caulfield12

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 07:09 AM) Did you mean Dickerson? Nope. Blackmon. I don't think they're going to make Dickerson available.

And yet Nightcrawler (sadly for good movie-making) still almost lost a battle with second week movie, OUIJA, which almost nobody likes except for teenagers and those who grew up with the board game. Stonehearst Asylum 4/5 (awesome movie I'd never even heard of, Sturgess/Beckinsale/Ben Kingsley all very good) John Wick 4.5/5 (you just have to see this movie, it's becoming a cult classic already...a mix of Taken, Man on Fire and Gladiator all rolled into one)

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 01:14 AM) Or maybe he's a spokesman for Bosley. "That Ben guy sure doesn't have much hair" "Meh, he's Ben Balder" "I'm not only the Hair Club president, I'm also a client." Sy Sperling

Maybe he's losing his hair?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-185956282.html Maddon went back to Ray with counter-offer but they weren't willing to make him one of the five highest paid managers in baseball...were willing to increase from $1.8 to $3 million. According to this article, Scioscia, Girardi, Francona and Showalter ($2.6-2.9 million) were the four highest paid managers in 2014, with Maddon fifth (somehow) and Mattingly 6th. Not sure what other managers would be #4-5 in 2015 that Maddon and his agent are saying he wouldn't have been paid in the TOP FIVE with a $3 million salary. http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sports/the-6-h...html/?a=viewall Leyland and Dusty Baker were in the $3-3.5 million range...Torre was making $7.5 million per season with the Yankees before he retired.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) It is just an assault on your senses. I love how Gareth Evans directs the big fight scenes, Like the scene in the kitchen and in the first movie the scene with Rama and his brother vs the little mad dog. So brutal And to your How to Train your Dragon comment, I am very much looking forward to the third movie. The 3d is so well done It's essentially Dolphin Tale 1/2 (two parallel stories of struggling to overcome disabilities), but much better than the "true life" story. All the critics are making the same type of comments about John Wick (a new breed of action movies, transcending achievement, etc.), but it's unfortunate that Keanu Reeves is like a 1000 pound anchor tied around the neck of any movie he's associated with these days.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 10:27 PM) Blackmon or CarGo would be my guesses. Dickerson is only 25 Id be shocked if they moved him. They have a surplus of outfielders. Matches up well with our need for a LF. And who here is willing to give up Tim Anderson for Blackmon? Montas? Because that will be the asking price...not 2-3 "second tier" guys like Beck, Sanchez and Trayce Thompson cobbled together into a package.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 07:16 PM) or this was Cuddyer way of saying FU for giving me a QO. He's going to be lucky to get $8-10 million per year on a 3-year deal on the open market because of his age and defense. They're giving Cuddyer a gift by paying him $14.3 million or $15.3 million for one season, unless his career's totally going to fall off a cliff this year performance-wise.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 06:54 PM) I would guess the Royals aren't willing to spend that kind of money, whether he fits their roster or not. He's the perfect "contact hitting" role model for Hosmer, Moustakas and Gordon. Anything less than $60 million over three years and the Royals will be interested. KC is more of a doubles' park in April/May/September...but that won't bother Martinez at all because Comerica plays similarly. Plus they've got quite a few Hispanic players in Herrera, Escobar, Bueno, Infante...and, most importantly, Sal Perez, who's also Venezuelan and seen by many as the "next Yadier Molina." He could replace Raul Ibanez as a "leadership figure/role model" in that clubhouse. They lose Shields/Butler/Aoki and end up replacing them with V.Martinez/Volquez/mystery outfielder who's an upgrade on Aoki and/or platoon partner for Dyson. With Martinez in the line-up, you can afford to play Dyson and Cain together defensively more often in the outfield.

The Raid 2 is even better action (almost non-stop), although the plot's (and who goes for the story to this type of movie?) more compelling the first time around. In addition, The Book of Life was a lot more fun than I expected...especially if you're at all interested in Mexican/Hispanic culture. Also caught up with How to Train Your Dragon 2, and even though it didn't measure up to the first one, it was still a very good animation movie and I missed out not seeing it in the theatre with IMAX/3D/surround-sound. Finally, has anyone seen The Maze Runner? DVD or watch in a theatre? It just came out last week here in China. It's really weird the way that some movies arrive here (like Into the Storm) just because they're "action" movies, whereas most good dramas/comedies never see the light of day because of cultural differences.

Hard to say. A lot of players would take someone trying to grab them (while in the stands) the wrong way, BUT BUT BUT it's in his home park, so you'd think he would at least consider the possibility that his home fans were trying to prevent an injury in that situation.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 05:04 PM) We can't ignore the additional cost of forfeiting all international signings for two years as well. This smells like something that's going to be nuts to me. I highly doubt Hahn takes this kind of risk. If he was the age/experience level to get a deal like Abreu/Tanaka, that would be ONE thing. As he's going to dramatically affect the international spending limits, it's pretty much cost-prohibitive from two different standpoints...unless your scouts are 100% convinced the risks are worth it and he's a once in a generation five tool player, then you have to pass because of how out-of-whack spending has gotten on the Cuban market (largely due to the success of the White Sox with "undervalue" signings of Alexei and Abreu, as well as the initial success of Puig on his $42 million dollar deal).

If Santana/Bauer/Carrasco ever get on a roll to go along with Kluber, watch out. If all those guys pitch up to their potential in CLE, they might actually end up with the best rotation in the division unless Rodon becomes the equivalent of Jose Abreu as a pitcher. Cleveland still has to shore up their bullpen and get a comeback season from Kipnis. As far as Victor Martinez on the Royals, that would give them almost perfect balance, with Martinez/Gordon/Hosmer/Moustakas from that side...to go along with Escobar, Perez, Infante/2B, Cain, and not sure if they're ready to replace Aoki with Dyson or would prefer to add another veteran outfielder or possibly create a platoon with Dyson.

Well, nobody's going to want Michael Cuddyer now via trade. That seems to force them to move Dickerson, Blackmon (that one doesn't make sense, he started off superhot early and peaked, then had a rapid decline) or CarGo. Then there's Stubbs as well. One theory is that Cuddyer might be moving to 1B...but that's a huge QO for an average at best 1B who's likely to underproduce as he gets older. What's Morneau's status at the moment? They have to decide whether to pick up his option, which is "pretty" affordable, right?

If the money's going to ANY Cuban, it would be better invested in Moncada than Tomas or Rusney Castillo. The problem's that Moncada is the long-term play here, and how willing is JR to open the purse strings for a guy who might not contribute until 2017 (at the earliest) or 2018? As a White Sox fan, if it's an EITHER Moncada or putting $30-40 million into these next two offseasons, then you have to take the "win now" approach even though Moncada has superstar written all over him and the majority of FA acquisitions are LIKELY to be more incremental improvements, barring a major surprise and opening of the purse strings.

Victor Martinez, 3 years for $48 million, I'm okay with that. The problem is 2015's likely to be his best season of those three, and the timing's off by one year...where when we needed him in 2014 form, we'd be getting a predictably diminished return already in 2016. Royals are a MUCH better fit for Martinez. (Although I doubt they're willing to give him four years, either). Maybe they'll go 3 years/$54-56 million.

Thanks for our version of Jd Martinez, rickster.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 07:37 PM) Supposedly VMart is looking for a 4 year deal with a contender and at 36, I believe it. VMart alone does not make the Sox a contender which means the Sox would need to get holes filled first so the Sox can go to VMart and show how they have taken steps to make the team better and tell VMart that he's the finishing touch to a Sox contender. I cannot stress this enough, do not get your hopes up Sox fans. Stop believing what idiots like Levine have written. DH is only one of the holes to fill on the Sox along with LF, two or maybe even three bullpen spots, 2B , possibly a starting pitcher and a case could be made for a defensive upgrade at 3B. That's a lot of holes to fill in one off season and a very hard sell to VMart. Sorry, I just don't see VMart being interested and that doesn't include the love spat between he and Sale. We know they're highly unlikely to touch 2b with semien /Johnson and probably more unlikely to pay Sandoval/Hanley/headley. I'm just as worried about catcher as those two positions. Once again like 3b (where you're looking at $12-18 million aav per year players) the only obvious upgrade is Martin and we are not in a position to put all our eggs in one or two baskets when we are 5-6 quality players away from contention.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 07:59 PM) Lind can't be a full time DH because he's a platoon hitter. So with him, we'd have a partial DH. Yea, Roost, that's a big improvement offensively and defensively at a reasonable cost. Gillaspie could play some first, OF?, DH. Maybe another guy from the right side of some sort. Only if you think Travis Ishikawa is serviceable in left field.

http://grantland.com/features/2014-mlb-pla...remarkable-run/ Story on the agony and ecstasy of getting within one base or run of winning the world series.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 07:50 PM) Thank you sir. I was thinking the same about Crawford until I looked him up, I was surprised as well. I think Crawford is a guy LA would like to trade so they have room for Perderson. If LA were willing to kick in roughly 15-18M for the remaining 3 years of Crawford's contract, it would knock his salary down to around 15M per year which is much more reasonable. Tank would have to be traded or let go but I doubt many fans would cry about that, lol. So the Sox would have Abreu at 1B, Headley at 3B and Crawford in LF. Another guy that could factor into the rotating DH with Gillaspie and Crawford could be Michael Morse who can also play LF and wouldn't cost a pick or too much in annual salary. Crawford, Headley and Morse should cost in the area of 35M and leave the Sox room for at least one good reliever possibly another depending on the arbitration cases and how aggressive the Sox want to be. Add two relievers and I seriously think the Sox could take the division in 2015. With the starting rotation as is...?

That's why the possibility of adding $35-50 million in new salary is pretty unrealistic...unless they agree to take on another bad contract (in addition to danks) like ethier or josh Hamilton, etc.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-163108617.html Molitor to manage twins as predicted

With Gone Girl, you're MUCH better off just reading the book. Affleck was his smirky/cocky best, but somehow Rosamund Pike doesn't quite fit with him chemistry-wise. Maybe it's the British side of her...of course, she's supposed to be an East Coast/elitist type of personality. Without all the supporting details of a book to work with, it turns into a CSI/NCIS/Law and Order paint by the numbers type of story...the characters of the parents and Neil Patrick Harris didn't have nearly enough time to develop richly enough. In the end, it all felt a bit rushed and it still took up almost 2 1/2 hours of screen time.

This would also seem to put even more pressure on Theo and Company to sign Shields and/or Lester. They can't whiff on free agency this time around. It's not quite an "all in" year because they have to wait on Bryant, but it's one year off for both the White Sox and the Cubs, in the sense both teams will be expected to compete for a playoff spot in 2016 barring major injuries to key players (Sale/Abreu).