The Beast

Yay, another thread. What happened to the days of the mega threads that ended in letdown and disappointments? I will be surprised if either Harper or Machado sign here at this point.

I remember those days. Wsc425 running rampant around the boards with strange threads and being an immature teenager before growing up to lurk the boards for news and updates. Wasn’t there an Aussie posting here at one point? I might be confusing him with Be Good. On topic, when does everyone think we hear something on Harper and Machado? By NYE?

I was reading about the Cubs new pitching coach and noticed he has an analytics background. He took a course called “Sabermetrics 101: Introduction to Baseball Analytics” offered by Boston University. The course is out there but it is unavailable. I am in a graduate program studying data science at a local university and would love to take a course like this and learn more about new baseball statistics. Does anyone know of a similar course or content area I could look at that includes sabermetrics, baseball analytics, data science, R and SQL like this course has? Edit: I was able to get into the course, I just had to play around with Edx to open it. I would enjoy reading some other materials people have to offer, though.

Buehrle, Thome, Thomas, Konerko, Durham, Valentin, Perry, Jenks, Dye, Ordonez, Lee, Rowand, Pierzynski, Garland, Podsednik, Abreu, Crede.

Damaso Marte because of the walks. Jim Parque for refusing to sign autographs after the game when I was a kid. Plus he sucked against the Mariners one time when he and Rauch got rocked. Dunn, Koch (even though I felt bad for him as a human being with the disease he got), Owens, Borchard, Colon for getting rocked against the Twins, Clayton, Sale’s attitude and LaRoche’s weird retirement over his kid.

Ozuna and Cabrera, why?

Valentin, why?

We can infer what we want from the trade but we have no idea what Hahn will do or be able to pull off. Should we also infer that the Sox are out of the Harper sweepstakes because Alonso was acquired and it is a signal that they are pursuing Machado? Who knows, time will tell.

The sky is falling if Machado and Harper don’t sign here and the Alonso to recruit Machado takes are getting old.

Then people need to go b**** to Hahn and the FO or stop buying tickets and merchandise like they have been.

Then as a fan base let’s continue b****ing and see what that brings. There are too many unknown variables that people don’t have any inside information on. A team has needs each offseason, why can’t people identify the remaining holes instead of just have the meltdown that they do? It’s not productive and while I don’t agree with everything rabbit said on Twitter, fans need to set themselves up for the possibility that neither sign here. I will be thrilled if one sign here, but there probably is a plan B if they don’t sign here. Having prospects coming soon and players like Harper and Machado would be a healthier and better direction, but there is still talent that could be brought in in the future if they miss on either or both players. It’s just not worth freaking out about Colome, Nova, McCann and Alsonso yet.

There is no harm in this move. There is wayyy too much b****ing about this move. “If they don’t get Machado then this was a waste” is getting old. They need to fill out the roster while they wait for Machado or Harper to respond to an offer. There are still holes elsewhere and I fully expect them to be filled before Harper or Machado to make up their minds. I fully expect there to be a plan B and that this board will have the same meltdown that I did when Trump won the presidency if neither sign.

There is wayyyy too much b****ing on this board over Alonso and McCann being acquired. $2.5 million is cheap and Alonso cost almost nothing. They are all in on Harper and Machado and if they don’t get them, there is probably a plan B. People really need to let things play out and see what happens. Seriously.

Yes because of resources being limited for each team we are competing with. Meaning, there’s only so much teams can spend and still compete. We should end up with one of them.

Can I ask why you can’t share it publicly? Why can’t your source allow you to share it here?

Same here. I need some ammo for when my wife and I have kids do they don’t listen to their grandmother or mother and instead listen to their paternal grandparents and father about what fan to be, another misguided child or a White Sox fan.

Want to bet?

I’m in a data science program and I will say that having knowledge of SQL, R, Python, statistics and the data mining process will help get a leg up on the competition. Rarely is someone good at everything and it takes a team to come up with insights from the data.

We have to hope that Trubisky develops as a passer if he is to be the long term Bears quarterback. If his legs give out as he gets older, he might be one dimensional. Trubisky getting popped and having his ACL torn or getting concussions are my biggest concerns.

I hope she doesn’t run again, there’s no point. Put Biden, Harris or my pipe dream of Kasich and Hickenlooper our there. Realistically though I bet an aged Trump gets a second term unless we face a recession or the middle class doesn’t see the value in him like they did in 2016. Voters might have a different perspective if Clinton isn’t around though.

Thanks!

I’m not surprised that the Senate went towards the GOP after Kavanaugh’s nomination. Casten looks to be unseating Roskam. Suburban voters seem to be rejecting Trump in the Midwest. A blue wave in the house but interesting gubernatorial outcomes. At least I feel like I have more representation even if Rauner lost.

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, Braun is already in the lead but I have no idea what precincts are reporting and 10% of precincts are reporting.

I’m confused.

I split my ticket this year. I can’t stand Madigan and don’t trust Pritzker, but I didnt care for everything Rauner did either. I ended up voting for Rauner because I’m a new homeowner and am worried about my property taxes, hoping they can remain frozen. I will be interested to see if David Olsen gets re-elected tonight and if Sean Casten can unseat Peter Roskam, a seat that has been held by republicans since the 70s. I am hopeful that FiveThirtyEight’s models are correct and democrats will take over the house and minimize the damage in the Senate. It sounds like Hietkamp will lose in ND, it will be a close race in MO and the democrats have a good chance of winning in Arizona. I am a little concerned that the house won’t fall with as big of a majority to the democrats and don’t feel positive that they will win key governor races - Gillum and Abrams for instance. I hope Casten wins since I campaigned for him, but it depends on how riled up the democratic base is, how many women (regardless of party) voted for him and the turnout to counter Roskam. FiveThirtyEight said it was a toss up so we will see what happens. Hopefully they get the house majority tonight and I don’t wake up on Thursday feeling the way I did the Wednesday after in 2016.