caulfield12

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:54 PM) If you never looked at the statistics and only read this site you'd think Collins had a .500 OPS It's like Braves' fans from 1990 to mid 00's... So much expectation anything out of the norm sticks out like a sore thumb. Perceptions have shifted tremendously in a matter of mere months. Red Sox fans will probably be ready to cut or trade Devers after his debut tonight.

Yeah, they needed more sophisticated/historical explanations for those unfamiliar with the situations....especially THE MOLE. Just a "profile" or diagram from the side showing the channel/lane and the width would have helped a ton. VALERIAN was actually a lot better than I expected...at least in 3D IMAX/DBOX. It's not Avatar in terms of visuals, but it's impressive...

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:33 PM) No it isn't. Think about it this way. You say, Yo, Anthony, how about we allow you to close for us for the remainder of the year. We are also going to offer you a 1/$5 million contract for next year. Maybe he takes it. Maybe he continues to pitch this way. To me, it's a gamble worth taking. I mean, we will sign some relievers in the offseason. Not saying we can't sign Swarzak if we trade him, but you might be able to get him on the cheap if you do it now. But instead, we now have another 4th OFer. YAY! We're undoubtedly better off hoping to unearth more Kahnle's with at least 3 years of team control remaining...I get your point though, there's a ton of contending teams willing to give $15-30 million contracts (look at Zach Duke, for God's sake) for 7th and 8th inning guys now. Even more for "elite" ones. Heck, the Royals gave Soria four years and almost $25 million, despite his age, wear and tear, and with all the injuries/surgeries he's had. (Teams like the Indians and Cubs, even, are blowing 7-8 run leads in the heat of pennant races, too).

OTOH, there's only so much you can do. Phegley had defensive question marks from the moment he was drafted. Flowers, however, after the AFL with the Braves, came over as a potential big-time hitter with lots of defensive question marks surrounding him.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:28 PM) Well that, and the fact that they've traded away like 20 WAR worth of players for minor leaguers in the last 8 months. We pretty much decided two divisions (Sale and Q), and probably the Yankees at least securing a wild card. Not bad!!!

Well, at least nobody but Steverson can be blamed if/when he doesn't hit...so there's that.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:25 PM) Fair point. Like I said, I should probably see Cordell a bit before spazzing out but I just see no need for him. We have 25 other guys with 4th OFer potential like this already. That's why we f***ing suck.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 03:57 PM) It's terrible if you deliver it terribly, and fantastic if you deliver it well. Chuck delivered it damn well yesterday. Schumer is the last senator in the world to be carrying the party message forward. To most Dems, he's Mr. Wall Street. And old/er. Hillary went through 10-20 rebrandings. You have to have charisma and a personality...as someone mentioned earlier, delivery. See Obama/Clinton/Mario Cuomo/Jesse Jackson...people have to believe in the words you're saying, feel invested in your message. Everything else is just a top PR person's bullet points that sound great in a pitch meeting, but fall flat in the living rooms of real life voters in the Rust Belt.

Why connect back to FDR? Heck, teenagers today don't even know JFK and RFK... Need to be more forward-thinking/progressive and find some truly innovative ideas rather than triangulating to the middle of the Democratic Party in an attempt not to offend anyone.

How is it POSSIBLE to know what other returns were out there for Swarzak, hack the Astros' system again...?

Are there any "catching whisperers/gurus" out there, like Rudy Jaramillo or Leo Mazzone for pitching/hitting....Rusty Kuntz for baserunning/fielding? What are all the retired Molina's doing?

Looks like Swarzak won't be needed tonight by the Brewers, 7-0 over Nats in the late innings. Our two best closing options now are Jennings and Clippard. YIKES. On the plus side, he's a career minor league OPS guy of 800+, and can supposedly defend. We don't have many of those profiles in our system. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...itting/2017/ALL

Delmonico, Liriano, Willy Garcia, Hanson....can all battle it out with this kid. And Tilson, if he ever shows up. Throw Engel and Leury in there somewhere as well.

For KC...it's big (no meat or BBQ allusions, por favor!) Let's just call it, under the radar.

Last year, he was throwing 95-98 routinely in the second half of games. He's always going to struggle unless he can improve his fastball control (see Giolito) and learn to get ahead of hitters. His fastball is one of the straightest...obviously the slider's one of the best in the league, but it's going to come down to limiting walks and being able to pitch ahead more and no suffer from elevated pitch counts. Like Sale, he would often start the early innings of a game (last season, at least) in cruise control (91-93 mph FB) and get beat up quite a bit until the later innings. Then he'd invariably run into pitch count issues later on. The question is how long they eventually wait to trade him...obviously they will wait until he's had a dominant run as a starter, whether it's 2018, 19 or whatever. Just have to be patient, like all elements of the rebuild. We're all frustrated with Rodon (not his fault, particularly...with injury), Anderson, Fulmer and Collins. Those were supposed to be four key building blocks who suddenly look much iffier.

One big factor is what Mr. McConnell plans to do after the procedural vote. For example, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is an expected “no” vote if after clearing the procedural hurdle, the Senate turns to a bill by Mr. McConnell to repeal and replace the health law. Mr. Paul detests that bill. On the other hand, Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska indicated last week that they would not vote to proceed if Mr. McConnell afterward scheduled a vote on a bill to repeal the health law without providing a replacement. In addition, a number of other Republican senators have expressed varying qualms, with varying degrees of certitude. They include Mike Lee of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Rob Portman of Ohio and Dean Heller of Nevada. Nytimes.com Vote will be sometime early this afternoon...or voteS. Collins no on basically everything.

Obamacare is hurting these people—and Congress is doing nothing about it https://www.yahoo.com/news/obamacare-hurtin...-190245971.html Centene profit beats on Obamacare strength, higher enrollments http://www.nasdaq.com/article/centene-prof...70725-00479/amp

Sox developed hitters... Semien T. Thompson Flowers (sort of) Tim Anderson? Saladino Yolmer Davidson (sort of) Avi Garcia (sort of)

Yet another example of Latin American guy signed quite cheaply... The Royals spent big in the 2015 international signing period, but Ruiz was one of the bargains they found that year. Signed for $100,000, Ruiz immediately impressed with his ability to make consistent solid contact. Although he has a wiry build, he has the bat speed and strong wrists to generate excellent exit velocities. He projects as an offensive second baseman. He’s a long way away, but his performance this year in the Arizona League has done nothing to cool expectations as he’s second in the AZL with a .419 batting average and leads the league in total bases (67) and triples (6). Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/roya...f0herRr01dFT.99

Packaging depends on financial situation of team taking on Cabrera's contract...the midmarket teams giving up more in prospects if Sox eat salary, especially with Swarzak included in the deal.

Royals are going hard...all in. Why not, 9 of remaining 64 against White Sox. Padres/White Sox 2021-23 World Series/es As far as Preller goes, Profar, Mazara and Odor all having forgettable seasons... Wood has been inconsistent this season, struggling as a starter and at times struggling as a reliever as well. His ERA stands at 6.91, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is an underwhelming 1.45. He is under team control for the next two seasons, and is owed a guaranteed $8 million. Ruiz is an 18-year-old middle infielder from the Dominican Republic who has excelled offensively with a 1.219 OPS in 21 games, albeit for the Arizona Royals, a rookie squad at the bottom rung of the minor league ladder. Strahm is the centerpiece of the deal, and will be most sorely missed by the Royals. Strahm lit up the radar gun as well as scorching batters in his MLB debut last year, excelling as a reliever. Strahm was consistently ranked as one of the top three Royals prospects coming into this season, and has both started and relieved this season. The 25 year-old will miss the rest of the season with a patellar tendon tear. Royalsreview.com

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansa...e163394998.html Interesting...Strahm is out for a year with major injury, fwiw.

AZ. KC just made a trade for bundle of SD pitching...

Don Cooper Herm Schneider Anyone else in the entire organization paid a top quartile salary for MLB? Maybe Hahn, maybe Haber? KW?

QUOTE (Tony @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 08:05 PM) Because this organization is loyal to a fault, and most of our minor league coaching staff are former White Sox. All Sox hitting prospects should sleep with a King-Size MyPillow. Problem solved.