caulfield12

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9850/ Great counter response by Badler... http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2...boras/24922785/ Long article by Nightengale.

http://feeds.boston.com/c/35022/f/646890/s...tml/story01.htm Yoan Moncada...hopes to be in the big leagues one year from now. D Backs already considering giving up on Tomas as a 3b. Parallels with Viciedo? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9850/

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:01 PM) I wouldn't have picked Verlander due to the overuse concerns. However, I still pick the pitcher who can have much more of an effect on a game in the playoffs than a guy who if he is really good is only good about 35% of the time. I know it's a different opinion and there really isn't a right answer but you can win the World Series with a mediocre offense. You rarely win with mediocre pitching. You can take a player who builds stats facing below average pitching over a 160 games. But they will not perform as well against the superior pitching in the playoffs. Do you want to look good in the regular season playing the averages (ala Beane) or win in the playoffs. See Giants in 2010/12/14, and the Royals (with the even more extreme of having very solid starting pitching, but a supremely dominant bullpen and defense that covered up for some of the average at best starting pitching, guys like Vargas, Guthrie and Shields for much of the season. They didn't have a true ace, as Shields is declining and Ventura isn't there yet but might be some day if he can develop secondary pitches to keep hitters off his fastball.)

This just in...Hampton not any danger to ISU, even if they go on to win and get back to .500.

Surprised Moncada and Puig weren't on the list... Or maybe I missed them at the bottom with just a vote or two.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) More annoyed that Bumgarner is on there. People need to slow down on him a little, including the silly NL manager quoted in the article that he'd take Bumgarner over Kershaw. He's a poor man's Sale. Maybe not a poor man. He's a middle-class man's Sale. Let's just split the diff and go with upper middle class, ha.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/113014540/ly...coveted-players

When's the last time you guys can remember when the Sox seemingly went so far out of there way to promote one young player for a starting position in the face of other candidates? Struggling to find a similar example.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) He's really not. With Gillaspie and Johnson, there is going to be a need for late inning defensive replacements, and offensive replacements vs. LHP. Leury can play the defense, but offensively needs some time in the minors. That is pretty apparent. I thought I defended Viciedo pretty much in the face of opposition (along with a few others), but this is becoming Don Quixote territory. You sure there's not some personal reason why you've decided to make him your own pro bono defense attorney case?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 10:58 AM) There's others here with you, Lillian. LaRoche may be one of those lefty sluggers that gets increasingly platooney with age - his recent trend would indicate this. I have little doubt that he will rake against RHP in our park, and the fact that most closers and late inning relievers are Righties means that Adam should find his way into most late inning/close game situations, regardless. But having him on the bench as a PH, on days where he doesn't start against a lefty, gives Robin a late inning weapon, and allows him to give three AB's earlier in the game to someone more likely to do damage vs. LHP. If RV allows the opposing manager to work the key late inning AB toward ALaR hitting vs. a LHRP after a Jose pitch-around, it will cost us games. Yes, I know you don't pay a guy $25M over two years to be a (majority) platoon player (not really all that much, just sounds like it ). Yes, I believe ALaR expects to be in there for the most part, regardless of handedness. And, yes, I believe that the season will start with this as the general plan. However, I believe that it may become very obvious, very quickly, that Adam just isn't good enough anymore vs. lefties, and Rick will be setting about looking for a remedy, by midseason or sooner. Maybe from within, who knows? ALAR? It sounds like a biology or chem experiment gone horribly wrong....we can do better!!!

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 08:11 AM) Really could use a right handed outfield bat to spell Laroche at DH vs LHP. Adam would still be very valuable in a pinch hit role where you can force an opposing manager to burn two relievers, or let Laroche hit in a plus matchup vs a righty out of the pen. What would be really hilarious would be Dayan coming back for that role and Gordon getting released.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 06:37 AM) He managed the 2.1 fWAR, but that is pretty much an outlier. I hope he does it again, but chances are it will be less than 1.0. Let's hope so, we shouldn't be giving him 325-375 AB's to get to that number or we're in trouble. Still not exactly clear at this point what's being argued.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 12:29 AM) I think you've created a new phenomenon. Meme? Can we get a Deadspin article?

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/micah-...second-base-job While the scout still isn’t sold on Johnson’s bat despite an early .455 batting average, the speed plays in his eyes. “I’m not a big believer in the bat playing as an everyday guy,” he said. “But I do love the aggressiveness and speed component of his game. If he plays a good second base and uses his speed offensively, they can put up with the light bat." Said another AL scout: "Looks like a dude on a mission in camp right now. Playing well and been causing a ruckus all over with his speed. "Not sure I've seen his jersey clean past the third inning yet this spring."

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:34 PM) The Reed-Davidson trade made sense. The Santos-Molina trade was awful the second it was made, especially with other teams basically saying they didn't know Santos was available and might have given up more. Yes, I think we've all beaten that to death by now, the fact that we could easily have had Josh Reddick and additional pieces as well as Adrian Gonzalez instead of Gordon Beckham and Sergio. Or Mike Trout over Jared Mitchell, yada yada. Oh, well. Life goes on.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:32 PM) Agreed. And of course he should have been sent to minor league camp a week ago, but you can't put toothpaste back in the tube. And of course that type of injury could have happened just as easily on a back diamond with a youngster trying to impress the brass attempting to make an impact against one of the system's most promising young hurlers. You just never know...I find it hard to blame them, the experience for some is invaluable.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:31 PM) Given the reaction by those that saw it, I'll be pleasantly surprised if nothing is broken. Pitching or non-throwing? It's a lot more worrisome if it's the pitching arm, because those problems tend to mushroom and start affecting other parts...like the elbow, shoulder, labrum, as a pitcher changes something about his delivery to lessen the pain to the affected area. Hope he's alright. On the plus side, it's better than TJ, worst-case scenario he misses 4-6 weeks and bounces back and pitches in AFL to make up for lost innings.

Well, if we did have Addison Reed, we MIGHT have ended up with 75-76 wins....and a lower draft spot in the first round. However, it wasn't a good trade, we know that now...the theory behind it was fine, just the execution was not. Same with the Sergio Santos move as well.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) So you aren't ever going to play the guy vs, RHP? He is hardly going to play. Your fangraphs 4 projections project them pretty much the same, and Bonifacio makes double. Beckham is a bargain. Dividing his career amount of production by his signing bonus and salaries paid out, it's hard to make that argument. If it's JUST for 2015, then you're really pushing it. Sure, Chris Getz would be a bargain, too.

Got one up there at 96 that inning. Much better. Rodon will be fine once he starts getting ahead of hitters more consistently. No worries.

Must have been fooled. Courtney's got to do better than a soft grounder back to the pitcher when up in the count 3-1 and looking for his pitch in a certain/specific zone. Actually, looking at the pitch...and location on the inside half of the plate, it seems he simply jammed himself...because if you have 3-1, 95% of the time you're getting the FB out over the plate and that's exactly what transpired.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 02:31 PM) 2-0 dbacks after 1st. Rodon era up to 8.44 Irrelevant. He seems like the kind of kid who's 100% motivated when the lights come on and things count, but, for now, he's mostly working on fastball control. Roughly 85% of his pitches have been of that variety. His velocity's quite good for this early in the spring, the problem is he has no command and his mechanics/delivery just haven't been repeatable. Of course you can't get away with that pitch mix....he needs more changes and sliders, but they're preserving his arm early in the spring from all appearances.

Seems he's still just working on fastball command. He had Tomas down 0-2 and then hit him with a slider to load the bases, trying to get the K and overthrew it. His fastball has mostly been around 95 MPH, he seems more interested in throwing hard/er to Goldschmidt and Tomas, IMO. Only three three sliders 85-87, none of them were in the zone. MLB had one curveball at 84, but it must have been a slurve or slower version of his sharp slider which is clocking in consistently at 86-87. Seems he also needs to make some improvements on holding runners on, but those things will get fixed eventually. Nearly 25 pitch inning. LABORIOUS would be the word for that one.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) Yep, Gregory is back. This might be the nail in the coffin with me and college hoops. It's turned into a dreadful sport anyway with all the transfers, etc. You could always come visit here in China and see Marbury enjoying celebrity and life as an icon in the Chinese Basketball Assn, haha. At least there's Chris Bosh memories. Not exactly RUN TMC with Cremins, Bruce Dalrymple, Tom the Terminator Hammonds and Mark Price...Kenny Anderson, etc. Used to be a good program... I feel the same way about the Miami Dolphins, they were bad for so long I sort of gave up on following the NFL...and, as far as college BB goes, it can't get much worse than the Lickliter/Alford years at Iowa...we survived 3 appearances in the NCAA over 13 years, a fanbase split by Alford's arrogance and Pierre Pierce rape cover-ups, and only one NCAA tourney win (against Creighton) that was 14 years ago. On the plus side, when the worm does finally turn, it feels really good...

We have unique distinction of being only MLB game today with not a single radio or video feed. BOO!!!