caulfield12

They also have the advantage of losing Dempster, Ramirez and Zambrano a lot earlier than we purge ourselves of Dunn and Rios. The huge one, though, is Soriano for 3 years at $19 million or whatever it is. And just when you start to think Peavy is finally turning things around for good and heading for a great 2012, games like last night happen and you revert to thinking he'll just be a Barry Zito-ish fifth starter who's tremendously overpaid based on past results and not present/future performance.

Calm? Hahn? Really? You're sure about that? There's better reasons for the Cubs to hire him than for the White Sox. The Cubs have always been his favorite team. We need someone who knows how to work creatively within a lowered budget (we're not going to see anything north of $105 million for a long time) and whose strength is scouting/talent identification and development. These are all weak points for Hahn. If we want to break away from this "organizational miasma" of the last 3-5 years, then why would Hahn be a better choice than KW? Because he went to Harvard Law or Northwestern, that somehow makes him more qualified for identifying better scouts or a minor league director? Whether all he's done is "follow Kenny's marching orders" or he's actually shown some independent judgement over the last 3 seasons or so, how is he given a free pass whereas KW has been hammered (and rightfully so) for the majority of his moves the past 3 years? I'd just like KW or Ozzie or anyone to point or out list 5 SPECIFIC baseball-related reasons he would be a good GM for the White Sox. He's already starting out at a disadvantage....when you're heart's in another place (Wrigley), you'll never quite put the same amount of time and effort into the job as KW and Ozzie did when they first came on board. We need a "hungry" GM. Hahn will never be that. It's not who he is. He might be "competent," but he will certainly never be a visionary. Hiring Hahn would more closely resemble the Cubs promoting Crane Kenney to GM than the White Sox hiring another KW from outside the organization, someone with a new and fresh perspective. Him taking the Cubs' job might be the greatest thing to happen to the White Sox out of the entire 2011 season (off-the-field). With that being said, KW and Ozzie and the whole coaching staff needs to go, no matter what happens with Hahn.

DLS actually recorded his first "hold" of the season yesterday... ERA just above 2.00. But F. Francisco was still the best reliever we traded (we barely had him for long, he came for Howry from BOS)...as part of the Everett deal. Guerrier was traded for Marte as a starter to the Pirates and eventually blossomed elsewhere.

Ozzie loves veterans/journeymen (Wise/Kotsay/Mackowiak)... If Humber has another bad start, he will have to be sent to the pen...and Stewart had experience in college, with the Reds and Jays (minor leagues) as a closer/reliever. That must be the thinking, easier adjustment for him compared to Phil.

With DeAza around now, wish they would play Lillibridge more instead of Vizquel for Beckham... Wishful thinking, one would suppose.

Mitchell managed another 3 K game. Down to .229 now, wonder if Dunn/Rios/Beckham are rubbing off on the entire system? Well, at least Brandon Allen hasn't been affected, hit another triple for the A's and has been on fire since the trade.

Seems a bit too soon to think about promoting Kuhn. Before the rosters expand? Or as a replacement for Beckham?

1. Rick Hahn, Assistant GM, Chicago White Sox First: Sports agent, Steinberg Moorad & Dunn School: Michigan, Harvard Law, Kellogg MBA. Baseball: High school Strength: Contract negotiation Weakness: Scouting Quote: "[being included] certainly is a compliment, and I do appreciate being included on these lists. But, frankly, it's not the same as the organization being cited for having one of top on-field prospects. In fact, if there was a way to trade me for Mike Trout, I'm guessing Kenny would drive me to the airport to make sure that deal goes through -- and I would understand." The one problem with Hahn is that he might be too good at his job. The Chicagoland native has become such an integral part of the White Sox front office that it will take the perfect offer to get him to move. Many inside baseball think that Hahn's best opportunity will be to take over from Kenny Williams, though there's no indication that's going to happen soon. Hahn has interviewed for jobs in the past, but has seldom pushed for a job, furthering the thought that he's "too comfortable." Some AGM's like Hahn, David Forst in Oakland, or Chris Antonetti in Cleveland had enough autonomy and enough of a voice before moving up that moving to some jobs would be lateral. Many expected Hahn to be a stronger candidate for the Padres job a couple years ago due to his longtime connections to Padres owner Jeff Moorad, but some think it's that very association that held him back. Hahn's name is at the top of any list an owner will put together this offseason. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writ...l#ixzz1VLSfiqv2

Twins hold on to win 6-5.

Huge two-run single by Justin Morneau with 2 outs, Nathan will try to close it out. 6-4 (at least) Twins.

Twins have the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the 9th against Valverde. Thankfully, because the White Sox sure aren't playing with any sense of urgency. Ooops...Plouffe and Mauer K'ed, one more chance to take the lead or the Tigers will take this game in all likelihood.

Bad news. Ohman warming, Buehrle streak in jeopardy. Perkins has loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 8th for the Tigers. Valverde looming.

Mauer leads off the 8th inning with a double, tied 3-3 now. Boesch was out trying to score the go-ahead run on a Miguel Cabrera single with two outs. Thome puts the Twins ahead 4-3, yay!!!

Because Dunn turned down the Nationals’ three-year offer to join the White Sox, the Nats obtained two compensatory draft picks in June. Last night they signed both of those picks, right-hander Alex Meyer, selected 23rd overall, and outfielder Brian Goodwin, selected 34th overall, in addition to their other top picks. By reaching deals with the 6’9” Meyer and Goodwin, a former Cape Cod League standout, the Nationals added significant talent to their system and even though the two players cost $5MM in total, Washington is already drawing praise for its aggressive approach. The Nationals had interest in Dunn on a multiyear deal last year, so they were wrong about him just like the White Sox and many other teams (I was wrong, too). But their decision not to outbid Chicago turned out to be an excellent one. Instead of an expensive, positionless and now unproductive player, they added two potentially impactful prospects for a fraction of the price. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com We already drafted and didn't sign Goodwin in 2009, right? Talk about kicking sand in the face...

So then what are the odds of having two players (Rios AND Dunn) like that on the same roster? 1/500? Essentially it was the leverage of those three contracts (Dunn/Rios/Peavy) working in concert that has jeopardized both this season and all immediate future seasons. One...or maybe even two of them, but not all three. Imagine if Buehrle or Konerko weren't producing as well as they ever have?

And let's not acquiring Peavy when he was injured...it would be hard to argue the Rios and Peavy moves weren't even bigger gambles (than Dunn), both looking back with hindsight but also at the time they were made. It's usually better to invest that type of money into difference makers at SS, 2B, CF and catcher. Offensively, buying production out of DH, LF and 1B is cheaper, or at least it should be. And probably you can now add 3B as another position where it's better to shift limited resources in terms of ROI offensively.

Speaking of 60 years old, is Contreras ever coming back with the Phillies this season?

Or a gay but partnered firefighter raising an adopted child together. No way that would fly in Texas (the statue for him).

Good, now's as good a time as any to see what Flowers can do in the heat of a pennant race instead of meaningless late September AB's.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2011 -> 08:53 AM) So your solution is to never sign players to large contracts essentially? Isn't that what the White Sox have essentially done, since Jaime Navarro? At least until KW took on the Rios guaranteed contract, traded for Peavy and signed Dunn. The only long-term deals were for players already entrenched with the organization like Konerko, Buehrle, Contreras...with the notable exception of the Linebrink move (which wasn't megadollars). Maybe you could point to the Garcia extension...or bringing Jim Thome's contract into the fold, or Javy Vazquez.

Is holding KW responsible for Dunn basically the same thing as saying you were there second-guessing President Obama and the administration that the stimulus package wasn't going to do nearly enough...wasn't going to have more than a short-term impact and then POOF, dissipate?? (of course it's NOT, right?) (Paul Krugman from the NY Times was one who was right from the beginning, similar to a handful of the anti-Dunn posters...) The point remains. KW is still ultimately responsible. And, in all likelihood, voters in 2012 will hold Obama accountable for his track record of economic decisions as well, regardless of what happened under the previous administration. Just like KW has a similarly bad track record of trades and acquisitions since the end of 2008. One bad move can be excused. But a downward moving trendline...not so easily. So ask yourself...if you're willing to let KW off the hook, shouldn't any executive be extended the same amount of leash?

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/7111289-419...ss-for-him.html

But general manager Ken Williams still isn’t sold. He’s like every other Sox fan who feels good about his team one day but not so good the next. He wants to feel great every day but he just can’t do it. “Listen, I wish I did,’’ Williams said before the Sox faced the visiting Indians and right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez in their attempt to top the .500 mark for the first time since April 15. “But I’m not going to tell you something that I don’t believe. I don’t have a good feel after 120 games. And it’s just been inconsistent play. I’m still very optimistic. Again, if we start to click, even just a little bit, we can put together a heck of a run. But the fact of the matter is we haven’t, so I can’t assume it’s going to happen.’’ “All I can expect is the effort and intensity to be there every day,’’ Williams said. “We’ve got 42 games left. It’s not hard to keep your intensity level up with 42 games. That’s what I expect and hopefully we can get on a roll and some guys can get some confidence back maybe that they haven’t had thus far.’’ “I’ve made no secret about it for quite a while that we are limited from a payroll standpoint at this point and time,’’ said Williams, who trimmed payroll by dealing away Edwin Jackson at the deadline while adding to his bullpen by getting Jason Frasor. “We haven’t earned our fans’ patronage enough to put us in that position and that’s nobody’s fault except our own fault. Anything that would come across right now, even if it were appealing from a talent standpoint, we are not in a position to be able to do it. Again, that’s our fault. That’s nobody’s fault, except mine, my staff’s and the people in uniform.’’ Williams said he is optimistic before every game. “I only get surprised at the end of the game where it’s again, we haven’t supported our pitching staff,’’ he said. “That’s my surprise. I keep waiting for it to come, waiting for it to happen.’’ http://www.suntimes.com/sports

The Indians really didn't test Flowers (defensively) as much as one would have thought going into last night's game... Other than Carrera, there's not much speed on that team. Sizemore (when healthy) is a shadow of his former self. Brantley's a Denard Span-Lite, but nothing to get too excited about, either. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1341468.story Article on Flowers' efforts last night http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,2585434.story

To say we're anything near a Top 5 organization RIGHT NOW is really stretching it, though. We have a dysfunctional GM/manager relationship, there's no getting around that. We have two players in hyperbolically bad slumps/seasons that won't go away...and that the fans have booed more than cheered in 2011. We have one legit young hitting prospect in our minor league system, Viciedo. We can't seem to get much over 25,000 in attendance for "key" match-ups even when school is out. In all likelihood, we'll have to shed $15-25 from our 2011 payroll if we don't make the playoffs, and, even if we do, we still probably won't be profitable. We would be dead-and-buried playing in any other division. Humber has probably been pushed past the point where he can be an effective starter we can count on down the stretch, and Stewart's an inexperienced rookie we had to acquire because KW was forced to shed Edwin Jackson in order to get something of value back immediately. Beckham actually has succeeded in finally looking even worse than Dunn and Rios in recent weeks. We have SOME reasons for optimism. Morel has turned it on. DeAza, Flowers and Lillibridge have really contributed. Outside of the fastball to Hafner in the 8th last night, Sale has been the best lefty reliever in baseball for going on 2 months. With all the talent on this team, odds were at some point there would be a "regression" to mean. It's hard to start being a revisionist historian and saying "Ozzie's just done a great managerial job" this season to get us back on the periphery of contention. But in terms of going forward the next 3-5 years, there aren't many teams that are in worse positions in the AL. The only ones you could argue would be the Mariners, possibly the Twins, and the Orioles. Because of their stadium issues, the A's and the Rays (and having to compete in the AL East). But we're still closer to the Cubs or Astros in degrees of proximity (minor league system, bad contracts, attendance/revenue generation) than the Red Sox, Yankees and Rangers.