caulfield12

They're playing with fire if they want to get out of the gate white hot and counting on LaRoche, Garcia and Saladino getting regular at-bats...of course, stating the obvious. Right now, it's hard to make a case for the White Sox being higher than fourth in the division, and you can still make just as many arguments for fifth as third. Obviously, a lot depends on what the Tigers and White Sox do to fill out their roster...as well as if the Indians trade one of their starters and for who/m (not to mention Brantley's health). KC is still looking to add one more starting pitcher. The White Sox and Tigers should be doing the same thing.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 07:14 PM) Finally saw the Big Short. That was tremendous. I'm so amazed that I'm not sure I've seen a movie adapted so literally from the book (I mean conversations, characters, settings, etc), and I can't believe this is the Book I say that to. Carrell was really good for that role. From afar, I thought he would play Bale's character. Top Movies of 2016, subject to change due to older, faulty memory. 1. Mad Max 2. Spotlight 3. Brooklyn 4. Big Short 5. Star Wars 6. Creed 7. Sicario Average movies I enjoyed my evening watching despite not being more than filler: Spectre, Trainwreck, Martian. Actual best movie of decade: Aloha I'm not sure I would put Trainwreck in the same sentence with The Martian, but somehow that film and The Big Short are being considered comedies for the Golden Globes And, yeah...Cameron Crowe used to have the potential to be a great director but has really tumbled backwards. It seems like Bradley Cooper is putting himself in danger of overexposure. Seems he's in nearly every third movie out. I haven't actually watched that one to see how bad it is, but any movie with Emma Stone can't be completely terrible, can it? One thing that really seemed to push that movie into the abyss was all the controversy over casting and having no reflection of the true diversity of the Hawaiian islands.

Well, on one hand, the Astros just drafted Tucker's brother as well, right? They might want to keep them together like the Sox did with the Danks brothers, or sell high on Tucker if they perceive him more as a 4th outfielder than regular going forward. If they can't trade Rasmus due to the QO being accepted, that only leaves Marisnick and Springer's obviously not going anywhere. The only way to possibly make it work without trading top pieces is also taking on Singleton's contract, seemingly.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 05:42 PM) Who do you think the Sox would have to trade to get Marisnick? I'd like him for sure as a Gold Glove quality defender in CF. Probably Adams...if you're Houston, with an already deep system, nobody else will get your attention. Limited upside offensively...but that defense. Of course, by that argument, why not just hold onto Trayce Thompson?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-012919320.html At least one NL team is pushing to acquire RA Dickey, which would open more payroll space for Toronto...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 04:30 PM) Exactly. Besides it all tweets are true, the Sox have already agreed to a 6 year contract with him, but then didn't but only have a 5 year offer, yet will not offer more than 3 years. The Yankees are trying to get below the luxury tax. A one year deal would blow that away. I really don't understand why so many people throw so much BS on the Twitter. Page views, fame and fortune for those select few who actually turn out to be right or deliver inside knowledge at least 33% of the time...and the massive desire for minute by minute updated information in any breaking news story, whether sports or a terrorist bombing or mass shooting.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 03:10 PM) If I hadn't of looked at the person posting, I honestly couldn't have told you which primary leader this post was about. If either Trump or Cruz win, it splinters the party. Cruz doesn't have a single major endorsement from anyone in the mainstream GOP establishment. That's the Barry Goldwater 1964 scenario. The Rubio as Obama change candidate/uniter isn't working. Christie and Kasich remain the most pragmatic options, assuming Bush is done and carrying on to restore some sense of honor or respect for the family name or just hoping to slide back in if Trump falters after Iowa, NH and South Carolina/Nevada. Plus, Trump runs as an independent, Hillary is guaranteed the victory as well (see Perot 1992).

Plus the Rangers can't really count on Hamilton...they clearly need a contingency plan with Shoo getting older and having more health issues. Their line-up is also LH heavy. Choo and Hamilton...DeShields outperformed, so questions about repeatability with him. He always projected as more of a fourth OF. And, one of their better OF prospects, Mazara is also LH. Not to mention Fielder, Gallo, Moreland and Odor are LH on the infield. If I'm Texas, Gallo, Profar and a ton of pitching depth make a trade for Ozuna or one year deal for Upton equally promising options. Plus, signing Cespedes or Upton pretty much buries the Angels' chances of competing this year if the Texas pitching staff can remain healthy. Upton can choose from lineups like Toronto, Texas and Detroit as well as the Cardinals to help him put up the best one year numbers and bounce back into the market again with negotiating leverage. It would make his character/work ethic cloud lesser if he was a major part of a playoff team again, like his first or second year with Arizona.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 04:51 PM) This sounds more like the Astros kicking the tires but ya never know if they trade one of their outfielders. http://houseofhouston.com/2016/01/08/houst...nd-ian-desmond/ "The Houston Astros have had preliminary discussions with both Justin Upton and Ian Desmond according to Evan Drellich (Houston Chronicle)." "Upton is a big name, but the Astros currently have their outfield and DH set. Luhnow could look into trading an outfielder to open up a spot for a guy like Upton, but at this point it’s likely the Astros stand still unless they find a way to get creative." Ya know, the Sox need to get "creative" and the Astros need to get "creative" so why not get "creative" together? That's the situation where we end up with Tucker, Marisnick or Rasmus instead...

Boomer Esiason basically questioned why Lewis should keep his job if he can't control his players...no surprise, fwiw.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) Too bad the Sox starting staff had the highest fWAR in the AL last year... That was the most generic or boring prediction of all due to Padilla. Pretty much all the others mentioned specific players...at least they could have mentioned Rodon or projected improvement from Johnson vs. Samardzija, etc.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/161318068/op...utfielders-left Mystery teams would have to be Blue Jays now or Red Sox if they trade Castillo or Bradley, Jr. Marlins added in case they trade Ozuna. "White Sox: They've never committed more than $68 million (Jose Abreu's contract) to a free agent. They also have no interest in going beyond three years for Upton or Cespedes. Given these market conditions, you can understand the White Sox patience, though the three-year max was probably what kept them from swiping Gordon from a division rival. It would be a surprise if the Sox don't do something between now and Spring Training, because their win-now mindset gives them incentive to supplant Avisail Garcia in right field."

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 08:06 AM) "Caulfield," I guess you just leave people speechless. At this moment you have posted the most recent comment on no fewer than 6 different threads. LOL And, it's been a while since anyone responded to any of them. Probably because it's 10:13 pm Sunday night here...and everyone was sleeping or watching the Bengals/Steelers fiasco.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 07:24 AM) Because everyone who spent this off season spent on pitching. And Yankees were not involved with anyone. And a lot of teams close enough to luxury tax to point where they were not interested. Just a deep free agent class is what hurt these guys On the other hand, it's too early to say anyone has really been hurt until they actually sign. It just takes one team to crack...for the rest of the dominoes to quickly fall.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 05:05 AM) I just had fun watching The Final Girls. Nothing artsy about it. It could've just been same old satire but the story with Max and her mom was solid. I liked It Follows as well. You don't need CG or gore to make a great horror. I did get a chuckle out of the Adderal-induced Cherry Pie faux "striptease" scene. Malin Ackerman's always been underrated as a an actress because she began as a model.

I guess it's because of this idea of their second pick (which is essentially the compensation round between the first and second) in the draft being lost to another team or what is really their third pick after the Samardzija comp pick gained for Shark signing with SF. Confusion about which pick is lost, and the idea of a second round pick (versus second time selecting a player) essentially becoming a later compensation round pick for another team. "If general manager Rick Hahn brings in a free agent who also was made a qualifying offer, then the White Sox would lose that compensatory pick for Samardzija. At this point, that sort of move seems unlikely for the White Sox." Mlb.com At any rate, the right to sign Fowler is not worth $10-12 million (lost impact both short and long-term), another $30-45 million for his three year contract and finally four traded players. The only one that makes sense is Upton. Signing the Koreans that went to Balt and Minnesota would have been much more logical.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...d-fowler-end-up Schoenfield predicting Cespedes back to Detroit, Upton to Texas on a one-year deal to balance their lh heavy lineup, Davis back to Balt with Fowler moving Eaton to right. Yuck.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14521668...american-league AL predictions by team... Among others, Cleveland to win the division, Miguel Sano the AL home run crown (over Trout and Machado) and Buxton/Berrios to fight it out for Rookie of the Year. There was another article predicting Lawrie would be a surprise offensive breakout candidate and hit 20+ homers. http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...itters-for-2016 Sano and Soler the top two picks. Lawrie at bottom in honorable mention with Trumbo.

http://jaysjournal.com/2015/12/06/blue-jay...ract-situation/ Marlins interested in Wei Yin Chen.

It Follows is better than The Final Girls, although it has its share of 80's slasher flick satire moments.

If Dexter Fowler is the big announcement or they're trying to time the signing to coincide with some type of marketing/attendance benefit for SoxFest, that would be beyond idiotic...

99 Homes was excellent too, albeit depressing...will have to check out The Final Girls. We both presumably haven't seen zson of Saul, either. Speaking of excellent...I love Terrence Malick as much as anyone, but Knight of Cups was just too out there. 2011 he was on the top of his game but To the Wonder and this one in particular seem like USC Film School productions albeit with completely brilliant cinematography. Also, finally watched Star Wars in Imax and it sneaks into the back end of the top ten for me now...if for no other reason than nostalgia from watching the first three movies from 1977-1983 in the theatre with my father. Childhood memories, like many had with Jurassic Park this past summer. That and the John Williams score and the familiar rolling scroll at the beginning, haha.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 08:46 PM) Abreu had 7 or 8 teams bidding on him. What were the other 4-5 teams that made offers?

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 04:43 PM) FWIW, I read this comment from a Blue Jays fan on Reddit: "Can't see the Jays going after an outfielder (or another position player for that matter). They are pretty much set with Saunders, Pompey, Pillar and Bautista this year. For the years after 2016 you got Alford coming up, DJ Davis if he can get it together, and Vlady jr. of course." Still, the Blue Jays are in a similar situation to a lot of teams where they have to maximize their chances of winning with two key members of their offensive core leaving after 2016...after next year, Bautista and Encarnacion are likely gone. http://jaysjournal.com/2015/12/06/blue-jay...ract-situation/ Tulo has that long-term deal, but he seems to be declining. Would have to double-check on Martin and Donaldson. Looks like they have Donaldson through 2018 and Martin's contract will be pretty bad in 2018 and 2019. So they have to ask whether they bring in Davis/Cespedes/Upton or extend either Bautista or Encarnacion in their decline years.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 07:06 PM) You raise an interesting question; What really is the point at which a baseball player should be expected to experience a serious decline in performance? If you go back to the pre-steroid era, there were many position players who were extremely productive into their mid 30's. When you consider that those players did not have advanced fitness routines, as do players today, I seriously doubt that a player should be unable to maintain a high level of performance, simply because he has passed the magic age of 30. Of course, injuries are another issue. If a player is injured, it can end his career, at any age. There is also a factor that helps to offset the negative effects of physical aging, and that is experience. Baseball is a difficult sport to master, and the learning curve does not peak at 30. Guys can learn to be better players, even if they have lost a step in speed. Moreover, with proper strength training, they can be stronger at age 33 to 35, than they were in their 20's. The point is that this is a very complex issue. On a personal note; it is a little amusing for someone at my advanced age of 71, to hear 30 year olds, referred to as "over the hill". Ouch. Well, that's definitely the case with tennis and gymnastics. Think of the NFL, where other than Qb's and kickers/punters, the average career is over in 3-5 seasons. Tiger Woods is done at age 40, but golf is one of the few sports where you can actually peak at 35-45 due to the mental side of the game being equally important. Vijay Singh, for example.