caulfield12

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) Then we need to be happy with 3rd and 4th place finishes. Because sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending that injuries don't happen does not actually prevent injuries. Every single year there's a team like this. The Cardinals were banged up to hell and back last year and won 100 games. The Dodgers have basically lost their entire starting rotation this year. And of course you ignored the note about the Indians losing Brantley, some of their starters for short stints, and Byrd. But please, tell me again how the White Sox lost 20% fewer games to the DL this year than the Royals but the Royals and Indians are these payroll juggernauts and the White Sox can't compete with them financially. You left out the Almonte PEDs suspension. Carrasco was also hurt in the first half, but of course they had the depth in their rotation to replace him with Bauer. KC lost four All-Stars...our guys missing time were the likes of Davidson, Kevan Smith, Tilson, Jason Coats, Avila and Austin Jackson. If the loss of Avila, Jackson and two middling relievers kills you...good luck.

Injuries are not what cost the White Sox this year...it was the complete lack of depth and quality in their minor league system that has absolutely killed them. None of the players we lost were any better than replacement level...the big problem is the ones who came next were even worse. Shields just compounded the problem.

All three AL Central teams have lost more significant pieces for a longer amount of time than the Sox... The Tigers are going to get the wild card after losing JD Martinez for half the season. Castellanos has been out now as well. They lost their CFers. Zimmermann. Etc. The Royals were making a charge until they lost Lorenzo Cain this week for the second time this season. They've missed Davis, Cain, Gordon, Moustakas, etc., for long stretches of this season.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 09:39 AM) Every single post youve made is completely irrelevant to what Im talking about. I know you want to move the conversation to something you can argue about but Im not interested. Comparing Harry S. Truman's financial situation in 1952 to the extremely complicated, globalized financial world of today is equally irrelevant imo. Obviously you have an axe to grind on this issue like Greg with Hillary. Good luck finding a receptive audience. There's 40-45% of the US who hate the Clintons and another 50-60% who hate Trump. Nobody's going tonchange their mind on that family with 35+ years of public information to sift through.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 09:26 AM) And yet none of those guys are free agents until after NEXT season. Why the big rush to dump them this season? I see nothing wrong with holding these guys and making a few acquisitions in the offseason to go for it again. If they are out of the race again next trade deadline then dump them at that time. If they are in the same position again next season and hold guys like Melky until season end with nothing in return, then I will criticize their "all in" approach. Until then I see nothing wrong with signing guys like Moreland, Volquez, Wieters, etc since they won't cost a draft pick nor will they cost big money. Maybe just maybe they catch some breaks and it all comes together like 2005. If not, wave the white flag next July and unload anything of value set to expire at the end of the season. This kind of seems like the definition of insanity since it has only worked twice in the past 15 years...and the talent depth/payrolls of the rest of the AL Central has never been more stacked against the Sox in the Reinsdorf Era as it is right now. When you have three better teams...and a fanbase who wont get excited by even a wildcard run, and limited financial resources going into the toughest free agent market in history. And you keep assumung Volquez is available when KC has spent a lot more on Medlen and Young. They'll think long and hard before declining that option...based on where Vargas is in his rehab/recovery. You can never have too much pitching.

Why don't we qualify like the Cardinals and Tigers do for those mid and small market compensation picks if our operating revenue is in the 20's? Just curious.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 09:24 AM) This is what Im talking about, as I posted this in my first post about this topic. But how many former presidents have ever run a worldwide charity after leaving office? Carter never ran Habitat for Humanity. Harry Truman was a farmer who never cared about the trappings of office, so the pension was a lifesaver. Certainly the Founding Fathers never conceived of the dollar figures of today...or even projecting from the standard of living in the 1950's compared to today. Same for Nixon as well, although that's another debate.

Well, Harrelson did make national news by equating Frazier and Bryant despite 200+ OPS differential.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 09:09 AM) The also wouldn't be anywhere without a guy named Miguel Cabrera who they backed up the farm system for, and signed two huge deals with. The White Sox had an equal opportunity to trade for him...but failed to have the right pieces in their system. You could argue just as easily making great moves for Kinsler, Iglesias, JD Martinez and Victor Martinez...not to mention Price, who was turned into Fulmer. It's not the owner's fault he wants to win...it's almost like you're blaming Ilich for overspending. The difference is JR is always businessman first, hence the departure of Buehrle. He's loyal, yes, but only when 100% comfortable with the cost. Ilich is fan first, profitability second.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 08:30 AM) You need to read what I said for the third time. Im not trying to argue semantics. Its about using tax payer money to help pay employees. Why is that so hard for you to understand? Who are you talking about? Huma Abedin? Before, the argument was about Bill Clinton subsidizing salaries...why is that a problem as well? As Strangesox notes, every 501 c 3 in the US takes advantage of a government loophole, whether it's the United Way, Red Cross or Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_f...ax_Reform"]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform They get a tax exemption to fight against the very idea of ever raising any tax, anywhere, ever again...isn't that a bit ironic? The government is "protecting" the very same entity that's attacking it.

One of the main reasons they're contending is Fulmer. That's without a significant contribution from Daniel Norris, and then Boyd's been okay as well. Without that talent infusion in the pitching department via the trade market (and the decision to fold in July 2015 despite having Price and Cespedes), they'd be a .500ish team right now. Their record certainly isn't where it is because of Upton. Of course, the problem is that Frazier, Melky and Robertson don't bring you back as much as two superstars near their primes.

"No Deception Jomes" will be a great board nickname for next season while he's struggling in the closer's role. Gracias para su asistencia.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 07:46 AM) I do think it often comes back to financial limitations. Even to sign guys to short term deals in that mid tier. The Fowlers, Desmonds, and Fisters of the world are perfect examples. Rather than affording the one year $7-10MM range the Sox are restricted to the $3-5MM range (i.e. Jackson, Latos, etc) which does make a difference. So if JR is truly "all in" he is going to need to allow Hahn to increase payroll. It doesn't need to be a $50MM increase but probably $15-20MM increase. Also for those worried about Shields' $10MM the next two years (Sox portion). 2016 Danks + Latos + Turner + Gonzalez = 2017 Shields + Fulmer + Fister/Volquez + Gonzalez in terms of dollars while better accomplishing the goal of filling out the rotation (IMO). This even assumes Shields is thrown in the bullpen filling the current Turner role of mid/long relief (as bad as he is he would still probably be more effective than Turner in this role). Well, seeing as Danks and now Shields are/were aming the worst contracts in baseball, I'm not sure we should be congratulating ourselves too much. Granted, Danks' injury situation was hard to predict. The problem is a lot of success is riding on a rookie who doesn't have the raw stuff of Rodon, and Carlos is still figuring things out after nearly two full seasons in the big leagues. If Fulmer, Anderson, Collins, Burdi and Hansen all reach their potential, there's a 50/50 chance that puts us close to a playoff team, barring major injuries. Of course, past history dictates a bit of skepticism that we can go 5/5 or 6/6 if you include Rodon as well.

Once again, where is this "billions" of dollars coming from? I hope you're not adding in Gates and Buffett because they have cooperated/collaborated with the Clinton Global Heath Initiative in the past...because the total endowment is significant but only in the hundreds of millions. Uber is theoretically worth $39 billion. For what it's worth, I actually read two of the anti-Clinton Foundation books and I'm not a huge fan of Hillary, but there's a key difference between illegal and unseemly. Both of them are lawyers, they've always managed to straddle the line for 35+ years.

Actually, another poster has warned us over and over again not to expect anything out of the 26th pick. Of course, Mike Trout was selected just after that. At this point, it's probably better to hold back the "reveal" for 2017, as selling Fulmer and Burdi as being like two new acquisitions will be a key element of the offseason marketing strategy. This is your chance...do you believe Burdi will end up with more career saves for the White Sox than David Robertson?

http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-white-so...ck-burdi-season http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0903-story.html Hype machine rolling out more Burdi praises...mostly from Kevan Smith. Poor Mr. Smith doesn't get asked about his season, injury, future prospects with the Sox. Of course, we saw it before with Rodon and Austin. At least we don't have comments from Cubs' prospects on him, so there's that.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 10:02 PM) But isn't that another reason for signing mid tier talent like Fister or Volquez to short term deals? I mean it's not going to break the bank and if they produce you can dump them at the deadline for young talent if you are out of the race. It's not like signing them will cost a draft pick either. If they don't produce then you aren't stuck long term with a bad contract. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with those types of signings. When's the last time the White Sox were successfully able to execute this strategy to get a legitimately talented player back? The problem is signing players that end with essentially zero value or contracts too big to dump...or at least players that aren't dumped until the final year of their contract. And yeah, it would be nice if the Sox were as successful as the Cubs have been executing these veterans for younger talent or even talented "suspects" like Arrieta or Gavin Floyd. We'd have a much deeper farm system now at least.

Only if Konerko and Uribe join him...

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 1, 2016 -> 01:07 PM) I never said it was a scandal. I just stated my opinion that it looks bad for a former president, who also happens to be a multimillionaire, to use tax dollars to help pay salaries of employees of a not for profit that brings in billions of dollars and uses 90% of it on expenses, salaries and travel. The top executives of the Clinton Foundation make over 500k per year and we need to use tax dollars to help pay for it? Billions? C'mon, it's a drop in the bucket compared to Apple's tax bill. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Clinton-Fo...ies-E230271.htm What top execs are making over $500,000 per year? There's also no way you can come close to substantiating that 90%. You'd be better off targeting DiCaprio's charity. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/3...harity-malaysia

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 07:57 PM) Is the box score correct that Turner topped Shields in being s***acular? Unearned, but yeah. The WHIP will suffer. Some had Turner in next year's pen.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 07:53 PM) Lawrie posted the numbers he always posts. Those numbers appealed to the astute team-builder Rick Hahn, but I doubt they appeal to many other GMs. Plus you had the injuries. That was at least worth a shot due to his impressive war numbers early in his career...and due to the low cost of acquisition. Micah, Tyler, Carlos and Leury weren't capable of a 3 war season unlessyou combined them into one player.

I don't think anyone was advocating go after Shields entering the 2014-15 offseason. This is almost two full seasons later...everyone could see his stuff degrading with KC in 2013 and especially the following year. There's just no way you can throw 200+ innings for so many consecutive seasons without it catching up to you. It even took a huge toll on Buehrle, who never got by with his arsenal of pitches alone.

Yeah, but a rebound undoubtedly puts him in the 5-5.5 ERA range. His "good" stretch this year included some crazy 0 for 48 stretch with RISP while he was striking out around 5.5 per 9/ip. Basically, the best case scenario is John Danks from 2013-2015. Reactionary is getting mad at Sale or Quintana when they have a bad start.

Even if Sanchez hit .325 the final month, would anyone want him to have the 2b job over Lawrie and/or Saladino next year?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 2, 2016 -> 02:16 PM) Thank u for the clarification. I thought I read or heard on O'Reilly that whites were no longer a majority in terms of numbers. He was probably referring to California, Texas and Florida in the not too distant future...