caulfield12

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 11:16 AM) What an absolutely bizarre thing to ask. Well, not necessarily. (And yes, there's no law that baseball teams have to be equitably mixed between 35-40% Latin American players, 60-65% white and 5-15% Asian/African-American). The most important element for modern baseball teams seems to be "chemistry." Nobody knows EXACTLY if chemistry breeds winning, or winning breeds chemistry, etc. It's like the chicken and the egg argument. You still need to have a mixture of different backgrounds in order for the sum to be greater than the total of all of the part...I firmly believe the fundamentals first/team-oriented play of Iguchi had a lot more to do with the 2005 championship than some give him credit for (there was a reverse correction against this idea, that it was all about homers and relief/starting pitching and not about Pods/Iguchi, but they set the tone the first 2-3 months).

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/tracy-...p;vkey=news_mlb Didn't realize the White Sox were one of five teams offering him a six-year contract (originally). Seems like the Sox have been in on nearly every Cuban who has made an impact, with the exception of Soler, who it was always a foregone conclusion was going to the Cubs. What would you give to him as a FA offer (assuming he plays the same or better the next 1 1/2 seasons)? Years/dollars? Is there such a thing as "too many Cubans" on one MLB team? Or would you consider bidding for a FA RH outfielder entering years 30-33 in his career (a little bit beyond his prime) too risky? Is he too similar to Avisail Garcia? Or the perfect complement to surround Eaton (assuming he's still around) with? Also, would anyone be interested in Billy Butler in USCF for 81 games if he became available on the cheap, despite his non left-handedness? Or too worried about his weight and age and downtrending performance curve? Or Colby Rasmus, since bringing in Melky Cabrera or Victor Martinez would be overpaying/buying too high based on their 2014 performance levels? Seth Smith? Adam Lind? LaRoche?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/mock-...t-from-fiction/ Don't know what this means since I'm not an insider....shake up at the top supposedly? Gordon?

If you could combine Sanchez/Semien/Micah/Leury Garcia into one player, then you might have something. As it is, I wouldn't be surprised at all if only one of those guys was on the 2016 roster. We can hope all we want for 2-3, but history tells us to tamper down our expectations when it comes to our minor league hitting prospects. It's only when we find guys from other organizations (Quentin) or bring them in as international free agents (Ramirez, Viciedo and Abreu) that we've had any degree of success.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) I think you have to get a solid #4 as well in order to allow for the possibility that Sale is best utilized for around 30 starts a year during the regular season. Hopefully Johnson shows enough to make it as long man in the pen and he would be the fill in for the starts Sale misses. Rienzo, I think ultimately is a set up guy. If our best hope if for Johnson to be the long man in the bullpen and make 3-5 starts per year, we're going to have no choice but to go the FA agent route, get a collegiate arm with the 3 pick and/or find more waiver wire guys like Humber/Noesi/Carroll or McHugh with the Astros. And Danks has to look closer to a 3 than a 5/long man (aka Barry Zito) for the remainder of his contract.

The irony with Shields is that he's going to be the last dagger in Dayton Moore, even though both Shields and Wade Davis have been great for the Royals. Just like the White Sox in 2000-01, the Royals had a #1 farm system and 9 guys in the Top 100. (A further irony being the main contribution of that depth was to allow the acquisition of Garcia with Reed/Olivo/Morse). Right now, they pretty have nothing to show for it, other than Alex Gordon, who they will lose after next season, Shields after this season...and both Salvador Perez and Yordano Ventura, who were more "under the radar" types who burst on the scene, rather than the pedigreed guys like Hosmer and Moustakas. Even Bubba Starling, a recent first round draft pick still hitting under .200 in the low minors is going back to what worked for him in high school. We thought Walker was bad, but the Royals have had five hitting coaches in less than 2 full seasons. All of this goes to show that even you if you have built a young core of position players, there are no guarantees...especially if you don't have the pitching to go with it.

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/31/50592...to-develop.html Lays out a pretty strong case for Dayton Moore getting canned sooner rather than later. The biggest problem, obviously, is the lack of development of any hitters other than Alex Gordon (and they almost gave up on him) and Salvador Perez, who's having a hard time remaining healthy. Meanwhile, fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer (2012) seems to be delivering promised results in Toronto.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 07:20 AM) Just read an interesting report on players to avoid in first round. Gatewood, Toussaint, Fedde, Beede, Harrison, Kopeck. 5 days to go. Well, I would HOPE Fedde would be on the list, due to that TJ surgery.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 06:23 AM) I saw the play. Terrible effort. Announcers said nothing. It did not lead to any extra runs. The runner was going to score from 2nd...and the hitter was PROBABLY going to get a double regardless (when's the last time DeAza threw someone out from LF at second?), but the SD broadcasters both remarked and how surprised they were that the play didn't get made.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/baseball-empl...GlkA1NNRTI4OF8x Jeff Passan article on SABR reaching the university community....huge online class with many aspirants hoping for a shot to work in major league front offices someday

I guess DeAza had yet another bad/questionable fielding play in the early innings, not cutting off a ball that got past him. He really looks like toast.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 31, 2014 -> 09:13 AM) If you've ever seen his swing it's always been hard to imagine him as a big leaguer. He cut it down some, not enough though. Buddy Bell still thinks he's going to win the Triple Crown though. IMO it's about time to trade Joe Borchard, Jr. for Matt Thornton, Jr. Great trade before, do it again now. Somewhere under that golden moon there is another Buddy Bell dreaming under it, only he's working for somebody else, and whatever Coop projects they have we need. Especially lefty ones because all ours blow. Borchard was 10X the prospect Mitchell ever was...let's not forget how much money they invested into him, his AA season, the fact that he actually received a decent amount of major league playing time and hit the longest homer in USCF history, etc.

Because it's not like we're not a week or so away from adding another 2-3 starting pitchers into the mix or anything for our contention window. Maybe they'll go after another collegiate closer in rounds 3-5, like a Reed, along with two starters (one collegiate, one high schooler).

Great article on George Springer, at least some of those five tool guys are panning out...so far. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/george-spring...-195233639.html It's a bit ironic, though, as Springer wasn't even drafted through the current regime's analytical/quant approach. Good try, Brandon, but Of Gods and Generals was your last big opportunity to make it in Hollywood with that look.

Hawkins has another walk, as well. 23 walks and 56 K's. Never would have thought Mike Trout would have more K's at this point in the season (apples and oranges, sure).

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 30, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) They are superior only in that they do not have much value to the Sox, and really probably less value anywhere else than in Chicago. If you want to receive top talent back, you need to give up top talent. Trading any of those guys will get you A ball lottery tickets while moving Q would likely net you high level talent. Again, you have to trade value to get value back, Danks has more value to the Sox than he does anyone else at this point. If you can turn Q into two SP's though, wouldn't that help you quicker than waiting to for someone to develop? If you deal him to the BJ's, Orioles, or Rockies and get an MLB ready arm back, a near MLB ready guy, and another prospect, it would fix the rotation more quickly than waiting for Danish to develop. I am not advocating the idea, just thought it would be a good discussion on a slow news day. Why not just sign Kazmir, Haren, Feldman, Tim Hudson, Phil Hughes, Paul Maholm, etc.? Or do like what we've done traditionally, getting Noesi/Humber/Carroll off the waiver wire? Same thing with the Astros and McHugh.

QUOTE (beautox @ May 29, 2014 -> 11:03 PM) A+ Alexei Ramirez - Best short stop in the AL right now, second best overall. Playing at an elite level on pace for a 5WAR season Chris Sale - I won't ding him for being hurt he has been the definition of an ACE Conor Gillaspie - In terms of what my expectations were and what he has actually produced I would be foolish not to list him as an A+, he has a higher wRC+ then Alexei at 136, I'm sure the home runs will come, and while his BABIP is sky high so are his line drive rate and his BB% & K% leave me very optimistic. With any luck he can continue his respectability against left handed pitching .281/.314/.344 wRC+ 78 and develop into that 2.5-3WAR player. A Jose Quintana - Everything is in line where it should be, very glad to have both him and sale with us for a long time. A- Jose Abreu - Power and hit tool as good as advertised, defense a pleasant surprise. As other posters have said he needs to take his walks. Tyler Flowers - Defense has been good, approach at the plate has been solid, if he can become Saltalamacchia-Lite, that will do wonders for this organization. B+ Ronald Belisario - Has been shaky as the closer, great as the set up man, terrible the first two weeks, Glad to have him in our pen he has electric stuff. Gordon Beckham - Hitting like its '09 all over again, I'm want to see him how he performs up till the trade deadline before Hahn makes a decision on his future with the Sox. I want to believe in him but I've been burned too many times. B Adrian Nieto - Defense is rough, but the fact that he is holding it together at the major league level is pretty awesome. I think as he matures at the major league level we've got ourselves a .5-1WAR backup catcher; hello Jesus Flores! Adam Dunn - This is what his decline phase was supposed to look like when we signed him. Zach Putnam - nice minor league pick up, isn't as good as his ERA would have you to believe but he is above average. B- Adam Eaton - I'm not going to knock him for health, looks to be the catalyst this team has desperately needed for a long time. Andre Rienzo - Has the stuff to stick at this level, the question is, will it be as a back end starter or a middle reliever. Dayan Viciedo - Defense isn't doing him any favors but I like his approach and walk rate, I don't think his value will take too much of a hit when he transitions to DH. C+ Hector Noesi - You can see why the mariners wanted him originally when they traded Pineda, has major league stuff but he is in the same boat as Rienzo. Jake Petricka - solid performance so far. C John Danks - Hes trending up, looks to be healthy and should settle into a 1.5WAR pitcher on this team, he still might provide some surplus value on his contract as it plays out but I'm sure he'll earn his paycheck. Daniel Webb - Needs to demonstrate that he is the late inning reliever many on this board myself included believe him to be. Marcus Semien - Love his plate discipline, his defense is slightly above average but he needs to lift the bat off his shoulder when he gets deeper in the count, still have high hopes for this kid. Moises Sierra - I like what he has done so far with the sox, solid pickup by Hahn. C- Matt Lindstrom - an ok reliever. Leury Garcia - an ok bench piece. Scott Carroll - He is getting the most out of his ability but he looks to be a long reliever at best. D+ Scott Downs - Against left handers he has been sub par but servicable, when he isn't walking them .194/.293/.278, Against right handed hitting he is horrible. Robin for some unknown reason thinks he is capable of more than being a LOOGY. Alejandro De Aza - His BABIP is way down to .277 vs his career of .322 his walk and strike out rates remain the same, even though he has appeared comically bad at stealing the bases he is still an above average base runner and his defense is above average as well even if it appears pensive at times. I'm confident he will turn it around and get back to his career norms. Erik Johnson - where did his fastball go? I hope he eventually finds it down at AAA, still think he is part of the future. F Paul Konerko - Love what this man did for the sox, but he is toast and a horrible waste of a roster spot. Felipe Paulino - Not every low risk high reward pays off. Jordan Danks - Even with his defense he has spot on this team going forward. Coaching Ventura - D, this team plays hard and doesn't give up but they win inspite of him not because. Cooper - A, Not every project pitcher can be fixed but he makes it happen more often than not. Stevenson - A+ breath of fresh air, the team has really bought in. INC: Avisail Garcia looked to be putting it together before he went down, still think he should be moved to LF in the very near future. Petricka deserves a lot higher than C+, IMO. And Putnam, overall, has to be at least an A-.

Will the real Gordon Beckham show his face? 2014 OPS 1.177 vs. lefties (30+ AB's), .655 vs. righties 2011-2013 .592 vs. lefties, .683 vs. righties 2009 .890 vs. lefties, .755 vs. righties The numbers against righties have stayed within a 100 point range/spectrum for most of his career, but the real dramatic fluctuations have always been against left-handers. Is it a troubling sign for him going forward his numbers against righties look so average/pedestrian? That's a huge differential between the two sets of numbers.

Not covering the murder/assailant will never happen because of the 1st Amendment... That's obvious. You could have an interesting debate, though about the cause and effect/correlation with "mass" killings around the world...if you were to break it down to which has the bigger impact, the media's incessant coverage of them (think John Hinckley's assassination attempt on Reagan to get noticed by Jodie Foster) or access to the weapons (be it knives, guns, chemical/biological, etc.) Here in China, there are no guns...so the most common "mass killing" is for Chinese men (often unemployed/uneducated or under-educated...frustrated they can't marry with 6 men for every 5 women, etc.) lashing out against schoolchildren by using knives to kill as many kids as quickly as possible. Or the Japanese subway attacks with chemical weapons, for example. Without guns...deranged people/groups/terrorists/cults will still carry out apocalyptic "days of retribution/annihilation/vengeance" regardless.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:04 PM) On Buster Olney's podcast, Keith Law said Kolek to the Sox is the lock of the top 5 picks http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Allen Thomas and the minor league strength and conditioning staff has a HUGE (literally and figuratively) project ahead of them. At least it will be interesting. In some ways, I prefer this direction, even if it blows up, because it's much harder to find an ace than to find a Quintana/Floyd/Humber/Jenks/Santos. In my lifetime, Jose Contreras was the only true ace we got on the cheap, and that only lasted 4-5 months. Loiaza in 2003, but that also didn't last. And then Freddie Garcia, which was only possible due to our farm system and the ability to sign an extension due to the closeness with Guillen's family.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:41 AM) I agree with that, but is there a single pitcher in the pen with the kind of stuff that dominates playoff games? Bella is about it. Let's just GET to a playoff game first. Petricka and Webb both have potentially dominating stuff, particularly Webb. Putnam, like Tanaka, has a ton of movement on his pitches and doesn't have to throw harder than 87-90 MPH to be effective. In fact, part of his effectiveness comes from not looking like 85% of the middle relievers out there today who are all throwing mid 90's.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014...and-nerds.html# Interesting article...written by self-professed geek/Asian/former Jeopardy contestant.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) What is a bullpen, and how do you fill with guys who are always very good and also who cannot immediately become very bad? What you do is build as much depth as possible and see what happens. When holes open you try to fill them as best you can. Guerra could be a nice pickup. If Carroll can handle the long man role that's huge for us. Putnam has been nails. Petricka, very good again. 4 guys who in total took nothing to acquire aside from Petricka's drat pick. This sort of thing happens all the time. Also there is going to be another dynamite closer out there somewhere. Sergio Santos cost nothing either, and man did he have great stuff for us. All we had to do is convert him & put him on the mound. Every organization has live arms who won't make it for them and we'll find one. And re: Jenks yes he had terrific stuff, a great 4 seamer, 2-seamer, curve, slider, and his change for a while was his best pitch. But he certainly didn't have elite stamina, character issues, wasn't keeping himself in shape, etc. So he also had a lot of flaws and red flags, probably a lot like the next terrific closer we'll inevitably pick up for nothing. Or for a 3rd round draft pick. Williams got suckered into this line of thinking with big money deals for Dotel and Linebrink after 2007. So what happens...those usually dependable guys, like a Scott Downs or Scott Shields, suddenly lose it and then you're stuck with ugly bullpen contracts. Just follow the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen construction model the last decade, or the A's (until they foolishly went for Johnson, falling into that same "must have closer" mode which Beane has always run away from, trading closers at peak value and replacing them with cheaper, more promising youngsters). Or even the Royals (but ignore the rest of their issues, like hitting and starting pitching).

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) Thats true, but I am not sure there is a sure thing out there. But there are some pretty big red flags on all the pitchers the Sox will likely have available at 3. Rodon is said to have reliever level control and struggles to pitch off his fastball, Kolek's frame is a concern as well as his lack of a plus secondary offering, Nola has concerns about his arm slot and ceiling, Hoffman obviously has the injury concern now, Holmes is thought to be physically maxed out. Jackson seems to be the consensus best bat in the draft, so I would roll the dice on him at a full slot rate especially since he has a pretty highly thought of hit tool, which is something that the OF's in the system seriously lack. I would be more inclined to take Hoffman than any of the rest IF he would sign for what he is projected to get from the BJ's at the 11th pick. That would allow the Sox to have an additional $3M dollars to go over slot throughout the draft, which would essentially allow then to go over slot in rounds 2 and three to sign guys that slip and sign guys like Octavio Rodriguez that they drafted late last season. Hoffman is just too much risk for the #3 pick. The highest someone in that situation before went is Giolito. The mid teens. You're talking a year before he's pitching again, another year to bounce back to form (hopefully, if all goes well)...then you're pushing him back all the way into 2017 or 2018. The White Sox are going to want a more immediate contributor than that...unless they believe that Aiken/Kolek are potential aces who can quickly get to the big leagues while Chris Sale/Abreu are still the core of the foundation in Chicago.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:43 AM) You need a lot more than 3 starters. Our pen sucks. I wouldn't count on a single pitcher in a playoff situation. We're still 2-3 years away. Trade Beckham. Trade Ramirez. Coming into 2005, our best reliever was Takatsu (other than Marte), and he lasted what, 2 months? Jenks wasn't even on the radar, and Hermanson was a flier because of his injury problems. Politte, Cotts and Vizcaino? For the last six weeks, until Lindstrom went down, Petricka/Putnam/Belisario/Webb were all pitching very well or great in the cases of the first three guys. Now, they're out of their natural roles and starting to struggle again. You get a reliable guy at the back of that pen and everything falls into place. You don't need to reinvent the wheel and sign Dotel/Linebrink to huge veteran contracts to solidify things. In fact, the only really bad signing (other than Paulino) has been a veteran LHP in Downs who has a mid to low 2's ERA for the last seven years, but looks cooked now.