caulfield12

That Bush story is going to be another movie if he makes it back successfully. They had him clocked at 97-99 in spring training. A much darker version of Jim Morris' "Rookie" Disney story (Dennis Quaid), albeit with a lot rockier personal path filled with a number of demons on the part of Bush. For now, a story of redemption. Reminiscent of Josh Hamilton's as well, although Bush isn't going to win an MVP or anything like that. Crazy part of the story is he's 30 years old now. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-p...ui_crash_032612 Looks like the Rangers are cleaning house w/ that bullpen.

Players that should be moved and bring the most value back are Huston Street, Kole Calhoun, and Hector Santiago. July 2015: Yoenis Cespedes from DET to NYM for 2 of Met's top 15 prospects. This is a decent comparison for Calhoun because they are both power hitting OF's that play great defense but in our situation Calhoun holds higher value because he's a lefty with an extra year of control. He will easily net 3 top prospects and those 3 players would immediately become our top 3 prospects (lol). Just goes to show how far off teams' fans and opposing teams' fans are about trade value/s for a player...that said, Huston Street might be the more interesting option to supplement our bullpen. Calhoun's going to be too expensive on the prospect front...and their need for Anderson is somewhat mitigated by the presence of Simmons (granted, he's injured currently).

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 13, 2016 -> 08:02 AM) I'm willing to bet that Jason Benetti over the next 25 years or so, never leaves the broadcast to check on a player. How many times has Vin Scully done it? I'll wait for my answer. Only because players and former players don't want to have anything to do with nerds...

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 13, 2016 -> 06:19 AM) I think you've asked about that specific website before, and yes it is steaming garbage, and no claufield it is not comparable to nyt. I wasn't referring to quality...it's more filled with "conspiracy" type stuff. Just saying that no Republicans would put much stock in what the NY Times has to say in terms of its opinions or editorial board. There really isn't a direct "left wing" equivalent of a website aiming at the investor/business class audience yet really liberal in orientation. It's a much less competent and even more opinionated version of Forbes.

Not the best match-ups for the White Sox rivals. Minnesota for the Indians, Braves for the Royals...thankfully DET plays against the Orioles, hopefully you can stick a form in them early so we can start padding our victory total later in the year against them. Odds are we won't have a winning record against all four teams, but 14-5 or 15-4 against MN and maybe 13-6 against the Tigers would go a long ways to making the playoffs even with a .500 combined record against CLE/KC.

And to think, one of those election years, didn't Obama win North Carolina or come very close to turning it...2008?

Ynoa's control is about as predictable as Miguel Cleto's...well, maybe not THAT bad. But I wouldn't bet on it being Ynoa. Too inexperienced.

Fwiw, Rick Thurman is his agent.

Well, they have always been anti-Democratic Party, so if you consider the NY Times "fair" to Republicans or Fox News or Forbes fair to Democrats, lol...

FoxSports still reporting that same story...Giants/Angels/White Sox as the three finalists. Wonder what the benefit to the White Sox of "being involved" is if there's no legitimate interest? Is it really going to make a difference to drive up his price a couple of million for the Angels, who realistically only have a 10-15% chance at competing for a wild card spot?

Hawk has his favorites, for sure. I doubt he would have done that for a Gordon Beckham hitting .182 and the team 10 games under .500, but everyone has a right to get caught up in the excitement at least a little bit. It's a season and a needed fresh breeze compared to the past three seasons, and Frazier's been a huge part of changing that clubhouse environment and team "grittiness/grinderishness."

5 over CLE, 6 1/2 over KC, 7 1/2 over DETROIT High water mark for Sox was 6/7/8 after Monday. Cleveland's got a three game series in Minnesota, and we have Tanaka Sunday...so wouldn't be shocked to see the Indians pick up at least one game. Then again, the Twins have to beat SOMEONE this year. Yankees have won 5 of their last 7.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...512-column.html Kind of a fluff piece from Haugh, but worth reading if you're interested in what Sale does to prevent himself from getting injured and strengthen his frame.

Not completely the end of the Spurs' run...but getting close/r. Kudos to OKC for winning the series, especially on the road (twice). Billy Donovan seems to be doing just fine, but obviously that team is all about Durant and Westbrook feeding off each others' strengths. What happened, btw? J4L must have guaranteed the Spurs would win, right? For the sake of the NBA, it would be great to see OKC beat the Warriors and then the Cavaliers and then you'd have the offseason drama about where KD would end up...also willing to bet that the networks were pretty upset not to get a weekend Game 7 in this series, but so it goes. The unpredictability of sports.

This might be nearing the official end of the Tigers' ERA in the ALCD... Had a 5-0 lead at Balt with Pelfrey pitching his first decent game of the year and the bullpen's copied the White Sox fiasco in TX (granted, they're actually using their "best" relievers and still getting rocked). 7-5 Orioles going to the top of the 8th.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 12, 2016 -> 12:08 PM) trump's long-time personal butler seems insane, going so far as to call for the US military to assassinate Obama. Seems? Or just being intentionally inflammatory/race-baiting?

I doubt Ranaudo's being linked to the Lincecum signing (or not). If anything, they need another reliable arm or two in the bullpen. I guess we'll find out, depending on whether he's pushed into the Charlotte rotation. Right now they have Johnson, Turner, Volstad and Marin. Beck in AA might be bumped up again.

Calhoun will not come that cheaply... They will start by asking for, let's say, Adams and Hawkins (if they think they have a fix).

Lincecum TOPPED out at 92. He was consistently at 89-91, lowest fastball was 88.

Well, yeah...cursing out David Robertson for the "double blown" save when it was 95% caused by Jerry Sands was a bit much. The previous blown save, you had Navarro making an errant throw leading to that tying run. (Of course, you still have to pitch over them and I can't begin to count how many 2 out runs have scored against the Sox in the past couple of weeks). At any rate, there will always be some skepticism about the Sox ("mentally soft," "mental midgets") until they make the playoffs again. The word "choke" was thrown around a lot in 2012. Others would just argue the more talented team finally showed up when it counted and that the White Sox and their 11 rookie pitchers were gassed. But yeah, the cursing/expletives thing (look at me, I'm seeking attention just like the comments thread for a yahoo or TMZ article) has to go. At least try to provide SOME level of analysis or active reasoning/engagement.

I have to agree with Dick Allen (unfortunately) on this one. Look at the recent stories with Peyton Manning, Maria Sharapova and the same gambling/cheating allegations with Phil Mickelson (money laundering, etc.) The Tiger story was about bringing down and destroying a brand because that image was so carefully cultivated by Nike, by his agent/s with IMG, by his caddie (who conveniently now regrets protecting him, lol)....he was going to break Nicklaus' record, etc. Part of it has to do with the interracial nature of these situations, the fact that his wife was/is a model and the majority of the 100+ girls he was cheating with were white. The whole randomness of it, like the Perkins girl and Rachel Uchitel...a whole media industry was born from that original scandal and blossomed. And, as noted, that it ran completely contrary to his image (until that point) as a golfing robot who was always on message and frustratingly boring and focused. Of course, he never has won a major since that time and is unlikely now to ever be the same physically because of all the torque that swing put on his knees and back (and partially from bulking up with the weight lifting there for awhile). Jordan is bulletproof because 1) he always came across as more likable/popular than Tiger (or Kobe), 2) he was more media savvy, like Tiger, never one to offend any of his customers or utter anything remotely shocking or that could be construed as political advocacy (shared that with Tiger, whose dad made the famous comment he would make more of an impact off the course than Gandhi, which he did in a way with his sordid stories), 3) Dennis Rodman was successful at deflecting some of that media attention away by his utter craziness.

If you want more speed, Leury Garcia and Shuck are the best options. The problem is Garcia gives you the same positional versatility as Saladino/Sanchez (maybe can play OF more), but his bat doesn't play and he doesn't have the "automatic" basestealing ability of a Gore to just will himself into scoring position every time in the 8th or 9th inning as a PR. Plus, replacing outfielders in the late going defensively is not as much of a critical need this year, which is part of the reason why Shuck is probably in Charlotte instead of CHI. If your one tool is speed, it better to be ELITE speed, where it can be used as a weapon. Like if we had Billy Hamilton in that role coming off the bench, for example.

Why is it NOT a surprise this announcement comes from a Southern state? And to think, NC is supposed to be more progressive than the Deep South, what with all the transplants living in relatively cosmopolitan Charlotte.

That thing with May is a hard one to figure. Sure, he might be most comfortable down in the order, but it seems pointless in a 142 game schedule to give up an extra 75-100 plate appearances for him. Maybe they think it's best for his development, I don't know. Probably were he to ever start with the White Sox, he'd be exactly in that spot (the Austin Jackson one currently, when he's not hitting 2nd).

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 12, 2016 -> 02:11 PM) Don't get why the Cubs have to come up every other post here. Who cares? Because there's nothing inherently terrible/bad/negative with wanting to get better? What team is completely satisfied with where they're at...? I hate that argument, that we should just be contented and that looking for ways to improve and make the team even more competitive is a bad thing? Or even worse, that we're not supporting Sands/Carrol/Sanchez/Erik Johnson/Saladino if we're talking about trading or replacing them? It's kind of like that old axiom about "supporting the troops" but not in general being for war. Just because you're thinking of ways to get better doesn't mean you're a "bad" fan or whatever. Just like those folks who don't want to see war after war bristle when they're called "unpatriotic." There are always two sides to every coin.