caulfield12

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:10 PM) Yes, actually 1/3 games left are against KC and Min. If 88 games wins the division, 50-40 the rest of the way can be broken down this way: KC 9-6 Min 9-6 Det 5-5 Cle 3-3 Bal 2-2 Bos 2-2 NY 4-3 TB 2-2 Tor 4-3 LAA 3-3 Oak 2-1 Sea 2-1 Tex 3-3 4-3 against either NY or TOR wouldn't be expected, especially the Blue Jays. You hope 3-4 and prepare for 2-5. LAA will be another tough 3-3. Somewhere in there, we'll get a sweep, if we can get hot again. The Orioles have been very tough on us as well. Greg's head will explode if we go 9-6 versus either the Twins or Royals. Especially KC. And one of the top 3 AL Central teams will end up doing serious damage to one of the other two teams to put some distance in the race. Maybe not this year...it could end like 2008/09.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:50 PM) Week ahead: Peavy vs Liriano Floyd vs Hendriks Sale vs Blackburn Axelrod vs Nova Quintana vs Sabathia Peavy vs Kuroda Floyd vs Hughes Rangers series, so far: Sale vs Oswalt Axelrod vs Lewis Quintana vs Harrison Unless the Sox adjust their rotation, Sale will pitch the Sunday before the break. CLE has a very tough stretch coming now too, right? Survival mode. 5-5 or 4-6 is fine. 3-7 is survivable, although far from ideal.....not disastrous in 2012. That might still even leave us in first or close to it. Tigers have a chance to make up some more ground.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) Want to get viewers for the ASG? Let Dickey pitch all 9 innings for the NL. I want to see the AL's best hitters trying to hit that damn knuckleball. All the AL GM's would pull their players for fear of messing them up for 10 days hitting-wise after that game. It's like the Bob Abreu kiss of death with the HR Derby.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:39 PM) What's the story on his failed drug test again? Also, it's amazing how well he's throwing his slider. That was filthy yesterday. It was one of those nutritional supplement/GNC type things that probably all the Latin kids were taking together. Not one of the hardcore anabolic steroids, supposedly. It was covered in a Trib or Sun-Times article in the last couple of days. LOL at Cashman getting clowned again, by the Sox. Love his understated response. Although he did win the Swisher one by FAR, we still punk'd him for Contreras and now Quintana. El Duque was a useful, if expensive, spare part in 2005. That inning against the BoSox might have been worth $5.5 or $6.5 million alone to JR, whatever we were paying him at that time. Minaya comes off like a bit of a tool, like they don't even take the time to look at their players on a case-by-case basis and differentiate, so that's his excuse for not being more diligent.

"On one hand, it probably was time for him to go. The Red Sox needed to be committed to Will Middlebrooks," (Terry) Francona said. "He's a good young player, and he's proven he's a guy they can build around. "But, saying that, the White Sox are going to get more from Kevin Youkilis than the Red Sox did so far. If Youk is healthy -- and he says is -- he grinds out at-bats as good as anybody in baseball, and you can hit him second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. He hits left-handers, he hits right-handers. It's a big pick-up for the White Sox, who have gotten no production at third base." http://www.freep.com/article/20120624/SPOR...is-from-Red-Sox Tigers' response is supposedly interest in Carlos Quentin, although the only "smoke" to this so far is Morosi blog/tweet about it 11 days ago. Really hope that the Tigers don't get him. I'd rather he go to CLE, but Damon's actually been closer to serviceable. Still, you don't let Damon stand in the way if you have the pieces to add Quentin in the next month, assuming he's still healthy.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120625/SPOR...ews|text|Sports Front page HORRIBLE column. That the Tigers should acquire Carlos Quentin, largely because of his defense, haha. New positioning makes him better? C'mon! Where do they come up with this stuff? Yeah, he'll give them much better offense than Boesch or Delmon Young, that's for sure. It could be kind of a nightmare scenario for the Sox if he goes off ala 2008 or the first couple of weeks back in 2012. Then again, he could just as easily get reinjured. Brennan Boesch was never really a role or part-time player, either. Not until he decided to really suck this year.

Even Phil Rogers was raving about this deal. Said it was the best KW in-season move since Garcia/Contreras in 2004. For some reason, he thought Leesman was one of the top prospects who would have been potentially included, LOL'ed at that one a bit. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,6808460.column

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:29 AM) We should have some more solid bullpen guys coming up over the next couple years. Omogrosso has some sick splits after a terrible April. Since then, he has 23.2 innings pitched, 24 hits allowed and a K/BB ratio of 28/1. Yes. But has he got back that explosive stuff he had before the injuries, like when he really looked like a very solid prospect maybe 3 years ago? By his IP/H ratio, he's still not missing enough bats. You'd like to see any reliever in the +10 or more category on that one, especially as the season's nearing the halfway point.

More examples of Ozzie Leadership Lessons By MANNY NAVARRO [email protected] Hanley Ramirez has never been one to speak up or take command of the Marlins clubhouse. It's just not who he is comfortable being -- especially not when he's struggling at the plate and not holding his end of the bargain. But with the Marlins reeling after their 15th loss in their last 17 games Saturday, the three-time All-Star and former batting champion decided it was time to do something uncomfortable. He called his first team meeting, where he told his teammates it was time "for everybody to just clear their heads, start over and hit the reset button." The Marlins (34-38) responded Sunday with their most lopsided victory of the season -- a 9-0, feel-good blowout of the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 27,888 at Marlins Park. It’s a win that put an end to a six-game losing streak -- and maybe their June swoon. "I think it was the best players meeting I've ever been involved with because of the amount of people involved with it and some of the things Hanley said to start it," said catcher John Buck, who belted a second-inning, 411-foot, three run home run that bounced off the sculpture in left-center field and gave starter Mark Buehrle an early 4-0 cushion. "I think it resonated with quite a few guys where what it did was let's go let it all hang out at the beginning of the game... He got my juices flowing." Buck, who had three RBI in his previous 24 games combined, wasn't the only player who was moved by Saturday's team meeting. Greg Dobbs, homerless in his first 100 at-bats this season, hit a two-run shot in the sixth and finished with three hits as the Marlins broke out of their offensive funk and scored more than five runs for the first time since they beat the Giants and two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum 7-6 back on May 25. Ramirez? He chipped in, too. Although he started the day 0-for-3 (dropping his average in June to .205), he stroked a two-run triple into gape in right-center in the seventh before scoring on Logan Morrison's sacrifice fly. It was all more than enough for Mark Buehrle, who after losing each of his four prior starts prior while posting a 5.48 ERA, scattered seven hits over seven innings to pick up his first win since May 26. "Everybody looked today like everything we said in the meeting [saturday] got to everybody's heart," Ramirez said. "Everybody was more relaxed, smiling. It looked like it was opening day for us today." Blue Jays starter Jesse Chavez, who gave up seven hits and six earned runs in Sunday's start, had one previous start in his career coming in -- when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up four walks and four runs to Milwaukee. Despite the victory, the Marlins completed their worst season ever in interleague play, going just 5-13 (.278). Their previous worst was during an 83-win season of 2004, when they finished 5-10 (.333) against the American League. The Marlins, who were tied with Washington for first place in the National League East on June 3rd, are now eight games back of the Nationals and a half-game up on the Phillies for last place in the division. "When we took the field Carlos Zambrano was next to me and told me 'This is the game we're going to turn it around.' I said ,'Let's win one game first and see what happens.' And they did it today," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I'm not going to say this thing happened because of the players meeting. But when you have a players meeting, the next game you act that way and play that way it seems like something very positive. It's nice to see those guys having fun on the field. It's been a little while where we don't feel this way after the game. It's a very painful feeling every time you lose." Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/24/2865...l#storylink=cpy Buehrle, who said it was good to see Ramirez initiate Saturday's meeting because 'this is kind of Hanley's clubhouse," got plenty of defensive help along the way Sunday. "We had some energy right from the get-go," said Reyes, who complained Saturday the Marlins' clubhouse was 'dead.' "Hopefully, we'll continue to play the same way the next couple games."

Ozzie's "NL-style" strategies and tactics from the Art of War weren't enough to counteract the AL this year? Shocker!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:28 AM) I don't think he's claiming everyone who disliked Stewart is a meatball...there is clearly room for a difference of opinion on the guy. But I tend to agree with Jake on this one...and to Caulfield's disbelief, I didn't even see the no-hit bid against the Twins as I was out in the middle of the woods camping. He clearly is not ready to be a major league starter, but I think he will be one day. He does have a sinker that moves all over the place, it's just a question of him learning how to throw it consistently. And for Cherington's comments, what do we expect him to say? This guy really blows, but I had to get a warm body back to appease the fanbase... Best of luck to Zach and Brent...I'd rather them both still be here...but they're not, so go GGW. And I am certainly happy youtube wasn't around when I was little, because my uncle would have had so much s*** on the internet of me as a kid doing f***ed up things... I thought you were probably out formulating counter-arguments for Dick Allen and Baron to continue the attendance thread for another 20+ pages, into a new week at least. After watching Julianne Hough in Rock of Ages, I'm not sure which was more time lost from my life...but I did wade through every page in that thread. So did Dick win because we made a deal to add approximately $1 million (not sure about the buyout yet), or did you win because it was a "minor transaction" inside the range of $10 million or less in pocket change that JR and the Board has when they're gallavanting about the the town?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:33 AM) You are correct in stating this. Stewart can become valuable . Most hated him for this year's production. And last year's 7.88 ERA against all teams not named the mostly Twins' Rochester line-up.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) I'm not about to go to Vegas and place a bet on Zach Stewart making his way to being a fixture at the MLB level, but I see a young-ish player that has had his development pretty well botched switching from relief to starter to relief to starter and having his repertoire pay for it. My main point is that his failure at the MLB level is not necessarily indicative of a career of failing at the MLB level. Because of the flashes you see and the fact that he hasn't had much time spent as a sinkerballer or as a starter (and only half a season of being both sinker thrower and reliever), there may be some untapped potential that may show up yet. I feel like everyone has to know that but refuse to say it. My stance always has been that he should been a starting pitcher in AAA and could have been tossed to the wolves if that didn't work out. Same with Hector Santiago. They're inconsistent, which is probably the most common problem for pitchers but likewise the most commonly corrected one. That said, I think we're deep in Stewart types that are a tweak or a little bit of experience away from being serviceable MLB pitchers/starters. The irritating thing about Stewart and also Santiago is that I believe they were not ready for the MLB level and not put in a good position to succeed by the White Sox, even if them being there was best for the MLB club (I'm not convinced Brian Bruney couldn't have given us the same production) Jeff Marquez when he was acquired had some of the same projections attached to him...I saw a lot more of Marquez and less of Jon Garland over the last two years. Maybe you'll be right. We've never really had a "second tier" starting prospect that we traded make it big. Not since Josh Fogg. Maybe Clayton Richard, if you want to count him. Our only misses have been with Gio and Hudson, trading them.

1. Quintana 2. Axelrod 2A. Beck 3. Castro 4. Molina 5. Santiago 6. Rienzo 7. Petricka 8. Olacio 9. Stewart 10. Jaye/Webb (one of those two kids we got for Frasor, can't remember)

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8091584/...icago-white-sox Love the quotes from everyone, especially Konerko, Pedroia, Punto. LOL at Cherington's assessment of Stewart. Well, someone with the Yankees understimated Quintana, so maybe we're doing the same with Zach, just not seeing it at all.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 07:03 AM) And playing daily With an iffy back, you just never know. It can go at any time, but you have to trust Hermie and Allen Thomas to get everything possible out of Youk. They've already had this experience with Crede, Thome and Morel. I'd actually argue that playing almost every game in the heat is the best way to keep his back "playable," rather than playing, sitting, playing, sitting. Especially in the heat of the summertime. One wrong swing and he's toast. Could easily happen. But I wouldn't be shocked if he goes on a run, either. Impossible to predict.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 06:59 AM) I don't think the division or his mental state has anything to do with his performance. If he's healthy he's going to find a groove quickly. If his body just isn't strong enough or is too broken down, then he'll continue to be Brent Morel bad as he has been the last couple weeks. With how many mid-season moves haven't exactly worked out and how many post-2008 moves have gone bust, it's time for a reasonable gamble other than DeAza, Humber, Viciedo, Santos and Quintana to pay dividends. Actually feel pretty good about the new vibe it will bring to the team and around the clubhouse. Always good to have those guys with so much playoff and World Series experience around a team that's essentially mostly comprised of either veterans or 1st/2nd/3rd year players.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 01:51 AM) I have very strong right hand from many years of use. Now time show what made of. Now you only need to use some of the Moises Alou "special treatment" and you're good to go.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 06:45 AM) It ends up being about a million dollars added for a guy with a bad back. If he can leg out a triple (you could see him turning at least into a 2nd gear round 1B on the replay), then maybe he'll be okay. If nothing else, you have Hudson and Escobar behind him still. Not ideal, but it would be pretty amazing for him to come to a new team (and an easier division) and put up less than a 500 OPS.

It's nice that KW was willing to see the writing on the wall with Stewart and not stubbornly force him on Ventura when it was pretty clear that he was struggling in his role and was going to be hard-pressed not to be passed by other starting candidates like Axelrod, Castro, Molina (crosses fingers) and possibly Santiago. Would love to see Beck from GSU lose some of that weight/muscle and get his mid 90's stuff back. Still believe he'll be better than the four guys listed as well as Pedro Hernandez (who could move into a lefty set-up role with another move or two with the major league roster). With Quintana continuing to be one of the most amazing unknown stories in baseball this year, it's pretty amazing we've lost our last 4 or 5 consecutive Peavy/Sale starts and are still in first place. That's without Danks and/or Humber figuring in... The big (perhaps biggest) concern right now would have to be how hard can Sale and Quintana be pushed in August and September. Danks coming back solves one of those two issues, but not both. That would still leave you starting Humber/Axelrod.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 06:00 AM) Our return from the Javy trade just went up. And there's still some hope for Santos Rodriguez...especially when/if Thornton gets dealt this year or in the offseason.

Pirates to Braves to Red Sox. At any rate, the best move KW has made since Sergio Santos was obviously Jose Quintana. His "big impact" moves have tended to backfire since 2008, but this one isn't an unreasonable risk at all and will pay for itself, largely. If nothing else, we'll probably make up half that revenue from Red Sox fans when they're in town who also want to see Youk playing for another team.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 05:52 AM) Don't forget that this is a guy who didn't get along with his manager. Bobby V is an ass, but Youk is no saint. Hopefully a change of scenery will benefit him. Carl Everett, AJ, Jenks, Rios, Javy, Swisher, O-Cabrera, Manny...we've had a mixed record in that area taking players with "bad reputations" and incorporating them into our clubhouse. Griffey, Jr., had a reputation for being next to impossible to deal with and he was great for our clubhouse and as a teammate, if not so good on the field.

Nothing to complain about here at all. Reasonable gamble, better than the Manny Ramirez one, less expensive for a lot more of the season AND you give him numerous chances to get back at the Red Sox and prove his true worth for next season and the FA market. Stewart was done here and Lillibridge never became a RV favorite. Just had too big a swing for his approach to be conducive to limited bench play. We will miss his speed and pinch-running abilities, but Jordan Danks can make up for the OF defensive and has above average speed, if not a base-stealer per se. It also should be a popular move from a team marketing/attendance standpoint...it definitely won't hurt.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 05:40 AM) Yeah Lilli is a p decent return for the Red Sox. Stewart is just depth, they DFA'd a better pitcher earlier this year. Stults