caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 09:13 PM) I wish we could have opened at Cleveland then traveled to Texas. Hope our four and five starters do OK vs. the Tribe. Or are the Sox not going with a No. 5 for a bit? Well, the odds of us beating Masterson are very minimal, so it really wouldn't matter, because the best we could ever hope to do is 2/3. Now, we have the advantage of facing them when their confidence is a bit shaken. They almost lost the Sunday game, and the prior two losses were heartbreakers. As far as what has been announced publicly, we're not planning on skipping any Sale or Humber starts in APR.

Guess we'll get to see both Stewart and Nathan Jones tonight, there's that. Hopefully they don't get torched.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 07:56 PM) OLE' terrible Escobar's greatest skill was always supposedly his glove. In all fairness, before this offseason, I don't think he'd ever played 3B at all. We've seen this before, with the likes of Beckham, Lillibridge, Viciedo, etc. There are consequences to moving someone all over the field.

Great to save our worst game for a national television audience. Oh, well. As soon as Beckham didn't score in the 3rd inning, this game was in jeopardy.

Make that 7 for 12, Hamilton v. Floyd The dreaded inning after a blown scoring opportunity with RISP and no outs, which inevitably results in more runs scored for the opposition than even Hawk's dreaded leadoff walk stats.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 07:08 PM) Sooner we get Viciedo higher in the order against LHP, the better. I wouldn't be opposed to him hitting 3rd. Ventura has already shown the ability to be flexible with the line-up, so it wouldn't surprise me. But it's the kind of thing that Dayan will need to prove himself to Robin for at least 3 weeks or so before he pulls the trigger on that big of a shake-up. We'll just have to wait and see. At least we're playing the Rangers tight all 3 games, no blowouts (yet).

What did Beckham do this time? Ran himself into an out at home? Where was McEwing when all this was transpiring?

Konerko and Buehrle are very borderline candidates, but it's more of a compliment to the team and organization that a bunch of unsung and underappreciated players pulled together and had that type of season. It's like criticizing the Cardinals for 2006 and 2011 for their regular season play, then saying, well, they had Albert Pujols, so they actually deserved those titles. The 2005 post-season was never in doubt.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 04:45 PM) i love how your style of posting is just to have a conversation with yourself. it's psychologically intriguing. Sometimes, when you're teaching really spoiled and lazy rich kids, it feels like that! Maybe it's from teaching psych and sociology. Mitch Albom: Do you ever get sticker shock with player contracts -- like the one you just gave Prince Fielder? Mike Illitch: It's big numbers. Initially, they're unrealistic numbers. But if you want stars, you gotta pay the price. ... And fans want to see stars. They come out to see stars. There's little doubt that JR and the Board weren't going to commit that kind of money to Cespedes. But we are in dire need of a new "true" superstar to get the fans excited again.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120405/COL0...-detroit-tigers If you don't think Illitch and the Tigers are going to do everything it takes to win it all, just refer to this article.

That money for Cespedes was a big gamble, and one we couldn't afford to make due to the presence of Dunn and Rios already on the future payrolls. And there's always the possibility the league will adjust to him and he'll be in AAA at some point this season, but he's exactly what baseball in Oakland needs to survive, a potential superstar who can go out of the yard at any place in that stadium, in any weather conditions. That said, we do have Viciedo and that doesn't mean we should throw $20-30 million at Soler just because of what Cespedes has done in 4 games. If nothing else, Beane can market him to the rest of MLB and get 2-3-4 top prospects back who will hit the ground running when they finally get their new stadium out there.

If Austin Jackson was on the White Sox, Ozzie Guillen would have benched him repeatedly last year.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 03:55 PM) No, just the home runs. That's all the played on the caulfield version of sports center when a point has to be made. If he can hit .240 with 30+ homers, nobody's going to care. Austin Jackson strikes out just as many time as anyone in history without much power and he's still an integral part of the Tigers' line-up because of his defensive ability and speed.

They should be turning on Epstein, Cherington and most importantly, the obtuse John Henry.

Adding Pena and Luke Scott really solidified that Rays line-up. The Red Sox have Jon Lester and lots of uncertainty everywhere on that roster.

Goodbye, Melancon as closer. A little bit different getting 20 saves for the worst team in the majors and closing for the Red Sox in DET against the likes of Cabrera, Fielder and Avila. If Austin Jackson keeps hitting like this, watch out. Interestingly, the only player in history with more strikeouts than Jackson in his first two seasons is Pete Incaviglia.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) I dunno, I think a 3-2 game or a 4-3 game is just as fun to watch as a 13-12 game. KW and the White Sox marketing department respectfully disagree. Except for 2005.

Just when Cub fans finally had a local hero to cheer for, they're quickly reminded it can all be eviscerated in a heartbeat (see DET/BOS game).

KW: Hey, Benny Boy. How's it going? BC: Not so good, man, not so good. This whole GM thing is kind of stressful. KW: Look at our roster. We've got four closers, and Nathan Jones has closer stuff, too. BC: Take the 2 best prospects from our minor league system and we'll throw in Tom Brady to back-up Cutler over there. Cubs gave 2 more runs back and the Yankees are going to be 0-3. What the heck is going on? Wouldn't be a complete shock if the Yankees didn't make the playoffs...luckily they have 3 options to get in now. Pirates take 2/3 from Philly. Twins 0-3, although not completely unexpected.

Goodbye, Aceves as closer. 10-7 Red Sox lead quickly evaporates with a Miguel Cabrera 3 run homer. Metro Boston, Ben Affleck and Peter Gammons in more panic than War of the Worlds live broadcast back in the day. Perhaps they should just take NESN off the air for the remainder of the game.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 02:31 PM) All those guys were great baseball players. Did you see the homers he hit Friday and Saturday nights?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 02:29 PM) Catch up to that high fastball with his jump swing... It worked for Pods and Ichiro, haha.

Sorry, 45 inches, just a little hyperbole and overexaggeration. But that's still better or comparable with Michael Jordan. Maybe only Spud Webb, before he became a topless womens' strip club-sponsored basketball coach, and a few others top that.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 02:23 PM) We have that Viciedo guy who can be just as good... Except for the fact that Cespedes can play a position pretty well defensively, run and has a 50+ inch vertical.

Never trust the stats of a Padres pitcher, especially an overly portly one. The guy only had given up 5 homers combined in the last two seasons, and his high for a single season in homers surrendered is 5. Yikes.