caulfield12

QUOTE (Frank the Tank 35 @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 11:59 PM) No more Chad Tracy fantasies? Similar OPS to Beltre and close to 0 value to the D'backs at this point... granted his defense isn't so hot... Why settle for just McLouth?... fill the 5th starter hole and buy low on Snell! Trade Swisher at his lowest value? Meh... Buy lows... Robinson Cano? Homer Bailey? Alex Gordon? Ryan Zimmerman? KW's gotta fill three positions this offseason... SP, 3B, and one of SS/2B. It won't all get done on the FA market. It won't all get done by trades. Figure we have enough ammo for one good trade, one good FA acquisition, and one crapshoot. No way we get Cano and the Royals won't dream of dealing Gordon, either. If you want Mark Teahen/Joe Randa at 3B, then that's the best we're going to be able to come up with. Gordon is still viewed by Dayton Moore as their franchise player, along with Greinke, Hochevar, Moustakas and Hosmer. He went to the University of Nebraska...and is a midwest kid. Maybe, maybe, if he puts up identical numbers to his first two seasons in 2009 again, they'll at least THINK of moving him. I also think the Reds aren't going to give up on Bailey yet, same with the Dodgers and Kershaw, and the Yankees (Hughes/Kennedy).

QUOTE (Frank the Tank 35 @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 11:59 PM) No more Chad Tracy fantasies? Similar OPS to Beltre and close to 0 value to the D'backs at this point... granted his defense isn't so hot... Why settle for just McLouth?... fill the 5th starter hole and buy low on Snell! Trade Swisher at his lowest value? Meh... Buy lows... Robinson Cano? Homer Bailey? Alex Gordon? Ryan Zimmerman? KW's gotta fill three positions this offseason... SP, 3B, and one of SS/2B. It won't all get done on the FA market. It won't all get done by trades. Figure we have enough ammo for one good trade, one good FA acquisition, and one crapshoot. No way we get Cano and the Royals won't dream of dealing Gordon, either. If you want Mark Teahen/Joe Randa at 3B, then that's the best we're going to be able to come up with. Gordon is still viewed by Dayton Moore as their franchise player, along with Greinke, Hochevar, Moustakas and Hosmer. He went to the University of Nebraska...and is a midwest kid. Maybe, maybe, if he puts up identical numbers to his first two seasons in 2009 again, they'll at least THINK of moving him. I also think the Reds aren't going to give up on Bailey yet, same with the Dodgers and Kershaw, and the Yankees (Hughes/Kennedy).

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 09:29 PM) I'd keep him and turn him into a middle reliever, salary be damned. I think he'd be like Dotel, some days good, some awful. As far as the thread, yes he was the biggest reason we lost. You take the 3-1 lead and immediately are behind? I wish I could have heard what Stone said about that. That was a killer. That said, great relief job and we still could have made it interesting with some clutch home runs (we don't get clutch hits, only hrs of course). Nice job by Wise; we had a chance to stun them ala the Dodgers vs. Nubs in Game One had we held them at bay a couple innings. But Javy giving up the lead immediately!! My god that cooked us. Poor Javy, what a stiff. -- I was talking to somebody who was not a big baseball fan who wanted to know why a guy with 16 losses was pitching in a playoff game (and I don't blame Ozzie; I'd go with the headcase Vazzy today over a rookie)? I just said I don't know. We can't afford a $11.5 million dollar middle reliever and long man...we couldn't afford El Duque at roughly half that salary for 2006, which is basically why we let him go...that and durability/age concerns. And his "sulking" presence in the pen (if he's not a starter) would not be constructive at all. Let him go and start somewhere else, please KW.

They said something telling during the pre-game show. That when Ozzie was being questioned by the reporter (Jesse) about Vazquez starting, he hemed and hawed and said everything to support him, but you could tell by his evasive answer that Guillen didn't have confidence or faith in him anymore but felt like he had no choice. Said the only other time this year he (Guillen) had the same reaction (evasive, rambling, not entirely honest or forthright like usual) was on the constant questioning of Griffey playing CF...that deep down it was implied or inferred he knew that was also a questionable decision for him to make, and that he felt a bit uncomfortable with Griffey playing so much center, but his recent improved play and obviously the play the other day against Cuddyer validated his playing. In fact, Anderson, as a defensive sub, was inserted into LF, not CF.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 03:33 PM) The Orioles would be a decent bet. Maybe go after Roberts with Vazquez as one of the main pieces. Why would the Orioles trade one of their most popular players for a pitcher with almost no upside, besides eating up innings as a 4/5 starter and making a few persistent Roto League owners happy with his strikeouts? Especially at his salary. Just doesn't make sense for Baltimore. Nobody has gotten him to change his career-long trajectory of not pitching very well under pressure. He just looks defeated...maybe he's not even on the ALCS roster if we go there. But it's a tremendous off-season dilemma for Williams to get another GM to take a risk without us having to subsidize his contract.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 12:47 PM) You have to look at what the Sox's needs are though and the players out there on the market. We'll have the contracts of Crede, Uribe and OC coming off the books, and JC's contract maybe covered by insurance. That's potential $25M in contracts the Sox won't have to pay. Uribe will be back, he's played himself back into a role, but only as a utility man IMHO. That's $3M or so. I'd like to sign another good bullpen guy, another lefty if possible or someone like Doug Brocail who had a good season before being overworked. That's another 3M or so. Which guys are out there via FA that the Sox could go after to fill their CF hole, or do they give Swisher another opportunity there. Why not offer Swisher and Fields to Seattle for Beltre for example, to try and fill your hole at 3B? The Sox take on another $6M or so in that deal, leaving another 10-15M potentially to spend, if not more, considering payroll has increased each season for the last 5-6. So unless the Sox traded for a big name CF, they'd have to sign a 2B or SS IMHO. Rafael Furcal is basically the only guy I could really justify the Sox going after as a SS, considering his OBP / defensive skills, but the Dodgers want to re-sign him and he's very injury prone. Hence why I think going after Hudson on a 2 year 25M deal or so and moving Alexei Ramirez to SS is a better option. They'd still need a CF, but they could offer prospects to Pittsburgh for someone like Nate McLouth for instance. Either way, the Sox need to strengthen up the middle and at 3B, as they're pretty much set elsewhere. KW's got a real opportunity to consolidate the gains the Sox have made (hence why I'd like to see him go after some more young pitching if possible as well, because with Floyd and Danks he's got a good recent track record on that front). Agree with most of what you're saying, except for the possibility of getting McLouth. At some point, the Pirates will have to keep some of their young talent and try to build something. He's got enough years for a reasonable salary (unlike Bay) that you have to think he would be hard to pry away. I don't see the Mariners accepting a possibly injury-prone Fields and the erratic Swisher. Arguably, it would be a step down from Raul Ibanez...and Michael Morse, Olivo, Reed and Borchard all have had minimal impacts. Just don't see it. I think that Cuddyer and a prospect or two would be more appealing than Swisher coming out of this season.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 10:58 AM) Hence why I'd offer an Andruw Jones type of contract to Hudson come the off-season. History has shown it's not wise to offer that kind of money to a 2B. To a SS, CFer or starting pitcher (a VERY select few), sure. The White Sox did a good job plugging in Iguchi at 2B in 05 and 06, and found a gem in Ramirez. I don't want a Furcal/Jones type of contract for a non-franchise player. It would be one thing if he was 27-29, but he's not. That was the one thing I liked about the Swisher deal, getting the average age of this team down, and numbers financially made more sense. Of course, that doesn't mean I want Chris Getz to be the starter either, but I think there's better options out there than paying a Figgins or Hudson player $30 million plus. Speed is always (or should be) less expensive to acquire than power. Simple, but true, fundamental baseball adage.

Dave Wills used to do White Sox games...you can't be referring to him, are you? I listened to their play-by-play team during the Twins-Rays series a couple of weeks back and found nothing objectionable. FWIW, I like (or liked) Wills as much as, and probably a little more than, Rongey. Maybe the trash talk by Longoria is what set me off. Not only is he a rookie who might very easily lose Rookie of the Year to our Alexei Ramirez (Vin Scully did a shout out to Alexei, saying that Chicago was now crowded with Aramis, Manny Being Manny Ramirez and Alexei)...but he violated the unspoken rule of never showing a preference for a particular opponent. It almost always comes back to bite you in the butt.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 09:37 AM) As long as he's not with the Sox, Cabrera can go anywhere. I just don't like his attitude, and I'm hoping Beckham will be ready soon to take over 2B with Alexei moving to short. You will be waiting until at least mid-season 2010 for something like that to happen. But it's nice to have something to look forward to in the future...someone who at least on paper looks like he could be an All-Star caliber player. I won't get too excited yet, though. Too many disappointments in the past.

I think until Liriano proves he can get back to throwing 95-96 MPH and getting his slider back to the 86-88 MPH range (at least), then the Twins will not be nearly so dominant as they were with Radke/Santana/Liriano in 06, because Blackburn, Perkins and Slowey don't project to be better than Floyd/Danks (or even Poreda) and Liriano was exposed down the stretch as something of fraud. I don't think they can continue to call him "The Franchise" any longer. I'm still happy getting Garza/Bartlett out of the division, as talented as D. Young might be, he's not a "Twins' Way" type of player. If Neshek comes back and they add something like Beltre (for Kubel and a prospect) and also a above-average MLB shortstop (like Cabrera), they will be tough. I still don't think Cabrera on artificial turf would be a good idea. Casilla might be a better SS, even next year. Now 2010, you have to set your ballclub up a bit differently I think. But the biggest need continues to be a consistent, RH power bat. Cuddyer's a pretty good player, but he's not a great one, either.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ra...ticle835291.ece I don't even think I've seen such a one-sided "hit job" on a team in post season, even one by Cubs' beat writers. Seriously, the White Sox will always have a "puncher's chance," and while they have pointed out a couple of obvious flaws in the White Sox, they haven't really considered many other important factors. 1) How a rusty Crawford will come back. 2) Can a team without Percival (off roster) and being led by JP Howell, Balfour and Dan Wheeler get it done in the heat of post-season? 3) The Rays' starters have no post-season experience...we at least have Buehrle and Jenks to lead the way. 4) The White Sox have very little pressure on them 5) The White Sox already have won the WS this decade, although of course Thome and Griffey would like to get their rings 6) In order to run, the D-Rays have to hit our pitching and get on base, and that's been very difficult to do the last three days. Mauer bunting? 7) Say what you want about Pierzynski's throwing and Vazquez and Floyd not holding runners on, we wouldn't have been there without any of those guys. 8) The White Sox have won 4 of 10 in the series, all they have to do is win one of the first two and the pressure shifts heavily to TB (if it's not already on them!) 9) The White Sox have respected veterans and leaders in Thome, Dye, Griffey, AJ, Konerko, Buehrle...who do the Rays have to fill that role? Matt Garza? Carlos Pena? Longoria? 10) 2001 Seattle Mariners 11) The White Sox have significant momentum now, and Rays have been playing so-so baseball for the better part of a month now. 12) The monkey is off our backs again, just like 05. I think the White Sox will really relax and play well, maybe even Vazquez. This really happened the last three games against CLE and then continued on into the post-season three years ago. Pessimism 1) White Sox only win about 20% of their games on turf. 2) Vazquez is starting Game 1, along with Dewayne Wise 3) White Sox never play well in domes, going back 20+ years to our struggles in Toronto at Skydome and SEA. 4) Jerry Owens and Adam Russell are on the roster. Maybe Owens will be the Willie Harris of 2005 Game 4!

Read this at startribune.com They are also considering moving Casilla over to SS and making Punto a Denny Hocking-esque utility supersub. They can also continue to start Harris and Punto there, but the organization is targeting an upgrade at 3B and SS, and they appear to be very interested in both Sox players. Crede, I just don't see it, playing on that turf over 162 games would be suicide. It would be different if they were moving into the new stadium next year. Although it's still very, very difficult to imagine Joe in a Twins' uniform. It's also difficult to imagine a Boras client striking a deal with Carl Pohlad. Definitely could see Cabrera going to Minnesota though, lol. Who knows, maybe he'll surprise everyone and stick around with the Sox, but you certainly don't anticipate that happening. The Twins are also trying to decide whether to trade Cuddyer or Kubel and possibly moving Cuddyer to 3B, which wouldn't help their left-side infield defense one iota.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Oct 2, 2008 -> 06:38 AM) I think if Javy has nothing on the ball once again, and it looks like another long day is shaping up, then we pull Javy fast and put in Floyd and have him take Javy's spot in the rotation for game 4. If Javy actually shows up with something on the ball, then I see Floyd just being a safety net for the rest of the pitchers in this series, and Javy getting the nod once again on game 4. Why would you start Vazquez on short rest over Floyd, especially when he's pitched so poorly the last two times out? Even if he pitches very well, I still don't think the White Sox would go to him in Game 4. Floyd proved on Monday he can win the big game and has been our "stopper" more or less the entire season. Disagree completely about starting Javier in Game 4. If anyting, Buehrle would go on 3 day's rest in Game 5 INSTEAD of Vazquez. The White Sox are doin with Floyd the same thing Piniella wanted to do with Zambrano Sunday but it was nixed. Have him pitch an inning or two, get his feet wet and maybe that will help him get a better feel for the breaking ball. Floyd will have gone Monday to Monday in terms of rest, it's smart to sneak him in there just to let him get comfortable and a feel for what it's like to pitch in playoff atmosphere, especially if Vazquez/Richard just absolutely get blown out of the building in the first 4-5 innings. Why not?

I think if Wise struggles again Thursday, Guillen has to go with Swisher in LF against Kazmir. Heck, he might even go to Brian Anderson as well in CF to replace Griffey, although I'll believe it when I see it. OTOH, we win Game 1 and Wise goes 0 for 5 with 3 K's, he'll still be in the line-up on Friday, because Ozzie is always superstitious about winning streaks, and we have won three elimination games on 3 consecutive days DESPITE Wise being in the line-up, fwiw. I wouldn't mind seeing Alexei hitting second behind Cabrera against Kazmir, or leading off with Cabrera 2nd. Alexei had one of his best games of the season the one time he did lead off...and you might see it again next year if KW can't find anyone. The problem is his lack of patience and OBP around .320 don't justify the move, not until he become a little more patient. But I like the idea of a Soriano/Sizemore dynamic type of hitter leading off...not saying Alexei is QUITE that good, but he has the potential to be, especially if he gets a little stronger and puts on 10-15 pounds (hopefully without losing any range/quickness).

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Oct 1, 2008 -> 03:56 PM) i remember a very good AL team, youngest in the MLB that year, who wound up with the best record in the league heading into the playoffs. Sadly, the 2000 White Sox got swept in the first round. Pitching, pitching, pitching....Baldwin, Parque and Sirotka were already injured/dying/fading at that point. Sirotka would go down for the count after the Wells trade. Parque's and Baldwin's careers were never the same after this season either. We really just treaded water that season the final two months (I think we were something like 5-8 games over .500 after the ASB...the team really peaked in June/July that year...like the 2003 and 2006 White Sox in July and August. All our big hitters were horrible against Seattle too, they were either shut out or got 1 hit I think...Thomas, Ordonez, Lee and Konerko.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 1, 2008 -> 02:11 PM) I think that's a mistake by Maddon and company. Of course, I'm pretty sure they have Price on their roster so it's not like they'll be empty handed with studly arms. Why they would pick Price over Jackson is beyond me...they need all the guys with experience they can get, IMO. It's almost like if we added Poreda to our post-season roster...not quite, but close.

I'm not sure Vazquez goes, because the status of Contreras is so shaky for even the 2009 ASB, and, if nothing else, he'll eat a ton of innings and be a .500 pitcher. Now whether it's wise or the norm to pay 4/5 starters that kind of money, I'll let JR and KW decide (because Garland and Garcia were making around the same and were roughly the equivalent of Vazquez in salary and performance level...except the fact they both really picked it up in 2005). It would be sweet for KW and Vazquez if he could finally get his game together. There's really not a tremendous amount of pressure at this point...almost everyone expects him to fail miserably, as long as we don't blow our bullpen for the 2nd game, most Sox fans will be "okay" I think. Everyone realizes with Buehrle's lack of rest over the last couple of weeks that you just can't keep going to the well too often and not expect him to come down with a dead arm at some point. If you look at the Tigers in 06, Sox in 05, the A's (Hudson, Zito and Mulder all having major injury problems), the post-season usually has a way of catching up with you the following season, unless you're the Red Sox, Angels or Dodgers and can spend your way out of any problem.

The funny thing is that Edwin Jackson was left off their playoff roster, and he's a darn good pitcher. He's more or less the equivalent of our Javier Vazquez. On our playoff roster, he would be Clayton Richard. In terms of their pitchers, Shields is definitely the most consistent in providing quality starts, but all of them have struggled at various times during the September stretch drive. Kazmir is the one guy who can go out there and throw a no-hitter or go Rick Ankiel almost on you...and fall apart with his control. Sonnanstine has also struggled. And some of our hitters are familiar with Garza from 06/07, so that should be beneficial. OTOH, most of their hitters have not seen Floyd or Danks at their best. Tough choices for the manager. I think MacDougal might be the slight favorite over Russell (definitely) and Wasserman (maybe). Don't see Anderson or Wise getting left off the team, especially with three games possibly on turf. The turf concept also tends to favor the inclusion of JB over Fields, because we already have Swisher to use off the bench for pop, and Hall is very comfortable playing in that environment too. Ramirez is a a tough one to choose too...then there's Broadway, but he doesn't serve any purpose, since we have Carrasco and Richard for long-relief of Vazquez (or any other early faltering starter). The White Sox love being in this position I think. Only 2 of the Tribune writers picked them to make it past the Rays. EDIT: We need someone like Juan Castro on the White Sox...that guy should be there, simply for being such a great fielder and because he's Vin Scully's favorite Dodger of all-time.

I think you have to start Vazquez...and have Richard ready to go at the first sign of trouble, especially against Crawford or Pena. I don't expect to win this series, but I wouldn't be surprised by anything after this week (we are 5-17 in domes, but then again, we just beat the Twins in a crucial game, so who knows?)

I missed another start of Danks against MN. 2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's Overall, 2-2 against Twins...ERA in the stratosphere, which is the same as Blackburn's recently. So who knows...? Relax, sit back and strap er down....although no relaxing tonight I don't think.

"The first time I stepped in the box I started laughing," A.J. Pierzynski said. "He cursed at me in Spanish, and I started laughing just because I know Freddy so well and I know he's back and throwing the ball great. I hope Freddy has a great career." Best quote of the night, or maybe a close second to Mark's.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Sep 30, 2008 -> 12:12 AM) Are these what you think, or are these actual complaints you've heard? Both...just go to startribune.com, read the story about the "celebration that wasn't" and you can see all the reader comments. It's a lot better than most teams' MLB message boards, most of what I wrote down was written there, except for the part about Garcia. Actually, the Twins' fans claimed it was a "mysterious" injury/reason and they were, for some reason, not understanding what was wrong with him. Stone called it right away...that it was his shoulder and that the pitch he had delivered was his final toss of the night.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 29, 2008 -> 10:00 PM) I just want to say that I want Swisher in LF tomorrow. I've had more than enough of Wise. I prefer to think of Quentin as Achilles, lol. Or maybe Contreras is...and Quentin can be El Gran Titan de Stanford.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 29, 2008 -> 10:28 PM) I hope our crowd goes nuts. Those domers got 3 home games last week against us and we paid the price. We need to intimidate them into oblivion and beat them like KC did. They looked mighty ordinary all 3 vs. the Royals. GO SOX; MASH TWINS! One thing is true, Morneau is in a huge slump which could cost him the MVP. Hamilton actually has one more RBI now I think. Something has to give, Justin's numbers against Danks and are almost unbelieveable, same with Mauer and Cuddyer.

Even if we lose, it was worth it to hear all the whining and complaining going on. 1) Twins should host playoff because they won season series 10-8 (conveniently forgetting 90% of the reason for their two World Series victories in 1987 and 1991 was due to the Dome...in fact, in 1987, they had one of the worst records of the playoff teams but had an advantage because the AL West and AL East alternated home field advantage, and both years the AL had home field) 2) Selig and MLB conspiracy to try to match up Cubs and White Sox in WS and leave out small market teams 3) Coin flip is patently unfair, Selig sucks (even though this was tradition well before Bud) 4) Garcia took himself out of the game as a personal favor to Ozzie, who he's related to by birth 5) Wedge hates Gardenhire and bagged the Cliff Lee start on purpose so that Lee's Cy Young status wouldn't be tarnished 6) Tigers hate the Twins because of 2006, passing them the last weekend (that doesn't make much sense) 7) There should be an investigation of Leyland's "minor league" line-up by MLB 8) Galaragga threw 2 wild pitches after only 4 all season before that 9) The Tigers' relievers deliberately walked all those Sox batters so they could go home early, and then the hitters mailed it in afterwards 10) "We were all packed up to go somewhere. Whether it be Tampa or Chicago, we were ready to go," he said. "We're looking forward to getting out there. It's a one-game playoff. It's going to be exciting." Still, the tiebreaking grand slam by Alexei Ramirez in the sixth inning for Chicago was clearly a buzz kill for the guys gathered in the room. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't kick myself or was a little upset, but it is what it is," Punto said. "We've got business to take care of in Chicago, and that's all I'm worried about."