caulfield12

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) I would like to point out that pretty much no one knew that KC would have a lockdown pen before this season started. Holland is the only guy who hasn't pitched WAY better than he did the previous season. That's been their model for the last three or four seasons, though. It's just that Herrera and Davis completely dominated this year. They had the exact same philosophy 3-4 years ago when it was Soria, Crow, Collins, Hochevar, etc.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) You just have to trust the process. Razor thin margin. Moore's out of a job if the Royals fade down the stretch and the Mariners overtake them. He's only got one more year (and missing the playoffs in 2015 would be the end) if they lose to the A's. Now he has OPTIONS. Because of Wil Myers slumping badly this year, and being injured, he suddenly looks a LOT smarter...that and the performance of Hosmer and Moustakas in the post-season. So many things went right...Aoki went on a tear in the second half (along with Escobar emerging as the leadoff hitter and no longer an automatic out like the first half), Cain came into is own as an offensive force, Dyson emerged on the basepaths and defensively, the starting rotation was healthy (Duffy and Ventura, along with Shields) for almost the entire season...the lockdown bullpen for almost the entire season, even when the offense was barely firing on 1-2 cylinders instead of 6. Alex Gordon essentially carried the team on his back for the first 4 1/2 months, and the rest of the team finally showed up when he went into a terrible season-ending slump. Then, finally, Finnegan breathed new life into the bullpen when they were trying to get by with Scott Downs in the stretch drive.

QUOTE (BaconOnAStick @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) I'd also like to point out that Holland, Davis and Herrera are all righties (even their 4th option, Frasor is a righty) and Yost still uses them near exclusively. Handedness is irrelevant. Yet without Finnegan, they're the losers of the Wild Card game to Oakland.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 08:42 AM) Yes he was, and I wish he'd (or they, rather) would go back to that. You can teach guys to throw curveballs and sliders and changeups but you can't teach guys to throw 100 MPH. Even then, there's a big difference between Nate Jones/Cleto and Herrera at 97-101. Or Henry Rodriguez, etc. Williams tried those arms like MacDougal, Aardsma, Masset and Sisco, and they all flamed out with the Sox. He tried ever since he ditched Foulke for a burned out shell of his former self in Billy Koch in 2003. Montas will likely be the next flamethrower in the pen. Nobody has his stuff in the organization. Webb's not even close, not the way he threw in 2014. Maybe the 2013 minor league version. One can imagine Petricka or Guerra ending up like a Greg Holland, but that still leaves us short a Cliff Politte and Neal Cotts. Let's not forget how effective guys like Neshek and Uehara with unorthodox motions can be. Darren O'Day's another example.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 08:42 AM) Yes he was, and I wish he'd (or they, rather) would go back to that. You can teach guys to throw curveballs and sliders and changeups but you can't teach guys to throw 100 MPH. Even then, there's a big difference between Nate Jones/Cleto and Herrera at 97-101. Or Henry Rodriguez, etc. Williams tried those arms like MacDougal, Aardsma, Masset and Sisco, and they all flamed out with the Sox. He tried ever since he ditched Foulke for a burned out shell of his former self in Billy Koch in 2003. Montas will likely be the next flamethrower in the pen. Nobody has his stuff in the organization. Webb's not even close, not the way he threw in 2014. Maybe the 2013 minor league version. One can imagine Petricka or Guerra ending up like a Greg Holland, but that still leaves us short a Cliff Politte and Neal Cotts. Let's not forget how effective guys like Neshek and Uehara with unorthodox motions can be. Darren O'Day's another example.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) I know it doesnt fit the exact model that they've built their team with, but is anyone more inspired to spend money on the bullpen this offseason after watching KC's bullpen shut down people all year and be lights out in the postseason? Kansas City doesnt have a great offense by any means and their starters aren't all that special outside out Shields. What they do well though, is field exceptionally and shut people down from the 6th inning on. They dont have a ton of money invested in the pen because theyve developed all those pitchers besides Davis, but I think it goes without saying how important it is for the Sox to invest in improving their bullpen this year. I realize Miller and Robertson are going to be overpriced, but you need atleast one truly shut down guy out there next season or you can watch this team hover around .500 again. Get one of these guys to close, move Bassitt to setup, and have guys like Petricka, Putam, and Guerra battle it out for the 7th. Ventura has one of the best arms in all of baseball, and Duffy's not far behind. Both are probably more effective already that James Shields, and Brandon Finnegan isn't far behind...not to mention Kyle Zimmer. There aren't very many teams with four young pitching prospects like that. KW and Hahn have been looking for that elusive combination from 2005 for about a decade. The closest they came was the first half of 2008, before Linebrink got hurt and wasn't the same after he came back....but that required big contracts for both Linebrink and Dotel.

Is there any such thing as a pitcher in this day and age who DOESN'T scare the hell out of you? Scherzer, Lester and Shields? Check. Masterson, check. Liriano and Volquez, check. Peavy? With how poorly he pitched for the Red Sox, and then how well he's done with SF, who knows what to expect with him at this point in his career. On a playoff team and potential World Series-winning team, he's pitching like a 2, whereas we only need a 3/4. John Lackey? Is he motivated at all to pitch next season? McCarthy? Check. Santana? Covered over and over and then over again.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle2849191.html The World Series-bound KC Royals have transformed Kansas City's sports identity

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 10:14 PM) Are these Melky rumors really valid? Thought of him being on the team is already ruining my offseason. No, just speculation. Toronto will make a qualifying offer (or not) after the World Series, which will be summarily accepted or rejected as he's probably going to be looking for 3-4 years and bigger overall guaranteed money. Then he becomes more relevant.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 11:50 PM) Th Judge was alright. Great acting, but winds up just being he story of a crazy old man. You might not want to give away the whole story for those who haven't seen it, lol...

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 10:13 PM) Erik Johnson was so bad. Man. Sox have money to spend and could easily swipe needed righty Shields from the Royals' grasp. In fact, it might be wise to steal Shields, Aoki and Butler and take away their mojo. Suddenly we have to worry about the Royals being the new Tigers. Hahn could really strip the mojo by signing those three Royals. Shields ... 3 years 45 million. Butler ... 2 years 12 million with option year. Aoki ... 2 years 10 million. Is it worth the risk? Throwing 67 million at Royals over 7 years? It's just 26 million to Royals for next season. Sox payroll is fine after adding the 26 mill. Might as well add Victor Martinez too, lol. Shields is getting at least four years, and $65-85 million. You can forget a three year deal.

Why is Basto there again?

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 06:33 PM) Royals swept the Giants 3-0, and beat the Cardinals 3 out of 4. Incredible run since being 48-50. 49-23 since. Shades of 2005 Astros, 2006 Twins...last year's Indians, although CLE was on an incredible run going into the wildcard game, KC just kind of survived the last month and the Mariners pitching basically fell apart the last ten days. The one important thing that did happen was all the Royals hitters started to become more confident that final month...with the notable exceptions of Gordon and Sal Perez struggling. Perez is still scuffling, but Gordon's become one of the biggest postseason heroes, along with Cain and Moustakas.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-192452204.html Jeremy Guthrie in hot water over "offensive" t-shirt which really didn't upset that many people...

Criticizing Johnson's SB percentage last year is a bit short-sighted. One, he was hurt for much of the second half (both hamstrings, probably a residual effect of running so much in 2013)...and was eventually shut down. Two, they were working more specifically with his offensive approach and hitting for more pop, and stolen bases were on the backburner...as well as making some defensively adjustments. Three, he's in the process of reinventing his SB technique, as what worked in the low minors simply doesn't play from AA through the majors. When all is said and done, he'll be expected to be a consistent 30-50 steal guy at the major league level. He has to be, since speed is his only real plus tool at the moment, with hitting for average 2nd. They'll need to refine his "small ball" skills, including bunting more for hits and keeping the ball on the ground instead of in the air (see Juan Pierre, Willie Mays Hayes or Jarrod Dyson).

Shelby Miller's just a mess mechanically. Yes somehow the Cards survived both Wacha and Miller underperforming this year...until now. Must-win game, took a big risk not bringing in Choate there against Belt.

It's pretty hard to go through the scrutiny of the Top 100's prospect list and not have quite a few positives in your favor. You'd rather it was a physical problem (other than the shoulder), because mental issues are much harder to overcome for baseball players, typically. There doesn't seem to be any good explanation out there. It's possible he won't figure it out until he leaves the organization and finds a pitching coach/staff who gets behind him, not unlike so many pitchers who have come under Cooper's wing (Noesi, Guerra and Putnam this year).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 11:22 AM) I read last night he was fleeing Tampa just in time. The Dodgers supposedly have far better prospects, not even bringing up payroll. This article was written right before the 2013 season...I'm pretty sure Chris Archer broke the streak of not getting any drafted pitchers to the majors. The Rays don't do everything well. For an organization built on scouting and player development, they've had a rough stretch in the draft, the only one of the 30 teams without a player to reach the majors from the past five classes. Their Latin American program, while much improved, has yet to produce a big-league player. Their inability to find productive DHs, or better catchers, is perplexing and vexing. They do, however, a solid job in identifying what they are looking for — like a player who profiles with a specific skill set or a certain value based on price/contract status point — and take advantage of the narrower scope to increase their focus on legit possibilities. (For example, not wasting time/resources this offseason on free agent Josh Hamilton but doing extensive research on first baseman James Loney.) They have also made an art of assembling a roster of players with positional flexibility, maximizing their roster as if they have an extra couple of guys. But if there is an overriding priority — one thing etched in the brains of every scout, coach, computer nerd and team exec — and primary reason for their success, it is stockpiling starting pitching. They quickly, and correctly, identified how overpriced that market is, and they have found a way to not only develop enough to fill their own rotation (Roberto Hernandez on Thursday will be the first free-agent starter of the Friedman regime) but create a surplus to use as commodity in trade. The pitchers they've dealt in the past five years would be a pretty dominant (and expensive) rotation: Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Kazmir, Garza and now Shields. "They do the one thing that every teams needs to contend, and that's develop starting pitching," said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who knows, having previously been Toronto's manager and Boston's pitching coach. "You can look at the last four to six years and say they set the bar in drafting and developing starting pitching. You get the sense that there is clear alignment through their scouting and player development in how that assembly line works, from finding it to developing it to transitioning it to the big leagues. "They've pitched so … consistently that it keeps them in games. They can shed big-name players but they're going to find a way to find athletic guys they can mix and match, and that's the style of game they play. It's very clear from across the field, you know what kind of game you're going to play against Tampa." Not to mention Matt Moore's coming off an unexpected Tommy John, Longoria his career worst season, Price traded and even Ben Zobrist seems to be on the decline a bit.

You mean Henry Cavill? Yeah, will agree with that...Garfield has/had a lot more personality as Spider-Man, but rebooting the Green Goblin/Harry Osborn thing two times in a decade was just idiotic. It was like the remake of Psycho with Vince Vaughn, but missing Cliff Robertson...Sally Field, while a talented actress, was cloying and tiresome. Wonder who they will go to if Ryan Reynolds is replaced? Can't be Chris Pratt, although he's on top of the world now. Could Ryan Gosling potentially be drawn into a comic role? BTW, BIG HERO SIX looks like it's going to be a hit... http://www.metacritic.com/movie/big-hero-6/trailers/4289633

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 06:48 PM) If I had to guess I'd actually say it would be the other way around, they'll do a lot to try to keep Martin. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2179929...-martin-in-2015 Someone agrees with you. And, if you think about it, a lot of the postseason teams have very strong leaders at that position, Sal Perez, Buster Posey and Yadier Molina in particular. That can't be a complete coincidence.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 06:40 PM) I think it's very clear the Pirates will be losing at least one, if not both of those pitchers, so if you make Danks cheap enough to them they'd probably consider it. Liriano made $6 million this year, along with performance incentives/bonuses up to $8 million. Volquez made $5 million this past year. That's ($13 million) less than the White Sox pay Danks, combined. Surely, they'll lose Martin and put their efforts into keeping Volquez, since he seemed very comfortable with their coaching staff and pitching coach. If I'm the Pirates, I will ask for Noesi to fill out the back of the rotation.

Or Joe Morgan, although Joe was tolerable because Jon Miller's one of the best, even if it's a non-Giants game. With Joe Buck, he will never be his father...but he never had that option as a modern-day "national/regional" announcer instead of broadcasting for one team most of his career like his dad. Shannon's okay, but Rooney is still the best. Love that guy.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 04:54 PM) Anyone think there could be a trade with the Pirates built around Dank + cash ............ for Tabata and ............? I know the Sox don't need Tabata but the Pirates will be looking for pitching and could be interested if the cash is right. Its rumored the Pirates are looking to unload Tabata who will cost 4M in 2015 and 4.5M in 2016. After 2016 there are three consecutive years of team buy outs that cost 250k so if the Sox didn't like Tabata they can buy him out after the 2016 season is over and make him a FA. Isn't Tabata now available for basically nothing (removed from roster)? The Pirates are going to put all their resources into keeping Volquez, Liriano and Martin, not adding someone like John Danks.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 07:06 AM) That's unreadable even for you. Basically, that chart (which won't copy and paste correctly) says that Justin Masterson's ERA is not indicative of his overall FIP and xFIP numbers, that's there a disconnect or anomaly there, particularly in the case of Masterson. Colby Lewis, Santana, McCarthy, Correia and F.Morales are some of the other pitchers picked up by that screen. I think Colby Lewis would be perfect. Undervalued. Veteran of many playoff games and tons of post-season experience and veteran savvy. Wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 15, 2014 -> 06:18 PM) So even if Wil Myers becomes the next Mike Trout, Dayton Moore will still get the last laugh, who knew. The team could still use his offense, but when a throw in becomes an unhittable setup guy, that's huge. I didn't realize how good their bullpen was, that trio has had an all-time great historic season. They will never all repeat that in the same year, just because baseball happens. Way to take advantage. It's incredible how they've limited damage. Before the post-season, they were 72-1 with the lead going into the 7th. Maybe between the three of them, they've given up a couple of home runs all season. Finnegan's made them even more dangerous, so you have the three vets and a rookie on a roll, like Sale in 2010. As Greg775 noted, Holland likes to put runners on base, but he's only had two blown saves the entire season with his tightwire act...he seems to excel in those situations with RISP and two outs.