Chisoxfn

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 03:35 PM) Tim Hudson is gonna enjoy watching his new 2nd baseman field all those ground balls. Despite that, I do think its a great move for the Braves. He really is an impact bat, that can make up for his defense, plus you may be able to stick him in LF anyway. Since 2006, Uggla has the 5th most HRs out of all right handed hitters, just behind A-Rod, Pujols, MCab, & PK. It is also why I would accept deals for Beckham if we were able to get a talented guy that can play a premium position. Bottom line, solid 2nd baseman can be had/found with relative ease compared to most other positions. It is also probably one of the cheapest starting positions on the diamond, if not the cheapest.

How are people like this new combined baseball talk? Personally, I'm loving it, but wanted to follow up and get some perspective from all of you guys/gals.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 02:48 PM) From a pure talent perspective I'd support it too. But if I were the Angels I'd ask for something good (not like Viciedo or anything, but much better than Flowers and D2 kind of prospects) knowing that eventually someone is going to offer a good player. Even in his down year last year he hit 26 HR in just 510 plate appearances, and his OBP was still 78 points above his BA, which is about where it has been. He struck out more and got fewer hits, but there's no reason to believe that is the start of a downward trend. Now if we thought we could extend him at a reasonable price however, and buy low, then I'd fully support this move. But he's still going to cost something good. Scioscia wants his catchers first and most importantly to call great games and he has fallen in love with the light hitting, exceptionally defensively Jeff Mathis. However, Napoli is a pretty solid catcher in his own right and I think the Angels tend to underrate him. Plus the Angels org in general despises strikeouts, which is why I still don't understand how they have stuck by Wood for as long as they have.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 02:41 PM) Dunn put up a 1.63 ERA at AAA this year out of the bullpen and had solid velocity in that spot as well. Infante was an all-star infielder this year. I guess a comparable Sox price would be giving up Santos and perhaps Alexei. Umm, Alexei is a superior player to Infante. Infante is a guy that the Braves are selling incredibly high. He is a utility guy.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 02:04 PM) but the real question is, are they convenient? I'd be interested to see these analyses you mentioned--any links or references? Why do I need to analyze that. Doesn't it depend on peoples personal habits. Not my job to analyze your own habits. And yes, mine is incredibly convenient and I love it and ultimately that is all I care about.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 02:20 PM) I wouldn't be a huge fan of this unless AJ left the Sox for a better offer and Kenny had to go after the next best thing. Napoli is a good player, but he's going to get a raise on the $3.6M he made last year during arb, and 2011 is his last year before FA. AJ doesn't cost draft picks, only money. Napoli costs good talent, plus money, and we'd run the risk of losing him. I don't necessarily know how much good talent you'd lose in the deal. It seemed like the Angels might go another route. They won't give him away but I don't know if they need a whole ton to make something happen. Again, purely hypothetical and while Napoli has his flaws it is a move I'd support.

For some reason I keep thinking Mike Napoli will be our starting catcher next season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:48 AM) Really though, if you had to guess what %age of truck owners absolutely need to own a truck, would you guess it's a large majority? I wouldn't. I'll bet for a lot of people it's a convenience at times (heck I can think of a few times when it would have been a convenience for me). If I'm right about that, then in the event of a gas price spike, the demand for trucks would be very elastic; the people who might like them but don't need them would opt downwards. Absolutely not, but to each their own. I'm sure plenty of people are weekend warriors that occasionally use it or ocassionally tow something. In no way do I think the majority of trucks are used by people who use it at least twice a week. Personally I love SUV's/Trucks because they are incredibly convenient and I feel more comfortable sitting up and driving in them versus a car. They are also incredibly convenient. But there are also a ton of financial reasons for why I'd be better off with a car and that is part of why the family will be going to the route of one SUV and one mid size sedan. Still have flexibility but also have that nice gas mileage vehicle that is comfy too. It is so evident that kids are in my near future, haha (and no, wife isn't expecting).

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:39 AM) You haven't seen the fully body scanners yet at O'Hare? I've went through some of the full body scanners. Not specifically the ones at O'Hare but ones had other airports. As long as they have the resources to keep the lines down (as the scanners tend to take a bit longer), I have no issue with it. Bottom line while flying is inconvenient I'm pretty open as I have nothing to hide and I just want to get from point A to point B safely (most importantly) and hopefully without any significant delays.

I have no problem with it, but I don't think they should be touching your junk.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) Obviously. There has to be a cost savings of at least a few thousand to make it worth it, in my opinion. This is pretty crazy to think about, considering that 3-4 years ago, when gas prices were through the roof, dealers couldn't give away their trucks. I went with a friend to buy a new truck and we negotiated them down something like 10k below the msrp, and could have done even better on some of the more expensive models, but my friend's wife wouldn't let him spend a few thousand more (even though he would have been saving much more had he done so). It was crazy, I had a few buddies pick up Ram trucks for like half of MSRP. It was ridiculous and they walked away so happy. I think some people wrote stuff off just because of gas prices and didn't factor in the fact that the added cost savings actually outweighed at times the added fuel costs. Plus if you need a truck for what you do, you need a truck.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:25 AM) Those Sonata's are great cars. I tend to be interested in foreign sports cars, so buying new doesn't really make sense, because the deals you're talking about don't usually exist in that particular niche, but you definitely make a good point regarding incentives and financing for the overall new car and truck market. One note on supply, the popularity of short-term leasing in the last 10 years usually maintains a pretty solid supply of reasonably priced, low-mileage vehicles in the used-car marketplace. Obviously this applies more to certain vehicles than others, however. Just depends on what you are looking for, I suppose. Ya, I like the Sonata's. Those things are very very fully equiped at such a fair price. Far more equipped than the typical gold standard of the midsize family sedan (Camry/Accord) and for a nice buy. And with the warranty that comes with those things even if there are some issues your cost of ownership should still blow away that of the Accord/Camry. On top of it they drive nice and are very fuel efficient. If you had told me 5 years ago that I'd be considering buying a Hyundai I'd have laughed hysterically, but they've changed the game and are gaining an increasing market share in the overall auto market and especially that ever coveted family sedan market place. The Genesis is pretty badass too for the money, but I'm looking more for fuel efficiency due to my long commute with the wife taking my Honda Pilot.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 11:05 AM) A lot of it depends on your local market, Tex. You live in Texas. Everyone there drives a truck. You probably couldn't be in a worse market to buy a used truck. Dealerships, especially those like Carmax, will ship used trucks they take in from markets like Chicago and California to their Texas stores because the demand is so much greater there. If I were you, I'd look for where the cheapest nearby markets for used trucks are. It's possible you could fly out to somewhere like New Orleans or something and drive the truck back. Just flying out and than driving your vehicle has a cost though. You are talking about a few hundred bucks for airfare, than the gas cost, and than of course your time costs. That could be factors that push it to potentially make more sense to buy new or to just buy in your area. All depends on how much added savings there is. Especially since the flip side of the argument says that being in Texas also means you have a very high supply of pick up trucks so you'd think there would still be a solid used truck supply. Again, I have no idea as I'm not looking into buying a truck.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 09:25 AM) Perhaps...I still can't imagine it spiking enough to make buying a brand spanking new car a better investment than a 2-4 year old car with low-mileage... The problem tends to be that more and more people are keeping their cars as opposed to buying new ones so that, combined with the cars for clunkers, has lowered the supply of used cars. On the flip side, the new car suppliers who have been hurt by the economy are working on putting out new products and have some very good incentives. When you combine the two factors and again depending on the vehicle purchased, the old school theories have to be rethought. Additionally, you have to also remember to better factor in your cost of financing as well since new cars get much more preferential financing. Again though, this might not be a huge point if you are buying your car in cash, etc. It just isn't as cut and dry as it used to be. And than there are the gray areas that really have nothing necessarily to do with financial stuff such as your overall preference, changes/improvements made to the new vehicle versus the used one, etc. I know when I looked at it, the cost of ownership for me for the specific cars I'm looking at and while I went in looking to purchase a 2-4 year old vehicle, I'm now leaning much more heavily towards purchasing the new vehicle. Nothing fancy, just a Ford Fusion or a Hyundai Sonata.

With the GM meetings underway I'm surprised there hasn't been much buzz or stories. These meetings can set the stages for some of the bigger deals that go down later on at the winter meetings. Or at least that is what Kenny has always said. Either way, I'm surprised with the GM's all in one place we haven't gotten any good quotes from Kenny.

There are a lot of recent studies/financial analysis which have indicated that now in the given climate it can be more beneficial than in the past to buy new. Of course that depends on the vehicle being purchased, etc and the deals out there. I only know cause I've been doing a ton of research as of late as we get ready to replace one of our two cars in the household. The 10+ year old Isuzu.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 15, 2010 -> 06:29 PM) Gould is probably the most underrated player in the city of Chicago, but he's been mediocre this season. He's tied for his worst FG percentage since his rookie season. Maynard is the bigger culprit though, as his struggles have been well documented in the Chicago media. Maynard has been lousy. He's getting old. The one thing he does very well is get good hang time, but I think his low net return numbers are also a benefit of our special teams unit in general.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Nov 15, 2010 -> 06:20 PM) He has had a bad year but it isn't his fault his receivers can't catch and his defense is a joke. Its funny you say that since the Skins have been winning games because there defense has been forcing turnovers left and right. Yes, they got smoked today but there defense by and large has done its job this year and it is the only reason they have won the games they did.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2010 -> 01:38 PM) No Jason Gage? This list sucks. Seriously, I call bulls***.

WTF is up with that extension. Is Ownership and coaching on the same page? What changed in 2 weeks?

The Sox grays are my favorite and my guess is they will still be. Just win!!!

Such a nice bears win. They dominated.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 12:26 PM) It's not a Cutler game without the prerequisite red zone TO, guess we'll have to take the bad with the good. Despite the turnover I'll take his performance last week and this week. Very few poor decisions, lots of big plays and good throws and he made a lot out of a little in multiple situations.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 11:41 AM) You have a quota of at least 1 post like this every week don't you? What posts where he calls one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history terrible. Oh, excuse me, the worst