caulfield12

Saving the money by getting a subsidy from the D-Backs for Vazquez and getting them to take on Vizcaino's contract cost us Chris Young, so a similar situation would be in play here. We would have to give up Ramirez, who is AT LEAST the equivalent of Chris Young....for starters. There's no way we could get away from giving up Flowers/Viciedo/Jordan Danks/Beckham for Halladay unless we gave them Poreda, Richard and Hudson along with Ramirez and then maybe Shelby and ONE other piece like Anderson/Nix/Fields. It's giving up Beckham and/or Ramirez that I'm sure is where KW is blinking on this deal. He knows those three pitchers and what they are projected to do by our staff, whether they have the ability to make it as a starter, etc. But we have no replacement for Ramirez or Beckham's impact on our middle infield, nor a sure-fire 3B for the long-term unless Viciedo really turns things around defensively. The jury's definitely still out on that happening.

An injury-prone Scott Rolen at $11.5 million in his declining thirties is almost never the kind of investment that KW makes...there is really no example of a player coming in like that during his tenure, position player. We didn't want to pay Joe Crede any more than half that and a struggling team (attendance-wise) will commit to a player who has at least a 50% chance of being untradeable or a sunk cost next season, decreasing our flexibility to add some much cheaper parts in the offseason. If we could get, for example Abreu and Orlando Hudson for the same price as ONE injury-prone, Scott Rolen and not have to give up any talent to do so going into 2010, wouldn't that make a lot more sense? And there's no way we can guarantee to Halladay a competitive team and upper-tier payroll in the future like about 8-10 other teams in baseball can do with more credibility in their boast.

There was a "toolsy" CFer (think his last name was Perez) that was talked about being signed (at the time) for $1-2 million per season, but I think he's in the same situation as Marti (who came later) and is currently being held up by immigration issues. He was one of the two other players the Dominican tryout with Viciedo. Cubano didn't seem to expect a whole lot out of him...as much as he talks about the 1B and the LHP (Arguelles?).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 07:13 PM) Leadership qualities? How do you know? Whens the last time you were in the locker room? You are doing nothing but making vague generalizations to cut him down because you cannot come up with anything concrete to say he's not a good player. He's "had plays", come on, 1 or 2 plays depicts the type of player a guy is? Check out other rookie SS's in the league that are playing their FIRST season of pro ball at the position and tell me who is better than Alexei. You will have to go down to A ball stats for some of the guys. And dont come back with he played SS in Cuba, because he really didnt. I call complete bulls***. There are HOF hitters that couldnt do anything with certain pitches, they just knew how to foul them off, or eliminate that part of the plate. Alexei can foul off a breaking ball inside all night which sets up a pitcher to make a mistake, because he's a good hitter that adjusts well. Its pretty clear you are very biased against Alexei, but I would think you could come up with something better than generalities and things you cant prove like leadership. Jermaine Dye and Mark Buehrle might be our most consistent "leaders," in terms of their day to day personalities. Thome is what he is, and so is Konerko. Then there's AJ and Jenks. Quentin hasn't really stepped into that role yet (nor do we need it from him until 2010/11/12), so firing darts at Alexei over this is kind of nitpicking to me. It's not like we are expecting so much leadership out of Danks and Floyd, too...but, then again, isn't winning Game 163 another form of leadership more than acting like Nick Swisher or Javy Vazquez and never taking responsibility for your own shortcomings or even seeming concerned about them? All grindery players like Getz are leaders.....I hate that idea too. Finally, Ramirezhas the fastest hands on the team and is the best at making adjustments in an at-bat, looking horrible on one pitch and then managing to get a hit when down in the count. He's only what, 27 or 28 years old? He's in the prime of his baseball career. After struggling mightily the first two years and then making corrections/adjustments, we now think we've found a massive flaw or hole in his approach that other scouts and managers are not picking up on? Really?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 07:00 PM) He's having another great offensive year, you don't see me denying that. I don't think he'll consistently be a good offensive player in the future through. His approach leaves a big weakness to breaking balls inside and he just hasn't shown me that he's a smart hitter. And he is no SS. He definitely shy's away from contact on DP's. He's had plays where he dropped the feed because it was obvious he wanted to get out of the way, he's had plays when he did 360 spins to get out of the way, etc. Plus, he doesn't have any leadership qualities you want in a SS. He's a 2B or OF. Hitting grand slams in clutch situations also demonstrates leadership abilities. Ranging all over the outfield and down the foul lines like nobody we've had since Durham on the right side show he's an aggressive defender who believes every ball is his until he's called off. We didn't see that from the likes of Cabrera and Royce Clayton in the past. Ramirez has a much better arm than Beckham...and a couple of ticks better than Nix. I think it's way too early that Beckham is the next Derek Jeter and can be the captain of the team because he exudes so much confidence and is borderline cocky. Look at our own captain, Konerko, who is very moody and gets down on himself mentally more than any player on the team, with the possible exception of Carlos Quentin. Is Quentin a leader? Cabrera was SUPPOSED to be a leader, but he left the clubhouse within five minutes of the end of every game and was almost never available to the media like AJ/Thome/Konerko/Dye/Buehrle/Jenks. Continue to be concerned that we'll have even MORE defensive problems with Beckham at SS than Ramirez. Nothing will convince me otherwise, until Beckham can have a season of less than 20-25 errors at that position with the White Sox...and nothing Ozzie has said would indicate that's in their long-range thinking, not at this point. Ramirez isn't on a pace for Jose Valentin error totals, more like 18-22 in a season, which isn't a HUGE amount for a shorstop by any stretch of the imagination. Beckham might make that many in less than half a season.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 07:12 PM) I was Alexei's biggest fan, but the more I see him play, the more I think he'll never come close to reaching his potential. He shy's away from contact at 2B for DP's, has no range to his right (at least at SS), isn't very bright, and I really dislike his approach at bat. He's gonna be a decent player for a while, but a very frustrating one due to his lack of consistency/concentration/baseball IQ. I got no problem trading him while his value is still very high. And you're willing to end up with Jayson Nix playing SS everyday if Beckham can't handle SS at the major league level and has to be moved to 2B? Right now, we have a position of strength with our middle infielders (including Fields), but there's no certainty Gordon can play short, whereas at least we have more legitimate options for 2B and 3B that can be tried. If other teams see Beckham can't handle SS, the price tag for replacing that position with another impact-level player will be very high indeed, unless we get another Uribe/Eckstein/Everett/Wilson/Santiago/Berroa type of "filler" SS not in the long-term plans. I'm not going to condemn Beckham's play at 3B and extrapolate it around the diamond or point to other players like Nix and Uribe that seem to be able to move all over the field without any negative impact defensively, but some of the mistakes at 3B in terms of judgement make you wonder how he'll do at SS when he'll have 50% more plays to make on an everyday basis. Finally, there's almost NO way that Halladay would lock himself into a long-term contract extension right now in the middle of this season with the White Sox, when every player/agent is going to wait this economic crisis out and see what will happen over the next 2 years, with the economic climate for huge contracts perhaps returning once again. Why would Halladay want to be "stuck" with the White Sox if we fail to make the playoffs in 2009 and then end up going with a $65-80 million budget in 2010 with youth being the centerpiece, but rebuilding "on the fly" the context? Not only that, but the Garcia extension was secured partially because of Ozzie's connection to him, at least that seems fairly likely. We have no "in" with Halladay that's comparable.

Quentin's health and return is the biggest factor in whether we make a move or not. If he can come back and contribute, the place to make a short-term move is on a 3B finishing out his contract this year...and it would be a very tough decision to bench Getz/Nix with the way they've been playing 2B and move Gordon to yet another position (3rd) this season, and at the major league level. Probably, the calculation in KW's brain is not to make that move, unless it's something significantly better than a Rolen/Wigginton/Herbert Perry type of player over there...and trading for an impact 3B with a longer-term deal makes no sense with Fields and Viciedo around, unless Dayan is definitely being targeted for a corner OF spot, DH or 1B. Best case scenario, Quentin is healthy and then you have to look at insurance for Pods in CF/leadoff (it seems 50/50 he will break down again, based on his past injury history), 3B/2B and the fifth starter's spot. With a healthy Quentin, going out and packaging 2nd/3rd tier prospects for a Garland type (instead of starting Richard/Poreda/Carrasco) or any of our AAA/AA pitchers would be the correct move...where 2010-2012 wouldn't be impacted and we would be in an improved position to win the division this year as well. I think trading Ramirez and being forced to go with Beckham at SS is a huge risk, because you're trading our most favorable contract in these economic times and you have absolutely ZERO insurance at that position if Beckham can't handle the position, unless you want to see Jayson Nix as the everyday SS, and he has lots of struggles offensively against RHP. Trading Ramirez (for a big-name pitcher) leaves you with Beckham at SS, Getz/Nix at 2B and no clear 3B unless you count Fields again as part of the future of this organization, and it's hard to say that about either Fields or Anderson at this point...although things could change yet again in the 2nd half of the season, especially if Pods were to break down again.

He reminds me more of Brien Taylor...

Teahen=Joe Randa Lite with more versatility but less RBI punch

You guys also hate the US Naval Academy in Annapolis? David Robinson? Gavin Floyd? Lefty Driesell? The National Aquarium? Crab cakes? Boog Powell's ribs? The Battle of Antietam?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/i...roldis-chapman/ Video from WBC (probably is somewhere else already on this site, from cubano or someone)

Would love to have Endy Chavez type player....just not sure if his bat would hold up as an everyday player. Pierre also comes to mind because of the Marlins connection with Castro and Pierre to Ozzie.

"I think that's my first win here in the last 10 years I've been managing the team," Guillen said. "I never have a nice vodka. Every time I go out [in Minnesota] I get drunk because I'm [upset]. www.chicagotribune.com/sports I think ALL of us would have been drinking STOLI or Absolut if Span won the game somehow with a duck snort opposite field double. Memories of Hunter robbing homers, Denny Hocking going yard for a walk off against Foulke, getting Carlos Gomez-merized in the final game last year...all of those were flashing before my eyes....the Linebrink 5-1 blown game against Cubs, Jenks' blown save with 2 outs against Pirates, Wise getting call out at home against the Tigers, etc.

2000 4-2 (clinched division on their turf, Jeff Abbott game?) 2001 1-2 2002 1-5 2003 0-3 (swept down the stretch) 2004 0-3 2005 4-2 2006 3-3 2007 2-1 2008 1-6 16-27 Plus we always have that weird 10 or 11 am start because of a Minnesota afternoon football game. I think McCarthy faced the Twins in 2005 in that situation.

JESUS CHRIST. Thank God. I really wish we could move Beckham to 2B right now and play Nix at 3B instead...but that won't happen with how well Getz/Nix is working as a platoon right now.

This would be ten times worse than the Cubs' game that we were leading 5-1. Game should have been over a long time ago. A fastball right down the middle. 10 losses in 11 games, bordering on 11 in 12...this is getting beyond ridiculous, because these Twins teams aren't that good. But neither are we.

Wow, just wow Beckham. Two misplays by him in one inning.

How many runners have we left in scoring position today? Well, hopefully a three run cushion is enough...almost worry if they scored 4 that Jenks would forget about the save situation.

Morneau 20 for 74 after an 0-2 count. Make that 20 for 75. Still pretty impressive. Okay Ozzie...I guess going with your best reliever does make some sense, lol, regardless of RHP/LHP versus batter match-up.

The White Sox have left way too many runners in scoring position tonight. You still have that really uneasy feeling here in the 8th that the Twins could figure out a way to come back and win this game somehow. Alexei, pull your head out of your a--, freeze on a line drive until it goes through. We must lead the world in mental errors. Jenks over Thornton against Morneau? REALLY? Ozzie, I hope you know what you're doing.

At $30 million, yes, at $50-75 million, it's looking a lot more dubious...especially with the recent remarks about the attendance and budgeting issues. Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, Cardinals, Giants...the usual suspects.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 06:19 PM) If the baby is born and pulls everything and Ozzie hates it, we know who the daddy is. Greg Walker, Brian Anderson or Sean Tracey?

Huge difference in our offense when Beckham's .724 OPS is 8th in the starting line-up. With Fields, Getz, Lillibridge, BA/Wise/Owens, Miller and Lillibridge earlier in the season, we used to have 4-5 guys in every line-up below a 700 OPS.

We have to win at least this game or hope the Indians can hold off the Tigers tonight (3-2 lead in the middle innings) because TMRW it's the dreaded Toma Ohka versus Justin Verlander match-up. Of course, that's probably the game where everyone bets on the Tigers and the Indians rise up and score 11. Connie Mack story from 1932. Saving money on train fare for the owner, he decided to bring only two pitchers to a game. The starter gave up four hitters and was pulled by Mack in the first inning. The reliever ended up going 17 innings, giving up a record 29 hits but winning the game 18-17. Those were the days.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 06:59 PM) You have to wonder what happened to Liriano. He was still good last year, although it was against really bad teams. The difference between the torque of an 87-90 MPH tight slider and a loose low 80's version without control that you can bury inside on the RH hitter's hands. And a decent-velocity fastball but one about 2-3 MPH slower than in 2006. Basically, hitters don't fear his slider anymore, he's afraid to hurt himself again...so the hitters just wait for him to have control problems and sit on FB's when they get up in the counts.