caulfield12

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:36 PM) Freep Sports ‏@freepsports 7m #Tigers' Andy Dirks, Avisail Garcia are expendable for trade, according to an ESPN analyst. http://www.freep.com/article/20130708/SPOR...-avisail-garcia … Now who would they possibly want besides Jesse Crain? I don't think they would trust Reed, to be honest. Their weaknesses are C, 2B and LF, and the bullpen. And Infante has been better this season than 2012. They don't need Keppinger, as they have Ramon Santiago for that role.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:24 PM) Rios is close to having earned that money. The problem is the mysterious "one of the worst seasons in baseball history" in 2011 that really is a marvel in the middle of his career. If he'd been just "Bad" that season rather than "among the worst in baseball history" he'd have fully earned what the Sox have paid him. 2009 and 2011 still are sticking in everyone's "craw" as they say. That, and the lackadaisical play recently that's making it harder to trade him, not to mention the issues that he brought to the clubhouse by displacing Dye (blame that on KW, and also KW not completing the proposed Homer Bailey/Dye trade with some minor league prospects)...

Overall, I wouldn't agree that Rios has earned all the money the Sox have paid him since 2009. It hasn't been a coup by Kenny Williams, by any means. And, going forward, it's not a contract you want on the books unless you also bring back Peavy, Danks and Ramirez, among others.

Wow, I had no idea Josh Donaldson was traded by the Cubs for Harden (along with 3 other players, at the time, Gallagher being the centerpiece). Ooops. They could use a better 3B than Luis Valbuena, haha.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 08:03 AM) What makes you think Tim Anderson is "most likely ticketed for 2B/CF"? Your general impression of the list I agree with - better overall depth, but weaker on top without any elite names. The mixed results (at best) defensively so far and a preponderance of the scouting reports before and after the draft. That said, we all know that Derek Jeter made 50+ errors for Greensboro in 1993, so error totals in A ball don't matter quite so much because of the inferior fields/playing conditions/grounds crews. If he keeps this up going into AA, though, they'll have to look at a position change. Same with Micah Johnson.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 08:13 AM) I'm talking about guys already on the major league roster like Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn, and Dayan Viciedo. The other thing to take into consideration is that Ravelo missed the first 6 weeks of the season...(can't even remember what thread I'm in, lol)...going back and forth between Ravelo and Wilkins. I'm sure if Phegley gets hot, they're going to give him playing time at DH (and maybe 1B if he can play it) to keep his bat in the line-up, to make sure he doesn't wear down in July/August, and to give Dunn a break against LHPers from time to time. Assuming he keeps hitting, which we can't.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 07:54 AM) WTF? You're serious, you think that the audience in L.A. for the All Star Game will multiply by a factor of 4 if he gets in? I don't mean 75% of the entire city, obviously. Last year's game nationally was a 3.2. The year prior, it was 3.1. Maybe 75% is an exaggeration, but 25-50% probably isn't. I'd have to look at the All-Star game ratings in the LA market...well, it doesn't matter because there's no way to prove or disprove anything. That said, I'm sure if he DOESN'T make it, there will be articles in the LA Times on this issue.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 07:27 AM) @AllStarGame NL #FinalVote update 1. Freddie Freeman, ATL 2. Yasiel Puig, LA 3. Hunter Pence, SF 4. Ian Desmond, WSH 5. Adrian Gonzalez, LA Looks like the backlash has set in, and Puig might be splitting votes with Gonzalez. This has the potential to seriously backfire for MLB...if Puig doesn't get in, 50% of the interest in the game will evaporate and you'll lose 75% of the LA viewers who were going to tune in just for him (as opposed to Clayton Kershaw).

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 07:41 AM) Please don't make Courtney Hawkins #1. You could still make a very legitimate/credible argument for him. Erik Johnson will probably be the pick, but he's a very soft #1. Tim Anderson can't really be considered for #1 if he can't stick at SS (most likely ticketed for 2B/CF). Trayce Thompson, with how he's fallen off again back into the 240's, no way he can be #1, either. And he doesn't even have 10 homers yet this season. Our system is a LOT deeper than a year or two years ago, but not many standout, surefire major league All-Stars....Hawkins is still the one with the most potential to become a superstar/highest ceiling. Josh Phegley, even though he's now with the Sox, deserves to be recognized for a great half season, albeit not in the Top 5. Same with Micah Johnson.

Setting a tone Sveum: A. Ventura: D. With his trademark stubble and steel worker's eyes, Sveum sometimes looks like the dirtiest guy in the dugout. Ventura cleaned up well as a player and still does, which isn't great when his team is going down in flames and he seems headed to a cookout on his cul-de-sac. There was no visible sense of urgency during the 8-23 slide that took the White Sox from 24-24 and third place in the AL Central to oblivion, and that rests as much on the shoulders of the laid-back manager as the clubhouse missing its sandpaper guy, A.J. Pierzynski. Ventura missed a chance to make an example of Dayan Viciedo after a game last weekend when he threw to the wrong base and twice failed to hustle running the bases. This was in the first game of the doubleheader against the Indians. Viciedo didn't start the second game, but when quizzed by reporters Ventura explained that it was more about matchup numbers than punishment. Nobody yells in baseball anymore, and sometimes it's a shame. Sveum did a remarkable job by keeping the overmatched Cubs playing hard all last season, even after pitchers Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm were traded away at the deadline. That will be tougher this time around, with Jeff Samardzija's comments after the Scott Feldman trade an example. COMMITMENT Sveum: A. Ventura: D. You know Sveum is in it for the long haul, working to hang on to his job until the better teams are built. Ventura turned down a one-year contract extension last winter, saying he wanted to serve out this three-year contract before deciding if this is the life he wants for the long haul. "I wonder if Robin is motivated to be a part of a complete rebuild,'' an MLB executive said. "Maybe that's why he did not take the extension. They'll be bad for an extended period. He's such a winner, this might not be something he wants to endure'' Given the job demands that require 12-hour work days and the relentless nature of a 162-game schedule, it would be easy to understand if Ventura walked away. But White Sox GM Rick Hahn needs to resolve this question as soon as possible, not after the 2014 season. If the manager is taking a wait-and-see approach, it's easy for fans to follow that example. Final grade Sveum: B. Ventura: C. That's a high B for Sveum and a low C for Ventura, who probably didn't get too many of those while attending Oklahoma State. [email protected] http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...3.column?page=3 Judging managers mostly based on Pythagorean is SILLY and outdated, Phil. You've been doing it for more than a decade now.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 04:22 AM) Puig's teammate Hanley Ramirez has 26 fewer plate appearances thus far. Ramirez has scored 2 fewer runs, hit 1 more double, hit 1 more triple, hit 1 fewer home run, has 1 more RBI, 3 more walks, 1 fewer stolen base, 3 fewer caught stealings. Hanley's batting average is 1 point higher, his OBP is 13 points higher, his slugging percentage is 73 points higher, his OPS is 86 points higher than Puig's (1.200 to 1.114). There is zero talk about Hanley Ramirez being an All-Star. The line of demarcation for talk about being an All-Star therefore must be somewhere between 109 and 135 plate appearances? 1/2 of it is about being a rookie and doing all of this the first month of his big league career. 1/4 is the way he plays the game, full out, 100% maximum throttle on the basepaths, in RF, always seems to be having fun and is smiling and exuberant, etc. Hanley Ramirez still has a decent arm, but nothing like the kind of rifle-like throws you see out of Puig on a weekly basis. Ramirez also wasn't/isn't a homegrown player with the Dodgers. You never see him with daring (sometimes ill-advised) adventures negotiating his way around the diamond either. Nobody would name their band after Ramirez...for example. Another factor is the human interest/American Dream element of escaping from government oppression in Cuba to America (the Marco Rubio Effect). Finally, he's doing all of this out of the 2 hole, not hitting 3-4-5-6.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 10:46 PM) I think that is a pretty far-fetched comment. His first season in the majors he only played LF, and that has been his best season in the majors (granted it was only 200+ ABs). I think his success at first and than struggles the next two years had more to do with the natural process of a hitter coming up and than having to adjust second time around the league when pitchers figure him out, a process that numerous hitters have gone through, and not because of the position he was playing. But it is a moot point argument, because he is best suited for firstbase because that is where he plays his best defense. It would make sense from a marketing standpoint for Miami to add another Cuban player...you can argue Viciedo would help with attendance down there (assuming he becomes a regular 800 OPS hitter) more than he ever could for the White Sox. Of course, you could also argue if he was a 30 homer, 90 RBI bat that the White Sox would be a MUCH better team and that would help with attendance in Chicago more than anything, irrespective of his ethnicity which is more of a pull in South Florida and one of the primary reasons Guillen was hired in the first place to manage down there. Viciedo for Morrison would be a fair trade now, but I still think it would eventually come back to bite the Sox.

QUOTE (beautox @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:40 AM) Agreed there is no reason to move Danks or his contract because of "payroll flexibility". The sox need to lock up Santiago and Quintana this offseason and decide what to do with Beckham seeing how he will be a free agent after '16 and it appears we can move him over to SS, baseball reference lists Rickie Weeks as a comparable hitter to Beckham and if thats the case we could have a few wRC+ years of 120 or more. That's a huge assumption that will probably be proven wrong...hey, it's great if he could play an average major league SS, but we'll just have to wait and see. Beckham has a long ways to go to be the same hitter Weeks has been for most of his career, although this year has been a major disappointment and surely the Brewers would trade him if they could find a willing buyer. You just said we don't need payroll flexibility, and yet you want to go out and extend Quintana, Santiago (and one would assume Gordon Beckham) into their FA years...where's all that money going to come from?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:57 PM) I gave it a C+. For being nearly 2 hours long, not a lot of story was told. It just went from set piece to set piece without much substance. I also really hate "convenience" in action movies like this. Everything was too convenient for Brad Pitt's character. Great action/adventure flicks make everything seem logical and believable (even with zombies or some other ridiculous plot). I thought this failed pretty miserably at that. Did anyone else see Matthew Fox as the helicopter pilot? He was in 2 scenes with one line to the wife. My wife caught it but I didn't believe her until the drive home when we looked up the movie's IMDB page. Apparently he was a big part of the movie before being totally cut out. The IMDB trivia page tells that story and also the "original" movie ending idea if anyone is interested. Yes, it was a big "free for all" ending in Moscow, a super battle to end all zombie battles that they decided took away Pitt's "humanity" and made you not really care one way or the other about how all the major characters ended up or if another sequel was coming down the pike. If you noticed, they were flying on Belarusian Airlines, it would make zero sense for them to have a route from Israel to England...not for a regional carrier, they would have been going to Russia/Moscow/Belarus much more logically.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:09 PM) What a stupid comparison, Scutaro plays 2B, Puig doesn't. The rest of the 2B in the NL suck, somebody has to play the position. Similar situation with Zobrist on the team, overall, he's not having a good year by his standards, but he can play everywhere. Josh Donaldson and Longoria are both in the Top 10-15 for OPS in the majors and are likely to be sitting at home. Jayson Stark singlehandedly has solved the Puig dilemma, the "Rising Star" spot for fans to vote on (Gattis, Puig, Teheran, Ozuna, Shelby Miller, S. Marte) http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/stark_j...l-puig-all-star

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:32 PM) I'm not arguing that hanging on to Rios is a good idea. I'm arguing that trading him for essentially Josh Fields' left handed brother is a terrible idea. If the best offer you get for Rios and his contract is Travis Snider, you might as well just hold onto to Rios and hope that either in the offseason or next deadline you get something a little more valuable. And that's why I said Tabata, but the Pirates might disagree. It also depends on how well Mercer keeps playing SS. They might start falling back to Cincy and STL and hit the panic button after collapsing in the 2nd half the last two seasons.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:28 PM) I sure don't know what their incentive would be other than his going to arbitration next year and the fact they are stupid. Viciedo for LoMo would probably actually be a fair deal. Unfortunately, Dayan isn't a douchebag so I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think we absolutely have to give Dayan the remainder of 2013 and the first half of 2014 before we throw in the towel. He will still only be 25 years old next year. And we have the encouragement (for now, at least) of seeing how Gordon Beckham's finally redeeming himself to SOME extent...enough where they can plan on him being the long-term SS or 2B again. (He needs to hit like this for at least 2 more months before most of us will be excited again, though).

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:25 PM) How does Rios for Snider make any sense for the Sox?... Unless of course you are considering Snider to be a throw in to any such deal, and not the centerpiece. How does Rios on the White Sox making $12.5 or $13.5 million make any sense in 2014 or 2015 if we're trading away Dunn, Ramirez, Peavy, etc.? That pretty much wipes out all probability of competing for next year. So Rios on the team simply makes them a 75 win team perhaps instead of 68-71 wins. Doesn't matter. We need to get younger/cheaper and find as many hitters with the ability to put up an 800+ OPS as possible.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 07:23 PM) I'd love to stick LoMo on this team. The Marlins might be dumb enough to do it, too. Who knows. What would be their incentive to trade him...? Maybe if it was Viciedo and something else....change of scenery trade.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 06:38 PM) I agree. Whether he sticks in the MLB is anybody's guess, but the smart odds are on him donning a White Sox uni for some amount of time. He's got 2 positions, 1B and DH. They're more likely to use Viciedo, Dunn, Keppinger, DeAza, etc., there. Just don't see it. The odds seem higher that/for 1) Viciedo will move, 2) FA/offseason move, or 3) trade from July or offseason. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see Phegley or Flowers get a look there (1B/DH) to get some extra AB's as well. A lot depends on if Konerko is traded/retires, of course.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 05:14 PM) Gonzo reported an NL scout questioned Rios' effort Saturday when he again jogged down the line. He hasn't hit a homer in a month either. His stock certainly is falling. http://csnchicago.nbcsports.acquia-ps.com/...cause-his-slump

Why Yasiel Puig must be an All-Star July, 6, 2013 5:43 PM PT By Mark Saxon | ESPNLosAngeles.com If Bruce Bochy was so concerned about Yasiel Puig’s short service time when picking All-Star reserves, I wonder whether he looked at these raw numbers: In 30 games, Puig has six more home runs, one more RBI and just 11 fewer runs scored than Marco Scutaro, who is -- somehow -- an All-Star. So, in 42 percent of the games Scutaro has played in, Puig has done about as much to help his team score as Scutaro has while playing 32 more games than the Los Angeles Dodgers rookie. [+] Enlarge Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Yasiel Puig is among five players -- including Dodgers teammate Adrian Gonzalez -- in the Final Vote competition for selection as the last National League pick for the All-Star Game. Oh, and by the way, Puig has a 1.155 OPS. Scutaro’s is .776. His defensive impact is comparable, albeit in a smaller sample size. His baserunning is entirely different but probably equally valuable. Yet that argument probably says less about Puig’s omission and more about Scutaro’s inclusion. Managers have been stuffing All-Star teams with their own guys for as long as the game has been around, so it’s really not much to get worked up over. I actually thought Bochy had changed his mind earlier this week when he told reporters, “Part of it is, you understand, as a manager, the fans want to see a certain player.” I still think Puig will be on the team as, I believe, he should be and, in a way, he’ll make it through the appropriate channels. The fans didn’t pick him. Bochy didn’t choose him, and the players didn’t, either. The fans didn’t have enough time, but the fact that his peers omitted him will tell you how this discussion is viewed within the game. Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon called the idea of Puig making the team an “absolute joke.” So, now Dodgers fans have no one but themselves to blame if Puig isn’t on the team. He’s among five players in the Final Vote competition, with teammate Adrian Gonzalez, Washington’s Ian Desmond, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman and San Francisco’s Hunter Pence. If I’m Gonzalez, by the way, I keep my Legoland plans for All-Star week, because there’s no way he’s getting the vote over Puig, the most talked-about player in baseball. I doubt any of the other guys are, either, unless Gonzalez somehow splits Dodgers’ fans affinities and somebody else squeaks in. Even if Puig somehow doesn’t win the Final Vote, in the next week or so you’ll be seeing a steady stream of players backing out over nagging aches and pains. The Dodgers will be represented about as well as they should be, considering they floundered through April, May and most of June. If the New York Mets somehow don’t let Matt Harvey pitch, Clayton Kershaw stands an excellent chance of starting the game. So, until July 16 rolls around and Puig still isn't on the team, I’ll save my righteous indignation.

Salvador Sanchez has just completely imploded. Breezed through the 8th and now is about to give up his 5th consecutive base-runner. When he's not walking people and throwing wild pitches, he has a nasty slider and 93-96 MPH fastball. Barons 24/26 on the season in saves converted (now 24/27), and the two blown saves they won both those games. Quickly recovered, 2 consecutive K's (he was down 3-0 in the count)....but then gave up a 2 run single on a first pitch FB over the heart of the plate. 5-3 lead for MS, started the 9th with a 3-2 lead.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 03:59 PM) Yeah I think we just paid him what he would have been due w/o the extension (I forget what, but you're probably in the ballpark) $7.5M signing bonus (paid between 6/12 and 10/12) 12:$0.5M, 13:$14.25M, 14:$14.25M, 15:$14.25M, 16:$14.25M full no-trade clause for 2012 may block trades to six clubs annually for 2013-16 So $8 million last year, in total. About $48 million still owed. Wonder which 6 teams are on the no-trade list? Does anyone know? The Rockies are one team we've seen mentioned in connection with Danks.

Well, we've learned why Trayce plays baseball. When his father was playing on the TrailBlazers, Trayce watched all of Ken Griffey, Jr's game there in the Pacific NW. Guess Mychal and Klay were in the Barons' press box and signing autographs right and left.