caulfield12

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 03:22 PM) ColombianCupid.com popped up on the ad banner this time. (Warning/disclaimer, the following tangent is not intended to completely derail the thread but posted merely for entertainment purposes in the dead of winter when fake Gavin Floyd trade rumors and Straw Man Arguments over KW are all that are left to entertain now that college bowl season is mercifully over). You would not believe how hot Sofia Vergara was as a blonde at age 20-25. I used to watch her on UNIVISION, there was a show called FUERA DE SERIE that came out with a new program nearly every weekend. Shakira. Esperanza Gomez (google is your friend). If you ever get a chance to go on vacation there (either the Caribbean Coast or Bogota/Cali/Medellin), it's the most beautiful country (overall) that I've ever been in...and it's really not as dangerous as Mexico, Thailand or Russia, not even close. My one year teaching there might have been the most fun I've had in my entire life. Just make sure you like futbol, dancing and drinking/fiestas (in no particular order). Would like to see J4L's recap posts after six weeks spent in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.

Pretty soon, we're going to need some good nicknames for these guys. We have Marinez, Oswaldo Martinez and now another Martinez. Not to mention Carlos Martinez's son (I think still with us?)

Prime example, there was a lot of moaning and complaining when Aaron Miles was traded for Juan Uribe. Many Sox followers actually had gotten to know Aaron personally (a little bit like the Chris Getz fans, Jeremy Reed, Anderson, Rowand and Crede, etc.) and were huge supporters of his because of their "rooting for him" to succeed and make it with the Sox. You would have thought we'd traded away a future 7 time All-Star. And yet Juan Uribe, after Jose Contreras, was probably one of the five or six most important components of our winning a World Series in 2005. The point is...over time, there are always 2-3 players (Tyler Kuhn and Doyle more recently, CJ Retherford before, Maurice Gartrell, another AA/AAA outfielder whose name eludes me, Cook maybe?) who put up very good minor league numbers and yet have about a 3-5% chance to stick in the majors. Having worked in minor league baseball, the allure of the purity of the game and the real connections you can make with some of your favorites...well, there's nothing like that experience at a big league ballpark. In the end, the minor leagues tend to get romanticized...this has never been KW's philosophy, it has always been 95% about the results with the big league club, with the ill-fated Hudson/E. Jackson trade being the most prominent example. In the end, it's exciting for the fans to have something to look forward to in the future...and I remember even at my age being excited in 2009 just to listen to the Barons games when they had that incredible array of offensive firepower the first 2 months of the season. But where are all those guys now? We know about Viciedo, Danks, Beckham, Allen and Flowers, but the reality is that most prospects bust somewhere along the way...or they go "poof" like Borchard/Anderson/Fields, even after experiencing some limited success (particularly in Josh's case). In the end, finding young/projectable starting pitching seems to be the key...and they're going after that. But the dearth of impact position players in the system has been a concern for seemingly 15 years now. Part of the problem is that we were cut off from almost all of the DR and Venezuela for most of that time, so we lost out on a lot of talented ballplayers, particularly at the high skill positions such as middle infield and CF.

Why does it FEEL like Paddy is having more of an impact than Hahn? Molina, the Frasor trade, the rumored Floyd deal, this signing...now, if we can only start to finally see some progress again in the DR. Pretty sure Jesus Pena was the last one to come out of there, and that was seemingly ages ago. Just joking Rickster, surely the Danks deal was 75-80% your doing, and Danks' agent. And, to feel better, we should accept the idea this signing now pushed us past the Indians and Marlins...of course, they sign Cespedes, that goes out the window. We sign Cespedes and he doesn't play in the big leagues before SEPT and we're quickly #20-25. We should certainly see progression from our starting pitching prospects...and bounceback years from Mitchell and Walker.

Yay, we have a wave of Venezuelans in the pipeline now, to go with our "Cuban Connection." Tanks, Missiles and Cespedes THE DESTROYER. We will blitzkrieg our way through the AL Central!

If you really look at it closely, we're somewhere in the middle from 1995-2011 in terms of producing players on a major league roster. Retroactively now, we have to get SOME credit for Michael Morse, at least identifying him and drafting him. Gio Gonzalez, Daniel Hudson and Chris Sale all have the ability to be front-line starters, no worse than 3's in almost every MLB rotation. So when you go back and assess all these other organizations over the last 5 years, how many have done that? Potential and actuality are 2 quite different things. Look at the Royals' list of first round draft picks for 20 years. Yes, Borchard, Anderson, Fields...all those guys failing killed us, particularly Borchard, due to the pressing need for an impact LH bat, which led to trading for Thome and Swisher, which led to... Not developing any elite minor league starters recently led to the ill-advised Hudson trade (although everyone here believed he was "CLOSE" to MLB ready, making that deal even more ironic). We all know about Beckham...but that particular pick looked like one of the best in that draft until 2011. And it wouldn't be shocking if Mitchell, Walker or Thompson...one of those 3 guys, at least, makes an impact. We always hear how the 2nd year back is the key indicator for injury comebacks. Let's just wait and see, no other choice. You also have to look at our ability to find guys like Thornton, Jenks, Santos, Humber and DeAza. How many teams have picked up 4-5 pretty high impact players for virtually nothing over that five year period? It's almost like they had another 5 #1 draft picks, if you want to look at it that way. Then you have Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo. Added on top of that is the impact Lillibridge made for us, and potentially Tyler Flowers. IMO, if Viciedo and Sale (particularly mowing down AA/AAA as a starter) were still in our system, it would have to be ranked around 18-22. We're still in bad shape in the DR and Venezuela, but it's not nearly as bleak as it was for most of 2010-11. And there's this little issue of a lot of the talent in our system (outside of starting pitching) having nowhere to go...outside of the catching position, we COULD be set at every position for at least 2012 and 2013. It's the "where would they play?" argument. At least with the bullpen shortage, there's a clear number of open spots (2 and possibly 3) and there should be a huge competition for them. It will be good to see players coming to ST with hunger and desire in their games again. Dunn/Peavy/Beckham/Rios all have a ton to prove, and the spotlight will be on Viciedo and Chris Sale as well to see exactly what they can produce.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 01:13 AM) can I help get her pregnant? You can be the back-up plan, lol. You're like the Rick Hahn in this situation. To tell the truth, I'm 42 and have never had a child or intentionally set about to have sex with the purpose of getting a woman pregnant, so it's making me a bit nervous that I have to perform "under pressure," and I don't think the odds of getting pregnant from just 1-2 times could be much more than 20-30%. The really funny thing is that I just talked to my ex in the Philippines and she doesn't want to get married but she now also wants to have a baby with me in 2013, haha. So I'm going from babyless to Philander Rodman (Dennis' dad) in the span of one week. Knock on wood/crosses fingers.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 08:31 AM) I understand why she would potentially want someone such as yourself to impregnate her (I guess...)...my question is how did you meet her and what has she wanted with you up until this point? We met through a local fitness facility's badminton club. There are over 100 members, we play from 700 pm - 900 pm every Mon/Wed/Fri. So just be careful...the next time you join a badminton club, the same thing might happen to you (or not, since there are so few of these in the US)! As far as what she wanted...I had an inkling, but was still pretty surprised, because up until about 10 days ago, she was just asking for my advice and opinion about what she should do, her various options (I said from the husband's POV, it would be VERY hard for me to accept another man sleeping with my wife and that I would probably prefer the science/tech solution despite the additional expense.)

•One scout guaranteed to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that at least five teams will claim Mets outfielder Fernando Martinez, who is now on waivers (Twitter link). INTEREST? We already went there with Lastings Milledge.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 01:23 AM) Correct me if I am wrong here, but weren't the Astros very similar to the Sox in that they retooled and went for it every year? If so, are they in a terrible situation because they are rebuilding or because of the decisions they made beforehand? As far as your last statement goes, we very much would become the Astros if everything were to go wrong, not that I think it will. Carlos Lee was probably the biggest mistake....which eventually led to their dumping Oswalt, Pence, Bourn, Berkman, etc. Bagwell, like Frank Thomas, got old or "de-PED'ed" fast. Lidge pretty much just blew up on them. Obviously Berkman still had some life left in that bat of his. Wallace never worked out there, and Chris Burke totally played himself out of baseball. Luke Scott ended up in BALT. Plus, they had a lot of injuries to their pitching staff...kind of like a perfect storm of things going wrong, not unlike the 2011 White Sox season (albeit they were relatively healthy).

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AtKx...n_astros_011012 For the complete rebuild backers out there, look at the LASTROS. Similar comparison organizationally...in terms of media market, revenues/attendance, past history of winning or competing most of the time, etc. We do not want to be where they are, that's for darned sure. At least we have a decent chance to win the division if everything goes right for the Sox.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:29 PM) I don't really see how our bonus skimming scandal would affect us in Cuba. I think the fact that we signed Viciedo months after firing Wilder is proof of that. Not sure why you think it would. As for signing Cespedes, we're talking a near major leage ready 5 tool talent. Guys like that aren't available in the draft, so I don't see how bringing up our lack of spending there really makes sense. You don't think KW would be willing to take a chance on a potential superstar? He's gambled on much less in the past. Agree with everything you've written 100%, except for your generic handle, haha.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:56 PM) Wow, I am glad I didn't notice this discussion when I was at work today...I would have gotten nothing done whatsoever! Great discussion guys, especially Russ...I think you're right on in a lot of your thinking, even though we probably differ a bit in terms of ways to build an effective organization. I agree with a lot of things that people on the "development" side of the fence are saying, but I still maintain that there are blatant inefficiencies in that method which remain unmentioned and unaccounted for. Additionally, there are inefficiencies in the free agent marketplace (due to a tremendous swing towards the develop-from-within philosophy) which can be capitalized upon to the advantage of a team that can sustain an above-average payroll. I guess my questions, which I have consistently asked but not really received input on, with the possible exception of qwerty, are the following: a) Have there been studies published which show the economic impact of "A" rated prospects which bust? b) Have there been studies published, whether using anecdotal evidence or historical salary data, which predict the optimum levels of capital allocation across the different levels of a MLB organization? c) Can a MLB franchise using the development model sustain attendance in the top third of the League when it will consistently lose homegrown players to FA or trade them away? I know some of you will raise the point that by winning with the development model, you thereby draw more and thus become able to sustain higher payrolls. However, I think this is a dangerous unintended consequence of the develop from within model, as homegrown players become fan favorites, forcing teams to spend to keep them or risk fan alienation, i.e. Joe Mauer. I'll be very interested moving forward to seeing how the Twins fanbase reacts with what might be an underperforming team combined with the luster wearing off a new stadium. Anyways, just some of my thoughts in regards to the discussion that I never really see mentioned. I'm sure it's out there somewhere. In general, you'd have to think that any team that wasn't able to push their payroll up in the $90-105 million range, at a minimum, would have serious trouble sustaining itself for more than a 2-3 year run. There are only 10-12 markets in the majors that can produce that kind of revenue and spending, regardless of the team's win/loss record. I think the Brewers are one of the few examples of a small/mid-market club that have really done exceptionally well...and their fanbase has increased exponentially as a result. Obviously, the new stadium helped significantly, but so did producing/drafting stars like Fielder, Braun or Weeks and trading for Greinke, etc. The point about alienating the fanbase by not signing a Mauer or Fielder is a very good one. The Cardinals, same situation with Pujols...White Sox with Buehrle, because of 3-4 bad contracts. The Twins put all their eggs in the Mauer basket and it has already forced them to part with Nathan, D. Young, Cuddyer and Kubel. Probably Liriano as well, sooner or later. They kind of got hit by a double whammy with Morneau's possibly career-ending medical problems on top of Mauer's issues. Mariners, another comparison with a declining Ichiro sticking around (because the revenues he generates offset the value of his contract from a cost/benefit standpoint)...or the White Sox, with Konerko. 15-18 teams, they would be in a position where they would have to dump Konerko, Thornton, Floyd, Crain, AJ, etc. We, fortunately, are not. In the end, the A's and Rays couldn't sustain their success because of ballpark/financial reasons. For every example like that, there's the Brewers and Rangers to examine. Or look at the Tigers as well, because on the surface, we should be able to dominate our division more consistently...and yet we're getting outspent from a payroll standpoint, outdrawn and outmaneuvered by a more bold and daring ownership group and GM combo. In Cabrera and Verlander, they have two absolute studs that nobody else in the division can measure up against. Maybe the DBacks this year would be another organization to look at, although they've struggled to put fannies in the seats ever since the glow of the 2001 World Series championship wore off. It will be interesting to see how much an extended run of success will reinvigorate their season ticket base. The MAIN consolation in our particular division is that the likelihood of the Royals or Indians being able to keep their "waves" of talent intact and affordable in order to make that extended performance run....at best, 25%. In the end, that's the biggest single issue facing AA...no matter how well they perform, if they're still considered the second tier to the Yankees and Red Sox and can't ever get over that hump once or twice, then the acquisition of all that talent in their system will have been for naught, because they'll eventually have to blow it apart and sell off the spare parts.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:57 PM) Filipinocupid.com keeps popping up on the ad banner at the top of the site Technically, it should be filipinAcupid.com, Filipinos are males from the Philippines, the -AS ending denotes female. Like Russian women, kind of, father's name is Sharapov or Kournikov, daughters end an A at the end of their name. Or Spanish, where the A usually denotes feminine and the O masculine at the end of a word.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 11:02 PM) Ok, so why in the hell are you two friends again? In a nutshell, she is married to a foreigner. The husband can't get her pregnant (sterile). So...she thought it was best that her child be "bi-racial" so that other Chinese people would accept more easily that he was the father...didn't want to do adoption or sperm bank/donor/scientific method. Says there's "no feeling" that way. Didn't want to adopt...not interested. Wanted to have a child that was her own. Tricky situation.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 08:58 PM) Greg will be there, you know it. No, he will say he has no desire to support an organization that kicked out his favorite manager of all-time, one who will undoubtedly go on to win at least 2-3 more World Series titles in the NL.

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 09:31 PM) No, I have a Kenny Williams sucks club with myself. Don't associate me with Greg. Okay, (for Greg). I vow (New Year's resolution #3) not to bring up Lawrence or KC again before the season starts. Only THE SHADOW. LOL.

Surprised Ozzie hasn't already signed Juan Pierre for a final go-around with the Marlins.

Surprised Ozzie hasn't already signed Juan Pierre for a final go-around with the Marlins.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 07:22 PM) Ozzie. Guillen. Quit. Is that Morse code? Telegraph? Stop.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 07:26 PM) Wasn't Glavine the only guy that came through their system? Maybe Avery too. I don't remember. Smoltz was from the Tigers, the infamous Doyle Alexander deal. Steve Avery, definitely. Jason Schmidt came through their system, as well.

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 07:55 PM) "Bud, what would you say about the mess our organization has been put in, having spent money on long term contracts for underachieving ball players? Is there a way to cleanse the organization of bad leadership (who canned the wrong man in Guillen), maintain payroll and still be a competitive team?" Do you and Greg have an Ozzie Supporters Forever FB group?

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 08:01 PM) It's okay though. We won't need prospects when our powerhouse rotation that rivals the Braves of the 90's comes to fruition. WAVE 1=Sale, Stewart, Axelrod WAVE 2=Molina, Santiago, Castro, Petricka, Leesman, Er. Johnson, Rienzo, etc. TSUNAMI ALERT=oodles and oodles of prospects galore back from Gavin Floyd, Matt Thornton, Crain, etc.

Marty34 is fun to read.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 05:46 PM) I disagree, most of the pitchers and starting lineup came from trades or were in our farm system. I agree Loaiza wasn't. Karchner wasn't but Garland was 18 or 19 when we got him so he learned here. Jenks was 1/2 year but the sox turned him into a releiver. PK was here but it is still a product of the sytem (cameron) which got him here. Everett was a trade. No matter how you look at it most of the team was a product of the farm system or was acquired by a product of the farm system. Not everyone but most. even the great theo got really lucky that a twins castoff decided to start taking PEDs to laed boston to a Series. But that year, the "over the top" moves weren't farm related... AJ Iguchi Dye Hermanson El Duque