caulfield12

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.

Pavano has given up 5 runs so far and only recorded one out. Go Brandon McCarthy!!!

Does chat work here anymore? Was in the room last night but link isn't working right now?

Anderson would start against Liriano or Perkins...I know we're facing Liriano Saturday. Unfortunately I think Perkins is going today and RA Dickey tomorrow or Brian would have had two starts. If Wise takes yet another 0 for 3/4, then I still think Brian will be in there, because Dickey's the type of pitcher it doesn't really matter whether he's right or left-handed. Porcello 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's so far today, leading 2-1 over TOR

Wonder if Pedro Martinez, Edmonds, Mulder or Frank Thomas will play at all this season? I would be really surprised if Martinez didn't pitch again, but I think Thomas is pretty much done.

Well, if you see Anderson NOT playing against a lefty, you can ask that question...and it would be a valid one. If Wise continues to struggle against RHP, Ozzie might not have much of a choice. There's absolutely no reason to trade BA...he's our only insurance for Wise failing, which is 90% likely. Do we want Josh Kroeger in CF? I hope that doesn't happen, as well as Kroeger hit this spring, he might be worse than Mackowiak out there in CF. Betemit was one of our most dangerous hitters in the spring and nobody's asking Ozzie to bench him for Betemit against tough righties like Greinke. Just give things a couple of weeks to shake out...even less if Wise continues to take O fers and stab at bunts.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...30404&imw=Y Shelton was with the M's this spring fighting with Russell Branyan for playing time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmI5...o&type=lgns 10 most improbable players to make OD rosters...Corky Miller at #5.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=284666 Early review of Rogen cop comedy with high marks (careful, some spoilers in review)... http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20270917,00.html Looks like we'll be hearing even more about Mr. Rogen, the new Jack Black or "white/chubby/cuddly" Wil Smith.

So, to sum up our division so far: 1) Royals are improved offensively in terms of their everyday line-up 2) Lee and Carmona got rocked, but it's hard to really measure any ballclub that's playing on the fast track in Arlington, even in April 3) Tigers' bullpen will be shaky all year with Lyon/Zumaya/Rodney, but Miner and Edwin Jackson have pitched lights out 4) Twins are still the same old annoying/pesky Twins at home

I think the only way we can judge the changes KW has made (offensively) from last year to this year is to do what he says and look at 1-2 and 8-9 in the order. Of course, the problem is you'd prefer to get Fields AND Ramirez more ab's than the top 2, not less...obviously more than Wise. Obviously Ramirez and Wise aren't hitting, but Getz and Fields have looked like they belong and bring more athleticism to the line-up. The next threads to pop up will be "What's wrong with TCQ?" or "Was last year a career year for Alexei?" if we lose again today and they continue to struggle. I wonder if Hawk bringing up the whole "one year timeline" for CQ to be 100% healthwise that they're already preparing to trot out that excuse across the board for this season? http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,7962255.story Wow Walk, I guess you have no choice but to support all your players, but you're going to look very silly in retrospect. "To be honest with you, I don't like a couple of his (last) at-bats," Guillen said. "I don't think he wants to strike out. I want him to be aggressive. There are a lot of guys in the big leagues who struggle right now. But I can see he's trying to feel for the ball, trying to make contact. A strikeout is not the best way to approach as a hitter, but a ground ball is an out, too." Already throwing Wise under the bus, nice Ozzie...if baseball is 90% mental, there's just no way Wise is going to succeed putting this much pressure on himself. He'll become another Quentin or Konerko. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox09.article Even more quotes on the leadoff situation, Ozzie's stubborn nature and the early booing of Wise. ''I don't think that's this kid's fault about leading off,'' Guillen continued. ''It's my fault. I take responsibility for it ... I would rather they boo me.'' Wise wisely agreed with his manager. “I don’t want to say I’m trying not to strike out,” said Wise, who has 4 Ks in 8 ABs. “I’ll say I haven’t been aggressive. I think I’m kind of caught in between. Being the leadoff guy, the object is to get on base. So I think I’m feeling for the ball rather than just swinging.”

Another idea would be Nate McLouth...but that would come at a very heavy price to our minor league organizational depth, as we would be trading out of severe desperation. Thought this was kind of funny: Ryan Sweeney is a very good athlete who should hit for more power than he does, but his swing isn't geared for tapping into his raw ability, and he may wind up being just a guy who struggles to hit 10 homers at the big-league level because of the lack of loft in his stroke. He hit .286 last year despite battling a bunch of hand and wrist problems, so perhaps a little more health will create a little more pop, but don't bet on it. He doesn't hit lefties well at all, but he should continue to have part of the center-field job in at least the better side of a platoon arrangement. www.espn.com

Alexei is now pronounced KOOBAHNO.

Same line-up for the White Sox today as yesterday...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp...=4&sort=avg Fun facts, BA and D. Wise are both 1 for 1 (1.000) lifetime against Greinke. The only players in our line-up that have really struggled with him are Konerko, Ramirez (1 for 9) and Fields (0 for 5). You really can't take Josh Fields out of the line-up already because Wilson Betemit is 1/2 against him...and Josh is 100% healthy now.

It's just too bad Jordan Danks doesn't have a full season under his belt...so that he could be a part of the conversation. There's just no way they can jump him that quickly to have an impact this year, could they?

I thought you were referring to a menage a trois with Alan Arkin, lol... Emily Blunt is a cutie, though. I always gets Isla Fisher and Amy Adams confused for some reason. Saw Monsters vs. Aliens (with the 3D glasses) and I Love You, Man and really enjoyed both of them...the Rudd movie makes you almost uncomfortable with its many cringe-worthy moments, but that's the whole point, that there are lots of people like that in real life that are socially akward and kind of misfits in a way.

But a lot of that high AVG with RISP is directly related to Mauer and Torii Hunter, correct? Just guessing...

QUOTE (TheHolyBovine @ Apr 8, 2009 -> 03:31 PM) We're on page 8, so I would say that people have opinions on this topic. Isn't that the point of a message board? Is there an approved list of topics we can talk about? I think there are several points to this thread: a) People are pissed about the CF situation (deservedly so) B) Many potential acquisitions exist that would at least temporarily solve the problem (including Dukes) CF has been a problem for this team FOR YEARS. KW's insistence that we "can't afford" a CF, either financially or in the players it would take to acquire such a player, is complete bulls***. The truth is, they have been counting on Ownes to take over the job for years, and cannot publically admit that their player evaluation skills were abysmal in this case. Well, there's a couple of other theories...1) Lillibridge would/could evolve into the leadoff hitter and CFer and 2) they could muddle through the first half of the season and wait for Beckham to come up, putting Ramirez in CF (although Ramirez looks like he's becoming more and more comfortable at SS) and 3) the asking price and/or available options like Pierre or Mathews, Jr., weren't viable

Something like Nunez/Santeliz/Omogrosso AND Broadway/Egbert/Marquez/Ely...along those lines. Actually, that seems to be TOO much to give up for Willits. I wouldn't mind giving up those starters, but I think Santeliz and Omogrosso should be retained if at all possible to see what they can do...not to mention the fact that odds are Carasco or MacDougal will need to be replaced this season due to non-performance.

Someone like Frank Catalanotto five years ago would have been perfect, if he could actually play CF adequately. That's the problem...there are a lot of corner outfielders that can give you decent numbers offensively, but the combination of the range and defensive ability AND the 350+ OBP is much harder to come by. It doesn't even have to be a player with blinding speed (and BA definitely isn't that), but then the leadoff issue comes up in combination, we've been talking about this over and over and over again for months with no easy solutions. I'm sure that quote was taken out of context...and made to look more dramatic. It was probably something along the lines of he was the best of the FEW/LIMITED options immediately available and they weren't ready to move Getz up until he got his feet under him and a little confidence to start the season.

Wise failure (inevitable)=200-250 at-bats for Anderson and playing 80% of the time that's going to be enough to get a good read before the end of July as far as which directiion KW has to go (and also what to do with Beckham and Ramirez as well)