caulfield12

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id...4/marcus-semien He had an 818 ops in September. Generally 23 year olds don't excel in their first go-around in the big leagues, and he was bounced around the infield throughout his minor league career. Even if he wasn't playing 2b or 3b everyday, he has a 776 ops against lhp, so he would have been the perfect platoon candidate with LaRoche...not to mention playing half his games in one of the worst hitter's parks in baseball.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015...ou-in-debt.html Bai writes a column questioning the "experience/i'm fighting for you" strategy that authentic candidates like Sanders and Biden will force a Clinton campaign rethink on sooner or later... Clinton’s pitch is pretty much the polar opposite. If there was any doubt about that, it was dispelled when Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s senior communications aide, told my Yahoo colleague Michael Isikoff this week that honesty and trustworthiness were, in Isikoff’s words, “beside the point.” There followed this pretty remarkable quote from Palmieri: “That’s not the question voters have in their heads when they decide who to vote for. It’s who is fighting for me, and who has the solutions for the American people. She’s still the person who is most likely to be the next president.” In other words, Clinton’s argument is, at its core, like Richard Nixon’s in 1968: You’re not hiring a friend or a babysitter. You just have to believe that I get what’s wrong, and I’m the only one with the competence to fix it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 07:47 AM) Just to be clear, when I said those net worths seemed low to me, I didn't mean I thought candidates needed to be higher. I meant I had a hard time believing they were actually that low. I don't care how much money they have, as long as they haven't been bankrupt or something. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015...ou-in-debt.html The anti-Romney approach.

As much as I enjoy watching the Royals, Lorenzo Cain hasn't been one of the five best players in baseball this season. There's another example that fits with someone like Heyward/dWAR and projecting $120-160

As much as I enjoy watching the Royals, Lorenzo Cain hasn't been one of the five best players in baseball this season. There's another example that fits with someone like Heyward/dWAR and projecting $120-160 million contract offers for him. Just seems nuts. And yes, we are all aware he's only 26-27.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) It's not unique or special except when you look at a team like the White Sox where they have a talented right fielder who started the season at age 23 and who we were counting on to be the #5 hitter on a contending team so much that we traded away a bunch of pieces for a starter with 1 year before free agency. Or when you look at a team like the White Sox counting on a 24 year old 2b to leapfrog over AAA almost completely and be a key contributor to the lineup on a contending team. Or when you look at the White Sox calling up a 22 year old starter with like 25 innings out of college and expecting him to be a key piece in the rotation on a contending team. Not every player you give time to develop is going to succeed. Listing names of guys who failed doesn't mean that you will never find guys who are late bloomers. If Drabek doesn't succeed in AAA it doesn't make Jake Arrieta no longer exist. If Avi Garcia remains a .675 OPS hitter for the rest of his career Anthony Rizzo doesn't suddenly vanish from existence. The thing they did that is different from what we did is they gave guys a chance to struggle. When guys didn't work out, they weren't screwed by it. When guys needed time to become good players, they weren't suddenly trying to figure out what to do with the big player they traded for who will become a free agent at the end of the year. Their worst mistake out of that time was going to the FA market for one big name pitcher in a way that totally didn't fit what they were doing otherwise, and even then they didn't give up a draft pick to sign him like we did with two positions this year. When our 2b position guys turned out to need a couple months to grow into big league hitters it majorly screwed us. When our 23 year old wasn't ready to carry a roster it was exceptionally damaging. Those were things that people should have seen coming easily. Those were positions where we needed to recognize - "hey, we're not quite there yet, let's give these guys time to struggle and see what they become". And maybe even "let's look into backup plans, keep acquiring talent that isn't quite there because we don't know what every guy will do." You can argue they actually gave Beckham and Vicideo too much time. The problem is pulling the plug so quickly on the likes of Semien, Micah, Erik Johnson, etc. That and all the position changes we've put guys through trying to shoehorn them into major league roster holes. Plus, it's not like Olt, Junior Lake, Baez and Alcantara set the world on fire. Bryant, Soler and Russell are all taking their lumps. Schwarber has been the most surprising to me...and there were plenty of skeptics on draft day.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) It's not unique or special except when you look at a team like the White Sox where they have a talented right fielder who started the season at age 23 and who we were counting on to be the #5 hitter on a contending team so much that we traded away a bunch of pieces for a starter with 1 year before free agency. Or when you look at a team like the White Sox counting on a 24 year old 2b to leapfrog over AAA almost completely and be a key contributor to the lineup on a contending team. Or when you look at the White Sox calling up a 22 year old starter with like 25 innings out of college and expecting him to be a key piece in the rotation on a contending team. Not every player you give time to develop is going to succeed. Listing names of guys who failed doesn't mean that you will never find guys who are late bloomers. If Drabek doesn't succeed in AAA it doesn't make Jake Arrieta no longer exist. If Avi Garcia remains a .675 OPS hitter for the rest of his career Anthony Rizzo doesn't suddenly vanish from existence. The thing they did that is different from what we did is they gave guys a chance to struggle. When guys didn't work out, they weren't screwed by it. When guys needed time to become good players, they weren't suddenly trying to figure out what to do with the big player they traded for who will become a free agent at the end of the year. Their worst mistake out of that time was going to the FA market for one big name pitcher in a way that totally didn't fit what they were doing otherwise, and even then they didn't give up a draft pick to sign him like we did with two positions this year. When our 2b position guys turned out to need a couple months to grow into big league hitters it majorly screwed us. When our 23 year old wasn't ready to carry a roster it was exceptionally damaging. Those were things that people should have seen coming easily. Those were positions where we needed to recognize - "hey, we're not quite there yet, let's give these guys time to struggle and see what they become". And maybe even "let's look into backup plans, keep acquiring talent that isn't quite there because we don't know what every guy will do." You can argue they actually gave Beckham and Vicideo too much time. The problem is pulling the plug so quickly on the likes of Semien, Micah, Erik Johnson, etc. That and all the position changes we've put guys through trying to shoehorn them into major league roster holes. Plus, it's not like Olt, Junior Lake, Baez and Alcantara set the world on fire. Bryant, Soler and Russell are all taking their lumps. Schwarber has been the most surprising to me...and there were plenty of skeptics on draft days.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 12:09 AM) I fail to see how what they did with Rizzo and Arrieta is special or unique in any way. Rizzo was always a highly regarded talent, and struggles at the MLB level at 23 are hardly surprising. He was always going to get time to struggle whether the Cubs were rebuilding or not. How much time did we give Beckham to struggle? How about Viciedo? The Phillies have been giving Domonic Brown a lot of time to struggle, every team does this, especially with guys who have Rizzo's talent level. The White Sox have done this plenty in the last 10 years, often to the point of getting criticized for giving too long of a leash (see Beckham again), and the only true rebuilding year we've had in the last decade was 2014. Even this year we've shown plenty of patience with guys like Sanchez. How many teams would have cut their losses after his performance the first 6 weeks, and these guys don't have the talent that Rizzo does. As for Arrieta, the move the Cubs made with him is the same move that every team makes every year. Teams take flyers on talented pitchers all the time that haven't put it together yet. How is letting Arrieta struggle in Iowa different than us continuing to give Drabek starts in Charlotte? I just fail to see how those two guys' successes were from rebuilding, you can do those exact same types of moves while trying to compete (and the White Sox have a lot). We had plenty of time to develop Gordon Beckham but look how that turned out. Many of the Cubs' young hitters are struggling right now and they're no longer rebuilding. They're still going to give them time to struggle. I don't see the difference between now and when Rizzo was struggling too, it's the same idea. It's what we did with Jenks, Santos, DeAza, Gillaspie, Carlos Quentin, Quintana, Putnam, Humber, Noesi, Drabeck, Paulino, etc. Even Montas was essentially a lottery ticket. Alexei was a flier like Kang for his first contract. The Cubs have simply done it better (recently) with Arrieta, Hammel, Garza and Feldman.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:46 PM) Balta's post is very, very, VERY good. I agree with him on many of the points he brought up. I think they went off the rails because Kenny simply couldn't wait. Many of these signing over the winter appeared to have his fingerprints all over them. (veterans in their 30's). Hahn appeared to want to be more patient but apparently he was over ruled as Kenny himself said anything Hahn and his staff want to do they have to run it by him first. The other factor I think was that even with maybe the best stadium deal in MLB (as outlined by the tribune) last year, attendance was dropping dangerously low. The franchise had lost fans from the previous year for eight consecutive seasons. They had lost 56% of the attendance since the end of the 2006 season. The decision was made in part to do something to bring back the season ticket holders. Obviously it hasn't worked on the field. Patience is a virtue, Kenny with his "football mentality," and his "go for broke" approach just doesn't have the capacity to wait three or four or five years so it's always "rebuild and contend" or "retool and contend" and that usually does not work. At least history shows it hasn't worked for this franchise for almost a decade. "It's time" for drastic changes at all levels in the front office. New blood, new ideas are desperately needed. Mark The BALTA SUPREMACY Yes, if you look at all of those free agents now, none of them would be perceived to be worth more and LaRoche has fallen off precipitously. Duke was a reach based on one year of results in the NL. Like Noesi, a pitcher the White Sox had actually torched. Bonifacio and Beckham have ended up blocking those young infielders that may or may not be part-timers/utility guys in the end. The odds of getting back the equivalent of Shark's compensation to the A's honestly aren't that great, and ironically, the player we complained about the most early, Cabrera, is closest to league average of all the deals but I'm still not sure he's a player that would be claimed on waivers. Besides where Balta noted, some other major miscalculations: 1) The presence of Shark alone would bring in fans. 2) Rodon was closer to 2012 Chris Sale than what we've seen out of him. 3) The failures of both Matt Davidson and Erik Johnson might be permanent ones. 4) The bullpen implosions of 2014 and 2006-07 reminded KW of the need for the Linebrink/Dotel acquisitions, so naturally he went the opposite of logic and overpaid a veteran in Robertson. So we jumped one or two years too early with Robertson and reached for Duke. 5) Between the TJ injury to Saladino, Sanchez's poor offensive performance, Leury/Nieto, etc.,...and the lack of evidence that Beck, Thompson, Anderson and Hawkins would be either regular contributors or able to be counted on before 2017, you can see where/why KW jumped the gun there as well, because there wasn't the patience to kick the rebuild two years down the road...and the presence of all those players like Sale, Abreu, Quintana, Eaton and Ramirez (or so the thought went) all "in their primes" was just too tempting to waste. Then there were the noted miscalculations on Flowers, Conor, Ramirez and likely Avisail. Looking back on it now, we would have been much better off simply going with Johnson/Beck/Bassitt at the back end of the rotation. Semien/Davidson would have started the year at 3b, with Sanchez at 2b...while waiting on Micah and Saladino to both be 100% ready for the big leagues. Thompson and Avi would have both started in the outfield, with a rotating DH concept...sharing AB's between Semien, Eaton, Davidson, Avi, Abreu, Thompson, maybe even Phegley or Ravelo, etc. While it's easy to say now someone like Grandal or Cervelli should have been targeted at catcher (Martin would have been premature), it needed to be addressed first and foremost (the Soto signing was the only one that actually worked out). The bullpen would have been another mess...the losers between Beck/Bassitt/Johnson for Shark's spot would have been there along with Petricka, Putnam and the one small addition would have been a veteran/ journeyman lefty from outside the organization, like a Franklin Morales or Breslow type. There's no doubt that team would have ended up with a win total in the 70's, but we would: 1) Have a much better idea about rotation needs for 2016. 2) The probability that Semien's bat could stick at 3b, 2b or DH. Or Davidson/Ravelo at 1b/3b/dh. 3) That Sanchez, Saladino or Micah would win 2b. 4) That Thompson would be more than a 1 war outfielder and surprise us offensively/defensively (or both). At least we would have the financial resources to do something in free agency. Of course, even assuming all the young pitchers worked out and you didn't need another veteran starter (Shields could have been plucked now for 50-75 cents on the dollar)...you're still stuck with Heyward, Gordon and Cespedes as the big-name outfield additions and no easy answers for 3b (assuming Semien and Davidson both failed) and catching. Let's be optimistic with Marcus for a moment. In this scenario, we're a catcher and probably two corner outfielders/DH (essentially two big bats) short. We might or might not need a closer, but probably/likely. This is now when Puig for excess pitching makes sense....a Cargo claim...spending on one of those three fa names, trading for another from the talent base of a much deeper organization than we have today and hoping/praying we can find the closer and catching pieces to fit. Of course, in this Balta Scenario, we could convert Danish or Montas to the bullpen and fasttrack them. We'd have two additional draft picks in the second and third round with upside. Maybe we make that big play in international free agency for Cubans Moncada, Eddy Julio Ramirez, Alvares, etc. More franchise what ifs for The Lipper.

Speaking of young hitters, Miguel Sano is mighty impressive...and he gets a ton of walks compared to most young Latin American players.

Angels had the rally monkey in their favor today...Toronto absolutely obliterating Minnesota. Baltimore also won again.

Avi can hurt you on offspeed pitches or balls he won't swing at....fastballs inside, not so much.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:25 PM) They didn't really have a choice....so, not the same. Okay, as long as we're not mandating the sterilization of poor people. That's what it sounded like at first.

Funny your first thought is don't swing....but can he really walk in that situation when he always seems to put the pressure on himself?

4 gb Blue Jays could tie Angels with a win tonight if CLE holds on...Hector Santiago just got torched by old friend Ryan Raburn, 3-1 lead late. Same exact record as Detroit for Sox.

Dj was right, too much pressure on the pitcher...should have pitched to Cabrera. Still no walk off hits since July 8. Sox 9-3 in extra innings. 1-5 against Tampa Bay on the season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:24 PM) I think Eaton would have had a good chance at scoring there...but Abreu is on deck and Melky is up afterwards. Take the chances with the next guy. Except they'll walk him and Cabrera.

You can't score on Sizemore? Eaton left too early. Sigh, don't want another out at home now.

Did the throw hit Cabrera? Or the high slide?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) That doesn't sound like very much? Well, he doesn't have a university degree, right? When's the last time we elected a president without that minimum level of education?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:11 PM) See, I actually think that's very much "Not" what the White Sox did with the guys they signed on the FA market. Pretty much every one of them was a value signing to my eyes, a person who had something knocking down their FA dollars, which is fundamentally different from what we did with guys like Dunn, LaRoche, Cabrera, etc. List: Dye: coming off a severe leg injury and hadn't performed well in the time since the injury. Injury knocked price down. Hermason: had closed a bit for the Giants but mostly he was a starter the year before who hadn't performed as a starter, not being a closer knocked down his value. Iguchi: unknown quantity, and Japanese players at that time had their overall value knocked down because Kaz Matsui hadn't hit for the Mets like he was supposed to. Orlando Hernandez: basically was tossed aside by the Yankees as being at the end of his career. Really they weren't wrong, he just had a bit left in the tank. Value signing because of age. AJ Pierzynski: Value signing because he supposedly kneed a guy in a particularly painful spot, among other reasons. Compare that to the full-priced guys we just signed and maybe the only one you can make a case as a value signing is the one I like the least because of the whole needle thing. And Contreras and Everett prior to that....all value deals. Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball from that August until May, 2006, when he got hurt. The Pods/Vizcaino move was more about clearing CLee's salary off the roster, but Pods had a disappointing follow-up to his rookie campaign. Along with Kaz Matsui, you could add Rey Ordonez. The only "fair market" value was Garcia for Reed, Olivo and Morse, then the extension. Finally, Bobby Jenks on waivers.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 03:05 PM) This team has a lot of good pieces that are all relatively young and under team control. Nothing is promised, but you don't need to intentionally lose to get where you need to go. It is worrisome that our front office has had a really hard time giving out free agent contracts that don't look terrible in retrospect because you're going to have to bring in veterans that don't fall on their face to ultimately put things together. 2005, for example, was all about adding a bunch of solid players on market level contracts to a core that was already pretty good (particularly the starting rotation and a couple of hitters). If we can't at least start signing players who just meet expectations, we're in trouble. With that said, we need to fit Alexei and Abreu into the equation of evaluating this front office somewhere. These are either essentially amateur players we've turned into integral assets (eliminating the "Beckham is the last position prospect to pan out" argument) or they are free agent signings that have gone fabulously well. You can choose which way to think about it, but you can't pretend they don't count. Essentially, Abreu, Ramirez and Quintana have prevented them from being terribad. That covers for a lot of mistakes in other areas, but it won't compensate for every fa acquisition going in the wrong direction.

Well, there goes the streak of allowing two baserunners six consecutive times...

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) Scott Walker seems to do pretty well with Republicans of various stripes, both the far-right and the more typical ones. With that said, he is not at home in situations like a debate where he has to ad lib responses to things. I could see him blowing up in popularity as time goes on or really flopping and falling by the wayside. Doesn't come across as very charismatic to me...his wife was livelier in the interview I watched with the entire family together. That whole $71,000 in debt issue doesn't strike me as an astute financial manager.

This guy has given up multiple baserunners six outings in a row...