Flash Tizzle

I feel like we're watching the starting pitcher equivalent of that former Cardinals prospect traded to Cleveland.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 07:29 PM) Danks is pitching like a f***ing p****.... I was keeping it tame calling him a woman, but yes, this is it. Danks just doesn't pitch like this regularly. Or ever. He's pitching like a p****, and you'd think someone who has done well in the playoffs and one-game to get into the playoffs wouldn't pitch like this. It's embarrassing.

Please, stop the whole Dome talk. It's just a f***ing stadium. No mythical ghosts or goblins live there. Danks is just pitching like a woman. He just doesn't walk four straight batters for no reason. I'm sure everyone before the game told him "OMG, YOU JUST WONT WIN HERE!!!"

Has the "we just dont do well here" talk begun yet from Hawk, or before the game, with any of the players? If I hear this s*** beginning, I'm not even going to watch the series. The entire defeatist attitude I've heard from Hawk/DJ and team has been embarrassing when playing in Minnneapolis. I hope it has ended.

My brother was enlisted in the Navy for six years, including several years aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan when it was in the Persian Gulf for the Iraq War. From what I recall, he has toured the following locations: Qatar, Sudan, Turkey, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Australia, Philippines. He loved his experience, and if he didn't have a child on the way would have stayed longer.

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 05:00 PM) He should be kept in the bullpen, because he doesn't have the stuff to start, but he got guys out after some guys had seen him more than once today. I'd only seen him pitch for 1 inning before today. You can give him a shot, but I believe he won't be any better than Richard, so that is why I said stick with Richard, plus the fact that I have seen Richard have decent starts before. There was a time where he had 3 brilliant starts in a row right before the Peavy deal, where he was pitching in the mid 90s with the fastball, (and as many different guns as I have seen show this, I truly believe this is legit) had a nasty slider and a good change. I've seen what Richard can do when he's on, and I believe he has better stuff than Poreda. In the starts where Richard has been getting shelled, he either hasn't been throwing the slider at all, or hanging it over the middle of the plate like today. So the reasoning here is we know what Richard has, and Poreda probably wont be any better as a starter, so why bother? I don't understand what is hurt by starting Poreda four/five times. If he's good, he'll remain in the rotation; if he sucks, then atleast you know what you have and he can be inserted back into the bullpen. And, again, if this is about his trade value keep him in the bullpen. Or just throw him back down to AA so he can continue dominating. But if we care about winning we'll try and see what we have that's already up here. I really don't believe it's a difficult concept.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 04:40 PM) I think Poreda would suck in a major league rotation right now. Carlos Torres should be given a shot after the break. Ok, so we're willing to give Torress a shot but not Poreda? Cmon, now. And I don't give a s*** about Poreda's potential trade value. If the White Sox do, then by all means keep him in the bullpen, but if we're interested in winning games then Poreda should ATLEAST be given four/five starts to prove himself. It's only fair, and considering Richard lasted 11 starts it's not unreasonable.

I didn't even watch the game, but looking at the box score (and admittingly it may be all duck snort, lucky hits, although I doubt it), I'm really getting tired of watching Carrasco. Whenever he pitches, I swear, he's hanging 7, 8 breaking balls per inning. Lately he's been teed off on, and it makes me believe either he's losing stamina or the scouting report on him ("he hangs too many f***ing breaking balls") is getting around. Unfortunately, he'll be around here for quite some time even if he gradually worsens.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 07:53 PM) The warning track power tonight. I've never seen anything like this. It has to be five or six by now.

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I wouldn't mind trading Beckham for Lincecum (obviously involving something else from our end) if we had some other players possibly available to offset his absence. He's been productive, for one, but additionally, he's league minimum. For all the obvious reasons it wouldn't occur (Lincecum is one of the best pitchers in the league and Beckham is nowhere near one of hte best 3B), you have to figure, it's just not good to trade your productive first round draft pick one year after drafting him. I imagine Mitchell would think twice about signing here if he has proof that we're capable of it. And yes, I know we did it with Royce Ring; but he was crap.

It'd have to be someone of similar status (prospect wise), just playing another position. Otherwise, my list would extend to an established Top 10 major leaguer. I don't even like the idea of Lincecum because, while he's obviously a tremendous pitcher, he at best can only help you once every five days. I'm of the kind that thinks you trade pitchers for pitchers, positional players for position players.

Alright, now I feel like an ass because I hadn't previously been watching tv and now see he's at 91-92. Although prior to today he was 93-94 consistent. You have to wonder whether this gun is slow. I haven't been watching to compare him with previous pitchers.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:47 PM) For now, he's a 91-92 mph pitcher. He's having success, so no reason to change things. What? He has always been 93-94 consistent fastball since being promoted.

I'm just going to assume this is nothing more than someone suggesting a trade of those two players, and MLBTR looking too far into it. It'd be completely indefensible move. And not even "this must be a precursor to another move" crowds could justify it, because really, there's no way it's a precursor to anything but throwing Pie on the bench or down to Charlotte.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:06 PM) To those of you who claim that Michael Jackson molested all these children & was a child predator, when was he convicted & when was it even proven that he did all of these things? Oh, wait... Yeah, he shouldn't of had sleepovers with children. But have your childhood basically taken away from you & let's see how you'll turn out. You've really taken up the token African American response to this issue. And I dont give a s*** if that sounds racist. Everyone hears and reads the same things I do. When it comes to famous black artists or celebrities, it becomes an issue of white people (particularly the conservative media) unfairly hating them just as much as it is black people blindly defending them. It's unfair to criticize coverage of Jackson, an enormous global icon in music, because of his past; just as it's blind to sit here and play that lame angle of suggesting he was never proven to have molested anyone in a court of law. As if that really is the definitive proof of guilt and innocence.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 08:49 PM) What would have been a worthy return? Here's what I want to know -- is there not a younger, more productive relief pitcher in their minor league system?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 08:41 PM) Whoa, how good is this guy? I've never even heard of him, and I thought Allen was supposed to be one of our bigger prospects. I just looked him up, and his stats are mediocre at best and he's 27. I'm sure I missed an explanation somewhere in this thread, but could someone copy and paste it for me? This is about it -- we overrated Allen, many teams have an Allen-like player in the system, he wasn't showing the power numbers in Birmingham that would be expected of a power 1st baseman, Pena has good stuff, Pena will be projected to replaced Dotel, Coop will fix him, He's paid the league minimum. Basically, any and all excuses that come up positively for us.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 08:29 PM) Honestly, I don't get it...We traded for Javy, everyone was upset. The prospect we gave up for him has been underwhelming at best. While Javy was here, hardly anyone wanted him. Kenny traded him away, and now people are complaining about the return. Even though the centerpiece of the deal is playing well in AA at a premium position. People just always need to complain about everything. Javy Vazquez was not traded for Brent Lillibridge. It's not the Vazquez deal alone (I did group it with Swisher for a reason), it's just that I've collectively linked them as proof that last offseason was not very good for our scouts and Williams. For Flowers to be the only thing decent coming out of Swisher and Vazquez is just a reality that is incapable of being spun positively. Mainly, the issue here is that you cant acquire a total of seven players in exchange for two of your major leaugers (who are both doing well for their respective teams, BTW), and hope that only ONE becomes productive. And Flowers better turn into something or else it will really be looked at as a terrible offseason of trades for Williams.

Maybe if your team did more than tread around .500 they'd fill up the park. Also, if we had a contributing minor league system, one that before 2007 was practically ignored, we'd be able to fill in positions from within rather than add millions from taking on a player from another team.

This move proves Williams' confidence in his scouting department. I know Williams and company have done well, as a whole, these last few seasons, but the recent mess of last offseason (Swisher/Vazquez) really doesn't need to be amplified with anything resembling production with Allen. Atleast with Arizona and Quentin they had what they perceived as an excess of outfielders. It's not as if we're overwhelmed with prospects and could stand to lose a few.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 07:53 PM) Yeah, this could very well be a move to get rid of Dotel. He seems to have probably a similar amount of value as Pena does, but we know we won't get draft picks for him, and this way we'll save money. Plus, Pena has the potential to be a lot better. However, I'm not gonna lie... I wouldn't mind making a blockbuster trade involving Jenks. I haven't been opposed to trading Jenks since 2007, but as of now, with Williams obviously intent on competing, it's just out of the question. Unless there's the once in a generation type of package for him that is impossible to reject.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:09 AM) Still prepping for the power test? I hated that thing, and it has almost no bearing on job performance at all. There are a few departments that do something different - Lombard for example uses the Denver Test, which is an obstacle course of sorts. CPD also does something different. Palatine uses the power tests but artificially increases the standards a bit across the board. Yeah, at this point I could pass all the different tests (situps, sit/reach, bench press, 1.5mile run), but I'm trying to give myself a little bit of breathing room. The mile and a half run is the most concerning of mine, especially since we're at the mercy of whatever weather conditions or in door track conditions the testers throw at us. For all the runners out there you know training primarily indoors and then running outside in 90 degree weather or 10 degree weather is good for knocking some time off your run. Also, CPD does use the power test. Their test proctors are notoriously lenient with applicants in the initial power test, though. There are two power tests every applicant has to pass before the academy, and with with how slow everything moves with CPD they'll basically tell you that passing the first one was a gift and the second one wont be. I've heard of people struggling in every category only to be marked as passing.

I haven't personally grieved the death of a celebrity, but I figure there won't be another musician's death carrying this much attention (even if it's a natural death) until Paul McCartney. Probably the highest profile death of anyone in my generation. Lennon was before my time; only Princess Diana came close.