caulfield12

QUOTE (mmmmmbeeer @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 10:28 AM) Exactly. Our weakest link is 3b but we haven't lost a game, and have actually seen some exceptional defense there, since O-Dog took over the hot corner. I suppose we could use a starter but with Quintana showing some real promise we could stash him in Charlotte as a cheap go-to should one of our starters falter badly (Mr. Floyd). I think this is one year where I actually hope KW chooses not to strike early but rather gives this team some time to clearly identify where our holes are at. And we can't be 100% sure yet how Danks will perform or if that shoulder problem will recur... Better to hold on to our insurance policies in the near-term. And Quintana's not going to net us a significant addition for the very reasons being mentioned for dumping him. He would have to prove himself for an extended run of starts, and, at that point, he becomes more and more dubious to trade...why would we get rid of someone who's clearly being successful and turn our hopes to the Axelrod's and Castro's of our minor leagues? Think of someone like Takatsu. We all feared when he came up that hitters would learn to lay off his frisbee and wait on the fastball. Maybe Quintana isn't a one trick pony, but any starter who's in the 88-91 MPH range (even a left-hander) struggles to bring back much in return for the reasons we want to trade him as quickly as possible for any type of "quick fix" payoff for our roster.

It's always going to be a "reasonable" judgement call, though. Umpire supervisor Charlie Reliford was there at the game and immediately said no warnings needed to be thrown if the pitch was deemed intentional, which it clearly was. The problem, of course, is that it was just as obvious with the AJ plunking that it was quid pro quo retaliation for the spiking, and Beckham had already been hit...so you just HAVE to issue a warning at that point. Either issue the warning there, or with Quintana. But the code of baseball all players, broadcasters and managers go by is that you don't kick out pitchers in the modern game unless they just go after someone's head or deliberately look like they're trying to injure someone. You can also make an argument that Howell threw the ball directly into DeAza intentionally, although that would be much harder to prove/justify if you're the ump after the game. I'm not even sure that anyone in baseball history has been run for throwing at an opposing baserunner in the history of the sport. Maybe?

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 12:34 PM) Keith Law Mock 3.0 White Sox picking Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State. Limited upside and small frame scares me 6-2/175. Do like the fact that he's a lefty-close to a finish product and will move up the system quickly. This sounds like a typical White Sox pick. We have no Lefties in the system other Snodgress who has some starting potential. Rather have Smoral, Stratton, Addison Russell, Hawkins. Fried stock is dropping-You never know could be lucky and fall down to lucky #13 just like Sale. Quintana, Santiago and Pedro Hernandez don't count? We already have Sale and Danks. I wouldn't say ANOTHER lefty is the highest priority in the world at the moment.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 07:13 AM) Cooper does also have a rep for helping build guys not named Peavy into innings-eaters. How long before Volquez hits FA? 4.059 years of service. So it should be at the end of the 2013 season.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 31, 2012 -> 01:03 PM) There is a pretty significant difference in RBI's that hasn't been mentioned. Anyways...yes, there is a lot to hope for with Gordon since he's 25, talented, plays good defense at a position that doesn't require a big bat, and has recently started putting together much better at bats. I don't see what is useful in comparing him to Crede since we don't know if Crede was ever going to be a good player. He had one excellent season and then (basically) never played again...so we'll never know if that was a blip on the radar or the sign of many great years to come. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos.../OPS/order/true If you look at those stats, Gordon Beckham's 19 out of the 22 qualified 2B in OPS. If you consider his defense, overall, he's probably close to an "average" MLB 2B. But looking at some of those OPS numbers, you'd almost argue 2B is more of an offensive position than 3B. If Gordon can legitimately be at least a 700 or maybe 725 net ops player, then he's not someone you talk about replacing or non-tendering and is an asset. Where he's at now, it could be either way, but the trend has been upwards so clearly he deserves to continue to hold the position.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 31, 2012 -> 10:32 PM) Hankerd won't be there long. Not sure why he would be anywhere but BIRM or CHAR.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 31, 2012 -> 08:40 PM) His ERA is very deceiving. With only 27 Ks in 48 innings, it says something about his stuff. While he must be doing something right with an ERA that low and a good amount of innings, his stuff suggests nothing more than backend rotation fodder or a bullpen arm. Granted, I think that's what many expected from him, I am tempering my enthusiasm about his 2012 year. But couldn't the same arguments be applied to Quintana, Axelrod and Doyle? I get the K/9 and BB/9 thing, and not every young pitcher without stuff matures into the next Mark Buehrle, but at the very least, he should be able to turn into a serviceable reliever. Another example would be Zach Stewart. Even though his fastball's "only" by 88-91 for most of this season, it's the movement and location which has allowed him to be relatively successfuly, certainly more successful than 2011 when he more consistently threw 90-93.

Tigers do hold on to win the game and avoid the embarassing 4 game sweep. Now 5 games behind the Sox and still 3 games under .500.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 31, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) Yeah, the pitching prospects are a total crapshoot at this point. Here's how I'd rank the top 10: 1) Molina 2) Castro 3) Quintana 4) Axelrod 5) Olacio 6) Jaye 7) Petricka 8) Rienzo 9) Johnson 10) Walters Hernandez and Doyle have opened a lot of eyes with their surprising performances. Maybe Hernandez ultimaely ends up in the pen, but 2-3 weeks ago Quintana was a non-entity almost. Similar to Santiago's rise last year. Stewart should also be another name under consideration, although technically he's no longer a rookie.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 31, 2012 -> 11:18 AM) For innings. I think most guys start in the minors simply to get innings and to have opportunities to pitch in a wide array of situations. You can probably evaluate a guy better long term the more innings he has and the more situational experience he gets. See Nathan Jones and Hector Santiago.

Mitchell with another "boom or bust" game. 0 for 3 with 3 k's. Pedro Hernandez didn't give up a single run in his outing. ERA of 2.43 on the season. Other than Thompson and Sanchez, not much reason to depress oneself opening the W-S box. Maybe just for the Shoemaker fans around here. K. Walker has 3 walks. And this guy seems to have announced his arrival with a 2 homer game and white hot start. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?p...&pid=458088

from mlb.com today 13. Chicago White Sox: Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State The White Sox might have an interest in a high school bat like that of Hawkins, but they tend to go for college pitching early. Stratton figures to be the best one still on the board and they scouted him closely down the stretch. 10. Colorado Rockies: Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll HS (Texas) The Rockies would look at the college pitchers above as well as high school hitters like David Dahl and Gavin Cecchini, to go along with this week's choice, Hawkins. College pitchers still around, like Michael Wacha or Stratton, could also come into play. Seems like every draft has 2-3 of those raw high school guys (Hawkins), the closest thing to high risk/high reward you get in the draft. All things considered, though, I'd feel pretty comfortable taking Hawkins because other than Mitchell, we don't have any outfielders that are on track. Thompson has been backsliding a bit as a prospect this season.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 31, 2012 -> 08:17 PM) Edinson Volquez is someone I could see KW and Cooper liking FWIW, was watching a spring training game and the announcers said that Volquez was the most frustrating starting pitcher that the Rangers ever worked with. All the ability and talent in the world, but they described him as Exhibit A in the headcase dictionary definition. At one point, they made a list of rules specifically for him in an effort to control his emotions and antics. Which clearly marks him as a target for Cooper and KW, haha.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ May 31, 2012 -> 08:18 PM) All they need to do is destroy every calendar he has access to and then lie to him that it's mid-September and the Sox have been eliminated from playoff contention. If he starts catching on just laugh at him and tell him that he's crazy. Good Bye, Lenin!

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 31, 2012 -> 08:05 PM) I can live with the offense. The question for me is will there be a starting pitcher available who could replace Humber in the rotation (for remainder of year) and be a top 3 post-season starter who the Sox could trade for with their 30th ranked farm system? But what team has that kind of a pitcher than they're not going to hold out for a bundle? Someone like a Wandy Rodriguez (just an example) on a team in the bottom 5-10 that's more expensive. But they're not going to want Gavin Floyd back, obviously. The only two players we could possibly survive trading are probably Thornton and maybe Crain, but we don't want to hurt our bullpen when it seems to be jelling. And bottom tier teams aren't going to want veteran/expensive relievers anyway. So that leaves the likes of Mitchell, Quintana, Castro, Santiago, Thompson, Saladino... We're going to be trading away a LOT of our future for a dubious return, because the odds of a #3 starter CLEARLY being better than Floyd is dubious (depending on which Gavin shows up on a given day). I just don't see the surefire candidate that doesn't cripple the major league roster or our minor leagues.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 31, 2012 -> 11:22 AM) I love it. I hope there are posts proving me wrong for years. By the same token, I'm curious as to why I get no props for being the first one on here to say the Sox should contend. Posters on here had the Sox losing 90+ games in Jan/Feb. I think it's being twisted from "would contend" to "should contend" based on the fact that there was no reason they weren't "all in" again despite trimming $25 million in payroll and trading Santos because: 1) KW was still around 2) Danks had been re-signed 3) Dunn/Rios/Peavy/Ramirez/AJ/Konerko/Floyd/Danks/Thornton, a veteran cast, comprised the heart of the roster 4) AJ, Peavy and Floyd would all probably be gone after 2012, not to mention Thornton 5) There were doubts as to whether Sale, Morel, Viciedo, Reed, Beckham, DeAza, Molina, Flowers, etc., could be the heart of the rebuilding process going forward, and if they failed, KW should be fired. That this was their best chance to contend in any given year in the foreseeable future. I don't think there are a plethora of posts where you predicted they'd win 85-95 games. Probably zero. There are a plethora, though, where you claimed that KW should be fired if they weren't in contention or attendance nosedived, which is which pretty much the opposite of your argument now, lol. So, because the team's playing well and contending, KW is therefore doing his job well again? You were right about Santos, but very wrong about them trading Ramirez and/or Viciedo.

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/7042...atref=sportsmod Aroldis Chapman's problems with hotel break-in, speeding, assimilation... Interesting, Viciedo's the age roughly, and yet no problems (knock on wood) with him so far. And yet when we read all the scouting reports about Viciedo back when he was 16-17-18 and playing professionally in Cuba, he definitely had lots of red flags and concerns about his character, worth ethic, attitude, etc. With the exceptions of Swisher, Cabrera and Javy, we've been pretty lucky over the last decade plus.

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 30, 2012 -> 04:58 PM) You could make that argument. Probably the weakest the top prospect in the system has been in a long time, whoever it is. It would have to be Mitchell, right? Saladino and Thompson have both gone backwards a bit. Molina's stock has to be down a bit, as well. Castro? He's probably the pitcher with the most upside at this exact moment in time, at least. Phegley's definitely opened up some eyes to put him on the radar screen for 2013. Axelrod and Doyle both have climbed, although opinions would vary on their ultimate upsides. Soptic is someone we're all watching to be the next Nathan Jones. Between Veal and Hernandez, we've really got a ton of depth in the LHP department. Rienzo's still on the radar. Carlos Sanchez has to be fighting to be in the 7-10 spot. Ravelo's opened some eyes, minus the power numbers not being there yet. But our draft pick next week automatically shoots to #1 with a bullet.

QUOTE (Papa Tru @ May 30, 2012 -> 09:04 PM) Im going to have to say Hudson, Holmberg, and Edwin Jackson for Zach Stewart pretty much is the worst cumulative deal KW has ever done. And Jaye, and Webb. And Teahen's salary was available to pay Floyd/Crain/Thornton instead of having to trade one of them.

In the end, Gavin Floyd, Quentin and Alexei Ramirez turned out to be HUGE acquisitions for the 2008 team. Just as important, if not moreso, than the Danks/McCarthy move in Dec. 2006. All of them were pretty much under the radar, in terms of expectations. I guess if you want to categorize every GM's moves (blockbuster, mid-level, under the radar/last page of newspaper transactions list, like Quintana)...well, that's ONE way to judge a GM, but not exactly a comprehensive look at the bigger picture.

And they shouldn't try to pitch to Cabrera, lol. At least they walked Fielder to face Young. Red Sox do have the lead back again. They desperately need Middlebrooks' bat, but he already made one rookie mistake at 3rd, which allowed Miguel Cabrera to score. Then again, he hit a homer. So they're crossing their fingers on Middlebrooks at 3rd and Gonzalez, who has no range or arm, in RF.

QUOTE (Papa Tru @ May 30, 2012 -> 07:38 PM) cmon man, did you really miss the point? Hes saying not to worry about Gio because the Royals arent worrying about Humber, or the Marlins arent worrying about De Aza. Neither of them showed anything with those teams and were let go. We take legit prospects (Young, Hudson, Gonzalez) and trade them away in stupid deals that end up being worthless. Im so sick of KW and his Stanford educated ego trip. Hes constantly made poor decisions in trading, for YEARS. Yeah he can get some projects and turn them into decent lighting, but god damn when are we going to come out of a trade on the EVEN end. Edwin Jackson trade, terrible. Carlos Quentin trade, terrible. Sergio Santos trade, terrible. Daniel Hudson trade, terrible since we just gave Edwin Jackson away for free anyway. you get the point, but then again I know you love KW. How can you have any idea what Hernandez and Castro will do for us? The Padres have a $7 million dollar injury-prone RFer they no longer need, soaking up a huge amount of payroll on clearly rebuilding team. Maybe Quentin will get on a hot streak and they'll get lucky to get a better return than what we got...but, remember, there's no Dayan Viciedo developing if Quentin's still here, or Quentin's coming back and Viciedo's being benched/blocked again. We gave Jackson away for free to save money from Teahen's deal and we have a serviceable reliever. Not a net win, but maybe those savings allowed us to hold onto Floyd, Thornton and Crain for all we know, instead of having to deal them, too. And where would we be right now with Sergio Santos on our team? Clearly better than with Addison Reed as the closer? They dealt Santos for a reason, and part of that reason is DL'ed.

QUOTE (VAfan @ May 30, 2012 -> 08:26 PM) It's not as if I'm having sleepless nights or anything. And I wouldn't give it more than a passing thought if this team hadn't turned into contenders overnight. Start of the season, I thought the Tigers would dominate the division. I thought there were too many things that had to go right for us to contend. But after this stretch, where nearly everything that needed to go right has, I think the team is very well positioned to fight for the division crown. But if we make the playoffs, will we have much chance? Possibly. With only Texas dominant, we'd have a chance. It's just that if we had one more dominant pitcher like Gonzalez .... I'd think we could beat Texas and make the World Series. Whatever. As I said, I just wanted to get this off my chest so I could move on. We actually could beat anyone. It will just take a few more things going right. But it's the same for every team...imagine how good the Marlins could be had they kept Cabrera? Where are Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller now? Not in Miami. Or the Johan Santana deal. He was the best LH starter of his generation, and none of the players acquired are with the Twins right now. One of them, Humber, is playing for one of their biggest rivals. That's just the nature of baseball. Had we not been in the pennant race in the middle of 2010, we could have been a lot more patient with both Hudson and Sale (he could have been developing as a starter instead of relieving in the heat of a pennant race). All we can do is say that he put together a better team, spent $25 million less than last year to do, and that's all that matters. In the end, the coaching staff's changes and the steadying presence of Ventura might end up being the most important move of all...as you saw in AZ last year with the DBacks.

They said that Boyer and the marketing people were having to come in early these days to deal with new season/split season ticket package requests and walk-up sales. That was inevitable with an 8 game winning streak (12 of 13), first place, offensive fireworks galore. High 20's (27,000-30,000) is definitely realistic if their level of play continues. You'd never expect to consistently start bringing in 30,000+ until the season after a World Series or deep playoff run (and lag/bandwagon effect), but I sincerely doubt Reinsdorf is going to hold back the reigns this season....knowing that it probably will be our best shot at it for the next 2-3 seasons. Certainly, that window is closing again after 2013, with Konerko's contract expiring, and Dunn's the following season. But it always comes back to starting pitching (cue cliche track).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 30, 2012 -> 06:27 PM) I might like that more if e wasn't a lefty. My word, 4 lefties in a bullpen? Im not sure if I would care how good they are. But Quintana's actually much more effective against right-handed hitters. Isn't having the right balance there more important than right or left-handedness?