caulfield12

Royals being murdered by the Astros, 9-0 (Volquez vs. Keuchel) and only in the 1st inning. If the Jays and Twins don't end this, the Astros likely will next weekend. With the Indians' best (Salazar) destroying the Tigers' best (Zimmermann) with a 7-0 lead, the Indians being by far the best team in the division is no longer in doubt.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 06:28 PM) Sounds like Putnam's injury is long-term. There is just no way in hell this team is going to be able to hang around until mid-late July. Albers is nearly done. Petricka and Webb out. If Putnam's gone, there's no way for Ventura to hold that bullpen together with duct tape and baling wire. Plus, the Blue Jays are out to sweep the Sox, returning the favor for our sweep of them in TOR to climb to 16-6 at the end of April.

Not the best location on that fastball to Saunders. Had the velocity, but that's not enough with these Toronto hitters.

Does anyone else have the feeling this July might be the best possible time to trade Melky? (The obvious caveat is that it really puts a crimp in their ability to compete next season.) So if Hahn's still calling the shots, there's no way he will be dealt. If it's up to JR/KW....maybe. But that would mean the end of Hahn making decisions on personnel and that he would be a lame duck in the same way as Robin. End of tonight, looking quite likely the division could be 4/5/7 games back of CLE. Very similar to the position the White Sox were in on May 6, up 6/7/8 over CLE/KC/DET.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 06:16 PM) Nice he is still interested in baseball. How about Mark as the next Sox manager? Does he really strike you as the manager type? Of all the ex-Sox that keep getting mentioned in connection with the job, he's the least likely to be interested.

Didn't realize Junior Lake was still in the majors. Must have just been recalled recently from AAA. Bet the Angels are regretting that Saunders trade didn't go through...he's having a great season so far. Angels might have been able to compete with his numbers added, but probably not quite enough.

Encouraging start to the game for Rodon. Usually a good sign when he comes out with a clean first inning.

Man, the Indians are just on an awesome run. 4-0 CLE up in 8 Mile/Kid Rock Town.

Avila hitting 5th after a 4 for 5 game is almost as bad as Shuck/Sands DHing and hitting in that particular spot. Sanchez is a really good pitcher and can simply dominate. We have a chance, but it's more of a puncher's chance of getting a knockout. You certainly wouldn't bet a house on the Sox side tonight going into this one. No margin for error when one of Eaton/Abreu/Frazier/Cabrera is out.

Tie. No hat eating. No victory for either "side."

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 01:53 PM) There are more teams looking to add in the offseason than at midseason though. It'd be a way bigger market in the offseason. And yet there's more urgency/desperation in June/July. You can see both arguments. And the point about no way the Sox send Betts/JBJ/Bogaerts packing mid-season is exactly on point. Bogaerts currently looking like one of the five best players in the AL, and at SS, that would be an absolute shocker.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 01:53 PM) There are more teams looking to add in the offseason than at midseason though. It'd be a way bigger market in the offseason. And yet there's more urgency/desperation in June/July. You can see both arguments. And the point about no way the Sox send Betts/JBJ/Bogaerts packing mid-season is exactly on point. Bogaerts currently looking like one of the five best players in the AL, and at SS, that would be an absolute shocker.

Charles Johnson, 2000. But he was an All-Star w/ the Orioles that year.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/english-...-091744242.html Wow...Cameron resigned. This is getting even more chaotic and unpredictable. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/world/eu...region&_r=0

Okay, for some reason I thought he was 32 instead of 30. Maybe I was thinking of Dunn when he came here, around that same age. I don't think it's unreasonable to go from 800 to 750ish changing leagues...and based on the 2nd half of 2015. Obviously, if he picks his batting average up to the .230's/.240's and some of his "bad luck" on BABIP evens out, he could get back to 800, but that extra 50 OPS points might not make as much of a difference as we'd like unless we can get consistent contributions from our non-core hitters. His defense in the last month hasn't been quite as stellar as the first 33 games, but it has been a welcome improvement to Gillaspie, there's no denying that. The position is solid, at the very least. Or maybe I was thinking 32 and a free agent...and then you have a headache of a decision that with your heart is to extend a great guy like Frazier even though your logical saber statistical regression mind is saying no way. And I'm not sure if there's an easy way to look it up, but USCF really tends to cut down on doubles because it plays so small and lots of teams are basically camping their outfielders near the warning track in "no doubles" mode, especially with the warmer weather. So I'm not sure how much of it's Frazier and how much the change from Cincy's stadium to 81 games at USCF. Would have to look at batted ball plot points/exit velocity/launch angles, etc.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/world/eu...p-news&_r=0 Yeah, the global "undercurrents" politically with the Trump forces, Marie le Pen in France....following in lock-step, and quite predictable fashion, despite the overwhelming feeling of political chaos and uncertainty. Those forces, anti-foreigner/anti-Muslim/nationalist and nativist and isolationist, could be cribbed directly from The Donald's playbook this election season. Would be shocking to see Cameron and Merkel survive it. France has an election next year as well.

Who did the Thunder get for Ibaka again? Why would OKC be the favorites over the Warriors? If Golden State can improve on the interior, they'll be as strong as ever. Paired with adding an outsider shooter in Nowitzki motivated by one last run at a 2nd ring.

Pretty sure it's $5 million, then $10, $10 and $2 million for buyout of 2019 season. $27 million total. Average is $9 milion, but it was "backloaded" theoretically so the Sox could add this year to ATTEMPT to make a run for it (which may or may not already be closing in on "too late" to many observers of how last season played out).

http://finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=AwrXnCBywW...ZWMDc2M-?s=^HSI Hong Kong down 5% (Hang Seng)

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 23, 2016 -> 10:30 PM) I'd rather he not start. I think what he has working for him is his insane velocity, which could very well be diminished if he has to throw more pitches in a given outing All depends on the movement of his fastball in the 92-96 range, as opposed to upper 90's. Not sure if he throws four-seam, two-seam or both. If he has a good sinking fastball, that's usually MUCH more effective taking a little bit off and not overthrowing but I haven't watched him at all on video.

Also impressive — he’s now projected by some to be a top 10 pick in tomorrow’s Major League Draft, and there’s some talk that the Detroit Tigers may be looking to take him for the purposes of getting him ready for relief work this season. “I think Zack has a great opportunity to be up this summer as a bullpen guy, then depending on the organization, to get a shot as a starter,” U of L coach Dan McDonnell said. So I guess McDonnell would be another prime interview target...

Hasn't been much of a reaction on the Shanghai stock market. Most here would agree it's a bad thing for China's economy, though. RMB continues to hold the line around 6.60 but the great devaluation hasn't happened yet. The irony is that the Chinese market went up 100+ points when rumors of it being added to the MSCI or MCSI or whatever it's called nclusion at a very small 1-2% weighting of the Global/Developing Index of stocks...when they decided to delay the decision because of obvious concerns about how the market is being run here and how off are the "real" numbers for SOE's or even more famous ones like Alibaba...the market just shrugged it off and had almost no negative reaction. Hard to read with all the government buying and manipulation, though...it's definitely institutional/government buys moving the market for the last 6 months, not the mom and pop individual traders who got burned in July/August and then again earlier this year.

Is there any talk of pushing him up to Chicago THIS season to fill the donut-sized hole where Albers/Petricka used to be? Did Burdi discuss that with Hostetler/Bell/Hahn was one of the conditions about being drafted by the Sox and his timetable? What about the rumors (his college coach at LOU was a proponent) of him getting stretched out potentially as a starter in the minors next year?

But that's $9 million we don't have to fill other holes, especially in 2017 and 2018. If you promised me that Hahn could/would replace Avi/bench bat and bring in another RH (veteran reliever), I might be more optimistic. Waiting until mid-July to make those decisions, the ship might have already sailed without the Sox onboard.

Frazier's a mid 700's OPS guy. Not sure if it was realistic to expect improvement switching from the NL to the AL, after his second half and he's 32 now. Lawrie was much better earlier in his career in terms of WAR, but to expect better than this consistently, no way. Saladino, sure, if he was playing everyday...you can see him 50-75 OPS points higher. Garcia just sucks, don't care about his BA w/ RISP if he's only OPSing in the mid 600's. Jackson was 660's in OPS, right where most predicted. Navarro and Avila, where predicted based on years of decline and injury. Eaton has been overperforming, by and large. That leaves this whole theory based on improvement from Abreu (which has already happened), Frazier (slight room for improvement but trending negatively except homers), Rodon and the injection of Tim Anderson (which, optimistically wasn't expected to be much above a 700 OPS number by even his biggest fans THIS YEAR). It's very simple, replace Garcia and get at least one more potent bench bat...and don't put all your eggs in the Justin Morneau basket or it will be too late to course correct. The bullpen needs another RHP. That's a HUGE problem at the moment. And then Shields improving, but he can't get any worse. The White Sox SHOULD have won 2 of the 4 games he has started, so it's not like you expect them to win 3/4. 1/4 obviously isn't going to cut it, and that's probably what the number deserves to be, the rally from 7-0 down cancelling out today's blown game. And I wouldn't count on Gonzalez continuing to pitch as well as he has, either. Rodon Shields Frazier (what higher OPS number can be realistically expected, though??) Avi replaced (Morneau/trade) Anderson doesn't get exposed offensively RH reliever (veteran) Perfect health and Jackson coming back and hitting the ground running where he left off offensively. The same case can be made for every team in the division, and they've all gone through just as much if not more than the Sox. Let's just say we shouldn't bet Greg's house until they actually show they can win 2/3 series against non-MN Central opponents.