caulfield12

KC is playing confidently again after that miracle comeback in Game 4. Relaxed and free/easy. Just like the White Sox in 2005 and KC before Bumgarner last year. Ventura and Cueto are going to come right at them...the KC starters get on a roll together, not even the Cubs or Jays will be able to stop them. Basically just three hits (Moustakas should have had an error) in the last 15+ innings. Even Bubba Starling is tearing up the AFL. Goins can really play some defense. Huge DP there to stay in the game.

Biggest at bat of the game there... Huge K. Bullpen time. Volquez at fuel gauge empty. Gutty performance. And yet another starter we could have had (more cheaply as well) than Shark for multiple seasons, and we'd even have Semien, Phegley and Bassitt back. There's a team very close to .500, based on this year's performances. Swap out Morales for LaRoche and things get really interesting...we're then able to add local kid Ben Zobrist at the deadline. But we chose poorly...to quote an Indiana Jones movie.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 07:52 PM) I get what you're saying. But haven't you read through this thread? Soxtalk will never be the same again if the Cubs win it all. Well, yeah, saying we have to suck for seven years to get to where the Cubs are now...well, that has already been mission accomplished. Maybe we can have a ceremony on board an aircraft carrier as well. Except for 26-5 in 2010 (but beaten by the stupidity of swapping out Thome for Kotsay) and 5 1/2 months in 2012 when we all suspected the Tigers were the better overall team and you had Ventura vs. Leyland.

There should be a SoxTalk Cubs' watch/view party to cheer against them in the World Series...if it gets that far. Was there anything organized in 2003?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 07:37 PM) This wasn't a development year! We spent the whole offseason saying we were going to be there at the end of the season. We said that on the day of the trade deadline! The irony is that Yost would have been fired and Moore in hot water as far as keeping his job if KC lost that wild card. He definitely would have been gone with no playoff appearance. Meanwhile, the White Sox fans are expected to be more loyal to KW, Hahn and JR when their leaders have accomplished far less with those past seven years than Moore, who, once again, would have been fired (possibly) had they lost the WC game. Yost was gone for sure. And this for a franchise with 1/3rd the broadcast rights revenues the White Sox receive. And yet zero threat of anyone in Chicago losing their job...and even then, Ventura will be sacrificed to the fans despite the fact that KW and Hahn are the main ones responsible for the product on the field.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 07:44 PM) I'll bring back the Alex Rios theme song. This means Greg will also have to cheer for Alex Rios after 4 years of criticizing him. Oh, the humanity!

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 07:28 PM) lmao. you're kidding, right? Well, maybe just the posters who are particularly piqued anytime something positive is said about KC. Last year, the response was they were just lucky, sucked for a long time, wouldn't repeat/flukey, Yost was a terrible manager and emulating their rebuild would require sucking for 28 years. Well, no, it took them six and one-half or seven years to build a consistent contender. Moore became GM on June 8th, 2006, exactly when the White Sox "dynasty" was peaking that year. By year 7, they were ten games over .500 and competitive at the end of the season. Then two consecutive ALCS appearances and the resources to definitely get at least one more. Of course, it has also been seven years of rebuilding for the White Sox and nobody is even expecting .500 in Year 8. And that's with the Royals getting a tiny share compared to the Tigers or White Sox for RSN. They've gone from 26th to 25th to 10th this season in attendance as well. We were 24th, 28th and 26th. Surprise, surprise...winning (even though they lost to SFG) leads to more fan support.

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.)