caulfield12

Wonder when/if they'll consider moving Dan Johnson back to 3B? Great play by Alcides Escobar there. Dayan really needed to get a hit there for his confidence. DeAza with a current 6 game hitting streak coming into tonight's game. Make that 7 games now. Run, run, run.

Paulino's got a nice arm. Pretty easy 95-97 MPH stuff. He was 1-0 against us last year, the game he won, gave up 3 ER's and had 9 K's, 9 hit surrendered. The other was a ND in September. So we don't have the excuse we haven't seen him b4.

Royals and White Sox will play 15 times after the All-Star Break. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Floyd 1-4 in his last five home decisions against the Royals. Two walks now this inning. Gavin two walks or less in 27/30 starts last season. Sox face former farmhand Humberto Quintero in a critical early situation. Back to the mound, side retired with no damage done. Good sign that maybe things are turning against KC? AJ 7 for his last 40 now. Just one of two active catchers to have caught multiple no-hitters. Miguel Olivo is the other one.

It's pretty ironic after last season that the two players who will be in the most demand (to take their contracts off our hands but not give anything back in return) will be Peavy and Dunn. With Konerko declining (eventually??) and Rios not providing much power and Viciedo's future unclear, I just don't see how you can realistically trade Dunn if they want to maintain a competitive MLB line-up in 2013 and 2014. Francouer a one-year wonder again? Struggling again this season after signing the long-term contract extension. About the only positives for the Royals have been Butler, Moustakas and Broxton emerging as relatively healthy at the back end of the bullpen. Moustakas 3rd in the AL in doubles with 11. Royals taking some good cuts at Gavin this inning.

Turned around a 97 MPH fastball there. 11 homers equals last year's total, already. Leading AL in walks, K's and close to 1st in homers now. Konerko has been on base in 28/31 games he's played this season. Smart not to throw the FB in that situation, got him with the change. Tip your cap.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 11, 2012 -> 07:14 PM) Hosmer hitting .181 with a .605 OPS. Royalstalk.com is b****ing he wasn't traded when his value was high and also can't believe he's not being sent to AAA. Maybe they should hire Walker as his hitting coach on a consulting/retainer basis. One of the Royals' fans here said his BABIP was extremely fluky or unlucky and that the low BA masked the fact he'd been swinging the bat better recently. Of course, this was the same argument we used for not benching Swisher earlier in 2008. Fathom will like this stat, Beckham's OPS against fastballs is around 675, nearly 100 points lower against everything else.

For Greg, Royals 11-7 against the White Sox in 2011. Last time Royals won the season series, interestingly enough, was the 2000 season. 2009, split the series 9-9. Floyd, 3-8 in his career against KC, mid 4's ERA. Last 3 starts. 1.70 ERA, 4 ER in 21 IP. Let's hope this string can continue 2-3 months at least. Because sooner or later, he'll go back to "bad Gavin" where he pitches like Humber did in the second half of 2011.

So Sale and Humber the next two games...probably will be able to get back within 2 1/2 games tonight, considering the way the Indians/Red Sox game has started out for Ubaldo Jimenez. Then again, with Bard back to the rotation and Josh Beckett about to end up in worse shape in Beantown than Hester Prynne in the Scarlet Letter, anything's possible.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 11, 2012 -> 05:56 PM) How many games can you win by scoring 0 runs? I guess by forfeit, lol. Would the score then be 1-0 or 0-0, officially? Like Disco Demolition Night, or there was a situation where the White Sox had to give the other team a victory without being able to play the game?

So Crain will be back Monday, Santiago, Stults or Stewart will be sent down. You can make credible arguments for why all three should go (and be starting in AAA) and why all three should stay.

Buehrle versus Johan Santana, 3-0 Marlins leading in the 3rd. Marlins have had quite a stretch against mostly subpar teams to get right back into the race. Phillies are in last for now and still searching for offense.

Buchholz is 3-1 but with a 9.00 ERA. One of the best pitchers in the American League, really, all of baseball....in 2010, then he started having back and injury problems. Lester, Beckett and Buchholz all struggling mightily. Bard back into their rotation again. CLE losing 2-1 early. Indians with a lof of momentum, Red Sox with none. Beckett Public Enemy #1, theories that he is deliberately trying to get traded...he skipped a start for injury but ended up playing golf on his offday the same week. "Golf Gate." Beckett apparently ripped to shreds after giving up 7 more runs by the Red Sox faithful on the call-in shows and would be on his way out today if not for a contract similar to Peavy's. He didn't apologize at all when given the opportunity to do so and claimed that he had all the right in the world to enjoy the 18 contractual offdays during the season even though he claimed to be too hurt the same week to make a start. Lots of empty seats at Fenway. Between Lackey, Dice-K, Youkilis and Beckett, what a mess this organization is in. Ubaldo Jimenez imploding once again. The Indians' announcers are getting really frustrated with him. That's a dangerous contract for them to have on the books. Plus it cost them White and Pomeranz.

Not sure exactly where this belongs. Story about the Dodgers' drafting philosophy, specifically on Kemp, and how they've ended up with 3 African-American home-grown players in Kemp, Loney and Dee Gordon. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...lb&c_id=mlb

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,5609262.column On poor decision by Ricketts to force Wood back onto Cubs' roster one last time

Look for the White Sox to allow him to adjust to his new workload if the tenderness constitutes normal post-start/pitching soreness. If it becomes pain, then his starting days will be over again. The White Sox want to give themselves the best chance to win in the short term, but they also want Sale healthy for the short and long term. As for Reed, he should have been the closer since the start of the season and he probably will be the closer now. That's no offense meant toward Hector Santiago, who worked his way from the roster bubble to the ninth inning during a stellar Spring Training, and I think he will be a solid starter someday and contribute plenty presently in the bullpen. It's certainly no offense meant to Matt Thornton or Jesse Crain, who rank as two of the game's elite setup men when healthy, and will continue to make a significant difference in the seventh and eighth innings. Even Scott Merkin in the White Sox mailbag at chisox.com is predicting Sale will be back as a starter if he passes the MRI that for some reason's taking forever to be released...

Supposedly Gardenhire is getting fired or forced to resign the next few days. Kind of sad, after what he accomplished. 90% of it is Bill Smith's fault, although I'm sure somewhere along the way every manager's message becomes a little stale.

Because he was the Greek God of Walks a decade ago?

http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/victorias-se...sexy-slideshow/

Here's what went wrong during the Twins' 6-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday night: -The Twins fell to 8-23, worst record in the bigs by 2 1/2 games. -Starter Jason Marquis threw 39 balls in 87 pitches and lasted just four innings. He was brought to Minnesota to throw strikes and eat innings and did neither. -Trevor Plouffe, in the first game of a tryout at third base that could determine the course of his career, ran into a tag play at second base and failed to call for a popup that he should have caught, a popup that fell between him and Marquis. -Centerfielder Denard Span forgot how many outs there were. -Erik Komatsu failed to pick up the third-base coach and, with the ball in rightfield, stopped at second before getting thrown out at third. -Alexi Casilla got a forceout at second base and forgot to look home to prevent a runner from scoring. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he saw things that you don't see ``in high school ball.'' This was disgusting. This is a flat, unintelligent team filled with guys who shouldn't be in the big-leagues. Plouffe is not a winning big-league player. Casilla is not an everyday big-league player. The starting rotation is awful, and the best competitor among them, Carl Pavano, hasn't cracked 90 mph this season, indicating he's probably pitching with an injury or in pain. The bullpen has actually been pretty good. Brian Dozier looks like a player. Josh Willingham has produced. Joe Mauer has stayed healthy. Other than that, this season has been a washout. To think the Twins played this poorly the day two key players were demoted - Francisco Liriano to the bullpen and Danny Valencia to AAA. It may be time to trade Denard Span. The Nationals are still interested and have a surplus of pitching. Make the deal. And if the Nationals want Plouffe or Casilla or a part-time outfielder, so much the better. -I'm hearing the Twins like Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton in the June draft. While the Twins are desperate for pitching, Buxton projects to be a big-league star. -Joe Mauer is hitting .270 with one homer. Being healthy doesn't help a whole lot if he can't swing the bat with authority. -Bring up Ben Revere. If you can write a lineup with Komatsu and Darin Mastroianni, you can find enough playing time for Revere.http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/Souhan_on_Sports.html

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ May 11, 2012 -> 01:10 AM) Lance Mccullers has White Sox written all over him. Whose father pitched for the Padres, among other teams?

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...contenders.html The Sox (15-17) have lost 11 games by one or two runs, including their last five defeats, and how they fare in close games will probably determine whether they’re in contention for a playoff spot. ... Peavy wants to play on a winner, and he believes it could be the Sox if Adam Dunn and Alex Rios continue to hit, if Chris Sale stays healthy and if a few more ifs go the Sox’ way. “I want to play where there’s a chance to win; this team is not far off,’’ Peavy said. “A lot of good things are happening here, and I can’t see many other places that would be more appealing to me, even this winter, if the situation was right to come back here. The young pieces are going to get experience. Dunn is going to grow with another year in the league, [Paul] Konerko has another year. We’re not far off.’’ The Sox are 1-2 against Texas and 3-3 against Detroit. “We compete with the best teams in baseball — with Detroit, we played man for man with that team,’’ Peavy said. “To win here after what I’ve been through would be more gratifying than going somewhere else and having a season to remember.’’ http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2012051...orts/705109748/

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...nd-numbers.html So if they do send Stewart down, is Santiago then the long reliever? Bring Axelrod up to be the long man? Keep Stewart and send Santiago down to start in AAA? Lot of permutations.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/12456254-41...ng-efforts.html What Theo decides to do with Garza the key to the Cubs' rebuilding efforts

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 10, 2012 -> 10:59 PM) I'm going to laugh when the Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine at the end of the season proving once and for all that the inmates are running the asylum in Boston. You just look at how the veterans on that team act and you can tell that Valentine is getting absolutely no respect. Cherington hired him, so the best thing he could do to show the players that he has his manager's back would be to trade a veteran. Sooo he can just flip Youkilis to the Sox for Morel and Stewart and we'll call it even, and then those players in Boston will REALLY know whose boss. FWIW, Cherington wanted Sveum, or was seriously considering him. John Henry and the partners/board are the ones who took an opposite tack and imposed the "hard core/old style" baseball guy on the new GM (who didn't have much leg room to fight back) in order to reinstill discipline and accountability.

Doubt the White Sox will be drafting another razor thin/questionable mechanics but great stuff JC pitcher who could either end up a starter or reliever, lol.