White Sox Commitee

[deansdaddy]

Well - Ozzie G shook things up by announcing he would go to a committee to close out games.

Thorton still seems to be first in line but now Sale, Crain and S Santos all have a shot at some opps.

[Tampa Bob]

They did that because I was about to make a pitch for Sale. Now he has the scent of "closer" on him and the price would be inflated. Ozzie hates me.

[Tig]

as soon as Juan Pierre settles his vendetta with Matt Thornton, everything will go back to normal. Thornton hasn't pitched exceptionally well, but he's still only allowed 1 earned run. the other 6 have been unearned. 2 of the 3 blown saves have been direct results of Juan Pierre errors.

rather than worrying about the pitching roles, maybe Ozzie needs to have a 9th inning defensive replacement for Juan Pierre. At least that person can throw the ball back into the infield better than a 6th grade school girl if they drop it.

[deansdaddy]

Man - the ball he dropped last night was terrible.

[Mickey4081]

If there ever was a time to make an early change to your closer situation.....the White Sox have found it. There is no track record for Thornton closing out games so he shouldn't be given any sort of leash whatsoever. He was given the opportunity and he has blown it big time. We aren't talking about blown saves to powerhouse offenses either.

[Todd Zola]

If there ever was a time to make an early change to your closer situation.....the White Sox have found it. There is no track record for Thornton closing out games so he shouldn't be given any sort of leash whatsoever. He was given the opportunity and he has blown it big time. We aren't talking about blown saves to powerhouse offenses either.

No, but there is a track record, over 200 innings worth, of Thornton being one of the most skilled relievers in the league the past 3 seasons. I know he has not picked up his team after the defense let him down so far, but I would not let 6 innings erase 200+ of outstanding work.

[Mickey4081]

How many more times would you send him out too close a game before you decided he's not fit for the situation? I know he's been very reliable but you just can't keep sending him out there to blow wins. He's not facing the Yankees, Red Sox or Rangers.

[Todd Zola]

He's had some pretty significant help blowing games. I'd probably give him one or two "non-pressure" situations and run him back out there. Personally, I'd use Crain as the stopgap, there would be too much talk if Sale or Santos have a decent game or two.

I'm on record as not believing in the "ability to close out games."

Or perhaps, better said, perhaps there are some that do not have the requisite "guile." Like protection and clutch, etc., it is not predictive.