caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2015 -> 07:54 PM) Still somehow in this game. Hopefully Sale rediscovers his ace-ness It's mystifying, Chris, Lester, Kershaw and Bumgarner have all struggled out of the gate this year. (Ricky Romero was released, haha).

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 6, 2015 -> 07:52 PM) Chris Sale's changeup has long rated as one of the best pitches in all of baseball His slider's still a much better wipe-out pitch. His change-up has always been a bit inconsistent IMO. 93 pitches already through 5 innings. Bullpen game. Are we actually nails? We shall definitely find out (part of the answer) tonight.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ May 6, 2015 -> 07:50 PM) warm up the bullpen, WOW Petricka.... How did Kinsler not score there on a double play? Weird. But it's almost impossible to score unless you break right away, in which case it would have been 1st and 2nd and probably one out (unless they could catch the runner at 1st, unlikely).

Well, this is depressing. EATON, WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO THROW RAJAI DAVIS OUT AT HOME????? Hit the cutoff man, stop the runner from getting to 3rd. IDIOTIC. This keeps happening over and over and over again.

What the hell is wrong with Sale? Overthrowing? Dead arm because of the injury rehab throwing him off track? This is ending up like Adam Dunn's appendicitis thing. The first game out, he was throwing 97-98 right off the bat in the first few innings. Btw, thanks Dick Allen for inspiring the Rangers to sweep the Astros!!!

We should have a poll (which the moderators) would never approve, but it would be an entertaining discussion. Which of the following coaching combinations would lead the White Sox to the best record (if Robin Ventura was replaced by)?: 1) Dick Allen (you can name your own bench coach) 2) Fathom and Balta (just because I like his politics the most of the mods, lol) 3) A combination of two of ANY two of the remaining mods 4) Jake and Brian (the movie/tv team) 5) Kyyle and Northside 6) the rest of the field of non-mods (I'll name LDF and Greg775 for my co-coaches and we can party at Applebee's after games) 7) flavum and Greg Hibbard, because there'd be lots of optimism and theoretical record projections mixed in with cliches for post-game press conferences I vote 2.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2015 -> 05:11 PM) Whit Sox players don't play well, clearly Ventura's fault. Lack of talent , and injuries be damned. Any other manager has a team that sucks, so and so didn't play well. Why isn't Joe Mauer's drop off on Gardy? Or Choo's horribleness your pals fault? If they were White Sox you know who you would be blaming. What significant injuries have the White Sox had this season, compared to other division rivals (Justin Verlander, Nathan, Alex Rios/Hochevar, Swisher and Gomes, Ventura for PED's, etc.)? Last time I checked, the Rangers and Twins were both predicted to finish in last place in their respective divisions by EVERYONE. So, to summarize, you would be happy to give up your highly-compensated (with a 14 year track record) sales job to the equivalent of Robin Ventura, right? When the White Sox stage a miraculous comeback and win the division, are you then going to argue the opposite of your current line, that Robin Ventura had nothing to do with it at all and shouldn't be extended beyond 2016 as a reward "because the players did it 100% all on their own and it wouldn't have mattered who was managing them"?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) FOX Sports: MLB ‏@MLBONFOX 3m3 minutes ago Manny being Manny?! Pedro Martinez says Manny Ramirez used to spike team drinks w/Viagra --->http://foxs.pt/1Qo0fy1 Maybe the White Sox need to try that? At least if they were getting a little nookie on the side, it might help them to relax a little bit and stop pressing so much.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) Yet you seemingly have no idea the White Sox were rebuilding and pin losses on him. He took over a 79 win team that lost Buehrle, and they win 85, but the collapse. That is all on Robin......except Paulie, wrist surgery, Youk, back gives out, Sale, out of gas. If you are going to ignore losses for Gardy because of talent, to be fair, you would have to do it for Robin. And everyone would be willing to do that, if he had won something in 2012. Because of that collapse, and the piss poor fundamentals and lack of execution and just a plethora of mental errors from mid-September 2012 until today, what conclusion/s are to be drawn? Because we can't blame this team's poor defense and poor baserunning on Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro DeAza any longer. What's the ONE common factor during that time period? You're going to balance Ron Gardenhire's 6 AL Central Division championships in 9 years with Robin Ventura's 5 1/2 months in 2012? REALLY? You give Ron Gardenhire Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano playing up to their ability and 100% healthy, you'll have an 85+ wins Twins' team again....if not for the fact that they went after Ricky Nolasco and Erwin Santana (another board favorite last off-season). http://www.wadenapj.com/sports/3708353-do-...-problem-licked So basically, you want Robin Ventura (a manager hired with ZERO experience or credentials) to be given the same benefit of the doubt...which just doesn't make any sense. Let's say Dick Allen was Regional Salesman of the Year for 6 out of 9 years. His company then brings in someone they think COULD be better, but is totally inexperienced and never even done sales and he consequently produces results that are pedestrian at best, and which leave numerous questions in mind of any future improvement. He hasn't proven anything as of yet....how long is the company going to stay in a state of uncertainty before going back to the person with the record of performance on the back of their (sales) baseball card? I'm starting to believe you are actually Chris Rongey in disguise, lol. You have more excuses than cod liver has pills, as my now 86 year old mother would say.

Yeah, I'm not seeing many posters argue that Ozzie Guillen should still be around as White Sox manager. Joey Cora, as bench coach, etc. If the only thing that mattered was that World Series title, then we should recreate as much as possible the same conditions that brought that championship about according to this thread.

In the KCMO SD, they locked a very old teacher in the closet and set the chemistry lab on fire with Bunsen burners.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) The context of the conversation was about the waiver wire. You aren't finding a top flight anything on waivers. JD Martinez disagrees. Ian McHugh, too. And a long line of White Sox pitching castoffs "fixed" by Don Cooper.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 01:41 PM) Thompson didn't even get a September call up in a lost 2014 season. Has that much changed in a month of baseball? I doubt it. Honestly I think if an OF got hurt, you'd probably see Sanchez still get a call up, with Shuck/Bonifacio getting most of the PT in the OF. There is also a non-zero chance that Leury Garcia would get the call up as a guy who has more flexibility for the roster. Or Saladino, depending on health and recent performance level.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 01:30 PM) Think of it this way. If an OF goes down to injury, who is the next call up? That is why the Sox would be watching for OF depth. SP? No. They are looking to make room for Rodon as it is. That will push someone else into relief, and they just cleared a mediocre reliever off of the roster. Next SP up would be Scott Carroll. Odds are you won't find a better reliever on waivers then what Guerra gave you, and they would add him back if needed (assuming he isn't claimed). Skill IF? No. The next guy up is Sanchez, and it isn't even close. Catching? Sure. The odds of finding one are really, really low, especially when the Marlins couldn't get anything at all for Salty, even when being willing to eat his entire contract. OF is at the top of their depth list FOR SURE. Now the trade market would be a different thing. There I am sure they would love a 3B and C. I think he meant a top-flight 3b or ss....but the odds of finding someone more than a Danny Valencia or Didi Gregorious level player are about 1 in 100.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2015 -> 12:46 PM) And that can be easily solved by firing the manager, and hiring a guy whose teams lost 99,96,96,92 games from 2011-2014 becoming the first Twins manager to be fired since the same season Hawk fired Tony LaRussa. Everyone in baseball other than some at SoxTalk knew the Twins were going into a long-term rebuilding process....which was exacerbated by having a turf team unprepared for outdoor style of play AND Mauer, Morneau, Santana and Liriano falling off the map production-wise. Let's add the reign of terror by Bill Smith. See below. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/820267-...erry-ryan-built

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) The Brewers aren't trying to be competitive this year. That's no shock to their fan base, as this was confirmed once they traded their #1 pitcher in the offseason. Then why fire the manager after they were finally playing better (5-5 over last ten, also won the weekend series convincingly)? Plus, they just gave him an extension through 2016.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 09:23 AM) Chicago metro population was estimated at 9.5 million after last census. Take the 1/3 of it that would apply to Sox, and you have about 3.2 million. Detroit metro is 4.3 million, not counting Canada at all. Minneapolis metro 3.8 million Cleveland metro 3.5 million KC 2.35 metro million That still doesnt address media rights, sponsorship opportunities with more corporate hq's located in Chicago....disposable income, etc. http://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/ White Sox stilll arent far behind Detroit despite Tigers winning last four division championships, best pure hitter in baseball, best pitcher in Verlander before 2013-14, etc. Of course, the Tigers also lost nearly $21 million last year while the Sox were quite profitable.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 09:12 AM) Because during the season it is physically impossible. What are you going to do, bring up your entire AAA team? That's at the heart of the Carlos Sanchez/Micah debate right now. The concept of "firing" Micah for his performance so far when the same thing can never happen to John Danks, for example.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 09:04 AM) This really isn't true. One you divide up the Chicago market with Cubs fans, a place like Detroit's market all by itself is probably bigger than what the Sox have to pull from. Sure we play in Chicago, but we are the clear minority player in Chicago. We dwarf the Twins, Indians and Royals as far as media rights fees. Pretty comparable to DET. Which was a city absolutely devastated in 2008, moreso than any Midwestern and/or Rust Belt city fwiw.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 6, 2015 -> 09:06 AM) If you think about it, how many players did we "fire" this fall with all of the new signings we made? A large chunk of the roster was "fired", by being replaced. In a round about way, the White Sox "fired" about half their roster in 2014. I meant in the middle or beginning of a season....

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 6, 2015 -> 09:05 AM) Mental mistakes is right. You don't have to be a great fielder to mentally know where you're going with the baseball if it's hit to you... Perfect example was Avi in that 4-3 win over Cleveland a few weeks ago...directly cost the Sox a run because he had no idea where he was going with the baseball and instead of just getting it in he double pumped and the runner scored from 1st on a base hit. It was disgusting. There have been a few times where Eaton has done the same thing but it hasn't cost the Sox so it went unnoticed. Getting caught flat footed against aggressive opponents has been a common theme in the Ventura era. See Colorado game last year when a runner scored from 1b on a single to the outfield.

Then why dont teams "fire" all their players instead of changing coaches or managers? Why did the 2012 team play so differently but for just one year? What does Soto have to do with Ventura rather than Hahn? Nobody thought he could be a capable defender. What were the expected or projected records for the Cubs and White Sox? The Cubs are losing to the team many consider one of the top three in baseball despite the loss of Wainright...whereas Minnesota was in the basement for every singgle prognosticator. The Cubs are still over .500, in second place and playing an exciting/interesting brand of baseball. The White Sox, even when they do win, it's often quite ugly with just a few exceptions. Btw, Edwin Jackson's ERA was 0.00 coming into yesterday's game. Nails!

QUOTE (shysocks @ May 6, 2015 -> 07:42 AM) That total is 29 for the Sox, for the record. The four "extras" are Rodon, Carroll, Sale, and Petricka if I'm not mistaken. Does Webb count when he was added as 26th man for one game?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2015 -> 08:34 AM) So that is what we learned from Greg Walker. Obviously the point of this is to say the team isnt talented enough....therefore the coaching staff shouldnt be blamed for Corky Miller, Andy Gonzalez and Leury Garcia. Lol. Not extreme examples there. The problem is "good" or decent hitters struggling like Eaton, Ramirez, LaRoche, Cabrera (no power, low walks)....or supposedly "talented" hitters like Beckham and Viciedo. It seems you are arguing its more on the scouting and GM, correct? In other words, if you were forced to fire Hahn, Steverson or Ventura today...who would you choose to protect and why? I know you will say nobody should be responsible or accountable....that the team will improve magically over time if we are only patient and content to be non-contenders for yet one more season. Good poll topic, but its undoubtedly already being discussed to death.

The question is how many years without a playoff appearance when we are supposed to be the largest market team in the division with all the built-in advantages is acceptable? 10? 15? Should we just tip our caps to Illitch for spending more and having a better GM, to the Twins and to the Royals now for building much more solid foundations for sustainable success? What does Buddy Bell have to do to get fired, for example? What is he actually superior or even good at? The irony is with all the advanced statistics in the world, the subjective matter of judging coaches and front office personnel seems to be getting more and more difficult. We can quantify and assess players in a multitude of ways, why not coaches, too?