caulfield12

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...tching/2014/ALL Do we have the wrong Guerra on the MLB roster? Venezuelan "Junior" Guerra, who apparently didn't pitch ANYWHERE from 2008-2012, then was in Mexico in 2012 and disappeared again pitched two innings with no hits/walks and 2 K's. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...tching/2014/ALL

I blame Dick Allen for supporting Beckham and Danks too wholeheartedly... Maybe Wandy Rodriguez will be next if we pick him up...if nothing else, we can thank him a little bit for 2005.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 3, 2015 -> 05:28 PM) This doesn't look like a club that's ready to be hot out of the gate, but crazier things have happened. Balta lurking like Calvin and Hobbes, ready to POUNCE!!!

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Apr 3, 2015 -> 05:05 PM) "I think the White Sox just make smarter business decisions than most teams." Really? And how do you arrive at this conclusion? Based on the club's success? The Sox have one playoff appearance in the last DECADE since the WS in '05, and that appearance lasted all of one minute. And the 24 years prior to '05, this current Sox ownership saw their team reach the postseason a measly three times, combining for just three wins in those appearances. Real "smarter business decisions" contributing to that unheralded record, I must say. And as of today, this supposed record of "smarter business decisions" has this big market team almost dead last in attendance and TV ratings as we speak, and a team payroll going into this season almost identical to that of the Kansas City Royals AND Minnesota Twins, and less than that of the Reds, Blue Jays, Mariners, AND former Montreal Expos, the Nationals. But god are we "smart", we managed to get Sale and Abreu to sign for under market. Whoopie...for the investors!! Well, we still won the World Series and there are like 9-10 that haven't, haha. We spent a ton of money from 2006-2013, albeit inefficiently for the most part. We've consistently been outmaneuvered and out-strategized on the pr/marketing front. If only Mike Illitch had been the CEO....we'd have Justin Verlander and Miggy Cabrera on contracts until they reached Social Security eligibility. You're right, I don't think we can overpraise JR and company...they stabilized the ship from the Veeck Era, let's just say that. Got the new stadium built, albeit it was a disappointment and have now rectified that to the best of their ability but original perceptions are still hard to walk back. In all fairness, if the 1994 strike doesn't occur (and that's also 50% at Reinsdorf's doorstep), things probably would have turned out differently...say we won the World Series THAT season. Another couple of things we can point to are the lower draft budgets (going underslot and putting more into MLB ops) and the Dominican Disaster. We've been pretty much shut out of that country for going on ten years now, so it's actually pretty remarkable we've still managed to do "fairly well." We can trot out that...the White Sox didn't have a Top 10 draft pick for XX number of years stat...that we were something like 3-4th-5th over any long period of time behind the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, Braves over the last 20-30 years in overall win-loss record. Basically, saying we've been good at being decent/mediocre/middling but very rarely breaking out of the pack and having a chance for real post-season success. There was 1959, 1967, 1977, 1983, 1989-1994 (injection of all that exciting talent and new stadium as well), 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 (doomed when Quentin went down with hamate self-inflicted injury), 2010 (26-5 stretch) and 2012. And that's pretty much been it, other than the 1900-1920 teams.

Danks did crank up a fastball up to 84. He's basically Jamie Moyer at this point. I remember he was actually throwing 88-91 pretty consistently at the end of last season.

The GREAT DEBATE was over why in God's name didn't we sign Santana or Jimenez and put ourselves into basically automatic contention for a playoff spot in 2014....didn't quite work out that way, although Erwin with the Braves was much better than his Orioles'/Indians/Rockies counterpart. Starring 85% Marty and Dick Allen.

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?top...ent_id=58135383 Here's the stream. You can't find it through MLB.com

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) Its a pretty unique movie series in that way. Three and four totally bottomed out the series, I remember when Vin Diesel came back to the series I laughed at the notion that the movies would make a comeback. The Eva Mendes one was "okay" and then Tokyo Drift was surprisingly good if you rewatch it again today...and fit it into the overall series chronology with Han. Lucas Black (CSI New Orleans) simply wasn't a big enough name at the time to do much more than straight to video business, with all the primary characters out of the action and on the sidelines.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 07:36 PM) I really wish Boras would force a swap for Rodon. Mutually beneficial. Where would he play, lol? Conor/Beck 2015 rules!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 07:05 PM) http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2...agent/70854296/ Surprised there are no Eaton, Aaron Rowand, Jake Peavy or Kenny Williams quotes about "Sox Tough/blue collar/lunch pail" stuff. I guess Abreu's now the prime example of humility, with his "Puritan" work ethic and lack of interest in seeking the limelight or attention like Puig, Moncada and Cespedes.

22. Cincinnati Reds (76-86; Previous: 21) – It’s not so much that Brandon Phillips thinks on-base percentage is overrated, but that he believes MLB Network made it up.

Tigers (overrated IMO) and Indians ahead. Nationals at #1 over the Angels/Dodgers. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-power-ran...-184322154.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 06:17 PM) He hit 9 home runs in 364 PAs last year. That's a 15 HR/season pace already as a 21 year old. Well, I hope he doesn't litter Charlotte with homers and have everyone expecting A-Rod/Tejada/Nomar numbers. He's more of a line-drive hitter from all accounts...

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) Well, I would say great success for this team would be to finish 10 over .500. Pure and simple. That would mean the Sox have taken care of their problem of getting owned by teams in their own division and it would mean they are damn competitive again. Let's face it. On paper, our defense is below average to lousy; our starting pitching is promising (Sale, Samargia, Q must be all-star caliber though) and our bullpen is average to lousy. Our hitting looks good to very good unless 2B and C are totally automatic outs. Defense and pitching win divisional games. We shall see if Sox defense and pitching is good. My prediction: We're going to be more disappointed than happy this season. HOPE I"M WRONG Duke's got warning signs around him, that's for sure. But we still have Jennings. OTOH, Putnam and Guerra and Petricka to a lesser extent overachieved....and, with Petricka out, there's a bit of a hole there that theoretically could be filled by healthy version of Crain/Jones, but we're unlikely to receive those versions. We do have a lot more depth than in past seasons, and a crafty veteran like Albers might surprise. To say we are average to lousy with one of the best closers in MLB added to the roster when we had Petricka/Blow-a-savio closing games at midseason is dubious at best. Jennings could end up a decent pick-up. And, you never know, the White Sox might be in contention late with an intact rotation (unlikely) and they can throw Beck, Rodon, Montas, Sanburn and Danish at the problem. LEON, the Venezuelan pitcher we picked up in the offseason, also has nasty stuff...just like Cleto, but hopefully more control of it.

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 05:00 PM) Anderson will still rank high, b/c of his hitting. he will be a elite hitter imo. where he plays defensively will be up to the coaches. now as of today, the only prospect that will be ranked higher will be Rogers - ss. he will not drop to #8, he will be the first pick. Elite hitter is Robbie Cano or Chase Utley in his prime. Anderson profiles similarly, but can he manage to get into that 15-25 homers (annually) category? Most would peg him for 8-12 at this point, but of course these are just projections. More like Durham than Cano....and, without plate patience/discipline and increased walk numbers...and those contact rates, he can't quite be putting himself in the conversation as an elite hitter.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) I have to believe that the first round pick will be above Anderson, right? If a top 10 pick is immediately your third best prospect, your system is sitting pretty. IF IF IF Anderson can stick at SS this year and make positive strides defensively. Let's say we did take Aiken. There's zero consensus around baseball exactly where he would end up on a Top 100 list. He'd definitely be there somewhere, speculatively. With all the uncertainty, we probably pass, but it all depends on our medical experts analyzing the results of his surgery and likelihood for future problems. Probably, he ends up like that kid in "Rookie of the Year" that pitches for the Cubs and his fastball velocity increases to 97-101, haha. Then blows out again.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 10:16 AM) Way too early prediction for Sox top 10 prospects at this time next year: 1- T. Anderson 2- S. Adams 3- first round draft pick 4- T. Danish 5- Trey M. 6- M. Adolfo 7- C. Hawkins 8- F. Montas 9- Jacob May 10- Jace Fry I'm going to say the opposite. Anderson and Adams slide back....Adolfo, Hawkins and Montas surge forward. Davidson has a nice rebound season and replaces Conor at some point. Barnum finds his way to Top 10 and has injury-free season.

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/4/2/8329411...son-report-card Peter O'Brien, Inciarte and Peralta could be interesting options for the Sox down the line, when/if they become available. This is pretty much a blueprint for what NOT to do when rebuilding (see Hahn, last offseason)....with significant question marks surrounding their pitching staff, outfield, catching situation (worst in majors, likely) and how/when/if/where Yasmani Tomas and Yoan Lopez (broke the bank in international signing period) will make a significant impact on the major league team.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tige...eason/70806524/ Another case for PTAC to diagnose.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tige...ching/70836706/ More concerning to them is Rondon's tendonitis....comeback from TJ. http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tige...eason/70806524/ Verlander must perform, no excuses

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 10:00 AM) I can see it now! Samardzija is gonna suck. Sale will probably be injury plagued. Abreu will have like 10 HR's by September. Cabrera will be suspended. Eaton will be stuck on a wall somewhere. Alexei will get traded for some dope. Micah wont be God. Robertson will be demoted to set-up man then long relief. Penny will be in the rotation. Bryant will be MVP. Cubs in playoffs. fathom will have permanent diarrhea. Dick Allen will find no use for being argumentative any longer. kyyle will transition to a woman... etc. etc.. Wait, he's straight? Really? WHAT?

FURIOUS 7 thumping out chest with 83% positive ratings at RT.com http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/...ype=top_critics Targeting a $122 million US opening.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 10:04 AM) Debate what though? You should always go BPA in the baseball draft. In the first round specifically, you should never worry about a position. Unless it was someone like Alex Jackson and you believed he could stick at catcher....Schwarber, etc., where you sacrifice a few positions in the draft to go underslot because of the compelling organizational need at that position. Just saying "Flowers/Sota/Brantly/Kottaras/Nieto/K.Smith" doesn't mean there's a single long-term answer there. MAYBE Nieto.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Apr 2, 2015 -> 08:33 AM) Why? If you have the money, you should spend it and use that resource to your advantage. And the Dodgers are going to be great to watch with Friedman running the ship, since one of the reasons they hired him was to bring an more economic sensibility to the franchise. We'll see how sensible it is to pay 3 Cuban infielders about $25-30 million a year (combined) when only one can even play (at least this year).

Besides Mauer, what the heck are the Twins spending all that money on??? Seems crazy their numbers are so high with a rebuilding franchise.