caulfield12

Paul Byrd - Despite the scarcity of available starting pitching, no team was willing to take on the remainder of Byrd's $7.5MM salary. Greg Maddux - Maddux is earning $10MM this year and will only accept a trade to a West Coast team. The Dodgers wanted him but asked the Padres to pay more than 80% of his remaining salary according to Peter Gammons. Duaner Sanchez - His velocity is down 3.6 mph from '06. Sanchez is under team control through '09. Scott Schoeneweis - His strikeout rate is down, but so is his ERA. Apparently no team wanted to risk taking on his contract - $3.6MM this year, $3.6MM in '09. Jarrod Washburn - Mariners sources told beat writer Geoff Baker that Washburn cleared. The Mariners may have overplayed their hand here. Washburn is set to earn $10.35MM next year. from mlbtraderumors.com Sanchez has been a really good NL set-up guy but the loss in velocity is a mystery...no interest in Schoeneweis after the Ramirez deal and due to the money invested in Thornton, Dotel, Linebrink, MacDougal and Jenks' expected salary bump in arbitration.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 09:20 PM) And that's why I hope Dave Wilder rots in prison. No way that will happen...I think he's supposedly cooperating, and will end up with a slap on the wrist. I'm sure he will be blacklisted from MLB, perhaps for life...or maybe he'll get lucky and be like Rick Neuheisel and eventually have another team give him an opportunity. I really think they're going after the network of "buscones," and any higher level execs they can...like Bowden and Jose Rijo of the Nationals. Heck, that team is so bad (and it's a shame, with the new franchise move), there should be a criminal investigation anyway into the mismanagement of the organization. If it was a stock, there would be a shareholder lawsuit, that's for sure. They've already established a Dominican "clearinghouse" bank that all the bonuses/checks have to be deposited through now...every team in the majors will use this specific bank. It's a start. The weird thing is that we got Ordonez and Carlos Lee in the early 90's...but with Guillen as manager, and more of a focus on the Venezuelan academy, we've got little to show for it, outside of El Duque, Contreras, Ramirez, Jose Martinez and Juan Silverio. Heck, Ramirez was more like the Tadahito signing (KW only saw video)...I think every team could have signed Alexei after his open tryout, but most were projecting him as a utility player would might even struggle to make an impact at the major league level. Thankfully, how right KW was on that call. With Uribe/Richar/Getz at 2B, we would be about 5-7 games behind where we're at right now.

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Aug 11, 2008 -> 02:00 AM) DJ said we got Ramirez in a trade for Orlando Paulo. not sure who that is exactly Paulo Orlando...low level (at best) C prospect who we will never miss and whose chances of making it (even to the Royals) are about 1/1000.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 07:19 PM) Exactly, but I think it's almost set in stone that he will win it. Maybe Quentin can have an affair (does he have a wife or g/f, we know so little about his personal life) and go on the Oprah show for his "catharsis" in order to catch up with the Josh Hamilton/Rookie II Disney script.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 10:31 PM) I don't expect the Sox to eat all of the contract, which means we will see one to two solid prospects moved. That could include one or two of the AAA/AAAA pitchers the Sox currently have (ie, Whisler/Haeger/Broadway/Egbert). I'd think the Sox wouldn't go with Broadway and instead give the others up simply because Broadway is a former first rounder. I don't anticipate Shelby/Poreda or any of the Sox higher upside prospects going (and its sad that I had to reach to go with Shelby as one of the "higher upside" prospects). The bright side is it looks as if the Sox are getting some decent talent in the lower levels. The Yanks offered basically nothing with the willingness of taking on the entire contract and had no luck getting him so that leads me to believe the M's are going to ask for at least something in return. Oh and Washburn was absolutely dominant in June and July. And I mean dominant (at least ERA wise). His August stats are skewed by one bad start (the other was what I'd consider average). Well...a lot of question marks. What are his stats on the road versus in very "pitcher friendly" Safeco? I haven't checked them yet. It would seem that they would want a B level pitcher to go along with Fields/Poreda/Martinez/Silverio...something like that. Then the issue is whether they would even want Fields back in a deal...depending on their plans for Beltre. You have to think the GM would be smart enough to build around defense in that stadium, and that would seem to take Josh out of the equation. Finally, we basically pilfered Thornton from them (I know it's a new GM), and the Freddy Garcia deal also turned out to be quite a disaster (yes, I know Reed is back with the M's)...so they might be a little wary of taking on supposed "prospects" from the White Sox a 3rd time around.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 10:21 PM) There are essentially two types of insurance. The normal worker's comp like every company has where the worker gets paid 66% of the salary without taxes. The other is a policy that can is arranged separately with the club and a re-insurer such as Loyd's of London where a pre-arranged amount of the total will be paid based on the amount of time the player missed based on the normal workload. This was the problem with the A-Rod contract over the 10 years. The Rangers couldn't get the entire contract covered and had to settle for only a portion being covered. Thus, the ballclub has to assume a greater debt if the player misses significant time. All of the policies are individually arranged based on factors such as age, inujury history ... Ihave no idea what Jose's was but it should pay out well. An achilles tendon repair in a guy his age is a 6-8 month rehab. Actually, now that you mention it, I think the policy was through Lloyd's of London.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 07:49 PM) I could see it happening if the M's like Shelby enough and if the Sox view him as a replaceable piece within the organization. The Sox would include more, but Shelby would almost certainly have to be the piece that made or broke the trade (on an unrelated note, made or broke isn't nearly as cool as make or break). would certainly have to be the "make or break" piece of the trading puzzle...?

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:40 PM) They'll shut him down, just like they did last season and like the Tigers shut down Verlander in their pennant race a couple of years ago. Danks only threw 139 innings last season and he's currently at 137 1/3. I don't see them letting him throw more than 160. Kenny saw what the Cubs did to Wood and Prior and isn't going to let that happen to his young studs. I'm not so sure...Danks is closer to Buehrle than he is to being a pure power (see Verlander/Prior), high effort type of pitcher. One of the reasons he was shut down was because KW wanted to preserve his confidence I think, and it has definitely paid dividends this season. Blackburn and Perkins are in similar situations in Minnesota, and there hasn't been much talk of shutting either one of those guys down that I've heard. I guess, if it comes down to it, they could go to a six man rotation if they could acquire another starter to protect Danks and Floyd.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:56 PM) Seems like a regular thing though nowadays. You never know what you will get on consistent basis from any pitcher on this team. Joe Neshack (sp?) says hi. That's a perfect example. The Twins losing Neshek (he's about to come back from rehab) and the Rincon falling apart really hurt that bullpen. Bonser and Ball have been disasters as well. Even Crain has looked shaky recently. Guerrier got knocked around and Reyes couldn't quite get out of the situation (didn't help to have a WP and an error behind him).

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) There is nothing consistent about this team except for prolonged slumps whether they are starters, the bullpen or hitters making over $7M a year. Real sad. How many leads of 3+ have the Sox blown in the last two weeks? 3 But the Twins blew leads (one even more considerable) in consecutive games too...it happens. If you take away Crain or Guerrier from the Twins, they would be similarly hurting as the White Sox are without Linebrink. And whether it's nerve, lack of cajones or tiredness...we're finding out what happens when Thornton throws too many pitches...dating back to the Tigers overtime game.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:34 PM) I am turning this game off. No need to take 5 years off my life. Too bad we can't put El Duque into this game like in 2005. Eerie. Erratic lefty (like Marte) screws up the inning and the righty has to come in and try to save the game.

QUOTE (Friend of Nordhagen @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:23 PM) Right on. Maybe we could trade for him before the next inning. I'd send them Boone. Can't we get Javier Lopez back?

So Dotel comes in to face Mike Lowell no matter what the situation is...?

Thanks, Meche. Walk Nick Punto to load the bases with one out for Joe Mauer and Morneau. UGH!

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:08 PM) All aboard the Gavin train Ozzie bringing in Thornton with men on base That = Runs Scored Thanks Oz Well, you really can't start Thornton off in the inning, because Gavin had a long time to rest (too much, apparently) and had pitched well since the Lowell homer...then you have to really extend him (Thornton) to bridge across to Dotel, if you can manage to get to the 8th and keep the lead or at least a tie. We're just too vulnerable in our bullpen right now.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 03:02 PM) Wait, we have a .313 hitter in our lineup? Ramirez was close coming into the game, at .310.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:57 PM) Exactly. At that point, you are playing for 1 run against the Red Sox in the 5th inning. Giving up outs against the Red Sox is idiotic. If AJ executes and plays "small box" or fundamental baseball later in the game yesterday, then we see Thornton and not Boone Logan and the White Sox have at least a 75% chance to win the game (with a one run lead). I suppose someone will argue the opposite point because of the failed bunt, but that doesn't mean it was a strategic error...just one of execution. That wouldn't have been too idiotic if we won yesterday.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:55 PM) 6 hits, 4 walks in less than three innings for Livan. GO GET HIM KENNY!!! EDIT: Another home run. That's 9 ER. Another hit for the royals. Runners on the corners with two outs. Are you being sarcastic about Livan Hernandez? Hard to tell sometimes around here.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:53 PM) I've never seen a guy go from looking so s***ty in an at bat or the first pitches of an at bat and then end up with a single than Alexei. Iguchi was close...he looked like a rusty, swinging gate from Atticus Finch's house in the rural South on some pitches...but he didn't have nearly the bat speed and hands that Alexei does.

QUOTE (letsgoarow @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:52 PM) Royals scored. 2-1, man on third 1 out 2-2 on a Guillen single...amazing Meche got out of 1st and 3rd and no outs last inning. Big momentum shift.

QUOTE (Frankensteiner @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) I am not going to go overboard and call Getz a great 2-spot hitter when he's never had a ML at-bat. At the same time, if he can play good defense at 3B there is absolutely a position for him. Do you really want a Nick Punto/Brett Buscher/Brendan Harris equivalent playing 3B for the White Sox? Well, I guess you don't have to get 20-25 homers at this position if we can get some power from Ramirez at SS and at 2B, but who can play 2B then? Uribe? Hudson? Beckham? Shelby? I think Getz is more of a utility-player who can start on lower tier teams at the MLB level.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:44 PM) They never play well against the Yankees and I don't see that changing. So if we can be tied with them going into the next series, I could see us picking up a game or two. Alexei for defensive MVP. After the Yankees (who are really struggling and aren't so good on turf), they have Seattle and Oakland at home. We know how good those last two teams have been playing recently! The way things are going, I would be surprised/shocked if the Twins weren't 18 games over .500 within the week. We just need to stay 2-3 games behind and cross our fingers that the 14 game road trip (starting with four in LA against the Angels) really sets them back in a tailspin.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:39 PM) I hate the Twins. With the exception of the Mariners series it seems like they sweep all inferior teams and then get swept by all superior teams. They have all of 2 hits in five innings against Baker today, 2-0 Twins heading into the 6th. Of course, they will have approximately 51 hits against us this week, predictably. Looks like ALL the momentum is now officially back to the Red Sox after we had them on the ropes. Too bad we didn't have Craig Monroe or Marcus Thames to pinch-hit for us against Aardsma.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 02:29 PM) If we're going for it this season, the time is now. Danks is going to have to be shut down next month, so we're going to need TWO new starters, not jut one. If the M's want Poreda, they can keep dreaming. Well, if that's definitely the case, I think the White Sox should just limit him to 75 pitches or 5 innings or whatever (after September 1st) and not shut him down. It's hard to imagine that they are just going to sit our best pitcher for the rest of the season in the heat of a pennant race.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 12:26 PM) There is no guarantee that Broadway will be horrid at the ML level. We have all seen guys pitch mediocre in AAA and come up to the majors and really do the job. Sometimes it's almost like it's boredom or something in AAA, or perhaps some guys just really respond to the added pressure. Everyone knows that our bullpen is a weakness, we just made it even weaker. That's true, but most of those times, it's a pitcher who has legit stuff and an "out" pitch. Anyone can pitch poorly in the minors...the fact is that Broadway has such a fine margin for error, and outings he had last year were under little or no pressure...much different when everyone in the city is all over the airwaves after 1-2 bad starts.