caulfield12

Did you really expect Gordon Beckham to have a 700+ OPS at this point in the season? I'd give him a B or B-, at worst, taking into consideration his defense, especially. If you throw in that homer against the Angeles that Vernon Wells robbed, he'd be sitting in the 725 range, which isn't far off from 2009. I don't think you can realistically "expect" 800+ OPS numbers out of Gordon, but anything in the 725-750 range is great and we'll take it and run with it. Dunn is B/B- as well, particularly when you take into consideration very very uncertain expectations. We always knew he was going to K a lot, but he's won a number of key games for us, he's earned his money so far this year. If Rios is a B, then Dunn has to be one as well because Dunn is killing Rios in the OPS department. Humber should be a C or at worst a C-, because, once again, expectations couldn't have been THAT great, particularly because of the way he faded down the stretch in 2011. Assuming Danks has been injured, he probably deserves a C-. Nobody expected him to be a #1 starter, he's being paid like a #2, but that's not completely on Danks, nobody forced KW to give him that type of money. With his velocity down by 2 MPH, you had to feel there was something wrong and that he was trying to pitch through it. Maybe an incomplete and we'll see much better results when he's 100% (hopefully). And you're being too hard on Wil Ohman...if Stewart's a C, then Ohman definitely has to be, because he's being used incorrectly against RHBers and not primarily as a LOOGY.

The Yankees had a bottom 4 of Swisher, Andruw Jones, Jayson Nix and Chris Stewart a couple of days ago. Also have Boone Logan, David Aarsdsma and Freddy Garcia. We know the pitching names...enough to compete for the any division with Sale, Hudson, Gio, McCarthy, Richard, Harrell, etc. It's the position players we've always had great difficulty developing, especially this last half decade. Unless you count Viciedo and Alexei, it's very bleak. Beckham might end up being a keeper after all, and that would be huge. And DeAza's kind of like a "found" lost prospect, too.

With studios taking a big cut of every ticket sold, the only fixed income a theater owner can count on is his concessions. In the past, the studio cut, while always a hurdle, could be offset by a film with legs that would stay in theaters for weeks and weeks, with exhibs taking home a greater percentage the longer it remained onscreens. But these days, studios are pressing to shrink the release window to bring in ancillary coin more quickly. "With a good theater, you look to have 10% profit at the end of the year," says Jon Goldstein of Highlight Investments, which oversees seven theaters via its stake in Emagine entertainment. And while National Assn. of Theater Owners director of media and research Patrick Corcoran says those who buy concessions do so regularly, reportedly fewer than half of patrons buy anything other than a ticket. "Without those sales, you'd have to cover your expenses with a higher ticket price," Corcoran says. Indeed, theater owners have a particular amount of overhead that needs to be covered by concessions, no matter the number of people who go to the stand. "All the people who say 'I bring my own food,' well, that's great, but you're causing the people around you to shoulder the burden of the cost of the business," Goldstein says. "I don't like that model, because you're punishing your best customers." Getting most of theatergoers to regularly buy popcorn and Raisinets in the lobby is a concern of Craig Chapin, CEO of Allure Global Solutions, a provider of digital signage and other software. He says theater owners need to accent the positives of stopping by the concession stand by using signage that shows customers how many points they've accumulated when they swipe their loyalty cards. "We're in a very unique space of being a single-visit, dual-transaction business," Chapin says, referring to box office and concessions as the two primary purchases of the moviegoing experience. "How do you have a cohesive message? The people who are doing it best are the ones thinking about (moviegoing) as one congruent model." Goldstein sees a solution in a one-price model, by charging each patron $15 for admission and unlimited concessions. It didn't fly, he says, because the studios stepped in. "When they see 'bundling,' they want their percentage from that one price," he says. Theater owners who redefine the movie experience may have more luck hitting building a better revenue model, but franchises like Brooklyn's Rerun Gastropub Theater or the Alamo Drafthouse (which recently announced plans to expand into New York City) are more restaurant than moviehouse. The percentage profit may be higher in such places, but they have bigger staffs and higher expenses. AMC Entertainment, too, which was just acquired for a record-setting $2.6 billion by Chinese investor Dalian Wanda, is looking to delve into the wine-and-dine sector -- and the company's latest cash infusion will make that easier. Cinemark has also made forays into the movie tavern approach, with varying degrees of success.Then there's the luxury theater market. Chains like Arclight and Landmark offer reserved seating, a retail connection (books, memorabilia) and memberships. Tim League, founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, says that while that model can work, those houses are just as reliant on the success of the industry as bigger chains. "It's dangerous to press concession and box office prices up to the point where you're getting a significant number of your customers who find it untenable," he says. "The reality is that the overall industry has to be healthy, even for us who offer alternatives." Increasingly, filmgoing alternatives include renting out empty theaters midweek for group meetings or special events. Many theater owners are expanding their programming to include more than just movies, adding streamed performances of concerts, sports, town hall meetings, rotary gatherings and even giving individuals the ability to program -- and pre-pay for -- screenings via Tugg.com's crowdsourcing approach. For his part, Joe Paletta, CEO of Spotlight Theaters, says he has aimed to make the exhib a "community meeting place," not just a space for movies.But success really boils down to showing a film that's so good customers don't notice how much it costs to go, and those don't come around every week. Once customers pay attention to prices, increasingly, they're opting out. "It's a very delicate balancing act to get to the price point where we sense that the customer is getting value for what they're buying," Paletta says. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118054907/ Thinking outside of the box here... 1) Ticket bundling (all you can eat, parking) could definitely work in some seating sections as an option or alternative. It won't work in theatres because the film distributors want a portion of the profit from the food sales as well, but that wouldn't be true for most major league baseball stadiums. 2) Developing the ballpark more to draw attendance year-round through events like hockey games, football games, concerts, community events. This doesn't seem to work nearly as well on the SouthSide as for Wrigley. 3) They've always had the restaurant and luxury suites, so there's not much more they can do for the "wine and dine" crowd. 4) Maybe something more with "exclusive membership" packages for children and adults....for the Bulls/Sox academy, stadium tours, picnic in the park, fireworks shows, concerts, I don't know.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 11:57 PM) Just what the White Sox need, another f***ing right handed pitcher. One can't assume that Gavin Floyd will be around next year, so a RHP pitcher isn't the WORST idea in the world. Humber's far from a sure thing at this point in time. And we're going to have to replace Jake Peavy, so it makes sense. Or our pitching prospects, Quintana is first in line right now, and he's another lefty. Castro and Molina are the best prospects, and they're still at least half a season away or more...and far from sure things. We don't want another Honel, McCulloch or Broadway, but we DO need a mid-rotation guy. And one's confidence in Molina being a 1-2-3 caliber of starter hasn't exactly been elevated in April and May.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/new-draft-bon...-1-percent.html And here's a great follow-up/companion piece by Jeff Passan. As it applies specifically to the White Sox, it definitely will enhance our position vis a vis the Tigers, who threw a huge bonus at Porcello, for example. Not that Rick has become anything resembling a staff ace, YET. Looks like the international free agent draft will be in 2014, and that $3.2 million per team will be available (for signing international free agents) instead of the previously reported $2.9 million. And the Cardinals being included in the "small market" teams list for bonus picks that's supposed to help level the playing field...or the Brewers (?), that's a complete joke.

In the last five years, the White Sox spent only $18.3 million on the draft, the lowest total among the 30 teams and almost $34 million less than the Pirates, who have been the biggest spenders. That's the biggest reason that the Sox have a farm system that doesn't get much love from national analysts. "The draft is the biggest bargain in talent acquisition,'' Baseball America's Jim Callis said on WSCR-AM 670 last week. "If you're willing to spend $10 million a year, you can compete with anybody. I just don't believe Jerry Reinsdorf believes in paying amateur players.'' Callis said he'll be watching to see if the White Sox opt to spend their full allotment in the draft, as they spent only $2.8 million last year. "I'll believe the White Sox aren't going to be the cheapest team in the draft when I see it,'' Callis said. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,2830493.column Does make one wonder why they took those huge risks (comparatively) on Borchard and Viciedo...? Those two big bets seem to be the exception to the rule and represent $15.3 million in Sox investment/s.

Not unlike Cowley after his twitter barrage. Hopefully lessons are being learned by the media, but it doesn't always seem like it. "That will never happen to me!" Until it does.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 09:07 PM) Thinking I'll go catch a few movies tomorrow since I have some time off. MIBIII, Avengers (for the 2nd time), Battleship, The Dictator...need to choose. Out of those, having already gone to Avengers, it would The Dictator by a nose over MIBIII (although Josh Brolin was ALMOST worth the price of admission).

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 10:27 PM) I'm surprised Hawk has gotten so much media attention after going off about the umpire. He's done it before and in that fashion as well. Thought I don't have a chance to listen to him much I remember he went off the same way about Brian Gorman for ejecting Buehrle ending his 46 game 6 inning streak. Didn't he also go off about an umpire (forgot his name) because he called 2 balks on Buehrle for his pickoff move? Joe West...the same one who called Santiago for a balk in Game 2, and has that idiotic Country & Western album he recorded

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 09:24 PM) That's kind of what I figured - a dip in revenue per person. Still, selling (practically giving away) the upper deck seats for $5-10 per game is a decent idea just to fill up the park even if there isn't an uptick in concession sales. Creating an atmosphere in the park, maybe making new fans who come more often/upgrade to better seats in the future - not bad things. It's definitely true with the minor leagues. With a big market like Chicago, where there's not quite as much repeat attendance as the minors (the 80/20 rule still applies, though), maybe it's not so cut-and-dried because when you spend X amount of money to go, which is a lot higher than at minor league games, for a one-time event, maybe you're more likely to spend another 15-30% on top of that...AND, at some point, though KW and JR know that to build a true homefield advantage, that crowds in the low 20's really don't cut it. It just gives the park an added "buzz" and different feeling when the upper deck is at least partially filled, particularly behind home plate. Even if the discount night/s are revenue neutral, the advantage to the team....the feel in the stadium...the ability to attract or entice free agents (one of the reasons that Chris Perez said Beltran refused to go there was the lack of crowd support compared to what the Cardinals consistently draw), these are all intangible factors that do have a real impact outside of the bottom line.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 10:36 PM) Except none of them are left-handed. We still have Santiago/Ohman/Quintana. That's already better than most MLB teams, in terms of the LH relief department.

QUOTE (High Mileage @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 10:25 PM) Royals uber-prospect Wil Myers is dominating Triple-A with the Omaha Storm Chasers. In 18 games, just 67 at-bats, Wil is hitting .343/.389/.716 with 6 homers and 18 RBI. He's playing a fine centerfield as well. And someone at I-70 or whatever the Royals fan/blogsite is wants to trade him before he loses his value. Because they have Butler, Hosmer, Moustakas, Gordon signed long term, Cain for CF (when healthy) and then Francouer in RF, and Dayton loves Frenchie!

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 08:46 PM) Watching J. Edgar right now. Really odd movie. And the makeup is kinda awful. I thought it wasn't bad. But Eastwood's had some clunkers recently, Hereafter didn't do well, either. Gran Torino is one of my all-time faves, though, of his more recent work.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 09:47 PM) But we hate AJ's and Ale's. Ale's? Pale Ale? Pilsen?

In the last 12-13 years, the only "boom or bust" athletic player that KW targeted who really made it was Chris Young...unless you count Viciedo, and because of his lack of speed and fielding prowess, I don't really think of him in the same way (4-5 tool player) as I would Mitchell/Walker/Thompson. Sweeney, I suppose. But he's more of a 4th outfielder and never developed the power envisioned with his frame. That's not a great track record, at least compared to their ability to identify pitching.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 09:16 PM) I don't think parking is a big issue. The Sox do allow tailgating two beers in the lots and you're roughly breaking even. Let's say the White Sox have the "average" parking price for majors, $15.00-17.50. You don't think that would have an impact? I'm always thinking they WANT to have fewer people parking, but charging MORE for parking...giving those people who do park the "premium" experience getting in and out. Let's say the parking price was $12.50 instead...then wouldn't those people who loved having to fight with fewer and fewer people complain, or would they be made happier by the experience of watching the game in a stadium that was filled with more fans rooting for the Sox? And if they had 5000 parked at $12.50 or 2500 parked at $25; wouldn't you still prefer to get 5000 out to the game because of the additional revenue you'd derive from concession and souvenir sales? Or does half-price/discount night lead to much lower sales in concessions/souvenirs and not offset the negative experience of the fans who might have to fight longer lines, more crowding in bathrooms, harder to park, etc. For discount/half-price nights, is there is a 50/50 split between upper and lower deck seats sold? Or is it 75% upper deck and 25% lower? Just curious. When I worked for a minor league team, the assumption was always that free/discounted tickets led to lower sales of souvenirs and concessions...but I'm not sure how applicable this is to the Sox, in the 3rd biggest market in the US. However, one always gets the idea their market isn't "families" or "cheapskates" or "blue collar" workers like it traditionally has been. I mean, they do target families and groups on the weekends, but not as much as lots of other teams do.

QUOTE (SouthSidePride05 @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 09:09 PM) Well, assuming we win the division this year, it's a 50% chance at least 1 of the remaining regular season games will be a sell out... If the clincher is at home, it'll most likely sell out. I'm predicting that game will be the only sell out before the playoffs. Cubs series won't sell out; they didn't last year and they won't this year. They'll average 33K for that series. Overall, the attendance won't drop much from last season. Last season, we sold just over 2 million. This year it'll be just under 2 million, averaging just over 24K per home game. Next year all depends on advance season ticket sales. I study trends and numbers for a living, so this is how I see the attendance figures panning out. Financial analyst or something to do with insurance/actuarial science?

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 08:53 PM) I think Strasburg will be this year, and that's the only example that comes to mind. That being said, the Sox could think outside the box again and implement a six man rotation for a few weeks. If you implement one for five weeks you save Sale, and everyone else, about 10-12 innings. I don't think Sale's mechanics right now are all that problematic. I'm afraid of him running out of gas in late August. Therein lies the dilemma. Do you want to try to run away from the Tigers and Indians while they're both very vulnerable and beaten up injury-wise, or do you want to take the "long haul" approach and sacrifice victories in the middle of the season to fortify yourself for the pennant drive? To me, it depends on our financial resources to add another starting pitcher. The longer we hold onto first place and maximize our advantage, the better our attendance will be and the more likely it is that JR will be willing to authorize further spending, like in the case of Manny Ramirez in 2010 (hopefully that won't be used as a reason NOT to do something, because of that fiasco/failure). You have Sizemore, Carmona, Hannahan, Hafner, Carlos Santana (he'll be back soon), Dirks out now, Austin Jackson, Fister, Avila (banged up), Victor Martinez, Albuquerque, Raburn (AAA), Inge (waived), Worth and Santiago at 2B...Gerald Laird is their best RH hitting DH candidate. The time to strike is now.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 3, 2012 -> 07:42 PM) I think Gavin is just inconsistent mechanically. This means when he is off, it is not easy for him to just "recalibrate" and start throwing like he wants. This might make him seem nut-less, but he's just streaky...there's lots of pitchers like this. I'd say we don't know much about him as a big game pitcher because there haven't been a great deal of big games since he's been here. Except for 2008 down the stretch, the 2008 playoff start, 2010 when we were near or in first place....and this year, but not a HUGE record of "big-game" failures, it's mostly just perception. Same way John Danks will ALWAYS be thought of as a big-game pitcher due to Game 163, it tends to skew our perceptions one way or the other. Frankly, between the two, you couldn't trust either guy right now. Or Humber. Just Sale and Peavy, and Jake has those two "collapses" against DET and CLE now appended to his sterling results this year.

Both Floyd and Danks have never quite measured up to their 2008 success. Instead of improving, they "maintained" or arguably regresssed a bit. Second, the "stuff" argument, which is reminiscent of Javy. Cue Hawk: "I've never seen a pitcher with Javy's or Gavin's pure stuff have a career .500 record." Third, as fathom has noted, he really really struggles with runners on base. Out of the stretch, he tends to elevate all of his fastballs up in the zone, and his offspeed stuff flattens out. If anything, Cooper really should be working on getting more explosion/leverage and on his mechanics in these situations. Of course, Gavin's been on our roster for 5+ seasons, if it was an "easy" fix like he had with Matt Thornton, then Guru Don already would have fixed him by now.

When is the last time a pitcher on the AL All-Star roster was shut down (or moved to the bullpen) in the 2nd half of a season, in the middle of a pennant race, for "injury prevention" concerns? Just curious what other examples are out there in recent history.

Why don't they try an experiment ONCE..."fan/customer appreciation day," on a Monday-Thursday game??? FREE PARKING. And just analyze the total revenue increase from those games in tickets sold, fans attending, concessions and souvenirs, etc. Maybe it wouldn't be worth it...and they would lose money, but there's no other way to study this specific market (Chicago White Sox ticket demand) without at least trying it once to see what the effect is. I don't think the season ticket holders who pay for parking as part of their packages would all threaten to burn down the front office. Maybe you can give them a preferred parking area that's closest to the stadium, some kind of giveaway (all you can eat those days for free, or all you can drink, or whatever, be creative!!)

Cue the next Rosenbloom article on the pitch count (by the way, was he also there with Prior and Wood every start a decade ago criticizing Dusty Baker?)... Not so much pitch counts, total pitches and innings pitched, but HIGH LEVERAGE pitches, pitches which put maximum torque on the elbow (slider), pitches thrown at 95 MPH and above...the 9th inning of today's game, for example, the Olivo at-bat, when he was fouling off pitches and had already homered earlier in the game and thought he had him put away at least once. You can't compare Sale to Randy Johnson, Verlander, Prior, Wood, Strasburg...everyone's unique. FWIW, I think the risk/upside is worth it, and if he does go down to TJ, that's actually improved or aided the careers of many pitchers, as opposed to the career death sentence that elbow injuries were in Hawk Harrelson's time. As long as it's not the shoulder or labrum...and Johan Santana provides some encouragement in that area, even.

We were talking about successful big league starters at the 5'10" or 5'9 mark. Whitey Ford of the Yankees would be another example, or Ron Guidry, come to mind. Fernando Valenzuela, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Tim Lincecum, Billy Wagner (for a reliever)…Gio Gonzalez.

By my count, Chris Sale has already thrown 1,064 pitches this season. In his next start, he'll pass his entire 2011 major league workload at the 1/3rd mark of the season. Three starts from now, he'll pass his entire MLB career (1,477 pitches) in 2 1/3 months (yes, this doesn't take into consideration Chris' amateur career before he joined the Sox). The question I would have is does the fact that does the fact that Chris has let up quite a bit with the fastball (except when he really needs to dial it up into the 95-97 mph range) help his elbow's longevity, or is the biggest concern still the slider? In the 15 K game, the majority of the K's came on sliders, although he is throwing it statistically less often than he did in 2011 and 2010. Is there any way to measure the torque on an elbow...vis a vis someone like Liriano, who threw his slider in the 89-92 MPH range at the height of his success in 2006. One would think that because Chris doesn't throw his slider nearly as hard as Liriano that, heaven forbid, if he ever did suffer an injury or need surgery, he'd be much more likely to bounce back compared to what we've seen with the Twins' pitcher.