caulfield12

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 12:04 AM) OK - Peavy might just feel like the Sox are the best team for him because they successfully helped him back from a major injury that really had no precedent in baseball. He's owed about $22M next year, but if the Sox feel he's healthy, they could buy him out of next year's contract for $4M, and negotiate a competitive 3 or 4 year deal with him. If the market is $15M/year for a guy his age, they could offer him $14.5M/year + the buyout, and he'd still be ahead. Well, maybe. If they let Floyd go, they would be saving $9.5 million next year. But there's the probability they'll have to pay AJ $7-8.5 million (there will be no better catcher on the market, despite his age) and they very well might want to keep Youk around. All depends on the insurance on the Danks deal, too. They might be better served putting that money into Sale for a long-term deal that buys out a couple of years of FA. Many here will argue they have to go year to year with Sale because of the injury concerns...but can you risk losing one of the 2-3 best young pitchers in all of baseball to keep Jake Peavy around? Lots of interesting questions to debate. 4 months ago, you would have said that Molina would be lining himself for that Peavy spot, but right now it's Quintana/Axelrod/Castro.

Trade Youk back to Boston for Lester, lol. Exercising the option on Youk and bringing back AJ are looking more and more likely....as for Peavy, the numbers just don't make sense. And quite ironic that Middlebrooks is now out and they might have to play Lillibridge there.

Back to .500 home record, will be tested mightily tmrw at the launching pad in a day game. Harrison, their best pitcher, against Quintana, coming off a "survival mode" outing in the Bronx. 3-5 now in extra inning games. A couple of memorable walkoff wins after not having any for a long time (Hudson/Youk)...and the Viciedo win was almost like a road version of a walk-off win considering we were down 3-1 and looked dead in the water. Smoltz said we're just one more starter away...the question is, what we do have left to trade for that piece? It's going to have to be more of a deal where we take on salary, than giving up talent, one would think. Note to Beckham and Viciedo...please learn how to 1) hit a high fastball or 2) lay off of one. Two great, professional at-bats by DeAza and Youk. The complexion of this team really changed when he was added to the top of that line-up, much more dangerous than at any point since CQ and Alexei were terrorizing the AL in 2008.

Average up to 22,885 per game Coming up on the Royals for 24th place. If we averaged 30,000 for the rest of the season (and that's a huge IF with August 15th-September 30th looming), that would put us right around 2,000,000 and 26,310 average, which would end up being anywhere from 18th-23rd in the majors. I realize 25-27,500 is more likely to be the average, but all those people who were comped tonight were spending money on concessions, souvenirs and I guess a few on parking.

Ugh. I get so tired of hearing defensive metrics quoted as if that's the ONLY thing that matters. If you watch this team day after day, you'll know Ramirez has been VERY good this season. Maybe not quite Gold Glove level, as a couple of seasons ago, but very very close. Just like OPS. It's important, no doubt. But a SS putting up 79 RBI's isn't ever going to be a BAD thing, especially when he's one of the best defensively in the entire AL.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 01:22 PM) The Rangers didn't suffer too much from their deep 2010 playoff run considering they repeated as AL champs in '11. But you're maybe starting to see the physical effects of all those extra IP start to take their toll. Luckily, they can spend/acquire their way out of it, with Oswalt and Hamels/Greinke.

QUOTE (High Mileage @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 02:15 PM) Royals made two roster moves last night. First they sent Vin Mazzaro back to Omaha, then they also DFA'd Mitch Maier. Pitchers Louis Coleman and Mate Adcock were recalled from Omaha. The Royals only have 38 players on their 40-man roster. Perfect opening for Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi to join us after the All-Star Break... And who will they bench to play Myers? They'll just give up on Cain? Too bad they dealt Cabrera!!!

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 10:34 AM) Crain is the first one of the injured who was actually contributing in a positive way. The rest of the injuries seem to have been blessings in disguise. I guess Danks/Humber, because it led to Quintana. But you need your $65 million 2/3 starter to win this thing, at some point.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:42 AM) I was only speaking from an offensive standpoint. He's a surefire scrub at the dish, bro. Even if he's "only" putting up a 600 OPS, he's on a pace for 79 RBI's. How many SS's in the AL will come close to doing that? And he's been a MUCH more dangerous hitter this past month. I don't think he'll be able to get back to 700 or 725 OPS, but 650 is just fine with our line-up. When our biggest problems are Ramirez, Beckham and Viciedo (offensively), that's a nice place to be in. Asdrubal Cabrera he is not...but there's no longer concern about him like there was 4-6 weeks ago, or demands to trade him.

Look at all the problems the Rangers are having this year with Feliz, Ogando, Holland, etc. Seems like teams always suffer the year after that deep playoff run, unless they're a "superteam" who can sustain a couple of key pitching injuries. We saw this phenomenon firsthand in 2000-01, 2006, etc. If anything, we should be more worried about how hard Robin's pushing all the starters, particularly AJ. You just wonder how long they can hold up. It worked wonderfully for Ozzie to have his Sunday line-ups in 2005 and 2008, but the pendulum's really swung back the other direction, with our bench being perhaps the least utilized of any in the majors (and hard to fault Ventura, they're really just not that good that any of those guys should be pressing for additional playing time or starting roles).

Alexei Ramirez has been one of our best players the last month. Scrub, he is not. Just for his defense alone, to use the word scrub is pretty much uncalled for. Now if Gordon could worry more about his ridiculous hitch and the inability to hit a high fastball (or lay off it), we might have something.

Then why does Ventura keep leaving Sale in an "extra" 1-2-3 innings in some of the games which the outcome is no longer in doubt. We could have gotten Santiago some more time to work on things, as he's still an important reliever in our bullpen. Or Septimo...building his confidence, although he pitched Friday and Sunday, any positive forward momentum he can develop would be great, as it already feels like Leyson could be more reliable than Santiago. Yeah, we've gotten away with "Sunday line-ups" a couple of times this season, so it's not a guaranteed loss...just feels like giving away a guaranteed victory with how well Chris has been pitching recently, with the exception of the implosion against the Dodgers abetted by Wil Ohman.

Varitek was elected to the team by his peers. The Red Sox catcher ended the first half of the season hitting .218, with 73 strikeouts compared with just 56 hits. In June, his batting average was an atrocious .122. That didn't quite beat out Dunn... (Russell) Martin also has the lowest batting average of any position player selected as an All-Star for the AL since Harmon Killebrew (.204) and Don Wert (.220) in 1968 and it's the lowest for any All-Star since Davey Lopes in 1981 (.169), according to Elias. www.espn.com

Is anyone else in favor of sacrificing a game in the standings so that Sale can pitch in the All-Star game? He better be the starter if they're going to do that.

Of course, we think of him blowing away Bagwell in 2005 in the World Series. Of the consecutive batters retired streak, too. Then there are the key blown saves against the Twins in 2008 and 2010...I still have nightmares about the Carlos Gomez game and the one after the All-Star Break. Those losses were excruciating. Greg's argument is that Jenks had close to an 85% conversion rate (his final 2 seasons), just like Sergio last year. But he wasn't the same pitcher who was feared. He got the job done more often than not, but his devastating arsenal and stuff just wasn't there...especially the velocity on the FB.

On Tuesday, Washington was asked about Pierzynski’s reaction. “I was asked a question [sunday] and I said what I said about A.J. and it came from the heart,” Washington said. “Other than that I don’t really have a comment about it.” Nor did All-Star starter Mike Napoli. When told that Napoli was a good hitter by a media member, Pierzynski reportedly sniped: “Yeah, if you consider .230 good.” Napoli declined to comment on the matter Tuesday and on the possibility of catching former teammate C.J. Wilson in the All-Star Game. Wilson irked Napoli this spring by tweeting one of his cell phone numbers in what Wilson called a “prank.” The truth is that if Pierzynski has a gripe, it’s with his fellow players, who recently voted him the “Most Hated Player” in the majors in an anonymous poll conducted by Men’s Journal. The fans vote, which determines the starters, is largely done on popularity. The players’ vote, which determines backups, is supposed to be based on merit. Baltimore’s Matt Weiters, who began Tuesday hitting .247 with a .333 OBP, won that vote. To choose a third catcher, Washington had a choice between Pierzynski and Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, but the Twins were without a representative at that point. Washington could chosen another Twins player, Josh Willingham, but the manager’s desire to put Rangers SS Elvis Andrus on the team, eliminated much flexibility on his bench. And Andrus, hitting .307 with a .795 OPS (second-best among AL shortstops) certainly was as deserving of a spot as Pierzynski. And while we’re at it, let’s just say this: This is a lot of whining about nothing. The chances of the third catcher playing in the All-Star game don’t seem great. I assume Washington will use Napoli for four or five innings and Wieters for the rest. He’ll hold Mauer out in case there is an injury to one of the catchers. dallasmorningnews.com/sports

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 01:33 AM) That makes 10 rookies on this team, 6 of them in the bullpen, yes? EDIT: Yup. OF Jordan Danks IF Eduardo Escobar SP Jose Quintana SP Dylan Axelrod RP Addison Reed RP Nate Jones RP Hector Santiago RP Leyson Septimo RP Brian Omogrosso RP Duente Heath That makes 10 rookies on the first place Sox, 6 of them in the bullpen. That's a f***ing amazing story. 2 comeback players of the year, a rookie manager, 3 rookie coaches, and 10 rookie players on a team that's in 1st place. Incredible. Then you add Flowers, Lillibridge, Morel, Beckham, Ramirez, Viciedo, DeAza (technically in our minor league system, although a product of the Dodgers and mostly the Marlins) and, most importantly, Chris Sale...well every team would like to have that level of productivity from their minor league system over a 2-3 year period. If Mitchell hadn't gotten hurt, he'd possibly be knocking on the door as well.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 11:58 PM) Deunte Heath is getting called up according to twitter with Crain going on the D.L. Edit: It was the @SouthSideSox twitter feed. Just shows their runs scored in blowouts have made things quite uneven. Have a disproportionate number of blown saves. Bad record in one run ballgames and extra innings. If anything, that's encouraging for a better record in the second half as that kind of stuff always evens out over time.

Shades of 2000 team with two beatdowns of very very good teams in one week.

And about 20+ GM's missed on picking Mike Trout, too. It happens. Sale had frame/durability/mechanics concerns, whether he could stand up to being a starter long-haul, and signability issues as well. Lots of factors at play. By Evan Grant/Blogger [email protected] 11:31 pm on July 3, 2012 | PermalinkCHICAGO – Scatterblogging while wondering whatever happened to Fred Manrique: • Where do you start on RHP Roy Oswalt’s outing?It was ugly beyond belief. Three homers to the first five batters. 13 hits for the second consecutive start (becoming the first MLB pitcher to allow 13 or more hits in consecutive starts since Livan Hernandez did it for Minnesota in 2008). Balls hit so hard that they left dents and divots all over the stadium. Oswalt said he tried to work the corners of the strike zone more than he had in his first two starts, but found out quickly that home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor wasn’t going to give him the edges. “I had to get on the same page,” Oswalt said. “I didn’t want to walk guys.” The thought here is if Oswalt gave up on the strike zone, he gave up awfully early. Potentially more plausible theory: He is still adjusting to life against AL lineups. Leave the ball in the middle of the plate and you will get punished badly in the AL; leave it on the inner or outer third and you are still likely to get hit. It requires really quality strikes and it may take Oswalt a couple of more outings to refine his command in order to do it. • RHP Yoshinori Tateyama was overmatched again, which is becoming a common theme when he pitches. But to ask him to pitch long relief is miscasting the guy. He’s fairly successful, actually quite successful, against right-handed hitters (or he had been until Tuesday). He should never be allowed to face lefties. He faced two of them on Tuesday, walking Adam Dunn intentionally and giving up a three-run, no-doubt homer to A.J. Pierzynski. He’s given up 12 homers in his big league career, 11 of them to lefties in just 95 at-bats. He should not face lefties. And to pitch long relief requires facing lefties. • At the start of this season, 2B Ian Kinsler looked like a Gold Glove caliber fielder. He played the position aggressively and with a purpose. That has drifted somewhat in the last month. Kinsler made his 12th error – and it was a doozy – on Tuesday. That surpasses his 2011 total for the season. And seven of Kinsler’s errors have come since June 1. I’m thinking going to the All-Star Game isn’t what he needs as much as a four-day mental break. The error didn’t change the outcome of the game (the Rangers were already trailing 9-0), but it was a sloppy play in which he simply bobbled a routine ground ball with two outs in the fifth. The White Sox went on to score seven more runs in the inning. • DH Michael Young is now in 0-for-13 slump after going hitless in four at-bats Tuesday. His batting average has dropped to a season-low .266. He looked like he was starting to come out of his funk a week ago. He looked funky as ever on Tuesday. • Looking for a bright spot? Best I can offer is this: SS Elvis Andrus doubled home two runs to keep the game from becoming one of the worst shutout losses in baseball in the last 90 years. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games. That’s about all I’ve got, unless you want to get vindictive. If so, the Angels lost, failing to gain ground, and starter Dan Haren admitted that he’s got a back problem. He will be checked out in California later this week. • Enjoy your Fourth. If you happen to stumble across 1776 on cable somewhere, watch it. One of my favorite, if not all-time favorite, movies/plays. And the casting: William Daniels (from St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World among others) as John Adams; Ken “The White Shadow” Howard as Thomas Jefferson. Brilliance. And have a Hebrew National for me.

George Clooney is likeable. Should he be the manager of the Marlins? He also handles interviews quite nicely, and has actually done lots of worthwhile volunteer work around the world.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 10:38 PM) Mauer homer. 8-6 Twins That Twins offense isn't a pushover at all. Plouffe and Willingham have been monsters, quietly. Revere is really improving as well. But pitching, pitching, pitching.

That Alex Williams who plays 1B for Bristol (when Barnum's out) looks like a freaking middle linebacker for Ohio State or Michigan.

Tigers on the ropes after being ahead 3-1 and then tying it again at 6-6. Lots of bullpen issues for the Tigers. Mauer and Willingham have been playing extremely well. Plouffe and Revere, too. But pitching, yikes. Mauer just hit his 5th homer. 8-6 Minnesota, Twins still hitting in the top of the 9th. Benoit pulled...really struggling.

30,000+ tonight Should be even better after the offensive blitzkrieg and 4th of July/Fireworks Show tmrw.