balfanman

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2012 -> 09:48 AM) Ventura has used his bench WAY less than Guillen ever did. I really don't have a problem with bench players getting playing time and this is true, Ventura has gone with a regular starting lineup moreso than Guillen ever did. I'm not so sure that I like it when he empties out the bench in one game however.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 13, 2012 -> 07:25 AM) So does Viciedo and Carlos Lee. He'd be a very very bad 3B, couple that with the fact he hasn't hit higher than .200 in the major leagues in 5 years, I'd say it would be a last option. Thanks for all of the information everybody. After thinking about this, Robin Ventura must value defense much more than Ozzie ever did. If Ozzie was still here Johnson would have probably been called up a month ago.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 13, 2012 -> 06:57 AM) Big difference between a 2B who has never played 3B and a 1B/DH who has never played 3B. One is moving to an easier position and one to a more difficult position. I was under the impression that he had other minor league experience there.

QUOTE (OilCan @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 04:38 PM) In the majors, according to Baseball Reference dot com, Dan has played a grand total of 9 games at 3b. And, 4 in LF. Good info, but that doesn't answer the question of if the Sox will call him up to play 3rd base. Just because he has a small sample size of major league time there doesn't preclude the Sox from trying him there if they get desperate and cannot find anyone else "reasonable" to trade for. By the sample size logic, they should of never tried Hudson there, how many major league games had he played at 3rd base and how long ago was his minor league experience there?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 02:31 PM) Palmiero, A-Rod, Juan Gone, Byrd, Matthews, Pudge You don't say.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 12:46 PM) 2 more homers for Dan Johnson. That's 17. What do you think that the chances are of him getting called up to play 3rd base? If Hudson doesn't start hitting soon don't they have to try something?

I'll say up front that I really don't want Soriano, but, just to play devils advocate. I have heard that Soriano does have a strong work ethic and is well liked by his teamates. Some of the things that I have heard Rios criticized for around here is.....effort and work ethic. Not sayin, I'm just sayin.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 12, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) It turns out it's much harder to "teach" hitting when you aren't in that ballpark in Arlington. Or have a lineup that is "enhanced".

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 8, 2012 -> 02:16 AM) Yeah, EVERY SOX fan knows the downside to this team, we're all just kind of along for the ride as long as it lasts and enjoying the fact that we're playing meaningful games at this point in the season (as opposed to last year)...but it's almost like it was specifically written to rain on everyone's parade. I think that most Sox fans realize this and that this is the biggest reason that attendance stinks, even though they have played fairly well recently as a team. We all just have this feeling, like most of the last dozen years or so, that this team is eventually just going to fall apart when it comes time to play games that will decide the division. On the other hand, as opposed to last year, when we were the "talented team" that was supposed to wake up and cruise to a division title, why is it that most still feel that Detroit is the favorite to win this division. Like the Sox last year, they could very well "snooze" the season away.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Jun 10, 2012 -> 04:21 PM) I hope our starters throw CG shutouts but enough of these no-hitters/perfect games. Pitchers tend to suck awhile after throwing them. I'm trying to take something positive out of Humbers results recently. At least this time, after throwing a no hitter / perfect game, just the pitcher went bad, not the whole team.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) Amen Dick Allen. The economy sucks still and those prices are outrageous. It's just too much money to go more than a time or two all season. Who wants to sit in the upper deck anyway? I do. I think that the 1st 5 or 6 rows of the upper deck are the best seats in the house.

QUOTE (kane0730 @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 11:29 AM) I've got an extra pair for tonights game. Just posted the details in the Ticket Exchange forum. PM me if interested. Here's hoping that Peavy does too !

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 09:50 AM) Knowing that he'd be a tough sign, they probably called him early in the 4th round and said "Hey, we're thinking of drafting you this round and we're willing to offer this amount. What do you think?" Then when he told them it wasn't enough they moved on to another player on their board I didn't know that they could do that.

Sam Ayala was almost drafted in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals, but the team's offer wasn't substantial enough to persuade Ayala to give up his full scholarship at UCSB. Call me confused, it would not even be the worst thing that I've been called this week, but I'm not understanding the process here. If I am understanding this statement correctly, the Cardinals offered this guy a contract prior to being drafted. I didn't know that you could do that. I thought that you had to draft them first and then get them to sign. What am I missing?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 09:02 AM) So KW lost another trade?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 08:50 AM) Given how Lillibridge has played, I'm not surprised they haven't found much time for him. Lilli got hot last year but other then that, he's a pretty futal offensive player. And defensively, while he's very very capable of playing a whole lot of positions, Danks is a better defensive outfielder. True, but I think that a lot of Lilibridge, Fukudome, Escobars, & Flowers struggles have been because of almost no playing time. I would think that Danks, with his big swing, would suffer the same fate. On a side note; I have no longing for Ozzie as manager, but I do think that one of his strengths was giving bench players some playing time. I hated the Sunday lineups as much as anyone, but at least when the need for a pinch hitter arises, the guys were not as cold as ice.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 08:26 AM) Hopefully that is the case Dick. The only issue I have is I want to make sure Danks gets some playing time. He'll be a good fit for the club during interleague. Playing time could be an issue though. They can't find much time for Lilibridge now, how are they going to be able to give Danks much time unless (by some miracle) thay have an offer on the table for Rios.....yeah right. I wouldn't think that they would want to bring Danks up just to have him take up space on the bench. That's why I'm thinking that Johnson may be who they're looking at, especially if he is capable of playing a "respectable" 3rd base. Johnson, IMO, would be more likely to provide a little more offense than Danks would, especially when you consider who they would be replacing (Morell,Hudson over Viciedo, DeAza, Rios) in the lineup on any given day.

I wonder if they are making room for another acquisition that K.W. may have in mind. Dan Johnson would be an intriguing possibility here in my mind (it's such a fine mind). Morel is not 100% yet and is not doing well in his rehab. Hudson is slowing down and not working out like he was in his first few games. Johnson ( I hear) can play 3rd base as well as 1st and the outfield. Could they have him in mind to play some 3rd and free Lilibridge up for more outfield play? How did Johnson's 3rd base experiment do in the minors?

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jun 6, 2012 -> 09:02 PM) Shocked by this, would have lost that bet. I would of lost that bet as well. I guess, without looking at stats, that Rios "All Star" years in Toronto were overstated.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 6, 2012 -> 03:16 PM) Buehrle was a 38th rounder. Oh.................Nevermind.

And the 2012 Mark Buehrle pick (37th round) is: Thurman Hall, CF, Western Texas JC We should see this guy manning centerfield at the Cell shortly!

Isn't the draft going on today as well? Does it start later today for some reason?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2012 -> 10:53 PM) Padres will surely turn around and trade Quentin at the deadline if he stays healthy. Good for Carlos, always enjoyed watching him play. Can he play 3rd base? Count me in. THE Carlos Quentin returns.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 6, 2012 -> 12:31 AM) But the scariest, and most telling numbers of all, are in the fielding. These numbers don’t lie. Before the season started, some argued that the Tigers couldn’t expect to win anything as long as they couldn’t catch and throw. The counter to that was that the starting rotatition and the starting lineup were so strong that they could overcome that deficiency. Right now, the Tigers are not good enough to overcome that fielding. There’s no stat that I’m aware of that tells you how many extra outs a defensive team gives its opponent. But watching the Tigers closely, it’s easy to assume that they’re giving the other teams three or four extra outs a game. And these just aren’t errors like the two committed by Omir Santos the other night in the lone win over the Yankees. The Tigers have committed the 11th most errors in baseball (37). But beyond those, the Tigers aren’t making the good plays. Beyond that, at times the Tigers lack the range to make even the most basic plays. In a loss to the Red Sox last week, the major story coming out of the game was the blown call on what should have been strike three to Mike Aviles in the second inning. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that the Tigers committed zero errors on the afternoon. Good game, right? But Prince Fielder missed two balls and Miguel Cabrera bobbled another that didn’t go down as errors but were clear miscues by both players. Those two are the biggest offenders, but players like Delmon Young, Brennan Boesch and even Jhonny Peralta lack the range that turn hits into outs. Good teams can overcome some of those plays. Struggling teams just struggle more. And perhaps the truest number of all is this: The Tigers have turned only 34 double plays this season, worst in the American League and better than only the Padres in all of baseball. When a team successfully records one out in a double play, the error doesn’t get recorded as such even if a player makes a miscue. But more than that, a double play is often the result of quickness and accuracy. And this infield defense is neither quick nor accurate. So instead of cutting down the number of outs that a struggling pitching staff needs to record, the Tigers are extending that number — to the detriment of the entire team. I was one of those who dismissed the fielding woes as a minor hiccup during spring training. And when Cabrera started the year playing a relatively strong third base, optimism soared. But this is a flawed way to play baseball. And when only three or four hitters are hitting and only one or two pitchers are throwing well, it becomes impossible to overcome. A lot of people are figuring that the Tigers will come around because the hitting will come around. The scary thing is that the hitting is actually performing pretty well, at least statistically. Will the pitching come around? Perhaps. Will the fielding come around? Nope. This is this way it is. And it’s proving to be the fatal flaw in this baseball team. http://www.freep.com/article/20120605/SPOR...ers-worst-enemy This is why I can not see Tigers as anything more than a slightly above average team when they're hitting well, which they seem to be. The division is ours for the taking! Let' just do it.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 29, 2012 -> 02:04 PM) For sure the Cubs. That team is just bad. I'm assuming a Rizzo call up in June which could help them, but they are definately rebuilding. Dempster will probably and should be traded to a contender. I believe I heard that Rizzo won't be called up until the end of July, that's when they get the extra year of arbitration out of him.