caulfield12

Just a note for KW if he's sticking around... CONTACT from our minor league hitters would be helpful. (Aoki's the perfect example from their second half run, despite Greg not being a big fan.) You can call it good luck for the Royals and bad luck for the Orioles, but that's Royals baseball: They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors, and sometimes just putting the ball in play can result in good things. So give Gordon credit there. And, conversely, the knock against the Orioles' rotation is that it was 11th in the American League in strikeout rate and Tillman's 17.2 percent K rate was below the team's 18.2 percent average. This is one of the more intriguing subtexts of this series. The Royals have the best contact rate among the remaining playoff teams and the Orioles the worst. As Joe Sheehan pointed out in his ALCS preview newsletter, teams with the better regular-season contact rate are 29-10 in playoff series since 2009. It's possible that not striking out is turning into a positive predictive tool. (By the way, Gordon then made a diving catch with two runners on to end the bottom of the inning.) Dave Schoenfield www.espn.com

Bud Norris will go in Game 2. Here's why, 18/79 (current Royals) against him, just one homer, six RBI's (Ibanez has hit him the best and most, and is likely to get the nod over Butler IMO at DH), .228/.274/.291/.565 slash line. Likely Game 3 starter Wei-Yin Chen has been battered and bruised by KC. 41/129, 6 homers, 17 RBI's, Hosmer and Butler with two homers each, .318/.343/.535/.878 slash line. Seems quite obvious, but the Orioles simply have to win behind Norris, because the loudest stadium in MLB history and those startling career statistics against Chen equals doom if they go to KC down 2-0 in a best of 7. Think it's a good thing for KC that Ventura gets to go in the daytime/late afternoon instead of the primetime lights. The glare/shadows will definitely help him out a lot.

No stolen bases thanks to Dyson oversliding the bag but three homers. Go figure. Moustakas with 3 already in the post-season after hitting only 2 the entire second half.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 10:45 PM) Remember Scott Podsednik 2005? That was more extreme as he hadn't hit one in the entire regular season before facing the Red Sox in the ALDS.

Royals had almost EVERYTHING go against them for 5 straight innings (except for Herrera getting out of the 6th with only one Finnegan run given up) and still persevered. Team of destiny. Four extra inning wins out of five total postseason victories after being 5-7 in the regular season. Eight straight in the post-season going back to 1985 World Series. Of course, Delmon Young will probably tie it with a 3 run homer, haha.

Royals really fortunate to have escaped with a tie game there in the 6th. Lots of troubles for Finnegan, and plenty of bad luck and uncharacteristic defensive misplays as well.

Shields scuffling for three post-season starts in a row, although he only gave up 2 runs in 6 his last time out, it was a battle nearly every inning. Obviously, BALT has a tough line-up, even without Machado/Wieters/Chris Davis. Battle of bullpens tonight.

13 of the last 18 teams to lead the majors in homers haven't even made the playoffs... Only 2 of the last 30 teams to lead the majors in homers has won the World Series (something about good pitching/defense/bullpen nullifying good offense in the post-season.)

If Josh Paul is playing for the Giants, watch out...

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) The idea is that the Dodgers would eat money somehow, someway. The Sox wouldn't trade for Andre Ethier at $19 mill per season. Except they're never going to take Danks back in return. And if they were to send $20 million, they're going to ask for a pretty good prospect...Hawkins, probably.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 10:06 AM) Why would they be gambling the season on Bassitt or Carroll? One of those is the 5th starter to start the season, one the 6th starter. Once Rodon comes up, that changes to 6th/7th. If everyone fails, your team was doomed to begin with anyways. Good thing there's only 3 years guaranteed. $56 million for the next 3 years is guaranteed, though. That's almost another Adam Dunn contract there...or Danks. EVEN if they sent $20 million, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't feel comfortable committing $36 million over 3 years to a platoon outfielder. I'd just as soon give that to Nick Markakis or Colby Rasmus and not have to surrender any talent in return.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 08:12 AM) There isn't a f***ing chance I'm reading that entire article. Just post the damn link. My entire goal with the posting of this is for you to cheer against the Royals and for the Cardinals...part of the master plan. I'm guessing War & Peace, Ulysses, Moby Dick and Infinite Jest weren't on your summer reading list.

Wonder if a white foster child has ever ended up in the opposite situation in an African-American home before...?

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:26 AM) I think we are two years away from not only having a stable group of future starters but also enough depth to trade without destroying the system. When the first bit of progress is made you get excited and think you are close, but boy, rebuilding up that farm really does take a long time. And we're also a serious injury to Sale/Quintana/Rodon from the whole thing falling apart, too. We're right there in the middle. It could teeter totter either way. If Montas and Danish both end up in the pen, all the remaining hopes would be pinned to Bassitt, Beck, Rodon and Adams. If they both managed to stick as starters (and we should hope and pray for just one), then you'd really have something. I have a feeling Sanburn is the one they look to closing first (among the minor leaguers), and Montas becomes Option D or E after Petricka/Sanburn/FA/trade going into Spring Training.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:50 AM) I actually think Ethier makes a ton of sense for the White Sox. Hamilton less so, but the possibility exists if LA is willing to eat about 60 million. Ethier would be okay if it was just two years, but four is at least one too many.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:48 AM) There are a few things at work. Going into 2013, Dunn was coming off a resurgent year and the Sox felt he was going to be fine in the middle of the order, and he kind of was. They team absolutely bombed and they started selling off parts. Going into last offseason, the Sox knew it was going to be a rebuilding year, so there was no urgency to eat money to move him - why eat money when there's no replacement and no real need to get rid of the player? Danks' situation is different. The Sox are looking to add a right handed starting pitcher (having said as much), have 3 starters on the staff already, and have Rodon waiting in the wings. You obviously want more than 5 starters, but Bassitt and Carroll also showed that they can handle it a bit too, so you are looking at 7 different starters. There is a reason to move Danks. The problem is they're essentially gambling the season on Bassitt/Carroll, Noesi and then eventually Rodon being able to perform, and perform well in the first half of 2015 (and Sale/Quintana remaining healthy, of course). Odds are against that going well, especially the first part...although stranger things have happened. There will hopefully be a lot more patience with Rodon than they demonstrated with Daniel Hudson in 2010. And that's assuming you have a much improved bullpen as well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) Count me in the "No big hurry" crowd. I think even if Eaton makes his ceiling, he isn't even going to be a $20 million annually guy, so the risk isn't nearly as huge as it could be when compared to a guy like Garcia who has legit 5 tool potential. And yet ALMOST everyone here would be more likely to give a five year deal to Eaton as of today than Avisail Garcia. Four tools or not. To think he's ever going to be a "good or above average" fielder is pushing your luck. He's got good speed, but not in a basestealing or quick outfield jumps type of way...it's more of a 50-80 meters "top speed" after taking a long time to accelerate. In the end, it will come down to plate discipline/contact and hitting 25-35 homers with 30-40 doubles rather than 12-18 homers and 25 doubles. Both would be huge risks, Garcia to bust entirely and Eaton from a health standpoint.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:44 AM) I still believe the bad contract for bad contract thing is more likely. I really feel like we will see someone like Josh Hamilton, Andre Either, etc here on the south side next year. YUCK. YUCK. YUCK. No thanks. They're better off buying low on 2-3 guys like Domonic Brown or Alvarez than pinning your hopes on those two aging veterans. Heck, I'd rather have Aoki than either of them. He's not going to come back to haunt you financially, and he's the type of glue player you need...but that would definitely necessitate a big DH bat coming on board.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:29 AM) Noesi I agree with. I think they're going to look to move Danks and will eat money (and perhaps a substantial amount) in order to do so. Will believe it when I see it. Didn't happen with Dunn, but the White Sox are in a position where they need to compete as quickly as possible...and letting John Danks' sunk cost stand in the way of it happening won't sit well for fans tired of hearing the excuse about needing to clear Adam's contract for three years now.

The Dodgers already have a starting rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu and Haren. Do they really need to trade one of their best offensive players, along with Kemp/A-Gone, to get a 3rd or 4th starter for their rotation? They're already going to be breaking a new SS in again, with Hanley Ramirez likely out the door and Gordon taking his spot. Then you've got Seager probably at 3B, with Uribe as the utility guy...and then probably replacing AJ Ellis, although it won't be easy to make a big upgrade unless they sign Russell Martin. They're stuck with Brian Wilson and League in the pen. Then they have that logjam with Joc Pederson, Van Slyke, Ethier, Crawford, Puig and Kemp. If the White Sox are going to make any type of move, it's going to be for League and Van Slyke. Although logic would dictate they dump Andre ETHIER or possibly Crawford, it's going to be incredibly difficult to pull off. Trading for Andre Ethier doesn't exactly put the White Sox over the hump, EITHER. Still, I think they will go for 2-3 months next year and wait for a starter to get injured on another team and hope they can swallow most of an Ethier deal at that point. Or they can simply sell Kemp to the highest bidder, leaving Puig in RF, Peterson in CF and Ethier/Crawford splitting the rest of the time. They have to choose Kemp or Puig, essentially...at least if they really believe in Pederson to be an impact CFer. A lot of tough decisions. One of them's not going to be Quintana for Puig. They MIGHT be willing to trade Kemp/League/Van Slyke for Quintana and Alexei Ramirez, though. I highly doubt they would accept Kemp/League/Van Slyke for Danks and Alexei, or Danks and Tyler. Except we can't afford to trade Flowers unless we have a replacement. The only area of give would be Pederson and Urias for Quintana...which would carry huge risk for both GM's. Then the Dodgers would still have Seager (3B), Gordon (SS) and Uribe/Cubans for 2B. So you'd have the White Sox adding Pederson to their OF, Urias to replace Quintana and then signing Russell Martin if you want a dream scenario that will probably never happen...that would just leave them a DH short. Perhaps they could platoon Van Slyke and Viciedo, without taking on Ethier's contract. Finally... Pederson, Urias and Van Slyke for Quintana/Flowers (contingent on the White Sox signing Russell Martin). Of course, you can be 98% sure the Dodgers would outbid us for Martin, although he was their property not so long ago.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 07:48 AM) What's the rush to extend Eaton at this point? The Sox still have 5 years of control. Maybe at some point during this season, but I think if those conversations happen, it will be after next season at the earliest. The websites I've looked at say he's going to be a free agent in 2019, so that would be four years. Does anyone have a definitive answer? According to Cot's, he had 1.030 service years before 2014. This year would give him two.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 07:22 AM) If Carlos Rodon is a good starting pitcher, this draft is a win. If you get value out of any of the other players they signed, it's icing. I'm not so sure about that, although it depends on the definition of "good." We need at least 3-4 contributors from every draft, and at least one of them to be very good to catch up with all the bad drafts.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 05:00 AM) nice find. the rpt took the shine off of him but I still have high hopes. This was written at a time when he was in the Red Sox system and before the Peavy trade last summer. Quite a few prospect gurus and pundits NOW have him projected as one of the most electric young starters in the minors right now...and a strong showing in the AFL will bump him onto many Top 100 lists in the 75-90 vicinity, with the possibility of advancing to 30-50 with dominance at the much tougher AA level at some point in 2015.

MORE REASONS JAMES SHIELDS IS A GONER.... Kyle Zimmer, should he ever stay healthy for more than a half-season, has No. 1-No. 2 starter upside with athleticism, command and a double-plus fastball-curveball combination. Sean Manaea took some time to adjust to professional baseball, let alone at the High-A level, but the left-hander eventually found his groove en route to posting gaudy strikeout numbers. On the other end of the spectrum is 21-year-old Christian Binford, whose plus command helped him climb to Triple-A and has him knocking on the big league door headed into 2015. from bleacherreport.com They join Liam Hendriks and Lamb on the outside looking in...with the strong probability Aaron Crow (good buy low candidate for the White Sox) and Luke Hochevar (another "kick the tires" guy if healthy) will both be gone. The Royals might also look to Crow as a starter, although they have plenty of depth in that area. Three lefties and two righties...pretty good balance, and a very cost-effective rotation at that. 1.Duffy 2.Ventura 3.Finnegan 4.Vargas 5.Guthrie 6.Hendriks 7.Zimmer 8.Binford 9.Lamb 10.Manaea

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 05:08 AM) while I do have concerns about eaton being able to stay healthy for a whole season, here is a better question, who will replace him as the #1 hitter in the lineup? does the sox have a #1 type player in the minors that can be groomed to perform in the major league? We don't have to worry about that...we have him for another 4 seasons. As far as a potential replacement, you're looking at either Micah Johnson or Tim Anderson, if he can refine his OBP skills. Carlos Sanchez is another possibility, although I'm 99% sure it would be one of those first two guys, at least from the players currently in our system. Semien would be the 4th choice.