Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 02:25 PM) Comes back, reads thread, shakes head, writes this post, walks away. Do you not thing what is going on in Iraq right now to be newsworthy / important?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 02:12 PM) The public generally supported the incredibly stupid and transparently bad idea to go into Iraq in the first place. I'm not sure approval ratings or opinion polls are actually the best way to gauge the effectiveness of foreign policy. edit: you know, that whole "rockstar Obama" thing sort of died out three or four years ago. I'll tell you one thing. Never, in my young life, have I heard more democrats unhappy with their leader than I ever have. And I am not touting public opinion to be important, just stating, I'm not alone in my opinion. I won't go into the countless reasons for why I feel the way I do but everything I stated is my opinion and I'm entitled to it and it disgusts me that our media spends so much time talking about stupid reality stars instead of focusing on some pretty key political matters going on. I understand why they don't (ratings) but it still sickens me and by and large Obama is still genuinely well liked (as a person) largely driven by his media persona and ability to rock the pop culture.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 01:59 PM) The level of irony of this statement coming in a thread titled "Iraq" is almost too much. Take a look at said presidents approval ratings and the general consensus from the public on foreign policies. It isn't just my opinion. And I'm not even discussing Bush who I have said plenty of negative things about on this site but yes, Obama is significantly worse and an utter train wreck. Guy has manipulated and circumvented multiple laws and set our country back. He seems to believe the isolationism is a great concept and what we are doing right now is setting ourselves up for some potential disasters 5-20 years from now. Our reputation around the world has gotten worse during the Obama admin and last I looked, at one point Biden was busy touting Iraq as a big success story for the obama admin (so i don't think they can really point the finger back at Bust when they were busy taking the credit for the position they were in a few years back). What do you want to debate anyway. Is Bush, Carter or Obama the worst president in the history of the US? Either way, Bush is out, so even if you think he is, replacing him with one of the worst presidents in US history doesn't solve problems. He is a complete and utter failure. Again, my opinion but I'm sick of people thinking how cool he is and ignoring his disastrous track record. Oh, he did such a great job for Illinois...oh wait, state is as big a joke as California (if not a bigger joke and that says something given how screwed up California is).

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 08:07 PM) Several scholars have been arguing for years that the USA and Iran have very good reason to be allies with one another, due in large part to their mutually strong interest in Iraq's stability And said scholars must be rejects. There is zero reason we should be trusting Iran of all countries right now and it is going to end very poorly. This admin is a complete and utter disaster in how it has handled its foreign affairs (and I'll just no comment the domestic affairs). Disgusting. Honest to god, as far as I'm concerned, Obama is one of the worst presidents, if not the very worst, this country has ever seen. But he's cool and on tv and a quasi celebrity and that makes everything okay. Pretty pathetic how the republicans are still so far removed and unable to get a good platform together which would be able to capitalize on this but alas they can't pull their heads out of there asses long enough between tea parties and crazy social conservatives that just blow things up and prevent the chunk of mainstream america you need (and to be frank, minority voters) to get on board with your platform.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 05:24 PM) Danks is pitching a lot better. Hope he keeps it up and we can get something halfway decent for him. Unless someone is looking to give us a near term long haul, what value do we get in moving Danks? Seems to me that he is producing at or above his current contract rate and we shouldn't be in a rush and he'll be an asset over the next few years as we become more competitive.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 04:19 PM) There was a game today? We were too busy partying in the mod / admin suite at the game.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 02:30 PM) If the price were Micah Johnson, Erik Johnson, and Chris Beck, I'd drive down from ND to take them to the airport, I'd wait there, and I'd take David Price to USCF for his introductory news conference. Agreed; That is the most absurdly lopsided deal possible. You do that all day long and if you fall out of contention repackage him. Is Price a FA at the end of the year? The Angels package is far stronger since Cron is a legit corner infielder.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 01:38 PM) IF it were possible, ANY team that can get LeBron should move heaven and earth to do so. The problem is the guy has been murdered in the press and the court of public opinion for his going to Miami the way he did with Wade and Bosh. If he did it again to another franchise, he'd be called a quitter for deserting Miami, unless it was to go home. Realistically, I think the odds are about 90% Miami, 9% Cleveland, and 1% anywhere else. I think if he went to Chicago (with no one else) it wouldn't be near as big of a deal as with the Heat situation where things were cherry picked. I don't think people would have jumped on him like they did with Miami had he signed with Chicago in the first place. Plus, Lebron flat out feels comfortable in his own shadow at this point. I think he is exhausted and doesn't like dealing with the complete lack of depth, etc, that calls for him to consistently carry teams in an era where many teams have multiple above average players, etc.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 01:30 PM) LeBron isn't going anywhere other than Miami or Cleveland. Anywhere else and he would be crucified. I completely disagree. I don't see him going back to Cleveland. Just don't see him getting past the issues with the owner. I think Lebron is going to end up leaving and the Bulls would be foolish not to make a run; In fact, they should consider all options, including a sign and trade deal which would land both. Bottom line, everything should be on the table and the franchise should be moving to acquire stars at almost any cost. If the team were to do a Love deal, depending on the structure they will still have additional funds. I think Love / Melo should be a plan A2 with Love / Lebron a plan A1 and Lebron being plan A. If you can get Lebron, you do it. We have good depth, etc, and I think he's learned the importance of that and we also have an outstanding coach. I tend to think we end up with Love but I could be wrong. Don't see Melo leaving all that cash on the table which means Houston or NY are more likely choices (given no state income tax in Texas). Lebron is a guy who just might take less to come and in a pinch, we could probably even work out a sign and trade. Add Lebron without having to really gut your franchise and you could find yourself in an ideal situation. You do have to wait another year to bring our euro stud over though, but at least it is another long-term asset to add to the squad and to keep overall depth.

Man, with the new regime, this could be a very distinct possibility. http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23381...-Acquire-LeBron

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) It scares me. I worry that Miami tries to get one of these guys (Melo/Love) and the Bulls get caught, yet again, with their pants around their ankles. That is what could happen and backfire. Miami could just swap Melo and Wade. That is if Wade is foolish enough to opt out. I guess it might not be foolishness of Wade but unselfishness to take less realizing they won't win and keep the band together with him getting anything near what he currently makes. That is why I don't see how you sit back and not go balls to the walls for Love.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:54 AM) Because Boston. I don't think he is that interested in Boston; I don't see why going to Boston makes things better. They aren't set-up to win, especially not if they give up the package being discussed. I guess I don't know their cap situation so maybe they have the ability to add another star a year from now?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 08:51 AM) That is KC Johnson's take. I still think it would take a sign and trade, but if Gar/Pax come up empty this offseason, I think it will be a huge blow to the franchise. Enough is enough. I agree; Things have worked out well with the Heat losing too. I also don't see how you can be passive on Love. At this point, you go big or go home.

As you can tell, we have made some changes in the past week and I am extremely excited to be able to introduce and welcome some great posters (and fresh blood) into the moderating ranks. I think the below cast of characters are all outstanding additions to the moderating ranks and will help bring new potential ideas to the table and help ensure Soxtalk remains the premier place on the web to talk about our White Sox and much much more. Please welcome the new moderating team!!! - BigRuss (Global Mod / SLAM) - ElRockinMT (Picks to Click Mod) - Littlehurt05 (Global Mod / PHT / A&J Sports) - Quinarvy (Global Mod / PHT / A&J Sports) - Rabbit (FutureSox Mod & Daily Recap Reporter)

Any word on Jozy?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 11:23 AM) Here's the thing, I would be shocked if bulls are first team in history of league to have to legitimately move a player like Noah to the wolves for Love. TBH, I think adding love at expense of Noah is lateral to disastrous. Love would work on Bulls because of Noah. I think Noah / Love is a very dominant post game but it also crowds the low post as well. I don't think you have to move Noah to get Love, however, if you wanted to get younger while adding another star (such as Lebron / Melo) that would be a way to do it (without giving up valuable draft picks) thus allowing you to have a much deeper team potentially.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 09:45 AM) Also, for as much as the spurs "are not the heat" the core of Duncan (greatest PF of all time), manu and parker is better than what the bulls have. They've been able to identify and develop late and cheap talent better to keep those tools around. I really don't see how the Heat are that much different then the Bulls. Our core, which at one point included Deng, Rose, and Noah, was comparable with a very strong bench. Now the core has changed slightly, however, the fatal flaw has been the fact that our star (Rose) has not been able to stay on the court. I fully believe the Bulls were going to win the title the year Rose went down and to be frank, they probably could have had a chance this year as well (although hard to say that as the Spurs clearly played tremendously in the finals). A lot of "ifs" in there, but the Bulls, much like the Spurs, have done a great job bargain shopping in free agency and hitting on draft picks despite not having top picks. Mrotic, Taj, Butler, Asik (Picks); Bellinelli, Nate, MDJ, DJ Augustin (FA Signings). Note, I'm not using this as an example of why not to make a move because our core is getting older and I am a proponent of moving Noah for Love and then going all out for Lebron. I say that because I believe in extending our core we should add more superstars. I love Noah and hope he stays with the Bulls, however, he's getting old and having a chance to get a superstar who is 5 years younger seems like a no brainer to extend the overall window (while also still allowing flexibility for a LBJ / Melo). However, I have no idea if we could pull two of those guys.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:57 AM) Jozy was pretty good at holding the ball upfield and letting possession get started. I think Aron is better than we saw, just a tough position to go in at 25' and start up. Oh, that whole situation was tough. I think Aron will be better prepared and in a better position to succeed on Sunday. Hopefully the injury isn't as bad as we thought and Jozy can come back for group play. If not, lets hope we somehow beat Portugal without him and then we aren't in a hurry to have him back for Germany and get him if we advance out of group play. I think we need Jozy to make any serious noise but believe in our squad. They have the talent but are going to have to play a much better game against Portugal, who will be playing hungry, however, maybe we can get the best of their emotions.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:53 AM) I don't think so. Mainly because he's not good. Dempsey and especially, especially Bradley are by far the two most irreplaceable guys on the roster and that's because they are the two closest in quality to being top notch players that we have (save for Howard, but at least we have Guzan backing him up). No one else is close. I can see the argument since now with Jozy out it'll require a change up in tactics due to a poor roster make-up. Eddie Johnson, Sounders version, and Terrence Boyd are closest in style but neither are there of course. But that's fine, there's no loss in talent in here. I think with who we have on the roster though, Jozy is more irreplaceable, plus a hot Jozy is as good as anyone and I really think he was going to carry his momentum from the last game forward. The US has always lacked primary goal scorers and Jozy was the closest we had (obviously Dempsey and Bradley are solid too). Bradley can't have a performance like he did against Ghana. Not sure what happened but it was just ugly and totally anti Bradley. I don't expect it to happen again. I tend to think Dempsey and Jozy are the two most but would have Bradley as third. Note, this doesn't mean I think that is the order of who is the best, rather just factoring depth into the equation.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 06:58 AM) Michael Taylor costs virtually nothing unless you're upset about losing Jake Sanchez (you shouldn't be). Carbonell didn't cost much, but the scouting reports from Cuba are getting better and better - hence $36 million for Cespedes and $42 million for Puig and $68 mill for Abreu - and he still got $3.5 mill. That tells me he's probably as good as someone like Paulo Orlando. Puig is not a good example. When Puig signed people were laughing at the Dodgers and how they overspent, blah blah blah. There wasn't another offer even close to what the Dodgers put in for Puig and that "overpayment" turned into one of the best deals in baseball. In fact, I still think there is pretty shaky scouting and I think the Giants got a potential bargon in Carbonell. Even the kid the Dodgers recently signed for 24M, a lot of people weren't high on him and now that is looking pretty good (other then Olivo taking out his ear) as scouts have been raving about him. Still seems to be a bit of an underappreciated cuban market (although clearly the tip top guys are getting very big paydays).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 01:16 AM) I think this all depends on how serious they are about keeping Uribe and Hanley Ramirez around. Remember, they've already sunk $28 million into 2B Alexander Guerrero (Olivo biting victim). And, if you're the Dodgers and you have a $200 million payroll, are you really going to roll the dice on Conor Gillaspie, Marcus Semien, Carlos Sanchez or Micah Johnson to hold down a starting infield position? I sincerely doubt it. That kind of move isn't going to help you make up ground on the Giants. At best, it's lateral. They're going to try to trade you Crawford/Ethier/Kemp and a large subsidy before they give up Pederson. No mention of our shortstop, Alexei Ramirez?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 03:55 PM) Don't think Altidore is the biggest loss. All things considered, he's the most irreplaceable guy this squad has.

With some new admins entering the fold, I also want to take the time to thank some long-time moderators who will be retiring from the front-lines, surviving the toll being a mod takes, and getting fat off of the many 1000% raises from their $0 base!!! I truly want to thank the below posters for being excellent moderators on this site and while they might be retired mods, they are all tremendous posters and assets to the site!!! Thanks for doing such an awesome job helping Soxtalk grow and shine!!! - Kalapse (one of the sites all time greatest posters and the proud presenter of the "Kalapse's Sox Payroll Resource, which at one time, was the premiere resource for Sox payroll information) - YASNY (a true legend on Soxtalk and great all time Sox fan) - Lost (probably the funnest man on facebook) - Scenario (great poster and an expert in all things minor league) - Rex KickAss (Bea Arthur's Alter ego and biggest fan) - Soxy (A PhD of White Sox) Thank you!!!

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:04 AM) Now wite's an admin? This is the best black mail job I have ever seen. Congrats Tex! Littlehurt - Check your PM when you have a second. Thanks!

El - Check your private messages when you get a chance. Thanks!