Reading Room: Jackson mans up, what about Manny?

I have an early start today, and anything I write might be overshadowed by a big addition, anyway. So a Christian Marrero Reading Room and open thread for your Friday thoughts:
*Edwin Jackson is doing everything in his power to make the Daniel Hudson trade worth it. He topped 10 strikeouts in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career during a much-needed thrashing of Baltimore, and here’s how the two stack up:

  • Jackson: 2-0, 0.96 ERA, 28 IP, 23 H, 7 BB, 34 K
  • Hudson: 3-1, 1.72 ERA, 36 2/3 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 36 K

Given what we saw from Hudson with the Sox, I don’t think you can transfer his line over to the American League so cleanly. So far, so great. Now, about that other guy…
*Manny Ramirez is either coming or staying, and we’ll find out by this afternoon. I’m just going to link to MLBTradeRumors’ Manny category to remain relevant. The latest twist is that Ramirez would be seeking an extension as part of a deal, but I think that would remove a lot of the appeal of acquiring him, since it would also remove any motivation to play through injury.
That link also includes a hint, hint quote by Kenny Williams: “We are stretched [financially], and quite frankly we’re looking at walkups every day to see exactly what we’re going to have available to us.”
*Doug Padilla talks to scouts who say Ramirez is far from done.
*Williams also mentioned that Ramirez might not be the only waiver option, but Trevor Hoffman isn’t one of them, contrary to earlier rumors.
*Ozzie Guillen talks a lot about nothing, with no direct response to the Twitter controversy.
*Carl’s take on Oney is better, anyway. Check it out — and a bonus cartoon!
*Don Cooper is the latest to knock the fans — at least the fair-weather ones praising Bobby Jenks after wanting him out of town. Personally, I thought the “Bobby! Bobby!” chant was one of the coolest moments of this season. Whether or not some or most of the fans in attendance had given up on him, the fans needed somebody in the bullpen to step up, they put their all behind Jenks, and Jenks delivered, big-time.
*Erik at Pale Hose Pariah looks at White Sox relievers and their shutdown/meltdown rates. Give Threets a chance!
*For some crazy reason, J.J. is already looking ahead to 2011 and wonders if and how Paul Konerko fits into the plans.

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cushinglee

I love the “walkup” line. That’s a great idea–put the onus on the fans who have had to put up with the reality circus that this team has become.

soxexile

I think that’s just KW’s opening bid in the Manny negotiations. Just signaling LA that they’ll need to pay some salary if they want to get anything back.

chisoxt

Note to Don Cooper…Doing those radio shows on a regular basis for the Score is easy when the team is winning but guess what…when the team isn’t going so well, things get a lot tougher…fans boo…difficult questions are asked…and there is a fair amount of criticism.
Ripping the fans is not the answer. Maybe not doing the radio shows in the first place is a start.

Shinons

Eh, it’s the coach’s job to have his player’s back. Especially since Bobby’s the over-sensitive type anyways, I’m glad to see Cooper give him a little support.
I don’t see it as “ripping the fans,” I see it as “coaching, trying to up the confidence of the guy who is currently our most important bullpen arm.”

David

Edwin has been setup to succeed and he has…fantastically with a fastball/slider repetoire. May the good times continue to roll but I smell Edwin being flipped in the offseason. Just a hunch.
As for the attendance…I bet Jerry is praying the Sox finances don’t leak. I think the mediocre attendance is a ticket pricing issue on the Sox part. Parking, too.

soxfan1

I’ll take Manny for a month but no way would I want him for another year. Other than hitting, Manny is everything that is wrong about baseball. What do you all think??
Agree with David, other than Mondays and Kids Days, the Sox ticket pricing is way too high. Walk up tickets this weekend range from $34-$68. Sure, it’s the Yanks but $34 to sit in the last row of the upper deck??? I think the same seat in Cincy is $10.

soxfan1

Correction – the cheap seats in Cincy are $5. Not bad or a first place club

Shinons

I’m thinking it’s a bluff on Boras’ part. After all, they’re going to move him, might as well try to get him signed for next year while he’s at it. If the Sox claim him, he’s coming – which is going to increase his free agency value more, playing three or four times a week and reminding teams you can’t play defense anymore or playing every day doing what you do best?
Either way, I wouldn’t be averse to an extension. Manny doesn’t really bother me.

fustercluck

“Other than hitting, Manny is everything that is wrong about baseball.”
So you’re saying he’s an ideal DH?

atarimonroe

i dont know if he is “everything thats wrong with baseball”, But i do agree that we dont need him after we get our title this year. if it was jus for DH it would be bearable though.

marshlands

I’d be more than happy to trade/sign/extend Manny in a DH-only situation, but if they try and play him in the field, that would be much more problematic.

David

I ran a little experiment. Best avail tix for tonight are 13th row in upper deck near left field corner. $34 per ticket plus convenience charges, plus order processing fees and plus taxes at the total is $81.86. Add in $22 parking and that’s just unreasonable.
Perhaps the lower level tickets are priced appropriately, but the upper deck is just way off.
The best part of the process was “disappointing” was one of my security words prior to purchase.

fustercluck

I am dying for the White Sox financials to leak already to see how wrong they are for crying poor. Also hoping a beat reporter presses them on it for the inevitable spin. As in most things MLB, White Sox leak will probably come last due to lack of interest.

Shinons

…and the Twins acquired Fuentes. He may suck BUT HE HAS A LOT OF SAVEZ!!
When did the Twins get dumb?

Buehrlesque

Speaking of relievers, the Blue Jays’ Frasier, Downs, Camp and Gregg were all claimed off waivers. I wonder if KW’s eye is on any of them…

ricksch

First the Twins get Capps and now Fuentes. Meanwhile, despite the fact that our two best relievers on the DL, we’re chasing this freak Manny. The one thing we actually do have is power hitting from the right side. The Twins’ front office has been drilling the Sox with regularity. Either Williams is an idiot or this Manny thing is some publicity stunt to get simple, hard-working people to shell out $80 for a nosebleed seat — parking not included!

bigfun

I believe Jim noted that Manny has a reverse split.
A guy who can hit righties is still the team’s biggest need.

ricksch

Guess we can poo-poo Capps and Fuentes all day long. But I’d still rather run them out there than the dogshit we try to pass off as a Major League pitching: i.e. Pena and Linebrink. Right now we have the woefully inconsistent Jenks with his 5+ ERA,a converted shortstop as our best set-up and a rookie as our lefty. Don’t get me wrong, Santos and Sale are nice pieces. But does anyone seriously think you can win running Pena out there in close games?

ricksch

Sorry Jim, but I find it laughable that you can cut apart Fuentes and Capps and yet we have guys pitching in game situation that NEVER had any real ML success.

ricksch

But we can afford Manny’s $4.3 and Jackson’s pro rated $8mil?
They need BODIES in the bullpen at this point. I mean, good Christ, what sort of results can you expect running Minor League starters out of the pen? What a g-d damn joke!
The bullpen has lost about seven or eight key games for us this past month. We’ve scored 18 runs in two games against the Yanks! The team’s averaging 6.5 runs in the last two weeks! And yet Williams has this big hard-on for Manny and it’s clearly Manny or Bust!
All that seems to matter to Wiliams at this point is that he shows Ozzie that they should’ve had a real DH all along — even though it was in his power, nay, in his freakin’ JOB DESCRIPTION, to sign Thome (or another DH) before the season started!
I realize I get a bit too emotional about this, but my god, this organization is seriously screwed up. They have no freaking idea how to manage a roster. The payroll, which is over $100m, is so poorly allocated that spots 22-25 end up as useless garbage. The farm system hasn’t yielded a starter at any position IN YEARS! Okay, there’s Beckham, but the only reason we have him is because he wasn’t in the Minors long enough for Kenny to trade him for some washed up piece of shit who used to be great!
I’m a Sox fan from birth and will be one ’til I die. But the Twins are a far superior organization from the top down. They have a viable farm system so they have a “piece to throw” when needed. Somehow they can afford a $100m payroll, despite playing in a small market. All this, and the fact that they are selling out their new stadium with regularity means several more years of serious pain for White Sox fans.
The Sox must see the writing on the wall. But there response in to make desperate yet flashy moves to make it appear as though they tried to extend a season that was doomed from the moment Peavy got hurt.
I’ve said it before but the Hudson trade was simply unforgiveable and will cost us in payroll flexibility for years to come. Jackson’s done well for us, but that’s not the point. This team is going nowhere and we all know it.

ricksch

Reverse whatever, we need bullpen help. Isn’t that obvious to everyone but Williams?

ricksch

Fuentes has saved close to 200 games. Capps nearly 100. Maybe Fuentes was lucky last year saving 48. Maybe he was lucky the year he posted a 2.2 ERA in Colorado. Maybe Capps was lucky to make the All-Star game this year.
Point being, these guys have had more than a few successes before.
On the other hand, Carlos Torres, Lucas Harrell and Tony Pena have done next to nothing in ML baseball. Linebrink is a horror show and no one, not even the Sox, have any faith in him. It’s asking WAY too much of guys like Santos and Sale to carry the load in a pennant race — but that’s exactly what Kenny is doing while he waits to lick Manny’s jockstrap.