caulfield12

Winston-Salem getting blown out of the water. Hawkins with a BB, K and outfield assist. Barnum slowly creeping towards .200.

I see we've already managed to get two runners picked off in one-half game. Not so easy to do.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 6, 2014 -> 04:22 PM) Some excitement like this is good for baseball in Chicago.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 6, 2014 -> 11:46 AM) Id prefer Aiken or Kolek, but would be fine with Rodon at slot. Wouldn't be surprised if the Sox go for a Freeland or Nola at savings to spread money later if Rodon is what's left at 3 though. That would be crazy, unless we could sign Hoffman AND one of those two together. Freeland's never cracked the Top 10 before. Nola is almost always listed at 7-11. Where was Correia listed on most draft boards when the Astros took him 1st? (Of course, that's a different situation than taking a 10-15 guy at #3 in my opinion, unless it's someone like Stroman and you feel so strongly about him, and that other teams are underestimating a certain prospect for one reason or another AND that he's a legit Top 3-5 pick in terms of talent at least, like the argument about Trout going 25th but being 2nd on their draft board after Strasburg, even though they took Grichuk before him).

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?s...&pid=493159 Who the hell is this guy for the Cubs' Iowa affiliate? He has been on an unreal run so far this year. Smoke and mirrors? He was with Norfolk the last two seasons.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/matt-bu...o-prison-050514 Gabe Kapler interviews former 2004 #1 overall pick Matt Bush in prison...will be released in 2016. Wonder if he gets one last shot at redemption?

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 6, 2014 -> 10:13 AM) This is entirely possible. He had a 40 pitch bullpen session yesterday. If he felt fine he would probably have a simulated game or rehab start coming up. Obviously, everything wasn't fine. He is going to have another bullpen session tomorrow I think. If this happens than I will be encouraged. It means that they are just working on strengthening to get his arm ready for a start. If the bullpen session happens any later than Thursday, there is still something going on. What does your gut tell you? We're all starting to get alarmed...as this is clearly a lot more than missing just a start or two. Is it really possible that there's a "partial" tear that will heal on its own with rest/rehab and not require surgery? And what, if anything, can be done to prevent such a recurrence in the future? There's just no way to realistically change his mechanics without completely changing his effectiveness, and that would probably lead to even more injuries as he overcompensated or tried to protect himself subconsciously.

It's also not like anyone was very confident that Ramirez, Dunn, Viciedo and Flowers....and especially Abreu, would come out of the gate this season, it looked like a season for experimentation where 74-78 wins would be a huge step forward. Very few expected Gillaspie to look as dangerous as he did as well, and give the line-up some added balance. Reed and Santos are/were 75-80% closers, but not quite elite enough to hold onto long-term. When you have a closer like that, 9 times out of 10 you're better off trading him for a positional player (see the Oakland A's for most of the past fifteen years with the exception of the Jim Johnson deal) at an area of need and rolling the dice. Then you also have to consider that internally, many felt that Webb was rising to the top and could be the closer as early as the 2nd half of the 2014 season. From what we've seen, he's got some rough edges, and, like a lot of our pitchers, the velocity hasn't quite been there compared to what has been advertised...but he has more than held him own. Even if we trade/d Lindstrom at midseason, we'd still have enough pieces in Petricka, Rienzo, Belisario, Cleto, Noesi, Putnam (who knows for sure how long his success will last, though) and also Guerra/De Los Santos/Francisco to get us to the 2014-15 offseason, where we presumably would need to add a veteran or two (and Downs is also on the watch list already). Plus, as mentioned, the Nate Jones situation really knocked everything off kilter from what would have been their natural roles (Jones, Lindstrom for 8th, Belisario for 7th, etc.) as we came to spring training. It has taken one month for things to readjust and settle back down.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ May 6, 2014 -> 10:06 AM) To be fair, it makes sense to laud all of the top prospects to keep those around you guessing on who you will pick. More importantly, it also gives you some leverage in any pre-draft negotiations that may take place. Hypothetical, If the White Sox have eliminated Rodon off their board due to signability concerns or otherwise, it makes no sense to let anyone know that. When the Sox go to a Jeff Hoffman to try and set the perimeters for a deal before their pick, it behooves his camp to play ball if the Sox are doing him a favor by giving him 1-3 money, rather than 1-4 or worse. As the difference between slot money at #3 and #4 is over a million dollars. If they're doing him a favor (based on injury concerns which they have no way of verifying before the draft to their satisfaction), then he probably isn't the best pick for that spot. Too much of risk. Of course, Jackson/Aiken/Kolek are equivalent or greater risks. Look at how long it has taken the Royals to get anything out of Moustakas, for example. He had a similar or better profile to Jackson coming into that draft. And Bubba Starling has been even more of a disaster.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 6, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) I agree, I think through all of Rodons struggles he is still the favorite to go 1-1 based on his track record and tremendous stuff, I think many teams realized he has not been developed the way he should have as the NCSU coaches are really more interested in getting to the college WS than Rodon's pro potential. Kolek is the sleeper at 1-1 based on his arm and proximity. Proximity to Houston? To the big leagues? To being the next Roger Clemens?

What would also be interesting to see is the percentage of season tickets lost due to corporations cutting back on their box seat packages (or going for smaller increments/fewer seats), compared to how many have been lost from individuals/families...as well as if there's been any falloff in luxury suite revenues. The team seems to be stuck in that in-between ground where they don't want to give away sponsorship rights for pennies on the dollar...but, if they keep waiting for the team to return to competitiveness and/or sponsors willing to pony up for three year obligations (like the "BP Cup"), they might end up in a continuous cycle of diminishing revenue flows for the next couple of seasons. How long before we can approach another season like we did "All In" 2011 (with legitimate playoff aspirations), with the Dunn off-season acquisition? That late season collapse in 2012 really did a number on revenues. It's probably short-sighted, but that's yet another reason why there's really a ton of pressure to make the right selection between Rodon and Hoffman a month from now. In a perfect world, they could wait 2 1/2-3 seasons for those guys (Aiken/Kolek) to arrive (late 2016/early 2017)...instead, we're sort of being forced to move/compress the timetable into a shorter 1 1/2 seasons instead, so that 2016 becomes the year the Sox are approaching the Tigers like the Royals this season (especially with Shields in the final year of his deal). Luckily, the contract extensions for Sale/Quintana and that collegiate pitcher would give us a 3 year window, instead of what KC is currently facing...the box that Dayton Moore put them into.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 6, 2014 -> 08:06 AM) Jack Wilson, Pokey Reese, Brendan Ryan, Alcides Escobar - those are the names you want to think of. And not Esteban Beltre. A defensive version of Pablo Ozuna would be nice. Basically, what Leury Garcia is/was supposed to be, but isn't quite.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 6, 2014 -> 07:27 AM) Katy Feeney was on the Score this morning. She sounds like a pleasure. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/audio/986-670-...-interviews#986 Sox and Cubs will play 3/3 next year when it's AL Central vs NL Central. Is she related to Charles "Chubb" Feeney? I'm going to say it's a 99.8% likelihood....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,4422881.column Sox Ahead of Cubs in Rebuilding Race...David Haugh column http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,4422881.column Sullivan...Crosstown Cup Lacks Luster These Days The last public sighting of the Crosstown Cup was last May at Wrigley Field, where it was carted off the field after a Cubs team photo, placed on a shelf in the clubhouse next to a purple Barney doll and left to gather dust. No one seemed to notice it was gone Monday afternoon when the Cubs clubhouse opened. But when informed of its disappearance, one Cubs player said, "It's probably in a dumpster somewhere." Unlike the ill-fated Wrigley Field birthday cake, the Cup had not been tossed in a dumpster. The marketing department had taken it down for a good polishing before its annual appearance at the Cubs-White Sox series. The Cup was taken down the third-base line during Cubs batting practice and placed in front of a makeshift desk being used for a Comcast SportsNet show featuring panelists who usually mock the trophy behind its back. It disappeared again before Monday night's game, waiting for the moment one lucky team will be able to claim it for the rest of 2014. The Cup has a special place in the City Series rivalry, though it's not exactly the place White Sox marketing chief Brooks Boyer and former Cubs marketing boss Wally Hayward had in mind four years ago when they came up with the concept. The Sox and Cubs had good intentions when they decided to award a trophy to the winner of the series, assuming the intent of making money from a corporate sponsor is good. But through an unfortunate twist of fate, the original sponsor, BP, accidentally leaked nearly 5million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico shortly before the inaugural BP Cup was awarded. The three-year contract with BP was not renewed after it expired in 2012, leaving the series without a sponsor. But Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the teams will continue awarding the Cup and are searching for a local sponsor. "We're still calling it the Crosstown Cup," Green said. "We believe it's still viable, which is why we kept it. We believe we can get a corporate sponsor. Obviously it's tough, given the performances of late. But we're keeping the Crosstown Cup in the future." This year's City Series is the earliest a Cubs-Sox meeting has been scheduled, a decision that led to a Ken "Hawk" Harrelson filibuster Sunday in which he ripped the schedule-makers during the Sox telecast. Did Sox general manager Rick Hahn hear about Harrelson's rant? "I did not hear about Hawk's rant on the schedule, no," Hahn said. "That sounds like a Brooks Boyer question." Hahn said the Sox had an "awfully rough run" against playoff-caliber teams over the first 32 games. He was then told Harrelson was referring to the decision to schedule the Cubs games so early, and on weekdays. "I'm sure there is a logic behind why it is (held) these four days," Hahn said. "It's a logic that other people are concerned about more than me. I just want to win the four days, whenever they are." Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer also wants to win the series but agreed with Harrelson's premise that it's too early to play an intense rival. "In general, I know when I was in Boston, I was also disappointed when we had Yankees games early in the season," Hoyer said. "That's kind of the same thing here. I feel like it picks up meaning as it's held later in the summer. "And especially with fairly cold, early-week games, I feel it would be a lot more fun if this was in warm weather and late summer. It would probably add a little something to the intensity of these games." A classic pitching duel between Jose Quintana and Jeff Samardzija brought back some of that intensity, but not nearly enough. The only Cup on anyone's mind Monday was definitely not at Wrigley Field. [email protected] Twitter @PWSullivan

Royals suck!!! That's for Greg.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 5, 2014 -> 08:59 PM) Don't know where to put this useless trivia, since we don't have a catch all thread, but.... I was switching channels during commercial breaks and flipped over to the Rockies/Ranger game and who shows up for Texas but Aaron Poredo. Struck out Cargo. Nick "98 MPH Heat" Masset was also pitching in that game, FWIW.

That article in the Daily Herald about how Scott Carroll was currently our best pitcher must have fired up the serpiente azul. Baserunning and execution with runners on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Terrible. Semien=CLUTCH...but it's time for him to go back down to Charlotte and work on his contact rates. That said, if Beckham's hitting .150-.175 in another month, they might just go ahead and release him, Mitchell and Walker the same day for a symbolic purging of the past. The outfield's going to drive us crazy until a healthy Eaton comes back. GREAT JOB BY THE BULLPEN, though. Our greatest weakness has become our strength....isn't that a line from Superman or Spider-Man, haha?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 5, 2014 -> 06:31 PM) 3 hour game would be great, but isn't the average Sox game now up to 3:17 or something this year (as of a few days ago), with a handful of 4+ hour games? It's today's day and age with how people treat their time and money. The "value" people get out of 5-6 hours between driving and watching the game, the expense of parking the car, tickets, then all the food on top of it...just not worth the value/time to a lot of people anymore. Comparing it to a movie - movie is 2 hours and it doesn't cost anything to park, and you could more easily get away with no food. Anyway, the answer is to make it less time and provide more value. Eliminate the dead time. This is going to become a bigger focus with MLB over the next few years, I believe. Not to mention a lot of people will "sneak" into 2 movies with the multiplexes...and feel more comfortable bringing their own food/candy, as well. There's just that social stigma about eating sandwiches in the middle of a day game compared to sneaking Milk Duds or Reese's Pieces into a movie, haha. Because its' a "community enterprise," people feel a bit more guilty depriving their favorite sports team of revenue, compared to the faceless/corporate megaplex owner.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ May 5, 2014 -> 10:00 PM) Little behind in the game but I see Paulie did his best Roger Dorn impression, not on purpose of course. He slept with someone else's wife?

QUOTE (Jake @ May 5, 2014 -> 09:33 PM) I didn't know anyone was criticizing Puig for trying to make a catch That was a pretty good mashing he took flying backwards against the wall. To make light of it, or say he's being a drama queen...it's shades of how the media used to treat some of the best Latin American players in the past.

NO SWEEP THIS YEAR. ADIOS CUBBIES. 49-44 all-time in inter-league now, advantage White Sox.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ May 5, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) The problem with Alexei is that he never walks though, so as soon as the average starts cooling down he'll be back to OBPing .315. With K/3 PA, he's got to cut that down to be a legit threat in the 2 hole, and also improve his bunting/advancing runners abilities. That said, 4 game-winning/changing hits, plus another huge blow with runners on....we can talk about clutch/non-clutch all we want, but that's big for a rookie.

Great location on that pitch, Matt. Forced the ball into the ground.

Can we get to a 50% save conversion rate? Currently 4/9 heading into this one.

Figures. 7/42 on the season now.