caulfield12

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 07:45 PM) How so? What big dogs have the Astros signed over the last 5+ years of their rebuild? Gurriel, Reddick, Gattis, Beltran...Carlos Gomez, Gregerson and Verlander. Mostly high quality B tier guys. Gurriel and Verlander the two outliers. Lots of veterans to mix with the youth. If you look at this list, or 2004-05 with the Sox, you’d think anyone under 30 wouldn’t fit on a contender, lol. And yet I just saw someone write Moustakas was past his prime at age 29. That list, and what the Sox did with almost all vets other than Jenks, or the Royals adding James Shields, the Cubs adding Ben Zobrist/Lester/Lackey/Ross...each situation argues logically for the youth/veteran mix approach.

CNN Town Hall Chadwick Boseman vs. Michael B. Jordan, done in character.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 04:38 PM) Just shows how laughable their armed teachers solution is. If cops are hesitant, what the hell is some old fart with no experience going to do? Only the best trained, motivated and certified will do. Top 10-20%. Ex military/police backgrounds, etc. Coaches, “deans,” administrators. Trump will even give them a little bonus, but probably not $250 or $500 per teacher coming out of his Indian real estate proceeds. How dare you': CNN's Camerota clashes with NRA's Loesch over her claim that media 'love' mass shootings https://www.yahoo.com/news/dare-cnns-camero...-151738545.html When did any news network argue that the NRA were child murderers? Fake news! I have no problem with people who own guns legally, but let's be clear: the guns that plague cities from Chicago to Philadelphia flood in from states with loose gun laws, such as Arizona, Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Kentucky. In many cases, these firearms are bought at gun shows, transported over state lines and sold via straw purchases to criminals. These guns cause havoc in communities of color, which Loesch doesn't know a damn thing about. Does the NRA believe gang members in crime-ridden cities are manufacturing guns in the basement? Via gun shows and astounding access to weaponry, the NRA and gun owners profit from this awful trade, even as gun victims die in cities like Chicago. In addition, where was the NRA when Philando Castile, who had a license to carry, was shot dead by a police officer? https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/opinions/wha...cane/index.html

Lol at the Matt Stairs comp for Burger. Well, that would be a pretty successful career offensively. Connor Walsh in...should be Vieira next.

Jake Peter for the Dodgers, haha...Trayce has been beating us up. Burger k’s on sidearm outside slider...Tilson weakly popped to short LCF, nice play by SS.

Apparently Tyler Danish was in a pretty major automobile accident this offseason... Jimenez enters as pr for Abreu. No Rich King, he’s not a baserunning threat. Moncada k’s against Mr. Ambidextrous. Cordell’s rolls over on a pitch and hits weak forceout to 3b to end bases loaded threat. 10-5 still. Burger in at 3rd. Jimenez in RF. Tilson in CF. Leury at second. Jacob May in LF. Clark not looking particularly impressive, either. All four White Sox pitchers have surrendered runs. Tilson still not injured, yet.

Apparently Avi has the defensive play of the game back up against the fence. His last throw to the plate wasn’t so hot. Rich King? Poor Melton...Clark gets out of the inning, misidentified as still Ynoa by Langer.

Cordell doesn’t have much of an arm. Goodbye, Ynoa.

Jimenez and Robert are expected to play in the game today, fwiw. Listed as Mlb.com (White Sox tv), WGN radio, SportsNet LA Chisox.com broadcast? According to my At Bat app, Dodgers’ feed is the only tv. Wilmer Font for LA.

Bright Trump CPAC idea of the day... Because all teachers love their students and all students love their teachers, they will be much more effective shooters than an SRO cowering outside with no connection to those students. (Obviously doesn’t know most public schools well.) Love will help handguns outduel automatic weapons. Problem solved. More handgun sales and trainings for the NRA.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 09:42 AM) Ok but I'm talking about drafted arms. Sure, but we need to utilize ALL avenues. The Red Sox and Cards have succeeded with a plethora of Japanese and Koreans...when’s the last time we did/tried that...Iguchi and Takatsu.

Ivanka Trump arrives at Olympics. So does a senator (Idaho/Risch) warning of 'biblical' destruction of North Korea. https://sports.yahoo.com/ivanka-trump-arriv...-094724382.html What garnered less attention from the gathered press was the identity of the man immediately to her left as she thanked Korea for the warm welcome. His face isn’t recognizable. But his words just a few days ago at the Munich Security Conference are pretty … notable … or alarming … or whatever word you choose to use. “If [a nuclear conflict with North Korea] starts, it’s going to be probably one of the one of the worst catastrophic events in the history of our civilization,” said Jim Risch, a Republican senator from Idaho. “It is going to be very, very brief. The end of it is going to see mass casualties the likes of which the planet has never seen. It will be of biblical proportions.” Interestingly, Danny Tarkanian, Jerry’s son...is now hammering Dean Heller in the NV GOP primary for close ties to “Democrat” Ivanka.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 09:23 AM) It's one of the reasons why the bullpen strategy is interesting though. Some articles have noted either Haber or Fabian talking about how with bullpens being so valuable, draft relief arms might be an inefficiency to exploit. And we don't really count up our bullpen prospects because it seems so risk-filled and we have less info on them. But there is a conscious collection of guys such as Burdi, Hamilton, Veiera, Burr, Henzman, T. Johnson that all have interesting arms, as well as the likelihood of some failed starters maybe being dynamite in relief. It's a bit counting your chickens before they hatch, but sox specifically tried to make the above happen so it's interesting to see if it either works in the majors or provides them with trade chips. Royals finding market inefficiency in low-risk reclamations https://sports.yahoo.com/news/royals-findin...23694--mlb.html Similar concept...Chris Young, Blanton, Madson, Medlen (didn’t work out) etc. We have/had Kahnle (sold low?), Swarzak, Jennings, (Crain going further back) and now a TON of reclamation guys along with 10-12 legit young prospects (including Burdi/Cease/Lopez/Fulmer.) But that original KC pen was an absolute monster...Herrera, Hochevar, Collins, W.Davis and Holland. And the Twins actually did the same thing, two distinct cycles, from 2002-2010.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 09:04 AM) The difference is that Matt Kemp's money only covers two years and would purchase a sub-market asset with 6 years of control. It would be spending money now to save money in the future. Then create a realistic option/opt after 2 or 3 years that’s acceptable to both sides, keeping him off the 2018/19 market. He would only be 31-32 then, so not precluding one big shot at a final lifetime deal of 4-5 years...

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:37 AM) I think one of the under-posted arguments to NOT settling for a guy like Moustakas is in the bolded of your post above. A bunch of these guys ARE going to flame out. More than likely, when we find ourselves on the fringes of contention, we will have a couple big holes to fill, and the math that you just described may very well apply. It may make a ton of sense to fill those holes with "just solid" players if we already have superstars elsewhere. The problem with doing that NOW is that we don't know which guys are going to be the busts and thus which spots we need to fill, so we'd be forced to guess. The flexibility of holding our money back until we can spend it in the most optimal way has value. This is a couple of years out of date...at that point we were 12th in MLB. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/estimated-t...l-30-mlb-teams/ We keep talking about low ratings (see Astros 2012-14), but we share significant revenues due to the Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks...so we need to do whatever is possible between now and mid 2019 to push that $50 million up to $100 million. These new deals have all been 20+ years, so it’s the single most critical factor for long term franchise stability/viability. Mariners, no playoffs, $2 billion, 20 years (signed Cano, Cruz, Hernandez extension) Rangers, $1.6 billion, 20 years Phillies, 25-year deal and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported it is worth more than $2.5 billion, with the Phillies also acquiring an equity stake in the network, plus receiving advertising revenue. The Mariners New TV Deal Gives Added Flexibility, But Will They Use It? The Mariners get a new lucrative TV deal before the bubble bursts. The question is, with no stadium/corporate franchise debt, how will they use it? https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2013/4/19/42...ctv-maury-brown

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:26 AM) The Astros have Springer, Correa, Altuve as stars. Probably Bregman too. Cubs have Rizzo, Bryant and Contreras. Will the Sox have 3 or 4 young players at that level in 2 years? I doubt it. I think they'll have a number at the Happ level, however. Which is why I want them to stockpile the pitching. Astros and Cubs were light on pitching - Sox can get their championship via a different route....closer to the Royals: solid across the board, with top shelf pitching. The best 3 eras of the Sox in my life had starting pitching as the greatest strength: 83, 93 and 05. Yea, meant Gurriel. I was thinking of Rusney Castillo I guess The Royals’ blueprint was 1) Bullpen 2) Defense 3) Speed/aggressiveness 4) Contact hitters...moving the line 5) Just enough starting pitching I worry about the defense and bullpen (raw pieces are there, along with one FA signing)...and obviously making more contact offensively. The advantage SHOULD be starting pitching and power hitting. At that time (2014-16), speed/defense/bullpen was completely undervalued. No longer the case, to exploit those market inefficiencies, just like the Pirates did with pitch framing and relying on infield defense and sinkerball pitchers.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:11 AM) I dont know if a 400 dollar payment to a mother from an agent is going to sink him. But another sexual assault allegation last week ups the pressure again...plus Bridges and Jackson will both go pro.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:11 AM) There are a heck of a lot of guys who project to things they never become. I hope all the White Sox prospects reach to their projections and above, but it's not realistic to not think at least half of these guys are going to face plant. If they don't, it's gravy, but right now Eloy, Moncada, Hansen, Kopech, Robert, are all future 9 figure contract guys. Hopefully, 2 are. Or...really really stretching (Garcia repeats his 4-5 WAR 2017) Avi Garcia Micker Adolfo (raw talent-wise) Collins becomes an All-Star catcher Anderson averages 3-4 WAR and hits FA while still quite young Carlos Rodon Out of those ten...how many will ever sign a $100+ deal?

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:08 AM) Pretty much a guarantee we are talking less then a handful I can't remember another guy other then Stras. Currently, five teams (the Blue Jays, A's, Braves, Reds and Giants) don't have a single player represented by Boras on their Major League roster. Ten other teams only have one. The Blue Jays, in fact, have been so stringent with their free-agent hauls that Boras publicly questioned their club policy against signing players to anything more than a five-year deal. Interesting...the Nationals have SEVEN. http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/10697...c-nationals-mlb

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 08:42 PM) Bernie now trying to undercut the Mueller probe, after voting against Russia sanctions... Hm... who else agrees with both of those positions? This whole article is - honestly - insane. Definitely worth the read. Especially if you're in the Bernie camp. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/b...rference-420528 Sanders is losing influence...because all the focus is on Biden and even Oprah. Biden would be hard for the progressive side to top. But two establishment figures risk fracturing the party unless they finally compromise and at least go with one for VP. It would be Biden/Harris or Booker, but lots will change. I do feel it needs to be a younger pairing for a candidate nearing 80.

So many moving pieces...Rutherford, Collins/Zavala, Cease, Burdi, Burger, Adolfo, Dunning...need to not flame out, or at least hit expectations. With the Cubs, it is now an incredible young catcher, Happ and Hendricks offsetting Soler, Schwarber and Zobrist/Heyward (obviously, the last two contributed something in 2016). But even the Cubs are playing with fire on the bullpen side of the equation, as well as the health of Lester/Darvish. We all know that only Buehrle and Garland came out of that incredible BA #1 1999-2000 pitching group...and that the real keys were nearly perfect trades for Garcia and Contreras to put them over the top.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 07:17 AM) Moustakas is a hole-plugger. A good hole-plugger, but he's not a cornerstone player. The problem is, we don't know where the holes will be in a year or 2. We can assume it won't be corner OF or 2B. We have a good amount of pitching in the pipeline. But after that? We have 2 catchers in the org, both of whom are a long way away. We don't have much in CF. I thought L. Garcia showed promise, but even if he fully develops, what exactly do we have? An average CF or slightly above. And the Sox have a couple of others at about that level. Anderson should improve at SS - but if he does, we're probably looking at Alexei. Not exactly a Correa. So, really, even if some of the guys develop, they will be slightly above average players....we already have our Moustakas'. Sure one non-heralded prospect could really pop - we'll see. But I'm more confident in 2 or 3 of the Delmonico's/Leurys popping into rosterable players, not stars. The Astros went into last year with overt weak-spots at 1B, LF and starting pitching. It would have also been RF, but they signed Reddick. So what happened? 33 year old Castillo has a great year. Marwin Gonzalez, barely a .700 OPS hitter over several years, balloons to .900 OPS. Marisnick, who couldn't hit .700 OPS, exceeds .800 OPS as a 4th outfielder. 33 year old Charlie Morton has a career year and they trade for Verlander. Career years are common in WS winners. But regardless, the Astros were solid at most positions. Then filled their holes. Castillo? The real question is how much does having a playoff-competitive team for most of the 2019 season leverage the broadcasting rights deal to allow the Sox to absorb a megacontract? What comes first, the chicken or the egg? How much would signing Harper or Machado push up their media deals? Or do JR and son prefer to wait...deciding how much to allocate depending on how much rights increase? (Also taking into consideration the $50 million from BAM Tech merger.) The old saying, you have to spend money to make money...is our philosophy to have three players like Robert/Avi/Abreu for roughly the price of one Donaldson in total contract dollars, to “spread the risk” so to speak? To sign three to five youngsters like Robert/Adolfo or one megacontract? 2019...in that scenario, for the White Sox, is 2013 for the Royals and 2015 for the Cubs/Astros, with everything pushed ahead of schedule by at least half a season. How hard will that timetable be to resist for a franchise hitting ten years without a playoff appearance? What happens if Jimenez, Moncada, Kopech and Robert fail to meet expectations or get hurt in 2018/19 (see Rodon) and that team disappoints? That’s the worst-case scenario, certainly, with Balta’s bright predictions being the opposite.

2020 Chicago White Sox $35 million Machado/Arenado 3B $4 million Tim Anderson SS Yoan Moncada 2B $21 million Jose Abreu 1B Burger DH Jimenez/Robert/??? ($13-15 million Avi Garcia) Collins C $15 million Elite closer Rodon Kopech Giolito Hansen Dunning/López That puts you at $75 million for just four players. (Obvious hope is to develop our own closer, not need to add a veteran starter...quite a few will argue against keeping Abreu at that point for that price. I suppose that you could argue for $70 million and extend Avi Garcia instead.)

The Atlantic Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Wayne LaPierre’s Cynical Exploitation of Outrage The NRA executive vice president’s pugnacious speech on Thursday provoked an indignant response—exactly as he’d aimed to do. But more often, post-shooting discussions have reverted to stalemate, and as LaPierre knows, stalemate favors the NRA. Existing gun laws are relatively loose, and all the NRA needs to win is to prevent immediate action, or else limit regulation to tinkering around the margins. LaPierre’s claims will upset and alienate many Americans, but from the NRA’s standpoint, that’s the point. When LaPierre says wild things, the mainstream media covers them; when the mainstream media covers them, it gins up NRA supporters, who renew memberships, send new money, or rededicate themselves to lobbying their representatives. It doesn’t matter that most people will be angry at what LaPierre says. After all, poll after poll after poll has shown majority support for a range of gun-control measures, but the NRA has learned to achieve its goals with a small but staunch base. This kind of base-oriented strategy is reminiscent of Trump’s approach to politics. It’s probably not a coincidence that LaPierre, echoing Trump, attacked “the unbelievable failure of the FBI” Thursday morning. Trump also tweeted supportively before LaPierre’s speech: “What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing.” The danger for Trump is that it’s hard to be reelected with a small, embattled base and massive disapproval. Not so for the NRA, which functions quite effectively that way. Even for LaPierre, there is a risk in his strategy of provocation. Someday he may go too far and incur a backlash even from his supporters. Perhaps this is that day, though there’s no particular reason to believe that at this point. The thing to remember is that outlandish statements at venues like CPAC aren’t an unforced error or a lapse in judgment. They are a carefully calibrated, and thus far highly successful, strategic choice. He also falsely warned seniors this week that seeking assistance with tax filing would get them put on a national “mental impairment” list that would allow “the Feds” to take their guns away...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 09:51 PM) Trump just ran with a debunked conspiracy theory about the town hall last night. He’s that dumb CNN was right to do what they did. Too many scripted speeches from students and parents, all competing to go viral or create gotcha moments against Rubio or the NRA. That Alyadheff woman went on for maybe five minutes, and must have asked 10-12 questions at one time. Then she screamed at the end, because shouting at Trump got her so much attention the first time she was interviewed in the days afterward. It had nothing to do with a conspiracy (see Clinton/Brazile)...a Republican, Trump voting teacher who shielded 65 kids in her room argued strongly against arming teachers. The exact same point was covered in a more effective way that the student (interviewed by Tucker Carlson) wanted to bring up. The end.