caulfield12

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 09:06 PM) Eh, that Verlander guy turned out ok. Avila is good too. They have been good about unloading their prospects for the major league team, though. Avila hasn't been that good for a long time. He looked like a future AL All-Star for many years to come his first season or so and then his career went into a Boesch-like tailspin. Porcello has been good, but not quite like projected on draft day...similar to Jon Garland. Castellanos, jury still out. We'll see about Suarez. Rondon was a bust as closer.

It's far from a sure thing that Castro would deal well with the position change to 3B without moping and 2) whether he would be the same player offensively (2014 version, at least) if his defense started going south. Granted, power numbers are way down for MLB 3B, and there's almost as much of a lack there as at catcher, but moving Castro seems like a recipe for disaster. They would probably be better off moving him to a team who wants to keep him at SS for pitching. And Alcantara playing CF is just like Alexei Ramirez. Far from a finished product.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 08:09 AM) You are basing this off like a 2 week hot streak. I want you to remember that. If Dunn is traded (I believe he will be), I have no problem giving Wilkins a look for the remainder of the season, but counting on him as anything but insurance next year is crazy talk. I might actually prefer Jim Thome as the Sox full time DH. Now that's crazy talk. Baines or Ventura would be better.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 07:58 AM) If you had Bonds and Bonilla, chances are you wouldn't have had Thomas, or McDowell or Ventura or Fernandez, and yo uprobably wouldn't have had Lance Johnson as he was acquired for Jose DeLeon who was acquired for Bonilla. Bonilla was a rule 5 pick up by the Hawkeroo. Okay, Bip Roberts, haha.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 07:20 AM) Just an injury replacement. They don't burn an option on a guy they like and if they lose Morel to waivers (they won't), they don't care. He's really fallen off. There was a time when he hit .320 in the minors. He's hit something like .250/.320/.350 this year at the minor league level. Back troubles man. No. The guy was in the majors and was a regular for 5 seasons. Top 6 picks of the 1985 draft: Brewers - BJ Surhoff (34.3 WAR) Giants - Will Clark (56.2 WAR) Rangers - Bobby Witt (15.1 bWAR) Reds - Barry Larkin (70.1 WAR) White Sox - Kurt Brown (never played in majors) Pirates - Barry Bonds (162.4 WAR) We very easily could have had Bonilla and Bonds together instead of the Pirates (along with Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Alvarez, Sosa, Bere, Thigpen, Hibbard, Radinsky, Fernandez and Lance Johnson). Talk about a loaded team. Oh, well. Life goes on.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 07:36 AM) For a guy with an .804 OPS (3rd on the team) Adam Dunn sure does get a lot of grief as a player who apparently people would rather see anyone else. It's funny. I was accused of being pessimistic in the very thread a DH with an .804 OPS needs to be replaced immediately because he is just too painful to watch. Wilkins has had an unreal week. But it is just a week. It has nothing to do with his OPS or his production the last two months (or lack thereof). Comparing OPS in a vacuum doesn't help much either, because we all know Alexei Ramirez is worth 10X what Adam is despite a lower OPS. It's all about 2015. Replaced immediately...maybe that's too strong, but why would it matter if he was, assuming they could get $2-4 million of salary relief at least? Is there anyone who would care one way or the other if Dunn is gone? I would venture to say that more fans would come out to the ballpark to see youngsters who have the drive/fire/determination to prove themselves than someone playing out the string. The White Sox are basically stuck between 4-8 games below .500 and nothing dramatic is going to change that, so what's the harm in finding out if Wilkins is capable of putting up an 800+ OPS against RHP? If he does that, it means the White Sox could use their RH players (Garcia, Viciedo, Semien, etc.) next year in combination with Wilkins and save spending $10-15 million on a veteran DH.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 22, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) well, I would like to thank those who posted either for or against. many thanks in closing, what I wanted to point out is, baseball org were always taken advantage by others in in the sox case, jr was always above board. I wanted to point out, why not, why couldn't the owners play hardball, they the owners will lose their advantage when they become free agents. now, what came across with my examples (poor one at that) is I was defending HOU and my dislike for Scott B. while I do dislike Scott B and the way he does business, I was trying to us him and examples of what he was behind in the sox dealings as the example. thanks It's kind of like comparing a torts lawyer and a Fortune 500 corporation. Of course, they are often going to be diametrically opposed in their positions. That's what provides the checks and balances, preventing one side or the other from becoming too powerful, along with the MLBPA. To say that the White Sox deserve sympathy for having to deal with Scott Borases of the world, that would be going too far. The Sox are valued somewhere in the $700-850 million vicinity. Nobody should be crying too much for them.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 06:31 AM) And just like dick, you put words in others mouths. Nowhere has anyone said it was a" happy story" . I will say this yet again as I did yesterday so here goes one more time. With what Sox fans have endured the last 3 1/2 seasons with Dunn , it's about giving a Wilkins a shot and nothing more. Nobody has said Wilkins IS the future and nobody has ignored the fact Wilkins is not a top prospect. I agree its likely he does not develope into much but again, when you consider the position the Sox are in , what have they got to lose by bringing Wilkins up and see what he can do? Wilkins is 25/26 years old so he is old to be considered a spect but he is in the age group that fits with Hahn's plan so there's nothing to lose by giving him some at bats. Let him give Jose a break from playing first here and there. At the very least, he should be rewarded for his recent hot streak. It's good for the Sox minor leaguers to see that almost anyone can get an opportunity (for now) if they produce tangible results. Whether he's a platoon placeholder or flames out in 2014, who knows? But anything's better than 2 more months of Dunn. And I'm not sure anyone thought Conor Gillaspie would still be holding down 3B four months into the 2014 season. Sometimes, players surprise. Not usually. But it's not beyond the realm of possibility, either. In the end, we're already playing "most irrelevant game in MLB today" with the Twins, who cares? We're going to be replacing 2B, LF, C, DH and possibly SS in next year's line-up, so let's roll the dice.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 11:31 PM) I think most people respond to their circumstances. If good is near, they're good. If bad is near, they're bad. So are the only good people the ones who remain good in the face of the circumstances that usually produce bad? Or, are the only bad people those who remain bad in circumstances that usually produce good? I've always been fascinated by the Holocaust and what stays fresh in my mind is the concept of "the banality of evil." It came from Hannah Arendt's description of a Nazi middle-management figure who was put on trial for his crimes against Jews. He, and most other perpetrators, were not exceptionally evil. Not born to be evil. They could have been caught up in something for the greater good. In this context, banality means not "trivial" but rather commonplace. The idea is that, for the most part, people go with the flow. Be it evil, be it good. Nazi Germany, of course, isn't the only example and perhaps not even the worst (let's not get into the business of comparing human atrocities). Was every person that existed during slavery and Jim Crow America automatically evil unless they were actively fighting against those institutions? Are many of us or our loved ones evil due to the ways they enabled institutions (and more personal situations) to actively harm gay people? There are a million examples. So, as to the original question, I don't know. We are capable of a lot. There aren't many people who will be reliably "bad," but not many who will be reliably "good" either. Viktor Frankl's book about the Holocaust addresses this topic exceedingly well..."Man's Search for Meaning"

1) Beane has already said on numerous occasions that Chavez and Kazmir (look at their IP totals from 2010-2013) are going to have to be rested down the stretch, as well as being extra careful with Gray....and that there was no way he saw those three and the Cubs' additions being the only starters from the time of that trade. 2) He was something like 6-0 with a 2.60 ERA over his last 11 starts, so even if he was on the market, it would take more than any package we could put together short of Alexei Ramirez. 3) Beane will not put the interests of one valuable pitcher over the plan he set up for the last three months of the season (as well as the playoffs).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 06:29 AM) I think the Sox are covered at first. I dont know why you want another first baseman(Howard), but I am fairly sure that the Sox will be using Abreu going forward DH....and resting Abreu occasionally

It's way too cutesy and attempting to be overly-clever to be written by a baseball player. That whole "About Schmidt" thing with the African refugee/orphan, that was classless.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/42160142/v347...-by-ford-part-2 Well, at least Frank Thomas is still making some money, haha. I guess the JB guy is the agent from Million Dollar Arm? Nice segueway to Harrelson at the end.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 09:46 PM) So I should probably catch a game in Des Moines? Did they raise ticket prices at Iowa with all the top prospects they have there? More interesting than the major league club for the moment.

That comes back to the point of how much can you blame someone for being racist when they were inculcated with that trait by their parents and grandparents? It's not so simple. Or how much should African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans get blamed for dealing with the institutionalized racism over the last 200 years....reverse racism, somehow sociologists are usually quicker to defend those who are the victims of discrimination and prejudice...those with the power are blamed, etc. If you turn it into a religious argument, then we all know people who go to church every Sunday and tithe, and yet cheat on their wives or have never done any real volunteer/community project (faith without works is dead) of significance but perhaps they give a ton of money every year to the United Way or show up in the society pages at a non-profit fundraiser. Christians might say atheists are "bad" even if their motivations were 100% aligned with the "Golden Rule"/10 Commandments, etc. I'm not even sure that sometimes people are bad as much as the fact that trust has eroded over time. We don't trust picking up hitchhikers or accepting candy (even at Halloween) without thinking it has been poisoned. We've been taught to be skeptics, that our government or some nefarious group (Trilateral Commission, etc.) is out to control the world and screw over the middle class. There's no longer a sense that we're all in it together, rather the young are placed in opposition to the old (respect for elders is something you hardly ever see in the U.S., compared to China) and we're all broken down into demographic groups that seem to only unite for things like the Olympics, World Cup or 9/11 type of event.

And I wouldn't count on Hahn addressing the closer role going into 2015, either. In that conference call, he used the examples of Jim Johnson, Nathan and Frieri as being struggling or deposed closers on the 3 best teams in the AL. Further irony would be that the team leading the AL East dealt their closer, the Orioles, and it turned out to be a wise move. You're not going to see Hahn spend money on a Soria or Papelbon deal, or prospects for a Huston Street.

Trading Lindstrom? When is he going to be able to pitch for the first time? August? September? I guess someone might take a flier, like with the Crain situation, and hope for the best...but it's going to be a salary dump. Wonder why DeAza wasn't mentioned? He's playing arguably the best of all of our trade bait, other than Putnam and Petricka, if they're going to be included on the list.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 21, 2014 -> 10:34 AM) I really liked Boyhood. May resonate more with some than others. Seeing the predictable "okay but it WASN"T a masterpiece" reviews and "I wish it was something ELSE" reviews, because the only reason to watch something is to validate other peoples opinions of it. Linklater's dialogue of younger people has always been incredibly realistic. So few movies focus on kids, and if they do they are props for the adults. Or when they are main characters they are given adult dialogue. I liked it because he was effective in making me remember and feel what it was like at those points as a kid, but I could also appreciate in an adult lens again. It especially may hit home for those with single parents and remembering how "in it together" you were with them, which wears off when you move on from childhood. Those movies, when they're done well, like Stand By Me and Super 8 to a lesser extent...tend to resonate for much longer. Another one that hearkens back to childhood is The Tree of Life (Malick/Pitt/Chastain), but that one felt familiar more due to imagery/cinematography than any particular dialogue since my father was nothing like the Brad Pitt character.

So then the only way that would work is going the F.Garcia trade path...seeing if Price would be amenable to a "reasonable" contract extension as a condition of a possible trade. Obviously, if he wants to hit the FA market after 2015 and offer his services to 30 clubs, just depends on how serious he is in his public comments about being interested in coming to the Cubs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 03:42 PM) Yeah but they have a huge payroll. Back in their peak from 1994-2002, the Indians had some pretty big payrolls as well...although the majority of them were pretty reasonable lock-ups of their younger players.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 03:27 PM) To me, a monster trade of Baez and others (Almora, Vogelbach, P. Johnson) for David Price makes a lot of sense for both teams. Price has hinted he'd be interested in pitching for the Cubs, so an extension might work out. Who has been playing middle infield other than Zobrist for the Rays? TB is also looking into moving Desmond Jennings and possible Loney, so they could clearly use all the young offensive talent they can get. They might prefer Edwards to Johnson, although Baez/Almora/Edwards would be a huge price to pay...that might be the going market. Guess it depends on how the Cubs feel about Soler/Almora as well...if they value Soler's power at the corners or someone with speed/defense who can play CF. A lot of people think Alcantara could play CF. Then you have McKinney (A's trade), not sure what his best position is...but keeping Castro and moving Russell to 2B or vice-versa could be the solution.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 03:37 PM) The weaker hitters are always easier to pick when the rest of the lineup isn't doing anything. Today's game is just another example of the Royals owning the Sox. Taking a series just wasn't meant to be. You need to add the Tigers from 2006-2014 to your signature quote about the ALCD.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 03:36 PM) He's been atrocious in the 7th and 8th spot. Moving him around to get him out of a funk is fine, especially when his only upside is trade bait. And also, nobody else hit today, so not sure Beckham was the issue. Except for Tyler's offensive show, haha.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 03:30 PM) Batting him in front of Abreu? I think it's a good idea for a guy to see more fastballs when he's in a slump. And he came into the game hitting .303 against Shields with 3 doubles and 2 dingers in 33 AB's. There is some exciting talent on this team but they are far outweighed by some very subpar talent. I can't lay all that on Robin, sorry. And I agree with your point about the mule. When Gordon struggles, that hitch in his swing we've been talking about for years becomes more pronounced and it's harder and harder for him to catch up with 93+ fastballs. He's more likely to get hot against a Bruce Chen type (although I think he was 2/30 coming into yesterday against him) than someone with higher-quality stuff like Shields or even Guthrie.

I guess we can send Viciedo/DeAza and Ramirez to the Mariners for Walker...and gamble he doesn't go down to injury. The M's have all kinds of offensive holes. Other than Cano and Seager, that lineup's a complete mess.