caulfield12

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansa...cle3459750.html The problem for the White Sox is that the Royals probably would have followed up this season by resting on their laurels. Now you have TWO super-hungry teams in the Royals and Tigers, the Twins definitely trending upwards with a new manager/philosophy in place and the Indians still lurking. Hahn has his work more than cut out for him if the budget limit is adding roughly $20-30 million in "new" free agent or acquisition contract dollars.

Lost in the shuffle is how well a rookie in Yordano Ventura won two "must win" games for the Royals to keep them in it. He has a very bright future in the game if he can stay healthy. Yost should never have bunted Escobar in that situation (with Bumgarner shaky and control not locked in) unless he was going to pinch-hit for Aoki...the lack of quality hitters off the bench (they could have brought in Dyson defensively) really stung the Royals there.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 09:35 PM) My friend just said this was one of the most intense series of the past decade and that the Giants were the underdog. No. This was one of the worst World Series of the past decade and the Giants were certainly not the decade. The wild card game, Game #4 when the Royals had a 4-1 lead and held it into the 6th....then any time a visiting team wins on the road is pretty incredible and just doesn't happen very often. Bumgarner deserves all the praise he's going to get...and has his name right up there in lights with Kershaw and ahead of Sale until Chris can perform like that on the big stage of post-season play (something Kershaw has consistently failed to do a number of times now). Same for Sandoval (running, who would have thunk it) and Pence, as Posey just disappeared. Then you have Belt and Morse. Just shows you in the post-season that you can get by with one true ace and a solid bullpen. Even though Machi and Strickland were garbage, Lopez, Affeldt, Romo and Casilla all got the job done.

Bunting/sacrificing with your best average/hottest second half and post-season hitter (Escobar) to have a LH batter 0 for 16 career (and well played by Perez in LF) face Bumgarner is clearly going to be one of the most questioned moves if the Royals lose this game. Then again, Cain was still overmatched....but we'll never know how Escobar would have done if they played for the big inning. It's just as possible Cain and Hosmer would have gone down, leaving it up to Butler against Bumgarner to drive in two runs with two outs.

Seems like Herrera and Wade Davis are finally running out of gas.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) speaking of bad remakes/reboots, I just read a plot synopsis of Terminator: Genisys http://screenrant.com/terminator-5-genisys...-images-script/ aaaaand i am not interested Jai Courtney sucks. So does that weird spelling of "genesis." Both in Divergent (granted he was a villain) but also in the latest Die Hard...he almost single-handedly ruined that movie. This movie has bomb written all over it, and Arnie career desperation/last big payday role.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 07:11 PM) Jeremy Davies? Must have been thinking about the Royals, lol. That actor has kind of disappeared, unless he's on an obscure tv show.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 02:23 PM) I'm calling it, Giants win 1-0.boom Guess we can throw that one out already. Yost, as predicted, brings in Herrera in the 4th to try to preserve the 2-2 tie. Affeldt will get Moustakas and then probably get pulled in the bottom half...not sure who the Giants will use next. Not Strickland or Machi. Might be Petit again.

Giants already into their bullpen. Yost hoping he can get at least four from Guthrie, with the possibility of Herrera going 2, Davis going 2 and Holland whatever's left. Bumgarner looming. One can only imagine how many double switches there would be in an NL park. 4 1/2 hour game, easily.

Unless they're going to fix all the other holes in the team, trading for a one-and-done pitcher's illogical. Are they all of a sudden free spenders who can give Samardzija a similar contract to what James Shields is going to receive, or even higher? I don't think so. I also don't think signing pitchers in their 30's to long-term deals fits the new operating model for 75% of MLB teams.

Fury was predictable but worth viewing...depending on your feelings for Pitt and LeBouf as actors. Logan Lerman was excellent...in a role quite reminiscent to Kyle Davies' turn in Saving Private Ryan.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2014-15-white-...signated-hitter Documents the top 10-12 DH choices and puts them into tiers... really hard to get excited about the Sox acquiring any of them for obvious reasons with each particular player...we know we don't want to give Victor Martinez $56 million over 4 years and Hahn hasn't distinguished himself with bargain basement free agent shopping

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 07:31 AM) Not nearly enough horror movies. If we are currently having the golden age of comic book movies, we are going through the dark age of horror movies. Just nothing coming out, but awful ghost movies. Hopefully that changes with Trick r Treat 2, new Halloween and new Friday the 13th movies. Paranormal Activity worked well the first time...considering the budget. Blair Witch Project, too much hype and not enough "steak," but I can't remember the last time I desperately wanted to see a horror movie in the theatre when it came out. Found footage is part of it....the "reality" based casts made up of mostly non-stars/B level teens...that's one of the reasons The Conjuring and Insidious worked pretty well, because of Patrick Wilson. But Annabelle was so terrible, I'm not sure I can stomach what they will do with The Conjuring 2. Before that, the last really good horror movie I remember creating much of a buzz was THE RING. The 80's were driven by Stephen King novels, Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers....there haven't been many (any, really) memorable villains, and no, I don't count The Saw franchise dude, although he's probably become the most iconic. Heck, Final Destination movies in the begin were almost more watchable than most horror movies. Finally, a lot of the budgets are so low because they're looking for that $15-25 million opening day and then peetering off when the majority of under 30 somethings realize the movie isn't worth their money...especially the 3D upcharges. The only answer is better scripts, better actors....more creativity. There's plenty of room in that genre. I could even live with another Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature the way things are going these days.

He should read the Lucas Mann book about the Clinton LumberKings season about 3-4 years ago and the way Nick Franklin treated him as a "geeky" writer who didn't really know much about the game and how to approach a conversation about it. With the explosion of sabremetrics, there's just a ton of non-athletes who think they understand the sport but just can't speak the lingo and try to be clever/cool. Hosmer and Moustakas have had so much pressure on them since the time they were drafted, and they haven't lived up to that pressure for the most part, with a few exceptions (Hosmer's rookie season, a Gold Glove, Moustakas had one pretty good season and this year was abysmal). You're already going to be wary of "armchair QB's" who think they've figured you out from reading numbers on a data sheet but couldn't hit a BP fastball if you gave them 100 swings. Part of the mistake was not doing his homework and being able to tell the difference between Hosmer and Moustakas...and until he understood it or it was explained to him (the Greek joke), Hosmer probably had no clue what the writer was talking about and thought he was trying to be too cute/glib. Hosmer and Moustakas have been a LOT more media friendly this post-season, they've matured a lot and have become much more personable and better interviews. They will never rival White, Brett, Saberhagen....or even Alex Gordon, but Hosmer's really well-liked by kids. Moustakas is a bit touchier, harder to approach, he's been carrying around a lot of expectations since the time he was drafted, and he hasn't lived up to them (not unlike Gordon Beckham, not unlike Alex Gordon until he vacated George Brett's position). Every player reacts differently. But that kind of "fraternity brother" reaction happens in every clubhouse/locker room in America to writers who aren't exactly sure how to talk to professional athletes but find themselves with a media credential.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle3432499.html

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 28, 2014 -> 07:42 PM) I have a feeling Eric Hosmer is the biggest douche ever. Based on the fact he picked up a $15,000 bar tab for all the Kansas City fans at a local bar/pub after winning the Wild Card game.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 28, 2014 -> 06:26 AM) Why would the Giants possibly want Semien when they have a young 2nd/SS combo already??? You would need to swap Semien for a young pitching prospect. Lincecum's making $18 million in 2015...and has full no-trade protection. He couldn't even last in that rotation after Cain went down, in the NL West with all those big stadiums...how would he fare in the AL Central, exactly? The Giants would be elated to dump that contract, let alone get anything back in return or NOT have to surrender cash as well. With Peavy likely headed out the door, they still probably will keep him around for one more season...not to mention they don't know what they'll get out of Cain upon return, or when he'll be back to 100%.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 28, 2014 -> 01:04 AM) November 18th - White Sox trade Marcus Semien and Chris Bassitt to Rockies for OF Drew Stubbs and LRP Rex Brothers With Dickerson, CarGo, Blackmon, and Stubbs, the Rockies may be inclined to move one of those guys. I think the Sox may sell high on Bassitt, and try to rebuild that horrible bullpen by buying low on Brothers. Stubbs is a plus defender with very good speed and a draws a decent amount of walks. Him and Eaton at the top of the line-up would actually be pretty fun, and Stubbs defense over Viciedo's would be remarkable. Avi would be moved to left, Stubbs would probably play RF just due to Eaton's below average arm. Although interestingly enough, in their small sample sizes, Eaton plays RF much better than his larger sample size in CF, which makes things a little hard to place considering Stubbs has the much better arm. Eaton will have to stay in CF...you don't take a top Gold Glove outfielder and shift him, unless it's someone like Cain giving way to Dyson in CF. I doubt Stubbs has more range than Eaton in CF, like the previous example. If the White Sox view Bassitt as a long-term bullpen piece or 5th starter, I don't think they're going to make that trade for a complementary piece.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...cle3396999.html Shields hasn’t been his best in this postseason. He started the night having given up 15 runs in 19 innings, a 7.11 ERA. Maybe that’s just a coincidental string of off nights, or maybe some of it is in the kidney stone he passed during the ALCS. Maybe it’s just the fatigue of a mercilessly long season in which he threw more pitches than anyone in baseball and 252 innings including the playoffs. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...l#storylink=cpy I know from personal experience I wouldn't have been standing, let alone pitching or performing. He did (according to reports) change his arm slot in Game 5, was able to pitch lower in the strike zone and if not for two non-plays by Escobar, he gives a 0-0 tie game to the bullpen in the 6th or 7th. If you read the full article, you'll see 50% of the reason Shields was brought on board wasn't just performance-based, it was a playoff-tested veteran who would instill belief in his younger teammates that they could break through that barrier and win for the first time. That never would have happened had they held onto Myers and Odorizzi. In the end, he'll get less money and less years, probably four instead of five and probably $80-90 million instead of $95-125 million, but he will never be poor.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Oct 28, 2014 -> 12:14 AM) November 11th - I trade Rock two used toilet paper sheets for his disgarded pubic hair. I hope it's discarded and not disgarded...it would be quite weird if he was guarding it so closely.

$500 million of "renovations," haha.

Why would they want Viciedo if they're putting all their efforts into keeping Melky Cabrera in TOR? They already have Lind for DH getting the majority of at-bats, so paying $4.5-5.5 million for a part-time player as a cash-strapped franchise isn't good business. Maybe Viciedo would be Option D, but on that artificial turf, it's a disaster waiting to happen. He has a lot more ground to cover into that LCF gap...not like SF, but it's an appreciable difference from USCF in terms of sheer coverage area.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 25, 2014 -> 09:42 PM) Surprised the Royals picked him up. I guess they figure he replaces Aoki cheaply. No big loss. Sierra is just another guy. LF Gordon CF Dyson RF Cain Maybe he's their 4th outfielder, but he won't be getting regular playing time. They can easily afford to use the money from Shields/Butler/Aoki to replace him.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 07:19 AM) Saw St. Vincent over the weekend (Murray, McCarthy). Story arc was somewhat predictable, but still really enjoyed it. Murray was excellent, McCarthy was too (she's much more subdued here than you may be used to, so her humor goes a lot farther and just works better). Actually the actress who played Murray's lady was the best of the bunch. And the kid was good too. As a character study, I was impressed and entertained. No great need to see it on the big screen, but as a stream or rental or whatever it is worth it. Naomi Watts? A Most Wanted Man 4 out of 5 Left Behind 1.75 out of 5 (that .75 is for Nicholas Cage somewhat "saving" the movie with an atypical straight man performance) Annabelle 2.25 out of 5 Addicted 2.5 out of 5 Lucy 3.75 out of 5

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 27, 2014 -> 08:11 AM) The KC Royals make the playoffs for the first time in 29 years, and make it to the World Series, are 2 wins from a title, and their fans still complain about their manager. I hope it takes at least another 29 years before they sneak into the Wild Card game and lose it. Hopefully it will be 7-0 in the first inning. It's just the modern-day blogosphere. Bochy has been getting an equal amount of criticism and he's on possibly his 3rd World Series title in 5 years, without Cain and "good" Lincecum basically. 98% of Royals fans are happy that they made it to this point...and they're upbeat about the team next year with plenty of money to spend replacing Shields, Butler and Aoki. The Royals probably don't have the DET budget or ability to miss big on free agent acquisitions...but they have a ton of young pitching talent to pick up the slack, and the biggest worries about being overworked are for Shields (8 years over 200 innings) and the back end of the bullpen guys.