Marty34

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 08:27 PM) Then why has his whole career been punctuated by doing the exact opposite? Rational players don't often punch teammates and have multiple public meltdowns, by definition. If it came down to it you'd rather Axelrod have 10 more starts?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) Do you really think he has the rationale sense to stop and think in the moment about what the repercussions of his actions will be? Absolutely. Besides how exactly can a player blowup a clubhouse in two months? There are reasons I wouldn't want Zambrano, but the fear that he's going to create chaos in the clubhouse isn't one of them when the alternative is Dylan Axelrod blowing up on the mound.

Maybe it's time to consider Rios for the 3 spot with Dunn 4, Konerko 5.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 10:56 AM) Why would a team take a chance on a Zambrano blowing up their clubhouse? Because he's not going to blow a clubhouse in 2 months before he hits free agency.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales Triple-A Charlotte's Simon Castro pulled after three scoreless innings. could be a candidate to start Wednesday at Boston. Or traded.

You've got to think the Sox front office is at or darn near defcon 1 with regards to this rotation. They have try everything humanly possible for axelrod not to make that Saturday start in Detroit. Going to need KW to be on his game here.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 11:34 AM) And there was no reason in that Sunday game. It was already basically over. I can't remember if he was on the roster, but they should have tried to use Heath. They gave Septimo two opportunities in that series. And Robin's got to stop letting Peavy talking into leaving him out there. That wasn't necessary for 1) Peavy to give up 6 runs, and 2) for the lead to be more than 1 run. They could have used Santiago or Septimo against Moustakas. No idea why Peavy was still in him with pitch count so elevated. I disagree. Floyd "taking one for the team" that game was essential because they had 6 games coming up against the Rangers and Jays. Can't have the pen in tatters for going into back-to-back series like that.

This is the risk this White Sox team has to take in order to contend. Their margin for error doesn't allow it to be different. You want to hold on to Viciedo? This is part of that price.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 11:08 AM) What are you talking about? We never skip the 5 spot, we frequently re-arrange to get everyone extra rest, I'd have to say that we push our starters LESS than any other team in our situation 122 pitches for Floyd against the Yankees, look at Peavy's pitch count and tell me they aren't pushing their starters.

They've pushed their starters this year, but that's the price they've had to pay to be in contention.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) With the changes in compensatory picks, I wonder how far the price of players at the deadline will fall, especially as less teams sit on players knowing they won't get anything for them at the end of the year. Yep. I also can't see teams who do not have a shot at winning a division mortgaging their futures for a 1 game wild card playoff.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 09:46 AM) A guy like Kevin Millwood would allow the Sox to keep their top prospects and still get a guy who is going to be better than Axelrod going forward. Might be the best way to improve the rotation without opening a hole elsewhere. That's assuming Danks is done, of course. Maybe. I'd say this if Danks were returning though. Zambrano is a guy you have to figure being on the market if the Marlins don't go on a run soon.

Another no on Dempster. You're going to overpay for this streak he is on and he is very likely to regress to his mean under your watch. How much more comfortable are you with Dempster facing the Yankees, Rangers, or Red Sox lineups in the postseason over Floyd or possibly Volquez? To me, the difference is not enough to justify the trade price. Liriano on the other hand is an intriguing name.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 06:39 PM) Nice one Marty, now go back to my posts. I had no problem with them getting Youkilis for nothing. When the rumors were Floyd or Thornton, I had a problem, and as great as Youkilis has been, its against the odds that he will be able to finish the rest of the season healthy and effective. Hopefully he does, but I've never seen a guy with so many downer posts and thread starters when the team expected to be pretty bad, is in first place. I wonder who will have a bad game tonight that will need to be replaced. You're not a fan of downer posts (as if anyone should care.) You include this in a post where you say the odds are against Youkilis staying healthy and effective.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 04:49 PM) I don't think we "need" Huston Street and Volquez to compete, but they might be useful. I wouldn't give up too much for them and almost certainly nothing on the current roster. I would be absolutely shocked if we went for a big fish at this point, we really don't have the guns to do it if we plan on keeping our offense potent. As far as Halladay goes, I think he has a torn labrum. Wouldn't shock me if we don't hear much from him again, but we'll see. I can't see much good coming from splitting 30 starts between Quintana, Humber, and Axelrod even if Sale, Peavy, and Floyd perform as hoped. I believe KW understands this and will act with a sense of urgency to upgrade the rotation. There's just no other choice at this point.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 02:35 PM) I don't know how you can definitively say he'd be better than say, Garza or Dempster. Look at what happened to Latos when he went to Great American Ballpark. Volquez throws hard, but the ball leaves the park 1.5X that speed at USCF in July/Aug/September. Once again, there were no character issues with Edwin like there are with Edinson. I could write that 1+1 = 2 and you'd take the opposing view.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 02:26 PM) The guy is a rookie averaging over a strikeout an inning with about a .650 OPS against him. Is there any White Sox worth having on the roster? My buddy and I went to a game a few years ago with a guy who complained the entire time. This guy can't pitch, that guy can't hit, the manager can't manage.....the entire game. The Sox wound up winning. We went to Jimbo's after the game and the guy mentioned what a great time he had. My buddy and I just looked at each other. I'm thinking you're probably similar. For a team that needs a closer, a top of the rotation starter, has a LF who isn't worth the wait, a SS who needs to go, they sure are doing fine. Why does it bother you so much what I think about this player or that player? I could not care less that you think Youkilis is washed up.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 01:14 PM) How? Jackson's a major workhorse. Volquez has been injury-prone and hasn't made 30+ starts too often in his career. And very few have ever questioned Edwin's character, work ethic or as a teammate. Can't say the same about Volquez. When the Sox traded for Jackson his ERA was 5.16. Volquez is a similar style pitcher in that he has a good fastball, but has control problems. It would be nice if he was a workhorse, but at the time the Sox traded for Jackson they didn't have Peavy. At this moment, the Sox need quality innings more than just innings. Volquez is the best option aside from Hamels or Greinke.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 10:40 AM) Which would require Don Cooper miracle working/raising Lazarus from the dead. Didn't realize you were a fan of his. Cooper is the rockstar of pitching coaches good with the bad. Jackson was in roughly the same boat as Volquez is now when they traded for him and that worked out pretty well.

I don't see how anyone who has seen Reed pitch this year can say he is fine as a closer for a team that is trying to win something. His stuff hasn't been as advertised. Where is the slider? Maybe this is another case to be cautious about relievers with dominant sliders.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 14, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) Do you still want to trade Alexei Ramirez and Viciedo? Thought not. Why would I change my opinion on that? You're real good at pointing out how silly my trade ideas are when one of the guys gets a big hit or is hot, but wow you're silence is deafening when they aren't playing well. You're the same guy who had the Sox contending before spring training and buried after the Tigers started 7-2 or whatever it was. For one who points fingers, you're just as wrong as anyone else.

If the Sox get a right-handed starter it has to be someone with good stuff who you'd be ok with starting a postseason game against the Yankees, Rangers, or Red Sox. That's a short short list that maybe a guy like Volquez is on the fringes of. If the Sox could get his walk rate down maybe he'd give us 1/2 year like Jackson did in 2010.

Have to say that I've been disappointed with Reed's velocity really since he came up last September, but certainly for most of this year. Was he really hitting 97 regularly in the minors? His stuff just looks flat more often than not, to the point where I think he should be considered as trade material under the right circumstance.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2012 -> 10:07 AM) Is this ur plan or what you actually heard? I thought it was two weeks, including the All-Star break, for Sale. There's going to be a big argument between holding the lead during this 16/19 stretch on the road (yes, we are a better road team...or historically were until the past 10 games or so at home)...and the intelligence of perhaps giving up 1st place with the idea that Sale can ride in like Shane (movie reference) or Gary Cooper in High Noon and save the day. That's going to be a lot of pressure on Chris to win each of his starts. Then you have the issue with how many innings you're going to be able to get out of Quintana based on his workload the last 2-3 seasons in the minors. They'll push him harder, of course, but how far can you realistically push him without hurting him? Has there ever been a similar situation where a pitcher came out of A ball with his IP totals and then threw 150-175-200 combined innings (mostly MLB) the next year? And what happened to that pitcher the following season, or his overall career, after such a massive jump? If Sale and Quintana get hurt that would suck, but that's baseball. To me, it's disrespectful to every aspect of the game to shut-down pitchers who are otherwise healthy when you have a chance to make the post-season because you're trying to prevent injuries. I'm all for being careful and giving them rest when you can, but getting to the post-season trumps worrying about their health for 2013 and beyond.

High risk/high reward rotation coming out of the break. Sale gets 3 weeks between appearances. TBD could be trade? Axelrod v. KC Floyd v. KC Quintana v. KC Peavy V. Bos TBD V. Bos Axelrod v. Bos Floyd v. Bos Quintana v. Det Peavy v. Det Sale v. Det