caulfield12

http://fantasyscope.wordpress.com/2007/08/...-batting-order/ http://fantasyscope.wordpress.com/2008/01/...ermetric-style/ http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Lin...554&Model=0 Best possible line-up with CQ and Rios on field at same time http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Lin...554&Model=0 With Pods and Nix instead of Rios and Getz (of course, we know it's very dubious to extrapolate Nix's numbers over a full season if he played against all RHP)

Maybe KW meant out on the field....during drills/batting practice, shagging fly balls...I would guess that picture was taken in the clubhouse.

The announcers also said he spent at least 30 minutes with all the White Sox players and coaches before the first game of the series and caught up with everyone...

I'm paraphrasing from a conversation the M's announcers had with Griffey and their discussion of it during the game... Griffey: "I had the best experience playing baseball with the White Sox for two months, better than my last 8 or 9 years by far. The only thing that tops it is coming back to finish my career in Seattle again, coming full circle. The White Sox have a great clubhouse, they're very passionate over there and I love(d) playing for Ozzie Guillen. Ozzie and the front office really care about everyone in that clubhouse. Ozzie's basically a "short Lou Piniella," those are the two best managers I've ever played for..." About the trade last year: "Kenny Williams said there would be three conditions that I had to abide by. One, I couldn't wear my hat backwards or to the side. Two, no earrings. Three, I had to stand at attention for the national anthem." On the three nicest players he's played with: 1) Thome 2) Mike Sweeney 3) Shawn/Sean/Shaun something....I couldn't quite catch it, perhaps Lowe or Kell(e)y (sp) from the M's pen this year?

I think the signings of Hermanson, El Duque (yes, just for that ONE inning saving Marte alone) and Tadahito Iguchi have to go up there, too. Especially because KW never had seen Iguchi on anything but Japanese League tape before the acquisition. Alexei Ramirez acquisition (and hopefully Viciedo, too). If we make the playoffs this year, bringing back Pods. Marte for Guerrier (although Guerrier's recovered with MIN, he did nothing for PITT) Vazquez for Chris Young (now looks much better, if Flowers/Rodriguez/Gilmore/Lillibridge ever amount to anything) Playing "chicken" with Orlando Cabrera and lucking out when he turned down a chance to return at around $10 million (which would now be blocking Getz/Beckham/Nix) The Jayson Nix pick-up was one of the niftier ones of recent years in terms of waiver moves...trading for Castro has also worked out quite well this year, compared to what we were getting out of Corky after his "hot" streak hitting-wise the first month. David Wells for Sirotka Signing Buehrle and Dye to extensions instead of moving them... Not making the proposed Garland trades with the Astros or Angels (Erstad)...not trading Jose Contreras (in terms of helping the team the first half of 2008, although arguably that has been one of his worst moves in recent years, giving him an extra year or two on his long-term deal, but the extension was more like a "thank you" for 2005/2006) Konerko/Cameron was NOT a KW move

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 06:57 PM) Assuming the lineup remains mostly the same, our probable 1-2 is Getz-Beckham. Getz can leadoff at .340 to .360 OBP. But not lower than 330. Beckham is fine at either 2 or 3...either one.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) That's not how it works. The signing team loses 1 draft pick. The team that lost the type A player gets that draft pick, and also gets a sandwich pick in-between the first and 2nd rounds. I guess what I meant to say is we're losing all these players, NOT getting any draft picks for them (Dotel/Contreras/Thome and probably Dye, too) and then we're having to give up or surrender draft picks to sign Figgins. So it feels like we are really "losing" two picks. And we really lucked out with the Cabrera and KW "chicken" confrontation on the Dan Ryan, Dick Allen's personal crusade/issue this past offseason. That's why the Alexei Rios deal makes much more sense than overpaying in years, overall dollars and then the draft pick for an aging Figgins..all contribute to making it prohibitively expensive.

I would guess the odds are about 85/15 against offering Dotel arbitration, so we won't get any picks there. Contreras and Thome will definitely not be offered arbitration...and JD's situation is the biggest question mark for 2010. Figgins will undoubtedly be a Type A FA, correct? So that would mean two lost draft picks...depending on the team that signed him, other FA losses for the Angels (Vladdy, Abreu, etc.), the cost alone for the contract is a huge risk, then figuring in the loss of a couple of higher draft picks, it's just not worth it. If it was Chone Figgins at 26-27 years old and coming into the prime of his career (like Rios), you pull the trigger. In this case...no.

Stick Figure salutes you...

We can't ADD Rios' contract AND get into a bidding war in the vicinity of 3 years and $24-30 million for Figgins. That's just way too expensive, Figgins will decline soon, speed players in their 30's always do...and he's possibly playing at a higher level this season as this will be his last opportunity at a pretty big, extended year contract. Sure, we can offer him 1-2 years, but it would be pretty silly to be locked into Figgins at 3B or CF when we have Viciedo, Danks and Mitchell all in the pipeline. A great piece to have and KW has coveted him for five years seemingly, but not at ANY price or not in a bidding war situation with 10-12 other MLB clubs. It's not like 3-4 "elite" leadoff men will be on the FA market this offseason, either.

The thing is, do we really believe someone like Hudson has the ability/talent to go on a Brandon McCarthy-esque 2005 roll down the stretch? REALLY? I mean, Brandon was pretty much our best pitching prospect, and, if not, 1A...but I would think he was more highly coveted than even Hudson...we were trying to package him for Soriano if the memory serves me correctly. Contreras is inconsistent, sure, but do the likes of Carlos Torres, Whisler, Egbert, Ely, Harrell, etc., have the ability to pitch the way Brandon did down the stretch (along with the Count) in 2005? You have to think Colon is done again, and that Ozzie will go down with his veterans before he turns that role over to someone like Torres, who's far from a spring chicken himself at age 26.

Why would the Tigers want to go after Rios when they're already on the hook for the salaries (this season) of Sheffield, Nate Robertson, Dontrelle D-Train Willis, Ordonez (he will definitely not qualify for his option year), Bonderman, Carlos Guillen, etc.??? They are going to have to spend a pretty penny to keep Edwin Jackson around next season, that's for sure. He will undoubtedly get a huge boost in salary, and Inge and Granderson are starting to make some bank as well. With Clete Thomas (actually his stats aren't incredibly different from Beckham's, overall, but he is a corner outfielder, not an infielder) and Ryan Raburn (and they already traded away Joyce and brought in Josh Anderson as well), there's not really a compelling need to break the bank on Rios, although the money (for 2010) could theoretically be shifted from Magglio to Alex Rios. I do think, however, that Dombrowski has to be very careful with his spending this offseason...you gotta give DET fans credit, coming off a terribly disappointing 2008 season, they've supported their "average" team to the tune of 31000+ fans per game this season. All this despite the economic calamity poster-child syndrome that is DET, CLE and PITT. Heck, look specifically at those last two teams being completely blown apart...as well as the Jays and potentially Padres to a lesser extent.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...?urn=mlb,181651 Would KW dare go after Josh Hamilton??? It's the kind of medium-risk, high-reward move he loves (I say medium risk because we'd STILL have to give up something very decent like Hudson or Flowers in return to get Josh Hamilton, IMO) I would be surprised he takes on that amount of long-term risk (if Alex Rios doesn't perform again at 800 OPS levels) versus taking a much smaller contract risk on someone like Rick Ankiel...on a two year contract.

The only team to top the Rangers during this era? The Chicago White Sox, who won the team homer title in 2004 and again in 2006 on the strength of Paul Konerko(notes) (41 homers) in 2004 and Jermaine Dye(notes) and Jim Thome(notes) (both with 44) in 2006. Fittingly, in that in-between year of 2005 when they didn’t win the home run title, the White Sox won the World Series. Last year it was the White Sox who ended the ignominious drought of home run title teams, making the playoffs after bashing a league-leading 235 home runs. Then, of course, they lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Rays. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApFr...o&type=lgns

Wonder if they will convert Jayson Nix to catcher now? LOL. Not sure if this should be TEAL or not, but they've stuck him almost everywhere else on the diamond besides 1B and C...by the way, did anyone see where Nix's predecessor in the versatility department (Pablo Ozuna) just got released by the Phillies' organization from their AAA team (Lehigh Valley)??

If we offered Dye arbitration, why WOULDN'T he accept it? There's no way we could possibly cut this year's contract by 20%, and that would STILL give you $9.2 million BEST CASE SCENARIO, for one year of JD as basically your DH...based on his defensive play the past season. Let's say we offered $11 million and he countered for $12.5 million, certainly, based on the "most RBI's and HR's of any MLB RF" over recent periods productivity stat (maybe he's Top 3-5 for all AL OFers in production OFFENSIVELY for that time period), he will CLEARLY be awarded $12.5 to $13 million if the White Sox tried to "low-ball" him, which doesn't seem to be their style with a player as well-respected in the clubhouse and FO as JD has been for five seasons. Is there any team that going to offer 2 years for $18 million or 3 years for $24-27 million on JD??? I highly doubt that will happen. I think it's a tough choice to keep Thome for one more year (as DH) over Dye, but the odds are higher we can pay Jim Thome $5-6 million (he's overpaid this year, for sure) rather than getting away with paying JD the same amount.

QUOTE (Fedor @ Aug 7, 2009 -> 02:56 PM) Scott Linebrink doesn't want or cannot throw that nasty splitter anymore. That is why he is no longer one of the better relievers. That is why guys like Jeter can sit on his straight mid-90s fastball in clutch situations and eventually do some damage with it. It's his shoulder most likely. And that rarely goes away at his age. Sox should try to sell high no him and maybe even Bobby Jenks in the off-season. Meh. Then we missed the sell high bus on Linebrink in July 2008 and with Dustin Hermanson at the same time in 2005. Those days of getting anything significant in return for him without eating salary are long gone. As noted, probably he is protecting himself from further injury by steering away from one of his most effectives pitches that puts the most torque on his shoulder (like Liriano's slider on his elbow).

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 6, 2009 -> 09:33 PM) Well obviously. I can't or won't post a link or her real name (she's Filipina but living in Europe now)...but she's definitely in my all-time top 10 "slayings" lol. Beckham would be lucky to have her. "Davon Kim" Google is your friend, embrace it. And no, she's not Korean, she's a Filipina. So top five (not Shawn Johnson either)....girls from Philippines, Thailand, Czech Republic, Russia and Colombia (although you could definitely substitute Brazil, Argentina or Brazil and never go wrong!) Actually, my students are all in love with Korean culture and dramas. Their two favorite groups are "Wonder Girls" and "Girls Generation" (see video)

It's pretty hard to be TOO rough on Beckham and Nix because they're both playing positions they have very little experience at...but their error totals would be mind-boggling if projected over a full season, like what you'd expect to see from South Atlantic or Midwest League prospects over a 140-142 game schedule.

I want to know why the Tigers and the Indians can beat the Twins more easily than we can...well, I know the answer, wait until we play them at home. We're almost exactly 50/50 (.500) in the series against them over the last decade, and those results were really skewed from 2001-04...otherwise, we've played them very tough over the last decade. So even if we keep getting swept there, other teams will take care of them...although I can't imagine they wouldn't be improved with Cabrera having a VERY strong 2nd half and OPS numbers similar to Alexei Ramirez this year. That's a tough line-up with Span, Cabrera, M&M, Kubel and Cuddyer...and then you have Crede as your 7th best offensive player. But Casilla, D. Young, Tolbert, Buscher, Punto and Gomez have all really killed the Twins offensively (Brendan Harris is a so-so regular, great bench player)...and they still don't have anything resembling an ace or a decent bullpen in front of Nathan.

Linebrink isn't going anywhere with Dotel exiting the team... Who knows, they might have to try Pena as a starter again if they don't have any money left to spend on the 5th starter, Hudson/Torres are deemed NOT ready and they decide to leave Carrasco in the long relief role. Or we could try Yadel Marti to replace Jose.

Is this one of those "happily content to take 2/3" games where we just don't seem to have the burning/driving ambition to put our foot on the neck of the opponent and crush them?

Who was arguing the other day about picking Danks over Floyd to start the 3rd game of a playoff series? The 3-2 lockdown curve on Nix might turn out to be the pitch of the game. Danks just not pitching well...we have to leave him out there a little bit longer to try to work through his problems, but we also shouldn't let the lead get bigger than 3 either. CLE played well against the Twins and they're relaxed now with all the trades over, so they don't have pressure to do anything but be a spoiler. Those teams are always the most dangerous to contending teams.

White Sox, 26th in MLB Fielding Percentage at .980. 3rd in total errors committed (leading the entire American League), with 82, trailing only: 1. Washington Nationals, 98 2. Arizona Diamondbacks, 88 Besides moving Dye to DH, where can we get improvement in this area? Signing a leadoff hitter who can play CF at a high level? Keeping Beckham at 3B, Ramirez at SS and Nix/Getz at 2B? Or moving Beckham to 2B, leaving Ramirez at SS with Nix and/or Getz traded and a veteran 3B brought in (along the lines of Herbert Perry in 2000)? Are we sure we wouldn't be better off with Nix playing more against RHP than he has been, because of the clear advantage he provides defensively over Getz? How much can Getz improve defensively? Finally, with Fields and Viciedo defensively-challenged, dare we come into the season with either one of those players pencilled in as the starter in 2010, if they did make the internal decision to move Gordon over to second?

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 07:36 PM) Disagree. I think BA had decent ones....as long as he wasn't hitting. I think Ramirez gets by on athletic ability rather than any baseball instincts. I won't argue you on the other two guys though. Alexei can adjust better than any batter on our team from pitch to pitch...he has the quickest hands and bat speed. Anderson has NO offensive plan or instincts whatsoever. He had no concept of situational hitting or shortening his swing. Defensively, both are capable of the spectacular and brain cramps. BA missed quite a few cut-off men and despite his "strong" arm it was never a weapon that struck fear into the hearts of opponents. Ramirez has a better arm, comparatively, for his position. Anderson is arguably a less instinctual baserunner than Ramirez, although both have their moments...Valentin and Ventura were two of the best I've seen with the Sox, although neither were close to fast...