caulfield12

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 08:32 AM) That's an insult to Dick Stockton At least it wasn't to the level of Jim Gray fawning over Tim Tebow...he makes the plants and natural museum history at the university better by his very presence, we'd love if our daughters married him, he's a cross between Jesus, Gandhi and Mother Teresa with a little Jim Brown and Steve McNair thrown in, blah blah blah.

Tiggers punking the Rangers. Two blowouts in the AL Central race so far. And our usual bad results against Liriano for 2 innings. Cue Greg rant about not beating the Twins and Royals.

By the way, why are we messing with Beckham when he was comfortable again? Sigh. Hopefully he doesn't go into another slide. The last time he was this close to .250 was in 2010 or the first week of 2011. Tigers out to early 3-0 lead over the Rangers.

Darn, internet too slow so didn't get to see his first AB. Thanks to Greg's hero, D. Wise, the Yankees rolling all over the Indians. Jeanmar Gomez out, Zach MacAllister in, new Indians' rotation. Yankees have outhomered the Indians (home and road) at Yankee Stadium alone. Carlos Quentin, anyone?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 03:15 AM) Seeing what he did at 19 in their top league (.330 with 17 home runs and 78 RBI.), I think the upside is there, but who really knows? Throw out any stats from their leagues. Almost meaningless. Unless they had a particularly high walk rate, that would be noteworthy. You're right, nobody knows for sure. Just projections based on tools. I'd feel more comfortable giving Viciedo money to this guy than $30 million to Soler.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 12:00 AM) Sounds like the Cubs will finally promote Babe Ruth, Jr. tomorrow. They would call him up today, but they want to protect Johan Santana from facing such a monster. Meanwhile, Andrew Cashner is being converted from a reliever to a starter. 3 solid starts in AA so far. I though you meant Mr. Jackson at first. He'll be the next Matt LaPorta/Chris Shelton in the big leagues.

PUIG is a much more refined and polished version of Soler, without quite the upside or downside risk. Older, much more international experience. And I'm not buying the whole idea of Soler as a five tool guy. We have our own guy in Hawkins, anyway. Seems like he could end up more of a complementary player (Leonys Martin, Leslie Anderson) than a superstar, but hard to tell. Alexei was supposed to be a Ramon Santiago/Juan Castro type of player and he was much better than that. http://sportstwo.com/threads/215834-Yasiel...d-to-hit-market 7-8 teams already in on him. Can't believe the Cubs would also go after him after all the money for Soler. 21 years old. Physically, he reminds me of a cross between Cespedes and DeAza. The picture on the left, he seems heavier, like Dayan. On the right, more like Alejandro. Cespedes is kind of in the middle, more muscular, a bit like Hawkins' build as well.

Is that a weekend or weekday? See what happens when you add Youkilis? $5 increase can be justified per ticket, even though it's only about $1 million in salary added, plus the buyout I'd guess. What other players can we add that will not increase payroll dramatically that teams want to dump, will increase attendance but also won't cost us top prospects, lol? Paging Brooks Boyer.

How many minutes before we credit YOUK for giving someone in our line-up better pitches to hit..."his mere presence in the line-up alone makes the White Sox five wins better..." Remember when Manny Ramirez came to town and we were trying to stretch every one of his at-bats into a positive? Well, hopefully the OPS will be closer to 750 than 550. I think it's reasonable to expect.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 07:06 PM) Ozzie Guillen could set fire to an orphanage and it would be the book of matches' fault. Or he would throw his wife or kids under the bus and try to blame them. Or KW. Or Swisher/Tracey/O-Cab/Javy/Brian Anderson/Brandon McCarthy/Hudson.

COOPER HAD BEEN THERE A LOT LONGER THAN OZZIE, and many more years with the SOX as a coach OZZIE WAS DELIBERATELY LEAVING HIS COACHING STAFF OUT OUT TO DRY..."LET THEM SWEAT IT OUT" i remember was his quote COOPER WANTED TO STAY WITH THE SOX, AND EVEN BE THE MANAGER (perhaps) OZZIE WANTED TO DITCH THE SOX Is Ozzie taking care of Jeff Cox now? Paying his bills or mortgage? I think not. SOMEONE had to stick their foot on the line and say "who's with me, who's staying, who's loyal to JR, to their OTHER boss KW, to Jerry Reinsdorf?" Wait and see a couple of years from now. I bet Buehrle will be back in a Sox uniform. Guillen will be a 3rd base coach somewhere, or bench coach. Or maybe on TV, since that's what he is really best suited for now, until he says something that's impossible for even him to walk back.

Boston... 1) Had to clear 3B for Middlebrooks full time 2) Had to get Gonzalez back at 1B, where he's most comfortable 3) Have to prepare for Ellsbury and Crawford to come back....so Gonzalez really was struggling offensively as well, partly because he was so uncomfortable and akward out there 4) You can't have their equivalent of Buehrle/Konerko, World Series hero, on the bench....he should be able to play everyday at his age still, it's a respect issue in the clubhouse, with the manager, with Pedroia/Ortiz, etc.

I expected a Jake PhD dissertation here. How could Jermaine Dye not have an appreciation thread? Probably the way things ended in 2009 with Rios, he went out rather quietly...at least it wasn't covered very thoroughly in the press as that season ended up so frustratingly. And maybe because lots of Sox fans thought he'd still be with the ballclub perhaps. Losing Thome and Dye in one offseason really changed the complexion of the roster.

So KW can point all of his scouts and resources (especially Cooper) to scouring the world for more pitching now. Of all things we're good at as an organization, that has to be strength #1. It's really going to be a battle down to the end...war of attrition in this division.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:10 PM) Yes, actually 1/3 games left are against KC and Min. If 88 games wins the division, 50-40 the rest of the way can be broken down this way: KC 9-6 Min 9-6 Det 5-5 Cle 3-3 Bal 2-2 Bos 2-2 NY 4-3 TB 2-2 Tor 4-3 LAA 3-3 Oak 2-1 Sea 2-1 Tex 3-3 4-3 against either NY or TOR wouldn't be expected, especially the Blue Jays. You hope 3-4 and prepare for 2-5. LAA will be another tough 3-3. Somewhere in there, we'll get a sweep, if we can get hot again. The Orioles have been very tough on us as well. Greg's head will explode if we go 9-6 versus either the Twins or Royals. Especially KC. And one of the top 3 AL Central teams will end up doing serious damage to one of the other two teams to put some distance in the race. Maybe not this year...it could end like 2008/09.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:50 PM) Week ahead: Peavy vs Liriano Floyd vs Hendriks Sale vs Blackburn Axelrod vs Nova Quintana vs Sabathia Peavy vs Kuroda Floyd vs Hughes Rangers series, so far: Sale vs Oswalt Axelrod vs Lewis Quintana vs Harrison Unless the Sox adjust their rotation, Sale will pitch the Sunday before the break. CLE has a very tough stretch coming now too, right? Survival mode. 5-5 or 4-6 is fine. 3-7 is survivable, although far from ideal.....not disastrous in 2012. That might still even leave us in first or close to it. Tigers have a chance to make up some more ground.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) Want to get viewers for the ASG? Let Dickey pitch all 9 innings for the NL. I want to see the AL's best hitters trying to hit that damn knuckleball. All the AL GM's would pull their players for fear of messing them up for 10 days hitting-wise after that game. It's like the Bob Abreu kiss of death with the HR Derby.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 10:39 PM) What's the story on his failed drug test again? Also, it's amazing how well he's throwing his slider. That was filthy yesterday. It was one of those nutritional supplement/GNC type things that probably all the Latin kids were taking together. Not one of the hardcore anabolic steroids, supposedly. It was covered in a Trib or Sun-Times article in the last couple of days. LOL at Cashman getting clowned again, by the Sox. Love his understated response. Although he did win the Swisher one by FAR, we still punk'd him for Contreras and now Quintana. El Duque was a useful, if expensive, spare part in 2005. That inning against the BoSox might have been worth $5.5 or $6.5 million alone to JR, whatever we were paying him at that time. Minaya comes off like a bit of a tool, like they don't even take the time to look at their players on a case-by-case basis and differentiate, so that's his excuse for not being more diligent.

"On one hand, it probably was time for him to go. The Red Sox needed to be committed to Will Middlebrooks," (Terry) Francona said. "He's a good young player, and he's proven he's a guy they can build around. "But, saying that, the White Sox are going to get more from Kevin Youkilis than the Red Sox did so far. If Youk is healthy -- and he says is -- he grinds out at-bats as good as anybody in baseball, and you can hit him second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. He hits left-handers, he hits right-handers. It's a big pick-up for the White Sox, who have gotten no production at third base." http://www.freep.com/article/20120624/SPOR...is-from-Red-Sox Tigers' response is supposedly interest in Carlos Quentin, although the only "smoke" to this so far is Morosi blog/tweet about it 11 days ago. Really hope that the Tigers don't get him. I'd rather he go to CLE, but Damon's actually been closer to serviceable. Still, you don't let Damon stand in the way if you have the pieces to add Quentin in the next month, assuming he's still healthy.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120625/SPOR...ews|text|Sports Front page HORRIBLE column. That the Tigers should acquire Carlos Quentin, largely because of his defense, haha. New positioning makes him better? C'mon! Where do they come up with this stuff? Yeah, he'll give them much better offense than Boesch or Delmon Young, that's for sure. It could be kind of a nightmare scenario for the Sox if he goes off ala 2008 or the first couple of weeks back in 2012. Then again, he could just as easily get reinjured. Brennan Boesch was never really a role or part-time player, either. Not until he decided to really suck this year.

Even Phil Rogers was raving about this deal. Said it was the best KW in-season move since Garcia/Contreras in 2004. For some reason, he thought Leesman was one of the top prospects who would have been potentially included, LOL'ed at that one a bit. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,6808460.column

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:29 AM) We should have some more solid bullpen guys coming up over the next couple years. Omogrosso has some sick splits after a terrible April. Since then, he has 23.2 innings pitched, 24 hits allowed and a K/BB ratio of 28/1. Yes. But has he got back that explosive stuff he had before the injuries, like when he really looked like a very solid prospect maybe 3 years ago? By his IP/H ratio, he's still not missing enough bats. You'd like to see any reliever in the +10 or more category on that one, especially as the season's nearing the halfway point.

More examples of Ozzie Leadership Lessons By MANNY NAVARRO mnavarro@miamiherald.com Hanley Ramirez has never been one to speak up or take command of the Marlins clubhouse. It's just not who he is comfortable being -- especially not when he's struggling at the plate and not holding his end of the bargain. But with the Marlins reeling after their 15th loss in their last 17 games Saturday, the three-time All-Star and former batting champion decided it was time to do something uncomfortable. He called his first team meeting, where he told his teammates it was time "for everybody to just clear their heads, start over and hit the reset button." The Marlins (34-38) responded Sunday with their most lopsided victory of the season -- a 9-0, feel-good blowout of the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 27,888 at Marlins Park. It’s a win that put an end to a six-game losing streak -- and maybe their June swoon. "I think it was the best players meeting I've ever been involved with because of the amount of people involved with it and some of the things Hanley said to start it," said catcher John Buck, who belted a second-inning, 411-foot, three run home run that bounced off the sculpture in left-center field and gave starter Mark Buehrle an early 4-0 cushion. "I think it resonated with quite a few guys where what it did was let's go let it all hang out at the beginning of the game... He got my juices flowing." Buck, who had three RBI in his previous 24 games combined, wasn't the only player who was moved by Saturday's team meeting. Greg Dobbs, homerless in his first 100 at-bats this season, hit a two-run shot in the sixth and finished with three hits as the Marlins broke out of their offensive funk and scored more than five runs for the first time since they beat the Giants and two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum 7-6 back on May 25. Ramirez? He chipped in, too. Although he started the day 0-for-3 (dropping his average in June to .205), he stroked a two-run triple into gape in right-center in the seventh before scoring on Logan Morrison's sacrifice fly. It was all more than enough for Mark Buehrle, who after losing each of his four prior starts prior while posting a 5.48 ERA, scattered seven hits over seven innings to pick up his first win since May 26. "Everybody looked today like everything we said in the meeting [saturday] got to everybody's heart," Ramirez said. "Everybody was more relaxed, smiling. It looked like it was opening day for us today." Blue Jays starter Jesse Chavez, who gave up seven hits and six earned runs in Sunday's start, had one previous start in his career coming in -- when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up four walks and four runs to Milwaukee. Despite the victory, the Marlins completed their worst season ever in interleague play, going just 5-13 (.278). Their previous worst was during an 83-win season of 2004, when they finished 5-10 (.333) against the American League. The Marlins, who were tied with Washington for first place in the National League East on June 3rd, are now eight games back of the Nationals and a half-game up on the Phillies for last place in the division. "When we took the field Carlos Zambrano was next to me and told me 'This is the game we're going to turn it around.' I said ,'Let's win one game first and see what happens.' And they did it today," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I'm not going to say this thing happened because of the players meeting. But when you have a players meeting, the next game you act that way and play that way it seems like something very positive. It's nice to see those guys having fun on the field. It's been a little while where we don't feel this way after the game. It's a very painful feeling every time you lose." Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/24/2865...l#storylink=cpy Buehrle, who said it was good to see Ramirez initiate Saturday's meeting because 'this is kind of Hanley's clubhouse," got plenty of defensive help along the way Sunday. "We had some energy right from the get-go," said Reyes, who complained Saturday the Marlins' clubhouse was 'dead.' "Hopefully, we'll continue to play the same way the next couple games."

Ozzie's "NL-style" strategies and tactics from the Art of War weren't enough to counteract the AL this year? Shocker!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 25, 2012 -> 11:28 AM) I don't think he's claiming everyone who disliked Stewart is a meatball...there is clearly room for a difference of opinion on the guy. But I tend to agree with Jake on this one...and to Caulfield's disbelief, I didn't even see the no-hit bid against the Twins as I was out in the middle of the woods camping. He clearly is not ready to be a major league starter, but I think he will be one day. He does have a sinker that moves all over the place, it's just a question of him learning how to throw it consistently. And for Cherington's comments, what do we expect him to say? This guy really blows, but I had to get a warm body back to appease the fanbase... Best of luck to Zach and Brent...I'd rather them both still be here...but they're not, so go GGW. And I am certainly happy youtube wasn't around when I was little, because my uncle would have had so much s*** on the internet of me as a kid doing f***ed up things... I thought you were probably out formulating counter-arguments for Dick Allen and Baron to continue the attendance thread for another 20+ pages, into a new week at least. After watching Julianne Hough in Rock of Ages, I'm not sure which was more time lost from my life...but I did wade through every page in that thread. So did Dick win because we made a deal to add approximately $1 million (not sure about the buyout yet), or did you win because it was a "minor transaction" inside the range of $10 million or less in pocket change that JR and the Board has when they're gallavanting about the the town?