caulfield12

We've had luck with Verlander in the past ("stuff" pitchers don't bother us as much as other teams), and Floyd has dominated the Tigers on occasion....but I certainly wouldn't put much money on the White Sox to win this game. 6 GB after Friday would seem like a lot after being only 3-3 1/2 GB a week ago. Yeah, things can change quickly with a hot streak...if we could actually win more than 4 games in a row. One way or the other, the next 2-3 weeks will define the direction of this organization for a long time to come.

Basically we owe Rios $43 million more dollars (including buyout and $1 million per season salary increase in the case of a trade b4 2014) Young would cost us $24 million through the end of next season. Obviously Young would be a huge upgrade over Morel at 3B, but... Who would play CF? You're going to have to make another trade/acquisition or play some combination of Lillibridge/DeAza/Danks in CF. Assuming we kept Quentin and Viciedo together, the huge premium would then go to finding a CFer who could play stout defense to make up for the shortcomings on either side of him. So let's say you trade Rios and Jackson for Young. That makes sense. But trading Rios and Floyd for Young, that puts our entire rotation into flux for 2012 because then we'd only have Danks (maybe), Humber, Peavy and Sale (???) and another ??? at the 5th spot. Who knows what ends up happening with Buehrle. I don't think he would want to stay if he knew he was going to be part of a 2-3 year rebuilding/restructuring effort.

Probably they would be more offended to be asked to "come out" on a message board, lol. According to all the demographic statistics, somewhere between 6-10% of the posters here are gay. Yes, even on a sportsy, "masculine/hetero" message board.

Mitchell now has 21 doubles on the season. .238's a heckuva a lot better than where he was at a month ago. That's encouraging. Of course the strikeouts, less so. Is anyone buying Silverio as an actual prospect still at 3B? Also good to see Keenyn Walker with four doubles out of his first six hits and off to a hot start for now out of the gate.

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 09:20 PM) whom is realistically tradable? I think to anwser that you have to look at seasons coming down the road. The White Sox only have four starters signed going into next season with Jackson and Buehrle being free agents, so looking at that you certainly don't trade Danks, Floyd, Peavy or Humber. You can move either Jackson or Buehrle however, but given the two, Jackson is much more likely to be moved.Rumors are swirling that the Yankees, and other teams, are calling for Edwin Jackson. White Sox will probably want either MLB-ready player or a regular starter from the Yankees or anyone else for that matter. I would love Brett Gardner on the South Side but just Jackson probably wouldn't cut it Looking at the line-up, the White Sox have most of them coming back next season with only Pierre being a free agent after this season. However, after 2011 Carlos Quentin is a free agent. If you move Quentin, you have to find someone to replace him, obviously. You assume Viciedo replaces Pierre, and you can probably put Alejandro De Aza in for Quentin if he's moved. The White Sox could also want to resign him with roughly 14 million coming off the payroll after 2012. Rumor was flying that Carlos Quentin could be sent to Atlanta for minor league starter Brandon Beachy. Looking at his stats, adding Beachy would be a solid pick up, but then you lose a guy who usually has a high OBP, and when heathy, a guy who can club hit you around 25 home runs. Plus you still have Edwin Jackson. If they do move Quentin then don't re-sign Pierre this offseason, which they wont, then Sox can put two young pieces in the two corner spots in De Aza and Viciedo. Its kind of lame that four players take up 55MM on the payroll, but if they produce then you're getting what you pay for. If not, then its dead money. And so far only Konerko is being what we paid for. I assume Quentin is getting moved because even though they can probably re-sign him after next season, I don't think they do I reckon they're content with Viciedo in RF and its less money the brass has to shell out, and I assume Jackson is moved because he's not resigning and they want something for him instead of letting him walk. Jackson is free to walk as a Free Agent whether we offer him arbitration or not. Right oow, we'd get back a sandwich pick as he's classified as a Type B FA (as a Boras client, he's likely to be able to sign for more than his current salary with at least 2-3 other MLB teams). We control Quentin's rights for one more season. Probably, if it went to arbitration, he'd receive $7.25-8.25 million for next season, assuming he puts up another season of 25-35 homers and 85-110 RBI's. Danks, Floyd and then maybe Sale have the most value to other organizations....Buehrle would probably net you a Top 10-15 prospect in another organization, but mostly it would be a salary dump. And the odds would be at least 50/50 we could get him back in Chicago again, although a lot of posters believe he only would go to St. Louis in a trade. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out, like in 2007. Peavy's almost more unmoveable than Dunn or Rios....unless he features his 95 MPH fastball for 3 starts in a row...or he keeps pitching that well through August and another team does a waiver claim. Then you're still left with a big hole in your rotation for 2012. At this point, the organization seems wedded to the fact that Peavy will finally be 100% again in 2012 and it's too early to cut bait on that contract (along with the insurance subsidy we're getting)....that the odds on him justifying that contract have to turn in our favor soon. We'll probably take a much longer look at Hector Santiago as a 5th starter as well if he continues to pitch as well as he did the first two times out of the pen...featuring the same quality of stuff with 3-4 different pitches and the changes of speed he was able to command.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/13/qa-e...raight-friends/ Maybe this will help. Doubt anyone will read, but thought I'd try.

Cue Greg speech comparing Ozzie Guillen as a player to Juan Pierre...and how almost everyone on the White Sox team except for Konerko and AJ has a lower batting average. I do remember assiduously keeping track of the White Sox stats with a handheld calculator, piece of paper and box score and recall that usually our team batting average in that time period ranged from probably low .240's to high .250's (before the arrival of Thomas, Ventura and Sosa). 1985 GUILLEN 273 SOX AVG 253 1986 GUILLEN 250 SOX AVG 247 1987 GUILLEN 279 SOX AVG 258 1988 GUILLEN 261 SOX AVG 244

Umm....okay, Rasmus is just a cheaper version of Carlos Quentin who can play CF adequately.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 08:05 PM) He had no power and didn't walk at all. He wasn't much with the stick, but he did seem to come through in big situations. I thought you were talking about Howard Marshall, Anna Nicole Smith's ex-husband.

Looks like there's at least a 50/50 chance Miguel Cabrera misses the first two games with a mild oblique strain. http://www.freep.com/article/20110710/SPORTS02/110710025 10 Reasons the Tigers will win the AL Central for the first time in history Twins All-Star outfielder Michael Cuddyer frequently has pointed out through the years that they often have surged once they begin playing more games within the division. After being 20 games under .500 and 16½ games out in early June, the Twins will charge out of the All-Star break thinking they have a real shot at another title. “We didn’t give up,” Cuddyer said. “We never folded.” And the rest of the division expects another charge as the Twins get healthy and sort out their bullpen. “It seems like every year they do something miraculous and get themselves back in it,” Detroit righthander Justin Verlander said. “You can never write them off.” Detroit slipped into first place Sunday, and Verlander wants his team to pull away. The Tigers have had issues on the mound, leading to the recent firing of pitching coach Rick Knapp. There are questions about their defense, and it doesn’t help that the Tigers have played .459 ball after the break under manager Jim Leyland over the years. But with Verlander, slugger Miguel Cabrera, emerging catcher Alex Avila and closer Jose Valverde, the Tigers might be the most dangerous team in the Central. “I don’t think you have seen the true talent on this ballclub yet,” Verlander said. “I think we are very well-suited to do some special things during the second half.” Cleveland lost Sunday and fell a half-game behind Detroit. The Indians have been the surprise team, opening 20-8 and leading the division by seven games May 23. But a 4-14 skid enabled the rest of the division to catch up. Their bullpen is strong, and manager Manny Acta said the leadership in the clubhouse is even stronger after the Indians went through a rough patch in the schedule. They will continue to have their skeptics, but they believe they are in it and make it no secret they are looking for a hitter before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline to help their cause. “We have guys who get after it,” Acta said, “and that’s what fans in Cleveland like.” The White Sox have been one of the bigger disappointments in the league. The Twins can point to injures for their poor start, but not the White Sox. Designated hitter Adam Dunn, second baseman Gordon Beckham and outfielder Alex Rios haven’t produced. With a strong starting rotation and a hot bullpen, the White Sox could surge with a more consistent offense. “Everyone likes to jump on the hitting,” Konerko said. “If you watched a lot of our games we’ve had a lot of small mistakes in a lot of areas that have cost us.” Chicago, five games back, is 8-18 in the division. With most of the schedule against Central foes, Chicago could fall out of contention if its offense can’t get going. And how can the White Sox consider themselves contenders when they have lost 31 of their past 39 games to the Twins, including three of four last weekend at U.S. Cellular Field? http://www.freep.com/sports

QUOTE (FlySox87 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 06:04 PM) I'm a moderate KW supporter right now, but if he goes out and gets Carlos Gomez (or Figgins, or Bedard, or Hunter), I'm done with him. Straight up. Michael Young, on the other hand, I have always liked. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the most underrated players in baseball and always has been. I'd love to see him on the southside. 09-13:$16M annually (total of $15M deferred) no-trade protection 2007-09, limited no-trade protection from 2010 to May, 2011 (submits list of 8 clubs to which he'd accept trade), before receiving 10-and-5 rights in May, 2011 (current list of 8 includes Colorado, Houston, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, Minnesota, NY Yankees, St. Louis, San Diego) award bonuses: $50,000 for All Star selection; $25,000 for Gold Glove Carlos Delgado?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 06:36 PM) Thats kinda what Ozzie was. How many All-Star teams has Adam Everett made?

Eric Chavez No way they'd take on Morneau's contract. Not even KW is that suicidal to let the foot off the neck of the financial stranglehold that's being caused by Mauer, Morneau and Nathan.

Miguel Cabrera Brad Radke (joking) Jason Kubel Michael Cuddyer Willits Ichiro Fukudome

Yeah....Juan Pierre has that Luis Polonia stroke to LF and how many balls have outfielders just been parked there waiting when the ball off the bat looked like a sure double? You can't afford to play THAT shallow (and right on the line) in a much bigger outfield unless Willie Mays in his prime is playing CF. Of course, Pierre's never succeeded (at least I can't think of a time) in plugging that LCF gap. When he hits the ball hard to the outfield, it's always a pitch he turns on and pulls right down the RF line or foul to right.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...VIEWS/110719994 Ebert with 3 1/2. Will be seeing it today.

Well, those Ozzie offensive statistics were also put up in a totally different era. And, the Old Comiskey Park was not exactly "Home Run Central," not that Ozzie ever was a power hitter. He's one of those players who would have fit in any era...and certainly in the first 5-7 years, he had the added dimension of hitting for more triples and piling up some decent stolen base numbers. Ozzie Smith is another player (and Ozzie wasn't quite his caliber defensively, of course) who put up very average offensive numbers. Or Omar Vizquel, although Ozzie wasn't his equal with the glove either. You have to look at the position, and what his peers did. And that's where Ripken's power and RBI's shined, although he never had the range of the great shortstops, obviously. Things changed when Jeter came into the AL in the mid 90's. Then you had that offensive (steroids too) explosion at the position with Jeter, Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada and Alex Rodriguez all putting up MVP numbers.

Let's see. The Indians have been without a "revitalized" Travis Hafner for over half their games. LaPorta has missed a lot of time. Shoo and Sizemore nowhere close to their career levels and/or injured. So basically you've got a team led by Asdrubal Cabrera (offensively) in first place. Some of their most important contributors in the first half have been Hannahan, Orlando Cabrera, Lou Marson, Michael Brantley, Travis Buck and Shelley Duncan. They've only got 2 hitters with over an 800 OPS in Hafner and Cabrera. Nobody in baseball was predicting that we expect too much from Carlos Carrasco, Tomlin, Talbot...and that bullpen looked like it was full of more holes than Swiss cheese preseason. Carmona/Masterson always were loved by scouts but hadn't produced consistent results in recent seasons. Oh, and they also lost first round draft pick Alex White to a freak injury. He served as their main pitching depth and looked very good when he was able to take the mound.

Why would we want Lowe over Pierre? Are we dumping Rios' contract on the Braves, too? There's just no way Lowe for Pierre makes sense for us....and some combo of Rios and/or Pierre for Lowe makes any sense for them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 12:32 PM) The top three guys were dumped as quick as humanly possible. MacD even got bought out and released. And MacDougal/Linebrink are the first two times in KW's tenure we admitted a mistake and sent money the other way or just flat-out ate a contract. My argument is that he stuck with those guys forever and gave them way TOO many chances before he cut them loose. At their point, their value collectively was basically less than zero. Well, I guess we saved a couple of million with Linebrink, but we ate the majority of his 2011 deal. He's stuck with Rios over 3 seasons when he's been worse than Brian Anderson for 80% of that time.

The only ones he really dealt or wrote off quickly were Cabrera (who was already a FA) and Swisher. Look how long he held onto Javy. MacDougal. Linebrink way too long. Teahen. Tony Pena. Contreras after his last Sox contract. He had dealt guys like Julio Ramirez where there was very little financial risk....D'Angelo Jimenez, Lofton, etc. But very rarely when he's given up something significant in acquiring aforementioned player. And undoubtedly he was backed into a position of weakness where he got the lowest possible return on Swisher after buying at the highest possible value. If he didn't give a shi-, then there was absolutely no reason 4 weeks ago NOT to AT LEAST TRY Viciedo and see if he'd catch fire. Ramirez could have hit leadoff. Pierre's value wouldn't have been affected in the least. In fact, we're not going to get anything for him if he plays everyday for the next 15 days or doesn't play at all.

I don't think they would acquire Beltran because that means KW admitting: 1) Pierre/Dunn/Rios are failures 2) With Pierre being THE leadoff guy with Ozzie, probably that Dunn or Rios would be sitting the majority of time 3) It puts him closer and closer to declaring Rios a dead weight or anchor 4) Without Viciedo, this team has zero future hitters in the pipeline...would JR sign off on it after the Hudson trade backfired (so far)?

Maybe. The majority of sportswriters usually go for the "surprise" team that nobody expected to be in it at all. With the Rays a contender in every season since 2008, they're probably a victim of their own success here. And maybe there's this idea that their minor league system has been so productive that they can just plug in new pieces and automatically be successful...like the Twins seemingly do.

•Francisco Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras spoke with Brewers GM Doug Melvin shortly after last night's trade, at which point Heyman says "Boras made the case that K-Rod should close, suggesting he wouldn't do nearly as well setting up." Melvin was apparently noncommital in that conversation, as he has been publicly. K-Rod would become the highest-paid reliever in baseball history if his option vests, though Boras wouldn't get commission on a contract brokered by Wasserman Media Group in 2008. Heyman suggests an unhappy Rodriguez is a scary concept, but based on the player's tweets (in Spanish), he's content. www.mlbtraderumors.com

Where the heck was security? Why wasn't he thrown out of the ballpark for standing on the table? With an event that big, certainly there had to be some additionals ushers or security personnel in every section of the outfield in case fans were fighting over foul balls?