caulfield12

Colon gained velocity and movement on his fastball as the game wore on.....just like Verlander. From what I've seen from Colon, his 93-96 isn't in quite the same ballpark in terms of effectiveness.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 10:19 PM) Maybe Carlos Sanchez ought to be in some of those top 100 discussions again That's just not going to happen unless he ends up with 15-20 homers on the season. Even then, like Hawkins, he's fighting coming off a down season, so the recognition really doesn't come until 2015.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 03:41 PM) not trade related, but what do you guys think about getting melky for lf in the offseason since hes a free agent? lefty, has speed, great arm. dont know how good his defense is. trade viciedo or dh him Beware the free agent coming off a contract drive season...and regression to mean.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 09:26 PM) 37 at-bats. Would you judge a hitter on 37 at-bats? I'm just going more on the impression over the last 3-4 weeks. It does seem that he falls apart more easily this season...especially when there are defensive miscues. Just can't seem to bear down and pitch through it like he did in 2012 and 2013.

Q was the definition of mentally tough in 2012. With all the no decisions last year and the defense falling apart behind him on at least 2-3 occasions this year, you have to wonder if it's gotten to him a bit. Those numbers with RISP/2 outs are scary. Pretty soon he'll be our newest version of Gavin or Javy (sorry to hear Floyd had another serious injury, btw).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 03:10 PM) Really, they're playing a game of chicken, and Boras will eventually lose. If Rodon returns to school, he's risking $6 million to try and potentially earn an additional $2.5 mill, and he could lose as much as all of that $6 mill (though it likely be closer to losing $2-4 mill). Had this been prior to the last CBA, there's no way the Sox would have drafted Rodon because Boras would have been asking for $12 mill and he could have let it known well before the draft. The Sox likely would have taken Nola or Hoffman. With the slot, the Sox are likely offering the full slot value to Rodon while Boras is asking for $6.5-7 mill (or something along those lines) and both sides say "we're not moving." Boras realizes how important it is for his client to get the most and safest possible contract, but he also realizes that the White Sox badly want his client under contract. The Sox could likely wait until the very last second and Rodon would eventually sign, but they may cave a little to get him under contract sooner("if he signs by July 4th, we'll give him $6.25 mill, but that offer will be withdrawn beyond that date and will revert to a slot valued deal beyond that"). Either way, there's still a 99.999% chance of getting it done. It would be interesting to see how much the policy that Scherzer took out against that $144 million he passed on would pay him if he went down with labrum/shoulder surgery and never was the same again...there's just no way that Rodon could get an insurance policy (let's say, worth $7 million) where it would make sense to ensure against injury for a rate that wouldn't cost more than what he's going to lose if he doesn't sign for $6.1 million, for example. Let's say the insurance policy was $900,000 against that $7 million in future salary/signing bonus and he ended up with a career-threatening surgery next season at NC State. That would still be a pretty crazy risk. According to Boras' research, most of the pitchers going down with TJ surgery are in their first four years in the big leagues. Once a pitcher passes that point without having had an major problems, the odds are dramatically lower for a 1st TJ (at least that's the argument he's selling teams interested in a long-term deal with Scherzer).

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 03:01 PM) I only trade for Price if we can extend him. Although we could likely get something good next year if we had him and dealt him I'm not sure Hahn wants to go down that route, because you run the risk of him being so good and the team being in contention next year...so the fanbase would go crazy if you missed the shot at the playoffs, but equally hold it against Reinsdorf for dealing him at the same time. It's kind of a no-win situation, where it can end up like Edwin Jackson being dumped for less than value or you are forced to hold onto him and be "all in" like Dayton Moore and the Royals essentially are with James Shields.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 02:30 PM) Paraguay isn't in the WC, and I honestly don't see Messi in his best form so I see them having trouble once they get done with their easy group. Colombia and Chile look very strong, and Germany and Netherlands look the strongest from Europe right now. It's been a fun and interesting WC so far. I meant Uruguay... Didn't that ball that made it to Suarez bounce off the head of an English defender? Just bad luck this game. England was the aggressor, by and large, and Rooney alone had 3 quality shots on goal. Game of inches...the missed Rooney attempts, the ball that almost skidded off the head of the English defender before getting to Suarez for the first goal, the ball skipping the wrong direction off the head of the defender to Suarez...and then finally the Suarez shot that barely cleared the right shoulder of the goalie before he could react and get his hands up a bit. So now it comes down to Italy-Costa Rica...then England/Costa Rica and Uruguay/Italy and possibly GD. Wonder if England will totally throw in the towel for their 3rd game?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 08:25 AM) 10 GS, 2.52 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 64.1 IP, 12 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, 10.75 K/BB (which may be the best ever). He's had 1 bad start. Saying he's been erratic is like saying Chris Sale has been erratic. I mean, I just don't understand how you can say he's been erratic even compared to previous years. He's been dialed all year long. A couple of starts ago, he had an ERA over 3. Maybe erratic isn't the right word, but he wasn't 1968 Gibson/Drysdale/McLain either. Man, the Pirates/Grilli are having closing problems in recent weeks. Wonder if they could use Belisario? They also have Melancon and Justin Wilson. Pirates just had a leadoff double in the bottom of the 11th and couldn't score.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 01:02 PM) We could get more than that in the offseason, silly. Would you purchase a big time asset at 50% of its value to turn around and sell to the highest bidder 5 months later? Umm, yes.... They're not going to trade Price for that package anyway, so forget it. Remember, they have to replace Ben Zobrist, potentially. If you combined Leury, Carlos Sanchez, Micah Johnson and Semien into one player, you would have the value (of one Zobrist), but we don't unfortunately don't have the option of doing that. The likes of Micah Johnson and Beck as the centerpiece of a trade...not happening. Now if it's Tim Anderson being offered, Andrew Friedman will start to consider it, depending on the 2nd and 3rd pieces. Friedman, in the end, doesn't become one of the top 2-3 GM's in baseball by making stupid trades. He knows exactly what he wants for Price.

First time a Pino throwing to Pinto...if Pinto's catching tonight. That wouldn't get confusing for an announcer at all.

Baines got beat...he's too much of an attacking player for that position. Almost starting to feel sorry for Rooney. He had a near-miss on both a free kick and also hit both crossbars (in the corner) on a header off a corner kick. Entertaining game, desperate battle for survival on both sides.

Royals finally lose, Nathan with a shutdown 9th, 3 consecutive K's of Butler/Perez/Cain. Huge swing between 2 1/2 games and 1/2 game division lead, Sanchez doesn't have his best stuff, doesn't even manage a strikeout, but still guts out the win. Probably the ace of that staff at the moment, and the stopper. Miracle finish for the Indians (always seem to have that home field advantage in CLE despite putrid attendance). after giving up the lead in extras, they get a Nick Swisher grand slam for the walk-off win over Frieri and the Angels.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) There’s a world of difference between being in contention compared to winning the division 2 or 3 years in a row or at least 3 out of 4. Something the Tigers, Twins and Indians have all managed at one time or another. Picking out years where they had a better year than the previous one or one year where they managed to barely squeak into the playoffs isn’t a fair comparison. And that's a fair indictment of the KW regime. The Twins had 2002-2004/2006/2009-10. That's 6/9. The Tigers have had 3 in a row, in addition to the 2006 World Series appearance and the addition of Miguel Cabrera and Scherzer via trade. So there you have 4/8. And then the Indians had the mid 90's through 2001, as well as another run at the World Series in 2007 and then 2013 again. But they've also gone through two complete tear down/rebuild cycles. The best we had was the 3/9 for the 2000-2008 cycle.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:42 PM) I think Verlander will be fine he never got to workout all winter and next season he will be better. It is just one of those years. Did they ever specify exactly what "core muscle surgery" entailed with him? It could be like the Adam Dunn appendicitis thing back in 2011...throwing him off physically or mentally. His average fastball's all the way down to 92.5, but in recent starts he's consistently been 94-96 but still getting lit up.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) I agree that's as of now the Sox don't really have any better options. We had so many holes coming into this year that Hahn (imo) did a masterful job this offseason fillign as many as possible. Eaton and Abreu and Avy (in his very limited run so far in MLB) look like three legit starters and obviously Abreu looks more than that. Now we just have a hole in LF, DH and C. Gillaspie, Abreu, Eaton and Avy has drastically upgraded the position player talent. Good job to Hahn. Hate to say because he did a lot of good but KW's doubling down for the 3rd straight year in 2012 set this team up for disaster. Hahn has righted the ship, soon we'll be sailing again imo. Agreed. But a lot hinges on Garcia...we all know that. And there's as many knowledgeable opinions on how good he will be in the future as there are believers in Marcus Semien, Gordon Beckham or Conor Gillaspie. If we are approaching 2015 as close to an "all in/we're back" year from a marketing perspective, there's going to be an immediate pressure on him to produce. It's not going to be like 2006 where they can afford to carry a struggling Garcia for 2-3 months because we're already having to replace a Top 30 MLB OPS in Adam Dunn.

Entertaining 2nd half with local favorites Colombia and Ivory Coast. After two goals for Colombia, Gervinho had a really nice run and finished on the left hand side despite being fouled...but they couldn't quite manage to tie it in the final minutes. It's becoming clearer how difficult it will be for a European team to win in South America. Clearly, Netherlands is the co-favorite right now, but Argentina/Colombia/Chile/Paraguay all are going to be tough to knock out in front of their home fans. Even Mexico and Costa Rica seem to be energized playing closer to home. Article on the enigma that is Rooney, and why he's so controversial among England's faithful. http://www.espnfc.com/blog/marcotti-musing...oney-is-madness

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:19 PM) It's hard to over state how much Viciedo has to contribute with his bat to be an effective starter anywhere he can play. Look at this Fangraphs page this year for example, he's -8 runs (wow) already on defense and -.2 baserunning. Oh well he hits you say -- his wRC+ is 86. More akin to a catcher or SS then a butcher in the field corner outfielder. He now has over 1500 PA in MLB and his fWAR is .2 -- .2! If you don't like WAR just look at his fielding percentage and triple slash line: 261/305/425 and a .978 fielding percentage, which doesn't even account for the dozens of balls he misplays into triples and hits that he doesn't get the error. I was a huge Viciedo booster. Tragically, he's not very good I've come to realize. If you're going to replace Viciedo, and not trade Alexei Ramirez (since we also need catching/pitching even more), then where are you going to get a 750-825 OPS LFer??...also considering the fact that Garcia might be a bust or very rusty and in need of extensive minor league time to get his timing back in 2015. Does anyone really believe Semien/Micah Johnson in LF, along with Eaton's 700ish OPS...is going to be a huge improvement? I'm not saying it's impossible to replace Dayan, simply that you don't dump him until you have a much better solution than Sierra/Taylor/Danks/Tuisasopo.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 01:41 PM) The board's consensus favorite player in the draft outside of the big names. Seems like their experience with Ayala is convincing them they don't have 4-5 years of time to wait development-wise. Maybe...that said, if you have anything close to a playable bat to go with solid catching/leadership skills, it's clear-sailing on the fast-track to the big leagues.

Miguel Cabrera just got schooled by Aoki and Escobar. He was only a couple of steps off 2nd base on a flyout and got doubled off due to laziness. Wow. JD Martinez follows up with an opposite field homer, saved a run there as the Tigers just took a 2-1 lead in a huge game for both teams, especially the Tigers for their psyche.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) Oh also yes I would trade Micah Johnson, Beck, and a bag of balls for David Price. That would be a very nice deal for us and also 4 other teams in the AL East. Why would that be a good deal unless we were getting a negotiation window to ensure a long-term contract extension, like the Garcia move in 2004?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 12:04 PM) The problem in this scenario is that Viciedo does not hit enough to be a DH. Right now he's a 4th OF you start against LHP. That's it. That's all he probably ever will be. If anything, the path to DH is now clear for Abreu. If he's a 700 OPS guy (now), then you're right. If he's the 775-850 OPS guy for the first two months of the season, then his bat plays. With Garcia on the shelf and still with an uncertain future...and DeAza on the way out, I'm not sure we have the ability to replace two outfielders right now without either trading Alexei Ramirez or going big on the FA market. Do we want to bring in someone like Colby Rasmus? Is that any more certain than Viciedo? Because guys like Melky Cabrera or Seth Smith are going to cost their production right now and you're buying high on both those guys and both are strong regression candidates for 2015.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 07:15 AM) Good for him. He started to appear to be making progress when we finally let him go. The kid is still just 23 years old. I always felt like he was unjustly criticized for the signing bonus he got. It's not his fault Wilder was corrupt. Getting to AAA at 23 is still an accomplishment, even if it did take 6 years to get there It was better for the Sox and Silverio to part ways, under the circumstances. The last couple of utility infielders we let go, Andy Gonzalez and Eduardo Escobar...haven't become All-Stars, exactly. You could also add Chris Getz to that list if you want.

Cardinals in the running now for most annoying fans and organization in baseball... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...GlkA1NXSU1DMF8x

It's still a big leap for the Mariners to get past the Angels/A's, and then the jumble in the AL East...that said, they've invested a ton of money into Cano, and their fanbase is just dying for another competitive team. Pretty sure it's actually been longer for Seattle since they were in first place or near it at the All-Star break than even the Royals (2003). Adam Dunn...30th in MLB OPS Alexei Ramirez....24th in WAR