posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 3:00 AM by Jim

Halfway home

The White Sox reached the official halfway point of their season with a 5-1 win over the Cubs, giving them a record of 46-35 after 81 games -- a 10 game improvement upon the 2007 season.

If a random guy told me the Sox would be 11 games over .500 at this point in the season, and that:
  1. It's good for a 1 1/2-game lead ... over the Twins...
  2. Jim Thome and Paul Konerko's contributions have been largely negligible...
  3. Joe Crede is on pace for 30 errors...
  4. Of the starters, Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle have experienced the roughest patches...
  5. Pitchers haven't figured out Alexei Ramirez...
  6. Carlos Quentin is arguably the midseason AL MVP...
  7. Nick Masset has been a valuable piece in the bullpen...
I'm pretty sure I would have smothered him in a burlap bag and beat the crazy out of him with a sack of nickels.

Comments

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 8:16 AM by Fundman
For me, #'s 7 and 3 would have been the ones I would have completely rolled my eyes at. #1 would have been next. The rest......well depending on how you read #5, not sure I'd be surprised.

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 9:42 AM by Grinder in Training
I never would have believed number 7, but that's why Kenny Williams runs a major league baseball team and I watch them play from my couch at home.

I had a question for you from your previous post. For Getz, after seeing him play in person, do you think that his skills will translate well enough into a utility player role? Does he have the glove / speed to fill that 24th / 25th man spot while hitting singles and taking walks? Thanks for the minor league round up as always.

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 10:00 AM by soxfan1
This is what makes baseball the great game that it is!!! Similar question on Getz: could you see him as the Sox everday second baseman next year, assuming OC flys the coup??? Jim, your daily summaries of the minor league teams are awesome!!

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 10:32 AM by Jim Margalus
Good point on No. 5, Fundman. I made it a bit more precise. I'd probably go 1-7-4-3-6-2-5 in order of completely weird to "just" very weird.

I haven't seen enough of Getz to comment on his defense. He DH'd Saturday, and the only plays I saw him make during spring training were on balls hit right at him. If he could handle short or left, I could see him being an Aaron Miles-type, although with a better eye.

Richar definitely has the higher ceiling and should get more of a look, though.

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 1:46 PM by Grinder in Training
I'd agree about Richar, I saw him when I went to Charlotte last year, looked real good. I'd consider him more of a starting talent (at some point), where as Getz sounded more like a utility guy, I'd take Aaron Miles production from him.

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 5:08 PM by Joist
Not to quibble, but I'm not sure Masset would be considered a "valuable" piece in the bullpen when he's the token mop-up/long-relief guy and Ozzie's last resort (as long as you don't count Russell, which I don't). He's been used rather rarely in late-inning pressure situations (though the vanishing act in San Francisco immediately springs to mind as a notable exception).

I also think Quentin would have a hard time beating out Hamilton and Bradley for MVP, but I suppose he'd get some support from the "The MVP must come from a contending team!" camp.

I would also like to propose a revision of #4, because it really doesn't specifically mention how awesome Floyd and especially Danks have been. I mean...Jesus. At the beginning of the year, the order of the rotation, which generally follows an intuitive ordering of each pitcher's respective performance, went Buehrle, Vasquez, Contreras, Danks, Floyd. If you had to rank them now? What, Danks, Floyd, Buehrle, Contreras, Vasquez? That is beyond bizarre to me.

# re: Halfway home

Monday, June 30, 2008 11:34 PM by Jim Margalus
1) You broke Masset.

2) I was going to say "best outfielder," but I thought about Hamilton and changed the wording.

3) Those rankings look about right. If Vazquez can repeat his 2006, in that he catches fire in August and September, that would be much appreciated.