caulfield12

This is what it has pathetically come down to now. Selling the fans of the 2nd worst attended franchise (already, with Chris Sale) in the majors that a bunch of no-names from the AA team of the worst minor league system in the world are going to rise up from nothing and save the day. Don Cooper really is good, if he can pull that off. But nobody's buying it. And whatever happened to Zach Stewart as part of the future rotations? Guess KW conveniently forgot to mention that fiasco of a trade.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:53 AM) What if it provides Francisco Liriano results or Joey Zumaya? If it did, you would be complaining, as Frank Thomas says, no doubt about it. Your pledge not to bring up Greg Walker lasted less than 24 hours. (Are you like Greg, where you're more a fan of personnel/coaches no longer currently associated with the White Sox? I'm starting to think you would rather the whole White Sox offense tanked this entire season if it would give you more support for your Manto attacks.) Please support the Fathom Pledge, no Walk Talk. But know this about Ken Williams: He believes in his heart that he has at least two, maybe three or four, young starting pitchers who can become the next generation of John Danks/Gavin Floyd. He loves right-hander Nestor Molina, who came from Toronto for Sergio Santos, and also lefty Jose Quintana, who signed a major-league contract after the Yankees allowed him to become a minor-league free agent. He’s also open to the idea of Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez (both acquired from San Diego for Carlos Quentin) becoming long-term pieces of the White Sox’s pitching staff, not to mention the homegrown Cameron Bayne. For the moment, that’s your starting rotation at Double-A Birmingham. But those guys -- not the fill-ins like Eric Stults and Dylan Axelrod -- are closer to Chicago than you might think. www.chicagotribune.com/sports Whoever believes for a second in what Phil Rogers just wrote there (clearly spin from Rongey/Merkin/Williams) should have their head examined.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:47 AM) Apparently a good chunk of Soxtalk thinks rehabbing pitchers are the next big thing and really want that. If it's going to provide Steven Strasburg-esque results in 2014, better than what we're going to get from our 4th-5th starters in 2012 and 2013.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:43 AM) No, Keith Foulke was traded by KW. If he wasn't, the Sox win the division in 2003, Ozzie never becomes the White Sox manager, and perhaps never a manager. It was a watershed moment. So now we lost that season on purpose, Keith Foulke deliberately removed himself from the closer's job, all directly leading to: 1) Moneyball book and movie (Foulke/Koch/Cotts deal, Adkins, Durham, Olivo/Bradford, etc.) 2) Boston Red Sox World Championship in 2004 (Foulke as closer there) 3) Chicago White Sox World Championship in 2005 4) Ozzie Guillen as Sox manager and Greg's hero

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) I think you might have lost your mind. Ripping Greg Walker again. Check out the Braves offense. Check out the White Sox BAA coming into this past weekend? 1st in the American League. Better than the Rangers, Rays, Yankees, Angels, Mariners, A's, Red Sox, Blue Jays, etc.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:34 AM) I think they are capable of putting up the same numbers El Duque put up in 2005. If Keith Foulke was the Sox closer in 2003, I think they would have won the division. Notice you DIDN'T SAY that Brandon McCarthy put up. So instead you compare all those rookies with the exact opposite, a grizzled veteran signed for $6.5 million instead of a collection of rookie cast-offs, waiver claims and trade throw-ins. Where's our Brandon McCarthy from 2005. Guess he's in Arizona.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:34 AM) I think they are capable of putting up the same numbers El Duque put up in 2005. If Keith Foulke was the Sox closer in 2003, I think they would have won the division. Horseshoes and hand grenades, Dick. If if if they'd only signed Kenny Rogers that offseason instead of letting him go to the Twins. If if if the White Sox had kept Thome away from the Twins in 2010 and signed him instead of Jones/Kotsay. If if if the Sox had signed Victor Martinez instead of Adam Dunn coming into 2011. If if if Rick Hahn's son's coin flip when the other way, then KW would be out of a job, Game 163 would have been a loss and a major disappointment.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) Then keep Sale in the rotation, let him blow out his elbow and watch what caulfield aka Mitt Romney complains about then. Also, the nasty boys won a WS and we have Don Cooper to develop a #5 starter. Shouldn't be too tough, the 2005 #5 starter had a 5.12 ERA You're really going to compare that Reds' team with this White Sox team? Now who's the one who is drinking? Molina, Stewart, Hernandez, Santiago etc., have been either in our system for less than one full season or starters for barely more time than that. But what Greg Walker couldn't manage to change in a decade can be undone in a matter of days and weeks by Cooper, that's not a completely impossible standard. And it helps to have guys with major league TALENT and ABILITY to develop. And since when is PHT the Slam Section? I voted for Obama, but I bet I could find 100 times since he has been president that he's flip-flopped his position. Bill Clinton was famous for it. And, what have I changed my position on exactly? For the whole offseason, I consistently supported Kenny Williams against the likes of Marty34. You will see no wavering, go through every single thread if you'd like. Now, I have thrown in the towel. As opposed to Romney, if Obama came out for protecting the American flag from being burned by protestors, Romney would come out for flag burning the next day.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:24 AM) They had a great shot in 2003 if they had a better closer than Billy Koch, the actually were in 1st place the middle of September,and btw, their 5th starter at the begining of 2003 that year was the All Star game starter. 2004, they were right there, at least for a playoff berth, but did lose Maggs and the Big Hurt. 2005 their 5th starter was El Duque who was lucky to even make the postseason roster. Not exactly reliable. Danny Wright 1-7, 6.15 ERA Josh Stewart 1-2, 5.96 ERA Mike Porzio, 1-1, 6.43 ERA Neal Cotts, 1-1, 8.10 ERA 4-11 So, you're going to tell me that Dylan Axelrod, Stults, Simon Castro, Pedro Hernandez, Santiago and Nestor Molina are going to be a significant improvement there??

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:21 AM) We are talking about the bullpen. Get a grip. The argument is bullpens are a dime a dozen, that you shouldn't waste pitchers with talent by putting them in the bullpen. Does anyone not get Sale can't handle the rotation physically? The point ALSO is that having an ELITE/SUPERSTAR/NASTY BOYS/WORLD-BEATING bullpen does you absolutely no good with a so-so starting rotation on a rebuilding team. What, is Mel Allen going to give us bonus points from the grave for leading the Rolaids Relief Team Bullpen stat in 2012? That's kind of like the Cubs' "attendance trophy" every season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:17 AM) I guarantee if none of this news came out and Sale continued to pitch in the rotation and blew out his elbow, at least 95% of the people crying about his move to the bullpen would be up in arms at the White Sox for allowing his injury to occur. That includes the people who think right now he should continue to start until his elbow blows up. How many times did the White Sox go the playoffs from 2001-2004 when they had no credible 5th starter? Why should there be any reason to believe that would change now? You're telling me our hitting on this team is significantly better than those years? I think not. So why would there be any reason (other than sheer blind luck) for a White Sox historical pattern to reverse itself in the next 12-24 months?

The White Sox have $95 million in commitments to their rotation. The Rangers are committed to JUST $45 million for Feldman, Lewis, N. Feliz, Harrison and Holland. EFFICIENCY. Plus, with all the money pouring in, they just had $108 million sitting around in their coffers to throw at Darvish.

Just smart spending, Dick Allen. Nathan=$14.75 million for 2 years Matt Thornton=$12 million for 2 years (considering they're getting a closer and we're getting a set-up guy, seems they're getting the better deal) Total money invested into Feldman, Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Colby Lewis and N. Feliz=$153 million (2/3rd's to Yu Darvish, roughly)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:01 AM) And yet, the Braves have the 3rd worst team ERA in the National League. Only because Greg Walker hasn't yet been named hitting and pitching coach simultaneously.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:01 AM) but dude, we've had elite 7-8-9 guys for YEARS and you know what? they're always DIFFERENT GUYS because they're good one year or 2 years and then flame out after that. relievers are a dime a dozen. I promise you this. beyond Mo, Hoffman, .... and that's it... name me a closer who DIDN'T lose his job as closer at some point in his career. Those two guys are the exception to the very, very clear RULE that closers are NOT WORTH THE MONEY they get paid. and yes, I'll point you to Tampa and Texas as two teams with great scrapped together bullpens. JUST LIKE WE WERE IN 2005! Which of those guys is still a MLB pitcher? Eckersley with the A's falls into this category as well. But you're talking maybe 5 in major league history. Does anyone think Joe Nathan will make the MLB Hall of Fame?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:56 AM) It also can fail miserably and then you are totally screwed. You can have a great offense and great starters, if you're bullpen is bad, you're in a lot of trouble. As Gonzo wrote this morning, Sale and Reed could be Gossage and Forster part II. Not bad, especially considering how important a good bullpen is these days. And all that's fine and good, unless you look at the team record from 2001-2004 when the 5th starter for the Sox was going. Even with the best bullpen in major league history, with our average offense/defense and question marks at the back end of the rotation (Danks/Humber/#5), a 100% bullpen closeout rate from here on out can't cover up for losing 75-80-85% of the games started by our 5th.

Or ask the Tigers already this year, or the White Sox in April/May 2011. Last year, Detroit was 77-0 in games they led after 7 innings. Minnesota had similar numbers in 2006, 2009 and 2010. This year, the Tigers have already blown FIVE of those games.

The last scene in the recent Transformers movie and this one in NY felt so similar...but this one, you could actually be a bit more emotionally involved because the backstory of the characters was developed so fully. Then again, I'm not 100% convinced that Hawkeye and Black Widow are ready for their own separate stand-alone movies. They seem consigned to secondary status in the group, comparatively. Definitely thought Ruffalo was great, but in limited dosages...and with the Bana/Lee and Norton versions already out there in the last decade, there's probably not quite enough demand built-up but it will be a big temptation to resist with how much Avengers is going to rake in globally and with Thor, Iron Man and Captain America sequels already in the pipeline.

When you hit the Golden Boy and endanger the future of professional baseball (according to some), you can bet there will be a suspension, too. With Pujols foundering, a new superstar must arise. Matt Kemp's great, but not sure if he's the one to carry that baton forward.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:31 AM) However, not every player is built to be a starter. Ask the Braves of the 90's about relievers. They won only 1 world series because they couldn't finish games after the starters were out. And their offense was just a player or two short against other dominant pitching in the playoffs, especially in the latter half of those 14 years.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 7, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) Was he in Arizona all through last year when his screwball was tearing up the minors? That's kind of my point, the only thing we can really say with any amount certainty is that almost all of his success with the offspeed stuff came when he could establish a rhythm as a starter in 2011. I'm not so sure how he was used in the Puerto Rican Winter League in 2010-2011, that would also be interesting to look at to see if we can develop a theory of what's going wrong now. Someone mentioned Boone Logan and his being rushed and skipped over so many levels and how it took him a long time after that to get his feet underneath him. Then you had Scott Radinsky who jumped from South Bend to the majors and was a Marte/Thornton type of performer with no hiccups.

Like Gavin's curveball, Humber's curveball, you'd have to also think getting the right feel for the screwball is something that would be easier to develop over the course of a 2 hour start rather than 10-12 warm-up pitches and then, BOOM, you're in a make or break situation where every single pitch means the difference between a win or loss. Not exactly the greatest idea in the world to throw someone into the fire and out of the frying pan in such a confidence-shattering way when it's not even necessary at this point to keep bruising his psyche. (Yeah, yeah, he should be stronger, he's a professional athlete, I get that, but when he's given up a lot more homers in less than 10 innings than most relievers give up in entire seasons or two, you probably take take an alternative corrective course of action).

FWIW JPN, my theory wasn't completely far-fetched after all. It might be a "development year," but Morel's been assigned to the bench two games in a row for Lillibridge. You'd have to agree that the odds of Brent playing tmrw would be pretty low if Lilly has a great performance in Game 1. Guess the real test of the theory would be if Morel is bench for three consecutive games and sits both games of a day/night DH.

Can't accept the logic that the screwball actually gets better action in Arizona dry, desert weather? Different baseballs used in ST compared to the regular season? That whole "seams aren't raised quite as high" theory for getting a proper grip on the pitch? Maybe he has a smaller hand for gripping it than most pitchers?

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/...extbeginIndex=6 Seems like there is sort of a mini-window between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. where there's a better than 50/50 chance of playing one game at least today.