caulfield12

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 09:02 PM) All De Aza needs to do is hit a fly ball deep enough. Haha. That wouldn't have been a homer in a phone booth.

Harrelson was at a complete loss for words there for awhile. Now he's finally got some spirit back...but you can tell part of him expects them to blow this opportunity somehow. Sale making John Danks' bad luck of the past look like good luck. 5-6. He's going to go crazy at some point in the second half, Chris will.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) That's not luck, that's just stupid baseball by a team that has played all season like they've never played together. I'll just account tripping over the mound and falling into Gillaspie as the luck part, and not the fact that Gillaspie either didn't call him out loudly enough or Beckham just totally lost track of where he was on the field. Flowers or Reed should have been directing traffic there as well, not just standing around when they felt Gordon coming. There's the Chris Rongey post-game excuse.

Harrelson's going on a tirade. You have got to be kidding me...you've got to be kidding me! over and over again. Ironic, that it's his favorite son Gordon that screwed up this time.

Incredible. If there wasn't such a thing as bad luck, we'd have no luck at all. If they don't have infield practice tomorrow, I don't think it will happen for the rest of the season.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 10:35 AM) Awesome. Except Viciedo had cups of coffee in 2010, 2011 and more than a month of 2012. I love Dayan as much as the next poster here, but you can't even compare them except for 2 aspects....power, especially to the opposite field, and their respective arm strengths, although Puig definitely gets the nod there too. Puig just became the best LFer in baseball, kind of like the tallest midget. Kemp's back.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 03:54 PM) With this pitching staff and the money coming off the books this year, there is zero reason why this team cannot attempt to be competitive in 2014. Between guys added in trades this deadline and having money to spend this offseason, the Sox have the ability to fill the holes on their offense and make themselves a formidable team. Of course, they also need to remember how to catch the f***ing ball. If they can't do that, they could do lots of upgrades and still fail, because high-schoolers play the game with better fundamentals than this team. Then we'll be back to 2007 with the bullpen. We know Crain, Thornton and Lindstrom will likely be gone. And maybe even Reed. Is Jones really going to be reliable in Crain's role for 2014? I just don't see it at the moment, with his control issues and getting behind in counts. That is going to be a major repair job. We all saw in 2011 and early in 2012 what a shaky bullpen could do to a team's confidence.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 03:46 PM) Granderson actually makes a ton of sense to me if they hire a manager willing to view the DH as a rotating spot. Granderson could play some corner OF and some DH and Granderson, Dunn, and Viciedo could all rotate through that spot. If you add in another player who can play 1b and hit from the right side (crazy idea, Morneau) this could actually work, be fairly effective, and keep the veteran guys in the lineup as well. How likely is Morneau ever to get his power back? It's an idea, others have suggested it, because he's not going to get nearly as much money as before...just like Konerko, were he to stay another year. The problem with all these moves is we're becoming like the Royals....a Francouer here, Bloomquist there, Jose Guillen, Gil Meche. Back to the Marty theory. Are Granderson or Morneau or whoever really going to be here for the next playoff team? I don't know about playing Wilkins or if anyone in the front office really believes he's a legit prospect, but it's a mess if they don't fix C and CF before next season, and you can probably add SS as well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) I'd be really surprised if the Braves signed McCann now. Not only is that not their traditional M.O...Evan Gattis is kinda making that decision easy. You think?

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:55 PM) Naw, it's just Caufield's irrelevant comparisons, unnecessary details, and constant tangents are finally driving people to insanity. Wow, you really hurt my feelings. Give me a break, this is FREAKING message board. If you don't want to argue or read what I wrote, for god's sake, PLEASE PUT ME ON IGNORE. Jesus, what, are we in kindergarten and we have to constantly complain about someone's posting style? Grow up. Because really, this place is becoming so much more enjoyable when everyone curses at each other, calls each other idiots... Let's all just scream at each other. Will that make you feel better? Hope so.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 03:36 PM) Your Granderson reasoning is that he "can't hit lefties." Riddle me this, how many left handed starters are in the AL Central teams have left handed starters? This is off hand, but I think I count 5 - and 4 of them are on the White Sox. Sooo...that seems like a pretty good fit, doesn't it? Murphy could play anywhere, Kubel could play wherever, any of these guys can play wherever. The idea isn't to pidgeonhole these guys into these roles...most likely the Sox will never be connected with them. The idea is to show that there are free agents available that can be upgrades that can be had at relatively fair prices. The Sox will have money and the idea of them not spending any of it is absurd. The problem is they either need to really spend or why bother? Just to be sort of respectable and not lose 100 games? What's the point of adding one or two of those guys and only losing 87-93 instead? LHer's pitching against Adam Dunn have been a pretty big deal that last 2 1/2 seasons, have they not? And we've already been eliminated this season before we've played more than 60-65% of our divisional games.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 02:31 PM) C - McCann, Saltalamacchia, Ruiz 1B - Lind, Morse, Napoli, Morales 2B - Cano, Utley, Zobrist OF - Choo, Cruz, Granderson, Hart, Kubel, Murphy, Pence Other than Cano and Choo, I don't foresee any of these guys getting monstrous deals. I mention Choo and Cano because they are the types of players the Sox could be interested in, but I would not count on them getting them. McCann may be spendy, but he's not out of the realm of possibility either. Really, it's not far fetched to think the Sox could add 3 of the above guys. They're not going to just let Zobrist walk, in all likelihood. They might pick up the option and TRADE him next year, however. 10:$0.4381M, 11:$4.5M, 12:$4.5M, 13:$5.5M, 14:$7M club option ($2.5M buyout), 15:$7.5M club option ($0.5M buyout) How much experience does Napoli have at 1B? I suggested Ruiz when they were actually in "competitive mode" a month ago and it was shot down, some arguing because of age and PED's allegations. Utley's going to be too expensive, and there's always a possibility the Phillies decide to keep him and Lee. Too much of a risk for the price tag. Granderson can't hit lefties. Pence is likely be out of their price range as well. Cruz, you have the PED's issue hanging over him. That has to be resolved one way or the other. Murphy, Kubel and Hart seem like more realistic possibilities, based on White Sox history. That said, Kubel's not going to improve your defense at all, he might be a step down from Viciedo even...and then does that mean you're trading Dayan to replace him with a more expensive player in Kubel, or putting Dayan in RF to replace Rios? Do you really want Kubel DHing full-time and Dunn playing 1B everyday, when we keep talking about needing to make improvements in our defense? Plus there's a 75% chance they keep him (2014:$7.5M option ($1M buyout). Once again, unless you play Murphy in CF, you're going to have trade Viciedo or move him to 1B/DH. Or DeAza goes. Is paying Murphy twice as much as DeAza really going to help all that much in 2014, though? Hart theoretically could play LF, RF or 1B/DH. Of all those options, I would probably target Murphy or Hart, if we're being forced to bargain shop on the FA market. I guess Morse or Jason Bay would be other possibilities. It would be nice for Morse to come back home to his original organization, I suppose. Carlos Pena at 1B, etc.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:55 PM) Regarding Thornton, I think the Sox will get more than people realize. Nothing special, but a guy with a chance to be a starting player at some point down the road. #1, I'm not saying deal De Aza, I'm saying I'd deal him before Reed. #2, you have to considering diminishing returns here. What do you think you'll be able to get for De Aza next year, or the following year? He's not someone you have to deal, but if you get what you feel is a fair offer, then I'd say deal him. He is absolutely an adequate corner outfielder, especially in today's game. The Sox have the best reliever available on the market in Crain. That's closing option #1. The Sox also have Lindstrom available who has closed games semi-effectively before. That's #2. If teams are looking for closers, those are who you deal. If someone blows you away with an offer for Reed, you take it, no problem, but I don't foresee that happening, not yet anyways. Because his value isn't at its highest? You are seriously talking about half a year's worth of success. If he finishes strong this year and puts up a 2.00 ERA , 1.00 WHIP, 10 K/9, and 4 K/BB again next year leading up to the deadline, with 3 years remaining until he's a free agent, don't you think he'll be more valuable? You hold on to Reed in the event that, with more experience, he gets better and better. It's not an unfounded theory. Kimbrel is arguably the best closer in the game going forward. I'm saying Reed can be top 5. Right now, he might be top 15. His value can increase. If the offer is there. It's not a bad time to trade Reed IF YOU GET THE OFFER. And yes, if he continues to prove to be effective, he will build value. What the f*** is so hard to understand about that? Oh, and for Reed? The clear competition is JESSE CRAIN. These last two posts make me feel like Walter Sobchak. HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE CRAZY? What's so hard to understand about the fact that we've yet to face the Tigers, and Reed pitched against the easiest schedule in all of MLB so far...and he's just as likely to regress or end up ineffective in the 2nd half of the season? Crain has almost NEVER been used as a closer his entire career. All of a sudden, all these national baseball writers are suggesting it (because of the contract risk taking on the Papelbon deal), but that doesn't mean he'd do it any better than, say, Santiago or Matt Thornton. They didn't call him Crain Wreck in Minnesota for no reason.

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:51 PM) Addison Russell Yes, we've come up with one name so far. A kid who hit .369 in the minors last year and played at a much better high school program with more competition than Courtney Hawkins faced in Carroll, Texas.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) Are you moving the goalposts again? To produce an All-Star level position player should be the goal of any system, to do that at least ONCE per decade, lol. Or does Chris Young qualify? And it has all led to this: at age 15, most scouts and baseball experts have Bryce ranked as one of the best players in the country, if not the best. As a 12-year-old, Travelball-select.com – a Web site that ranks 12- to 14-year-old ballplayers – tabbed Bryce as the best player in the nation. Same honor when he was 14. Four years from his first opportunity at the Major League Baseball draft, Bryce has his eyes on the top. “I remember I was in fifth grade, my counselor came in and said, “What do you want to do?’” Bryce said. “I said I wanted to be a pro baseball player, and she said, ‘No, really.’ I get that all the time, and it pisses me off. “I’m going to be a pro baseball player.” Courtney Hawkins was playing football more than baseball until at least his age 16 (sophomore) season of high school baseball.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:23 PM) So your entire point of comparing randomly to harper falls apart and your response is "oh this time it's different". If I go back, who do you think brought it up? It didn't fall apart because he didn't meet the conditions anyway. You're already extrapolating things that happened with Harper (being promoted from Low A to AA) on a time-frame that Hawkins hasn't even had a chance to reach yet. And you're leaving out another main point with Harper that he played at the University of Southern Nevada for one season. So far there's ONE example, and yet he was a player who clearly dominated his league, hitting .369. Yay.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:14 PM) This is the first guy they have done this to I thought? So they changed their philosophy to "rush and challenge" players as a result of what, exactly? How did they NOT rush Beckham in a similar way, except for his higher draft spot and Collegiate All-American status which put him on an even faster track? It doesn't seem to be working too well with Carlos Sanchez, either. A year ago, everyone was talking about him....not he's disappeared or is like a super-utility/Escobar-esque prospect in less than a year.

and has been great for almost a half year this year. No team is going to give up a ton for a guy like that. And why exactly does that make it a bad time to trade Reed? He will build up more value if he closes out games against the Tigers when the Sox are 15-20 games back? As far as Reed, the only clear competition out there now is probably Papelbon, but who in God's name wants to take on that ugly contract for a closer when he's just as likely to go all Brad Lidge on you.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 10:31 AM) I don't think you can send Reed to the Tigers. He's pre-arb. You don't want to give a direct competitor something that's going to hurt you for years down the line. They would have four years of control -- I expect us to be competitive again in 2 or 3. Now, Crain, that's fine. They can hurt us this year all they want, and Crain will a FA or a bad contract by next summer. Then lucky for us that Sergio Santos got hurt. Or there would be a lot more scrutiny of that trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:05 PM) No, he was pushed even harder. He was in AA after only 1/2 a season in A ball and in AAA after the next 1/2 season. And where was he drafted? Where was Hawkins drafted in the first round? Slightly different expectations.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:05 PM) WHO. THE. f***. CARES? Why is Bryce Harper even in this discussion? Jesus Christ. Stop with the random player tangents. We're not talking about Bryce Harper. Or Mike Trout. Or Frank Thomas. Or Ken Griffey Jr. So why the hell are they being brought up? Man you're frustrating. Then why ever make comparisons at all? What's the point, if every fingerprint and grain of sand is different, if every situation is unique and individual?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 12:06 PM) With your arbitrary lines in the sand, sure. In reality, both (Harper and Trout) were in the majors well before they could drink, which dwarfs being in High A at 19, in terms of getting "pushed". And yet this "Sox System" that we're supposed to believe based on blind faith alone has produced what positive result with position prospects that we can rally around and say, yeah, they really do have a clue what they're doing?

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 11:57 AM) I love that you continue to push the fallacy that he was rushed to Winston Salem last year. And Addison Russell, who is 2 months younger than Hawkins, is also in the Carolina league this year. But continue pretending this is a once in a lifetime situation. Russell wasn't pushed all the way up to High A his first season, and the level of competition at Pace High School in Florida is 5X great than anything Hawkins experienced in Texas. He (Hawkins) didn't even play full-time until his sophomore season. So I'll give you points for finding one example, and a player who wasn't even in the Top 10, for extra bonus points. Keep in mind, he hit .369 last year. That's a little bit different than Hawkins' results, although they were impressive for his age, to put up an 800 OPS overall and only strike out 25% of the time, roughly.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 11:57 AM) I love that you continue to push the fallacy that he was rushed to Winston Salem last year. And Addison Russell, who is 2 months younger than Hawkins, is also in the Carolina league this year. But continue pretending this is a once in a lifetime situation. And yet Bryce Harper, the most hyped prospect in recent memory, didn't get pushed in this way, did he?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 25, 2013 -> 11:55 AM) http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...lb&c_id=mlb I'm not sure Buddy Bell and Jeff Manto are the foremost experts on developing position prospects OR hitters in general. Obviously, this approach hasn't worked very well with Mitchell and Walker. The one they were the MOST patient with, Trayce Thompson, is showing the best overall results of all four of those guys, even though he was lowest draft pick of that group. By the way, Frank Thomas would be another comparison to Hawkins (as he made it up to Sarasota his first half season, then started in BIRM the next), except he was an All-American collegiate player, not a raw high schooler. Do they have an example of a player that they've pushed in this way and it's turned out well? Definitely not Beckham, not Morel, for example. Seemingly not Mitchell or Walker, so far. Hawkins is struggling now, obviously.