caulfield12

Not sure about being selfish...I know the organization really pushed Pods (post ASB 05) and Willie Harris (another example) to be more aggressive with their speed and utilize it on the basepaths, but both became hesitant. I think the same thing was happening with Owens early in ST, he was getting thrown out over and over again and started to lose his aggressiveness. That's his biggest weapon. I still think MacDougal might end up having a bigger role in this season than many expect. Definitely the line-up depends on Quentin...and probably getting an injection at some point from Beckham, Viciedo or a mid-season move from KW. We have the luxury this season of taking on some salary we didn't have in past years from what we've been led to believe. Everyone keeps talking about Lillibridge, Corky, Williams....but I think those concerns are overplayed. Williams likely won't make the team because they will take Richard as the 2nd left and people will at least enjoy Miller's defense...he would be the 2009 equivalent of Brian Anderson's 2006 campaign in limited dosages. I think Colon will be better than expected and Contreras about .500 with 150 IP and a 4.50 or so ERA (a little like Javy minus the IP numbers and fewer K's, unless he really gets that forkball/FB combination of his rolling again). Contreras was actually very good the first two months of the season, then he kind of lost his confidence and I think he was also trying to pitch through pain as usual.

They're actually short one reliever in their pen...the Japanese pitcher (Koboyashi or something like that) who was so good for them in the first half has been a disaster to the point where they had to shut him down and there are still big-time concerns about him this spring. Sowers was once considered a pretty high level prospect. Zach Jackson didn't do well in ST, but Lewis was really solid last year....compare his stats with Clayton Richard, although hopefully we can manage not to overexpose CR by keeping him in the bullpen and not having him face line-ups 2 or 3 times in one game. Westbrook should also be coming back at mid-season, and Laffey's in the picture. too. Haven't seen enough of Huff to make an informed decision about his abilities.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 26, 2009 -> 03:32 PM) Nope, tried to take 2nd on a wild pitch. Along with leading the Cactus League in errors, we must have at least 15 (probably more) "mental errors" on the basepaths this spring, and we can't blame the minor leaguers for most of them (not to mention the horrible success rate on steals). Being aggressive is one thing...but the White Sox have run themselves out of countless innings this spring. Hopefully it won't carry over into the regular season. At least Marquez is starting some sort of streak of giving up runs every appearance...I think his days are now numbered as well, just like Poreda (despite him being KW's "prize catch" of the off-season, along with Viciedo and Flowers).

For some reason, I thought he was like Bret Saberhagen and always did well every other year...at any rate, Konerko is definitely due for one last solid .280-30-100 season in his career with a .375 OBP and .525 SLG at least.

A lot to overcome....potentially the worst defensive team (replacing CLE) in the division, the worst baserunning (certainly the slowest) and then the complete lack of fundamentals. At least Getz has been a bright light so far, and hopefully Konerko can follow-up his hot start and approach of focusing on hitting the ball up the middle and to the right side into a good April/May start. Isn't he due for a nice season, it's an odd year? Don't tell me Thome got thrown out too trying to stretch his hit into a double? That looks a lot like the last few seasons, 3 hits and one run in an inning.

Obviously, if Wise fails and Owens is no longer viewed as a viable option, then they'll have no other choice but to play Anderson everyday (or prematurely give up on Ramirez at SS and bring up Beckham, which seems as likely as Betemit playing CF instead of Wise). It seems everyone has been waiting for that for the last 2-3 years, just like Sox fans patiently waited for KW to admit that Aaron Rowand might be more than a fourth outfielder. Now I'm not going to dare to project Aaron Rowand's numbers from 04-08 on Brian Anderson for his next five seasons, but we just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. There's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure on both Wise and Anderson if they are hitting in the leadoff spot. If the team struggles out of the box and they are forced to go to Getz, that puts even more pressure on Getz than there would be if they just started batting him there now. Unfortunately, it seems that they're being set up for failure. OTOH, the organization has really babied Anderson along the last couple of seasons hoping he matures and gets some more confidence up at the plate. He'll have nobody but himself to blame if he hits .225 this season.

I don't see Chris Getz being transitioned to CF. We already know Lillibridge could end up there, because of the presence of Beckham, Betemit, Getz, Nix, etc. I just don't see Getz having the type of range, athleticism, range and instincts to play that position. He is very challenged to play SS...he can do it adequately and better than Betemit, who has five seasons' worth of time there, but putting Getz between two slower/limited corner outfielders make about as much sense as putting Beckham at the same position. Actually, and I'm just guessing, but I think Beckham would be a better CFer than Getz. I prefer to stick with Jordan Danks and Shelby as two of the longer-term options and just hope that we catch lightning in a bottle this year. With the offense that we SHOULD have, we can afford to have a CFer with a 700-750 OPS, but he has to be a superior defender as well. Can we really project Chris Getz to get an 800-850 OPS to make up for his projected defensive inadequacies in center?

I guess need is relative. Does anyone know how our OBP out of the leadoff and 2nd position compared to the rest of the AL last year? I'm sure we were probably in the bottom 3 of AL teams at both those spots. AJ doesn't belong anywhere above 6th in the order, and he's really a 7th or 8th place hitter at this point in his career with the expected downturn quickly approaching. Quentin, Dye and Ramirez exploding last year allowed us to cover up this inadequacy, and maybe Josh Fields becoming a legitimate offensive force will invigorate the line-up, but is there a single team with a demonstrably WORSE situation in CF??? I guess the Astros if they are starting Bourne Supremacy again, and maybe the Reds with Taveras...but you won't get very far naming teams that have a more galling situation to start the season at that position. At least with Carlos Gomez, he has the explosiveness and raw talent and youth on his side, with our three-headed monster, none of those factors can be added into the equation. I bet there there are at least 10-15 AAA teams and 5-10 AA teams with better options than what we have now in CF and at leadoff. By the way, are the Twins going to start Cuddyer and leave Span on the bench? Obviously, Delmon Young, after a winter of trade rumors that Gardy wanted him out of town, didn't end up getting moved...

We have double-insurance at 3B with Viciedo, and Javier Castillo even opened some eyes in camp, too. Not to mention the possibility of Beckham ending up at 3B, SS or 2B, we're seemingly well covered at 3 infield positions.

I think he's going to get more used to it...his frame is very slight, so there's always this idea that a superthin or superheavy player (like Fielder of Viciedo or Frank Thomas) will wear down, but I guess the heavier players are in better shape late in the season than at the beginning, while Alisay is just skin and bones, at least that's the theory. Of course, the Cuban season is much shorter, so he wasn't used to it, and it got Iguchi a little bit too....the dog days of summer.

I only have Macchu Piccu in Peru, the Great Wall and I will count Angkor Wat in Cambodia, although some lists don't include it. 4-5 more to go for that particular Bucket List. Most lists have the Colosseum in Rome, Petra in Jordan, the Great Pyramid and Sphinx, Christ the Redeemer in Rio (that one to me doesn't fit as well...)

Poreda is too much, sure. But the Yankees/Cashman and every team in baseball know that we need a legitimate, everyday CFer as well as an experienced leadoff hitter. Those don't come cheap... I think the conversation would be centered around Clayton Richard, Allen, Shelby and Danks...one of those four guys. Allen might be a bit superfluous with the glut of 1B/DH types they have on the team now, in Swisher, Nady, TEX, etc. The White Sox can't afford to part with Richard yet, so it would most likely be Shelby IMO.

They're going to want more than Morel or Javier Castillo...it's going to be someone like Poreda or Brandon Allen and a second #10-20 prospect.

The "no-defense/all offense" option would be Betemit at SS with Alexei in CF. Of course, then you'd have to play Lillbridge against lefties, about 20-25% of the time...I guess you'd have to go with Getz/Betemit at the top of the order versus righties and Getz/Ramirez versus lefties. Or maybe it would just become obvious which one (Alexei or Betemit) was most comfortable with that spot in the line-up. We would have plenty of offensive firepower, the only question is how many more runs that line-up could potentially cost us defensively.

This goes way way back. Brien Taylor...Hensley Bam Bam Meulens...Kevin Maas...Shane Spencer. What the Yankees have done (like KW) is picked the homegrown players (Cano, Soriano, Rivera, Bernie Williams, Joba, Pettitte, Posada, Jeter, etc.) that would pan out and tried to maximize the return/value for those that were not part of their long-term plans.

At first I thought it was confined to Carlos Lee and then Brian Anderson...or that the spirit of Jose Valentin's man-moustache had disappeared. Why is our baserunning so bad? I think Josh Fields specifically has made at least four bone-headed outs already this spring, and maybe I missed a couple...today he tried to advance to 3B on a hard ground hit in front of him with Cabrera right behind him. Is this inexperience? Lack of playing time at OSU as he concentrated more on football? His desire to show off his health and newfound slightly above-average running ability? Or systemic minor league coaching failures over the last decade. Between not being able to steal or having the technique (players like Ramirez and Anderson), we have others like Owens who can't simply be effective. It reminds me of Willie Harris or Pods after his injury in 2005, never the same after that first half on the basepaths. Then, Getz and Ramirez were BOTH picked off...yet we lucked out twice. Getz was hit in the back by the throw from 1B and Cabrera whiffed on the tag on Ramirez because his slide was so unexpected and dangerous that he wasn't where Cabrera thought he would be (of course, had he torn his ACL or broken his ankle and been safe instead of being leaving without a scratch, we'd also be pissed off...except for those happy to see Beckham!) Do we have the worse successful stolen base percentage in the majors this spring? I just don't get it. The players with above-average speed (Lilli, Anderson, Owens, Getz, Fields, Ramirez, Wise) all have had their moments on the basepaths, but particularly Josh Fields. Of course, he's hitting about .450, so it's hard to complain, but it will be more of an issue when he does that and it costs us a real game as often happened with C-Lee/El Caballo. Is it hopeless? Any thoughts or answers? Does anyone see this is as a real problem going forward, or is there a fix? (Obviously with Owens and Wise, probably not). Also, can Wilson Betemit play CF? (Joking...sort of)

Melton called him Bob Jerren....too funny, it's Geren. Now the hitters (like Cunningham) are missing that high FB completely to fouling it to the opposite side...all good signs for Colon. Looks as if he is responding to being called out (in a way) by Ozzie to show his real stuff at this point in the spring.

Colon is looking sharper with his FB and location this inning. Let's hope he doesn't fall apart in his 3rd inning like Poreda did yesterday after flying through the first 2.

QUOTE (kane0730 @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 03:04 PM) REAL quick 1-2-3 for Colon. Only 5-6 pitches. Hard to tell the velocity watching online. I would guess 87-90 MPH. Cust just pulled a fastball, that usually doesn't happen when he's on his game. Sweeney looks like he's gained 10-15 pounds since a couple of years ago.

DJ just called him Derek Lillibridge (former Braves pitcher)...Lilliquist. Anderson is the #7 prospect in all of MILB...kind of a like a LH Jon Rauch but with a much better fastball. More like a kid the Mariners had who was hyped, can't remember his name, but he never panned out for some reason.

When I saw the thread title, at first I thought that Tim Burton was doing a remake of Plan 9 from Outer Space (the legendary worst movie ever made in the history of cinema, by Ed Wood) but had changed the name to the even scarier "Option D in CF." KW knew what he was dealing with going into this season...nothing has changed one iota, with the possible change being Lillibridge and Ramirez moving back there with Beckham's continued progress. Still, I would rather take my chances with Viciedo the next four years...and it's telling that the Yankees aren't even thinking of starting Swisher in CF, and that option was never on the table according to Cashman from the time of the trade. In fact, they would start Cabrera over Swisher in center, although it would appear that Melky might end up re-establishing SOME value in the minors this year and maybe he tears it up again when/if Gardner struggles. We passed on Taveras, an oft-debated move. Supposedly, we passed on Dickerson and Denorfia in the past...as recently as the Dye for Bailey rumors, but I'm not sure what we can believe there. Ankiel might make the most sense...we'd have to put together a deal centered around pitching I think...Poreda/Richard/Marquez and one of our #10-20 prospects. Then again, defensively, we'd have a huge mess on our hands, worse than right now even when Wise and Owens man the position. Of course Ankiel has the arm strength, well maybe optimistically it would be a Nick Swisher/Griffey situation out there. Not sure what Edmonds' plans are. Crisp and DeJesus aren't going anywhere soon, and certainly not to a divisional rival. Marlon Byrd is tempting too, but can he replicate what he did last year? Blanco would perhaps most fit what KW and Ozzie are looking for, then it comes down to price, as mentioned. Cabrera would be worth a gamble, not so costly right now...but there's also no guarantee of success offensively, and he's definitely not a leadoff hitter based on last season, either. McCutcheon and McLouth are out of the question in terms of having to give up too much talent. Fred Lewis or Willits would be my last options of those listed. I just don't think KW is ready to take an untested kid like Josh Anderson and throw him out there into the AL Central pennant race...they had their chance to look at him more closely when they were debating the prospects coming back in return for Vazquez, so it might be possible they could rekindle the sparks for another deal, although who we'd give up or be willing to give up is another question entirely. You'd like to say Brandon Allen or Shelby, but neither one alone would get it done, and Allen is LH (a weakness in our system) and the heir apparent to Konerko in two seasons if Flowers isn't moved from catcher or Viciedo to 1B instead of LF/RF.

It's interesting that we're seeing Lillibridge in the starting line-up in CF. They should have done this about 2-3 weeks ago, though, if they were really serious. I think they just want to see how well he does out there out of curiosity, and because they know what they'll get with BA/Owens/Wise already...if he's a legitimate option to Anderson. You can't say he would be taking time from Wise or Owens, except for the fact that one of those guys has to go and Lillibridge has the most versatility (not saying he's shown anything offensively) of anyone left on the roster, along with Getz, Ramirez and Betemit. I think MacDougal versus Carrasco and Marquez comes down to the final week. Poreda eliminated himself with those four walks yesterday, the hanging slider to Sizemore and walking the 8 and 9 guys in the line-up, among other things.

MLB.com's Scott Merkin talked to White Sox starter John Danks, who recently turned down the team's offer of a four-year, $15.5MM extension (Gavin Floyd accepted the same offer). Danks was excited by the offer, but his agent advised him not to take it: "I was thrilled to death. I was advised that it wasn't the right time for that deal, but at the same time, never in a million years, never did I think I would have turned down a guaranteed 15. It was a hard decision, but that's why I pay my agent. We'll move on from there." So at least the desire to stay in Chicago is evident with Danks. Danks mentioned two more times that he turned down the offer on the advice of his agent Jeff Berry. He even admitted, "When I heard $15 million, I was like 'Heck yeah.'" Berry wants Danks to wait until after '09, when he'll be arbitration-eligible for the first time. Presumably Berry has his eye on a Jon Lester deal. Just hope Danks doesn't go all Cliff Lee second season version and end up regretting passing up the guaranteed $15 million.

Well, it would be nice if Nix was ready...Kroeger, based on his performance, really deserves the opportunity, certainly over the other veteran in camp, Ben Broussard, who is really looking at retirement I would imagine. The main problem with that is Betemit or Getz playing SS, although I think Chris could handle maybe 10-12 games there. I would rather have him at SS than Betemit, I think...although Betemit's LH bat makes sense backing up 3B, SS and 1B. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Contreras, after having so long to rest his arm and now being 100% healthy, back at 93-96 MPH with his FB either.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-2...0,5403058.story Seems that Ozzie is really waiting for him to at least get his FB back into the lower 90's again. I don't think we'll ever see the Colon who would gain strength during a game and raise his velocity to 96-97 and even touch 98 in the late innings, but he has to throw at least 90-92 MPH to be effective IMO. His FB has always had a ton of late movement, so the velocity isn't as important to him as someone like Jenks, Thornton or Brandon McCarthy. With Richard as option #1 if Colon isn't ready for Opening Week, there's a lot of pressure on Poreda to hold off Williams as the second lefty out of the pen. This need might be mitigated a little bit by the seeming demise of both Hafner and Mauer, but Ozzie appears determined to have at least two lefties in the pen for late game match-ups. Outside of that, everything seems pretty settled...maybe the debate between Carasco, MacDougal, Russell and Marquez for the final spot in the bullpen...and Kroeger versus Lillibridge for the final spot on the team. Lillibridge would need to go for the next week to lose that job, it seems. He did hit the ball hard at least once yesterday off Carmona...maybe that's a positive sign. Owens APPEARS to be on his last legs with the White Sox, literally.