caulfield12

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 11:00 AM) I will first propose the idea (which will immediately be crapped on) that the Sox check in on a Reed deal where they acquire prospects and take back a good player on a large salary but short-term deal in order to gain a better package. Charge a team for Reed + payroll flexibility. I also think with Reed you have the potential (especially if you're taking back $$$) to get back 4-5 guys who aren't on any top-100 prospect lists but do have lots of ability/are lower in the minors. When we sent Hudson to AZ we sent Holmberg too, and I'm thinking you ask for something like a Holmberg type, a Montas type from the Peavy deal, several players like that. That's one thing Beane likes to do, I think he got Chris Carter from us after playing at the A+ level. Well, it depends on the player and the salary we're adding. Essentially, you're looking to improve on our 2016 and beyond teams by adding prospects because we have more payroll flexibility than probably 20 other teams. In theory, that's fine, but you better be right on those players if you're committing $5-15 million to a player (or players) that aren't part of our long-term plans. (Since we're just now getting out from under the Rios/Dunn/Keppinger/Danks deals...and Danks might be an issue for another 3 years). It's certainly a better idea than paying through the teeth for a Curtis Granderson AND losing a pretty high draft pick to boot. On the other hand, we're not the Dodgers, Angels or Yankees, either.

They wouldn't have made Leury Garcia the centerpiece of the Rangers trade if they planned to give away his position to someone they picked up on waivers. The position is Garcia's to lose coming into the spring. Now, of course, if they can somehow manage to deal Keppinger, that would change...but they're better off with Dunn/Keppinger/DeAza/Danks trying to re-establish value. Same thing that eventually happened with Rios...we didn't have to eat very much salary at all ($1 million or so), whereas trading 3 of those 4 names would cost the White Sox around $15-25 million total right now. If they were to trade Beckham, it would be to open up the spot for Semien (eventually) and/or trading for someone like a Howie Kendrick with higher OBP abilities. Definitely not to open up the position to Elmore.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 07:42 PM) yeah...so it was basically giving Thornton away. Oh well. Get on the phone with Pittsburgh...... http://blog.triblive.com/bucco-blog/2013/0...5#axzz2n7w76XmL Or not, with Marte, McCutcheon and Polanco, they project to one day in the not so distant future have the best young OF in all of baseball. If they want to just give us Jose Tabata for DeAza, that's at least worth considering. DeAza's definitely not part of the long-term plan in Chicago.

The increase in production (if there is any) is going to be offset by the damage to the rotation when you have to force Johnson and Rienzo into it, and still not knowing if Danks is ever going to improve. And it's not like we didn't draft/trade for about five minor league outfielders in the last 3-4 years.

The other problem is that this makes DeAza essentially worthless...nobody's going to give up anything if they know we're going to be forced to trade him and Alejandro's salary's already going up to $4.5 million or so. He's not really a bargain unless he's projected as a starting outfielder. On the bench, MEHHHH....someone might take him off our hands, but we'd get very little to nothing in return. Definitely not the best way to maximize the return our trade pieces if all we get for DeAza and Santiago is Adam Eaton.

QUOTE (wardo @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 01:49 AM) Don't think the return for Sale would net as much as we'd like to think. Realistically I think Sale could net something like this Cubs acquire: Chris Sale White Sox acquire: Jeff Samardzija, Jorge Soler, low level pitching prospect That's just dumb. Why would we target a pitcher who isn't nearly as good as Sale (more like a strong 3 or weak 2 in the AL) that we'd have pay twice as much to extend for the same amount of time? The only way it makes sense is if our scouts KNOW that Soler is going to be the next Mike Stanton, and that's highly unlikely. If they viewed him as being in the same class as Puig and Abreu, then it would become an interesting decision. But without having a clue what Soler's going to do, it's a huge win for the Cubs. If the Cubs were willing to build their future around Samardzija and give him an $80-100 million contract extension, they would have done it already. So you're deal with a pitcher hyped as a #1 who isn't living up to that billing but is looking for dollars in line with ace status, versus a verified/proven ace.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 08:54 PM) I don't even understand what you're saying. I'm assuming there are quite a few people who haven't seen the movie...so if I wrote more specifically, then it would get a bit confusing or I would be including multiple spoilers if you're not familiar with actual/real life case that the movie is based upon. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2013...or-oscar-grant/

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10109484...-never-deviated

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 06:26 PM) Considering Sale's contract moving forward and he will average about what a guy like Vargas got for 7 years, I think a team would have no problem taking the one year left on Dunn, but it would cost the Sox prospects,which makes zero sense for the White Sox. This smacks of the Jackson/Teahen deal. Don't devalue an important pitching asset just to get a smaller contract off the payroll. That move turned out to be a disaster considering the value Jackson SHOULD have had on the market. Don't do something asinine just to save a bit of money on Keppinger or Dunn. The Danks case is a different story...but in no way shape or form do you mess with Sale's potential return by forcing a fit (with two starting pitchers being in the deal) when you have the luxury of waiting for Danks to bounce back a bit more this season.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 04:39 PM) The Dodgers are after Price, so they dont seem to think that they have enough pitching. The Dodgers and Red Sox make sense, but I doubt they would give up what it would take to make a deal happen, especially Boston. Boston has the pieces, but not the incentive to move those pieces in a trade. The Dodgers problem is that they would have to either eat Kemps contract or give up Puig to get in the bdding for Sale. They have Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Haren, Billingsley (admittedly coming off a major surgery) and Beckett. With that much money invested in the starting rotation, they would be insane to go after Price when they still could make improvements at SS (assuming Ramirez is full-time 3B now) and 2B. It's too risky to trot Ramirez out there everyday at SS, although obviously his offense plays even better there. Then again, how many great offensive 3B are there in the game today? Not more than a handful.

After doing a bit of research on the conflicting reports about what ACTUALLY happened in the Fruitvale Station/Oscar Grant situation...I think there's just no way it can win an Oscar in one of the major categories. It will definitely get some nominations, though. (Yes, the same exact debate has taken place about movies like Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, but there were 3 key plot points that the director admittedly added from out of thin air to create sympathy for and humanize the subject of the film.)

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 05:47 PM) He was awful with Rockies a year or two ago. He pitcheld like he was hurt, and he probably was. He only pitched 14 innings for the Rockies in 2011. He had an ERA of 4.11 with around 120 innings pitched for the Royals that same season.

They need to be back in the business of acquiring guys like Paulino (or JJ Putz in the more recent past). Too much logic to this one. I really like Santiago still, but if they're going to shore up a position in the line-up, and they feel no matter what Cooper does that Hector's going to continue to struggle with stamina and control/consistency, then fine, make your move.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 08:30 AM) Phil Rogers at the winter meetings this morning on MLB Network is pimping a Gardner for Alexei swap making sense for both teams (Jeter's injury history/eventual retirement/Alexei's experience playing 2B/3B, then shifting to SS/stop gap until Yankees figure out what to do long term at SS). The problem is they're far from certain if Semien can play major league SS, let alone hold his own at the plate. Just doesn't really make much sense, because you're not really significantly strengthening the team since you've just created a huge hole at SS and you won't have Gardner for more than one season, just like the situation with Headley. Even if they could extend him, are you sure you want to sign a Brett Gardner for 3-4-5 years when he's already around 30 to begin with, as a speed based player who is sure to start declining soon?

Didn't someone here see The Wolf of Wall Street already and they panned it a little bit? Or maybe I'm getting it confused with Dallas Buyers Club or The Counselor... For what it's worth, Blackfish, the documentary about Sea World and other seaparks working with killer whales/orcas is definitely going to be on the final list for the Academy. It's excellent. I recall someone here mentioning it a few pages back. Right now, they're down to the final 15.

With four left-handers in their rotation the White Sox are much more open to trading Hector Santiago and likely offered him the Padres' way in talks. But as one major league evaluator said, Santiago's value has been hurt by pitching in the same rotation as Quintana, who is seen as a far more consistent and therefore attractive option. Saw this as part of a Dan Hayes article online about the idea of the White Sox trading Quintana for Headley...but that the White Sox hadn't agreed because they held Quintana's rights until 2019...and it was likely that Headley would be a "one year and out" acquisition at this point, and therefore, not logical for the long-term oriented White Sox.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 09:31 PM) $3.5 million in '05. $4.625 in '06 Maybe it was with all the incentives that he could have reached a higher number...well, it wasn't exactly super cheap, but it didn't kill the budget, either.

QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 08:47 AM) If you were Brooks Broyer how would you be supporting ticket sales? What is your marketing plan for 2014? Who are you featuring? New promos? New merchandise? New partnerships? For one, I'd be advertising in all the Cuban newspapers and media Unless we're trying to generate more satellite/ESPN/MLB extra inning customers in Cuba (and not even sure how widely available those are at the moment)...this isn't going to help much in the city of Chicago. It would be a lot more relevant in Miami or New York City.

QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 03:28 PM) True. However, if marketing is your job, you have to market whatever is out there. For the success of the franchise getting to the next level, they have to sell tickets and ratings next season. Win or (more likely) lose. Then you have to hammer away at getting families out to the park on Sundays....the food, improved atmosphere in the park (of course, half of that is based on having a fun/winning team to follow). The problem is that having traditional Fireworks Fridays or Family Sundays isn't quite enough...they need to revamp some of their traditional promotions and think more outside of the box like the Rays did a half decade ago.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 06:08 PM) You mention 2005 and that offseason. Crede was I believe arb eligible (not much $$$), Uribe was cheap, Rowand and Pods cheap, a cheap pen, Dye came here on a sweetheart deal, same with AJ, the Yanks were paying Contreras a good chunk of his salary, McCarthy was minimum, El Duque a bargain... that team was full of value. Sale offers some of the best value in the league factoring in production vs. salary, so going all 2005 would probably involve keeping players like that and trying to find more of them on the trade & FA market. And I'm almost positive that El Duque was $4.5 or 5.5 million in 2005 and was going to cost $6.5 million in 2006 (before we dealt him with C. Young for Javy)...so definitely not a cheap contract for a 5th starter/long reliever, although the 3 outs to bail out Marte in Boston made it all worth it.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 01:46 PM) Of those I've seen Prisoners, which was awesome, and Captain Phillips which was solid. I'd like to see 12 Years a Slave and Blue Jasmine and American Hustle and maybe Out of the Furnace. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association named ties in three major categories Sunday. Gravity tied with Her for Best Picture, James Franco and Jared Leto tied for Best Supporting Actor for their performances in Spring Breakers and Dallas Buyers Club, and Cate Blanchett and Adèle Exarchopoulos tied for Best Actress for their work in Blue Jasmine and Blue is the Warmest Color. Related American Hustle' wins best picture from New York Film Critics Circle 'Her' named Best Film by National Board of Review The LAFCA did choose distinct winners in the other major acting categories. Bruce Dern was named Best Actor for his portrayal of Woody Grant in Nebraska, and Lupita Nyong’o picked up a supporting actress win for playing the tragic Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. Gravity was the big winner beyond its Best Picture tie with Spike Jonze’s Her, walking away with nods for Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography. Also of note, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell — recently selected as one of the 15 docs on the Academy’s shortlist — won Best Documentary. Noticeably absent from any recognition was David O. Russell’s American Hustle, which the New York Film Critics Circle named Best Picture; Sundance favorite and recent Gotham Awards-winner Fruitvale Station; and the Robert Redford survival pic All Is Lost. www.ew.com Out of the Furnace has the Crazy Heart director, and the Bale/Affleck/Harrelson (especially with Hunger Games) brand names going for it, but just didn't take off this weekend at all. Frozen and Hunger Games are still dominating all the conversation. It was supposed to make at least $9 million this weekend and it might end up closer to $5, which is a pretty woeful start. rottentomatoes score around the 50% mark. Also want to see another "BLUE" movie, haha....Blue is the Warmest Color. Not just for NC-17 lesbian scenes with Leah Seydoux...of course.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 02:31 PM) If they are going to spend significantly less -which in and of itself is ok- they need to listen to offers for Sale. Too many holes on this team to keep Sale and spend significantly less. I still think the payroll will be near last year's total. Our lowest budget in the last decade led to a World Series team, after they got rid of the bloated salaries of Ordonez, Carlos Lee and Valentin. Spending, in and of itself, doesn't guarantee a winner, either.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 05:34 PM) I'm the Jerry Dybzinski. Better than Tito Landrum. Then who's Black Jack McDowell?

Two top 10 movies of 2013 lists from Entertainment Weekly.com 10. Inside Llewelyn Davis 9. Prisoners 8. World War Z 7. The Past 6. Blue Jasmine 5. Gravity 4. Fruitvale Station 3. Before Midnight 2. American Hustle 1. 12 Years a Slave That was from Owen Gleiberman, their #1 critic. 10. The Conjuring 9. All is Lost 8. Out of the Furnace 7. Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay 6. Enough Said 5. Captain Phillips 4. Fruitvale Station 3. 12 Years a Slave 2. Gravity 1. Before Midnight I think it's pretty safe to say that Fruitvale Station, 12 Years a Slave and Gravity will be the Top 3 Oscar contenders. Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, American Hustle (haven't seen it yet) and All is Lost would be my second tier list for the Best Film. FWIW, I really liked Rush and Prisoners a lot. Not sold on Before Midnight, compared to the previous two films in that trilogy, but it's definitely the darkest and some would say most realistic movie of the bunch. It's a little bit like "This is 40" for the Academy crowd.

1) Sale 2) Abreu 3) Konerko and Beckham 4) Garcia and Viciedo 5) Quintana and Santiago Or some combination of Abreu, Garcia, Viciedo and Ramirez together. Maybe it would be nice to have a few ads (assuming he's still with the team) featuring Hector Santiago's non-profit/charity work off the field. That's Christine O'Reilly's community relations office. Another add would feature the starting rotation/pitching staff, because, really...what strengths does this current team even feature? I'd honestly rather have Hawk Harrelson featured in ads with some of his catch-phrases than what they put together coming into 2012.