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QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 7, 2012 -> 01:34 AM) Block me. He's such a nice and outstanding guy that Ryan Dempster. Ugh. Dempster is a great guy. I worked with him when he was in the minors for the Marlins. You will not find a better guy or a more entertaining guy. He is just a goofy Canadian. One of my favorite professional athletes to work with of all time.

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 07:38 AM) Jim Callis of Baseball America was just on the score and was ripping apart the White Sox organization specifically Reinsdorf about his spending habits on the draft-shocker. He still believes the White Sox are going cheap and not come close to spending the allotted money ($5.9 million) on the first 10 rounds. If this is true-Reinsdorf needs to be blasted and give an explanation to his fans. The new collective bargaining agreement towards the Draft was pushed mostly by Reinsdorf and we should now take advantage of the system and spend the allotted money given to the White Sox. I'm not sure if blasting this concept alone is the way to go. If you blast this than you cannot complain about a decrease in the MLB payroll. JR's philosophy is pretty evident with KW and wanting to win now. To do this the minors suffers and they tend to use assets to get proven MLB players instead of waiting for prospects of which most don't pan out. It's a philosophical difference. You can't complain about the MLB and blast them for not spending in the draft. This applies to the way it was previously. Now with the new standards of enforced slotting there is no reason not to spend near 6 million in the draft. 1-2 million will not make a difference at the MLB level. People point out the low amount the Sox spent last year but they didn't have the first round or most expensive pick. It will be interesting to see how much they spend this year.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 1, 2012 -> 02:15 AM) That is the idea behind the "Year After Effect," which is the system Rick Peterson liked to use. You stretch out arms over the long haul as opposed to jumping that many innings in 1 season. It's been practiced for about 130,000 years. The problem herein lies in the fact that Rick Peterson laid out two numbers - 30 and 25. Because, naturally, any pitcher over the age of 25 who throws 30 more innings than the previous season will see no regression, and any pitcher under the age of 25 who throws fewer than 30 additional innings will not see regression. That's taking it to the extreme, but those are arbitrary numbers. The Nationals made Stephen Strasburg into a modern day Bubble Boy in 2010 and he STILL tore his UCL. It's not like they were doing anything inherently wrong in the way they handled him, s*** just happened. Another example of "the Year After Effect." Mark Buehrle threw 170 innings between the majors and minors in 2000. In 2001, he threw 221.1 innings, which is almost twice as much. In 2002, he threw 239 innings, but because his ERA increased, he actually failed Verducci's "Year After Effect" formula because his ERA increased. Mark Buehrle was a good pitcher in 2002. Yet, according to his theory, there is no correlation between the 260 innings Mark Buehrle threw in 2005 and his horrendous pitching in the second half of 2006. Why can't the Year After Effect work for pitchers who are over 25? ... I'm ranting. The general thought process behind the Year After Effect is good, it's just extremely flawed, and anybody who takes it for more than the paper it's printed on (I read it only, so the paper is non-existent) is going up creek without a paddle. Oh, and for my guess as to how many innings Sale should throw...I'm going to hope for 160-108. Sounds good to me. That most I'd HAVE him throw is I've had this discussion over the years with many people. Not necessarily the exact years but why to older pitchers seems to handle it better than younger ones. You would think younger ones would be able to handle it physically. We've come up with two possible 1. The older pitcher already has more innings under their belt, whether it be in the minors or majors. Even with the sudden increase the older pitcher usually has a more conditioned arm. 2. the mental aspect. The older pitcher is more mature and probably has learned more about pacing themselves and not throwing "stressful" pitches when they aren't needed. For example there is no reason to throw your hardest and really bear down when you have a 4 run lead in the 6th inning. Older pitchers learn the pacing of a game. These are by no means the only reasons this could happen. But with discussions over the year these are the best 2 that I've heard.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 31, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) Why would it be a miracle that a team with a 1½ game division lead and the second best record in the league still be in playoff contention in September? Because I'm superstitious and am not going to proclaim that they need to do this to save him for the playoffs and ruin their chance.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 31, 2012 -> 01:51 PM) If my comments affected your life where you couldn't "enjoy life" as much ... wow. A message board affects your life?? Hal McRae made a living out of spiking a ton of second basemen and shortstops. It's part of the game. I was thinking that was tank's ball, but no harm no foul. I don't care if one players made a living out of it. He was a pretty good hitter so he had other things going for him. Unnecessarily, injuring someone is not part of the game. It's idiotic and the reason that no one likes AJ. Sliding hard to knock someone over to prevent a double play is part of the game. Doing spikes up is not.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 31, 2012 -> 10:05 AM) I don't think an injury is inevitable, but I think jumping him from 80 innings in 2011 (counting ST) to 200+ innings if the Sox give him a playoff start would be a massive stress on his arm. His arm got used to working in short stints last year after having been stretched out the years before, now we're pushing it back to being stretched out, and we already saw him hit one "tired elbow" point. One plausible way to avoid that is to build in some extra rest so that his arm gets extra recovery time and doesn't get hit with the full 200+ innings load right away. Plus, if I'm expecting that he'll hit another "Tired arm" period this season, which wouldn't be surprising, I'd rather be able to schedule that outing than have it happen when the Sox are facing a double-header or already have a tired bullpen, like happened last time. This is correct. The idea is to spread his workload out over the season instead of pitching him until he is too tired and have Sale early in the year and Quintana late in the year. If you spread his workload over the year he may be available at the end of the year if by some miracle the sox are still in playoff contention.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 31, 2012 -> 09:28 AM) I watched the video of this interview...he was pretty critical of AJ... As he should have. What AJ did was an unnecessary, bush league play. AJ started it and his pitcher paid the price. I think if Beckham hadn't been hit nothing would have happened. But eventually you do need to protect your players if it looks like it's getting out of control.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 30, 2012 -> 10:42 PM) Typical when a position player rehabs for the White Sox. First few games, 3 AB's then out. Yes, just like any strength building program. You start out slow and slowly build it. I imagine they also want him to work on his timing for hitting. Any idea on how he did in the field? Any fielding chances? This will be as good of an indicator of health as hitting.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 30, 2012 -> 01:41 PM) He'd be the one guy on the Rays I would love to see get hit. That guy's a racist hick. Very nice. Calling someone a racist then use your own slur.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ May 30, 2012 -> 11:30 AM) The Cubs market an experience and have for many years. Wins and losses don't matter. It's all about the sunshine, beer, girls and partying. Their season ticket base has been high for a long time but I think it's starting to come down. The Sox on the other hand have to market the team on the field. Wins and losses matter very much. I think this is true in more ways the one.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 30, 2012 -> 01:38 AM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...,6714531.column Reading this article, it made me think of all those Sox prospects that have NOT been given playing time in the past like DeAza, Lillibridge (not that he was a "stud" prospect in the same realm as a Brett Jackson or Rizzo) or specifically Dayan Viciedo... Almost the opposite of the article, that the "young phenoms" being promoted wasn't conducive to the "win now/all in" philosophy we've had for much of the Williams tenure. Of course, our former manager had a proclivity for playing veterans over younger players. Some would argue that he was "protecting" them from having too much pressure (like Beckham in 2009/10), others that he was jealous of any new "superstar" threatening his role as undisputed media darling for the Sox. Lots of theories out there as to why Ozzie didn't like MOST young players, exceptions being Beckham in 2009, Fields in 2007 (no choice), Alexei, Chris Sale in 2010, etc. Or maybe it was simply if there was ANY doubt about the relative performance levels, Ozzie would invariably pick the veteran over the younger player. This is true for most managers trying to win. You cannot have too many rookies on a team and win. It's a fine line but teams that win the the World Series do not have too many rookies on them.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 29, 2012 -> 11:48 PM) I forgot about Escobar, but like you said he's speedier and more versatile. I can't see keeping Morel around as a guy who plays once a week. He'll be sent down if he has options IMO. They didn't acquire Hudson to sit. If Morel is healthy and performing better after a rehab assignment, Escobar will go to minors and Hudson will fill his role on the bench.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 29, 2012 -> 10:36 AM) The Sale stuff is fun, and I will enjoy it while it lasts. I certainly hope it lasts. That pic I put together for you f***ers, I mean, that arm just shouldn't be able to sustain this. Let's all hope it does! That is a great picture. That fact that his elbow is straight gives some hope for long term success. The problem comes up when the elbow has a little flexion or bend in it. When the elbow is bent it relies on muscles and ligaments to hold it together. However, when it's fully extended like that the bones are locked together and can add some stability to the joint. I don't know if he throws all of them like that but if he does that is a more encouraging sign then I previously thought.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 28, 2012 -> 05:43 PM) For those like myself that have chastised this organization without remorse the last 2-3 years for the complete inability to produce young, cost-controlled, impact talent the last decade or so - NOW WE'RE TALKING!!! It's about f***ing time. In Sale, Viciedo and Reed - we're looking at a potential #1 starter with Xbox on speed type stuff, a run-producing offensive beast god who deposits missiles all over the damn place and a Craig Kimbrel like android in which you know once he enters the game that it's time for hitters to bend over and take it like a porn star. These three are cheap and belong to us for the next X amount of years. That's how you build a juggernaut and go on a sustained run. This is the new-age way of running a successful baseball operation. I am for now very please. I thought relievers were a dime a dozen and wouldn't count as impact players (not directed at you specifically J4L)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2012 -> 12:08 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin Danks said the soreness is just limited to the back of his left shoulder, where he once felt it in his arm. This is an infraspinatus tendonitis. It's the posterior part of the rotator cuff. Hopefully the rest, meds and rehab will sovle it.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 27, 2012 -> 09:29 AM) FWIW, I love Pods. He was fun to watch play and he was a big part of why our Sox get to wear a ring. However, I'm not a fan of other teams pulling contributing players out of thin air when my team rarely gets that lucky I don't know they seem to find alot of them. Quintana, Humber, Thornton, Pierzynski, De Aza were all guys released by other teams or were on thier scrap heap. The Sox have a pretty good history of getting production out of players from thin air.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 25, 2012 -> 12:56 PM) Good stuff, glad to see you pop in when injury probems come up. The back of shoulder was where I felt pain when I tore my labrum, but I really wasn't sure if that was common or not. It can happen but yours is the more uncommon case. You can tear the posterior labrum but the most common area is where the long head of the biceps tendon connects to the labrum. This is about 1 o'clock on a dial if you picture a clock bieng on the shoulder. It's referred to as a SLAP lesion which stands for Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 25, 2012 -> 09:32 AM) They should make the statue for Konerko like two stories tall. Shouldn't it be 15,000 inches tall as a scale model of his greatness?

QUOTE (Jake @ May 25, 2012 -> 12:28 AM) Here's how labrum tears often work... unalarming loss of velocity tiredness/lack of recovery in the arm rest fruitless return more tests reveal torn labrum /career FWIW, back of shoulder pain = not good sign in this case either. Hopefully this is just a blip and we forget about it. Usually, the back of the shoulder pain is a less serious problem. Labral problems typically show up at the top or front of the shoulder. rotator cuff problems usually show up further down the arm. No shoulder problems are good but these complaints are usually muscular not cartilage or tendon issues.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:13 PM) High 90's with a low 90's slider and a change? Thats plus stuff. That is plus stuff. Santiago has nearly the same stuff plus the screwball. So I can see why they gave him a shot.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 24, 2012 -> 02:41 PM) Santiago could have "Great" pure stuff but he needs to be able to be effective with that screwball. It's been a meatball so far, without very sharp break and not nearly high enough in the zone. His curveball was ok, not back breaking, and he's throwing 93-94 mph heat. He's not as deceptive as the good Matt Thornton...but 93+ heat thrown for strikes will get outs. For him to be great, he needs to be able to throw that offspeed stuff either for strikes at the knees or start it off as a strike and have it break out of the zone low, rather than having it come in waist high. If he could have all 3 pitches throwable for strikes, he could be bringing 93 mph heat, 84 mph screwball, and 77 mph curve, and the batter really wouldn't have a shot. This was my point. Santiago looked really good in spring training with his control and command. So I can understand why they gave him a shot. Once he lost that i can see why they changed.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 24, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) Reed has an incredibly good slider comparable to the pitches a lot of those guys have. It's not like Reed is Jason Motte or Matt Thornton pumping nothing but fastballs. I realize that but like you said it's a good pitch but not something really special. I think Reed has shown he will be a good one with his mental makeup and and (so far) his ability to throw strikes. However, as far pure stuff goes he really isn't much different than a guy like Santiago.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 24, 2012 -> 01:38 PM) Reed has been groomed to be the closer of the future since he was drafted, absolutely dominated the minor leagues, was named best relief prospect in baseball by numerous publications and has very good stuff. Reed was the clear and easy choice from day 1 to be the closer and per usual this organization messed it up. Thankfully, for once we were actually quick to act on something instead of letting it play out for months only to cost the team more games. I still see the reason to try Santiago. If someone looks like they may have something special (screwball) I don't see a reason not to try it. Far too many "best whatever" prospects fail so that isn't a definitive reason not to try something else if you really think it could work.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 24, 2012 -> 01:20 PM) You don't need a special pitch to be a closer. Would it be nice to have one? Sure, but guys like Rivera are one in a million. Reed has more than enough stuff to be a successful closer. You don't have to have one but most of the really effective one do. From recent examples. Cutter: Rivera, Slider: Roberto Hernandez, Marmol, Changeup: Hoffman and Foulke, Curveball: Jenks. Again, I'm not sure it was right decision. I thought Reed looked better, but I can see why they might want to try it.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 24, 2012 -> 12:42 PM) Reed = best relief prospect in baseball. Me before spring training: who the hell is Hector Santiago? Besides, I think most of us can agree that Santiago is more fit to be a starter with his arsenal. Not a closer. In a season where you thought you wouldn't contend, why not give Reed the job from the start? It puzzled me that it took so long for Reed to get a chance. I would disagree with that. I'm not saying he can't be. I think many people on this board wanted and still want Santiago to be a starter. However, the last time I checked this is not a message board for scouts and/or management in the majors. I agree that Reed looks to be a good closer candidate however, his doesn't have that "special" pitch which separate him from others. Santiago has a different pitch that could make him special. However, he decided to not throw strikes and that will obviously hurt him. I think it was a good gamble that hasn't worked out.