caulfield12

Harvey, deGrom, Snydegaard and Familia might have a response to Greg about not being ready for prime time. I'm guessing he has watched about 2-3 of their games the entire season. Perhaps zero.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 05:51 PM) huh? If we had held our bullets until this offseason, we wouldnt be forced to pass on Heyward, Gordon, Cespedes, Zobrist, Wieters, Chris Davis, etc. Now we're stuck with second and third tier options, especially on the infield (Desmond, Asdrubal Cabrera, etc.) The odds of finishing higher than 4th in the ALCD are pretty darned low barring major changes in personnel. If we hadn't spent prematurely, we theoretically could have added Zobrist, Wieters and another bat like Gordon to have a really interesting team this coming season. But instead they're going to be lucky to get Parra, Pearce or Rasmus...and probably won't make another move since they're stuck with Avi, LaRoche and Cabrera. They also should have foreseen Rodon with his control issues wasn't going to slash and burn through the AL like one of the Mets' young phenoms.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 09:33 PM) Nice Yeah, except the Royals/Astros going 5, exact. Both those AL predictions were in grave danger of going wrong, but recovered dramatically.

Harvey looks like the likeliest to start SAT for the Mets. Not sure who the Cubs are opting to go with...

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 10:20 PM) The point is, replacing Robin should be last on the list of priorities. Pretty much every other need is more pressing. Not top 4-5, but definitely not LAST. Somewhere in the 5-7 list of priorities. If they had a bench coach who could get through to Puig, I'd definitely take a chance bringing him on board, but that contract's not as attractive as once thought (overall) . 1. 3B 2. Deciding on Ramirez's fate or replacing him 3. C 4. Finding another starting pitcher if they're attempting to compete or deal Q to fix 2-3 areas of need positionally 5. 2B (odds are that it will be Sanchez, unless Johnson just blows everyone in ST away, is greatly improved defensively and he's 100% healthy and not afraid to test his hamstrings/legs.) 6. Ventura/Bell/front office "disorder" straightened out, new bench coach in place 7. RF (once again, this could easily be higher, but my sense is they feel they can muddle through with Avi and Thompson somehow) 8. Replacement for Albers/2nd LH reliever 9. Replacements for Soto/Beckham/Bonifacio

Mr. Murphy of the Mets just earned himself an extra $5-10 million on his FA contract with his exploits this post-season. He and Justin Turner were revelations. (Of course, carrying that on to a consistent regular season performance is another matter altogether.)

Another Greg prediction goes down... Mets over the Dodgers. 1969 Baby!!! Amazin' Mets.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 08:32 PM) I think the Mets have a legit shot. My fear with the Dodgers has been the lack of a #3, but more importantly, their offense not clicking. Honestly, only Turner was consistent this whole year. And the way they're talking about Puig in LA now makes me think he could be had for Samardzja, much less Q. In the end, the Dodgers lost this game and this series. If they had a legit #3, they probably win Game 3. They're not gonna put up with Friedman if he still runs things like he's in TB. They were fine when they had a healthy RYU. In hindsight, they should have held onto Haren instead of just dumping him...the Brett Anderson move actually worked out nicely, all things considered.

What happened with Ethier and Mattingly? Dodgers lose this game, it will be the end of his tenure in LA, for sure. Ventura Highway to the Dodgers? One can only hope and wish...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 08:19 PM) I think you missed the obvious sarcasm. Let's not read too much into it. I was obviously joking, too. In all honesty, since a lot of the information we get is unsubstantiated/secondhand/not sourced, we're either left to guess, parse the tea leaves or completely ignore everything we hear, especially the dreaded "conspiracy theories." SoxTalk=X-Files of baseball sites

First, Maddon, not to be confused with the former Raiders' coach/broadcaster. Next, Greg, you never cease to amaze me. It's almost like I am imagining Donald Trump typing in your place about sports instead of politics, but in the same inimitable style. You're really beginning to mirror him with your dramatic pronouncements. At any rate, blah blah blah....managers don't matter when the team isn't talented enough, so we just keep retaining Ventura and then dump him when we finally have a good team again and actually need an experienced hand at the helm? Sounds logical, and par for the course with this franchise. After all, there are FOUR (count 'em!) 4 teams in all of professional sports with even worse ratings for coaching (ESPN rankings) than the White Sox. We're not THE worst!!! We might have even moved up 3-5 spots by jettisoning Voldemort Parent.

See, we can't even agree that Rick Hahn's important enough to even put up on the banner!!! The last two posters included KW in their groupings but not Rick. Interesting.... I mean, if Mark Parent can single-handedly disrupt the clubhouse morale/chemistry and turn players on each other and Ventura, isn't Hahn capable of at least doing something besides negotiating contracts?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 05:27 PM) Sensible comment displaying ability to hold two thoughts in head at same time. What is it doing on this site? Two years being the key point. Pushed back being able to compete by one full year and lots of financial flexibility removed for next season due to LaRoche and Cabrera. Money wasted on Bonifacio and Beckham as well. Uncertainty over Duke and Robertson but both have bigger contracts for relievers. Garcia and Flowers are borderline starters at best. 3b especially has nobody viable. If we keep Alexei, having roughly $5-10 million to spend this offseason makes it impossible without hitting on one huge trade or 2-3 smaller ones that break perfectly like 2004-05. And it also requires Tim Anderson being a better than average major leaguer, along with two of Johnson, Fulmer and Montas.

Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon The Rangers' net when they dealt Tex to the Braves. The Royals had much less control remaining with Greinke and got back two All-Stars in Cain and Escobar. Etc. Not every trade has to work out like the Sabathia one to Mil or Halladay to the Phils... If there's so little confidence in this front office to execute a trade, sign a FA or develop a hitter effectively, why are they still gainfully employed?

Shark shut down the Blue Jays...so anything's possible.

Dunn and LaRoche...with Blowasavio benignly smiling in between. Throw in Jose Paniagua for good measure to rid the bad karma. Olt, Saladino, Sanchez, Micah, Thompson, Montas....boom! Holding Davidson and Erik in reserve for expected implosions.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 08:34 AM) On the bright side our playoff trio of Sale/Q/Rodon would easily best any of the other AL playoff rotations, and is at least on par if not better than the NL playoff rotations. And that will sell how many season tickets next year?

McEwing is LaRussa's favorite son, so by proxy. Cooper has a thirty year history with the organization in some capacity... Steverson, because Hahn and KW kept Ventura, so, if the manager's not at fault, how can the hitting coach be more to blame than Vince Coleman, for example? Besides, he did enjoy some success his first year and with selected minor league hitters (supposedly). Coleman never played for us but has ties to KW personally and LaRussa through the Cards.

But still lost house. Getting the score flip flopped doesn't help us beat the line. Although I suppose a few out there were betting over/under on total runs scored. Hard to predict with Cueto so inconsistent and a 4.76 ERA since joining KC.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 13, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) Higher then I expected tbh. But we fell 28 spots. Big tumble. More at link: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13830149...t-losing-season Curious who were the four teams in professional sports with worse coaching? And that's with Don Cooper, supposedly one of the best pitching coaches in baseball. What does that say about the rest of the staff? Where were the Cubs, Royals, Twins, Tigers and Indians ranked in this coaching stat?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 11:27 PM) No he'll be ready for game 4. Why wouldn't he be starting game 3 on full rest next Tuesday?

The Royals already have something of a difficult decision. They can start Ventura on 3 day's rest, and they would be going back to back with that. On the other hand, he didn't pitch close to a full game in the (first) rain delay (in middle of the game) start. Volquez is the other option here. So it's an interesting decision. Cueto definitely won't go until game 3, and he's basically refusing to go on 3 days, so that means some combination of Volquez/Ventura in Games 1/2. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...edinson-volquez .714 OPS against by the Blue Jays (active players), but only a .227 average. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...yordano-ventura .693 OPS for Ventura against Toronto, .217 BAA. Game 1 starter would have to go on 3 day's rest on Tuesday (Game 4/October 20th) or they will have to start Medlen/Duffy/Guthrie/Chris Young instead. I'm not sure they can afford to do that if they're down 2-1 in the series. Finally, Cueto would be unavailable until a potentially-deciding Game 7, so the huge/pivotal Game 6 starter is a huge mystery as well for the Royals...

Meanwhile, the Royals are bringing in millions more in revenue each series they advance to refortify for one last go at it next season with Gordon, Hosmer and Moustakas all likely gone after 2016. On the other hand, Sal Perez's 5 year, $7 million contract is the biggest bargain in baseball, replacing Alexei Ramirez's deal quite awhile ago. I'm actually quite curious to see where Zobrist eventually ends up, and what kind of deal he signs. At age 34/35, is he more concerned with playing for a winner or getting a final, 3-4 year deal from the highest bidder? The Royals are going to eat Infante's deal, so they're definitely looking to improve at 2B. They're getting rid of Rios' $11 million ($1 million buyout), and Guthrie's $9 million, buyout ($3.5 million)...the biggest problem is still owing $18 million to Infante (basically more worthless than Danks and LaRoche at this point) and Jason Vargas, who will be coming back from a major injury at some point next year. Luckily for them, they have those favorable deals with Perez/Escobar as well as Wade Davis, Herrera and Kendrys Morales. Big decisions looming on Kris Medlen ($10 million option) and whether they want to pay Greg Holland to rehab from TJ for a year...they'll probably cut ties with Holland reallocate that money elsewhere.

At my international school in China (average SAT score's in the 2100 range), all of the students are doing physics and chemistry in middle school... Seeing the quality of work at that age level, there's almost no way that all but the best American students can compete in STEM subject areas against the Chinese and Indians (to a lesser extent). IT/Computer Science tends to be a bit harder to master, because of the language barriers, fwiw. I think nobody in the entire school got an A or 4 or 5 for A levels/AP. Just getting a 5/7 in IB Computer Science HL is a minor miracle. And, of course, those students tend to be more hungry/motivated and willing to work for less to get their foot in the door.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 08:53 PM) I hope it's great baseball but without all of the bulls***. Probably going to be disappointed with that wish. The Rangers' announcers were super-pissed that their team (Chris Gimenez in particular) was getting involved in fighting with the Blue Jays when they were only down by 3 runs at that time. I guess shock with Andrus, Moreland (maybe the best 1B in the AL making that throw, but he babied/guidd it) and especially Bautista's swagger/bat flip. They were probably just shell-shocked and in disbelief.