caulfield12

Span's a really clutch hitter for a rookie. He's more dangerous, to me, than Cuddyer, because he also is a weapon defensively.

Of course, Torii Hunter completely misplays a ball to give Minnesota the victory. Ironic. There's a gift...if they can get Span out, they should be able to get Casilla, as his hand is still bothering him.

Does Scioscia pitch to Mauer or Morneau with a runner at 2nd and 2 outs?

Baker has something like a 4-1 K/BB ratio. He's quietly becoming one of the better pitchers in the AL.

Why do Mauer and Morneau ALWAYS come up in key situations? Please use Darren Oliver against Morneau, Scioscia. Well...they got out of it, amazingly enough. All the mo back to the Angels and the Rally Monkey. Maybe the two best managers in baseball today going at it.

QUOTE (almagest @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 09:52 PM) Baker has been falling behind the Angels all night and it seems like every single 2-0 or 3-1 pitch an Angel will pop out somewhere. It's really frustrating to watch. As usual, it will come down to the bullpens eventually. We'll see how Guerrier/Reyes/Crain fare on the road. Never thought Carlos Gomez was going to get two big hits so far in this game....or that Nick Punto might be making a key offensive contribution. As DJ would say, "uh-oh." Lackey throws the ball away on Span's bunt attempt, 2nd and 3rd with no outs in the 7th. Looks like trouble for the Sox.

QUOTE (Jim Spencer @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:27 PM) I went to 4 games in 2 years were Danny Wright pitched or Josh Stewart pitched. I'm surprised I'm still a Sox fan Needless to say, the Sox lost all 4 games. Don't forget Felix Diaz and Mike Porzio. Actually, both of those guys pitched a decent game or two...at least Felix pitched one good game against the Cubs. Another one of those prospects that was supposed to throw 93-96 and he was more realistically 89-91.

Tex homer to CF...1-0 Angels. Lackey was in trouble in the first, but struck out Morneau and retired Kubel to get out of the threat.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:44 PM) I'm fine with Richard getting the start. He walks a fine line out there right now because his fastball is far and away his best pitch -- if he doesn't have the movement or velocity and control of it he's toast out there -- but thankfully a fastball isn't that hard to locate compared compared to off speed stuff and I have confidence he can get it done as a decent 5th starter going forward. It would be silly to bring up Haeger for a start when Broadway and Richard have already been thrown into the fire and responded decently. How many more times will the 5th starter's spot come up? I can't believe it will be more than 4-5 more times. Give those starts to Richard, that's fine. One thing interesting is that if Linebrink comes back it really opens of the possibility of Carasco moving to the rotation, as he won't be needed for very many relief appearances with Jenks, Thornton, Liney and Dotel in front him. In hindsight, the move to keep him in the 'pen for now is looking like a very smart move. I can't imagine we'll see Carrasco in the rotation from here on out. There's not enough time to stretch his arm out now...and we don't want to have to expose our entire bullpen if the game is close (or we're ahead) when he leaves. OTOH, it seems that Richard/Broadway are unlikely to go more than 5-6 innings in most starts also, but at least they theoretically have the ability to do so. I would be hard-pressed to imagine DJ doing that at this point in the season. And yes, the rosters are expanding soon, but I think KW and Ozzie made the right choice and I don't think they'll reverse direction and switch again, especially since we've won the last two turns from the 5th.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:42 PM) Including today, we have each of the next three Thursday's off. I'd consider skipping the 5th slot completely for a while. We can do that 3-4 times down the stretch. But we play Friday through Wednesday, so we have to go to that spot Tuesday. Keep in mind, we are going to start a reliever for the make-up game's resumption Monday afternoon.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Apk0...o&type=lgns Good article on Ludwick. With the seasons Quentin and Hamilton are having, he's kind of getting lost in the conversation a bit. One of those late-bloomers who finally flourishes (at age 29/30) when given a shot AND injury-free.

QUOTE (Jim Spencer @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:28 PM) Haeger is 9-12 with a 4.63 ERA this year. I'd rather see Egbert or Whistler before Haeger. I forgot to mention Whisler. I guess that's because he's something like the Josh Stewart of the group, although hopefully better. Josh seemed like a nice kid, it was a shame what happened to him with the injuries and lack of confidence that resulted.

2003 and 2006 were the only years the White Sox and Twins were close...this myth of the Twins owning the White Sox in the latter stages of the season is almost 100% due to the Twins winning the last five head-to-head match-ups with the Sox down the stretch that year. Realistically, in 2006, we were dying a slow death in August already and fading with Liriano's ascendance. That danged guy has won 14 games in a row now, between Rochester and the big league level. Unless they skip a turn in the TOR rotation, the Twins should see Halladay and Marcum, or at least Marcum and Burnett.

Haeger and Broadway as the candidates for Tuesday's start??? Has anyone seen Charlie pitch recently? We've been hearing Carrasco, Porcello, Broadway and even Egbert's name from time to time this year, but I don't think I've seen many piling on the Haeger bandwagon...does everyone think it will still be Richard? Or will they flip-flop back to Broadway. I think KW must have been thinking in the back of his head watch Dickey get crushed by the Sox that there's nothing worse than an ineffective knuckleballer...not to mention all the stolen bases surrendered. Well, if nothing else, these last six weeks will give us something of a "proving ground" with the 5th starter's spot. Going into ST next year, if KW doesn't make a move, we'll have Clayton, Broadway, Haeger, Egbert, Carrasco and probably Horacio Ramirez all in the mix. The question is whether any one of those guys can do better on a consistent basis than what we got out of that role from 2001-2004? One move that seems obvious is switching Richard and Horacio Ramirez next spring. Seeing Thornton's wear and tear and results when he goes 2-3 innings and sees the order twice, I don't think we'll ever see him in a starting role.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 05:05 PM) Yeah, but imagine where the Tigers would be without him! When you look at it, it still wasn't a bad trade for the Tigers, becasuse it's essentially Cameron Maybin for Cabrera. I never believed all the hype about Andrew Miller...he seemed very overhyped, and his stuff wasn't what everyone said it was. He looked more like Boone Logan than Matt Thornton out there. Thankfully, the Tigers also traded Jurrgens away to the Braves. That leaves Porcello (who has been solid but far from dominant in the FSL). We have our own version of Porcello in Poreda, although most scouts thought Porcello, especially for his age/experience, was much more advanced with his secondary pitches...we shall see. If Bonderman is able to get healthy and Porcello matures, they have a very solid 1-3 with Verlander. Miner has shown flashes, I think Robertson's time is up too, although look what happened with Cliff Lee from last year to this one. The problem is they have so many bad contracts now with Sheffield, Renteria, Willis and Pudge, etc., they may have no choice but to unload Ordonez...which would set them back another year in competing in the AL Central.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 05:05 PM) Yeah, but imagine where the Tigers would be without him! When you look at it, it still wasn't a bad trade for the Tigers, becasuse it's essentially Cameron Maybin for Cabrera. I never believed all the hype about Andrew Miller...he seemed very overhyped, and his stuff wasn't what everyone said it was. He looked more like Boone Logan than Matt Thornton out there. Thankfully, the Tigers also traded Jurrgens away to the Braves. That leaves Porcello (who has been solid but far from dominant in the FSL). We have our own version of Porcello in Poreda, although most scouts thought Porcello, especially for his age/experience, was much more advanced with his secondary pitches...we shall see. If Bonderman is able to get healthy and Porcello matures, they have a very solid 1-3 with Verlander. Miner has shown flashes, I think Robertson's time is up too, although look what happened with Cliff Lee from last year to this one. The problem is they have so many bad contracts now with Sheffield and Willis and Pudge, etc., they may have no choice but to unload Ordonez...which would set them back another year in competing in the AL Central.

Beckham 2 for 4 with a double and run scored (.526) Danks 1 for 4 with an RBI, K

Thanks...well, the way TB and Cleveland have played against the Angels, taking away their best record in the majors (etc.), I think there will now be some stronger motivation for the Angels to show up...not to mention they're playing at home.

What's wrong with Thome? Sorry, I just woke up (it's 310 am in the morning here) and noticed he was pulled from the line-up. Haven't had the time to read through the whole game thread.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 02:55 AM) It depends on what you mean by "Moneyball." If you mean OBP, SLG, OPS, then you are absolutely wrong; you would be suggesting that baseball has become more sabermetric than anything, and those are just the very basic sabermetric statistics. Moneyball is all about finding what teams do not value and loading your team up with that. The A's have had a good pitching staff for a number of years now and it hasn't had everything to do with the quality of their pitcher, as, instead, they've started to focus their game around defense and building the best defensive team they can. If you were wondering, the 2005 White Sox team was a "Moneyball" team in that it wasn't a big spender and instead focused it's financial resources on the entire team itself, rather than one or two players, and found what was being overlooked by the market - defense. The White Sox and A's were the 2 best defensive teams in the entire majors in 2005, and it's no wonder why both teams were in the top 4 in the AL in team ERA. The Twins also take a Moneyball approach and do have good scouting but also have fantastic coaching and a top 2 manager in all of baseball. That doesn't hurt. Rick Anderson is also one of the most underrated pitching coaches in the entire majors. Not only defense, but they found needed "cheap" speed in Pods (which allowed them to manufacture runs for the first time since the late 90's), leadership from Pierzynski, a player who was willing to do the overlooked "little things" in Iguchi...then they really got lucky with Hermanson for 4-5 months, and Jenks the last 6-8 weeks....as we went through 3 closers in one year. El Duque was a great mentor for Contreras as well that season, to get him back on track. But that's the gist.....Carlos Lee/Ordonez/Valentin The trade for Pods was never about talent...it was about getting rid of Lee's salary and changing (at the time, we've now reverted again) the fundamental composition and approach of the team.

He reminds me in many ways of Buchholz from the Red Sox. Lots of potential, very good stuff (93-94 MPH), a very good frame for a pitcher...but something's just not quite clicking yet. On-the-job-training so far for him, just like Zach Greinke. To tell the truth, I was quite surprised to see Zach make it back from the brink with his social anxiety disorder. It really looked like his baseball career might be over before it started.

Are you sure they might not prefer to stick with Lowrie and Pedroia staying together in the middle of the infield? Granted, Lowrie still has a long ways to go, but he's quickly becoming a fan favorite and his OPS is .858. I don't know when the last time Uribe came close to that...probably the first two months of the 2004 season? That year, his OPS was .833, but it has been slowly/steadily downhill ever since that season, for a number of reasons. Has anyone seen enough of Lowrie at SS to say that he can't play the position long-term? Range? Arm? Since I've been overseas all year, I haven't seen him play at all.

Chicago White Sox records after 125 games.... 2003 (64-61) thought it would have been a little higher, losing those last five games in a row to MIN was the death blow to that team 2006 (73-52) had already begun to sink after being 26 games over .500 at the ASB 2007 (56-69) 2000 (74-51) 2005 (78-47)

Valido has simply become an "organizational" player that will soon no longer be a part of our system. It's time to let the better and younger prospects take his place. Sounds like a good move to get some valuable playoff experience for another player in the org. Final line for Poreda...6 IP, 6 H, 1 R/0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's, 3.17 ERA now (didn't get win due to a blown save by Link) Beckham, 1 for 4 (single), .533 AVG.

Well...we shall see how they (Broadway/Richard/Poreda/Egbert, etc.) do against the better teams down the stretch. That will be the key. Luckily, we're 2-0 in our last two starts out of the fifth spot. From 2001-2004, the winning percentage from that position was pretty abysmal, something like only 15-20% of the those starts. I think KW simply made a calculation that it wasn't worth trading someone like Poreda for a pretty minimal return of 6-7 starts down the stretch. If they didn't have those conveniently placed off-days, I think there would have been really no choice but to make a move...as giving up (possibly) four more games would have been a bigger difference in the final standings. He also knew that he had Carrasco as a last/final resort, and the September roster call-ups/reinforcements. All things considered, a very positive start. Like Alexei and his baserunning, Cooper needs to work with Richard on his throws to first base before they really come back to bite us in the butt.