NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 4, 2012 -> 09:38 PM) He's tarnishing my rep with AAPs. Eduardo Escobar, Chris Carter and Fautino De Los Santos have made the Majors. Be happy then. My AAP record includes Donny Lucy, Ehren Wassermann, Sergio Miranda, Kevin Dubler, Garrett Johnson and Dan Remenowsky. I guess two of them made the majors, briefly.

There are similarities to 2009-2011, but you are also ignoring some differences. This team has a lot more developing players on it, for one thing. It has shown, in games they are down, that they often make a run at it late - something the 2010 and 2011 teams seemed to never do. This is the month that determines it. They are playing almost exclusively ALC teams. Once May is over, we'll know what this team is. More importantly, we'll see who some of these PLAYERS are, because this is really about a tryout for 2013, primarily. If they happen to do something in 2012, that's a bonus. I am confident this was the plan all along, and I've been saying it all along. Based on May, KW will start making calls in June, and we'll start to see pieces moving.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 8, 2012 -> 08:27 AM) Great first post on Soxtalk!

Molina pitched 4 scoreless, before getting shelled. In his ONE outing in AAA. Overreact much, folks?

Are we suffering collective amnesia? Seemed like everyone realized this past offseason that this was a rebuilding year. KW's target is 2013 or 2014. The organization, all they way to Jerry, realize this. The chances of them taking Kenny out of the picture before sometime in 2013 at the earliest are basically zero, barring some weird personal circumstance coming up. And you better believe, unless the Sox are in poll position in the division come June or July, that people will be moved.

This should make JPN happy. From Gonzo's Mailbag... Still doesn't justify it taking this long, but, sounds like KW2 may be out of the way sooner than later.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:11 PM) Well, they've been saying this would be Sale's ultimate role with the Club since he was drafted...the implication was pretty clear that once they made the switch, it would be permanent...there isn't any benefit I can think of from switching a guy from relief to starter to relief again...not for the player anyway. I can think of great benefit in certain scenarios, like this one, as I stated. However, it sounds like they are saying this is permanent, maybe In that case, well, I'm not so sure. I think it depends on his physical situation. I mean, obviously if they thought he could handle starting, they would work it out that way. They apparently don't, at least for now. Also, he could go Dempster next year, but he obviously would need to build some strength and endurance.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:07 PM) I'm OK with it, but a couple of things, he's the closer for the rest of the season, at least that is what CSN reported Ventura said. If he's the closer the rest of this season, I would think that would mean, he's probably considered a reliever by the White Sox from now on. I didn't see it being that clear, but maybe I missed a quote. The other side of this is, of course, if he simply can't do starter innings - which is possible - then this scenario works anyway. Where did anyone with the Sox say this was permanent, anyway? Not trying to be obnoxious, I really just don't know.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:02 PM) Time to see if Axelrod, Stults, Shirek, Molina or Castro can contribute because if Sale is looking at a career in the bullpen and Peavy is gone after this season, there's going to be a gap in the rotation. I have to admit that I don't understand why you wouldn't hold Sale out for a longer period of time if his elbow is tender. Why take the risk? Didn't they learn anything pitching Peavy the last few years when he wasn't healthy. Shirek and Stults are not really prospects. Molina, Castro, Hernandez, maybe Axelrod are the guys to watch, at least for now.

I can't believe I'm the only one who seems to be OK with this, but... I am. This year - as everyone knows - is a rebuilding year, whether they call it that or not. They definitely want Sale to be a future starter on this club. So, if he's feeling a bit tender with the new load, this makes perfect sense to me. As long as he isn't injured, and really is just sore getting stretched out, then this makes perfect sense to me. Shutting him down wouldn't be a good idea, because you still want him to build up some innings and add strength. This way, he can do that, with less risk of turning soreness into an actual injury. Also, I agree with this... QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2012 -> 05:44 PM) BTW, no one has said this, but hopefully Axelrod makes the most out of this chance and can make himself a contender for future rotations. As we look at 2013, this is an audition for Axelrod. Either as trade bait, or maybe even as a part of the future rotation. Giving Sale say, a month, closing, then putting him back into the rotation, seems perfectly smart to me. And with guys like Peavy and Humber not stretched out to starting innings, and a guy like Axelrod in the rotation (as much as I like him, he's still got risk to fail), there will almost certainly be a chance for him to start again as the season goes on. That way, he gets closer to starting innings this year, and ideally is ready for 2013 to be a full time starter. Obviously I'd rather he wasn't sore at all and could keep going, but that isn't the reality. So as long as he isn't hurt, this seems like the best move to me. Flame on.

Suspended 50 games for violating MiLB rules on PED's. Started an appeal, but decided to waive after 10 days and start his suspension. He should be back for the 2nd half.

Tribune noted today that Johnson is now starting to throw in games in extended ST. Once he builds some endurance, he'll be assigned to an affiliate.

Anyone have a report on Rangel Ravelo's defense? He's hitting pretty darn well, albeit with minimal power, at A-, and he just turned 20.

Finally given a chance to (mostly) start, Kila Ka'ahuie is hitting .314 so far, .375 OBP. He leads all Oakland regulars by 39 and 18 points in each of those categories thus far. Not showing much power yet, but still, doing pretty well in his first year with starting AB's. And his minor league numbers would indicate the power will come too, with time.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 3, 2012 -> 04:33 PM) He speaks of every Masterson start vs. the White Sox besides the last one. He's owned us for a while. Kind of useless to me then. Look at the lineup today. De Aza, the-new-Dunn (who went 2-for-3 against him last time), Escobar, Fukudome... none of these guys were around last year. Then there is the new version of Rios. And the guys who HAVE seen a lot of him are guys like Paulie (who is hitting very well this year and went 2-2 +BB against him last time, and hit him hard in 2011) and AJP (who also went 2-2 against him last time, and is hitting over .300 against him the last few years). Basically, looking at previous years are kind of pointless in this case, other than Beckham and Ramirez (who have indeed been bad against him - they were both o-fer-2011).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 3, 2012 -> 04:06 PM) This is the one game all year I'd be tempted to bet against the Sox because of Masterson's recent dominance against us...and Danks' trend line this season. Of course, that probably means a blowout White Sox victory, but is sure feels going in with CLE playing so well on the road, us the opposite at home, the pitching match-ups, the presence of Escobar in the line-up....but that's why betting on baseball is silly, when you THINK you know something and all the signs and indicators are going in one direction, the opposite happens just as frequently. um... the Sox beat Masterson the last time they faced him, earlier this year. He went 5 innings, gave up 5 runs (3 earned). Of what recent dominance do you speak? Also, Masterson has just not been himself most of this year. His fisrt outing was good, and so was his last one, but the 3 between were pretty bad. And even his most recent outing, it looks like he got a little lucky - he walked 5 guys, but only managed to give up 2 runs (to a LAA team that has been struggling).

I do love Quniary game threads. KC managed to hang on to beat Detroit earlier today. So if the Sox win, they are in sole possession of first. Hopefully Humber got the Hoopla out of his system against BOS, and can settle back down to be just plain good.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2012 -> 12:02 PM) He turned 24 in March actually. If he continues to hit, and finish the year in Double A at 24, then it will get a little interesting. Apparently my math skills are lacking.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2012 -> 10:16 AM) People are raving about Shoemaker and Black, but no one is talking about this Earley kid. Quietly, he is hitting .425/4/12 with an OPS of 1.303 in his last 10 games. He only struck out 8 time in 78 ABs. His hitting is probably not a fluke, as he did hit .307 in GF last season, it just look like he's developing more power this season. And he's a year younger than both Black and Shoemaker. Interesting. 29th round pick in 2010, repeated GF in 2011. Not a lot of power, but does hit for average since last year. Strikeout rate is low. Just turned 22 in March, so he's more or less age-appropriate in W-S (after being double-promoted from GF). The fact that they had him leap to A+ from GF probably indicates the organization sees something in him. Anyone have any scouting info? Anything on his defense?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 1, 2012 -> 03:30 PM) Sorry I didn't get back to you on that. No worries, I learned a bit from some locals. Would still love to hear an expert's description at some point though.

Spent a couple days last weekend solo hiking in NW New Mexico and SE Arizona, specifically the Peloncillo and Chiricahua Mountains. Mostly off-trail. Saw some really nice archaelogical sites, and assorted other cool stuff. I highly recommend that area if you truly want to get away from humanity for a while.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 1, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) ADA - LF Alexei - SS Dunn - 1B PK - DH AJP - C Alex - RF Tank - LF Brent M. - 3B Gordo - 2B Viciedo has been showing some encouraging signs lately that he may be coming out of his funk, albeit slowly. Just need Beckham and/or Morel to do the same, and soon. Sometime in May, if any of those three are still in the 100's in batting average, I'm guessing changes are made.

Love the thread opener. 10 games against CLE and DET, starting today. Early key set of games. We'll know appreciably more about how this team will do, after this 10 games. 7 are on the road. Let's take 2 of 3 at home.

To further illustrate the point about those errors, Kuhn made 3... after having none the entire season until now. Possible he and Martinez just had bad games, but, that does seem a bit ridiculous. W-S hit 5 home runs, including two by Shoemaker, who now has a .345/.415/.607/1.022 line. I realize he isn't really a prospect, but when you wipe the floor with a league like that, and at too old an age for the league, after hitting well the previous year too... its probably time to move up. And I agree with JPN that KW Jr taking up that spot in AA is just an atrocious thing.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 03:23 PM) Greg, why do you think anything is ok because of Rush Limbaugh? Oh lawd, let's not bait him with that, we don't need to add politics to this.