realize how much this trade hurt.

Mix these trades with multi-year deals to mediocre players like Mark Teahen, Scott Linebrink, and Tony Pena, and fans may be asking themselves if Williams can be traded instead of Konerko. 

For the White Sox, however, it looks as though the team will need to move cornerstones Konerko and Mark Buehrle, who Williams did not acquire, along with Bobby Jenks and the contract of Gavin Floyd, if the team wants a chance to go after someone like Cliff Lee in free agency next year. 

But the White Sox will probably just fire Ozzie Guillen and continue trading young talent for mediocre older players instead.

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