caulfield12

Uh-oh.... Sandoval picks tonight to show up. Looking like a carbon copy almost of last night's game. Amazingly enough, the first homer over the Green Monster for Sandoval since he signed.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 05:59 PM) Saladino really isn't as fast as I thought he was Minor league stolen base numbers almost never translate to "MLB speed." He's pretty quick, but he's not a burner.

Balt now up 5-2, TB leading the Tigers 1-0 in the battle for 3rd place.

DeAza certainly never looked this determined to get on base when he played for the White Sox his last two seasons with us.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/b...15/seasontype/2 No longer last in runs scored per game, and we've passed Tampa Bay so no longer last in the AL. 27th, with a full eight innings to add tonight. Miami and Seattle within hailing distance. Cubs at 98 games, 378 runs...Sox at 99 games, 351 runs and the chance to add even more tonight.

Toronto leading the Phillies early, 2-0 going into the 3rd. Baltimore leading the Braves, 3-2, in just the top of the 2nd.

Wow.... Bonifacio doubling there, what the heck? Gordon must be aggravated he's behind Boni in the line-up, the ultimate insult.

Fans chanting for Pedro Martinez to come into the game, lol. Papa John's better fire up those ovens...or is that just for home victories? Miley hurting? Blister or hand problem? He threw a couple in the mid 90's, highest velocity of the season, not that it helped a lot.

Finnegan hurts the most because Morales is their only lefty reliever right now, and he's been serviceable but not great. Manaea, Reed, Lamb, etc., none of them were ahead of Kyle Zimmer in the eyes of the front office, or their recently drafted Indiana kid in Ashe Russell. They lost a lot of their minor league pitching depth, but none of those guys were being counted on for 2016 other than Finnegan in the bullpen and the possibility of those other arms fighting for spots at the back end of the rotation. That will simply cost them money, but they were going to have to spend money on a free agent or make a trade anyway...and slot a guy after Volquez, Ventura, Duffy at the back end.

QUOTE (staxx @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 03:56 PM) MIN > Sox > CLEV > KC > DET in terms of 5-7 year outlook IMO Min has an incredible farm system. We have an extremely strong pitching rotation with some young core hitters. KC is blowing up their farm to win this year/next year, and will likely lose many pieces from their bullpen and Alex Gordon. They also have little in terms of long term pitching value. DET is aging extremely fast, saddled with huge contracts, and little farm talent. Who are the young core hitters? Eaton and Abreu, basically. Are you already counting Sanchez and Saladino? As far as the Royals go, they'll have Volquez, Duffy, Ventura, Kyle Zimmer, Medlen....a free agent signing, and probably one of Guthrie/Blanton/Chris Young/Hochevar as the long man but they're undoubtedly going to get another starter before next season. I'm not sure where this idea of losing many pieces of the bullpen is coming from, they'll still have their core set-up guys in Escobar and Davis. Davis will make $8 million in 2016, and $10 million in 2017 (those are club options with with a $2.5 million buyout in 2017). They have Herrera for next season at $2.55 million. Holland has been very shaky for the last two months and might be replaced. They are stuck with Jason Vargas' deal for 2016, but if he misses the full season, they'll get 35-40% back in insurance payments. There's a $10 million mutual option on Medlen with a $1 million buyout. Fwiw, their recent first rounder (Ashe Russell) was somewhere in the 90's, and then there's Mondesi, so still two Top 100 guys, barely.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:24 PM) I like Hector. I like Eaton. Eaton was better last year, Hector this year. Eaton makes more sense for a team carrying Sale, Quintana and Rodon. It worked out for everyone that wasn't the D-Backs. Unless you have AJ Pollock ready to play in Arizona, who they considered the better player.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:32 PM) What matters is your scouting report said Finnegan and Duffy were the future. One of them is gone. One of them has been injured and struggled. And their starters have been pretty bad anyways. Burning out the bullpen. Simple regression. Having to pay players. The future is not so bright in KC. The cow town won't attract free agents unless they overpay. LOL, like they did with Volquez, Rios, Morales, Blanton, Chris Young and Medlen? (It seems in retrospect like the White Sox were the ones who overpaid their free agents.) I doubt you've even been to Kansas City, lol. It's almost like you have a personal animus towards the city. I could understand if it was Detroit or Omaha or Des Moines or some random midwestern city, but what happened to you there? Weren't you predicting last year that this was the last anyone would ever hear from the Royals, that they were one-hit wonders and the product of luck (mentioning the Wild Card comeback about 1000 times)?

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:30 PM) Shields helped the Royals turn the corner and Davis is a nearly unhittable bullpen piece, but I bet Dayton still regrets that trade a bit. A top rotation pitcher and a middle/back end type, plus a legit corner OF all at the league minimum. They probably wouldn't have had to made the trades they've made this past 3 days if it wasn't for that trade. Except there's no way in hell they would have gotten to the post-season or World Series with W.Myers and Odorizzi producing what they did in 2014. The acquisition of Shields changed the mindset of the entire pitching staff. Dayton Moore when he's 80 will never admit to anything but relief that it worked out, because his job was 100% on the line if they didn't reach the playoffs last year, not unlike AA in Toronto this season with the desperation Tulo move that's ten times worse IMO in terms of the long-term consequences for the Blue Jays.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) How's Medlin doing Royals boy? Hochevar isn't doing squat. That bullpen has been burning at both ends and it will catch up. And just wait until it is time to pay those guys. Better win now Royals. It's going to be a very short ride. On the bright side, when they get back to their losing ways, you will have the greatest beat writers in baseball to feed you BS you can eat up. The Royals have two more seasons after this, just like the Tigers had their four. The Twins are shaping up to be the team to beat in future years, but KC will be the favorites heading into next season. They're a couple of pitchers (starter/reliever) away from being really dangerous. The Indians still have the best overall (future) rotation, although the White Sox will challenge that if Fulmer/Montas emerge as well.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:07 PM) Oh, the TV ratings. They gave up 5 arms in 2 KW moves, Finnegan, a guy you said was one of the greatest prospects in the game, and a top 60 prospect for rentals. History has shown deadline acquistions rarely determine the WS outcome, so trading 5 prospects and burning out your bullpen isn't a recipe for sustained success. If the Royals can't re-sign Gordon, they won't be able to get Cueto or Zobrist. This is their shot. If they blow it, it will be back to the drawing board. Apparently the Reds agree. Who has come up the same season he was drafted, (pitched in the College World Series in the case of Finnegan) and then the MLB World Series? Cincy was convinced he had a future as a starter, that's all that matters, in the end. And they liked Reed a lot. With Lamb, anyone who's had TJ surgery once is a risk, but he was a huge prospect at one time, like Drabeck.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 01:07 PM) Oh, the TV ratings. They gave up 5 arms in 2 KW moves, Finnegan, a guy you said was one of the greatest prospects in the game, and a top 60 prospect for rentals. History has shown deadline acquistions rarely determine the WS outcome, so trading 5 prospects and burning out your bullpen isn't a recipe for sustained success. If the Royals can't re-sign Gordon, they won't be able to get Cueto or Zobrist. This is their shot. If they blow it, it will be back to the drawing board. They don't want Zobrist for next year, they need him for these 2 1/2 months. Simple. Back to the drawing board? If you're living under a rock, they've added guys like Madson, Hochevar (back from injury) and Medlen to take some of the pressure off that bullpen. They're unlikely to sign Cueto or Price, but then I never thought Glass would okay spending $55 million on Gil Meche a decade ago or bringing in Jose Guillen, either. You can guarantee they will bring in SOMEONE for their starting rotation before next season. The irony is that we're talking about all these moves not paying off and "blowing up" if they don't win the World Series. This is the Royals, remember? Two or three seasons ago they were a laughingstock..."we keep hearing about all these young prospects, blah blah...they screwed up the franchise by trading Wil Myers, etc." I'm sure if I went back to the thread on the day Myers/Odorizzi/Montgomery were traded for Davis and Shields, it will be filled with those critical of the move and saying the Royals were nuts. And Odorizzi and Montgomery (with Seattle) was a big price to pay, but Myers has never come close to being the cornerstone player he was projected to be.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 12:04 PM) I thought you were a big advanced stats guy? Santiago's FIP,xFIP, and SIERRA don't peg him as much of a stud. Did he make the All-Star team or not? Was he the lone (token) representative from the Angels? I think not.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 11:58 AM) I think Norris & either Pompey or Pentecost and a smaller prospect for Quintana would be a very good return. Still not keen on the idea of moving a top 20 pitcher, though. They were supposed willing to give up a package including Norris, Hoffman and Pompey for Carlos Carrasco but it fell apart. That's no longer possible, but it would be something like Stroman, Pentecost and Pompey for Q.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 12:48 PM) Hasn't history shown that deadline deals rarely pay off? KC did get Cueto and Zobrist, probably about as good as they can do, at the cost of 5 arms. If they don't win the WS, they pretty much shot their wad. How's that? You really don't think they are capable of taking the $100 million they were going to have to spend on Alex Gordon and investing it in their pitching staff, which is basically the same thing they did coming into this season....spreading the James Shields/Aoki money around to Morales, Chris Young, Alex Rios, Joe Blanton, Hochevar and Kris Medlen? They'll need to add another starting pitcher before next season, but they still have Kyle Zimmer and Medlen as options, just to name two. They're selling out quite a few of their games and have the best tv ratings of any team in their regional market. With Volquez, Duffy, Ventura and some filler for the 4-5 spots (Guthrie/Blanton/Young/Vargas), they're sitting in a decent position. Certainly they'll add another starter next off-season, although it probably won't be Price or Cueto (but you never know). Most importantly, they still have that all in their primes core of cost-controlled Lorenzo Cain, Moustakas, Escobar, Hosmer and Sal Perez. In all likelihood, Mondesi, Jr., replaces Infante, but he's not ready yet. They still have the best bullpen. With Gordon out and Mondesi, Jr., not ready, they made the most logical move/s to give them the best possible chance to get back to the World Series again this year, without precluding them from competing for at least the next two, if not three seasons.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 12:42 PM) If KW is still "in charge" of all the personnel decisions, this situation is truly f***ed up. Why would Hahn not know this would be the way it is with JR in charge, and KW still in the FO? Hahn's been courted by other teams and waited for his turn here, presumably. Ultimately, this again falls on JR's desire to keep everyone in the family happy, and letting much needed clear delineation of responsibilities go to s***. And should KW be involved with a trade to TOR if he's heading there in a few months? I don't like that conflict at all. KW needs to move on, for everyone's sake, but this clusterf*** is JR's fault, not KW's. Ironic that we raided Toronto for Paddy, later Toronto discovered they wanted KW to run things, JR denied permission and now we're about to make a huge trade with them? Especially when you go back to the infamous Sirotka for David Wells fiasco, which I guess has been forgotten by all but Keith Law. Sounds like Hoyer/Cubs time all over again.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 12:28 PM) Hinch was 84-123 in a year and a half as the DBacks manager. Kirk Gibson, as old school as can be, took his place and they won 94 games the next season. Gee, now you're making your own point. Robin Ventura inexperienced and no talent...bad record. The same thing happened with Hinch, who was undercut constantly by his front office, unlike Robin who has received almost four seasons of "on the job training." Ventura has gotten nothing but votes of confidence, faith and loyalty. As you said yourself, Joe Torre/Bobby Cox/Tony LaRussa couldn't have won with those teams. It's funny you use the Hinch example because he was brought in to replace a manager who'd been fired after a 12-17 mark to begin 2009, and you say those changes never work, right? He actually improved the 2009 team, with a .436 winning percentage for the remainder of the year. The Diamondbacks ended the 2010 season with a 65–97 record. This poor performance was blamed on an extremely weak bullpen, which finished with a collective 5.47 ERA, and a lack of offense which was punctuated by the team setting the single season strikeout record.[19] and ending the season with 1,529. wikipedia Managers don't matter, right? Robin Ventura, Cox, Torre and LaRussa would have had the same exact record with that bunch, right? Basically, Gibson took a team to 94-68 and turned it back into a disaster in the span of 3 seasons and completely wore out his welcome with his gruff, aggressive, "take no prisoners" authoritarian style. In the following two seasons, the Diamondbacks were exactly 81-81. This season (2014), though, they've been pretty awful from start to finish, currently sitting with a 63-96 record, the worst in the majors by three full games. So he had one good/surprising year and then ran them into the ground. And Hinch doesn't get credit for anything he's done with the Astros this year, which has been even more impressive than the Cubs/Wine Vintner Half Magician Maddon?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 11:02 AM) Caulfield's Deadline 2015: Battle of the Beat Writers LOL. You're well on your way to a future in the business. Try not to be so prickly, ala Chris Rongey. The best quality of a sportswriter is someone who invites you into a conversation, shares knowledge and insight and does it in a way that makes you feel uplifted and not insulted or condescended to, for example, the way Joe Posnanski writes, addressing everyday life topicality as it intersects and sometimes collides with the economics of modern day sports. He never writes to shock, insult or draw page views... Try listening to Vin Scully doing Dodger games.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 11:39 AM) Never praised Preller. Never brought up scandals or Nestor Molina. Never cited LaRussa/Stewart as "sabrematricians." Not sure how you found a way to include AJ Hinch. Good stuff though, caulfield. That's a big difference from what you see in Oakland with Beane having Zaidi (now Forst) as his side kick, different than Theo and Jed on the North Side and different than Jon Daniels and Preller before Preller left, Friedman and Zaidi in LA, LaRussa and Stewart in Arizona, and on and on and on. So these are all examples of what you want the White Sox front office to be, or not? Try to be clear. You never quite spell things out clearly, but make intimations and suggestions and throw out things but it SEEMED you were using the above combinations as "positive" and not negative examples of successful front office partnerships? How is LaRussa and Stewart such an example? That's more like KW and Buddy Bell than anything. Not sure what the DBacks have ever done recently to merit much praise as an organization. Hinch was included as an example of someone the DBacks kicked out of the organization who is the quintessential modern day baseball exec/manager with high level analytical abilities but the modern day touch with players. Basically, the best of Tony LaRussa without the pricky personality, egomania and drunk driving.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) His road OPS this year is .768. That is higher than everyone on the current White Sox other than Abreu and Eaton, and Eaton is at .769. If you could guarantee he could hit at that rate for the White Sox (as he transitioned to the AL and a set of unfamiliar pitchers), it would be "okay" but certainly not a steal. The thing I'm more concerned with is his abysmal OPS numbers in August and September from 2012-2014. Seems like he has a history of fading down the stretch, and/or he's been injured and not playing at 100% in the 2nd half of those seasons. Who can pull up his defensive ratings this year? If you're going to push Avi out of RF, the numbers better make sense. Granted, it's hard to be MUCH worse than Avi or Hanley Ramirez. Once upon a time, CarGo was a Gold Glove caliber fielder, but what about the last 2-3 seasons?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 28, 2015 -> 11:54 AM) Care to elaborate? No one will deny the guy has warts, but with what you've seen from this offense, are you comfortable w/o adding a bat? If you aren't, what bat do you think we're going to get in this market? We need to luck out again like we did for 3 weeks with Youkilis in 2012. A team who's being forced to make a move with a popular veteran...and willing to dump salary for a guy going into FA. Middlebrooks was emerging that season (obviously it didn't last) and the Boston front office was backed into a corner. Of course, we didn't get such great results from Orlando Hudson (one game winner I remember, or was it 2?), Myers and Liriano, who of course has gone on to become a much better pitcher in the NL, away from the AL Central.