caulfield12

You could put Thome at #2 in the order and get 5.633, 5.632 and 5.629 Runs Per Game 1. Carlos Quentin (all four line-ups) 2. Jim Thome (all four) 3. Fields (2), Konerko or Beckham 4. Jermaine Dye (all four line-ups) 5. Beckham or Konerko 6. Alexei Ramirez (3) or Josh Fields 7. Konerko/Ramirez/Fields/Beckham 8. AJ 9. Getz or Nix Eventually, I think you'd see Beckham hitting 3rd, with Fields 7th. I just think Ozzie wouldn't put the pressue of hitting 3rd on Beckham right away...not his style as a manager, no matter how confident/cocky Beckham is at this point. It would actually make a lot of sense, after the first at-bat. If you switched AJ and Ramirez, you could have the combination of Beckham, Ramirez and Getz running on the basepaths in front of Quentin and Thome from the 2nd inning on. With BA in the line-up and Thome hitting 2nd, you'd get 5.528 RPG. 1. CQ 2. Thome 3. Fields (once again, this is all based on Fields replacating his minor league numbers, not what he's done so far in the majors with us) 4. Dye 5. Konerko 6. Ramirez 7. BA 8. AJ 9. Getz When you use Josh Fields' major league averages of .303 OBP and .454 SLG, you get something even more interesting with BA in the line-up. In the first six examples that score the highest number of runs, BA is hitting 3rd, of all places!!! 5.500-5.497 RPG 1. CQ 2. Thome 3. BA 4. JD 5. Konerko 6. Fields 7. Ramirez 8. AJ 9. Getz Seems strange to imagine either BA or Fields hitting 3rd, especially Anderson...

Dick Allen, coming into the offseason, I targeted CoCo Crisp and Casey Blake...Blake would be superfluous now with potentially 3 better players in Fields, Viciedo and Betemit (at least hitting-wise), but CoCo Crisp was a player that KW obviously passed on, along with Willy Taveras and many others. Mike Cameron is the only name that comes to mind...although he was certainly a flawed leadoff hitter in the Chris Young mold in terms of OBP and strikeout ratio. Sosa, when he originally came up as The Panther, was leading off, too, if you can remember back to the skinny Sosa days. Jeff Abbott didn't last long, either. Ironic, but Kenny Williams was also once considered a top prospect at leadoff and potential 30/30 guy, lol. Lance Johnson, but he was incubated in the Cardinals' system.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 08:15 AM) I would like Mr. Christopher Getz at leadoff. Please. Thank you. It's going to take one more week of Owens struggling like he has before 1) you start to hear more about the options of Getz or maybe Lillibridge at the top of the order and 2) KW scouring the waiver wire/trade winds for a better option. If we can get a combined .740-.750 OPS out of any combination of players in CF, we'll be just fine. Anything worse and you have to make a trade or move Ramirez out there and bring Beckham up from the minors to compensate. We're not going to have the luxury of 3-4 months carrying a bat like Brian Anderson demonstrated in 2006. We can't afford to get buried like in 2007 or the Tigers/Indians last year. All the mathematics formulas I ran showed we don't want a line-up with AJ, Alexei or Fields anywhere near the top of the batting order. We might be able to get by with Getz, but the best possible choice to score the most runs is Beckham (see the thread I started). In a perfectly balanced MLB line-up that scores 900 or more runs, Getz is hitting 9th.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2009 -> 07:53 AM) Yeah for Lilli in CF. If he can play there, the leadoff spot might be a short jump away. I'd say the "break-even" point for us NOT to move Alexei Ramirez to CF is an OPS from the combination of Anderson/Owens/Wise/Lillibridge of .740-.750. Based on his last two years offensively, the switch to the AL, the swing changes he's been working on after the injury last season and the mental aspects of playing a position he hasn't played regularly for 5 seasons but now at the big league level with a microscope on him, I don't think it's such a good idea. Or it's an idea born of desperation on the part of KW and Ozzie. Based on last year's results, a platoon of Anderson against lefties and Wise against righties would certainly work, at least THEORETICALLY. Still, you have to take into consideration the jump of around 150 OPS points from Wise coming into last season against RHP and what he produced last year (almost 800). Can you realistically expect him to continue that for a full schedule of playing 4-5 days per week over a 162 game season when he hasn't demonstrated that ability for well over a decade of his baseball career, even at the minor league level? Anything below that mark and you make your line-up much more dangerous moving Ramirez to CF, inserting Beckham at the leadoff spot and starting SS and Getz/Nix as the LH/RH platoon at 2B. That and playing Betemit against tough righties to protect Josh Fields as much as possible...and occasionally Alisay Ramirez and Konerko, too. Stewart would also rest AJ against tough lefties and Sunday day games after night games.

The only other issues to be settled... 1) How many times do you sit Fields, Ramirez and Konerko for tough RH pitchers and insert Betemit? Betemit will give you a 339/460/799 line against righties. Fields has been bi-polar coming into this season, 363/667/1.030 versus LHP and 646 OPS against RHP. Still, you don't think think that Betemit will end up getting more AB's (strict platoon) than Fields, because it looks like Josh is finally healthy, his knees are fine and his eyesight is better with the Lasik (although he has been striking out more in recent games). 2) Is there any away to take Corky Miller (based on his arm/defense) over Chris Stewart, who's a much tougher hitter against LHP and could give AJ some needed rest? Based on Miller's career offensive statistics, you'd have to give Stewart the edge. 3) Do you do the platoon with WISE or OWENS and Anderson or do you let Anderson play full-time??? Before last season, BA's numbers were pretty similar against righties and lefties. But he put up a 262/563/824 line in 2008. Wise and Owens put up similar numbers against RHP's career-wise (Wise...261/401/662 versus Owens' 323/320/644) but Wise really had a statistical anomaly of a year versus righties in 2008 (310/487/796). Or did he? Right now, you'd have to think Ozzie would go with the Anderson/Wise platoon in CF. No idea who would hit leadoff when Anderson was/is playing. 4) With 2B, it would seem Getz would get all of the AB's against RHP and Nix would make the team (KW has also said he prefers the idea of Nix on the bench with his approach and experience) and play against LHPers. The only "fly in the ointment" is Lillibridge. He gives you a better defensive SS than Getz or Betemit and also another option for leadoff, pinch-running and CF. I just don't know about his swing, confidence and mechanics at this point...I can't imagine it would get any better sitting on the bench. I think he needs to play everyday in Charlotte at SS and be ready to fill in at SS, 2B or CF, wherever needed. Getz can also play SS occasionally to give Ramirez a rest every once in a while, or you can stick Betemit there and take your chances defensively. Then the only questions left are 6 or 7 relievers and do Marquez/Richard/Carasco make the team or does Marquez go down to Charlotte as a starter with Richard as the 2nd lefty and swingman out of the pen...you'd have to say right now Marquez is your 6, Richard your 7 and Poreda your 8. It's also completely dependent on Contreras/Colon and what Cooper/KW/Ozzie decide is best for this season with Poreda, Marquez and Richard (probably two of them inserted into the Charlotte starting rotation). Obviously, they like Poreda's arm a lot, and you'd rather see another power righty (what Russell was supposed to be) instead of three lefties. It doesn't look like Russell, Jimenez, Wasserman, Nunez or German have distinguished themselves. We haven't even seen very much out of DJ Carasco, although the assumption by most is that he will be on the team...Broadway and Egbert continue to be longshots. I'd really like to see more out of Santeliz and Omogrosso. Link hasn't really stood out either, kind of an afterthought. Many were mentioning him as a candidate to make the team this spring but it doesn't look like it's happening.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Lin...381&Model=0 You guys will all have a lot of fun with this tool. The best line-up I could come up with produced 5.638 runs per game, or 913 over a full major league season. Probably the very best line-up that's also realistic for the White Sox is the one that produced 5.634 runs per game. 1. Beckham, SS (I projected him to .350 OBP and Alexei's .475 SLG from last year, still a fairly conservative .825 OPS) 2. Carlos Quentin, LF 3. Paul Konerko, 1B 4. Jermaine Dye, RF 5. Jim Thome, DH 6. Alexei Ramirez, CF (splitting up the two lefties with Alisay, although you could flip Fields and AJ I guess) 7. Josh Fields, 3B (based on average minor league numbers) 8. AJ Pierzynski, C 9. Chris Getz, 2B (based on average minor league numbers) Every formula I ran had the most runs scored with AJ and Getz as 8 and 9, bottom of the order. I compared line-ups with Nix and Getz (going off minor league numbers) and Getz always won by about 0.1 runs per game....not taking into account Nix's superior defense. Didn't bother with Lillibridge, I think he currently projects as the utility guy. One other interesting statistical finding: If you use their career MAJOR league numbers, Brian Anderson comes out with a SLIGHT advantage over Jerry Owens and both are about .02 ahead of Dewayne Wise. The advantage is even bigger if you use BA's minor league numbers, and, once again, doesn't take into account defensive ability, which would obviously favor Anderson as well. Play around and find a line-up that can beat mine...also, you can have fun putting in Figgins, Brian Roberts, Orlando Hudson, Furcal, Dunn, Abreu, etc. It's a pretty neat line-up tool and makes for interesting discussion. FINAL NOTE: For all the Brian Anderson fans out there, I did this for you. I VERY GENEROUSLY AVERAGED his major and minor league numbers (.3205 OBP, .4265 SLG, .747 OPS, Torii Hunter, Jr.) and put him out there with Alexei and Beckham in the middle infield BUT the Getz 2B, Beckham SS and Alexei in CF version still won 5.634-5.638 to 5.571 RPG. In order for BA/Beckham/Ramirez to win, he has to save/prevent 10 1/2 runs per season on defense compared to the Ramirez/Beckham/Getz version. I think you could make that argument, with Anderson over Alexei in CF, Ramirez over Beckham at SS and Beckham over Getz at 2B. That line-up, the one we've just begun to embrace as White Sox fans, would score 902.5 runs in a season. Of course, that's all predicated on BA getting a .747 OPS in everyday play against tough righties and not just favorable match-ups, which is FAR from a sure thing.

Well, that's essentially late 2nd round or early 3rd round, it doesn't really matter quite so much at that point. Look where we drafted Jordan Danks this past year. It's when you use a first round draft pick on a reliever...it's like taking a punter or placekicker in the first round of the NFL draft, even late in the first round. Brooks Raley, lhp/of, Texas A&M One of the nation's best two-way players, Raley entered the season with more buzz off the mound, where he emerged as the Aggies' Friday starter as a freshman last year. Now a draft-eligible sophomore, Raley has picked up where he left off a year ago, going 3-0, 2.50 with 16 strikeouts and seven walks over his first 18 innings. He has run his fastball up to 91 mph and shown a very good 81-83 mph slider and a 75-77 curveball. Raley's pitching stock continues to rise, but scouts are now strongly considering him as a position player as well. Raley's speed rates as a 70 or 80 on the 20-80 scale, according to an American League area scout who clocked him up the line in 3.63 seconds on a bunt recently. Those wheels help Raley cover plenty of ground in right field, and he's stolen seven bases in seven attempts through 11 games. He's also wearing out the gaps at the plate, batting .422/.480/.600 with six doubles in 45 at-bats. Mark Haddow, of, UC Santa Barbara The Gauchos are getting some offense from their solidly-built outfielder Mark Haddow. At an athletic 6-foot-2 and 215-pounds, Haddow has some big raw tools. On UCSB's scout day this fall, he ran a 6.69-second 60-yard dash, flashed an above-average arm and put on a show in batting practice. The draft-eligible sophomore didn't see a lot of action last season, but is off to an exciting start this year, hitting .387/.441/.677 with two doubles, two triples and a home run over his first 31 at-bats. He's also 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. If he maintains this type of production, he could vault himself into the top three rounds, ala Cal Poly's Grant Desme in 2007 (drafted 73rd overall by the A's) or Azusa Pacific's Kirk Nieuwenhuis last year (drafted 100th overall by the Mets).

FUTURE WHITE SOX LEADOFF HITTERS Kentrail Davis, OF, Univ. of Tennessee AJ Pollock, 2B/OF, Notre Dame Brett Jackson, OF, Univ. of California (Berkeley) Jared Mitchel, OF, LSU High Schoolers Brian Goodwin, OF, HS, North Carolina Jake Marisnick, OF, HS, California Levon Washington, OF/2B, HS, Florida Randal Grichuk, OF, HS, Texas Most likely picks around #24 in first round Kendal Volz (RHP), Mike Minor (LHP), Tanner Scheppers (RHP) most likely to be one of these three guys or Goodwin/Pollock, unless Davis or Donovan Tate (son of former UGA football star RB Lars Tate) fall way back in the draft or are seen as unsignable Austin Maddox ©, Josh Phegley ©, Matt Stassi © This all depends on Tyler Flowers' defensive development. Ben Tottle (RHRP), Jason Stoffle (RHRP) After Royce Ring disaster, not likely to go in this direction again of drafting a college reliever. The only other time we did that was with Josh Fogg, but that was with the idea of converting him to a starter out of Univ. of Florida.

Guillen also said Brent Lillibridge will get a look in center field. The natural shortstop has the speed suited for the leadoff spot. What about giving Beckham a shot in center? "I'm not going to say no comment, it's not my style," Guillen said. "I will keep plugging him out there and we will try and play him in different positions. I want to make this clear - I'm going to play this kid at shortstop, third base and second base, not because I want him to be the utility guy. He's too good. "I just want him to get at-bats and keep having the opportunity to open eyes. No matter where this kid plays he's got to play every day."[/i www.dailyherald.com (Gregor) But the other teams are messed up, too. Take the Nationals — please. They've been shut out 18 times; are spending more money on guys on the disabled list or released than those on the active roster; failed Friday to sign their No. 1 draft pick (No. 9 overall) and lost his rights; have the lowest television ratings in the majors, by far — reportedly, a mere 9,000 households a night are watching; and their GM, Jim Bowden, is reported to be under investigation by MLB and federal authorities in the Dominican money-skimming case. Other than that, a 44-78 record, and the .242 team batting average, things are going swimmingly in D.C. Now on to the Padres, described thusly this week by CBS Sportsline's Scott Miller: "The '08 Padres have been sabotaged by poor personnel decisions, underperforming players, injuries, a string of disastrous drafts and, most noticeably, a change in philosophy as general manager Kevin Towers' autonomy has eroded with CEO Sandy Alderson and special assistant Paul DePodesta taking more control of baseball decisions." Other than that, and the ugly divorce that owner John Moores is going through that might lead to a mass reduction in player payroll next year, and an offense that rivals Washington's for ineffectiveness, things are going swimmingly in San Diego. from Seattle Times

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox13.article Not quite sure why we're looking for FUTURE leadoff hitters when the problem is NOW!!!!!! We have Jordan Danks, Lillibridge, Beckham and Shelby III in the pipeline...not understanding why we're more concerned with 3-5 seasons from now at this point in spring training.

We have to play SOMEONE, but it certainly doesn't SOLVE anything.

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 11:10 PM) Wise at leadoff...ughhhhhhhhhhhhh....We went this path in the playoffs, and that worked out swell. (please note the sarcasim) It is staring them in the face, Gordon Beckham playing 2nd and leading off duh. Wise was the LEAST of our problems offensively in the playoffs last year, however, that's not a good reason to hit him leadoff. He almost single-handedly willed the White Sox to a win in one game if our pitching would actually have manned up in that series. If Anderson can't beat out Wise, trade Anderson. Ummm...for who/what? All three of them together in a package couldn't get up a Top 10-15 prospect from another team.

QUOTE (Felix @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 10:59 PM) BA, Owens, and Wise are all below average offensive players and there is no significant difference between them. So why wouldn't we start the one that has by far the best defense? It's mind boggling. Until this point, Ozzie insists he wants Getz at the bottom of the line-up for his rookie season. Who are you going to hit leadoff if Anderson is the best defender, which unquestionably he is...? We do know that he's been willing to try Beckham at leadoff in the ST games so far...so he's more open to that idea than Betz, but that's just our speculation and reading into comments of KW and Guillen to the media.

His minor league OBP over 12 seasons is .309. His major league percentage (468 at-bats) is .254. The White Sox have asked for someone, if she doesn't steal 30-50 bases, to have at least a .350 OBP. I suppose one could argue Wise would get you 25-40 steals over a full season, but it seems highly unlikely to happen at his age. Even his career minor league OPS of .731 is dubious. The problem is that Ozzie has said he doesn't want Getz there at leadoff (prefers him 8th or 9th)...we know Alexei isn't ready to be a leadoff hitter, so that leaves us with what? Owens Beckham Wise Anderson Lillibridge It's scary, but it keeps coming back to either Anderson/Wise platoon in CF with Wise leading off most of the time and god knows who when Wise isn't playing, or Alexei Ramirez moving to CF with Beckham (leading off) at SS and Getz/Nix platooning at 2B I don't like giving up Ramirez's bat from SS, but if the only options are the 3 we have, then it might need to be done. Either that or we have to give Jim Edmonds another go on his last legs. He had a .369 OBP and .937 OPS last year in 250 at-bats with the Cubs. IS THERE ANY CHANCE that ANY of Wise/Anderson/Owens or even Alexei Ramirez could do that? I don't think he could easily repeat that in the American League, but I think he could put up .340-.350 with an 800 OPS, and that's a LOT better than our options now. Scary/sad. At the very least, maybe Edmonds can buy KW 2-3 months until June/July to find a better option out there somewhere/somehow.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) I'll settle for Getz, but I'm holding out hope for Slayer - and the grooming of Getz to be the utility guy down the road - OR a move of Lexi to CF, and they all start. I understand Getz has played some SS - does he have the arm to also play 3rd? I think his arm strength (or lack thereof) and lack of range comes more into play at SS than 3B...I guess only Ozzie knows the answer that matters. FWI, Betemit has played over 10X more games at SS than Getz, but Betemit's two best positions right now are arguably 3B and 1B. Getz's experience there is more recent, however, in terms of playing all over the diamond, but over 80% of his career minor league games have been played at 2B. That leaves the big question of keeping Lillibridge (because he's the best suited for backing up SS) or Nix. If it's not Nix, then you're forced to play Getz or Lillibridge as the back-up at SS to Ramirez. And, of course, if Getz is the "regular" starter at 2B, you wouldn't want him playing all over the infield. Maybe a Nix/Getz platoon is what they're looking at right now...with Lillibridge in AAA.

Beckham almost hit one out to end the game....1 for 3, single, walk, run scored and flawless defense at shortstop. Made a couple of very good plays, including a very athletic leaping snag of an errant AJ Pierzynski throw (what new?) on a stolen base attempt. After today's game, he will continue to be a huge part of the conversation, Getz played well again today too. Fields banged an opposite field homer.

http://sportscomplex.blogs.citypaper.net/b...and-porn-stars/ Of course, on the Howard Stern radio show...you gotta love the name droppers!! My new babe of the week is ex Real World San Diego star Jamie Chung, even though she's obviously been "enhanced" since that show. She's in Dragonball, a new movie that came out here in Thailand was also on an ABC show called Samurai Girl. Not sure if she's hooked up with Derek Jeter yet. Not that Megan Fox and Freida Pinto are the available starlets, he'll have his choice.

And thus ends one of the worst seasons in the combined history of Iowa Hawkeye/ISU Cyclone BB ever...at least since I have been alive.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) Fixed. Your looking at caulfield's post about that same name way too long That's like the 2nd or 3rd time I have done that same thing. I don't know why I keep getting those two names mixed up...strange. Well, I guess my memory's still better than Melton's. He can't even remember Ross Gload.

Lubanski was another high draft choice that probably won't make it with the Royals. Dan Cortes will probably start the season in NW ARK (AA) or Omaha, might be used by the Royals this season, according to Dean Taylor (former Brewers' GM and another Braves' protege of Schuerholz).

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) There's nothing there to like. He's a good baserunner and pretty fast but that's all he's got going for him. I'd rather not have a below average defender with a .309 career minor league OBP anywhere in my lineup regardless of his baserunning prowess. He's never shown any sort of consistency against RHP in his career, there's no reason for me to believe he's going to start hitting them now. The whole reputation of Wise is based on 2-3 clutch homers in the second half of the seaon and in the playoffs. Overall, he was really "MEHHHHHH" statistically in August and September, it's just that Swisher was SO bad that Ozzie didn't feel he had any other choices against RH pitchers. KW's comments the last couple of days show that his "winging" it plan (which he and we and EVERYONE knew going in) isn't working at all...

Derek Robinson would have fit in well with those mid 80's Cardinals teams...as the 4th or 5th OFer.

Beckham has really had a nice game today. Excellent in the field, a single up the middle, a walk and a run scored. He continues to be the story of spring training...Wise (up until that last inning) and Fields will also get some attention. Wise, Lucy and Anderson not picking the Sox up last inning. Man, can't Anderson just come through with ONE big hit this spring besides a homer against an A-ball equivalent Australian pitcher??? Blue Jays' castoff Jimenez into the game. I thought he or Nunez had an outside shot at the final place in the pen...we haven't seen or heard much at all about DJ Carasco this spring, have we? A lot of attention has been on Marquez and Richard and even our Rutgers hurler, but I haven't listened to or seen a game that DJ got into...wonder if he pitched in one of those 3 B games? Former Pirates' first round draft pick JR House into the game at catcher. I think the bloom is coming off the Josh Kroeger rose a little bit today.

I think you can pretty much forget about German being anywhere close to this White Sox roster. German at 92 MPH is not the Franklyn German that debuted with a 96-100 MPH heater and a top a prospect. Charlotte/AAA filler bound. Doesn't seem like Teahen is going to be able to beat out Callaspo...that leaves him fighting for time with Butler, Jacobs, Guillen, Shealy, Crisp, Gload, DeJesus, etc., for playing time and at-bats. Beckham with a nice catch leaping into the air on a wild throw by AJ. Kroeger's defense described as "BRUTAL" at 1B by the KC Star writer Bob Dutton...Josh is definitely not having a good day today. The reverse blitzkrieg against German...that's what happens when you throw the straight 92-94 MPH Billy Koch fastball...you get tattooed like the Rolling Stones tour.

Big out for Wasserman, but I still think he's targeted for Charlotte. Hope Clayton's doing well. His alma mater destroyed my Hawkeyes in the B10 tourney, ugly game for Iowa. Wonder when they confirm if Barack Obama will be there at USCF on April 6th for Opening Day to throw out the first pitch? You know he won't go to a Nationals game instead.