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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 07:07 AM) Stop lying. And here's the video of the question from Franken. https://twitter.com/JamieOGrady/status/8371...src=twsrc%5Etfw He was asked if anyone from Trump's campaign had contact with Russia during the campaign, and he lied by refusing to disclose that he himself had had contact with the Russians. Exactly, he could get away with that interpretation in Sen Leahys questionnaire, but this one did not specify about the campaign nor did he even ask Sessions directly. Sessions went out of his way to lie. And an odd thing to lie about! It is totally normal for high ranking Senators to meet with Ambassadors. He lied...Flynn lied...Cohen has lied. Sure is weird!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 10:52 PM) Well, I flat-out disagree. I think if you're drafting 1-1 you're hoping it turns out a little better than "economically viable" over the life of the contract or whatever. You're hoping for a high-impact player, potentially a perennial AS...I don't think Pat Burrell/Phil Nevin/Darin Erstad are the poster boy for that. If we go into the 2018 draft and select some guy at 1-1 or even 1-2 and the comps are Phil Nevin or Darin Erstad I am going to be a bit disappointed. 20 WAR is really good! I think the thing is most Phils fans would probably say Burrell did not max out his potential, and many would say same for Erstad. Easy to see for Erstad because he had an 8 WAR season coupled by many frustrating seasons. BUT, was an all-star and finished 8th while being a good outfielder. Burrell finished with some good stats but more when looking at them by today's standards. But it's pretty easy to find articles about Phils fans being disappointed in Burrell, thinking he'd be the next Mike Schmidt or whomever. His bat was never as good as they hoped it would be. Looking back at that 1998 draft, it wasn't very good. I think you'd rather have peak JD Drew years (sorry Phillies) but he'd probably be behind Mulder. So the point is, at 1-1, shoot for the stars, and you may still end up with a disappointing player that was also maybe an all star or at least one of the best players on your team. But, looking at this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first...all_draft_picks Easy to forget how tainted 1-1 was when you had a bunch of players taken because they were cheaper. 1-1 looks a HELL of a lot better the last 5 years. I'd prefer a shortstop but if Beer ends up with Schwarbers bat and Melkys current defense, I'd be okay with that. Probably a many time all-star.

I wonder if Ryan will need more info to know whether to investigate this

How could he possibly think that wouldn't come out?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 05:21 PM) For sure. Badler made it sound like they don't have commitments and are lying in the weeds. Lets say they plan on offering pretty much their entire pool to Robert after J2. He would be their only large expenditure. What people are saying is, if they agreed to a deal with him in the current period, he'd still be their top expenditure. It's the same thing. Their biggest expenditures have been Adolfo for $1.6 million and Josue Guerrero for like $1.2 million. They've had many for over $500K though. They could still sign 10 guys for $300K each if they wanted. Give me the chance at the potential superstar. If they sign him pre 6/15, he would affect next years J2 as well. If he's posted after, it would not be possible to go over slot and be penalized.

I think the fact that Luis Robert is 19 makes it more likely they'd blow two classes on them. To date they have not seem swayed by the quantity argument (or quality but whatever)

Is he capped at $10 million regardless of when he's cleared? (i.e. is the cap in effect immediately)

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 10:41 AM) Jimmy has played 2 NFL games and was a Day 2 prospect out of an FCS school. I'd be stunned if they get the 1st round pick they are seeking. I believe that 4 QB's go in the first round as well. I'd rather take one of them then trade a boatload of picks for Jimmy and pay him. Day 2 sounds a lot less bad than it used to. They took him pretty high, he has shown competence, I don't think it's crazy to expect a 1st (especially after the Bradford trade)

In my view the Bears have two ideal scenarios for the draft: - Browns acquire jimmy G, 49ers love for this ILB from Alabama is real, and Bears get either their top QB choice or get to barter with teams for moving down for a haul - Browns take top QB, 49ers (again) take the ILB, and Bears get Garrett But it all relies on the 49ers for my dreams. Yay?

I feel like an idiot for not recognizing this. And kudos to Paddy and Hahn if this works out or even if it is the plan as it sounds like it's worth risk.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 01:37 PM) Badler said the Sox are the team that comes up the most in discussions about where he might land. He says Sox haven't really been linked to any of the big names for 17-18 period and would have more bonus pool $$ available than everyone else. He also said that if he's cleared prior to June 15, the Sox may just sign Robert anyway and blow through their 2016-2017 pool since it wouldn't affect their 17/18 plans. Very interesting. That is very interesting, I had not even thought about that. If you are going to basically be forced to have him be your entire 2017 class anyway, why would it matter if you sign him prior and lose that class? Honestly maybe it's even better, we could then still sign a bunch of 300k guys in 2017 and not be capped like we would be otherwise.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 12:23 PM) I think if you have extra money, you put it in a 529 and segregate it. If you don't and have worriers that you might need the money at some time in the future, then it might be better to put it in a more general fund so that you can leverage it in the future (vs. paying the penalties). Not saying you should leverage it, but unknown items can come up and you would hate to pay fees in those cases. The other obvious protection is, if your kids get scholarships (or don't go to college), etc, having it in a 529 might not be as helpful / useful as you expected (and then you have to pay penalties to recapture or save it in those accounts for grand kids). So you go with Utah, and another went with Utah too. Looks like the lowest fees. How do you balance lowest fees vs. in state tax deduction?

The thing about the speech is he provided no guidance on his preference for health care, so the debate goes on. The immigration stuff could be interesting, but then why was the gang of 8 bill untenable? The gang of 8 bill had the compromise of more border security + fencing, points based immigration and path to citizenship. That got killed from the right. I guess it's good now? What we do know from the speech is he views violence as a political exploitation tool exclusively, and doesn't care to fix it. Which is honestly probably better than him trying to fix it.

Actually Pat Burrell had >10 WAR his in his cost-controlled years, I bet he holds up pretty well. Erstad had 20 WAR in his cost-controlled years. So I think the main problem was their long unproductive tail, but overall for the drafting team that's pretty good.

They were productive big leaguers for a number of years, so there's that. Beer will probably give you the most certainty of a big league career, at the very least. But, I remember the same thing said about Smoak. He did give you big league innings!

This 529 stuff makes me so anxious. Literally every day I read one article saying its a great idea then the next its "instead put it in a more general fund that you can use for cross purposes".

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 05:40 AM) Kopech September 18 at earliest I would say and that's probably being too generous. There's no way. Even if his talent proves undeniable he has so far to go to build up his stamina and innings.

I would say august, stretch them out for a few starts before shutting them down in september to bullpen duty or less.

It's really hard to win the "doctors deserve to be paid less" argument, though.

I still think Twins are likely to improve by at least 10 games. Also, I don't think Chris Beck will be pitching that much for our team (hopefully). It's still really early in spring though. We just need to hope none of the pitchers get injured.

Apparently on a call today he was asked to respond and said that "it goes both ways". And nobody knew what that meant.

Of rebuild players who we will get sick of quick, my pick is Bourjos.

Ultimately this is low stakes. I just dont' see Alvarez as worth the time. He makes us better this year, but to what end, and he blocks two players time that have slightly more asset potential. Those two players he is blocking are also not very good. So this is pointless, mostly.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 10:23 AM) You never know if he is hitting. At least he has shown he can hit. What do you think the White Sox could get for Davidson? At this point? Nothing, which is also what Alvarez is getting. If he shows he can make enough contact to be a regular? He plays 3b, would certainly be able to play 1b, and so I would imagine an interesting young arm at the very least.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 10:19 AM) Alvarez put up an OPS .034 higher in the AL last year than Davidson put up his 4th year in AAA that gave anyone any optimism about his future. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Alvarez is the better bet to have any success, and he's having a hard time finding a job. But Alvarez having success doesn't really matter to this team. If you are talking about building assets for the future, I can't see many scenarios that Alvarez finds a market in July, teams just don't have spots for players that are this one dimensional. He won't net you anything, unless he somehow becomes a different player with us.