Balta1701

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) I've actually thought about this since Peavy has been pitching so well. I honestly don't see him agreeing to an extension/contract for less than $12+ million/year, especially if he continues pitching this way. He's not exactly old, and if he is truly healthy for the first time in two years, there will be plenty of teams interested. Personally, I'd like to see him back but not at any ridiculously high number. If he'd agree to the 2 year extension for $23 million, I'd be okay with that. Honestly...it'd depend on what it cost me to insure it, if I were in the GM seat.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 12:56 AM) Bulls only need to win one of two to clinch the #1 seed. They have the tiebreaker over Miami. This can't be true. The Bulls are 2 games ahead of Miami with 2 to play. If the Bulls had the tiebreaker, then they'd have already clinched the #1 seed. San Antonio, for example, is 2 ahead of OKC with 2 to play, and they're listed as having clinched the #1 seed in the west.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 08:56 AM) If I were KW I would say let's take that option and make it into a two year extension. That would pay jake what, 11.5 a year for the next two years? It gives Jake job security and makes the money manageable, and if he actually recovers and has a great year, everyone is happy. I guess the question then is...do you think Jake Peavy can stay healthy enough to be worth $23 million over 2 years?

So, Beckham had completely overhauled his bat position and hand motion prior to his swing last night. Bat was much more horizontal and over his shoulder, and there was more rhythmic motion prior to his swing.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 01:58 AM) Yeah, but it will be awhile before he gets to see pitchers for a 2nd time. I am surprised this is not bigger news considering everyone sees him as the best hitter in this era. He is also batting .154 with RISP. I am starting to think the dip we saw last year from him was no fluke. His batting average dropped 35 pts from his career average, and his OPS was down over 150. If you continue that trend into this year and add the league switch (which some players have struggled with), it is not out of the realm of possibility that he hits about .270 this year with about 25 HRs and an OPS of about .800. Not bad for most players, but a terrible year for Pujols. He's always a guy who tinkers with his swing...but hte fact that he's thinking about it probably is the biggest factor.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 05:16 AM) Found this blurp when browing my fantasy baseball leagues: Santiago, who picked up the save against the Mariners on Sunday, said he has had trouble gripping his screwball on major-league baseballs, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Thoughts? That makes sense, he has seemed to struggle with the control on that pitch, and MLB umps put a lot more care into prepping balls than minor league ones.

Basically, because the Cubs and Sox share that network and both teams are locked into long-term contracts with it, both teams will see substantial but slow revenue growth from the TV over time. There will not be a single year where there is a windfall, like the Dodgers right now or the Rangers last year. There won't be a sudden infusion of an extra $100 million 1 year, there will instead be regular growth. However, everything is growing. This year the Fox contract is up for renegotiation. The big revenue sharing deals are up now, which is why MLB wanted the extra wild card round this year. Basically, if everything new is pumped into payroll...from this point on, we ought to expect payroll growth of ~5%-10% a year strictly from TV revenues. If, however, we can start re-filling the empty ballpark, there's substantial room for revenue growth on that side as well.

The only way Jake would take less money to stay is if Jake was convinced that pitching with Cooper now was helping keep him healthy, rather than the reverse.

BRENT HAD 2 HITS AND 0 K'S!!!

Anything to SantaMonica on a weekday is like 1.5 hours. Although they're finally building a light rail line there.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 08:52 PM) People want a total rebuild, but can't let a guy have a bad week before developing players takes a back seat. Sit down and watch Viciedo develop. There's really nothing else he can do in AAA. It would be a waste of time. But...a rough couple months, even a rough first year...completely expected.

5 posts before Cowley is brought up...

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 06:37 PM) I thought he had restored his fastball back into the 93-94 mph range last year...had no idea he was down to 91.3. For now, I hope Viciedo proves some of us wrong and hits some of those tailing fastballs on the outer half into the right field stands. The sad thing is, this is pretty much exactly what I expected would happen several months ago...bad starts for the young 3, calls growing for all 3 of them to see the bench. The only bright sign for me so far is that Robin flat out hasn't listened, and I really hope he keeps that up.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 06:32 PM) Again, plenty of time for Viciedo to get back on track, but the way things are going, Colon doesn't seem like a good match-up for him. He'll get a lefty tomorrow and then could face a AAA pitcher on Wednesday. Why, because of that blazing 91 mph fastball he can't catch up with?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 06:20 PM) So you still think this team has no chance of competing and should already punt potential wins for sake of development? If they're going to compete, it's not going to be because of Kosuke Fukudome's contributions in the corner OF spot, it's going to be because we got Viciedo's struggles out of the way and got to the point where he is a contributor. Same story for Beckham and probably Morel. Edit: This story is, of course, the Tyler Colvin story all over again.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 06:12 PM) I'm worried about wins when the team is playing about as well as it possibly can outside of our young offensive players. Then you're not all for Viciedo getting his opportunity this year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 06:04 PM) With all three of those guys struggling with fastballs this year, it wouldn't have been the worst thing to get Lillibridge and Fukudome in the lineup again. I'm all for Viciedo getting his opportunity this year, but you hate to have such a poor bottom of the order when you have so many other hitters on fire. If you're worried about wins, then you're not all for Viciedo getting his opportunity this year.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 03:50 PM) Why is he working on driving it to RF? Didn't he become productive once he finally stopped doing that last season? One might say he was "working on making contact to RF" last year as opposed to driving it that way.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 12:56 PM) I've thought often of David Wright on the Southside since it's all but guaranteed he moves this summer AND he'd be an instant super upgrade. The Sox have nothing to deal with, though, so it seems nearly impossible. My fantasy team is loving his rebirth this year with those shorter CITI Field walls helping his confidence. Imagine what the friendly park factors of the Cell would do for him. Actually, with him being back on the DL, I kinda doubt he's able to be moved for much this summer.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) If Humber is a fixture in our rotation, it may be the best one for Coop yet. It seemed to this point that he could teach a cutter and he could help guys with poor control. Humber when he was acquired: -Satisfactory control -Had a cutter Coop teaches him a slider and (along with a myriad of other things I'm sure) he had a near All-Star caliber first half this year and looks great so far again this year. Another thing Coop has done with Humber is getting him to stop using the cutter.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 02:24 PM) New York Style > Any other thin crust > Deep Dish Banned...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 12:20 PM) If this is a sustained step forward for Mitchell, along with some development of Walker, not to mention Axelrod keeping where he is at, then we might be in business. That is a lot of ifs though. And Molina and Castro having a couple good outings in a row, and Josh Phegley putting up a .956 OPS at Charlotte.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 12:15 PM) Well, you could lose games and these guys still not develop. Besides, none of, Beckham, Morel, or Viciedo, are franchise prospects. Viciedo is a slugging LF'er, when the Sox get their CF'er, De Aza will be shifted over to left as part of a platoon anyway. Very true. Which is why I would like to have Rios and Dunn's contracts cleared going into next offseason if it's at all possible, because then the team would have more than enough payroll flexibility to start looking at replacing those failures with all-stars. If Rios and Dunn were to be removable without the Sox eating the money, then the Sox could be looking at spending some of that money for a legit upgrade at one of those spots. Replacing Brent Morel with David Wright, for example, would be a plausible move the Sox could make. And...the only way you're honestly going to know that those moves are necessary is if you give the kid a full season and he just can't cut it. You platoon the kid, you give him 400 PA's, he might hit a roll at the end of the season and convince you to try him out for another year...again.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 12:01 PM) I would love to see Chandler Jones opposite of Peppers. Partly because I want to see Bones Jones cheering on the Bears, and partly because I know he is pegged to be a stud DE Haven't heard that name, any idea what round he's slotted in?

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 11:33 AM) Really the only question to ask is, what would we get in return (immediately) for Peavy, Dunn, Rios? My guess is not much. Peavy might eventually get us something back if he keeps going well. we'll still have to pay $ to unload. To just yell that you want to dump their contracts proves fan frustration, nothing more. It's hard for the Sox to get free agents most years with any money we save, so the question to really ask is what prospects can we get back for these guys? If offers are weak, it really is very possible that their greatest worth is still just being on this team. Even if Rios and his career .750 or .760 OPS is what we get for the next few years....on an offense like this one, factoring in his defense, that really is needed here. We have to take ourselves out of the present and remember that we can't rely on AJ's bat carrying so much of the load in the future. That's going to come back to earth with reckless fury, maybe soon. I can't see the Sox getting really anything back in return for any of those guys at any point this year, under any plausible circumstances. I just want the contracts removed for the largest savings possible. If the Sox have to pay significant $ to unload them, then there's no reason to do it, except maybe for Peavy where we'd be losing him at the end of the season and having to pay his buyout anyway.