caulfield12

Would rather have Lawrie than Rollins, because you don't want to give one of your worst hitters than many AB's unless he's at least making really solid contact and advancing guys (like Iguchi with Pods). Jackson's another "meh" because of his strikeouts, but he seems to be making a bit more contact than Lawrie recently...but that's another one where you are just throwing stuff against the wall, hoping it sticks. Hence, the Markakis idea for the top of the order...which looks good on paper, but wouldn't look so good in the reality of the AL. And that obviously means giving up on Avi, who's out OPSing Markakis at the moment and doesn't cost nearly as much.

Markakis is the most realistic name because the Braves and their new tracking stock just announced $36 million in losses the first quarter, mostly related to the Swisher/Bourn/Chris Johnson deal/s. On the other hand, they've injected all that money from the stock sale to help cover some of those headaches, the biggest one of them being Hector Olivera with his domestic violence and non-production. They supposedly love Markakis and his influence on the younger players, but he can be had. But taking on his entire contract now would be a huge overpay, and his performance has actually matched or even outmatched his salary...which, for one year would be perfectly reasonable but is going to be ugly the next couple of seasons. His main attribute is doubles and OBP right now. And you're actually downgrading your defense by adding him, unless you're making Melky Cabrera the DH. It would make sense for a one year rental, but not two more years of commitment that's likely to get worse and worse. This is ONLY an option if Markakis can keep up his numbers (unlikely) and Avisail completely falls apart again (possible).

Which is yet another reason you won't see Tim Anderson AND Jacob May both starting on Opening Day for the 2017 Chicago White Sox...if Hahn has learned ONE thing from all his time, it's that position players need a number of years to "get it," like Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand. Except on the pitching side, where you can see more immediate impacts by the likes of Sale, Santiago, Reed, Santos, Quintana, Rodon, etc. In the end, we'll never know what would have happened with Marcus Semien had he stayed in the Sox organization, but it will be a topic that's much discussed and debated if Tim Anderson fails to make it as a big league shortstop. Needless to say, the jury's still far from out on either player.

It's the Kansas City Star, btw. I posted one just last night in the AL Central thread about Chris Young's struggles...guess you didn't notice it. Yes, Gordon, Perez and Morales are struggling mightily. The only pitcher worth a darn right now is the one everyone in baseball ridiculed for his seemingly exorbitant free agent contract. They signed Soria when they should have tried to keep Madson. Moustakas is injured, and they had really good health all last year except for Alex Gordon and Alex Rios (so did the White Sox, for that matter.) We might be able to count out the Tigers in the next month or so, but the season is really too long to be getting too cocky/overconfident...which is why the Indians are still favored over the Sox in some of the projection models. Finally, there's not as much reason to talk about the Royals because Hahn finally got the message. He prioritized defense and the bullpen, among other things...and finally cut bait on some players who just weren't developing or were never that good in the first place, at least not good enough to make the White Sox a playoff team.

Can't find anything to argue with Dick Allen at the moment. It's amazing what a winning baseball team can do for a message board. Speaking of the board, where the heck are Balta and LDF? Just curious.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 10, 2016 -> 08:09 AM) Right, my thoughts on this are get as many wins as possible. I align with the the posters that say things like "if we go .500 the rest of the way we will be 86 wins" or whatever we are. I also kind of look at baseball records as a series of floors, each 10 games apart. For the last 7 years, seems like the struggle was to establish the .500 floor. We would hit it, but not by more than a game and didn't allow a cushion to regress. Now we are establishing our new floor of 10 games over. If we continue climbing. If we hit the ASB with a new floor of 20 games over .500, I'll buy tickets to MD and we can high five. Basically what the Twins did (had a 20-7 stretch and held on for most of the season until the end) and the Astros ended up doing last year... Hopefully we're better than both those teams record-wise (won't touch the comparison with HOU until we have a better idea at the 54-60 game mark Hawk always goes by in terms of assessing teams and their playoff futures).

Yes, coincidentally would have been the better word to use. Deja vu. Grammar 101. Like continuous/continual.

Prohibitive. He's become a building block again by virtue of his being healthy and productive. Phillips, Bruce, Homer Bailey...maybe even Votto (although his numbers are down right now), that's who they are most looking to deal. And Devin Mesoraco has gone from one of the most promising catchers in baseball to an enigma. We would be better off looking at Gattis than Lucroy in terms of asking price...or Russell Martin if the Blue Jays don't pull out of their tailspin, although there's a possibility he's toast.

Just glad to get rid of Sally Field. For my money, I miss Cliff Robertson from the Tobey Maguire Spidey movies. James Franco, not so much.

The Black Panther "reprieve" at the end was more interesting in terms of his character development than the Iron Man/Cap detente. You just knew it was coming...felt more like a tease after they inserted the "i'll be there when you need me" note. Nobody has mentioned the Emily Van Camp/Captain America romance...is there a precedent for that in the comics? Someone said she might be joining the cast of Agents of SHIELD.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 10, 2016 -> 07:54 AM) As long as i never see another Bat Credit Card, i will live. I think it was smart of Marvel not to dwell on Tony Starks alcoholism, it seems like they replaced it with his want to be Iron Man(which is why Pepper said see ya) Too close to real life for Downey, Jr., perhaps?

Just responding to the TheTruth's post.

They're not 100% confident with Carlos Sanchez at SS. Certainly not enough to give him 70% of the playing time over the veteran Rollins.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ May 10, 2016 -> 12:34 AM) The average CF in the American League last year put up a .683 OPS. Austin Jackson put up a .696 OPS. People still have a bizarrely, insanely inaccurate view of what is league average and what is terrible in the present, non-steroid era. If you strip away Jackson's April in 2014 with the Tigers, I'm sure you will find he's at or below .683 (over the last two years)....that's why I said the better part of two seasons. He did have a brief recovery for one month, July 2014, then it was all downhill from the time he was traded to the M's. 1.5-1.7 WAR might be acceptable for some teams, but it's borderline. Most of Jackson's defensive stats have been fairly mixed, although the "eye test" would seemingly tell you that he's been better than average this year. And part of it's comparing Jackson to the player he USED to be from 2010-2014. He was a very good player, and he's still young, but these seasons have been pretty terrible comparably to the past standard he set. Otherwise, he would have gotten more or better offers for Scott Boras than he ended up with... Remember, I spent most of the offseason arguing we should sign both Jackson and Ian Desmond...so I'm quite familiar with his history and the fact that signing "terrible" players usually isn't a good idea.

Obviously, Curry's the best player in the world right now. But Hield as a collegiate player just had some unreal shooting performances this past season. Not making any sort of argument that Hield will even be an above-average starter in the NBA.

You can't start talking about Rollins losing his "starting" spot until the White Sox suffer their first "rough patch" AND only if Rollins is still struggling offensively to turn things around (especially against RHP)... Obviously, we really can't know what's going on in the clubhouse 100%, but it seems Ventura and the rest of the team really benefits from his veteran leadership. He keeps Lawrie from getting too hyper out there. Sure, Saladino is a better defender at this stage, but, in the big picture, he's not a long-term answer at that position, either.

They're not going to sit a legit prospect up at the major league level...Coats or Hayes might make it to the big league roster before September, but the odds of it happening aren't high unless Avisail Garcia falls apart completely or there's a major injury. Even then, it's more likely they'd play someone like Shuck or Sands while waiting for a better option to become available on the trade/waiver wire.

C'mon now, I'm 46 and I heard about that Frazier/Ali showdown SO MANY times...and I didn't even really follow boxing at that age, just noticed the stories in the Sports Illustrated that my parents got me a subscription to.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/177174608/fr...lifts-white-sox White Sox with a 78% chance to make the playoffs (Cubs at 97% already), 63% to win the division and the same 8% odds as the Cubs to win the World Series. Projected at 93-69 (70-59 finish) and a run differential of +93. Indians at 84-78, Royals at 79-83 and the Tigers right behind them. Twins at 66-96 and the Braves to lose more than 100.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/177174608/fr...lifts-white-sox Downtown Goes Frazier!!! That one's pretty clever...if you're a boxing fan and older than 30.

Ironically, a lot of people gave up on a game and left USCF nearly two decades ago against these same Texas Rangers that Robin Ventura won with a grand slam.

Greg, have you heard of more inappropriate/abusive sexual relationships between teachers and students...or coaches and students, or "attacks/assaults" in bathrooms using this particular guise? Sure, I guess it's theoretically possible, but there's nowhere in particular that's safe in the world. Think of all the abuse the took place among the Catholic clergy, for example. That's supposed to be the safest place you can imagine, at least, it used to be until the 1960's and 70's. There is more abuse done by "trusted" adults, daycares, babysitters...than assaults by total strangers in public restrooms.

Odds are last season is the closest they get. Then again, Love was injured and Irving as hurting. Just think that the level of competition is so much fiercer in the West that it will be really difficult for the Cavaliers to turn it up because all those teams are playing at such a high level that the top four and the Clippers with Paul and Griffin would all sweep the Raptors or Heat.

If the Cubs add Ryan Braun...man, what a bummer for their fans.

And you also can't get HIV from using the same bathroom...