caulfield12

Zimmerman has given up 15 runs in his last 27 2/3 IP over four starts, including 7 against the Twins. 4.88 ERA. Just 2 in his first 33 IP covering 5 starts. Detroit is reeling a bit, they had bases loaded with no outs last night down by 2 at home in the bottom of the 9th against Chapman...JD Martinez then hit into a DP to make it 5-4, and Miggy Cabrera grounded out on a 101 MPH fastball to strand the tying runner at 3rd.

What team did Livingston play for in Peoria, was it Manual, Central or another one? All I remember was reading a book once about Steve Alford and he and many top collegiate coaches were recruiting that kid HARD when he was already in middle school...projecting a combination of Magic Johnson, Penny Hardaway and Marcus Liberty/Jamie Brandon in their primes. Tyler and Cody Zeller coming out of Indiana were the other big-time recruits around that time period, if memory serves correctly.

And, since he's been injured...he might at least consider it, because his numbers at the end of the year might be similar to what Alex Gordon put up last season. That said, every agent who has an 800+ OPS hitter in their stable under age 32 has to be salivating at that potential market next year (demand outstripping supply) and saying no way should you/he agree to anything before you see the lay of the land in November/December of 2016.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jun 2, 2016 -> 11:36 PM) I believe Kershaw has more complete game shutouts this year than he does walks. I mean, come on. The Dodgers would just be buried in the standings behind the Giants without Kershaw. He's also the most valuable player as an individual to his team, for sure. He's the only stabilizing force keeping things together, without Anderson, McCarthy, Ryu, etc. It's inexplicable why they keep trotting out a 19 year old phenom at this point in Urias when he's clearly struggling to deal with the transition and especially against an offense like the Chicago Cubs right now.

The Indians are going nuts after two-walk off wins in a row, over TEX and now KC. I'm not sure what the hello Paulo Orlando was doing on Lindor's triple...it should have been a single instead if he pulled up, which would have meant the tying run was at 1st and only one out but a medium-depth fly to Dyson in LCF would have resulted in him staying at 1st with two outs instead of scoring the winning run on a sacrifice fly. Of course, it would have changed Napoli's approach as well. Three other Royals' errors in that game as well (should have been 4 in the span of just two innings, two on Orlando, one for Infante and Escobar)...and Reymond Fuentes had two "mistakes" as well with a throw home that should have gone to the cutoff man and a misread that resulted in a ball dropping in during the 8th. And, of course, his defensive replacement was Orlando, who made two more mistakes of his own. I saw before the series ideally CLEVE would take 3/4, but I'm starting to think that heating up CLE and letting them run in 1st might not be the best idea, either. Fortunately, they're without Brantley because of his shoulder problems and also have to replace Byrd as well. Not quite as shocking because it was Soria trying to close instead of Davis, but the way it was blown was a surprise to most.

Jon Jay has 9 hits in the last two games... Trade value skyrocketing! Of course, the Mariners got 9 two-out hits in one inning in last night's 12-2 blown lead...the White Sox haven't done that in a month.

Can't wait for the CEO's comments after THIS one...talk about tightening the noose around that poor team and AJ Preller. Feel sorry for Don Orsilo, 3 of the last 4 years he had to broadcast terrible Red Sox teams (did get another World Series win, though) and now this. Buchter (4 ER in 2/3), Mauer (3 ER with no outs), Matty (yes that one) Thornton (2 ER in 1/3). Alexei was on deck when the last out happened. Biggest comeback in baseball in seven years (2009) Biggest comeback in Mariners history. Biggest blown lead in Padres history. Reliever who just came up from the minors today got the "vulture" win. Wade Miley gave up 9 runs in 4 2/3 IP and still got a ND. The crazy thing is the Pads had three innings to get back into it...so not quite so dramatic as doing it in the 8th or especially the 9th. The last four runs scored (including go-ahead single by Shawn O'Malley) with Thornton on the hill. Of course there had to be a White Sox connection here,

Delmonico just got promoted from BIRM a week ago...if they promoted him this quickly, it would be borderline crazy.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/features/cyyoung I'm not sure their methodology, but Sale is clearly 1st in AL and NL goes Arrieta, Strasburg, Cueto and Kershaw. That's nutty, I can see Arrieta, MAYBE...but Kershaw has 30 more K's than him. Of course, Jeff Samardzija is 6th.

You almost think the Warriors were teasing them a bit, letting them believe they were actually getting back into the game down by 11. Would have been interesting to see what kind of player Livingston could have become without all those traumatic knee injuries. Cleveland has to win on Sunday to have any realistic chance of hanging in this series. Luckily for LeBron, there aren't the single days off between games or he would be walking dead by Game 4 or 5.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 2, 2016 -> 06:41 PM) Are you really making another random Silicon Valley reference? Please tell me I'm completely off-base here. As long as he has that huge image taking up the whole page, yes! At least he should change it to one of Monica occasionally, or Richard's latest attempt and Dinesh's Eastern European internet "galpal." Fine, Cubs are the greatest team in the world, Go Cubs Go, they can do no wrong...all they can do is wait for the next wave of pitching as they storm through the NL Central and create a new MLB clause that forces the rest of the teams in that division to spend a minimum of $125 million on payroll in order to have a prayer of JUST competing with the vaunted Cubs and their idiotic W flags and rapidly increasing crime/violence rates in the Wrigleyville area.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-golden-s...-213418306.html Almost makes you want to root for "blue collar" Cleveland...and LeBron. Almost. With the prices highlighted here, for the NFL, New York Yankees games, you're seeing this whole venture capital/unicorn start-up thing really start to impact the ability of even upper middle class people to go to games, especially the playoffs/post-season.

Royals blow the first game of the series in CLE due to 3 uncharacteristic errors and the fact Wade Davis wasn't available, so Soria tried to close and failed, primarily due to the talent known as Francisco Lindor. KC CLE/CHW 1 1/2 GB DET 5 GB Assuming Detroit loses to NYC, rookie Matt Boyd had a no-hitter going into the 6th but the Yankees finally got to him and took a 5-2 lead in the late innings. Game in progress.

The problem with Archer is he's not pitching very well so far this year...so you're paying for past results and potential to turn things around, without any guarantees. And Archer would cost Anderson AND Fulmer, in all likelihood. If you're the Rays, why would you accept anything less? He's probably the most valuable player they have left with that franchise, as Longoria has regressed quite a bit from his early form of 2008-2011.

The thing about Jason is he's a veteran who knows exactly his place and role on an MLB team. It's a toss-up between him and Leury, although Saladino brings some of those same positives minus the ability to play CF. If you bring up Coats or Hayes, they should be given more opportunities than either of those two utility guys would ordinarily receive to establish themselves...Coats, in particular. Most importantly, we've never had a baserunner like a Gore/Dyson than can just automatically take 2nd/3rd as a PR in the late inning. That's super critical when you play so many 1-2 run games. That's why they should go with one of the first two options UNLESS they are serious about letting Coats or Hayes play at least 2/3rd's of the time.

Cubs' World Series win or Richard Hendricks successfully managing a girlfriend? Which happens first?

It all comes down to health, as well. The Royals and Indians have suffered significant early-season losses and are still competitive. The biggest loss for the Sox has probably been Jake Petricka. In Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, Perez, Moustakas and Gordon, you're talking about 5 of the 20 best players in the division on the shelf. The Tigers have also been playing better with Cameron Maybin back.

Yeah, but with Reddick being one of the few "impact bats" available in the trade market...Beane's going to drive a very hard bargain. So how much are you willing to give up for a rental player that doesn't come with a compensation pick attached? Plus, coming back from an injury, he's going to need to establish that he's 100%. If he does, his value will rocket back up. If he doesn't in June, it's an even bigger risk to trade for him assuming he'll be fine the second half of the season. Keep in mind, with Sonny Gray sporting a 6.19 ERA and Coghlan's OPS in the low 500's, those are two trade chips off the market (for now). Same with Billy Butler. Reddick, Madson (if he keeps performing), along with Rich Hill....those are the three big "rebuilding" pieces for now.

If Ventura and Hahn earned the fans' trust, there would be more support and less "historical" woe and angst. It's definitely true that if we were, let's say the Marlins, and were a new franchise in the early 1990's and already had two World Series championships that the fans wouldn't have that constant fear of disappointment...(frustration with Loria is another issue, but we have enough fans frustrated with JR, too). I'll just put it this way. The three teams that have longer stretches without a postseason, ones' CEO just publicly annihilated his GM and most expensive pitcher, one is run by Jeffrey Loria and the other is Seattle, who looks to be in a slightly better position (at least currently) than the White Sox (not to mention they're benefiting from all their new tv contract revenues and were able to add Cruz/Cano). Yeah, we could be the A's, the Rays, the Reds, the Padres, the Marlins, the Twins or the Braves (who at least have the new stadium to look forward to). Things COULD be worse. But I'd hope we would have a higher expectation than not being in the five to seven worst franchises in baseball.

I think KW would definitely pull the trigger on CarGo. Hahn, not so sure about. That 780 vs 953 (home) split is quite scary. You can't afford to give up talent AND take on a huge contract for someone who's providing a sub 800 OPS. Huge risk, that's for sure. More potential upside with CarGo, more certainty and less cost with Beltran.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/...3/ichiro-suzuki You'd have two HOF DH's, maybe. However, Ichiro only has a 578 during that time frame against RHP. Against lefties, 755...but that's reasonably what we would expect out of Rollins if he JUST hit against LHP, right? Maybe 3 years ago, when he could still play the OF quite well, but it's too late for him as a plus defender unless it's primarily a marketing move like Manny Ramirez down the stretch in 2010.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/...3/chris-coghlan Coghlan's close to an 800 OPSer against RHP over a long time frame, has positional versatility and, most importantly, is struggling so badly he shouldn't cost much. The problem is that he's SO bad right now you wonder if a trade will bring him out of it or if he's just cooked mentally this year. Theoretically, leaving the A's for a contending team...especially being in Chicago again, that SHOULD help to motivate him to prove himself and rebuild his value for 2017. But that's if we go SMALL in terms of setting our sights. Should be a solid move, and could be a great one but just as easily it results in disappointment based on his 522 OPS overall mark this year. That's beyond woeful. Does Steverson have a fix? How much of it is attributable to O.co stadium vs. Wrigley, etc.?

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jun 2, 2016 -> 02:16 PM) Huh? His proposals weren't that farfetched.... I too think Kelly Johnson would be nice addition to the bench. Hope we shoot higher than Carlos Beltran for the big bat acquisition though. How many experienced AL hitters are going to give you a return of an 850+ OPS against RHP and not cost something significant? Beltran is one of the better choices out there, because of his age, playoff experience and contract. Kelly Johnson only has a 548 OPS against RHP this year and ONLY 715 over the much more indicative three year timeframe. Not sure how that clearly makes us better. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/...ing3/aaron-hill Aaron Hill would seem to be the better choice, based on this season. Otoh, coming from NL to AL, he's not LH, he plays a position we don't have a pressing need at, so unless he could put up current 812 OPS for the White Sox at DH and not his close to 700 splits (they're basically even over 2013-2015), then it's not a big improvement either. They would be better off with Rollins against LHP and then ANYONE NOT NAMED AVI GARCIA against RHP. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/30867/jerry-sands LOL. Career-wise, Jerry Sands has 549 and 551 splits against LH/RH pitching, about what you'd expect. WOEFUL. However, if you go by his minor league numbers, he's been at over 800 the last couple of seasons against RHP...especially for Columbus, where he was at 940 against RHP and 970 against LHP. But how much stock do you want to put in AAA numbers?

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/18161...98194-658620023 The rare article where the author really seems to know about the teams involved and not just speculating. For the White Sox, that telling statistic is 2nd from the bottom in OPS against RHP...at only .688. So, no matter what you want to say about the 4/5 spots, whether Albers is "real" or not, whether Petricka will be serviceable again, about Saladino/Rollins/Anderson or the catchers....the FIRST priority needs to be hitters who can rake against RHP, and they're preferably switch hitters or lefties. The other problem with the starting pitching market is that everyone's out there looking for improvements. Bullpen and hitting help should be a bit cheaper to come by. Beltran, with his 833 OPS against RHP for 2013-2015 (868 this season), would be a good/experienced solution (and would of course drive GreenSox crazy). Of course, the Indians and Royals (if Morales doesn't recover and/or they can get away with him in the OF occasionally) are also going to have an interest, and the Indians have more trade chips to work with. The question for them is of course salary affordability. Andrew Miller being included in that trade, though....blows it up from a talent surrendered perspective. Miller would be a huge get and cover the Duke disappointment, but at what cost?

Neighbors 2.....2.5/4 kind of a disappointment, even though the reviews were so-so, expected more truly funny scenes and the spirit of the first movie was taken over by an overbearing political correctness Money Monster....2.75/4, really enjoyed the first 50-60 minutes, then it kind of devolved from there into a traditional action/thriller with a convenient or pat conclusion, on the plus side, I found a new actress, Catriona Balfe, who plays on the tv series OUTLANDER (just started watching and think it's a darned good show, especially her performance) Not anywhere close to being as good as THE BIG SHORT, although they are different movies...anything to do with business/stock market/economics kind of gets lumped together, eg., sports-themed movies Did enjoy seeing Clooney and Julia Roberts working together yet again.