caulfield12

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 01:27 PM) Of course, I'm not sure why "home-grown" talent ultimately matters. The Orioles don't have a hell of a lot of it and they're doing just fine. The Cardinals would argue those homegrown players all come into the system knowing if they perform well, they'll be promoted (and promoted together, usually)...that the Cardinals Way is inculcated from the very beginning...that all the prospects buy into the system, and the expectations of joining a "winning" organization where nothing short of the World Series is now the expectation, etc. They can watch examples like Wacha and Marco Gonzalez quickly progress through the system and know they can follow a similar path...or even examples where they're trading older veterans like Freese/Craig to create additional playing time for Wong, Grichuk, Adams, Tavares, etc. This cohesiveness is something (besides the lack of offensive players) the White Sox have never developed, and I think a lot of it's simply due to the KW "riverboat gambling" style of throwing a lot of talented acquisitions together and HOPING that everything clicks on a yearly basis. Then you look at almost every single player from our system having issues with strikeouts, execution offensively and defensively, baserunning...sloppy fielding mistakes, etc. That doesn't happen as often with the Cardinals (Top 3 with defensive runs saved as a team) or Giants, when you compare them defensively to the White Sox, it's a futile exercise to find any players other than Eaton/Ramirez that could hold their own on those two teams as a defender.

Webb came from the Blue Jays, so not on the list.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 05:39 PM) Probably the enormous paycheck he's going to get. But I would roll the dice just because Stanton will put more people in the seats. That was the same theory behind signing Albert Belle. Long-term, to give up that much talent for a rental they're not capable of keeping in the fold doesn't make sound business sense. If they want to take a marketing risk, they should roll the dice and bring in another Japanese pitcher.

Other than Phillips (who did his damage for Cincy, not CLE)/Sizemore/Lee for Colon and the Rangers/Texeira deal to the Braves, how often have these 2-3 "top" prospects for an established All-Star level or slightly below player worked out well for the team acquiring the prospects? I guess Bonser/Liriano/Joe Nathan for AJ would rank up there as well, especially the first 2-3 years of that trade for Minny. Getting Escobar, Cain, Odorizzi (used as part of the Myers deal to acquire Shields, who's been Greinke-Lite) and J.Jeffress (who was another fireballing reliever they gave up on and sent to the Blue Jays for cash)...that's another example where the team getting prospects back did pretty well.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) If the Royals and Cardinals play each other, they both had the least amount of HRs in their leagues, and combined for 200 homers. 2014. Which is less for those two teams combined than the Orioles (even missing Wieters/Machado/Davis) had...

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 07:58 AM) I'm still amazed that Ned Yost was only the 2nd worst manager in these playoffs. The Dodgers' best hitter didn't get an at-bat in a one-run elimination game, but he did pinch run. Fireable offense on its own? I think it was Kemp down the stretch, at least the last 6-8 weeks...and, on a consistent basis over the course of the full season, Adrian Gonzalez as well. Other than the triple, Puig had struck out in 8 out of his last 9 plate appearances. With that said, you go down with the horses that brought you to the rodeo/dance...and that decision will have repercussions for a long time in the clubhouse. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/97923476/ric...t-deserve-blame Richard Justice article stating Mattingly doesn't deserve blame for the NLDS loss.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle2535406.html http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle2532687.html After celebrating their sweep of the Angels in the locker room at Kauffman Stadium, some Royals players took the party to McFadden’s in the Power & Light District. They got on Twitter to invite fans to join them. KC you guys showed us so much love all year were returning the favor for you guys tonight at @McFaddensKC #allonebigfamily see.u all there — Eric Hosmer (@TheRealHos35) October 6, 2014 According some of the people there, Eric Hosmer pulled out his credit card and helped pay for an open bar for an hour. He spent $3,000 and his teammates shared a $12,000 tab, according to a Royals official. Eric Hosmer just paid for the entire bar's drinks for the next hour. Easily 500 people here. That ain't cheap. — nick wright (@getnickwright) October 6, 2014 The players mingled among the crowd of people there and posed for a bunch of pictures. This is Greg Holland, in the middle of #Royals party at McFadden's, totally mesmerized by the game highlights on ESPN pic.twitter.com/S92XiPXi7R — nick wright (@getnickwright) October 6, 2014 Got to McFadden's right when the Royals did and got ushered into their VIP section by accident. So, this happened pic.twitter.com/YvXqw9cf4D — nick wright (@getnickwright) October 6, 2014 #KC all your KC #Royals are here at McFadden's! Where are you?! pic.twitter.com/ZDuUmAsnH2 — McFadden's KC (@McFaddensKC) October 6, 2014 Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...l#storylink=cpy

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 08:19 AM) Much rather see the Dodgersand their bevy of stars as well as Strasburg, Harper and the Nats. Cardinals and Giants bore me to tears. Royals are a fun story. Orioles are just kind of there but I'd much rather watch the AL now. Well, yeah. Kershaw 1-7 against the Cardinals is the mystery of the last five years, especially Game 1. Puig got cold and the Dodgers' bullpen tried to emulate the Tigers. For marketing purposes, Nationals/Dodgers is the best choice, clearly. That said...it's going to be a really fun World Series if the Royals could somehow knock off the Cardinals again. Could care less about the Orioles one way or the other. The Giants and Cards are basically the baseball equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 08:00 AM) ...that everybody is sick of... Not more than the Red Sox, Yankees or Dodgers, though.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 8, 2014 -> 07:47 AM) This ALCS is approximately 800% more entertaining than the NLCS. Except for arguably having the two best franchises in baseball over the last 5 years or so... You could argue for the Tigers, Red Sox, Rays and Rangers (up until this year's disaster), but it's a fitting match-up. The Giants would have a much better chance with a healthy Cain and Lincecum, though.

Royals (in 6) vs. Cardinals Repeat of 1985 (minus Don Denkinger), I-70/Show-Me Series

I would guess that most would be of the belief that Johnson might never pitch for the Sox again...and that one of Sanchez/Semien/Micah, if not two, will end up either traded or simply not making it. For right now, you could see Micah as the eventual starter, Semien at 3B/LF/DH and Sanchez in the Leury Garcia role for 2015....and I mean 2nd half of 2015, since Micah Johnson undoubtedly needs more seasoning at AAA and to prove his hamstrings are 100% again, since speed is his only plus tool at the moment. They might want to try the approach of the Royals with Terrance Gore and have them spend their (Johnson/Semien) offseason bunting as much as possible. Both Johnson/Semien are better hitting prospects, yet going to this approach has seemingly had a positive effect on Gore, and might help cut down on their K rates. Gore, 23, was a 20th-round Draft pick from Gulf Coast Community College in 2011. He has a career .237 batting average with zero home runs in 1,048 at-bats in the Minor Leagues and may never spend a full season in the Major Leagues. It's telling that when he was sent to Surprise, Ariz., for Instructional League last year, he was given orders to bunt every time he came to the plate. Just as significant is that Gore welcomed the chance to work on that part of his game. "I bunted the whole month,'' Gore said. "Literally I didn't swing a bat at all. It was fun. It made my game so much better. It showed me all you have to do is bunt the ball a little bit. That's got to be my primary thing to do in baseball. I'm not swinging the stick, not hitting home runs, but bunting improves everything. When I start bunting, I kid you not, I literally started hitting the ball really hard. I saw the ball hit the bat. My swing is the same way. It improves all kinds of stuff in your skills.'' Gore's speed is, literally, off the charts. Jarrod Dyson, the Royals' center fielder, runs to first base in 3.6 seconds from the left-handed batter's box. Gore gets there even quicker from the right-handed batter's box, clocked at times at 3.5. The top rating on the scale used by scouts is 80, but Gore is faster than the standard required for an 80. Billy Hamilton, the Reds' National League Rookie of the Year candidate, set a Minor League record with 155 stolen bases in 2012, and White Sox prospect Micah Johnson swiped 84 in '13. Gore, with 168 steals in 330 games, hasn't had a season when he stacked stolen bases on top of themselves like that -- he had 52 steals this season -- but the potential is there. Dayton Moore identified Gore as a potential stretch-run, postseason difference-maker long ago, which is why he promoted him to Omaha in early August. He wanted Gore to work on getting jumps against more experienced pitchers on his way to Kansas City. www.mlb.com (Phil Rogers)

Bassitt Erik Johnson Petricka Snodgress Phegley Carlos Sanchez Semien Micah Johnson Alexei Ramirez Dayan Viciedo Are any of these players likely to be around in 2017, in your opinion?

Saw where the Cardinals had 17 players drafted/developed from their minor league system (everyone other than Wainright/Braves, Holliday/A's, Lackey/Red Sox and then free agent signings Peralta, Choate and Neshek)... Right now, we have Sale, Abreu, Alexei and Rodon. Rienzo, Taylor Thompson, Wilkins, Danks, Mitchell, Trayce Thompson...all probably living on borrowed time. Most would put Alexei, and definitely Viciedo in that category as well. I'm just looking at the current 40 man roster. Of course, there are other guys (I added Micah Johnson for argument's sake since he's the closest of this non-roster group) like Anderson, Hawkins, Danish and Adams. Perhaps you could add Chris Beck as well as Olacio and Kevan Smith. How likely is to get to at least 10-12 homegrown players before 2017?

On the offensive side of things, I'm going with 2013 first-round pick Tim Anderson of the White Sox. The No. 2 prospect in the organization is also No. 82 overall. Taken No. 17 overall out of the junior college ranks, Anderson is the kind of athletic and toolsy player the White Sox covet. He's capable of doing it all on the field when he's healthy. He's already shown an ability to hit for average with some pop. And he can really run, with a 70 for speed on the 20-80 scouting scale. In 151 professional games, the shortstop has hit .291, slugged .430 and stolen 34 bases. His 2014 season was interrupted by a month and a half with a fractured wrist. Typically, a guy comes back from that kind of injury and it takes him a while to get going. Not so for Anderson. Not only did he hit .364 and slug .500 in his 10 games after returning from the injury (and a five-game rehab in the rookie-level Arizona League), he did it in Double-A, up a level from where he had started the season. The White Sox have moved him aggressively and he's responded to every challenge. He went right to full-season ball after the Draft and hit .277 with 24 steals, not looking overwhelmed one bit. A move to the Class A Advanced Carolina League to start the 2014 season, at age 20? No biggie. Anderson hit .297 and slugged .472, with 31 extra-base hits in 286 at-bats. After a slow-ish start, he hit .322 and slugged .444 in May, then followed that up with a .317 average and .529 SLG in June. The most amazing thing about that performance? He evidently was playing with the broken wrist for over a week. I'm not just interested to see Anderson swing the bat and run in Arizona. I'm curious to watch him play shortstop. At the time of the 2013 Draft, many felt Anderson would be better suited for center field, where his athleticism and speed would play well. But the White Sox had no plans to move him off of short. He did make 34 errors in 81 games this season, though Minor League defensive numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. I want to see, in a small sample size, how he does at the premium position for myself. source www.mlb.com

Strange, Yelich statistically was very good defensively (somewhere between 11-20 for the entire major leagues, among all outfielders), that's where a lot of his value comes from. A move to 1B doesn't make a whole lotta sense from that standpoint.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2014 -> 07:29 AM) No, that is the perfect example as to why you make a move like that. They gave Paulino a shot to prove himself, he didn't, and they jumped ship immediately. They gave Downs a shot, he stunk, and they jumped ship immediately. Frankly, I think they kept Belisario because the stuff was still good and they wanted to see if they could get him straightened out and, bottom line, they need SOMEONE to pitch those innings. They couldn't, and he'll likely be non-tendered this offseason. So I believe Eminor would like to thank you for the perfect example of what the Sox should do. They can probably shoot a little higher up the ladder than Paulino, but the idea remains. Also, when the good you are trying to acquire is unique by itself, and you are going up against 29 other teams, the player has a lot of leverage, especially early on. Someone who has had success like Masterson in the past will likely command a lot of 1 year offers and he'd likely take 1/$6 mill compared to 1/$10 with a team option for year 2 because he has a higher earning potential with the 1/$6. I am very sure he'll get a standard one year deal. If we go for these same types of players without a higher risk/reward payoff we'll be stuck at .500 for 2-3 years.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 6, 2014 -> 05:12 PM) Torii Hunter is old (39), a former White Sox killer, in other words it makes sense to bring him in on a one-year, 4 million dollar deal with a team option for a second year at 4.5 million. He can't be any worse than Viciedo and he might be the coach/player we need for the outfield and for the other positions that require good defense. Hunter might be this team's Jermaine Dye, so to speak. I'd go for bringing in Butler and Hunter. You can get both cheap and they fill two holes. Keep Viciedo around to learn under consummate pro Hunter. Viciedo can even steal 200 of Torii's at bats. There are worse outfields around than Hunter (lf), Eaton (cf), A. Garcia (rf) with Viciedo the fourth outfielder (learning under Torii how to play baseball). Then sign a starter and you fill a lot of holes at about 20-25 million on the payroll. I still haven't addressed the bullpen. Maybe a trade of prospects to get one stud reliever and sign a journeyman for another. GO SOX! Hunter hasn't even been an average outfielder for five seasons now.

Gio vs. vogelsong next. Storen was 12/12 down the stretch in save conversions but Zimmerman clearly had the hot hand and he was so close to the strike zone with that walk to panik.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 6, 2014 -> 02:32 PM) It's like a read option. You go in looking for one thing (contention), but if it isn't working out, you have an easy backup plan. This model of "contending while rebuilding" makes a ton of sense for a lot of reasons. Chiefly, you're trying to dodge service time AND wean guys into a full season of innings anyway. It doesn't hurt to throw some innings at a veteran and see what you have, particularly when you can then trade him to give your system even more prospects. Except we said this about Paulino and our veteran pen guys eight months ago. No way on masterson unless we can control him going into 2016 if he pitches at his previous level again.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 10:16 PM) DeAza is the one left standing. Beckham didn't play much in the ALDS as I recall. And Dunn didn't get a sniff of the lineup in the WC card. pr...replacement for freese at 3b

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) Worth pointing out that KC has a higher opening day ($92M vs $91M) and end of season payroll ($94M vs $87M) than the Sox. We have slightly better attendance than them in recent years. This day and age, having an $100M payroll would be considered below league average. Not this year...not even close. 2012 sure. The royals also were 86-76 last season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 09:51 PM) Great stat on Scioscia. I wonder if he gets the axe. Ditto Ausmus. Teams that spend money can't have happy owners when their teams bow out meekly. Dd is the one who brought in Jim Johnson Nathan soria and chamberlain. Al al is their best reliever and criminally underused in the late innings.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 09:49 PM) Why would you not start Shields, Caulfield? Doesn't make sense to not pitch the ace on four days rest? That might be the final straw for Royals fans regarding Yost if he messes with successful rotation. I still think Butler will get more than that now that KC is one of the top two teams in the AL. s***, KC would gladly bring him back for 6 million instead of the 12 million he gets if they don't buy him out. He's still young. I think KC would love to have him at the money you suggest. Unless his stats as a tb ray were terrible against Balt he will go. He's been shaky two starts in a row but gutted it out. It's really unfortunate Duffy was one of the best pitchers in the American League and might not get a single post-season start. His injury came at the wrong time. At any rate I think butler gets 8 million tops. Like the 2006 sox Dayton Moore will want to improve by adding a Sandoval victor Martinez or Hanley Ramirez. Victor on a three year deal makes so much sense for them. Plus he'd have a positive effect mentoring guys like Perez homer and moustakas. Sandoval would be another dh option. Hanley's too injury-prone and beaten up.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 5, 2014 -> 06:55 PM) Not sure if it's been posted, but Showalter is on the verge of winning Manager of the Year in 1994, 2004 and 2014. Also, it was funny hearing Hawk and Stone say the other day that he requests the radar guns be turned up for the Orioles, and slowed down for the opposition when Baltimore has a home game. Kc has destiny on their side and more ways to beat you right now...but that long layoff could mess up the timing of those confident young hitters. That said speed never slumps. Nor does a bullpen like that...even nastier with finnegan added into the mix. Feels a lot like the white sox 2005 run right now....everything going their way. Scioscia now 10-22 since 2002 World Series...including 1-7 against chisox and royals.