caulfield12

I'm still not understanding why you have all the love you do for Buddy Bell if you can't even provide a coherent defense for him, other than the fact that Laumann and our college/high school scouts suck at drafting position players...

QUOTE (Lillian @ May 13, 2013 -> 06:18 AM) What if you take Dunn out of the equation? In that it is highly unlikely that anyone would take him, why not just focus upon players who could be acquired to fill the role of middle of the order hitter? Of course, you can guess that my preference would be for a left handed hitter. Ideally, it would be someone who would be a salary dump and thus not require sacrificing any important pieces from the Sox roster. So, is there a good left handed hitter who could be acquired by taking on a less than desirable contract? Ethier is one name that I floated here before. I think the Dodgers would consider giving him away in order to make room for Puig, and to get out of the remaining 5 years of his contract. At 31 Ethier might reasonably be expected to contribute for at least 4 of the remaining 5 years of that contract. Remember, the Sox don't have a single left handed impact bat, that is expected to be on the active roster in the next 3 or 4 years. Would the Dodgers consider paying a portion of that contract? He is really good vs. RHP. If the Sox acquired him, I would put him in LF, and let Viciedo DH. What would I do with Adam Dunn? Who cares? Anything that didn't include his taking the field. I just can't watch him anymore. You don't want to compound your mistake by taking on another bad contract unless we can ZERO out at least half of Dunn's $27 million and get a younger player with a MUCH more higher probability of 1) rebounding and 2) being a part of the team's short-term as well as long-term future. Or you have to find a team to take Dunn and then get some money back along with the risk of assuming a huge long-term contract. We managed this quite successfully with the Jim Thome deal, in fact. Thome was coming off an injury/surgery and Ryan Howard needed a place to play.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 13, 2013 -> 06:21 AM) You are just going in circles at this point. And you never answered the question I posed. Name at least three things Buddy Bell has done well...and why, in your opinion, he deserves to still have a job in baseball. You are the one trying to twist my saying that they don't have a good record of minor league development to extrapolate it that they can develop other team's players at the major league level. What the heck does that have to do with Buddy Bell or the current state of affaris with the minor league system?

By Bill Shaikin May 11, 2013, 5:06 p.m. The Dodgers — and their world-record payroll — have sunk to the bottom of the National League West. The Angels — and their collection of superstar hitters — are flailing in the depths of the American League West. We thought we would be talking about the Dodgers and Angels meeting in a Freeway Series in October, not about whether the Dodgers and Angels would fire their managers before the Freeway Series at the end of May. Josh Hamilton is fighting to keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line. Matt Kemp has one home run. Albert Pujols cannot run. Matt Magill, a fifth starter at double A this time last year, has started more games for the Dodgers than Zack Greinke. The frustration runs so deep around these parts that we ought to pause for a few moments, to remind ourselves that this season's disappointment extends beyond our metropolis. Beyond our country, in fact. The biggest disappointment in baseball is not the Dodgers, not the Angels. It's not even close. The Toronto Blue Jays are a disaster. The Dodgers and Angels have the resources to contend for the long haul. The Blue Jays are buried in last place in the American League East, in the season they went all-in because of the perceived vulnerability of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. For all the outrage heaped upon Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria for breaking his promises and breaking up his club, the players he dispatched to Canada have not rubbed it in. Far from it. Mark Buehrle has an earned-run average of 6.19. Josh Johnson has an ERA of 6.86 and is on the disabled list. Shortstop Jose Reyes played 10 games, then got hurt. The Jays also got catcher John Buck from the Marlins, then flipped him to the New York Mets in a package for defending Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey. Buck has 10 home runs, second in the NL. Dickey has a 5.06 ERA. Melky Cabrera has a career-low .634 OPS, the encore to his career-high .906 OPS season that ended in August after he was busted for testosterone use. The Jays rank next-to-last in the AL in on-base percentage and earned-run average. This was the team built for Toronto's first playoff appearance since 1993, a drought so pronounced that longtime ace Roy Halladay finally asked out so he could play in October. The Blue Jays traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies — and, in his postseason debut, in 2010, Halladay pitched a no-hitter. This season has not been kind to Halladay. His ERA is 8.65, his fastball is not hitting 90 mph, and he is scheduled for rotator cuff surgery this week. Halladay, 35, asked if he might speak with reporters last Friday, so he could apologize to the Philadelphia fans. "I just wanted to reach out to the fans, thank them for their support and apologize to the ones who pay the money and show up in the second inning and it's 9-0," Halladay said. Halladay said he understood if fans did not like him. When a reporter gently said that "no one doesn't like you," Halladay replied: "If I paid $60 and the team was down 9-0 when I showed up, I wouldn't like me." The Atlanta Braves thought that outfielder Justin Upton could flourish in a place where people liked him. The Arizona Diamondbacks had dangled him in the trade market for several years, and owner Ken Kendrick had publicly criticized him. The Braves traded for Upton — after they had spent $75 million to sign his brother, outfielder B.J. Upton, as a free agent. Justin Upton leads the majors with 12 home runs. No disappointment there. But B.J. Upton is batting .157 with a .513 OPS, both figures the worst for any regular player in the NL. The only position player signed for more money in free agency last winter was Hamilton, for $125 million. The Oakland Athletics won the AL West last season, with the Rangers making their third consecutive playoff appearance. The Seattle Mariners loaded up on offense. The Angels had Pujols, Hamilton and Mike Trout. And the four returning AL West teams could beat up on the new weakling, the Houston Astros, so much so that a fair share of conventional wisdom had three AL playoff teams coming out of the West. But what appeared to be the roughest division in the major leagues now looks like the most disappointing. The Rangers were the only team with a winning record before Saturday. There is disappointment all over baseball land. In Chicago, the Cubs and the White Sox are in last place. The frustration is not so great, not when the Cubs' brand is futility. The Dodgers have not won the World Series in 25 years, and this year is not looking good. Let us recommend local fans temper their disappointment. Kemp might not be hitting, but at least he is not playing for a team that has not won the World Series in 105 years. [email protected] Is AA really going to be able to keep his job after this unmitigated disaster?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 13, 2013 -> 06:11 AM) You just made an argument against your own argument. Developing other players means we can develop players Ummm....not really. Because it wasn't our minor league system that did a single thing. Maybe Jenks, but he obviously had the raw stuff and talent, it would have been hard to mess that one up...he was the perfect "change of scenery" candidate. Almost all of those guys, you can directly point to Don Cooper's involvement. I didn't list Matt Thornton, but he would be another prime example. If you want to say development doesn't happen at the minor league level and 90% of it can be attributed to Don Cooper, okay, I'll go along with that. Are we going to credit Buddy Bell for Daniel Hudson, Clayton Richard and Gio Gonzalez? Remember, Quintana wasn't "ruined" by our minor league system because he was only in it for about a month. Santiago turned his career around in winter ball, at least that's my understanding from everything that has been written.

QUOTE (Brian @ May 13, 2013 -> 04:14 AM) Hooray for team meetings!! Our defense STILL sucks. Hooray for Chris Sale and Dunn not in the line-up against a LHP. Hooray for Viciedo walks, if Keppinger can actually drive them in at some point this season.

As I made my rounds in the clubhouse Friday, the music was blaring because the Angels were on a one-game winning streak. They had a hockey game on TV. No one was watching, of course. But everyone was in a fine mood because they weren't home to be booed. But I wondered, are the players mad because they've played so poorly? "No, because as competitors we know it's a long season," Albert Pujols said. "But I can see how we've given the fans and the media reason to be mad at us." Most of the players are great guys, and they have their guaranteed money, so no worries and 120-some games yet to play. It's good to be a baseball player. "I can't tell you that there is anything wrong," said Howie Kendrick, and I'd like to see a show of hands from fans who disagree. Individually, the Angels are obviously competitors; yet collectively there just doesn't seem to be much fight in them. They lost that when Moreno chose not to keep team leader Torii Hunter. They have had arguably the best talent in the American League West the past four seasons but are on the their way to missing the playoffs four straight years. They get knocked down and they don't get up. They are very much like their owner, and as they say, the fish stinks from the head down. It's the same reason why the Clippers consistently disappoint, and why everyone is worried now about the Lakers after they had such a great owner. We saw what happened under the stewardship, as he called it, of Frank McCourt. We should care about who owns our sports franchises if we're going to take an interest in how their teams fare. T.J. Simers Bio | E-mail | Recent columns Also Take heart, Dodgers and Angels fans: Others are suffering too Angels fans may be wondering who's on ... well, name the base Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan to have arm surgery Helmets not a good fit for pitchers, so far Ads by Google When criticism of Moreno started a few years ago, he buckled. He could never make it as a player and answer the media's questions after a poor performance. Three or four times a week. When he talks now it's only to mlb.com, which allows him to speak without cross examination. Gone are the days when Moreno was all smiles and known as the "People's Owner." He was the guy who lowered beer prices and who used to walk the Angel Stadium concourses to meet the fans. But when was the last time he did that? "I don't know," team spokesman Tim Mead said. "But he has, I'm sure, just not as frequently." Moreno can't take the heat, and the same can be said of the Angels, who have wilted under the strain of expectations. Again. "I absolutely hated [being picked as favorites] going into this year," Mark Trumbo said. "We saw the writing on the wall last year. Just because you have good parts doesn't mean you're guaranteed a spot." But shouldn't it? I suggested. "In theory, yeah, that does work," Trumbo said. "But it's painfully obvious that doesn't hold true." As a businessman, Moreno has excelled in improving the value of his franchise. Donald Sterling has done the same, and look how much McCourt got for his team. As a baseball owner Moreno has been inconsistent. He's never won a World Series, the Mickey Mouse folks from Disney doing that. Attendance has dropped 189,044 over the past two seasons, which speaks to disappointment. Attendance is up 77,131 this season, which speaks to hope, but what happens if that disappears? The future of his manager has been questioned, but instead of declaring publicly Scioscia will be here all season, Moreno declined the opportunity to talk. Does that mean Scioscia might not make it to the end of the season? General Manager Jerry Dipoto also has refused to answer the question. Why haven't the Dodgers curtailed all the chatter and announced Mattingly will guide the team to the end? Maybe that's the only race remaining for the Dodgers and Angels: Who gets rid of their manager first? Will the Angels ever finish first in anything with Moreno calling the shots? He likes to talk and cuss tough, but he has consistently rolled over when bidding has gotten serious on players like Mark Teixeira and Adrian Beltre. Prone to being emotional when Moreno doesn't get his way, the Angels ended up with Vernon Wells. Most of Moreno's big-time signings have come after he has swooped in quietly without significant competition to sign players like Vladimir Guerrero, Hunter, Pujols and Hamilton. Look at the Angels now. Much that has gone wrong and will continue to go wrong is his doing. In addition to whopping contracts for Pujols and Hamilton that will escalate each year, there's the fact the Angels' minor league system has been ranked the worst. So maybe this is the best we can expect from the Angels, and now isn't that fun to ponder? T.J. Simers/LATIMES

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 12, 2013 -> 09:24 PM) What do you think it'd take for KC to fire Ned this season? Losing six of seven heading into a road trip is not what the fans wanted. The Yankees sure beat up KC like the Royals were nothing. The Royals never look that bad when they play the Sox. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/12/42316...ing-royals.html#

http://hawkcentral.com/2013/05/01/124057/?odyssey=obinsite Big 10 pre-season projections for 2013-14 (from Iowa City newspaper, Press-Citizen)

http://hawkcentral.com/2013/04/30/steve-al...dyssey=obinsite

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 13, 2013 -> 01:46 AM) Sale will be 27, in his prime and locked up contractually by the magical '16. Why would anyone advocate giving up a known for one or more unknowns? It never fails to puzzle me. In fact, it was when Kenny traded Hudson for EJax that I had the same feeling. It just made no sense. I'm pretty sure it was a joke...

Robin Ventura is not a huge proponent of team meetings. But the Sox manager called one after Saturday night's 3-2 loss to the Angels in which his team committed three errors and had a passed ball that led to an unearned run. "Mine was just me talking," Ventura said Sunday. "I've been in a lot of (team meetings). I don't like 'em. I just think that teams that scuffle have meetings a lot. So I don't want to have too many meetings. Teams that win don't seem to have that many meetings because you don't need to. I would rather that be the last one of the year." Paul Konerko said Ventura did not lose his cool during Saturday night's session. "It wasn't like he was jumping us like crazy, but it also wasn't the upbeat, positive one either," Konerko said. Getting ready: John Danks pitched six innings Sunday to earn a rehab win for Triple-A Charlotte over the Pawtucket Red Sox. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits. He walked three and struck out five. Danks has been on the disabled list all season after undergoing left shoulder surgery last year. "The good news is that he is on his way. And hopefully soon he's up here and pitching well," Ventura said. Error of their ways: The Sox entered Sunday night's game with seven multi-error games, and they were tied with the Angels with the most errors (27) in the American League. "When you see it happen, you don't want to be the next guy to (make an error)," Ventura said. "I've been through it too. Let your physical abilities take over and just play the game." Fred Mitchell/Tribune.com/sports/whitesox

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:35 PM) Does anybody know anything about Miguel Gonzalez?? He is hitting .326 in AA. He was a top Sox prospect (Top 10 list) half a decade ago.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:21 PM) Just wait, that particular article (trade Sale now at his highest value) is coming at some point this season from Phil Rogers. It's inevitable. Probably he'll ask to get "back" Curtis Granderson in return so he can write more puff pieces about the local Chicago product to last for 6-8 weeks of column inches.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:21 PM) Just wait, that particular article (trade Sale now at his highest value) is coming at some point this season from Phil Rogers. It's inevitable. Probably he'll ask to get "back" Curtis Granderson in return so he can write more puff pieces about the local Chicago product to last for 6-8 weeks of column inches.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 12, 2013 -> 08:26 PM) A full rebuild will have a hard time matching the pitching the Sox have now. Which contracts are so bad to prevent the Sox from competing? Dunn, Danks and Keppinger, one would guess, going forward after Konerko/Crain/Thornton are gone.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:48 PM) Lol at ARod being feasible Well, there's TWO feasibles there. One is whether the Yankees could feasibly get back the "old" Dunn... The more important "feasible" is whether the White Sox would agree to take on the A-Rod contract. And that's a bigger NO! than even going to the dramatic lengths of releasing Dunn with $27-28 million left owed to him.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:03 PM) While I appreciate a creative effort to rid the White Sox of Dunn, it just doesn't seem possible. Plus, as many posters have pointed out, trading BJ Upton probably wouldn't bode well with their star Justin. Tieing in the fact that BJ Upton was traded for ADAM DUNN, and the GM probably loses his job. OKAY. Find someone. A-Rod Carl Crawford Alphonso Soriano but Cubs wouldn't put Dunn in OF, Rizzo set for 1B Teixeira Pujols A-Gonzalez Brian Roberts Juan Uribe Vernon Wells Michael Young Jeff Francouer Dan Uggla Andre Ethier Jayson Werth Ryan Howard PITCHERS Papelbon Marmol Brandon League Johan Santana John Lackey Barry Zito Kevin Correia Ricky Romero Mark Buehrle Lincecum Heath Bell Jonathan Broxton CJ Wilson Josh Beckett

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:03 PM) While I appreciate a creative effort to rid the White Sox of Dunn, it just doesn't seem possible. Plus, as many posters have pointed out, trading BJ Upton probably wouldn't bode well with their star Justin. Tieing in the fact that BJ Upton was traded for ADAM DUNN, and the GM probably loses his job. OKAY. Find someone. A-Rod Carl Crawford Alphonso Soriano but Cubs wouldn't put Dunn in OF, Rizzo set for 1B Teixeira Pujols A-Gonzalez Brian Roberts Juan Uribe Vernon Wells Michael Young Jeff Francouer Dan Uggla Andre Ethier Jayson Werth Ryan Howard PITCHERS Papelbon Marmol Brandon League Johan Santana John Lackey Barry Zito Kevin Correia Ricky Romero Mark Buehrle Lincecum Heath Bell Jonathan Broxton CJ Wilson Josh Beckett

15 runs behind the Mariners in runs scored....to get out of last place in that category.

Dayan "Mr. Walk" Viciedo now with four walks in 3 days. OBP=333 OPS=797 With everything that's gone wrong, with the worst defense in the AL, with PK OPSing at 622, Keppinger at an abysmal 387 and Flowers at 605, not to mention Adam Dunn....we're still only five games back.

Amazing stat. White Sox are alone in 5th place in the AL Central, 5 GB. In the AL West, 6 GB still puts you in second place behind the Rangers.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 12, 2013 -> 08:42 PM) CSIAA Once again.

QUOTE (Baron @ May 12, 2013 -> 07:57 PM) Thing is how long in the future? A few years or will we be stuck in the darkness for a long period of time? Are you prepared to sit through maybe many years of just absolute hell? I bet most people on here are not. If they wanted to do that, they would make a Marlins-esque move and trade Sale for the best available package. That's not happening.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 12, 2013 -> 08:50 PM) I am going to make a bold prediction that Michael Earley will make it to the majors before Thompson, Walker and Mitchell (it's depressing, but I could see it happening). He is not going to be a starter, but he can be a solid fourth outfielder for our team. I've followed him a bit for the better part of the past two years, he looks like he has a good bat, make solid contact with the ball, and doesn't strike out often. We can definitely use such a player off the bench. If he keeps hitting, he could very well get a spring training invite, and make it to the majors as early as next year. How good is his defense? Which positions can he play confidently?