caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 5, 2016 -> 02:08 AM) Excellent post again as u are on a roll, except I take great exception to the Cueto comment. He had several ace like starts during the regular season last year, too, mostly all home games though. I don't think anybody will "fear" KC this year unless Hosmer just goes nuts this summer, which he could. Cueto's numbers for KC last year look quite similar to John Danks for the White Sox. 20 more hits than innings pitched (anything more than 1 HIT/IP is pretty lousy for an "ace" in that pitching friendly environment)...a pedestrian, Mark Buehrle-esque strikeout percentage of 6.19/9 IP, 4.76 ERA and 1.45 WHIP and a negligible WAR of +0.2 for 13 total starts when Adam Eaton's already at 2+ WAR for not even 1/5th of the season. One complete game...barely averaging 6 1/3 IP per start as well (granted, the Royals had the pen to get 8 outs per game quite easily). Six quality starts out of 13 and one close to it (5 IP/1 ER).

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 5, 2016 -> 02:08 AM) Excellent post again as u are on a roll, except I take great exception to the Cueto comment. He had several ace like starts during the regular season last year, too, mostly all home games though. I don't think anybody will "fear" KC this year unless Hosmer just goes nuts this summer, which he could. Cueto's numbers for KC last year look quite similar to John Danks for the White Sox. 20 more hits than innings pitched (anything more than 1 HIT/IP is pretty lousy for an "ace" in that pitching friendly environment)...a pedestrian, Mark Buehrle-esque strikeout percentage of 6.19/9 IP, 4.76 ERA and 1.45 WHIP and a negligible WAR of +0.2 for 13 total starts when Adam Eaton's already at 2+ WAR for not even 1/5th of the season. One complete game...barely average 6 1/3 IP per start as well (granted, the Royals had the pen to get 8 outs per game quite easily).

Probably Sonny Gray of the A's. Not sure many teams have the bullets left remaining in their farm system to get it done, KC/CHW/DET don't, and the Indians just haven't made those type of blockbuster trades going the other direction (as opposed to teardowns/rebuilds). Cueto was pretty terrible for KC last year in the regular season, but had a couple of very good post-season performances to somewhat redeem himself... As far as ruling teams out at this point of the season, the only team we can be pretty sure won't be there in the end is the Twins. Other than that, all four AL Central teams can win it or make the wildcard IMO. The Tigers, Royals and Indians are all within one game of each other. As far as offense goes, yes, you're right.....Infante, Perez or Escobar would have to pick up some of the slack from last season, and/or they're going to have to make one last run at it this trade deadline and start trading off pieces into the offseason if Dayton Moore is convinced he doesn't have a path to competing in 2017. It will be an interesting choice to let go, since that means rebuilding again for at least 3 years, if not more. If they go firesale, they can trade Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas, Volquez, Medlen, Duffy, Wade Davis, Soria (maybe, his value's down right now)....and keep Gordon, Perez, Ventura, Herrera and Kennedy as their core going forward, along with the likes of Zimmer, Mondesi Jr and Starling. My hunch is that Moore & Co. won't be making any of those trades until next July at the earliest...unless the wheels just completely fall off the wagon this year (not impossible, but also unlikely with how much parity there is in the AL Central, with all four teams having majors flaws that could be addressed via the trade route).

Medlen got hit around in that first inning, but there were three errors on Moustakas (tough in-between hop he got caught on), Infante (the worst one) and Dyson lost a ball in the corner for an extra base... He's been so-so. His last start, he took the loss after having a no-hitter through five and then giving up a bomb right away in the 6th, think they lost that one 1-0 if I remember correctly. At any rate, the real problems with the Royals are offensively (Cain and Morales), different parts of the bullpen have been getting hit around (except for the one constant in Davis) and then Chris Young has been their version of John Danks, although he's pitched better of late. Kennedy has been better than expected (compared to, say, Leake, around the same price range)...and Medlen a bit flat/disappointing but not terrible or where they're looking at putting Duffy back into the rotation or adding Dillon Gee/Chien Min-Wang to the rotation).

For another counterexample to Greinke/Price, there's Jordan Zimmerman's much more reasonable contract with the Tigers, comparatively. Now whether he's a "hero" or not, he's pretty close. I know a lot of people would have been excited at having the best rotation in the majors were they to have made that signing, although it would have been a total shocker since we were all so focused on that big hitter...and that was with the assumption for MOST OF THE OFFSEASON that Erik Johnson and Danks were going to be "fine/okay" at the back end of the rotation. Obviously, circumstances change.

Because the 5-10% chance that Lincecum can capture anything approximating his former glory for a stretch makes for a much more entertaining and optimistic story...I guess. Did they write the same types of articles about Josh Johnson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Johan Santana, etc.? The Freak is such an iconic baseball figure in the imagination though, kind of like Mark The Bird Fidrych but for a much longer stretch of time...maybe also because of his size and crazy hair, lots of pitchers emulated him and hoped to follow in his path.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I always thought it was cool to go to games that were being live broadcast nationally. When I was in university, I was always super-excited when ESPN or ABC would carry the Iowa games. Of course, nowadays having the game on tv is just an excuse NOT to attend, but back in the 80's/early 90's it was still a bigger event. I even remember one time getting locked out of Carver Hawkeye Arena in 1989 and Dick Vitale was also stuck....so we had a nice conversation for five minutes or so. I think they were playing Michigan, which was a huge game (not sure if that's the year they won it all on the Rumeal Robinson free throws)...and I was "tutoring" Roy Marble, so I always got to sit behind the bench. Dick Vitale WAS college basketball back then. Now, I guess the cable and pay and satellite tv universe is so diluted, having a game on ESPN doesn't matter to anyone but Brooks Boyer and the marketing department...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tim-lincecum-...037349-mlb.html Passan would make a great agent for Lincecum. Actually feel a little bit excited about the possibility of the White Sox signing him, if you read that column from start to finish. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/wednesdays-wi...532448-mlb.html Tim Brown arguing for why the SF Giants should bring Lincecum back...

14,383, down from last night, somewhat surprising for an ESPN National game after they'd won convincingly the night before. Guess it was the cold weather this time. But over 50,000 Red Sox fans in the Chicago region will claim to have attended Big Papi's heroic game...

Rodon is now 1-4. Combined with Danks, you would think we'd have one of the three worst records in the AL instead of the best. Still not seeing enough confidence in the change-up, location's a bit off, fastball velocity a bit down and slider not quite as crisp. Let's just hope it's the typical late April/early May "dead arm" period. He had a "quality start" against one of the best offenses in baseball, then the bullpen gave up two insurance runs. It's not like he didn't give the Sox a chance. That said, when you're picked in the Top 3, you're expected at some point to be an ace. Right now, he's a 3 (and probably closer to a 4 than a 2, but definitely not looking like 2nd half 2015 Rodon yet.)

You must be 100% sure. If everyone gets three fans to promise to come to the ballpark, and they get three fans each (9/27/81/243)...it won't be long before the "pay it forward" multiplier effect results in a string of 30,000 crowds. Fwiw, Merkin just reiterated that Fulmer isn't part of the rotation plan for this season.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 4, 2016 -> 08:30 PM) Yes, I'm sure one game has Hahn in a vice. I wonder if he has already received the performance improvement plan, one has to wonder. He's consulting with KW over the big board list right now, as we speak. Speaking of vices, though, one would have thought the "traditional Hahn" would have been in less of a hurry to dump John Danks when there was no clear-cut solution waiting in the wings. The White Sox were still in first place by more games than at any point since mid-June, 2008.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ May 4, 2016 -> 08:25 PM) I think the Sands thing has kind of run its course. He had a few big hits I guess. Like Sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives... Or was it "so go the days of our lives"? They were big hits most definitely. No guessing or vacillating back and forth on the nature of his contributions, lol. Considering virtually nothing was expected of Jerry, and we just faced a knuckleballer yesterday, this became a very real possibility.

Buchholz has not given up a hit since there was one out in the second inning. @RedSox Clay Buchholz has retired 16 of his last 17. Ian Browne Despite all this seemingly negative information, it has a positive silver lining. The pressure on Hahn will increase to get some kind of left-handed help to counter RH pitching.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 4, 2016 -> 08:21 PM) I don't think this is our game Too negative. It still very might well be our game, in light of results in the past 27 contests.

Good job, White Sox bullpen!!!!! Limited the damage to only one run when things could have been a lot worse. Robin Ventura's the early favorite for AL Manager of the Year, Adam Eaton's the best defender in baseball and Carlos Rodon just might be learning how to pitch... Is that better?

And, to top the "adding insult to injury" list, we're going to honor Big Papi before tomorrow's game. Hope Erik Johnson gets a good night's sleep.

Still a game. Big Papi 3, Duke 0 this series.

Ventura pushing ALL the wrong buttons this inning. Guess it was due to happen soon or later. He left Rodon in too long against BALT, arguably. Not sure I wouldn't have used Albers there, but hindsight is always 20/20.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 4, 2016 -> 08:07 PM) Of course. Ventura has been more in "win the game" mode and less about development this year. That said, Putnam and Petricka are our two weakest relievers and the whole "you can't use your best 3-4 bullpen guys in a game you're behind by just one run, even at home..." rule is going to get a firm test this inning. Especially against Papi. Does Ventura use Jennings or Duke? Probably Jennings...

We scored off O'Day and the Red Sox Japanese reliever who'd just gone 9 consecutive scoreless outings before last night. Hope is far from lost...

Rodon better be on a tight leash or out of the game. Of course, since he's currently on the hook for the loss, I'm sure Ventura will at least give him a chance to get through the 7th and see if they can tie or take the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Buchholz holding RH hitters to a .214 average this season despite a horrendous ERA. White Sox need that big LH bat in a situation like this one.

I saw online where someone compared the Cubs to UCONN women's basketball, how unfair it was for the rest of the National League. They're getting just a tad BIT cocky these days...which will make their eventual comeuppance sweeter, at least.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 4, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) He won't survive the 7th. No one ever does. Is Bychol a new remedy for monthly "feminine issues," lol? Well, one thing about our late scoring offense...it makes for more exciting games. Typically, the "old" White Sox teams would pile up a big early burst and then let up on the gas and gradually let the opponent back into the game. This is kind of the opposite. At least it's DIFFERENT. Or that 2005/06 offense that seemed to jump out to early leads.