caulfield12

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:06 PM) I admittedly find it incredible that the Sox continue to trot out one of the worst catchers in all of baseball when the catcher in AAA has an OPS of like 1.050. I'd understand if the rest of the offense was setting the world on fire... Unless Phegley's defense is really that bad that the coaching staff is worried about the effect it will have on the pitching staff. Maybe they see him more as a 1B/DH candidate. Hard to say. If they thought it was the right move, they'd pull the plug on Flowers and Gimenez. That they haven't yet shows there are some serious organizational questions about Phegley's defense.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:04 PM) Not even close, especially since last year's stuff was mostly simple & the focus was on the game of baseball. My guess is you haven't seen the 50 minute long commercial with the pies. It's even worse than Swisher doing the worm. He's too busy in People and US Magazine talking about fatherhood with his celebrity wife, lol...

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:51 PM) This is stupid. Baseball is a business which is monopolistic because the government exempts it from antitrust laws . All of these examples are in a completely different universe when it comes to the economics in which they operate. The NBA and NFL aren't covered, or NHL. Just because of the anti-trust exemption (which was more about politics rather than the unique nature of baseball as a business) doesn't mean IT'S NOT A BUSINESS.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) Caufield may be a reactionary but I also dislike your response. I hate the "it's early" type posts regarding our team. It's like the Sox goal is to win the division by one game every year rather than actually play good baseball most of the season and win the fricking division. Greg, I'm still trailing you in these "unofficial" standings.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/po...lse/order/false Flowers with 5 passed balls, Gimenez with an amazingly-high 4 already. So we have 2 out of the top 12 in that dubious category.

Not to mention the fact that there are ZERO signs of Ventura's defensive intervention having any effect. We might be 3 games higher in the standings than our low point, and we should be able to beat the Marlins and Cubs, but a .500 club isn't going to get it done when we currently have only two reliable relievers and the worst defense in the AL. Flowers has been killing us.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:46 PM) The season is a marathon. Everyone thinks its a sprint. Look at how many errors Ramirez has made this season because he's played every inning. Think that will improve in July/August/September? The only reason we almost won last year was taking a lead into the last 6 weeks of the season. We're not constructed to reel in our opponents from behind in the final 1/3rd of the year. The bullpen will completely implode at this rate. And Reed hasn't even gone through the inevitable rough patch.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:44 PM) We already won the series and we're losing this game. You don't bring out the big dogs unless its must win or you're already winning. That's how we ended up just kind of floating along...drifting...in the standings. We need that 14-2/13-1 streak, and it's almost impossible with our inconsistent hitting and bullpen woes. You can't get back over .500 is you continue to fall flat when you have opportunities to sweep teams that are back on their heels.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:44 PM) 0-4 with a high five ERA. Are we still high on Nate Jones on soxtalk? Nope. But long-term, you have to hope he's part of the solution because we can't afford to find a replacement....you don't trade the likes of an Erik Johnson to fix a bullpen problem.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:41 PM) Nothing like waiting until Jones has no breathing room to bring him in. Ventura absolutely got caught sleeping there, and had to waste more time to get Jones up. More evidence for the Ventura Bullpen Mismanagement Archives.

5 base-runners, 4 outs. That's not so good.

Omogrosso USED to have an elite fastball before his injuries. No longer THAT version. Poor Nate Jones, wallowing in the bullpen. Should have just sacrificed this game and started Omogrosso and had Nate Jones/Veal relieve him, lol. If this was Ventura's bold managerial move lurking in the weeds. And the team DOES HAVE AN OFF-DAY tmrw. SIGH.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:25 PM) I'm talking literal sports cars...for instance, Audi makes basically its "brand image" model, the TT, yet basically only sells about 2000 of them in the US per year...they pour quite a bit of money into that model despite no one buying it...and it's not because it isn't a wonderfully designed car... So, in other words, what's our White Sox version of the TT, something that we pour time, energy, research and development dollars into, with an uncertain payoff? The closest we have/had is Courtney Hawkins. http://www.audiusa.com/cn/brand/en/about/a...i_in_china.html Au, contraire. Just like with US box office vs. global/international box office, one must look abroad to see the bigger picture. In China Audi remained the clear premium-segment leader at the close of 2012. With 405,838 deliveries in 2012 the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer broke through the barrier of 400,000 cars for the first time ever – having crossed the threshold of 300,000 units only one year earlier. Main drivers behind the 29.6 percent growth rate were the Changchun-built models: Despite a model changeover in March, for the first time ever Audi sold over 130,000 of the long-wheelbase version of the A6 Sedan in China within the space of a year (132,872 deliveries). The A6 L thus remains the top-seller in the brand’s Chinese model range and the most popular premium automobile in that market. 93,030 of Audi’s Chinese customers opted for the Q5 last year, a significant increase of 63.8 percent on 2011. Worldwide, too, the performance SUV was again the unchallenged leader in its segment in 2012 with around 206,000 units delivered. A large number of emerging growth markets likewise became increasingly important for Audi in 2012 thanks to their high growth rates: These include for example South Korea (+46.0% to 15,100 cars), South Africa (+15.5% to 16,771 cars) and India, where the brand’s sales gained 63.4 percent to 9,003 units. The company’s sales in Turkey, too, put on a spurt of 17.7 percent to 14,487 units, making it one of over 50 markets where Audi established a new sales record last year.

Gillaspie sliding a little bit and Keppinger waking up is coming at the right time with Beckham returning.

Here we go again...with the bullpen issues. Survived that one.

Apparently, RV has more confidence in Omogrosso at this point. Jones is rested, is he not?

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:02 PM) The market for sports cars is the thing that comes to my mind. The Chinese (and to a lesser extent, Indian and Middle Eastern) markets have changed everything. Look at the profit margins for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and where they were 10 years ago. Or the other side, all the issues that Toyota and Honda have had in the last 5-7 years, where they were once the clear market leaders and had to reinvent their brands to an extent.

But who pitches the 7th?

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:07 PM) Say what you want about KW. That guys know how to find pitchers. Scouting. Axelrod and Santiago were both 30th round draft picks. Quintana was brought by his agent to the White Sox as a minor league FA, where he felt there was an opportunity and a good chance to work with Don Cooper. Now, give this team a 1st/2nd/3rd round draft pick (except for Addison Reed or Sale), they're likely to mess it up.

Just noticed Verlander was torched again in the bottom of the 5th (now in a rain delay in CLE, with one out, 9-5 Tigers leading). ERA on the season would be 3.70 and climbing.

SANTIAGO at USCF (2013) 7.2 13 5 4 1 1 6 4.70 1.83 (WHIP).382 (BAA) Bizarre home/road splits. Santiago has had 28 innings pitching on the road, coming into tonight. Averaging almost exactly one K per IP.

Why is Santiago still out there with almost 100 pitches to start the 6th? (Answer: because the back of our bullpen sucks and there are no better options than to play with fire). This is where someone will say we need "long-man/5th/6th inning Santiago" to get the game to Crain/Reed, lol.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:54 PM) Last year's were just as bad. And The Will to Win only works well if your team is above .500. Some other business examples.....the cyclical ones, like computer manufacturers such as IBM, Dell, HP, Compaq or Gateway that were getting beat by superior technology/design (Apple) or overseas competition (Sony, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, Samsung, LG, etc.) Motorola, in Chicago. Burger King, getting beaten domestically by Wendy's and revamping (especially their international operations) over a 2-3 year window. McDonald's, going into their McCafe's phase in order to fend off competition from Starbucks/Chipotle/Panera, etc.

It has been commonly accepted by many at different Sox websites that the team is justified in not spending money at the deadline or in the off-season (if the Sox will be spending more money than they've earned or are projected to earn...of course, we've never been privy to that actual information, other than making educated guesses from Forbes, comments made by the organization, etc.) I'm not sure what you are saying here. Fans don't run s***. Their opinions only matter as far as it affects the overall business in terms of dollars. Apart from that, fans say stupid s*** all the time that makes no sense. One example: "I won't come to the games because the team isn't spending any money." Bulls***. You're not coming to the games because the team isn't any good. There is a difference. Also, money in baseball, at least as far as player contracts/signing bonuses, etc. are concerned (the "on field" stuff fans talk about), is a tool that you can use however you have to use it depending upon your situation, which differs team to team just as park factors will suggest on a team-by-team basis how to construct a lineup/pitching staff. Some teams have better front offices, better internal structure, etc. and can "buy" talent cheaply through trades while others "buy" players with money. Having a bad team loaded with bad players on bad contracts is exactly the same to the average fan as having a bad team with virtually no payroll and with those bad players making just about nothing. If you suck you suck, and the fans hate you because of it. Just the idea that it's OUR fault, you can't spend $1.00 if you have only 50 cents (which Hahn has intentionally avoided discussing, seemingly)...not saying it's ALL of the moderators, but quite a few have been taking the position that the White Sox are spending more than they actually should be (based of a comparison of payroll vs. attendance), which isn't taking 100% into account other revenues derived by large-market teams...which leads to the discussion of lowered revenues for tv/radio/advertising/sponsors by the doomsday scenario of us replicating the results of a 46-116 Houston Astros team for 3-5 consecutive years

69 pitches through 3 for Santiago.