caulfield12

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Dec 15, 2011 -> 10:05 PM) I don't think we can post copyright information....can we? You can't directly post or copy, but you can probably get by "characterizing/summarizing" in your own words. Although some would probably disagree with that idea as well.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 09:06 PM) I have a really hard time believing they go as dark as the original movie did. You kind of have to, but I'm hesitant to believe an American film could turn out like that. Kinda like how the original Let the Right One In was better than the American version, Let Me In. Mara previously explained her transformation for the role, revealing she had her hair dyed and cut, her eyebrows bleached, her lip, brow, nose, and nipple pierced, along with her ears pierced several times. Agreed, Let the Right One In was definitely much better. In this match-up, from all the reviews, the American version is much better. BTW, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is raking in tons of positive reviews...73 positives, only 5 negatives. Will see Christian Bale's "Flowers of War" about the Nanjing Massacre tmrw in the theatres.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Dec 16, 2011 -> 12:53 AM) But that's just it - Gio is clearly not the better player. Billy is also a master at selling inflated value pitchers (because they pitch in Oakland). Is Gio just going into arbitration this year? 2012 Contract Status: 1st Year Arb Eligible (Super 2), 1 yr/$420k (11) (details) [*] Service Time (01/2012): 2.162, Arb Eligible: 2012, Free Agent: 2016

QUOTE (Andrew @ Dec 15, 2011 -> 09:30 PM) Absolutely. Cowley isn't fit to sniff Mark's jock. Forgot about Gonzo, yeah....that makes a lot more sense than aiming arrows at Phil Rogers. Although Rogers has been a target for Cowley as well on a number of occasions in the past.

Which is ironic, because Thornton's career was on the ropes when he was dumped for Borchard after underachieving for so long in SEA. Cooper is almost singlehandedly responsible for Matt being set for life financially. Mentally, the guy just wasn't the right one to be the closer...and perhaps he still holds some grudges against some of the coaches?? Which is, once again, why Danks/Thornton being traded would surprise absolutely nobody in baseball.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 15, 2011 -> 04:56 PM) The story is at least one pitcher on the staff last year thought Coop was looking out for himself in the last year of his contract and wasn't the 'same old Coop' until he got his extension. Like it or not, that perception is a legit story. Then why make it seem like one of those two pitchers are Peavy or Danks? Why isn't the pitcher who actually said those things on the record? Compared to the Boston Red Sox situation, this is very much a fairly insignificant story. Everyone knows that Danks is on the way out, anyway. It was clever/cute that you made quite a few people get the impression (even an English major) that it was Danks who has an axe to grind with Don Cooper and the organization, but that's not quite the case, is it? As everyone has pointed out numerous times, the anti-Cowley/KW slant/bias shines through in every opinion column. Unfortunately in life, things are much more grey. So why isn't Joe capable of writing any type of article that demonstrates he has EVER looked at both sides of an issue and weighed the evidence carefully and with thoughtful consideration? If he wants to write for CCTV/China Daily here in China or TASS in Russia, his one-sidedness and agenda would be predictable if not ignored by the masses. I suppose, in the end, as long as you are controversial or Gossip Girl, you get more "page views" than someone who merely reports the facts. Certainly, no baseball columnist should just print word for word what the club says or act as the club's PR agent in proxy, that's for Reifert or Merkin to do at mlb.com or chisox.com. Or Chris Rongey. And while Phil Rogers does have a bit of a bias AGAINST KW, and favors Ozzie more (what reporter wouldn't, Ozzie made their jobs 100X easier)....he at least is willing to praise or extol something that Williams does which he agrees with, which hasn't been much at all recently. But the ability to recognize and analzye given situations is still there, more or less.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 11:27 PM) You don't think that you dehumanize someone by laughing at them because of their size? Intrigued isn't necessarily the same as laughing. Maybe the notion that people who are overweight but willingly choose to make a spectacle of themselves (are they being laughed at or is the audience/crowd laughing "with them," it seems pretty clear)...what would motivate someone to do that? It's more of a psychology question. Certainly African-American fans at White Sox games (the few that still go), would probably never dream of dancing on the dugout tops and "performing" for a predominantly caucasian White Sox crowd, would they? Certainly not as a group, where all the contestants were black, grouped together. Just like you MIGHT have the kids from Special Olympics doing that...but it would be part of a fundraiser/charity/make-a-wish type program where NOBODY would be laughing consciously AT THE KIDS, at least one would hope not, although some fans have gotten reputations for being quite cruel when they're drinking.

The new GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (CRAIG/ROONEY MARA version) got a sterling "A" review from EW.com. Seems like it will be a can't miss movie, despite it's obviously dark topics/issues/undertones.

As long as they don't end up with another AL Central team, I don't care what happens with Cuddyer and Kubel. It's when there is a direct exchange (Thome to Minnesota, or choosing Dunn versus Victor Martinez, Cabrera to DET because they had better prospects at the time) and we come out on the losing end that our team is most directly impacted. In a way, their losing Crain to us really did show up with the results last year...their bullpen was a total trainwreck. It's just that we couldn't leverage it because of our horrid offense.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 07:22 AM) Quite the contrary. You can be sure that he WON'T be healthy. Now you just jinxed Konerko's health, lol.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 12:52 AM) Oh this.... Ok, let's play this out. Quentin was really really relevant (really) to make that kind of statement...one year, 08. Where he hit where in the order? And before you answer, where was Paulie? Now, let's look at the 2012 linuep in the context of the assertion that Quentin can equal the OPS at 1/2 the price. Are you sure you want to pitch that? You're putting Quentin in Paulie's place without ...well Quentin (at his best) in front. I'm not a Paulie meat-head type fan, but...duder produces with what he's got (that includes more sucky/absent Quentins than good ones). I'll hang up and wait for your answer. It's all a hypothetical, and we're extrapolating performance lines for a player (almost everyone believes) who's never used steroids yet has clearly improved as a hitter in his mid 30's. What precedent is there in baseball history for that? Can you count on it for another 2 years? It's an emotional argument depending on your feelings for Konerko and how important he still is to the fanbase and JR. To me, I'd rather have Mark Buehrle for $56 million and 4 years than John Danks for the same contract terms (if I had to choose one over the other). But if I could pick two Carlos Quentins to fill out the roster or one Paul Konerko (1B), and I was only working with a $105-110 million budget, I'd gamble that the two Quentins would combined give more bang for the buck than one Konerko in his mid 30's, not to mention getting something decent back for Paulie with 7 teams reportedly still looking for a high-quality 1B. To me, Quentin in LF, Quentin 2 in RF, Viciedo at 1B, DeAza in CF, gives the team the best chance to win. If Dunn fails, you can use DeAza/Quentin 2 as your DH. Of course, there's no such thing as Quentin 2, just the idea of a similar player making between $6-7 million in 2012.

I do think it will be interesting to see what other current White Sox players KW is willing to trade to the Marlins to play for Guillen... Never saw Danks as being in the pro-Ozzie or anti-Ozzie group...seems more like another innocent bystander who was stung by the dysunction but did his best to work around and ignore it.

I wouldn't say LOTS. Go back to the thread signing posts that week. You won't find many. Why did Dunn sign the contract in the first place, if he and his agent had these concerns about transitioning to the AL/DH role?

Danks has, to my knowledge, never had any sort of quotes attributed to him in such a manner...directly attacking a member of the coaching staff. I don't doubt there's fire behind all that smoke. And Cowley gets quotes from AJ Pierzynski all the time. And there's no way AJ would give him the "inside info" about Danks' and Peavy's feelings toward Cooper and just stick Danks' name on it. Let me be clear. I think Cooper is a very good pitching coach. But he's also quick to make "enemies" with pitchers he doesn't get along with or see eye to eye with. Daniel Hudson, for example. MacDougal/Aardsma/Sisco/Masset...all of those guys tuned Cooper out and were quickly traded OR ended up out of baseball altogether.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 12:50 AM) LOL.... Hey I know - Let's just trade Dunn for Soriano. We can DH Soriano, they can put Dunn at 1B when they don't get Fielder. Each team still eats s*** for signing dumb ass contracts, everyone wins (unless you expected quality baseball out of either team, in which case...you are dreaming). There's certainly a logical argument for DeAza/Rios/Viciedo/Soriano/Konerko, especially from a selling tickets/marketing standpoint. But I'd still prefer Viciedo at 1B, DeAza in LF, Quentin in RF and Soriano as DH to what we're actually going to do. That would mean trading Konerko, but what are the odds we're going to be competitive the next 2 seasons? It's just a guess, but I think Quentin's OPS the next two seasons will probably equal Konerko's and at 1/2 the price. Of course, you never know if the guy can stay healthy, he only played 119 games last year.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 01:17 AM) Direct quotes to who? Cowley doesn't claim Danks spoke to him...he does his usual s***. "In an interview".... They weren't just made up...they had to come from SOMEWHERE, and not even Cowley would be stupid enough to use direct quotes in a story if he was just characterizing or backgrounding something....summarizing the general "feeling" of an off-the-record conversation. The question is if Cowley didn't interview Danks, where exactly did those quotes come from? According to the article, it was a telephone interview directly between Cowley and Danks...unless Danks' agent is feeding that "interview" to selected media outlets because he wants his pitcher off the Sox and traded to another team ASAP...so he can start the process of bargaining for a long-term deal with his new organization.

I'm willing to believe that Cooper actually acted in his own self-interest for most of this season, as did Ozzie. Obviously there was the Cooper/KW side of it, and the Ozzie/Walker/Cora clique with Cox and Baines somewhere in the middle of it all. The thing is...with a pitcher we have that much invested in, Cooper HAS to find a way to work with the guy. It's almost sounding like another Swisher case where Jake basically feels Cooper (and Ozzie) gave up on him and he had to go outside the organization for answers. (Too bad the same thing didn't happen with Beckham, where he perhaps trusted Walker too much because of their friendship?) Yet one more piece of evidence of all the factors of dysfunction and chaos being lined up against the team's success last year. It's no surprise the season turned out to be such a disaster. As far as criticizing the Sox for not protecting his brother or negotiating a long-term deal, it's a business and it's not in their long-term interest to placate Danks if they're going to trade him, but they darn sure should create a "nurturing" work environment because no doubt all of that turmoil in the coach staff rubbed off on the coaching/front office performances as well, and vice-versa. Seems like John is really painting himself and the team into a tough position. Probably they would be better off trading him before Spring Training, letting Jordan go and moving on. They keep Konerko, Floyd, Alexei and let Danks/Thornton/Quentin go....and perhaps deal AJ and Peavy at mid-season (and/or eat their contracts at the end of July if no suitors are available and the team's out of the race). Maybe that's not going into "full rebuild," but I'm guessing some market survey guru has determined that trading Konerko and Alexei to a lesser extent would fully signal a surrender of competitiveness for at least 2 seasons.

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Dec 13, 2011 -> 07:53 PM) I can't remember the details of the particular network broadcast analyst or the barely adequate Methuselah LOOGY in question (it might have been Ray Searage), but when the LOOGY took the mound the analyst said: "This is LOOGY's 18th (or 20th or whatever) year in the Major Leagues and his longevity is a testament to his continuing ability to be left-handed." I couldn't stop laughing at that one. Yet, so much truth in that. If you can't raise your kid to be a left-handed hitting catcher (most certain route to the bigs), then at least make certain he/she is a left-handed pitcher! Yeah, my best friend and I had a nickname for him back in the day, "Oh no, they're bringing in Ray Sewage!!" They've given up on the game for sure.

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Dec 13, 2011 -> 06:24 PM) Thanks for the well thought-out reply. I wasn't at all saying that the Twins have so much success with their pitching staff, but was merely using them (since we all know them so well) as the foil for the Sox sometimes over-emphasis on "stuff." It always fascinates me how lefty after lefty can be prospects throwing 88-92, but righties in that range are always HUGE suspects. To be drafted today, it seems right-handed pitchers need to be 6'5", 240lbs, with tree-trunk legs, throwing 93-96 mph. Like a few other posters have intimated, I also think that Axelrod actually has much better "stuff" than most people think he has -- velocity, movement, and bite. Plus, he's got some of that deception and short-arming that makes him difficult to "see." I don't think he's nearly the "pure guile" pitcher that some see him as; I think his minor and major league swing-and-miss numbers provide decent evidence of that. Yeah, his stature is going to make people doubt him -- kind of the white wide receiver syndrome that every NFL white wide receiver battles (no matter his published 40 time). But this guy has performed VERY well at the minor league level and in a limited sampling has shown the ability to get big league hitters out too. Sure he'll have to be on his game, but the same can be said for pretty much all the #4 and #5 style pitchers out there. Personally, I think those who instantly classify him as garbage aren't looking at the advanced numbers and using their eyes. We've seen awful #4's and #5's on the South Side and at least in my opinion Dylan Axelrod has a decent chance of being a LOT better pitcher than many of them. Definitely agree about the lefty/right thing. Hector Santiago wouldn't even be mentioned in our plans for 2012 were he not a lefty. And it seems every team has those lefties like Wil Ohman who hang on into their late 30's/early 40's as loogy's...the Arthur Rhodes/Darren Olivers of the baseball world who will continue to sign decent-sized contracts as FA's. And it's also the reason we SHOULD be able to get a decent-sized haul for Danks, despite his off year in 2010. On a team with average or above-average run support, he's the type of guy you definitely count on for 14-17 wins (if not more) per season. But still don't think that ability is worth $100 million+ to the White Sox at this juncture.

Ramon Castro's another possibility for the Marlins. Ozuna as a coach, perhaps? By the way, where did Jeff Cox land, if anywhere?

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Dec 13, 2011 -> 12:10 PM) 146 home runs out of the starting nine seems pretty low, doesn't it? I feel like the estimates for Morel, Beckham, and De Aza are a bit conservative. Also note they have Lillibridge with more HR/AB than anyone else on the team again. Morel seems to be ONE example where they looked at his last 4-6 weeks of playing time, rather than the entire body of work...and perhaps a more nuanced view that he's consistently improved and made adjustments as well in nearly every minor league season. His projection is closer to what we expected out of Joe Crede every year than what we could have dreamed for Brent in July or early August. Those were big steps/strides he finally made to give us all some badly-needed confidence in him going into the offseason. Because he was fighting just to get up to a 600 OPS for the majority of the season, because of his lack of extra base hits and walks. You can see DeAza putting up another 850-900 or completely playing himself off the team when/if he becomes the official starter for Pierre (based on a CQ deal finally happening, maybe after his 2012 salary number is clarified).

Cy, not sure how much to agree with you (especially recently) about the Twins having so much success with their pitching staff. That was one of the big factors in Bill Smith losing his job. Remember reading when we traded Guerrier for Marte, how McClendon and the Pirates' GM were forecasting Matt as the "next Greg Maddux" as well? How many times has it even come close to happening, in reality? Seems to be the most overplayed comparison among "non-stuff" pitchers that ever gets made, or the Buehrle/Glavine comps for soft-tossing lefties. The Twins have had mixed results, at best, with Blackburn/Slowey/Baker over the last couple of seasons. They made a pretty big mistake in dealing Garza and Bartlett for D. Young (it worked well for one season, 2010...but Gardenhire surely would take that trade back in a heartbeat). They also let Kyle Lohse go before he realized his potential under Dave Duncan. No team is infallible, but other than Liriano breaking out and Johan Santana, the Twins haven't developed the type of pitching that can go out and win big games in the post-season. At that point, pure/ace stuff will give most teams the edge, the Josh Becketts, Roy Halladays and CC Sabathias (yes, he's been roughed up) of the world. It was also clearly a factor in the Rangers' downfall. They have a TON of depth, when arguably their best future starter in Ogando didn't even have a place in the top 4. But none of those guys were close to aces, either. Good enough to get through the regular season and survive the post-season, but, in the end, they came up short. Granted, Nelson Cruz makes that play in RF and maybe this point isn't as valid as a criticism. And that pitching (combined with a very nice offense and strong pen) got them back twice in a row. (And the Giants/Angels showed pitching alone wasn't enough to get anywhere). In the end, will remain cautiously optimistic. Like the Chad Bradfords, Mark Buehrle's and Josh Fogg's of past seasons, he'll have to prove himself every time out...that might be one of the biggest benefits of a "no pressure" year of out the gate, where younger players/pitchers can be given more time to find themselves at the major league level.

Or they bring back Mike Lowell or Jeff Conine The Barbarian for the spot.

http://rotochamp.com/baseball/TeamPage.aspx?Team=CWS God, you'd love to have those numbers out of Peavy, Humber and Sale. Too bad it's ONLY about a 5-10% probability. DeAza 785 OPS Ramirez 734 OPS Konerko 873 OPS CQ 835 OPS AJ 726 OPS Morel 739 OPS Dunn 718 OPS Rios 689 OPS Beckham 689 OPS They also project the Ozzie Martinez kid we got for Guillen as the utility guy over Escobar.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 12, 2011 -> 08:56 PM) Tigers bullpen so far is Dotel, Benoit, Al Al, Coke and Valverde. That's pretty damn good. Ryan Perry was supposed to be the "bee's knees" and he totally flamed out to the point they had to trade him. Zumaya imploded. I would be shocked if 2-3 of those relievers didn't regress to their normal means. They seriously overachieved last year, particularly Valverde and Albuquerque. Dotel scared me when he pitched the 7th/8th for the Sox three or four seasons ago. They do have a ton of interchangeable parts on that roster, kids who can play all the OF positions and/or infield positions. Lineup Player POS Team AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG 1 Austin Jackson OF DET 600 89 9 54 26 0.258 0.326 0.383 2 Brennan Boesch OF DET 475 72 17 61 6 0.274 0.338 0.446 3 Delmon Young OF DET 520 70 15 78 3 0.285 0.324 0.431 4 Miguel Cabrera 1B DET 560 114 32 119 3 0.330 0.432 0.580 5 Victor Martinez DH DET 515 79 14 81 1 0.307 0.366 0.456 6 Alex Avila C DET 445 68 17 66 3 0.265 0.369 0.458 7 Jhonny Peralta SS DET 540 69 18 75 1 0.270 0.330 0.433 8 Ryan Raburn OF DET 420 49 16 56 2 0.248 0.301 0.429 9 Brandon Inge 3B DET 410 45 9 44 2 0.220 0.297 0.341 The obvious weakness is 3B, with Inge's seemingly half-decade long offensive struggles. I still don't know what the Twins gave Delmon Young to one of their two main division rivals...especially with Ordonez coming off the books, along with Carlos Guillen. Peralta played way over his head offensively last year, but Jackson/Boesch/Raburn all underachieved, so their offense definitely has the potential to be even better, which is a scary proposition.