caulfield12

Everything is going the way of the White Sox right now...Rollins and Abreu need to execute. They blew some chances over the weekend.

Atta boy, Austin. Huge run there on the table. Eaton might be bunting him over, hit and run or a straight steal...

Albers is turning out to be one of the best moves of Hahn's tenure. The other ones are Latos, Eaton (although Santiago has done better than many predicted as a starter), Robertson (fair contract, bullpen had to have some certainty), Abreu and Lawrie (so far). Plus those favorable contract extensions. Gear up for the heater against Diekman!!!

Nice night so far in the AL Central. Cleveland's getting hammered by HOU, Royals just went under .500 for the first time all season and the Nationals (you'd think) have to win a game late, tied 4-4 in the 8th against DET after being down behind Strasburg 4-1 earlier.

When's the last time Zobrist played SS, lol? I actually think Lawrie could probably go out and play that position better than Ben, but the point is taken about not just giving Russell credit until it's due. And with his homer last night, and defensive play, Baez is actually worth more so far this season than Addison.

Since April 26, Rougned Odor hitting .382 with 5 doubles and 5 homers in 55 at-bats. From Buster Olney/twitter, just for future reference in this one.

QUOTE (South Sider @ May 9, 2016 -> 07:42 PM) Nice job by Gonzalez today. Lets hope he can carry this into the next game. Yankees are playing a bit better baseball and their offense is finally starting to come around, but they're still vulnerable. Gonzalez has done pretty well against current Yankees hitters in his career. He's held his own.

Careful...this guy just hit a grand slam over the weekend against the Tigers.

Odor can play a little bit. 111 MPH exit velocity on that one. Struggling a bit, probably getting tired. Just came back to the game and a bit shocked Gonzalez was faring so well.

Galveston! Plus, Chili's originated in Texas, and they always serve Dr. Pepper, another Texas drink and the best soft drink in the world, haha. The Alamo is cool to visit and obviously the Riverwalk, El Paso/Nuevo Lareda (a bit dangerous these days, though)...I'm going to be in Dallas for 3-4 days with family at the end of July and trying to think of things you can do with an 18 month old that won't be too draining due to the stifling heat that time of year.

Latos should be the fifth (NOW)...we're not going with what they're projected to be or what we expect them to be in July. You can make an argument for Hammel/Lackey as well. All good candidates. Second base probably goes to Lawrie for that same reason as well. Zobrist has been hot recently, but Lawrie's been better overall, is much younger and has better defensive range to boot. (Or you can make the argument Lawrie's been more important to the team's overall energy, athleticism and has contributed more percentage-wise to the Sox offense getting kick started.) You could say Ross or Navarro, but both are well short of the qualified number of at-bats.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 9, 2016 -> 02:25 PM) As far as Linncecum is concerned has anyone heard any reprts on his tryout other than what he or his agent have posted. He said he felt great but what do team scouts have to say? They are mostly concerned with his hip and surgery recovery. Apparently, his delivery looked fine. He didn't throw an inordinate amount of pitches, but claims he has been throwing sets of 15 pitches X 6 "simulated innings" for days now and needs 1-2 and maybe 3 minor league starts before being ready to go. Fastball was 88-92, so that was encouraging to see him top out at 92 and consistently at that speed when he was 87-89 more recently (last couple of years with SFG, supposedly due to the hip/mechanical issues, at least partially). Most of the scouts said his breaking stuff looked pretty crisp, but then you can't really gauge it unless you have live hitters' reactions.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 9, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) You can't fully pick and choose who these guys start again. When you have no offdays, they have to go some time. I do have a feeling that whoever (hopefully Gonzalez) fills the 5th starter role will do well once they settle in & have a good outing. I was simply replying to this quote (hard to settle in with our May schedule)...maybe it happens this weekend against the Yankees, and Gonzalez has certainly pitched against them enough in his career. But there will be a lot of pressure on Hahn again if he gets bombed out of the Ballpark. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...miguel-gonzalez His numbers career-wise against the Yankees are pretty similar to what he's done against Texas (in terms of their current hitters). 252 BAA and 743 OPS. We'll have a lot better indication with the warmer weather down there if that 92-93 MPH fastball is gonzo and/or how effective he can be at 89-91 MPH instead.

First of all, Felix Hernandez is struggling to hit 90 MPH these days...he's not the main reason that SEA rotation is doing well. It's smoke and mirrors with him, and the peripherals are telling the true story. As for the Blue Jays, it's not their offense of 2016. Tulo has been terrible and Encarnacion/Bautista are aging. It's a very good offense, but not elite. The Rangers...WHEN Fielder is hitting, Andrus healthy, Odor, Moreland, Choo (close to coming back), Mazara (dangerous), Desmond, Beltre, that's a pretty balance and dangerous line-up maybe other than DeShields and the catcher's spot. That's not even providing Profar and Gallo a spot to play, so pretty deep. Or Josh Hamilton. Detroit actually should be one of the best offenses in the AL with Castellanos hitting so well, but Gose has been a disappointment and JD Martinez has been struggling (relatively). Cabrera has been motoring along about the same clip as Abreu...which won't last too long for either player. Kinsler's always tough, and Victor Martinez still has life in his bat. The whole question, as always, is about their starting pitching and bullpen (recently).

That's why bringing in Wil Myers and a LH hitting defensive CFer (not Billy Hamilton, haha) for next season would give the outfield even better balance. Neither one's going to be prohibitively expensive. In general, the goal is to get as many "in their prime" year player as possible. We've been fortunate with Cabrera's bat bouncing back so far this year, but there are no guarantees yet...especially with Avi's "resurgence." Names like Leonys Martin, Rasmus (probably too expensive), someone from Arizona with Pollock coming back (maybe Owings as Drury is THE man), Lagares, Inciarte, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, etc. Just don't overpay for Andrew McCutcheon who seems to have already peaked and is starting the decline phase of his career now (not that we have the willingness to trade away all of our best prospects in a package anyway.)

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...miguel-gonzalez Stats for Gonzalez against the Rangers aren't too bad. 287 BAA, 740 OPS. Moreland's the only active Ranger to take him deep, as Chirinos and Choo are out still. Watch out for Mazara and Odor. They've been dangerous recently. Desmond's back up to a 700ish OPS after starting out in a miserable slump. Beltre just crushed the Tigers, while Fielder is the main slumping bat after having a bounceback year in 2015.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ May 9, 2016 -> 01:49 PM) F that, let him start in the minors until he's ready to start with the Sox. Maybe after minors season ends... You want him to wait until the end of August to join the Sox? That's not very realistic...if our hopes were to actually sign him.

Cuthbert/Colon will probably be their first two options...whether they can hold the fort or not offensively will be the question. Some other players in that line-up really will need to step up besides Hosmer. Cain and especially Morales still struggling.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ May 9, 2016 -> 11:58 AM) Plus there are rumors that he is wanting more than he worth. Would assume $5M+. He's worth a cheap gamble but not much more than that. Wish Fulmer was closer than he was. I do have a feeling that whoever (hopefully Gonzalez) fills the 5th starter role will do well once they settle in & have a good outing. My biggest question with the off-day on Thursday, do you go with your top 3 guys this weekend or still have a 5th starter go Sunday? Starting them against Toronto and Texas, two of the prolific offenses in the AL...probably not the best way to accomplish that. Not to mention the Erik Johnson start against the Red Sox. If he gets lit up by the Royals the way their offense is going AND without Moustakas, the Angels, Rays, Twins, A's, that's one thing. But nobody can realistically expect less than 3-6 runs allowed against the better offenses in the league.

Look at it this way. We paid Manny Ramirez the same for what, one month or six weeks of work? Bonifacio, Keppinger, Duke, etc. It's nothing in the overall scheme of things if they believe he can be a viable fifth. Remember, they've already paid a portion of that money to Jacob Turner as a lottery ticket with a low likelihood of payoff. Lincecum's made enough money in his lifetime that the guaranteed starting opportunity is worth more than the difference between $7 and $5 million, or 5 and 3. The only important consideration is "guaranteed starting spot" means how many starts before the plug would be pulled if he was ineffective? That the Giants aren't yet willing to give up on either Cain or Peavy this year in favor of Lincecum...is quite telling. They know him better than anyone else, and that's pitching in the NL West in bigger stadiums, not the AL Central. In general, there's something to be said for the team feeling like it least has a 50/50 chance to win before they take the field...not the current 10-15% like the situation with Danks or Gonzalez. At any rate, these kinds of situations tend to work themselves out over time.

No way Boras was both allowing such a cheap one year deal for Jackson AND a relatively cheap option for next year at the same time...not with the lack of FA options for most teams in the coming 2016-17 marketplace. The fact is, Jackson has been pretty terrible offensively for almost two full seasons after being a solid/above-average MLB CFer and borderline All-Star a couple of those seasons in Detroit (which plays huge offensively with the exception of down the lines). Plus, you have his younger age to consider. Boras did what he felt was right to maximize Jackson's earning potential if he could put up a 675-725ish OPS or better this year. And, despite the "eye test," Jackson isn't grading out so far as irreplaceable in CF as much as Eaton and Cabrera (especially Adam) have both improved and Garcia's off the field, so the entire effect is even more noticeable. In general, have no problem with these types of one year deals because they tend to bring out the best in players.

And it's not like their jokes and stories are 100% as ridiculous and off-top as Farmer and DJ...granted, radio's a different medium and there's even more of tendency there to fill time when a game is out of hand.

The official Japanese spelling is bukkake...fwiw. And that should be the end of this thread, lol.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/177077774/cu...cords-in-majors Obligatory Phil Rogers article on Sox/Cubs' starts...didn't want to bother to start a new thread

Lewis has pretty much owned the White Sox for most of his career. Doesn't throw overly hard, but effective. This is one of those games that you're almost tempted to bet against the Sox because you feel the odds are stacked against them...of course, the cosmic forces will smite you for doing so and you'll hit yourself in the head with a baseball like Sale did. http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rang...-sox-right-foot Note Carlos "Rondon" starting for the Sox. Carlos and Derek Holland are both struggling, Holland gave up a boatload of runs last time out... With the way Latos has been going his last two starts AND Cole Hamels going for the Rangers, hoping for just 1 out of 3 and getting out of Texas without giving up more than 20 runs.