caulfield12

Let's not forget all the damage done to pitchers (except for saving Robertson against the Yankees) by Avi as well. One of the reasons war and fip diverged so much from era this year. Not that the Royals could have turned Shark into a Cy Young contender. Teams like the As and Giants are just much better maximizing their offense through creative platooning. And yeah, Keppinger and Bonifacio and Beckham sucking didn't help provide Ventura as many options. Leury Garcia, either. And then they were't ready to cut down Avi's playing time in a development year, so many factors in play.

Martinez was also one of those loyalty moves like when we kept Contreras, Konerko, Dye, Buehrle, etc. In isolation, it seemed like it would go bad...but you could understand why Illitch would authorize it. Maybe they also thought he would go to KC to replace Butler. There are other calculations to consider, like his influence on their young hitters, relationship with Miggy, etc. The fact that he'd come back from catastrophic injuries before. If you switched out Kendrys for Victor, KC might have ended up struggling more to hold off the Twins because Morales was such a key to the Royals' offense this year.

If it's KC and the Cubs, SoxTalk will have a difficult time cheering for the Royals. Certainly cheering for StL against KC would be easier, but everyone's also sick and tired of the Cardinals at this point.

Yes, but still the editor's job to allocate or remove column inches. Reporter's job, treat every job/article the same, whether it's about the local little league or a world-famous athlete.

With Magical Maddon, surely anything is possible?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 12:35 PM) If the players (LaRoche, Melky) hadn't played so poorly, there wouldn't be a perceived need to replace them. They would also have value in a trade if there was a desire to upgrade. "Buying too early" isn't a problem. Players underperforming/losing value is a problem. Players aren't players. They're assets with a value and a cost. And now we've also wasted two years of Robertson...and he's more likely to be declining his last two tears when we really need an 85%+ closing rate in 2017 and 18. Doesn't make much sense in terms of resource/payroll allocation when a younger position player would give you a higher return...as a well-paid closer will be a luxury next year, also preventing us from making additional adds via FA. Still not sure why we didn't allow the Yankees to take him back. Guess it would have reinforced now inept some of our moves worked out that we'd already have to cut bait in Year 1 of the contending window.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) He is below average defensively. No thanks. But also heady/gritty/grindy in Sox tradition...

Some blamed Coop for MacDougal, Linebrink, Aardsma, Sisco and Masset. Danks and Floyd regressed...Danks hurt. Crain and Jenks got hurt as well. Javy V. was never going to be straightened out. Blaming him for Paulino or Erik Johnson would be really pushing it. Maybe Liriano and Myers didn't click with him in 2012. A lot more success stories: Marte, Contreras, Loaiza, Thornton, Quintana, Humber, Jon Garland, Danks and Floyd early in their Sox careers, Crain and all the rookies in 2012, Hector Santiago, Putnam, Albers, Petricka, Nate Jones, Jenks, Sale, etc. Politte, Hermanson and Cotts in 2005.

Freese would just be another placeholder, though. We might as well get Uribe back just for sentimentality. He could also double as the bench coach, saving JR some cash. They need real potential impact bats, not complementary players. Like Puig. Cargo's at the point with all his injuries you can't wait until 2017 and project him to still be healthy.

With Billy Hamilton, not sure they'd even be interested in Micah, not to mention they are still committed to Phillips for at least one more year. Throwing a bunch of names like Montas, Beck and Danish together won't accomplish much, either. They'd ask for Fulmer or Anderson and pieces or someone like Eaton.

The plastic display case enshrined Schwarber ball on top of the scorebosrd and "fly the W" flags showing up at random non-baseball sporting events like the NFL game last night will surely help to break it. Maybe the return of Ronnie Woo Woo and the Shawon-O-Meter (Dunston).

Compare those to the ones listed for Brandon Phillips, and see if you still put any stock in these particular ratings. They're fan generated, and as far as I'm concerned, they're ridiculously inaccurate and far underestimating Todd's defense. Either that, or the awful sample size of him playing at 1B has dragged his overall numbers so far down that his stellar 3B play is wholly unrecognizable in these ratings. Basically, just pretend I didn't populate this section and just know that Todd's an above average defender. Freakin' fans and their graphs. Instincts: (60) First step: (55) Speed: (49) Hands: (59) Release: (59) Arm strength: (59) Arm accuracy: (59) Overall: (57) http://www.redreporter.com/2015/3/2/813009...cincinnati-reds

Harvey, deGrom, Snydegaard and Familia might have a response to Greg about not being ready for prime time. I'm guessing he has watched about 2-3 of their games the entire season. Perhaps zero.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 05:51 PM) huh? If we had held our bullets until this offseason, we wouldnt be forced to pass on Heyward, Gordon, Cespedes, Zobrist, Wieters, Chris Davis, etc. Now we're stuck with second and third tier options, especially on the infield (Desmond, Asdrubal Cabrera, etc.) The odds of finishing higher than 4th in the ALCD are pretty darned low barring major changes in personnel. If we hadn't spent prematurely, we theoretically could have added Zobrist, Wieters and another bat like Gordon to have a really interesting team this coming season. But instead they're going to be lucky to get Parra, Pearce or Rasmus...and probably won't make another move since they're stuck with Avi, LaRoche and Cabrera. They also should have foreseen Rodon with his control issues wasn't going to slash and burn through the AL like one of the Mets' young phenoms.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 09:33 PM) Nice Yeah, except the Royals/Astros going 5, exact. Both those AL predictions were in grave danger of going wrong, but recovered dramatically.

Harvey looks like the likeliest to start SAT for the Mets. Not sure who the Cubs are opting to go with...

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 10:20 PM) The point is, replacing Robin should be last on the list of priorities. Pretty much every other need is more pressing. Not top 4-5, but definitely not LAST. Somewhere in the 5-7 list of priorities. If they had a bench coach who could get through to Puig, I'd definitely take a chance bringing him on board, but that contract's not as attractive as once thought (overall) . 1. 3B 2. Deciding on Ramirez's fate or replacing him 3. C 4. Finding another starting pitcher if they're attempting to compete or deal Q to fix 2-3 areas of need positionally 5. 2B (odds are that it will be Sanchez, unless Johnson just blows everyone in ST away, is greatly improved defensively and he's 100% healthy and not afraid to test his hamstrings/legs.) 6. Ventura/Bell/front office "disorder" straightened out, new bench coach in place 7. RF (once again, this could easily be higher, but my sense is they feel they can muddle through with Avi and Thompson somehow) 8. Replacement for Albers/2nd LH reliever 9. Replacements for Soto/Beckham/Bonifacio

Mr. Murphy of the Mets just earned himself an extra $5-10 million on his FA contract with his exploits this post-season. He and Justin Turner were revelations. (Of course, carrying that on to a consistent regular season performance is another matter altogether.)

Another Greg prediction goes down... Mets over the Dodgers. 1969 Baby!!! Amazin' Mets.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 08:32 PM) I think the Mets have a legit shot. My fear with the Dodgers has been the lack of a #3, but more importantly, their offense not clicking. Honestly, only Turner was consistent this whole year. And the way they're talking about Puig in LA now makes me think he could be had for Samardzja, much less Q. In the end, the Dodgers lost this game and this series. If they had a legit #3, they probably win Game 3. They're not gonna put up with Friedman if he still runs things like he's in TB. They were fine when they had a healthy RYU. In hindsight, they should have held onto Haren instead of just dumping him...the Brett Anderson move actually worked out nicely, all things considered.

What happened with Ethier and Mattingly? Dodgers lose this game, it will be the end of his tenure in LA, for sure. Ventura Highway to the Dodgers? One can only hope and wish...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 08:19 PM) I think you missed the obvious sarcasm. Let's not read too much into it. I was obviously joking, too. In all honesty, since a lot of the information we get is unsubstantiated/secondhand/not sourced, we're either left to guess, parse the tea leaves or completely ignore everything we hear, especially the dreaded "conspiracy theories." SoxTalk=X-Files of baseball sites

First, Maddon, not to be confused with the former Raiders' coach/broadcaster. Next, Greg, you never cease to amaze me. It's almost like I am imagining Donald Trump typing in your place about sports instead of politics, but in the same inimitable style. You're really beginning to mirror him with your dramatic pronouncements. At any rate, blah blah blah....managers don't matter when the team isn't talented enough, so we just keep retaining Ventura and then dump him when we finally have a good team again and actually need an experienced hand at the helm? Sounds logical, and par for the course with this franchise. After all, there are FOUR (count 'em!) 4 teams in all of professional sports with even worse ratings for coaching (ESPN rankings) than the White Sox. We're not THE worst!!! We might have even moved up 3-5 spots by jettisoning Voldemort Parent.

See, we can't even agree that Rick Hahn's important enough to even put up on the banner!!! The last two posters included KW in their groupings but not Rick. Interesting.... I mean, if Mark Parent can single-handedly disrupt the clubhouse morale/chemistry and turn players on each other and Ventura, isn't Hahn capable of at least doing something besides negotiating contracts?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 05:27 PM) Sensible comment displaying ability to hold two thoughts in head at same time. What is it doing on this site? Two years being the key point. Pushed back being able to compete by one full year and lots of financial flexibility removed for next season due to LaRoche and Cabrera. Money wasted on Bonifacio and Beckham as well. Uncertainty over Duke and Robertson but both have bigger contracts for relievers. Garcia and Flowers are borderline starters at best. 3b especially has nobody viable. If we keep Alexei, having roughly $5-10 million to spend this offseason makes it impossible without hitting on one huge trade or 2-3 smaller ones that break perfectly like 2004-05. And it also requires Tim Anderson being a better than average major leaguer, along with two of Johnson, Fulmer and Montas.