caulfield12

The White Sox have $95 million in commitments to their rotation. The Rangers are committed to JUST $45 million for Feldman, Lewis, N. Feliz, Harrison and Holland. EFFICIENCY. Plus, with all the money pouring in, they just had $108 million sitting around in their coffers to throw at Darvish.

Just smart spending, Dick Allen. Nathan=$14.75 million for 2 years Matt Thornton=$12 million for 2 years (considering they're getting a closer and we're getting a set-up guy, seems they're getting the better deal) Total money invested into Feldman, Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Colby Lewis and N. Feliz=$153 million (2/3rd's to Yu Darvish, roughly)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:01 AM) And yet, the Braves have the 3rd worst team ERA in the National League. Only because Greg Walker hasn't yet been named hitting and pitching coach simultaneously.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:01 AM) but dude, we've had elite 7-8-9 guys for YEARS and you know what? they're always DIFFERENT GUYS because they're good one year or 2 years and then flame out after that. relievers are a dime a dozen. I promise you this. beyond Mo, Hoffman, .... and that's it... name me a closer who DIDN'T lose his job as closer at some point in his career. Those two guys are the exception to the very, very clear RULE that closers are NOT WORTH THE MONEY they get paid. and yes, I'll point you to Tampa and Texas as two teams with great scrapped together bullpens. JUST LIKE WE WERE IN 2005! Which of those guys is still a MLB pitcher? Eckersley with the A's falls into this category as well. But you're talking maybe 5 in major league history. Does anyone think Joe Nathan will make the MLB Hall of Fame?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:56 AM) It also can fail miserably and then you are totally screwed. You can have a great offense and great starters, if you're bullpen is bad, you're in a lot of trouble. As Gonzo wrote this morning, Sale and Reed could be Gossage and Forster part II. Not bad, especially considering how important a good bullpen is these days. And all that's fine and good, unless you look at the team record from 2001-2004 when the 5th starter for the Sox was going. Even with the best bullpen in major league history, with our average offense/defense and question marks at the back end of the rotation (Danks/Humber/#5), a 100% bullpen closeout rate from here on out can't cover up for losing 75-80-85% of the games started by our 5th.

Or ask the Tigers already this year, or the White Sox in April/May 2011. Last year, Detroit was 77-0 in games they led after 7 innings. Minnesota had similar numbers in 2006, 2009 and 2010. This year, the Tigers have already blown FIVE of those games.

The last scene in the recent Transformers movie and this one in NY felt so similar...but this one, you could actually be a bit more emotionally involved because the backstory of the characters was developed so fully. Then again, I'm not 100% convinced that Hawkeye and Black Widow are ready for their own separate stand-alone movies. They seem consigned to secondary status in the group, comparatively. Definitely thought Ruffalo was great, but in limited dosages...and with the Bana/Lee and Norton versions already out there in the last decade, there's probably not quite enough demand built-up but it will be a big temptation to resist with how much Avengers is going to rake in globally and with Thor, Iron Man and Captain America sequels already in the pipeline.

When you hit the Golden Boy and endanger the future of professional baseball (according to some), you can bet there will be a suspension, too. With Pujols foundering, a new superstar must arise. Matt Kemp's great, but not sure if he's the one to carry that baton forward.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:31 AM) However, not every player is built to be a starter. Ask the Braves of the 90's about relievers. They won only 1 world series because they couldn't finish games after the starters were out. And their offense was just a player or two short against other dominant pitching in the playoffs, especially in the latter half of those 14 years.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) Was he in Arizona all through last year when his screwball was tearing up the minors? That's kind of my point, the only thing we can really say with any amount certainty is that almost all of his success with the offspeed stuff came when he could establish a rhythm as a starter in 2011. I'm not so sure how he was used in the Puerto Rican Winter League in 2010-2011, that would also be interesting to look at to see if we can develop a theory of what's going wrong now. Someone mentioned Boone Logan and his being rushed and skipped over so many levels and how it took him a long time after that to get his feet underneath him. Then you had Scott Radinsky who jumped from South Bend to the majors and was a Marte/Thornton type of performer with no hiccups.

Like Gavin's curveball, Humber's curveball, you'd have to also think getting the right feel for the screwball is something that would be easier to develop over the course of a 2 hour start rather than 10-12 warm-up pitches and then, BOOM, you're in a make or break situation where every single pitch means the difference between a win or loss. Not exactly the greatest idea in the world to throw someone into the fire and out of the frying pan in such a confidence-shattering way when it's not even necessary at this point to keep bruising his psyche. (Yeah, yeah, he should be stronger, he's a professional athlete, I get that, but when he's given up a lot more homers in less than 10 innings than most relievers give up in entire seasons or two, you probably take take an alternative corrective course of action).

FWIW JPN, my theory wasn't completely far-fetched after all. It might be a "development year," but Morel's been assigned to the bench two games in a row for Lillibridge. You'd have to agree that the odds of Brent playing tmrw would be pretty low if Lilly has a great performance in Game 1. Guess the real test of the theory would be if Morel is bench for three consecutive games and sits both games of a day/night DH.

Can't accept the logic that the screwball actually gets better action in Arizona dry, desert weather? Different baseballs used in ST compared to the regular season? That whole "seams aren't raised quite as high" theory for getting a proper grip on the pitch? Maybe he has a smaller hand for gripping it than most pitchers?

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/...extbeginIndex=6 Seems like there is sort of a mini-window between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. where there's a better than 50/50 chance of playing one game at least today.

You forgot the Marlins/Buehrle. Actually, I would venture to say that Greg775 probably spends a LOT more time at the White Sox board (I guess it's possible he posts to Royals fan boards too)....but the constant reminders of how poorly we've played against the Royals the last half decade or so make it SEEM as if he's actively rooting for the Royals to win those games.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/w...ing-in-chicago/ Kind of makes the White Sox look a bit silly for naming Sale when Reed has been there all along (and also for picking Santiago over Reed in the first place)...why they wouldn't made Sale into Alexi Ogando type who can pitch anywhere from the 5th-8th and going with the more traditionally-groomed RH closer. So we know that Chris Sale the reliever is pretty darn awesome. Just last season in 2010, we saw a similarly skilled reliever named C.J. Wilson be successfully converted into a starter. He also induced lots of grounders and possessed good strikeout ability, while his control was somewhat lacking as well. Of course, Sale throws quite a bit harder than Wilson, but the underlying skills were not too different. Although Wilson has managed to throw over 200 innings these past two seasons, the stamina issue will likely be Sale’s biggest hurdle and will put a ceiling on his ultimate fantasy value. Pitchers obviously lose velocity when starting versus relieving. Though it varies by pitcher, the drop-off is typically in the 2-3 mile per hour range. That would still allow Sale to average around 93.0 miles per hour with his fastball, which would be excellent for a lefty. The velocity decline is one factor that contributes to relievers losing about 15%-20% of their K% upon the move to starting. That would bring Sale’s K% down to around 23% to 24.5%. The below handy table published by Carson Cistulli over the summer suggests this would correspond to a strikeout rate of a bit below 9.0. The good news for Sale is that while the strikeout rate does drop, so does BB% by a similar rate. Applying the same 15%-20% range, we find that Sale would see his BB/9 improve to around league average territory of 3.1. Given that his career F-Strike% is already just about at the league average, this would seem like a reasonable expectation. So mixing those numbers together, the best comparables to Sale’s skill set are Josh Johnson, Jon Lester and C.J. Wilson. That’s pretty wonderful company. It would be unwise to project his performance to rival those pitchers in his first year as a starter, of course, but it tells you just how strong his skill package is. Sale also doesn’t face the problem that gets most relievers banished to the bullpen in the first place; he actually has three pitches. As alluded to earlier, he will likely have an innings limit, so his value is going to be capped. Many of you play in daily transactions leagues that has an innings maximum, though, which requires you to value pitchers based on per inning ratios. Sale is going to be a steal in those leagues. In standard weekly transaction leagues, he still has great profit potential. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php...le-the-starter/ Here's the whole article

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/cowley/1230...on-beckham.html Beckham article, definitely not his worst.

"Debuting in the Bronze Age of comic books, the character has featured in over three decades of Marvel continuity and a self-titled series. The character's name is a derivation of _________, the personification of death and mortality in Greek mythology. One of his more prominent storylines to date-the Infinity Gauntlet series-portrayed him as a mad cosmic tyrant bent on slaying half of all sentiences existing then in Marvel's multiverse in order to appease the Marvel Universe's actual (and more powerful) embodied personification of Death in an attempt to win its love." movieweb.com http://clatl.com/screengrab/archives/2012/...en-the-avengers SPOILER QUESTIONS ANSWERED...DO NOT READ IF YOU'VE YET TO SEE THE MOVIE http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/05/05/avengers...plained-thanos/ Even more detailed...

Mitchell's only missed about 2 or 3 games all season. And he's been in that mini-slump of his bringing the average down to close to .300 (.310 to be exact). Annoying, though, when you see Williams, Jr., taking playing time away from ANYONE. 29 K's in 121 PA's. 24%. 14 XB hits out of 31. That's probably not sustainable. 6 steals and 24 RBI's. He does have those 8 K's in his last 4 games, so they probably wanted to give him a little mental break.

White Sox now with 11 "homegrown" players who have been on their roster already this year. Although it's REALLY stretching it to say he's "ours" since his whole career was in the Yankees' system before this season. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...P=jose-quintana

The Tigers announcers were: 1) Thanking their lucky stars that Sale wasn't facing them 2) Wondering how when a closer would need to warm up quickly 3-4-5 times per week...and going maximum velocity/full effort for 10-15-20-25 pitches each appearance, how in any way, shape or form that would reduce the stress on the elbow. There's the bad mechanics stress (human anatomy/physiology versus physics), and there is the slider torque issue to deal with as well. Are they going to eliminate that pitch from his repertoire? How much would his effectiveness be eliminated in that situation as a result? Where is PTAC to make a insightful comment on this entire situation? Haven't seen him around here recently, this is one of the more fascinating "injury" debates probably in recent White Sox history, since an injury hasn't even happened.

Starting in AA/AAA, April 6th.

O's had the early 5-0 lead, Red Sox rallied to tie, O's took the lead 6-5 in the 8th, Red Sox tied in the bottom of the 8th. First runs there scored since the 8th. Red Sox still haven't used Little Nick Punto and Shoppach off their bench. Bullet up the middle, leadoff single for the Red Sox in the bottom of the 17th. Last game like this for BOS was a 19 inning loser against the Red Sox against the White Sox, Julian Taveras was the loser, we ALL remember that one right before the ASB in 2006 I think. Getaway flights/schedules all messed up. Tying run coming up, 2 baserunners on, Adrian Gonzalez 0 for 7 after being 6 for his last 10, D. McDonald the pitcher on deck. Losing velocity on his fastball in his second inning of work. 0/8 for A-Gone, haha. Yikes. McDonald as the pitcher could tie the game and extend it. Bizarre. DP. Chris Davis, 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 K's. Horrific 1-5 homestand for the Red Sox. Strangest line of recent baseball boxscore history.

83 MPH fastball by Adam Jones into the Monster Seats. Still hasn't retired a batter, haha. Walk, caught stealing, double, walk, HR. Has to stay out there for infinity. And Boston's season just keeps getting better and better! Red Sox/WEEI crew claiming the Red Sox still have a good chance to rally in the bottom of the 17th. Davis as DH/P appearing at the plate. Can he take 6 K's as a hitter and the win as a pitcher? Nick Markakis just had his 4th walk, JJ Hardy has 5 hits, a career high. What is his WARP for a game like this, haha? 6 hour long game officially. 6 K's would have tied the major league record for a game but he avoids it, 0 for 8 at the plate and possibly the winning pitcher.

Chris Davis 0/7 with 5 K's. He's about to go into the bottom of the 16th tie game in BOS and probably take the loss as a PITCHER. Or if he retires the Red Sox, it will really be a story. Threw an 83 MPH change to K Salty, ranging from 89-91 MPH on the fastball. This is pretty amazing. KW, trade for him as a starter/3B. Darnell McDonald will enter for the Red Sox in the 17th. Two outs now, 2nd on a flyout. Bryd is on, E-5 on Wilson Betemit, LOL. Would have retired the side 1-2-3 if not for our old friend. OUT AT HOME OUT AT HOME. Aviles hits a double into the gap and the perfect relay nails Marlon Byrd at home. On we go to the 17th. I love this game (sorry NBA).