caulfield12

Still, the money didn't hurt. Texas has no state income tax, and the Rangers play a lot of road games in Seattle and Houston, where visiting players aren't subject to a tax on their earnings. The number crunchers at the Scott Boras Corp. concluded that he would have had to sign a deal for roughly $148 million with the New York Yankees to compare to the $130 million he'll receive from the Rangers. www.espn.com (Crasnick)

One of my students here in China said that was their new favorite movie (Now You See Me)....they really enjoyed the feeling they got from watching it. While some would side with The Prestige or Illusionist, the group dynamic and the more modern-day feel of Now You See Me was really appealing to a lot of moviegoers. It struck a chord, that whole 99% vs. 1% thing I guess.

Have been watching a lot of movies that nobody's probably heard of....Sound City, documentary by Dave Grohl, which was very interesting, The Princess of Nebraska, What's Your Number? with Anna Faris and Chris Evans, The Assassins with Liu Yifei and Chow Yun-Fat, The Raid (famous Indonesian movie) with Joe Taslim. Eden and Knife Fight with Jamie Chung...that second movie is kind of like a poor man's West Wing or Scandal without the clever Aaron Sorkin writing. Started to watch R.I.P.D. but it's so bad I had to stop. Getting so tired of that Jeff Bridges accent.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 11:31 PM) I think Paulino has 2014 #4 starter stuff He has 2/3 starter stuff, the question is what Cooper can get out of him. How willing is he to listen? Liriano, for whatever reason, never came into his own again until he went to the Pirates.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 10:22 PM) I assume Paulino is supposed to be Belisario? I think that's a solid bunch of relievers in that first option, and that's the option I went with Really wouldn't mind K-Rod if they do wanna sign a guy, I think he'll come the cheapest. Whenever he's been asked to close games he's been really good. When asked to set up? Not so much. Plus this team really needs a native of Caracus if they're going to win a World Series, it's the missing piece. Yeah, it could have just as easily been Belisario. I was trying to think outside of the box, in case Paulino's not ready to be a starter in the beginning of the season or they feel really confident in Johnson and Rienzo. However, if they're really going to try to build up his stamina, he would have to be the long man out of the pen and not the closer. That said, look at how they've bounced Santiago through about 3-4 different roles in the last couple of years.

Plus, there's always the HOPE or at least idea we might be competitive in the beginning of the season...and bullpen troubles would put our team in a huge hole in April and May. At least, it would be nice to be competitive for a longer amount of time than the 2013 season. That just sucked, when you stopped caring from pretty much July on...I was more into the 2007 season at the end, even. Maybe Jones can get it done, but I would be pretty shocked to see an 80-85% save conversion rate out of him. Who knows? Stranger things have happened with White Sox closers. And look no further than Jason Grilli with the Pirates last year for an example.

Signing Perez would make sense if we could get him on a deal where we controlled an option for 2015, in case everything went amazingly well in 2014 and it would save us money in the FA market next year in the offseason...of course, that would be based on the assumption that none of the guys we have right now are going to be better than Reed or Santos. If the season went south (2014) and he was having a good year, we'd still be able to trade him. Perez is only 27, so you can't make the argument he wouldn't fit with the model of competing in 2015 and 2016 should we decide to hold onto him, which of course hasn't been the White Sox modus operandi recently with closers.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) The NBA equivalent of this name was James Johnson. Or James Jones, which I'm pretty sure is a real name (UGA, I think).

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 03:11 AM) I wonder if the Eagles will try and make some sort of deal with Tanaka to say "Ok, we will let you go to the US, but you owe us 20% of every contract you sign in the US." That way they keep making money off the guy, while Tanaka makes more money and gets the chance to play in the US like he wants to. The problem with that is they may piss off other Japanese players from wanting to play for them knowing that they may ask for part of your money to post you, but if other teams follow suit, then maybe they roll the dice on that that happening and take their 20%. They were counting on getting $40-60 million, and, as things currently stand, it would be just $20 million. Looks like we're going to have a game of chicken over the next couple of years with the pitcher, his agent and the Eagles.

Out of the Furnace was a bit disappointing. I guess from the previews, I had the idea that Christian Bale would be chasing Woody Harrelson all over the woods, for at least 1/2 or 1/3rd of the film, in a mano a mano battle to the death.

They're really going to have to be careful about who they employ at SS if this is the case. If Ramirez is traded, Sanchez is the one with the best defensive profile for that position. Now that 2 of the top 4 FA's (position players) for next season are probably no go's for the Sox (Headley and Sandoval), Hanley Ramirez becomes the most interesting candidate for SS, but he's not really a full-time SS at this point in his career, unless you are willing to only get 100-120 games out of him. That said, offense wise, he's far and away the most interesting FA target because of the hit tool he brings to the SS position. It's going to be an interesting decision to invest the next big contract numbers into C, SS or the starting rotation. As far as Peavy goes, I'm willing to say he gave us a good 1 1/2 seasons out of 4...

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 07:52 PM) It's an interesting idea, although I don't think they'd want all that junk. Perhaps we could bring a third team in - one that needs De Aza - and throw a legit prospect the Brewers way for him. De Aza is the only tradeable vet we have with any value. Still, I'd rather us still stockpile young players. And Alexei.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/10-degrees--s...-165809610.html

QUOTE (Waygodai @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 06:57 PM) btw Balta just to be clear: not advocating dumping either Ramirez or Dunn just for the sake of it, if Sox have to pay most of their salary or part with a top prospect. rather, if there's an ol' "out-of-town-stupid" GM out there, an opportunity presents itself to Hahn to free up some major payroll space with those 2.... go for it, Rick. (And while it may not look like it now, recent history attests there is still plenty OOTS out there, hearing Tanaka may get 150 mill + posting fee or that Stanley Fischer may have to get appointed as Vice-Chair of Robinson Cano. Say what you will about Reisdorf, he was unto something; for the $$$ I'd trust Gavin Floyd's repaired elbow over Matt Garza's at this point.) But yeah, if Dunn and Ramirez both show up in March in top shape -- Dunn smaller, Lexei bigger -- I'd have no problem with that either. If that makes any sense. If Shin Soo-Choo is turning down $140 million for 7 years from the Yankees, he's going to regret that one for a long time...watch, he turns around and gets signed for $150 million or $160 (which is what he believes he can get after the Ellsbury signing). I wouldn't go anything over $100 million, and that I would probably regret quickly. Coming back to the AL, I just don't see him having another year like he did with the Reds last season.

QUOTE (Waygodai @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 01:03 PM) My bad on Viciedo; did Sox extend him since or did the ML service clock start in 2010? Yeah, defense at catcher position is certainly a priority, even though hiding or platooning Flowers in the 9-hole is possible, you can't hide his D. As you said Eaton has CF covered, because between Nick Swisher in 2008, Alex Rios, then De Aza, I was ready to gouge my eyes out. The fact that UZR apparently had Swish Nickowiak and Rios in 2010 as all time great defensive season at the position… only discredits UZR, haha no for real, UZR was wrong: Rios could barely handle RF just a few years later, makes no sense. Didn't even figure guys like Samien or Micah Johnson let alone Carlos Sanchez into the equation as far as 2014 goes. I mean, it's one thing to be high on A-list guys like Abreu, Eaton or Garcia. It's another on B-listers. Odds are heavily stacked against them historically, just cold hard reality. Baseball being so stat-oriented, it's easy to fall into a trap of projecting minor league production to the bigs. I mean, would one ever use NBA D-league or college football stats when talking about prospects of those respective sports? Of course not: you scout the player, not the stats (to the best of our admittedly limited ability as fans, however informed). The Keppinger stuff you mention makes sense, but after making excuses for the likes of Beckham and Gillespie, frankly I was all out of them, haha. Losing organizations, and loser fan-bases, always seem to be chockfull of excuses, ya know? Then again, maybe that explained why a LHP-slayer like Kep was so inept the few AB I did see him play. "Personal problems". Ok, let's assume that for a moment. Also part of what made Joe Maddon a good manager is proper utilization of utility guys like Keppinger; this is where hopefully Rick Hahn and the new hitting coach can help Robin Ventura, Mark Parent get the best of their bench which IMO they failed to do in 2013. Alexei effin' Ramirez. Sigh. As one of his earliest backers and defenders, honestly even I've had just about enough of his showboating/coasting act. The dude is pretty much the only player I've ever seen who has made ZERO adjustments over, what, 6 years and somehow managed to lose weight during one offseason, LOL! He's like Adam Dunn in a way, neither is what one would call a baseball "lifer". Just getting by on pure talent (problem is, it gets harder and harder as they get older to even stay at par). Didn't Dunn even admit he would have rather been a football player? Even stickfigures like Soriano muscled up over time and tried to improve, nope not our Cuban evidently. With the dude's talent, the hand quickness, hand-eye coordination, plate-coverage, fearless demeanor, the speed to leg out a ton of "cheap" grounders, AR should be hitting .300 with his eyes closed…. with enough bad & mediocre pitchers around in MLB hanging enough 2-0 get me over cookies for Ramirez to hit 15-20 line-drive HR into LF-LCF at the Cell. In the 2-hole, with Eaton on base, opposing pitcher distracted, pitching out of the stretch and infield pulled up, all Alexei would be asked to do is punch a ton of soft liners & grounders to RF to spark rallies with big boppers coming up. Easy. Or rather, it would be easy if he didn't try to complicate everything. Enter long-loopy uppercut overswing galore, resulting in JoeCredePopsItUp to first-base coach box. And defensively, don't even get me started: that much range, arm-strength, aggressiveness = all the makings of a potential Gold Glover. Even UZR used to agree FWIW. But because mentally he goes to the proverbial zoo, fumbles routine grounders, takes horrendous angles, awful footwork, terrible positioning on outfield relay throws…and is a giant p*ssy when it comes to any contact around the 2B bag, which leads to a ton of would-be Caught Stealing ending with a SB or error unfairly charged to Sox catcher…… Terrible jumps on bases at times, not paying attention as a baserunner, either. Basically: I wonder if it's really worth it anymore given the 10+ million dollars a year price tag going forward. At 26 and making just 1.5 mill per, there was a chance Alexei would get acclimated to MLB, get coached up a bit and try to improve if only to earn himself a big contract. But now at 32 or whatever he is, maybe that's all we get. Between dealing Ramirez and Dunn, Rick Hahn could free up some 25 mill to play around with next off-season. I'd love for Sox to acquire a true #2 starter so that Quintana-Danks-Johnson can slide back to more comfortable 3-4-5 roles. After the 2003-2004-2006-2009-2012 5th starter debacles that killed the playoff chances, would be nice to have a veteran stabilizing presence back end of the rotation starter insurance. And a few spare affordable Jesse Crains to beef up the pen. Plus raises and arbitration. Nothing fancy. Then again, wouldn't surprise me if both of those dudes bounce back in 2014, stranger things have happened before. Dunn certainly has the financial incentive as a FA to, you know, "pick up a bat" in the off-season and whatnot I wouldn't put 2012 on the 5th starter woes. All of our starters just wore down the in the last month or so, particularly Sale and Quintana, and the hitting all went south at about the same time. Liriano was one of the Top 5-10 pitchers in the NL this past season, going to a primarily two-seam sinking fastball/defense reliant scheme. 2003, yeah, we should have picked up Kenny Rogers and we would have won the division. 2006, we were six starters deep with Contreras/Buehrle/Garcia/Garland/Javy/McCarthy. The pitching wore down again (most blame it on the playoff run in 2005 and WBC), Jenks got hurt...the hitting also collapsed in the 2nd half of that season and Minnesota and Detroit were just too good, then you have the CF/Mackowiak disaster.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 04:10 PM) Guess who. Not exactly Little Miss Sunshine anymore. First the little girl from Spy Kids (A. Vega) in Machete Kills, now this. She looks like a leftover from the cast of Gattaca or that horrible Justin Timberlake flick with Amanda Seyfried, "In Time." That scene from Blue is the Warmest Color puts Chloe Sevigny to shame, FWIW.

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 08:57 PM) With the way Rick Hahn has been making trades, I've been able to take a look at all possible available catchers in baseball and say to myself, wow, I think Rick could make it happen. Nice to feel this way. Anyway, who's your 1 target and what are you going to give up to get him? Mine's Jonathan Lucroy, MIL C Signed through 2016, Club Option for 2017, $5 million/season at its most expensive. Big power, not over the hill. Don't know much about his defense or pitch calling honestly. Trade Bait: Dunn (Power 1B for one season, reasonable $, Sox could cover some) John Danks Beckham Alexi Quintana C Hawkins Mitchell Rienzo Not sure what it might take, but it will take a lot, but I would pay a lot for Lucroy. Thoughts? Trading Hawkins at this point would be crazy. They need to give him at least another 1 1/2 years...because he was looking to be on course to be a future superstar one year ago at this time.

Viciedo isn't going into free agency. Gillaspie's going to have to look like an All-Star and Davidson completely tank in Spring Training for Conor to keep that job....and only for the first 2-3 months of the season, in all likelihood. I still think the key to this team is going to be up the middle....now that we have Eaton, that's one area addressed. Then you're going to need long-term stability from catcher, 2B and SS, which means they have to decide what to do with Leury Garcia, Semien (obviously 2B or SS now, not 3B), Carlos Sanchez and Micah Johnson would seem to be ticketed for 2B although he could still end up in CF or LF (similar to Alexei Ramirez when he joined the Sox in 2008, minus the ability to play SS). And getting the best return for Alexei Ramirez if they do decide to trade him. Last year at this time, he was looking like a salary dump. Now, he's got at least some value...maybe not Carlos Martinez or Wong from the Cardinals, but you can get more back for him that Rios, for example. Finally, probably not the worst thing to keep Keppinger around and hope for a bounceback, but it's going to be hard to imagine him getting much playing time unless Davidson doesn't make the team out of Spring Training or Beckham gets hurt again.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 08:48 AM) I cant remember from the book, the movies do terrible jobs telling the story. In the first one, why did they all of a sudden love the food on the train? Or why was everyone dressed so weird. Apparently the director forgot about the whole "narration" part of the book. And go ahead and stop now, the third book is 100% trash. They really went over the top with Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks. Lenny Kravitz is the only one who feels at least in the same ballpark as the book.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 09:05 AM) If they somehow get someone to take Dunn off their hands (they are actively trying) then they have some money to play with. I guess in that scenario, DeAza and Viciedo would split LF and 1B/DH would be shared among DeAza/Viciedo/Konerko/Abreu/Davidson/Garcia and possibly Gillaspie. Just don't see them dealing Dunn until midseason, and, if he's going great and the Sox are actually in contention...they might be better off just holding onto him. Obviously, there are a lot of other factors at play.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 08:49 AM) I think Hahn is brining in someone to compete. I personally like Jones as the set up man. I would be pretty shocked if they were willing to pay anyone much higher than Lindstrom to come in...actually, I would have preferred had they just let Lindstrom go, brought in one of those closers from the list along with a LHR and filled the back end with our minor leaguers. Chris Perez is another name that might be of interest...I know there are character issues. Can't believe K-Rod is only 31. But too much wear and tear on him. Rodney will drive everyone crazy, but Cooper might be a believer. Marmol, no way.

$20 million for Gavin Floyd when he might only pitch a season a half and wasn't exactly an All-Star the last 2-3 seasons isn't exactly a huge bargain for the Orioles. It is interesting because that's his hometown region and everyone assumed he would end up in BALT eventually, but he preferred the NL and the Braves' track record with pitchers. Maybe the only way to reach those incentives was pitching 200 or at least 150+ or 175+ innings in 2014 and 2015.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 05:17 AM) Go look at what Semien just produced at the same age at the same level as Williams(1990), I'm not the originator of that comp, Matt Garrioch from Minor League ball is. God forbid sox fans dream a little bit about an offensive product from their system. That's fine. But you're talking about an outfielder (CFer) that had 2,336 career hits and is a borderline Hall of Famer because he played for the Yankees. I would love to have a middle infielder who could hit 19 homers per year for 15 years, but I wouldn't be counting on it. The latest position players we've produced from our system....are? Chris Young. Chris Carter, who's really a DH masquerading as a 1B. Gordon Beckham. Brent Morel. Josh Phegley. Chris Getz. We can dream about Viciedo, Davidson, Eaton, Abreu and Garcia. That's enough for me, for now. And hopefully a catcher to get excited about someday, too.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 03:05 AM) I think Semien will be an above average defender at the keystone and hopefully he can deliver on his comps of Marcus Giles / Ray Durham / Bernie Williams as a hitter. Eaton and Semien back to back at the top of the order excites me. Bernie Williams? REALLY? C'mon, that guy and Semien don't belong in the same conversation. And this was written by Dan Hayes before the Davidson move...with Davidson, you're going from 26 (Gillaspie) to 23, and Flowers to Phegley 28 to 26. That's something like another .5555, so you'd be around 26.66 as the average age, not counting the possibility of trading Dunn or Ramirez. Then, you add in a Semien/L. Garcia/Sanchez for Beckham, you're very close to having the same average age of team as the Astros coming in 2013. All youth can lead to a long season for a manager. A lack of experience similar to the Houston Astros, whose average non-position player was 25.8 years old in 2013, can lose to 111 losses in a heartbeat. Last season the average age of the players in the White Sox opening day lineup was 30.22 years. That figure slipped by the end of the season after Alex Rios was traded and Keppinger began to see less playing time with Conor Gillaspie, Marcus Semien, Leury Garcia and Avisail Garcia taking over. But the White Sox have managed to get even younger this season. With the additions of Eaton, who will be 25, Avisail Garcia (22), Abreu (27), the White Sox would have an average opening day age of 27.22 assuming Tyler Flowers (28) and Dayan Viciedo (25) get the start.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 03:38 AM) If Hahn can get Grandal from the padres that would be huge, Hedges should make it to the show later this year and the projections expect Hundley to produce roughly the same WAR as last season. looking at the padres roster and farm it would appear they need MLReady starting pitching, and a solution at 2B/3B shortly. I think Headley fully intends to test the FA market seeing how thin third base is around baseball. Gyorko can slide over to 3B or remain at second depending on what they do. Their farm has a lot of nice arms and Hedges a few older OF bats in the low minors and Jace Peterson a good looking albeit old for his league SS that should be starting AA this year. I would think the sox would have to offer up something like E & M Johnson or Sanchez, flowers or phegley and maybe someone like Barnum. Or prospects the sox acquire by moving De Aza and Beckham. You can't afford to trade Johnson since he's most likely your #5 starter and seems to have a much higher upside than Rienzo. Flowers or Phegley won't do anything in terms of sparking an interest, and neither will Micah Johnson or Carlos Sanchez. Trading Barnum coming off a disappointing/injury-plagued year would be silly. In the long-term, you still need big LH bats to replace Dunn, and he's one of the best bets, at least in our system (at the moment). If it was Rienzo, and Semien, you could get it done, but that's going to be considered an overpay by most. However, if you made it Rienzo, M. Johnson/Sanchez and prospects acquired from a DeAza deal, you might have a chance, but taking Semien off the board would probably doom that trade.