caulfield12

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 6, 2013 -> 06:42 AM) I'll take "Threads where you can tell who started it just by the title" for $800, Alex. It's like if a thread appeared talking about the geology showing up in a star trek movie. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706145/s...pock-clip.jhtml Hey, you requested geology. The main point here, after watching the movie "42," it struck me how baseball has become a distant relative of the game as it used to be played. Harrelson's right, there is very little or no bench jockeying. Players are fraternizing with each other constantly before and after games. There's almost no interaction anymore with the fans, and it's limited to those who are the owners of luxury boxes and diamond suites. Certainly, we're days away from the dreaded "team meeting," which ALMOST ALWAYS works. It's actually a lot like last year, when Ventura's idea of holding Ramirez accountable led directly to a defeat because there was nobody left to play but Olmedo in his place. He simply can't bench, for example, Alexei Ramirez. He can't replace Alex Rios in the line-up either, and there's almost no other options left other than Matt Thornton. He gave Donnie Veal about 15 opportunities. For whatever reason, this team "hit the wall" 2 1/2 months ago and hasn't recovered since. If we don't want to place any blame at the foot of the manager's door, evoking pitchforks and knives coming after Kenny Williams is hardly going to fix the problem either. At a certain point, whatever happened in the past is forgotten and those in charge NOW become accountable. It hasn't happened yet. But it's also why fans are tremendously alienated from this team already. Because if they didn't give up (most agree they just wore down, that it wasn't really a choke and that DET was simply the more talented team and talent almost always wins out eventually in the end)...then they're certainly carrying that negative feeling or vibe directly into the 2013 as if they didn't miss a beat or work on a single thing in Spring Training.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2013/...ays/#more-53996 At least reading these articles makes me feel not quite so bad about the White Sox. We're not sending a rotation that includes Harrell and Humber (soon to be gone) out there...our pitching depth is a strong point, which will make rebuilding much easier. http://www.torontosun.com/2013/05/05/strug...-costly-to-rays What's wrong with David Price?

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2013 -> 12:56 AM) No, but I never minded Walker. You know what might make the future interesting on the South Side? LaRussa. They would have to give him complete control. And, at his age, not sure if he'd have the patience for a 3-5 year project. It would be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, contracts for a GM in the majors. Would JR be willing to completely change the way he's done things in order to please someone who might "pull a Piniella" and just walk away? Would that be the official end of the Harrelson broadcasting era? One would think so. Not to mention the fact that it wouldn't be entirely fair to Hahn after waiting all this time. That said, Hahn's going to find himself in a box, where the "taint" of his past association with KW is going to make it a bit hard to establish his own identity.

I'll use the formula I developed in high school.....IP-H + K-BB/ERA. 1. Erik Johnson 32.1 2. Bassitt 19 3. Myles Jaye 16.7 4. Chris Beck 12 5. Spencer Arroyo 9.9 6. Jason Berken 6.5 7. Cose 5.2 8. McCray 3.33 9. Snodgress 2.4

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,0,802160.story "You can't just turn over your roster and put new people in there," manager Robin Ventura said Sunday after the Sox let a ninth-inning lead slip away in a 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Royals. "It's just one of those, you got to fix it, keep harping on it." "I don't know how to explain it, but we haven't been (playing) to our potential," right fielder Alex Rios said after Alex Gordon's drive sailed over his head to the warning track for the game-winning hit with two outs in the 10th off reliever Brian Omogrosso. "Every time we come here, these guys give us a hard time," Rios said. "But it is tough when you've got the lead and lose games like this. These are the kind of games that will hurt you at the end." YOU THINK? Ventura maintained there is accountability, and Reed accepted full blame the walks that set up Billy Butler's two-run, game-tying double, which came on a hanging slider on a 3-2 count. "It's just sloppy," Ventura said of the overall play. "For me, it's unacceptable stuff. It's simple stuff we've worked on over and over again, so you stay on it." Not exactly the most convincing, heartfelt statements...I know it's Ventura's style to be calm and laid-back in the face of nearly everything that occurs around him, but you just wonder how effective that method can be over the long-term?

That would really put a bit of a damper on the Cubs' "future" future... Wonder just how patient they can be?

Greg, have you joined Dick Allen's "Greg Walker Fan Club"?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/miami-marlins...-014400171.html That's ONE thing Marlins fans have to look forward to this year...and it will be interesting, as usual, to track how many of those "top prospects" actually make an impact.

Poor J4L. No "fellating" of the Blue Jays this season.

C Bryan Anderson not exactly screaming out for a promotion from Charlotte. We have three guys in Phegley, Miguel Gonzalez and Kevan Smith....hopefully one of them emerges. Phegley's the closest of the group, Gonzalez has the raw tools but has been a prospect/now suspect seemingly forever and Smith is the most intriguing.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/atlanta-braves/...-hitter-he-was/ Article on Walker attempting to work with BJ Upton...interesting read.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130505 Birmingham won a football game, 16-14. Thompson 3/5 with no K's, back over .200. Semien continues to hit well for the Barons. Thompson actually gave up 2 runs in 1 1/3rd and still got the win. Pederson having a very strong start to the season for the Dodgers. Puig not far behind.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:16 PM) Youk was not great for the White Sox, he was tolerable, and overall, the white sox 3b spot last year was still awful, including Youk. Youk was awesome for 2-3 weeks and then just faded (like the majority of other players). Definitely was not "The Greek God of Walks." Plus, his back was ouchy as well.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) I don't know how you could see the young guys on this team and say the Org is crumbling. I actually feel better long term about the health of the franchise than in a few years...this is just a down cycle...but we can get back soon if we make a few solid moves and have a few solid drafts. Beckham, Viciedo and Flowers have yet to prove themselves... Then there's Conor. Get back to me in 2-3 months on Gillaspie. The Giants don't make too many mistakes with player evaluations and win 2/3 World Series titles. Every single minor league position prospect has disappointed so far.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 5, 2013 -> 03:49 PM) We sure love to lose games that are pretty much impossible to lose. Not against the Royals. But all the credit in the world to Axelrod and Quintana for bowing their necks and manning up when the defense around them was sucking us down into blowout losses. At least they're fighting.

It was probably a pipe dream in the first place to get a lot back for Rios, but with the start of the 2013 season....only 1 1/2 years left on his contract (and small buyout for 2015), with the spending by teams like the Blue Jays, Angels, Dodgers, etc., there was SOME hope. Now it's more than likely going to turn out to be a salary dump...although he still has time to turn things around again and get on another hot streak.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 5, 2013 -> 03:51 PM) I can't imagine how frustrating a loss like this would have been in previous years. Right now, it's just par for the course unfortunately. Hopefully we can go 72 hours without anyone else getting hurt. Agreed. Not even really upset, what's the point? All last season, these games would have been killers, especially the ones against KC. Now, they're just more evidence of a crumbling organization that's being passed while essentially standing still. When you're something like 4-8 in your own division without even facing the Tigers, what do you expect?

QUOTE (High Mileage @ May 4, 2013 -> 06:12 AM) Are we talking about the same guy? Ervin Santana didn't pitch in the '05 World Series. He did pitch in the '05 ALCS against the Sox. He had a terrible outing though: 4.1 innings, 3 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, 2 homers, 3 walks, 2 K's, and a hit batter. He's definitely been inconsistent over the last few years, the Royals got him for next to nothing, but taking on his $12M salary is and was a huge risk. Guthrie has been great. The Royals dealt Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez. Cabrera went on to have career year (before being suspended for PEDs) and came back to KC and won All-Star Game MVP on our field. Meanwhile Sanchez was even worse and more disliked in KC than Luke Hochevar. In true Royals fashion, they kept running him out there. He was getting booed mercilessly just walking out to the mound. Somehow the Royals got somebody to take him, and got Guthrie, who was having a terrible season for the Rockies. Considering Melky's suspension and terrible start for the Jays this year, and Sanchez was even worse for the Rockies last year and Pirates this year (he was just released), that Melky-for-Sanchez trade doesn't look too bad. I am a little concerned that they gave then 33-year-old (now 34) Guthrie a 3-year deal for $25M. Yeah, I meant AL Championship. Guthrie was one of the names bandied back and forth when we were looking at pitching last year and ended up with Liriano instead. The board was 90-95% getting Guthrie. Beware the Coors Field Effect on pitchers.

6.5 games behind DET, 5.5 behind the Royals. Sale has to show up tomorrow. This season is on the verge of getting out of hand way too early. It figured that probably the two best players on the team so far this season (Reed/Rios) both prominently figured in the defeat. And defense/walks (by our pitchers, not enough for our hitters) continuing to kill.

Sigh. When the wheels come off, they really fall off. 2nd walkoff hit for Gordon this season at Kauffman. Just a matter of inches over Rios' head.

Good throw by Gimenez but he was pulled out of position a bit by having to reach for the pitch. Did anyone not see this coming with the first two walks reaching in the 9th? It was a shock it went down to the final out, actually.

By the way, that breaks a string of 16 consecutive saves for Reed. Tigers behind Verlander now up 8-0 over Humber/Astros in the 4th. White Sox threatening to fall 6.5 GB.

If you walk more hitters than you receive walks, you lose 80% of the time.

Would have picked Crain over Lindstrom. This is not the time to be waiting for what might happen the next inning. Need to get out of this inning with the lead. It worked. But that ball was scalded. At least Keppinger made a big play.

Lefties just 3/21 against Thornton this year. Will give him some credit for that. C'mon Ventura, your move.