caulfield12

Supposedly Gardenhire is getting fired or forced to resign the next few days. Kind of sad, after what he accomplished. 90% of it is Bill Smith's fault, although I'm sure somewhere along the way every manager's message becomes a little stale.

Because he was the Greek God of Walks a decade ago?

http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/victorias-se...sexy-slideshow/

Here's what went wrong during the Twins' 6-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday night: -The Twins fell to 8-23, worst record in the bigs by 2 1/2 games. -Starter Jason Marquis threw 39 balls in 87 pitches and lasted just four innings. He was brought to Minnesota to throw strikes and eat innings and did neither. -Trevor Plouffe, in the first game of a tryout at third base that could determine the course of his career, ran into a tag play at second base and failed to call for a popup that he should have caught, a popup that fell between him and Marquis. -Centerfielder Denard Span forgot how many outs there were. -Erik Komatsu failed to pick up the third-base coach and, with the ball in rightfield, stopped at second before getting thrown out at third. -Alexi Casilla got a forceout at second base and forgot to look home to prevent a runner from scoring. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he saw things that you don't see ``in high school ball.'' This was disgusting. This is a flat, unintelligent team filled with guys who shouldn't be in the big-leagues. Plouffe is not a winning big-league player. Casilla is not an everyday big-league player. The starting rotation is awful, and the best competitor among them, Carl Pavano, hasn't cracked 90 mph this season, indicating he's probably pitching with an injury or in pain. The bullpen has actually been pretty good. Brian Dozier looks like a player. Josh Willingham has produced. Joe Mauer has stayed healthy. Other than that, this season has been a washout. To think the Twins played this poorly the day two key players were demoted - Francisco Liriano to the bullpen and Danny Valencia to AAA. It may be time to trade Denard Span. The Nationals are still interested and have a surplus of pitching. Make the deal. And if the Nationals want Plouffe or Casilla or a part-time outfielder, so much the better. -I'm hearing the Twins like Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton in the June draft. While the Twins are desperate for pitching, Buxton projects to be a big-league star. -Joe Mauer is hitting .270 with one homer. Being healthy doesn't help a whole lot if he can't swing the bat with authority. -Bring up Ben Revere. If you can write a lineup with Komatsu and Darin Mastroianni, you can find enough playing time for Revere.http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/Souhan_on_Sports.html

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 11, 2012 -> 01:10 AM) Lance Mccullers has White Sox written all over him. Whose father pitched for the Padres, among other teams?

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...contenders.html The Sox (15-17) have lost 11 games by one or two runs, including their last five defeats, and how they fare in close games will probably determine whether they’re in contention for a playoff spot. ... Peavy wants to play on a winner, and he believes it could be the Sox if Adam Dunn and Alex Rios continue to hit, if Chris Sale stays healthy and if a few more ifs go the Sox’ way. “I want to play where there’s a chance to win; this team is not far off,’’ Peavy said. “A lot of good things are happening here, and I can’t see many other places that would be more appealing to me, even this winter, if the situation was right to come back here. The young pieces are going to get experience. Dunn is going to grow with another year in the league, [Paul] Konerko has another year. We’re not far off.’’ The Sox are 1-2 against Texas and 3-3 against Detroit. “We compete with the best teams in baseball — with Detroit, we played man for man with that team,’’ Peavy said. “To win here after what I’ve been through would be more gratifying than going somewhere else and having a season to remember.’’ http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2012051...orts/705109748/

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...nd-numbers.html So if they do send Stewart down, is Santiago then the long reliever? Bring Axelrod up to be the long man? Keep Stewart and send Santiago down to start in AAA? Lot of permutations.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/12456254-41...ng-efforts.html What Theo decides to do with Garza the key to the Cubs' rebuilding efforts

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 10, 2012 -> 10:59 PM) I'm going to laugh when the Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine at the end of the season proving once and for all that the inmates are running the asylum in Boston. You just look at how the veterans on that team act and you can tell that Valentine is getting absolutely no respect. Cherington hired him, so the best thing he could do to show the players that he has his manager's back would be to trade a veteran. Sooo he can just flip Youkilis to the Sox for Morel and Stewart and we'll call it even, and then those players in Boston will REALLY know whose boss. FWIW, Cherington wanted Sveum, or was seriously considering him. John Henry and the partners/board are the ones who took an opposite tack and imposed the "hard core/old style" baseball guy on the new GM (who didn't have much leg room to fight back) in order to reinstill discipline and accountability.

Doubt the White Sox will be drafting another razor thin/questionable mechanics but great stuff JC pitcher who could either end up a starter or reliever, lol.

Indians beating up Josh Beckett, whose ERA is in John Lackey territory. Dice-K is making a comeback in AAA, wonder how close that is...or if we will ever see him again with the Red Sox? I think this is the final year of his original contract. So perhaps one more shot at glory for them, especially now with Bard ensconced in the bullpen again. http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/151072755.html Low point in 15 years of Twins' baseball for beat writer...

What about Magneto and a new army of mutants fighting Justice League or the Avengers? Guess the X-Men don't quite have the "cache" to stand toe-to-toe with the Avengers, powers-wise or box office clout wise. Hopefully the quality of the individual movies will continue to trend upward. Iron Man 2, John Carter (not sure how to categorize him), Green Lantern, if you include the Green Hornet...there have been a lot of disappointments recently. Now the stakes have been raised. Thor and Captain America were somewhere in the middle, where they have many fans and a seemingly equal amount of detractors.

Looks like Justin Greene has been moved up to Charlotte. Jose Castro down to BIRM? Not sure what the moves were. Why is it a big game for Thompson? Just because he's been struggling recently? Mitchell 1 for 1, at .295. Why is Gilmore hitting clean-up with a .483 OPS? And KWJR had his 5th double (.180).

Pretty strong words from Gonzales there in that last sentence of his columns. He's usually not so pointed in his commentary.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ May 10, 2012 -> 12:44 PM) I said he "looks" like the golden boy, not calling him a sure thing yet. I like this quote from Manto on getting him back to where he was his rookie year "Where he was (during his struggles), I don't think he could have sustained a major-league season, 600 plate appearances. The bat path was a little off, and his shoulders were steep. Right now he's square, head with the shoulders.''. That change is really showing with him batting well over .300 when hes been in the 2 spot where Robin said he'll be staying at which that too I like. We all knew AJ wouldnt be able to stay where he was early in the season but he'll give us what hes been giving us the past years and I'll take that out of our catcher. as we all know Ramirez is a slow starter so I'm not worried about him yet and yesterdays game was hopefully a sign of things to come...its May now its time for him to get hot. Yes, I know what it says, lol. I put that whole article up in the hitting coaches thread.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 10, 2012 -> 06:45 AM) [/b] I wonder if Santiago would be a better candidate right now, so that he can find his off speed stuff. It isn't like we are loaded with lefties or anything. Well, if they do send Santiago down, you can be sure they'll put him in the Charlotte starting rotation. Planning to make him the future closer makes no sense with Sale AND Reed holding down that duty. You might as well see what you have out of him as a starter, since that's the best maximization of his potential for us right now with no fifth starter clearly identified and concerns about how many places (2 or 3) we'll be replacing in that rotation next year. With Peavy gone, and probably Floyd and who knows what will happen with Humber...maybe to keep things stable for one more year, they'll hold onto Floyd and exercise his option, but does spending almost $10 million on Gavin Floyd for 2013 really bring us any closer to having a contender in 2013 or 2014?

Counting Gordon Beckham in the "sure thing" category for the rest of the year? Hmm...will believe it when I see it. And AJ's definitely been trailing off, too. Ramirez up until the last couple of games had been worse than Viciedo overall.

I was Director of Stadium Operations and Public Relations for the Augusta GreenJackets from 1994-1995. I think I do have some rights to make judgements about minor league players. While it's true most minor league staff persons don't work directly for the major league affiliate, I was very close to the coaching staff and also spent a ton of time with Latin American players because I speak Spanish. But fine, whatever. There's really no point in having this forum because just a handful of people who post here have actually seen any of the players play or watched them consistently through MILB.com feeds. Other than JPN, who has seen Saladino play more than 10 times?

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ May 10, 2012 -> 03:08 AM) There are no sure things when it comes to prospects which kind of just reinstates you have no clue what your talking about. Is there a chance he doesn't make the majors or maxes out as a utility play, sure but you are putting a very low ceiling on someone just because you don't like KW and like trashing the system. Doesn't everyone pretty much universally trash our minor league system? There's a difference between being in favor of KW in a generic sense (for the moves which mostly impact the big league roster) and having admiration for our minor league system. Before this situation with Sale, I defended him pretty consistently the last 2-3 years here. As far as my judgment, the very first day I saw Jose Guillen play for our team in 1995 (the Augusta GreenJackets), I told everyone with the Pirates they couldn't send him back down to Bradenton. At that time, there have been a knifing incident in the Florida extended spring dorms and I argued it was worth the risk to take a chance on him...that I would personally look after him in Augusta and keep him out of trouble (of course, that didn't last in the big leagues, but he had a long and pretty productive career). When you are around minor leaguers every day, you can see when the likes of a Jermaine Dye, Andruw Jones, Magglio Ordonez, Jaret Wright, Richie Sexson, Sean Casey or Vladimir Guerrero just have that extra something that it takes to make it...I've seen video, tape, highlights, I can make an informed judgement from watching baseball religiously the last 30+ years.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ May 10, 2012 -> 03:27 AM) You have no idea what your talking about do you? Fine, you say that Saladino will be a regular in the majors. I'm going to call him a utility player. We'll see who wins. And actually I was being quite generous and charitable to say he would be ranked among the Top 200 minor leaguers. http://scoutingthesally.com/tyler-saladino...g-report-video/ First of all, he's not going to end up sticking at SS, so that means he better be able to put up a 725-750 OPS because his defense won't project nearly as well as Beckham, who's close to Gold Glove level. He loses value not staying at SS. Secondly, with his frame and body style, he's not going to maintain or come anywhere close to maintaining those minor league stolen base numbers. Which means if he's not a prototypical leadoff hitter, he better have an OBP of 350-375. Finally, he does strike out quite a bit for someone who doesn't hit for huge power. Someone said Mitchell and Thompson had issues with their swings, probably solely based on their K ratios. I'm not saying he's doomed to be CJ Retherford, Shelby, Jr. or Tyler Kuhn, but it's not like he's anything close to a "sure thing" either.

What do they think in Lawrence? Oops, that would end up getting Reverend Fred Phelps involved in this discussion, although that's technically Topeka, I think. Under this kind of definition, gay people would be incapable of good acts because in the eyes of many Christians, their "wayward lifestyles" preclude them from going to heaven...so no matter what secular "good acts" they performed, they would be not counted in a sense because their own brand of religion couldn't countenance homosexuality, for instance. On the other hand, even the most "egregious of sinners" who never performed a single good act in their lives could theoretically be accepted into the white light of heav'n if they asked for forgiveness and believed wholeheartedly (see John 3:16, etc.) Greg's example is that "holier than thou person" who makes people feel uncomfortable...why does every action like that have to include a reference to God? But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 9, 2012 -> 11:52 PM) Morel made the BA top 100. At best, Saladino would be around 175-200 if you polled MLB GM's and scouting directors, maybe maybe 150 if you really pushed it.

Dunn, Strasburg, Peavy, Kendrys Morales (out for nearly 2 years), Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Buster Posey, Jason Heyward, Johan Sebastian Santana, Jamie Moyer

$22 million, to be exact. (9th highest paid pitcher in MLB by average contract value) One way or the other, we already have to pay him $4 million for the buyout.

Crain to to appear at least once for Charlotte this weekend on rehab and rejoin the team Monday against the Tigers. Guess Zach Stewart would have to go down.