caulfield12

There's no way Viciedo goes through waivers without at least being claimed. Just because someone claims him doesn't mean we will hear about it, if a trade can't be worked out.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 02:58 AM) How is that even possible? With Korean baseball, anything's possible...

Story on new Padres GM AJ Preller, 37 years old...Cornell grade, summa cum laude, former roommate of Jon Daniels there ’s more than a good guess that George Bernard Shaw didn’t have San Diego’s professional sports teams in mind when he said youth is wasted on the young. Because it’s being served here, both seen and heard. A child shall lead our way.A year ago, the Chargers replaced very veteran General Manager A.J. Smith with a 41-year-old whippersnapper named Tom Telesco. Wednesday, the Padres introduced A.J. Preller — yet another A.J.! — as their latest GM, their fourth since 2009. He takes over for Josh Byrnes, who was canned in June — was he too old? — at the advanced age of 40, which liars tell us is supposed to be the new 30. Preller, a 37-year-old fresh off a 10-year hitch with the Texas Rangers (most recent rank: assistant GM), looks as though he just stepped out of his Cornell yearbook wearing a mortarboard. “Although A.J. is young in age, he’s an old soul,” said Ron Fowler, the team’s executive chairman, who probably had sold a few kegs of beer before Preller was born. Preller also has been described as being both ruthless and endearing. Didn’t they say the same thing about Al Capone? Anyway, that’s one interesting description of a young man who never has been in charge of a baseball organization. In his former capacity, what could he have done ruthlessly, put Super Glue on rosin bags? “I think he’s tough as hell,” Fowler said. “He outworked people. While everybody else was in the stands visiting, he was working. He was doing his job and gaining a reputation as a tough guy.” To find Preller, who was smart enough to graduate summa cum laude from an Ivy League school, who has become an expert in recognizing both U.S. and international talent, Fowler, lead investor Peter Seidler and CEO Mike Dee conducted a search Ulysses would have found drawn out. This was a terribly important hire and the trio found all available rocks and turned them over. In the end, Preller, who has put in 3 million air miles talent-searching, won. And the way Fowler talks about him reminds me of what Chargers boss Dean Spanos said of Telesco, who looks every bit the right hire, despite resembling a Mouseketeer. “A.J. literally has an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball,” Fowler said. “I was shocked — just shocked — at his knowledge. He came to interview with three pages of notes and eight hours of answers. You’ve got to be some kind of smart to do that. “He looks at the world differently, and that’s how you have to look at it here. You can’t look at it like the Yankees and Dodgers.” I wondered aloud why the Big Three went unusual and fired their GM at midseason. Plus, without a GM, assistant A.J. Hinch (yet another A.J., who resigned this week) conducted trades that sent off closer Huston Street and third baseman Chase Headley. The Street trade was disturbing. They could have waited and got something better. If the Angels wanted a closer that badly, they should have had to pony up something better than what they did. "We've always been candid; we did what we needed to do, although the media said we were idiots (for trading Huston Street for a lesser return)," Fowler said. "We had confidence in A.J. Hinch to do the job; we didn't have any trepidations." So they fired Byrnes so early because? "We wanted to have the best shot of looking at the (potential GM) pool without having to deal with five other teams," Fowler said. "You saw us play" — I certainly did — "this is a performance-based business and we were not performing." I can buy that for now. But I do know it's a good thing Preller is a confirmed workaholic because a half-buttock job isn't going to work here. The team's drafts historically have been so horrible they seem like fantasy. Internationally, despite sinking $10 million into the Dominican Republic (changes will be coming there because it has yielded nothing), not much has happened. Preller is a smart guy, so he knows what to say, and he said it all Wednesday. He isn't taking over the Dodgers and a $230 million payroll. He will have to be creative. He will have to be damn good. "I'm not a huge fan of a timeline," the latest A.J. said. "The Padres have never won a World Series, and that was intriguing to me. They want to build something long term; they want to build something first class." As for a Padres budget? "I don't see that as an excuse," he said. Good answer, because a big payroll is not necessary (or possible) here. A.J. takes over a team that can pitch but can't hit. And he can't bat cleanup. from San Diego Union Tribune (utsandiego.com/sports) http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/padres...p;vkey=news_mlb

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 08:29 PM) Well, Arrieta just got Coors'd Maybe we need to liberate a pitcher from Coors. On the other hand, we temporarily can't use the Cooper will fix 'em trademarked comment. Arrieta's at 2.71 now for ERA. Jinxed. And runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs are his property. Might as well trade Tulo now, Rockies...you're never going to get a better return. (Which will take either the Yankees or the Dodgers out of the Alexei Ramirez bidding.)

Not sure what to make out of Interstellar (just saw the preview/trailer). Hard not to think of Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey's earlier hit, Contact. Doesn't seem like he's been around nearly 20 years, as only recently has he been taken seriously as a dramatic actor. Sure it will be thought-provoking, though, with Nolan directing. Finally, hope someone finally gives Zoe Saldana an opportunity to headline a non-sci fi/action movie. The last one I remember her in was Colombiana...but that was still more action than drama imo.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 08:16 PM) Again he has hardly played. Just 7 or 8 more hits and you would stop picking on him. They want him to bunt more and use his speed, but because of his versatility, speed defensive profile he looks like a guy who should be fine at the end of the bench. I would imagine he will play winter ball and work on his offense. It is another case of if he is the biggest problem on the 2015 roster, the White Sox should be in great shape. Or six hits by Gordon Beckham.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 07:10 PM) If you're going to say Q is worthy of going to the ballpark, then so is Arrieta. He would be 4th in the majors in ERA if he qualified. Just noticed that. 2.06 I'd say to Cubs' fans, Alcantara is just as exciting as Eaton is to Sox fans, plus he's a rookie.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 06:27 PM) Jose Abreu Chris Sale Adam Eaton Avisail Garcia Jose Quintana The Cubs have one guy who is as clearly worthy of going to a ballpark to watch play (Rizzo). It's not lack of exciting players holding back our attendance. And Castro, Baez, Soler (in August or Sept), Alcantara (going through his first slump)....Coghlan has been fun to watch as well. Of course, Wood/Arrieta/Edwin Jackson is another story. And it's fun to see if their bullpen will implode every,time they have a lead. Finally, I don't think anyone gets really really excited about Quintana. He's more like opera...you grow to appreciate him, but you don't love him innately the first time you see him pitch.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) Any Sox fan who isn't going to games because of excitement over Cubs prospects isn't much of a Sox fan. I think it's more of the casual fan that's not a die hard and being pulled into the media hype...I'll admit that with the White Sox game already a blowout, I was more interested in the Cubs' game. That's pretty normal. It doesn't matter who it is, top (rookie) prospects catch our attention...whether it's Trout, Puig, etc. I don't follow Puig as much this year, compared to 2013...even though he's arguably a better player this season. Human nature.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 01:01 PM) Why would the Rockies not give him a shot? Well, the Rockies and Rangers are the only teams with a worse ERA than the Sox right now. Is Turner an extreme flyball pitcher?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 05:54 PM) Of course they are going to try and contend in 2015. Look at it this way, how much did they improve last offseason? Probably about 10 WAR. They added Eaton (3), Jose (5) and Avi (2-4 if he stayed healthy) as major additions. They didn't spend on pitching because they knew they weren't that close. If they bring in 10 WAR on the pitching side of things this offseason and Avi comes back strong then they are in contention for the 2nd WC. Things are going well I don't know why so many fans are complaining this team is way better than last years and all their good players are locked down and young. They somehow got the consensus best player in the draft (Rodon) and the farm system, while still lacking much high end low floor guys, is as deep as it's been since the early aughts. 1) The fact that those same fans know the White Sox aren't going to be bidding on Shields, Scherzer or Lester. 2) John Danks 3) That they are just bad enough to be interesting, but not bad enough to get a high draft choice when it really doesn't matter what happens from now through the end of the season as long as Abreu, Sale, Eaton, Avisail and Quintana stay healthy. 4) Having the third worst ERA in the majors despite Sale/Quintana 5) The fact that if they do address the starting pitching issues, there's probably not going to be money left over for the bullpen 6) The fact that our two best defenders are Eaton and Ramirez, and Eaton can't stay on the field and Alexei has a 50/50 chance of being traded 7) Reaction to all the excitement over Alcantara, Baez and Soler

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) This team isn't even pretending to be competitive and everyone knows that. GMAB. This team is 5 1/2 games out of the wild card race and has spent the whole season 5 games under .500. I don't care who he brings back, Adam Dunn didn't sell tickets in 2011 because the team was trash and the manager didn't care. Less than a week ago, they were yet another bad bullpen appearance from being just one game under .500. Do you expect the White Sox to at least PRETEND to compete in 2015 or are you willing to concede that the bar for competing for the playoffs realistically is being moved back to 2016, minus some dramatic free agency additions this off-season?

QUOTE (MAX @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 04:38 PM) If anyone did care I believe Jose Abreu, the best new hitter in baseball for many years, would be more of an attraction that some prospects. What's the reason...because he's 27 and doesn't "feel" like a rookie because he's not the same age (20-22) as Baez/Soler/Bryant? Because he never spent time in on our minor league system developing or wasn't drafted? It's hard to figure out why a team with 2 of the 10 best players in baseball is 28th in attendance.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 04:34 PM) Ugh, I leave for a week, move 8 hours, and you're still on this schtick? WIN BALLGAMES AND PEOPLE COME. NO ONE CARE WHO YOU HAVE IF YOU NO WIN. 2012 and 2010 say "HELLO!" If Jose Abreu's the 2nd best player in the major leagues right now, and Chris Sale's a Top 5-7 pitcher and that's attracting a crowd of 19,000+ on a perfectly comfortable August day when then the Sox are still only 5 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race, something's got to be done besides simply discounting tickets. Hahn needs to make another big bet or two of Adam Dunn proportions, and he has to hit on both of them (along with hitting on the trade return for Alexei, if he decides ultimately to go in that direction).

I'm thinking they're eventually going to end up moving Baez to 3B and Bryant to RF. That situation could end up reversed, whichever plays the better infield defense which "frees them up" to think about offense the most and doesn't become a negative distraction (error totals/media focus on this aspect). If Baez can be a notch better (defensively) than Conor Gillaspie, those power numbers at 3B would certainly play well, even if he strikes out at a Mark Reynolds-esque pace, as getting a 750-775 OPS from 3B these days in the majors is pretty huge. We all know Baez has an ultra high ceiling but higher bust possibility, lower floor. That's well documented. Finally, Russell and Castro can play middle infield...not sure if Russell will move to 2B or Castro will give up SS. It will be interesting, either way.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 03:52 PM) I like Sierra I wish they would give him the next 40 games all to himself to see if he can prove something. Bench Tank and De Aza everone in MLB knows what they are anyways not like a hot week is gonna convince any team to try and move for them. Didn't the Blue Jays pretty much already do this at the start of the season? That's how he ended up on the White Sox. If he was the type of guy who was capable of hitting 25 homers per year, but it's more likely a guy with a 769 career minor league OPS number is going to end up in the low 700's/high 600's at the major league level. While that would be "okay," it's not going to get us to the playoffs or be anything beyond replacement level. It's certainly not going to encourage any fans to buy season tickets, and that's half the battle for the organization, building up excitement for the team like the Cubs have now with Baez/Soler and then the addition of Bryant in 2015. The Cubs can put Baez or Bryant in the outfield, then Russell or Castro at 2B, that only leaves them with one more outfield hole (McKinney/Almora) and catcher. We have to replace everyone but Abreu/Garcia/Eaton (if they can stay healthy). Conor shouldn't be counted on to hit .310-.320 next year again, Alexei's our only trade chip and Flowers....sigh.

The White Sox have to lead the majors in just dumb/idiotic outfield play. Eaton's recklessness and decision-making with throws. Avisail's overall awkwardness out there. Tank's lack of ability to do anything well but throw when he has a full head of steam going. DeAza. Enough said. That DeAza play against Minnesota was probably the final turning point in the season...in terms of any prayer for fighting for the Wild Card. Win that game, and the series...things might be different. Instead of 4-2 or 5-1 against two last place teams, we're 2-4 instead. Now we're facing a very tough stretch of games. It was probably just an illusion anyway, to think we had either the rotation/bullpen to go on an extended winning streak (or could actually lose 5-10 games in a row with Abreu/Sale/Eaton/Quintana/Alexei and "compete" for a Top 11 pick that wouldn't be forfeited signed certain free agents).

I would also look at how many runners are stranded..in RISP, and certain situations, like 2 outs and RISP. Definitely not holds. And also how many runners inherited in scoring position and with less than 2 outs were prevented from scoring...that would seem to be pretty obvious, of course.

I'd probably start by looking at as many "failed" closers (the likes of Sergio Romo) I could find via trade or free agency... But I would never buy one coming off a "peak" performance, like an Andrew Miller, Jim Johnson coming into 2014 or Craig Kimbrel or Trevor Rosenthal in the future, etc. The idea of finding guys like Boggs, Guerra, Putnam, Cleto, wasn't horrible...in and of itself. If Lindstrom and Jones were healthy, Belisario and Putnam could have stayed in the 7th where they belonged. Of course, we never would have discovered how good Petricka could be, for example. Or that Webb wasn't/isn't ready yet, and might never take that next step. At any rate, I'd individually go through all that video and figure out exactly why those saves were blown (bad pitches, bad defense, bad "luck," BABIP, line drive/FO/GO and the traditional metrics) and try to find 2-4 guys that Cooper also really likes and targets them for acquisition. Not overpaying for loogies, but looking for a lefty who can pitch at least one inning and without a hugely dramatic split against RHB's and LHB's would be another thing we definitely have to address. Surkamp obviously doesn't belong in that role. He just doesn't have the stuff OR the control/command.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 05:51 PM) Apparently, I need to revise my list of the "biggest needs" for the 2015 Sox. 1) Bullpen, 2) bullpen and 3) more bullpen. I was thinking that with Putnam and Lindstrom back, and maybe one more piece, that they might be OK next season. After the last few games, it appears they may need more than one more piece. They need two lefties; a LOOGY and a solid LH set up man. They also need a closer. I don't know if you need both, you just really need ONE guy you can count on first. As it stands, it wouldn't make sense to spend money on a Miller type (overspending, based on his 2014) or Downs, etc. I actually think that bringing Rodon onto the roster in this long-man/set-up role ala Buehrle or Chris Sale (although Sale had high leverage situations almost instantly) makes the most sense, although I certainly wouldn't push him up to the big leagues until after I made sure he didn't qualify for Super-2, so sometime in June after 2 months of quality pitching in Birmingham or Winston-Salem or a combination of both.

Well....if Hahn knew before the season: 1) Gillaspie was going to be in the Top 10 for AL hitting and at least not terrible on defense (his 2nd error today was attributable mostly to the rain/play conditions as the ball slipped out of his hand) 2) Jones and Lindstrom would get injured 3) Abreu would be THIS good He probably would have approached the bullpen situation a bit different. But hindsight is always 20/20. In that case, we wouldn't have signed Downs/Paulino and would have gone after Scott Kazmir, Josh Beckett, Tim Hudson, Phil Hughes, etc. We could also have kept Thome in 2010 and also not signed Dunn coming into 2011, etc., etc.

Cleto or Molina, just try SOMEONE new...anything would be better than Rienzo or Guerra. Surkamp, if we actually had another legitimate option, should be replaced as well. Ozzie would DFA Rienzo for not at least throwing at a Twins' hitter after the Arcia homer....and would have blown a gasket letting a rookie catcher hit the 3rd consecutive (and first career) homer. Ozzie would have had Fryer down in the dirt dusting himself off, lol. (Reminds me of past incidents with Garland and Sean Tracey, ah, the Guillen Era).

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 05:32 PM) There's the man to fall on the sword after the disaster today. No corresponding move yet. Typical White Sox. Rookie pitcher is the fall guy when one of the veterans (Rienzo, Belisario, Guerra) could just as easily be scapegoated off the roster. Surkamp's been around a bit, too. He's not exactly a spring chicken. NESTOR MOLINA will save the day and validate KW as the all-time smartest GM ever...

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 04:44 PM) This bullpen is the result of a ridiculously weak farm. And there's nothing to bring in. We're a long ways from 2012, when we used, what, 10 rookies from the pen alone and it seemingly worked for most of the year until September at least. That's when we had the WORST farm system in baseball. There was Leyson Septimo, Jhan Marinez (Ozzie comp), Pedro Hernandez (Quentin deal), Axelrod, Omogrosso, Heath, Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Addison Reed...not to mention Quintana. Let's blame it on Buddy Bell, just because....well, we have to have someone to scapegoat, and Hahn and his Toronto superscout aren't as fun to pick on at the moment. Speaking of Toronto...Nestor Molina might be the next addition to the bullpen, if Zach Stewart's unavailable.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) Well, FWIW, if Jones didn't get hurt we'd have Jones, Petricka, and Putnam as 3 quality guys to come from the farm. How does Putnam count?