caulfield12

If you ask most baseball scholars and reporters/media, they would take Jim Thome for the Hall of Fame over Edgar Martinez. Having said that, Edgar SHOULD make it, if not on the first ballot, sometime in the next 2-3 years. And Bonds won't ever make it in...in fact, all the inflated HR numbers has made it a bit more difficult for some of the other players who weren't accused of cheating, like a Jeff Bagwell, to make it. It's so difficult to know who was doing what, exactly. At any rate, Edgar was a professional hitter in the same way Harold Baines was, but NOT a slugger. Thome's in a different category.

You can forget about Hamilton or Cruz unless you want to give up one of our Top 3 starting pitchers in return or a huge minor league package that involves 2-3 of our Top 10-15 prospects...Hamilton is probably untouchable. Byrd, maybe...but how much of his offensive output (or Milton Bradley, or Michael Young) is due to playing in Texas? Byrd struggled for many seasons (kind of like GMJ) and then seemed to find himself the last year or so, but that doesn't mean it would automatically translate to USCF. I think we need to wait at least 6-8 weeks to see what we can come up with internally. At that point, some of the teams (like the Padres, Nationals, Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners, etc.) will be dropping out of their races, suffering lowered attendance/economic problems and looking to dump payroll. Players like Jody Gerut will be available right now, but if we can only hold on til May 15th through June 1st in the ALCD race, then KW will have to leeway/flexibility to make a move hopefully. At least CLE and DET didn't get off to hot starts, we can be thankful for that. If we just take 2/3 from the Twins, we should be in decent shape.

Funny cartoon...they should also have a "?" for leadoff hitter, just to make it completely accurate. And maybe Brian Anderson's cute "Greatest American Hero" head asking "Can I play, too?" with a cartoon bubble. As for Thome, when he does hit to the opposite field with power, 70-80% of the time it's a home run to LCF. There's just no way you can change the aggressive nature of a hitter like that who swings at 100% every time and turn him into Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Ichiro or Luis Polonia, flipping soft liners into LCF. Then everyone would be saying why are we paying a DH $13 million to have a 775-825 OPS and drive in 65-75 runs?

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/42...UqCP:iUiacyKUUr Good recap of the White Sox/Twins rivalry over this decade. A bit confusing, this article says Blackburn will get the start Saturday (FOX game), but it really should be Dickey/Liriano/Blackburn. Guess we'll have to wait and see. One of the articles said they will try to "mess" with Crede by playing nostalgic songs (please, no Journey!) prior to his AB's. Should be fun, plus his position is right in front of the Sox dugout and of course AJ will mess with him every time up to bat. In his first four games with the Twins, Crede is batting .188 (3-for-15). HE CAN SUSPEND THE LAWS OF MATHEMATICS EVEN!! "It's going to be interesting to see Joe," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who played with Minnesota from 1998-2003. "I'm one of the few people on this team that's actually played against him in a different uniform. "It was the other way around, so it's going to be interesting to see. I don't think red looks so good on him though." The White Sox are planning a video tribute for Crede before Friday night's game. dailyherald.com

Andy Gonzalez actually made an opening day roster, too. Should we bring him back? The problem with Sweeney is that he's still a platoon player, essentially. He would just be taking the spot of Wise...but he doesn't have quite the range to make up for having to cover for Dye in RF and a little bit for Quentin LF. If Sweeney can come close to posting an 800 OPS for the season, then there's a discussion to be had...or if BA can post a 740 OPS, it would be about the same because of all the balls he'll get to that Sweeney can't in CF. Hawk was right about the Twins and Rays outfields. When you have a CF like Gomez or Upton that can track down almost anything in the gaps, it really allows your corner outfielders to hug the lines, as the Twins do with Span/Cuddyer and Young/Kubel. Of course, Span is almost as athletic defensively as Gomez, same thing w/ Crawford paired with BJ Upton.

If Josh Fields continues to play as well as he is, it really doesn't make as much sense to keep Viciedo at 3B. Viciedo would be most valuable as a major league 3B, but our holes in the next couple of season are going to be RF or LF, 1B and DH. It's okay to let him play there for at least 3-4 months and see what they have (as an infielder), but I think they should let him play one of the corner outfield positions occasionally at some point down the line...it's not like we would be sticking him into LF like they had to do with Josh Fields at the major league level with almost no preparation (but working a little bit with the coaching staff and pregame drills). Allen is better suited for playing 1B (at least average defensively), so, depending on where they see Quentin eventually (and logically, that's RF)...giving Dayan some PT in LF would be interesting. Also, I see where Shelby is hitting leadoff and playing CF (same as Jordan Danks)...hopefully one of those guys really explodes and can make an impact this season so we don't have to make a trade out of desperation. Still, not an ideal scenario for a rookie (same as Getz, I guess, but with even less experience) to be brought into up in Chicago. Hopefully Chris can hold his own this season...Josh Fields and Alexei Ramirez would seem to be the only 2 alternatives, and both of those ideas are huge reaches.

Really more excited about the future of the White Sox than the current team. Of course I will watch all the big league team's games that I can, but it's more fun to think about putting all the pieces together of a much different team that has the potential to win another World Series. And that BIRM team, if it stays intact for at least 3-4 months...is going to put up some insane offensive statistics. With our dead-in-the-water offense up north, we all need something to give us some hopefulness. Having the Twins come into town will bring out the best in our team (at home) as it usually does. Even though the Royals are BETTER, they're just not really a rival of ours in the same way the MIN and CLE and sometimes DET are/is.

The next problem comes Saturday when the Twins start left-hander Francisco Liriano. Getz bats left-handed, and Brian Anderson will start in center field in place of Wise. "I might lead off Josh Fields," Guillen said. "Josh Fields is not a typical leadoff guy, but he will get on base and will give you good at-bats." tribune.com/sports

If you remember, Davies owned us the last two times he pitched against us in 2008, when we REALLY needed to win those games in the heat of a pennant race and couldn't come through. He has good stuff and he's only 25, it's just that he put too much pressure on himself and too much was expected of him at an early age with all those Braves' veterans around, he just didn't handle things well. It's hard for young pitchers to come up and perform as rookies when their teams are under pressure year after year to contend or be in 1st place (we've seen the affect of this with breaking in White Sox prospects, 2007 was the only year we could just be really patient, we had no other choice and no other options besides A. Gonzalez and Wasserman). Now if we had looked like this against Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez, there might be a few more reasons to be concerned. As far as Quentin and Ramirez go...they're both stuck in-between. They're cheating to get a head start on the fastball but way too overanxious to put a curveball in play. Same thing with Wise. It's not a question of bat speed with Alexei certainly, it's just that they're both going through some tough times mentally. Instead of swinging freely, they look like they're guiding or feeling with the bat instead of taking normal swings (especially Wise).

We're seeing Beckham, that means Ramirez or Getz are going to be benched and/or Ramirez is moving to CF. Moving Ramirez when he seems to be really getting comfortable out there just seems to be a mistake...and the temptation is so strong if Anderson (and I know we can't base anything on one PHing appearance) and Wise continue to flail around at the dish. Realistically, they need to give BA a good 6-8 weeks of everyday at-bats in CF before they make that move. Otherwise, the only thing I see happening is Getz really struggling at leadoff and trying too hard (just like Wise) and getting out of his normal game in order to be something he might not be. Hopefully, he won't be trying to steal a ton of bases either, just because he is leading off, because I can't imagine his success ratio would be much higher than 65-70%.

Well, look at the first game....Fields bunted and was successful. We're starting to mix in the type of players (Lillibridge, Getz, Fields) who can run a bit or at least not clog up the basepaths. When Ramirez and Quentin get their strokes back, the offense will have an entirely different feel and look. Everyone knows Dye is getting older...he just doesn't have much range (more like a Frigidaire) anymore in RF. Our weaknesses are pretty glaring and obvious, like holding on runners and/or AJ throwing anyone out. Guillen is just not a basestealer...and it was a bang-bang play, even if Ramirez came up with the throw and made the tag simultaneously. I think from KW's perspective, they are now looking at Shelby and/or Danks as the future CFer and leadoff man, but they're going to have to come up with a "band-aid" solution to get us through 2009. AJ batting 2nd isn't ideal, either. Of course, there will be cries and uproar every night that Mr. Beckham goes 4/6 and drives in the winning run for him to be recalled to liven up the offense.

Well, they were making a big deal out of Obama "bowing" on his trip to Europe/Turkey/Iraq. Even Gartrell has a lot of upside/ability...this is definitely the best White Sox minor league team in years. Omogrosso and Poreda can make a contribution this year to the big league club, and Santeliz...perhaps Ely or Cassel. Not the best of starts. Bases loaded and no outs. 2B, HBP and BB. First error of approximately 30-45 on Beckham this year...threw a double play relay into the dirt and Allen couldn't handle it. 2-0 Lookouts.

Man, the political talk radio from "Down South" (BIRM and CHATT) is getting really, really scary. I don't know if I am more afraid of a depression/stagflation or another Oklahoma City bombing. I think the Barons 1-6 might become better than the White Sox 1-6 at some point this season... Shelby (now playing CF), Beckham (SS), Flowers, Allen, Cook and Viciedo (3B) are going to put up some huge offensive numbers this season.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 9, 2009 -> 04:48 PM) Yeah, Charlotte's rather impotent lineup got "Hanson-ed" today. Not pretty. - Braves' uber-prospect Tommy Hanson toyed with us... while polishing up his resume before his promotion to MLB. - 10 K's in 4.1 innings. Here's another way to look at it... he struck out 10 of the 19 batters he faced. Meanwhile, on our side... - JVB wasn't too bad. 5 innings: gave up 3 runs on 2 hits; struck out 6 and walked only 2. - Egbert, Link, and Williams didn't do him any favors in relief. - Miguel Negron did his best Dewayne Wise impersonation: 0-4 with 3 K's while leading off and playing CF. Box Score Jordan Schafer looks like the real deal, he already has 2 homers for the Braves... Jerry Owens? Guess he didn't play. I'm a bit surprised that someone like Restovich would get playing time over Owens, or Kroeger for that matter, unless they've given up completely on JO. I also don't know why they didn't give Armstrong and Link much of a look, but MacDougal and Carrasco both won't last the entire season. 3B Castillo is the only player (position-wise) from the Knights roster who actually held his own this spring, along with Kroeger. Salvador Sanchez just blasted a homer for the Purple Phallus.

I found the Chattanooga (Dodgers) radio feed, but is there one for BIRM? AHA...starting at 705 cst. Jordan Danks K'ed in his first AB for the DASH. Paiml batting second.

"REAL" WHITE SOX HITTERS (Omogrosso) v. CHATTANGA Thought I would start a game thread here...can listen to the game (audio) link from the Barons' home page. Don't have that minor league tv package. Has anyone ever subscribed to that? http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t247

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 9, 2009 -> 03:18 PM) Nothing like Betemit staring at the good pitches and swinging at the bad ones. Well, it's hard to sit on the bench for 27 innings in cold April weather and then hit off one of the five best closers in baseball. The odds are not with Betemit...and we got lucky that Gordon muffed Ramirez's dribbler anyway. Considering we only led for an inning or so in 3 games, we're pretty fortunate we didn't get swept, no matter what Hawk says. It would have been interesting to see if we could have scored had that dropped ball at 2B not been called an out, that was ridonkulous. At least there was a glimmer of hope with Quentin finally ripping a ball into the gap, that was encouraging.

Wow...those were uglier than Wise swings. The second strike was a very generous call, but that's the definition of an in-between swing on strike 3.

The problem is a really good ML RFer has a a very good shot at that ball...JD wasn't every close.

It seems like every one of our baserunners has been out this series...and every one of theirs has been safe. It would be almost incredible if we managed to take 2/3 in this series. Guess we'll see MacDougal now?

This year always seemed like it could become a developmental/bridge year, unfortunately. OTOH, it seems if we had someone like CoCo Crisp in CF, then we might even be the favorites to win the division...we're just a player short. This is nothing new though...we've seen the same thing in Chicago for nearly a decade. It's just that the names have changed from Thomas/Lee/Ordonez/Valentin/Durham to what we have now. But same inconsistent approach, same 3 run HR offense, corpseball, whatever you wish to call it.

Well...the plus here is that Buehrle and Danks were way off their A games and the pitching has still really held up well. Of course, the question is Contreras and Colon, and what we'll get out of them and for how long. The hitting will come around when it heats up, this is typical of Chicago Aprils. I think the adrenaline will kick in when the Piranhas are in town. And the defense has been very solid, with the exception of a couple of lazy throws by Fields today.

It will be amazing how different our offense will feel and look when you add Beckham, Allen, Viciedo and Flowers. But we have to wait through at least 3 more months of this. Uh-oh...Cuddyer walked to lead off 9th. I don't even want to see what happens. That's four walks for Morrow in the 9th inning this week. That's not so good.

Danks is usually okay, but Floyd, Jose and Jenks REALLY need to work on holding runners close to the base, quick-steps, pick-off moves... The ball that hit Gordon was a FB that just kept bearing inside and hit him on the elbow, but Gordon didn't make much of an effort to get out of the way, either. I wonder if that was payback for CQ yesterday?

Not enough fans there to have much audible booing... Oh, no...Hawk with the 52-53 foot hitter comments.