caulfield12

I'd be willing to be they will instead DL Pena with a "mystery" air ailment to buy some more time for a final decision while waiting out what happens with both Peavy and Humber in their new roles.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 6, 2011 -> 03:06 PM) Link Let's say it was $4.5 or $5 million for only one year from LA. Obviously AJ preferred the guarantee of $8 million for two seasons, and was flexible about when he actually received the money from the Sox.

Loaiza was at a low point in his career then obviously (when we signed him), but the scouts raved about his stuff when he was coming up with the Pirates. Ofc, Humber was a high profile draft pick, but the Rangers, Jays and a number of teams simply fell in love with Loaiza. He wasn't quite to the level of AJ Burnett in terms of stuff, but he had a nice arsenal/repertoire. And Loiaza certainly had a lot longer MLB track record as well. Humber has only one full year of service time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 6, 2011 -> 07:36 AM) I'm no longer sure. He's been throwing the most unhittable curveball in baseball so far this season. Watch out, you might be making another solid argument for why Don Cooper's going nowhere...at least before the off-season. Would we actually control his (Humber's) rights for 4 years after this? How does the 2005 major league contract he signed with the Mets affect that, as he has only 1 full service year in the majors? If we actually have something legit in Humber, Peavy comes back to near ace form, you've got yourself Floyd and Sale to build around, what a clusterfuc* of a decision for ownership with Danks for 2012. I guess the biggest question isn't trading or re-signing Buehrle and Jackson, it simply all revolves around Danks' future. Personally, I'd rather trade him and roll the dice on identifying 2-3 top pitching prospects (Jackson and Danks return on investment) because paying him $15 million per season isn't logical with Peavy still on the roster. Then again, it's easier to rebuild/repair the offense than it is to find starting pitchers. All we need is to fix LF, Rios, 3B, Beckham and find a catcher. LOL. Philip Humber rhp 2011 claimed by Chicago White Sox off waivers from Oakland 1/18/11 1 year (2010) signed by Kansas City as a free agent 12/09 (minor-league contract) contract purchased by Kansas City 8/5/10 claimed by Oakland off waivers after being DFA by Kansas City 12/15/10 5 years/$4.2M (2005-09) signed Major League contract with NY Mets 1/05 $3M signing bonus bonuses may increase total value to $5.116M acquired by Minnesota in trade from NY Mets 2/1/08 (Santana deal) DFA by Minnesota 4/17/09, sent outright to AAA 4/21/09 contract purchased by Minnesota 8/18/09 drafted by NY Mets 2004 (1-3) (Rice) agent: Michael Moye ML service: 1.000source: Cot's baseball contracts

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 6, 2011 -> 07:49 AM) You do realize that their rotation is Hochevar, Francis, Chen, Davies, & O'Sullivan? No offense can support that. I know that young prospects are so popular now, but let's wait until they do something in the majors before we crown KC 2013 & 2014 World Series Champions. Yes, and the fact that all of our starters are better than theirs with the exception of Humber (probably) tells you that there's something seriously wrong with our team chemistry/morale/attitude/mental make-up. Our offense just shouldn't be THIS bad. The Indians and Royals won't finish 1-2 in the AL in hitting, but as we learned in 2005, sometimes everything just goes your way. In the case of the Indians and Royals, it was for the Twins AND White Sox to both tank simultaneously to start the season.

Their low point was 16-31 and 15 games behind the division leader in late May. From that moment, they finished an amazing 73-42, for a .695 winning percentage over 105 games.

We're having trouble scoring runs, obviously. That means Viciedo in LF, Teahen at 3B and possibly more starts for Castro at catcher. In the short term, those are the only solutions. Ramirez would probably have to be the leadoff hitter. Not ideal, but there's no better option. Otherwise, they can simply leave Viciedo down at Charlotte and try De Aza, but that's not drastic enough IMO.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/05/28530...mes-hosmer.html The stakes on this road trip just got even more complicated. The Royals are launching a warning shot across the bow of the rest of the AL Central. It was one thing when we only had to worry about the Twins. This season, we'd have to jump FOUR teams that now all have a legitimate foundation for ending up as the division winner. We said the Indians aren't real, and maybe they're not, but the Royals have a LOT more talent than the 2003 team that had a 6 1/2 game lead for first place at the ASB. If any of their pitching phenoms can complement Hosmer and Moustakas, watch out. Soon. If Mike Montgomery and Duffy can make it (two lefties for their rotation already dominating in AAA), they're a legit contender. They already have Aaron Crow (another former 1st rounder) as a starter in waiting in the bullpen. And their expected fifth starter was Vin Mazzarro from the DeJesus trade, so they've got some definite talent there. Odorizzi from the Greinke/Brewers deal is also dealing in High A.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/5208885-419...ing-rumors.html

I really like the comparison to Bobby Bonilla. At least that's the one I'm going with for now.

The in-park radar gun had Peavy mostly in the high-80 mph range, but he was clocked at 94, 93 and 91 several times. "I feel good, as healthy as I have through the whole process," he said immediately afterward. "Throwing 100 pitches and getting up and down seven times was good. It was a good night overall." Whether that transfers immediately into the majors is doubtful. But that won't stop the expectations from White Sox fans who badly need something to cheer about and look for the former Cy Young winner to be as good as he used to be. "I certainly welcome any expectations anyone wants to put on me," he said, "because I certainly expect a lot of myself. "I can't promise anything, but I can tell you this: If I do pitch in Anaheim, I expect to win. I don't care how it happens, whether I throw five or eight or nine (innings). I expect to win. And certainly our team could use a few of those. "I feel when I do get going I can be a difference maker, be a 'stopper' once in a while. … That's something I look forward to soon." www.yahoo.com/sports

Ryan Sweeney finished 5 for 6, his first career five hit game.

Putting Quentin back up there would probably result in one of his patented cold streaks.

Hosmer is reportedly going to be recalled to start his MLB career with the Royals against the A's tomorrow night. Can't believe the Tigers just swept the Yankees, but it was at home. What was most surprising was Porcello started against Burnett, who had pitched pretty well this season. Tigers will only be 5 1/2 back if the Indians go on to lose their game against OAK. Ryan Sweeney is 3/4 today, by the way, with an 880 OPS. Only 33 ab's so far, time limited by Crisp/DeJesus. Willingham's the only one hitting pretty well, although DeJesus did have 2 HR's again Tomlin yesterda (2 of their 3 hits in the entire game).

The Twins have pulled the plug on Casilla as the everyday SS and were THIS close to pulling Liriano and Blackburn from the starting rotation before we faced them. When Nishioka comes back, he will be playing SS with Cuddyer at 2B. They've also removed Nathan as the closer. I'm sure you'll see 2-3 of their middle relievers (Hughes, Hoey and Burnett) sent down or released as well. The only thing we've changed is Thornton for Santos. We can't even bite the bullet on Pena.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 4, 2011 -> 10:34 PM) Yeah but you cant really use contracts, he was just talking about s***ty players. So that is going to eliminate you mention due to contract. 2. Theriot isn't pathetic enough. I don't think he's worse, but he is definitely close. 3. Maybe, but Morgan still plays a pretty capable CF. 4. Lopez has been bad, but I think I'd rather take a chance on him opposed to Pierre. 5. Izturis doesn't play everyday anymore. 7. No way am I taking Juan Pierre over Gordon Beckham. Hell last year alone Beckham was a better player than Juan Pierre. 8. Inge hits for power and plays dynamite defense. I'm taking him over Pierre. 9. Infante plays all over the field and is a good contact hitter. I'm taking him over Pierre. 10. I can probably agree with Tejada, but that one is close. 11. Ellis is good defensively, can draw a walk, and hits for a bit of power. I'm taking him over Pierre. 12. If you'd rather have him, then he is either better or more valuable. I think his defense alone will make him better. 13. I think Ibanez will end up being better offensively, and has been the previous however many seasons. 14. I can agree with Brendan Ryan. 15. Venable is a really damn good player. It's not his fault that his numbers suffer as a result of playing his home games at PetCo, and he is good defensively too. 16. Absolutely. 17. No way. 18. Maybe. I had considered him. Plays an even less premium position compared to Pierre and is really, really bad offensively. 20. I can probably agree with Rick Ankiel at this point too. Ankiel has more upside, but swings and misses way too much and isn't great in the field. So out of that list, I see Tejada, Brendan Ryan, AJ Pieryznski, and Rick Ankiel. Maybe a few others, but those are the only for sures. The ones I have are Yuniesky Betancourt, Melky Cabrera, and Ronny Cedeno. And the only reason I did this exercise was because my name was called. I think Pierre is capable but I have no problem trying to replace him and it's certainly possible that he is one of the 10 worst starting players in the league. Cabrera's only 26 and has shown definite flashes...so he's about in the Beckham category, if/when the White Sox ever give up on him. With a 725 OPS and playing CF, he's more valuable than Pierre, IMO. 3/4 today with a homer today and 4 RBI's, 4 HR's/20 RBI's, average in 290's for the season What the heck got into Aviles, Francouer and Cabrera?

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 5, 2011 -> 07:21 AM) Exactly. We've officially hit the bottom; can't get any worse than "worst." More or less what I was getting at. I'm just hoping the SP is still hanging in there if/when this team finally decides to start hitting. Or when they decide to start trading the starting pitchers. Timing (and need/supply & demand) is everything. We could put every single member of the rotation (and Peavy) up for auction theoretically. You'd have to think Floyd, Peavy and Humber are the most likely to be around in 2012 at this point. Then you have Sale, so that's 4/5th's of the theoretical rotation, along with who we get back for Danks/EJax/Buehrle.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 4, 2011 -> 10:09 PM) And two [sic] the naive... How many of the fewer spenders in the divison have a World Championship in those 10 years? I remember 04 and I REALLY remember what I felt about the 04 offseason going into 05. I thought we'd be dead last. El Caballo for Pods, Crazy Carl, a bunch of Yankee reject relief pitchers, Contreras, Loaiza gone....etc.... I was wrong as s***. Ozzie wasn't even an Ozzie, then. He only became one because of KW. I still think the Garcia trade in 2004 was the key, along with Contreras. Of course, you also have to add in AJ, Dye (coming off a serious leg injury), Iguchi and Hermanson, to name just a few.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 5, 2011 -> 07:37 AM) Well, 2 things: First, his ERA looks great because of a CG in Seattle. Take that game out, ERA goes up (still good though, for 6 games). Second, not being healthy is what makes him...suck. Who gives a s*** about a low ERA starter if he can't stay healthy enough to, y'know... pitch? Now that I look, even the 2 seasons where he was healthy (06, 07 - appeared in at least close to 30 games or mroe), ERA of nearly 5, WHIP is high, SO/BB flat, etc. So then Jake Peavy really sucks, because at least McCarthy wasn't playing with house money for those 3 seasons. Any pitcher is going to suffer pitching in Texas, just like pitching half his games in the Coliseum works to his benefit, or PetCo for Richard.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2011 -> 07:31 AM) Serious question... If the season is over why send down guys like Sale, Beckham and Morel? Play them. Let them learn and make mistakes. Sending them down is counter to the idea the season is over, and implies we are still playing for this year. Well, with Sale....I guess they could do the Buehrle 2000 thing where they convert him into a long man and gradually ease him into longer and longer outings and spot starts. Most would prefer he start every 5th day in Charlotte, though. Would putting him in the minors for 2-3 months affect his arbitration status if he came back to start for good in July or August after a possible Jackson, Danks or Buehrle trade? With McCarthy, as has been mentioned, the issue was always his mechanics and staying healthy. He did have a pretty straight fastball, and he originally featured that big curveball but he's changed his repertoire quite a bit in the last 2-3 years while recovering from all the injuries.

“Those guys got to go fight every day,’’ Guillen said of his team, which fell to the franchise’s worst 32-game start since 1978 after its 17th loss in 21 games. “Every day they have to fight. That’s the thing. They are the pilots. We [coaching staff] are sitting in the back of the airplane. We’re gonna crash. Well, the plane’s going to crash because you fall, but I’m gonna crash. I’ll be the first one to die. But I’m not driving the thing.’’ The slump is a shocker, and while accepting his share of responsibility, Guillen, a former player himself, knows it falls squarely on his players’ shoulders after chairman Jerry Reinsdorf plunked down $125 million-plus in payroll on this scuffling crew. You have 120 million reasons and you have 30 reasons about why we’re not winning,’’ Guillen said when asked if he’s talked to Reinsdorf lately. (The answer was, not since he asked him for Bulls season tickets.) “You think I’m gonna tell Jerry . . . why are we doing it? No. They know I try hard. What we can do? Hopefully those guys start to play better. “He asks the same questions we ask. What happened? What happened? You watched the game. He watches the same game we watch. What we can do about it? Nothing.’’ www.suntimes.com/sports

I expect major changes within the next two weeks if the Sox don't have a fairly successful trip. There's too much at stake and too much invested in this season. Although the fault lies largely with the players, I believe it will be the staff -- but not the players -- who take the hit if a change is to be made. The manager has taken responsibility for the team's poor play and suggested he's the one who should be fired if a change is to be made. But he's signed through 2012. If so many people have been skeptical of his managerial style, why didn't more people question why his option for 2012 was picked up in January? Pierre's relentless and failed attempts at stolen bases are getting old. He should be included among those cited by the manager who need to work on getting better leads, especially since he's 33 years old. They're giving up outs at this point. Because there's only one spare outfielder (Lillibridge), it's tough to take out Pierre if Lillibridge is spelling Carlos Quentin or Rios. This is why the rotating designated hitter worked well with the manager last year because he could play a player in the outfield if he wasn't the DH. If Mark Teahen was more dependable in the outfield, this would aid the situation. I believe they would have employed the same format had Mark Kotsay hit for more production. I'm not saying Kotsay would have returned, but they would have acquired a left-handed hitter who could play the outfield and first base. The early work on fundamentals needs to be enforced to the highest level if the Sox are to succeed. The eye wash stuff doesn't work. This needs to be repeated until there is noticeable improvement. Mark Gonzalez mailbag from tribune.com/sports One thing I vehemently disagree with him about is naming Buddy Bell or Jim Fregosi as the new manager. No thanks. And I'm indifferent at best on Rick Hahn.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2011 -> 08:06 AM) So what's happened to Broxton? Just overuse over the years? He was throwing 89-91 mph last night after averaging 98 mph a few years ago. Jonathan Broxton(notes) finally confirmed what many have long suspected. He's injured and it's preventing him from pitching well. On Wednesday, the Dodgers shut Broxton down and said he'll undergo a MRI exam. That is, if doctors can find a MRI tube big enough to accommodate the beefy reliever. www.yahoo.com/sports

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 4, 2011 -> 09:43 PM) I'm not far off from you on KW either, but I have 0 faith in our ability to scout. Funny you mention both the Rays and Florida as a place to pilfer staff from, but they have invested HEAVILY in scouting to find talent and draft them (and they spend more $ on us too). Playing in the hotbed doesn't hurt either. They are also very good at identifying when they miss (see Hanley Ramirez, Annibal Sanchez, Kazmir (when he was good), etc.). There is nothing remotely close to that in our organization. We're talking...like WHOLESALE change needed here. KW is fine with ML deals. He needs an advisor for the minors, keeping them stocked, making those deals, and for god's sakes...spending some $. Well, my opinion anyway. It's the whole approach. Even if Mitchell and Trayce Thompson have all the raw talent in the world, I'm not a firm believer at all in Buddy Bell's ability to develop them. He was a horrible MLB manager. Why would he be so much more well-suited to work with our minor leaguers? I guess having lived in KC at the time of his "reign," I'm not much of a fan. My opinions of Teahen and Bell run in tandem. In fact, it's fairly certain without Bell here we never would have reached out for Teahen and some of the Royals rejects that have worked so well.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 4, 2011 -> 09:33 PM) Sweet post, C12. Some moves are not as cut and dry as you translate them but the point is there. We could be far less expensive and certainly no worse than...well, the worst in baseball. Gio...man, twice we had him and twice we gave up. I think I remember you from WSI days arguing (together) about how stupid it was to let him go (I think the...2nd time). I could be wrong though. Yeah, it's easy to cherry pick. Not really fair to go back and erase the Javy move, that's all the way into 2006. (If I started doing that, I would have gone along and magically traded Jenks and Crede at their highest values). I didn't address the Thome/Rowand deal because I preferred keeping Gio and Rowand would have grown too expensive. And, even though SUPPOSEDLY we were interested in Aaron as a FA, I think this was more of a PR move to appease his fans rather than a wholehearted effort by KW to bring him back. Heck, KW's ego wouldn't allow him to admit he needed a CF, as that would solidify the prevailing wisdom of retaining Brian Anderson as a total bust. I could have just as easily left Swisher there as the DH, but he just never was a good fit for this team and it would be too convenient to stick his post-Sox Yankees numbers into the Sox line-up over 2010-11. That Yankees' line-up provides a ton of protection and shelter for him to just do his thing. And, from all reports of his time here, the guy was quite a prick. We definitely wouldn't have a prototypical leadoff hitter like Ozzie has liked with Pierre and Pods. Sweeney, because of his OBP, would be the pick over Chris B. Young. And, now that I started thinking about it, Dye as the DH would have made sense, too. He just wasn't ready to accept that role at the time, and he was stung by the Rios acquisition and his diminished playing time. Then again, with no Rios, it would have been easier to imagine JD sticking around with the organization.