caulfield12

Lester, Andrew Miller and CC Sabathia. At least 3 lefties coming up over our next six games. So Rios will get YET ANOTHER chance to establish himself in the line-up. Wonder where Dunn will hit? Probably 3-4-5 again. Ozzie's nothing, if not predictable. Lester/Humber Slight Advantage to Red Sox A.Miller/Buehrle Advantage White Sox Sabathia/Peavy Big advantage to Yankees Hughes/Danks Big advantage to White Sox Burnett/Floyd ??? WHO KNOWS, Slight advantage to White Sox Colon or Nova/Humber ??? (I think today's start will give us a lot better idea the direction the rest of Humber's season will go) No Freddy Garcia, who's actually pitched very well (3.08 ERA) for the Yankees this past month. Buehrle doesn't get to face the hated Yankees...seems he always misses out going against them, but maybe not the best match-up for Mark. Other good news is Liriano pitched on Friday for the Twins, which means we shouldn't see him next weekend.

Tim Wakefield pitched well but was denied his 200th victory as the White Sox beat the Red Sox, 3-1, before 27,513 at US Cellular Field last night. The Red Sox have lost seven straight against the White Sox dating to last season, including four this year. Chicago is 14-5 (ACTUALLY, current 14-2 or 11-1 string because the Red Sox swept the ChiSox the first series in 2009) against Boston since the start of the 2009 season. "They play good against us and that's basically it," said Dustin Pedroia, who was 0 for 4, snapping a career-best 25-game hit streak. “"We haven't played well. They've swung the bats great and pitched well."’’ The Sox lost two in a row for the first time in a month but have Jon Lester on the mound tonight. Wakefield (6-4) allowed three runs on three hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out five, with A.J. Pierzynski’s two-run homer in the seventh inning providing the winning margin. Instead of 200 wins, it was Wakefield’s 176th loss. “I felt great. I had a lot of movement on the knuckleball all night. I just left one pitch up,’’ Wakefield said. Gavin Floyd (9-9) went seven innings for the win, holding the Sox to one run on three hits. Matt Thornton pitched a perfect eighth before Sergio Santos closed out the game for his 22d save. The Sox got their run on a homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the third. Floyd is 6-0 with a 3.47 earned run average in eight appearances against the Red Sox. “"We've seen him pitch very well. He is a good pitcher," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “"When he's got all his pitches going, he goes through a lineup just like he did."’’ The Red Sox had only one hit over the final six innings and advanced just three runners beyond first base the entire game. Chicago pitchers retired the final 10 Sox batters. The game lasted 2 hours 10 minutes, the Red Sox’ quickest of the season. “We're not used to that,’’ Pedroia said. bostonglobe.com/sports

I’m happy for Hunter Pence, who will have his first taste of a pennant race. To go from a dumb franchise and an empty ballpark to a very, very good manager and a very, very full ballpark, to an atmosphere as intense as any in baseball, is a really good thing for him. He thinks major league baseball is a great way to make a living, but he’s about to find out how great it can be. When a team is in a pennant race, players count down the hours until the game. At some point, it starts to feel like an entire season is riding on every pitch. Pence will love the Phillies because they play the game with some of the same edge and anger he brings to the ballpark. When I described Hunter to a Philly guy on Friday, he said, “Sounds exactly like Chase Utley.” Hunter leaves a nice legacy around here. He was a Texas kid who made it to the big leagues with grit and hard work and desire. The Astros haven’t had many players outwork Hunter. Last season when he got off to a bad start, he later said, “I read a book about relaxation, but I found it wasn’t for me. I’ve got to play angry and swing hard.” In his first days in the big leagues, he made veterans laugh with his enthusiasm and the seriousness with which he approached the job. Remember him diving for a lob warmup toss between innings? That moment spoke volumes about Hunter. SOUNDS LIKE THE ANTITHESIS OF ALEX RIOS. Richard Justice/Houston Chronicle-sports I remember KW's earlier comments about bringing in "Chicago tough" players into the system and what happened with that philosophy??....seems like it got thrown out the window somewhere along the way with Rios/Dunn/Teahen. Peavy's the only one that fits that supposed mold.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cu...to-improve.html Hendry arguments for not blowing up and rebuilding completely

•Up until late yesterday, the Astros were looking to get even more out of the Phillies, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Houston insisted that the Phillies had to include two more of their top ten prospects, including 2010 first-round pick Jesse Biddle. •Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. will continue to listen to other teams up until the trade deadline on Sunday, but he's likely done trading after landing Pence, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. •Astros GM Ed Wade was still talking to other teams until ten minutes before he made the deal with the Phillies, tweets Bob Brookover of Philadelphia Inquirer. •Keith Law of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) believes that the Astros took a considerable risk in dealing Pence. While they received a ton of potential long-term value, the major prospects coming over in the trade are high-risk, high-reward prospects. •Wade's decision to trade Pence certainly isn't a popular one but it is the right move for the organization, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...ent_id=22499032 •Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle writes that it could take two years or longer to fairly judge the return that the Astros got for Pence. http://blog.chron.com/sportsjustice/2011/0...ise-im-unmoved/ •Phillies officials have questioned Cosart's maturity in the past, according to John Manuel and Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Furthermore, the right-hander's command issues led others in the organization to believe he was destined wind up in the bullpen. However, Cosart had the best pure arm in the Phillies' system.

Surviving a potentially dangerous second inning, Jackson limited the Cubs to seven hits as the Cardinals beat the Cubs for the sixth time in seven meetings this season. Jackson said had some "anxiety" in his first Cardinals appearance. "It didn't start out the way I wanted it to, with a leadoff walk," said Jackson, who praised one of the Cardinals' best defensive efforts of the season, especially from the outfield, which had two assists and a sliding catch from center fielder Jon Jay. David Freese's three-run homer in the fourth inning off Matt Garza was a significant blow for the Cardinals, who also got two doubles good for three runs by Ryan Theriot, who is fighting to retain his shortstop job, although he wound up at second base on Friday. But the most monumental hit, as it often does, came off the bat of Pujols. "He's one guy who's not very (much) fun pitching to," said Jackson. "It was a great, great accomplishment, 2,000 hits." The Cardinals moved into second place in the Central Division, still 1½ games behind Milwaukee but a game ahead of Pittsburgh. Jackson, who took Kyle McClellan's place in the rotation, was relieved by McClellan in the eighth. Jackson issued only two walks and hit one batter in throwing 66 strikes out of 95 pitches. McClellan retired just one of four men he faced as the Cubs rallied in the eighth, but Jason Motte stopped the uprising by getting a strikeout and then benefiting from Jay's catch. Jackson was nicked for the only run he allowed in the second inning, but some suspect baserunning by the Cubs helped short-circuit the inning. St. Louis Post Dispatch

Well, in all fairness, the Royals have had a better offense than us for much of the last 3 seasons. Pitching, obviously, is their high fail rate...after Greinke. Reports of lots of interest in Cuddyer/Kubel...but Twins are reluctant to give up on this season. Tough position they're in, though, with 3 teams in front of them. And they still haven't done anything to solidify that bullpen. Just depends on how well Span/Morneau/Kubel play for them when they're all close to 100%. Especially, Morneau. I'm sure Twins' fans at this point are more hoping than expecting with everything he's gone through physically.

SoxAce, it's all about expected revenues vs. payroll allocation. Let's assume the Sox stand pat, the Tigers make a couple of "go for broke" moves and end up winning the division. White Sox payroll will be slashed to $95-110 million, I think it's a fairly good bet, ESPECIALLY if Buehrle's gone. Maybe we're at the $110-120 mark WITH MARK. It's the same argument as getting rid of Lee/Ordonez/Valentin and bringing in AJ/Pods/Dye/Iguchi/Hermanson/Vizcaino/El Duque to replace them. We're very likely to be stuck with Dunn/Peavy/Rios going into 2012, and those three moves are exactly what are going to crowd Danks out of the picture...that, and concerns about long-term pitching contracts (demonstrated yet again with Peavy's situation) going against the clubs that give them out about 90% of the time. And Danks just ISN'T that special kind of pitcher, like a Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine, that you build your entire rotation around, going forward. He's very very good, but those contract dollars aren't generating enough revenue compared to the potential payoff (both payroll savings) of trading him and being able to get yourself some financial breathing room and flexibility again. Is he likely to end up like Barry Zito? Doubt it. Is he close to Sabathia/Lester or even Romero? Probably not again.

Argues it's better to commit to pay Quentin $10+ million (through 2012) than Pence $22+ million (through 2013)...good insight/s from ATL Journal Constitution baseball writer Or maybe they trade Schafer as part of the package for a Bourn/Upton...there is one possibility where we could jam Rios down their throats, but lose the return for CQ completely, getting Schafer in return for Rios/Quentin + some salary relief Bottom line, they (the Braves) need a shortstop next year. They might need a third baseman or left fielder. They might know more about center field by seasons’s end, after more evaluation of Schafer, unless they’ve already made up their minds one way or another. There has been a bidding war for Pence between at least a handful of teams including the Braves and rival Phillies. If it was me making the call, I’d probably give up Minor or Delgado to get Quentin, just because he’s a serious slugger and is not going to make as much as Pence in 2011 (Quentin might get about $8 mill in arbitration, then be a free agent). He’s not much with the glove, not nearly as good as Pence, but for me he’s much more a game-changing presence in the lineup.) Quentin has a .353 OBP, .510 slugging percentage, 20 homers and 62 RBIs in 400 plate appearances, while Pence has a .354 OBP, .467 slugging percentage, 11 homers and 62 RBIs in 394 plate appearances. Since the White Sox play in what most consider a hitter-friendly ballpark, and the Astros play in what is definitely a major hitter-friendly ballpark, it’s useful to compare the road stats for both players. I was surprised to see that Quentin actually has better numbers on the road than at home. He’s hit .289 with 14 HRs and 43 RBIs in 51 road games, with a .371 OBP and .588 slugging (.959). At home, he’s hit .275/.332/.419. Pence has hit .286 with seven homers and 27 RBI in 47 road games, with a .323 OBP and .444 slugging percentage (.767 OPS). At home, he's hit .330/.384/.498. And since the Braves began this pursuit in order to find a right-handed bat to boost an offense that’s been the league's worst against lefties, let's compare Quentin and Pence vs. lefties. Quentin has hit .275 (22-for-80) with six homers, a .388 OPB and .525 slugging percentage against lefties. Pence has hit .281 (27-for-96) with two homers, .333 OBP and .448 slugging against lefties. As for recent performance, for what it's worth: In Pence's past 21 games, he’s 19-for-76 (.250) with five extra-base hits (one homer), 5 RBIs and a .321 OBP and .355 slugging. In Quentin’s past 45 games, he's hit hit .274 (45-for-164) with 10 doubles, eight homers, 30 RBIs and a .363 on-base percentage and .482 slugging. In his past 11 games, Quentin is 15-for-44 (.341) with three homers and 11 RBIs. http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2...nta_braves_blog

That's the other part of the Braves' situation that doesn't fit, if they really want a true CFer, obviously Quentin's out of that picture and you can more realistically talk Upton/Crisp/Bourn there instead. The problem is that none of those guys are theoretically going to give you the power/RBI numbers and presence in the line-up that Quentin will, and the Rays will be asking for a small fortune in talent for Upton (based on potential, more than reality, just like Rasmus, although without the 3 years of arb. control)

Dave Duncan supposedly made some adjustments and noticed something Cooper had missed.

Someone (probably Balta) will throw out his batting average over the last month or two and it will look "okay," just like Juan Pierre. Someone will respond with his SLG/OPS and on-base percentage numbers, which will show him in the Bottom 5-10% of MLB players. Then a response will be that he's just a rookie and not getting consistent playing time. To which the response will be that he's playing only against the most favorable pitching match-ups and he'd actually be worse if he was playing everyday. Which will lead back to a discussion of his minor league numbers and how he's adjusted over time every place he's played. Which will lead to the fact that in none of those situations was he playing in the heat of a major league pennant race. And of course the comparisons to B. Anderson in 2006 and the fact that HE SHOULDN'T be relied on offensively with all the veterans we have...to which someone will say you just can't have a 3B hitting with a 550 OPS, even if it's Brooks Robinson. And then we'll hear that almost all the MLB 3B are having pretty "off" seasons statistically, and that 675-725 OPS over there is the "new 800 gold standard" at the position.

Yankees looking for lefty relievers By Mark J. Miller New York Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano(notes) has been on the disabled list since May 14 with a sore right elbow. Even though he's finally expected to be back in the bullpen Friday night, the team is putting some effort into finding some relievers before Sunday afternoon's non-waiver trade deadline to help in the stretch run, according to the New York Post. "I'm out there listening to everything, seeing what's available and seeing if it fits for us," general manager Brian Cashman said, the Post reports. Since lefty Pedro Feliciano(notes) is likely out for the season and Damaso Marte(notes) is not returning anytime soon, the Yankees "are looking at lefties," the Post notes. "As long as I keep the late-inning role, I'd love to have another lefty down there," the bullpen's sole lefty, Boone Logan(notes), told the paper.

Michael Morse says, "hi!" Joking. It would be pretty nice to have him playing 3B for us about now, if he could actually play that position better than Teahen/Viciedo. Possibly.

By the logic of tonight, we'd never want Gio Gonzalez back because he sucks against Minnesota, too.

QUOTE (MAX @ Jul 29, 2011 -> 10:23 PM) Then how did we under value our own minor league/young pitchers like Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Hudson? KW overplayed his hand and way overvalued how much Cooper could get out of Edwin Jackson for 1+ seasons. He chose fully competing in 2010-11 (right away) over 2012-2015. Obviously, that looks silly in hindsight. And ofc we had Gio Gonzalez in our organization TWICE. Maybe it's a testimony to how desired he was by other organizations. Still, he was able to compensate for that loss by picking up Humber for nothing. Phil's numbers are better than Hudson's, especially if you adjust for league.

Loiaza Contreras Jenks Danks Gavin Floyd Aardsma Masset MacDougal (not so good) Santos Humber Jason Grilli (he was serviceable after we gave him a starting shot with the Tigers as a reliever) Gary Glover Thornton Cotts

•The Braves are almost certain to land an outfielder before the deadline, reports Rosenthal. He cites the names you have been hearing for a while: B.J. Upton, Michael Bourn, (CoCo Crisp), Ryan Ludwick, Carlos Quentin, and Josh Willingham. •Bourn is on the Braves' radar, tweets Crasnick. Padres right fielder Ludwick is "more down the list of options." The Braves apparently turned down dealing any of their top pitching prospects for Pence. Not sure if Beachy was offered. Their other top four appear to be 100% off the list of available prospects.

Danks won't get any significant at-bats this season. We'd go with Lillibridge or a veteran waiver claim before doing that. They're stuck in a position where they can't quite give up on Morel....but they do need a veteran 3B to rent who could play every game from here on out. And Danks has "only" averaged what, 6 1/3rd or 6 2/3rd IP per game? He's had a lot of the same issues as Jackson and Floyd going late in games. Heck, all of our starters seemingly have struggled to get through innings 6 and 7 except for Buehrle.

Because our draft picks have done so well? We're much better off getting guys like Stewart that Cooper has identified (AA/AAA level already) than starting off from scratch with draft picks. This has been true for at least a decade. I trust those scouts looking at the other teams' minor leaguers more than our luck in identifying draftees.

El Duque's back with the Sox? So is Rienzo really going to the bullpen? What are they doing with him?

Better than Camp Cora helped out Viciedo at 3B, lol. Why does Gio Gonzalez pitch well against everyone and implode against the Twins????

The problem is that there's just no way that John Danks is worth $80-90 million over 5 years to the White Sox. To about 5-7 other organizations in baseball, arguably yes. If that's the asking price, I'm probably holding onto him until this offseason and then getting the best possible return, unless you're bowled over in the next 2 days.

Depends on what the Padres do with all their relievers. Frasor/Crain/Thornton could be highly-desired commodities the next two days. And we have to resolve the Buehrle and Danks situations before 2012 as well. What happens with Mark will affect the 2012 plan pretty dramatically.

It makes sense for 2 reasons: 1) We have Viciedo to replace him 2) It's the same trade as Hudson for Edwin Jackson, 1 1/2 years versus 5 years of cost-controlled player (minus Holmberg) 3) We MIGHT be able to use some of that $7.5-9 million allocated to CQ (2012) to improve the team elsewhere