caulfield12

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 1, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) Remember when RV was such a breath of fresh air in his first season? How all the extra infield practice made a fundamentally sound team? What happened? Did he get worse on purpose? Or was he really the cause of the improvement in the first place? If not, how can we be so sure he's the problem now? He isn't. We are dramatically overachieving. Too bad there's no sabre stat for good/sound managerial decision making.

Which is more likely, Terry Francona will be in the HoF for managing, or Robin Ventura? Wait, I know. If Robin had the same teams as LaRussa, Torre and Cox, he would surely be without peer in managerial renown compared to that formidable triumvirate. If you go by pythagorean (hello Phil Rogers), he is the best manager in the AL and Bob Melvin is far and away the worst (+5 vs -10). Gibbons in TOR would be second worst (-7). Mattingly is the worst at -4 in the NL, and Magician Joe Maddon is only at +1 with all those lucky or fluke wins. Buck Showalter, -3, not such a genius. Lloyd McClendon, +3, another candidate for an extension. Give everyone contract extensions with all that overachieving!!! If Ventura gets away to another team much closer to home, surely he will take the Angels to the World Series and beyond.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jul 1, 2015 -> 08:48 AM) Their grounds crew uses a mixture of leftover champagne from past championship celebrations, Voss + tears collected from fans of all the teams they eliminate in postseason play to achieve the most luscious, emerald hued grass in all of baseball. Dodger Blue tears....

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 1, 2015 -> 08:22 AM) How many games do you think the Sox would be ahead of the Indians if they were able to trade managers? 15? 20? It's funny, I read on here the Sox have no future. Almost all their players suck, their prospects suck, their payroll is maxed out...Yet, I also read where apparently if someone else was managing, none of this would be true. Ummm...should we have a poll with nine other managers along with Robin and you can see how few besides yourself (Greg will pick Ozzie) would have the best record since 2012 if they had been managing the same exact White Sox rosters from that point until July 1st, 2015? Tell us who you think would have a worse record and why? Sandberg? Ozzie? Who else? Buddy Bell? Joey Cora? Jim Fregosi? Davey Johnson? Valentine? Washington? Remember, Francona also has White Sox ties, back to the Barons' team with Michael Jordan two decades ago. 2-4 games per season is the difference between making the playoffs and just missing out most years.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp...0701-story.html Now it looks like DiPoto is out as GM instead...crazy.

That about sums up the 2014-15 White Sox....Leury and Dan Jennings. Family members?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/angels-offici...&soc_trk=ma Looks like Scioscia might soon be available...

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_...poto-again-odds Fight between DiPoto, Scioscia and Pujols over coaches and players not following advanced stats from scouts/front office

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 04:36 PM) the burdensome problem i have issue with, it i would like to think Sea had a better GM. Mariners fans are still living in the past glory days of Griffey, Jr., the Big Unit, Buhner, Edgar and Ichiro...1993-2003. They're still blaming ownership for trading away Adam Jones. There's no love for Jack Z, they haven't reached the playoffs under any of his numerous plans (for 2-3 years, he was obsessed with OF defense, guys like Endy Chavez and F. Gutierrez). I would be surprised if he's even GM next year. Willie Bloomquist would definitely be surprised.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 04:14 PM) nice work in assembling all this info. oh, btw....... but i don't agree. That's where pitching is incredibly difficult to project. Last August or early September, you could have argued Felix, Iwakuma, Paxton, T.Walker and Chris Young (Comeback Player of Year who they let go to KC) was one of the best in the game, and could/should be a building block. 9 months later, Iwakuma has disappeared almost (will be a FA like Samardzija), and Walker/Paxton went through typical albeit perhaps unexpected growing pains. They're close in the same sense we are...they have some very nice pieces, but they're not competing for the moment and their window is already closing in on them as Cano, Cruz and Felix all age.

The Mariners comp is a pretty good one... Held onto aging star players too long (Ichiro is the best example) without getting anything back in return. Got desperate and dealt their best prospect (Adam Jones) for an absolute bust in Bedard. Developed a pitching staff in Hernandez, Iwakuma, Paxton, Walker that looked playoff ready...with Paxton/Walker representing Rodon and Fulmer. Almost all of their young prospects busted (Smoak, Montero, Zunino and Ackley are both getting there, Ackley in particular)... Filled in with free agent half measures like Logan Morrison, Corey Hart, Kendrys Morales (see White Sox 2011-2015). They have come up with Seager and Adam Jones, much better than anything we've managed on the position side. On the other hand, they have the Seattle market all to themselves, a better stadium (albeit not a good one for offense) and the early benefit of the $100-125 million added television/broadcast rights windfalls that we might not even receive in 2019. They have done better with FA's (Cano last year, Cruz this year) but also missed a lot (see list above, and Adrian Beltre for most of his M's career). The false positive from last year, competing until the final week...pushed them into the Cruz deal this year, which will really start to weigh down the payroll, along with Felix and Cano.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 09:37 AM) So the White Sox situation is hopeless. They will never win. Isn't this the Royals model that you want the Sox to adopt? Suck Royally for 30 years, sneak into the WC get lucky during the WC game, get to the WS, lose, and suddenly your way is the right way. Isn't that preferable to now pretending Robin Ventura was 2012 AL Manager of the Year and that we actually made the playoffs that season? Should we just throw out the results from the field and argue the Sox should have won in 1994, 2003, 2006, 2008 (Quentin hamate was unlucky), 2010 and 2012? Weren't we just as lucky Hahn's kid lucked out on the coin toss, or it would be a full decade since the last White Sox playoff appearance? That doesn't count? Sometimes...teams make their own luck. It's sports. Even the 2005 White Sox had about at least eight or nine lucky things occur for them to win...every possible break went their way.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 09:09 AM) Do people forget Ozzie quit on the team? Who was the manager for many of the This. Team. Is. Dead. posts. It didn't used to be blamed on the manager. Now it is. That was Greg Walker...and, if Ventura had actually led the 2012 team to the playoffs and World Series, he would have essentially bought himself another 5-6 years of good will from the fans. Now we're going on 2.5 years with just a liitle light at the end of the tunnel (Rodon, Fulmer, Anderson)..and no hint of a second playoff appearance (2008 for Ozzie) or 90 win team in sight. Finally, every team in the division is better positioned for the next 2-3 seasons...other than the Tigers, who still will possess the ability to outspend us by 25-30% as long as Illitch is alive. And, for as long as they retain David Price, they've got a gambler's chance.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:51 AM) If it is all about the bottom line, cleaning house now isn't going to do anything but cost them money. They would be paying another manager, and or GM, or Exec VP, and fans aren't going to watch this team because Ozzie Guillen or whoever, is in the dugout. The White Sox aren't going to fire anyone because that is what DeLuca wants, or Haugh wants, or Caulfield wants. Not if it was Skinner, McEwing, Bell or Capra. As you'll notice in Philly (MacPhail, Amaro and Gillick) and Arizona, those organizations weren't afraid to spend Bonifacio/Downs/Paulino/Keppinger/Belisario money on recent in-season changes in leadership much more important than the 23rd-25th players on the roster. The White Sox, close to a billion dollar franchise, are suddenly concerned about saving a few bucks when they were recently willing to spend $125-135 million on Tanaka?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:51 AM) If it is all about the bottom line, cleaning house now isn't going to do anything but cost them money. They would be paying another manager, and or GM, or Exec VP, and fans aren't going to watch this team because Ozzie Guillen or whoever, is in the dugout. The White Sox aren't going to fire anyone because that is what DeLuca wants, or Haugh wants, or Caulfield wants. It's sports. Every situation like this reaches a "critical mass," to the point where the daily questions/secon-guessing and barrage of columns create a big enough distraction that it's counter-productive to the organizational goal of creating and fostering a winning atmosphere. If the White Sox stubbornly attempt to prove everyone wrong, they're just going to end up turning off even more fans.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:36 AM) and if they don't fire anyone, good luck in selling those season tickets and corp tickets. would anyone have faith in the sox org if something drastic is not done?? The Sox can ignore the potential benefits of an exciting metamorphosis at their own risk. But Hahn's promising offseason has only resulted in a bump of 1,014 fans per game and their average of 21,910 ranks 27th in league attendance — with 49 home games left for the division's last-place team. They'e already lost 50% of their offseason ticket bounce. And selling advertising for radio and t.v. broadcasts from here on out (if they weren't already locked into season long packages) will become a game of rapidly dimishing returns. Other than playing the Cubs and July 17-19th (2005 reunion)...things are going to get uglier without anything beyond cosmetic changes taking place.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:31 AM) Yesterday, Matt Abbatacola said that he knows that the White Sox wouldn't get what Sale is worth in a trade but that they should do it anyway? What? Somehow, one gets the feeling Baseball Prospectus, Yahoo and Grantland aren't all lining up to give him an "inside baseball" column. Maybe mlbtraderumors as an intern, if he's lucky. If not for Hawk Harrelson, nobody would even know his name outside of a few Score insiders.

I thought the Rays would be smart enough to steer away from that grease fire. Btw, Kipnis is putting up some incredible stats recently. Time for Phil Rogers to dream Jason was on the South Side and pen an All-Star advocacy column.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...629-column.html David Haugh with an even stronger shot across the bow... Stop yourself before suggesting managers make no impact on wins and losses. Save the sabermetrics for evaluating leadoff hitters and relief pitchers. Some things in baseball simply cannot be adequately measured by an acronym. A city where Cubs manager Joe Maddon works is the wrong place to make that argument too. Like a boss in any profession, the right manager can create a culture conducive to winning whether establishing that new environment involves more structure, accountability or just plain fun. Who is the Sox's Maddon to lead the total rebuild necessary? Should Ventura be the only guy to go? Even if it takes until next offseason to answer those questions, starting the process now makes sense. .... When Reinsdorf discusses the future of the Sox with executive vice president Ken Williams or general manager Rick Hahn — in that order, as Williams made clear — you suddenly wonder how capable he is of distinguishing between Ventura the manager and Ventura the person he has known and admired for 26 years.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosen...630-column.html Advocates trading Chris Sale, among other ideas...which is basically blowing up the entire roster and starting over. Fact is, nobody’s sure how the Sox front office works after Williams’ comments over the weekend that Hahn isn’t good enough to take Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s first phone call. Hahn, though, made the announcements of the new signings and acquisitions last offseason. So, I guess Hahn is in charge of making the roster and Williams is in charge of blowing it up. That’s apparently why Williams accompanied the Sox during consecutive series losses in Minnesota and Detroit. He wanted to evaluate players. He didn’t need to spend the money. The players stink. Trade as many as you can as fast as you can. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...-htmlstory.html 39% blame players, 36% blame Ventura/coaching, 25% the front office

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:00 AM) Ventura is low hanging fruit. Rather see analysis of the Sox drafting, evaluation and front office. If you fire Ventura, Cooper should go too. But i don't see the point in firing them now really just to put the bench coach in charge. Well, the column certainly doesn't advocate for Mark Parent like Cowley used to do with the Joey Cora fluff pieces.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/73...obin-dial-ozzie The article reaching the desperate conclusion of putting Ozzie back in charge of the circus, taking some shots against Ventura and Mark Parent along the way...

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 06:36 AM) My guess it will turn out like Beckham's hot streak, but De Aza is tearing up in Boston both w bat and glove. Just incredibly streaky...did that in the beginning with the O's as well last year.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 11:03 PM) The 2012 team featured: A career year for Pierzynski. 27 home runs, .827 OPS The final year of vintage Konerko. .857 OPS The final year of excellent Rios, .850 OPS DeAza's best full season, 2.5 WAR an in-season trade for YOUK!, .771 OPS in 80 games w/ White Sox Tank Viciedo's best season, 1.0 WAR Most improved Adam Dunn, 41 HR .800 OPS NONE of those players ever reached those heights again. Most not even close, 4 are not playing major league baseball now. You also got standard issue, non-crater seasons from Alexei and Gordon, something Alexei might not be capable of anymore. As Hahn has stated many times, they knew they'd have to shift away from that old core and rebuild at some point soon. And the team showed them when the next year. Yeah, Quintana (as a rookie) for most of that season pitched like one of the best pitchers in baseball...out of seemingly nowhere. Reed, Jones and Santiago more or less held their own...along with a cast of 8-9 forgettable rookies and journeymen in the bullpen. It was definitely an older core...it was pretty much a comment to play "devil's advocate" with all this back and forth going on about who's to blame for these last three seasons. We'll probably never have a good answer, anymore than most fans are satisfied with that prevailing argument that the "Rowand/Everett leadership vacuum" led directly to the 2nd half collapse in 2006 and complete disaster in 2007.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 10:23 PM) That's pretty much what any of our stats would be. Even us dudes would luck into some cheapies and take a few walks when somebody is throwing s***balls. Not even close. Most would be lucky to foul off a pitch or two...let alone actually put a ball into play. Anyone over 35+, unless they're playing some type of sport with extreme hand-eye coordination like badminton, racquetball, cricket....forget about it.