Chisoxfn

I'm assuming you have to live in the Chicago area for this one? I know one thing, I'll be pulling for any of you Soxtalkers that apply/shoot out an email.

Happy Bday to a real good poster Hope its a good one, aside from the Buckeyes doing well

QUOTE(whitesox61382 @ Jan 31, 2007 -> 09:09 AM) ND finally got some good recruiting news. Unfortunately, they lost out on Peters(GT) and Wright(Flo) as expected, but they were able to take away two other recruits. Walker(K) - Was committed to Louisville, but was wavering after Petrino left. Answered that he will change his commitment to ND today. This is a nice addition considering that ND's kicking game was bad to say the least last year, and freshman kicker Burkhart didn't instill much faith last year. Smith(LB) - Was committed to Iowa, but was always a big ND fan after his father played for the Irish. ND originally didn't offer him, but new DC Brown liked what he saw in Smith and ND offered him. He changed his commitment last night and gives ND a good looking four star LB for their new three-four defense. f***...I like ND but the Hawks are #1 in my world (ND #2) and they just nabbed our stud LB (but I guess at least he's going to my other team). Iowa just landed some new guy apparently from Ohio and I'm sure he isn't a 4 star. Our recruiting class isn't looking too good (from the Iowa perspective) after we lost on our 2 4 star RB's (and everyone out there had us getting at least one of them) and now Smith. At least we still have a stud safety and stud tackle. Iowa did sign a 3 star RB Jevon Pugh out of Florida and to replace Bryan Smith we signed a LB who was Ohio's defensive player of the year Bruce Davis (3 star, a bit undersized at 5'11). I'm guessing the loss of Smith will drop our recruiting class out of the top 25. Maybe Ferentz has a few last minute things up his sleeve though. And all that said, this is probably Ferentz 2nd best recruiting class ever.

I say no because I think it would only take like a year to pay for Office (since I'm imagining the 15 a month isn't for Office Professional that comes with powerpoint and all that jazz, rather it is for Office Basic).

QUOTE(fathom @ Jan 31, 2007 -> 09:04 AM) We still don't have a back-up righty outfielder. That's inexcusable after last season. Brian Anderson could be one of those guys and Pablo will probably be the other. Anderson will start against all lefties (maybe against most righties too, we shall see) and Pablo will obviously play LF for Pods. I realize its not the power bat off the bench that some people wanted, but I think it isn't quite accurate to say we don't have any righty bats that can play outfield (although I know some of you don't like seeing Pablo out in LF defensively, but for the most part he is a solid bat when he plays, he adds speed, does the things our manager likes, and has a good attitude). But I am a Pablo fan considering I think we need guys like him if we have Ozzie as manager. In fact, I have really liked what Ozzie has been saying most of this off-season (now whether he follows through with what he's said is another story).

In the past (when i was working for my dad who does real estate) I went into a couple projects like that where we would pick up a house, make repairs and sell it for more. However, that was in Socal and in a different market setting. We knew unless there was some sort of disaster that these houses were selling for a bunch more, plus since we are agents we were able to get 3% off the house when we bought it and typically we can find a client on our own to sell to (so we don't have to pay any selling comissions to an agent) which clears things up. But in this case you obviously own the house so the only comissions you'd potentially have to pay would be related to when you sell the house. However, we had a contractors license that we could use to purchase materials cheap and from the years of doing business we also had contacts of people that do good work for a very affordable price (hence we are able to do things for less than what a normal home buyer would be able to, which again gives you a little more leeway). The other key is we didn't have to do any structural repairs because honestly those are repairs 99% of home sellers are going to have to make prior to selling the house (even to people like us who were planning on flipping it). So basically put if these repairs are things such as new flooring/paint maybe just cleaning up and refinishing the cabinets than ya it could be worth while (again depending on the market where you live and if you see houses in this sort of shape going for quite a bit more than your home than put in that factor but don't forget stuff will cost money, take time, and obviously you'll have a selling comission to factor as well). But if you have to repair piping and all that other junk than I don't think your going to make money doing that, you'll probably lose money and I'd imagine when the home buyer gets the house inspected they are going to ask you to make those repairs (regardless of the price they are paying, unless they are getting a total bargain of a price) because the normal buyer isn't going to want to deal with that. Obviously you own the house which m

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 31, 2007 -> 08:43 AM) One of the Perq's of a lifetime @ university is you don't have to spend more than a couple bucks for most Microsoft products. Indeed.

QUOTE(zygoat @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 07:39 PM) minny is much more dangerous than cleveland. Cleveland cant win any games with teams with losing records, twins are in it every single year. Minny is more dangerous I'd disagree. Right now If I were to rank out the division I'd have it being a full blown war between the Tribe (minor favorites) along with the Tigers and Sox. I think the Twins are just a bit below all three of these teams, although that is not to say they aren't capable of pulling guys out of nowhere and winning (they seem to find ways to do every damn year). The reason I put the Tribe ahead of the Tigers is simple. The Tigers will have some of there young arms struggle at times during there sophmore portion of the season. I also still think some of there guys had absolute career years. Nate Robertson and Rogers should both be worse and I wouldn't be shocked to see a few of there hitters get worse as well. Cleveland is flat out dangerous and if any team runs away with the division I think it would be the Tribe or Sox (not the Tigers). The Sox because if we get our front four to pitch at there best we are capable of just running away with things (even with a few holes in the offense) and the Tribe because they have a set 5 man rotation, a much improved (albeit old) bullpen, and a flat out loaded offense.

Position: Manny Ramirez Carlos Delgado Pitchers: Carlos Zambrano Roy Oswalt Barry Zito

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 10:37 PM) Our expectations of the general awareness of Americans is what's amazingly low. Unless the subject matter is who's favored to win the next American Idol title, that is. Those are the types of questions I'd fail.

I am in but like Dan I kind of quit on my team when they blew junks and forgot my roster. I think I had Vladdy but am not too sure about anything else.

QUOTE(NUKE @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 12:02 PM) That's why we have charitible organizations. Its comical to me how freekin stupid people in the 3d world are. They keep on popping out children with no way to feed, clothe or educate them and then the bleeding hearts here whine about how horrible it is that children are living in squalor. No sympathy here for the idiots of the world. If you want to assign blame for the plight of these people it isin't because we dont have a global welfare state funded by U.S. taxpayers, its because of stupid people breeding. Its harsh but true. People need to get there heads out of there asses and act responsibly and that happens rarely enough in tihs great country let alone this piss poor 3rd world countries. Seriously, I don't get how dumb you need to be...if you don't have enough food for yourself, don't have more kids. Than again in many of those countries the feeling is if you have all those kids, some will die and others will hopefully make enough money that the family as a whole will end up making enough money to care for each other (the problem is most of the time they all just starve). Its flat out a tough business but I'm a freaking hard ass when it comes to the homeless and less fortunate (especially for those who flat out screwed up as opposed to those that screwed up due to being placed in an impossible situation). For me, I'd rather donate money to cancer research than some homeless bum on the street (because people can't control getting most types of cancer, yet they can get off there asses and get work and yes I realize a lot of homeless people are f'd up in the head but a lot of them are just lazy). I'd also rather give money to animal shelters or animal rights groups than a homeless person. In fact I pretty much never help the homeless or drug addicts because I flat out believe people are capable to an extent of making the right decision and I don't see where helping some dumbass that has thrown his life away is worth it (I'd rather throw my money or support to something where people ended up being placed in a terrible decision through no action of there own).

I think one of them pushing there ego aside and joining on one ticket would be a major threat to a democratic white house.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 11:16 AM) If you have little or no equity, you should not even consider taking on any other debt unless you have other property or something to secure it with (Car vs car loan, etc.). If you get upside down in a mortgage or other secured debt instrument, that can be BIG trouble. In fact, anything above 90% LTV (loan to value) is high-risk. Or if some disaster happens and you get nothing. Its just a scary situation because you are risking a lot (and many people are in this type of bind; especially people getting into interest only loans around this time period that don't have the money or resources to go through an ugly real estate market for a few years because if those people end up having to sell they will take a beating if they bought recently in Cali). I mean I have no idea what the money is for, but if it is to raise money for some sort of luxury item (ie non necessity) I would flat out stay away from it because you could really find yourself in a hole after the fact. Now if it is for something very important (medicine or college or food or whatever it may be) than s*** screw it that is more important. Just my 2 cents as an uptight accountant that is pretty stingy with most things (aside from pissing money away on sports and my nice tv set up).

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 11:32 AM) There was no loss though, right? No because you don't pay for anything. Of course our shop never made enough money to actually get any sort of pay day so they still have my mother fudging money.

Here's a concept, stop abusing these horses and have them run in this races when they really aren't equipped to handle the load at just 3 years old (especially with all the races they run). At least with hunting some people eat what they kill....this is just a big excuse to gamble and is a f***ing joke if you ask me (and don't get me started on rodeo's and the way the Bulls are treated). Yes, I'm a republican than gives a s*** about animal rights.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:14 PM) Helton's far better than most hitting guys the Sawks have, outside of Ortiz, Ramirez. If they were serious, they would have made a real offer. Its not like the BoSox don't have any offense. They didn't need to make this deal, in fact I wasn't a fan of the proposed deal. Hansen hasn't produced but he has a very very good arm and there is no reason to give a guy like that up for a ridiculously overpaid first baseman. The Sox have a middle of the lineup consisting of two of the best in the game (Manny/Ortiz) plus an OBP machine in JD Drew who will have legitimate protection. What the hell do they need Todd Helton for? Red Sox have spent a little laviciously and may not have offered the best contracts in the world but they improved a whole heck of a lot this off-season (and technically they can afford to offer a little more ridiculous contracts since the franchise generates a boatload of revenue). QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:28 PM) From what I can gather, Lowell, Tavarez, and Hansen. Unless Hansen offers some chance to start in the future, that's - at most - a 3Bman who's at the end of his prime, an old, psycho reliever, and a dominant closer at some point in the future (and maybe it's just because I haven't seen Hansen that I don't get the love...I would venture to guess it probably is). Helton will probably be a .900 OPS 1Bman this year still with a .390+ OBP for the next 2 years or so, and by the end of his contract, he'll probably be in the .850 range for OPS with a relatively high OBP all the same. I think that'd be well worth the gamble, seeing as how the Sawks already have a 3Bman out of position at 1B in Youkilis, Tavarez is deadweight, and they have all kinds of pitchers they can use in the bullpen to replace Hansen's presence. Colorado was picking up close to half...I don't know if I would have been able to turn that down. Put it this way, if the Sox had the opportunity to get Hansen (White Sox) I'd be really giddy because of the type of arm he has. But you also have to remember I'm a guy that favors scouting to stats and I know his production has been downright brutal at the minor leagues (still I think the odds are greater of a guy with wicked stuff turning things around and being good than guys with average to below average stuff but great minor league numbers being decent and the guys with wicked stuff always have that potential of being filthy). If I were the Rockies, I'd have been all over it. Helton does them nothing and has an albatross of a deal plus Lowell isn't all that bad (albeit his contract is a bit rough) but he plays 3rd (tougher position to fill than 3rd) and they get two high potential arms). If I'm the Red Sox I see no reason why it is worth giving up all that when you should hold onto those chips to either use at a later date or to fill an actual legitimate lead (because I don't really think getting another masher to play 1st base is much of need).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:29 PM) Jason, what the hell. Inititially I thought you meant for 1 million we should know he's going to stay healthy.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:05 PM) just trade for ichiro and put the LF concerns behind us. Sometimes I wonder if Figgins isn't the right option now that Pods is down. We know what we could get out of Figgins and while I don't want to see Figgins in center, he could be a backup option if Erstad is hurt and Anderson sucks while at the same time be a primary option for left field (where he would be an above average defensive left fielder) all while at the same time giving the Sox some stability at the top of the order (and yes he is coming off a down year, but this guy is a better hitter than he was in 06 and he is truly one of the best/most lethal base runners in the game. I would not be opposed to offering up the right package to the Angels for Figgins with him playing LF . Let BA/Erstad battle it out for time in CF and if both suck/fail after the first month you can move Figgins to CF and find a LF (either give Fields/Sweeney a quick chance) or make a trade or really shake things up and by this time Pods will be ready and go with a speedy 1/2 part of the lineup and move Guchi to a power spot in the lineup (or even do something like Figgins 9, Pods 1 or vice versa, Guchi 2 which means the 2nd and 3rd times through the lineup you have almost an extra leadoff hitter.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:22 PM) They should know with confidence that, when healthy, he'll be able to play CF. Otherwise, it's a waste of $1 mill. Why, why should we know that with confidence. Yes, the doctors have checked and he is fine as of this moment but they can't predict if it will flare back up or another problem will occur. Honestly, he's getting that type of salary because there is an extent of questionability to him. If there wasn't someone would have given him a bit more money and a guaranteed starters job. QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:24 PM) Why, why should we know that with confidence. Yes, the doctors have checked and he is fine as of this moment but they can't predict if it will flare back up or another problem will occur. Honestly, he's getting that type of salary because there is an extent of questionability to him. If there wasn't someone would have given him a bit more money and a guaranteed starters job. Sorry Wite, I mis-read your post and you were implying we should know when healthy he can play CF and I think when he is healthy there is no reason to suspect he wouldn't be able to play CF (because he still has pretty good speed despite having some lower body injuries that have hampered him) and usually it would be the speed/range that would prevent him from playing CF because he has good instincts (albeit he may struggle early on since he hasn't had too many games in CF over the past 4-5 years).

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:20 PM) He's been hurt, so an Angels fan or not shouldn't be able to answer this with a definite answer. In my opinion, the White Sox will have to wait until Spring Training to see how far he's come along to see if he'll be able to play some center field. R&W it may be uncool thing for me to do (since your a wanted man around these parts) but we tend to agree a whole heck of a lot.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 02:18 PM) I was talking Fields/LF and Erstad/CF, mainly. I know you watch LAA a lot, but is Erstad any better than average anymore? Considering last year was the only time he's been out there recently it truly is impossible to say since he was hurt last year. I really think you have to throw out last years season from the perspective of his actual production (because if he is hurt he will not play, period, end of story and if he is actually healthy he's a different player). That is why I continue to insinuate that I can't imagine a healthy Erstad being any less than major league average defensively in CF and that is an upgrade over what Mack was out there (and obviously a downgrade to Anderson defensively, however, Erstad could very well be a bit better than league average which would close that gap between Anderson and Erstad a bit but by no means will Erstad be as good as Anderson was defensively).

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jan 30, 2007 -> 08:47 AM) OK, what if you don't have any equity (or very little)? Are there any options? Probably not. You could maybe go to a bank and try to get a line of credit or loan, but you won't get a home equity line or a 2nd if your house hasn't appreciated since you purchased it or if you don't have any equity (at least I can't see any reason why a bank would do that since they would not have any collateral).

We used to have a Soxtalk store and I guess it was alright. We didn't sell much stuff though.

Stewart is a right handed outfielder and if he doesn't get a contract from anyone else I don't see where the harm is in giving him a minimum deal and have him come in (in case Pods stinks) because while Stewart is god awful defensively in LF (so was Pods) he could be a decent bat to have off the bench (that said it seems we'd have one too many veteran bats on the bench if we did pick him up).