caulfield12

can it ever be easy against this damn team?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 03:28 AM) Which screams to me he'd rather be somewhere he is happy, versus somewhere that pays him the most money. I am guessing if he won't extend up there, he doesn't like it there. He probably does fit in more on the West Coast than anywhere...Dodgers, perhaps. Angels can't possibly have any more crazy money to throw around again so soon after Wilson and Pujols. SF, if they had the money, but they still need to improve their offense and figure out what's wrong with Lincecum. Seattle, if they decide to build around Felix and another stud pitcher and actually start spending after the Figgins/Sexson/Beltre disappointments. Maybe Arizona. Teams like the Orioles or Blue Jays that fancy themselves as getting closer and need an anchor for their rotation might wade into the water. Phillies, to replace Hamels, but still so many payroll/rebuilding issues with that team...if they think they can contend by just flip-flopping those two.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 03:21 AM) I frankly don't think Robin will do any better than Ozzie with this roster when all is said and done. Team has a weird dynamic again. Lot of old guys mixed with young guys in key spots. 2 through six in the lineup is Youk, Dunn, Paulie, Rios, AJ, that's a ton of veterans to go with Tank, DeAza, Beckham and Lexi. It seems like a scary lineup, but something is amiss. Our pitching is very inconsistent as usual despite the fact on paper we've got a good closer and average rotation in Peavy, Sale, Floyd, Q and Danks when he comes back. Ozzie would be getting fried for not having this team in the playoffs, when in reality the team still just isn't that good. It's basically underachieving once again. We have a lot of name players on this team. You just said the rotation is "average." Why would that get any manager fried? BTW, with a healthy Danks, very few people in baseball would say our starting pitching is average, especially if Quintana's close to real and Floyd/Danks go on hot stretches again. Second, we lost Santos/Quentin and your beloved Buehrle? Why would there be any expectations of contending? Are you Marty now? Obviously there wasn't by many, as season ticket sales were down 20-25%. Everyone was expecting genetically modified rebuilding, not being in first place halfway through the season. If they did, where were those brave souls in the pre-season prediction threads who thought we were capable of being in 1st? You also said that Manto isn't doing a great job. So hitters aren't hitting, pitching is average, why would Ozzie have been fried? As far as having a blend or mix of talent, youngsters and veterans, every great team has that...with a very few historical exceptions. The 2005 team was streaky and dysfunctional at the end and pulled out of it, but they were a week or so from being bounced by the Indians.

So why would anyone's speculation be better than someone who is paid to do it for a living and has sources throughout the game? It's an educated guess, that's all. I lived in Kansas City and followed Greinke from the very beginning, was there when he had his breakdown/social anxiety diagnosis, when he famously remarked about walking away from the game because he'd prefer to be out mowing lawns in So Cal with his headphones on. Does that mean I know more than someone who lives in Chicago or have some unique insight? Just don't see him agreeing on an extension. Garcia was a rare exception. More importantly, with the Danks situation, and even Dunn struggling again...those huge long-term contracts for pitchers just don't look so attractive. Too many teams have been burned by them. How long until the Marlins are dumping Buehrle for 50-75 cents on the dollar? You can make the argument we're finally seeing a "fair" ROI on the Peavy deal, but it hasn't been until Year 4. And we still won't have anything to show for it when he's gone.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 01:26 AM) You sound as if sports teams should be treated like a charity. To a point they are. Most stadiums are built with tax player dollars. Clearly, someday, when the team is sold for $1.2-1.5 billion versus a pittance comparatively in initial investment, they will share the proceeds with the United Way of Greater Chicago. Yeah, yeah, to the victor go the spoils, those with the gold make the rules, we all could have put together an investment group (for example, in the early 80's when I was in middle school) and purchased the team, but that's still not a motivational tactic that a legit marketing team of a well-run franchise should be using.

3. Zack Greinke, whose Milwaukee Brewers have drifted six games under .500 and sit behind three teams in the NL Central. Greinke has done his part: a team-leading eight wins, 2.81 ERA, 99 strikeouts and just 21 walks over 96 innings. Brewers reliever Jose Veras has issued 22 free passes in 32 innings and closer John Axford 18 in 28⅓. Like Hamels, Greinke discussed a contract extension before the season. At this point, though, the chances of a deal are about nil. With 18 starts until free agency, why would he accept what's sure to be a below-market offer? No player who values free agency, which Greinke undoubtedly does, would even listen. GM Doug Melvin is in a unique position. He could set the market with Greinke, like he did trading for CC Sabathia the first week of July 2008. Or he could wait, let it breathe, and cause teams who need that extra push to clamor with a deadline approaching. It's what makes this time of year so fascinating, and it colors the unique case of … I linked the whole article in the next to last post over at the Youk thread. Now, it's just one writer, it's not proof, obviously. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/arti...98&c_id=mil FWIW, his agent now is Casey Close, not Boras.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 02:50 AM) I think I need a Heath Bell jersey! Bell, who hadn’t given up an earned run since May 26th (a span of 10 appearances and 9 1/3 innings), wasn’t charged with a blown save because he wasn’t eligible for it with a four-run lead. “I wasn’t throwing strikes, plain and simple,” Bell said. “I need to mix it up a little bit more. I just went out there throwing fastballs and was basically throwing BP to the Cardinals. … So, you’ve got to tip your hat to them, but also slap me in the face because I [stunk] tonight. I let everybody down.” The Marlins bullpen has now given up 58 earned runs this month in 73 combined innings of relief (7.15 ERA). They gave up 55 earned runs over 134 innings over the first two months of the season (3.69). Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/26/2868...l#storylink=cpy

If Ozzie was the greatest manager in the world, he would have had the cojones to try to make a go of it with this diminished roster. RV has. He knew he was going to lose some talent (Buehrle/Quentin for starters), so he took the easy way out. How many great managers in the past ran from a challenge that was 50% created by themselves?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 02:51 AM) Of the starters that may be available Greinke's the only one I'd deal Viciedo for. Even for only 3 months? Wouldn't that then give you an excuse to fire KW, for losing both Hudson and Viciedo for rentals? Then what? Bring back Carlos Quentin at $12 million for one season, and give up better prospects to get him back? Once again, there's ZERO CHANCE IN HADES Greinke will commit to a long-term extension and forgo free agency. That ship isn't going to sail. With Ozzie as manager, that might have been one of his only positive influences, getting Freddy Garcia to agree to stay longer term after the 2004 trade.

Try again, Marty34. Are we back to your solution of trading Alexei Ramirez? Now that Lillibridge is gone, who would be playing SS then? Escobar? Beckham, with Hudson at 2B? Molina? Tyler Kuhn?

Why is Conor Jackson still at Charlotte?

“Very hard to watch, to be a part of that,” Guillen said. “You just got to sleep on it. Weak people carry it onto the next day. Strong people just go to sleep and hopefully come back [Tuesday].” Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/26/2868...l#storylink=cpy As the Marlins have struggled through another June swoon, Ozzie Guillen has kept himself busy by changing his lineup on a daily basis. Only once during the team’s 5-16 start to the month has the Marlins manager put the same lineup on the field on back-to-back days. He finally broke the habit Monday. After the team’s most lopsided win of the season Sunday against the Blue Jays, Guillen put the same guys out on the field and in the same batting order against the Cardinals on Monday. That’s something he hadn’t done since June 1 at Philadelphia, when he had the same lineup on the field for five games in a row. “You’re not going to change lineups — unless there’s a lefty pitching — after you score nine runs,” Guillen said. “I think if we continue to play like this, this is the lineup we’re going to keep, to be honest.” Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/26/2867...b#storylink=cpy

But now, events in the real world outside of the courtroom are on pace to blow those figures out of the water. And the Mariners could wind up topping that $800 million figure thrown around in regards to the Padres. Photo Credit: AP One thing that has to be understood throughout any attempt to place estimates on a team's value is the increasing demand for owners to renegotiate new regional sports network (RSN) television deals. The Mariners can opt out of their deal with ROOT Sports by 2015 and can actually begin new negotiations any day now -- if they haven't already -- because such contracts need to be finalized well ahead of their actual start dates. Thus, the Mariners are sitting on a huge financial windfall. Industry sources have repeatedly suggested to me that the team's current deal is already more lucrative than the oft-reported 10-year, $450 million figure that's been tossed around for years. Network executives and team officials do their utmost to keep such figures secret, so there's no telling how much higher any new deal will go from what's already been reported. Three times more? Four times? We'll see. But the one thing you got out of the Larson divorce case -- and which industry experts are pretty consistent about -- is that the Mariners are worth more than the Padres. Mary Ann Travers of Crowe Horwath LLP, the appraisal expert hired by Larson, came in with the low-end figure at trial but still conceeded the Mariners were still worth somewhere between the $480 million the Padres sold for in 2009 and the $593 million fetched by the Texas Rangers in 2010. Don Erickson, of Erickson Partners LLC, the franchise valuation expert hired by Calhoun, argued that the Mariners compared more favorably to the recent $610 million sale of the Houston Astros, as well as the $593 million Rangers sale. In other words, well above the Padres. And King County Superior Court Judge William Downing agreed with Erickson, stating in his ruling that: "The Court has reviewed the details of transactions involving the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves. The Court would find the May 2011 Astros transaction and the December 2010 Rangers transaction to be the best comparables due to their recency, similar attendance and other factors. The Seattle Mariners' on-field performance probably slides in between the two but, from a business point of view, they enjoy a superior demographic." So, no one is arguing that the Mariners were worth more than the Padres. What's happened since? The recently completed $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for one. A deal in which the value of the team's upcoming TV deal played a huge role. The Dodgers' TV rights are up for renewal after 2013 and the new owners can potentially launch a new RSN of their own or leverage the value of it to drive their rights fees sky high. This is a boom period for baseball franchises and the ones lucky enough to have TV deals up for renewal are those who will cash in while the getting is good. The Padres sale is said to involve roughy a $600 million price tag for the team itself, plus an additional $200 million for an ownership stake in the team's new $1.2 billion TV deal with FOX. Now, again, just because the Padres are getting this sale price doesn't automatically mean the Mariners will get more. But in theory, as long as the Mariners don't mess things up, they should be able to get more in any pending sale if everything remains equal. In other words, don't start racking up yearly deficits and continue to maintain the best debt load of any team in the majors. Keep shedding the salaries of pricey veterans like Ichiro this year, with Milton Bradley and Jack Wilson being dumped last year. Wait for Chone Figgins to run out next year. Your attendance might drop in the interim as fans tire of seasons of 90+ losses. But as long as the bottom line remains free of red ink -- and remember, the M's would have turned a profit last year had they not put in new scoreboards as a Safeco Field upgrade -- the M's look to be perfectly positioned to reap big money in any sale. Sure, the TV numbers are not as big as they could be if the M's were to say, contend for something. But it's not as if the Padres are doing anything big on the field, either. And their revenues are not very strong at the moment. All things being equal, from what the experts have already said, the Mariners should be worth more than the Padres. And right now, the Padres are said to be worth $800 million. That's a hefty increase -- in terms of sports franchise growth -- from the initial $100 million purchase price Hiroshi Yamauchi, Chris Larson and company, first paid for the Mariners back in 1992. Even when you factor in the additional $112 million that Larson testified the owners have had to shell out in addition to their initial costs. Remember, this isn't a mutual fund. It's owning a sports team and all the tax breaks and prestige that comes with it. So, we don't calculate return on investment as we would a mutual fund over 20 years -- and those haven't been so hot lately, in any event. What does this mean to the team and its long-suffering fans? Well, it might help explain why the Mariners continue to avoid pricey free agents in favor of the longer, slower rebuild. Unlike the Angels, who keep spending and rebuiding on the fly with youth like Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo, Peter Bourjos and others. In the longer run, the value of renewed TV rights might provide the cash windfall this current owner group seems willing to wait for. Maybe it eventually lets the team offer a contract extension to Felix Hernandez by the 2014 season. Or, maybe a new owner willing to pay such a large amount for the team will secure an ownership stake in any new TV deal and use the cash influx from that to re-invest in the team. Whatever the result, don't let anyone convince you of the myth that the Mariners are a "small market" team and poor. You don't make your money owning sports teams on a year-by-year basis. You make it when you cash out. If they want to, the M's owners are poised to cash out big and can sell when they want to. Remember, Larson tried to sell a 10 percent stake in the team three years ago. The only reason he didn't was because he didn't like the valuation of his shares and chose not to sell. He's free to go ahead and sell right now if he wants to and should get a much better price. It won't change anything regarding the team this season. But better to be informed about what's really going on when somebody tells you about rebuilding "the right way" and that the Mariners have no choice but to maintain the status quo. There is always a choice. This is the one they've chosen. And not merely for on-field reasons. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mari...es_could_d.html

MINNEAPOLIS -- For Kevin Youkilis, the past day and a half brought a range of emotions unlike anything he'd experienced in the major leagues. There was the realization "that hit me like a ton of bricks" on Sunday that when he got lifted for a pinch runner, he was probably heading into the home dugout for the last time at Fenway Park. There was the logistical stress of being traded -- switching teams, boarding a flight, moving his family -- and the odd sensation of putting on something other than the Red Sox uniform he'd worn his entire career. And then, after the Chicago White Sox lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Twins in Youkilis' first game with the south siders, there was, at last, relief. "In 24 hours, all the things that transpired, my mind was kind of racing a little bit," he said. "Hopefully tomorrow, there won't be any Red Sox stuff in here and we can all move on." Youkilis had printed a list of his new teammates' names and jersey numbers that he kept in his locker at Target Field. He had played with a handful of players (Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn and Matt Thornton) in the World Baseball Classic, faced Jesse Crain when the reliever was with the Twins, and worked out with Orlando Hudson in the offseason. But it had been a long time since he'd felt like a newcomer in a major league clubhouse. "The important thing is, they've got a foundation here," he said. "I've just got to try to fit in as best I can." Hitting second for the White Sox, Youkilis went 1-for-4 in his debut, singling up the middle in his final at-bat of the night. He glanced at the scoreboard to see Red Sox highlights -- "It seems like I can't escape the Red Sox thing" -- and had to correct himself when he first referred to Boston players as his teammates. But he left the park knowing exactly where he'd be the next day. Amid all the newness, there was the promise of stability. "I know where I'm at," Youkilis said. "I'll go to the hotel room, wake up, put clothes on, and not worry about packing clothes and all that other stuff." http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...-with-white-sox

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 12:04 PM) To be fair, Carlos was much better on defense last season than in previous years. But to simplify it and ascribe his improved performance more or less to better positioning?

Probably not the greatest idea to go into "enemy territory" and bring up Youkilis. Wonder if he came up with that "off the cuff" or it was pre-planned? Remember we had a thread not too long ago about this topic, and the fact that he couldn't name of the current White Sox players. Some were frustrated with that fact...just as probably others would have been even more upset had he been able to rattle off the starting line-up while the unemployment rate was whatever percent it still is.

President Obama, speaking to what was supposed to be a crowd of avid supporters, elicited several seconds of loud boos. At a fundraiser Monday in Boston, the president thanked the infamously sports-crazed city for trading Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis to his beloved Chicago White Sox. "Finally, Boston I just want to say – Thank you for Youkilis," he said. "I’m just saying. He’s going to have to change the color of his 'sox' —ha, ha." But as the audience outcry grew, he quickly added, "I didn’t think I’d get any “boos” out of here, but -- I guess I shouldn’t have -- I should not have brought up baseball. I understand. "My mistake. My mistake," he said. "You’ve got to know your crowd." Then, in the audience, a woman yelled, "We still love you!" This post has been updated.

Is everyone joking about the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie? http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/the-reel-bre...-212615951.html Very thorough article on why there's still a lack of films with female leads or largely targeting women as an audience. Wonder if having a female GM or manager someday can or will change that for baseball? And which sport will be first, baseball or basketball?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/10-degrees--k...kQwNWk_uYQ5nYcB This divorce went like all the others with the Boston Red Sox: ugly, vitriolic, rotten to the core. Not even a great moment like the standing ovation Fenway Park fans gifted Kevin Youkilis following the last at-bat of his Red Sox career could mop away the feeling that it didn't have to be this way. Only maybe a new line of thinking is necessary. Maybe it does have to be this way. The reason Boston is the greatest place in the world to play and the worst place in the world to play is that there is no gray with the Red Sox. They are the best or the worst, playing like the '27 Yankees or the '03 Tigers, with the most brilliant manager or the most incompetent. And for someone like Youkilis, who has spent his entire career with the organization, such certitudes breed deep emotions. Kevin Youkilis tripled before leaving his final game with the Red Sox. (AP)Pour that into a carafe and add a few dashes of ego and pride, and it's a cocktail more Molotov than palatable. Even if Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine had handled Youkilis' situation with care – and he didn't, not in the beginning, middle or end – there was a simple truth preventing an amicable parting: Boston is an impossible place to leave without feelings intervening. Never mind Jim Rice, Mo Vaughn, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, all iconic and all soured upon their exit. Even Jason Bay, mild-mannered, eminently likeable and a Red Sox star for less than two years, decamped to New York lamenting Boston's offer to him. It could've been sour grapes, sure, or that knowledge playing for the Red Sox can be like a drug, heights unmatched. It should be the same in New York, too, and sometimes it is. Because the Yankees are seen as this mega-entity, far more corporate than the Red Sox, divorces are accepted as the cost of doing business. Boston still hasn't reached that point, and almost surely it never will. Because no matter how hard the Red Sox try to do right by their players – and shipping out Youkilis, who was about to fester on the bench, was not just an understandable baseball move but a merciful one personally – this is unavoidable. The Red Sox are Liz Taylor. They marry, they love hard, they fight, they divorce. Baseball's version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The answer, after Sunday, is … 1. Kevin Youkilis, the newly minted third baseman of the Chicago White Sox and the first player to switch teams in what many executives believe will be a more interesting trade season than usual, what with the extra playoff slot emboldening teams that may not otherwise have considered pursuing upgrades. Before the talk turns to others who may or may not be available, the case of Youkilis is an interesting one. He is 33, injury prone and looks old. Certainly changes of scenery are known to revitalize players. Youkilis' issues may go beyond whatever mental boost losing the melanin in his Sox may provide. He has swung and missed at a higher percentage of fastballs this year than ever in his career. His struggles against right-handed pitching are palpable. He is hitting ground balls more than 50 percent of the time, a troublesome number for a player whose speed would be described generously as harried slug. 10. Kevin Youkilis would turn into a pumpkin only to see Will Middlebrooks take his job? From the Greek God of Walks to the Guy Who Never Walks, change in Boston is afoot. And for the White Sox, a past-his-prime Youkilis is still an upgrade over the Brent Morel-Orlando Hudson duo of death that had manned third base. If Youkilis finds himself, the White Sox have a $13 million option; if not, the buyout is a reasonable $1 million. To have given up only a utilityman (Brent Lillibridge) and a middling pitcher (Zach Stewart) is a classic Kenny Williams maneuver: high-risk (of breakdown) and -reward (possibly getting the Youk-of-old). He'll look for more, of course, because when Kenny goes for it, he goes for it. Soon enough we'll see who else is following that course, and who's selling, and who among baseball's most tradeable find themselves in new places. Different rules. Different contenders. Different agendas. Same baseball, with a June and July that never stops churning.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 12:31 PM) Hmm, I guess Walker wasn't the problem. Manto, Walker, Ozzie, Robin, etc., it all adds up to .500 folks. Well, for now, it still adds up to first place. Imagine you were a Cardinals' fan in 2006 or 2011 saying "we suck! we're not going to make the playoffs! if we do, we're probably going to lose anyway!" Would you prefer to be 15 games back and fighting for the #1 draft pick next June? Then the ONLY thing we would be talking about is dumping salary, KW's job status, attendance, USCF is a tomb/mausoleum/graveyard/possible setting for Death Race III with Jason Statham, etc.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 12:43 PM) wasn't Zach Stewart what we had to show for Daniel Hudson? Sort of like Nestor Molina is what we have to show for Sergio Santos. The joy of Kenny Stanford. What good would Santos be now for the Sox? Just be thankful he didn't trade Addison Reed, Nathan Jones or Crain. Well, you're considering all the money we saved NOT having to pay for Mark Teahen, lol. We theoretically used that money on Floyd, Thornton and Crain, to keep them on the team instead of having to trade them.

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2012/jun/...8-4-ar-2009911/ There's some Barnum in-action pictures. BIG DUDE. A Fred McGriff clone. Pete Rose Jr is the manager for Bristol, didn't know that. Will try to find out what happened to him (Keon).

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) I'd love to see Rios moved into the 3rd spot, with Youkilis batting 6th and Viciedo 7th (Dunn batting 5th). That would prevent the opposing manager from bringing in lefties to face the 1/2/3. In which case he'd probably go into another funk. So many question marks with this team. Can Rios really keep up his 800 OPS all season long? When will the floor drop out from underneath him? As good an idea as any, Dunn in the 3rd spot is just not ideal at all...especially in recent weeks.

Well, that K was pretty much unpredictable. DeAza, Dunn and AJ should have stayed at the hotel.

That pitch Rios hit was at 96 MPH? When has he thrown that hard since the TJ surgery? How can this kid be 1-7? I know, walks/control, but with even his diminished arsenal, 1-7? Really? It's like when Hawk would go on and on and on about Javy having the best stuff he's ever seen for a .500 pitcher, lol. Or Gavin Floyd.