caulfield12

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...sside17.article At first, I was really annoyed with Cowley for writing this nonsense, but at least it made me laugh a little bit...with his trying so hard to be cool, hip and funny. BA, please spend more time working on your swing and less time worried about ghosts, thank you. Or maybe the ghosts stole his swing with RISP? Anderson tried to downplay the story before Thursday's Sox-Rays game. ''We got in late, we wanted to get a good night sleep and we figured, hey, if something does come about, as a unit, we can team up against it,'' Anderson said. So he and Quentin were scared of something happening? ''No, I don't believe in that stuff,'' Anderson said, ''but we kind of looked at each other and said, 'Let's just get a room, man, and we'll share it and we can get a good night's sleep.' ''Everyone was chattering about it on the bus, so we were like, 'Dude, let's just get a room together. I don't want to deal with this, even if someone messes with us.' We just wanted to get a good night's sleep.'' During this series, Anderson is sleeping by himself like a big boy -- but in the Guest Towers, the newer, non-haunted part of the hotel. Jermaine Dye also was thinking about having his room changed to the Guest Towers after Thursday's game, even though he's on the third floor of the main hotel. The only members of the Sox' party currently on the fifth floor of the main hotel -- considered the hot spot of the hauntings -- are MLB.com writer Scott Merkin, who has promised to make any female ghost his Facebook friend if he sees one, and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who dared any ghosts to come into his room. Pierzynski has three rooms on the fifth floor for his family but wouldn't say if he has Room 521 because he doesn't want his teammates harassing him. ''If I do have 521, maybe I'll put my kids in there,'' Pierzynski joked. Now the kicker: The Sci Fi Channel show ''Ghost Hunters'' investigated the Vinoy last July, and according to one of the hotel workers, since the TV crew left, ''there has been a beehive of paranormal activity, especially on the fifth floor.'' Sounds like a fun weekend. Can any of them play center field?

Staying at leadoff: Chris Getz returned to the leadoff spot despite a .263 on-base percentage. "[The numbers] haven't been great, but they've been good enough," Guillen said of Getz, who missed two games because of a bruised right elbow. "We won a couple of games, he was on base a couple of times and we could do some stuff when he's on base. He [allows] the No. 3, 4, 5 hitters to get another at-bat. [Getz] is the one that's going to be there until we think he can't do it anymore." www.chicagotribune.com/sports Nix has never really played any position regularly but 2B, and coming back from a quadriceps injury, that's the LAST place you would want to put him...in CF. Look at what happened to Jose Valentin, a better athlete than Jayson Nix. Besides, the fact is that Nix is only a factor in the possible mix because of his "Gold Glove" defense at 2B, because his bat has been spotty and he didn't hit as well as expected in Colorado. But he's not the type of hitter you would count on having an 800+ OPS.

Before the game, Guillen said, "There is not a legit center fielder out there that we can look for." That leaves Anderson with the first shot, although Guillen raised some questions about his billing as a former first-round pick. "Maybe he is what he is," Guillen said of Anderson, who lost the starting center-field job in 2006 and is 2-for-12 this season. "We made a lot of mistakes with first-round picks for a long time here. Thank God we changed that scenario. "But I think whoever picked him in the first round ... the tools are there. He has the tools. But he has to show people the tools." Guillen would like to see more of the production Anderson displayed in the ninth when he singled with one out, moved to third on Chris Getz's hit-and-run single and scored on Fields' hit. "If Brian doesn't do the job, somebody else will," Guillen said before the game. "Who? We have to figure out who it's going to be. ... But right now, I don't have Plan B or C if Brian doesn't do the job. I want to see Brian's at-bats and see how that works." Before the game, Anderson was grateful just to get another shot at regaining the job. "They think I can do the job, so it's just a matter of getting on a roll and making the best of the opportunity," Anderson said. "Like [Wednesday], I got a couple of at-bats and it felt good. But I don't feel like I'm in the groove yet. I need to get into one and see how long I can keep it." chicagotribune.com/sports from suntimes.com/sports ''There isn't a legit center fielder out there that we can look for,'' Guillen said Thursday. ''We're trying to put the best guy there. I'm begging those guys to start playing the way we think they can play. Not because I don't have patience on how they're playing; it's because I don't have the patience to try to figure out who is going to be the guy. ''It's funny, if we win the game, we have a good center fielder. If we lose, we need a center fielder, a leadoff guy, we need a reliever.'' With Dewayne Wise out possibly until June with a separated right shoulder, Brian Anderson has the first opportunity to replace him. Considering Anderson stranded five of the first seven runners the Sox left on base Thursday night, there has to be an alternate plan, right? ''If Brian doesn't do the job, somebody else will,'' Guillen said. ''Who? We've got to figure out who it's going to be. But right now, I don't have no Plan B or C if Brian doesn't do the job. I want to see Brian's at-bats and see how that works. Just get better at-bats than what he's got and be aggressive -- that's it. I sound like 2006 when he was in the plans every day. I had to answer the same questions: 'What do you need from him?' Better at-bats. That's all.''

1) Bonser hasn't really been a major factor for 2 years...he's just their long man and was "trade bait" throughout last season...he has never reached the results he had in 2006-07 2) Liriano, unless he can really unwind that slider with maximum effort and velocity, is more like a #3 starter 3) They do miss Mauer 4) Carlos Gomez is really, really bad so far this year...and their idea of rotating Young, Kubel, Cuddyer and Span and Gomez isn't working 5) Baker got rocked his first game back, and at the Dome, which was a bit surprising, as he's their true ace now, not Liriano 6) Perkins, Slowey and Blackburn have pitched very well... 7) The Twins, like the White Sox....didn't do anything besides the Crede acquisition, and the move to get Luis Ayala for 8th inning set-up wasn't enough....would have been SO much better with Juan Cruz. Guerrier was the one who was really rocked last night, and he was their primary RH set-up guy last year. Crain is Crain, like Dotel, very talented but erratic. Actually, I would say Dotel has been much better than the 08/09 Crain. They caught lightning in a bottle with both Breslow (released twice) and Mijares (overweight) from the LH side, and also made the mistake of letting consistent Sox Slayer Mr. Denys Reyes go...who eventually signed for something like $1 million. That Bartlett/Garza for Young trade is still killing them. Punto isn't an everyday player offensively, and neither is Crede. Young doesn't fit with that team...and Gomez can't get his OBP close to 300. Casilla also hasn't hit as well as projected...I thought the wise thing would have been for them to move him to SS, with Harris/Tolbert/FA (like Orlando Hudson) playing 2B. Or they could have used that money (that they saved on Nick Punto's contract) on a RH reliever like Juan Cruz. Mulvey/Humber, the pitchers from the Mets with Gomez (they got hosed in that Santana trade) have both been major disappointments.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 08:25 PM) The good news? Our team batting average just jumped up a lot. And our leadoff hitter went 2/5. I think that doubles the number of hits we've had out of the leadoff spot this year. Between giving the Tigers double figures in walks on Monday and then having 14 hits, 1/11 with RISP and a "bad luck" bounce in the 9th inning go against us (not to mention Gross won a game in extras last year the Sox, I think Linebrink was pitching)...we can thank our lucky stars we're 2-1 on this road trip so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 08:25 PM) The good news? Our team batting average just jumped up a lot. And our leadoff hitter went 2/5. I think that doubles the number of hits we've had out of the leadoff spot this year. 4/35 on the season now...something like that. We can think Ozzie for one of those four hits.

Wow...game had the feel of one our typical Dome losses after going 3 for 13 with RISP. Kudos to Ozzie for using the hit-and-run, for Chris Getz at least making contact and Josh Fields having a heckuva game to go along with JD (horrible baserunning tonight, but Cox should never have stopped him from scoring the 3rd run) and John Danks. Just glad this game didn't get away and Danksie ending up with a ND after so many tough-luck ND's and losses last year, including his first outing of 2009. Especially after that bad luck bounce on Iwamura's ball. Anderson STILL needs to cut down on his swing and keep his head in there. Harrelson is exactly right...pure textbook clinic on what NOT to do when you're hitting, although that extra run in the 9th turned out to be the game winner. Brian AT LEAST didn't strike out with his two opportunities with RISP...but he's now 1 for 15 with the bases loaded in his career. Sort of the anti-Alexei Ramirez, who is already 8 for 19 with 4 GS's in those same situations. I think perhaps the thing that Anderson is WORST at is cutting down his swing there and just guiding a nice ground ball or soft liner anywhere up the middle or to the opposite side when they're giving you a run and you turn it down, which has now happened three times in a row. Alexei has also looked in a fog almost all season but at least you feel pretty confident he'll pull out of it after he makes the adjustment on all those breaking pitches he's being bombarded with. By the way, according to Stats and Elias Sports Bureau, we had the worst bench in the history of "modern" baseball. Corky Miller Brent Lillibridge Jerry Owens Wilson Betemit (the only thing close to a threat, and only against RHP)

Barons lost 4-2 to drop to a record of 5 and 2. About the only good things to happen were Viciedo and Shelby were both 2 for 4, and Viciedo had an RBI. Dayan hasn't had many XB hits yet, but that will come. Kyle McCulloch, the incredibly shrinking prospect, pitched decently but took the loss.

Sure, take someone like Huston Street who's close to major league ready to 40, or in the 3rd round...but you don't have to use your first round draft pick. The pitchers with the truly "plus-plus" arms aren't going to be available (if they are refined at all) in the first round. You just have to hope you can unearth a diamond in the rough like Nathan Jones or find someone in Asia or Latin America (like Mo Rivera or Carlos Lee).

You never take a pitcher with the idea of them being a reliever to start off with...it's like taking a punter or kicker in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft. We made that mistake once with Royce Ring, and it was a waste...unless someone has just an extraordinary arm, and Ring doesn't qualify on that count. It's much better to find someone like Poreda who might be missing a secondary pitch but at least, if coachable/teachable, has a ceiling as a 1-3 starter. The bullpen is WAY too much of a crapshoot to think you can draft someone who will automatically be successful in that role, there are just too many unknowns.

It's the next and only logical move if Getz doesn't work out at leadoff. Unless you want to see Owens or Pods playing CF...

I'll add talent and "make-up" in combination. If you ask scouts why all those first rounders didn't make an impact, it won't have anything to do with their ability...but there hasn't been a player in the White Sox system with the confidence of Beckham in many years...comparing himself to Derek Jeter, whether subconsciously or consciously. The thing here is, we can't trade for Aaron Rowand if we know that Beckham could play RIGHT now, it would be irresponsible and reckless financially.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 03:42 PM) You simply can't say that yet. Bringing up Beckham now and leading off with him has a 90% chance of him stunting his development and flopping at the job. He's had less than a month of professional baseball experience - this is a bad idea. Talent always wins out in the end. BA and Getz just aren't as good...Beckham is the only one in the organization with the confidence to do it. You can't be afraid of failure as a baseball player...and Gordon isn't. If anything, I think he needs to have a little struggle to realize that he's not quite as good as he thinks he is. If you look at players like Rowand and Crede, they struggled over and over again until they became regulars. But, if you have the talent and ability, there will always be a place for you at the next level.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) I honestly don't watch much Cub baseball but is he that much worse than what we have? Fukudome would be better. Torii Hunter would be better. Aaron Rowand would be better...heck, even Willie Harris (won't go as far as to to say Darin Erstad or Mackowiak)...it's all about MONEY, which we supposedly don't have to spend right now. As the White Sox are most likely to give up talent in order to save money...it means we give up the equivalent of Chris B. Young to get any of those guys. Which means Poreda and one of the following (Flowers, Allen, Shelby) to get this trade done where they would be willing to eat 1/2 of any of those three contracts. Cash is king in this environment.

ARGH with Captain Jack accent from Pirates of the Caribbean...first, the Cubs wouldn't trade him now anyway, the time to have "bought low" on him would have been coming into this season, but I think the Cubs were smart enough to let their "paper loss" return in value, knowing that Reed Johnson wasn't the long-term solution as an everyday major league CFer.

Our best leadoff hitter is in Birmingham. As soon as KW becomes conditioned to the idea....which will be after 15-20 games of Getz trying to do too much and getting out of his game....then we might have to bring up Beckham for lack of any other logical options within the organization. Frank Thomas started his career on August 2nd of the year after he was drafted...Ventura had to wait until September. Beckham won't be better than Thomas and probably won't be better than Ventura either (and Ventura was one of the most acclaimed college baseball players in history at OSU), but we have a tremendous need for him this season if we want to win the AL Central.

The Hudson deal COULD be worth as MUCH as $8 million, with $3.6 million guaranteed. However, Hudson is a big character guy and would have been a perfect fit in our clubhouse, IMO. I'm not going to get into whether or not Getz was/is ready, or Beckham for that matter, but Hudson at 2B or in CF would have been a huge upgrade over what we have for this particular season. He's very similar in terms of demeanor and personality to Dye...one of those guys (unlike Elijah Dukes) that you NEVER hear anything bad about. The C.A.T.C.H. Foundation was founded by Orlando Hudson, a 7 year MLB veteran, All Star and 3 times Gold Glove Recipient. The 501c3 non-profit foundation is headquartered in Darlington, SC, and takes pride in its continued commitment to provide resources and a support system for youth coping with Autism. Orlando Hudson is committed to bringing autism awareness to the African-American community. An active volunteer for organizations which promote autism research advancement, Hudson created the C.A.T.C.H. (Curing Autism through Change and Hope) Foundation, to provide resources and a support system for youth coping with autism. The C.A.T.C.H. Foundation has served youth with Autism through their annual Autism Walk; Strike Out! Bowling Fundraiser; Homerun Holiday Christmas Gifting Ceremony and providing local organizations and schools with financial assistance for youth coping with Autism. The C.A.T.C.H. Foundation’s 2009 goals include expanding their menu of services as well as presenting grant funding to deserving Autism oriented programs. In addition, the foundation has plans to do a National tour to generate funds and more awareness of the disorder. [/i]

Takatsu was a one trick pony. Once they started to lay off that frisbee, he would get hammered when he had to come with the fastball for strikes behind in the count. If the ex-Mariners closer was available (Kaz Sazaki) or Yu Darvish, that would be different. The Korean pitchers would be even more difficult to pry away from their leagues. Choo was an exception because he was signed directly out of high school by the M's.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) Couple notes in reply. First...for Juan Cruz, the Royals had to give up their 2nd round pick. We'd have had to give up our first round pick. It's like giving up #50 versus giving up #20. Juan Cruz simply wasn't worth that pick even if he was signing for the League Minimum. Second, in terms of Coco Crisp, the Royals gave up a 27 year old, pre-arbitration reliever who had an ERA under 3.00 last year to get him. The Sox simply have no one who fits that bill. Jenks was our only pre-arb reliever last year who had an ERA under 3.00. Poreda might have worked but he's never pitched in the big leagues, and I'm not sure I'd have done Poreda for Crisp. Orlando Hudson...also costs our first round pick, may not have wanted to play CF, might have been willing to do that deal though even with the draft pick. Baldelli...decent option except he can't play more than 1/2 games even if he's 100% healthy. Bobby Abreu is not a CF. Pretending these facts don't exist is not an option. Note - not once did I say we couldn't afford any of these guys. That may have played a part in it, but it's not the only reason. This is totally dependent on which mode the White Sox are in with their spending. If they are drafting and signing Danks in the 7th or arguably overpaying (in hindsight) for Viciedo....we can take someone just as good with our other 3 high picks in the first 2-3 rounds. See Detroit Tigers, Rick Porcello, for one example. In fact, the White Sox, before recent years, were atrocious drafting when they had any pick 20 and beyond in the first round. With Cruz, Crisp or Hudson, they had the chance to have an IMMEDIATE impact on this season, which has USUALLY been KW's standard operating procedure, at least until the this past off-season. Nobody could argue coming into 2009 that KW put the best possible team to compete for the World Series out there on the field for Opening Day...there were just too many holes. Now if KW doesn't make a move in May/June/July...he's going to be held accountable by the fans in terms of season tickets and attendance for next year. There's no doubt that the division was there for the taking, but neither the Twins nor the White Sox added significant pieces. The Tigers, Indians and Royals have at least made efforts at improvement (especially the Royals and Indians...the Tigers, it was addition by subtraction and going with younger arms). Maybe, just maybe...they're assuming they can bill the infusion of all the Birmingham hitting talent and Poreda for 2009 as like making 2-3 major acquisitions in the FA market, but I think there will be a time well before then when Beckham is obviously ready and/or Getz is struggling or not comfortable in the leadoff role. Until this season, when KW had a chance to "win now," he always was willing to take advantage...if he doesn't make a move bigger than Pods in Charlotte, then the odds of us winning the division "as is" would be about 5-15%, at best. Especially if Lillibridge gets anywhere close to 250-300 AB's. If they're going to take another McCulloch or Broadway instead of someone with 1/2/3 starter upside like Poreda, then I would just as soon have Juan Cruz and win this season, instead of waiting for someone who will make a marginal major league impact down the line.

Ummm...last time I checked, they weren't playing him in CF. And they were substituting Cabrera for him defensively late in games, too.

Well, Swisher is the new clean-up hitter for the Yankees. Yet he couldn't start over DeWayne Wise over the last month for the White Sox. The Yankees must be getting really desperate.

If JR and KW had that conversation, it SHOULD have been in the offseason. It would have been simple to add Juan Cruz and CoCo Crisp...yes, we would have lost a draft pick for Cruz, but that would have been the best possible solution...and avoided the mess we are in right now, where we might have to give up some prospects from our Top 10 in order to remedy the situation. Abreu, Penny, Orlando Hudson, Baldelli, etc., were available for pennies (not 50 cents or even 75 KW) on the dollar. We wouldn't have even had to save on electricity to make it work. Heck, even Josh Anderson would seem like a better solution right now.

Let's not forget, in KW's mind, either John Shelby III or Jordan Danks could be our CFer in late 2009 or 2010....so taking on a Rowand contract long-term blocks both of those kids, unless we move Shelby back to 2B. At 2B, we would be eliminating Getz and either Ramirez or Beckham, so I can't see KW going for more than a one or two year contract on any CFer while he waits for Ramirez/Beckham/Shelby/Jor. Danks to settle into their possible roles.

QUOTE (BUZZ @ Apr 16, 2009 -> 09:49 AM) Correction, we need a CF and a lead off hitter. How about Juan Pierre what would he cost? Taveras=too expensive for KW's liking, $6.25 million for 2 years Ichiro=maybe, would be the biggest move White Sox have made in years, cost in talent?...is Ichiro worth it, with age/declining ability? Bourn=low OBP Pierre=contract, what would we have to give up to get them to eat most of it? horrible arm, so-so defense, not very good OBP Figgins=would the Angels give him up now? FA after 2009, most debated name (along with Roberts) on most Sox boards the last 2-3 years Carlos Gomez=can he get on base? would the Twins dare trade him to White Sox? would Harrelson have a heart attack? Alex Rios=would be good option to replace Dye, but he can't play CF...he could certainly be a leadoff hitter though Damon=can't play CF anymore, arm, injuries, too expensive Rajai Davis=low OBP Randy Winn=one of the best of the worst options out there, veteran, can handle bat, not really a CFer at this point but would be tolerable and better than the likes of Griffey, Swisher and Mackowiak for sure Fred Lewis=better option than Winn, but more expensive in terms of cost of acquisition, a younger CoCo Crisp Kaz Matsui=we already have too many middle infielders Cesar Izturis=see Matsui, just signed by Orioles Milledge=not a very good CFer, questionable head/psych profile Nate McLouth=could be had, but very high price Abreu=KW passed, not a CFer either Gathright or Pie Dickerson, Cincy Blanco, Braves' AAA J. Werth=don't want to buy "high" on him at this point Crisp=KW passed apparently

There's really something to be said for keeping all those kids together and in a winning/confidence-building environment. It's better for the organization and for their development...when they come to the big leagues together (2009-2011), they will already be very comfortable with each other and used to the idea of winning almost every game. It's perfect, I think. I would rather promote them directly to Chicago from AA, rather than sending them through Charlotte first.