With at least four jobs available for Managers following the 2010 Campaign, the following are the top candidates for those vacancies, as well as others which may open up after the season is over. These are not in any particular order, but possible teams will be included for each candidate.
The teams who will most likely have vacancies following the season includes: Marlins, Cubs, Mariners, Blue Jays, Braves and Diamondbacks.
Wednesday night’s Nationals-Marlins benches-clearing brawl, which could have arguably been started via the Marlins bench after Nyjer Morgan was “unsportsmanlike” in stealing second and third with a Nationals deficit, and Morgan’s WWE-like exit from the field may have been the icing on the cake for Morgan’s season.
Just a week and a half ago, Morgan showed his immaturity by throwing a ball into the stands, hurting a fan. Major League Baseball slapped him with a seven-game suspension, which Morgan is appealing. I do not think Wednesday’s incident will help Morgan’s case in getting that suspension shortened.
Bud Selig needs to review Wednesday’s incident, along with Tuesday’s “controversial home plate collision” that may have ended catcher Brett Hayes’ season with a separated shoulder.
Now do not get me wrong; I am not against hard-nosed players like Morgan, but this case is a call for an indefinite suspension for the remainder of the season.
Selig needs to take a page out of Roger Goodell’s NFL punishment book and show that this sort of behavior is not tolerated in Major League Baseball and try to show the rest of the league that immature behavior like this is not tolerated while wearing a major or minor league uniform.
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With the White Sox committing three errors, two of which by shortstop Alexei Ramirez, in their come from behind victory against the Indians, not even Manny Ramirez, who is not known for his defense could help the Sox in that department.
This year has been the first since 2006 that the White Sox will most likely finish in the top half of the majors in defense. This could be attributed to different things, such as Gordon Beckham’s move to second base from third, the addition of Alex Rios and even the addition of Juan Pierre in left field (not normally known for his defense).
The problem with this is that the Sox have often given away games earlier in the season to costly errors and committed very few errors during their tremendous turn around which landed them in first place for a while. But costly defensive mistakes have cost their starters and relievers innings.
Their biggest competition in the division, the Minnesota Twins have cause them a lot of grief, as the Sox have committed nine of their 77 team errors against the division rival. To make things even worse for the Sox, in the last five years the team with the better record held a better fielding percentage and fewer errors (exception was 2008 with the playoff game, both teams had an equal amount of errors).
If history will repeat itself again this year, the Sox have quite a mountain to climb as the Twins have the best fielding percentage (.989) and fewest errors of any American League team (56) and tied for the best fielding percentage among all teams in the major leagues.
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The following are reasons why I believe the Sox should and should not complete the waiver claim on Manny Ramirez.
Reasons for Manny:
1. Consistency The Sox have tried 13 different designated hitters this season, starting out with Mark Kotsay to Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko to now Mark Teahan. None have played more than 46 games to this point and Ozzie Guillen has even admitted that it was his call to not re-sign Jim Thome. The DH spot is batting .243 this season, with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs, which is tied for the sixth most by position for the Sox this seasons.
2. History Manny has statistically played better for the first few months of starting with a new team and why wouldn’t a guy who would welcome a trade to a contender in the White Sox. Manny has been in a playoff hunt before and would like to contend for his fourth playoff appearance in a row and 12th of his career. This many knows how to play down the stretch and is a .285 lifetime batter with 29 home runs and 78 RBIs in his career in the postseason.
3. Proving Himself It is a well known fact than Manny thinks about himself a lot and why not have a change of scenery to show other teams that he is Manny of old. With him wanting to play another two seasons, as he has reported, Manny needs to show that he can still drive in runs and could become a formidable DH for an American League team. He is too slow to play in the outfield and everyone in baseball knows that, which is why he cleared waivers from NL teams.
Reason for not getting Manny:
1. Manny Being Manny Today, Manny gets ejected for arguing a called strike and left the game as if he did not want to play, after four straight days of not starting. This is but another reason why I do not want Manny on the South Side, because if Manny doesn’t get what Manny wants, he tends to be immature and throw a fit and manager Ozzie Guillen will not accept cry babies.
2. Money Word on the street says that Manny wants a contract extension to get traded, don’t think the Sox are willing to make another contract extension before they someone produce, especially since Manny has been on the disabled list three times this season. Nonetheless, I do not know if Jerry Reinsdorf will want to pay the 4+ million dollars due to Manny the rest of the season nor would want to give up anymore of the minor league system for a rent-a-player.
3. Speed or Lack there of it This White Sox team is exactly the way Ozzie imagined it with a couple of players that could steal bases and take chances. By inserting Manny in the lineup, you would make your 3-4-possibly 5 holes being the slowest batters potentially in the league. This could prove fatal to the Sox, who haven’t been as much of a home run hitting team as they have been in the past.
Last Word on Manny
Whether or not the White Sox are able to pull the trigger on this deal is yet to be seen but with the Dodgers losing a series to the Rockies this weekend and the Sox having a lack of offense and clutch hitting in today’s series finale shows that the Sox need some more offensive production. The only other need for the Sox is some relief pitching help, which may have to wait until Wednesday’s series finale with the Indians when the rosters expand to 40 and Thornton is eligible to come off the DL in time for the series in Boston.
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After Ozzie Guillen joked with the press about the White Sox being moved to the National League because of a 15-3 record in Interleague Play this season (the best record in the majors in those games), I thought about where Interleague Play is and where it should go in the future.
As this is Bud Selig’s baby, along with the All-Star game, which “counts” for the World Series home-field advantage, I would like to offer some ideas to change it for future years.
1. To DH or Not DH
If AL and NL umpires combined to become MLB umpires a few years back, there should be Major League rules that encompass all of baseball, not separate rules for each home park.
Yes, baseball has currently nine games each at the AL and NL fields across the board, but I believe that to legitimize the game, interleague play should be under MLB rules, which could possibly change the game of baseball to a more consistent rule system.
My opinion : Take away the DH for all interleague play games.
2. Who Plays Who?
Selig and the MLB almost have this right.
The rivalries are played at both AL and NL stadiums, which is the best part about who plays who. Obviously two NL teams need to play each other, but what happens when you have two terrible teams playing each other is you aren’t making as much revenue as the rivalry games, and therefore not gaining anymore with these special contests.
My opinion : Keep the rivalry games, have each team in each division play the same division in the opposite league.
This would help make things a little more even in the division races besides the rivalry games.
3. All Star Game Talk
It’s only an exhibition game, the home-field advantage rule has no reason to be involved with the All-Star game.
The best players don’t get picked in many instances because of the fan’s choosing, which is a popularity contest.
Pitchers who pitch two days before the game generally don’t play, the list goes on and on.
My opinion : There is no place for this to be counting for home field advantage in the largest interleague series, the World Series.
4. Interleague Shortened?
If my Second opinion doesn’t work, I would say stick with the rivalry games, because you could most likely maximize the profits for baseball.
Interleague play would have less of an impact on the final standings and would be more fun for most rivalry series’ match-ups.
Something needs to be improved with it, at least so that Selig’s successor would have less of a reason to kill Selig’s baby, Interleague Play.
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The White Sox have won ten games in a row, which is their longest winning streak since 1976. When I wrote my article just over a month ago, I was about to give up on the White Sox, but they have proved me wrong and I will now react to my past article .
Five Reason to Give Up
Still in the sophomore slump, even though it seems like he is having good at-bats. Beckham will most likely be platooned with Omar Vizquel at second once Mark Teahan comes off the disabled list. Not a reason to give up, but the freshman phenom needs to work out his issues.
2. Bench Players
Vizquel is coming around, hitting over .350 during the current winning streak and the 43-year-old is playing like he is ten years younger. Ramon Castro has done his job as the backup catcher. Newcomer Dayan Viciedo is showing some promise, but as we know from the past, it is only a matter of time before opposing teams figure him out. Brent Lillbridge is back in the bigs with Jayson Nix being picked up by the Indians off waivers, but he has yet to make an impact. Mark Kotsay is starting to come around, but he has not solidified the DH spot that he held on Opening Day. Andruw Jones has been in and out of the lineup and has been struggling lately. No reason to give up because they have done their job especially since the injury to Teahan.
3. Inconsistent Starting Pitching
Not an issue anymore. Starting pitching has given the Sox a chance to win, with all of the starters going at least six innings each start. Enough said. Pitching has gone as was expected before the season started.
4. Lead-off Hitter
Juan Pierre has come around to be the best lead-off hitter since Scott Podsednik for the Sox. He has done his job and even the experiment with Jones leading off for the first time since 1988 may have lit a fire under Pierre. Still a weak spot, but Pierre is doing his best to make it stand out less.
5. Bobby Jenks
Converted the last 12 save opportunities and has been a workhorse. No need for Sox fans to cry for J.J. Putz .
Five Reasons to Be Hopeful
1. Speed
Sixty-eight stolen bases through mid-June, including Pierre leading baseball with 27 stolen bases, the runners have been more aggressive on the base paths, and A.J. Pierzynski has been throwing out runners better this year. Still a strength.
2. Paul Konerko
Has raised his average over .300 for the first time this season. He might have only four home runs in the past month, but he has also had key RBI and hits.
3. Andruw Jones
Jones has hit a slump, which has given him scattered starts and has transitioned to more of a situational pinch hitter, but he needs to prove himself to get back in the everyday lineup. May not be a hopeful point much more, but I could see him turning it around.
4. Alex Rios
.313 BA, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 20 SB, .546 SLG. He has been the most consistent player in the lineup. Enough said.
5. Bullpen
Jenks is back to closer form. Sergio Santos , Tony Pena , Matt Thornton , and Putz are all going strong. Still the best group for the Sox this year.
The Sox are in a good streak, so let’s see what happens when division play continues.
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With the Sox on the verge of losing again, I have felt the need to get back into blogging with a similar article to what I had gotten recognition for last summer.
Hopefully you enjoy—I am open to comments and opinions.
Five Reasons to Give Up on White Sox
1. Gordon Beckham
Sophomore slump, anyone? For a four-month Rookie of the Year candidate, Beckham is now batting .185 for the season and has gone 4-for-33 in the last 10 games. He only has five extra-base hits on the year. He has moved from No. 2 to the bottom of the order, but no one else has been competitive enough to take his spot.
2. Bench Players
I am excluding Andruw Jones from this category because I consider him a starter after the Mark Kotsay experiment at DH failed. With a bench with Omar Vizquel, Kotsay, Jayson Nix, and Ramon Castro/Donny Lucy, the White Sox’ best player out of all of those was Lucy, who filled in for Castro when he was on the DL and is now down in Charlotte.
3. Inconsistent Starting Pitching
Mark Buehrle hasn’t given up more than six earned runs in a game. All right, that is respectable, but not for this previous Cy Young candidate. His 5.26 ERA is the highest in a while, and he started out strong but has tapered off with a few good starts sprinkled in.
Gavin Floyd has been just terrible. Where is his command? He looks uncomfortable on the mound. If he pitched like he did in Texas at the end of April, he wouldn’t be 1-4; he would be at least 4-1, if not 5-1.
Jake Peavy also has not done well against American League hitters. He has started to turn it around in his last three starts, but who knows how long that will last?
Even John Danks, the White Sox’ best starter so far this year, and Freddy Garcia have had rough patches but have performed in the clutch.
4. Leadoff Hitter
The Juan Pierre experiment looks to be taking full form, as he has started to turn it around, although his .309 OBP is not as high as the Sox should want it to be. No one else has stepped up to show he could be as successful as Pierre. Scott Podsednik is looking pretty decent now.
5. Bobby Jenks
Okay, so he is 6-for-7 in save opportunities, but he is on the list for the same reason as the past couple of years—what he does in a tie game is give up the lead, whether he is in the game or not. His losses or blown saves may not show it, but his over 5.00 ERA as a closer is ridiculous.
Five Reasons to Be Hopeful for White Sox
1. Speed
The Sox have 45 stolen bases. Well, at least one aspect of the Ozzie plan is working. They are not at the bottom of the barrel in terms of stolen bases or stealing percentage—way to go Sox!
2. Paul Konerko
Last year of his contract, and he is showing the Sox that his trade value is still high, as he leads the majors in homers with 14—not too shabby. By the time the season is over, will the hometown hero still be in black and white? Who knows?
3. Andruw Jones
I will admit I was skeptical as many might be of the washed-up junior slugger. He has really shown that he still has pop in his bat, slugging nine home runs, mostly solo shots. Jones has shown his versatility to play all three outfield positions and DH once in a while. You can’t take his bat out of the lineup, because you never know when he will line a double or hit one over the fence.
4. Alex Rios
At the beginning of the year, he struggled, but that was the Rios way. Rios did not do well in his short stint with the Sox last year but now leads the team, knocking on the door of a .300 average. He has shown that his bat is back and will hopefully contribute this well for the Sox this year and for the next five.
5. Setup Relief Pitchers
The combination of Sergio Santos, Scott Linebrink, J.J. Putz, and Matt Thornton has done its job. The four all have ERAs that are under 4.15, which is Putz, due to early rough outings, but all have been very solid and have cost the Sox the fewest number of games this season, as opposed to the offense or starting pitching.
Santos is the biggest surprise for the Sox, having a team-low 0.63 ERA. He may not have been tested much yet, but he shows a lot of promise.
Overall, the Sox need to improve. I do not know how they will do this, but with trade rumors surrounding A.J. Pierzynski, who knows what more will happen throughout the remainder of the season?
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