caulfield12

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 12:24 PM) Your numbers in your rah rah Royals sig are not accurate. How so? 11-4 last year, then 3-2, 4-2, 2-0

Dan Jennings from the Marlins is also available now...less experienced than Robin and can serve as part of three headed GM monster.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 09:35 AM) Kim actually knows both Greg and "Trick" Steverson. She's been a writer around the A's for over a decade. She takes the human angle more so than the scouting angle most of our writers take, but I like having that as part of what we do. It is important. Well, I'm sure he would have an interesting take on Semien, Phegley (and Ravelo) and what they did over there to squeeze more productivity out of them. Was he released from his contract or it simply wasn't renewed? That was quite a long time with one organization.

Moneyball 2: Exploiting the niche of hiring unwanted former A's coaches and accumulating a stockpile of them to make up for the Chad Bradford, Swisher, Durham/fireballin' Adkins and Keith Foulke deals. (Two of those moves eventually contributed to 2005, at least....in the form of Garcia and Cotts).

I'm sure he would sooner be stopped for rolling through multiple stop signs in Lawrence than be caught saying anything positive about the Royals. If anything, KC rolling over the Mets' vaunted young starters just makes the Cubs' offense look even more one-dimensional than previously believed.

QUOTE (whitesoxjr27 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 09:20 AM) The best Western civilization can hope for is that common sense is in a sustained tactical withdrawal, and not in full, frantic retreat. World Series, Game 1: In the fourth, FOX’s broadcast was knocked out by “a rare electronics failure.” OK, such things happen. Soon, after filling time from a studio, FOX presented MLB’s international feed, thus the game reappeared. The network then chose to post the following along the bottom of the screen: “PROGRAM ALERT: We are experiencing technical difficulty. You are watching MLB’s International Feed.” OK, we got it. But then FOX, with Game 1 of the World Series above this message, began to scroll this info, moving it right to left, over and over and over, thus making it as distracting as possible, for the next 16 minutes. Such an annoyance perhaps was inspired by ESPN’s “SportsCenter Is Next!,” “SportsCenter Is Next! … http://nypost.com/2015/10/30/fox-world-ser...ting-senseless/ Coming soon, Harold Reynolds talks too much and Erin Andrews isn't as captivating as she used to be...

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:16 AM) They're pretty influential, no doubt about that, but again you're talking one of nine. To be really influential you have to have the backing over others. The president can make unilateral decisions. You can make that argument with the Rehnquist court.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 07:47 AM) When I saw the headline, I thought this would be about Greg's traffic stop thread on SoxTalk. Greg is black and packs a Glock? That might be one of the most memorable threads of 2015.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Oct 29, 2015 -> 10:51 PM) laughed out loud. Thank you He either ways 400 pounds or is skinny and unrecognizable now I bet.

QUOTE (bjm676 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:32 AM) I wonder what it would take to pry Lucroy from Milwaukee. I read the Brewers may try and shop him this offseason. Montas, Adams and Hawkins if they were lucky.

QUOTE (bjm676 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:32 AM) I wonder what it would take to pry Lucroy from Milwaukee. I read the Brewers may try and shop him this offseason. Montas, Adams and Hawkins if they were lucky.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:33 AM) If Doyle Alexander were on the 84 Tigers and helped them win a ring, people would look at that trade differently. Given up Smoltz would not have hurt as much if it led to a title, not to two s***ty performances in the LCS. The Yankees are an interesting case given all the A-Rod drama. Given that it was their only title in 15 years now, I think they still might consider it worth it, I don't know though. For a team like the Royals though, I don't care if Finnegan and Lamb win 5 Cy Youngs, they would make the trade everytime if they win the WS this year. Personally, I would give it to Houston's groundskeeper. Correa doesn't get a slightly bad bounce...there's a dp there and Houston probably survives and advances. That said, if the Royals also won the World Series next year without him, it would also change the frame of reference. And probably the Shields/Davis for Myers/Odorizzi deal still goes down as the most important move of Moore's tenure.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:19 AM) Hello. What does that have to do with this discussion? Doyle Alexander lost twice in the playoffs and the '87 Tigers lost in the ALCS. The Royals are close to winning the World Series helped by a couple of gems pitched by Cueto. Those two situations aren't comparable right now. For some reason I thought he was on the 1984 Tigers. Oh well. Sometimes the example is a tad exaggerated. For the Yankees, I'm still not sure the overall ARod deal is worth it just for 2009 when they have so many championships overall.

Greg Sparks is a great guy, with great insight and results. As he is reunited with old pal Todd Steverson, it brings to mind a balancing of the universe (Yin and Yang); blending of opposite strengths; Steverson’s gregarious and Sparks’ lower-keyed personalities. Sure to be a winning combination for the Chicago White Sox Major League team. Between that and working with Chris Carter, we're absolutely set for a new generation of hitters. Or not. Kim Contreras must be related to Nardi or Jose with the Merkin/Rongey editorializing at the end. Results>great guy.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:10 AM) Yes, absolutely. You have one person versus hundreds that require a shutdown. And he has the power to tell all of his agencies to stop providing services, stop enforcing laws, stop investigating crimes, stop prosecuting cases, etc. etc. Oh and he commands the entire US defense system. Congress can cut funding, so in an indirect way they can do the same in theory, but it's much harder to do. Most most of the Supreme Court basically has lifetime tenure. The bottom 1/3rd or 25% of presidents don't compare to Earl Warren or Oliver Wendell Holmes in terms of impact. Or the deciding vote on Roe v. Wade or Gore v. Bush.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 07:10 AM) No it doesn't. Flags fly forever. Doyle Alexander/John Smoltz says hello. If Aaron Miles became the grittiest player in the history of baseball, a few would probably give away their World Series with Juan Uribe. Not that it would rational.

Also depends on how Finnegan and the other pieces from that deal turn out, Cody Reed, Lamb, etc.

Austin Hedges?

It doesn't make sense because we have to be building towards 2017-2019. Giving those at-bats to a Morneau over someone like Avi, Olt, Davidson (or even Cabrera, with a younger player playing LF/RF) makes little or no sense because we're just wasting those opportunities when they could benefit a "prospect/suspect" who actually could be a part of the future of the organization. Now you can certainly make the argument ALL of those guys might have no future, or even Trayce Thompson, but that's a different argument. If you at least believe they have a "reasonable" chance to succeed, then you have to go with the younger players.

Mattingly, 54, was one of at least seven candidates for the job. The Miami Herald reported Larry Bowa, Manny Acta, Bo Porter, Alex Cora, Phil Nevin and Rick Renteria also interviewed. It's almost a surprising number considering how difficult it has been for anyone to keep the job for long. yahoosports.com Acta, Renteria and Cora all speak Spanish as far as I'm aware. Cora has the connection (somewhat) because of Joey Cora, but that might not be altogether positive because Joey and Ozzie were tied at the hip together and didn't part on the greatest of terms. Bowa's too old and will automatically be considered a threat to manage out a "lost" season if things go south. Porter and Nevin are interesting names. Nevin hasn't ever managed a big league team, and obviously Porter's itching to get back in the manager's seat. My University of Iowa loyalty would typically favor him, but Nevin might be the better choice. Of course, playing Devil's Advocate, not sure the White Sox can afford to hire someone lacking in (big league) experience if the whole Ventura situation goes completely sideways. At least Nevin has been managing since 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Nevin Nevin managed the SeaWolves for one season. On November 11, 2010, Nevin was named manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers' Class AAA minor league affiliate. He is considered a potential future MLB manager.[23] Catcher Omir Santos described his managing the Mud Hens as "like having a big league manager in [Class AAA]."[23] On August 31, 2013, Nevin was fired after the team's final home game of the season. Nevin's record as manager was 192–238; the team never finished higher than third in the International League's West division.[43] The Arizona Diamondbacks named Nevin as manager of the Reno Aces, their Class AAA affiliate, for the 2014 season.[44] After the season, the Astros interviewed Nevin for their open managerial position.[45]

Both the Roosevelts would be ashamed at what the office has become... Let's blame it all on Nixon/Watergate, the media, polarization of politics since the Reagan/Tip O'Neill years and just the general lack of respect (you lie!) that has been increasing over the last 20-30 years...the almost visceral hate opponents have towards Clinton, Bush, Obama, etc. When I was growing up, I always heard how important it was to respect the office of the presidency, even if you personally disagreed with his/her politics.

Pretty funny when your own beat writers know a lot less than another team's...typical of the Hahn style, though.

Well, he would be in the same exact position with Shapiro as KW with Hahn. Feels he's earned more respect and freedom than that level of oversight.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 29, 2015 -> 10:12 AM) Anyways, about Sparks. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Greg_Sparks Yay, Moneyball and OPS. We finally won in a transaction involving Oakland. Maybe... http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Greg_Sparks Six years of minor league managerial experience...pretty much a lifer in the minors. The anti-Ventura, so to speak. Looks like the whole time with A's. Four years as minor league hitting coordinator. Minor league coach again most recently in Sacramento. This post has been edited by caulfield12: Today, 09:26 AM

The A's Way or the Highway... The funny thing is that instituting this philosophy is a lot easier when it's in your drafting/talent eval phase and everything is well integrated. You can't turn a bunch of free swinging, low contact players into the A's or the Royals for that matter unless you draft and sign players with those tendencies. We hear over and over again they pretty much are what they are at the MLB level...guess we will find out. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say.