caulfield12

You're right, you are such a great fan...so you're in favor of giving both of them 3 year extensions RIGHT NOW for the great work they've both done so far, yes? And Ventura's HoF plaque is surely on its way, as soon as he leaves the White Sox, that is. PS: Please PM the 38 who don't think the White Sox will make the playoffs and call them out for being "bad fans," that should keep you occupied.

Core Chris Sale - pre arb Jose Quintana - pre arb Addison Reed - pre arb Veterans worth their contract and worth something via trade Jake Peavy Alexei Ramirez Prospects in the top ~200 range Erik Johnson Courtney Hawkins Carlos Sanchez Dayan Viciedo was on quite a few All-Rookie team lists and was a productive player in 2012. I also guess that Trayce Thompson, Marcus Semien, Josh Phegley, Chris Bassitt, Micah Johnson, etc., weren't in the organization at the time. Hector Santiago has mysteriously disappeared as an asset to go along with Addison Reed. Tyler Flowers statistically is better than our current catching combo when defense is factored in, and for a cheaper price. Pitch framing/pitch calling strategies have slipped with Navarro, not to mention throwing out opposing baserunners. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Sox roster now Core Chris Sale - Hahn locked up on a team friendly deal Jose Quintana - Hahn locked up on a team friendly deal Jose Abreu underperforming his career WAR from 2014/15 by 125-150 points, should be DH, in ideal world Adam Eaton - Hahn locked up on a team friendly deal Carlos Rodon is there a single poster here who would have picked anyone else with the 3rd pick? and still not close to All-Star status, work in progress Tim Anderson would feel a lot better if Hahn had anything to do with targeting him Avisail Garcia Matt Davidson Nate Jones Veterans worth their contract and worth something in a trade Todd Frazier (I would hope he's STILL worth the equivalent of Thompson/Montas +) Brett Lawrie Melky Cabrera James Shields (SURE!!! Get on the phone right now and see if someone will assume that $27 million) Prospects in the top ~200 range Zack Collins Carson Fulmer Spencer Adams (has gone from near the Top 100 to closer to 150-200) Zack Burdi Alec Hansen at some point, results/ability is trumped by performance....in 2012, this was the equivalent of Chris Beck Trey Michalczewski (really?)

Beltran and Bruce (because of their respective price tags) continue to make a lot more sense than Cargo, Braun and some of the other big names out there. Dodgers also have some decisions to make with their overload of outfielders (but complete uncertainty with Ethier's injury comeback/effectiveness, Thompson slumping but still coming up with big walks/HR's/RBI's, Pederson platooning, Puig, Van Slyke, Hernandez, Venable). One or two of them have to go. Once again, focus remains on expiring contracts or players who will become free agents after 2017 (another reason the Shields deal was questionable, he's going to be completely pointless on a rebuilding team in 2018).

From the 2015 All-Star team... Cain, Hosmer, Perez missed more than a week with a thigh bruise/contusion where Butera had to play, Davis and Moustakas. 1-2-3-4-5.

Bad outfield defense has been a killer for Arizona. Last year, Diamondbacks outfielders recorded a combined defensive runs saved of plus-37. This year it's minus-30, according to Baseball Info Solutions. That's a natural outcome when the team has given so much playing time to veteran discards (Michael Bourn and Rickie Weeks Jr.), a converted catcher (Pete O'Brien), a converted infielder (Chris Owings), a player whose best position is probably designated hitter (Tomas) and a prospect (Socrates Brito) who had to be rushed to the majors. In other words, Peralta's not going anywhere. "It's only natural to review the roster from the top down, which is fine, but you also have to view it from the bottom up," said an NL executive. "If you're weak in certain positions or innings or spots in your lineup, you cannot hide it over 162 games. It kills you. The top-heavy roster doesn't succeed." "You hate to use the term 'misfits toys,"' said an NL talent evaluator. "They have good players that other teams would like and want in most scenarios. But as a group, it wasn't a great roster construction, from my perspective." http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/16765660...er-winners-flop From an article about "offseason winners" who often flop in the regular season...thankfully they didn't include the 2014-15 White Sox on their list, although they certainly would have been well within their rights.

Balta for the win. Psychology of how you go about preparing for starts versus the mentality of coming in for a single inning out of the bullpen, completely different. Not to mention the number of different pitches you're focusing on, with starters working on 3 or 4 pitches and relievers focusing on only one or more likely two.

I think we're all being a bit overly optimistic about Morneau. There's a reason he signed for only $1 million. Let's not forget what happened to Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales in 2014 when they were both forced to wait until June to sign because of QO's being attached. Maybe he can fight both Father Time and the concussion syndrome simultaneously, but it's far from a sure thing. That said, while at least the financial risk is quite low, but they STILL need another bat to be honest.

Herrera gets his chance to "early audition" for the role he will eventually take over anyway. Five All-Stars out for a significant period of time and counting.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 06:55 AM) Really, no one cares about Junior Guerra. He's 30 years old and having a good year, not the first to do it. How do you think the O's feel after Arrieta's success? What about Loaiza and Contraras to the Sox? I'm sure there are many more examples that I can't think of right now, but teams miss on players all the time, and it will keep happening. They feel like idiots, and kick themselves at least once a week. The problem is when teams miss 60% of the time or more, instead of being successful hitting 50-60% of the time. Do you honestly believe that more than 50% of the moves that Hahn has executed since becoming GM were "hits"???

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 06:49 AM) The only one on this board who would have a beef about Guerra is Feeky. Other than that, no one said anything when the Sox let him go. He will go south at some point. I wonder how Dayton Moore missed on that one. He could have saved the $70 million he gave Ian Kennedy for some of his free agents. I don't think Feeky is responsible for who stays on the White Sox 40 man roster, any more than he was responsible for scouting Quintana with the Mets and Yankees in their respective systems. But, if he spotted something, more power to him. Maybe the White Sox need to sign him to a contract. And that kind of "everyone else missed it" thing was no comfort to Cashman on Q or Contreras, nor was it to all the teams who passed on drafting Mike Trout.

http://www.brewcrewball.com/2016/6/23/1201...f-junior-guerra There’s really no indication that Junior is going to slow down anytime soon, either. While some might point to his low .262 BABIP, fly-ball pitchers like Guerra tend to have a lower than average BABIP and he’s shown to be adept at producing an above-average amount of pop-ups. He generates plenty of swings-and-misses, especially with his devastating splitter, a pitch that can catch throw hitters for a loop since only 43 of the 582 pitchers that have appeared in the big leagues this year have been recorded as throwing one (according to Pitch F/X data from Fangraphs). Junior’s walk rate, which has plagued him on occasion during his ascension to the big leagues, has been kept well under control. He has great poise and composure on the mound and has certainly carried himself as though he belongs near the front of a major league rotation. It’s not altogether unreasonable to think that Juni G may improve upon his already impressive numbers, as well. Guerra has certainly followed a non-linear development path, originally signing as a catcher in 2001 and not converting to the mound until 2006 at age 21. Not only did Guerra need to learn an arsenal of pitches to come after hitters with, but he needed to find proper mechanics, had to be taught how to control the run game, how to field a new position, etc. The bulk of this development, including the addition of his split-finger to his repertoire about five years ago, took place while Junior was pitching in independent ball. Now that he’s found a foothold in the major leagues and gets to work with some of the best coaches on the planet on a daily basis, Guerra should be able to continue refining his process and improving his performance. In spite of his relatively advanced age, Guerra is still a “young arm” in terms of workload, as well. Since he’s only been pitching for about 10 years, he has much less mileage on his right arm than the typical 31 year old would. According to his pitching register at Baseball-Reference, Junior has thrown less than 780 innings during his professional career, or roughly the same amount of pro innings as Wily Peralta had logged by age 23. That should no doubt bode well for Guerra’s chances to defy the typical aging curve and stave off father time while remaining effective as he enters his mid-30s. Something about the 31 year old with four big league innings piqued the interest of Slingin’ David Stearns back in October, when he was claimed off waivers from the White Sox with Stearns’ first transaction as GM. Thus far, the move has paid off in spades. Guerra has ascended from waiver claim on the fringes of the big leagues to a workhorse starter that is occupying the role of #2016BrewersAce, and there is a distinct possibility that he’ll continue to improve at the major league level. One never knows where exactly a team will find valuable talent, and perhaps Junior Guerra is on his way to becoming the Brewers’ version of Jake Arrieta - a buy-low pitcher who morphs into an unexpectedly dominant front-line starter.

If the White Sox are going to get a ton of credit for Jose Quintana (actually, quite similar circumstances to Guerra, except Junior's age and even more traveled history), then they should have to answer for why they didn't see Junior as having a future with the team. He's got a 2.1 WAR right now. Now we can't guarantee those same results were he pitching with the White Sox, but looking at all of the other pitchers the White Sox were protecting on their October 5th 40 man roster...it's a bit befuddling. The Yankees/Cashman always said Quintana got caught up in a numbers game and that they had a number of better, more highly touted prospects than him in their system...but who exactly from the White Sox system so badly needed to be protected?

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...ept-dream-alive Where was Paddy's assessment??? Venezuela is supposed to be his first country of expertise. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/331117601.html The pickup of Guerra is interesting in that he'll be 31 years old by the time the Brewers open spring training, and he was out of affiliated baseball from 2009-'14. Neither would seem to mesh with a team in the midst of a rebuild. Guerra, a native Venezuelan, made a total of 31 appearances between Class AA Birmingham and Class AAA Charlotte in Chicago's system – including 11 starts. All told, he went 4-7 with a 3.13 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10 with 105 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings. From 2008-'14, Guerra played in the Venezuelan Winter League as well as a number of other foreign and unaffiliated leagues. He began his career in 2006 and spent that year in the system of the Atlanta Braves, then spent the 2008 season in the New York Mets' system before being suspended 50 games for PED use. The White Sox signed Guerra as a free agent last October, and he went 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 15 starts in the Venezuelan Winter League.

It's one thing to use Wilder as the Dominican excuse. It doesn't or shouldn't have anything to do with Puerto Rico (which is part of the June draft now anyway), Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Central America, Asia/Australia, etc.

If I really need to WRITE OUT TB IS SEEKING ONE OR TWO OF THOSE THREE, SPECIFIC PLAYERS, AND ODORIZZI'S ALREADY ON THE RAYS...this "gotcha" thing is getting old. Shouldn't you be castigating the majority of SoxTalk for not believing their team will make it to the playoffs? Calling them all "bad fans" for being pessimistic/realistic/pragmatic?

Time will tell whether the Shields move was the right one. That one did feel a bit desperate at the time....and their situation wasn't like the Indians with a 5-7 game first place lead. He's still given up 27 runs in 26 1/3 IP for a 9+ ERA with the Sox. Even his "good" version the last 2-3 starts might not be worth $22 million over 2 years (please, no references to how we were paying Danks even more to do about the same).

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/sports/b...p-news&_r=0 New NBA trend in team-building?

UPDATED WC STANDINGS +8 Boston 2. TOR +6 3. HOU/DET +5 1/2 GB 5. KC +4 1 GB 6. CHW/SEA +3 1 1/2 GB (but DET and TOR are tied, DET/CLE just starting after long delay) 8. NYY -2 4 GB Five teams separated by 1 game. Six by 1 1/2 games. Seven by 2 1/2.

Indians clinch the season series over the Tigers with 9 games still remaining this season. 10-0 on the year. Game ended on a replay challenge...overturned a safe call on a DP ball that would have allowed future HOF 2B Ian Kinsler a chance to tie it with a homer off Allen. A bit of a make-up call after Saturday when the Indians' Naquin thought he had cut down a runner at the plate to preserve a 6-6 tie against the Blue Jays. Sellout crowd.

their primary trade targets. Need to shore up their starting pitching for the 2nd half of the season, with all their injuries/staff uncertainty. http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/ran..._12680_21247018

It's just a matter of which teams are willing to give up the best prospect/s for Beltran....as the Yankees never have needed to make a pure salary relief play. They could choose to go in the same direction with Gardner, McCann, ARod, Tex, Headley, Ellsbury, etc.

AJ Pollock was the primary reason the DBacks parted with Eaton, FWIW. Still not so sure you aren't undervaluing Peralta, though. How much would it cost for us to reacquire a 31 year old Junior Guerra, right now? Not sure his age makes a "must trade" as long as he's still in the prime of his career. Plus, the DBacks have been seriously disappointed with Yasmani Tomas. If anything's on the block, it's that big Cuban contract. Remember, those trades for guys like Eaton/Carter were under a different regime...not LaRussa/Stewart. Plus they took a TON of criticism for the Shelby Miller deal, in terms of the young talent they surrendered. They're going to be wary of committing the same type of mistake, undervaluing young(ish) talent.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Jul 4, 2016 -> 10:18 PM) He has another year left on his deal he will probably be the most sought after guy on the trade market after Cargo. Any package to get him would have to include Fulmer, Saladino, and more don't think it would be enough. Why would they want Saladino when they got Segura for virtually nothing?

Front end, back end...whatever. The Yankees' middle relief sucks. The fact of the matter is that we've been using Matt Albers for WEEKS when he was terrible. He has a 9+ ERA over almost his last 20. Chamberlain has a low 2's ERA, throws 94-96 MPH consistently...and the Indians still feel they can improve that spot. Tells you about their sense of urgency.

Zimmermann to the DL. 40% of DET rotation out, as Daniel Norris left his start early with an oblique strain and will likely also land on the DL. Means they would have to go back to Boyd and Sanchez, along with Verlander/Fulmer/Pelfrey. That's just not going to work unless they add another pitcher.