caulfield12

I think it should say "no spot start for CARSON..." So that means either Turner or Ranaudo's starting.

And the Angels are consistently a Top 4-6 payroll team...obviously all the money to Josh Hamilton and Pujols was a mistake, not to mention CJ Wilson, a declining Jered Weaver, they've got ticking time bombs all over that roster. They're a bit reminiscent of the Tigers and Yankees...although DET at least has youngish/close to their prime guys in Castellanos, Iglesias, Moya, Upton and JD Martinez, not to mention a Rookie of the Year candidate in Michael Fulmer, as well as Daniel Norris and Boyd from trades last midseason. They could also trade Victor Martinez, Francisco Rodriguez and Kinsler and get back from real nice pieces should they choose to do so. What trade chips do the Angels have outside of Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons?

So if all the liberals said "Mission Accomplished!" with hundreds of thousands if not millions (counting the Kurds) of dead in the Middle East and essentially nothing changed (if anything, it has actually worsened), would GOPers have considered that appropriate? Wouldn't that be "devaluing" the loss of American soldiers' lives? But he avenged the assassination attempt on Bush, Sr.!!! Yay! Maybe we should just DOUBLE the defense budget, raise everyone's taxes by 25% and declare ISIS an existential threat to the very future existence of mankind and the planet we all share, a greater menace than global warming, greater than Russia and China, greater than even Trump and Pence???

Remember when Nolan Sanburn was mentioned as a long-shot bullpen candidate/future closer when we acquired him from the A's? Not so much.

And, if he actually had the opportunity to face Charlotte's staff, his OPS would 1.000+.

And there we are...where essentially standing pat is losing ground. Because we don't have the farm systems or financial resources of the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, Mariners, Yankees or even the Tigers/Royals if we want to include them as well. Cleveland has the best rotation in baseball and one of the best minor league system and there crowds of 30,000+ now are going to give them some extra money to play around with at the margins (not to mention the pressure to follow up on the Cavs' success). If the goal is to field a "pretty competitive club" EVERY year, but we don't have the pieces or money to make any significant moves at the All-Star break because we're outgunned every time, how is that going to work as a successful strategy, exactly? We need Fulmer for the future...sure, and Burdi might be part of this year's team this season, but we keep on "deferring the dream" (quoting MLK) and eventually it will just disappear into the ether like it never existed at all.

And the whole flipside to Blackmon for Fulmer is that the BEST option for CF next year is going to be overpaying for Carlos Gomez or Colby Rasmus on the FA market. So I'm honestly not sure which is worse...and nobody can predict pitching injuries, but we CAN look at how many teams used XXX number of starters in a single season (like the Dodgers or Mets, etc.)

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 06:04 PM) But Morneau had success before going to Colorado. Yes, obviously. In his prime, he was one of the 5-10 most dangerous hitters in the AL. You have to look at his career in the frame of pre and post-concussion syndrome. I'm not 100% sure we can easily divide his AL/NL success over the last five years into simply being a product of Colorado...as I'm not a trained physical therapist, but I guess we'll find out. If he's not ready, you can point to advanced age/accumulation of injuries AND the fact that Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales (who just ONE year later would go on to win the Silver Slugger as a DH but struggled MIGHTILY in Minny and SEA in 2014) were shadows of their former selves after such long layoffs. Both Drew/Morales are/were younger and had more playing time in the preceding year (2013) compared to Morneau in 2015.

One thing's 100% for sure. If Blackmon is acquired and flops, the whole "here we go again with an NL player struggling in the AL Central" will be heard every time another NL player is mentioned in connection with the Sox. Samardzija LaRoche Dunn Frazier (batting average-wise, let's see how his second half goes this year) Shields (although the jury's still out on that one as well, and he was already sliding with KC in 2014) You could even use the Cueto in KC vs. SF argument here as well...4.67 ERA vs. Cy Young winner out there The TWO players we have plucked out of the NL to do well for us have both been essentially rookie+ players in Eaton/Carlos Quentin, not 5-7 year veterans in that league.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 05:53 PM) He's better than you're giving him credit for. The fact is, very few star Rockies players have kept up their numbers outside of Colorado over time. Matt Holliday is one of the exceptions, but his success has mostly come in the NL with the Cardinals (as compared to the A's). We'll find out soon enough with Morneau (2014 stud in Colorado)...and possibly CarGo/Blackmon on the move (but probably just one of the two). Tulo with the Blue Jays (although he's also getting a bit older and has suffered so many injuries) would be yet another...going all the way back to the days of Larry Walker, Dante Bichette and Andres Big Cat Galarraga.

As Balta pointed out, let's say you do have Blackmon. You have to be better than Boston (already even stronger this week), Toronto (rising and will make a couple of moves at the deadline), Houston (a ton of prospects to trade from, just brought up Bregman for 3B)... KC is going to get back Cain and Wade Davis again...and Seattle's in a position with the LAA out of it as well as the A's that they can make up some ground against those two bottom-feeding teams, not to mention they have a much better farm system and more revenue generation due to their tv contract and strengthening attendance to add to that team. Detroit is expected to stand pat. And you can't count out the Yankees surging and making last minute plays for players instead of deconstructing that roster by selling off Beltran, Chapman and 50% of their veterans. So let's say they do trade Fulmer, and Blackmon actually beats the odds and produces in the AL and on the road at the same clip he's at with the Rockies. In 2017, your rotation is Sale/Q/Rodon/Shields and Gonzalez AGAIN with who as your back-up plan or primary option if anyone goes down to injury? Adams has taken a step back this year. Burdi's likely to be a reliever, although they MIGHT try him as a starter. Hansen still amounts to a project, although one with massive upside. It's probably some combination of Tyler Danish and Jordan Stephens. And whatever "dumpster diving" they can do to end up with guys like Latos and Gonzalez again...but that dumpster diving will be even more expensive with 1/5th the amount of talent on the FA market available this offseason. Unless Rodon pitches like a Cy Young candidate/demon....there's arguably more room for regression from Shields (based on his last 3-4 tightrope starts) and Gonzalez than there is upside out of Sale/Q to balance that out.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 02:50 PM) Give me the kid from TB Keirmeyer (however you spell it). Edit: Kevin Kiermaier Too expensive to acquire...they're going to expect a 3.5-4 WAR equivalent, even though he's been injured this year and hasn't quite been up to his usual standards. More likely they'll trade Odorizzi and wait to be bowled away by any Longoria offers...as well as some of their bullpen pieces. Moore, Smyly and Archer all are "sell lows" which they probably have to avoid trading at the July deadline.

Most expensive to acquire but biggest impacts Blackmon, Brett Gardner, Inciarte, Billy Hamilton...can probably add Reddick for RF, Eaton back to CF to that list, along with Bruce and Beltran as well here As far as Hamilton goes, Brennaman and Jeff Brantley were trying to sell him as the "most exciting player in baseball" and as having taken a step forward this year, so not sure he's going to be as cheap as many are hoping Somewhat intriguing / more likely Melvin Upton, Peter Bourjos (expiring deal, won't get QO), Michael Taylor, Rusney Castillo (depends on how much Red Sox are willing to eat and how the White Sox value him and at which OF position...also uncertain if DD would trade him to an AL contender but essentially he's Cherington's cross to bear, so maybe) Not surprised entirely by... Alejandro DeAza (lol), Chase D'Arnaud (Braves), Jon Jay (injured right now, Sox should know Padres well by now after Shields trade), Nori Aoki (demoted in Seattle but they might not want to help the White Sox as one of their WC competitors), Coco Crisp, Jake Marisnick (see Aoki)

So your argument is ESPN is deliberately being obtuse by NOT using that version of WAR? When they're making inroads on e-sports/League of Legends, MMA, X-Games, lots of areas of sporting endeavor that didn't even exist 20 years ago? Why would that be in their best interest, to use a fundamentally-flawed statistic if a CLEARLY SUPERIOR one is available?

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 07:41 AM) It doesn't matter. If a guy puts up 1 WAR in 10 games and then plays at replacement level the rest of the year he still puts up 1 WAR for the season. We're 85+ games into the season and there are 87 MLB outfielders that have put up a higher WAR than Puig. Somehow you want to rank Puig higher because it took him more at bats to be as productive as somebody who only plays part time? There is no justification that you can give that will say Puig has been a good player this year. And yet you want to give up resources for a basically replacement level player who is owed another $20 million over the next couple years and is a head case? And your ESPN comment is one of the funnier things I've ever read on here. If that proprietary statistical information is so valuable, then why wouldn't ESPN or another sports information outlet like The Sporting News simply buy it and make it their own? Defense has evolved from Total Chances to Range Factor/UZR to Defensive Runs Saved...but each have their pluses and minuses. But to say DRS is the be-all and end-all is like saying Pythagorean is the best way to assess a manager's effectiveness or competency. To totally discount another way of counting WAR doesn't make any sense when there's no more than 10-15 people at this entire site that could clearly and concisely tell the different between the two in five minutes or less to a "layman" or average baseball fan. ESPN has improved greatly in terms of delivering statistical information, compared to where they were even 5 or 10 years ago. If you took a poll and asked how many SoxTalk posters utilize FanGraphs at least once a week during the baseball season, or Baseball Prospectus, it's not going to be an extremely high number. Having ESPN's numbers more readily and easily accessible and available to the average fan makes "regular" baseball discussions more well-informed, so I'm not going to completely discount one version of WAR. Everyone is free to keep making the same arguments about which statistic is better, for example, FIP, xFIP, Siera, DIP, pFIP, etc., it's getting to be overwhelming trying to sort through all of it. And it creates more fans who are making authoritative statements who haven't even watched the player in question even play a single game.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 06:58 AM) 1. I think many here will take you more seriously if you start using fWAR instead of rWAR as most consider it superior. 2. Why do you always say things like "that would place him 34th out of 53 in the category (qualified number of AB's)? WAR is essentially a counting stat. A player who has .6 fWAR across 150 PAs is more valuable than a player with .5 across 300. You can't discount him because he doesn't qualify for whatever arbitrary minimum number of PAs you choose. That would be like stripping the guy of a home run crown because he didn't have 500 PAs. 3. Using the superior fWAR and ignoring a minimum number of PAs, Puig has a fWAR of .3 (roughly .5 to .6 over the full year). That ranks him 88th among all outfielders. That is pathetic. Saladino has put up a .2 fWAR is well less than half the number of PAs. If it's that simple, why does ESPN, who is supposed to be the foremost authority on sports news and information...choose not to use it? Why would they deliberately want to be wrong if it's in their best interest to use the best statistics? It wouldn't cost them more money to use a different version of WAR, would it? With the knowledgeable baseball guys over there like Law, Callis, Stark, Schoenfield...what's the reason? Has anyone ever asked that question? And because simply having a higher WAR in a limited number of at-bats doesn't automatically mean it could be extrapolated out over a full season for a bench player. If that was the case, the Reds would take Saladino for Bruce, the Dodgers Saladino for Puig? And yet we know both of those trades are pretty much unrealistic...right? Or even for Beltran to rent him for 2-3 months, or Josh Reddick. There are MANY players who wouldn't stand up over the test of full-time play, but their abilities can be maximized as part-time or bench players. Regardless of what version of WAR you use, it's just ONE snapshot...one of hundreds of statistics you could look at, when assessing a position player. One thing that's clear statistically is that Puig's defense has improved pretty dramatically compared to years past. But hey...if the White Sox want to go down with the Avi Garcia Ship, more power to them. I'd hate to see how he grades out about right now.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/trad...pitchers-4.html Trade market for starting pitchers http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/catc...market-mlb.html Trade market for catchers http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/mets...rade-talks.html Looking at the price tags on some of the relievers the Mets are looking at, it's easy to see the White Sox sitting it out and hoping for help to come from within...

The Dodgers are asking for something that will help their major league team right now...same thing with the Braves listening on offers for Teheran and Vizcaino. That's almost an impossible move to make for the Sox, considering the Dodgers' biggest need is in the pitching area. They'd have zero interest in Avi Garcia or Carlos Sanchez, for example. Not a good match.

http://www.milb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=201...sp&sid=milb Toolshed: Midseason MiLBY Awards Unfortunately, Cleveland was listed as best farm system. Brady Aiken's finally back in action as well.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...tching/2016/ALL This is one of the two pitchers the White Sox gave up (for Lawrie)...the other is JB Wendelken, part of the original package for Jake Peavy (Garcia/Montas/C.Rondon/Wendelken). http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...tching/2016/ALL Wendelken has pretty pedestrian stats in AAA, and apparently was around for a couple of pretty bad relief performances on the big league club before going back down. We're not going to get much back for Lawrie, in other words. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a contender that desperately needs a 2B or 3B. Maybe he would be a bench or platoon guy. Actually, you could make an argument he would be better at 3B for the Indians than Uribe, but that's not a likely trade to occur within the division. So your belief is that Saladino's going to be a better 2B than Lawrie and play so well defensively that a slight falloff in offense from Lawrie's OPS output in 2016 will basically equal out over everyday playing time for Saladino?

Eminor: That's all find and good, but you need to calculate the risks of holding onto those assets too long and not getting anything back for them. The "plan" is built on the thinnest of margins. An injury to Frazier, Anderson, Eaton, Abreu and Cabrera...but especially one of the Big 3 pitchers...leaves the organization fairly crippled. At this point, there's definitely a LOT to be said for trading one of those three pitchers (and likely it would have to be Sale or Q) and using that deal to fortify the offense in 2-3 places that they wouldn't be able to afford doing it via free agency next offseason (not to mention the fact they're not going to turn around and surrender a first round draft pick). What is another practical or realistic way this team can truly be competitive in 2017? Right now, 2017 success is predicated on a BUNCH of things happening, like Fulmer/Burdi/Collins and maybe Hansen moving up at lightning speed to the big league club and producing almost instantaneously (or at least by the second half of the season). Remember when Balta said over and over again they can't afford to break in more than one rookie or so at a time (and it's Tim Anderson now, last year it was Rodon, etc.)??? You're asking for a lot from all those young prospects. In the end, trading Q in the next 9 months and Robertson this trade deadline for a young hitter coming back are the best ways to 1) inject more young hitting talent into the system, and 2) clear some more payroll space that will POSSIBLY allow them to sign ONE of their free agent targets (let's say Wieters/Ramos, but more likely Rasmus/Gomez and perhaps Fowler for CF). Once again, you're left picking and choosing from lots of second and third tier options if you limit yourself to only players who won't cost a 1st round draft pick.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jul 13, 2016 -> 07:46 PM) Struggles with addiction have absolutely nothing to do with being unintelligent. In fact, the same centers of the brain involved in the addictive process prior to relapse are the same exact locations accessed by top level executives in the business world. Try again. http://www.cracked.com/article_19174_5-une...ligence_p5.html It's the Amy Winehouse stereotype...in her own right, maybe not traditional IQ but EQ and song writing/creativity-wise, she was quite brilliant and obviously misunderstood by most.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 13, 2016 -> 07:46 PM) Soxtalk is a no fun zone for sure. And Caulfield, nobody should ever leave their house, just sit on the couch until you play baseball. And even then getting to the stadium is pretty risky. Maybe just pitch and stay in the stadium until your next start, don't want anyone getting hurt. I'm not as concerned with what Lawrie does, it's Sale and Rodon mostly. Quintana seems like the kind of person off the field who would never do anything wrong or get into any trouble, similar to Abreu. And didn't John Danks have a huge problem at his house with people horsing around and someone got hurt? As an MLB player, you're always going to be held to a higher standard. Heck, the White Sox put a clause into his contract that Rowand couldn't drive a motorcycle or go off-roading from what I recall.

There's always a fine line....remember Buehrle and his completely harmless tarp-sliding gag or routine? Eventually that was killed off when you have an asset worth millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in today's game. Common sense should prevail. We've seen the Chris Sale "truck unloading injury" and tons that were even more bizarre in the last 3-5 years.

That's with Everett. To be expected for a collegiate player. When he starts tearing up High A, that's when you can really start to get excited (about him). And if you look at some of the struggles that (for example) Nick Gordon and Daz Cameron have gone through, it's not a wonder many teams pass on the high school talent. Another example, Kyle Tucker's holding his own but not hitting for any power in the Quad Cities...hoping to see him play in person next week.