caulfield12

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 9, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) You can't fully pick and choose who these guys start again. When you have no offdays, they have to go some time. I do have a feeling that whoever (hopefully Gonzalez) fills the 5th starter role will do well once they settle in & have a good outing. I was simply replying to this quote (hard to settle in with our May schedule)...maybe it happens this weekend against the Yankees, and Gonzalez has certainly pitched against them enough in his career. But there will be a lot of pressure on Hahn again if he gets bombed out of the Ballpark. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...miguel-gonzalez His numbers career-wise against the Yankees are pretty similar to what he's done against Texas (in terms of their current hitters). 252 BAA and 743 OPS. We'll have a lot better indication with the warmer weather down there if that 92-93 MPH fastball is gonzo and/or how effective he can be at 89-91 MPH instead.

First of all, Felix Hernandez is struggling to hit 90 MPH these days...he's not the main reason that SEA rotation is doing well. It's smoke and mirrors with him, and the peripherals are telling the true story. As for the Blue Jays, it's not their offense of 2016. Tulo has been terrible and Encarnacion/Bautista are aging. It's a very good offense, but not elite. The Rangers...WHEN Fielder is hitting, Andrus healthy, Odor, Moreland, Choo (close to coming back), Mazara (dangerous), Desmond, Beltre, that's a pretty balance and dangerous line-up maybe other than DeShields and the catcher's spot. That's not even providing Profar and Gallo a spot to play, so pretty deep. Or Josh Hamilton. Detroit actually should be one of the best offenses in the AL with Castellanos hitting so well, but Gose has been a disappointment and JD Martinez has been struggling (relatively). Cabrera has been motoring along about the same clip as Abreu...which won't last too long for either player. Kinsler's always tough, and Victor Martinez still has life in his bat. The whole question, as always, is about their starting pitching and bullpen (recently).

That's why bringing in Wil Myers and a LH hitting defensive CFer (not Billy Hamilton, haha) for next season would give the outfield even better balance. Neither one's going to be prohibitively expensive. In general, the goal is to get as many "in their prime" year player as possible. We've been fortunate with Cabrera's bat bouncing back so far this year, but there are no guarantees yet...especially with Avi's "resurgence." Names like Leonys Martin, Rasmus (probably too expensive), someone from Arizona with Pollock coming back (maybe Owings as Drury is THE man), Lagares, Inciarte, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, etc. Just don't overpay for Andrew McCutcheon who seems to have already peaked and is starting the decline phase of his career now (not that we have the willingness to trade away all of our best prospects in a package anyway.)

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...miguel-gonzalez Stats for Gonzalez against the Rangers aren't too bad. 287 BAA, 740 OPS. Moreland's the only active Ranger to take him deep, as Chirinos and Choo are out still. Watch out for Mazara and Odor. They've been dangerous recently. Desmond's back up to a 700ish OPS after starting out in a miserable slump. Beltre just crushed the Tigers, while Fielder is the main slumping bat after having a bounceback year in 2015.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ May 9, 2016 -> 01:49 PM) F that, let him start in the minors until he's ready to start with the Sox. Maybe after minors season ends... You want him to wait until the end of August to join the Sox? That's not very realistic...if our hopes were to actually sign him.

Cuthbert/Colon will probably be their first two options...whether they can hold the fort or not offensively will be the question. Some other players in that line-up really will need to step up besides Hosmer. Cain and especially Morales still struggling.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ May 9, 2016 -> 11:58 AM) Plus there are rumors that he is wanting more than he worth. Would assume $5M+. He's worth a cheap gamble but not much more than that. Wish Fulmer was closer than he was. I do have a feeling that whoever (hopefully Gonzalez) fills the 5th starter role will do well once they settle in & have a good outing. My biggest question with the off-day on Thursday, do you go with your top 3 guys this weekend or still have a 5th starter go Sunday? Starting them against Toronto and Texas, two of the prolific offenses in the AL...probably not the best way to accomplish that. Not to mention the Erik Johnson start against the Red Sox. If he gets lit up by the Royals the way their offense is going AND without Moustakas, the Angels, Rays, Twins, A's, that's one thing. But nobody can realistically expect less than 3-6 runs allowed against the better offenses in the league.

Look at it this way. We paid Manny Ramirez the same for what, one month or six weeks of work? Bonifacio, Keppinger, Duke, etc. It's nothing in the overall scheme of things if they believe he can be a viable fifth. Remember, they've already paid a portion of that money to Jacob Turner as a lottery ticket with a low likelihood of payoff. Lincecum's made enough money in his lifetime that the guaranteed starting opportunity is worth more than the difference between $7 and $5 million, or 5 and 3. The only important consideration is "guaranteed starting spot" means how many starts before the plug would be pulled if he was ineffective? That the Giants aren't yet willing to give up on either Cain or Peavy this year in favor of Lincecum...is quite telling. They know him better than anyone else, and that's pitching in the NL West in bigger stadiums, not the AL Central. In general, there's something to be said for the team feeling like it least has a 50/50 chance to win before they take the field...not the current 10-15% like the situation with Danks or Gonzalez. At any rate, these kinds of situations tend to work themselves out over time.

No way Boras was both allowing such a cheap one year deal for Jackson AND a relatively cheap option for next year at the same time...not with the lack of FA options for most teams in the coming 2016-17 marketplace. The fact is, Jackson has been pretty terrible offensively for almost two full seasons after being a solid/above-average MLB CFer and borderline All-Star a couple of those seasons in Detroit (which plays huge offensively with the exception of down the lines). Plus, you have his younger age to consider. Boras did what he felt was right to maximize Jackson's earning potential if he could put up a 675-725ish OPS or better this year. And, despite the "eye test," Jackson isn't grading out so far as irreplaceable in CF as much as Eaton and Cabrera (especially Adam) have both improved and Garcia's off the field, so the entire effect is even more noticeable. In general, have no problem with these types of one year deals because they tend to bring out the best in players.

And it's not like their jokes and stories are 100% as ridiculous and off-top as Farmer and DJ...granted, radio's a different medium and there's even more of tendency there to fill time when a game is out of hand.

The official Japanese spelling is bukkake...fwiw. And that should be the end of this thread, lol.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/177077774/cu...cords-in-majors Obligatory Phil Rogers article on Sox/Cubs' starts...didn't want to bother to start a new thread

Lewis has pretty much owned the White Sox for most of his career. Doesn't throw overly hard, but effective. This is one of those games that you're almost tempted to bet against the Sox because you feel the odds are stacked against them...of course, the cosmic forces will smite you for doing so and you'll hit yourself in the head with a baseball like Sale did. http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rang...-sox-right-foot Note Carlos "Rondon" starting for the Sox. Carlos and Derek Holland are both struggling, Holland gave up a boatload of runs last time out... With the way Latos has been going his last two starts AND Cole Hamels going for the Rangers, hoping for just 1 out of 3 and getting out of Texas without giving up more than 20 runs.

Heck, someone like Juan Lagares would be fine. Just find an above average MLB CFer who will give you at least a 625ish OPS and they can make it work...ironically, this was exactly what Brian Anderson was back in 2006, but the OPS numbers required you to be a 675-725 CF to hold that position because of the inflated offensive numbers. Hopefully Jackson will figure out a way to hit more line drives and cut down his strikeout rate, which has dogged him ever since his big league debut. The plus with Austin is he can take some walks at least, and all of those guys like Rollins and Lawrie being more patient are rubbing off on the rest of the team in a positive way...but he still has a pretty pronounced hitch in his swing. If the White Sox were to make the playoffs, it's hard to imagine they would debut Tim Anderson AND Jacob May in the same starting line-up and expect to compete next April. More than likely, they'd bring in another veteran on a one year deal and only go to May if that veteran option failed first.

Myers has a 780 OPS on the road (more neutral park conditions) from 2012-2014 and hits RHP 43 points better than LHP over that time period...reverse splits, of a sort.

Trump's positions change every day. On minimum wage and taxing the rich, he's now sounding like a Democrat.

Trump's positions change every day. On minimum wage and taxing the rich, he's now sounding like a Democrat.

The argument about running on Lester doesn't really make any sense. That teams and players get "psyched" out because everyone knows his problems so well that it causes them not to get normal jumps for some reason...and then there's all the runners that David Ross has cut down throwing behind them from the catcher's position. Definitely a weird thing. Almost like they don't want to exploit it because it seems "unfair" to take advantage of someone's "mental/psychological" problem....

QUOTE (knightni @ May 9, 2016 -> 06:41 AM) At this point, I'd be reluctant to mess with the present chemistry and fiddle with the defense. If they get a hitter, it's got to be a DH that can spell guys occasionally at multiple defensive positions. If you want simplicity, you can get Kelly Johnson from the Braves. Lefty bat, versatile on D, has some pop. Swapping him out for Sands makes sense, based on the ASSUMPTION that Avisail Garcia continues to hit. Johnson's never been much of a defender, but he has quite a bit of versatility at least, especially on the infield. Aaron Hill, another name that always comes to mind, although he's started off terribly. Same with Logan Morrison. But you definitely don't need Johnson, Sanchez, Saladino and Rollins on the same roster. Superfluous. The problem is that Saladino's so good at SS and Rollins needs the rest, so he has to stay. Sanchez would be the pretty clear odd man out, although it seems Robin really likes Carlos.

Oops...for some reason because he can play 1B and also hits righties better than lefties (from 2013-2015, about 50 OPS points higher), forgot Myers was RH. Guess that wipes out that idea, although not 100%. Then again, you don't add Myers and give up talent to sit him on the bench, although he would be a cheaper/younger replacement for Cabrera by the end of 2017. Cheaper, but not ultra-cheap, because he's going into his ARB years starting next season.

There must be some inside joke I'm missing out on here...

http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Giant...cum-7420597.php Giants still holding Lincecum's #55 in case he returns...

http://www.startribune.com/baseball-inside...ries/378531735/ Okay, Duffey, Molitor and Star Tribune baseball writers... I'm sure I could find some more quotes if I went through the MLB.com At Bat video highlights and post-game interviews.

QUOTE (Kevtrem @ May 8, 2016 -> 11:07 PM) What about a guy like Rich Hill? He's probably one of the more interesting names on the market. With him putting it all together through 4 starts last year and success early on this year, I imagine his cost is lower than a controllable guy, but with him pitching like a #2-3 and approximately $3 Mil owed to him he's the kind of guy that any contender could be after. I think Hill would really stabilize the rotation, but I really have no concept of what the A's could command in return. We've never won a trade with Beane once, unless you want to count Bradford for Olivo because Olivo was partially turned into Freddy Garcia...? As was made clear by the Lincecum showcase, there's another 15-20 teams all on the lookout for starting pitching. Beane puts Hill and/or Gray on the market, he's going to extra more value than those players would normally merit. And you always have to be careful about over-extrapolating pitchers' numbers in the NL and AL West with so many big stadiums/foul territory to deal with in SD, LA, SF, Seattle, Oakland, etc. The A's got some really impressive results out of Scott Kazmir, for example...but he hasn't been as effective since leaving that big ballpark.

Navarro's obviously not going to keep hitting like this forever, and he's going to wear down...but Avila will be going on a rehab assignment soon and he'll inevitably have his hot and cold streaks too. For now, they can continue to trawl that LH hitter market and simultaneously have the fact that Avi's at least temporarily holding his own to not force a desperation move or overpay there. Focus for the time being has to be on the 5th spot in the rotation, first and foremost. The name that's pretty interesting is Wil Myers...because he's not a "superstar" solution but he would give the White Sox the perfect mix of DH/OFers and bench. He'll become more expensive from 2017-2019, so SD might find it easier to sacrifice him than finding a taker for Matt Kemp, for example. Left-handed, can also play 1B. Would give them a lot more pop, especially from the left-hand side. His offensive numbers are being suppressed playing half his games at PetCo. Having Cabrera, Jackson, Eaton, Myers and Garcia would give you three young players under team control through at least 2019, also. Obviously, the White Sox have failed miserably with most of their OF prospects, so this is an obvious area of need.