Balta1701

WE WON

A pinch runner after waiting until a 1-1 count? Did Viciedo hurt himself on the leadoff or did the manager just forget for a couple pitches?

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 28, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) That's a defensive downgrade at 2B, and defensive wash in RF. It's unknown if either is an upgrade at the plate. And if they do trade Alexei, it's likely his replacement will be both an offensive and defensive downgrade. Not a very big one if so.

Well that worked well.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 28, 2014 -> 02:45 PM) There is no way this team is going to turn over 5 line-up spots. Garcia, New catcher, DH is a free agent, Beckham and Ramirez are trade candidates. De Aza won't be tendered a contract next year, Viciedo might have the plug pulled on him. If 1 trade happens, that basically makes 4-5 new people pretty likely.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2014 -> 12:30 PM) Considering that is what got it started, I would call it the final one. All of the other scrimishes and pacts etc, all came before that. Its a legit point of historical discussion why exactly that assassination was the event that triggered it and whether there were other steps that could have allowed for the sides to back down. The austrian demands to serbia, the serbian response, the calling up of the armies on both sides, really incredible mess. I'll agree that it's hard to say there was one "final" trigger, but if you used a term like "biggest" or "official" or something like that it might be more accurate. Earlier this week the Guardian newspaper offered a retraction of their 1914 article saying that they didn't expect there would be any major political repercussions of the assassination.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 11:27 PM) We've already seen this with Micah Johnson in A ball. When he replicates those numbers at BIRM and Charlotte, then you can be legitimate excited. Are you saying Micah didn't replicate those numbers at higher levels?

Belisario has given up a sub .500 OPS in innings 6-8 and a .960 OPS in inning 9.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2014 -> 12:32 PM) Mark this date. Alexei get a day off. OH MY F****** GOD

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 10:22 PM) Bella's ERA up to 5.79. I have no idea what it is if you only include his closing appearances. Just quickly, he's given up a .960 OPS in the 9th inning and a sub .500 OPS when used 6th-8th. His ERA in the 9th is 9.22.

What was the distance on that?

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 06:53 PM) That suprises me a lot, Grilli's struggled since coming off the DL and the fans have been really tough on him.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 07:35 PM) Robin seemingly never does the conventionally sub-optimal thing, he always does the unconventionaly, even subber optimal thing. That's exactly what Ozzie used to do. Small fast guy must lead off if they're in the lineup regardless of their actual ability with the bat.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 05:41 PM) Is Durant next year, or the year after? 2016

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 12:27 PM) Is Black going to Birmingham to make room for Ravelo at Charlotte? They may just be clearing out the DH slot at Charlotte to give more at bats to the Semien/Johnson/Saladino/Sanchez 4 headed monster.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 08:05 AM) If Abreu and Rizzo don't blow Konerko and Lee out of the water in their primes, then both teams will be very disappointed. I don't think you quite realize how good the top years of those 2 players were.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 05:16 PM) Her net worth, including Bill, is more than Bush, no? I remember seeing the other day Bush has a net worth of $35 million, and the Clinton's are at $55 million. Granted these figures are all subjective and murky. And after a certain number does it really matter. I think the Clintons are closer to $100 million, but the question in doing the comparison is how you'd count the Bush inheritance which is currently in the hands of H.W. At that level they're invested in everything and I wouldn't even want to wager a guess how much the family fortune is worth.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 05:25 PM) I got a chuckle out of the notion that the government would hold Goldman Sachs's feet to the fire over something You won.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 05:18 PM) Reality also states that he's clearly the #6 starter in the system. Given that #5 is Scott Carroll, I'm not a big fan of jerking #6 around so that we can get a lefty out every other night. The last season Surkamp started at full strength, he won the AA pitching triple crown. He now has a better K/BB, K/IP rate in AAA. Nobody said he's Jesus Christ, but there's a good chance we'll need him in our rotation at some point. As someone who has pitched and watched a handful of pitchers have their development sidetracked by bouncing between rotation and bullpen (Santiago), it's just a stupid move IMO. There are more stupid moves to be made, to be sure. Hopefully, likely not a big deal. I still think it's wrong and unnecessary. If Surkamp comes out and does really well in the bullpen there's every reason to think he'd get a chance to start at some point this season on this roster. As the only lefty in the pen he should also get several chances to face righties and could be used as a long man if needed to give him chances as well. I'm not going to be mad though in this case about putting him in the bullpen to see what he has. He's not likely a top of the rotation guy or a key prospect that I worry about screwing up their arm or not getting them enough work to establish off speed stuff. If we wind up with a solid bullpen lefty out of Surkamp we should be very happy.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 04:56 PM) Look at the East this year. For the bulls to have been Celts level, Noah would have had to be injured or terrible. DJ Augustin - Butler - MDJ - Boozer - Gibson That was the only way to 25 wins or less. That probably still wins well over 25.

All I care about is whether or not the phrase "Me Grimlock kick butt" appears in this transformers movie. If not it is an epic fail.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 03:32 PM) I'll be honest, I quit reading right there. Ozzie got almost the exact same spate of complaints about how he handled pitchers and bullpens. He also got crucified for his "sunday line ups" and running needlessly with two outs. I actually still am generally a fan of his "sunday lineup" format in terms of making sure the bench gets work and making sure the roster gets rest. I am much more opposed to the mandatory platoons he used regardless of how people were actually performing in cases (CF, 2006) and the fact that there were some guys who did not get regular rest even when there were backups (see: Carlos Quentin playing in >60 straight games in 2008). Given the choice between resting guys a few too many times and Robin Ventura playing Abreu until his foot falls off, I will compliment Ozzie and the Sunday Lineups.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2014 -> 02:41 PM) I'm casually watching the Facebook feed of one of my cousins (I think that's what she counts as. Cousin in law maybe) who's been living with her gf for like 5 years now. They just posted a picture holding a marriage certificate

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 01:46 PM) Reality states he is a 26 year old waiver claim. Let's not confuse him for a top prospect. Hopefully, he does well, but expectations should be low. One thing worth noting is that a great number of successful bullpen lefties have long careers in the big leagues without ever being top prospects. Throw strikes, have some sort of offspeed pitch, and be left handed is a decent format for being a successful reliever.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) I don't think managing baseball games is splitting atoms. Ventura had plenty of baseball experience, knew the grind well and was a leader on some teams who had several leader types. Why don't we see how he does with a team with good players before judging his work? Most of his criticizms here come after the fact, and assume that the guy he SHOULD have brought in, would have been lights out, which simply isn't feasable. Fix the team first. Then if the manager needs to be fixed, fix it, but not now. Besides, most if not all of the pitching moves he makes are not his decision alone. Right now this team is performing about where expected coming into this season, perhaps even a bit better when you consider the injuries (of course, he did kinda contribute to at least one of those, but anywho). That's probably the best defense you can give right now, this is no longer a dramatically underperforming team.