caulfield12

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 08:09 PM) Believe me, don't give them the benefit of the doubt. If they have information and it's from a source they have a relationship with, they will post it. When it comes to "trusted sources", 9 times out of 10, people don't just leak that stuff to do a favor to the reporter. The information leaking out is for a purpose, for one side of the deal. Except national writers when they get burned in this way one or two times tend to stay away from the flames...and this goes towards information from agents too, for example, the way the White Sox were used by Boras and the media to drive up the value of his eventual deal with the Rangers.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 08:05 PM) I'm in California but available if needed. Marcus will love my VW Golf... Only if it's a pink convertible Jetta or Mini Cooper.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 08:04 PM) From a PR standpoint, the Passen tweets are probably coming out from a Sox source. Things may be stalling out a bit, Oakland wants Anderson and the Sox are coming off their price, so they put it out in the media that Anderson isn't moving. Passan's smarter than that. He's not Peter Gammons working trades in the media for the Red Sox. If anything, the A's fanbase would probably not accept that deal very easily...so it would be in Beane's interest to make it as soon as possible if Semien's actually the player he's targeting, rather than letting resistance build up against the move. Plus, it's not good for the players involved, either. Obviously, it comes with the territory, and can be spun positively that multiple teams have interest in a player or your name's constantly being mentioned in connection with trade talks. Better than being Josh Phegley.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 08:01 PM) How many young SS's do they have? Their top two prospects are also SS's, but they're both not major league ready. Moneyball Version 3.1. Acquire five or six top minor league SS prospects and trade them away for various pieces you need at other positions. Also, see Cubs with Castro, Russell, Baez, Alcantara, etc.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 08:00 PM) Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 3m3 minutes ago Beane hints #Athletics likely to make at least one more move in next day or two. Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 2m2 minutes ago Beane confirms #Athletics targeting young shortstops in deals. After the Passan tweets…seems like Semien for Shark is agreed upon. What is the holdup? Has to be the other pieces involved in the deal from the White Sox side, or maybe they're (the A's) asking for cash to come their way as well.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) Wite's fears confirmed…. I remember five years ago we all considered Jhonny Peralta a statue at SS and definitely a 3B/DH and he's since had a career renaissance in more ways than one. Sometimes players can and do improve defensively. Still would be hesitant to throw Semien out there for 145+ games at SS and expect him to have less than 35-40 errors.

As everyone else has said, if the deal is Semien and pieces (Webb/Bassitt/Beck/Johnson/Davidson, etc.) then you have to do it. But not if you include Anderson, Montas and Hawkins. Then the White Sox would be left scrambling at 2B and/or the RH complement to Gillaspie. Would they sign another player for one year or do they gamble that Micah Johnson's ready? Do they truly believe Sanchez can be close to league average at 2B if they deem Johnson not ready until at least mid-season?

The Mariners certainly aren't trying to fill their fans with DELusions. They're not messing around this offseason. Thanks, new $100+ million/year Root Sports TV contract.

Everyone's already stated the statistical reasons that Volquez will be due for a regression, but since our last pairing of a similar enigmatic pitcher (Liriano) with Cooper, am simply hoping Don can find someone he really clicks with. That never seemed to happen with Paulino last spring, either.

Interstellar definitely doesn't deserve to be one of the worst five movies. No way. That would be reserved for something like THE FOUNTAIN, which also had the intention of being an "amazing film" but ended up as nothing short of a debacle from a very talented film-maker. I can't even agree about Nymphomaniac...since Von Trier is an easy target for critics, but the backlash is kind of ridiculous is you've watched the actual movie/s, which it seems the majority of people who comment online haven't.

If they don't want to spend $11-13 million for those mid tier guys, then making bets on Masterson or Brett Anderson make a lot more sense financially. It's certainly not the equivalent of Paulino, Josh Johnson, Gavin Floyd or pitchers with multiple TJ surgeries.

Daniel Hudson. You wonder when K-Rod's arm will fall off like Scott Shields' did (all those relievers abused by Scioscia in the 2002-2006 period), but going two years and an achievable 3rd year option with Rodriguez is 100X more preferable to higher AAV and 4-5 years for Robertson. Robertson's going to get a minimum of 4 years and probably 5 based on the A. Miller deal.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2015...p-10-prospects/ The A's have their top two prospects as SS's despite trading Russell away to the Cubs. The problem is there's zero chance that we get Samardzija and one of those guys for Ramirez and Semien. It would have to be something like JS + SS prospect for Ramirez, Semien, Montas and one other smaller piece. Still not seeing exactly how that's going to help for 2015. Or perhaps they'd ask for Ramirez, Montas and Hawkins if they're really committed to rebuilding for the next year or so.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 01:47 AM) And the Athletics traded Yoenis Cespedes for 76 innings of Jon Lester. And a draft choice. Not to mention the fact that the Red Sox don't even want to keep Cespedes.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 01:27 AM) But a good bullpen on a bad team is useless. A good offense on a bad team at the very least helps attendance and exposure and fan interest. A good rotation on a bad team offers very valuable trading chips to rebuild. A good bullpen on a bad team does neither. And then trading those pretty reliable veterans like Crain and Thornton that you do have opens up even bigger gaps that you can't easily fill. Spending top of the market money on a very very good but not quite elite closer in Robertson just doesn't make much sense. Plus, we've seen enough of those situations blow up (look at the A's with Jim Johnson last year or acquiring Billy Koch for a Sox-related example) to know better by now.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20326356_2...0.html#30261552 Top 10 and Worst 5 movies of 2014 (Entertainment Weekly) https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/japan-toho-p...-015736054.html Japan's TOHO to produce new Godzilla movie

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2014 -> 11:28 AM) Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 7m7 minutes ago From last night: #DBacks ownership declined to approve proposed Montero-for-Ethier deal with #Dodgers. Story: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/dodgers...-through-120614 … Makes a lot of sense for LA. They want/ed to move on from AJ Ellis after his abysmal offensive performance in 2014. Makes less sense for AZ financially. And of course both players are already familiar with the NL West, which is another important consideration.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2014 -> 02:34 PM) Bruce Levine ‏@MLBBruceLevine 7m7 minutes ago Toronto may be turning back to Kenny Williams who they discussed at some business levels ,but not in all departments the end of Oct So quasi-CEO but not full powers? Sounds very vague. Probably intentionally so. Reading between the lines, it wasn't quite the full promotion it was perceived to be in the media originally, but very likely a step up from his White Sox position. And KW played for the Jays previously, so there's already that connection.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 5, 2014 -> 05:56 PM) Looks like the team that offered him that was the Astros so ya... Seriously? That runs completely counter to their new operating model.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 5, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) They did just receive Shane Greene back in this trade though, which will effectively replace the starting spot that was vacated by Fister. So, they actually did do well fixing a problem that they unnecessarily created, imo Except for the fact that Fister's a much better pitcher with a super solid track record in Detroit. Cost savings...there's that.

The A's are either rebuilding on they're not. If they trade Samardzija, they pretty much have no choice but to rebuild the next couple of seasons. At least that's the signal they're sending. I also don't believe the Indians with their Swisher/Bourne experiences are going to be so quick to take on another "bigger" contract who's only under team control for 2 more years. That's the opposite of the Indians' normal style of locking up those players like Santana and Kipnis into their first or second FA years. With their young pitchers, their best window of opportunity is 2016-2018, just like the White Sox.

SIGH. There are about 50 reasons Quintana is overlooked. And probably 90% of baseball fans would think your favorite team trading top prospects for Cole Hamels (despite his age and contract) is a better bet than trading those same prospects for Quintana. You can practically guarantee that there would be a significantly blip on the season ticket radar for any team adding Hamels. (Of course, this is not a smart way to run a franchise, looking at short-term PR gains versus longer term, repeatable success).

Is Moss really going to be any better than Michael Morse, Torii Hunter or even Dayan Viciedo in the OF? Can the A's afford to part with even more offense with Donaldson a near-MVP talent as well as Cespedes gone? If there's one thing that's certain, it's that we shouldn't be worsening a defense with any acquisition we make. Now that's hard to do in the case of LF, but Moss isn't going to be a Rasmus or even on par with Markakis/DeAza/Aoki out there.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 4, 2014 -> 12:09 AM) Uthoff had a bad shooting night but he seems to be more confident and willing to keep shooting, which was something he wouldn't do last year. He'd disappear for long stretches and he is far too talented to do that. This could be a big win for the program. Have some huge in state games coming up against ISU and Northern Iowa. They have to split against Iowa State and UNI, going 10-3 in nonconference. Then 9-9 or 10-8 in conference and probably need one victory in the B10 Tourney. Lasty year, there were a lot of rumors out of IC about Marble's selfishness and me-oriented play. I think you might actually see Iowa improve in the 2nd half this year as the team comes together, instead of falling apart. At least that's the hope. On the flip side, you don't have many shot creators on the team that can generate their own way to points when the offense breaks down. Aaron White's never going to be that type of player.

QUOTE (bshah723 @ Dec 3, 2014 -> 11:23 PM) Jared Leto – The Joker Will Smith – Deadshot Tom Hardy – Rick Flag Margot Robbie – Harley Quinn Jai Courtney – Boomerang Cara Delevingne – Enchantress Suicide squad cast. I am pumped Interesting to see Margot Robbie paired with Wil Smith again so soon.