caulfield12

Nebraska has the tradition...being a Cornhusker is the equivalent of being a professional athlete there, because of the attention and adulation (and pressure) placed on Nebraska athletes. Many former pros played for Osborne...etc. They also control not only their state (no in-state rival) but the Dakotas and many parts of the near-West. I think Missouri and Nebraska will struggle for awhile with TX/OU and then TT and OSU also emerging as powers...they don't have to play ALL of those teams each year, but probably 2 of them. And then KSU made a crazy choice to bring in Bill Snyder, that move doesn't make much sense at all to me.

We didn't acquire Scott Podsednik for his high OPB, RBI numbers or power either....not even defense or arm. He was pretty much the definition of one-dimension, Taveras is a better all-around baseball player IMO, and younger.

Well, another way to look at it is we're tied for 12th with the Cardinals and Blue Jays. I just don't understand any of the fascination with picking the Indians or the Tigers over us...and logic would say that Blue Jays would have a MUCH tougher time just getting out of their own division, let alone advancing in the playoffs. I mean, they'd have to beat either New York, TB or Boston just to make it. And the odds are they'll be losing their #2 starter in Burnett in the process of starting off in that quest. Not likely.

I would much rather have Brandon Phillips than Orlando Hudson...I definitely think Hudson will decline over the length of a 4-5 year contract, even a three year one. He also seems to be a player susceptible to injuries, like Furcal now. That said, Phillips would be one of the more expensive players to acquire in terms of talent, outside the likes of Bruce, Cueto and Volquez.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Nov 27, 2008 -> 05:42 AM) Firesale after winning the division, nice. Firesales are auctioning off players like Lofton, Durham, Howry, etc. We're hardly doing that, unless you consider when we traded Freddy Garcia and Brandon McCarthy to be "fire sales." I certainly didn't. There's no reason you can't get younger, more athletic and have a more flexible payroll at the same time. Our best team in the last four years was the one with clearly the lowest payroll. Did we have a "fire sale" to get rid of Carlos Lee, Valentin and Ordonez. I think not, although some consider the Lee for Pods deal exactly that kind of trade.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 10:22 PM) Or the Angels. Think of all we could've gotten for guys like Dallas McPherson, Brandon Wood, and co. There is no reason to believe Kenny would have sat on his hands over Miguel Cabrera last year like the Angels did. Kenny tried as hard as he could, but we didn't have the bullets (although I'm glad we didn't do that deal because we would have lost Johnny Danks, who is already better than the entire package the Tigers offered IMO). Maybe, but I think Cameron Maybin will be a stud...you can argue all you want about the merits of a starting pitcher versus a position player though. And A. Miller still has time to get his act together. Nobody gives up on lefty starters who throw in the 90's quickly.

1) Garland won't come back here, I think he'll end up in the NL 2) He's not worth whatever he is asking..which is about the same as Vazquez makes 3) We need younger/cheaper options at 4th/5th starter, not MORE expensive (per KW's recent pronouncements) 4) He'll get 3-4 years, JR and KW don't like to give long-term deals, Buehrle was the one exception and Contreras

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 11:12 PM) We're all forgetting that the Braves have a glut of CF prospects, most of whom are highly regarded. I would have to think that any trade with the Braves would be centered around whichever one Kenny likes best or is the closest to the majors. 1) Jason Heyward, OF, Grade A-: A personal favorite, though he actually hit fewer homers than expected. Broad base of skills. 2) Frederick Freeman, 1B, Grade B+: Debating whether or not to move him up to A-. Not as broad a skill base as Heyward, but power and youth stand out. 3) Thomas Hanson, RHP, Grade B+: Looks good to me, though will need some Triple-A to put on the finishing touches. Number Two starter ceiling. 4) Jordan Schafer, OF, Grade B+: I should have put him on the Rotowire Top 100 list. Will be in the 50/50 for the book. Power, speed, defense, OBP, and played well without the juice. 5) Tyler Flowers, C, Grade B: Love the power and walks, main question is glove. 6) Cole Rohrbough, LHP, Grade B: Excellent ceiling. I cannot prove why objectively, but I worry a bit about his arm. Needs sharper command too. 7) Craig Kimbrel, RHP, Grade B: I hesitate to grade relief prospects this highly, but I can’t ignore his early dominance. 8) Gorkys Hernandez, OF, Grade B-: Would like to see more power, other skills coming along. from John Sickels/BA If KW's NOT going after pitching (assuming the deal is Dye/Jenks, NOT Dye/Vazquez or even Vazquez/Jenks)....then you would have to say it's going to be Schafer, although obviously KW would target Heyward. Then you have Flowers (we need some more catching prospects, although it seems he's a little like Armstrong, good bad and questionable D, we actually need the opposite) and Hernandez. The other players that figure in here are Gregor Blanco (for CF, 100+ AB's for ATL last season) and Kelly Johnson. I think Heyward and Escobar have to be ruled "off limits" by management. The problem with all these trades is it's VERY difficult to pry away a Top 1-2-3 prospect, but getting someone like Schafer is a very questionable move for KW. Soriano and Gonzalez are interesting names here...Lillibridge, not sure he does it for me either, like Johnson...although Johnson seems to have higher upside at this point. Maybe we should try Betemit for awhile before we fall in love with any other Braves' phenoms.

Which is why Kirk Ferentz is such a good coach...he has taken many unheralded 2-3 star recruits (or no stars) like Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, Robert Gallery...and coached them into being first and second round NFL draft picks. The irony is that when he's brought in really elite talent (like ND, OSU, MICH, PSU get year after year), the ONE year Iowa's recruiting class was in the Top 10 in the program's history...all the kids like Doerring, Bain, Christensen, Richardson and Moeaki have been huge disappointments/transfers or injuries derailed their careers. That's why you look at the likes of KF beating Zook almost every time (until ILL victory at home this year), despite the far superior athletic ability Iowa lines up against every game, the recruiting disadvantages Iowa has (basically like Nebraska, but having to share the state with Iowa State/UNI and also no major urban/metropolitan center like Omaha) to fight against. And no, Des Moines is NOT a major city, IMO. Or just look at Iowa's record against PSU...of course, Ohio State has been our one big kahuna that has been difficult to take down, although we did simply destroy them one time in Iowa City when Tate was QB and OSU was struggling mightily that season.

I meant the performances out of some of those "fliers" they took...especially Wellemeyer and Kip Wells, although even the likes of Cal Eldred come to mind. No doubt, Pujols is one of the top players in the game. Although that 83 win season doesn't scream "success," the strange post-season of 2006, with the Tigers' pitchers developing simultaneous "brain cramps," is hard to argue against. When St. Louis, Atlanta and Cleveland, teams that had traditionally strong fan support (especially STL, win or lose) in the previous decade started acting like "mid-market" teams, that signalled a new era in modern-day baseball. Then again, teams like KC and Milwaukee are showing with some of their moves that the revenue sharing is having an effect in a positive way. That and the fact that Yankee dollars aren't dominant anymore. Rosenthal says the Dodgers aren't likely to sign Rafael Furcal and aren't pursuing Orlando Cabrera or Edgar Renteria. He notes that four teams are in on Cabrera. mlbtraderumors.com

I would agree about trading them (but maybe not Uribe)...they would be more attractive if teams didn't have to give up compensation for O-Cab. In some ways, KW has always done better with trades than he has with the draft picks...of course, some will blame that on Shaffer and Wilder, et al. However, KW was still responsible for giving the "okay" on those first rounders like Ring, Honel (to a lesser extent), McCulloch and Broadway that were so questionable. I'm just not sure about finding a market for Uribe...we are bi-polar about him and Vazquez here. To some, he's an underappreciated asset that would/should be starting on at least 5 other clubs as a SS. To others, he's a strikeout prone, low OBP, low contact hitter with weight/motivation issues who doesn't deserve in the vicinity of $5 million as a bench/supersub type of player. I think the risk of getting stuck with Uribe is at least 50/50. With Cabrera, much lower...and also, his having a "decent/affordable" one year contract (compared to paying Furcal 3-4 years at $39-45 million at roughly the same age and with more of a recent injury history) would also be an attractive enticement to many teams like the Giants who are even looking at Renteria as a starter.

Can we trust Soriano's health though? We already have Dotel and Linebrink that are iffy, and speculation when/if Jenks might break down at some point. Thornton is the only pitcher in the pen who looks to have a 95% chance of NOT getting injured. I think Johnson is more likely than Escobar. I've heard Gregor Blanco's name thrown out for CF, although, like Johnson, he's not one of their TOP prospects...probably a member of the second tier. Gonzalez would be nice...does that mean we're going to re-examine trading Jenks and installing Dotel/Gonzalez/Thornton/Link as the new closer...or closer by committee approach? I think Escobar is a little ambitios if it's JUST Dye...but you add Vazquez/Jenks into the mix, then anything becomes possible. Once again with JD, a lot depends on his wilingness to stay for two years. He's a former Brave, and while he was hurt/disappointed to be traded, I don't think he would resist a trade there either, because the NL's weaker pitching would be tempting.

Well, they re-signed Cris Carpenter to that crazy deal....then watched him miss almost two full seasons. But, in general, I'd agree...the Cardinals free spending ways ended about five years ago. More recently, they've gone the Todd Wellemeyer/Kip Wells route, to mixed results.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 06:13 PM) I think Cabrera gets a bad rap here that he doesnt really deserve. I personally dont know any of the ballplayers or have an inside source but atleast from looking at the clubhouse in games he seemed to fit well with the rest of the team. Yeah he had some questionable things like complaining about the error, but I think as a whole he was well liked by the team. Now if someone who is close to people on the sox or in the clubhouse says otherwise, but most of you seemingly are just assuming he is a cancer because of a few articles in the newspapers, some that werent even that bad. There were a couple of times he was stealing 3rd base in very questionable situation with Dye at the plate...one time, Dye had to be physically restrained from going after him. When there's smoke, there's fire. There were just too many times that Ozzie left Cabrera hung out to dry in the media instead of backing him up. Also, the whole thing of leaving every night from the ballpark and NEVER taking questions from reporters. That's another form of selfishness, especially after losses which he has a hand in. Quentin absolutely HATES dealing with the media, but he still manages it and always is classy in his responses.

Nothing new or interesting to report today so far...just that the "mystery" team involved with Furcal might very well be either the Indians or Twins, but there's no confirmation of that, and I think both teams will end up being outbid in the end by the Giants, Dodgers or A's, not to mention the Mets or the Cardinals.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 10:06 AM) I read an article on how arbitrators come to their decisions. Say the White Sox offered Uribe $4 million and Juan asked for $5,999,999. The arbitrator decides which figure is closer to the players worth. If he or she came to the conclusion that Uribe was a $5 million a year guy, he would get $5,999,999. If he thought he was a $4,999,999 guy, he would get $4 million. Because of this system, teams almost always have to offer a raise even if the player doesn't earn it. Cabrera will make more money in 2009 if he took arbitration than he will on the open market. While you wouldn't think he would take arbitration, there's always the possibility he thinks conditions will be better next year and take the Sox up on it. That's probably $11 or $12 million you will pay to someone you consider a cancer for a season just to gain late first round draft picks. If he's not signed by someone before the deadline, I think the White Sox will decline arb for him. I don't know...look at it from the White Sox standpoint. They could easily offer him arbitration, then automatically try to cut him down to $8-9 million. Let's say they surprised the world and offered $10 million or higher...it's not clear that Cabrera would win his case. I don't know, maybe he'll ask for $11-12.5 million per season, that's fairly realistic I suppose....but, for one, he's going to have to go through a very contentious arbitration proceeding, and all of the truly ugly things from 2008 are going to come out (and many we don't know about that were kept under wraps). Do you think he would want to go through that? MAYBE. Then you figure Furcal, at a similar age and coming off two-injured plagued seasons, is going to get something like 3 years and $39 million or 4 years and $40-45 million...I think at his age, Cabrera realizes it would be more intelligent to get the security of a 2-4 year deal than taking a risk with just a one year contract when he could get injured or any number of things could happen to lower his value going forward. The odds are very much against him significantly raising his value in 2009. You get what you pay for with Cabrera, just like Vazquez, warts and all. I just think a team like the Giants, A's (whoever loses out on Furcal), Dodgers, Twins, Tigers, Cardinals...well, there are quite a few teams out there looking for a SS, and he's the second or third best option. There might even be some teams that prefer the certainty of Cabrera at $10 million for 2-3 seasons over the larger risk, larger possible return of a Rafael Furcal signing. At least you mitigate your downside, arguably, by signing O-Cab. For these reasons, I think KW calls the bluff and goes for the arbitration offer, feeling pretty darned certain (95% chance) that Cabrera and his agent won't accept it.

QUOTE (bschmaranz @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 12:27 AM) I'm gonna agree with that. I wouldn't mind seeing Juan come back next season, but offering him arbitration could wind up quite costly. I think he'd wind up accepting it. The players win something like 80% of the cases, even a "loss" is usually a "win," and the fact that Juan was so integral to the White Sox when Crede went down in the stretch will be used as a gambit by his agent to argue that he should continue to be paid as a starter...not a utility man who will get 150-200 ab's at most. That and the fact that he started off as the team's 2B and is also the team's best defensively shortstop now...that Ramirez moving to SS might fail and they would have to play Juan again there as the starter.

Joining me here on the Peoria Javelinas from the Reds are infielders Chris Valaika and Justin Turner, pitchers Carlos Fisher, Robert Manuel, Sean Watson, and Pedro Viola, and infielder/outfielder Sean Henry. http://aflreds.mlblogs.com/ Obviously, KW loves pitchers. But Valaika is a pretty highly regard (and young) SS prospect, Henry and also CF C. Dickerson (although he will be 27 next season, maybe a late bloomer?) could figure in this somewhere as well...Turner's stats as a 2B don't overwhelm, but I've never seen him play either. Most of these players were in AA at Chattanooga. Dickerson hit over .300 for the Reds in over 100 AB's, showing pretty decent power and some speed. I know his name has been mentioned a few times as one of the minor league outfielders/prospects to really keep an eye on. And while we're talking prospects, it looks like MINN has another Torii Hunter/Span/Gomez coming up in Aaron Hicks, their top-rated prospect. Just what the White Sox need to deal with!!!

Well. I'm not of the belief that spending $100 million plus guarantees success, and our 2005 team is a perfect example of a budget-conscious team (we'd just shed Magglio, C-Lee and Valentin) being very successful. However, the thinking must be that things might be even worse in 2010, so this is the optimal time to go for a price increase...they always have the option to lower prices to make them more attractive again...but it would be harder with another year of recession AND potentially not coming off a playoff appearance. The numbers are a little bit deceptive because of the contract money coming our way (Griffey, Thome, Vazquez?)...but we were still around $105-110 with all those adjustments made for "subsidies," correct? I always found it ironic that the Yankees were not only paying Contreras to pitch for us, but that he was leading us to the World Series in the process, whereas the Yanks haven't won it since 2000. I think the recessionary situation does KW some additional cover, as well as JR. However, according to many, the White Sox aren't seeing significant falloff in season ticket sales for 2009...quite the contrary. I guess they figure it's better to conservatively "pre-correct" than to wait one year too long on players like Swisher, Dye, Vazquez and Jenks. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance Realistically, we were 16th in MLB attendance...yet our payroll was in the Top 5-8. Of course, mathematicians can calculate average ticket, concession, souvenir and parking prices and tell you that the White Sox were probably somewhere around 8-12 in terms of generating overall revenue because of the higher prices vis a vis many of the other markets in the game. I do appreciate the White Sox willingness to spend though in the 2006-08 seasons. I never thought I'd see that in my lifetime as a White Sox fan, to tell the truth.

QUOTE (quickman @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 10:18 PM) Fathom, Payroll will be down this year, see Economic downturn, Cut back in season ticket renewels, Team being re-tooled to go younger and faster. bailey is a good talent that has not produced, right up KW 's alley. He thinks he can catch lightening in a bottle every year. In addition I love freel for a leadoff hitter. That said and we unload Dye and 12 million, is great. next year Thome leaves, the year after that Konerko leaves, and Buehrle might be in there within the next two years. makes perfect sense to me. Have you heard anything specifically about White Sox season ticket renewals and cutting payroll...or just the generic comments about the economy from KW, moving towards a younger and more athletic roster...I think it was the Barry Rozner article about having 75 cents to spend out of a dollar instead of 50 like it used to be.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 08:59 PM) Kalapse, I eagerly look forward to your posts on this site, but let's not turn this into a PhD dissertation. We all understand what mlbtraderumors is, and even for those who don't, it's not like the "real" sources you are referring to are anything more than purposefully misleading leaks, absolute speculation, and/or old news that got distorted as it traveled down the grapevine. The bottom line is that other than perhaps Ken Rosenthal, there simply are no credible sources when it comes to hot stove rumors. Sure, a link to the info posted is always preferred. A link to mlbtraderumors, which is a warehouse of rumors which also contains links to other sources, seems perfectly acceptable considering the currency in which we are dealing. As for me, I'm just lazy...of course all of the stories are links to other stories, that's the lifeblood of that site. You don't go there for analysis from the board operators. While I understand the posting (as an English and History teacher) and the technical correctness about sourcing, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is at least having a viable link to where the information came from... I tend to copy-and-paste a lot, but I don't do it trying to represent it as "my analysis," or I'll put my comments juxtaposed in a different font, bold, italics, etc. I remember in the early days of chisox.com, I had a continual running fight with the infamous "ncorgbl" about what percentage of an article could be copied and pasted...it got tedious. He would even count words in a total article, the words I cut from the original, and then try to report me to mlb.com so I could be "banned" for 3 days. Too funny.

While Mark Teahen is a player of interest for the Cubs, they certainly won't be trading Mike Fontenot and Sean Marshall for him. The Cubs don't consider Teahen the middle of the order bat they require. Royals outfielder David DeJesus also interests the Cubs, but the source has the impression Dayton Moore would have to be overwhelmed to trade him. There seems a good chance DeJesus stays put this winter. The Cubs aren't keen on bringing Jim Edmonds back for 2009. There are no perfect fits for the right field vacancy, and the Cubs are willing to sacrifice some defense to add that middle of the order lefthanded hitter. The Cubs are hoping a market forms for Jason Marquis, and are willing to eat salary "within reason." They would be content with Marquis as their fifth starter if nothing surfaces. I couldn't get any specifics, but the Cubs do feel that they have reasonable options to clear payroll other than trading Marquis. Teams around baseball are wary of certain Type A/B free agents accepting offers of arbitration. Expect the Cubs to figure out where Kerry Wood stands before deciding whether to offer. from mlbtraderumors.com

QUOTE (G&T @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 06:50 AM) I was under the impression that it was common practice to offer a player arbitration under an agreement that he won't accept. And since when was it clear that Cabrera will be offered arbitration? I'm not sure really applies when you have a huge contract ($10 million+), then Griffey would be walking away from a lot more money from the White Sox (and Reds with some money coming to us) than he would have a prayer of getting from any other team.

Cabrera's ego is too big to ever accept going back to the White Sox clubhouse. He's the second shortstop on the market after Furcal...and before Renteria. There's no way he just walks and KW doesn't offer. If he comes back, then you have Cabrera at SS, Alexei at 2B or CF and we're a much stronger team. So it's really a win-win situation. He will get a better deal from another team...Phil Rogers mentioned it in passing and now there's some doubt floating around about what KW will ultimately do. In the end, Cabrera will end up in the NL, probably LA or SF, but quite possibly Minnesota. He was also 2nd in the Gold Glove voting. He'll find a team...heck, Royce Clayton found about five teams after he left Chicago, and he was horrible.

QUOTE (chiguy79 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 05:04 PM) They have us hostage this year they had to push through the increase now because they probably won't be able to jack prices up again for 2-3 years. If the team doesn't perform this year I think a lot of ST holders will not be renewing for 2010. Well, it's only logical...if they had missed the playoffs, and didn't have the renewals/deposits attached to that...and the "good feelings" from the offseason rather than an overwhelming sense of disappointment and "what might have been" (surrounding Quentin)...then it would have been impossible to pull this off. You have to strike while the iron is not. Heck, even in this economy, the Dodgers will still be asking $90 for some of their ST tickets in the new facility.