scenario

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 08:55 AM) Will Greg Walker get any credit for the work he did with Rios if he has a year to match his salary? Are you kidding? Coaches are only recognized for their work when things go wrong. The smartest thing would be to fire Walker now before he has a chance to screw him up again.

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 10:37 PM) Nope I use Firefox and have no problem with videos. Make sure you have all the appropriate plugins... And that if you use a scriptblocker like noscript that you're not blocking tools mlb.com uses for videos.... like Silverlight.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 09:24 PM) Ton of photos from today's Barons/Smokies double-header. Will annotate tomorrow. Outstanding pics!! Looking forward to your comments.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 09:28 PM) I hate winning. Absolutely. And I hate come from behind victories... and walk-off wins even worse.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 07:47 PM) Just curious, what is the ABSOLUTE best possible offensive upside of Morel? Someone like Kouzmanoff or Teahen? Or better? What are some current major leaguers you would make a comparison to...? Really hard to say right now. The defense seems to be there. Does he have the offensive skills to be a serious 'everyday player' type of MLB prospect? Don't know. People weren't sure last year he had the power to be an everyday 3B. But he surprised people. Then the question was whether he could hit for a high enough average... and he lead the AFL in hitting. What type of player is he really? This season should tell us alot.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 07:58 PM) So because it is not customarily done, we should not consider doing it? I agree with doing things a certain way because they make sense. I do not agree with staying with custom sheerly because it has been custom in the past. If the custom is silly, which, when it comes to the closer position in baseball, it certainly is - there is absolutely no logic behind the closer's position in baseball - then you change it in favor of doing the the thing that allows you the best chance to succeed. Interesting theoretical argument. It would be alot more compelling, of course, if Jenks hadn't struck out the final batter on 3 pitches to end the game.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 04:40 PM) Well this is the way I was looking at it Friday night...the Mariners came to town 9-7, probably feeling pretty good about themselves. We were 5-11 and really down in the dumps - hadn't even won a series yet despite a few first game of the series wins to our credit. The Mariners leave town now just a few days later and they're 1 game ahead of us in the standings. Do we all see how quickly things can change now? And when the Mariners rolled into town, they had won 7 of their last 8. While the Sox had lost 6 of their last 8. Funny how quickly things can turn around.

Konerko's 8th... he now lead the major leagues in home runs.

Norfolk @ Charlotte Knights down 4-1 in the 6th Birmingham @ Tennessee (doubleheader) Game 1 Game 2 Wilmington @ Winston-Salem Nathan Jones with another nice start going... Dash up 6-2 in the 6th. West Virginia @ Kannapolis (doubleheader) Game 1 Game 2

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 11:02 AM) It's not a bad offense, it's a TERRIBLE offense. Yeah, if Quentin and AJ continue to hit .150 for the rest of the year... and if Beckham can't hit above .220 on the season... then you're right... it will continue to be a terrible offense. But if guys simply hit their career averages, then this will be a league average offense. Nothing special, but not awful either.

When Rios hit it, Aardsma didn't even turn around to look. He just started walking from the mound to the dugout right after the ball hit the bat. LOL. Love it.

QUOTE (PeavyTime @ Apr 24, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) I'm glad Quentin is DHing tonight. I went yesterday and sat in left behind Andruw. He was visibly upset and swearing when Quentin didn't make the catch on the single to lead off the 7th. It turned out that Lopez wouldn't have had a chance to bat (and hit a grand slam) if Quentin makes that catch. Jones in right for the rest of the season. If you want Quentin to play the field, he can still play left. You make a good point. Now having seen Q in both left and right... if he's going to play the field, they should definitely play him where he'll do the least damage... which suggests moving him back to left. If both Jones and Quentin are playing corners during a game, there is absolutely no good reason to play Quentin at the more challenging defensive position. If I were managing, I'd install Jones as my regular right fielder... and have Quentin DH and occasionally play LF.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 02:55 PM) Brian Anderson is also a plus defensive CF. I say we should bring him back as a pitcher. Coop could fix him.

QUOTE (AJUribe @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 04:29 PM) Should get a standing ovation tomorrow, gotta love a player who pisses off cub fans so much The reason he pissed Cub fans off so much is because he proved to be a self-absorbed pain-in-the-*** clubhouse-killing cancer of a ballplayer. Anybody even thinking about cheering for him should take a hard look in the mirror and then slap themselves.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) Yeah I didn't think that Dash offense would be good enough for them to be an elite Carolina League team this year but they've really surprised me. Charlotte's pitching hasn't been as good as I was expecting either. Still early going though. My exact thoughts. The Dash's offense has been a surprise. And the Knights pitching has been a disappointment so far.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 10:57 AM) Are you kidding me? Pierre's probably his favorite player in all of baseball. Ozzie doesn't care about OBP, and that is why you've seen so many pitchers dominate us with 10 pitchers or fewer in a game. This absolutely is Ozzie's team, and his job should be at stake if this team continues to flop. So... Name the players who are on this team because Ozzie told Kenny to go get them. 1. Pierre? 2. Andruw Jones? 3. .... IMO, this 'Ozzie's team' thing is waaaaaaaay overplayed. Outside of his stated desire for a fast leadoff guy and a rotating DH, the only control Ozzie has over this mess is what names from the existing roster he chooses to play on a certain day.

QUOTE (dmbjeff @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 11:50 AM) I really want to go to the game tonight, but I have no one to go with. Has anyone ever gone by themselves? Is this socially acceptable? Absolutely. When I was in college (in Milwaukee), I used to see the stadium bus go by... I'd check my pocket to make sure I had enough cash... Then spontaneously decide to go (blowing off class usually) and dash to the bus. LOL. Saw lots of games that way. I know alot of other people who did too. So... GO!

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 10:49 PM) Kanny wins in 20, Colligan with the game winning double. Kannapolis' pitching was pretty spectacular last night. The starter, Terry Doyle, went 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hits; had 7 K's and 1 BB. Then 5 relievers combined to throw 13 innings of shutout ball... giving up only 4 hits... striking out 9 and walking only 3. In total... 20 innings... 2 runs on 10 hits... 16 K's and 4 BB's. Pretty good.

2B Andrew Garcia is looking very sharp early in the season for Winston-Salem. The switch hitting Garcia, a 2008 21st round draft pick, is hitting .386 (17-44) after 12 games.

Nathan Jones with another very solid outing... 6 2/3 innings; 1 run on 3 hits; 5K's and 1BB. So far on the season, in 16 1/3 innings, he has 17K's and 4 BB's.

Jon Gilmore goes 3-5 to raise his average to .388 on the season. He has had 2 or more hits in 7 of his last 10 games.

Shelby's last 6 games... 2-4 4-5 1-4 4-8 2-5 2-4 ---- 15 for 30, with 5 doubles and a homerun When you're hot, you're hot.

It's going to be very tough for most teams without big budgets to compete with the Yankees and RedSox. Have the economics of baseball created a chronic problem in the AL East? I have a novel solution... move the Mets and Phillies into the AL East... and the Orioles and Blue Jays to the NL East. Let the budget Titans duke it out in one division. I'm half kidding... but something may eventually have to be done in the AL East if the other teams have no chance of competing year after year.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 12:46 PM) its interesting how Uribe's avg goes up 40pts as soon as he leaves Chicago. I believe it had ALOT to do with him having to scrounge for a job... sign a minor league contract and compete for a utility position just to stick with a team. Amazing how that can cause a player to focus on fundamentals and starting busting his *** again. :0 I think Juan got a little too comfortable with his position on the Sox... and his work ethic and stats suffered as a result. So the change actually did him some good. I'm happy for him. Will always be grateful for his contributions in '05. But I have no regrets for cutting him loose.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 01:41 PM) Charlotte lost 11-0. Nothing but ugly in that game for the Knights. And since Durham is the Rays AAA team, let's hope it's not a foreshadowing of the next few days for the big clubs.