caulfield12

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ May 19, 2015 -> 06:50 AM) Some of the radio guys last night kept pointing out that this streak has come against cellar dwellers, and while true, the Brewers just beat the Tigers in Detroit and the A's just beat the Astros in Houston. Kluber and the Indians also dominated the best team in the NL last week on the road as well. Also, in 2012 we really struggled against the bad teams, which was a big contributor along with our bad record against Detroit to losing the division. When all is said and done....they're not only going to have to go .500 against KC and Detroit, they're going to have to record an 11-8 or 12-7 record (against DET/KC/Minnesota, 2 of those 3) to offset starting 2-4 against KC, 2-5 against Minnesota and Baltimore (0-2). Most of us still believe the Twins aren't a real contender...I also think that's fair to say. But we're probably going to have to sweep them to serve notice to the rest of the baseball world that we have a real pulse (where we start getting mentioned as a Top Ten MLB club). That said, 3-1 versus CLE and 2-1 versus MIN would still put us at a solid 3 games over .500 and right back in the thick of things. There's going to be about 7-9 teams fighting for that final Wild Card spot. (Astros, Mariners, Angels, Tigers or Royals and 2-3 teams from the AL East). At this point, not ready to call TB or the Twins contenders.

Has there ever been a collegiate reliever taken in the Top 10 picks of a draft? I mean...someone who spent the majority of his draft year coming out of the pen but was projected by scouts as a starter at the next level? Any examples come to mind? I don't know why...maybe it's just the Kris Honel thing and the idea of going for the local kid often not working out (yeah, for every Joe Mauer there are a lot of counter-examples)...and that's kind of an irrational fear, but, as noted above, it's very hard to project someone when you haven't even seen them pitch much as a starter. How well will their stuff hold up in the 6th-9th innings? Do they have enough of a repertoire to start in the minors? Why, if they had three or more plus pitches and/or were in consideration for a Top 10-15 draft selection, would their coach not enjoy having them as the #1 starter THIS season, if not their first two seasons in university? Who are these other starting pitchers the coaching staff perceives as possibly better...or at least better suited for starting duty?

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ May 19, 2015 -> 06:37 AM) Going for 7 in a row. Offense needs to explode tonight. 13 IP, 4 H, 18 K's and .095 BA on the road in two starts so far this year. No runs given up yet. On the plus side, he had a 4.87 ERA, gave up more hits than IP, 9 hrs and a .272 BAA on the road in 2014.

The problem with doing that is if Baez can't play 2B (offensively more than defensively), then they've just created another hole to replace the one they fixed. They could probably stick Alcantara back there again, but pretty sure they don't want to do that at this point. This is by far the best Kris Bryant "rumor" out there. That he could have been a Rhodes Scholar...their definition is REALLY pushing it. Bryant has options if his baseball career doesn't pan out. Stafford said Bryant ranked second in his (Las Vegas high school) class while taking honors and advance placement courses. Despite his ascent as a major league prospect, Bryant honored his commitment to the University of San Diego, succeeded as a finance major and could have filled out the paperwork to apply as a Rhodes Scholar at the end of his junior year there. But he didn't because had he achieved the honor, it would have steered him away from pursuing a professional baseball career for at least two years. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0314-story.html Kris Bryant...he was heavily recruited by LSU, Arizona State, UC Irvine, Stanford, Clemson, Auburn, USC and Vanderbilt...chose to attend USD because of the great baseball program, the beach and the wonderful weather in San Diego...notes that he graduated high school with a 4.78 GPA, and that he is really into cars, and likes to play golf. http://www.usdtoreros.com/sports/m-basebl/...ant_kris00.html

Rodon's officially going to start WED. Indians will counter with former Blue Jay Shaun Marcum (this would have been Bruce Chen's slot....haha....speaking of Chen, seems he would make an excellent coaching candidate for some team, and since he's had so much success against the White Sox, it makes TOO much sense!) http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2...t_story_package "In our meetings with every player that got sent down at the end of spring training we asked them what they'd learned," said Antonetti. "Everyone of them said they learned so much from Bruce Chen." The Indians were so impressed with how Chen carried himself when he was on the mound and on the bench during games that they filmed him. "We filmed the way he interacted with his fielders after they made a good play," said Antonetti. "How he acted on the mound and engaged the other players on the bench. Instead of just saying, "We want you to be a good teammate,', now we can show them what we're talking about." Quintana versus Bauer tmrw. What's next? Trevor Bauer (2-1, 3.67) will face Chicago lefty Jose Quintana (2-3, 4.39) on Wednesday night at 8:10 p.m. at U.S. Cellular Field. SportsTime Ohio, WTAM AM/1100 and WMMS FM/100.7 will carry the game. Bauer is 1-0 against the White Sox this season and has not allowed a run on the road this year. Quintana is 1-0 against the Indians this season. In his career, he's 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA against the Tribe. http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2...tml#incart_2box Something's gotta give, Quintana's perfect record against CLE and/or Bauer not giving up a run on the road yet.

Or we should be rooting for Baez to get called up (where would he play, they're not going to convert him to LF/RF in the middle of this season) and fall flat on his face for a second time, leading to the Cubs being forced to trade Schwarber and/or Castro for starting pitching. God forbid if Almora starts to look legit again. Fwiw, they're going back to Wada this week...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 17, 2015 -> 05:55 PM) Totally. And as we have seen, when you have arms, you can deals to get major league hitters. See also Santiago, Hector and Peavy, Jake. Gio Gonzalez + Rowand for Thome Addison Reed (well, hopefully...someday) FDLS + Gonzalez for Swisher Zach Stewart for Youkilis

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-colu...le21296034.html Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote on the Jennings hire

You didn't need more than one hit in 3 opportunities. That said, Alexei has failed in that sacrifice bunting situation probably 80-85% of the time....hitting into double plays (wasn't there one triple play?) and getting lead runners thrown out or simply popping up into an out. Of course, you didn't like the odds with Soto (or Flowers, in general) coming up...but Sanchez is a contact hitter, thank god. That's one example offensively where having Carlos on the team instead of Micah there is a huge advantage. The other factor to consider was the dearth of bench options at that point in the game.

One would think that Jon Snow, Danys and the two Stark sisters are the true remaining protagonists at this point, and Theon/Tyrion/Jamie are all anti-heroes who could become heroes at some point in the not-so-distant future. To turn Danerys into another Mad Queen after so many books and building her "good" side up (ending slavery, attempts to be fair and just throughout the books) would seem to be pretty pointless from a narrative point of view.

Minnesota---trailed 4-0 Detroit---trailed 1-0 Cleveland---trailed 3-0 KCR---trailed 1-0, 2-1 KCR---trailed 3-0 Detroit---trailed 1-0, 2-1 Detroit---trailed 1-0, 3-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-3, 6-3 Milwaukee---trailed 1-0 Milwaukee---trailed 1-0 Oakland---trailed 4-2, 5-2, 6-2 Oakland---trailed 2-0 Oakland---trailed 2-1 Cleveland---trailed 1-0 Little known fact: The franchise was first known as the Sioux City Cornhuskers in 1893. Finally, how can the White Sox, after winning five in a row on the road, and having Kluber AND Sale on the mound, only draw 17,712 fans? What was wrong with the weather? Blackhawks again?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/05/18/hit-and-r...s-shelby-miller Chronicles the 7 managers in MLB history who ascended to the post without any playing experience (at least in the minors). Turner, John Boles (once a former White Sox front office guy with DD), Tosca and Trembley are the more recent examples. Their overall record is around a bit under .500, fwiw.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...sion-by-marlins Crasnick: Naming Dan Jennings Simply a crazy decision by the Marlins http://sports.yahoo.com/news/baseball-team...-172438377.html Passan criticizes the move from a bypassing minority candidates (against the Selig Rule) and hiring Mr. White Guy perspective. “It’s an awful candidate pool,” said one GM who in recent years hired a new manager. “Real stars get jobs fast.” When you think about it, Ventura, Ausmus, Matheny, Jennings, AJ Hinch and Counsell were all named managers with little or zero minor league experience. Even Sandberg has struggled with his six years and his lengthy major league resume. Of course, the irony is that the Marlins have had 3 Latino managers, and one of two African-American GM's. Also all the Ivy League GM "white guys" such as Epstein, Daniels and Friedman. Names Renteria and Bo Porter...says they should have still gone through a real/legit process and interviewed at least 3-5 guys to expand the pool of possibilies...some other names out there include Dave Martinez, Tony Perez, Eduardo Perez, Guillen, Manny Acta, Manuel, Sandy Alomar, Jr., etc.

USA Today reported the Marlins new bench coach will be Mike Goff, who was their advance scout and the former first base coach for the Mariners in 2005-2007. Mike Berger, the club's vice president and assistant GM, will assume Jennings' duties in the front office. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miam...l#storylink=cpy The bullpen has blown eight leads already. Mets two. Six game difference in the standings. Not sure how that's on Redmond, heck...he should be getting praised for having so much success with Dee Gordon. Then again, the Latos move has been a disaster for all intents and purposes. Most importantly, they don't have Jose Fernandez back pitching.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 18, 2015 -> 08:17 AM) Really though, from everything we have read about this, the guy who should truly have his neck on the line is Loria. His fingerprints are all over this team And you really think he's going to pull a Ted Turner? The fans might actually show up for that one, to see him fall flat on his face and dance on his grave.

Everyone's copying the White Sox now, lol. Matheny, Ausmus, Jennings...can't wait to see the national baseball media pick this one apart. Reminds me of when Larry Dierker (if I recall correctly) went from broadcaster to manager of the Astros. This will be one of the first managers (maybe the only one) without at least significant minor league playing experience. The next, inevitable step is an Ivy League/quant/sabes (love ya Gregaroo) guy directly going into managing. Jennings, a well-respected scout and executive, has no professional managerial experience and last coached a team when he was in charge of Davidson High School in Mobile, Alabama, almost 30 years ago. He has spent 13 years in the Marlins front office after first serving as a scout with the Reds and Mariners for seven years and then seven-plus seasons as the scouting director for the Tampa Bay Rays. Jennings played college baseball and was signed by the Yankees in 1984, but quickly left the organization. It's unknown if Jennings will still retain his title as general manager. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miam...l#storylink=cpy

QUOTE (Brian @ May 18, 2015 -> 03:49 AM) Not a dig on you caufield because you're not the only one I've seen it from, but I see no comparison of Ex Machina to Her, outside of it being a less action scifi movie. Eva and Samantha both being artificial intelligence is the only similarities and they had different motives, if Samantha had any motive at all. I guess maybe it does make for some kind of discussion after all. How are we to assume Samantha didn't have a motive, haha? Well it didn't really feel like an action piece along with lines of I, Robot or AI, which would be another one that comes to mind. Maybe the most recent Robocop remake has some of those elements. Transcendence, although that movie was complete and utter crap. It had that futuristic feel like Elysium, Oblivion (the cabin by the lake....lab by the lake in a remote region reachable only by helo). From another perspective, it was a classic game of cat and mouse. In the end, it's really hard to find an apt comparison. The best I can come up with is 2001: A Space Odyssey and HAL.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 18, 2015 -> 05:52 AM) Dan Jennings, manager of the Marlins. Isn't he a front office exec?

The "stuff" has filtered down, resulting in unprecedented productivity from Sox players. Ms. Moss Kanter’s prime example of what can be achieved through will and vision is a $1 billion tunnel beneath Biscayne Bay that allows trucks to reach the Port of Miami without clogging downtown streets. She credits, among others, Jose Abreu, a Cuban immigrant, civil engineer and state official who championed the project for decades. It started in the mid-1980s with an idea and a $4 million federal grant to study it. Some 30 years later, after myriad disputes, the tunnel was finally built by a public-private partnership drawing on money from a Paris-based infrastructure investment fund. http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-fill-th...oles-1431898378

It's going to take more than 6 weeks for Trey to pass a consensus Top 50-75 MILB prospect. More like mid 2016 before that happens.

Ex Machina is a much better version of HER (Joaquin Phoenix/Scarlett Johannson). It's a bit slow in developing, and there's very little action...but it's a captivating movie nonetheless. Jason Isaac is very good as the creepy techno-genius/billionaire version of Zuckerberg/Jobs/Larry Ellison, and you might recognize the lead of the movie from a recent time travel movie appropriately titled "About Time" with Rachel McAdams and the always-watchable Bill Nighy. The ending is a surprise on what you would expect, but follows logically with the plot. All things considered, there was a lot more to take from this film than Avengers 2 or Furious 7. It's the Snowpiercer of 2015 (so far)...a movie that will definitely have its share of critics but will undoubtedly belong in a discussion of the Top 10-15 films at the ends of the year.

Let's just see how they do against teams with very solid pitching (CLE) and a team some are ranking as high as 6th or 7th in their power ratings/rankings. Oakland's in such a terrible funk that it's very hard to draw any conclusions from that series....any more than you could draw them from KC and Minnesota sweeping us when we were playing terrible baseball. Statistically, we're only ahead of the Red Sox in the RS/RA allowed index. Oakland's still at -5. Statistically, the White Sox SHOULD be 14-20 and the A's 19-20. Obviously, that's why they play the games...and it matters more when you play a team, and also how you're playing at the time, than anything else. The main positive right now is the entire AL playoff picture is wide open. The Royals are having major difficulties with Ventura and Duffy, two of their rotation strengths entering the season. With both Shields AND Volquez, they'd be running away with the division...and Detroit just has a tremendously balanced offensive attack (but no lockdown starters like in years past). If not for the Kinsler/Fielder and Soria deals, the Rangers might actually have prevented the Tigers from being anything but a wild card contender.

He's also been much more effective holding runners on base since the change, FWIW. Faster delivery time to home plate.

Martinez, who trained with the International Prospect League in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, will work out for scouts Wednesday and Thursday (this was LAST week). It's unclear if the outfielder, who played two seasons for Las Tunas in Cuba, will sign during the current international signing period or wait until the next period that begins on July 2. There has been a flurry of movement on the Cuban market in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, top Cuban pitching prospect Vladimir Gutierrez, 19, established residency in Mexico and registered with Major League Baseball. The right-hander, who defected during Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico, will be subject to the international signing guidelines when he is declared a free agent by MLB. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/124052414/in...e-cuban-players

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 17, 2015 -> 08:39 PM) Hopefully Kluber isn't truly back. Stupid Francona, he should have sent him out for the 9th to set the strikeout record!!! There's always wishful thinking...