caulfield12

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 03:22 PM) I think he will sign a 4 yr/70M extension If they won the World Series, maybe. But that's crazy money for Peavy at this stage of his career. Unless John Danks retires from baseball, it's not going to happen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 03:18 PM) Let's wait to see if Youk can stay strong/healthy the rest of the way. Also, with how much his option is, it could be in the Sox best interest to look for another alternative if they can find one for cheaper. Still far too early to make a decision on Youk. Whatever they do, Morel can't be the 1st option heading into 2013. He's the back-up plan/insurance/depth. Whatever you want to call him. Saladino fits in there, but the jury's still out whether he can hit for enough power to play 3B. They're going to have to make a decision between Sanchez and Saladino. You probably go with Sanchez for 2B and Saladino for 3B and see if he can get his power numbers up to where he can sustain a 700-725 OPS. Might not be possible. One big plus is he walks a lot more than Morel/Beckham.

AJ and Youk are more important to keep than Peavy at that salary level. Not because YOUK has been great recently, but just because of his veteran presence, working counts....there's just no way we can go back to Morel again. As for Jake, he's just had such a heavy workload this season, you worry how long he can stay healthy....of course, we have no actual idea, but every game out, he's throwing 105-120+ pitches. Someone will give him $13-16 million per season, multi-year deal, maybe even 3 years. All things considered, would also rather keep Gavin and Liriano as a duo than Peavy at the same price.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...69.story?page=3 Recent Mustain story from the TRIB

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 02:52 PM) Declining the option is pretty much a given, no matter how good he has been or will be. Sox are not dishing out $22M to any one player. If Jake likes it in Chicago enough to give the Sox a bit of a discount, then he will stay. If he insists on testing the market, somebody will overpay for him, just like they did for Buehrle. I'd rather re-sign Liriano for $11M per year than Jake for $17M per year. Liriano $11 million > Gavin $9.5 million > Peavy $18 million

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 02:50 PM) Pretty good that the Tigers have only gained 2 games in the standings over the last 23, with them having a 13-2 run, and sweeping the Sox. August 1st, 2010 White Sox 59-45 Twins 59-46 1/2 GB We didn't surrender the lead for good that year until AUG 12, but then it REALLY got away from us like in a week, it was over.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 03:44 PM) It looks as if Flwoers called for quite a few offspeed pitches from Reed in the 9th. Reed's two biggest weaknesses on the mound right now are his unability to effective throw to the different quadrants, as almost everything is at the belt unless it's a change-up. As for his slider, he's not getting a lot of outs with it as he's starting it over the plate and hitters are letting it slide right out of the zone for a ball. I'd like to see him tweak his slider to try and get more downward movement/tilt. Not only that, but even the opposing radio teams know the patterns. Fastball/slider to right-handed hitters, fastball/change-up to the opposite sided hitters (threw one to Morneau, for example). He has absolutely got to get away from the predictability of that pattern and mix it up a bit more. As noted, if he and Jones are only get strikes called 15-20% of the time on his slider, every hitter will just lay off it and take their chances they'll get a fastball to drive in an at-bat. Very rarely have you seen either one of those guys throw 2 off-speed pitches for called strikes or even swing-and-a-miss recently.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 03:06 PM) Really. He gives up one hit and struck out a guy (but the ump blew the call) but it was a rollercoaster. Good lord, unless someone is consistently getting 1-2-3 innings, they suck on this site. Okay. Well, I had the Twins' radio feed today, so I had no idea about some of the strike calls, checked swing and what exactly happened with the Rios play. One thing's for certain, we can't just give up a double steal like that so easily. Not just Addison, but all our pitchers got raped this week by the Twins on the basepaths.

One area we got totally schooled with this series was the Twins running with abandon. Tyler got a CS, but our pitchers just haven't been giving the catchers a chance most of the time...recently. Liriano was noticeably bad at this, and Gardenhire knew to exploit that weakness. Not to mention he got rattled after the 2 SB in the 6th. Alexei and Beckham need to get together...Tyler wanted to throw at the back end of the double steal and nobody was there to take the throw and they were both glancing at each other with a befuddled look on their faces. Congrats Jake, an amazing 21/22 in QS. You're earning your paycheck this year, no doubt about it. And another good-sized contract, somewhere. Tyler is starting to get on base with more frequency, so the time that AJ missed raised his game. Not to mention VERY smart base-running for someone not known for their speed. DeAza Rules. I think we need to revisit the "no doubles" defense. Joe Maddon hates it...like the prevent in the NFL. It seems to backfire a lot. Many balls have dropped in front of DeAza in particular because of that shift. Happened with Rios again today.

Okay, by my count, this is the 6th time we've been to 10 games over. Let's beat Greinke, and do it in front of a sellout crowd, to boot.

Nice use of the change-up there, Addison. Got him off your fastball. I think I might prefer bringing back Bobby Jenks as closer.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 01:38 PM) Maybe Myers to face Willingham and Thornton to face Morneau and Doumit. Addison has to be able to go back-to-back days.

Now we have to sweat out Addison facing Willingham and Morneau. Might as well be those guys, as opposed to the pesky piranha-type hitters that got us Monday.

Phew. Almost had the curse of 3B rise up again...first Escobar, then Youk.

What happened to our defense?

Leave Peavy in on a hot day at 100 pitches or use Myers here? Bottom of the order, Thornton would probably face Span.

Would be nice if we could get something out of 2B this season...oh, well, they tied it up at least.

Peavy has 20 quality starts in 21 tries....crazy. Guess the only one he didn't was the game he led DET 6-0 and he and Ohman gave the lead away at USCF.

Revere and Viciedo with similar OPS, Revere one year younger....very different ways of getting there. Didn't realize he had 25 stolen bases. He's going to turn into a better player than Span if he can develop any power at all.

Well...Flowers is looking more and more respectable at the plate with increasing playing time, as many suspected he might.

We're officially in a defensive slump. That's 6 runs now our defense has directly contributed to giving up in the last 4. Not good. Jake, please never try to throw again to 2B. You look like Clayton Richard throwing to 1st.

This time, Chris Carter might stick with the Oakland A's By Mark Emmons memmons@mercurynews.comcontracostatimes.com Posted: 07/25/2012 02:35:21 PM PDT July 26, 2012 2:34 AM GMTUpdated: 07/25/2012 07:34:33 PM PDT This time, finally, it appears Chris Carter is ready. While 15 games is a mighty small sample size, there is cautious optimism in the A's organization that the quiet, power-hitting first baseman has begun to figure out what it takes to be a major-leaguer. In his previous stints in Oakland, the top slugging prospect in the system had looked badly overmatched and even a little timid at the plate. But since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento last month, a new-and-improved Carter has performed like a ballplayer ready to fulfill his enormous potential after years of piling up eye-catching power numbers in the minors. "It's great to be able to feel good about yourself and have a little success instead of just pressing all the time," said Carter, who burst onto the scene with five home runs and nine RBIs in his first nine games back in Oakland. It all comes down to confidence, believes A's manager Bob Melvin. "Something has to be the difference," he said. "It's not like Chris is hitting left-handed or doing things completely differently. He's just a confident guy right now, and you're seeing the results. We already knew that the ability was there." It's easy to see why Carter, 25, who was born in Redwood City and grew up in Las Vegas, would have doubted himself. The shy Carter began his time in the big leagues with an atrocious 0-for-33 slump -- the longest hitless streak to start a career in Oakland history. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heading into this season, his forgettable time with the A's included a .167 batting average and 41 strikeouts in 114 at-bats to go along with three homers and seven RBIs. But if confidence was Carter's issue, it wasn't due to a lack of it, said Sacramento hitting instructor Greg Sparks. "He's always been confident almost to a fault where he began to become stubbornness," Sparks said. "He was convinced what he was doing would work at the major-league level. This is a kid who just dominated down here, and he was probably wondering why he shouldn't stay with what had gotten him there in the first place." Ever since coming to the A's organization from the Arizona Diamondbacks as one of the centerpieces of the big Dan Haren trade in December of 2007, Carter had torn up minor-league pitching. In 2008, he smacked 39 homers and had 104 RBIs at Single-A Stockton. The next season, Carter combined to hit 28 homers and drive in 114 RBIs to go with a .329 average at Double-A Midland and Triple-A Sacramento. And there were 52 more minor-league homers in 2010 and 2011. At 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, Carter seemed tailor-made for the role of big bopper who could anchor the A's lineup. But the hardest step to navigate is the jump from Triple A to the big leagues. And each time he was called up to Oakland, Carter shrunk in stature. "I had always hoped to carry over what I did in the minors to here," said Carter, a man of very few words. But that didn't happen. So, Carter ended up having a long heart-to-heart talk with Sparks and River Cats manager Darren Bush this spring. "We all made it our goal that when he got the next opportunity up there, it was going to be different," Sparks said. "It wasn't going to end the same way. We bounced around some ideas and agreed on one specific change. Then he had the guts to go out there, work hard, and never deviate even though he struggled here for a while." That change was slight. Like many big sluggers, Sparks said, Carter had an over-reliance on his upper body. So they focused on getting him to use his legs more -- adding some flex in his knees to make him less robotic at the plate. That made Carter less susceptible to pitches tailing away to the outside of the strike zone. "It's a small adjustment that's turned out to be something big for him," Sparks said. "He's covering the whole plate now. He has cut down on the strikeouts and has begun using the entire field." Now, Carter platoons at first base with Brandon Moss. A's hitting instructor Chili Davis said Carter's body language at the plate now says, "I can hit these guys." He even compares Carter's swing to Detroit's Miguel Cabrera. "What we were trying to do in spring training was raise his aggressiveness," Davis said. "It's so easy (for him.) He just swings, and boom! He can miss a ball and still hit it out of here. He's like Cabrera." The goal now is proving he can do it for the long haul. "The biggest adjustment is the mental part of it," said Carter, who is hitting .279 with six home runs and 12 RBIs after hitting a solo shot and driving in three runs in the A's 16-0 rout over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. "It's still the same game, but everything is so much bigger. But this is the first time where I've really been able to deal with all that." Joe Stiglich contributed to this report. Contact Mark Emmons at 408-920-5745. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...=Chris-Carter-5 http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21...t-stick-oakland

Denard Span caught a slider and hooked it softly into right field for a single to open the bottom of the first. Two innings later, Span looped a fly ball into center field. In the sixth, Darin Mastroianni nubbed a bouncer toward first and beat it out. Later, Danny Valencia hit a ball into the shortstop hole that Alexei Ramirez fielded with a dive and couldn't make a play. That was it. That was the substance of the Twins' hitting against Francisco Liriano, a teammate until late Saturday night, when he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. The Twins managed only four puny singles off Frankie -- and it was only through misfortune that he didn't leave Target Field with a victory against the team for which he made all of his previous big-league appearances. Liriano was impressive through five innings Tuesday night, requiring only one piece of assistance, and that came from plate umpire Mike Muchlinski. A walk and Span's second single had two on with two outs in the third, and Muchlinski chose to call out Joe Mauer on a 3-2 pitch that split the chalk of the lefthanded batter's box. Gentleman Joe was as upset as he gets, stepping in front of Muchlinski to tell him he had missed the call. Liriano put it in gear after that, not so much with his fastball but with his famous slider and underrated changeup. Then came the sixth. The inning opened with Liriano's eighth strikeout. Mastroianni's goofy little roller followed for a hit. He stole second and third, and it had the desired effect on Frankie's psyche. Liriano walked Mauer and Josh Willingham to load the bases. He still had the chance to continue the shutout, until first baseman Paul Konerko fielded Justin Morneau's bouncer and threw it past catcher A.J. Pierzynski to give the Twins a 1-1 tie. With two outs, Valencia hit the ball into the shortstop hole, Ramirez couldn't make a play, and it was 2-1 for the Twins. Liriano was done after six innings, giving up those four puny singles, walking four and striking out eight. He deserved better than being on the hook for the loss. And his new team took care of that. The White Sox tied the game 2-2 on a Ramirez single off a strong Nick Blackburn in the seventh, and then won it 4-3 on Pierzynski's two-run wallop off Jeff Gray in the ninth. It was a no-decision for Liriano and only good feelings in the visitors clubhouse as to how he pitched. "He pitched great," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "To pitch like that against a team that he has seen for so long and knows him so well ... that was very good. He looked calm the whole night. He was just pitching." Pierzynski said, "He was little bit excited, nervous, early in the dugout, but he made his pitches." What was different about catching Liriano rather than facing him? "I'm glad that somebody else has to hit that slider," A.J. said. Liriano said it was "kind of weird" to be facing the Twins, and he was "excited," and also said, "It was another game for me." Which means: Frankie remained as much of a contradiction with his comments after his first start for the White Sox as he was with his pitching in his previous 130 starts for the Twins. There were those 14 starts in 2006, from mid-May until the end of July, when Liriano was a rookie and baseball's pitching sensation. He was 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in those 14 and joined Johan Santana in carrying the Twins back from oblivion to a division title. There was tenderness in his elbow after that 14th start, and then two more failed attempts to pitch -- once in August, once in September -- before it became clear he would require Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. It was always an adventure with Frankie once he returned from that arm repair. There was some adventure on Tuesday, although not really of his doing, and the White Sox had to leave the ballyard with this feeling: They had found a starter who can help them outlast Detroit in the AL Central, and they had found him on the cheap. Patrick Reusse can be heard noon-4 weekdays on 1500-AM. • preusse@startribune.com

Francisco Liriano made it through six innings Tuesday night without the usual parade of mound visits Twins fans are used to seeing from his catchers. White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski has a different philosophy. "He told me [Monday], 'If you want me to come out to talk to you every inning I'll do that,'" Liriano said. "But he doesn't like talking to the pitcher a lot. So that's fine with me." (nice shot at Joe Mauer...) Liriano let his pitching do the talking in his White Sox debut, and in the ninth inning, Pierzynski settled the score with his bat, hitting a two-run homer off Jeff Gray to defeat the Twins 4-3 before a crowd of 36,424 at Target Field. Nick Blackburn turned in his best performance of the season, giving up two runs over eight innings, but the first-place White Sox ended the Twins' four-game winning streak. Three days after getting traded from the Twins for infielder Eduardo Escobar and lefthander Pedro Hernandez, Liriano found himself paired in an unusual battery. Pierzynski is the same player the Twins traded to the Giants in 2003 to get Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser. "It's something I never thought I'd do when we were traded for each other way back in the day," Pierzynski said. "It's cool." Wearing their gray uniforms with black trim, Liriano (No. 58) and Pierzynski (No. 12) walked together from the bullpen to the dugout before the game, as the starting lineups were announced over the public address system. For some reason, Twins fans still boo Pierzynski's name, but they gave Liriano a warm round of applause. Liriano escaped some early trouble and wound up taking a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning. The Twins capitalized on two walks to take a 2-1 lead that inning -- without getting a hit out of the infield. The go-ahead run scored on Danny Valencia's two-out infield single. That was it for Liriano, who held the Twins to two runs on four hits in six innings, with four walks and eight strikeouts. "Frankie did his thing," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He got in the same situations he got in with us. He just worked his way out of them. That's exactly what you're going to get out of him. You're going to get battles." After falling behind in the sixth, Chicago came back to tie it in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Alexei Ramirez. But Gardenhire was thrilled Blackburn turned in eight innings on a night the Twins wanted to rest several members of the bullpen. "[Jared] Burton was not pitching, [Alex] Burnett was not pitching, [Glen] Perkins was save [situation] only," Gardenhire said, explaining that if he had used Perkins and Burton, they wouldn't have been available Wednesday. "Some other people have to get some outs," Gardenhire added. "Gray's got good stuff. He's been throwing the ball well. He just didn't tonight." Alex Rios led off the ninth inning with a single, hitting an 0-2 pitch off Gray (5-1), and Pierzynski also drilled an 0-2 pitch on his home run, a ball crushed down the right-field line. It was Pierzynski's 18th homer of the season, matching a career-high set in 2005, his first year with Chicago. "After the game [Liriano] was great," Pierzynski said. "He apologized to me for being wild. I was like, 'Dude you're fine. You're great. Don't apologize to me.' I thought he threw the ball great and hope he can continue to grow after this one." startribune.com/sports

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 08:13 AM) 16 out of 19 after the All Star break on the road and they are guaranteed to come home in first place. Things are looking good.(Except for Danks) And Youk, and Beckham....and pretty much the entire bullpen. One would describe them as shaky at best. Crain survived unscathed two times but looked horrific in the process of being "effective" (the 1st and 3rd, no outs escape was nicer), Thornton seems to have a penchant for giving up liners all over the field. Fortunately, both of those guys had our defense playing well behind them, and good positioning. Hard to blame Myers, he's the only one who has looked decent, but he gave up a leadoff hit to a bottom of the order hitter, too.