caulfield12

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ Dec 12, 2011 -> 08:37 PM) True that. Tigers had a lot go for them, and that isn't a knock, things usually have to go right for you to win a division. Verlander had a cy young season (He's a stud anyways though) Perfect closer Aliva had a monster rookie season Delmon Young and Wilson Betimit seemed to be on fire once they got to Detroit. They do have a lot going for them though. Verlander and Fister is a great 1-2, they have a great middle of the order with Cabrera and Martinez and their pen is pretty good. But we have to see if Austin Jackson returns to form, can Avilia avoid sophmore slump, can Sherzer and Porcello rebound? They're the favorite to win the division again I'm sure, and they've earned that, but I can't see them being a 95 win team again. I can see them winning maybe 88? But in the AL Central, maybe that is all it will take? DET fans would argue that really Scherzer and Porcello should be their 2/3 guys with Fister 4th and Penny/Jacob Turner 5th. Avila...although "Aliva" might be a more appropriate name for when he hits against us. His father is also DET's Assistant GM, and he wasn't even drafted so highly. Their biggest weakness, to me, remains their middle relievers.

If I was Mark Zuckerberg, I'll be all over that...I wouldn't buy the White Sox though, because there are a lot better investments out there. Although with the current state of the franchise, it would be a big challenge to turn things around, obviously.

You were right on Santos. Still doubt they'll be trading Ramirez anytime soon, as per your request.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. Not sure how long Valverde's house of mirrors can stand without cracking into pieces, probably as long as Fernando Rodney out in Anaheim.

I'm sure Ozuna, Vizcaino, Marte and Blum are on the way. Borchard already played for the Marlins, albeit briefly. Alex Fernandez comeback? Cotts and Politte? Hermanson? Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they went after Contreras, with the Latin/Cuban community down there. They already had Livan Hernandez.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/business...wanted=2&hp Balta will enjoy this one.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...urn=mlb-wp28503 Let's hope Mauer's engagement/marriage doesn't have the same effect it had on Konerko.

And the Tigers essentially had the 3 best players in the division, with Verlander, Cabrera and an unbeatable closer in Valverde for the entire year. Their bullpen can't be that good again at the back end. In fact, their middle relief was a sore spot all season long. After Verlander and Scherzer, they don't have anyone who really scares you pitching-wise, either. If Jacob Turner becomes a star, though, we might have some problems.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/a-r...-on-a-panic/?hp On Corzine, MF Global, Chicago trading desk, etc.

This kind of dissection of a KW trade would never have happened before August/September of 2009. Now, it's pretty much par for the course. Certainly...he's not infallible, but everyone's in agreement with most of the moves he's made during his recent entire post 2001-2002 tenure except for Teahen, picking up Rios, both Swisher deals, Hudson/Holmberg and now Santos/Molina. Other than that, even the Dunn and Peavy deals had a majority on their side when they were made. Or in 2010 when Rios was playing well. It's easy to say we were against these maneuvers in retrospect, but not many were. Now the scale has tipped over to the other side where the majority are against a KW trade simply because it's a KW move and quite a few of his post-2008 moves have failed, so it's easier to take the pessimistic view. In reality, nobody knows what will/could happen. Nobody knows for sure that Daniel Hudson would have pitched AS well for the White Sox, or that Kip Wells would have put up the same numbers in a competitive AL Central division that he did with the Pirates in the first 2-3 years after he was banished there.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 07:24 PM) I'm just saying, until he isn't in the plans, then he is still in line to contribute to his team in the future. We can't assume we will resign AJ or get a new catcher via trade for Free Agency. If you look at Baseball America's "2015 Projected line-ups", I would be willing to bet it includes Flowers. Except it also includes Morel, Ramirez and Beckham as the infield, I'd be willing to bet. Want to take the odds on that actually being the case in 2015? Well, who really knows...right? Just as easy to pencil someone like Gilmore/Trayce Thompson/Viciedo into the 1B slot in that year's projection. But you're right, could be anyone. Maybe Phegley makes a miraculous recovery and surpasses Flowers in 2012, who knows. Tyler definitely started out well with the bat, then faded as time wore on, not unlike Viciedo his first time up in 2010.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 07:36 PM) They won the World Series, and this trade directly helped them get there. They went 5-1 in games Jackson pitched in September, Rzepczynski & Dotel helped solidfy the bullpen & shut down Fielder/Braun in the NLCS. Anyone who ever regrets that trade is a moron. Kind of quiets J4L down on the AA/Rasmus front for awhile. He'll have plenty of material if Stewart and Molina flame about, however.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 08:13 PM) Who else is in line behind AJ? Dan Black? We're going to clear a lot of payroll space in the next 12-18 months. I would give Flowers a 33% chance at being the 2013 opening day catcher. We'll see how he does this year as the primary back-up. At AJ's age, he should get at least 25-35 starts, if not 40. There's always the possibility that they start playing Flowers against every LHP and make it a straight platoon.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 07:59 PM) Pretty much. Javy saved us a bunch of money, and 2 of the 3 players we received are contributing to the team for multiple years. Are you projecting Tyler Flowers to be the starter in 2013 with that comment? Or Santos Rodriguez? Gilmore?

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 08:03 PM) Reports at the winter meetings had Lillibridge as one of the most sought after players the Sox have, believe it or not. I could believe it...and would be the perfect example of a "sell high" guy of almost anyone on our roster, except for maybe Konerko and Humber (although the luster came off the last couple of months of the season). With all the uncertainty around Beckham and Morel, with Rios a huge question mark...he's more valuable as a backstop at every position on the field, including 1B. Some have advocated putting him at SS and 3B, and he played first last year at times for Konerko/Dunn defensively. I'll give Greg Walker and/or Brent himself some credit with his baseball resuscitation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 11, 2011 -> 01:48 PM) Enough to win a world series, apparently. They became a fully united team when they dumped Rasmus (same argument we'd be making were we able do dump Rios on someone). It was more an example of benefitting from what they lost rather than the actual personnel gain from the trade...although some of those spare parts did come together nicely in the end for the Cardinals. They still might end up regretting it in the end, but hard to do that when you win the World Series, right?

Stilll think it's better to get that ONE guy your guys are really confident than the 3-for-1 type trades that usually don't pan out. For every Colon/Sizemore/Phillips/Cliff Lee or Bonser-Nathan-Liriano for AJ deal that goes awry, there are 25 that don't work very well. We just brought a guy over from TOR who knows their system, particularly their Latin American/Venezuelan prospects, intimately. Probably why KW was so poorly-informed when he made the announcement about winter ball, he was putting trust in his staff. Wonder where Hahn was on all of this, the supposed Boy Wonder? I think we're all a little gunshy because of the 3 way deal with OAK for Swisher and Hudson/Holmberg, but, other than those 2, there have never been huge deals that went against KW since the Fogg/Wells/Lowe one at the beginning of his GM career. If you look at Reed/Morse/Olivo, none of those guys panned out long-term for the M's, and they weren't able to get either a position or much power out of Michael. Jury's still out on the PED's part of his career resurgence...we'll see how long-term it actually lasts. Obviously, they targed two specific guys (Stewart and Molina) who they liked the most. It's almost never going to correlate with BA or BP or the scouting reports because our scouts should be 2-3 steps ahead of those guys and us casual baseball fans, I'd have to hope. It does seem we "bought" Molina at his peak, rather than buying Chris Marquez/Lance Broadway/Kyle McCulloch on the downturn. No problem there. Let's say we had the chance to get the Blue Jays' version of three Mitchells/Trayce Thompson's in A ball. Odds are better when you take one starting pitcher talent that Cooper feels he can work with, rather than 3 raw/toolsy position players who are on the mend. The other thing about those position prospects (that Boston supposedly would have offered) is that MAYBE we're looking solely at starting pitching prospects to replenish the system after Buehrle/Danks/Floyd/Peavy depart and Boston or the Yankees don't/didn't have anything we wanted (or, most importantly, that they were willing to part with for an unproven closer in one of the most important markets in MLB). We might have been able to get a Josh Reddick, but we already had/have DeAza/Viciedo/Rios etc. at that position. If you look at our offense, we're pretty much set around the diamond....we actually don't have a place for DeAza to play everyday, despite what he accomplished last season.

It's hard to argue that the Sox have enough minor league pitching depth to risk losing an overachiever like Terry Doyle for $50,000. The Twins landed the 26-year-old right-hander with the second pick in the Rule 5 draft and will give him a chance to win a job on their staff next season, possibly even in the rotation. "We're looking for pitching," Twins GM Terry Ryan said of Doyle, who was 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in the Arizona Fall League after a solid season that ended in Double-A. "He's a good fit here. … He's a worker. He's going to take the ball. He's big and strong and durable. We've had a lot of looks at him." phil rogers

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/135389103.h...amp;cid=8500544 Interesting, a full 2/3rd's majority of Milwaukeeians feel that Braun's career will be tainted even if he is eventually exonerated. Thought it would be closer to 50/50, since this should be his biggest groups of supporters.

Source: Braun will be vindicated e-mail print By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel Dec. 10, 2011 10:02 p.m. |(5) Comments I just talked to someone familiar with Ryan Braun's positive drug test and he insisted that the Brewers' star left fielder will be cleared on the appeal process and that this information never should have come out. The ESPN report said Braun tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone in his system. No player ever has had a positive drug test overturned in appeal. If Braun’s suspension is upheld, it would start at the beginning of the 2012 regular season. Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes said the club had not been informed by the commissioner’s office that Braun tested positive for a banned substance and faced a suspension. Creative Artists Agency, which represents Braun did release a statement indicating the positive test is being vehemently disputed: “There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate that there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated.” A CAA spokesman said that neither Braun nor his agent, Nez Balelo, would have a comment during the appeal process. But a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel that a second test requested by Braun was negative and was being used in the appeal process to overturn the first results. That source also indicated the banned substance was not a performance-enhancing drug. “The truth will prevail; I really feel good about that,” said the source. “It just stinks that this got out before the appeal process is finished. Initial positive tests have been overturned before, proving the player is innocent, and nobody ever knows.” Obviously, this person was on Braun's side of the story but he was vehement that he knew enough details to support his comments. Former NBA star Reggie Miller, not an analyst for TNT, lives next to Braun in Malibu, Calif., and posted this tweet after the report surfaced: “Just spoke with my neighbor, Ryan Braun. He says test is bogus, can only believe a man for his word. Truth will always come out.” And, I'm not sure how USA Today's Bob Nightengale got hold of Braun, but he quoted him as saying "It's B.S.", referring to the ESPN report that he tested positive for a PED and faces a 50-game suspension. The source said Braun was tested in early October, at the start of the postseason, and was apprised of the positive result a couple of weeks later. Braun immediately requested a second test, which came back normal. Whether the lag time between the first and second test compromises Braun's appeal, I couldn't tell you. A first positive test results in a 50-game suspension, followed by a 100-game suspension for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. A player is not paid his salary during such suspensions. Braun, who signed a five-year extension in April worth $105 million that committed him to the Brewers through 2020, was a major force in the Brewers’ surge to their first NL Central crown and 96-victory season. He batted .332 with 33 home runs, 111 runs batted in, 109 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a .597 slugging percentage, tops in the league. No reigning MVP ever has been suspended for a positive drug test. The reward is presented by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, and that association’s president, Bill Shaikin, noted that Alex Rodriguez’s 2003 American League MVP award was not stripped after admitting later to steroid use during that period. Braun has admitted to no such use, so any calls for stripping his MVP Award are premature until all of the facts of the case are made public. The ESPN report indicated Braun’s positive test was triggered by elevated levels of testosterone. A more comprehensive tested revealed that testosterone was synthetic and therefore not produced by his body. ESPN’s sources did not indicate how high above the threshold Braun’s sample tested. But the report said Braun told people he did not knowingly take a banned substance and hoped to prove that with his appear. Even if that’s true, however, it does not mean Braun’s suspension will be overturned. A player must prove that he was not in any way negligent to successfully appeal.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Dec 10, 2011 -> 08:08 PM) Interestingly, not offering Buehrle a contract creates the side benefit of protecting his legacy here. It's a gift to him, in a sense, in that there's no zero chance he gets the Thome treatment in CLE (even though the chance of that happening was tiny to begin with) It also saves some money for the inevitable KW statue on the concourse, lol. (I bet WSI is having a really hard time these days defending every organizational move...must be an ugly mood over there this past week.)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1788782.story Not revealing the slogan until it's clearer what KW's plan is...which u can't blame him, if they come up with a "competitive" analogy again and dump half the veterans, he's going to look stupid and be mocked. So...apparently the plan (with the $127 million payroll) was to draw 2.5 million in attendance (they ended up just a notch over 2 million), which would have had us at 6th in the AL and 14th in the majors. Right now, you'd have to project 1.7-1.8 is the much more likely scenario heading into 2012.

In our division, you should be able to compete more quickly if you have the starting pitching. Still, I'm a bit concerned that we're doing this halfway. Obviously we can't deal Dunn/Rios/Peavy just yet. But they really have to go into the season with the roster as it stands or just basically gut the whole thing....which means goodbye to Danks, Thornton, AJ, Quentin, Konerko and Alexei Ramirez. Probably you keep Floyd, Frasor, Ohman and Crain around just for their veteran presence and to stabilize things, but there's also a compelling argument for dumping all of the players I mentioned if you still can't compete in 2013. The outlook is not as dire as it looks...nor will it look as rosy as post 2005/entering 2006 again for a LONG time. My guess is that one of the starters and Thornton will go, along with Quentin. At mid-season or in the 2012 offseason, anyone on the roster might be up for grabs. We'll also have a lot better idea what Viciedo, DeAza, Molina, Stewart, Reed, Beckham, and Morel are going to give us over a full season. Sale, to me, seems like the key to the whole puzzle. If he's great, we're back closer to competitiveness. If he fizzles, then there's absolutely no reason not to do a full rebuild and gut the entire team. You also can't feel that comfortable with Humber as your #3 guy going into a season if most of these guys are traded, but there's no choice.

Why don't they bring back Joe Crede in some kind of capacity, infield instructor/defense coach? (Especially with Cora gone...that was SUPPOSEDLY his specialty). I guess since Ventura played the same position...it would be a bit of overkill, but they're already going to have a bobblehead night and it would be better to have Crede as coach than Rowand as player. Then again, they have McEwing who also played all those infield positions.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 10, 2011 -> 09:53 AM) Considering all the missteps that have occurred since 2005, the White Sox are in this mess because of 2 moves. Picking up Rios on waivers and not re-signing Thome when he was willing to do so for pennies. They sign Thome, he has a decent year like he did when he first went to MN, he gets resigned . Adam Dunn, even with all his consistent numbers doesn't even enter the equation. And both Swisher deals...but especially losing Gonzalez, who would have been the heir-apparent to Danks/Buehrle. No Dunn, they would have had another 1st round draft pick this year and the money to keep Buehrle and either Danks or Gonzalez, despite what happened with Rios and Peavy. Of course, if Chris Sale becomes an ace as some suspect, then it's not as hard a blow....but losing both Hudson and Gio with nothing to show for it, other than Stewart/Frasor, really really sucks.