caulfield12

You don't move a Gold Glove caliber 2B unless you're replacing him with a comparable player, because then you're creating a hole somewhere else on the infield.

Bring back Vizquel or Ventura should be Don Kessinger.

Maybe Viciedo WOULD be better at 3B if we actually had someone who could play LF competently and ALSO contribute offensively. But still a horrible idea.

There's your run, Jakemeister. Even when the Cubans both do something productive in an inning, the way things are going, it doesn't turn out very well.

Hudson's going to be the death of this team.

Stranger things have happened, but no way Verlander comes unglued again at home with a 4-0 lead. Cincy and Cleve battling 1-1 in the 5th, two control pitchers in Tomlin and ASU's Mike Leake, who was the one of the rare pitchers who went directly to the pros, followed the next year by Chris Sale.

Greg, shouldn't the Royals have released half their pitching staff with that theory? Or maybe more?

He also used to do a lot of Big 12/8 basketball games...not a bad announcer, and quite a few NCAA pairings with Vitale when there was a Big Monday game.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 01:31 AM) if they started drawing 30k a night here on out, they may end up averaging 25k when the season ended. that's middle of the pack, their normal attendance rank. IF IF IF being a huge one. We've only drawn that many, what, 2-3 times all season? And that would still only put us at 23rd in the majors. Middle of the pack now in the majors is low to mid 30's.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 02:07 AM) I don't think the rest of the league was high on Danks as much the Sox kingdom and his agent. Wasn't he expecting a big payday elsewhere only to sign with the Sox again while for a long time saying no to a Sox contract? Where's the magic in Don Cooper? He's worked with Floyd and Danks, Thornton for an extended time and there is nothing but regression. Quintana, Humber for 1/2+ season and the PERFECTO, Nathan Jones until the last week, Sergio Santos.... Peavy and Sale aren't pitching magically this season? Dank was hurt. Thornton was ruined by the closer experiment.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 02:19 AM) If true, good. I have no idea if Axelrod can pitch at the major league level, but his AAA numbers have earned him the chance to try. Terry Doyle, Deunte Heath, Veal and Bruney say hello as well. There's more than numbers in judging prospects vs. suspects.

Yeah, that's all we need, to get Gourriel, and we'll be all set.

While we're at it, shouldn't Stewart have an MRI or possibly TJ surgery? There's no way he's going to be effective at 88-91 MPH. There has to be SOME reason he's gone from a top prospect (remember, he started more as relief prospect and then converted) who threw 93-96 MPH to what we're seeing out of him NOW.

Between variable/dynamic ticket pricing schemes and the secondary ticket market, tickets should be available at a price that fans think is just. And given that that are several tiers of seating, there should be a “right price” for anyone who is interested in going to a game. Yet, by the looks of it, fans are not buying. In trying to generate ticket sales, teams and consultants have responded with all sorts of programs. These programs basically adjust ticket prices according to daily demand and then variously reach out to both avid and casual fans. This way, with variable/dynamic ticket pricing, team decision-makers effectively end-up reacting in “real-time” rather than having to predict weeks or months in advance what will be the demand for a specific game. This seems rational and is essentially the thinking that the pricing strategies are based on. But it’s worth pointing out that these strategies may have two key design flaws, both of which can be fixed: 1) The first flaw is that there may be too many choices. Conventional wisdom is that human beings prefer to have as many options as possible because its gives us the freedom to choose. (Isn’t it also the American way to have the opportunity to choose, apple pie in hand, to purchase tickets to a baseball game from either an official team website or secondary market websites—and at a price that has been set by the “free market”? The excitement is almost too much to bear.) And that may be the problem. As the psychologist Barry Schwartz has explained, choosing between 175 types of salad dressing tends to paralyze a person’s decision-making and leave that person dissatisfied. Can the same be said for ticket sales, especially when they include a daily (sometimes hourly) fluctuation in price? 2) The second flaw is that the pricing schemes ultimately shift the burden of pricing decision and activity from the franchise (the producer) to the fan (the customer). With variable/dynamic ticket pricing, fans are in a way tasked with trying to determine what is the right price for a ticket and, therefore, are effectively being put to work. Or may be this way of getting tickets is now fully integrated into “the experience.” Also, in the long-run, variable/dynamic ticket pricing may tax franchise personnel more than establishing ticket prices in the off-season and sticking with them for the 162-game slate. The traditional way requires relatively long-range planning, and is grounded in knowing what customers consider value and organizing to anticipate how they might react to the team’s performance throughout a season. Now, with variable/dynamic ticket pricing, the planning has switched to the short-term; the only real long-term consideration is which formula will be used in the season-long pricing strategy. How many successful businesses focused on “making numbers” today while sacrificing the needs of tomorrow—and existed long enough to tell about it? The general point is this: stop making ticket sales so confusing. http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/20...mlb-attendance/ FWIW, White Sox tv ratings were 25th in 2010.

"Dynamic" playing at home is the only solution for this mess, lol. Even then, it's going to take a lot more than that 17-5 run (or 26-5 in 2010) to fully convince anyone to buy in at the prices they're charging. It's almost like they want to DISCOURAGE fans because that will lead to higher media/broadcast and advertising rate revenues if everyone watches from home or MLBTV.com. But I can't imagine the ratings blip from .1 or .2 for a Nielsen share is anywhere close to the difference of 1-2-3,000 fans per night that they're losing out on because of the dynamic pricing and parking prices. That would be a good cost/benefit analysis for an econ student. What are the t.v. ratings so far this year for the Cubs and Sox? Compared to 2011?

If Puig is 21, depending on how quickly things go with his residency(personally, I'll be shocked if he's able to be signed before July 2nd) he's much better off just waiting until he turns 23 and then can receive a Cespedes/Soler/regular FA contract. Which would probably be at least 3-4 times the size of one he'll get under the new IFA rules. Saw this at a Cubs' blogsite. They think they're getting this guy for sure because of Soler and Concepcion. Torres reped Concepcion, and also brought him through Mexico. So the maximum they could spend to sign him would be $2.9 million after July deadline, right?

And yet whatever KC's home record is these days, it won't matter when we play them, right?

The Jays obviously thought enough of him to give him a handful of starts last season when they were still in the division race. That said, he's mysteriously lost 3-4 MPH on his fastball. And Molina's lost the ability to strike out opposing hitters or record a sub 4.5 ERA in a pitcher's haven. Go away, Marco Paddy!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 01:08 AM) I don't think so, but if you're correct, any talk about empty seats by White Sox employees should be banned. That's why it's always double-talk to complain about attendance when it's not fans they want, it's fans that pay the "maximized" or idealized amount of money (from the Sox standpoint) to attend games...which isn't really fair in this economy to criticize anyone with a family for hesitating. Even if their attendance "exploded" comparatively from here on out, the best they would possibly do is 23rd in the majors. They're 27th now...and more than 500 away from 26 and 25. It will be pretty tight by the end of the Cubs' series, but they'll still be 27th despite their best drawing home series of the year. That alone is pretty indicative of how the attendance has been so far.

You have to like that Torres is involved, that gives us at least a 50/50 chance if we really want him one would imagine. He knows how well our Cuban players have been treated, the example most recently being the Contreras/Ramirez gold medel "re-awarding."

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 12:09 AM) There's no reason to think Floyd won't be better. He does this every year. Humber is scary. As for Sale and Peavy, Quintana regressing, it probably will happen, but the Sox hitters also benefit from the summer air. It really doesn't matter if they will 4-2 or 6-4. We can't even use the "just look at the back of his baseball card" excuse with Humber. Floyd at least has the track record, but we saw that Dunn, Rios and Beckham never came out of their slumps for all of last year...it could conceivably happen with Floyd the way he's going.

All things considered, Tyler Kuhn might be the next best choice...and the organization felt the same about him as Doyle, essentially. But I would pick him over McPherson or Johnson because he makes contact and won't kill you defensively.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 19, 2012 -> 10:28 PM) Many have been crying recently that Danks was given a contract extension. Now that he's for a little while, that shouldn't be used as a reason the team can't hang with Detroit. They have been hanging with them without Danks being healthy, and Floyd and Humber being horrible up until now. If Floyd or Humber or both bounces back and Danks returns healthy, the Sox will be fine. There's also no guarantee Detroit remains healthy. I voted that KW should have done exactly what he did, despite the way things had been working so far this year. But therein lies the problem...Sale/Peavy/Quintana can't possibly be as good as they have been, and have tons of room for regression and/or being shut down prematurely due to their previous work totals in 2010 and 2011. Humber, Floyd, Axelrod, Stewart, Castro, don't have anywhere to go but up, same with Hudson/3B. At best, it's probably a wash. Which is more likely, for Peavy/Quintana to fall back or for Humber/Floyd to post 3.5-4.5 ERA's in the heart of summertime at USCF?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2012 -> 11:01 PM) Yes. Doyle is somewhere around the 10th to 12th starter in the organization right now. Danks Peavy Sale Floyd Humber Quintana Stewart Axelrod Castro You might even say that someone like Hector Santiago could be stretched out ahead of Doyle, and throw in Pedro Hernandez as a maybe as well. Poor Nestor.

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Jun 19, 2012 -> 11:48 PM) If that Is the case why not try wilkins at third. I wonder if we could convert the kid we just drafted in the first round to play 3rd? He is big, athletic, and had a plus arm. Wr are loaded with outfield talent. He might grow even more into a corner infielder. Because he's 3-4 years away from being ready for the majors. Because KW should remember himself what dramatic position changes did to his playing career. Because of the Viciedo fiasco at 3B. Loaded with OF talent? Not in 2015, and Hawkins still might not be ready yet for the major league roster.