BearSox

I know JPN goes to a lot of Barons games, so I am hoping he could add some insight.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 08:11 PM) Danks is not a first or second round talent and is extremely overrated. Danks over Beckham? Wow...that might have been the dumbest post you have made. Danks is a first or second round talent. He possess all the tools but his bat hasn't developed as much as his other tools yet. And like I said, I want both. But I think it would suck more if we don't get Danks signed because we get nothing if he goes back. If Gordon goes back, we still get the 8th pick next year.

I think we all can agree that Logan needs to be sent down. However there has been much debate as to who we should call up to replace. Some people said Poreda (even I), but it seems like the org. is in no hurry to rush him. I was looking at other possible replacements, and the best one that I found is Joseph Torres. And after doing some research, Torres has a very interesting past. It turns out he is a former 10th overall pick by the Angels out of high school (still only 25, going on 26) and got a big 2.08 million signing bonus. He did great in rookie ball in his first two years, and was named as the Angels top prospect by Baseball America in 2001. However it went all downhill for him after 01. In 02 and 03 he had decent numbers but was plagued with injuries and a loss of velocity, and as a result he was hit hard and his K numbers dropped. Plus, it didn't help that he had trouble throwing strikes. In 04 he finally (originally tried rehabilitation) had TJ surgery and was out for over the year. When he returned with the Angels in 05 he was terrible, and could hardly find the strike zone to go along with weak K numbers. 06 wasn't any different for him. After 06, the Angels let him go and we picked him up. For us, Torres did pretty good as a reliever in 07, eventually finding his way to Birmingham. His K numbers went up, and while he still had trouble with control, he didn't walk as many batter. So far this season he has a been a dominant reliever for the Barons, and even made the AA all-star, IIRC. He has over a K per inning (49 K's in 43.2 innings) and opponents are hitting only .152 against him. He also only allowed 1 HR this season as well. The biggest negative I can find though is that his BB numbers are still a bit high, walking rougly .6 batters an inning. Here are his career highlights according to MILB.com (they stop after 06): Here a couple useful links: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=445229 http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/T/Joe-Torres.shtml http://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.htm?id=6707 Anyone else know anything else about him? Anyone have any thoughts about him?

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 09:13 PM) Seriously... nah, just an overreaction. I just hate losing to the Cubs of the American League.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 07:49 PM) Does he have a change-up and/or a breaking ball? Well, the org. has been having him work on developing his secondary stuff, but I have no idea what it's like.

I wouldn't mind seeing Wise go down after he completely blew the bunt with runners on 1st and 2nd earlier today.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 07:45 PM) How hard does Poreda throw? His ERA is around 3.4 in AA- why not bring up Torres from AA who's ERA is 2.7? Also a LHP, BTW. upper 90's with good sinking movement is what I have heard.

is that 4 or 5 DP's on the night? Pitiful offensive performance tonight, we blew several opportunities.

is that 4 or 5 DP's on the night? Pitiful offensive performance tonight, we blew several opportunities.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 08:34 PM) So, anyone else worried they'll click on soxtalk and there will be a post saying the Sox traded Fields for Paul Byrd? There isn't a chance in hell Fields would clear waivers. The only way a trade of Fields would work is if it is PTBNL deal.

If it were up to me, I'd send Logan down, call up MacDougal and Poreda, and make Carrasco the 5th starter. Poreda would act take Logan's role as well as being a long man. MacDougal would take Wasserman's role.

I personally would have let Carrasco pitch the 7th... but that's just me.

Hopefully Logan will join Wasserman shortly... I think the odds of us seeing Poreda in a bullpen role are becoming more and more likely.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 07:44 PM) Problem is though, Contreras is on the books for $10-plus million, so adding another high priced pitcher with two already at over $10 million is probably not gonna happen. My best guess is that the Sox try to make another Floyd type move. Contreras' salary will be off the books after 09 though, so basically we'd just be eating his 10 million for one year (and if there is insurance, we might only have to lose 4-5 million). Plus, I don't really see us going after any other big name free agents except the O-Dog (but I think the odds of him not staying with Arizona are slim). So, we have around 18-20 million likely coming off the books with Cabrera, Crede, and Uribe (and possibly Toby if we buyout his contract). The gives us enough to make one big signing like Garland, and couple minor signings.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 07:42 PM) For all those clamoring for DJ Carrasco as a stater, make sure to pay some heed to his numbers last year in AAA... I know, I know, he's pitching well now at the major league level...so maybe they will go with him...but with a very short leash, shorter than Richard had. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/D.J.-Carrasco.shtml I'd rather look at his stats from 05 when he was a starter for KC.

Due to the fact now that Contreras will likely not be back for a while, and we only have 4 starters set in stone for next season, I think the possibility of us going and signing a pitcher have increased by a lot. And the most likely candidate I see us going after is Garland.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 05:18 PM) He doesn't seem to believe in his breaking pitches anymore. For Erhen to be successful, he has to use that sinking fastball inside, AND the breaking ball outside, to righties. He then needs to put fastballs and breakers on the hands of lefties, and throw in a change up. Without the breaking pitch, he really just has the fastball, and the throw-in occasional 3/4 arm pitch. That's not enough for him. I'm hoping he's just over-throwing the breaker, or maybe he just has something mechanical going on with it. If that's the case, he'll figure it out and get back to being the guy who was up in 2007. If on the other hand, he just can't throw that breaking pitch consistently anymore, then he's destined to be a AAAA pitcher at best. Actually, he needs to not face lefties, at all.

That blows for Jose, and the worst part is even if he does ever come back from this injury, he probably will never be the same because injuries like this have a tendency to completely mess up a pitchers mechanics. That is terrible news for him, and I wish him the best. Maybe if everything goes as planned, we could see him next season around the all-star break trying to make a comeback. I wouldn't mind seeing DJ Carrasco as the 5th starter if he can keep pitching like he has. He is a starter by trait. If not, I say we go with Broadway. But if we go the route with DJ as the starter, I would personally not mind seeing MacDougal getting one more chance.

Am I in the minority when I want Danks signed more so than Beckham? I mean I want both signed, but if we get Danks signed, we get a 1-2 round talent in the 7th round. But if he doesn't sign, we get nothing. However, if Gordon doesn't sign, we still get the 8th pick next year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 12:07 PM) I read something in a Philadelphia paper of all places that Joey Cora is going to get a lot of consideration for the Seattle job after the season. One can only hope that he gets that job...

QUOTE (danman31 @ Aug 9, 2008 -> 01:28 AM) Rookie ball being tougher than college competition is questionable. Not to mention the hitters are using wood bats instead of metal. Yeah, maybe if you play in a division with very tough competition, but this is Old Dominion. Just skimming through their schedule, they didn't really face any baseball power houses.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2008 -> 09:02 PM) Tell that to Wood, Prior, Hudson, Zito and Mulder. If Dotel can't hold a 4-0 lead, then we don't deserve to win. Simple. He gave Buehrle a chance to start the 8th and get Varitek. You put their worst hitter on base twice in the game...it's hard to argue with that decision, with 110 pitches already. Wood throws across his body, and whenever someone throws accross their body as hard as he does, injuries are inevitable. Prior's injuries are a combination of bad luck and him getting off the juice, IMO, as his injuries haven't been one specific spot. Zito and Mulder faded away, but what can you expect, that happens to some pitchers.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2008 -> 09:01 PM) You want Thornton to face a right-handed Youkilis? Well...obviously Carrasco doesn't belong anywhere but in mop-up or before the 7th inning. But I don't trust Thornton there either, not against a RH batter. BS! Thornton is much more then a LOOGY and doesn't fit the description of a LOOGY at all. This is like saying Billy Wagner should have only closed games if lefty batters were up.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2008 -> 08:58 PM) Well, a 4-0 lead, you shouldn't assume that you should treat your starter like Leyland leaving his franchise ace Verlander out there for 130 pitches. Next, Ozzie will be second-guessed for not bringing Jenks in here, instead using Carrasco in a position he's not too familiar with. lol, what a bogus statement. I said it before, and I'll say it again, pitch count is the biggest load of garbage used to determine if the pitcher is over-used or tired.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2008 -> 07:54 PM) So why did they pull Buehrle? Oh you know, because he threw 110 pitches he couldn't go anymore...