caulfield12

Should have been your favorite selection AFTER Adams, lol. Which could be a "sleeper," because by nature anything from the 3rd round on usually tends to be by nature. Except for our back-up option to Rodon.

How is the lefty the Cubs signed for what was widely-considered to be an overpay doing? Then there's the Miguel Angel Gonzalez situation with the Phillies.... Plus $53 million to Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero for the future Dodgers' infield, (which also means Beckham or any of our middle infielders to LA is pretty far-fetched.)

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:18 AM) You don't sell off pieces for the future for an upgrade for solely 2014. You make moves similar to the trades for Garcia, Contreras, and Peavy in the past with some possibility of helping this year but with an eye towards next season. And keep looking for the equivalents of Humber and Noesi to solidify the back end of your rotation so you don't have to overpay to acquire a veteran free agent like Nolasco, Peavy, Josh Johnson, Feldman, Erwin Santana, Jimenez, etc. Due diligence on every arm out there like Cahill or Romero (or Tommie Hanson/Mulder, rehabbing) that's mysteriously non-performing where Cooper might have identified a fix. Same thing with the bullpen...keep searching for the Guerra's, Rodriguez'es, Cletos, Boggses, Belisarios, Putnams and mix them in with Webb/Petricka to provide a nice balance of veterans and younger/cheaper guys. Obviously, catching and LH power hitting will be the most elusive to find in this manner.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 02:38 AM) Wouldn't it make more sense to use him in the bullpen, where the Sox really need another lefty? Depends on your belief/confidence in Rienzo fixing things or continuing to go backwards.

QUOTE (glangon @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 02:05 AM) I'm with you on this one. We have depth in the infield, the Dodgers have depth on the outfield. This is a trade waiting to happen. I think this all depends on how serious they are about keeping Uribe and Hanley Ramirez around. Remember, they've already sunk $28 million into 2B Alexander Guerrero (Olivo biting victim). And, if you're the Dodgers and you have a $200 million payroll, are you really going to roll the dice on Conor Gillaspie, Marcus Semien, Carlos Sanchez or Micah Johnson to hold down a starting infield position? I sincerely doubt it. That kind of move isn't going to help you make up ground on the Giants. At best, it's lateral. They're going to try to trade you Crawford/Ethier/Kemp and a large subsidy before they give up Pederson.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 09:50 PM) Yeah, that was just a disaster from Bradley. Can't advance without him playing significantly better. Zero control of the midfield and zero creation. He's trying to sabotage Klinsmann and make his dad look like the better coach.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 01:12 AM) Batting 4th, Zach Fish. Batting 5th, Zach Fisher. Now that won't be confusing at all. Damn you. Hahn! Jeff Barry or Jeff Berry?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 12:24 AM) Thanks it was written poorly but I wasn't drunk. I think UK is a lock to win the 2015 national title though. No such thing. Especially with all the parity in college basketball the last 10-15 years.

Has Essien really fallen off that much in his play? Guess I'm too attached to the glory days of Chelsea when Lampard, Essien and Drogba were absolute studs.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 07:38 PM) im not surprised because i know he was doing awful, just wow because the contract he has and who saw that coming lol i expect him to rebound eventually though. max was struggling prior to his outing vs sale, interesting to see how he does vs the hot royals maybe has something to with him getting that groin surgery? And that $30 million per year extension doesn't kick in until next season. Double yikes. Game story with lots of quotes from Detroit Free Press. http://www.freep.com/article/20140617/SPOR...ustin-verlander Monday marked the second straight start — and fourth overall — in his downturn in which Verlander gave up little until mid-game, then surrendered at least four runs in an inning. What does he make of that? “Good question,” he said. He declined to offer any theories. Here are a few: Strikeouts don’t rescue him from jams as they used to. And whether it’s because of age or his annual workload or both, Verlander’s begins to lose his stuff earlier in innings than he used to. So if he gets in a jam, he’s more vulnerable to giving up the big hit than he used to be. His downturn began in mid-May when Baltimore — after being blanked for four innings — scored five two-out runs in the fifth off him, the last three on Nelson Cruz’s homer. Verlander will get as much time as he needs to work out of his trouble. Ausmus said, as if anyone would doubt it, that he will keep taking his turn. “There is nothing to do but stay confident, move forward and turn the page,” Verlander said.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) Marlins signed Kolek; don't know size of bonus. $6 million. Under slot by $821,000.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 06:59 PM) 7 runs given up by verlander today wow lol It's not a surprise. Look at his last six weeks' worth of starts. He's just not getting enough swing and misses or strikeouts anymore, even though his fastball has been 93-95 and he's been able to dial it up to 96-97 in critical situations. Seems he's lost his confidence. Which is bound to happen when you were the best pitcher on the planet for five years and then all of a sudden the ball's not leaving your hand the same way but nothing feels physically wrong. 10-2, Royals piling it on. Up to Scherzer now to hold onto first place and stop the Royals' winning streak. He showed up on Thursday against Sale, would be shock if he didn't win again this time. Yet another compelling reason why he's going to get paid.

They really played way too conservatively the 2nd half and had no business getting that win if you look at the number of possessions, shots and quality of attacks. That said, even Christiano Ronaldo or Messi can be shut down quite easily by 2-3 defenders or a marking scheme, so losing one forward shouldn't be the death knell. It all comes down to Portugal vs. Ghana and the US vs. Portugal. Wasn't expecting much this World Cup so a win still feels nice, no matter how it transpires.

Ghana had a great chance there to equalize at the end. Kind of whiffed on it (#13).

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 11:39 AM) I'm ok with an off-duty cop doing it, vs. Random Joe Citizen Or especially non-random Joe The Plumber. Hate that guy.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 11:39 AM) Yes, and if you're keeping track, Central Europe now leads the Iberian Peninsula 9-1. Unless you give Portugal 50% credit for Brazil, haha. (Remembers amusing history lesson from one of the Fast & Furious movies, as told by Joaquim de Almeida, one of my all-time favorite character actors).

And the rich just keep getting richer. Seems to fit in perfectly with the Giants defensive outfield philosophy...a little bit of Angel Pagan/Lagares/Endy Chavez to his game. Have seen him compared to everyone from Darren Lewis to Leonys Martin.

And the rich just keep getting richer. Seems to fit in perfectly with the Giants defensive outfield philosophy...a little bit of Angel Pagan/Lagares/Endy Chavez to his game. Have seen him compared to everyone from Darren Lewis to Leonys Martin.

Along with Ripken and Jeter, one of the best ambassadors for the sport in my lifetime. I remember collecting about 50 of his and Alan Wiggins' 1983 Fleer Rookie cards. Both of those guys died way before their time. It would be sad if something positive didn't come out of it...even more pressure to bring to bear and the strongest argument available for the anti-tobacco movement in baseball and with teenagers in general. (Of course, being teenagers, most of them have no idea who Tony Gwynn is, but almost all of their fathers certainly do).

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 11:14 AM) This team is really not that far from contention. The rebuild is nearly complete. The team is probably an OF and a starting pitcher away from being a WS contender, they could use an upgrade at C, but so could almost everyone else. I think that the plan should still be to sell at the deadline to complete the rebuild and reap what they can from Beckham and Viciedo along with whatever they can get back from anyone in the bullpen outside of Webb. Petricka is the type of arm the White Sox are probably looking to hold onto unless someone bowls you over with an offer...and also represents our 3rd best starting pitching prospect at the moment (after Rodon/Montas) unless you're a big believer in Beck. Finding the outfield replacements and a veteran pitcher for the back end of the rotation aren't going to be as difficult as finding a LH power hitter to replace Dunn and a catcher. (And some of the acquisition targets like Seth Smith, Victor Martinez, Melky Cabrera and LaRoche are having such good seasons they might become prohibitively expensive from a "buy high" perspective.) Finally, while that position (catcher) is a weakness for 25 other teams, as a common thread, most of the very successful teams and pitching staffs have that common thread of a team leader/captain at that position, and we've been drifting in that regard since AJ left.

That game got ugly fast. Sucks for the fans...most of the games have been hard-fought and fairly close, with the exception of Spain/Netherlands in the 2nd half and that one was entertaining just because it was a bit unexpected.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) Seriously, lol. We have a shot at .500 in YEAR ONE. I can just see it coming...YEAR TWO or at least 1.5.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 10:10 AM) And yet we see to turn one or two of these guys a year into usable pieces. Look at the roster we have now. De Aza was a waiver claim. Quintana was a minor league free agent. Noesi was a waiver claim. Carroll was a minor league free agent. Sierra was a waiver claim. Nieto was a Rule 5 pick. Zach Putnam might be the overall MVP of the bullpen so far this year.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/despite-disap...-071421653.html Cleveland, the Bulls, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas and the LA Clippers are the logical other options, but LA won't have the cap room next year. With Cleveland, he has that history to answer (about his departure and The Decision show) the Bulls, the comparisons to Jordan and questions whether Rose will ever be 100% again...Houston, whether he could co-exist with Dwight Howard and whether Howard's career can be resurrected and then Phoenix/Dallas weren't even playoff teams, so they'd have to add additional talent to make a go at attracting James.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140616/COL0...gers-joe-nathan An article on bullpens, how s--- always happens (Joel Zumaya and Rondon injuries), and basically how hard they are to forecast/predict/control.