caulfield12

Is Joe Borchard available? Carl Everett? Timo? Bring back someone from 2005! Crede for DH. KW, get it done.

Wow...I can understand why the Dodgers wouldn't just give Manny away, after having had previous disappointments with Pierre and Andruw Jones. That would be a bit ironic if we ended up with three former Dodgers outfielders, all players they had to eat contracts on...even more amusing, since the McCourts are fighting over every last penny supposedly and the White Sox are seemingly flush with cash.

Great, what brilliant ideas will they come up with next, Bonds and Palmeiro? Sosa? Seems a bit far-fetched.

Mark Teahen says hi! No, I don't like the idea of waiting on Mark to "save" our offense, either. It's a nice thought, but I'm far from counting on him to contribute much the final two months.

QUOTE (Mattchoo @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 10:19 AM) I don't understand this trade. Edwin Jackson has ALWAYS been severely overrated in my opinion. I would take Daniel Hudson at this point in this career with his low contract 10 times out of 10. Why are we going to pay Edwin Jackson 8M in 2011 when we could have paid Hudson something like $600K. We could have used the 7M difference on other players where we have a need (such as 3B, DH, or 1B if PK leaves). Horrible. 1. Because they feel Jackson gives them a much better shot to win this year and next... 2. They feel that Hudson will wipe out the bullpen with too many early exits, largely due to command issues and elevated pitch counts. 3. Cooper and KW saw something they didn't like in Hudson and decided to sell as high as possible before the air was out of the balloon.... 4. The White Sox actually do have the money to spend, or JR wouldn't have allowed it...and you have to know that JR was also taking into account how this would impact bringing back two of his favorites in Konerko and AJ. 5. We have Flowers/Teahen/Viciedo to DH 6. We can move Quentin in to 1B as well if he doesn't adjust well to possible DH duties 7. We can always bring Castro back 8. In addition to Vizquel, Teahen and Viciedo for 3B, we also have Morel as a possibility

Actually, Duensing, Slowey and Baker have been pitching quite decently since their rotation imploded before the break and they were forced to demote Blackburn. Pavano and Liriano have been excellent. THAT SAID, their competition has been the White Sox, Indians, Orioles, Royals and now the Mariners. With Capps, Rauch, Guerrier, Crain and Mijares, they've got a pretty good pen. Still not as much firepower as the White Sox, but arguably they're more solid at the back end than we are with Jenks (unless Bobby consistently flashes the form of his last time out the rest of the season in his drive for a new contract from SOMEONE). Actually, Capps looks like he could be Jenks' younger, slightly more fit brother without the silly dyed goatee.

Followed always by: David AAAAAARDSMA, Mike MacDougal and Sisco say hi!

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 08:45 AM) BTW off topic, the wife won't be joining me on my work trip next month to Vegas. Hopefully Tiger Woods and Zach G. from THE HANGOVER won't be part of your travel party, either.

9:42am: The D'Backs will also receive reliever D.J. Carrasco, reports MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Carrasco has $336K plus incentives left on his contract this year, and he's under team control through 2012. He should be a useful piece in what figures to be a revamped bullpen for Arizona next year. Anyone want to bet that KW also talked to DiPoto about bringing DJ over to the DBacks? That's the kind of advice that GM's appreciate...I have no way of proving anything, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 09:53 AM) the reason is that a pitcher has 4 days in between starts to work with coop - hitters are out there every day. if they're in a slump, it's harder to break out of it because there's so much pressure to turn it around the NEXT day. I imagine it's harder for a coach to fix mechanics and such because of the same reason. an 0-16 over 4 days will get you benched. Not much time to work. Not if you're Mark Kotsay.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 09:18 AM) You certainly cannot believe Greg Walker gets a pass and the pressure is on Cooper. That really is beyond a reach. Supposedly KW said they noticed a flaw with Jackson. Maybe its just talk, but he was pretty good in the AL in 2008 and 2009 and can bring it up there at 97. Who knows, maybe if Peavy is healthy and Freddy comes back next year, Jackson is a closer. I'm only asking this...have we ever acquired a hitter on the advice of Walker, because they noticed a mechanical flaw or adjustment holding them back? Now if this happened with Rios or Quentin or whoever, that's great...I just never heard about it. With Cooper, they have found the flaws in Thornton and Floyd pretty quickly (not sure about Danks) and it seems they have an idea what advice they want to give Jackson too. The White Sox have been playing over their heads for weeks, the offense is actually looking, at worst, at least middle-tier in the AL and nobody could make lemonade out of Jones and Kotsay, I am just curious why it's easier to "fix" pitchers than hitters? If you searched the database, how many COOP WILL FIX HIM posts have there been since they days of Loiaza and Marte? I would guess hundreds, if not thousands...

And the Twins paid a steep price for Capps, because they only control his rights for one more season after this...and he will be highly compensated next season. They gave up a premium prospect more highly valued around baseball for a reliever, when they've done just fine with Rauch. Sometimes, you try too hard to improve and you end up changing the roles of almost everyone in the bullpen, it doesn't always go the way you think. I think unless your ballclub has been giving up numerous games at the back end due to your closer, you should never trade away a premium prospect under team control for six years without getting an everyday player or at least a starting pitcher back...yes, Mauer plays the same position, but there's no guarantee that he will even stay healthy and be able to catch down the line. In order to preserve his power and hitting stroke, they might be better off parking him at 3B, 1B or DH. Yes, he's paid $184 million because he's one of the three best hitters in baseball AND a Gold Glove catcher, but for how long? We improve our ballclub far more with Jackson than the Twins do with Capps, especially if Cooper already has noted the mechanical flaw.

And, in all fairness, there were at least 3 other teams that Berkman crossed off his list and blocked a possible trade to yesterday, maybe 4. Certainly, not JUST the White Sox. This always ends up as "such and such player won't come to Chicago because of Ozzie Guillen" or "Guillen was listed among the least favorite managers to play for..." or whatever. But nobody's calling Mike Scioscia a manic micro-manager when D.Lee refuses to go to the Angels. And the fact of the matter, why would we want a player who doesn't want to play for the White Sox? Fine, it's just like NCAA basketball or football scholarships, they can go elsewhere and we'll continue to take the player who New York casts aside like Jose Contreras and El Duque and beat them with heart, desire and the ever-present "chip on our shoulder/us against the world" mentality KW and Ozzie like to inculcate. If anything, I think one of the challenges Minnesota has had to deal with this year is knowing how to be the favorite and not the underdog, overachieving team that stalks the big-city, big-budget bullies. When the shoe's on the other foot, it's not quite so easy to motivate the players, as Gardenhire has learned this season.

If he keeps hitting like that at the bottom of the order, they're just going to intentionally walk him to face Andruw Jones.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jul 31, 2010 -> 08:06 AM) Dan Hudson as a 5th round pick with signing bonus under $200k is nothing but a total success Brandon McCarthy, 17th round, 2002, $40,000 signing bonus Chris B. Young, OF, 16th round, 2001 Aaron Rowand, 1998, 1st round (35th overall), $575,000 Joe Crede, 1996, 5th round Mark Buehrle, 1998, 38th round, $150,000 signing bonus Ryan Sweeney, 2003, 2nd round/52nd pick, $785,000 Jeremy Reed, 2002, 2nd round/59th pick, $650,000 Brandon Allen, 2004, 5th round Chris Getz, 2005, 4th round, $225,000 signing bonus Gio Gonzalez, 2004, 1st round, 38th pick, $850,000 Anthony Carter, 2005, 26th round Daniel Hudson, 2008, 5th round, $180,000 Clayton Richard, 2005, 8th round, $78,000 Jon Rauch, 1999, 3rd round/99th pick...would go on to become the #1 prospect in baseball before the torn labrum and surgery Dexter Carter, 2008, 13th round Trayce Thompson, 2009

Why is there never pressure on Greg Walker to fix any hitter we get? Some are acting like Cooper can make just one small or slight mechanical adjustment in Jackson and his ERA will go from 5+ in the NL to minus 3.50 in the American League...I'd like to believe it's THAT simple, but I just hope KW and Cooper know what they're doing. Hopefully Jackson, if we actually end up holding on to him, hits the ground running. Interestingly, his first start would come against his former team, the Tigers, who are scuffling to stay in the race and are on life support these days. Thankfully, it will be in a pitcher's park where he feels comfortable.

Does anyone in Chicago have any idea what's going on the in last 12 hours? Cowley has suddenly disappeared from the map. Also, there were rumors of Lilly and Theriot going West...nothing now? I guess it might be one of those days where everything comes at the last second like a whirlwind, or there's just an eerie silence from no moves being made.

Who is left that actually is still going after Dunn? Probably not the Rays, certainly not the Yankees...so that leaves the White Sox and Giants maybe?

Without naming the Nationals, Williams did little to hide his distaste for how the trading process has gone this July. ''It's been more frustrating,'' he said. ''I'm not going to tell you why. ''There are some new general managers that do business in a different way, and some of us have to adjust to that.'' Asked if that meant the demands have been high for left-handed hitting, Williams said, ''I've found some to be high, and I've found some to be more reasonable. ''All I can say on that without venturing into areas that I don't really want to venture into is that this team is fighting hard every night, and we're comfortable and confident that if there is an opportunity to add to it in any way, shape or form, just know that we're working on it, and that it's with the mind-set that we don't want to take away from the club that you see out on the field. It will have to be done within the system.'' Williams said he ''hoped'' there might be another deal completed today but seemed ready to accept, as Guillen did, that the heavy lifting was accomplished in having acquired a starting pitcher. ''When you're contending, you want more certainty as to how you're going to be able to shape up in your rotation, which ultimately has an effect on your bullpen,'' Williams said. ''The bullpen has been one of our strengths all year, and the last thing we want to do is tax that bullpen at a time when we're going to need them the most. ''This is going to come down to pitching as we go down the stretch, and ultimately I think this is going to be decided by who pitches the best. [Jackson is] a move for today. And we've got him for next year. Our plans are always the same -- to win today and position ourselves for tomorrow.'' Toni Ginetti, suntimes.com/sports

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...new-carl-pavano Is Edwin Jackson the next Carl Pavano? Rob Neyer, ESPN.com Analysis of Hudson and Holmberg by BA http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/major...10/2610442.html

The part of that wheeling and dealing that's already happened was the trade that sent Jackson to the White Sox, with rookie right-hander Daniel Hudson and pitching prospect David Holmberg -- a former No. 2 draft pick -- ending up with the D-backs. But two sources with knowledge of those discussions told Rumblings there was only a remote chance of the White Sox turning around and spinning Jackson to Washington in a deal for Dunn. However, another baseball man, a guy who has had many dealings with White Sox GM Kenny Williams, was skeptical of that talk, saying: "They really want the bat. Always remember this: Kenny's M.O. is to get Adam Dunn, not Edwin Jackson. Kenny lives to walk the red carpet." Jayson Stark/ESPN

That clinches it for sure. Brad Radke or Jeremy Bonderman will be our fifth starter next year if Harrelson has his say, with Inge at 3B.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 30, 2010 -> 10:56 PM) Yeah, a lot better: 4.30 ERA as opposed to 5.00, wow. He also pitched a lot worse last year than his ERA suggests, so it's evened out. Also you can't just erase 2 outings, you can do that with a ton of bad pitchers, take away a few s***ty outings and things start to look better. He's been terrible since the no-hitter, it's not like he's on some sort of incredible stretch aside from a couple bad outings early in the year. You say there isn't a ton to be fixed yet 4 other teams have have failed to tap into that potential, yet we're the special team that will turn him around over the course of 3 days because of our magic pitching coach. In all fairness, I don't think the Tigers could be lumped in with those other teams not getting him to pitch to his potential. They simply needed to get cheaper and younger, and they did so with Scherzer and Austin Jackson.

If they don't sell out for a Saturday home game with nice weather, fireworks, a possible huge acquisition and a 19-1 home streak...including 12 in a row, I really don't know what will help sell this team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Av.h...tradebuzz073010 I feel that the last 2 months have been some kind of bizarre "Quadruple Vortex" (inside joke, ask Ranger someday)... We've gone through a cycle where arguably we were one of the worst franchises in baseball to one of the most powerful? What's going on? Can we not see the forest for the trees anymore, our mindset of "mid market" has warped our thinking? I'm not really sure what to believe anymore. From not having the ability to go the extra mile to sign Johnny Damon, after picking up Rios and peavy, now we're operating in a new environment again where scarce resources and future budget allocations don't apply? If we really are planning to keep Edwin Jackson, is JR no longer concerned about 2011's $75 million going to 11 players, the biggest chunk of that to our starting rotation? The way Passan (who's one of the best baseball reporters out there) was writing that article, he was assuming we'd also somehow end up with Adam Dunn, too. Is this the biggest KW bluff since Orlando Cabrera? Will keeping Jackson for next year force a trade of Danks1 and seemingly finalize the departures of Konerko and AJ? What the heck is going on? Will the real JR please stand up?