caulfield12

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/...extbeginIndex=6 Still 30% chance of rain at game time. Rising to 40-50% over the rest of the evening.

Twins sporting just an awful line-up without Mauer against the Braves as they're threatening to fall further back in the standings.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:23 AM) The bolded... what does that even mean? How many pitchers have MANY swing and miss pitches, taking away their "good stuff"? I was trying to be kind. I should have said, when he had a consistent low 90's fastball, he still had a tendency to struggle with putting batters away (just like Quintana in much of the 2nd half last year) post 2008/2009. Not great stuff, like Sale or Floyd/Javy on a good day, but "very good" stuff. Now, post-surgery, he doesn't have that. Which means he needs to have pinpoint command/control. Yet even Danks has acknowledged he's still struggling with that issue in the minors.

And that was the John Danks who threw 89-93/94 MPH with his fastball and had a 10 MPH differential on his FB/change. Hector Santiago last July....three appearances with between 45-57 pitches thrown Hector Santiago last August....four total appearances for the entire month, two of them for 73 and 76 pitches Hector Santiago last September/Oct...in his four starts 7 IP=108 pitches 5 IP=91 pitches 4 IP=93 pitches 3 1/3=78 pitches I don't think it's fair to say that Santiago is less likely than Axelrod or post-injury Danks to go at least 6 innings on average unless he has another month or two of starting under his belt. As it seems like there was a progression of building up his stamina after wasting away on the bench for almost all of 3 months last year (when he could have been starting for Charlotte)...

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:50 AM) You cannot do it for very long, especially if the non-Crain and non-Reed bullpen options fail to step it up, but I wouldn't mind seeing a series of skipped starts for the guys that went well over their prior innings last season. I suspect this is what they are doing with Sale, and I would prefer to see the Sox buy some time to find out if Danks can be effective. The other issue not discussed is if the Sox are deliberately handling Santiago this way, not because they 'hate him,' but because they are trying to develop him. To me, it's clear that Santiago's stuff is better than Axe's, but I'm not sure he's a better pitcher yet. In either case, Santiago needs to keep getting enough innings this season to be a full-time starter next season. Let's not forget another elephant in the room. John Danks, other than 2008, has never been known for being particularly efficient or having low pitch counts. Take away his good stuff, he doesn't have many "swing and miss" pitches. It's like the rap last year from scouts against Quintana...where they felt he would struggle the most, not having a dominating strikeout pitch. So you have an ouchy Sale again, Peavy, who you wonder how long he can continue to be the workhorse after fading down the stretch in 2012, Quintana/Danks/Santiago/Danks all with major question marks about how often they can give you much more than 5+ innings. I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't experiment with the six man rotation again...before they send Santiago down to start in AAA and leave Axelrod up.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:53 AM) Thanks Rush. More quality analysis If you're going to accuse me of racism, you better have something a LOT better than that to back it up with.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) Because when RGIII an EJ Manuel were drafted, all I heard was "AIN'T NO BLACK QUARTERBACK EVER WON A SUPERBOWL NEVER" 1979-1947=32 years Heck, 1979-1936 (Jesse Owens)=43 years Or Joe Louis, Tiger Woods, etc.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 22, 2013 -> 07:53 AM) Thanks Rush. More quality analysis You're welcome. Have you ever met any major league scouts in their 50's, 60's or 70's? Just curious. Because last time I checked, Doug Williams started playing in the 1970's. Here we are, 30+ years later, and the same questions are being raised by scouts across the board about African-American NFL quarterbacks. If you want to believe there's no bias, racism or prejudice that's still prevalent, then be my guest. I lived in Colombia in 2005-2006. I met a lot of scouts in Cartagena, Santa Marta and Baranquilla. All of them said it would take 20-30 years before a pitcher from their country was going to reach the majors, because of the level of instruction and competition available there being so inferior. Edgar Renteria and his brother said the same thing, I worked as a volunteer at one of their camps...when I asked if they'd ever seen a pitcher who had the stuff to make it to the majors...at any of their youth camps there or in Miami. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2...l-bias/2101977/

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 22, 2013 -> 08:03 AM) Who exactly are they supposed to call up? Erik Johnson and Danks would also be on 3 day's rest. Spencer Arroyo, theoretically. Tony Pena, Jr., is the AAA starter aligned, but he threw 1 1/3 last night because of Castro only going 5 innings and getting bombed. You hate to start someone in this situation...when they're having to go up against another team's ace, they threw 80 pitches on Saturday, then you're taking them out of their normal routine and "comfort zone" as they just threw a bullpen session of 40 pitches and would have 2 days and not just a single day to bounce back from that. One shouldn't forget how many times this organization has bounced Santiago around...and then there was the game he was rushed into earlier in the year when Floyd went down that he struggled mightily in. Other than that game and Saturday against the Angels, he has been excellent the entire season, more or less. So you're sort of seeing the Sergio Santos Effect with him....almost every time he's out there, he's great...or he completely falls apart. Although, in fairness, he didn't take the loss, it was actually Nathan Jones on Saturday.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...lb&c_id=mlb Reinsdorf to be awarded 2013 SBJ/SBD Lifetime Achievement Award during a ceremony at the Sports Business Awards in New York on Wednesday night.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 21, 2013 -> 11:38 PM) Santiago is averaging 5+ innings and 98 pitches per start. Axelrod is averaging 5+ innings and 98 pitches per start. You were saying? Is that counting last season or just 2013?

Can't wait to see the finale to the Delpy/Ethan Hawk/Linklater franchise.... Final one, covering nearly twenty years of time, BEFORE MIDNIGHT. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/before_midnight_2013/ 22 reviews so far, only one negative. Reading some of the blurbs/synopses, it seems like it could be an excellent film and perfect cap-off to the trilogy.

Now you just JINXED Sale, too. LOL. There were many overreactions to the Sale situation last year, and mine was among the worst of those "freaking out" about the team's handling (or perceived mishandling, along with a lack of communication between Sale, Cooper, RV, KW and the agent) of the situation. That said, it's eerie how as much of an issue it was in 2012, NOBODY seems concerned at all this year.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 21, 2013 -> 10:40 PM) That's ridiculous. What part of he didn't pitch full time until 19 years old don't you understand? He only pitched 4 fulls seasons prior to being released, and he was very good during all 4 years. Did people think he can be this good this soon? No. Did people has expectations for him? Of course they did. I don't think anyone sees a 22 year old who just finished A ball as a major red flag. He was viewed as a guy with no potential as you are making it sound like. http://www.pinstripedbible.com/2012/9/11/3...is-just-another You also have to take into consideration the PED's red flag. Joel Sherman wrote about Quintana today (great timing, eh?) and the team’s decision to let him leave as a minor league free agent after last season… …the Yankees did not put Quintana on the 40-man roster, making him a free agent. GM Brian Cashman said they deliberated on the matter and, despite a dearth of quality lefties in the system, “We looked at him as a fringy prospect. We offered him a minor league contract to stay, but not a 40-man roster position. We didn’t feel he was ahead of other guys we gave spots to. It was a numbers game, but right now it does not look like a good decision.” Quintana’s agent hunted around for a 40-man roster spot and found a taker in Chicago. Quintana made nine starts in Double-A before coming up for good when John Danks hit the disabled list. He’s excelled at limiting walks (1.53 BB/9 and 4.5 BB%) and homers (0.51 HR/9) but he hasn’t racked up many strikeouts (5.09 K/9 and 15.0 K%) or ground balls (40.4%). Quintana uses his upper-80s fastball and mid-80s slider heavily but will also mix in the occasional upper-70s curveball and on the rarest of occasions, a mid-80s changeup. Sherman spoke to a scout who had a little more to offer… A scout for an NL team who saw two of his major league starts reported a good fastball that Quintana cuts and sinks, but worried there was no clear swing-and-miss pitch, and also that the southpaw had a bad pickoff move and was slow to the plate, making him susceptible to stolen bases. riveraveblues.com

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:48 PM) Not if Santiago can't make it five innings or 100 pitches. Same argument goes for Quintana, if not moreso.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:48 PM) Seriously? Johan? Come on man. If he ever learns to control the screwball, why not? Who are you going to compare him to, then? (Another reason is because Santana came out of relative obscurity, Rule V pick, etc. He wasn't on everybody's radar screen as a Top 50 prospect.) That's a BIG if. Sure. But he throws just as hard, if not harder. Johan's bread-and-butter pitch was the change-up, just like Buehrle's. IF IF IF he can get it into the strikezone 50-60% of the time instead of 10-25%, then it's going to be a major weapon. (Langston was saying during the Angels' broadcast that it had "crazy movement"). Remember, he's only been throwing it for 2 1/2 years now.

Was it Morrison or Manzarek that named the group? I remember the quote being from William Blake, about "once the doors of perception are removed...yadda yadda" Have to get my copy of my favorite high school book of all-time and look it up...the Morrison biography that was turned into The Doors movie by Oliver Stone (and gave us Meg Ryan's first nude scene).

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 21, 2013 -> 08:23 PM) Micah Johnson on base 3 times today (2 hits, 1 BB), but only stole 1 base. He now has 40 SB. Yet Michael Johnson has an OPS nearly 100 points higher and I can't recall more than a few mentions of him.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:40 PM) What does it have to do anything at all? You pull the most random things out sometimes. Is there anything against Colombian pitchers we don't know about? 6 years, hell, two of those years he didn't do anything. He was only 19 years old when he pitched his first full season in DSL. The fact that he made such a smooth transition to the majors can even tell you the Yankees were too safe with him. I would like to pull up some old posts, because I am positive people were surprised Yankees released Q, and he has some potential in him. No one expected the quick promotion and success that he has had, but you made it sound like he was some over aged scrub who struggled to make it out of A ball. but you made it sound like he was some over aged scrub who struggled to make it out of A ball. If there's a long list of current major leaguers who were in A or lower (short-season/summer league) for years 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 and then suddenly blossomed at that time and became the equivalent of an All-Star, I would love to see it Because that's the way baseball works. For the longest time, it took convincing that a Mexican position player could make it successfully at the major league level. It's like an African-American quarterback....as soon as someone proves it can be done, then it's not an issue. I'm not saying that's WHAT I believe...just the way a lot of the older scouts that I used to be around looked at things back in the 90's. Maybe it has changed a bit (but, for an example, I haven't seen an influx of women as Assistant GM's or even running minor league organizations...it takes decades to change that good 'ol boys network). I remember in 1994, one of the scouts saying Ordonez is going to get fat or doesn't project as a major leaguer because, at that time, his only plus tool was hitting. Or that players from Mexico all eat too many tacos and burritos and enchiladas, don't stay in shape, whatever. It was silly and fed into some of the worst stereotypes. All of the minor leaguers from the Dominican back at that time...90% of them were rail thin (like Alexei) or were built like Ricky Henderson or Jose Canseco.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:25 PM) Way to skew the statistics. He only pitched like 5 innings in 06, got injured and didn't pitch in 07, 2008 was his first year legitimately pitching. He only spent 4 years below Double A, and two of which are in DSL. He was on his way to Double A at age 23, nothing wrong with that. There were plenty of people, this board included, puzzled by the Yankees move to release Quintana, because he had some potential. I am glad it worked out for us. BTW, Reed with 16 saves in 21 wins for us. Baseball has been pretty fun this year. If you go back to the day of the acquisition, I don't even think ANYONE knew what to make of it. He's one of, if not, the first, Colombian pitcher to make it successfully. Orlando Cabrera and the Renteria brothers were the others, but were all position players/hitters. I just meant he was in the Yankees' system at the A Level of lower for a good six years. That doesn't scream someone who's going to spend a month in AA, skip AAA and pitch like an All-Star for 3+ months in the majors. In fact, I would guess that has never happened before that someone spent most of the previous year in A ball before being claimed by another team and making that jump all the way to the majors the following season. Maybe Liriano, but he was part of a trade, not a roster claim.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:16 PM) Come on Astros bullpen, stop sucking. We can be in 3rd with a Royals loss. Not going to happen. Although Cain striking out with no outs, bases loaded...almost expected another K or DP ball from Moustakas but he actually came through there and Kottaras just walked in the go-ahead run. That Kottaras is an UNCANNY WALK MACHINE. Maybe the new Greek God of Walks. 7 walks, 16 official at-bats. Already has won one (and if this one holds up, two) games with walks this year. Royals blew it open. More bad Astros fielding. They're going to be lucky to win 40 games this year. (Actual pace is 46-116).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2013 -> 09:10 PM) That's just it. You aren't creating a weakness. Winning games is what creates value. Value is worthless if we are giving away games. Developing a Johan Santana Lite starter over a long man or lefty specialist creates 5X more value for the long-term prospects of the franchise. But back to Fathom's point. Those 5/6 games he pitched in, the Sox lost. It's almost like you're envisioning him being used properly, and that could PRODUCE wins for the bullpen, but that's not squaring with reality. Even if he was the best long reliever in the game, we don't have the type of offense to come back very often in those game he was sporting a 0.00 ERA....over however many innings he pitched the first couple of weeks. You would have a point if he was like Zumaya with the Tigers in his prime and he could be trotted out there to put out fires any inning from the 5th through the 8th...and was equally difficult for lefties and righties to match up against.

Was going to say we'd be in a tie for 3rd place...but the Royals just loaded the bases with no outs and down a run in the top of the 8th against the Lastros/DisAstros. Moustakas, Francouer, Escobar and Perez aren't the same offensive forces they were last year, or the prior year in Frenchy's case.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 21, 2013 -> 08:59 PM) Imagine if we had let go of Quetzalcoatl like the Yankees did? Everyone one on this board would be livid. I'll trade for their payroll and 26 or 27 or whatever number of World Series titles, lol. I'm sure it rankled Cashman that Contreras won a World Series for us, too...but it's just a blip on the radar for Yankees' fans, like Hideki Irabu or Kei Igawa. Keep in mind, Quintana was in his 6th minor league season and still in A ball. BTW, trade Reed and Crain, NOW. 75% joking.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 21, 2013 -> 08:58 PM) I thought it was Danks, but it definitely could have been Gio. We can look back now and say a package of Fields, Gio/Danks (who was disappointing in 2007 and wore down at the end) and, let's say, Jerry Owens, should have been competitive. (But Maybin and Miller were consensus Top 50 prospects...Gio wasn't quite at that level...and Fields had some pretty obvious holes, both offensively and defensively, in his overall game). In the end, Gio still had his doubters whether he had the frame/durability to be a big league starter...and Danks had a lot of question marks coming out of the 2007 too, if I remember, they even shut him down at the end of the season because his ERA was ballooning upwards at an alarming rate.