CaliSoxFanViaSWside

All you guys are going to drive yourselves crazy. There is no ideal lineup with so many guys trying to rebound from bad seasons.Throw the spaghetti against the wall and see if it sticks. That's all Ventura can do. Hope the kids develop and the ones who sucked improve and pray more than one of the pitchers become something special.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 08:20 AM) Because something similar has happened in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. I happen to think Morel will turn into a nice player. I do also. I think he could have 25-30 HR potential. Not only did he come alive and hit HR's in September he also averaged the longest HR's on the Sox.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 26, 2012 -> 03:00 PM) The thing is, Mary Buehrle was totally #2 until he had his bad year. It does happen. Is she friends with Judy Garland ?

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Feb 25, 2012 -> 10:56 AM) Good point. Beckham's a mind boggler. If he doesn't respond to the new staff by the All Star break, I'd look into moving him in a failed prospect for failed prospect swap, kind of like Borchard/Thornton. A change of scenery might be the answer. If Lilly continues to hit, he might be the future at 2nd. The more I think about Lillibridge the more I want to see what he can do . When a guy hits as many HR's as he did in less than 200 AB's, he must have learned something and deserves a chance to be more than a supersub. I hope he gets a shot when others aren't playing well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 20, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) I am going to absolutely hate seeing a ton of platooning, I'm going to complain about it every time it happens to any of the kids, and I absolutely expect that you're right. The good side is since De Aza is LH even in a platoon situation you're going to see him play 85% percent of the time. Viciedo's playing time might suffer more since he isn't a good glove but hopefully only late in games when protecting a lead if those are the kids you want to see play most.

If you are a truly dominant pitcher in the upper minors and your team isn't competing sure doesn't hurt to give a guy like Molina a spot start once in a while when you have guys like Peavy, Humber and Sale in the rotation. Just be sure to keep him pitching in his regular turn. I believe if you have lightning in a bottle you uncork it but only if that lightning is truly spectacular. Molina has to show very rare numbers to have any chance at all this year to pitch for the Sox.

I think we'll see a ton of platooning.Fukudome, DeAza , Dunn, early and often against righties. Viciedo, Lillibridge against lefties though Viciedo should also play against RH's as much as possible. Morel ,PK ,Beckham, AJ, and Alexei pretty much all the time but if Beckham struggles early might see Lilly playing some 2nd base against lefties. Flowers plays against a lot of LH's .Rios needs to play to see if he rebounds but I don't give him much rope. He has to impress early or he goes to the bench and only play against lefties . Danks, Floyd, Peavy , Humber, Sale my rotation.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 01:52 PM) Rios has to get the bulk of the playing time. There's no way to dump him on anyone if he's merely facing LHP. Especially if he's playing at least decently and we're anywhere within hailing distance of first place...if he's totally tanking, then you can experiment with Fukudome more and potentially move him at the deadline for a piece or 2. But getting Rios off the books should be priority #1 for Williams. I say FUKU Rios !

reprehensible

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 1, 2012 -> 11:52 AM) Must have been before my time. Dragnet.

I didn't bash the Ventura hiring but I don't like what I'm hearing about Dunn playing the field and Thornton closing .

Like father like son, both do a lot of fumbling.

Beckham has to play 2nd for his defense alone. Lillibridge should get plenty of AB's against lefties in the outfield where he plays well.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:33 PM) I just sometimes think you're on acid or at least a strong weed with the tangents you occasionally go on At the end of each episode, The Shadow reminded listeners, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay.... The Shadow knows!"

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:25 PM) Oh for Christ's sake Caulfield, you referenced a "The Shadow" from 1930, mine was from 2003. And I knew no one would get it...well, because I doubt anyone here are big Jak & Daxter fans One of the most famous pulp heroes of the 20th century, The Shadow has been featured in comic books, comic strips, television, video games, and at least five motion pictures. Not obscure at all. at least to me but I'm older than Caulfield. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 07:46 AM) Wow, what a douchebag. Must be a Cub's fan.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 12:15 PM) There's a better chance of moving Andre The Giant than getting rid of those 3 contracts in 2011. Peavy's the only one remotely possible, and we'd have to eat at least $4-6 million of the remaining to make it happen, and be willing to get back the same junk/flotsam/detritus we received for Frasor. Since Andre the Giant is dead , he's probably quite easy to move now.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 08:50 PM) I was catching up on my post-holidays Chicago newspaper reading and spotted a Phil Rogers column on Dayan Viciedo. Rogers wrote ... "A National League scout called him 'a poor man's Pablo Sandoval,' and he didn't mean that as a compliment. "Not big on him,'' he said. "He's no outfielder, that's for sure. Has arm strength. Poor at judging fly balls. … Could start for a second-division team.'' That's exactly what he's likely to do." Now earlier in the Rogers column, it was written "One International League manager compared him to Vladimir Guerrero, saying he's a proven 'bad-ball hitter.' Another said 'the ball just jumps off his bat,' which was what seemed to be the case in 2010 when Ozzie Guillen nicknamed him "The Tank.'' And yet another called him the best pure hitter in the International League. 'Hits for power, hits for average,' he said, citing his aggressiveness as a double-edged sword. 'You have to make sure he gets himself out, set him up. He's a bad-pitch hitter.' So do you guys think Tank is a star in making, or a stiff in making? I always liked the guy during his limited at bats. In 2010 he came up and raked while taking no walks. Last year he took walks when he came up but didn't hit very well. Hearing that he's a bad ball hitter might mean that being selective actually hurt him. That being said don't know how much his thumb bothered him. I hope he crushes the ball right out of the gate.

Santiago didn't have a start it was long relief. 5 shut out innings against the Twins as I remember it.

The Yankees for once are being cost efficient . They don't want to pay the luxury tax and seem willing to hit the recycle bin a la KW, like they did with Colon and Garcia. However they are always in win now mode and waiting with them is very prudent. Get what you want from them . They are a rich team with decent prospects and wait on them to fail and needing someone for the pennant push. In the mean time get Sale, Molina, Axlerod, Santiago, and Humber starters innings and be ready for 2013.

I will blindly say I'd rather have De Aza.

I was right about Dunn becoming the new Soxtalk whipping boy.

Don't forget Axlerod.

Thank you same to one and all.

Logically the Sox should be interested in Cespedes since they have Ramirez and Viciedo. However, the guy is 26 yet expected to be in AA/AAA with a $25M + contract ? As good as he may be taking a flyer on a guy his age with that much money doesn't appear to be in the Sox best interest. He's way too over hyped now for the Sox to be involved in a bidding war. Viciedo was 19 and the Sox didn't have to spend even close to what Cespedes is expected to get.