caulfield12

What is it with all these ex-Sox pitchers? Grilli? Colon? What was the hormone or injection Colon had into his elbow?

Axelrod on the wrong side of the Sox "offense." Feel bad for him...well, all the fans that have to watch this boring baseball. To make it worse, Viciedo's in a terrible tailspin, too. And realizing Dunn is DONE, that's just depressing thinking he might be around the next 1 1/2 years. We probably have the most boring team in baseball, it would be hard to argue against that even as a Sox fan.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 31, 2013 -> 07:11 PM) No doubt about it. They would have had a great chance to win it all last year. Got to take advantage of those opportunities when they come around, because nothing is ever promised tomorrow. The worst-case scenario is something like the Robert Griffin III situation in Washington, but baseball pitchers and predicting when they're going to fall-apart is a totally unpredictable "science" if you even want to call it that.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 31, 2013 -> 06:42 PM) We all need to remember if a prospect ain't Mike Trout from day one then he will always suck. Young players simply don't improve over time, especially not ones that are already 25 years old. Gillaspie should probably hang up his cleats now before he continues embarrassing himself and all us SoxTalk meatheads. Even Bryce Harper struggled for long stretches of 2012...and he was the most hyped hitting prospect since Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey, Jr.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 31, 2013 -> 06:35 PM) They should have just tried to win a championship last year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nation...raves-showdown/ It's a shame, if it's another serious injury. Not good for the game of baseball...and he was just starting to come into his own again his last 3 starts. 2.49 ERA entering the game. No matter how much you baby and protect them...throwing a baseball and its effects on the shoulder and elbow can never be predicted.

Stephen Strasburg pulled early in tonight because of an apparent injury. YIKES.

Miggy Cabrera just destroying MLB pitchers this month. 12 homers, Chris Davis with 10...facing each other tonight. .400 average with RISP over the last 2 1/2 seasons for DET.

Just 643. He was at .810 the following season and ranging from 800-900 for most of the next decade.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/four-observat...-140500004.html

Choo has a lot of factors going against him. He's going to get at least a four year contract, if not five, from someone. Boras. The fact that he's done so well in the NL, he might want to stay there (although he would still be familiar with the AL Central, should he choose to return). You're going to be stuck with a bad ROI on the back half of the contract. You're likely to be buying high as he's ever been worth when this season might end up a statistical outlier like Keppinger's in 2012. He's not a natural CF. That's our biggest area of need, if Thompson can't get it done. A lot easier to fill LF or even RF comparatively. He should be in Rios' spot, but then Rios and Choo are too fairly comparable players, same age (roughly)...switching out one for a perhaps slightly better version of the other doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If you can play Choo in LF, Rios in RF and Viciedo at DH/1B...but then you're really putting about 50% of your new monies opened up payroll-wise in that one basket. I wouldn't do it.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 31, 2013 -> 03:51 PM) I have no idea how much stake to put in this, but ESPN has the Sox with the worst strength of schedule so far this year: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi/_/sort/sos Does that go by when we played them (their record at that time), or where they all stand now, cumulatively, looking back? Because you've got the Nationals, Rays, Red Sox, Rangers, Indians....but a LOT of bad teams, like the Twins, Royals, Angels (when we played them), Cubs, Mariners, Marlins, etc. Right now, the Rangers and Red Sox are the only ones who look like true playoff contenders. Which should also be taken into consideration when adding or trading away players for July. Other than play a very hot team, we have a super easy schedule until the four game series at home against CLE to end the month of June. If they're still 5 or more games behind the Tigers at that time, it's almost a mathematical impossibility to expect them to go through the teeth of the most difficult schedule, the 2nd half White Sox history, the possibility of our pitchers battling the Verducci Effect, the head to head games against the Tigers at the hottest time of the year when their offense will get a bump and pitching will be under duress (not to mention the fact that their starting pitching is probably better than ours, in the end). If you line them up 1-5 or 1-6, it's hard to make a case for the White Sox. Sale Verlander Peavy Scherzer (Peavy might have the better ERA, but Scherzer has the K's and his stuff will hold up better) Quintana Sanchez Danks Fister Axelrod Porcello (once again, nobody in baseball is going to take Axelrod in that match-up, although he's pitched better SO FAR this season) Smyly Santiago (pretty even, perhaps a SLIGHT advantage to the Sox)

And Dayan has been disappointing defensively, and had a terrible series against the Cubs. That doesn't mean he sucks, or will suck, or isn't probably the most important hitter remaining in our franchise, whether some like it or not. If he's not a consistent .265-.285, 30+ HR, 90+ RBI guy in LF/1B/DH for the next five years, the offensive hole we're trying to crawl out from just might be insurmountable before at least 2015.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-201614409.html PROS 1) Would give us a more recognizable name for marketing 2) Could shift DeAza to LF and Viciedo to 1B/DH 3) LH power (to supplement Dunn's failings)....short porch in RF, similar to Yankee Stadium 4) Great human interest story/local ties 5) Experienced player who knows how to win 6) Phil Rogers would go nuts writing articles about him CONS 1) If the White Sox are more than a couple of bats away from competing, it could be a waste of money and block Trayce Thompson when he's ready (although Granderson could also DH when Dunn leaves) 2) Precious resources in off-season need to be spent carefully...other areas will be important, perhaps catcher or the bullpen 3) Granderson's age 4) Inability to hit LH pitching 5) Expectations might be too high playing so close to home.... 6) Granderson's a "name"/well-known player, but not a superstar and won't draw too many fans of his own without a winning team

Have been reading through the articles and the thought crossed my mind this is VERY similar to the White Sox naming Robin Ventura as manager...someone who's turned down full-time work in baseball over and over again, someone who certainly didn't need the money, wanted at various times to spend more time with his family, a player who's most identified with the franchise (obviously Brett is Mr. Royal) and well-respected/admired. It also made me think that maybe Ventura isn't in it for the long-haul, just like Brett, who wanted to put a one month and six week time-frame on the decision to accept the post on an "interim" basis...but, most of all, it's kind of instructive to look back at Walker and now Manto and see a different interpretation of what Brett is being asked to do as hitting coach. The interim tag was Brett’s preference. “I think I can help these guys,” he said. “Hopefully, I can. I don’t know if I can. When Dayton asked me to do this, I said, ‘Dayton, I’ll do it on an interim basis.’ “These guys might not come to me. I might not be able to connect with them, and I’d hate for Dayton Moore to have to fire me from the Kansas City Royals.” Brett said he plans to meet again with Moore in a month to assess the situation. “Hopefully, I’ll be here for a while,” he said. “I’m planning on staying at least a month. Hopefully, more. We’re one good week from turning this thing around. We’re two good games from turning it around.” Officially, Brett will replace Maloof as the hitting coach, while Grifol gets David’s former title as a special assignment coach. The main distinction is only Brett is permitted to be in uniform during games. “I spoke to the players already,” Brett said. “I tried to invoke the passion I have for the organization. I’m scared to death right now to be honest with you, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. “I just want to come and share my life with them. How I got through things like this. How I became a more consistent player. How I became a leader of a ballclub and play with the passion I played with. “They’ve just got to have someone they can trust,” he said. “I trusted (former hitting coach) Charley Lau with my heart and soul and, hopefully, these guys will trust me. I’m basically going to be Charley Lau’s ghost. “There’s going to be a lot of one-on-one conversations on airplanes just like (Lau) had with me in 1974.” Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/30/42640...l#storylink=cpy

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 03:37 PM) <!--quoteo(post=1397626:date=Apr 18, 2007 -> 02:26 PM:name=caulfield12)-->QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 18, 2007 -> 02:26 PM) <!--quotec-->OTOH, Jaramillo has been under a lot of fire for the regression of hitters like Blalock, the loss of power for Texeira, Mench, Lance Nix, Brad Wilkerson, Phil Nevin...etc. Texiera was their leading HR hitter, and he didn't even get 20 in a ballpark made for power. Sure, Young's great, Kinsler is like Brian Roberts/Brady Anderson of this year (hopefully Shelton), he took some credit for GM Jr. last season Well, no hitting coach is perfect. Everyone has some failures, but it's hard to pin the faielure of some of the players you list on the hitting coach. Nevin was pretty much at the end of his career, no knows if Nix will ever hit big league pitching, and fair or not Blalock has had his work ethic questioned. Moreover, questioning someone's loss of power these days is sort of a loaded issue. I'm sure Jaramillo isn't the world's greatest hitting coach, but if Texas were to drop him I'd hope the Sox would hire him in a heartbeat. Thought Dick Allen would enjoy this thread...from back in 2007. By Lee Judge, kcstar.com (Judging the Royals) The other thing that worked in my favor is the Royals had two days set aside for hitters to come in and take their swings and George Brett—a lock for the Hall of Fame and nearing the end of his career—wanted three. He needed me to get in that extra work. That may be the first thing the Royals hitters can learn from George Brett: the really good guys work harder than anyone else. It’s just as true today as it was in George’s day. Who’s the hardest worker on the 2013 Royals? Who’s having the best season? The answer to both those questions is Alex Gordon. The really good guys work harder than anybody else. When George Brett was playing he used a weight-shift hitting style. He started with most of his weight on his back foot and shifted his weight forward as he swung. All swings contain weight-shift (movement from back to front) and rotation (circular motion). Emphasizing weight-shift keeps the hitter on the ball longer (he doesn’t pull off as he rotates) and emphasizes hitting the ball back up the middle. Rotation hitting gets the bat head in the zone more quickly, but also gets the bat head out of the zone more quickly. Bottom line: weight-shift tends to help average, rotation hitting tends to help power because the hitter is more likely to pull the ball. Back then, weight-shift hitting instructors like Charlie Lau were criticized for turning guys who might show some power into a bunch of singles-hitters. So it’ll be interesting to see what hitting philosophy George will promote and how it fits into the current debate about home runs. I’ve got no clue what George Brett will be teaching—and, frankly—I’m not sure it matters. What’s happening below the neck may be less important than what goes on above the neck. Whatever mechanics a hitters uses, George Brett can teach him to go about the game in the right way: how to prepare, how to get your pitch and what to do when you get it. Back when he was still playing I asked George why he was good in the clutch and he said a lot of hitters couldn’t forget that there were two outs, the tying run was in scoring position and it was the World Series—but when he was going good, George could forget. He could forget who was on the mound, what the larger situation might be and just focus on the ball. He said that all he knew was he was getting a pitch in his zone—and he had a pretty good idea of what to do next. If the young players on this team pay attention, they can learn a lot. If they decide to continue flashing hand gestures after every hit and see the Hall of Famer in the dugout frowning, they need to cool it. If they come in late and haven’t down their prep-work and George says something about it, they need to listen. I doubt George Brett wants to be a hitting instructor for long (I could be wrong, nobody’s said anything), but if that’s the case—if he’s just stepping into help the Royals out of a jam—every guy on the team needs to take advantage of this opportunity. It’s freaking George Brett. If nothing else, this is a brilliant PR move: instead of talking about Ned Yost’s job security, lots of us will be focusing on Brett and how the hitters respond—for about two weeks. After that, if the Royals aren’t winning, we’ll be right back to where we started: what will it take to turn this team around? If George Brett—my personal hitting instructor—can’t get it done, look for more changes. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/30/42646...l#storylink=cpy

QUOTE (fathom @ May 30, 2013 -> 07:01 PM) They need to find a way to promote Micah Johnson Maybe they'll do a Shelby, Jr., and move him to CF/LF temporarily to increase his versatility, or 3B, like Chone Figgins.

Yankees Winning Without Jeter Proving Box Office Disappointment By Erik Matuszewski - May 31, 2013 12:02 PM GMT+0800 The New York Yankees have stayed at or near the top this baseball season with journeymen and reclamation projects replacing injured All-Stars like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Their fans remain unimpressed. While the Yankees’ 30-23 record is one win better than last season after 53 games, television ratings are down and attendance at Yankee Stadium has dropped almost 8 percent from a year ago. The team is also selling tickets at more than 50 percent off on the coupon website Groupon Inc. (GRPN) With Jeter, Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira yet to play this season, Lyle Overbay, Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells have helped produce wins for a team with a $233 million opening-day payroll. The lack of star power, plus New York’s Knicks and Rangers making playoff runs in the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, have combined to keep the team from capturing the hearts of local sports fans so far this season. “The big question for fans is, ‘Do I watch a Yankee team win ball games, but do it with second- and third-tier players and rookies whose last names aren’t commonplace?” said Wayne McDonnell Jr., 36, an associate professor of sports management at New York University. The Yankees drew an average of 38,035 fans through their first 25 home games this season, down from 40,950 through the same number of games a year ago. Television ratings on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports network are down 39 percent from the same point last season. “There are a lot of factors involved,” Yankees co-owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters on May 18. “I still think the economy is a big part of it. People are struggling out there.” Big Contracts Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said the team would have no further comment on attendance beyond what Steinbrenner discussed. Steinbrenner’s father, George, was known for saying fans turned out for stars and gave big contracts to players such as Reggie Jackson, Rich Gossage and Dave Winfield. Major League Baseball attendance is down by 631,077 from last year through games of May 29, with 19 of the 30 teams recording drops, according to baseball-reference.com The Yankees have sold $46 tickets for $20 on Groupon, and discounted seats for games against the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox were sold for as low as $20 through a corporate perks program called Plum Benefits. Free tickets were given away this month at a frozen banana stand outside the stadium that was part of a promotion with the television program “Arrested Development.” Bounce Back McDonnell, who created the “Business of Baseball” course at NYU, said he expects to see the Yankees’ attendance and TV ratings bounce back as baseball swings into summer and some of the team’s injured All-Stars return from the disabled list. The Yankees host the American League East-leading Red Sox at home this weekend after losing four straight games to the Mets. There are 382 tickets for tonight’s game available on the secondary market, according to TiqIQ, with prices ranging from $21 to $1,058. The season began for the Yankees with Jeter, Rodriguez, Teixeira and Curtis Granderson -- who are being paid about $84 million in combined 2013 salary -- on the disabled list with injuries. Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli and Ivan Nova joined them. Granderson, who led the team in home runs last season, came back for eight games, then broke a finger and will be out for a month. Teixeira and Youkilis are scheduled to return tonight for the Yankees. Late Moves The injured players represent 25 All-Star appearances. Wells, 34, was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for two minor-leaguers the week before the season started. Hafner, 35, was signed by the Yankees for $2 million after the Cleveland Indians bought out his contract. Overbay, 36, was without a team when given a minor-league deal by the Yankees, who will pay him $1.25 million this season. Together, the trio has combined for 26 homers and 79 runs batted in. The team’s only holdover with more homers or RBIs than those three is All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano. “We have a lot of really good players, maybe not the names we’re used to having here, but guys who have had big years,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi, 48, told reporters this month, before the team slipped to second place in the division. “This group has worked really hard.” Jayson Nix, David Adams and Brennan Boesch are among the other players who have filled in for the Yankees, who trail Boston by two games after their recent slide. Superstars Lost “When you lose that many superstar players, you expect if they could play close to .500 or a couple games under and hang in there until the rest of their guys got back you’d be very happy,” said Larry Bowa, 67, a former Yankees’ coach now an analyst for MLB Network. “It’s incredible what they’re doing considering the offense they did lose.” While getting injured stars back may help the Yankees’ ticket sales and TV ratings, the end of relief pitcher Mariano Rivera’s 19-year Hall-of-Fame career will also have an effect, McDonnell said. Rivera, who has the most saves in baseball history, missed almost all of last season after tearing a ligament in his right knee and has announced this is his last year pitching. “When the summer comes and people come to the realization that we’re not going to be able to see him much longer, you’re going to see changes in attendance and television ratings,” McDonnell said. “I’m one who will look after Memorial Day as the biggest gauge for television ratings, attendance, statistics, everything like that.” Optimistic Owner So is Steinbrenner. “Summer is coming around, warmer weather, and we have a lot of half-price ticket days and $5 ticket days; things we have done for years,” he said. “I think the fans are going to come out and are going to support these guys because they have earned it.” Expectations may also increase when Jeter, Teixeira, Youkilis and possibly Rodriguez eventually rejoin the lineup. “There’s going to be a little bit of heat on them when they come back because the team has played so well with these extra guys,” said Bowa, a former Philadelphia Phillies manager who was a coach with the Yankees in 2006-07. “If you asked every one of those guys who are out if they thought they’d be here, I’m sure most of them would say, “No, but we’ll take it.”

Maybe we need Angel Sanchez or Blake Tekotte Bobblehead Night...although Tyler Greene, Gimenez, Wise or Casper Wells would do nicely as well. http://www.futilityinfielder.com/wordpress...will-come.shtml

Is "After Earth" the worst movie ever made? asks Joel Morgenstern below. "Mr. Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are producers on "After Earth," which suggests that there was no one on the production who could really say no to him." NY TIMES 12% positive reviews, charges of nepotism...his son's acting getting hammered, not going to be a good week for Will Smith. wsjonline.com/movies Is "After Earth" the worst movie ever made? Maybe not; there's always "Battlefield Earth" to remind us how low the bar can go. But that's the wrong question, since it implies that this bizarre enterprise is a movie in the conventional sense. At first the production exhibits movielike characteristics, a sort of "Star Trudge" crossed with a hero's journey by way of Joseph Campbell. The story begins on a planet that has served as humanity's refuge since Earth became uninhabitable. Will Smith is Cypher Raige, the commanding general of a U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping group—I'm only reporting what's on the screen—called the United Ranger Corps. Mr. Smith's son, Jaden Smith, is the general's son, Kitai, a painfully earnest 13-year-old who's desperately seeking approval from his authoritarian father, even though the old man seems to have no approval to give. Despite the sci-fi trappings, and dollops of almost literally unspeakable dialogue—"Graviton buildup could be a precursor to mass expansion," someone warns someone else—"After Earth" is basically a two-character study of what happens to father and son after their spaceship crashes on a quarantined planet that is, in fact, Earth, but Earth infested with exceedingly cheesy digital monsters. Here again, the action conforms to a recognizable movie template. With his father gravely injured and unable to extricate himself from the ship's wreckage, Kitai must summon the courage to go forth on his own and fight whatever demons come his way in order to find the electronic beacon that will bring lifesaving help. In other words, a familiar tale of a boy surviving vicissitudes to become a man. Yet this variant of the template, as directed by M. Night Shyamalan from a script he wrote with Gary Whitta—and based on a story by Mr. Smith—soon takes the form of turgid pontifications that Cypher lays on Kitai at every step of the poor kid's way. (They're connected by a fancy communication system that only emphasizes the disconnections of the quasi-dramatic structure.) "Every single decision you make will be life or death," the general intones. Or, rather, "Every...single…decision…you…make…will…be…life...or...death," because every…single…word…the…general…speaks…is…spoken…slowly…for…emphasis. It's gravity without gravitas. I've never seen a movie that moves so slowly, or takes itself so seriously, which is why it doesn't seem like a movie at all, but a sermon whose central subject is fear: "Danger is real," the father tells the son, "but fear is a choice." So a right question might be why "After Earth" was made. The sermon echoes a central theme of Scientology. Is that the production's subtext, or are there reasons yet to be uncovered why humor and humanity have been essentially banished; why everyone looks pained; why the very notion of entertainment has been banished in favor of grinding didacticism, and why Mr. Smith, who has been such a brilliant entertainer over the years and decades, looks as if he has undergone a radical charismaectomy? It…is…all…very…mysterious…and…deeply…dreary.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 30, 2013 -> 09:31 PM) If you're only going to do it to get Casper Wells playing time then so what. Go get a young MLB-ready player who offers some reason for hope and take Dunn's playing time away then. Yeah, if the only current options are the likes of Wells, Wise, Danks, Brent Morel, Dan Black or Andy Wilkins to give those at-bats too...it's kind of pointless. Maybe you could argue for Phegley to DH, but I doubt they're ready to make that dramatic move until the end of July, either.

Hosmer came through with the big double, 4-2 Royals leading, bases still loaded, no outs. Everyone in KC can take a deep breath and give credit to George Brett for saving the season...at least for ONE game.

At this point, anything's better than Omogrosso. Try Marinez, Simon Castro, Rienzo....it really doesn't matter, maybe one of those 3 can actually stick for next year at the back of the pen. And send Santiago to start every day in Charlotte if you're only going to use him as the mop-up man.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ May 30, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) Birmingham has some guys in the pen throwing the ball exceptionally well. Omo needs to be OFF this roster......I'm sorry. Daniel Webb...but he's still very inexperienced. We'll see him in August/September, but probably not before then...definitely when the minor league seasons end, although the Barons' season will probably be extended by the playoffs.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ May 30, 2013 -> 03:04 PM) I enjoy distancing myself from Soxtalk for awhile and then returning and reading through posts by the same members (often year to year) who cannot seem to recognize a White Sox team for what it is. I don't know if immersing yourself in every pitch of every game and then coming on here to discuss it every day removes you objectivity, but it's troubling in some cases. This is not a well constructed ballclub. They will not be winning in the playoffs. It goes one of two ways. If you follow the team too closely, you don't believe they'll ever turn things around because you tend to focus on the weaknesses in a season like this one. You want to believe they can actually compete with the Tigers, you try to convince yourself...but your heart's telling you not to get too invested and your brain is definitely telling you to look at Sox history in the 2nd half of seasons. (Meanwhile, we get treated to stories about the 83 Sox, the Cardinals in 2006/11 or the 2005 Astros). You listen to Harrelson when the team actually has a good overall game and buy into the kool aid for a couple of days before everything falls apart again. Maybe you're right. I just turned the game off a couple of innings ago and switched to A's/Giants. Advanced scouting, lol.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 30, 2013 -> 03:02 PM) Free Santos Rodriguez Can't wait until he pulls a Miguel Asencio and throws 16 consecutive balls...lol. At least it will be entertaining.