caulfield12

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 08:06 AM) How should Hahn fix the White Sox? By not doing anything dumb between now and Opening Day 2015. No Band-Aid approach. Keep making smart trades for good prospects who have brains Don't sign anyone over 30 to a deal for more than two years Poach some scouts/player development people from other organizations that know what they're doing. Get a real manager after 2014 when Reinsdorf will let him I'd say the limit for a player 30-35 should be 3 years and 35+ should be two years. Of course, that wipes out Ellsbury and Choo. Maybe you can sign McCann or Morales to three year deals....or two, with club or mutual options. And it looks like we're on the outside looking in as far as the Abreu deal goes. Weird that ESPN hasn't been covering it much...

"The talent in this organization will do all the convincing that we need," Epstein contends. Until his firing, Sveum was under the impression he would get to manage that talent and planned to attend a few Arizona Fall League games to take more than a peek at the Cubs' top prospects. But that illustrates the commitment that will be needed to teach players as much, if not more, than manage a game. Despite the scouting reports, spray charts, videotape and the early work of Sveum and his staff, the Cubs still lost 96 games in 2013. More preparation is essential to help the development of Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Jeff Samardzija and Travis Wood. "There has to be a systematic approach," a veteran advance scout said. "You have to get across to the manager to buy into that 'Cubs Way' they preached. "The game has changed, but you don't stop teaching at the major league level. You can make players better defensively and make them better baserunners. Those are ways you teach players to win." But what about working deeper counts in hopes of getting a better pitch to hit, even if it means taking borderline pitches? "The difference between a borderline pitch and a good pitch to hit is two inches," the scout added. "It's easy to say that if you're not in the batter's box." And therein lies the juggling act of the next Cubs' manager — striking a balance in which young players improve, demonstrating strong teaching habits and leadership traits and executing the message of the front office. [email protected]

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 07:29 AM) "This is the End" is garbage. Total lowest common denominator movie. Me thinks Steve is nearly impossible to please. It's not Academy Award material, you have to go in with a certain mindset from the beginning. Besides, it has the Greg(KS) Seal of Approval.

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 02:40 AM) Beltran taking strike 3 in the 06 NLCS, collapse in 2007, and 20008, the Bernie Madoff, Harvey injury, etc the Mets had to have sold their souls to the devil in 1986. Jason Bay...Dwight Gooden and Strawberry drug problems, the "so so" new stadium (it's the equivalent of US Cellular 20 years later to most stadium architectural critics)...about the only thing that's gone well is Bill Buckner and David Wright. Lenny Dykstra's had his own set of legal issues related to the financial crisis that are eerily reminiscent of the Madoff/Wilpon ones.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 12:33 AM) Homie is supposed to have a crazy slider, splitter, and is getting a lot of ground ball outs. I'd love to roll the dice on him in place of Santiago or Q, using them as trade bait for a 3B. You catch my drift thou. The next two years will be really interesting. Hanh has payroll and roster flexibility. Game on. Things aren't really as bad as people think, IMO. Of course, the Devil's Advocate position is that all the bad contracts (Konerko this year, Danks, Dunn, Rios for 50-60% of his time with the Sox, arguably Ramirez now) are what put us in this difficult position. You have to be be very careful with Japanese pitchers. There's a long list of guys like Irabu, Dice K, Kei Igawa, etc., to go along with the success stories like Nomo, Iwakuma, Kuroda or Darvish (so far).

QUOTE (hi8is @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 12:11 AM) It's not that simple boys and girls. This year is an extremely different offseason, for two major reasons. One... Our payroll going into the offseason is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than in years past. I'm not that sure of the exact numbers but... Peavy +12M Konerko +12M Rios +12M Crain +3M Next year we've got, what... +15M from Dunn? Point being... We've got a lot of cash to play with this year or the next. We're also getting +25M from the TV deal. In the next two years, we're looking at least +80M I don't remember anytime in the past where we had this much payroll flexibility going into an offseason. If we trade Danks and or Alexi - that's even more money to rebuild or retool - whatever you chose or would like to call it. Either way, the coin is a coin... No matter which side you're hoping it to land on. Two... We've got a new GM at the helm who we really don't have a pulse on yet. Last offseason we weren't coming off a near 100 loss season... It was quite the opposite, remember? Who knows what this much flexibility in Hanh's hands will amount to. I can tell you this thou - it is a part of the plan... A plan that has been forming for the past few months. If it was me... I'm looking to let konerko go even if he doesn't retire... Sign Abreu or Morlaes... Sign Tanaka... Sign Salty or McCann... Trade Alexi for farm talent or a bench piece... Trade Quintana for a third baseman like Lowrie... I'd also give DeAza another year to pull his base running and defensive act together... He's a nice bat at the top and is on the cheap. You go into 2014 with what could be a formidable threat. CF - DeAza 3B - Lowrie 1B - Abreu RF - Garcia C - McCann LF - Tank DH - Dunn 2B - Beckham SS - Semien Sale Tanaka Danks Santiago Johnson Figure out the bullpen order with Reizno in there and put together a bench... Give it a shot in 2014 while still building towards 2015. Blast away. (edit - bats are better than bars.) They better do their "due diligence" if they're legitimately interested in Tanaka. Phenoms who get results based on command/control and not pure stuff over in Japan tend to fare poorly in the US. Would hate to see them commit Danks numbers to another pitcher who ends up as a 4/5 or not even in the rotation....and if you look at the wear and tear on his arm, well, one only needs to go back as far as Dice K to see how that story ended. You are making me hungry for Quizno's, lol. Reizno's must be their competitor.

This whole retooling thing is coming from having the core of the pitching staff in place....Sale, Quintana, Santiago, Danks, Johnson, Reed and Nate Jones. So that we're RETOOLING our starting line-up/offense but not rebuilding our entire team. The problem is that every one of our starters offensively has a laundry list of flaws and could be replaced as early as 2015...with the possible exception of Avisail Garcia. Of course, with the state of the minor league system, it's hard to say that "retooling" is all that's needed. It's the entire, systemic approach of the organization that's being questioned, other than pitching development.

I want the Pirates because their bench coach, Jeff Banister, was our manager in 1995 when we won the South Atlantic League championship with Augusta. That, and Pirates fans have been suffering for over two decades (Sid Bream/Terry Pendleton!) and it's one of those Rust Belt cities that deserves good things....well, unlike Cleveland and Detroit, haha. Finally, after reading the article about defensive positioning....they're showing the signs of a progressive organization that isn't trapped in Hawk Harrelson-ish "old school" baseball cliches. The adapted, they changed, they moved into the future, something I wish the White Sox would do more of. From most desired to least desired World Series winners... 1. Pirates 2. Dodgers (Puig Mania) 3. A's (so they'll get a new stadium deal finally) 4. Rays (I would have had them higher but with Price no longer dominant, can't imagine them getting far...beware Longoria in last game of the season though, my God...finally, of the small market franchises, the Gold Standard for success despite sub 20,000 in attendance on a nightly basis) 5. Cardinals (my favorite NL team growing up, you gotta admire 10/14 playoff appearances and how they've carried on without Pujols, the overall job Matheny and Mozeliak have done) 6. Braves (meh...don't want to see Greg Walker become a cult hero because it's their pitching that has carried them all season, kind of like Billy Beane's early 00's A's teams with Mulder, Hudson and Zito) 7. Red Sox 8. Tigers

Except the Billy Beane Cult will start up again if they win the World Series. Still, that would be better for baseball, and maybe get the A's a new stadium. Just wonder if the A's have enough offense with Moss, Cespedes and Donaldson. Reddick's had a disappointing year....still with Lowrie and Crisp, they've got some pesky hitters. That catcher Vogt, another example of a player who was available to every GM in baseball. White Sox were forcing Flowers into the catcher's position at that point, when he was released.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 09:27 PM) 2012 OPS+ Ramirez 75 Beckham 80 2013 OPS+ Ramirez 86 Beckham 87 All of Ramirez's "consistency" still didn't average out to better than Beckham over the season. Beckham has improved each of the past 2 seasons even while having surgery on his hand. While Ramirez bounced back from 2012, his power and ability to draw a walk seem to have left him. But the biggest thing pointing to the difference in value of the 2 players is that Ramirez makes about 3 times as much money as Beckham. I'm a very big fan of Semien. But neither his 32 games at AAA nor his 21 games in the majors (OPS+ 78) have proven that he's currently a better hitter at the major league level than Beckham. And I don't know anyone who suggests he's better defensively. Therein lies the problem with the White Sox. They haven't developed anyone to challenge most of their major league regulars. There are no better options to replace Viciedo or DeAza (no, Danks isn't a regular!) As far as the Beckham situation goes, it's more of a "change of scenery" situation where they might trade him for someone like Dustin Ackley to give him a fresh start. I don't know exactly what Gordon's going to get in arbitration, but it's probably going to be $4.5-5.5 million. At a certain point, giving that playing time to Semien if he's expected to be the regular in the long term makes more sense. I have no problem trading Ramirez simply because I don't think he's going to outperform the rest of his contract. They can play Beckham or Sanchez at SS, it really doesn't matter until 2015. Beckham ALSO regressed defensively in 2013...showed diminished range, and the fact of the matter is that 2B in today's game are expected to provide a lot more pop than the SS position. We're still used to that steroids era when you have all those guys like Tejada, Garciaparra, Tejada, Jeter, etc., putting up huge numbers, but it's shifted away from SS to 2B in terms of power. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a bigger difference between the average OPS at 2B and SS than between 3B and 2B. In other words, Beckham's just not getting the job done.

Detroit Tigers Need to Send Justin Verlander to Bullpen from yahoo contributor network COMMENTARY | When the Detroit Tigers made Justin Verlander the highest paid pitcher before the 2013 season, it appeared baseball's best starter was only going to get better. What the team has witnessed this year has been far from a dream: it's a terrible nightmare. Verlander has struggle for much of the year, earning a rough 13-12 record with a 3.66 ERA. Though he has 195 strikeouts, the 30-year-old has yet to find an out-pitch, five months into the season. Maybe it's fans having unrealistic expectations after a 24 win 2011 season capped off with the Cy Young award. Or maybe it's a pure example of a fireballer suffering from wear, tear, and age. But his latest showing, September 18 against the Seattle Mariners, takes the cake. Verlander lasted seven innings, but allowed three earned runs, including a solo homer to Justin Smoak, against a light-hitting Mariners team that won 8-0. With the playoffs just two weeks away, the Tigers will be forced to make some difficult decisions. It's time they start doing that now. Send Verlander to the bullpen. Two years ago, heck, even last year, this would've been a crazy idea. But Verlander has fell so far from those days that even the Tigers' fifth starter, Rick Porcello, has out-pitched him. If the postseason started today, there would have to be some serious consideration to choose Porcello over Verlander, especially with a stronger infield defense anchored by Jose Iglesias. Verlander hasn't been himself at all this season, and the playoffs are no time to try to regain his confidence and ability to overpower hitters with ease. Again, the proof that he's not himself is found in his recent outing against the Mariners. Offensively, Seattle ranks in the bottom nine amongst major league teams. Their .239 average ranks 27. Verlander allowed three walks in the shutout, something that's received attention with his command issues. The Tigers have been shutout 11 times this season. Four of those have occurred with Verlander on the mound. Sure, Verlander only controls one side of that spectrum with him never picking up a bat. He can't account for the run support teammates provide him with. But that's not the point. Verlander's still considered an ace, the type of pitcher whom gives his team an opportunity to win a game every five days. Yet, he hasn't done that consistently this season, as Max Scherzer has taken over that duty Sending Verlander to the bullpen before the playoffs begin could be exactly what he needs. Scherzer had a similar demotion in 2010, but was rather sent down to Toledo to work on his craft. He returned to Detroit a much better pitcher and continues to be on the verge of winning his 20th game. So far, Verlander has avoided that type of demotion, even during his awful 2008 season. Being baseball's highest paid pitcher and having 137 major league wins, bullpen duties might turn out to be an embarrassment, but it could help Verlander turn his game around. At this point, anything's worth a shot. The Tigers are now 3-9 in games started by Verlander since the All-Star break. If they want to make a deep postseason run, it's time the team considers making a change. Ricky Lindsay has followed the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball with a close eye from Metro Detroit for several years. He's currently the sports editor for his college newspaper, The Michigan Journal, where he covers the University of Michigan football team on Saturday afternoons from Ann Arbor. You can find him on Twitter @RLindz35.

Amazing game... Got to give credit to the rookie hanging in there all game long against Verlander. Lose this game and the A's are probably done.

There wasn't really a specific incident with Logan. It was more about maturity (well, that's expected when you pluck a kid from A ball and stick him in the big league team, that happens about once a decade, usually with pitchers/relievers)....that they didn't like his attitude/cockiness, he wasn't getting along well with the coaching staff and was resistant to make adjustments or listen to instruction, etc. Sort of the same issues the Sox had with Nick Swisher, basically.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 08:37 PM) lol. I've gone over to the Dick Allen side for now. It's more fun.

Guess Verlander's not taking too well to being skipped as the Game 1 starter. Ultimate competitor. Saw some articles saying that Verlander should be in the bullpen and his start should go to Porcello. Really?

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 07:55 PM) I remember when folks were jacked for the 1998 Godzilla and it turned into one POS I think that was the last time that "lead actress" every appeared in a movie, lol. Would rather have seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off 2 (minus the Cubs' scenes), War Games 2 or Election 2.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 11:44 AM) We could well see an Edwin Jackson type of career from Santiago. Frustrating flashes of absolute dominance mixed in with irritating 110 pitch, 5 walk, 6 strikeout, 2 hit, 4 inning outings, add up into a wide range of years, and get pitching coaches fired. Except we're not talking a Top 3 draft pick with millions invested in him. Don Cooper's not going to be fired because of him. Cooper couldn't work any magic with Francisco Liriano and nobody blinked an eye...the "legend" continued. I've been a huge Santiago fan from the very beginning, and, if anything, I'm sure he will likely be much more successful with another organization and make us look stupid when we undersell on him.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 07:50 PM) Thanks for reaffirming my point. But the thing is, you will spend the next two years (at least) complaining about Hahn/KW before any type of change is made. Might as well be optimistic they might stumble upon the right player. Some of the former stud prospects like Domonic Brown, Davis and Pedro Alvarez finally emerged as impact players this season...so maybe Viciedo, Beckham and Avisail Garcia will likewise start becoming the players they were projected to be.

Nobody saw Don Jon? That's the last movie that's ever going to make it through the censors here in Indonesia, so I'll have to wait until it's avail online.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 07:43 PM) Exactly. The Sox had the top "sealed bid" on the wrong guy. And so did 28 other teams. It was pretty much common knowledge from the very beginning that nobody was going to outspend Yankees' West. Lots of swing and misses. For the best GM's in the game. Like Mike Trout. Or picking up Chris Davis when he was available to practically every team in the league, etc. The last big time player we picked up was Quentin who had a huge impact on the offense.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) The other thing to consider though is that Ramirez will be making $9.5 million compared $3 million and change for Beckham. You're probably right in that Alexei has been the better player the last couple years on the merits of his defense (though he did lead the league in errors this year) and it remains to be seen what Beckham could do at SS. Both are very good defensively and together the best double play combo in baseball. As a hitter, Beckham has been better than Ramirez in each of the last 2 seasons (even while having wrist surgery during that time) and he's going in the right direction. To me it's something of a tossup as to who's the better player going forward. Ramirez has the edge defensively and Beckham offensively in my opinion. It does. Which is why I'd say both of those stats # of hits and # of outs are not extremely useful in isolation. They really are largely a function of who gets the most plate appearances. Pedroia puts up a great OBP which is what's important. The fact that he plays every game, hits at the top of the order, and plays for a team with a great offense and therefore gets more at bats per game are what puts him on that outs list. Edit: I didn't realize Ramirez is under contract for 2015 as well. Maybe that means start Semien in AAA, see if he can dominate there. Beckham was going in the right direction? Are you sure you didn't skip the second half of the season? Ramirez was a much more consistent offensive contributor this season than Ramirez. I'm sure 1/3rd of the fanbase is ready to non-tender Beckham, if not more. If Carlos Sanchez didn't fall back this past season, then Sanchez and/or Semien would be your starters in 2014 (were they to deal Ramirez).

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 04:45 PM) The Sox recent track record scouting hitters leaves me to believe that whatever their sealed bid is it will be way off. Like with Viciedo and Puig? They were in to the very last second on both of those guys. Cespedes, to a lesser extent. The only one they weren't pursuing hard was Soler.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 11:35 AM) Funny how terrible reporting is these days considering the lady killed was unarmed. Probably because there WERE shots fired... But yeah, it would have been accurate to phrase it differently...imminent threat/harm situation, I don't know how you'd put it, but when someone comes at the White House, they tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Because the one time they really let their guards down, is the time something terrible happens to the President or VP, etc.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 11:22 AM) Eric O' Flaherty or even Boone Logan would fit the bill. Boone Logan didn't leave the Sox on the greatest of terms. As long as KW's still around, don't see him coming back...any more likely than Jon Rauch coming back.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 09:01 AM) He didn't say anything remotely close to that Maybe if we trade for Joe Maddon and pay the Rays $30 million they'll also give us Dave Martinez?