caulfield12

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) i am really excited of this part of sox baseball improving. but my concerns is, if the leadoff hitter is really not a base stealer, wouldn't he do more harm by trying to steal and getting caught. i mean the #2,3,4 hitter that the sox will field, wouldn't it be better to have him on base than getting caught? i mean, anyone who played ball know it is an inherent, natural talent that one has, and not learned. thoughts??? It's a lot more about technique and reading the pitcher at the big league level. In the minors, pure speed, pitchers not holding runners and just poor fundamental throwing mechanics from catchers are the main culprits. Actually, Micah had a technique thing going, but it was felt by most scouts that it wouldn't work at higher levels and that he would have to make adjustments in his approach to be effective.

Terrible free throw shooting by Iowa so far. Illinois should just unintentionally intentionally foul Woodbury every time he's on the court.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 08:36 PM) The show started tonight and continues on Thursday and Friday night. Adam eaton got 93. So you'll have Abreu, Sale and Eaton. Although Ramirez or Quintana are possibilities, they would only make if it they played for Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs or Dodgers.

The thing is, Olaseni's a much more dynamic and effective player, yet McCaffrey's bound and determined to force him on Iowa fans. It's almost like when he beat out Roy Williams/UNC in the recruiting battle, he was promised that he would start forever or something.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 02:51 PM) with all this money being mention, doesn't it seems as the sox should be getting more?? when i first read about the money, i was trying to figure out why so wasn't it more money. the northsiders are sharing the csn network with the sox. what other regional pro baseball will compete??? the $$$$ doesn't add up. Because all of those teams are getting NEW regional contracts or starting their own networks. It's all about timing. The White Sox and Cubs don't have that opportunity for another four years. Just "bad luck" to be on the back end of this trend for both teams, actually. Not that anyone's going to feel too sorry for the Ricketts family.

NW is actually looking like a legit B10 team again. I guess that takes a bit of the sting off losing there, seeing Indiana also lose in Evanston. Point-spread has gone from 6.5 to 8 with Iowa as the favorite. WEIRD. That almost guarantees an Iowa loss, literally if not in the betting world.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 01:04 PM) Nope. Doesn't seem like a difference-maker, will have to outbid several big spenders for a guy who is likely league-average. Let's use our young depth here to save some resources for next year when we'll have to replace a starter. Or we can just plug Montas or Danish into the equation... If all else fails, there's always going to be a slew of pitchers in that $8-12 million per year category who could slot in at 4 behind Sale/Quintana/Rodon and ahead of Danks.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 12:47 PM) Meh. Pass. The Sox aren't the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox. We don't have unlimited payroll that we can just say, eh, whatever if it doesn't pan out. Also a total of 2 stolen bases over his past 3 years. Why is it that we on this board like to operate the Sox as a fantasy baseball team? Second base is one of the least important positions I have concern for. Spend 10mm on this guy? No thanks. We have capable options at 2b. As long as my guy at 2b can hit .260, get on base, steal a few, and play a solid glove/turn DP's -- Fine by me. Save the money to spend on pitching. It's one thing if Johnson or Sanchez give you a 650ish OPS. It's quite another to be below .600. To say we have capable options at 2B is really pushing it. We have options, but that's the same thing as saying we have options at catcher, too. They're just not the best of options. One thing that's for certain, it's going to be a lot easier to improve 2B than C or 3B. With that said, sure, they can and probably will be able to wait until mid-season and target the Chase Utley's of the world. As far as operating like a fantasy baseball team, I don't think anyone has mentioned adding to the payroll in the last 4-5 years without talking about budgetary constraints, lowered attendance and revenues, waiting for the new media rights deal, etc. Also, middle infield positions are critical to a team's success, especially from a defense standpoint. That's why it will likely end up being Sanchez or Beckham. If Gillaspie, Flowers and Garcia all hit, then they can carry Sanchez's bat. But how likely is that? At the very least, I'd run it by Abreu and see what his opinion is on the guy. He's certainly familiar with Olivera from his time in Cuba.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 11:48 AM) Hector Olivera isn't a prospect in the traditional sense though, only in the sense that he's never played in the majors. He turns 30 just after the start of the season. You'll be lucky to get 3 good years out of him. If you sign Olivera, you are signing him to be the starting 2B. Iguchi had just turned 30 the winter before the 2005 season began. But three years are really all that they need. And I hope they get at least three years, because Melky Cabrera will be 33 at the end of his deal as well...and we don't know exactly how much damage he did to his body or the total duraction of his PED's usage. Granted, Cabrera has a track record to fall back on. Another option would be to swing a deal for Alex Guerrero of the Dodgers...since Howie Kendrick and Dee Gordon are blocking him. And they could probably get at least $10 million shaved off the remainder of his contract.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/109401778/ac...ly-sought-after https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/yadier-alvarez Haven't seen the White Sox connected to him recently, but he would seem to be the perfect fit just like Iguchi was before 2005. Let's face it, very few believe that Sanchez or Micah Johnson are ready to play everyday, nobody wants to see Beckham as more than a utility player, and the same thing goes for Bonifacio. With the blood clot/thrombosis issue hanging over his head, it COULD be possible to sweep in and sign him for $24-36 million over three years. Plus, that might give us yet one more reason for Yadier Alvarez to give the White Sox serious consideration as a future destination...although having Cuban players obviously doesn't guarantee we can sign every guy on the market, it certainly can't hurt...especially with how well-respected Abreu is compared to Puig and Cespedes, for example. One drawback would be the likelihood that we're already at or beyond projected budget and it would make it nearly impossible to keep Samardzija, although that might already be a foregone conclusion, that he'll hit the market. Another possibility is the White Sox moving Tim Anderson over to 2B, with Alexei staying through 2016. Of course, you could also keep Alexei and play him at 2B with Anderson at SS...or pair Olivera and fellow countryman Ramirez. A final factor to consider would be the "insurance" angle as Olivera can also play 3B...in case of a serious Gillaspie slump. Has anyone seen any connections with the White Sox and Olivera? Are the White Sox foolish to count on Johnson/Sanchez/Beckham at that position? The odds of this happening are basically slim and none, but it would really push a lot of us over the edge on the excitement meter.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/02/d-ba...n-contract.html Diamondbacks the latest to sign a bigger tv deal...putting them in the low $90's just for their regional sports network Based on this number, the Mariners' new deal (started in 2014)...and where the D-Backs franchise is at the moment, the White Sox have to be shooting for $140-180 million per season in 2019, not taking into consideration their revenues from the national baseball contract as well as MLB Media. the increased revenue won’t vault the D-Backs into the division-rival Dodgers’ financial stratosphere. The Dodgers’ TV deal averages out to roughly $334MM annually, according to a Forbes report from March 2014, trailing only the Yankees, whose annual revenue from the YES Network averages out to about $385MM. Recent examples of this type of mega-contract include the Rangers, Mariners and Phillies, each of whom have AAVs in excess of $140MM, per Forbes. Piecoro notes that since the Rangers signed their 20-year, $1.7 billion deal in 2010, nearly a third of the teams in the league have inked similar contracts. Per Forbes, the previous top 10 television revenues belonged to the Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies (20 years, $2.5 billion), Rangers, Angels, Mariners, Mets, Red Sox, Giants and Padres.

Mitchell, Shuck, Tr. Thompson, Anderson and Michael Taylor

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 10:03 PM) When was the last time this city had such a devastating injury? It's over for him. Jay/Jason Williams

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate_shopping_mall_attack This would an example of a terrorist attack which was random but certainly not random in the targets selected...any non-Muslims, or at least anyone who couldn't quote from the Koran/Quran. Actually, the more that you think about it, even though it seems random to people in the mall, strategically targeting upscale shopping malls and/or hotels (like the Mumbai attacks) is anything but random. http://news.yahoo.com/al-shabab-threatens-...TI3XzEEc2VjA3Nj Al Shabab threatening US/Canadian/UK malls, and countermeasures being taken. To echo what Tex has already asked, what difference would it make if the President stated tomorrow that "we are at war with radical Muslims who are misinterpreting the Koran for their own nefarious/terrorist purposes"? Maybe you would say we shouldn't imply a war, but then what terminology would be aggressive enough to satisfy? And actually make a difference? In reality, "boots on the ground" really hasn't made a significant difference in Iraq, Afghanistan/Pakistan or any region of the Middle East. Most would argue things are no better, and probably worse than they were 20-25 years ago. That Egypt, Libya and Iraq were better off. Others would mightily disagree, depending upon their agenda and political perspective. http://news.yahoo.com/jon-stewart-giuliani...-130217052.html This debate between Stewart, O'Reilly and Guiliani's camp illustrates the issue. So if Obama is responsible for ISIS/ISIL, etc., then what should he have done differently? Print more to money for yet another ground war in the region when the U.S. economy was just starting to turn around? Then he would be accused of blowing up the budget and running even bigger deficits by the fiscal hawks/Tea Party. What would Rand Paul do?

Just ask the White Sox how difficult it is to draft a sure thing. The last time the Sox drafted a position player who became an All-Star for them was third baseman Joe Crede, way back in 1996. From 1997-2011 the White Sox drafted 369 position players and none of them became an All-Star for Chicago. Only five of them have managed a career WAR of even 6.0, including time spent with other clubs. Rowand (20.8) is the best position player they have drafted in the past 18 years, followed by Chris Young (15.3), Scott Hairston (6.6), Ryan Sweeney (6.6) and Gordon Beckham (6.2). That's the most amazing part of all this, for a time period when they had a Top 5 record in all of MLB, yet to only produce one All-Star (whose career was cut short by injuries) and almost zip position player-wise. Rowand and Crede were basically it over a 15 year period, since Young, Hairston and Sweeney played for other teams. Of course, that's not counting Magglio, Carlos Lee and Alexei Ramirez.

It's not like WI is going to lose two more games in the B10 in the final weeks. Good for Iowa's RPI, haha. But still wouldn't be shocked if they lose to Illinois WED night or blow them out by 15-20.

Where's Greg?

Scott Walker for PREZ!!!! Maybe we should elect a president who didn't graduate from university to show those elitist snobs who's really in charge. https://tv.yahoo.com/news/espn-suspends-kei...-190538658.html ESPN not too happy with Keith Olbermann over his Penn State comments...suspended for a week.

Depends on what the definition or "random" is, these last 5+ pages of thread...

Sale=Jamie Lannister At least there should be a story about how Chris has spent the entire off-season memorizing additional SAT vocabulary to make post-game interviews more efficacious, haha. He's officially pledged to sound as much like Dr. Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds as possible.

Alexei Ramirez might disagree with that assessment. This year's the first real test of that since 2012, when the team obviously wore down during the stretch run. Guys like Eaton, Abreu, Conor...and most of the pitching staff, as a close to .500 team became a pretty bad/below average one. The other problem here is separating for factors like Herm Schneider, or the fact that the bench has been very weak...thus not providing many legit options when resting regulars (see Leury Garcia). And "pretty decent" doesn't exactly fill one with confidence, lol.

They would be better off having a Bachelor show from all the actresses on Cinemax's Banshee. Lili Simmons, Meaghan Rath, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Ivana Milicevic, Odette Yustman (Annable), etc.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 09:28 AM) The Bachelor has officially eliminated the good looking girls from his show and now is focused on two girls that may actually be open to moving to Iowa. Riveting stuff. Because no beautiful girl would ever move to rural Iowa, unless she was married to the Univ. of Iowa or ISU head basketball or football coach...like Andy Enfield at USC. Just kidding. I was reading somewhere that the current bachelor was a millionaire, but I'm assuming that was mostly based on the value of his farmland? From what I understand, one of the best-looking girls was in Playboy and only seemed interested in using the show for promoting herself (surprise, surprise). At any rate, the Chicago girl could work at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, so she SHOULD be the favorite.

I wish the White Sox would try to get their hitters away from wrapping their bat too much behind their head and back towards the pitcher...unless you're Gary Sheffield, Eric Davis or Julio Franco, you have to be incredibly strong or quick-wristed to be effective with that approach.

LDF has been a bit like the Greg "Little Bulldog" Hibbard of SoxTalk these days, haha.