caulfield12

Nice to see a little more velocity and then mixing in a few pitches (like the K on Griffey) below hitting speed.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/...ds/?pl_id=23816 .281 in 30+ ab's with 2 doubles and 1 SB The problem with Pods is he can't play CF, and Anderson is the much better option defensively (and probably) offensively now. The only argument for Pods would be if Getz was sidelined or DLed, but that doesn't look like the case.

2nd game has to be CSN+, because the Bulls are on CSN

It says 405 and WGN, i'm assuming that's for the first game and not the second half of the DH? By the way, who is Ginger Zee? Sounds like a Hungarian porn starlet.

I'll give another example (ejemplo). In Spanish, banks are usually banco, but banque is French for bank. On the other hand, a tank is most definitely not a tanko in Spanish (that's what I was joking about, Vicied-O, Tank-O). I just liked the sound of the two "o's" together...or Cubano Tanko.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 11:10 PM) Good try! Go Cuban Tanko! Tanque de Guerra (war) El Tanque Cubano Cubano, I was joking. I think it's funny when people add vowels to the end of words and think they're getting Italian or Spanish somehow. The noun/adjective structure doesn't work as well, either. Titan de bronze would be Bronze Titan in English, not Titan of Bronze.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 28, 2009 -> 12:25 AM) THis is second go around in AA, correct? Third, technically. Brief appearance in 2006. As far as Montgomery goes, there are some sites affiliated with the Civil Rights movement that are interesting and the Southern Poverty Law Center, if you're into that kind of thing. The Civil War battle of Shiloh was all the way to the northeast of Mississippi/southern TENN, so that's about all I remember from my visit to that region. Huntsville is fun, there's the space and rocket center if you're into that kind of thing. BTW, Dayan Viciedo has his 2nd stolen base tonight. Go Cuban Tanko.

Beckham with two out RBI double into LF corner, scoring Hudson. Still a prospect, after all. Now at .294. Flowers crushed one down the LF line that was "obliterated" according to the Barons' announcer. Just foul. Magallanes and Flowers contesting the decision a bit but settling down after Tyler came all the way to the mound to get a clarification. Cleared foul pole by so much it was very hard to call fair or foul. Missed a home run of "epic proportion" by inches. Flower strikes out on the curveball and glares daggers at 3B umpire who called his ball foul. 4-2 Barons. Foolish manager brings in LHR Maine (related to Mets' pitcher??) thinking to nullify Allen, not realizing Brandon hits lefties better and toyed with David Price last year. It works though, as ball is popped up and run down with a very good play by the SS in the outfield. Kyle McCulloch with four straight quality starts...bring on the Broadway comparisons.

Yep, still quite early in the season. A couple of nights ago, there was speculation about him being demoted to Winston-Salem or being overmatched, two nights from now he might be sporting a higher BA than Beckham and everyone will be panicking about Gordon and asking "what's wrong with Slayer?" Viciedo's defense has solidified, and everyone is raving about his arm as well. Brian Anderson now has a higher OPS than Gordon Beckham as well as Dayan Viciedo. Didn't think that would happen in 2009.

Detroit continues to impress. Verlander finally figures some things out and beats Sabathia, who's going to start receiving boos in Gotham City soon enough. They had Rodney on the ropes (scored two in the top of the 9th) but Posada ended up grounding into a DP to quell the threat. Minnesota is struggling with the Rays at home. Good match-up of two teams with similar styles. Baker still hasn't had a good start. Crede, Cuddyer, Gomez and Punto are dragging that offense into the gutter, along with D. Young. Royals behind newly-promoted Bannister (replacing H. Ramirez in rotation) wipe out Blue Jays. Of course, they got to face the infamous Mr. Purcey. Guillen coming off the DL took him deep twice and former Sox Miguel Olivo also went yard.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 08:14 PM) Only if someone gets promoted... and so far none of the Baron outfielders are stepping up. Gartrell is probably the best prospect to be moved, although he's a Tier 2/3 prospect, overall. Five homers isn't bad, though. Doesn't seem like Gartrell will ever hit for a high average, but he was supposed to be on the AFL team before Danks took his place, correct? Danks will probably be on the Winston-Salem roster until the ASB. No need to rush him, and it's a good thing if Danks and Shelby can both play CF for as long as they can, which means separate teams for now, unless they decide to move Shelby back to LF. Shelby undoubtedly needs a full year of AA. Brandon Allen just struck out with the bases loaded (three homers in a week, not bad!)...Beckham is struggling a bit now, down to .284.

Cancelled DH tomorrow starting at 405 with second game starting 30 minutes after the end of first game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 01:01 PM) I'll gladly take Aardsma on this roster instead of some of the crap we have out there in the pen. I think this one was Cooper's decision, based on the fact there was so much resistance about developing David's offspeed stuff. What will undoubtedly happen is that Aardsma will do well for a couple of months in non-pressure situations, then he'll crack (not unlike Boone Logan) and just disappear mentally and not even seem like the same pitcher again for the rest of the season. Who knows, maybe he will just "find it" like Thornton did after one film session and day working with Cooper, but a reliever who doesn't throw 101-102 can't get away with just a fastball. Logan, Sisco and Aardsma are the three "strikes" against Cooper, but it's not like Boone stormed into Atlanta and became the closer there.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 12:53 PM) Absolutely. Ozzie will be the first to tell you he has others tell players they have been traded or released, or sent to the minors. He cannot do it. I'm not a big Ozzie guy, but I don't consider not having the heart to tell someone something like that to be a bad thing . If BA continues to play like he's been playing, even if his average drops, which is obviously very likely, he won't be replaced. Especially by the likes of Dewayne Wise. Good ABs is all he needs. Well, that's different. Because that's the worst thing for any manager, to tell someone it's all over or they're being traded/released. I am sure he really hated being in that situation with Pablo Ozuna. Guillen has remarked about the difficulty of this aspect of managing on more than one occasion. But I can guarantee if Alexei or Brian have to lead off in the next week, Ozzie will be the one to tell them, not Greg Walker, Joe Cowley or Harold Baines.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 12:36 PM) And if Anderson struggles and goes 5 for his next 40, there will be people on here that blame Ozzie for putting too much pressure on him. Hopefully Anderson's matured, and this is a non-issue. At this point, it doesn't matter what BA does for the rest of his career with the White Sox. If he succeeds, it will be in spite or despite Ozzie. If he fails or is traded, it will be because Ozzie destroyed his career/confidence or now he "called him out and warned him the job wasn't automatically his (when he returned)." Seriously, the guy (Wise) did everything expected of him last year, he was unfairly put in the position of leadoff hitter, was booed for two games...he gives everything he has and lays out for a flyball, possibly saving the game....and his manager thanks him by saying, "Well, that Wise guy, he filled a big hole when Nicky tanked last year, but now that he's injured and Brian is playing like an All-Star, we'll just quietly release him and Jerry Owens. I don't even know why he's trying to rehab, because there's no place for him on this team, and, based on the back of his baseball card, he'd be lucky in this economy to get a job with UPS. Just a bad break for him, but I can't waste a spot for him on the roster, not when we have the weakest bench in the majors as is and I'm terribly underutilizing Wilson Betemit." I think the only way we'll really know will be what happens with his career after he leaves the White Sox...that people will really be able to look at him objectively and see the "forest for the trees" in this argument. Time has shown the White Sox have made very few mistakes in letting players go. Right now, and you can argue about Ryan Sweeney or Chris B. Young, but Frank Francisco's about the only pitcher we have traded that would find a place on the 2009 White Sox roster.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Apr 27, 2009 -> 11:41 AM) You're good at including random, almost useless facts into your posts. Who cares about the number of grand slams he has had in comparison with Pujols? 13 Abs shouldn't mean anything, but if he determines that to be good sample of determining whether someone was playing good, then so be it. The entire point here is if motivation is the key to why Guillen is suggesting Anderson's role in CF may be reevaluated at a later time, why not Ramirez as well? Couldn't you just as easily say after a full season scouting reports have determined Alexi's weaknesses, and as of yet, he has yet to adjust? Up until these last two days, it's not even as if he has had good ABs. They have been atrocious. Let's not ignore his defense, either. It reminds me of people who have confidence in Contreras because of what he did in the past. The past is gone, and there's no guarantee what happened before will happen again. Especially with Contreras and his disintegrating body. With Alexi, however, you just can't sit on his accomplishments of last year and give him a pass if his struggles continue. We don't have any other quality options for SS, but what I feel is even if you have NO intention on removing Ramirez, why not atleast give him a feeling you would? Is this not what many people in this thread are suggesting with the entire "light a fire, keep him motivated" argument? Being voted 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting doesn't count for anything? Or you don't like the Pujols comparison, haha. Last time I checked, there was only 6 months separating Alexei with Anderson in age. In other words, he has proven something in his career, heretofore, and Anderson has not...unless you want to go along with those who think he rescued the White Sox season with the "amazing/awe-inspiring/jaw-dropping" catch in the final game against Minnesota last year. Ramirez has proven he can be an everyday player, Anderson, up until the past 10 days, has never done that. Ramirez just had one horrible game defensively, and now all of a sudden he's the worst SS in the American League. Up until that game, he was surprisingly effective defensively, and the main reason people weren't calling for him to be benched is because we had nobody to play that position but....gasp....Brent Lillibridge, who, despite his looking like a Mormon Tabernacle Youth Choir member and being really fast and making some snazzy defensive plays, none of these really qualify taking away Ramirez's position. In other words, there's not really any other option for SS than Alexei Ramirez, unless you're suggesting they bench him for Beckham (which would mean Beckham would be promoted much more quickly than either Frank Thomas or Robin Ventura to the major league team). Finally, a good manager (in any sport) knows that you can't push the same button with every player, just like Scott Skiles wasn't effective at all getting through to the likes of Tyrus Thomas and J. Noah. Alexei obviously was down in the dumps and pressing and hanging his head, to blast him and make him feel worse would obviously not be the appropriate move, there. This is exactly why Ozzie has been a good manager, because he has a better feel for the motivational/psychological/off-field side of things than almost any other manager. For Brian Anderson, there's a list of 10-15 players that have never played better for any other team in the majors than the White Sox Imagine, Lou Piniella was afraid to tell Soriano he was being moved to 3rd in the order, so he had Gerald Perry do it. Can you imagine Ozzie making a change like that and not doing it personally? Nix has little experience playing SS, period. And Beckham already has six errors in only 16 games played.

Nix wasn't the starter at 2B. And he's barely played SS at all. Brian was not 2nd in the ROY voting in 2006, and Ramirez also has 62.5% of the number of grand slams Albert Pujols has accumulated playing in nearly a decade of games. Second, Wise was 5 for 13 (.385) and made an amazing, possibly game-saving catch in DET, that's what Ozzie meant when he said he (Wise) was playing well (after he moved out of the leadoff spot). Third, the earliest Wise could come back to the team would be mid-June, so Anderson will have had at least two full months to make whatever impression he is going to on Ozzie and KW, in terms of organizational plans for the future (trade for another CF, platoon BA with Wise, release Wise and/or Owens, let Anderson play until Shelby or Jordan Danks beat him out, etc.).

Stepping up: Brian Anderson's defense has never been an issue. Offense has always been responsible for holding the 27-year-old center fielder out of the starting lineup, but Anderson was 3-for-4 Sunday and he's batting a robust .349 overall. "To me this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "But he's having great at-bats, and if he keeps playing like that he should be the center fielder." If those sound like atypically nice words for Anderson from Guillen, so be it. "I will, positive or negative," Guillen said when asked if he'll stay on Anderson. "That's the way I am, and how I do my stuff. All of his teammates are rooting for him. I'm rooting for him. I want him to have success. I want him to have a good career. I hope he steps it up to be what he can be." www.dailyherald.com Wow Ozzie, stop being so unfair. More criticism, please.

''Beckham doesn't play second,'' Guillen said. ''If you see Beckham up here this year, we're in trouble. He should play a full season [at Birmingham]. If we have to [bring him up], we will, but I hope we don't have to.'' The full quote on Beckham...just for clarification. He also said Nix is playing well down at Charlotte.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Apr 26, 2009 -> 03:10 PM) Lets get one thing straight... the dude is pretty ugly. But he's a good ball player, and that's all that matters... but seriously, that face is not easy on the eyes. If he makes it to the majors, there are about 10 million girls who could care less what he looks like. It's not like he's Lyle Lovett or Ric Ocasek strange/weird.

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 26, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) Chris Ronge did a really nice interview with Flowers right after he was acquired. He asked Tyler which one player he was most often compared to by scouts, etc. The answer... Mark McGuire. And regarding Retherford... unfortunate looking? Club foot? What is this... a beauty pageant? He's batting .300, which makes him the top hitter on the team not named Beckham, Flowers, or Allen. Looks like a ballplayer to me. That always makes me cringe, because Borchard's power was described the same way. As far as power goes, Harrelson is already arguing that Tyler is more powerful than anyone in the major leagues today, or at least AS/EQUALLY powerful. If everyone remembers Ron Karkovice, I don't think Retherford will touch him on that scale...or Willie McGee. Maybe we should name Miss California USA our new Asst. Director of Community Relations and Gay Marriage Compliance?? Would that help balance things out? Of course, we'd have to compete with Fox News for her.

Eli Marrero is Cuban (I think)...does that make both the OTHER Marreros American-born/Cuban descent?

Fields' swing was short and quick in ST. If you remember, he was pulling everything into LF, which was a concern. As the spring continued, his swing got a lot bigger and this forced him to hit almost everything to RF and RCF. The last 2 weeks, his triples and his homer and solid strokes have all come in this direction. He has to be more quick and direct to the ball or he'll end up a very below-average 3B both defensively AND offensively. Most troubling is the "swing and a miss" routine on 84 to 98 MPH fastballs right down the pike.

Throughout his career with the White Sox, Guillen has deliberately made choices intentionally that kept us from winning. He really doesn't love the White Sox, and you can tell that from the Pythagorean numbers that he's one of the worst managers in the game. Mostly, he's held onto his job by holding onto grudges, and Reinsdorf really admires that in the staff he surrounds himself with. If we had had Cito Gaston as our manager, we'd have won at least 2 and maybe 3 World Series championships this decade. We'd also still have Aaron Rowand and Joe Crede, because they're just the kind of players you cannot win without, and Cito understands this intuitively. Guillen should still be a 3rd base coach with the Marlins or Braves, really.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=29087 As hot as he has been, Brian's OPS is at 835. That's very good, for sure, but if he held up this exact same level of play for the entire season, he'd still only be 16 points (835 to 819) higher than Denard Span (2008 rookie year) in terms of OPS. I said anything above 740 would be great, so while him keeping up 835 would be simply amazing and awe-inspiring, it wouldn't be All-Star caliber. Unless you think of Denard Span as an All-Star? Actually, this version of BA (the singles and occasional doubles hitter) is very similar to Span statistically. I would be happy to sacrifice the Torii Hunter offensive numbers (HR's and K's) if he would continue to this level of play, but I'm not sure that's possible. Probably what will happen is that his batting average will come down to 260-270, he'll hit a few more homers and become more pull happy (because of the Greg Walker influence) and end up with an OPS of around 700-750, which is still better than what I thought was possible.