caulfield12

Robin Ventura will go directly into the HoF when his managerial career is over...no need to even insult him with a vote.

Gurriel signing with the Astros and likely adding to that lineup in August and September isnt exactly going to help... The only question is where he plays. Bregman, Correa, Altuve....then you've got Valbuena, Reed and Gattis for 1B/DH. Wonder if they try him in LF? That would knock out Rasmus from playing time.

I'd ALMOST be willing to vote Trump if he named Ivanka as his VP and resigned after he was elected in January...so she could take his place. She'll be 35 the week before the election. Btw, looks like Tebow and some Lt. General Flynn will also be speaking. I guess, all things considered, it couldn't be worst than 90-95% of the canned political speeches typical of both parties over the last 20-30 years, with the keynote address getting most of the attention by political pundits. Now they're saying Tebow is "just a rumor." Hmmm...wouldn't be much of a shocker, he's been outspoken about his conservative religious beliefs since entering the public sphere, and might want to explore a political career instead of a media one.

But Fulmer and what else? For 1 1/2 seasons? Well, that part make sense...having control through 2017. But I'm pretty sure 3-4 other teams could beat Fulmer and Adams, if they actually chose to make him (Lucroy) available...in a further irony, one of the reasons they might not need Fulmer/Adams is because of what they're getting out of Junior Guerra on the cheap. Otoh, if they do end up trading Garza and Nelson, they'll need some pitching prospects who could step in. Just not sure how much Adams' stock has fallen so far this year. Or they could try to leverage Guerra (just like the Padres did with Pomeranz, although Drew had more of a pedigree in terms of his draft position, but spotty career up until pitching in the friendlier NL West)...into a couple of young prospects as well, selling high on him.

Lillian, with all due respect, back to the drawing board with that plan. We might be laughed out of the American League with that plan...or at least the City of Chicago.

Yeah, the problem is going to be he will end up with an innings limit of something like 150-170 next year. He's at 87 right now, and you'd guess he would probably end up around 40-60 innings over the remainder off the season out of the bullpen, putting him in the 127-147 total territory. It would be a LOT to expect 180-200 innings next year, especially if he ends up on the low side of that total. So the problem created will be finding yet another starter next year for 5-9 starts, roughly. That's the real opportunity cost, and his continued development as a starter in the minors (now that he has more confidence again) vs. lessons learned at the major league level, but as a reliever. And seemingly, Burdi won't be far behind Fulmer...it's definitely a gamble/calculated risk.

Do you think all the die-hard Republicans in this thread are volunteering to send their sons and daughters to fight against ISIS? Funny how that works. Last time they did a survey, it was something like only 3 or 4 children of Congressmen/wmen or Senators were in active duty military service.

http://fox8.com/2016/07/14/ny-times-trumps...akers-revealed/ Natalie Gulbis, Dana White and former Real Worlder Sean Duffy. Captivating stuff. The only two I care about listening to are Melania and Ivanka, haha. Will listen to Peter Thiel as well, since so few Californian Silicon Valleyites will publicly identify with the GOP these days.

Up to 83, 84 now...that's three major attacks now in France alone. Charlie Hebdo, then 300+ killed eight months ago at different sites in Paris (especially the concert in the Bataclan)...and this one.

Personal or personnel? Not quite sure I understand the "personal reasons" for why he wouldn't be starting but would be coming out of the pen instead...

I think it should say "no spot start for CARSON..." So that means either Turner or Ranaudo's starting.

And the Angels are consistently a Top 4-6 payroll team...obviously all the money to Josh Hamilton and Pujols was a mistake, not to mention CJ Wilson, a declining Jered Weaver, they've got ticking time bombs all over that roster. They're a bit reminiscent of the Tigers and Yankees...although DET at least has youngish/close to their prime guys in Castellanos, Iglesias, Moya, Upton and JD Martinez, not to mention a Rookie of the Year candidate in Michael Fulmer, as well as Daniel Norris and Boyd from trades last midseason. They could also trade Victor Martinez, Francisco Rodriguez and Kinsler and get back from real nice pieces should they choose to do so. What trade chips do the Angels have outside of Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons?

So if all the liberals said "Mission Accomplished!" with hundreds of thousands if not millions (counting the Kurds) of dead in the Middle East and essentially nothing changed (if anything, it has actually worsened), would GOPers have considered that appropriate? Wouldn't that be "devaluing" the loss of American soldiers' lives? But he avenged the assassination attempt on Bush, Sr.!!! Yay! Maybe we should just DOUBLE the defense budget, raise everyone's taxes by 25% and declare ISIS an existential threat to the very future existence of mankind and the planet we all share, a greater menace than global warming, greater than Russia and China, greater than even Trump and Pence???

Remember when Nolan Sanburn was mentioned as a long-shot bullpen candidate/future closer when we acquired him from the A's? Not so much.

And, if he actually had the opportunity to face Charlotte's staff, his OPS would 1.000+.

And there we are...where essentially standing pat is losing ground. Because we don't have the farm systems or financial resources of the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, Mariners, Yankees or even the Tigers/Royals if we want to include them as well. Cleveland has the best rotation in baseball and one of the best minor league system and there crowds of 30,000+ now are going to give them some extra money to play around with at the margins (not to mention the pressure to follow up on the Cavs' success). If the goal is to field a "pretty competitive club" EVERY year, but we don't have the pieces or money to make any significant moves at the All-Star break because we're outgunned every time, how is that going to work as a successful strategy, exactly? We need Fulmer for the future...sure, and Burdi might be part of this year's team this season, but we keep on "deferring the dream" (quoting MLK) and eventually it will just disappear into the ether like it never existed at all.

And the whole flipside to Blackmon for Fulmer is that the BEST option for CF next year is going to be overpaying for Carlos Gomez or Colby Rasmus on the FA market. So I'm honestly not sure which is worse...and nobody can predict pitching injuries, but we CAN look at how many teams used XXX number of starters in a single season (like the Dodgers or Mets, etc.)

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 06:04 PM) But Morneau had success before going to Colorado. Yes, obviously. In his prime, he was one of the 5-10 most dangerous hitters in the AL. You have to look at his career in the frame of pre and post-concussion syndrome. I'm not 100% sure we can easily divide his AL/NL success over the last five years into simply being a product of Colorado...as I'm not a trained physical therapist, but I guess we'll find out. If he's not ready, you can point to advanced age/accumulation of injuries AND the fact that Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales (who just ONE year later would go on to win the Silver Slugger as a DH but struggled MIGHTILY in Minny and SEA in 2014) were shadows of their former selves after such long layoffs. Both Drew/Morales are/were younger and had more playing time in the preceding year (2013) compared to Morneau in 2015.

One thing's 100% for sure. If Blackmon is acquired and flops, the whole "here we go again with an NL player struggling in the AL Central" will be heard every time another NL player is mentioned in connection with the Sox. Samardzija LaRoche Dunn Frazier (batting average-wise, let's see how his second half goes this year) Shields (although the jury's still out on that one as well, and he was already sliding with KC in 2014) You could even use the Cueto in KC vs. SF argument here as well...4.67 ERA vs. Cy Young winner out there The TWO players we have plucked out of the NL to do well for us have both been essentially rookie+ players in Eaton/Carlos Quentin, not 5-7 year veterans in that league.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 05:53 PM) He's better than you're giving him credit for. The fact is, very few star Rockies players have kept up their numbers outside of Colorado over time. Matt Holliday is one of the exceptions, but his success has mostly come in the NL with the Cardinals (as compared to the A's). We'll find out soon enough with Morneau (2014 stud in Colorado)...and possibly CarGo/Blackmon on the move (but probably just one of the two). Tulo with the Blue Jays (although he's also getting a bit older and has suffered so many injuries) would be yet another...going all the way back to the days of Larry Walker, Dante Bichette and Andres Big Cat Galarraga.

As Balta pointed out, let's say you do have Blackmon. You have to be better than Boston (already even stronger this week), Toronto (rising and will make a couple of moves at the deadline), Houston (a ton of prospects to trade from, just brought up Bregman for 3B)... KC is going to get back Cain and Wade Davis again...and Seattle's in a position with the LAA out of it as well as the A's that they can make up some ground against those two bottom-feeding teams, not to mention they have a much better farm system and more revenue generation due to their tv contract and strengthening attendance to add to that team. Detroit is expected to stand pat. And you can't count out the Yankees surging and making last minute plays for players instead of deconstructing that roster by selling off Beltran, Chapman and 50% of their veterans. So let's say they do trade Fulmer, and Blackmon actually beats the odds and produces in the AL and on the road at the same clip he's at with the Rockies. In 2017, your rotation is Sale/Q/Rodon/Shields and Gonzalez AGAIN with who as your back-up plan or primary option if anyone goes down to injury? Adams has taken a step back this year. Burdi's likely to be a reliever, although they MIGHT try him as a starter. Hansen still amounts to a project, although one with massive upside. It's probably some combination of Tyler Danish and Jordan Stephens. And whatever "dumpster diving" they can do to end up with guys like Latos and Gonzalez again...but that dumpster diving will be even more expensive with 1/5th the amount of talent on the FA market available this offseason. Unless Rodon pitches like a Cy Young candidate/demon....there's arguably more room for regression from Shields (based on his last 3-4 tightrope starts) and Gonzalez than there is upside out of Sale/Q to balance that out.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 02:50 PM) Give me the kid from TB Keirmeyer (however you spell it). Edit: Kevin Kiermaier Too expensive to acquire...they're going to expect a 3.5-4 WAR equivalent, even though he's been injured this year and hasn't quite been up to his usual standards. More likely they'll trade Odorizzi and wait to be bowled away by any Longoria offers...as well as some of their bullpen pieces. Moore, Smyly and Archer all are "sell lows" which they probably have to avoid trading at the July deadline.

Most expensive to acquire but biggest impacts Blackmon, Brett Gardner, Inciarte, Billy Hamilton...can probably add Reddick for RF, Eaton back to CF to that list, along with Bruce and Beltran as well here As far as Hamilton goes, Brennaman and Jeff Brantley were trying to sell him as the "most exciting player in baseball" and as having taken a step forward this year, so not sure he's going to be as cheap as many are hoping Somewhat intriguing / more likely Melvin Upton, Peter Bourjos (expiring deal, won't get QO), Michael Taylor, Rusney Castillo (depends on how much Red Sox are willing to eat and how the White Sox value him and at which OF position...also uncertain if DD would trade him to an AL contender but essentially he's Cherington's cross to bear, so maybe) Not surprised entirely by... Alejandro DeAza (lol), Chase D'Arnaud (Braves), Jon Jay (injured right now, Sox should know Padres well by now after Shields trade), Nori Aoki (demoted in Seattle but they might not want to help the White Sox as one of their WC competitors), Coco Crisp, Jake Marisnick (see Aoki)

So your argument is ESPN is deliberately being obtuse by NOT using that version of WAR? When they're making inroads on e-sports/League of Legends, MMA, X-Games, lots of areas of sporting endeavor that didn't even exist 20 years ago? Why would that be in their best interest, to use a fundamentally-flawed statistic if a CLEARLY SUPERIOR one is available?

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jul 14, 2016 -> 07:41 AM) It doesn't matter. If a guy puts up 1 WAR in 10 games and then plays at replacement level the rest of the year he still puts up 1 WAR for the season. We're 85+ games into the season and there are 87 MLB outfielders that have put up a higher WAR than Puig. Somehow you want to rank Puig higher because it took him more at bats to be as productive as somebody who only plays part time? There is no justification that you can give that will say Puig has been a good player this year. And yet you want to give up resources for a basically replacement level player who is owed another $20 million over the next couple years and is a head case? And your ESPN comment is one of the funnier things I've ever read on here. If that proprietary statistical information is so valuable, then why wouldn't ESPN or another sports information outlet like The Sporting News simply buy it and make it their own? Defense has evolved from Total Chances to Range Factor/UZR to Defensive Runs Saved...but each have their pluses and minuses. But to say DRS is the be-all and end-all is like saying Pythagorean is the best way to assess a manager's effectiveness or competency. To totally discount another way of counting WAR doesn't make any sense when there's no more than 10-15 people at this entire site that could clearly and concisely tell the different between the two in five minutes or less to a "layman" or average baseball fan. ESPN has improved greatly in terms of delivering statistical information, compared to where they were even 5 or 10 years ago. If you took a poll and asked how many SoxTalk posters utilize FanGraphs at least once a week during the baseball season, or Baseball Prospectus, it's not going to be an extremely high number. Having ESPN's numbers more readily and easily accessible and available to the average fan makes "regular" baseball discussions more well-informed, so I'm not going to completely discount one version of WAR. Everyone is free to keep making the same arguments about which statistic is better, for example, FIP, xFIP, Siera, DIP, pFIP, etc., it's getting to be overwhelming trying to sort through all of it. And it creates more fans who are making authoritative statements who haven't even watched the player in question even play a single game.