Mr. Jones and mean

Remember when we were discussing whether 2010 Andruw Jones was any different than his 2009 self?
Right now, the answer has to be “no.”  In fact, they’d be hard-pressed to be more alike.  Here’s what Jones has done in his first 145 plate appearances in each of the last two seasons:

  • 2009: .246/.356/.519, 8 HR, 19 RBI, 21 BB, 30 K.
  • 2010: .236/.345/.520, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 20 BB, 32 K.

Jones numbers have taken a swan-dive in May, and his individual patterns aren’t the only trend continuing well into this month.  Just like in April, the Sox are saddled with siphons.
Here’s how the Sox break down in terms of May OPS:

Above-average Average Below-average
Rios (1.069) Ramirez (.710) Jones (.739)
Kotsay (.919) Pierzynski (.703) Konerko (.670)
Pierre (.712) Teahen (.651)
Quentin (.635)
Beckham (.407)

Breaking down this inventory:
*Only one full-time player is having an above-average month.  That’s not to knock Mark Kotsay, who is on a roll for the much-needed corner positions.  He just hasn’t played every day. (If you want to knock him, you can say that he’s ran into outs in three of the last four games, including two killer ones.)
*The average players are barely so.  A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez get a big boost from playing tough positions.  Juan Pierre’s OPS doesn’t qualify as “average,” especially in left field.  But his May OBP is .346 at the top of the order, he’s playing a great left field, he’s had some timely hits and he’s running the bases well.  Sum up his skills, and he hasn’t been a problem.
*Everybody else has been a problem, and Jones, who isn’t doing much of anything at the plate lately, has been less of a problem than most.
Plainly put, there’s no margin for error, and that’s what makes this season scarier than the other slow starts.  And it also makes it increasingly hard to defend Greg Walker, though some may try.
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Ozzie Guillen may finally have a wish granted, because Joe West keeps making him look better and better.
West made more noise when his publicist (yes, he has a publicist) revealed that he would be in Boston for the first time since criticizing Red Sox-Yankees games and available for interviews.  This is important because the umpiring crews are never announced until hours before gametime.
But while Guillen made for great transcription with his expletives, Mark Buehrle’s comment about West’s music career might have made the bigger impact.
West is finally going to be punished, and everything about this Jeff Passan article is great.
Meanwhile, Guillen once again ran out onto the field to dispute a call at third base with umpire Eric Cooper on Thursday night.  Cooper allowed Guillen to push Teahen away and take up the issue.  They talked about what Cooper saw, and then Guillen went back to the dugout.  No ejection or theatrics were necessary.
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Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Tony Pena says “four innings isn’t a lot.” D.J. Carrasco dealt with his thankless role last year grudgingly, but Pena seems to be embracing it.
*Jake Peavy is starting on Sunday, after all.  Because Buehrle only threw 36 pitches, there was some talk of starting him on Sunday and giving Peavy and his not-alive arm a day of rest.  Peavy wanted none of that, so he’s got some more talk to back up.
*Guillen likes to give Cleveland fans the business.
*The relationship between Guillen and Kenny Williams is “souring rapidly.”
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Minor league roundup:

  • Indianapolis 9, Charlotte 7
    • A golden sombrero for Tyler Flowers, who continues to struggle.
    • Dayan Viciedo went 2-for-4 with a solo shot.
    • Stefan Gartrell, homered, doubled, single and drove in four.
    • C.J. Retherford went 0-for-3 with a walk.
    • Jeff Marquez is back to his old ways: 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
  • Huntsville 6, Birmingham 5 (Game 1, 7 innings)
    • Brent Morel went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
    • John Shelby singled, tripled and drove in a run over three at-bats.
    • Christian Marrero went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
    • Justin Edwards allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk over four innings, striking out one.
  • Birmingham 5, Huntsville 4 (Game 2, 7 innings)
    • Morel singled and walked in four trips to the plate, striking out once.
    • John Shelby singled and homered.
    • Marrero went 1-for-3.
  • Salem 2, Winston-Salem 1
    • For the second straight game, Brandon Short went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
    • Eduardo Escobar wore the collar; Justin Greene went 0-for-3 with two K’s.
    • Jon Gilmore had a single over four at-bats.
    • Stephen Sauer allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out four.
    • Santos Rodriguez walked one in a scoreless inning.
  • Kannapolis 3, Savannah 2
    • Trayce Thompson went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.  He was picked off/caught stealing.
    • Nick Ciolli singled and doubled, and was caught stealing/picked off as well.
    • Kyle Colligan went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
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knoxfire30

Great article by passan, if there is a god west will be fined/suspended
I picture a car driving really fast and going off a cliff, then I think andru jones is behind the wheel and everything makes sense
Tampa has three holes in their lineup and they still have an unbelievable offense, that team is real damn good
The cooper and ozzie arguement was perfect, cooper number 1 makes the right call but understands its a close play and allows teahen to be a bit upset, he also allows ozzie to come out and protest while protecting his player, he then explains to ozzie what he saw while in position and ozzie accepts the explanation and everything in the world is right. Thats how you do it, someone send joe west that tape.

jmsdn58

He blew the call. If you see the view from top he missed the bag.

knoxfire30

Gotta disagree, I saw it a bunch of times, foot was in there ahead of the tag and by the time the runner came off the bag a little bit the tag wasnt being applied anymore.

blah

For the sake of all this though, it doesn’t matter if the call was right or wrong. More that the reaction of Cooper and Guillen was totally different from West and Guillen.

bigfun

Jones’ best bet for improving for 2010 vs. 2009 is his health. In late August 2009, despite lagging for a few weeks before going on the disabled list on Aug. 23, he still had an OK .811 OPS. In September he came back and went 5/28, which lead to his lackluster final line. I wonder if he was ever healthy in the last two months of the season. This year his back and neck have bothered him, but that haven’t kept him out of the lineup for long.
The White Sox are also getting more use out of him in the field – he’s already played way more innings there than he did all of last year in Texas. If he keeps playing decent corner defense he should improve his value from last year.

striker

White Sox Baseball: Same shit, different day

marshlands

I still think it’s too soon to draw up conclusions on Andruw, but in hopes of avoiding looking like a complete numbskull, I’m glad I wrote, “I think, at this point, he can hit it or exceed it if he doesn’t just all of the sudden die.” Since you know, he basically died as I was writing that.

ricksch

If the Sox win out this series with the Rays, the dismantaling of this team may be on hold for a while. They’ve been on the short side of these “ifs” all season, so I wouldn’t get dressed for it.
However, at the end of two months play, I seem to be in a reflective mood, so suffer some more of my half-baked ideas on the Sox.
I WAS WRONG about many things but mostly Rios. Or at least, I didn’t think he could be this good. What’s surprises me most are his SBs. Is this a product of Ozzie wanting to run, or is Rios just smart and taking advantage? The guy deserves the benefit of the doubt from me.
I WAS RIGHT about R. Williams, J. Nix, M. Teahen and Alexie. Some will dispute some of this but come on, Williams and Nix should not be on a Major League roster. Williams case is clear-cut. The man has simply never performed at this level. Is he going to start now at 34? Nix is younger and looks like a ballplayer, but he’s inept in the field and has already lost several key games for us in his short career with his glove. His lifetime BA of .200 is for shit. If the Sox had a decent farm system, Nix would still be in Triple AAA, trying to learn how to play.
Teahen should be a platoon DH who spells someone in the field once a week. He’s Kenny’s albatross for the next three years, so long as they’re both still here. Teahen is most disturbing because it tells us that Williams, Hahn and their staff can act as blind idiots.
Alexie is an average SS, prone to mental errors who is never going to have a great OBP. He ain’t horrible, but he ain’t real special either — though in the past he’s had some BIG game-winning hits (not so many this year.)
I was also right, as most of us were, about the ridiculous plan for this year’s DH spot and clamored for an acquisition from Thome, to Damon and all way down to Jack freakin’ Cust. That and Teahen are some of the more obvious reasons why Williams should be put on the clock.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS: Peavy, Quentin and Beckham, in that order. Peavy’s poor start is unacceptable. Never thought he’d be this crappy and inconsisent. Quentin may turn it up still, but he’s a DH on a team filled with them — lousy DHs at least, with the exception of Konerko. Either Paulie or Carlos should be moved by year’s end.
I still hold out hope for Beckham and I give him a lot of slack because of him having to learn to play every position on the diamond at th ML level. Hate the Sox strategy with their best rookie in decades.
THE FARM: I caught a lot of shit for seeing Flowers half empty, but it doesn’t seem that either he or Danks are ready to be moved up anytime soon. At least Viciedo is doing well, and cold be our DH of the future. Even if they manage to convert this kid to a 1st baseman, you’ll know he’ll be a shitty one. That’s one-dimnensional Sox thinking in going after young players.
Hudson appears ready and should be replacing Floyd or Peavy soon. However, you can’t insult Peavy like that or upset whatever confidence Floyd has at this point in his career. It’s good to have Hudson done there actually. Along with some other bright spots, he’s the future.
CONCLUSION:
Still hopeful but doubtful this season is going to turn into anything at all. Williams and Ozzie need to be held accountable for the position this team is in. Williams needs to learn how to design a roster. Ozzie needs to fire some coaches and keep his family away from the team. Lots of players need to be gone.

blah

“Nix would still be in Triple AAA, trying to learn how to play.”
No, he wouldn’t, he’s out of options.
“At least Viciedo is doing well, and cold be our DH of the future.”
Viciedo can’t hit righties. Or walk.
“Hudson appears ready and should be replacing Floyd or Peavy soon.”
No, he won’t replace either of these guys.

ricksch

I don’t really know if you’re being serious or deliberately taking things out of context. I know Hudson isn’t going to replace Floyd or Peavy. The point is the way they are pitching he should.
Nix would still have an option or maybe two had he never been brought up to the big club. He’s wasn’t ready back then to play at the ML level — and still isn’t. Disagree, whatever, but why nitpick out of context?
As for Viciedo, well, he’s the only guy in AAA hitting for any decent average with power. Sorry for being hopeful on Dayan. To be perfectly honest, I don’t like one dimensional ballplayers like him but he’s close to all we got in the farm right now with Flowers sucking and Danks striking out with gusto.

blah

I’m being pretty serious.
Nix and Floyd have no options left and Hudson won’t be replacing anyone in the rotation except in case of injury or if Freddy starts to suck.
Viciedo can’t walk or hit righties.
Calling Viciedo up when he has a lot of things to work on is kinda stupid. Viciedo won’t get the playing time needed at the ML level to work on them and, this is the key part, he bats right handed. The only reason Kotsay gets trotted out there is because he is a lefty.

ricksch

Having a problem with English?
I never said we need or should bring Viciedo up, anywhere. All I said is he “could” be our DH of the future.
Same for Nix and Floyd — already explained what I said.
Don’t mind debating, whatever, but can we elevate the discussion?

blah

It’s the only language I speak. I can’t read the implied context, only what you’ve written. So I responded. If you have a problem, then be more concise and clear about what your talking about.