caulfield12

http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2013/05/k...tle-things.html LONG, but excellent, overview of all the Royals' problems, both this season and historically. Poor Chris Getz is one of the targets, justifiably...he's not a legit lead-off hitter and not a starter for a good team. about 1/4th of the article...and this part is just as relevant to the 2013 Chicago White Sox KC and the little things OK, well, I know what comes next. If you have been around the Kansas City Royals for any extended period of time, you do too. The Royals have lost 14 of their last 18 games. But more, much more, 11 of those 14 losses are by two runs or less. Oh yeah, we know what comes next. Lots and lots and lots of talk about … the little things. Get ready for it. There will be closed door meetings. There will be public proclamations. There will be quotes galore. People from the Royals organization will be lining up to tell us how they’ve got to start doing the little things, they can’t keep messing up the little things, they must concentrate on the little things. Those little things will become an obsession, at least for a little while. At some point manager Ned Yost will say he will not put up with players who don’t do the little things. General manager Dayton Moore will say that the team can’t panic, that it’s simply about getting those little things right. Team leaders will emerge to publicly challenge teammates to do those little things. In a way, I agree with the Royals. Unfortunately, we have very different views of what little things actually matter most. The Royals -- and, really, almost every baseball team -- think of the little things as getting the bunt down, moving runners over, getting them home from third, hitting the cutoff man, getting the sure out and so on. Don’t get me wrong, I believe these are all good things for a team to do, important in their own way. I tend to think of them like I think of the little twisty air blower above your seat on an airplane. It matters. If the plane is hot, that thing feels like an important device. But, you know, even when it’s hot, that little twisty blower doesn’t really power the plane. The Royals are always terrible at close games. Always. They have won just 44% of their one- and two-run games since the 1994 strike, by far the worst percentage in the American League.* They have also lost by far the most blowout games of any team since 1994, but let’s focus on one problem at a time. I believe those close games DO often come down to little things, but I just happen to think those little things have little to do with bunting, productive outs or saving/gaining the extra base. *The Yankees have won 57% of their one- and two-run games sine 1995, by far the best percentage in the AL, which could lead to a long post about about mystique and aura and more hosannas for Mariano. But not right now.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 25, 2013 -> 05:11 PM) Bumped for soccer today. The U.S. National Team? The White Sox really rate behind the MLS?

Saturday’s loss was faith-testing grim. The Angels trotted out right-hander Billy Buckner, a one-time Royals’ draftee who hasn’t pitched in the majors in nearly three years. And he worked five scoreless innings. The LA bullpen, which entered the day with a better ERA than just two other American League units, then completed the shutout with four clean innings. And it all looked easy. “Offensively, we’re just not getting it done,” manager Ned Yost said. “We just need to break out of the funk were in and get some hits. It’s a combination of everything, but we’ve got to find a way to get it done.” The Royals’ attack right now...Tennyson once wrote about “the quiet sense of something lost.” Well, yeah. Bingo. A lot of quiet, and a lot of lost. (That’s right, we’re channeling Tennyson. Gives you an idea, doesn’t it?) Some specifics: The Royals have scored three runs or fewer on six occasions while going 1-8 over the last nine days. That streak includes three one-run losses at Oakland, two losses in three games at Houston (which is tough to do). And now three straight home losses to the Angels who, when this series opened Thursday night, had the worst record in the American League but for those aforementioned Astros. Tennyson is perfect. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/25/42562...l#storylink=cpy And it doesn't get any easier after Sunday, 7 games at St. Louis and Texas

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 25, 2013 -> 05:06 PM) Looks like we got out f Anaheim just in time. Still 9 1/2 games behind the Rangers (have made up only 2 1/2), but they're at least getting back into a competitive position for the two wild cards, just like last season...nevertheless, with that payroll, they've still missed the playoffs 3 years in a row. Meanwhile, Royals' fans and Greg are getting ready to jump off the ledge.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 25, 2013 -> 04:59 PM) Detroit and Cleveland both lost today so we need to win this one. Too bad this game is on FOX for whatever stupid reason so I have to wait to watch the replay on MLBTV later A 6 p.m. game on FOX? Really? I thought hey always had national control of the 12-6 p.m. Saturday afternoon window, but that was the extent of it.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130525 Dominican outfielder sighting at Kanny...Juan Ramirez. Michael Johnson has been on fire, 1/1 so far and all the way up to .336. Micah also well over .300. Olacio on the hill, trying to get his ERA below 6.

Dunn 0 for his last 14. Sanchez cleared waivers and is going to Charlotte.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 25, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) Imagine Santiago as a setup guy. Not just pitching one inning but possibly more, the 6th and 7th or the 7th and 8th. It's incredibly valuable to the Sox pen . I still have hope the Sox can compete this year. If it doesn't happen every one will get their wish to see Santiago starting. It's going to take a few months to determine . He doesn't have to start now just as Sale didn't have to start then. If you don't understand what the Sox are trying to do after I have repeatedly clarified it I don't know what else I can do. It's all about maxing Ax's value now . Might not work out . Ax might crap the bed , but with Floyd hurt and Danks just returning we have a few months to see what Ax and Danks can do to increase their value. Increase Danks' value for what? Nobody will trade for him until he proves he's 100% healthy and can pitch effectively with 2-3 MPH less juice on his fastball. It's going to take all of 2013 for him to re-establish that value...and if you have a $65 million veteran pitcher on a long-term contract, he's never going to end up in the bullpen (even if you could make the legitimate argument Santiago/Axelrod starting would give the White Sox a better chance to win THIS year). Axelrod wasn't ever a Top 10 prospect, or, if he was, it was probably 10th. I'll put it this way...scouts all around baseball are more likely to view him more like Phil Humber than someone they'd give up an attractive package to acquire. What are the odds that he keeps up this level of performance the entire season? There will be no value for him if they don't trade him before his weaknesses are fully exposed and other teams see him 2-3 times and figure him out.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 25, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) Have you seen the interview with Ozzie before this Miami series? He's humbled and says he'd work cheap. You Royals fans are too patient. You need something to shake things up. Royals had a chance to sign Sosa back in the day; coulda signed Thome. Coulda signed anybody. But you plod along hoping and hoping. Yes you beat the Sox like a drum and probably will again the next time we play. The problem was never the Royals' offense. It was always pitching. When they had Dye, Damon, Carlos Beltran, Randa, Carlos Febles, Mike Sweeney and decent production out of the catcher's spot over a decade ago, they were still struggling to be much over .500. Royals now on a 4-15 run, including a whopping 7 consecutive losses at home...have gone from 7 games under .500 to 4 games under in the span of 3 weeks.

http://deadspin.com/hawk-completely-melts-...-play-509854803

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 25, 2013 -> 05:29 AM) Kep needed a hit like that. You're not going to count his game-winning walk?

QUOTE (beautox @ May 25, 2013 -> 03:49 AM) My frustration with this situation as a sox fan is we've seen this organization make a similar mistake in the past with McCarthy back and forth between the rotation and the pen. Santiago is even more talented than Brandon ever was and if we're building for the future he needs to get stretched out in a similar fashion to Sale. Its also frustrating watching the sox front office this past offseason not move Floyd before he became a sunk cost and seeing what we had in both Dylan and Hector. I think the sox should evolve past conventional wisdom, if what they have going forward is four incredibly talented left handed starters than so be it, stick Peavy in the middle and move on. Looking at what we have in our four left handers its incredibly exciting: John Danks will hopefully return to his 3WAR pitching ways, personally I think we are just about to see Danks pull his best Frank Viola impression going forward. With Sale we haven't even fully begun to see what this kid's future is. Quintana could very well become our version of CJ Wilson or Jon Lester. Some interesting things to consider, Quintana at age 24 has had a better K/9 then both of the aforementioned 6.79 vs 5.63 and 6.50 respectively, along with BB/9, AVG and WHIP. That leaves Santiago and when you compare him to both Johan Santana and Fransico Liriano you begin to get excited about what he could very well develop into and understand the frustration of some sox fans about what this kids potential is and how the organization views and utilizes him. The rotations future could become the envy of AL very quickly going into next season Danks will only be 28 and is locked up till 2016 (14:$14.25M, 15:$14.25M, 16:$14.25M), Sale will be 25 and is locked up with options till '19 (14:$3.5M, 15:$6M, 16:$9.15M, 17:$12M, 18:$12.5M club option ($1M buyout), 19:$13.5M club option), Quintana will also be 25 and is under control till '18 if i'm not mistaken due to when he was brought up last year in may. Santiago will be 26 and under control till '17. Sox need to lock up Quintana and Santiago asap to something similar to Matt Moore[5 years/$14M (2012-16), plus 2017-19 options] or Madison Bumgarner[5 years/$35M (2013-17), plus 2018-19 options] Love your enthusiasm, but it has never been the style of the White Sox (until Sale) to give long-term extensions to their young players, preferring to go year by year. Danks was the other big exception. If Quintana and Santiago still are pitching this well at the end of 2013 and going into 2014, then it's definitely something worth considering. The other factor to consider is simply the fact that having a 4 lefty rotation isn't something they're going to lock themselves into until they see how it goes first...and they have an even cheaper Erik Johnson trailing behind all those guys you mentioned...so there's always the possibility they'll deal one of them (or two, counting Axelrod) for a position player.

Fast & The Furious 6 was a bit better than I expected, but not quite as good as Five. Still, definitely worth the money for the epitome of a summer blockbuster/popcorn flick. The last one had more of a story/plotline...this one was more about "over the top" or preposterous action sequences (and I loved the vault robbery sequence at the end of 5, as well as the opening sequence with the train and car flying off into the lake) that have to be seen to be believed. And, with all honesty, there's probably never been a movie series going into its 7 movie that has kept my interest...FWIW, Tokyo Drift actually figures in as the 6th movie chronologically, which will make more sense later.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 25, 2013 -> 01:35 AM) There's no evidence to show Santiago won't be a mop up guy. Not a shred. Nada zip zilch. All I'm saying and have been saying is that it makes sense. I trust the Sox will see it's a waste to have Santiago as a set up guy. I don't have the time nor the inclination to look up stats , but I'll venture to say Ax has been equally as good , if not better then most 5th starters in MLB . He's kept us in a lot of games. Any cost controlled starter is valuable. Starting pitching is always at a premium. He might be even better in the NL. I never said the Sox could get a starting catcher for him but I did say Ax and something else could get us a needed bat. Santiago is what , 23 ? His time will come. If Axelrod is ever going to be worth anything , his time has to be now. He is 27 and in his 1st year of starting in the majors. Injuries and ineffectiveness always brings starting pitching in a pennant chase to the forefront. Maybe I am overestimating his value but you are underestimating it. However, time will tell. The decision to keep him in the rotation is sound. Too much emphasis is put on a team jerking a player around. Do you think Santiago would rather be a reliever in the majors or a starter in the minors ? If he is any kind of team player, he'll accept his role because it helps the team now and for the future if Ax can continue to do what he has been doing. Except when/if Axelrod fails or there's an injury, who's going to fill the spot? It would conceivably take Santiago 3 weeks or so if all he does is pitch 3-4-5 times per month like in the second half season. How is that helping him build up his arm strength and endurance for the future? If some are complaining he can't go past 5 innings...and he already did that this week against a strong Red Sox line-up or in the final week of the 2012 season...then how does sitting him in the bullpen help the franchise? Whatever they choose, it should be creating the highest possible value out of him...not the least. As far as jerking a player around....that would be fine, it this was the first time. But we've seen it with Beckham, with Viciedo, there are lots of historical examples.

melt down Posted by: Howard Sinker (www.startribune.com/sports) under Farm System, Twins fans, Twins management Updated: May 24, 2013 - 9:13 AM 41 commentsprint Watching the Twins broadcasters after Thursday night's frustrating-for-all loss to Detroit was a little bit like listening to me talk about the basketball teams I used to coach -- the elementary school team in the Golden Valley/Crystal Park and Rec League and the sixth-grade B team I coached in Hopkins. After a loss, we'd chatter about the effort and look for the bright spots -- winning the fourth quarter against the tough kids from Eden Prairie or how we'd run some good offense and "did everything but make the shot." That's how it should be when you're coaching preteens. The Twitterverse was a bit cranky after the Twins blew that lead in Detroit. One of my friends tweeted: "After 9 straight losses, this is where we'll find out what kind of Twins fans we are. Does that represent the kind of person we are too." To which someone responded: "I don't think that expressing frustration and expecting those who run the Twins to do better constitutes being a bad fan." When Bert Blyleven tweeted this afterward: Someone responded: "Oh c'mon, Bert, the team sucks! When Molitor takes over, I hope you are the pitching coach." And so it went. In the best of times, some true fans hold animosity against those who jump on the bandwagon, which is silly. In bad times, they sometimes talk smack at each other, which deflects from the real problem of how incredibly poorly the Twins have been playing since the start of their last homestand. That 2-7 stretch followed by a clean sheet of defeat on the first half of the current 10-game road trip has landed the Twins solidly at the bottom of the AL Central, with the only worse record in the league belonging to pathetic Houston. In the name of looking at the present and future, I called a personal halt at the start of the season to writing about how the mistakes of the last few years had created a team for which there was little hope. "Kansas City North" was the term I used a few times, and Twins fans are getting a first-hand look at what that means. We used to watch the Royals talk about how better stuff was ahead and then they'd get off a respectable start -- followed by a tumble to the bottom. That's exactly what's been happening to the 2013 Twins, who worked so hard to be respectable for the first five weeks that little appears to be left for the next five months. (Quick aside: I know I'm not the only one a bit skeptical about all of the optimism being directed toward the Twins of the future who are currently playing their way through the lower minors. Hopeful, yes. Convinced, no.) The awful starting pitching has begotten tired relief pitching. The poor pitching has created an overall sense of hopelessness, leading some fans to bicker about who should be called up from Rochester among the collection of players currently in last place in the International League. The biggest frustration there is the perceived "Anthony Slama treatment" of pitcher Kyle Gibson by Twins management, which has called up Samuel Deduno and P.J. Walters as current stopgaps. We've heard buckets about how Gibson has thrown shutouts in two of his last four starts, one against a team with a record almost as bad as Houston's (and the other also against a sub-.500 team), and little about the other two. In the other two, Gibson gave up nine runs and 18 hits in 7 2/3 innings against two of the league's better teams. For the Twins to seek more consistency from Gibson is understandable. For fans to expect (and have expected) more competence from the Twins is, too.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ May 25, 2013 -> 12:43 AM) He won't be a mop up man. Haven't you been paying attention ? He'll be a set up guy. If not, then I would agree with your assessment. It's not really that much of a problem having too many good starters. But it is a problem not having enough competent set up guys. Young guys often pitch out of the bullpen before finding their proper place. Seeing good start after good start wasted because of hitting woes can cause a young starter , any starter for that matter to press. Maybe the Sox can turn Ax and something else into finding a bat. That's my hope , to make the team better. You put Ax in the pen and he's worthless. He keeps going as he has been ,now you got something. That is not defending anything. That is having a plan. Show any evidence from 2012 (after he was demoted from closer) and early 2013 that Santiago will be used as a set-up guy... To replace Thornton? That would be ONE PLAN (to get through this year competitively). Trading Thornton and investing the money back in the team. Replacing Nathan Jones or Lindstrom with Santiago? Are they really planning to do that? Otherwise, this whole idea of young starters starting to press....how is that changed by addressing the bullpen instead of the offense/starting line-up (for example, catcher)? Axelrod is the shortest RH starter in the game of baseball and has the lowest average fastball. He's worth more to the White Sox (because of his low salary) than he is in trade return. You can't trade Axelrod and getting a starting catcher in return for him. It's just not going to happen. With a premium being placed more and more on power pitching...Axelrod is fine as the last pitcher on the roster, but he's not going to help lead your rotation to the playoffs. And he's probably going to struggle more at UCSF when the weather (and offenses) start to heat up. The White Sox already made one mistake in bringing back Floyd and not trading him when they had the opportunity. Now they're making another one by utilizing Santiago incorrectly. If they're building towards the future, then Santiago really needs to be starting for the Charlotte Knights, so he doesn't have to spend 2014 wearing down in the end...like Chris Sale in the second half of 2012.

http://insidesportsillustrated.com/ The St. Louis Cardinals are the most consistent franchise in baseball due to an organizational philosophy dedicated to measured and constant evolution, writes Ben Reiter in this week’s Sports Illustrated. At the forefront of their sustained success is diverse and dominant starting pitching, made up this season by a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Jamie Garcia, Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook—all of whom appear on SI’s cover. The cover is inspired by the iconic October 7, 1968, SI cover that featured Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, Mike Shannon and Lou Brock. “When we think of the Cardinals, we think of a distinct organizational culture: Anodyne, diligent, supportive, resolute,” says Reiter. “Mostly, we think of consistency. Their 11 championships have been well distributed. No son or daughter of St Louis born since 1902 has reached the age of 25 without having lived through at least one victory parade.” (PAGE 64) At week’s end the Cardinals sit atop the National League with just nine players from their 2012 championship team. They are there, in large measure, because of a starting rotation that has been historically good. “The Cardinals have ended up with such a rotation by doing what they’ve always done, and what any team or corporation ought to do if it seeks success in the long term. Which is to ceaselessly, though judiciously, innovate,” says Reiter. (PAGE 64) When the game had become power crazy, former longtime St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan worked with the team’s pitchers to mix in ground ball inducing two-seam fastballs since he believed most pitchers only stood a chance by keeping their deliveries down in the strike zone. Wainwright busted on the scene as a closer late in the Cardinals 2006 title run throwing the two-seamer, and continues to use it now as the rotation’s ace and leader. However, when John Mozeliak was promoted to G.M., in 2007, Duncan began to lobby him to add power pitchers to the mix, especially since home runs were on the decline. “We decided to emphasize not just pitchers who were throwing hard, but guys we thought might throw harder in the future,” says Mozeliak. (PAGE 67) Within three years they drafted Lynn, Miller and also added Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez, each of whom throw around 100 mph from the bullpen and could be future starters—perhaps very soon since Garcia and Westbrook both recently were placed on the disabled list. The Cardinals have evolved financially, too, as they made the difficult choice to not re-sign Albert Pujols before last season. “Losing an iconic player was not easy—it was jolting,” says Mozeliak. “From a very simplistic standpoint, [once we let him go] we knew we had resources to deploy elsewhere.” (PAGE 67) The flexibility led to extensions for Wainwright and Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina. “While an overriding ethos—the Cardinal way—has developed over the years, it is flexible enough to allow the team to capitalize on the game’s changing realities better than any other,” says Reiter (PAGE 65) This one had the Twins' fans crying in their beers with the 10 game losing streak, the near no-hitter, the lack of financial flexibility with the Mauer deal....and seemingly stuck with Gardy, Rick Anderson and Terry Ryan for the foreseeable future.

http://tracking.si.com/2013/05/24/mets-mat...9&eref=sihp Matt Harvey getting lucky on and off the field... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-193535766.html Yu Darvish-like breakdown of Miggy Cabrera hitting homers on six completely different types of pitch with one swing motion...cool stuff.

It's only going to make sense if they start using Santiago in place of Jones, Omogrosso, Thornton and Lindstrom...in high leverage situations where the team has the lead, instead of when we're already 3-4-5 runs down. If he stays the long-man and last guy out of the pen, it's pointless. They might as well just bring up Jason Berken and send Santiago to AAA to start every 5 days. And this whole idea of eventually trading Santiago to get something useful in return...I'll believe it when I see it.

Omogrosso, Jones or Santiago here? Thornton? Looks like Matt. Crosses fingers.

Nope. Okay c'mon Dayan. You had a ball that you almost split the gap in RCF earlier in the game but then you've been humbled since.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 24, 2013 -> 08:48 PM) Time for Viciedo to get Reed his 2nd win I'm going with Paulie.

Good job, Addison. Strike throwing Reed >> Nibbling Reed

QUOTE (fathom @ May 24, 2013 -> 08:39 PM) Hopefully Adam does damage here, as I don't think Konerko is a good match-up against Qualls Unless it's 2005.

Wonder if they track the winning percentage of closers who enter games in the 9th or extras in tie games? Probably around 55%, but, with the White Sox, 40-45% wouldn't be surprising...especially with Jenks.