caulfield12

Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Barons were 6-3 after going 4-1 at home against Chattanooga and then splitting two games at Tennessee. The final game of the series with the Smokies was rained out. WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT: RHP Derek Rodriguez had two wins and a save in his first four appearances, allowing one hit and no walks over 3 2/3 innings. ... OF Stefan Gartrell had three homers to tie for the league lead. ... LHP Aaron Poreda was 0-2 despite a 3.00 ERA. ... 3B Javier Colina was 2-for-18. PLAYER TO WATCH: C Tyler Flowers, acquired by the White Sox from Atlanta in the Javier Vazquez trade, got off to a .290 start with two doubles, a triple, a homer and three RBIs. He had 12 strikeouts in 31 at-bats, but also had six walks. Flowers, 23, had 98 walks and 50 extra-base hits last year with Myrtle Beach. PERFORMANCE OF WEEK: SS Gordon Beckham, the No. 8 overall selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, started red-hot. He was 4-for-6 with the game-winning hit in the Barons' opener and finished 10-for-22 in the Chattanooga series. Beckham, 22, was hitting .368 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs overall. He did have three errors, though.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 04:44 PM) Because Gordon Beckham is at all comparable to a meh prospect like Rowand? If you really want to make a comparison go back to Ventura who's probably the most comparable Sox prospect in semi-recent memory to Gordon Beckham. And if Gordon were to hit as well as Crede did during his first 200+ AB stint with the Sox I'd take it. I'm also confused as to why Beckham needs to be compared to past Sox prospects (none of which were as highly regarded as Gordon) as opposed to someone like Ryan Zimmerman. There's also the example of Joe Borchard. All that aside, the problem is the pressure of playing in a media market like Chicago where the White Sox have consistently been a winning team (fighting in the upper reaches of the division, 1st to 3rd in almost all seasons except 2007), placing undue amounts of pressure on prospects such as Rowand, Crede and Borchard. You could probably add Brian Anderson to that list...although Borchard was the only one of those hitters at any point ranked in the Top 25-30 prospects in baseball. Beckham is #8, or definitely a Top 10-20 level prospect at worst. A more recent example, Alex Gordon, was allowed to play under almost no pressure with the Royals, and he still never has achieved at the level that was projected from him coming out of Nebraska.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 03:07 PM) Right, just like how Crede (who was projected by some to be the next Mike Schmidt) came up and raked immediately. Given that Beckham has only been using a wooden bat for a couple of months, I don't see why so many want him rushed into the bigs immediately. Last time I made this argument using the examples of Crede and Rowand their relatively slow "adaptation" to the major leagues (or any Sox hitting prospects since Ordonez, Lee and Durham), I was told that's irrelevant and that Beckham will be the exception...that it's a "new era" of White Sox youngsters coming up and dazzling upon entrance to the big league arena.

MacDougal overthrows the slider and refuses to pitch in the zone with his fastball...he's just gunshy now about giving up hits for some reason. And you can't work "backwards" from the slider to the fastball if you can't get strikes consistently with either pitch. Actually, he pitches like I would expect someone who'd been hit by a batted ball (and seriously injured) would pitch upon returning to the majors.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 08:05 AM) She is freaking crazy and plays herself off as the crack whore quite well. Penelope Cruz is not even close to comparable to the mess that is Bai Ling Which means she has more talent than you think, because she's nothing like that in real life...

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 03:36 PM) He had 100 chances....I never understood KW giving him an extension. At the time, it didn't look like the worst deal in history...just should have been at least one year shorter. Just imagine if KW signed Bradford, Baez and Walker for the pen instead of Dotel and Linebrink.

Great, sounds like MacDougal and Carrasco. At least he hasn't "maxed" out his potential...I would rather see Egbert, Poreda or Nunez get a chance than watching the same old sorry storyline game after game. I say this more about Mike and DJ, who has meant a lot to this team over the last year...kind of like a Ross Gload contributor who's underappreciated.

Kyle, I think you need to see Sunshine Cleaning...that will brighten up your day.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 11:56 AM) Not according to the article that someone wrote, somewhere, at sometime Here's a statistic for you. AT-BATS where the count reaches 2 strikes (0-2, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2)....performance from 2006-2008. Brian Anderson 142 K's/253 chances=57% chance of a strikeout Josh Fields 142 K's/233 chances=61% chance of a strikeout Does that mean that Brian Anderson is a better hitter than Josh Fields?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 10:11 AM) Why are we talking about Viciedo struggling in the cold by the way? 5 day forecast for Birmingham: 68, 75, 82, 86, 84. Hopefully Viciedo doesn't get hypothermia down there. I don't think he's struggling with the weather or rain. I do think he's going through the typical transition issues that every Latin player goes through (see the upcoming movie "Sugar") when they come to play baseball in the US, and especially a place that's really different from what they're used to (say the Pioneer League or the strange accents/dialects of people from the South). I don't know firsthand what Viciedo's English level is, and if he has someone assigned to spend time with him (the Seattle SuperSonics actually had an intern whose job it was to make sure Sean Kemp got out of bed and got to practice on time)...I can only say that when I worked for the Pirates' minor league team, most of those guys struggled to order from the McDonald's menu. They needed help with finding a car (leasing, buying, renting, etc.) and reading a contract for an apartment. There are just so many details. Having now had the opportunity to live outside the US in four countries (China, Thailand, Philippines and Colombia), I have a much greater appreciation for these issues and the big impact they can have on players....finding a church, dealing with girls and groupies and having freedom away from their parents, ordering food, doing their laundry, trying to learn English, basic communication, it can be very frustrating and alienating. Now I'm not saying these all are excuses whey Viciedo has an OPS less than Brent Lillibridge. It is just 41 at-bats. He has at least come up with some timely RBI's. We know he can drive the ball...he did so in spring training. Over 140 games, the true/r nature of a player comes out. Perhaps he's just putting pressure on himself because of the signing bonus and contract, because of what Alexei did last year, because of all the posts by Cubano, there are many factors.

1) First you'd have to isolate all those players like Pujols who essentially grew up in Kansas City (Ft. Osage, to be exact) from the Hispanic players that live in the US year-round and then those who live in the Caribbean, Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, etc., in the offseason. 2) Then you'd have to throw out those players who played Winter Ball, because someone would make an argument they were more "tired" or not "fresh" coming into the season. 3) Then you'd have to look at those games that started in April and May with a temperature below 40 degrees...or 50 degrees...or with a wind chill factor of X amount, etc. 4) Then you'd have to look at the baseline for all players in those games and compare... So it could be proven, but in the same way UZR or Zone Rating determines a player's defensive effectiveness, it wouldn't be pristine or perfect in any sense. On the other hand, it would equally difficult to disprove...as many opinions tend to be.

Lillibridge is on fire...we can't take him out of the line-up. He's the IGNITER.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 07:52 AM) Its a lot easier to pitch in the cold than hit in the cold. I think Contreras struggling is because he's had a long layoff and is in the middle of his "spring training". The cold weather should help him. The pitcher has the advantage the colder it is. I remember them always saying the Cubans do much better in "Cuban weather." The thing is, Contreras isn't loose or relaxed....not sweating in any of the games. You can see that he doesn't have confidence in anything but the fastball. That comes with time and heat/better weather conditions. And his velocity is not back, either. I'm sure that will change as June/July/August come around.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 21, 2009 -> 07:50 AM) I would say .238 with no walks and only 1 double and 0 other extra base hits in AA is struggling for someone who a lot thought would be on the White Sox opening day roster. That said, I wouldn't be alarmed. I do think there might be something to the weather, especially with Viciedo. He probably had never played a game where the temperature was below 60 degrees in his life until this month. I'm sure there's an adjustment, not only to the weather, but the culture, etc. I think and hope he will be alright. I would think the majority of Latin players have learned to play in the cold, but guys like Alexei and Viciedo haven't really been exposed to it very long and their adjustment period is just beginning. Its a very different feeling standing at the plate when there's a 25 degree wind chill vs. 80 degrees. At least we can hope its the weather, because if its anything else, it could be troublesome. Yes, because he did crush the ball the first week of ST and also hit quite a few liners and doubles to the opposite field. His contact rate has dramatically increased, but the power numbers are below Sweeney/Lillibridge.

But Contreras became dominant in 2005 when it was really hot in late July, August and September... You think "cold weather" has only an affect on baseball players? Why aren't other sports relevant?

I'm sure someone has done a study...and that there is some statistical validity to the fact that players who come out of Latin America struggle more in the early months. Do you think it's coincidence Ramirez has looked atrocious in both April 08 and April 09? That Viciedo is struggling? Both hit well in spring training...at least pretty good, and much better than now. Why does Contreras pitch much better in the heat of the summer? Are all of these complete coincidences lacking in statistical validity? Why do "warm weather" or Dome teams do poorly in Green Bay or Chicago in December or January? Viciedo's not hitting the ball with authority, and Lillibridge has a higher OPS in the majors. Hmmm....

I wish we had Tmar...he is not just a singles hitter. And he has many hunnies...he's quite the player.

She's just having a tough time converting from a Chinese actress to an American one...like Ziyi Zhang, she's been rejected by a lot of her countrymen for "selling out" and also appearing in Playboy, among other things. I think she is talented when speaking Chinese as her first language, but converting isn't very easy. Look at the struggle of Penelope Cruz...except she receives an Academy Award for being unintelligible and "cute."

State of Play 3.5 stars Sunshine Cleaning 3.5 stars (well, I'm a sucker for Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin, poor man's Little Miss Sunshine) Crank 2 2.75 It's really hard to rank Crank 2 quantitatively. It's really out there...with some stuff meant to press some buttons. The visual style is very unique and distinctive, for sure. The only thing that really annoyed me was Bai Ling as a crack whore...she has more talent than that as an actress. Of course, she was supposed to be a "stereotype" and give the SE Asian version of Bobby Jindal, but c'mon. You can use her more inventively...and Bai Ling, it wouldn't hurt to gain a little weight! To be honest, I liked the first Crank quite a bit better. The concept/idea was very unique at the time, and the "heroes" and "villains" were more clear. I wish Statham would take a little time to get away from his bread and butter (Transporter, Death Race, Crank) and do more movies with depth like The Bank Job. He literally seems to "crank" out those action movies that do fairly well in the US (they definitely have a niche audience) and also very well internationally...I know that last year all of his movies came out in Thailand almost right away. He's very well liked in the Asian market. BA can only hope to have as many hunnies as Statham.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) Link Why was Owens allowed to get so close to the president? Surely "the curse" (of his ineptitude) will be passed on to Obama? I thought the Secret Service did better background checks? After he's released later this week, Obama can send him with George Mitchell to Evin Prison in Tehran to negotiate the release of Ms. Saberi, a former Miss North Dakota. There's something in the Constitution about no former Miss America or Miss USA pageant contestants being held in notorious prisons like Evin in North Tehran. Especially half Iranian, half Japanese ones. Yes, Jermaine Dye is huge, he's a legit 6'5". Would have been hilarious if Ozzie brought some tea bags just to mess with Obama...seems like something only he could get away with.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 20, 2009 -> 07:27 PM) So you are saying assists don't measure anything then mention the number of assists Anderson has. That coupled with your observation that because he has been taking pitches that are balls is going to cause his strikeout rate to rise makes me wonder if you can really objectively look at Brian Anderson. While Anderson might not have the traditional "gun" in the OF, it is plenty strong enough. He is also very accurate and gets himself in position to make the proper throws. I really don't think his defense is something even his biggest detractors can argue. 1) Can we really argue that ST assist totals create a theorem that BA has a "great" or "plus" arm? 2) I never, once....on any message board...have said that Anderson doesn't play "good/great" defense. I just don't believe his throwing arm (or Rowand's for that matter) were/are so great. Anderson's is stronger than Rowand...and he doesn't overthrow so many balls into the mound or balls that bouce 5-6 times b4 they get to home plate, but he's just not very accurate usually. 3) If he doesn't swing at the first couple of pitches...good MLB pitchers will pick up on that and carve him apart. In the Rays' series, I suppose we can just go with another theory that BA "got lucky" never to receive first pitch strikes and got ahead in counts and was able to get some walks and a few scratch singles. Relying on that to continue won't/can't be a "new" offensive theory...as BA down 0-1 or 0-2 usually equals death by lethal injection for baserunners.

At the rate things are going, they might be suggesting a position change in the minor leagues for Ramirez. I wouldn't be shocked to see him sent to BIRM to play CF if his problems continue for 2-3 more weeks. Viciedo is also struggling mightily in his adjustment to American baseball...but it's just 40 at-bats for both of them. Seems that most Latin players really struggle in April in the cold weather. The question is, of course, who would play SS? Lillibridge? Getz, Nix and Betemit aren't capable of playing that position on an everyday basis for long stretches of time, and you'd have to think the chances of Alexei coming out of it are greater than Lillibridge putting up an 800 OPS from here on out. A lot of it will depend upon the standings. If we're in hailing distance of first place, they will continue to be patient with Beckham and let him develop defensively.

Nix just had an RBI...3-1 Barons into the 5th. Beckham is 1 for 3 and Shelby has two walks. David Cook has an RBI triple. Ely pitching pretty decently so far tonight. FWIW, Jacksonville is 8-2 and has been the best team in the Southern League up til this point in the season. Ely just got tagged for a 3 run homer off the scoreboard...4-3 JAX going into the bottom of the 5th. Good game. BTW, have a game Ben Gordon. Flowers with infield single to left side, Allen double, Cruz 3/3...2 rbi single up the middle for Nix gives him three RBI's for the game, 7-4 Barons, two on for Beckham. Three run, bases clearing double (second hit of the inning) puts the Barons up 10-4...7 runs scored in the inning with Allen up, Beckham had walked. All runs scored with 2 outs. Top of the 7th...Nix and Beckham are put on the bench for Hudson and Retherford.

When is the last time that assists from the outfield measured anything, usually, but the worst outfield arms or defenders that were constantly challenged by opposing 3B coaches like Carlos Lee or Alphonso Soriano? C'mon. I realize Rowand and Anderson are like Immortals to some here, but this is getting ridiculous...above-average arm strength has magically morphed into something more than it is. Brian Anderson has all of 4 outfield assists in 244 games played in his career. Lance Johnson had 11 assists in 1991 and 1992. One Dog had one of the worst arms in the history of the game...rivaling Juan Pierre, Jerry Owens, Scott Podsednik and Johnny Damon. To have a "plus" arm on the traditional scouting scale, you'd have to be at 60+. There is no way that Brian Anderson has a plus arm...maybe 50 or 55, but not a 60 or above for his position.

If we do bring up Nix, where/how is he going to play at all? He'll be behind Betemit on the PH list...and Nix can't play any other positions on the field besides 2B. We're not thinking of benching Ramirez or sending him to Charlotte, and Getz can't play SS more than "adequately," so I'm not sure how he (Nix) fits. If he sits on the bench like Betemit, his hitting won't be much of a weapon at all, because he has missed so many ST at-bats and now he'll just be playing his first games in a month...