caulfield12

Well, J. Gomez has really pitched well against us and he was the Indians' best pitcher in the spring, so who knows. Masterson, despite having an ERA in the 2's against us, still is 3-4 or 2-3, I know it'a an overall losing record. But there have been a couple of complete games where he just pretty much dominated, that's what is sticking in everyone's recent memory.

QUOTE (OilCan @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 10:24 PM) Well........ Addison Reed was a starter in college, to his credit. The White Sox just stuck him in the pen. Can't argue with their decision. Hector Santiago does have three pitches. FB, Screwball and CH. And speaking of Santiago... http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php...-closing-games/ Why would a series of slight hiccups force Santiago out of a job? We're not in an ALL IN year, and he had two MLB appearances before this season, so of course there will be some growing pains. I guess the presence of Reed/Thornton/Crain will push or incentize him, we'll see. In the end, it's hard for baseball "experts" to expect the #11 prospect in the worst or second worst system in the minors to come out and be a dominant closer. If that happens, they have to acknowledge they're wrong just as often as not with ranking and projecting prospects.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 06:48 PM) Knights @ Durham Stults Huntsville @ Barons Molina Dash @ Frederick Buch rocked Delmarva @ Intimidators Parrent 8 K, 2 BB but also 4 R in 4.1 IP Yep, although Mitchell has 5 RBI's....Saladino, Molina, Thompson (0/5 and 2 K's) and Mitchell aren't off to the greatest of starts. Castro didn't pitch well. Not too many glimmers of hope yet, but it's still early obviously. K. Walker might be more hopeless than Mitchell or Thompson. In fact, I'm to point where I would be shocked if he makes it to the majors.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 09:07 PM) Yet he's still going strong and making zillions of dollars yearly. But the key difference here is that he didn't say anything that would patently offend his audience, because they already listen to his show due to the fact that they generally support his ideas, his opinions and his philosophy. Limbaugh could care less about the 80-85% of the country that would never listen to his show on a daily basis. Whereas Ozzie is one of, if not the most important, representative and symbol of his team in a market where there are many Cubans and Hispanics. In other words, ANY person in South Florida, but particularly a Cuban or Hispanic, could be offended by his actions and not attend a Marlins game, costing Loria money both over the short and long term. Not only that, but it's likely the relationship between the two countries will open up more and more in the next couple of decades, they'll have many daily flights between Havana and Miami, even more fans will be coming to games from Cuba...not to mention that the Marlins want to be THE destination for Cuban free agent baseball players AND "Central/Latin America's Team," in the same way the Cowboys are in the NFL, etc.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 05:44 PM) Santos will probably end up where he was with the Sox. A middle-of-the-road closer. He was definitely in the Top 6-8 closers in the game until the last two blown saves against the Tigers. Usually that rate's 85% and above, but there are lots of other stats to look at...number of one run, two run and three run leads preserved, WHIP, BAA, inherited runners scored, 1-2-3 innings, performance in tie games, how many times when he blew a save the team still won the game (although that's also dependent on the team's offense), how many games he not only blew the save but also the outright lead, etc. I suppose it's fair to say he's in that 12-18 range now, although his first two blown saves is either an anomaly or part of a dangerous downward trend that started in the second half of 2011 and is still continuing today. Or, the AL East is just a lot tougher division. The number of closers who are consistently elite is obviously less than a handful. For the 2000's, it was Rivera, Nathan, Papelbon, Hoffman and Billy Wagner, in no specific order really.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 10:56 AM) Shack...I get why baseball might be tempted, but let's imagine that baseball had an anti-semite in their midst. With a thousand players, it's certainly not out of the question. Should baseball suspend people, in an official capacity for controversial statements or political beliefs? I can see why the league/commish would act on Schott...the owners are what, effectively contractors allowed into the league by the MLB main office, and the MLB main office is given extraordinary authority by Congress to regulate them and the game. Furthermore, there's no one else above the owners who has the authority to react to anything done by owners other than the League, while Ozzie has the team level to deal with, and I still think the team ought to care about this a lot more than the league. For example, former MLB Eric Show was a member of the John Birch Society, I'm pretty sure. Or can we punish players/coaches like Gary Gaetti for proselytizing in clubhouses, based on separation of church and state/freedom of religion?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 10:56 AM) Shack...I get why baseball might be tempted, but let's imagine that baseball had an anti-semite in their midst. With a thousand players, it's certainly not out of the question. Should baseball suspend people, in an official capacity for controversial statements or political beliefs? I can see why the league/commish would act on Schott...the owners are what, effectively contractors allowed into the league by the MLB main office, and the MLB main office is given extraordinary authority by Congress to regulate them and the game. Furthermore, there's no one else above the owners who has the authority to react to anything done by owners other than the League, while Ozzie has the team level to deal with, and I still think the team ought to care about this a lot more than the league. That's where it gets really dicey. Does that mean Luke Scott can be suspended for some of his idiotic comments? Then you have the NBA, who fined one of their players who tweeted a picture of his girlfriend's butt blocking the t.v. in her thong. In an election year, you can just imagine all the implications that go both ways. Baseball has never done anything to a player who refused to go to a White House ceremony after winning the World Series, for example. Nor should they. Somewhere, there's that invisible line of demarcation that goes solely from Hispanics to something that would offend all humankind...that's when you start talking about Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., in any kind of positive light. But I can't even imagine anything more than a five game suspension for Stalin or Mao comments. There again, with Mao you could have "in the interest of the game" cited due to baseball's efforts to market itself in China/Taiwan (2008 Olympics, Dodgers playing an exhibition game there, major league teams establishing academies and putting on coaching clinics and tryouts). Hitler is the 3rd rail, though. Do not touch.

Santiago's been consistently at 93-94-95 with the fastball. Santos so far anywhere from low 90's to 97. I think Santiago's delivery is a bit harder to pick up...definitely doesn't have Sergio's slider, but he's got two different offspeed pitches he can throw for strikes, which ends up being perhaps better than Santos' two pitch arsenal due to the variety. You have the sense with Santiago that he doesn't feel he HAS to come with a fastball when he's down in the count. Reed and Jones both throw with about the same velocity as Sergio, and Reed compares similarly because of that nasty slider of his, although you'd have to give the edge to Sergio so far of the two in terms of who has a better one.

Son or song, lol? I'm assuming it's the latter. Hmmm...he's Puerto Rican-American, so I would go with something like Daddy Yankee (Rompe or Gasolina) from the reggaeton school or maybe Don Omar/Tego Calderon, something with a flair and beat.

"It's like going to New York's Jewish district and saying, 'Hitler wasn't so bad. He managed to stay in power for a few years,'" veteran Spanish-language baseball announcer Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, who left Cuba at age 17, told USA Today. "Even a 9-year-old knows better than to say that in Miami. But I don't think he's really a fan of Castro or meant any harm. It's just that he talks so much that sometimes he says things without thinking about them."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 09:37 AM) Sez the guy still writing stories about Ozzie, Kenny, and Cooper not getting along. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley I thought the best thing Oz said is moving forward it's not what he says, but what he does. Period, move on. You should challenge him to never write another KW/Ozzie story again...to move on, just like his hero Ozzie. Acciones son mas importante que palabras (actions are more important than words) Now we'll be subjected to the Guillens going to a soup kitchen in Little Havana or some other contrived public appearance. At least he wasn't asked about sacrificing live animals for Santeria and Jay Mariotti. Does Mariotti have a twitter? I'm sure he's enjoying this moment about as much as any since he left Chicago.

Hopefully KW will refrain from gloating. Will be interesting to see if anyone can get either Reinsdorf or Ventura to address this, I'm sure it's going to come up around a lot of MLB clubhouses today...especially with the Hispanic players. There was even intimation that there would be some kind of backlash against Venezuelans or Venezuelan players because of what Ozzie said. I think that's carrying it a bit too far, as well the Hitler comparisons.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/10/2739...guillen-in.html Apparently one of Ozzie's sons is getting him in trouble again. A "friend of his son" is supposedly shouting "VIVA CHAVEZ!" in a youtube video. Never underestimate the power of social media to come back and bite you these days. At the news conference Tuesday, Guillen denied ever having said "Viva Chavez," as seen in a YouTube video. He said one of his son's friends standing behind him made the statement.

He just said in Spanish "it's the last time in his life he will ever talk about politics," lol.

In protest of the Ozzie suspension, I will not attend the next 5 Marlins games. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open If I was a Cuban protester my sign would read "Thank God I can live in a place where I can make a sign and hold it up without a bullet!'' cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @RizzoRJ77 Quiet 2nd or 3rd place finishes are much better. In reply to Randy J. Levine cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open Protesters outside holding up signs written in Spanish, making sure very few people outside of California and Fla know what they're saying. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open Oz will miss two games with Philly and then three with Houston ... so technically suspended two games and a bye series. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @KennedyMarty Yes, because that's the same. #dumbassness In reply to Marty Kennedy cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @AmyKNelson 3-year-old is protesting me leaving for another road trip. That's a tougher crowd to please. In reply to Amy K. Nelson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Close BREAKING: Actor Sean Penn has been suspended for 5 movies for his love of dictators, as well.

So the main thing so far is a five day suspension without pay. The women who are asking him questions in Spanish are really hammering away at him over and over again but so far I give him credit for maintaining his poise and not getting impaciente or enojado.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/miami-herald-live LIVE NOW. Or marlins.com or mlb.com

With the way the Indians have been drawing, it's a wonder they can afford any of these guaranteed long-term deals. But they really have no choice if they want to operate their organization in a financially viably and competitive way in the future.

And if Arencibia had held onto that throw, it wouldn't have been quite so much of a disaster, but that's always a risk with tag plays at home with a catcher's mitt and a bang-bang play.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 07:38 AM) No and I have no idea why you'd think where he said them was important. Just wondering if there's any distinction or differentation between free speech rights on public versus private property...? For example, in recent months, students have been expelled for posting things online while at home...because they were using the school's internet or IP address/account for posting. But the argument was made that since they weren't at school, they shouldn't suffer the same consequences....and also that it was after official school hours. Well, I guess it really doesn't matter.

cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @ChiSoxFanDan Does he throw a couple back .... shoot, that's two innings of work for the Hawk. In reply to ChiSoxFanDan cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @ChiSoxFanDan All the Sox beat writers can vouch that Oz often had his family with him at the team hotel after games, and didn't get drunk. In reply to ChiSoxFanDan cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open Another good read about Guillen - http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-04-0...e-guillen-exile cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @AmyKNelson Are they hot ... or is that me being insensitive? In reply to Amy K. Nelson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @Doug_SoxPack Yes, God forbid a league that has promoted drug use, racism, cheating and infidelity now takes a moral stand and fires him. In reply to Doug Gross cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @keithmdurkin Yeah, and if 60 percent of the 37,000 that fill that place were Cuban, it would be a concern. In reply to Keith Durkin cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @HCKY117 Brah, tell me about your time under a dictatorship ... would love to hear about it.... In reply to Rick Carlson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @keithmdurkin Jeff Loria isn't paying millions over the next four years to fire Ozzie. In reply to Keith Durkin cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @JDH_2009 I'm covering everything. In reply to Josh Henderson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @barnettmgmt He is a Hall of Famer with 2 straight wins. In reply to David Barnett cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @HCKY117 That's why this is a great country. Was better when we could all make fun of each other without crying, but still great. In reply to Rick Carlson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @HCKY117 I don't have anything in common with people that think animals are more important than people, but I can comment on them. In reply to Rick Carlson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @JDH_2009 Throws strikes, he can be really good. But can the arm hold up as a starter? That's the question. In reply to Josh Henderson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open .... BUT I HAVE A DAMN JOB AND A LIFE ... so I can't. But let my tax money go to those that can jump on the bus and hold up signs..... Better watch it with that comment COWLEY, you're getting very close to an OZZIE moment cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open As far as Guillen and the Marlins being protested all season long ... well, there are issues in the US I would like to go out and protest .. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @JDH_2009 That's scary, but thank you. In reply to Josh Henderson cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @JDH_2009 That's because Ozzie is - and always will be a national story. In reply to Josh Henderson Josh Henderson ‏ @JDH_2009 Reply Retweet Favorite · Open @cst_Cowley I hate to admit it, but you were right about Chicago will never free of Ozzie. Everyone is talking about it, over Evan the cubs Retweeted by cst_Cowley from Auburn, IN cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open And I'm also calling for Castro to apologize to his people for years of being a tyrant. cst_Cowley ‏ @cst_Cowley Reply Retweet Favorite · Open Also, any political aspirations Guillen has for the future could have taken a hit. Mine, however, are alive and well. Cowley for President!

The recent early March Fidel Castro comments were actually made at the Roger Dean Stadium Complex in Jupiter. Would it have made any difference if they were made there (I know it's home to two teams, like our agreement in Glendale) at Marlins Park, which is 80-85% publicly funded? I would be really curious to see his contract, and see what loopholes or leeway there is for the Marlins to get away with terminating him for cause...they had to have put some extra safeguards in place, knowing Ozzie's history of inflammatory comments, one would think.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 07:46 AM) Over the offseason, team president David Samson made a run at the "Cuban Missile," rookie slugger Yoenis Cespedes, vowing to be "aggressive right to the point of stupidity." I'm more upset that they're trying to steal Alexi's nickname than anything else in that story. We should also be upset Dayan "The Cuban Tank" Viciedo wasn't included in that story.

Mike Imrem from the Daily Herald beat Joe Cowley to the punch...amazing how all these local/regional/national columnists are NOW saying they wish they would have done something more substantive to confront Ozzie We up here are as responsible as Ozzie Guillen is for the controversy he created in South Florida. People in Chicago let Ozzie be Ozzie for too long. Guillen never realized enough how blessed he was to be embraced, protected and defended the way he was here. If he had, he would have compromised and still been White Sox manager. People here, Sox fans and others, considered Guillen one of their very own and let him get away with feeling he was on the right side of any line. Guillen was our mischievous little child, the one who keeps putting his hand in the cookie jar and experiencing only a hand slap as punishment. Ozzie made a homophobic remark here? Ozzie launched F-bombs in front of people who didn’t want to hear them? Ozzie defied authority, logic and social decorum? Oh, that’s just Ozzie being Ozzie. During Guillen’s eight seasons as White Sox manager, he was empowered to be a crass cartoon character. Sox fans empowered him, even before Guillen managed the Sox to a World Series title. The media did, mostly because Guillen was such refreshing copy. Jerry Reinsdorf did, maybe because Guillen was his late-life walk on the wild side. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to tell Ozzie Guillen how wrong he was, that he should clean up his act, that as the face of the franchise he made Sox management, the city and himself look trashy. But I never did. I went along, as Reinsdorf did, as too many Sox fans did, as too many in the media did, as Kenny Williams grudgingly did. Guillen has made a mess of his debut as Miami Marlins manager, insulting Cuban Americans by saying to Time magazine, “I love Fidel Castro.” Thank goodness we didn’t have to apologize for Guillen had he blurted, while he was manager of the White Sox, something like, he loves Hitler or Osama bin Laden is a martyr. The Marlins currently are on the road, but Guillen is expected to return to Miami on Tuesday to issue an in-person apology for his insensitivity. Maybe that’s an indication he gets the difference between here and there, because I don’t recall him ever apologizing for anything while in Chicago. Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz was born in Cuba and wrote over the weekend, “I don’t know if (an apology) will be enough. It won’t be enough because people like me will never forget the courage it took for my parents to leave all of their possessions behind and catch a flight out of Cuba with their three children in 1961.” The thing Guillen didn’t understand was that Ozzie couldn’t be Ozzie in Miami the way he was in Chicago, not any more than, say, Mike Ditka could be Iron Mike in New Orleans.Guillen didn’t grow up as a sports figure down there like he did up here, so the act won’t play nearly as well and the jokes won’t be nearly as funny. Down there now the call is for the Marlins to fire Guillen, and he doesn’t have supporters like he nearly always had here.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 07:17 AM) Konerko, meanwhile, had two hits and moved into a tie with Luke Appling for second place in franchise history with 3,528 total bases. Noticed this line in a Tribune article this morning. Does anyone know who is #1 and can Paulie catch him? Is it Big Frank? Yes, Frank Thomas. 3,949.