caulfield12

The Indians' announcers are really impressed with Poreda. Said his fastball seems to have late life, that, like Thornton, he looks deceptively-fast...and that he's successfully gotten into the kitchen of 3 hitters already. Made the comment he (Thornton) just needed to challenge hitters with that stuff and stop nibbling and just go after hitters. Has anyone heard that Poreda might be leading Marquez for the last spot in the pen now? Is Carasco still perceived as a sure-thing to make the OD roster?

It was a hit-and-run...BA failed to make contact, not a straight steal. Peralta, perhaps the worst SS defensively in the American League, ironically stops the player that we're going to carry 90% for his speed/versatility/defense in Lillibridge.

You have to have MLB.TV, right? Fields perfect bunt single to start the inning...batting .415 and climbing. Anderson .261, Wise .275 and Owens .208 (but something like 10 walks), so his OBP is pretty decent. BA fails to make contact on a hit-and-run and gets Fields thrown out, then he promptly K's. Yet another reason BA shouldn't be batting anywhere near the top of the order, he just doesn't have the required "small ball" skills. And Lillibridge, please wake up and try to look like an offensive threat for a change.

Very ugly line-up today offensively. Last time I said that weeks ago, we exploded against the B and C pitchers after the starter left...Carmona pitched fairly well against us last time out this spring. And at least Ozzie has Owens at the very bottom of the order. Is Hafner done? He's still struggling this spring at .143...looks like Sox killer Victor Martinez is back to his old form, though.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Lin...381&Model=0 I went back and did this using BA in the line-up, with Thome's and JD's White Sox averages for the last three seasons, Konerko's career average, Quentin's 2008 season (along with Alexei) and "averaged" BA and Fields in terms of minor and major league numbers (Fields might be underestimated, BA overestimated at this point) and then just projected Getz based on minor league averages. 5.770 runs per game (935 runs in one season) 1. Jim Thome 2. Carlos Quentin 3. Fields 4. JD 5. Paul Konerko 6. Alexei Ramirez 7. AJ 8. Brian Anderson 9. Getz Everytime you run these simulations, you have Getz/AJ/Anderson as the bottom 3 in some way, shape or form. You could also make an argument that Thome and Quentin should be flip-flopped due to Quentin's better overall speed on the basepaths.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Lin...ul+Konerko& amp;OBA5=+0.344&Slug5=+0.438&Player6=AJ+Pierzynski&OBA6=+0.312&Slug6=+0.416&Player7=Josh+Fields&OBA7=+0.334&Slug7=+0.433&Player8=Chris+Getz&OBA8=+0.361&Slug8=+0.381&Model=0 You guys will all have a lot of fun with this tool. The best line-up I could come up with produced 5.638 runs per game, or 913 over a full major league season. Realistically, the best line-up that's also realistic for the White Sox is the one that produced 5.634 runs per game. 1. Beckham, SS (I projected him to .350 OBP and Alexei's .475 SLG from last year, still a fairly conservative .825 OPS) 2. Carlos Quentin, LF 3. Paul Konerko, 1B 4. Jermaine Dye, RF 5. Jim Thome, DH 6. Alexei Ramirez, CF (splitting up the two lefties with Alisay, although you could flip Fields and AJ I guess) 7. Josh Fields, 3B (based on average minor league numbers) 8. AJ Pierzynski, C 9. Chris Getz, 2B (based on average minor league numbers) Every formula I ran had the most runs scored with AJ and Getz as 8 and 9, bottom of the order. One other interesting statistical finding: If you use their career MAJOR league numbers, Brian Anderson comes out with a SLIGHT advantage over Jerry Owens and both are about .02 ahead of Dewayne Wise. The advantage is even bigger if you use BA's minor league numbers, and, once again, doesn't take into account defensive ability, which would obviously favor Anderson as well. Play around and find a line-up that can beat mine...also, you can have fun putting in Figgins, Brian Roberts, Orlando Hudson, Furcal, Dunn, Abreu, etc. It's a pretty neat line-up tool and makes for interesting discussion. FINAL NOTE: For all the Brian Anderson fans out there, I did this for you. I VERY GENEROUSLY AVERAGED his major and minor league numbers (.3205 OBP, .4265 SLG, .747 OPS, Torii Hunter, Jr.) and put him out there with Alexei and Beckham in the middle infield BUT the Getz 2B, Beckham SS and Alexei in CF version still won 5.634-5.638 to 5.571 RPG. In order for BA/Beckham/Ramirez to win, he has to save/prevent 10 1/2 runs per season on defense compared to the Ramirez/Beckham/Getz version. I think you could make that argument, with Anderson over Alexei in CF, Ramirez over Beckham at SS and Beckham over Getz at 2B. That line-up, the one we've just begun to embrace as White Sox fans, would score 902.5 runs in a season. Of course, that's all predicated on BA getting a .747 OPS in everyday play against tough righties and not just favorable match-ups, which is FAR from a sure thing.

Nice to see CQ's power coming around the last 7-10 days. I guess that means JO and Alisay both reached? Hmmmm...I guess Owens has two walks now, so how many is that on the spring so far? 10? That can't possibly take his .217 BA to a .350 OBP, could it? Now we just need a positive April from JD...not a .180 average on May 15th. Anyone think UK would rethink hiring Gillespie if they could have Travis Ford instead?

I hope we don't see too many line-ups with Lillibridge and Owens anywhere near each other. EVER. AGAIN. Shades of Mark Johnson and Royce Clayton.. Sorry, have been with my g/f in the Philippines for the past week...how has Josh Fields been hitting the last week? I see his average is still around .400, but he was starting to strike out more frequently about 10 days ago. When are they sending Beckham out? It will be nice to see Shelby play a little in the outfield in the next two weeks as well (and Danks). I know he's more of a LFer at this point, but I would be interested to see him in CF just for a couple of games. However, the CF battle coming down to the last week might curtail those opportunities. Looks like the B10 is now down to two teams already...MSU and Purdue. That Ohio State-Sienna game was a good one, am sure Matta will be second-guessed for the next six months, but they really didn't have much of a chance against LOU. Watch, Sienna will knock off the Cards. Well, I wouldn't bet on that one happening, unless I was wagering my 100 shares of AIG. 4-2 White Sox. Richard gave up two runs in the bottom of the first but struck out soon-to-be-displaced Bobby Crosby with two runners on base to get out of the inning. Errors on Lilli (2nd) and Fields (3rd) opened up the floodgates, so neither run was earned. Starting to wonder if Eider Torres might sneak back into the competition for back-up middle infielder with the way Lilli has been going...?

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) you forgot Rey Ordonez. I guess it would be the same thing if we took one of Korea's middle infielders from the WBC and stuck him out there at SS and 2B (as playing Rey Ordonez). At least those are two positions that SEEM to be covered for the near future. But I have been coveting their superfast/leadoff CFer...wondering how our line-up would look if you just added him to the top of the order.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 02:16 PM) I'm just biased too because I'm from Iowa City, IA - 20 minutes from Cedar Rapids, where he's from. So he was always a fav. of mine. Well, in that case, you can always cheer for our new acquisition Gilmore from the Braves. I went to Iowa and am from Bettendorf, that's why when we have a "native" athlete like Tavian Banks in our state (Roger Craig is also from Davenport), we do want them to succeed, and it would have been nice had he done it for the Sox. I felt the same way about Jason Bohannon. It sucks to watch him playing for WI when he undoubtedly would have ended up a Hawkeye had it not been for Steve Alfraud messing up the basketball program in IC.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) CF being thought of as a power position is the fault of the likes of Griffey and Torii Hunter. I'd be more than happy with a fast, slap hitting, base stealing, decent obp guy who's a plus fielder over the likes of Jerry flippin' Owens and Brian Anderson. Yeah, I guess it's just like 10 years ago when Nomar, Tejada, Jeter, Renteria, etc., started to make SS an offensive position and not an Ozzie Guillen-esque one. There just aren't that many Grady Sizemores out there...Andruw Jones also comes to mind in terms of the power/speed combination. Nate McLouth, to a lesser extent. Inevitably, we'll return to the Chris Young conversation...it has replaced the Todd Ritchie trade, along with the two Nick Swisher deals, for most debated moves in recent Sox trade history.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) i'm just gonna indulge my nostalgia for a second... Sweeney CF Beckham 2B Quentin LF Ramirez SS Fields 3B Viciedo 1B if only... You need to have someone (like Brandon Allen) in there to provide some LH balance. The last week has really been a pretty boring/disappointing one for White Sox followers. Viciedo/Flowers/Allen all gone, none unexpected, but they made the games more exciting to follow, and Becks has finally cooled off as well. There isn't much drama left, just the CF situation and what will happen with Marquez/Poreda and the final bullpen spot and/or Colon's status.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 02:06 PM) The Sox wanted him to hit for power. The A's allow him to be who he is...a slap hitter, and a pretty good outfielder. I don't think they "wanted" him to hit for power...they were just waiting for him to become the type of hitter who would at least give you 15-18 homers and 30+ doubles per season, something like Aaron Rowand. The White Sox could afford a gap hitter in their line-up if he had a 340-350 OBP and stole 15-25 bags per season and played well above average defense at that position. What they really need is a combination of Anderson and Sweeney...as both are incomplete CFers (if you look at it "holistically").

I don't think Sweeney would be the long-term solution in USCF witht the corner outfielders we have now...well, I guess we'll have to compare overall stats with the likely platoon situation we're going into and see if we can at least get an 800 OPS out of CF this season. It won't be easy. I don't think Sweeney will ever be much higher than 775-825 either.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2...chamlb_oakmlb_1 Let's try to break this funk we're in...Ryan Sweeney hitting .425 coming into the game, fwiw. Heard that Gio was battling some injury problems. Also, this is the Orlando Cabrera "reunion" game. They expect a lot out of this Mazzaro kid that's on the mound today. Supposedly one of their three future aces.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlGz...o&type=lgns Some funny quotes, especially the ones about stealing money while "cooperating" with Chavez in Venezuela. Wonder how many shots Luis Sojo is taking in Caracas today? That was a brutal performance by his team yesterday, and leaving the likes of Felix Hernandez on the bench makes absolutely no sense...I really have enjoyed watching the Koreans and Japanese play in this WBC. If any team is like the one Ozzie would ideally like to manage (and like him at the plate/defensively/fundamentally), it's the Korean squad of no-names (up until now). I think that darned Choo guy (why SEA gave up on him, I'm not sure) will be a pain in our butts for many years to come.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) I heard the other day from a friend of Corky Miller's that he will be the back-up catcher for the Sox. Should be official shortly. I didn't think it was possible to find a worse hitter than Toby Hall (during his Sox career). Don Wakamatsu?

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws Good story on Viciedo...by the way, there's nothing wrong with his swing! He'll be just fine. He's also our best candidate after Betemit to be used as the DH if Thome continues to struggle with back issues.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aglh...o&type=lgns Jeff Passon (yahoo sports) in-depth coverage of the controvery with many quotes (albeit none from HC).

Nope...only split squad games. That takes away Wise's homer and triple (against Dodgers Monday morning) and a Chris Stewart homer, among other things...but that is another reason why "Wayne" Wise's name has been coming up more often recently with Ozzie and KW.

Who did Egbert start against? Australia? I can't remember...and the line-up he faced that day. We do know that Marquez and Richard have started all of their games against the best possible hitters.

Nix is the best defender on the team...we've yet to see how Beckham will do at 2B over an extended period of time. He's looked better at SS so far...or are you arguing he should be beating out Alexei Ramirez, because he's clearly outplayed everyone on our team offensively?? That's the same argument as Lillibridge over Anderson...if we stuck Brent out there for the next 3 weeks about two to three games per week and he "looked good." I have no problem with taking Egbert, fine...up to Ozzie and Cooper. Why haven't we heard it mentioned yet. It's a crapshoot, he could actually be better than Carasco, who knows. I would question why his name hasn't been mentioned once by a single beat or national baseball writer as part of the White Sox conversation. As someone mentioned earlier, Marquez and Richard have had to pitch against the BETTER hitters in most line-ups at the beginning of games. I don't have all the boxes to look at how many "good" MLB hitters Egbert's actually gotten out that would make me bat an eye. Owens is quickly playing his way out of this organization and showing no signs of coming out of it. Cole Armstrong with a bomb...wow, I guess I should "jinx" the offense every game like this...unfortunately I'll be gone for a week to the Philippines and out of internet access when the games are on so I won't be able to start another ST game thread.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) It's spring f***ing training. Balta is right about the quality of pitcher, you tried to argue about clutch situations which don't exist in exhibition games. He had 27 AB in C&L situations last year and 87 in games when there was a 1 R margin and he hit .272/.314/.494/.808. What's the spring sample size looking like? 8/27 against hand-picked/favorable lefties for BA to feast on means about as much to me as BA's homer today in garbage time or his homer against Australia.

If it's ONLY/JUST spring training, then why are we ALL talking about Beckham making the team??? We wouldn't be if he was hitting .100, but because he's performing exceptionally well, he's become a legitimate part of the conversation. How many times do we hear that BA hit two homers off Felix Hernandez...as if they means he has a lifetime get of jail free card???

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 04:01 PM) There's a gaping hole in the back of the bullpen, someone needs to win that spot and if we're going off who's earned it with their spring performance it's Jack Egbert. No one is going to trade for Jayson (DFA) Nix and Chris Getz is the future utility player of this ballclub, both have been thoroughly outplayed by Gordon Beckham this spring, the job should be his. Ummm...we got Loaiza and Jenks for basically nothing. Or look at someone like Carlos Pena. Just because Jayson Nix had no value to other teams last year doesn't mean he has no future value for infinity. Nix has been out for one week with a strained quad and was 5/7 before today. I don't know how you can say Beckham clearly outplayed him. Egbert hasn't pitched CLEARLY better than Marquez, Poreda and Richard...his sample size is too small to say he's the best option.