The Cubs are vying for a prime pick in next year's draft, while the White Sox have won four in a row and sit five games back of the Tigers. The latest on Chicago's teams:
- The relationship between White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams is "now beyond repair," a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley's sources say the Sox are getting a feel for managerial candidates and are renewing talks with the Marlins about compensation for trading Guillen. Ozzie had plenty to say on the topic; be sure to check it out.
- Adam Dunn is having "perhaps the most inexplicably awful season" of the last 50 years, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. The $56MM designated hitter is hitting .163/.290/.289 in 435 plate appearances. With reduced playing time, he may at least be spared the full remaining 67 plate appearances he'll need to qualify for the lowest batting average since Billy Sullivan hit .162 for the 1909 White Sox. Rob Deer's .179 mark in 1991 is the modern-day worst; Chuck Garfien of CSN Chicago spoke to Deer about that season.
- Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez doesn't know how his future will play out with the team, he told CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney. Mooney's article counters the notion that Ramirez does not have a positive influence on young teammates Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro.
so many problems in both sides of Chicago
Adam Dunn is still a great batter. he will return.
You’re kidding, right?
Why would he be kidding? He has never done this before. It’s a fluke season. It sucks, but it happens.
A .160 average doesn’t just “happen”. He is having a horrid year. I have some kind of sympathy for him because he has been trying hard, but it is becoming harder for me to bag pity for him now. If peavy were healthy, and Dunn and Rios produced the way they did last season, the White Sox would have ran away with the division. It’s unbelievable how weak the central is, a team as bad as the White Sox are still contending, and a team like Detroit is atop the division. The twins have earned it season after season, but the tigers are just a fluke.
I guess I’m confused by the Adam Dunn is “still a great batter” statement.
.160 with a .040 against lefties is not “great”. Ask White Sox fans if they think he is a “great batter”.
At 31 he still has a chance to bounce back, but then again so did Andruw Jones.
Hes having a much better year then Dunn is
That’s because anyone that isn’t having a better year than Dunn isn’t in the majors.
Even if he adds 50 points to his average and doubles his home run production next year, he would still be having an awful season.
Also, how many players, at age 32, start getting better with age in the post steroid era?
of the group who produce like dunn has for years and then suddenly slump? probably all of them
Konerko
Agreed. Konerko is getting better every year. He’s my favorite Chicago athlete by far. I tell my 12 year old son to watch the way he approaches his at bats, and the way he conducts himself on the field and in the clubhouse.
With that said, guys like Konerko are the exception. Most, not all, but most guys numbers start declining as they head for their mid- thirties.
It’s possible you’re right, but my gut tells me he won’t bounce back all the way.
With the way Aram is playing, part of me is screaming to keep him. But with his attitude and a clear “me” guy, he’s a cancer. He plays out of his mind when there’s money on the table like this but when it comes to the team, he simply doesn’t care. Cut the cord and let someone else over pay for his services.
I’d rather have Ozzie over Williams. He does amazing with young guys, we just need more of those. Kick Kenny out, let Hahn in.
I dont want to come off as overly-argumentative, but which young players has Ozzie done amazing with?? IMO they should both be shown the door.
Flowers, De Aza, Santos, Sale, to name a few.
Flowers and De Aza have been up for less than a month, I think that might be jumping the gun there. You could argue the opposite with Beckham and Morel too- both of them don’t seem to be having much success this season.
Fair enough. I for one would just prefer to go with young guns, and develop a farm system. That’s more fun, then bringing in old overprice veterans. Personally Bacon should have stayed at third, and we should have kept Getz. I’m not to worried about Bacon though, most prospects take a bit to develop. He did only play 56 games in the minors.
I completely agree I’d rather see a homegrown team than what we typically do (trade most useful parts of our farm system). Beckham has been great at 2nd defensively, he just can’t hit a fastball to save his life. It amazes me how much better he looked when he first came up, he’s overmatched at the plate so often now. I hope that whoever the gm is next year puts De Aza in left and Viciedo in right though.
kenny is under contract next year. Why do all these people think kenny is gone..
agreed the kid is only 23? and already one of the best defensive 2nd basemen…maybe this season was more of him getting comfortable at the position and hopefully that bat from 3rd will come over…but i also agree he seemed more comfortable at 3rd. The sox moved him to second because they thought his bat played better there. And i may, I doubt he is ever a 30 hr guy but heres the thing. His bat played well at 3rd 2 yrs ago, he glove was very nice there and he doesnt need to be a 30 hr 90+ RBI .290 avg guy because he is i the AL where there is a DH to do that
I think Coop deserves the credit for Santos and Sale.
I’d rather have De Aza in center, and be rid of Rios.
Right. And Ozzie, talking all the time about playing baseball the right way, lets Rios lolligag it out there and stick him in the line-up again and again. Ozzie, who talks about “playing the right way” and National League style, year-after-year manages teams who are baseball-stupid. They start slow and they finish slow. Ozzie has to go.
Aramis needs to finish his career with the Cubs. 3rd base was a black hole for many years before he arrived and there is not much in the system that look promising. When he is on, he carrys the team and seems to be a consistent .285+/25+ HR player. He is definitely not the problem on this team, yeah I’m looking at you Byrd and Pena!!
I think Pena’s most valuable for saving about 14 throwing errors by Starlin Castro every game.
It is true that Pena does field throws very well, but I haven’t been too impressed with him on batted balls. There seem to be a lot of them that get by him. A lot of people praise him for taking walks, but I really don’t think that is a #4 hitter’s job. Marlon Byrd has driven just about nobody in this year and if Pena walks, you know that the guy on 2nd or 3rd isn’t scoring. I would like to see a lot of LaHair in September!!
Agree about Aramis, disagree about Pena. Aramis is the one guy that’s living up to his big contract. Pena’s done what’s been expected, low avg/high walks/decent obp/good power/good def.
The Angels need to bee all over Aramis Ramirez!!
Jeffrey Loria for Ozzie Guillen
Get it done, Sox.
I’m fine with this.
cowley is definitely not a credible source when it comes to williams/ozzie stuff. He has had it out for KW for a long time now. He is very unprofessional and constantly speculating on williams motives.
Cowley’s main source is Ozzie’s worthless son Oney.
Joe Cowley and Oney Guillen are both a disgrace.
there is a reason cowley has been fired as beat reporter…he makes stuff up and uses fans as “sources” not kidding he has actually done that
Said it before but if I were the Cubs I’d pick his option up then send him packing, can’t just let him go without receiving something in return. I’m sure something can be worked out between the Cubs and Angels with a promise of signing him to 3/$36M plus a vesting. Can’t let productive 3B just walk for nothing when there are so few available and you LITERALLY have an option remaining on his contract.
ARam has 10/5 rights and can veto any trade. If the Cubs pick up his option, he may very well play out the string in 2012 while vetoing every trade. He has stated over and over this summer that he would not accept a trade. In this scenario, the Cubs would get one more year of ARam at $16 million, and then get nothing in return after the season. He would have to play out of his mind to earn that kind of money, especially if the Cubs know the chances of being able to flip him for some prospects is VERY low.
I doubt he vetoes a trade if there is a contract extension on the table. He vetoed trades this summer because he didn’t want to shuffle his family around so abruptly, and there were reports that he’d accept a trade IF his option was declined for 2012. I think they’d be able to get a few prospects easily. Aramis will follow the money, and would no longer be able to hide behind the excuse of uprooting his family. I doubt he’d want to risk injurying himself during the ’12 season and not receiving a FAT contract in ’13. His time to cash in is after this season, and if he somehow doesn’t know that yet, I’m sure his representation will be more than happy to alert him.
Love or hate Dunn you have to respect how he is handling this terrible year. He isn’t hiding from anyone and he is going out there trying to turn it around every day. I know that there would be a lot of guys that would hide in a corner and just give up.
And, he sits in the dugout when he gets platooned for Lillibridge and is one of the first people to stand up and congratulate him after every HR. Epic fail at baseball in 2011? No question. But, he still seems like a good guy.
people like to believe in perceptions over reality. aram can hit but isnt a winner, i would rather see what gary scott is up to then sign aram again. dunn swing has gotten long, he switched to al and doesnt know pitching otherwise dont think he could be this horrid. big donkeys with long swings and no speed hit a wall , he is not going to bounce back.
ozzie to marlins makes me nervous. the marlins have a history of firing people who speak their minds. don’t see how this fits.