caulfield12

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 16, 2014 -> 05:08 PM) Yeah, I'm going to pass watching this tonight. Good to see Nieto, Danks, and Semien get some hits. Purcey, Putnam, and Rienzo helping the staff make a decision to cut them later on. Right now, it's between Boggs/Cleto/Webb/Petricka/Rienzo for the last 2 spots. Mr. Inconsistent has to be favored for LH set-up. Not sure where that leaves Surkamp. Some think Belisario would be the closer if the season started today.

Semien's been having a bit of a rough time defensively this spring. Would be nice if they decided on SS or 2B for him (or 3B, for that matter)...instead of morphing him into a utility guy. He's probably best suited for 2B, but he has spent more time at SS, which is natural for a player's development. Would just be nice to see him not moved all over the field like Beckham or Viciedo. Lazy play in RF by Garcia. Kind of was back on his heels (ala Jermaine Dye sometimes) and didn't get all his momentum moving forward into that throw from the outfield which could have been a close play at home if he was positioned correctly. Little things. Hopefully they don't carry over into the regular season.

Be careful...when Iowa State gets too trendy (see Eustachy/Fizer/Tinsley teams), that's when the upset can come up and bite you. Although Cyclones fans should be flying sky high right now...the only concern they would have is losing Hoiberg, and that's hard to imagine with his entire family in that area, his 10 year $20 million extension, his ability to recruit competitively on a national basis despite being in Iowa, everything's going in a positive direction at the moment. Then again, I never thought Brad Stephens would end up in the NBA, so anything's possible, especially with Hoiberg's NBA pedigree and a bit of front office experience as well. Was hoping and praying Iowa would get a shot at Alford's UCLA team for the first round upset, but that's not going to happen with UCLA moving up to a 4-5 seed now in all likelihood.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 09:06 PM) I wouldn't have a problem trading Ramirez to the tigers, don't know what to realistically expect in return tho. I doubt the tigers would be interested in Ramirez since he's signed through 2015 and they are high on Iglesias who's still young. They might still end up moving Castellanos back to LF, and Iglesias can play 3B. That said, they would much rather have Igelesias at SS and Castellanos productive at 3B rather than in the outfield. And Iglesias offensively doesn't profile well as a corner.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 08:57 PM) Yeah Ray probably isn't happening if the Tigers really like him as much as they say they do. But the Sox should be thinking about 2016+ really, maybe with a shot at a WC slot in 2015 should things go exceptionally well. There shouldn't be any issues there. That said, the DBacks want a young C and will trade Gregorius/Owings. Seems a natural fit. Also Drew is still out there. I think this would be pretty unrealistic. Also Franklin is still out there. Lots of non-Sox options. I don't think they're going to be willing to trust SS to Franklin with a rookie debuting at 3B and Kinsler not exactly a defensive wizard at 2B. They're unlikely to experiment in "win now/all in" mode. Drew, Ramirez or possibly Gregorious are the best options, assuming that Gregorious is available. That said, McCann is far from a sure thing...no way the DBacks would trade both those guys, maybe just Owings. The Tigers also don't have a sure thing in LF, just Jackson and Hunter as their OF. It would have to be a much bigger package than McCann. They'd have to include Ray, at least.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-10...detroit-tigers/ The obvious players we would target would be LHP Robbie Ray (came off from Nationals for Fister) and RHP Jake Thompson, who are their best starting pitcher candidates, looking like 3/4 guys down the road...the Tigers actually have a very similar farm system to ours, although Castellanos profiles as a better top prospect than Erik Johnson. They also have a lot of bullpen arms, guys like Crawford and Knebel and of course Rondon...other than that, the most interesting names are catcher James McCann and 1B/DH/LF/RF type Steven Moya, who's their best young power hitter...but that's like saying Andy Wilkins is ours (well, it's still probably Barnum or Hawkins, I guess). If we want to add another version of Courtney Hawkins/Mitchell/Walker/Thompson, there's Daniel Fields...lots of similarities between those 2 guys.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 08:10 PM) Agree, which is exactly why a DeAza/Viciedo DH situation with a legitimate CF in Jordan Danks as a backup makes us both a much better team AND gives us the chance of building the values of DeAza & Viciedo both to the point where Hahn can get something pretty nice back for our future. If a 25 year old outfielder has a really good season and improves dramatically, you're going to turn around and trade him? If they had that kind of crystal ball, they would have traded Phil Humber, Bobby Jenks, Joe Crede, etc. Then you're only going to put yourself through another 2-3 year "transition/development" process with yet another young player with no guaranteed future results, ala Avisail Garcia.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 08:36 AM) Because Soriano is still somewhat useful and Z was an Ozzie project. Cubs still ate about $39M of the $46M remaining and they'd been trying to do this deal for a long time. Cubs ate $15.5M of the $18M owed to him. In total the Cubs ate about 85% of Soriano's deal and 86% of Zambrano's deal. If the Sox ate 85% of Dunn's deal they'd eat $12.75M leaving the acquiring team paying $2.25M. Which is probably a little much for Dunn, maybe $1.5M is more likely, meaning the Sox would eat 90%, 4% more than Z and 5% more than Zambrano. So yeah you win nothing and your candy s*** I will have you know mixes very poorly with overrated imported beer. And Morgan Freeman doesn't drink that crap, he drinks Miller High Life Light with me & reads me stories while I drift off to sleep. Let's not forget Carlos Marmol, either.

And what would you expect in return? With Jose Iglesias expected to miss at least half and possibly the entire 2014 season... We could probably predict they will go after Stephen Drew now as a stopgap. Eugenio Suarez (22) is the only other SS on their roster, and Hernan Perez hasn't played SS in the minors for about 4-5 years, so it seems they would logically be looking outside the organization for help. Obviously, they're not going to give up Castellanos. Just to get that idea out of the way.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:58 PM) Iowa doesn't belong in the tourney. Can't lose 6 of 7 at the end of the year. See Minnesota last year. 8-10 in conference and knocked out in the first round. The difference is Iowa was ranked between 10-24 for something like 10 weeks. And the last ten games aren't weighted as being more significant than any other stretch of the season anymore. I think I've seen one writer in all the national media (a minor ESPN writer) have them out of the tourney if they lost to Northwestern. Realistically, they're better off as an 11 or 12 (even play-in game) seed because that gets them a game with a 5 or 6, and a much easier path in the 2nd round. Otherwise, they'd have to get lucky and draw Wichita State in the 2nd game. Most Iowa fans, reacting emotionally, are wishing they were relegated to the NIT or not even accepting any post-season invite, but calmer minds will hopefully prevail. Iowa hasn't been in the tourney since 2006, and only three times since Tom Davis left in 1998...with only 1 win under Steve Alford (losses to Kentucky, Cincy and NW State). The curse! We've got about approximately 21 excuses now. 1) Twittergate with Zach McCabe 2) Devyn Marble is a ballhog and is ruining team chemistry 3) Aaron White can't create his own shot with defenses focusing on him 4) Depth...too much, strange rotations, bad chemistry 5) Coaching 6) Defense and heart/passion is missing 7) Overall athleticism is lacking 8) Inability to consistently shoot from the outside when teams play zone or pack it in the paint 9) No senior leadership like the last two seasons with Eric May and Gatens 10) Collapsed beam at Assembly Hall forced 4 games in 8 days 11) Sickness...Melsahn Basabe, hasn't been the same player he was the first 20 games 12) Coach plays favorites with Marble and McCabe, pulls other players like Jok/Clemmons/Oglesby/Olaseni/Woodbury after a single mistake 13) Overconfidence after winning at Ohio State and finally "breaking through" with a key road win 14) Poor free throw shooting...inability to close out games under pressure 15) Carver Hawkeye Arena isn't nearly as much of a home court advantage as many new facilities with younger fans ringing the court 16) McCaffrey's son is sick...distraction 17) McCaffrey has tamped down his emotions too much after having numerous confrontations with refs (see close loss that should have been a win at WISC) 18) Teammates don't support or seem to care about each other....too much sniping/whining/complaining...no togetherness or cohesiveness like 2013 19) Inability for guards to feed the post players effectively 20) Uthoff and White not playing at the correct positions...White is a 4, not a 3, and shouldn't be handling the ball so far from the rim 21) European tours and all-star teams wiped out White/Marble

QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:47 AM) If anybody knows how to put that in place of Rongey fan club I'd be all for it. Rongey isn't paying me to praise him so much (kidding). I do tend to like the Sox of 2005 a lot, but I will say I do despise a lot of Sox, Dunn at the top of the list. By despise, I mean as players, not people. It would be a lot more humorous if you despised them as people, haha, like Rios.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 04:38 PM) Sox probably have the most power potential in the league. And Garcia has monstrous power. Just needs to harness it. Sure, but that's like saying Viciedo/Dunn/Hawkins/Mitchell/Thompson need to strike out less. The potential is there, sure...but it's meaningless until he does it in April-May-June-July. Everyone can look at his frame, his physical abilities...make future projections, but that's all they are at this point. I'm not convinced that Garcia's going to have more homers from this point (2014) on in his big league career than Viciedo.

Angels' radio announcers say that Abreu's swing looks long...his last 3 AB's.

Well, one thing's for sure, Dayan Viciedo hitting 30 homers this year is a lot more likely than Dustin Ackley being a competent outfielder and putting up even a 750 OPS. If Hawkins and Barnum both bust, we would have no choice but to look for power outside of our organization. Who else besides Viciedo, Davidson and Abreu are capable of hitting for power? Tyler Flowers? Nobody can guarantee Garcia will do so, anymore than Ryan Sweeney. Andy Wilkins? Trayce Thompson?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 11:34 AM) At that level, he could potentially be considered a sophisticated investor (this is a LEGAL term, not making a subjective judgment), and he could in theory enter into some hedge funds. But the reality is, there simply are no reliable outliers from the simple concept of risk versus return. Hedge Funds, even really good ones, can tank in a hurry and then those people lose a LOT. Same with any individual stock. Stock funds or ETF's and the like, the potential returns are more subdued, but with significantly less risk (and still can make good money if you invest smartly). Or you can buy bonds and make small returns with minimal risk. The key is horizon. A 10 year horizon is long-term investing. That means, probably, a diversified group of funds/ETF's are that person's best bet, IMO. Did you not read SS2K5's post just a little ways up? The markets have gone crazy the last few years, with immense gains. Now, if you are talking employment and adjusted wages, that is a different issue. For example, George Soros' hedge fund underperformed the broader indexes by about 10% last year. Pretty sure he made a big bet on JC Penney and it blew up in his face.

Getting Michael Saunders or having DeAza on the team as he gets older and more expensive isn't a solution to anything.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 09:01 PM) No it won't. He will start the season in the minors. The way RV talks about needing to improve on defense and the strikeouts, they've already made up their mind on him for this year. Which makes it a bit of a curious acquisition if he's not going to play in the majors until August or September. That pushes the contention window back a little more...into 2016. Surely they knew about these issues before the trade. It has always been their philosophy to let players "learn" at the major league level. We'll see if that changes, for once.

Oklahoma State and Baylor are definitely both in now for sure. Not much drama left, just KU's health going into the tourney...and seeding. Maybe if K-State lost by 30+ points to Iowa State tmrw, but they're probably safe, too.

Something like Make a Wish Foundation, but specializing more in professional sports/celebrities, etc. If I could have a dream job, I always thought it would have been the Community Relations/Charitable Giving director of a major league baseball team. My 84 year old mother just had to have her 15 year old dog euthanized, so I'm always sensitive to any animal-related charities. Kiva.org is interesting...the whole field of microfinance and group/team borrowing. Somaly Mam's anti-trafficking charity in Cambodia. http://www.metafilter.com/132895/Sex-traff...-Mam-Foundation Oops, take that back. Aaron Jackson, one of the CNN Heroes back in 2007 or 2008...he used to live in a homeless shelter and has done a lot of good with his organization, "Planting Peace." I talked to him a number of times on the phone but I simply couldn't agree to live in a Cambodia child trafficking shelter (that, and the fact that it's a more appropriate role for a woman) for no or almost no salary.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 07:23 PM) Here's a scale to use: 0 = never plays in the Bigs 1 = cup of coffee/outright bust 2 = useful role player or specialist for a couple years 3 = very useful bench/backup/utility/MR option 4 = borderline starting position player OR high quality setup man OR 5th starter, several seasons in the bigs 5 = average starting position player all around OR quality closer OR #4 type of starter, several seasons in the bigs 6 = above average starting position player all around OR dynamite closer OR #3 starter 7 = generally an All-Star level position player OR #2 type of starter 8 = perennial All-Star position player OR true ace SP 9 = HOF candidate Here are the names, no particular order: Jose Abreu-6 Keon Barnum-1 Rangel Ravelo-0 Marcus Semien-5 Micah Johnson-3 Carlos Sanchez-2 Leury Garcia-2 Clelius Rondon-0 Connor Gillaspie-3 Matt Davidson-4 Trey Michalscaweersdfski-5 Avisail Garcia-7 Dayan Viciedo-5 Adam Eaton-6 Jordan Danks-2 Jared Mitchell-1 Trayce Thompson-1 Keenyn Walker-0 Why are you down on Davidson? Strikeouts? Defense? I've noticed almost everyone is down on Viciedo as well...although I honestly have no idea who's going to be considered the better player 3-5 years from now, Avisail Garcia or Dayan Viciedo. Seems he's getting the benefit of the doubt, because everyone's so familiar with Viciedo already...although there's not a huge age difference really.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 01:06 PM) They can't win close games and really have a tough time shooting 3s. I don't know what is going on with Aaron White. He disappears for long stretches. This is the first year under Fran the Hawks didn't significantly improve as the season went on. Hopefully it isn't a new trend. And hopefully Fran's 13 year old son will be OK. http://hawkcentral.com/2014/03/11/fran-mcc...earns-of-tumor/ Lots of highs and lows this year. His oldest son was starting as a freshman PG at Iowa City West...not sure if they will end up winning the state championship or not, but they're one of the two co-favorites from what I understand. Season has taken a turn for the worse....some blame it on the defense/coaching, some on Zach McCabe and Twittergate, some on the beam collapsing in Bloomington and forcing them to play 4 games in 8 days, using too many players in their rotations, Marble trying to score too much and not distributing the ball like he did earlier in the season, the lack of consistent outside shooting, etc. Maybe winning at Ohio State bumped up the expectations to the point where the players got overconfident, as well as routing Michigan at home. Many theories.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 01:29 PM) The problem is he was hitting well in AAA. I think it's hard to get a guy to commit to a change when he's seeing success with his bad habits. See Gordon Beckham, but particularly Brian Anderson and Josh Fields.

Conor Gillaspie is an avid storm chaser, ala Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister. Grew up in Omaha. Didn't know that. Surprised they didn't write something into his contract to prevent him from engaging in what is pretty risky behavior.

Thought this would be an Erwin Santana signing thread, lol. Or Lillian talking about how bypassing the signing of Grady Sizemore has quickly become the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 06:53 AM) Garcia has proven he can carry a decent average (.283) over 250 PAs on the strength of a .319 BABIP. And still end up with a 97 wRC+ because of an ugly .309 OBP. Garcia has a ton of improvement to make, both offensively and defensively, to become a good player -- he hasn't "proven" anything. The difference is that he's got 1000 fewer PAs of bad than Viciedo. Basically, he hasn't shown an inability to adjust yet, so we can have more hope with him. But he also hasn't shown the projected power yet either. Viciedo put up 25+ homers at age 23.