caulfield12

I guess we need a Grand Canyon/El Canon in LF for Abreu in the bleachers, like The Trout Pond or Big Mac Land (tied into McDonald's), etc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/o...kusaolp00000592 8 movies from the last 15 years that are way overrated...some interesting choices. The one I really agree on was The Hurt Locker. Blue Valentine was just depressing, although well-acted.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 04:23 PM) I think if we want upside out of Beckham we'll have to either get someone else's MLB-ready disappointment or else dip down into the A+ level or below. I'm not sure the Sox "knew" what they were getting with Montas in the Peavy deal any more than they "knew" what they were getting in the 1st rounder Gilmore from the Javy Vazquez deal who never did jack squat. I think it's likely or at least very possible that both results were surprises and as a result I don't expect another Montas type who immediately jumps on to the radar, BUT if one of these teams we are dealing with has an electric young RHP on the farm who is a couple years away at best but shows signs of quality secondary stuff, and who like Montas, has a strong FB and the ability to hold his velocity deep into games, then I think we should be very interested. Not only do we need another RHSP but as a general rule I'd much rather go after pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching and then look to trade excesses of it when they develop, just because I think that's probably the best way for this organization to utilize its strengths. FWIW, Santos Rodriguez was highly regarded at the time of the trade as also possessing an electric arm, although even then most thought his future was as a reliever.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 11:02 PM) Was Hawkins simply enjoying a night off? And are rain outs the reason Montas has not pitched in a week? Who kidnapped Erik Johnson? maybe they didn't want to get his swing messed up by Gio? i would think they would look at it as an opportunity or challenge to see who well he does against MLB competition...

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 10:22 PM) Is there a player at any level struggling as bad as Walker? Jeter, Viciedo, Flowers or DeAza...

Well, the evening started out with promise. But typical Tigers/White Sox result (since late 2010) when we have a chance to really make a charge at them.

What's not debatable is the fact that Matt Wieters has no business being the starting catcher for the AL in the All-Star game.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...hake-up-market/ Doesn't sound like Carbonell or Rusney Castillo are going to be top Sox targets. You don't invest that kind of money into likely 4th outfielders. You have to go after the Puigs, Cespedes and Abreus and every once in a while an Alexei Ramirez will fall into your lap, but that era of any Cuban player being undervalued is long gone. Look how much the Dodgers are paying their Cuban to play in the minors, the one who was bitten by Olivo. One positive about Castillo is he has a lot of versatility, seemingly being able to play both CF and some infield as well...lots of speed and more XB but not home run pop...so inevitably some Alexei comparisons will be made since he came to the White Sox as a CF/2B.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainmen...0,3042041.photo One of the worst Kate Upton 22nd birthday celebration pictures you're likely to find....celebrating/moping about the loss at the steakhouse last night. http://www.freep.com/article/20140612/SPOR...ustin-verlander What's wrong with Justin Verlander?

The Giants have such a big lead right now they're not going to give away much for Beckham. Of course, the Dodgers SEEMINGLY have to make a run at some point, and the Giants need to improve all-around offensively (other than Morse, Posey, etc.), but we're not going to get anything substantial back from Sabean. The thing is that other teams also would only have him for one season, and historically he's been below average...so you're still in many ways holding onto Ramirez and Beckham and going for it all again in 2015 IMO. As always, if someone bowls you over with offers for Ramirez OR someone just forces their way into the line-up (and Semien clearly failed to do so), then you can be more willing to make a trade. But with Semien seemingly destined for utility work this season at the big league level and Micah Johnson at least 2-3 months away, a trade of Beckham the way he's going right now and with how close they are to the Tigers and WC would be surprising.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) I'm sure i'm missing some, but looking at a list of some movies the last couple of years: Serious movie category: Gravity, Lincoln, Captain Phillips, Argo (although slightly overrated), Flight, King's Speech Actiony summer blockbuster category: Zero Dark Thirty, Inception, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hunger Games (not great, but I enjoyed both), the Star Trek reboots were good, Nolan's Batman movies were good (though I seriously wonder if Chicago wasn't prominently featured how much I would really like them. The 2nd is clearly the best), Skyfall, the two Hobbit movies (nostalgia mostly) Comedies: 21 Jump Street, This is the End, The Internship, Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses... "Other" movies: Spring Breakers I liked, pretty much all of the Pixar/animated movies i've had to watch and have liked most of them for what they are. Flight was a bit of an underrated movie, but then again, I like everything Denzel does. Interesting pick with The Internship, of course it was formulaic and predictable in many ways, but it had its moments. We're to the point now with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson movies that it's hard for them to surprise us, so when they do "okay" work, it gets panned just like they're comparable with Adam Sandler these days. FWIW, Owen Wilson always makes me laugh, no matter how often he plays the same character over and over again. Vaughn can be another story. Spring Breakers won't be on my class viewing list here in China....that movie was definitely WAY out there, but it was meant to be provocative and force us to think of Selena Gomez as "sort of" a bad girl. As with Vince Vaughn, a little Franco can go a long way (better in This is the End), but watching the piano/karaoke Britney Spears song was worth it just for that alone, and his ridiculous hipster grill and dreadlocks.

Croatia would never have gotten that call on the Brazil end. That said, there was definitely interference with the goalie on that header...and Croatia made it interesting at the end with a couple of nice shots on goal. All three goals for Brazil were not exactly perfect shots (especially Neymar's lefty to tie it) but they did the job due to placement. If the penalty kick doesn't go in, that game suddenly gets very very tense.

The great irony is that Beckham went out of his way to criticize Obama on twitter or FB...I can't remember exactly what the situation was, Gordon was frustrated that the President's motorcade or Secret Service or something was blocking his route to the ballpark one day and he went on and on about it.

Thailand's been having the same fight over rights to the World Cup, they just had a court ruling that only 22 games were going to be shown on free t.v. Here in China, every single game is covered on CCTV-5. Brazil has controlled the entire first half, but very little to show for it. Just goes to show you that in futbol, one or two bad breaks going against you (own goal) can have devastating consequences. The green and yellow have too much talent for Croatia, but I don't think the home crowd expected to come out down 1-0 so quickly. Brazil has been controlling the midfield, and one would imagine Croatia would wear down in the second half as a result of the South Americans' athleticism and speed advantage. By the way, the field looks great. I guess the one in Manaus/Amazonia is the one with all kinds of problems, from heat to flooding to having no simple way of getting lawn care products there quickly enough....that 40,000+ seat stadium's going to look ridiculous over the tourney when the crowds are only 1,500 for the local games. Oh, well.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 01:56 PM) This might be the greatest post of all time. Stifled who? Fred Phelps? Ten Commandments in the classrooms and courtrooms? Gay marriage? Christmas being taken away? David Koresh? No prayer in public schools? Every athlete in the world who gives thanks or praise to God, especially Tim Tebow?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) I do appreciate your statistics and believe them. I am pleased crime is down overall and did read it is going up in NY again with people blaming the mayor. At any rate, these bulls*** American nutjob on innocent American deaths definitely are on the rise as our president stated how they are becoming the norm. But I do accept your statistics on the overall crime scene. Please comment on the rest of my own rant. You can't deny that right now America is trending downward in a huge way. You can't be happy with all these school shootings and the economy and everything I listed and deadspin listed in a joking way. Read Piketty's "Capital in the 21st Century Century" and you'll see this is just a blip on the radar. America has the advantage of higher growth rates because of a rising population and immigration, compared to the stasis which is commonplace in Europe, where birth rates are falling and falling. The main difference is that wealth is being transferred from public/government to private hands, and has been happening since the Reagan/Thatcher revolutions of the late 80's/early 90's. With everything that already taken place with the home mortgage crisis, almost nothing has changed in terms of true government reforms of the economic system, which happened worldwide after The Great Depression and World War II. Despite the 99%/Occupy movement, Tea Party, etc., more power going to the people is just an illusion. The Koch Brothers have a lot more power than all of those guys combined, although the Eric Cantor loss in VA might make you believe otherwise. In case you hadn't noticed, the Dow Jones is hitting new highs every week. That's exactly what the majority of Christians favor, is it not, since 90% of them are also Republican? If they are "peace and social justice" Christians/Catholics, they might vote Democratic, but not usually over economics and moral issues like abortion or gay marriage or immigration reform.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 01:04 PM) That deadspin article was great. I know it was a joke but it makes you think. Right now America is like Gordon Beckham of last season. Or DeAza of this season. Really very very very little about it makes you think anything positive is going on. Horrific leadership in government. Horrific economy. Terrible crime rate of American nutjobs killing innocent Americans, making us look very bad internationally and nationally, and pretty much nobody caring about doing anything about it. A Godless loud minority effectively silencing those who believe, pretty much making believers shut up when they would like to talk about morals and values and pleasing the higher power. Horrific business leaders who have set the trend of laying off hordes of people just so they can staff unpaid interns and/or parttimers who get no benefits. Horrible healthcare system that even s***s on the U.S. veterans. Right now the USA is trending down down down. Can the USA pick it up as Beckham has and start inching upward? Good luck to us all. Hillary's not going to lead the change parade to greatness as she fulfills her destiny of being awarded the presidency which people feel is owed her for some reason. Obama has jumped the shark in that regard in that he's thrown up his hands against the assholes in congress. God bless us all as we try to prove the odds wrong and pull a Beckham like recovery out of nowhere. Then how can you explain the success of so many recent Christian-oriented movies like Noah, God's Not Dead, Heaven is for Real and Courageous (The Promise Keepers movie for dads)??? The Kirk Cameron movies? The Left Behind Series? The revival of the C.S. Elliot trilogy, especially The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe...and the resounding failure of The Golden Compass?

There's going to be the longest thread in the history of SoxTalk on July 18th if he doesn't sign. It would also go a long way towards sealing the fate of Viciedo, if that hasn't already been decided.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) Beckham to the Braves makes too much sense not to happen. Uggla has been horses***, Bacon is a Georgia guy, and I think they still have Greg Walker don't they? I don't think they've fired him yet, maybe they have, but if he's there that's another reason for this to happen. I see on B-R the Braves have 3 young LH relievers. If any of them look pretty good I will take one of them at the MLB level now and as a centerpiece the Sox scouting department can find a high ceiling SP prospect. Not sure what their system looks like but there's always pitching over there. Assistant hitting coach to Walker is former Sox infielder Scott The Scooter Fletcher, whose also daughter happens to be married to Gordon now.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 11, 2014 -> 10:11 AM) If only I had his $$. Or women, lol. So what are some of your favorite movies of the last 3-5 years (and I promise not to rip on them...since I generally find something likable about nearly every movie I watch)?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 08:39 AM) Typically, players don't really enjoy being interviewed to talk about other players. He just signed his first pro contract, he is excited about what's gong on in his life. You don't want to put a potential interview for later by irritating him now. I really like the idea of Ramirez. I worked with him when he was in the juniors. He is a fun guy and would probably enjoy doing it, unless he is being overwhelmed from other sources. Yeah, it just depends with some guys. Obviously, he was selected by the White Sox at least 50% because of Rodon and their relationship, so it goes with the territory. And he's already made jokes online about Rodon not being able to get rid of him, and they are/were roommates I think. With the dearth of catching prospects in the Sox system, you could still make it 75% about the things he needs to do in order to stick at the catching position as he moves up (certainly he will as long as he's with Rodon before Carlos is promoted to the big league team)...maybe what going to college has taught him or the general experience of being around a college program with two Top 15 players in the country that failed to succeed and maybe why that happened...how his hit tool has blossomed from the time he was in high school and highly scouted and how he envisions his career with the Sox unfolding, what they've told him to work on, etc.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 08:32 AM) The logjam could thin itself out over the next year. Once PK and Dunn leave, Gillaspie will/should play more backup 3B and do some DHing. Beckham and Alexei are both movable. We're also woefully short of decent outfielders, so any of those guys could be moved for a similar OF prospect. Don't force a trade of Beckham, but certainly listen. And/or Semien and Micah Johnson become part of the outfield solution. Granted, it's hard to imagine Eaton and one of those two putting up 675-725 OPS numbers together. Eaton's got to return to his 750-775 form...more walks, more stolen bases and an improved steal percentage. But there's no doubt we're a much more formidable line-up with a healthy/pesky Adam at the top.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 07:26 AM) I love Magary, but he and Greg and others like them need to gain some historical perspective. The US has been in worse shape in the past. MUCH worse. The new Picketty "Capital in the 21st Century" tome would agree wholeheartedly with this...

4) flavum needs it to make his next set of optimistic wild card/divisional race projections

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 07:25 AM) Sickels on Sox draft: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/6/11/5...entral-analysis First time I've seen someone say they like Peter. Yeah, we've seen a lot more praise for the likes of Jarvis or Mason Robbins. Matt Cooper sounds like Dylan Axelrod.