caulfield12

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:31 AM) This is true, but if you look at a lot of other numbers he ranks right around 40th - ground ball rate, K-BB%, SIERA. And he is 22nd in OPS allowed despite pitching in US Cellular. I wish he could lower his pitch count a bit too, but he's still managed to make it into the top 30 in innings. When you have a pitcher who does just about everything this well and combine it with durability, you have a #2. To pile on here - the notion of trading him is kind of ludicrous. Someone else said this almost exactly: you trade established guys to get prospects who might turn into good major league players who you then might be able to sign long term. That's Quintana already. Maybe we could get Stanton for him, and that's a nice thought, but trades that move two established MLB stars just don't happen that often, Lester/Cespedes notwithstanding. Now we're pushing it with Quintana. Solid, underrated pitcher, sure. Star, no way. Adam Eaton's got more star quality than Quintana, so does Avisail. Heck, so do Anderson and Hawkins, for that matter. Rodon as well. Stanton's an elite player, a superstar, one of the top 10 talents in the game today and still young.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:20 AM) In the post steroid era, .250 with 30 homers is a star. Except in the sabremetric world, defensive metrics will always weigh him down close to negative territory. If he could hit close to 800 ops-wise, he has a full-time position despite the issues in the field...or maybe he's DH and they bring in another LH bat who can play the outfield. The problem is how long will the Sox be waiting for that 800 season. 750ish is about the best we've come to expect due to the low walk totals/plate discipline issues. He has, for the most part, at least earlier in the season, figured out a better approach against RHP and he's also done a better job of hitting fastballs at times.

Justin Verlander's starting today, FYI. Wonder how he'll do with all the public scrutiny and humiliation. Knowing the Tigers' announcers, they would never dare bring it up, other than saying something generic about "outside distractions" or the like. Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester as well in a key game for both teams out West.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 07:29 AM) This is Danks's second year back from surgery though. Peavy was absolutely fantastic his 2nd year back from surgery. At one point do we conclude that Danks's talent has changed and he's no better than a #4 starter? You also have to look at the fact that his velocity has been up in the last couple of months (90-91 quite a bit), but he's having trouble commanding it location-wise. The odds of pushing all the back up to 92-93 consistently aren't very good. You just can't pitch up in the zone with the kind of stuff he's featuring right now or you're going to get tattooed. It's not by sheer coincidence that he's leading the AL and probably all of MLB in homers allowed. Maybe if you stick him out in SF, Seattle, SD...he'd be a lot more effective, like Richard and Stults with the Padres.

Let's Be Cops wasn't as bad as I expected...fairly entertaining. Although my idea coming in was something almost as bad as Tammy, and that's the very bottom of the totem pole, so to speak.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/following-haw...-110007054.html

Has anyone seen anything defensively from Sanchez so far (at 2B) to indicate he's even better than Gordon Beckham (stretching to use the term Gold Glove caliber in a league with Robinson Cano)???

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 06:30 AM) Grandal is the guy I really want. Even in a down year, he's posted a wRC+ of 105 against RHP. He and Flower would make a great platoon and give us above average production at the position. Sucks that Austin Hedges had a bad year, not sure the Padres will be motivated to move Grandal this offseason. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos.../true/minpa/300 Unless you had Yan Gomes, Salvador Perez or Derek Norris, you're going to be doing fairly well with Tyler Flowers. He's not hurting the team offensively and defensively as much as LF, RF, and 2B. If you look at all of MLB, he's sitting 15th out of 26. Way ahead of Salty, McCann, AJ, Grandal, Zunino, M. Montero, etc. And we'd be just as likely to get an upgrade if we traded for Wilin Rosario as for Grandal, arguably. Change of scenery candidate who would cost less than Grandal. Unless we signed Carlos Ruiz this past offseason or COULD sign Russell Martin (and he's going to get a bigger deal than warranted at his age, just like Victor Martinez), we'd arguably be a lot worse off with all the money sunk into McCann or Salty, so there's that much.

QUOTE (BaconOnAStick @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 01:40 AM) Jason Heyward will save the Sox more runs than Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson or Justin Masterson and a bounce back offensive year could easily happen. I go back and forth on what his price will be in a trade. Atlanta is not as interested in resigning him as I'd expect, there may be a bit of a buyers market for a guy one year away from FA. Would Gillaspie/Anderson/Danish/Hawkins do it? Maybe. The more I think about it the more I think it would, and it might even more than Atlanta would accept already. There's NO WAY IN HELL you give that amount of young talent up for Heyward unless he agrees to a long-term contract extension like Freddy Garcia did when he was traded by the M's to the Sox. At the very least, you have to control him through 2018 and ideally 2019. From a Heyward article written BEFORE the 2014 season. We've been spoiled by Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Mike Trout. To have a single top prospect reach the big leagues and prove himself to be a star before he's of legal drinking age is rare, and the few who have been able to do it in the past 25 years have often proved to be among the all-time greats -- names such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez among them. To have three of them doing it simultaneously, well, that's nearly unheard of. We are almost unquestionably living in something of a golden age of elite young offensive talent. The flip side of that is that they take up so much of the air in the room that it's easy to forget those who came before them, players who have been very good but not quite on that historic level. It means the hot young names of just a few years ago now seem like old news, even if "old" is absolutely not the correct way to refer to them. It means we've forgotten about Jason Heyward to some extent, because he was the Trout of just a few years ago, when he made it to the big leagues at age 20 in 2010. But, although Heyward might be somewhat under the radar right now, the confluence of forces at play involving the economics of baseball, his own age and the actions taken by his team mean he's set up to be in high demand very soon. To see why Jason Heyward could be the next free agent to crack $200 million, become an Insider today. www.espn.com/mlb

I think that was simply more to experience some failure/struggles in AAA and for him to have a firm idea in his mind of the talent level and competition level in High A, AA and AAA when he returns to the minors in April and May next year. They could make the argument that he experienced some difficulties in his last start as ONE reason not to promote him quite yet....saying he has to work on fastball command and refine has change-up, etc.

Rasmus is probably going to be offered three or four years. Sure, he might be interested in a shorter-term deal, but he's worn out his welcome in two places already. Pass. Way too inconsistent. Wilkins in no way, shape or form should be the everyday DH. He has to prove he can produce before you even start to consider that. They have to send Nieto to BIRM or probably Charlotte to play nearly everyday...one of those two places. Coming off a TJ surgery, it's going to take Saladino at least until May or June to be close to 100% to play the field (especially SS and 3B, where the throws are longer), and his bat's not going to play as more than an occasional DH (like Leury Garcia has been used this year, rarely). Micah Johnson's more likely to be the starting 2B than Carlos Sanchez the starting SS. The problem is that trading either one of them won't get you a high quality starter unless you include Anderson and either Danish or Montas. That's not the type of trade a rebuilding team makes either, unless they're sure about their prospects not realizing their potential. Sanchez has a LOT to prove to be awarded the starting SS position. And those "semi-decent prospects" for premiere veteran starters almost NEVER go to the advantage of the team trading away the likes of an Alexei Ramirez. For every Texeira or Bartolo Colon prospect bounty, there are just as many that go the way of Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers or CC Sabathia from the Indians to the Brewers. It's Putnam. No way we are in a position to be spending that much money on a LH set-up guy coming off a career year and having to outbid 10-12 other teams. PASS.

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...&ocid=yahoo Article explaining rationale for not promoting Rodon this September.

Why in God's name do we STILL have Mitchell in our organization if he's not going to play this September? What's the point? Obviously, they believe Taylor, Danks and Sierra have better futures, but they already know exactly what they have in Danks.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 08:32 PM) I understand what you are saying and in some way I agree. the one point I do not agree is avi. he still hasn't hasn't proven anything. the players in the minors may not get the sox a lot. I rather hold onto them. the key in this whole discussion, which I truly enjoyed, is what edict will come from JR. Sure, you can make a debate that Conor Gillaspie would be the next player on the roster you could make a good argument who has the most value, vs. a rusty Garcia coming off that injury in April. Garcia was a consensus Top 100 prospect, ahead of Davidson but not in the Top 50. Conor was close to a first round draft pick, but blocked by Sandoval for most of his SF career. I think most on the board would argue for taking Garcia if they were an opposing GM (based on potential), whereas 1/3rd or maybe even 40% would prefer the proven results and possible defensive improvements at a premium corner infield producter in Gillaspie. Then you have to look at their respective ages as well. The problem with dealing Conor is that makes Semien/Davidson your starters, or you make a move for Sandoval/Hanley Ramirez or maybe Headley and spend a lot of money that may or may not give you more than marginal improvement, especially when you consider the backside of those expected contracts.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 06:57 PM) I guess a lot of posters can use players to make their point, as I am going to do. what would you give to get a Joey Gallo from tex, plus another player or Gary Sanchez from nyy and 1 of their outfield prospects? that is what I am taking about trading for. if it is not Q then who? That's the problem. After Quintana in value, you have Eaton and Avisail Garcia, arguably. RF and LF, along with C and 2B are the positions most in need of improvement statistically...and of course DH. We have a solution for 2B internally, 3B and probably Flowers sticks at catcher even though there are some possible improvements but a hard time matching up for a trade unless you deal Alexei. After Garcia/Eaton/Alexei, the players with the most value are Tim Anderson, Tyler Danish and Frank Montas in the minors, along with Rodon and Adams obviously. Courtney Hawkins would probably be #4, arguably. Davidson and Erik Johnson you have no choice but to hold onto and hope and pray for rebound seasons.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 06:39 PM) Hello no. Yes to Bryant, possibly Soler What about Gallo? Byron Buxton (that's a bit of a loaded question since he and Sano have to prove themselves healthy in the AFL or at least before the end of spring training next year)? Soler and Russell would have to be a yes, since you could trade Ramirez then so it would be essentially Soler, Russell and whoever we got back for Alexei, not to mention the cost savings that could be invested elsewhere. (Baez now looks like Gordon Beckham OPS-wise and Soler's at 1.771 for the moment). That type of move to me is a lot more logical than Mike Stanton.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:42 PM) I think you are vastly underrating Jose Quintana. I think it was beautox who made a comparison to Andy Pettitte, and frankly, that's not a bad comparison. And Andy Pettitte pitched very well for a very long time. You don't trade a guy who puts up numbers like that because you feel he's overrated. The stats say he is valued properly as a #2 starter statistically and he's being paid insanely well. Frankly, if you trade Quintana for prospects, I feel like you may as well trade Sale and Abreu too. Quintana is probably the 3rd most important player (and, frankly, 3rd best player too) on the White Sox. Or a healthy Eaton...you could argue for a CFer putting up his numbers, especially if the successful SB's came up even more. It's an interesting argument. Of course, another way of looking at it is whether you would trade Quintana for Eaton OR Avisail Garcia if they were playing on other teams? What about Soler or Bryant?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 01:07 PM) Well it would appear that we'll get 4 or 5 more starts at the big league level to see what he's got. I know I don't follow the minors as closely as you do so it's hard to really argue with you. His hook looked real nasty in his start Saturday, and it's possible that Coop could help him add that Coop cutter. They're unlikely to be able to do too much teaching in the middle of September, but, hey, why not, what's to lose? That said, if he's blocking Rodon from getting starts and they want Carlos for the rotation beginning opening week next year, it doesn't make sense, as they should be running Bassit out as a 7th-8th inning set-up guy in place of Belisario/Guerra and see how he does in that role, which is much more likely his future employment home...or as a long man, in the Carroll/Rienzo role from earlier in the season.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 01:09 PM) can they just move him up and down like that? Seems kind of crazy, he has been at what, 4 levels already this season? I actually think there would be a lot of value to letting him start a playoff game for the Dash, although it's a bit frowned upon to use a pitcher who really wasn't with the minor league team much during the regular season, and especially a pitcher who's closer to the big leagues than A ball in terms in talent/ability/refinement. That said, the minors are all about development and less about statistical results, so nothing would surprise me with the way he's bounced around...rumors he's going to pitching in Chicago in September, come out of the bullpen like Sale, start next season in the rotation, etc. Not seeing him at all at the major league level this year's going to make assessing his readiness to go in April, 2015, a bit dubious, at best. If they start talking about holding him back like Kris Bryant until June, then I'm going to start to doubt there's a plan to "go for it, almost all in" for 2015 and that 2016's still the target date.

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 01:07 PM) Rodon is not starting this year. Source/link? Or just conjecture? Based on what?

Did Winston-Salem make the playoffs? Is there a minor league team where Rodon could be headed? Doesn't make sense to hype the very likely possibility of Rodon pitching in September, just as a tease. Maybe they figured they could draw more Tigers/Royals/Indians fans to USCF than any Sox fans who would specifically come out to see a Rodon start.

Can someone ask to interview Buddy Bell about Jared Mitchell's prospect status, haha?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 11:56 AM) I was at WSI at the time, but I am sure this site was freaking out when the Sox were trying to trade for Soriano in July of '06. Yep, Brandon McCarthy package.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 07:47 AM) Boyhood's gross is $28M. The point is that comic book movies are keeping Hollywood in business in terms of dollars. Well, yes and no. The Lego Movie, Maleficent, Planet of the Apes, 22 Jump Street, How to Train Your Dragon 2, TMNinja Turtles, Divergent, Neighbors, The Fault in Our Stars and Lucy have helped a lot too. So basically, Michael Bay, Scarlett Johannson, Angelina Jolie, Andy Serkis, Shailene Woodley and Rogen/Apatow comedies. Although some would argue that Lucy is basically a superhero type of character.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 07:33 AM) I'm not looking to redirect resources to 3b but if the Sox really want Micah to be the starting 2b next year then I'm looking to sell high on Conor to upgrade elsewhere and let Semien be the everyday 3b. Except that's more likely to give you TWO holes to fill. Gillaspie's going to give you what? Are you expecting an 825-850 ops hitting LF or DH for him? Good luck. Conor has at least proven he can hit at this level...even without the expected 12-15 homer power. What are the odds that Marcus Semien comes out essentially as a rookie again and gives you a 750ish OPS at 3B? Maybe 50/50 at best, although I would bet the under. I'd say you're very likely to get worse production out of Semien and not a certain upgrade from a young prospect for LF or DH or C. If you want to trade Conor for bullpen pieces, there's definitely a better use of our resources. And he's certainly not going to get you a quality starting pitcher in return, for the same reasons you cite...that other GM's are waiting to see if he can repeat his success and nobody wants to be caught overpaying for a guy coming off a career peak in his trajectory to ride the downside and give up quality cost-controlled talent in return.