Cubs close to Deal with Edwin Jackson

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jinx

So does Chris Sale.

And Jack McDowell.

[SoxSpeed22]

And Mark Buehrle.

[TheVulture]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Esteban Loaiza begs to differ.

I feel like a dumb ass, I was actually thinking of Loaiza.

[TaylorStSox]

And Jose Contreras?

[cws05champ]

Originally Posted by TaylorStSox

And Jose Contreras?

Best 2nd half and postseason...yes.

[Mr. Jinx]

Originally Posted by SoxSpeed22

And Mark Buehrle.

And Dewayne Wise.

[sullythered]

While we're on it, Jon Garland can throw his hat in that ring, too. That '05 rotation was silly.

[JoeYoung]

It's the main reason they won the Series that year, the next being the shutdown, lights out bullpen.

[LoveYourSuit]

Originally Posted by JoeYoung

It's the main reason they won the Series that year, the next being the shutdown, lights out bullpen.

I disagree on that.

They used 3 closers that year and Cotts + Polite were the only reliable arms night in and night out.

Those 3 closers all had shaky moments throughout the year. Shingo was bad. Hermanson had a bad back. Jenks was a rookie who actually blew a save in the WS.

All the credit to me goes on that starting staff. They carried that team to a Championship.

[SI1020]

Originally Posted by LoveYourSuit

I disagree on that.

They used 3 closers that year and Cotts + Polite were the only reliable arms night in and night out.

Those 3 closers all had shaky moments throughout the year. Shingo was bad. Hermanson had a bad back. Jenks was a rookie who actually blew a save in the WS.

All the credit to me goes on that starting staff. They carried that team to a Championship.

JoeYoung is correct about the bullpen. It was an outstanding lockdown bullpen the likes of which we haven't seen since then. Just look at the stats.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/2005.shtml

[Bob Roarman]

Originally Posted by LoveYourSuit

I disagree on that.

They used 3 closers that year and Cotts + Polite were the only reliable arms night in and night out.

Those 3 closers all had shaky moments throughout the year. Shingo was bad. Hermanson had a bad back. Jenks was a rookie who actually blew a save in the WS.

All the credit to me goes on that starting staff. They carried that team to a Championship.

Noooo, no, no, no my friend. Even if we go with just Neal Cotts and Cliff Polittte being "dependable" that year, that's 2 guys that posted sub .200 batting averages against, pitching at least 60 innings each. A handful of players do that every season. Teams would love to have ONE guy do that, just one. And that being their best reliever, which is usually their closer if anyone. The Mariano Rivera's of the league. But to have that be middle relief? And to have TWO of them do that in the same season? Quite a luxury.

Especially in the case with Cotts that season. It could be that maybe his stat line is bolstered by dominating lefties, but it's not. He pitched very well against them, but you could argue he pitched even more effectively against righties, and actually faced more righties than lefties. That season, it didn't matter, you could throw him out there against basically anyone.

Overall, the White Sox relievers allowed the 2nd lowest percentage of inherited runners to score. All while having the 6th most games where a reliever entered the game with runners on base. They were huge that year.

[Tragg]

Originally Posted by LoveYourSuit

Jenks was a rookie who actually blew a save in the WS.

Jenks was awesome that year. No one is perfect. As it is that save was blown on a doink hit. And that doink hit only scored the tying run because it was hit to Podsednik.

[Falstaff]

Originally Posted by TheVulture

One difference is Jackson has put up better numbers since 2009.

Floyd: 4.20 ERA, average 185.5 IP/year

Jackson:3.98 ERA, 203 IP/year

Also Jackson has completed a no-hitter. Speaks to just how brilliant his flashes of brilliance can be. Remember, their is no "i" in "team" but there is a "win" in Edwin.

[HomeFish]

Edwin Jackson had a losing record last year on a team that won 90+ games and the NL East.

In both Chicago and Washington I tried hard, very hard, to like Edwin Jackson. I am probably in the 95th percentile in terms of how hard I've tried to like Edwin Jackson. But the consistency just really isn't there: I've given up on it recently.

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Falstaff

Also Jackson has completed a no-hitter. Speaks to just how brilliant his flashes of brilliance can be. Remember, their is no "i" in "team" but there is a "win" in Edwin.

It was probably one of the ugliest no-hitters in baseball history, what with the wild pitch, hit-by-pitch, 8 walks, and all.