caulfield12

His big area of vulnerability later in his career was "plus" stuff on the inside corner or just inside off the plate. Because he starting diving out so much to cover the outside half, he'd inevitably have to jump back and rung up quite a few K's that way...I think as he aged, he realized that he had to cheat a little to get an advantage (he never had Alexei Ramirez bat speed, his bat was always "slider" speed). He could just kill offspeed stuff...good guess hitter...and he could pulverize average or slightly above average FB's when he had the count in his favor, which was usually because of his incredible eye and mgmt of the strike zone.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 8, 2009 -> 01:39 AM) Lol, I would bet everything I own that Alomar gets in... for sure and probably first ballot. And I believe there was an article linking Bags to HGH/clear (can't remember) if I'm not mistaken. B-G-O... yea I love him (probably not as much as Alex though)... he's getting in I doubt he took anything, but I could be wrong. Bags, Piazza, I-Rod etc.. I don't see it. EDIT: Oh.. forgot... Todd Helton? When you think of Todd Helton, do you think HOF? I don't...I think Coors Field. I think you're just going to have to put up OVERWHELMING numbers playing the majority of your career games there. I know Bichette and Larry Walker didn't come close to having the numbers (Walker maybe) to be in the HOF discussion, but I'm thinking Helton will have a very difficult time making it. It's hard with I-Rod...because for most of his career, he was favorably compared with every catcher in the history of the game, coming out behind ONLY Johnny Bench to most "subjective" baseball writers/reporters. But the taint could stop both him and Piazza as well, two sure-fire HOF players about five years ago.

Definitely Vladimir Guerrero and Ichiro....and, as long as Jeter is clean (and he's not a power-based player, although his SLG shot up for awhile), he's first ballot. The question with Guerrero will be his health...if he at least puts up 2,500 hits, I think he'll be in for sure. Piazza is obviously under a huge cloud of suspicion...and there have always been doubts about I-Rod (not defensively, of course...but about his size and power/hitting). Billy Wagner? Don't think so....I think Smoltz is just a notch under Hall of Fame, too. I think Smoltz and/or Mussina will both get in eventually, but the cases are not clear-cut. Another player you don't hear much about is Bagwell (in terms of steroids rumors)...and Biggio will be there. It's hard to imagine, but Roberto Alomar might not make it (the spitting incident with Hirschbeck and the rapid fade to his career at the end), and ten years ago or so, you could argue that he was the best 2nd baseman ever...and have a legit case.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123360930255440715.html Very good article on lessons that can be culled from the Japanese "lost decade" and the spending stimulus plan they erected. Totally agree with the concerns about some of the recent cuts (by the Senate) having the most detrimental affect on the bill. I ALMOST wish they would just start over from scratch and dare the Republicans to come up with their bill that's not totally based on tax breaks. Tinkering around with the AMT....none of these things will get the economy going/consuming again, because the last tax refund ended up being applied to credit card debt, car loans, mortgages, home loans. It's GOOD, of course, that we (as individuals and as a country) start paying down our debts, but the stimulative effect of that is very minimal at best. How many Americans are going to rush out and invest in their businesses or buy stocks (how can you trust any segment of the economy right now?) Not very many...of course, the super-smart and richest always use these situations to their advantage, whether it's buying up foundering real estate for the future or running their competitors out of business, but the average/middle-class families are just hanging in there and fighting to get through the winter's heating bills and paying off Christmas purchases. But to summarize the WSJ article: 1) Don't build roads and bridges that are unnecessary, just to put people back to work...because there will be no long-term benefits 2) Do invest in education and health care, buildings, weatherizing/energy efficiency, "green jobs," technology, innovation, R&D, math and science In other words, invest in human capital...

Well...until anyone faces live pitching, I don't think we can make any determinations. I'd like to see how well he moves before we consign him to 1B/DH or possibly LF, but I'll continue to hold out hope he can play 3B or RF...although I imagine it might be more logical to move Quentin back to where he feels more comfortable. OTOH, have a nice/plus arm in LF and a better defender in RF might give our outfield defense (along with Anderson/Owens/Lillibridge in CF) something we haven't seen much of in recent years...an above-average defensive OF. I just don't get the sense yet (until we see him play) about his range/first-step quickness at 3B or about his ability to read fly balls. I'll remain hopeful that he can continue to turn baby fat into muscle and that we get something better than Miggy Cabrera defensively.

So who are the sure-fire Hall of Famers from this generation that are left? Thomas, Thome, Griffey and Manny Ramirez? Pujols, if he's clean. Randy Johnson, Maddux and Glavine, Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. Pedro Martinez. Mussina perhaps. So the next interesting question will be do Bonds and A-Rod ever get into the Hall of Fame?...Clemens, you could make a case he doesn't deserve it because of the career trajectory, but it will be interesting to see how things look with five or ten years' additional perspective.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 7, 2009 -> 07:18 AM) Well he isnt. And he hasnt been for a few years now. Right now, its the Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen crew thats dominating the comedy "market" look at Vince Vaughns last "big" movie, Four Christmases, before that Fred Claus. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. Look at everything Apatow has touched in the last 4 years, Superbad, 40 year old Virgin, Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, even Nick and Nora did pretty well. Those guys are the "hot" ones right now if anyone is. And you cannot count Will Ferrell out either, he is still a draw, Stepbrothers, Blades of Glory, Talladega Nights all did pretty well. Mike Myers must have had his funny bone removed Yeah, Michael Cera's career is really taking off after that movie and Juno. I think Drillbit Taylor and Dewey Cox/Walk Hard were reaching just a bit...but he's pretty much on top of Hollywood for the moment. With Will Ferrell (and I just saw Step Brothers), he just went once too often to the well with Jackie Moon: Semi-Pro. That same type of character can only be done so many times, although the Super Bowl beer commercials were still pretty much hilarious. And Reilly struggles if he has to carry a movie, he's much better as a sidekick, or a movie like Magnolia with some depth...I think he was pretty good in Chicago, too. Sometimes he overreaches, but not quite as much as Will Ferrell.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 7, 2009 -> 08:53 AM) No that I ever thought he was a great actor but what the heck happened to Brendan Fraser? If you want a "what happpened to?" thread, start one for Josh Harnett!!!! Brendan Fraser's making a ton of money....just this year, Inkheart (that's a flop) but also Journey to the Center of the Earth and the The Mummy series....which should never have been attempted without Rachel Weisz. That just ruined it for me. Still, despite the critical reviews, I think it ended up making money or basically not losing money either. I'm sure that will be the end of that particular role for him, though. At least for now...then he'll come back like Indiana Jones with a young son/sidekick. But they'll get Rachel Weisz to return and do a "reunion" movie of all the original cast, even Vosloo as Imhotep.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 7, 2009 -> 11:23 AM) I was thinking about this list of 100 players, and wasn't that when the Sox decided to not take the test? Thus, it would seem that anyone on the 2003 team likely won't show up on the list as testing positive. In all honesty, the only two players who would disappoint me if I saw them on any steroid list are Konerko and Buehrle. You wouldn't be upset if it turned out that Big Frank was using them? Looking back on that generation, I'd like to think that at least Griffey and Thomas weren't using. If they go down, what heroes do we have left? Ripken? Gwynn? Mattingly? Certainly not Puckett, with all the unfortunate things we've heard about his off-field issues.

The irony is that if you look at our expenditures over the last three years and compare that with 1) attendance and 2) wins, you'd have to agree we're getting a "so-so" return on our investment. However, if you factor in the fact that our average ticket prices, parking, concessions and souvenirs are close to the top in terms MLB rankings of cheap versus expensive...well, there's not much of a sensitivity to the plight of the fans, especially with the 11% increase for 2009. It's kind of strange, but you never hear KW say "our average payroll over the last three seasons was fifth in baseball..." You do see a few pretend-brave/courageous writers like Cowley bowing to JR, but that cheap label has been hard to get rid of since the White Flag trade, and because of the Bill Veeck Era before that. You have Albert Belle, David Wells, Navarro, keeping Buehrle/Konerko/Dye....spending a ton of money on Rodman, Pippen, Jordan, Hor. Grant, Kukoc and BJ Armstrong. But it's hard for fans to forget the way Fisk was treated, Black Jack McDowell, Ventura...Lance Johnson, Durham, Ordonez (of course KW never planned to keep him, regardless of the injuries), Carlos Lee, Rowand, Crede, etc. Then there was the nasty decade-long struggle with a diminishing Frank Thomas that lowered both sides in the process and was sad to watch. Yet our attendance was middle of the pack (mostly because of the nearly season-long disappointment of 2007) with all that money we spent, and the most successful year was the one in which we spent the least (05).

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 5, 2009 -> 07:28 PM) Again, you're basing his ability on the movies he's in. Once he can carry a boring movie, as Daniel Day-Lewis and Philip Seymour Hoffman did in There Will Be Blood and Doubt, respectively, then I might start thinking he's a very good actor. Disagree on PSH in Doubt. I think Meryl Streep and the scene with Viola Davis dominated that movie...I could even make an argument that Amy Adams was more interesting to me as the moral compass of the picture caught between the two poles. I kind of have a shifting opinion. I used to think Kevin Spacey was the best about 10 years ago. Maybe Denzel Washington. Now I'm not so sure who I'd pick. Russell Crowe is up there, but sometimes he's overrated, and more recently, it's impossible for him to satisfy anyone because people expect too much perhaps...like Tom Hanks about 5-7 years ago. I never liked Clint Eastwood for his politics, but I have a new appreciation after watching Gran Torino. It's interesting, there isn't really one big/huge Hollywood movie star left. Cruise and Pitt, and Will Smith...but Smith's last two movies have been critical disasters, Hancock and Seven Pounds. I guess it goes in stages...we had the mini-era of Ferrell, Sandler, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers on top. I do find it hard to accept Vince Vaughn as the new "go to" guy in comedy. Even actresses, hard to distinguish (Jessica Alba or Biel, etc.) Julie Roberts' absence changed the scene....Meg Ryan fell off the face of the earth, and Reese Witherspoon fell into a horrible slump of bad movie choices as well. Cameron Diaz has fallen off as well. That's why I am not surprised to Mall Cop do so well....that character, for an average, middle class/struggling American in flyover territory, seems relatable. Certainly better and more uplifting than subjecting yourself to Revolutionary Road or The Reader more than once. I showed Gran Torino to my Intercultural Issues class here in Thailand and almost everyone was crying and affected by the end of the story.

Nick Swisher and Blanton have to be in there somewhere. Grady Fuson has a pretty big part as well. And JP Ricciardi. I would pick Djimon Honsou for KW...just because!!! Although the comedian from SNL wouldn't be bad, either...

Nady seems like the more logical one to go...because he's a FA at the end of the year. I do think they would prefer to trade Swisher, since they don't seem to have much of a desire to play Nick in CF and 1B is a bit occupied again.

I'm very honored to be in last place, hahaha. Even if I took the desperate route of voting for myself, I'd still be in last place. Probably the Jessica Alba avatar counts for 2 of those votes alone! So I will nominate myself for a separate subcategory, Poster of the Year (Outside of the US)...since I only was able to see four White Sox games the entire year...the ALCD series against TB. Actually, to tell you the truth, it's pretty enjoyable to listen to the games on radio with Stone. It makes me feel like I back in the States, even though I might be in China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam or the Philippines at the time. Thanks for the nomination at least! Can I hire my own PR firm to help gather more votes, like all the film companies that have movies in the running for the Academy Awards? Where do I send my promotional disc of "greatest posts" of the year, lol?

On signing players like Quentin, Floyd, Danks, etc., to long-term extensions... "You are way, way too far ahead there," Williams told Merkin. "I have to look at how the Dow Jones did today and see the general state of the economy before we start committing large sums of money out there." Assitant GM Rick Hahn provided a more optimistic outlook, noting that multi-year contract talks don't typically take place in early February. "Historically, you talk about it in Spring Training, in a more relaxed atmosphere," Hahn said. "There has to be a meeting of the minds, with a willingness also on the part of the player and the agent." Has KW set the record for most comments about the economy/stock-market this offseason? It's getting a little tiresome now. It's one thing to acknowledge it as A BIG ISSUE but to be consumed with talking about it every day, that's not exactly a good way to motivate the fanbase. It would be better if he just said the market conditions are challenging for every team out there but the Yankees and Mets, and that the White Sox, like many teams, don't want to make any long-term commitments before we have a full grasp on when/if the economy might turn around...and what kind of actual losses teams might experience in 2009.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 5, 2009 -> 12:15 AM) Way to put that stupid ass fan in his place. I mean my god, we win a World Series for the first time in 10 zillion years partly because of Joe f***ing Crede and some moron gets up and cracks some stupid pun about getting rid of Crede and his being a "pain in the back." Good job KW. How soon some of us fans forget. He's also one of the few GM's who openly says he really doesn't care what the fans think about his moves/trades and whether they understand them or not...that he doesn't have to answer to bloggers, fanboys, SABR club stat geeks or anyone else but JR. Of course, it's a lot easier to do that with a WS championship so recently in the rearview window. I find it pretty hilarious that he now always prefaces his comments with something like "I really don't have time to answer every blog or Internet rumor" but he still inevitably will make a comment when situations reach "critical mass" in terms of speculation (like the Dye/Bailey rumors week).

If Denard Span is a question mark, then definitely, so is Alexei Ramirez...Carlos Quentin, John Danks and Gavin Floyd. Are you saying he's not certain because he is due for a sophomore slump? If if anything's uncertain with the Twins: 1) Whether Liriano will regain his devastating stuff from 2006 2) Whether Slowey and Baker can repeat 3) Which pitchers are Perkins and Blackburn, the first or second half versions? 4) Can they get away with Punto at SS everyday, and Buscher/Harris at 3B (no upgrades as of yet) 5) Can Mauer stay healthy? 6) Will the real D. Young please stand up...and why are there even rumors about trading him for Clement and Washburn? 7) Where can they stick Cuddyer, or will they have to trade him? 8) Is Carlos Gomez ever going to come close to a .750 OPS? 9) What can they expect from the RH set-up men when they've yet to address the failings of Crain and Guerrier down the stretch? 10) Is Joe Nathan actually vulnerable/human for the first time in his career as a closer?

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 02:50 AM) Doubt it. He has lips on his latex mask. That's nipples on Batman-level bad. It will be Van Helsing-bad. And my prediction is........ so will Star Trek. At least the vampires were hot in Van Helsing! Star Trek remake conjures up images of the Dumb and Dumber remake with younger actors....or Dukes of Hazzard. I think Starship Troopers even beats those.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) It looks like the thread on mlbtr has been downsized but someone was suggesting some outrageous deal for Washburn. People think Sox fans have pipe dreams but this guy was talking a Delmon Young or Carlos Quentin for him. One of the funnier things I've ever seen. Anywho, out of that list I'd peg Sheets, Pedro, Marti and Mulder as targets. Not sure what is available in the trade circles but I can't imagine much. If the Mariners are another team seeking a bat, along with (Cin, LAD, LAA, SF) then I wouldn't mind taking a risk on a guy like Bedard. I know Seattle has interest in Abreu so I doubt they'd bite but if Abreu signs here, they don't have much of a choice. I think they'd want any of the three (Dye, Thome, Konerko). If not obviously Bailey/Adenhart/Figgins/Jon Sanchez would be other targets from those teams. I hope there is something positive which comes out of this. If not positive, at least something exciting. Guess it depends on Cooper's thinking...lots of rumors about Bedard's work ethic and coachability are out there, although you could say the same thing about many pitchers we've looked at in the past. For every "Cooper will fix him" comment, there's the likes of Masset, Sisco, Aardsma and many others that are counter-points. Still, if the talent's there (like with Thornton/Contreras/Danks/Floyd), then I trust Cooper as much, if not more, than any other major league pitching coach to maximize the ability and translate it into results. I think Mulder, with his Chicago roots and his even higher reward/low risk pricetag, would be an appealing get, although Bedard obviously can have much nastier stuff. Supposedly, Mulder has really been working on his arm angle/slot all off-season, and that's seen as the determining factor about whether he can be an above-average pitcher again.

Do you really think Jenks could jump to that high a number in 2010? From between $5-6 million this year...I know Ryan Howard got a ton of money, but I can't imagine the White Sox having much interest in paying any closer $10 million per season. I would think $7-9 million would be more realistic, but I haven't studied recent jumps from year 4 to year 5 and year 5 to year 6 in recent arbitration decisions (in terms of the numbers expected)...and how, if any, the current economic climate will affect the arbitration process as well.

Does MLB include those signing bonus numbers in their payrolls though, in terms of the official numbers? I mean, Beckham's arguably closer to the big leagues than Viciedo and is 3 years older, and yet I've never heard of a player from the draft having his signing bonus included in the payroll the following season. I guess it doesn't matter, if KW considers Viciedo to be making $5 million this year and to be essentially replacing Swisher...but then that money for 2010/11/12 would definitely shrink, along with losing Thome, Contreras, Dye and then Konerko the following year. That's $45-50 million for those four players, or half our current payroll.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 09:09 PM) Well the Sox are responsible for $98,125,000 for the 2009 season at this time and that's only 15 players, 14 of which will be ready for opening day so you can add on another 11 players at a total of about $4.75M to make that number $102,875,000 heading into opening day. I can't imagine they have much more money to spend at this time, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Does that include Viciedo's signing bonus or just his base salary for 2009? Has anyone confirmed if we are getting any money from the Phillies for Thome (supposedly $5-6 million, the infamous "handshake" agreement with Gillick) and/or if we have any insurance for Contreras (although it looks like he COULD be back as early as May and that would negate the insurance payout)??? I noticed that Jenks' one-year salary hasn't been added to the payroll resource. So that's included in the $98 million as well...? And I'm assuming nothing about the relocation/Tucson/ST payout either, logically...even though it could be yet another factor in the overall bottom line.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 08:56 PM) Really curious who this mysterious pitcher is. And I know this has essentially been the slowest moving offseason ever, but why now? Glavine (doubtful) Rogers (same) Mulder (maybe) Looper Yadel Marti Sheets R. Wolf Pedro Martinez K. Benson (doubtful) Paul Byrd

According to John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intellegencer, the Twins have "some interest" in dealing for left-hander Jarrod Washburn. Hickey writes that the Mariners and Twins discussed a deal last week that would have sent Washburn and catcher Jeff Clement to Minnesota for 23-year-old outfielder Delmon Young. It's not known whether that particular deal fell through, but it's likely. The pieces just don't seem to fit. Washburn, 34, went 5-14 last season with a 4.69 ERA and the Twins already have a young, All-Star catcher. mlbtraderumors.com This is a real head-scratcher. The Twins already have five young starting pitchers. Why would they take on Washburn's huge/ugly contract, which is almost as bad as that for Silva? Unless they really, really want to get rid of D. Young (and that would be coming from Gardenhire obviously). I can see a trade of Beltre for Perkins/Blackburn and a second-tier prospect (or someone like Buscher, Tolbert or Harris to replace Bloomquist). This one is makes very little sense. Unless they see something in Clement nobody else does. But you can't move Mauer to 1B and Morneau to DH because Mauer's still pretty young and that would leave them with Kubel (essentially a DH with his knee problems), Cuddyer, Span and Gomez fighting for 3 spots. Bottom line, many teams would be able to put together a more attractive package for D. Young than a superfluous, aging veteran pitcher in Washburn who's not even going to improve them and will provide them even less financial flexibility moving forward. For that contract, you could have Dunn, Abreu and/or Hudson, maybe even two of them when it gets even closer to spring training.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 07:10 PM) Why don't you look at that roster and tell me who can run? That was a full ten years after Mantle blew out his knee in the 1951 WS thanks to DiMaggio calling him off too late on Mays fly ball, and he got caught on a sprinkler head. No doubt, Mantle or Bo Jackson were probably the greatest athletes of their generations...and if Mantle hadn't abused his body so much, who knows what he could have accomplished in terms of overall numbers.