caulfield12

Because Dunn's not going to be taking Adrian Gonzales or Ethier/Crawford's position away any time soon. The Dodgers have Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Nolasco and Capuano, who's essentially a cheaper version of Danks (2 years/$10 million, plus there are options if they want to keep him for 2014). So why would they want Danks over Ricky Nolasco, who's a FA after this season, and they already have another version of Danks in Chris Capuano for a much more affordable price and not stuck paying him for 3 more years. Why wouldn't they just go after David Price or give Tim Lincecum a one year deal with lots of incentives??

Let's not forget, the Dodgers had to start Juan Pierre for an extended period of time not too long ago....which, inexplicably, made him look more attractive to the White Sox. And they were paying Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez and Juan Pierre for doing nothing, too. The only holes they have in their line-up are essentially 3B (Uribe's been pretty decent this year) when Hanley Ramirez hasn't played there and 2B, where Skip Schumacher's serviceable but certainly not a star or maybe an everyday player on a lost of playoff rosters. At one point, Dee Gordon looked like he might be a starter, but that bus has already left the station. Actually, Gordon's the type of player the White Sox should/could look at as a replacement for Ramirez...probably he won't hit enough to field the position, but he could bring some needed speed and he's a capable defender.

Little known fact. Wacha was the sandwich pick for.....Mr. Albert Pujols. Not only did they save the franchise and themselves hundreds of millions, it appears they picked up another young ace in the process. How about those apples, Arte Moreno?

“I don’t care what the White Sox do,” Guillen said. “As a White Sox fan, they are always going to be No. 2, unfortunately, no matter what they do. It’s like the Cubs (are the team) in town. “You got the tape. One day (in 2008) I got mad and I’m like: ‘Why we got to be the b----? The Chicago B------.’ “Nobody’s going to change that. I don’t care if the White Sox win 10 World Series from now and the Cubs don’t win any. The Cubs are always going to be (the team). They say: ‘Well, the White Sox won three years ago. OK, but Cubs are going to win this year.’ That’s our mentality in Chicago.” https://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/ozzie-guill...s-want-cubs-job Later in the story, he was fairly conciliatory to Jerry, KW, Hahn, etc., having some nice things to say about the organization and also the 2005 team. The whole pretext of the article was the idea of Guillen managing the Cubs. “All my kids ask me that: Would you ever manage the Cubs if they asked?” Guillen said. “Hey, this is my business. This is my job. Of course I will. “If I win in this town…I don’t know what they’re going to think about Michael and Oprah and Phil Jackson.” “I was walking around with my wife a couple days ago and she asked me that,” Guillen said last month. “Can you picture winning with the Cubs? “Yeah, I can picture it, because I know how (to do it). I’d tell all my family in Venezuela: Get a passport and we’re moving to Chicago. Because I think that would be amazing. Whatever manager wins it for the Cubs, or whatever GM wins it for the Cubs or whoever wins that MVP, he (lives) forever, especially in this city. Because they’re so desperate, they’re so hungry and they’re so mad.”

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) His numbers aren't spectacular by any means but they are solid. Again from the ESPN insider article. "Many of last offseason's big free-agent hitters, including Josh Hamilton, B.J. Upton and Adam LaRoche, proved to be major disappointments these season. Many of the more defensive-minded signings, however, such as Michael Bourn, Shane Victorino and Russell Martin, played major roles in helping their respective teams to the playoffs. Many here have ached for BJ Upton how wouldv'e that worked out ? Are you expecting Loney to get some massive contract ? You'd really prefer a minor leaguer in the Sox system who the Sox showed no inclination to give any ML time to? I guess we'll see how it all works out . I've already bookmarked this thread for future reference . It's not the only position I want upgraded and I think a more team oriented game with more emphasis on pitching ,defense and stolen bases is the coming era of baseball. I'd like the Sox to be at the forefront. Trust me I love the 3 run HR. It's not that I want a recreation of the Go-Go Sox or don't realize we play in a HR hitters haven. Power bats are hard to find now I just want a reliable hitter with a good glove at as many positions as possible. I want better matchups against the right handed pitching dominace of our Central Division rivals. This s*** of the last year just doesn't fly with me. I wanted Indians to lose that playoff game because they kicked our asses 13 games in a row. I'm pissed I wanna beat the sons of b****es next year real bad. But I respect how they went about the changes. Strength up the middle. Bourne (speed and defense ) , Kipnis, Santana and a lot of lefties. Not greatness anywhere. Kipnis is elite for his position but not a true superstar like from the steroids era but the new style superstar , speed , defense , spray the ball all around the yard. Solid starters and bullpen. Yea I'm holding up Cleveland of all teams as an example of what the coming era is about. If you treat baseball more like the other sports the teams you want to beat are the ones in your own division. If you can beat them , the rest takes care of itself. The quickest way to get compeitive quickly is upgrading the talent level at a lot of positions to beat your division rivals. Also, like other sports , treat baseball as if there's a defensive side to it also. The information age is in its infancy in baseball but its coming. Players on defense will go into shifts for every hitter that comes to the dish. The Pirates defense in particular is getting praised for that now to some extent. Shape your team to beat the Central and the rest pretty much takes care of itself . I hate Cleveland like SS2k hates Detroit just because of what they did to the Sox this year. f*** Cleveland ! and f*** Detroit too. Rant over. Santana has a great (albeit inconsistent) bat, but he's Victor Martinez-esque defensively. And yeah, it's hard to find a leadoff guy/CFer. God knows, we've tried to draft or trade for 4-5 of them. Maybe Desmond Jennings would be available and is getting more expensive for the Rays, coming off a very disappointing year. There's just no way you chase after Carlos Gomez and overpay if you look at his whole career holistically and think of all of a sudden he's magically going to translate that to the AL.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 06:27 PM) Caulfield forgot Dioner Navarro!! I almost included him, lol. Remember he came from the Yankees, where he was a pretty hot prospect/top 10 guy. Elliot Johnson. Kelly Johnson. Jorge Cantu. Jhonny Gomes. Dan Johnson. Jason Bartlett.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 10:57 AM) Only a percentage of it does. The teams get to keep a decent percentage themselves. Can't remember exactly, something along the lines of 40% or more, with the rest being split/distributed evenly.

Does anyone believe Viciedo would have played so poorly from a defensive standpoint if he was on the Pittsburgh Pirates and had his head in every batter/at-bat because of the strategic positioning system they use?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 03:56 PM) He wouldn't be a goat if he did that. The problem is that the odds of him doing that are incredibly small. On top of that, the track record of Rays players leaving the team and underperforming or flat out sucking is extensive. Keppinger, Upton, Kotchman, hell, even Crawford have all been poor after leaving. I'm probably forgetting a few too. I don't know what it is they put in the water, but guys go crazy down there and then bomb elsewhere. That alone is more than reason enough for me to not want any of their fluky, 1 year wonder players. Carlos Pena also comes to mind...Baldelli, although that was more of a freak injury/illness situation. Delmon Young, I guess, did better once he left Tampa, overall. Manny Aybar. That Japanese infielder, Iwamura? Didn't one of the LaRoche's put up a good season or two for the Rays? It has definitely been true in terms of their relief corps. Anyone want to take Fernando Rodney as a closer and pray he'll do anything for them? Or Rafael Soriano. Farnsworth, etc. Howell. Baez.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:42 AM) I'd like to see Viciedo get one full season at third, to see if he could become a decent defender. He has that strong arm, and he seems reasonably sure handed. His physical skill set is really suited better for 3B than LF. That would solve the offensive problem at third, and open LF up for another good hitter. I don't remember, was he that bad when he had a little playing time at the hot corner? Been there, done that. They felt he was worse than Teahen, even.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:32 AM) And this has what to do with the average price versus section by section. Sox upper reserved seats for 2012 alds were $45. Regular cost was as high as $30. But scout seats were $300 in the alds, while they are $285 for regular season. Priced determined by MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. I'm just refuting your earlier point. MLB only sets the World Series ticket prices...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 09:02 AM) Yep, that was one of the three things they showed on the graphic when they were reviewing it. I thought it was a terrible non call, the fans clearly reached over the yellow line and obstructed Reddicks ability to catch the ball. That being said, the A's had bases loaded with no outs the very next inning and didnt score. Cant pin that on the fans Puig would have had it. So it's now one of the top 3-5 interference calls/non-calls of all-time, along with Bartman and Jeffrey Maier (Yankees/Orioles).

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:10 AM) "Average price" is misleading as the premium sections skew the model. Pittsburgh has $20 standing room and $25 upper level seats. You need to compare the prices to regular season tix at the price levels. Not as a whole. Major League Baseball spokesman Matt Bourne said that the league recommends a series of postseason ticket percentage increases based on a team's regular-season ticket price. The teams themselves, however, are responsible for setting those ticket prices for the division and championship series. The league sets the World Series prices unilaterally.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:06 AM) Priced determined by MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. Also, not all teams have 50,000 seats like la or Atlanta. Those teams charge less due to larger capacities. Pittsburgh had $20 standing room tix for the wild card and NLDS games. With Major League Baseball’s postseason set to start, fans of the 10 teams still in contention for a World Series title are scooping up tickets. But with a limited number of games and high demand, ticket buyers must pay a hefty premium for postseason seats. TiqIQ determined how much the average postseason ticket costs, both in dollars and as a premium relative to regular season prices. On average, tickets for the National League Division Series are nearly twice as expensive as in the regular season. In the American League, they are more than two and a half times as costly. Tickets for a Cleveland Indians game during the Division Series cost nearly 700 percent more than the regular season. The enthusiasm of a team’s fanbase, TiqIQ’s Jesse Lawrence explained, often drives up how much the team is able to charge in the postseason. Boston has some of the most fervent fans in sports, Lawrence said, which helps boost Fenway’s prices considerably. Adding to the demand, he noted, “It has been six years since Boston won the World Series. Fans are rushing back in, especially after last year, which was a disaster. Now, they’re one of the favorites to win the World Series. I think that level of enthusiasm has really driven up prices.” [More from 24/7 Wall St.: States that drink the most beer] While baseball’s big names do not drive fans to games in the same way as in other sports, such as basketball, Lawrence noted that star players can still increase fan excitement and therefore ticket premiums for postseason baseball. Dodgers’ rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig’s meteoric rise to stardom has likely contributed to fans’ enthusiasm this season, Lawrence added. A team’s fanbase will often pay a larger premium in the postseason when it has lacked success for a long time. The Pittsburgh Pirates last made the postseason 21 years ago, and fans will pay a massive premium to watch a postseason game. Cleveland, which has the highest premium in the postseason, hasn’t won a World Series since 1948. While fans may be willing to pay these prices to watch their teams play postseason games, unfortunately, many won’t be able to go to the games. Under baseball’s current format, there are four Wild Card teams, yet only two will advance beyond the single-elimination game held in each league. Fans of the two teams hosting Wild Card games, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, will have to pay premiums of 281 percent and 427 percent, respectively, to attend these games. While fan enthusiasm plays a major role in setting the ticket prices, the availability of seats is also an important factor. “It’s an issue of simple supply and demand,” explained Lawrence. “If you increase demand on top of constricted supply, prices go up.” Boston and Pittsburgh, two of the teams charging the highest average dollar amount for Division Series games, have fairly small stadiums, with a total capacity of under 40,000 seats each. [More from 24/7 Wall St.: Cities Paying the Most for Sports Teams] Using data provided by TiqIQ, 24/7 Wall St. compared the premiums for the average Division Series ticket to that team’s regular season ticket price. All prices are as of October 1. Not all teams selling Division Series tickets will advance past their league’s Wild Card game to the next round. In addition, we reviewed stadium capacity, average home attendance, and win-loss records for the regular season, all obtained from ESPN. Previous postseason records came from baseball-reference.com. All price estimates are subject to change.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 08:07 AM) He hit cleanup 19 times for Tampa in 2012. Strange about him hitting Kep cleanup against righties though. That's silly. Maybe he would put Beckham there. Tim or Gordon? Funny, same last names, picked around the same place in the first round, both major busts/disappointments.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 06:33 AM) A. Garcia is not a center fielder. With his arm, he could become a very good right fielder. This is the time to let him hone his defensive skills in RF. I wouldn't even mind letting Jordan Danks play a year in CF. He's a very good defensive outfielder, and could be at least a stop gap. If they can land Abreu, and sign a big left handed bat to hit in the middle of the order, the Sox might not need much offense out of their center fielder. If they replace A. D. A. with that big LH bat in left, and they can get by with Semien leading off, the offense could be respectable. Could de Aza, Ramirez and Santiago net a middle of the order left handed bat, who could play LF? I know many of you would like to pursue McCann, but I'm not nearly as enthused about that option. I prefer the emphasis on defense behind the plate. Pitch calling is going to continue to be very important for our young pitching staff. Why not look for offense, at the typical offensive positions? RF, 1B, DH, LF, and 3B are the spots where they can try to create the heart of the order. Garcia, Abreu, Dunn and whoever plays LF and 3B might accomplish that. Any suggestions for LF and third base? I would have said Chase Headley as a free agent, after next season, but he kind of fizzled. Logic dictates they find offense from both 1B and LF. Since they're probably NOT going to fill both positions via free agency, and because they're still relatively confident in Viciedo as a hitter...they might buy someone on the cheap (names like Matt Joyce or Brennan Boesch come to mind) and put Dayan at 1B. I'll believe it when I see it...in terms of buying 2-3 expensive free agents on the open market. Not that I like that....but I'd rather buy low on Matt Joyce than do what the Mariners did, with all the veterans they brought in, like Bay, Morse and Ibanez that weren't/aren't going to be part of the future, just placeholders or roster spots. Maybe, maybe Morse...who fits into that Corey Hart category.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 03:45 PM) As I recall he was predicting the inevitable turning on Phegley if he didn't hit. Maybe it was a combination...that he was unlikely to hit very well, and probably would join the list of disappointing prospects...rather than busting out as a stud. Actually, he was pretty darned good his first couple of weeks. It was only later that he fell apart and became the suspect Balta projected.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 03:54 PM) I want Garcia in RF no if ands or buts. Stick him there for the next 5 years and forget about him. Its the 1 position on the team that doesn't need to be dealt with. Do whatever you have to do to get a true CF'er, and not some BODY like Granderson. We have the payroll flexibilty to wheel and deal. Ideally starters should stick to one position. Your bench is for flexilbity. You can surely wait on Granderson, and if he signs early with someone for big bucks then you haven't lost much anyway. He's not a true CF'er, he's coming off injuries that sap power . Wait and if you can't get what you should be looking for , take a chance on him for diminished deniro. You mean his career choices the last 10-15 years. Dinero, haha.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 07:45 AM) playoff ticket sales are handled by MLB. Teams only get a cut of the money. The real money is in media rights now. As for baker, he sucks. That's why he got fired. 2010: swept by the phillies 2012: lost THREE GAMES IN A ROW AT HOME AFTER WINNING THE FIRST TWO ON THE ROAD. to a s***ty giants team. 2013: simply WATCHED as his starter got unglued by heckling fans. Proceeded to lose the one game playoff. Need I say more? http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/1...yoff-tickets/3/ The five most expensive (in terms of premium over regular season prices) will surprise you. 5. Oakland, avg. $167 203% premium 4. Boston, avg. $329 227% premium 3. Cincy, avg. $150 234% premium 2. Pirates, avg. $322 532% premium 1. Indians, avg. $461 697% premium The Reds and A's are also considered small market teams....so you can see the strategies for those ownership groups. The Indians and Pirates really gouged their fans, counting on making up revenue from the regular season from the pent up demand for playoff baseball tickets. 7. Tampa Bay Rays > Premium: 185% > Division Series avg. price: $154 Dodgers' tickets were only $14 more than Rays' tickets. Cardinals, Braves and Tigers charged the lowest premiums vis a vis regular season ticket prices.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Oct 9, 2013 -> 01:22 AM) I was at the game. Some players flung their gloves like they were trying to hit a catwalk. I hope I never see Joyce take another AB in a Rays uniform. i think joyce had something like 4 homers and 12 or 15 RBI's the entire second half which makes him the perfect White Sox "buy low" candidate based on our usual operating history

I'll stick with Malcolm Gladwell, lol. Well....there are four players on the Rays roster (none of them are superutility guys like Sean Rodriguez or Elliot Johnson) we could definitely take serious looks at. 1) Fernando Rodney on a sign and trade move, especially if we deal Reed...or just because he might not get a contract as a closer the way this season is ending for him 2) Matt Joyce as a 4th outfielder or possibly they could try him at 1B as a cheap alternative to other more expensive firstbasemen on the market....or maybe Viciedo moves to 1B and Joyce is your leftfielder...he ended the season in such a funk he'd be cheaper than Beckham probably 3) Jose Molina as back-up catcher/veteran presence 4) James Loney

Oakland will now be 1-11 in playoff games with a chance to clinch since the divisional series format started. Whereas DET is 4-0 under Leyland when facing elimination.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 07:35 AM) He's played 207.2 innings out there. That's a sample size of 23 games. Fangraphs suggests that it takes 3 years worth of data for fielding metrics to become statistically significant, which is roughly the equivalent of 450 games. Currently, we have 5.1% of the suggested amount of relevant information. To compare this to something more tangible, this is like watching 31 at bats of a minor league hitter and declaring "HE CAN'T HIT." (of course, knowing this group, that sounds about right) Balta declared Phegley can't (or wouldn't) hit with 0 at-bats, lol. Of course, the argument's going to be that Austin Jackson is so good in CF for the Tigers that Garcia never had a chance to show off all this tools for the Tigers. Whereas Jackson and DeAza don't belong in the same sentence, except on the striking out size of things.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 09:53 PM) Uh oh, the best centerfielder playing right field in the history of the game just played a double into a triple Seems he also hit a double to get into scoring position for Uribe's homer...which would have been a single for about 90% of MLB hitters. So there's that. If he wasn't on second, Uribe wouldn't have failed on two bunt attempts in a row and probably would have struck out trying to tie the game all by himself instead of just making contact to move the runner to 3rd with one out. 8 for 17, 5 runs scored, a double, 2 RBI's and a huge momentum-changing outfield assist. I think most MLB teams would prefer to have him on their side than try to beat him. And the ball the runner on 3rd scored on, the single to CF, would have scored 90% of MLB runners from 2nd base.

More arguments for replay. Just handed the game to the Red Sox, basically. Doubt that call EVER goes against Boston in such a life-and-death situation (they only let balls go through their legs like Gaffe-anino).