caulfield12

Can anyone live with Beckham as a 650 OPS hitter at 2B? The top 8 2B in the AL are all at 680 OPS and above. Of the regulars, he's only ahead of Jermile Weeks of OAK. Then, including NL, you have Scutaro, Danny Espinosa, our newly-acquired Orlando Hudson and Richie Weeks. Close to Neil Walker and Brandon Phillips. So two Weeks in the bottom 3, lol. He's also a Gold Glove caliber defender, so that's got to be taken into consideration as well. All things considered, we have to hope he can be a 700-725 contributor there, 675 on the bottom end.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2012 -> 08:20 PM) I'm not sure there weren't more Sox fans at the Cell on Sunday than there are at the game tonight. It really amazes me how much our attendance sucks this year. They showed the Cubs/Sox game at USCF? Hmmm... Yeah, it's also equally amazing how much our Twins' rivalry has dissipated into nothingness. Used to get so excited for these games, yet in the back of your mind there was the creeping doubt lingering about how they would manage to blow the game THIS time. The Twins were like the bogeyman (or Candyman) of the last decade. It has changed with two teams who might not be contending, Gardenhire probably on the way out, Mauer/Morneau nothing like they were as offensive forces from 2006-2009, no Santana, a ghost of Liriano, etc. Maybe having Nathan, Cuddyer and Kubel gone...following Hunter, that line-up is pretty much similar to a AAA one. Yet they're beating our brains in tonight.

Well, so much for the "good" Floyd run of starts. It was nice while it lasted. Might as well put O-Dog out there ASAP to start getting him adjusted to the 3B experiment. I'll let Greg follow up with his comments about our home record and how we can't win the Central if we don't beat the WORST team in our own division at home consistently...

Well, fits right in with Canseco, Cordero, Belle, D'Angelo Jimenez, Kenny Lofton, C-Lee, Ordonez, Swisher, Orlando Cabrera, Javy, etc. The all-time great example of a maligned player finding a home has to be AJ, though.

2005, the timing for bench time play was almost perfect. All those guys like Timo Perez, Willie Harris, Ozuna, Blum, and Widger all got 99 at-bats at least. Ozuna and Perez were around 200, Harris and Widger in the 150 range, and Blum had 99. (Then there was Frank Thomas and Gload, too). But all those guys were pretty productive (compared to the results we're seeing this year), and even Blum was able to come through in the World Series. That said, playing Lillibridge every day isn't really warranted...unless he's playing 5-6 times per week, there's just no way he's going to get into any kind of offensive rhythm with that big bat and swing of his. But he's very versatile and can play all over the diamond and pinch run as well as anyone in the league, so he's still a very valuable asset and weapon off the bench. Flowers obviously has a lot of pop in his bat, and his defense is much improved compared to 3 seasons ago. Fukudome and Escobar are clearly the weaknesses so far, and one of those was expected/predictable coming in...and perhaps Fukudome is proving once again that he's not a very effective player off the bench with sporadic playing time.

Quentin's value is closely tied to his ability to stay healthy. Once Quentin joins the Padres' lineup, don't be surprised to see him take off. Last season, with the White Sox, he hit for an average of .214 at home, compared to .294 on the road. A change of scenery and a clean bill of health might help Quentin produce great fantasy numbers. espn.com How can going from USCF, where he hit .214, to one of the LEAST hitter friendly stadiums in baseball cause him to post great fantasy numbers? Doesn't make any sense. So because he hit better on the road in 2011, and he's not playing at USCF in 2012, his numbers therefore have to go up? Hmmmm.

Ozzie is a Twins/Piranhas fan.

Farmer couldn't admit he threw at Konerko, because he's infatuated with all things Notre Dame.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 21, 2012 -> 03:34 PM) very true, but AJP ain't gonna keep up his .850 OPS and Paulie's gonna come back to earth as well. There's regression on both sides of the coin. What you gain with Viciedo you lose from those guys. And counterbalance with more production out of Alexei, Hudson/3B and Beckham. Theoretically.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ May 21, 2012 -> 05:39 PM) Literally in tears watching Gio Gonzalez pitch tonight. Absolutely electric stuff. Definitely would feel much better with Gio having the Danks contract at this point in time. Water under the bridge. And there was always concern from the day if he was drafted if he had the durability to last as a starter. Question answered.

In the history of baseball, has there ever been a lie detector test brought into evidence? They didn't have it at the time of the Black Sox Scandal, I wonder if using that particular pseudo-scientific device fell into the orbit of the Pete Rose/gambling on baseball controversy with Giamatti? Has it been used in any of the steroids/Congressional investigations and trials? Usually, it's not admissable anyway, at least in a court of law.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 20, 2012 -> 08:27 PM) Does Hudson have the arm to play major league 3B or does he have a second-baseman's arm? Vizquel had no arm left and he managed. Hudson will be okay. Will have to work on coming in on the bunt and throwing across the diamond from a new angle...but he's played 2B his whole career and had similar plays at 1B. Just the distance and angle of the throws was different.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/opinion/...rss&emc=rss Catching Up with RA Dickey, pretty interesting dude.

As Cowley goes, it wasn't too bad. As far as one talented writer, I'm not sure if Greg is just trying to get a reaction from everyone else or Marty. I guess it's because Joe is good friends with Ozzie, but perhaps not talented enough to put his personal agendas and vendettas aside to compile a book concept in time to capitalize on the Ozzie phenomenon. Seriously, you have to wonder if he had applied all the time he's spent on his Twitter account to compiling all of his Ozzie columns and interviews into a book if he wouldn't have had something that could have reached a niche audience. Will be curious to see how well the Morrissey book sells.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 20, 2012 -> 10:38 PM) Just don't sign him for next year no matter what. We don't need to sign him even if he does well. This guy should be on one-year deals the rest of his career. If he's an asshole do not sign him for more than the rest of this season! Isn't that what Ozzie was complaining about, only having a one year deal and no future job security? I don't think anyone has to worry about KW spending money frivolously....we don't have any to spend.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 19, 2012 -> 04:58 PM) So they'll be playing two short (Paulie, Morel) for the next two days. I don't like it. Morel to DL, Hudson to active roster and likely to start Tuesday at 3B and hit 8th or 9th...probably 9th

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 20, 2012 -> 05:23 PM) The Sox are 4 games ahead of last year's pace. And something for Greg: The Marlins are 2 games behind last year's pace. The average number of blown saves in the AL (for the entire bullpen) is 5. We have 7 now, tied with Toronto for first. We've lost 5 of those games. That's the kind of statistic that evens out, especially with Reed down there now...just like the Indians hadn't lost a single one-run game until this past weekend. So we can make legit arguments that we should be 22-20, 23-19 or maybe even 24-18. Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo hit balls at the ends of those games that easily could have gone out, too...but, as the saying goes, you deserve the record you have. Considering we've gone through 3-4 different closers, no #2 hitter, and atrocious OPS numbers at 3B and SS, we're sitting in a pretty good position and only 2 1/2 games behind the Indians and ahead of the Tigers. That said, we've routinely beaten up on the Cubs in recent years, but that hasn't translated to beating the best teams in the AL East, the Rangers, Tigers, etc.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/cowley/1264...ont-get-it.html On the beaning incident, mostly filled with Jake Peavy quotes

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/12657214-41...kely-to-dl.html Morel to be DL'ed Tuesday, Hudson likely to start at 3rd. Beckham won't change positions and will stay second in the batting order, Hudson would likely hit 8th or 9th. Hudson then primary back-up to Beckham as well, with Lillibridge for 1B/3B/OF. Escobar for SS/3B/2B.

If those homers that Flowers and Viciedo ALMOST hit in the late innings would have gone, 23-19 would be sweet. But we've already lost 5 games in which we've had a blown save, that's going to equal out over the course of a season with Reed as the established guy. And just when you think Flowers might not be able to stick as the starter next year, he'll rise up and do something to get you to take notice...now he has a leadoff double, out in front but kept his hands back, caught it on the barrel of the bat though. Has gone from 167 to 222 in one game. Now we just need to get Fukudome, Escobar and Lillibridge over 200, lol.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 20, 2012 -> 01:59 PM) Can't you get him back? Unless your league is full of Sox fans, it's not like the Tank is a hot national commodity. Not like Ozzie. Well, neither is Konerko. But everyone who plays roto baseball knows him, just like they know Reed, Sale, Santiago, etc. They watch that stuff religiously.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 20, 2012 -> 01:45 PM) If this game continues on like this and we win, what a dominant sweep this would be in Wrigley. Only halfway through; obviously a lot can happen. This still could be a 9-6 game or something like that. But we're ONLY 7-12 at home and 14-9 on the road, lol. And on a 53-22 string (if we win) in interleague play. By the way, Mark Buehrle has 24 interleague victories since its inception.

Didn't realize we were tied with the Blue Jays for the most blown saves in the AL, with 7. Thought it was closer to 4 or 5. I remember the two Santiago ones, two to Thornton, one to Reed when he came on with the tying runner already on 2nd with 2 outs...seems like there was at least another one to Thornton that maybe we came back to win the game? (Yeah, missed the Friday Cubs' game, that was he blew where he got the win on the Beckham save). Ohman didn't have a blown save in the Peavy/Tigers game last week in the 6th, did he?

Maximum effort inning there for Peavy. 70 pitches, 25+ that inning in very hot weather conditions. Going to have to really monitor things in the 5th and 6th. Don't want a repeat of the Detroit debacle.

Wouldn't be surprised if Mitchell put up much better numbers in Charlotte. But they'll keep him there in Birmingham at least through the Southern League All-Star game. That's when most teams usually move their prospects, along with the influx/organizational shifting from the June draft.