caulfield12

Interesting, never heard anything about this, George Lucas' last feature film....RED TAILS, about Tuskegee Airmen/WW II http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine...amp;_r=1&hp http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red-tails/ Coming out this Friday, JAN 20. Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)...impressive cast.

I wonder if the White Sox were to sign him...if it would be like the Rios situation, where many would be arguing we were trying to sign him largely to prevent him from going to the Tigers (or Cubs)? What's his current batting line?

How do we know who did/didn't look at Trout, officially? Just because they drafted Mitchell doesn't mean they didn't at least consider Trout..and many other teams did the same. It's not like there was some type of consensus around baseball he was a "sure thing," and there still isn't after 2011.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120117/SPOR...ews|text|Sports

So to see Zduriencik give up Michael Pineda – 95-mph-throwing, plus-slider-commanding, ace-in-waiting Michael Pineda – brought to mind three possibilities: The Mariners question Pineda’s durability, the Mariners are head-over-heels in love with Jesus Montero or both. Montero, ostensibly a catcher but likelier a DH, came as the meat of the deal, though right-hander Hector Noesi, who this winter pitched in a game and got married immediately after, should replace Pineda in the rotation. Montero should hit even with Safeco Field’s monster dimensions that scared off Prince Fielder. (More on that to come.) [ Related: Deal with Mariners turns Yankees into instant favorites ] Still, if he sticks at DH as most expect, the 22-year-old will try to become the fifth player in history to top four wins above replacement at the position. Yes, the only players with 90 percent of their games at DH and four-plus-WAR seasons, according to Baseball-Reference.com, are Edgar Martinez (with seven, including a DH-high 7.7 in 1995), David Ortiz (three), Travis Hafner (three) and Jim Thome (one). Thome is a Hall of Famer. Martinez is borderline. Ortiz will get plenty of votes. And Hafner was one of the game’s elite sluggers until injuries derailed him. Twenty-two pitchers posted WARs of four or better last season alone. Even though Zduriencik got starter Hisashi Iwakuma at an absolute bargain for $1.5 million, signed George Sherrill and Aaron Heilman to strengthen a mediocre bullpen and made the biggest mistake in the history of the world by letting Wily Mo Pena go to Japan, where they’ll appreciate what he does, this will be the offseason of Montero for Pineda. In a season that will be 162 games of staring at the Texas Rangers’ and Los Angeles Angels’ turbo boosters, the after-the-fact deconstruction of the deal will provide endless fascination. jeff passan yahoo.com/sports

Loved THE DESCENDANTS. Of course, being a bit Payne and Clooney fan helps. My all-time favorite of his is still About Schmidt, with Election a close 2nd.

Myles Jaye rated equal to Tyler Saladino??? Really!!

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/14/33714...rnover-off.html

Lillibridge will get exposed by everyday play. He's fine if you maximize his performance by matching him up with the best possible opposing pitchers for his skill-set. In that sense, there's a big question about both DeAza and Brent...whether either one could stand up for 600+ at-bats in a full season. From his time at UGA, 2009 and half of 2010, Beckham deserves at least 4 months of play this season (simply because of his defensive improvements) to get things turned around offensively...if he doesn't, he's going to be worth about as much as Joe Borchard when he was traded for Matt Thornton. That still leaves you with the likes of Martinez, Escobar and Kuhn in the middle infield. Probably best to leave Brent in the OF instead of moving him around from season to season, like we've already done with Beckham and Dayan. Before 2011, Lillibridge wasn't close to a threat for everyday play in the majors. If he earns it, like he did last season, great. But not counting on it. Benching Rios serves what purpose? We're doubtful to be competitive with him playing OR with him sitting on the bench, so we have to try to extract the most possible ROI when we do try to dump his salary eventually. Sitting on the bench the whole season is going to cost us $30 million instead of maybe $10-12-15 million in future payroll outlays. Dunn and Rios have to begin the year as starters and play close to everyday (you can sit Dunn against LHP until he gets his confidence back, HOPEFULLY)...as much as it will pain Greg and Ozzie, they have to play.

The other thing is that is this model only successful because with the exception of the Twins, our competition for the AL Central was grossly inferior (2005-2006 and 2001-2002, maybe 2003 were more competitive years for the division in terms of overall strength) to say the AL East or the NL East? Pretty clearly, we only would have done well in 2000 and 2005 in the AL East. But that would have left us with only one division during KW's tenure, the World Series year of 2005. We can recall the Blackout Game of 2008 fondly, but we were inches within being beaten by the Twins many times in that final week of play...before it even came to the knockout game. Without Danks, Thome, Alexei Ramirez, Floyd and Quentin, hitting every move exactly right from 2006-2008, there's no way that we get there and pull it off. Without Rick Hahn's son's coin flip, the masses are at the gates of KW's manse with pitchforks before now. Then again, you can argue that in 2000, 2003 (August), 2005/2006, 2008 and stretches of 2010, we were very arguably the best or one of the best teams in baseball for prolonged stretches of excellence, whereas the Twins were exceptionally well-equipped to win the division but not advance further. Ironic, in that both teams with grossly different models find themselves in very similar positions (Twins/Sox) entering this campaign.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 03:07 PM) I just keep seeing you post articles saying rebuilding doesn't work, or articles highlighting that other teams are bad too. I don't think Kenny is the worst GM in baseball. He's certainly been bad lately though. As far as finances go, it's quite obvious that NY and Boston have more money to play with than the Sox, but the White Sox aren't some poor small market club. The teams you posted are fine comparables, and it exemplifies my point. Teams can have a good farm system that significantly compliments free agent signings and trades. It's what the White Sox should aspire to be, and I hope it comes to fruition in the coming years. I don't think JR and the fanbase have the patience for it....not after 2005. Of course, the argument could be made that with the World Series trophy already safely tucked away, the Sox should look at building a more sustainable model of remaining competitive than gambling/juggling/tinkering and rebooting in July every year.

Anti-rebuilding crusade? Haha. Just tired of the assumption that KW is the worst GM in the major leagues because of 2-3 trades and signings that backfired miserably. To tell the truth, it's far easier to criticize than to defend. At some point in the last 4 months or so, I suppose I made a conscious decision to try to be optimistic rather than to just slam every move Williams makes. And to also point out that there are QUITE a few teams that enter 2012 in worse standing than us. The Rangers went through a rough period there for almost a decade, and where Daniels was learning on the go and putting his front office/scouting/administrative team in place. The fact that they now have the financial resources to sign both Fielder and Darvish in one fell swoop after the team was technically bankrupt under Tom Hicks...a pretty big success story. Nevertheless, the Rangers aren't splitting or sharing a market like the White Sox are....the Metroplex is growing and growing, heck, much of Texas is trending upwards. We can and should look at the Braves, Mariners, Giants/A's, DBacks, Cardinals, Twins, Brewers and Tigers as similar markets to ours. Forget the NY and BOS comps. Even NY now claims they only have $2 million to spend on Carlos Pena or J. Damon...and the Red Sox claim to not have enough guaranteed money for Roy Oswalt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/sports/b...tml?_r=1&hp

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ah0t...s_wilpon_011512 and Mets fans know frustration like the Duggars know procreation – is a simple fact: The cornucopia of middling free agents the Mets signed this offseason will make more money this year than Jose Reyes. It’s true. Among Frank Francisco ($5.5 million), Jon Rauch ($3.5 million), Ronny Cedeno ($1.15 million) and Scott Hairston ($1.1 million), the Mets handed out $11.25 million in salaries for 2012. The Miami Marlins will pay Reyes $10 million this year. And while one can question both the intelligence and sincerity of a mega-backloaded deal like the one Miami gave Reyes, he will wear a Marlins uniform, not a Mets one, and that alone is damning. Trying to piecemeal together a ballclub like the Mets have done almost never works. Incremental upgrades work for contending teams. They’re wasted money for teams intent on slicing their payroll by one-third as the Mets are. As tough as it would have been to hand the injury-prone Reyes the six years Miami did, the structure of the contract actually made sense for the Mets, who have no money now but, whether under new ownership or a vanity-share-stabilized Fred Wilpon, should a few years down the road. Instead, the Mets – the least-talented team in the NL East by a fairly large margin – spent the winter working on their bullpen. And while it projects as a potential strength, relief pitching is notoriously difficult to peg year-over-year, and the possibility for implosion is almost as strong. Moreover, bullpen strength is almost always an endgame for teams on the upswing. Lock down the starting pitching, fortify the lineup, then bolster the bullpen. The Mets are trying to build from the bottom up, the sort of strategy that works just about never. Fred Wilpon For as long as he has been in his cash-flow muck, Fred Wilpon has received unfailing support from the best ally possible: commissioner Bud Selig. Wilpon is different than Dodgers deadbeat Frank McCourt, Selig says through actions since he can’t through words; the Mets’ owner was worthy, after all, of a $25 million loan from Major League Baseball that he still hasn’t repaid. But pressure is mounting. More bills are coming due. One source says MLB is likely to let the creditors’ squeeze force Wilpon into considering selling, which isn’t exactly imminent – and could set the franchise back even more. If Wilpon wanted what was best for the Mets, he’d sell now and give the club a chance to avoid the wrecking ball barreling toward him. Instead, this is about him and his family and their team, and so he olés the wrecking ball, knowing its target is the team onto which he so desperately wants to hold. It’s sad really, this proud franchise sullied by a man whose greed overwhelmed the greater good of the thing he purportedly loved. Sounds a lot, in fact, like someone with whom Fred Wilpon was intimately familiar: Bernie Madoff. Another article that solidifies the argument/s behind the trade of Sergio Santos...they just better be right about Molina. But trading FOR a young/cost-controlled #2-3 starter for 6 years in exchange for a non-elite, relatively inexperienced closer who will be getting more and more expensive in the future...there's a lot of logic to doing that.

Except for the fact that Viciedo and Rios aren't going anywhere...and, at least for the next two seasons, 2/3rd's of that OF and DH is set (stuck with, more like). Viciedo could clearly be shifted back to 1B at some point, when Konerko's no longer around.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 09:18 AM) And you're advocating the Sox sign him? Yes. I would prefer to trade Floyd now and have Oswalt on just a one year contract....and then deal him at the deadline as well. I suppose the greatest argument against that is that we MIGHT be competitive in 2013 if Floyd's still around, but he's not the kind of pitcher to anchor a staff around and he's going to be blocking Stewart/Molina/Castro/Axelrod/Santiago eventually. It's a pretty risk gamble for KW, though. Standing pat and keeping Floyd around is another form of gamble, because we're not getting a return on him compared to what we might be able to get back in trade for the future.

Then what was the point for KW to have 6 starting pitchers heading into 2006? At that point in time, it was marketed as having a huge competitive advantage over the rest of the league....

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 09:24 AM) But unless you're Kenny Williams, you don't give up guys who project to be legit big leaguers on a "my pitching coach can fix this player" trades. especially when that player is already due $10 million over the next 2 years. So basically, another GM who sees Gavin Floyd as Edwin Jackson and will give up their own version of Daniel Hudson. LOL. Those kind of trades don't often happen in the off-season...well, who knows, maybe. The Cubs might be asking way too much for Garza and they're unwilling to wait until JULY or take a chance on Oswalt breaking down.

Because Oswalt could easily be a financial disaster for one season. Floyd is likely to do what he's done for four years now...consistent, solid, #3 results...and some brilliant stretches followed by head-scratching ones. Risk versus reward. Same reason the Twins just signed J. Zumaya for $800K with another $900K in possible incentives. Perhaps there's some pitching coach out there who has detected a flaw with Floyd and he thinks he's just an easy adjustment or two from being the same caliber of pitcher he was on a consistent basis in 2008. Oswalt has all kinds of injury concerns, durability issues, wear and tear on that arm/elbow/shoulder....lots of teams are considering him for the pen, for that very reason.

Hopefully the HUGO best director award for Marty (not 34, lol) goes a long way to getting that film back out in the marketplace again in Feb/March. WAR HORSE, I have to admit it....had the MARLEY & ME effect on me, even though I knew it was coming. Just a beautiful film to watch...wish I could have seen it on the big screen and not a measly laptop. Moneyball shut out, not surprisingly.

The Twins lost Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel and except for former Oakland outfielder Josh Willingham, they didn't spend any big money on free agents. There has been criticism from fans and the media about the Twins' questionable offseason moves. "We very rarely get rave reviews in the winter," Ryan said. "The guys that we sign may not make headlines but more often than not, they're people that fit our system. A lot of times we're looking for a guy that's got some versatility, a lot of times we're looking character, a lot of times we're looking to fill holes. "I've never talked too much about how things look on paper, you have to go out and play the games. More often than not, we've done a pretty decent job here of putting together a decent roster that can compete." Ryan considers the Willingham contract a big one. "We gave Willingham a pretty good, sizeable contract here," Ryan said. "I'm not going to say it's $100 million, but it's not too long ago that we gave Morneau a big contract and we gave Mauer a big contract and we just paid Willingham $21 million for three years. I would say that's a sizeable investment. "We needed to get that power righthanded bat and he fit the mold. Depending on what the situation is, you go out and you get the people that you think are right. You don't necessarily have to make a big splash to put a good team together." www.startribune.com/sports Hartman Funny thing is these same comments apply almost equally to KW this offseason. Payroll for the Twins is right around $98-99 million...not so far from where the White Sox are, right?

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/137397333.html Zumaya signs with Twins, $800K guaranteed, $900K possible in incentives....hitting 92-95 MPH in workouts. Gio Gonzalez has signed a big contract extension in WASHINGTON.

It was uncomfortable listening to Twins telecasts last season as Dick Bremer and, to a lesser extent, Bert Blyleven spent most of the three hours nightly trying to explain away the 99 losses as something other than a disaster wrought upon the public by the front office. Apparently, they did have permission slips to denigrate Kevin Slowey. Injuries and Slowey's attitude -- those were about the only factors that could be identified by the long-serving duo for this fine baseball organization to have fielded the worst team in the American League. And we can't forget that a Bremer-Blyleven telecast is always rich with the fable that there's a Twins Way of playing baseball: exceptional fielding, being smart and aggressive on the bases, and throwing strikes. No matter that you have to go back to 2006 to find a Twins team that stuck to those principles ... Dickie B. remains shocked over boots in the field, screwups on the bases and 3-1 cookies from Nick Blackburn. Try as they might, Bremer and Blyleven have been second-rate homers when compared to Mike Greenlay (analyst) and Dan Terhaar (play-by-play) on Wild telecasts. I'm not sure which number is consistently higher: Tiger Woods' estimate of his putts that "lipped out" after a poor round of golf, or the total number of penalties per game that Greenlay sees as being missed against an opponent and/or unfairly called against the Wild. startribune.com/sports REUSSE

What about trading Gavin Floyd and signing Roy Oswalt on a one-year deal for $8 million? That would be basically revenue neutral...excise $9.5 million more for the 2013 budget and bring in another name pitcher to go with Peavy who could actually help boost or bolster attendance a bit. He snaps back and they've got a VERY valuable trade chip at midseason who can be parlayed into additional prospects, with Castro/Stewart/Molina/Axelrod/Santiago joining the big league rotation at the time of the trade.

We’re counting on Gaston Wahlberg to lead the way! In a weekend that saw both the Mark Wahlberg thriller Contraband and Disney’s 3-D re-release of Beauty and the Beast perform better than expected, it was the former that crossed the finish line in first place. The R-rated Contraband, which stars Wahlberg as a former smuggler trying to protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord, earned an estimated $24.1 million over the standard three-day weekend, and looks to finish the four-day holiday weekend with about $28 million. That’s a solid start for the $25 million movie, a remake of the 2008 Icelandic thriller Reykjavík-Rotterdam. It also represents Wahlberg’s strongest solo debut since 2008′s The Happening. (What? No!) Contraband confirmed Wahlberg’s ability to open a movie, as 69 percent of CinemaScore’s participants listed the actor as their reason for buying a ticket. It received an overall “A-” from the tracking service’s graders, indicating positive word of mouth. But the movie will have to contend with a number of action films in the coming weeks, including Haywire, Underworld: Awakening, and The Grey. In second was Beauty and the Beast 3D with $18.5 million for the three-day frame — the largest January opening for an animated film (topping 2006′s Hoodwinked). Disney spent less than $10 million converting the 1991 classic to 3-D, so this kind of opening more than justifies the studio’s decision to re-release the musical. It also bodes well for Disney’s future 3-D re-releases: Finding Nemo in September, and Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid in 2013. Beast should finish the four-day weekend with around $25 million. Get more EW: Subscribe to the magazine for only 39¢ an issue! However, despite Beast‘s commendable performance, it’s worth pointing out that it fell short of last September’s The Lion King 3D, which debuted to $30.2 million. That could be the result of several factors. For one, King was a much bigger hit in its original release, earning $312.9 million versus Beast‘s $145.9 million. Second, Beast has been out on 3-D Blu-ray since October, whereas King didn’t come out on Blu-ray until after it returned to theaters. And Beast had a harder time attracting the interest of boys. According to Disney, just 31 percent of Beast 3D‘s audience was male — compared to 44 percent for Lion King 3D.http://www.ew.com