caulfield12

We've scored 0 or 1 run in 10 out of our 28 games. It's beyond pathetic. The weather's no longer an excuse. This offense needs more benchings than just Alexei Ramirez.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 8, 2009 -> 10:13 PM) The real reason CJ doesn't receive the acclaim he could get is because he was undrafted. And the reason he was undrafted... two issues: 1. He didn't have a clear position in college. In fact, he played EVERY position, literally... including being a pretty decent pitcher. His coach at Arizona State said during CJ's junior year that he thought he'd eventually end up as a catcher. (During one game at ASU he actually pitched and caught in the same inning. LOL.) 2. He suffered a high ankle sprain early during his final season. So he didn't play much until late in the year. (Although he kicked *** for ASU in the CWS.) So... no clear position and injured in his final year which lead to his being overlooked by most teams. Except for us. Advantage us. I think this was pretty much the same case with Michael Aviles, which is why he really had to hit well almost every day to keep his position...and the fact, like Rutherford, he really doesn't have a good defensive position where he's clearly "above average" is also a detriment. The way Josh Fields has been going, I'd almost rather see CJ Rutherford up there for a week to see what he could do...of course, this will happen about as soon as Cook becomes the starting CFer. Shelby and Cook, not in the same solar system as far as prospect status goes. Cook=Gartrell, if we want to be charitable to David.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2009 -> 10:37 PM) Contreras went to the pen in 2007 for a short break, and IIRC when he came back he was a fair amount better than when he left (can't check to make sure, B-R won't load damnit!) http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/game...3&year=2007 It happened at the beginning of August when he was already 5-14. He pitched two times in relief, then pitched "decently" (lowered his ERA by about a point, right now he's 8+) for the remainder of that season.

My main goal in life is to become an ubiquitous part of the vernacular around here...and, one day, even be used as a verb. "Go all Caulfield" I like that. Thanks for advancing my cause of becoming part of the lexicon.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ May 8, 2009 -> 10:28 PM) Omogrosso would probably be a better choice to replace Broadway in the bullpen IMO. At least then maybe we'll come up with a guy who can pitch one useful inning here and there instead of a guy we only want to go to if the game is out of hand and we want to save the important members of our staff. I don't like the idea BTW of replacing Contreras with something you know that for the most part isn't going to be any better. I'd rather keep running him out there with the hope he changes things up if we're not going to go outside the organization for either a young guy who profiles as a starter or a healthy veteran with a track record. Whether it's Charlotte or the bullpen, he has to get a feel for that forkball again. He can't pitch at 91-93 like he used to pitch at 94-97. Not only that, but, even more demoralizing, any baserunner with average speed who reaches first base is almost automatically in scoring position at some point. Ozzie didn't seem too confident going to the bullpen would help much, but it seems they prefer he stay with Cooper and maybe Alexei, too. It doesn't seem like any team would be willing to give up a really legit "young/er" pitching prospect at this point in the season. Richard might not make it, but he's been throwing 92-96 recently (if you believe the guns), and we've seen the likes of Bergesen and Harrison have success (maybe they would succeed only against the Sox!) with the same stuff that Richard has.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2009 -> 10:12 PM) I like Getz, but even he is struggling now. He's 3 for his last 20. You could also put him in the 2nd spot, but AJP seems like a perfect fit for that right now. As we were talking about in chat, the 2nd hitter usually gets the most fastballs. The problem with that is we have our worst fastball hitter in the 2nd spot. They have nothing to lose trying to jump-start Ramirez by putting him at this spot. Move Nix over to 3B for Fields if he continues to struggle and Ozzie decides to "unbench" Ramirez. I mean, while you're at it, bench Thome (for Betemit) and don't bother to play Lillibridge any more than absolutely necessary.

Getz SHOULD be a 2nd, 8th or 9th place hitter. It is what it is. The only fix for now would be to put Nix at 3B and let Alexei try to get hot again. You could also put Alexei in CF, but Josh Fields is looking horrible, striking out 30-35% of the time, which is fine if he had 7-10 homers, but he's getting blown away consistently by 92-94 MPH fastballs right across the heart of the plate. Solution 3 would be to but Betemit at 3B and Ramirez in CF instead of Lillibridge, who needs to go Charlotte with Contreras. (Yes, Brent had one of the few hits tonight, but he's still not a major league hitter or threat to the opposition.) Maybe Thome should sit (like Alexei) and you should give Betemit his AB's at DH. Thome is now below the Mendoza line and looking like a shadow of his former self. Quentin has had more bad at-bats pulling off everything and popping up than anyone the last two weeks.

DJ Carrasco might be the most logical person to start, but they should PROBABLY first go to Richard or Broadway, because it only makes sense to try pitchers who theoretically could be here the next 2-3 years. We need to replace Jose and probably Colon after this season, so at least two starters are needed. Torres, Van Benschoten, Egbert, Marquez (right now, for sure) and Whisler just don't profile as big league pitchers, but they simply won't bring up Poreda and Beckham and start their arbitration clocks in what could be a lost season. My choice for one spot start would be Omogrosso (he pitched last night for BIRM) and then working long-term to build up the arm strength of Richard and/or Broadway to give one or the other 4-5 consecutive starts to show what they can do.

I don't think they're confident enough in Poreda's control, and they're also concerned he too will become a one-pitch pitcher if he gets behind in counts...in which case Aaron will get hammered. There are no good solutions...but I think, unfortunately, another Broadway start is more likely than anything. Richard's arm isn't stretched out. Trying Omogrosso wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, he's predominantly as FB pitcher, but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for his confidence if he got totally bombed...and his ultimate destination has always been perceived to be the bullpen.

Sorry to see Jose's White Sox career possibly ending this way. Courageous comeback, and maybe he can get a feel for the forkball in the pen, but Jose has never profiled as someone who could successfully come into a short-relief situation. At best, he's a replacement for Broadway and can eat innings in blowouts at this point. Well, no matter what, he was the best pitcher from August 05 through May, 06 in all of baseball. Something to behold. 17 consecutive victories that will never be forgotten.

Bottom line, Nix only really profiles as an offensive "plus" at 2B or SS long-term, but what to do with CF has just as many possible "mehhhhh" options as the future Cy Youngs lining up to replace Jose if he implodes tonight...

.261 .332 .415 747 OPS Those are his CAREER minor league averages over 8 seasons. Throw in 10-15 stolen bases, that's a bottom 3rd major league CFer in terms of numbers. Now if Brian Anderson could hit .260 with a 330 OBP, that would be great, but Nix has no experience in CF, and just because he made a "good" play in RF doesn't mean he has the ability to just start playing CF with the White Sox. If they're really sold on Getz/Beckham/Ramirez up the middle, then fine, but it's just as logical to think that Josh Fields might need a replacement. Of course, Nix at 3B is going to be below average offensively, and he won't give you the stolen base totals that Figgins does, nor will he give you a high OBP.

It's fine to bench Ramirez, but why reward Lillibridge by playing him so much when he's obviously not ready for big league pitching, nor has he played the position enough recently to be at least an "average" ML CFer. Ramirez in a slump is still 10X more dangerous as a hitter than Lillibridge, and probably just as good or even better defensively. Pods against LHP is still a .229 hitter with a 600+ OPS hitter...Lillibridge isn't even close to that, and he hasn't shown much ability to steal bases, either.

Quentin is the player right now who easily has the power to hit the ball out of the park to all fields and he's pull-happy. In the last two or three weeks, how many balls has he driven to RCF?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ag9t...o&type=lgns Jeff Passan article with some good one-liners on Manny, calling for zero tolerance policy (assumption is that this couldn't be enacted until a new CB agreement is negotiated in 2011.)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbac...7melvin-CR.html Now we've got Wakamatsu and Hinch with White Sox ties, although obviously we can be more proud of Don. Everyone was so upset about losing AJ, and he turned out to be one of the bigger busts (among many) in White Sox draft history, along with Bobby Seay.

I understand the thinking behind that, but he still needs as much time as possible to work on his defense at SS. Then again, they're piling up so many crooked numbers, you have to balance that with being respectful to your competition and not piling on. And, as long as they rotate with Flowers and Allen and it's not always Beckham being pulled, that's fine. But Shelby and Viciedo really need to get 500-550 AB's this season.

Yes, Quentin stands right on top of the plate, and we've lost Getz and Dye for stretches because of bean balls. I think these comments are also another pointed barb at both Floyd and Contreras, who have always seemed to be "nice" guys who were hesitant to really come inside against opposing pitchers. Part of it's intimidation, taking care of your own...the Tigers (Perry) must have thrown 4 head-high inside fastballs. Greinke does it all the time, although with a lot more control, but it's about "bonding" your offense and pitching staff together as well. It shouldn't be one of those Sean Tracey/Jon Garland scenes...but if we show the hitters that we have their backs, it's like "assured mutual destruction" or "nuclear deterrence." You have to do it. The other team will stop doing it, knowing they might get kicked out or end up having to fight a team with the likes of Quentin (nobody would want to fight THAT guy, trust me), Dye, Thome, AJ, Jenks, etc., we've got some big and tighly-wound guys on our team. Not to mention if you get a warning blanket thrown over a game, it prevents a pitcher like Greinke or Perry from resorting to those tactics unless they want to get run out of the game, and Zach's too important to their team to sacrifice himself or get suspended. As mentioned above, you're going to remember if it Matt Thornton hits you in the back or kidney like Pujoles the other day.

Don't think we're going to sweep one of the hottest teams in baseball...especially with Jose on the bump. Then again, he's DUE to have at least ONE good outing this season, but against Texas, with that unforgiving line-up? The Angels are the type of team that traditionally has been difficult for the Royals, but, they're not the Angels and the Royals are a different team than they've ever been, because even the 2003 Royals that were leading the division by 7 at the ASB in 2003 sensed it was all going to fall apart that year and that the whole thing was held together by duct tape, baling wire and Jose Lima Glue.

http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-sports/...ut_14_hits.html Nothing in the game story in the BIRM News about it.

I wonder if they would consider giving Omogrosso a spot start if Contreras gets shelled tomorrow? They said they won't bring up Poreda, Ozzie has been hesistant about Richard too....so that leaves Van Benschoten, Torres and Broadway, I guess. Maybe Whisler, but I can't imagine him unless it's a team that is LH dominant. Wouldn't Omogrosso be the starter of the AA/AAA staffs with the best raw stuff who it wouldn't be a complete disaster if he got rocked in one outing?

I felt like I was suspended in a languid "twilight zone" between the movies Less than Zero, Dazed and Confused, Requiem for a Dream and Pi reading that post.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 7, 2009 -> 05:20 PM) Who's a bigger name than Manny? I'm thinking only Pujols, Jeter, Griffey Jr., Ichiro and Feldman. Feldman or Haim??? What next, Nicole Eggert?

Benito Santiago: Driving on the Wrong Path Benito Santiago is lighting up the presses today with his connection to a cocaine conspiracy in Kansas City, Mo. Click here for the details. Basically, a car he owned was seized as part of this investigation, and it's not known to what extent Santiago was involved. True, he's innocent till proven guilty, but it just makes you wonder what happens to guys like him in professional sports who just can't control themselves after they're done playing... or even when they are playing. DWIs, domestic violence, drug charges, gambling. The list goes on. Seems like something should be done by the teams or the leagues to help these guys transition into a new phase in their lives rather than go off into troubled waters. I said (to Fathom) that he "didn't look well." Somehow that got transmitted into "didn't play well." We were talking about the topic of players who didn't perform well or who peaked in their mid 30's. Then, because I mentioned a previous message (about Alomar, which is a different situation and lawsuit, but another player who just disappeared in his mid 30's), it got twisted into something else. I have no idea what was wrong with Santiago, apparently besides using steroids and possibly drugs, he just didn't look very well physically, but that was just my impression.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 7, 2009 -> 04:42 PM) Ya and I think its pretty f***ing assine to make a comment about him having a life threatening disease based upon his appearance. The guy looked no different at 40 (except older) than he did at 20. He was one ugly SOB though. I just said he didn't look physically well...didn't mean to intimate something more insidious. Stanozolol Winstrol, Winthrop, Stromba Medical Use: Prescribed for hereditary angioedema, which causes episodes of swelling of the face, extremities, genitals, bowel wall, and throat. Performance-Enhancing Use: It builds strength and muscle mass with minimal bulk development. Preferred by pitchers who typically want stregth but not bulk. Side-Effects: Less damaging to ligaments than most anabolic steroids. Liver damage, acne, sterility, baldness, enlarged prostate, gynocomastia (development of breast tissue in males), virilization (development of male characteristics in women) Admitted or Implicated Players: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Benito Santiago, Paxton Crawford, Ivan Rodriguez*, Juan Gonzalez*