caulfield12

Great, jinx ensues.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 20, 2016 -> 06:17 PM) More then usual no doubt, probably a lot of KC fans in the house as well. Bandwagon jumpers. They put together lots of tour packages for Chicago, Dallas, Denver and the Twin Cities/Mall of America (lesser extent) for Kansas Citians. Chicago is one of the most popular destinations, typically.

Normally, pitchers who "bulk up" end up losing too many of their fast-twitch muscles and losing some of their fastball (see Chris Beck)...at any rate, pretty incredible (and fortunate) to have three of the top 10 contracts in the game with Sale/Quintana/Eaton. White Sox tend to struggle with pitchers who top out at 87-90 MPH fastballs...77 mph knuckle curve there.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 20, 2016 -> 06:04 PM) God I f***ing hate the schedule now. Inter league all year and what, 60 odd games in the division every year? Gets boring. It would only be nice if we had the Twins on the upcoming schedule to get our offense going again. But, if we can't muster any offense against Gee, Duffy and Ventura... Cain and Salvy Perez, those are the two righties that can hurt you in this line-up. That's basically it. Quintana seems determined to match Chris Sale. Throwing 94-95 MPH?

Buchholz sucks. Red Sox are going to have to get their average of 7 runs per game at Fenway. They have 7 consecutive guys in that line-up on track for 80 RBI's or more. Meanwhile, the Indians just scored 43 against the Reds and went from 10th in the AL in runs scored to 2nd (to Boston). Boston desperately needs to add one more starter to go with Price, Wright and Porcello (Sonny Gray?)...Buchholz is a disaster, Kelly's a question mark and nobody knows when Eddie Rodriguez will return from his knee problems. Btw, Blake Swihart is making his debut in LF, with Christian Vasquez at catcher. Lindor saving one run defensively and gaining another with a great slide to just beat the throw home from Bradley, Jr.

Neighbors 2 is getting relatively good reviews compared to most comedy sequels in recent years (Ted 2, Horrible Bosses 2, etc.) Lots of good content out there competing in the marketplace as we get closer to the peak summer movie season. Have a feeling that X-Men is going to be an underwhelming performance.

Did they ask Rizzo two years ago about Abreu and his hot start and who was the better first baseman? In general, it doesn't matter what team from the ALCD won the World Series, it would get overshadowed in "flyover territory" by the East Coast/ESPN bias...or the West Coast/California bias. That's one thing that always drives Cubs and Cardinals fans crazy, to feel looked down upon by New Yorkers or denizens of the City of Angels...or San Franciscans...heck, even people from Seattle the last 20 years look down on Midwesterners.

In all fairness, the questions that went to Maddon were driven by the national baseball writers pushing that early storyline of a possible Cubs/Sox World Series, both teams with the best records in baseball, top of the power rankings, first time both were in first place in May in a decade... The follow-up stories were reactions to the national interest, trickling down to its regional/local narrative.

Ideal?.....but there's a HUGE issue if Lawrie and Garcia are both scuffling offensively, you really need to have at least five offensive threats in a line-up to keep it balanced or it becomes too top heavy. I'm walking Frazier every time to pitch to Lawrie right now, going for another K. If Saladino/Rollins and Jackson could actually get on base at a decent clip, it would be very effective, because all three of those guys have good speed, along with Eaton at the top.

It's the old Abreu will get more fastballs hitting 2nd argument...more pitches to hit with Eaton on base making the opposing pitcher a bit nervous. Hopefully it jump starts his motor/muscle memory. Most annoying fans in baseball: 1) Yankees 2) Red Sox 3) Cubs 4) Cardinals Then there's a big fall off to anyone else. You don't often see people getting TOO upset by Angels, Dodgers or Mets' fans, even though those teams have relatively large fanbases, too. The Giants (and their fans)...well, they hate the Dodgers, but they're not necessarily an organization that people hate or detest on a national level.

How can anyone bet against things working out well for the Giants in even-numbered years? It's getting to be uncanny. Cueto and Shark were both disappointments in the AL Central, and look where they are now. Not a shocker.

When is the last time the White Sox "pushing" a hitter up to the big leagues earlier (rather than later) on his projected timeline worked out well in the long-term? Beckham? Semien? Viciedo (although it's more about the positional changes than rushing him)? Sanchez? Micah Johnson? I always come back to Rowand and Crede, and how long it took for them to really earn a starting spot and become 100% comfortable at the big league level. It wasn't an overnight happening. It was a process that took 2-3 years for both. Now, in recent years, they've shown a bit more patience with guys like Trayce Thompson, and maybe it's starting to pay off. Maybe Fields, Anderson, Borchard, etc., just didn't have what it takes to stick as big leaguers. Saladino persevered through some ups and downs and was in the minors for an extensive period of time, another example. You also have to be extra careful and go back to considering how raw he was when drafted...and how far he's come in a relatively short time, considering his basketball background and relative lack of experience in terms of repetitions at the highest level, like Rodon and Carson Fulmer experienced with their nearly year-round programs (including Cape Cod in the summer). In the end, we all are aware there just aren't going to be many SS's on the market who will be true impact players for a contender...adding Anderson will have the effect of making a big trade, if he's ready. But the main reason there's no point to rush him is that nobody's going to run away with the division, and we shouldn't make any move out of desperation.

Part of it's a factor of the Cubs being so far out ahead of their division that they have to develop other "talking points" that are peripherally related to the Cubs...because the appetite for "feeding that beast" is so much more intense, to the extent that some Cubs' fans are arguing they could carry their own network like YES in NY with Cubs-only content. Didn't someone mention they didn't even have a beat writer for the Sox with ESPN Chicago...or maybe it was they were using pool reporting for away games with the Sun Times or Tribune, I can't remember 100% now. I guess it's better than asking him over and over again if Chris feels "insulted" to be pitching in front of a half-empty ballpark for a first-place team. And, let's be honest. The majority of sports fans outside the Sox die-hards/Harrelson don't know Eddie Cicotte, Eddie Lopat or even Brandon Webb. It's all about TODAY for young people especially, anything that happened "a long time ago" just isn't that interesting. Baseball's history is what differentiates it from other sports, but it's something that is less and less important in the narcissistic "selfie/look at me/social media" age. And then you have Sale himself, colorful and always a great quote, super competitive and at times controversial, but he has a quiet/peaceful family life, nothing like the yoga stuff and Karaoke and fashion and fine wines and wearing pajamas and all that self-promoting nonsense that goes on with the Cubs.

Everyone in the world is speculating Tom Hiddleston as the new Bond. Idris Elba got more consideration than at first imagined.

The only question right now is whether he has the potential to be better than Avisail Garcia as a DH, at least as a platoon partner? Would he be better than Hayes, who's more advanced but also older and has less of a prospect pedigree (thus, will need to be even more convincing to get an opportunity)...or Sands/Shuck? Probably not THIS season, but looking more towards the future. His splits are almost even against LHP/RHP and home/away. Longer term, they have to decide whether to make an attempt to extend Frazier or whether Trey M. or Delmonico could hold down the position. One would think seeing the difference between Conor Gillaspie at 3B and Frazier would make them think first about defensive competence, then offensive ability.

QUOTE (Dunt @ May 20, 2016 -> 11:09 AM) I dont know, caulfield has been here awhile And you'll find I had just as many posts about the Twins in their heydey, the Tigers from 2011-2014 and now the Royals. Since we have spent more time than all but three organizations without a playoff appearance now, the only way to to make baseball bearable is also appreciating what the good teams do and trying to learn from/emulate their best aspects and discard the rest. Hawk Harrelson does it all the time. Did he love the Twins more than the White Sox from 2001-2010? Heck, our own manager, Ozzie Guillen, spoke more highly of them than his own team for most of his tenure. "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Sun Tzu And make no mistake, the biggest enemy of the White Sox over the past 15 years has usually been themselves.

That will knock Reddick's trade value down a notch because he might not even be available until the beginning of July...otoh, it just puts all that much more focus on the Padres (Shields/Myers/Kemp), Brewers (Braun/Carter), Reds (Bruce/Phillips), Braves (Markakis/Inciarte/Olivera/Teheran/Vizcaino) and possibly the Rockies (Jake McGee/Jorge de la Rosa/CarGo/Parra). Chapman of the Yankees is becoming the reliever everyone wants to add in order to give them that added edge...would be a huge help to the White Sox, but at the cost of...? Beltran and Gardner both interesting names as well for OF/DH duties. The Phillies have been the surprise of the AL, but they're -30 in runs scored/allowed differential despite being 7 games over .500 and will eventually regress to mean. Not sure exactly who they'd be willing to trade, they have mostly younger players they're looking to hold onto as part of their core as they realistically now look to compete in 2017/18.

Sale had an interesting quote after the game: "I'm not throwing as many anger pitches or hate pitches. And rely on my defense. That's the key to all of this. That's the master plan." http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...-and-chris-sale

What list of prospects currently out now has 10 guys ranked ahead of him? Hard to believe it's Baseball America, which is generally accepted as one of the best and certainly most famous listings. Even if that were true, it's not really a big deal because SS is the most athletic position on the field, and prospects coming up there often end up at 2B, 3B, CF or pretty much anywhere in the outfield. I'm sure most of the lists only have a couple of catchers ahead of him, that's just the nature of the game right now. There's a lot of incoming talent at that position, such as Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado will be shifted there from 3B once JJ Hardy leaves Baltimore, Bogaerts, Cozart, Corey Seager, Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner, Brandon Crawford, Trevor Story (there's an even better prospect behind him in the Rockies' system), Ketel Marte and Addison Russell/Javier Baez. These positions tend to ebb and flow. 15 years ago, ARod/Nomar/Tejada/Jeter ruled the AL. Recently, it was almost impossible to find a great 3B...and certainly a franchise catcher. As far as Anderson hitting leadoff, he would hit 8th or 9th his first year or two before becoming comfortable. Eventually, he'll end up at leadoff, 2nd or at the bottom of the order if his OBP/OPS don't merit as many AB's. The reason trading Anderson won't happen is we have to fill holes (or sign extensions) at 3B, SS, 2B, catcher, CF and LF over the next two years, and that's not even dealing with the rising cost of pitching (and the lack thereof in terms of cheap/young pitchers on the market). That's six positions alone...and you could probably make it 7, adding uncertainty surrounding Avi Garcia's future. Anderson has to become an All-Star player for the White Sox unless they're going to raise the payroll to the $150-175 million range. It's also not a sure thing they're going to want to overpay Todd Frazier in his middle thirties for declining production...he'll probably receive offers like $70 million for 3 years if he keeps this current pace up over the next couple of years (assuming the defense stays the same and BA is in the 240's).

You might want to hold off on that WEAREGOOD meme until we get to 14-15 games over .500 Or change it to SaleandSpankyaresuper

Fear the unknown, fear the terrorists, fear Muslims/foreigners/Middle Easterners. Trump hasn't changed at all for the general election. He's just another version of George Wallace, Huey and Earl Long, Joe McCarthy...it's just that ordinary Americans admire his business success story (forget the origins not being Horatio Alger-esque) and his non-political correctness. It's like Bulworth mixed with House of Cards and a little of Scandal for good measure.

On paper, the White Sox should win 2 games and the Indians should lose two, although, in terms of CLE @ BOS, Joe Kelly's been garbage and Porcello/Salazar isn't favorable and Kluber in name seems better than Buchholz, but you should never bet on anyone taking 2/3 in Boston with the way that offense has been firing on all cylinders. Quintana's having the best season of his career, and Rodon's done better recently. Moustakas won't even face Q. Gee and Duffy aren't stretched out and neither of those two should go more than 4-5 innings, tops.

For what it's worth, the Boston Globe has an interesting story up about Jackie Bradley being TOO patient and that hindering his success as a hitter. Counterintuitive as it may sound, the biggest key was being less patient at the plate. Bradley saw an average of 3.92 pitches per plate appearance in his first two seasons in the majors, putting him among the team leaders. But going deep into counts rarely paid off. Bradley was making pitchers work, but he had a low on-base percentage and piles of strikeouts. By taking so many pitches, he was getting himself out. Bradley was a product of a minor league system that rewarded working counts, and he was a successful hitter at every level. But against major league pitchers with better command, what was a virtue became an obstacle. “It works for some people. It didn’t work for me,” Bradley said. “They wanted us to make the pitcher work. That’s all they told us. Make the pitcher labor. I want to make the pitcher work by getting constant base hits. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2...h1eO/story.html It seems a bit far-fetched at first, but I believe you'll actually see his walk totals increase at the next level...for the opposite reasons as in the Bradley article. Pitchers have better command in the big leagues, and if Anderson's 80% as dangerous as Bradley Jr. is now, they'll work around him. He'll have to learn to take those walks, of course. And he absolutely can't expand the strike zone.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2...h1eO/story.html Jackie Bradley redemption story...apparently, the Tigers and Royals were pushing the Red Sox hard to acquire him, thankfully that didn't happen. http://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp...0519-story.html Angels trading Mike Trout is a dumb idea that would make no sense for any team

You know you're getting older when they're contemplating a city's stadium that would be the third one you've been to in a lifetime. The others for me are Jacobs/Cleveland Municipal Stadium, 2 Busch Stadiums, Kingdome/Safeco, 3 Rivers/PNC and Memorial Stadium/Camden Yards. Comerica and Tiger Stadium. Both White Sox stadiums, of course. I actually like the new stadium in Texas...except hearing that home run music from THE NATURAL has gotten quite old for visiting teams over the years, haha.