caulfield12

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 07:27 PM) So are you saying that Abreu only got a one-year $5 million deal because he signed late, and that his age and eroding skills have nothing to do with it? Yep, and that's exactly what the Sox did with Vazquez and Swisher. Thanks for proving my point. Why are you comparing closer salaries to middle reliever salaries? Wood has actually succeeded as closer in recent memory. The Mets were able to over-pay Putz to be a setup man because they're one of about three teams that can still afford to over-pay players. That's a pretty narrow market. Putz is also a much better pitcher than Dotel, yet still makes less. Give me an example of a 7th-inning middle reliever who makes $6 million/year. And don't tell me that Dotel is a closer. He hasn't been a consistent and effective closer since his time in Houston. Hell, he couldn't even handle Linebrink's role as a setup man last season. No idea, as I wasn't sitting in on the negotiations with the Braves. Maybe it's because the Sox have a depleted minor league system and the Braves weren't interested in anybody that Kenny was willing to part with. Maybe Kenny knows things about Josh Anderson that we don't. There could be a number of legitimate reasons. One could easily turn this question around and ask any other major league GM why he didn't trade for Carlos Quentin last winter. Yeah, and he really backed up your assertion by trading away three quality minor league players for Swisher last year, and then trading for Griffey mid-season. That's an incredible vote of confidence in Wise and Owens. Kenny thinks that Wise and Owens are adequate players whose flaws can be overcome by Quentin, Thome, Dye, and Konerko. Because if he actually thinks that Wise and Owens are better options than Josh Anderson, he's a f'n moron. And almost everything that Kenny's done over the past five years suggests that he's pretty freaking smart. Well, there's no team out there without some flaws. Any team in the division, we can pick apart and find 5-7 pretty obvious ones. I don't think we can assume that someone that couldn't beat out Blanco or Schafer for CF is CLEARLY a better choice at CF than in-house options in terms of a platoon with Wise and BA. Also, there's no way some other viable options aren't shaken loose with the economy in the condition it is in today...it could happen this season as early as May/June as payroll and lagging attendance have owners putting pressure on their GM's to pare payroll even further. As far as Dotel, there's not a viable comparison with Putz or Fuentes out there. I can't think of any 6th-7th inning relievers paid more than Dotel and MacDougal, except for those crazy contracts BALT made for Baez, Walker and Bradford, although they were at least able to spin Bradford off to the Rays. Maybe Baez and Dotel would be a closer comparison, fwiw. I think it was REASONABLE to think that Owens might be a better option that Taveras, because Taveras was coming off an injury, and his ST statistics were pretty nearly identical. Of course, head-to-head, he's a much better defender, but Owens/Anderson will give you better overall stats and comparable defense and SAVE $5-6 million or whatever Jocketty ended up overspending.

Who was the LH prospect from New Jersey that KW released on the spot for being disrespectful in a big meeting of all the minor leaguers???? Curious about the answer to that question.

Could the Astros without Oswalt beat a community college team these days? So much for the Killer B's.

RBI single to RF by Wilson Betemit...Corey Hart (I Wear My Sunglasses At Night) dove akwardly but it bounced off his glove and Getz who'd singled (kind of a shank that Cameron misread) was able to score. Floyd hasn't given up a hit through 3 innings.

Line-up has been changed around quite a bit. I know Restovich is in the starting line-up (why, why, why instead of Shelby???) in RF.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2...chamlb_milmlb_1 Why the heck is Miguel Negron getting a start in LF when we could be watching Viciedo, Beckham, Shelby or Jordan Danks? This line-up just screams PRODUCTION Ozzie...which means we'll probably score 15 runs like the the couple of times this spring the line-up has been equally as non-imposing. Wise, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .311 Getz, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .328 Fields, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .443 Betemit, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .298 Anderson, B, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .297 Miller, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .355 Lillibridge, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .264 Negron, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 Floyd, P (2.57 ERA) versus Jeff Suppan

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 12:23 PM) I said this before and I will say it all season. This team is going to struggle to score runs. I also think Getz will lead off by the end of April and Anderson will be in center. The Wise thing is just to ease him in as it will be a situation where "he can't be any worse than what we have". Even if Thome, Dye and AJ all regress/age/get injured, and Quentin puts up a 270, 25, 80 line instead of what he was on track for last season...we have some other ways to make that up. Getz with his OBP Konerko should return to normal Josh Fields will dwarf the numbers we got from 3rd last year There's no reason to believe that Alexei won't continue to improve in his prime...with the hand and bat speed and ability to correct in the middle of plate appearances that he has. Above and beyond that, we have some insurance...namely, arguably two of the Top 10 hitters in all of minor league baseball right now in Beckham and Viciedo. Now while seeing Viciedo trying to learn LF at the big league level at age 20 is a little scary (assuming a Dye injury, for instance, and Quentin move to RF), we have very good insurance all around the diamond for an injury to anyone BUT AJ. At worst, this is a slightly above-average offense. At best, you'll have six guys with 25+ homers to go with Chris Getz, AJ and BA/Wise. Combined, BA and Wise could approach the 25 homer mark too. Suffice it to say, no major league team has ever had 25+ homers from 7 different positions in the line-up. I can't see how that type of offense will struggle...it will continue to be inconsistent, but there's no reason to think we won't put up 800+ runs again.

If they trade Dye, Jenks or Buehrle, then those would all qualify as salary dumps. Vazquez simply wasn't worth what he was getting paid, and there's at least a 50% chance we'll get equal production out of Colon/Richard for $10 million less. There's also at least a puncher's chance that Tyler Flowers becomes the next Mike Piazza or Victor Martinez. That's not even factoring what Lillibridge can bring to the ballclub in terms of his athleticism and versatility, and then adding two sleeper prospects in Gilmore and Rodriguez that both have above-average chances of at least making it to the big leagues some day.

About 30-50 runs in a season.... I know this is the wrong thread, but related. Scott.Podsednik.is.dead. His body has just taken too much abuse fighting for 10 years to get to the majors, and stealing bases and sliding over and over again has taken its toll and his burst is gone, just like Neal Anderson after 6-7 seasons. Age 30 683 OPS Age 31 668 OPS Age 32 655 OPS (in easier league pitching-wise and in an offense-first stadium) Age 33 ??? Notice any trends??? I don't like Brian Anderson, AT ALL, but I wouldn't dream of starting Pods one game out in CF over Anderson. But I also wouldn't dream of leading off any game, ever, with BA. If they're going to be so stubborn and Fields is batting 9th, they might as well just hit Alexei Ramirez first instead of BA. I'm fine with Wise, as long as he's at an 800 OPS against RHP. If he's anywhere below 700 after one month, say goodbye to that experiment. The Braves have Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez (Venezuelan) 1 1/2 to 2 years away (like Jordan Danks)...it wouldn't kill our depth to go out and get Blanco.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 12:00 PM) Is their any financial upside to sending Bannister down? I know he sucks, but's he better then their other option. Hovecher makes a little more sense, but the fact is that the Royals have their best chance in years to compete right now, and they seem to be getting in their own way again. Bannister was something like 2-9 with a 6.91 ERA in the second half last season, but you'd have to think he would somehow be better than the likes of Luke Hudson, Brandon Duckworth, Ramirez and Ponson. Ponson at least pitched well in the WBC, but Ramirez? They might have been better off with Odalis Perez or Jorge De La Rosa...

If Baker AND Mauer are out for an extended period of time...Minnesota will be in some trouble. Then again, never count them plucking a gritty grinder from AAA or yet another Boof Bonser from that minor league system that somehow manages a 3.75-4.25 ERA in his rookie campaign. Redmond will be fine for awhile, he's one of the best back-up catchers in all of baseball, but you have to wonder how Morneau will be affected...why even bother pitching to that guy? It's going to be incumbent on Cuddyer and Young to pick it up and protect him, as well as Jason Kubel.

1. Verlander 2. Galarraga 3. Porcello 4. Edwin Jackson 5. Miner Depth: Bonderman, Willis, Robertson Closers: Lyon, Rodney (eventually Perry) Of course, the Twins would seem to have the better overall depth, and Liriano, if he returns even close to 2006 form, should be a Cy Young candidate again...and the back of that rotation at 4/5 is "mehhh," but it's definitely better than the Royals, Indians and probably the White Sox, too. Not to mention that Zumaya MIGHT actually return to health, that's a very nasty/imposing bullpen. Plus they have Dolsi in the minors now. I think many scouts in baseball would take that pitching staff over ours...I think the Tigers could still be very dangerous if they get off to a good start and Bonderman returns to something approximating his past stuff (which hasn't really translated into results, like Mr. Vazquez with the Sox).

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) Take another look. SS Choo may well be an MVP candidate this year. Guy can flat out rake. Shoo was a strictly platoon player his entire career up until the 2nd half last season. MVP candidate? You've got to be joking, I hope. I can see him with a .280 average, 20-24 homers, 70-80 RBI's, but I highly doubt he'll get a vote at the end of the season. The M's basically gave up on him.

It's one of the few times I could stand both of them together in a movie, let alone ONE individually. Zack & Miri was much better than what I expected, to tell the truth. Craig Robinson? Isn't that MIchelle Obama's brother and OSU head BB coach??

Brian Bannister is on the DL, too. That makes the Royals' rotation Greinke, Meche, Davies, Ponson and Ramirez. Not worrisome. If Daniel Cortes and Hochevar pitched like projected, then I would start to seriously give them consideration as a contender and going in the right direction. The Twins haven't gotten anything out of Mulvey and Humber. That Gomez trade is going to depend on Carlos at least putting up a 750 OPS this season. Young almost played and acted his way out of his second organization in two years, despite being one of the youngest and more talented players in all of baseball. Mijares, from what I've heard, has been dismal in camp. I think they were really pushing things to hope from repeat performances for Breslow and Mijares, who gained even more weight (they were too cheap to keep AL Central dominator Denys Reyes) and they didn't sign Juan Cruz thankfully (Gagne would have been perfectly disastrous for Mr. Bill Smith, but they let him off the hook and threw him back). While they could trade Span or Cuddyer, they wouldn't get much of value in return. Blackburn and Perkins were each going backwards at the end of the season, and the innings pitched numbers might drag them down this season, especially Perkins, who was coming off injury. Jury's still out on Mr. Liriano, and whoever is the primary RH set-up guy. Last year, that was the biggest hole on their roster. If Crede and Punto struggle offensively or with health issues, this team will be the equivalent of the White Sox defensively on turf, except in CF with Gomez and RF/LF if Span is playing instead of Cuddyer or Kubel. At least they are/were smart enough to have a better back-up catcher than Corky Miller, C. Armstrong or D. Lucy. UPDATE: The Tigers are expected to erase almost $50 million in 2009 salaries with the releases of Willis, Robertson and Sheffield. (Just imagine how much we b**** and moan about MacDougal, Contreras, Thome and Konerko....but eating THAT much salary???) Perry and Porcello are both going North with the Tigers. Rodney is the closer. Dolsi, who pitched so well last year, didn't even make the club.

McCarthy was cursed with a very flat fastball, which is suicide at 89-93 MPH. When he got his offspeed stuff over and could get ahead in the counts, like Contreras when he's using the FA/Fork combination, he can be absolutely devastating in stretches with just two pitches, but that didn't happen enough. Then there's the health and mechanical concerns with that delivery of his, a little less violent and herky jerky but still reminiscent of MacDougal in slow motion.

All of you guys are crazy, crazy, crazy. I wouldn't even take the 2006 version of Pods over Wise as part of a platoon with BA. 1) He would be a horrific CFer, worse than Wise, Swisher, Griffey, Mackowiak or Brian Daubach out there 2) He makes Juan Pierre look like Roberto Clemente with his linguine with clam sauce arm 3) All the speed and aggressiveness he had in the first half of 2005, it disappeared when he came back from that injury 4) He has barely more power than Jerry Owens (Colorado stats aren't the most helpful for comparisons) 5) His SB success rate would be about 55-70%, he's nowhere close to the type of player who could manage even 75-85% 6) If they want him as a backup to backup Jerry Owens as Option 4D in CF, fine...sign him to a minor league deal, stick him in Charlotte and hope for a miracle, but that likelihood is as high as Erstad accumulating 255 hits for us in 2009 I have been talking about the "break-even" point to play Brian Anderson everyday at CF instead of platoon with Wise to be a 740 OPS. If Pods was the starting CF, he would have to get on base at a .350-.375 clip to even be worth consideration for discussion, and that's not going to happen. That and the fact that he's lost his aggressiveness and intimidation factor on the basepaths, it's just a horrible idea. Seriously, Joe Borchard starting in CF is starting to make more sense than this, or Jeffrey Abbott. We should spin Betemit and prospect/s to the Cardinals for Ankiel/Schumaker/Ludwick...they need to replace Glaus for 2-3 months.

I'd like to see KW argue with a straight face how BA and Wise leading off maximize our scoring opportunities when they both might combine for the lowest OBP of ANY position in the line-up??? This is just illogical, and makes Cabrera at leadoff seem like Rudy Law/Lance Johnson in comparison. I'm okay with Getz over Ramirez and AJ in the number two spot, but I would rather see Ramirez leading off (ala Soriano) than BA, even if Ramirez struggles to touch a .325 OBP. I don't think BA will do any better than that...and Ramirez is a much more menacing offensive threat. BA would see more pitches, but Wise isn't very selective at all. In fact, when he was trying to go deep into counts and take 4-5 pitches, he was terribly ineffective and the team ordered him to just go back to being himself, which is basically like Ramirez and AJ. I don't think Getz or Beckham are the perfect #1 hitters, but one of them might end up there before all is said and done this season. There aren't any other viable options in our organization. (I hope someone doesn't say Negron, Kroeger or David Cook here).

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 10:48 PM) I don't buy this. Dye would have been gone before the winter meetings if so, like I believe both Javy and Swisher were. Also, some closers got good money this year and Octavio with his $6M salary probably would have been on the block. The Sox are going younger and cheaper (and better) year by year, but I think what actually happened was the Sox were planning on having a higher payroll before they were given their budget. They then moved enough salary to meet their needs and nothing more. On top of that, the Sox apparently have felt all along that Wise and Owens are capable of being full-time starting CFers in the Major Leagues. Salary had nothing to do with the Sox passing on guys like Josh Anderson, and actually, either Josh Anderson or Gregor Blanco could have been possibilities in the Javy deal. The Sox are in the situation they're in because they still love their damn grinders. Do you believe we really could have gotten anything in return for Dotel this offseason without eating some of his salary? I'm just not sure how many other clubs would look at his (at this point in his career) as a potential closer again...and then whole idea of making a salary arbitration offer and expecting to get draft picks in return, well I would prefer Juan Cruz many times over Dotel, and look how many teams were interested in Cruz this past-offseason. In some ways, you could make an argument right now we should just cross our fingers with MacDougal and Mike might end up putting up better numbers than Octavio this season. Then again, the odds are equally as likely that BOTH will go down with some type of injury. Yes, the Sox chose Gilmore/Rodriguez when they could have had one "major league-ready pitcher" and you have to assume they also could have had Anderson (or POSSIBLY Blanco) instead as part of that deal...they went with long-range potential over the short-term, we'll have to wait and see if either of those guys pan out. Perhaps KW also could have taken Blanco but he would have had to sacrifice Lillibridge/Rodriguez/Gilmore. I think KW, in his mind, felt Lillibridge was undervalued and could be a similar type of player to Blanco, although Blanco obviously has a much better track record at the major league level.

I know he had 10-11 walks, his OBP wasn't actually that horrible. I think there were 3 reasons: 1) Lack of success/aggressiveness/burst on the basepaths and even running to first (where Getz and possibly Lillibridge looked a step faster) 2) Lack of hard contact and rolling too many balls into easy 4-3 outs that didn't put any pressure on the defense...only about 5-10% of his balls were hard hit, period 3) Lack of anything resembling an arm...Wise is at least "decent" in this area

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 01:40 PM) This clutters up the Charlotte outfield. Now they have Cook, Restovich, Kroeger, Owens, Raines Jr., Negron & possibly Gartrell. I guess this means Negron and Gartrell return to B'ham for 2009 & Raines Jr. is possibly cut outright. Gartrell, Cook, Kroeger and Negron are the only ones who POTENTIALLY will get a whiff of the majors after 2009 with the White Sox. Negron has actually gotten quite a few appearances this ST, more than any of them but Kroeger. Restovich and Raines are just filler. Owens is just insurance in case KW can't find ANYONE else in the entire world, but I can't see them going to him unless he's hitting .350 with a .425+ OBP and 85% conversion rate on stolen base attempts (or an injury to Wise/Anderson).

Jordan Danks is very string-beany...thought he would be more muscular. Merkin's 100% better than Melton. Ramirez has made 2-3 really good plays this game that nobody else in our organization could have made...cut him a little slack. Lillibridge made a glove lip and he wasn't expecting it and he tried to make the throw to complete the DP and catch it at the same time. That's going to happen in ST when you have new combinations all the time...the more comfortable Getz and Ramirez get together, the better off we are. AJ was an RBI single to pick up the first Sox run of the game. Also, MacDougal has to pitch out of those situations...Floyd didn't do it many times last year after the defense made a mistake. JESUS Betemit...that was just a horrible throw, sailed and Konerko didn't even try to catch it.

I think Dye just made the assumption that the defense would give up the run...that Gonzalez would just take the easy out and concede the run. Still, a really dumb call by JD or Cox. If Cox sent him, it would be even more upsetting. Two nice pick-offs by CR (proving he can throw to first from the mound at least) and a quality start. Hopefully something to build upon for the regular season.

Sisco never showed an ability to develop his secondary pitches or work with Cooper, same thing with Aardsma. Ozzie really rode Logan out of Chicago...I remember one time he left him in a game when he was simply getting brutalized. Boone was just too fragile psychologically, a little bit like Marte, but Marte was dominant for three seasons before he started to show signs of faltering. Logan only pitched well for about a 6 week stretch. Finally some signs for offense, Konerko with the 1-out double to RCF off the wall. Some more bad White Sox baserunning as Dye tried to score on the hard-hit ball to 1B with the defense playing back on their heels. We just don't have any team speed...same old sad story!!! So much for that threat. I wish we could see Fields, Getz, Viciedo, Beckham, Flowers, Brandon Allen, Jordan Danks, Shelby and Lillibridge out there once as a line-up. It would be so much more interesting to watch than this.

Maybe if Williams had been with the organization last year and the staff was more familiar/comfortable with him, I think the White Sox would have been more amenable to taking him to start the season. MacDougal also really pitched well enough to make the roster, there's no doubt that the odds were stacked against him at the beginning of March. And that $2.65 million contract has to be considered as another factor as well. Maybe, just maybe, he can get hot and they can end up getting some value out of him this year, either performance or trade-wise.