ptatc

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 07:44 AM) Maybe they could buy a used one cheap. I think Costco has them in the back.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Apr 4, 2018 -> 11:48 AM) Just make it 30 and be done with it The end of rosters are bad enough now. Imagine how bad the 30th players would be. It would really decrease the quality of play.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 4, 2018 -> 08:09 PM) Fulmer hardly deserves that crappy fate tonight... Pulling the startng pitchers far too early will be the death of me.

QUOTE (Real @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 09:05 PM) this pitching staff is a great way to ruin team chemistry, literally 2 guys responsible for this L lol. The more often they go to the bullpen, the more often the lesser quality pitchers come into the game. The starters need to go deeper into games as the season progresses.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:32 AM) National report shows inequity in Illinois� education funding system deeper than previously known: Report updates widely circulated data on educational inequity The issue is that Illinois is one of the last states, I believe there are only 2 others, who use local taxes to fund schools. This creates an inherent inequity because wealthier districts will of course have more money. Most states collect all of the taxes and distribute the money from the one pool.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 02:03 PM) It's probably worth pointing out that Illinois already faces a teacher shortage, and gutting pay and protections and labor rights certainly wouldn't help fix that problem. It hasn't hit the Chicago area quite as hard, but districts across the rest of the state are struggling to fill open positions. The 2011 tier 2 pension and the newly created (from the latest budget) Tier 3 pension has really decreased interest in Illinois teaching. Chicago doesn't have the issue as they don't pay into the pension system and they also have an average higher salary than most other districts.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 01:40 PM) I don’t think a cushy retirement is a right that all Americans should have. I subscribe more to every family has a right to acquire as many dollars as they want. If you choose to do something that doesn’t gather many dollars then someone else in your family should gather dollars as well. We all have the right to pursue happiness, but not the right to happiness. Anything else leads to budget crises time and again. Probably too far gone to ever get back on track so it is what it is now. The state pension system crisis isn't caused by a cushy retirement. State employees pay their social security money (+ some in our case, we pay 9% of our salary) into the pension fund and the state pays a set amount as well. This amount can't exceed 80% of your best 4 years of income. The issue is that the state went over 15 years of not paying their part. That's the whole issue. If the state kept up their share each year, the pension debt would be 0. They just decided over the years that the money should go elsewhere. This is true everywhere in the state except the City of Chicago. Back in the 90's the city agreed to pay the teacher's portion as well so they don't pay into their pension.

QUOTE (New Era on South Side @ Feb 26, 2018 -> 07:41 AM) Well, he’s 75. Having Madigan in as the speaker is one factor, but the Illinois constitution also restricts doing anything as well. Hopefully that can get amended and there’s a way to ensure new employees, current employees and retirees of the teacher’s retirement system can get some sort of retirement benefit, but with age cutbacks and with a greater emphasis on 403(b)s while still contributing to the pension system. They already have this option inside the pension system and external to the pension system. The option in the pension system is the "self-managed" plan as opposed to the"traditional" plan.

QUOTE (New Era on South Side @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 07:53 AM) Since Trump and some republicans counter that this is a mental health problem and not a gun problem, what can they actually do about mental health? Throw money at the problem? Unlikely. Enact the Obama executive order (that Trump got rid of) under actual legislation? What would they actually propose? Also, what can be done about guns bought in neighboring states that are brought back to Illinois and put in the wrong hands (gangs)? What can be done about that? It needs to have Federal backing. That is the only way to make change. Illinois can change it some, it will help but the federal government needs to do something similar to Illinois at a minimum. I'm the first person to say their should be fewer federal regulations and the states should have more autonomy. But something like this is just reasonable for safety. Automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, while fun to play with, are just too tempting for the wrong people to cause massive damage. For whatever reason more and more people are thinking this type of action is a good idea so unfortunately these changes need to be made. We will never be able to stop all incidences. If someone really wants to do this they will find a way such as bombings instead of automatic weapons. However, it should be made as difficult as possible.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 06:40 PM) Agreed and it's surprising to me he seems to have the CF edge over Leury I think part of it is that they are still rebuilding and the stellar defense will help the young pitching. Its the same reason they signed a veteran catcher with stellar defense. If they were planning on being competitive I dont think Engel would even be a consideration to start.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 10:45 AM) Yeah, all I'm saying you don't really mess around when it comes with the knees. It kind of reminds me of Troy Glaus who you thought was going to be this great 40 HR guy but ended up retiring at 33 partly due to shoulder problems but mainly because of his knees. It can end that fast for some guys. There arr different knee issues that would effect them long term. ACL injury is not one. Other things like patlleofemoral pain syndrome and others would worry me. The Glaus knee injuries had more to do the his "chemical enhancement" than anything.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 10:12 AM) But he's still in the pool of players you could acquire to be 3b. But could he accumulate enough WAR playing only 3B? If he was good enough why didn't the Sox play him there more? Same applies to Nunez.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:59 AM) Maybe it's like saying Yolmer was a 2 WAR 3rd baseman but he wasn't at 3rd base all the time accumulating that WAR so wasn't really a 2 WAR 3rd baseman but a 2 WAR player. He played 52 games at 3rd and 92 at all other positions. Correct. It's difficult to find to get a player to accumulate 2 WAR while playing 3B full time.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:40 AM) https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=&players=0 Nunez across two teams had a fWAR of 2.2, but also was not a part of qualified batters in the list above. Only 5 teams in the MLB last year accumulated 2 WAR at 3B. Where is this from, you just said 19 teams had a 2 WAR 3b? Even if they played off 3b for a portion, someone else could not be such a net negative that it drags all those teams down. That would be my guess as both stats were from baseball reference. Sorry about the Nunez. I missed the other team. According to baseball reference he had a total of 1.2 WAR while playing 53 games at 3B last year.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 04:25 PM) Right, which is pretty much what was expected here. The corporate tax cut was a giant windfall to shareholders which disproportionately benefits the wealthy and won't really do too much for everyone else (maybe we'll see lower prices in some areas down the road, but if your goal was "help people who aren't wealthy," there's a heck of a lot more efficient ways to do that that don't exacerbate wealth inequality). Companies weren't cash-starved with investment and expansion opportunities, so the idea that we needed a big tax cut stimulus to spur the economy never made much sense. e: You weren't making those arguments, but that's how it was being sold to the public. There were many articles in various papers stating that companies were increasing their employee contribution to the 401K plans as well as some doing cash bonuses.

I don't listen too sports radio (except for MLB radio) much anymore but turn it on on my way to see what the topics are. Someone asked a question to a Cubs front office person, I think Epstein about why baseball doesn't have someone like Steve Kerr in basketball speaking out against gun violence. Does the radio person not know about Steve Kerr's father? How many other people in sports have their father assassinated? How uninformed some of these "hosts" are has no end. I didn't listen to the whole thing so maybe they got more into it but comparing anyone else to Steve Kerr's situation is strange.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 04:05 PM) Good news if if they sign Moustakas, he will offset Yoan's insane called looking totals. He really does need to learn how to protect He's a patient hitter, sometimes to a fault. He'll take his walks but also K.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 11:48 AM) Daryl Boston with praise for Luis Robert https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/so-far-...ct-luis-robert/ Thats a good sign. Boston knows his outfield defense. I still remember when he laid out into the stands to makea catch.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 01:10 PM) The best trainers in the world couldn't prevent Jabari Parker from tearing his ACL a second time and so on and on and on. I can't stress enough how awesome modern medicine and rehab (that ptac is on the cutting edge of) is. That said, (and this will probably be my last post here I think I'm arguing the same point over and over) it's a big data point against Burger that in his 1st big league camp he makes it two weeks before blowing out his achilles. Given all the talk about how he has a "bad body" and just doesn't appear to be a smooth athlete he (imo) didn't have much room for error as far as sticking at 3B and contributing in areas of the game other than hitting. Now there's going to be a ton of pressure on him to hit, hit with power. The injury is at absolute best robbing him of critical development time. Even if he comes back physically 100% there's a big setback to his career here. Actually the latest research shows we can prevent most of these second injuries. How many have you heard about recently? You can always be cynical and sayit may happen. Its true. However, the most likely outcome is that it wont. Sometimes it has to do with follow through with the patient as well.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 12:27 PM) let me put it more clearly: would you become a surgeon if you didn't believe in the efficacy your techniques? of course he believes Burger can come back 100% athletically -- he's in the business of making sure that happens. There is a reason they say the "practice" of medicine not the "science"of medicine. Its a great deal of clinical decision making and educated guessing.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 11:45 AM) It's not a death knell but it's a bad sign that a guy that young ruptured his achilles running to 1st base. ptac knows his s*** but as a trainer he can't help but almost always envision the best case rehab. I'm more of a cynic I've seen too many rehabs, even modern ones, go wrongly and players never fully recovery for whatever reason. I dont look at the best case. I try to point out the most likely. In cases like this Ive seen many more surgeries and rehabs go well than have poor results. Is it possible his career is over? Sure especially with his body type. However, its still more likely that he will be fine.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 10:03 AM) Team physicians, sure. I like ptac, but Burger isn't his patient. My partner is a physician, but doesn't provide a great deal of insight for a subject that isn't a patient. I think many of us draw comparisons to Schwarber for obvious reasons. Trust ptac. he's a good guy. We're just talking baseball here given what we have seen in the past. Odds are ptac is not that only medical professional on this board. Is ptac a team doctor? I'm actually serious. Im not a team doctor. Im a physical therapist and athletic trainer who has worked extensively in pro sports as wel as olympic and amature sports. My opinion is purely basd on experience and results I have seen. Your partner can discuss or not discuss injuries based on experience as well. Im just trying to inform and give the most common and likely result based on experience in sports medicine and and with that injury.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 08:48 AM) To be fair to him, the prognosis improved. At first Burger's career was over. Thats true. A little bit of optimism.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:15 AM) Right but I don't expect them to be waiting outside the stadium. Of those 1/3, how many were trying to contend? So how much surplus was available to acquire fairly cheaply. In the last year, 2 WAR or borderline 2 WAR players Evan Longoria, Todd Frazier, Chase Headley and Eduardo Nunez were moved cheaply. There are others that I could imagine would be available for an affordable price. If we need one, we will be able to get one without paying through the teeth. Not sure what stats you are using but Nunez and Headley barely played 3B last year and Nunez had a WAR of .9. Only 5 teams in the MLB last year accumulated 2 WAR at 3B. They aren't that easy to find.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 06:53 AM) So similar to the current TJ timeframes...typically 18 months, sometimes pushing 20-24 months depending on individual circumstances. It’s just a bit strange for a 29 year old to be consigned to 1b/DH for the rest of his career...based on what, I don't know. They are both ligament replacement surgeries, hence the similar time frame. Although, the UCL surgery time frame is a little quicker, in general due to the knee motion being far more complex.