caulfield12

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 07:50 PM) I am kind of drunk, but Salty signed with the Marlins. Are you thinking of Ryan Hanigan? Yeah, I knew it was a Florida team, haha. Whoever the Rays acquire, they always seem to turn into a platoon or utility sub extraordinare or near All-Star caliber player.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 07:45 PM) Some insight into why he released http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgersnow/l...y#axzz2mdUBTGu6 It will be interesting to see how Ventura handles this type of situation....players who are chronically late, especially for day games.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) He was a murderer and war criminal that got a free pass. Couldn't you say that about every American president who has allowed the assassination of foreign leaders through the auspices of the CIA? You could make the same case against George W. Bush. Pretty amazing timing that a movie about his life is coming out this weekend starring Idris Elba (Thor/Pacific Rim) and Naomie Harris (the last James Bond movie/Moneypenny).

It's a little bit puzzling to bring in Belisario when we already have Jones and Lindstrom. We're more in need of someone to replace Thornton at the moment. If you reallocated that $5.5 million they've just spent on Konerko and Belisario, you'd have the makings of a fairly decent veteran catcher somewhere between Soto and Navarro (Salty signed for $7 million per season as well, and fits into that "youngish" player who would be able to contribute in 2015 and 2016). And you just know somehow that Salty signing will work out for the Rays...with a few exceptions, they've been very astute with their limited free agent budgets in the last decade. Pat Burrell was one of the few that backfired.

Do they really believe this is going to sell any more season tickets or keep existing season ticket holders in the fold? To the tune of a $2.5 million difference? (And possibly more, if it forces Dunn or Keppinger off the roster to the cost of an additional $4-8 million.)

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 02:07 AM) He will have a very good year. You heard it here first. Thank goodness he's back. Gives me a reason to watch this pathetic team and maybe buy mlb.com again. Don't flame me, but can Dunn play left field? I'd rather see a platoon of Dunn/Viciedo out there. Let DeAza play center and Garcia right. Abreu DH. Can Abreu play LF? NO. NO.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 11:30 PM) Who is this young, versatile player you speak of? We don't want Semien on the bench and Garcia can still have a spot on the bench. Theoretically, Leury Garcia. (If you have Danks, Konerko, Keppinger and Phegley/Flowers). Although you can surely make the argument at least that he would be better off playing ONE specific position at Charlotte (SS, 2B or CF) than playing all over the field as a defensive replacement/PR at the major league level.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/12/01/the-side...ay-have-missed/ Top that, Ryan Gosling!!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 03:27 PM) It depends on how you define "Worth it". I don't see the Red Sox giving back the 2 world series trophies they won with Manroid Ramiroid on their roster, and I don't see the Yankees giving back the trophy they won with ARoid, Texeira, and Captain Cheeseburger on their roster. I think those world series titles probably generated enough revenue for those teams to more than offset the costs associated with the years at the end of those contracts. If David Ortiz ever had a $150+ million million deal, you'd have to consider from the Red Sox perspective that it was definitely worth it as well, in line with the Jeter deal with the Yanks. You can't argue with 3 World Series titles from 2004-2013 when that franchise had gone 80-90 years without one.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 03:23 PM) Despaigne I wouldn't mind if he defects in the next couple years. Gourriel is already going to be 30 years old in June. Yeah, I would only take Gourriel on a 3 year deal (maybe options for Year 4) to replace Alexei when the right time comes along. The problem is that he's an "All In/Win Now" type of acquisition that we're 1-2 years away from needing or adding.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) Brian Omogrosso threw 21 innings in 2012. I'm just going to ignore that. Frankly, I think managers prefer having veterans so that someone else can basically help them with the transition into the majors. I doubt Leury is going to get screwed out of this because he'll likely report to AAA. I wouldn't mind a veteran, but a veteran catcher fills a very narrow need. Frankly, Konerko is a backup to 2 guys, so he'll have more use as a player, while a backup catcher would be a backup to 1. That's why I feel that having a strong catcher's coach or mentor or whatever you want to call it is important. And the bullpen in 2012 featured Brett Myers and Matt Thornton as well. There was a veteran presence. That's about the only one I can think of too, and it's debateable to as whether or not he's even been worth it. Mark Parent is a former catcher. I know he's the bench coach, but I'm not exactly clear how influential he is or has been with catching position. If he has been working extensively with those guys, whatever he's doing isn't working so far.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 03:18 PM) I wonder if we see the Sox jump in here again? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...rticle_64382786 Despaigne or Gourriel would be the ones I would be most interested in...

One of the worst kept secrets about Batman Vs. Superman is that it would feature a cameo by Wonder Woman. A Wonder Woman who will not be played by Jaimie Alexander because apparently even her breasts are too big for whatever the hell they’re trying to do here. Variety reports: Gal Gadot will play Wonder Woman in the untitled “Batman vs. Superman” movie. … "Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character,”" Snyder said. thesuperficial.com Funny, with all the F&F talk, here's yet another connection, with Gal Gadot dying in that series only to end up as Wonder Woman, and Jaimie Alexander PROBABLY being blocked from the role since she's ALREADY Sif in Thor, shooting conflicts with Avengers 2...we'll see how it works out. There's also talk of a stand-alone Sif movie, although recent fiascos like Cat Woman and Elektra might be scaring some studios. At least they didn't go with Megan Fox, simply because she looks the most similar to Lynda Carter in terms of appearance and body style.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 02:48 PM) I assure you, people know who Konerko was. Guys who hit .280 with over 40 homers for a career (or whatever it was) get recognized. He was just never a superstar type player. You don't need those players to have a good team. You just need good players. Has there been a contract of more than $150 million given out to a player that the originating team didn't regret at some point in time? Maybe for Derek Jeter? Although that long contract had its moments in recent years as well. But I'm pretty sure the Yankees have never regretted that investment, all things considered. It's also one of the reasons they're shying away from a HUGE Cano deal. They don't want to set a precedent by paying Cano more than Jeter's long term contract, even though times have changed quite a bit.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 02:50 PM) I didn't say a lot of value - you can probably get Brandon Jacobs for him. But how could they have brought him back if the team acquiring him did so with intentions of picking up his option? The team feels like a veteran presence in the bullpen is necessary, and Lindstrom has done it for a long time. Come July, he may approach the team about being dealt to a possible contender. I'm sure the team will happily oblige. I just don't think it matters all that much...heck, Omogrosso in 2012 was probably better than Lindstrom last season. That's where you get into this argument about veteran guys like Lindstrom or Konerko taking time from other players in the organization. It's a Catch-22. Is there more value in his "veteran presence" or being able to trade him at the deadline...or giving more opportunities in that 7th inning role to a Daniel Webb? Is Leury Garcia going to get screwed over by the Konerko move...or is it better for him to be playing everyday at Charlotte with Semien? If there's any place on the roster that's BEGGING for veteran leadership, it's at catcher, where we have NOBODY that can even make a claim on the position in AA or AAA. I would rather spend $4-5 million there any day of the week than on a middle reliever. 2012 showed that could still succeed without a ton of veterans contributing in the bullpen, other than Jesse Crain. For all intents and purposes, Matt Thornton was already a shade of his former self by then and they still did just fine for the majority of the season with about 10 rookies filling roles down there.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) Then blow this team up. Like I said, we really have no elite propsects in our system unless Hawkins figures some s*** out and he's still a couple years away best case scenario. Therefore, this team isn't going to be able to develop the impact bat(s) it needs to be competitive anytime soon. Wasting the cost-controlled years of our young pitching is the dumbest thing we could do right now. So either buy some offense to support them or trade them off to the highest bidders and go full rebuild. And I'm fine with 2014 being a transitional year, but I'm not sure how they plan to get signicantly better by next offseason if we don't start addressing major needs now. One of the reasons the Yankees are shying away from Cano is that they don't view him as a player with the same marquee value/puts butts in the seat superstar in the same way as a Jeter or even Alex Rodriguez. Is it fair to judge that impact based on what happened with the Yankees last season in the absence of those two, in terms of diminished revenue and fewer tickets sold? Maybe. But Cano's in that second tier of superstars that would be the type of player that the White Sox really can't affor to add unless they get to the point where they're just 2-3 players away and they know exactly which positions they need to upgrade. Right now, betting fans would put money on Abreu and Avisail Garcia as the most likely players from the Opening Day 2014 roster to be there again in 2015. Who would be next in likelihood? Probably Viciedo, and that's VERY iffy right now. So you're looking at replacing CF, DH, 3B, SS, 2B and catcher, once again, with the way things look now. Time and time again it has been proven that it's better almost every time when you have a chance to allocate $175 million over, let's say, 5 players....or just one, that the better choice is to sign 5 second tier guys. 2005 White Sox with AJ, Dye, Hermanson, Iguchi, El Duque (actually, I think he was the most expensive at the time, or possibly JD) and also adding Pods is basically the equivalent of signing Cano. Now some would argue that this is the Royals Way. It's the Royals Way because they usually pick the wrong veteran players. You can argue that the Red Sox have a much better core...but they did something similar when they added Uehara, Napoli (got a little lucky with the whole physical thing going sideways), Victorino, Gomes and Stephen Drew. That's another combination of players at the time that cost well under ONE Robinson Cano, a player whose skills will be deteriorating soon, if they haven't already. If Cano was 26-27 like Abreu, you could at least PONDER it. But not at age 30 or 31.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 02:28 PM) For the most part, they have. The only two players I can really think of that would have any real value on the trade market are Ramirez and Lindstrom that are not young, cost controlled players are. Beckham and De Aza can be traded or non-tendered, Danks, Keppinger and Dunn have no real value, and Viciedo is still young enough and valueless that there's no harm in giving him another year. Honestly, what's left after that? There's no need to deal Sale because the Sox still have him under team control for a long, long time. You can look to move or swap Quintana and Santiago, but there's no rush unless a great deal comes along. Don't you think they would have traded Lindstrom and then tried to bring him back again if he had a lot of value on the market?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 06:52 AM) Whatever they do at catcher is likely going to be boring and unspectacular. You're likely going to b**** no matter what happens. AJ Pierzynski was just traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for the rights to Gordon Beckham, Alex Rios, Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo. Ozzie Guillen named 3B coach, with free reign to provide post-game quotes. Paul Konerko named starter at DH. Joe Crede has just undergone a series of ultra-secretive back surgeries in Switzerland and will fight it out for the 3B job in spring training. Buehrle reacquired from the Jays, along with Colby Rasmus, for Marcus Semien, Eric Johnson, Daniel Webb, Carlos Sanchez and Jared Mitchell.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 12:43 AM) This diatribe is so off base. I don't care if you like bad s***. America likes bad s***. It's not about art house vs bad s***, it's about Ryan Gosling accepting being a part of a Happy Meal. Not going to happen. Johnny Depp and Robert Downey, Jr., certainly did. The Notebook is more or less a sanitized fruit and yogurt concoction at McDonald's. It's Nicholas Freaking Sparks, the definition of cheesy/sappy American romance novelists over the past 15 years. Crazy, Stupid, Love, with Steve Carell, Emma Stone and Julianne Moore...that was a bunch of A-Listers trying to recapture the magic of Little Miss Sunshine except with the obligatory Hollywood-ized feel good ending. Speaking of mainstream, so were Gangster Squad and Remember the Titans, a Disney movie if ever there was one. I will agree that he's spent the better part of a decade trying to burnish his credentials as the antithesis of The Notebook heart throb. Walker received $15 million for Fast Five and The Fast & Furious 6. I doubt Gosling would turn down $20+ million.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 11:59 PM) They wouldnt find an actor who looks similar to Walker to play his role. With the way the last movie ended they could possibly get the kid from Tokyo Drift back into it. Well, there's an obvious danger inherent in doing that...some would say it's being disrespectful, that you can't replace Paul Walker, etc., or attempt to fill his shoes. Then again, in movies like F&F, The Heat or Rush Hour, the strength of movie is the interplay between the two characters coming from two totally opposite backgrounds. Vin Diesel is the street-savvy East Coast guy, Walker is California cool with the blonde hair/blue eyes/pretty boy look. Does that work with Lucas Black? Not sure. Probably not. One of the things that worked with bringing the Rock into the series was simply the fact that he was a formidable obstacle and challenge for Vin Diesel to overcome. Then you had their "bromance" thing developing...the mutual respect forged from the battle they waged against the crime lord in Rio. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle it. Another option would be the police woman from Brazil who got close to Vin Diesel when he still thought Lettie was gone/dead.

It's not like I suggested Zac Efron or Freddie Prinze, Jr., lol. This whole thread is kind of amusing. I mean, there's this "I'm above watching F&F movies" based on ratings/reviews, etc. C'mon, I'm sure that many people who post on this thread and watch movies like THE ARTIST, Winter's Bone, Requiem for a Dream or the majority of Academy Award-nominated movies have also watched some of the F&F movies as well. The bottom line is whether a movie is entertaining or not, yes? For example, there are many weaknesses in the Gravity film, not only scientifically but dialogue-wise with Sandra Bullock's character, but is it a FUN/ENTERTAINING film to watch that gives some who will never experience the thrill of space a SOMEWHAT similar feeling? Sure. And because of Cameron's blessing and the presence of favorites Clooney and Bullock, it will undoubtedly be one of the Academy Award favorites as well, although that's 80-90% based on CGI/special effects/cinematography. You don't have to do 3 movies with Soderbergh to have credibility in Hollywood. Maybe it will be someone totally out of left field, like Mario Lopez or Mark Wahlberg. Who knows? Shia LeBouef, haha. The last couple of movies in the series have been HUGE HUGE HUGE successes, especially internationally. Just the fact that they're now on the 7th one should tell you something. And probably the best one of all, from a cinematic standpoint, Tokyo Drift, is the one the fewest people have seen, since it was pretty much straight to DVD. Bringing in Lucas Black to replace Walker might be the most logical move of all, if you look at the series arc. Just not sure he's a big enough star or name anymore to fill Walker's shoes. And his accent can get a bit wearying.

Just desperation (and perhaps frustration setting in with inactivity so far) to improve the catching position.

Marson was a very good defensive catcher for the Indians, but his offense leaves a lot to be desired.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 11:45 PM) Ryan Gosling? You can't be serious. There is no way in hell he does a Fast and Furious movie. I mean, come on man. You'd have to watch DRIVE first. There was a "Sons of Anarchy-esque" dark tone in that film. He can actually play against type pretty effectively. Or even Crazy, Stupid, Love. And, in terms of appearance, he's probably the closest....that Steve McQueen edge was the direction Paul Walker's career was going to go, according to those who were close to him.

And Freese saw his value or hype rise (artificially) due to his post-season success with StL. His numbers offensively (adjusted for the PEDS era) are similar to Crede offensively but the defensive abilities pretty much diametrically opposed.