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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 05:02 PM) f***! I'm also not crazy about this, but it's one less thing to fret over for the next several months.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) You still want to see him do it at AAA first. The only time you can legitimately skip a reliever a full level like that is when it's a guy like Bobby Jenks who throws 102 MPH Yes, and he's also a few years younger than the other relief options. I think he's a more likely candidate for the '15 pen.

Time for CS to save us from 100 L's. Meanlingless, yes, but 97-99 will be easier to forget.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 02:40 PM) I'm guessing he was likely just adjusting to the league itself. He made 1 start in AAA prior to this year. Yeah, AR must have figured a few things out at a certain point in AAA - his last ten starts there were outstanding.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:47 PM) Because he walked 4.5 batters an inning at AA and, despite a good strikeout rate, still had a 3.9 ERA. Really, if you can't get AA hitters out with pure stuff (low 90s fastball, curveball, changeup), or you can't locate it well enough to do so, you are going to struggle in the majors. In fairness, Vance was very good until the last few weeks of the season when it went to hell. Maybe he got tired.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) "Quick swing, lack of patience, huge power, tendency to chase sliders." Did I nail all 3 of them? This is true, except possibly Soler whenever he arrives. And I hope he never does.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:27 PM) Bullpen- Reed, N. Jones, Webb, Rienzo, Veal I have not had a chance to see Petricka or Webb pitch - who do we like better? Both? Veal has resurrected some hope for me as a loogy, but I'm wishing for a veteran lefty bullpen presence as an offseason move. Boone Logan, anyone? And there always seems to be a few aging Japanese starters available from their league, who come to the States to finish their career in an MLB pen. Maybe that will be a possibility. Somewhat fearful of Abreu signing, given that his weaknesses sound too familiar/similar to DV. Not saying they're the same guy.

QUOTE (juddling @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) Vic Mackey would like a word with you........lol personally Vic Mackey > Tony Soprano At the end of the day, I wound up preferring the Shield to the Sopranos, primarily because of the compelling Mackey, but also because of how they wrapped it up - a fitting ending for Vic and Shane. My ranking of serial dramas: 1. BB 2. Shield 3. Sopranos 4. Wire Other favorite show: Rockford Files (mainly for the love of Garner's Rockford and Stuart Margolin's Angel Martin) Many others discussed here I haven't seen.

Hoping that a lefty college bat is the best player available. Although, if a college pitcher, who'd likely be ready in '15-'16, is the best choice, that would allow more opportunity to trade for such a player. I have a feeling that the Rockies will be shopping Cargo sometime between now and next mid-season, and I hope we make a run at him.

The consensus averages here look to be pretty accurate. Keppinger, in any universe, has to be an F, or F- if that's possible. Axe really shouldn't be in MLB, but yeah, he gets an F as well, along with Paulie.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 24, 2013 -> 11:54 AM) Vince Gilligan said on his "tease" for next week that the title is also an anagram for "Finale". After going geek on BB predictions this morning, I think the best theory for the episode name "Felina" is how the lyrics in Marty Robbins' El Paso mirror Walts return to ABQ and a bloody death. We might even be hearing that song in the finale, perhaps performed by Los Cuates de Sinaloa, the band that did the Heisenberg ballad. My take on Walt's new motivation to act after viewing the Charlie Rose/Grey Matter show has to do with "outdoing" his old business partners, not killing them. They gave $28 million to treat drug addiction - Walt's going to try and wipe out the business. That means killing Lydia (with Ricin at the coffee shop, perhaps, along with Todd) and killing the Nazi's/destroying their lab.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 04:40 PM) With a back-of-the-rotation type prospect like Rienzo, I think the best place for him to develop is the pen. If he shows very good or better success leave him there and change his rle. Otherwise, let him develop while being the long man. I can't disagree with this. Really, though, for me the point is moot: If he's one of our 5 best out of ST next year, he's a starter, otherwise he's the longman/spot guy. Higher ceiling guys than Rienzo are in the pipeline. Nothing left to prove in AAA, and I'd rather he be spending his time with Coop. Just a prediction, but Balta's gonna hate how we handle Tyler Danish in a couple of years - I think it will be much like how we handled Sale. He'll fly through the system, but will be deemed too young/slight by the braintrust to be given a starter's load initially. Look for him in the pen by mid-late '15 as a 20y.o.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 04:35 PM) Keep in mind why I hate this so much. We've tried it repeatedly and it keeps not working. We stuck Sale in the bullpen in 2011 and in 2012, when we really needed him, his arm flared up in April (nearly pushing him back to the bullpen permanently), his ERA went from 2.19 in the first half to 4.03 in the second half, and they were forced to skip starts regularly because his arm wasn't conditioned for it (putting more stress on the rest of the rotation). Then we did the same thing with Santiago. He didn't pick up any extra velocity, he had one good month out of the pen this year but was overall not extremely effective out of the bullpen (3.93 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) and when moved to the rotation, we suddenly found...OMG he's poorly conditioned to be a starter, he's wearing out at the end of the season, and he hasn't developed his offspeed stuff as much as we'd hoped he would. You put Rienzo out there, the end result is going to be...he's not conditioned to be a starter and he won't develop his offspeed stuff as much as he should. You'll set him back a full season or more. Either put him in AAA or trade him. Every time we do this the result is completely predictable. Frankly, Sale's flare up last year was the most overblown event of the year - more a PR debacle and misplaced caution, imo. He was back dominating as a starter within a week and hasn't had a hiccup in 370+ innings since. His dropoff in the second half was to be expected for a pitcher building innings for the first time at the MLB level. I have no issues with how he's been handled. Agreed that Hector hasn't been handled ideally (rather "jerked-around" actually), and no surprises with his late-season dropoff. Rienzo has pitched ~165 innings this year and has the offseason to refine his stuff. He'll be able to fill whatever role we need of him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) While that rotation makes sense, just so I say it, Rienzo would need to be traded in that case, because I would hate to see someone stuck into the bullpen and wasted for 2 years because we're too scared to make a trade. I won't mind seeing Rienzo in the longman/spot starter role, at least at the start of next year. From a pitching standpoint, imo, the key to this offseason is whether Danks can gain a few ticks back in velocity. If he does, he'll likely return to a #3 quality SP, and may become "tradeable" if we're not contending at midseason. And it might even be wise to trade him if we ARE contending, depending on what's coming along in the minors, and how Andre performs in his role. If he doesn't regain velocity, I don't honestly think he'll be one of our best 5, and will have a hard time getting off the "meatball express" he's been on this year. If that happens, the contract will definitely be a bit of an albatross, but I'm optimistic for his improvement. Either way, I think it would be premature to trade Rienzo until we've had a look at Chris Bassitt - "The Hound" (you heard it here first) figures to be the next man up. I want six guys we can trust, given the propensity of SP injuries. The other key to the pitching offseason is Hector's refinement of secondary offerings, or lack thereof.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 12:52 PM) Semien is the real deal. This guy has to be batting 1 or 2 next year, playing in the middle infield. Totally. Would like to see something akin to Marcus' walk rate from milb, but hopefully that's coming soon. Very impressed with his batwork in a small sample. Here's hoping that he and Micah are our 1 and 2 hitters in 2015.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 20, 2013 -> 11:54 PM) Until Sale goes down. And it will Happen. And even then I laugh at the notion that this is a "championship" staff. Rays >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sox. At what point does this meme begin to fade? One could literally say this about ANY stud pitcher in this day and age with a certain degree of accuracy. It's been my observation that in most cases, such a calamity would have already happened if it were likely. 400+ innings of awesome over two years say otherwise. I no longer fear the inverted W.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) Haha, Eeyore version. I always use Zombie, but I think I like Eeyore better. Can't claim it, saw it on SSS.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 08:32 AM) I know he's been pretty good but I'm changing the whole attitude of the team. I'm not saying he's a problem, I just wouldn't expect any kind of significant return for him. We'd get rid of his salary and replace him younger options that can be part of the future. I don't see any way Dunn is here after his contract is up. This. We need a changing of the guard, even if the "leaders" of the new team aren't on the roster, currently. Also, while I totally love the dude, and look forward to his statue and managerial tenure with the team , I really hope they don't bring back Paulie in any capacity next year. Eeyore version of Paulie just isn't helping in any way. I do want McCann however, but so many other suitors might make it unrealistic. I think he'd help the most , as a high OBP/OPS, LHB, we could put in the 3 hole most games. I also would love to land Abreu, assuming they love what they see at the workouts - he'd be a logical cleanup, I'd hope. It's likely we have a much better chance of landing Abreu, of the two. I still want to add a lefty or SH bat, somewhere, to the mix, regardless of what we're able to do with Dunn.

Including the stats from B'Ham's playoff performances, thus far, both Bassitt and Micah's season numbers look even more impressive. Micah talking more walks is nice. Bassitt figures to be next year's Rienzo, hopefully a bit better at a similar age, if he can continue to progress the way he has lately. These playoff performances are encouraging. The stuff is supposed to be pretty good. Micah, I think we can hope for 2015 as a potential leadoff option. I hope they try him out in CF, or perhaps LF, perhaps even in the AFL. Nice to have two guys like Semien and Micah who seem to be OBP focused, finally, in the system. AFL should be cool, with the guys we're sending. Leesman should get long look as next year LOOGY option.

I woke up that morning, sick and vomiting from a bad slice of pizza purchased at Ardmore and Broadway late the night before. The clock radio alarm came on, and they were talking about the first crash into the WTC, as the second one hadn't happened yet. The illness was very apropos to what unfolded as the morning progressed.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 01:50 PM) Call me crazy, but 15 minutes of a show that is 4 seasons long seems like a BIT of small sample size to declare it sucks. Agreed. I'll probably give it another chance. But, would rather save the time by gauging a consensus opinion here.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 8, 2013 -> 01:02 AM) Saw The League. Great stuff as usual. And as usual, Raffi was aweosome. Saw half a show of the League for the first time last week. Thought it was just awful and unfunny. I'm a fan of Sunny (though a little off the rails, imo, the past few seasons), and was surprised that they'd put the two back-to-back. Do I need to give it more of a chance, folks? I respect all your opinions, but I really don't have the time to be less selective in my viewing.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 10, 2013 -> 11:05 AM) By the way, I know this may stir the pot a bit, but... a guy like Winiarski is one of the reasons why I am not a fan of the favor-drafting late in the process. Once in a while, a guy pops from the lower rounds. I don't like the idea of wasting draft picks. Thanks for the info, NSS, and totally agreed with the above. 48th round pick CJ Edwards looks to be the key piece in the Garza trade, for instance, whether his 150lb frame ever makes it to the majors, or not.

Glad they're coming to Colorado again, this time in April. Early enough to catch the end of ski-season for anyone making the trip.

I'm not averse to keeping ADA, but I really, really don't want to see him at leadoff heading into next season. Not high enough OBP and just too damn stupid a base-runner, imo, to be our "table setter". Would very much like to see him in the 7 hole, where he can be a hybrid run-producer/secondary lead-off man, IF we can forge a deep enough lineup through FA/trades. Here's hoping like hell that Semien can be the OBP machine in the majors that he was in milb this year, or a close enough facsimile, however, his RHP/LHP splits are worrisome. Speaking of splits, Tank is no longer sporting a LHP heavy OPS this season - in fact, the splits are almost exactly identical. This could just mean that he's now equally lousy against all pitching, or MAYbe he's making some baby steps - he's certainly been better the last few weeks. For me, he gets one more year to prove himself or it will be time to cut bait.