ptatc

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 11:46 PM) That was his son. The sale to the father was turned down for some reasons that were a little nebulous at best. The owners and commissioner Bowie Kuhn felt that DeBartolo had "connections" to underworld characters, had gambling /interests, wasn't actually living in Chicago and couldn't be relied upon in their opinions. In fact the Galbraith family who owned the Pirates and George Steinbrenner had horse racing interests and owned race tracks. DeBartolo said he would move 20% of his business interests to Chicago and promised he would spend a certain amount of time in the city. That fell on deaf ears. Later after the Sox signed Floyd Bannister to what was considered a huge contract for it's time, Steinbrenner publicly said that he "regretted" not voting for DeBartolo. So the dad then used his resources to buy the 49'ers...and win a bunch of Super Bowls. Mark I worked for deBartolo at one of the local racetracks. It was later purchased by Steinbrenner. All of them were into the gambling scene. The DeBartolo's were the only ones convicted of felony bribery. As long as they win all is forgiven, i guess.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 06:07 PM) That's good because I have some old rock n roll concert posters that need framing. My wife frames her own stitching projects. She's an excellent framer. I'm not sure the Sox would pay the price though.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 10:32 AM) The same Bill Veeck who actually tried to sell the team to Edward DeBartolo, who had the vast resources to not only keep the Sox in Chicago, but in a competitive way worthy of a big market team. And if not for a few "no" votes from some other obviously threatened AL owners in 1980, the team would have been sold to DeBartolo, and not to the Reinsdorf/Einhorn group. Often wonder what the past 36 years would have looked like for our beleaguered franchise had the sale to DeBartolo gone through! Is this the same DeBartolo who was forced to give up the 49ers due to being convicted of a felony for bribing government officials for gambling licenses? One thing sure sure is that the ownership wouldn't have lasted long as he would've been forced to sell the sox as well. Maybe the MLB owners knew enough not to allow him to buy it.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Feb 8, 2017 -> 08:18 AM) Is there a test for CTE that can be run on living subjects? No. But there is some evidence that certain sclera (scar tissue type) that can be found may be an early indicator. The research is in it's very early stages but the people hyping up the CTE for NFL players (to get the grant money) are starting to push it.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:05 AM) That's one-time Soxtalk poster Chris Rongey. He was such an asshole to callers on the postgame show who had even the slightest complaint about the Sox direction (reminds me of some...). He really made a lot of enemies with that, which is weird because by all accounts he was a pretty good guy off the air. He is a good guy. But just like anyone else who hears nothing but negativity and complaints, it wore him down after awhile. you could tell it got to him having to liten to caller after caller bash Ventura even after wins.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 10, 2017 -> 10:56 AM) I wasn't really trying to advocate it. I meant just in general for any team. I would rather have an open spot for in-house options or a higher upside signing to flip. Agreed.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 10, 2017 -> 07:06 AM) Alvarez is out there and put up .7 WAR. He could be a very cheap signing as well. But why pay for a .7 WAR guy when someone from the minors would be nearly as good? .7 of a win is not worth spending money on.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 02:12 PM) Miami is definitely better than the Sox. San Diego and Philadelphia are the only ones that are definitely worse IMO. 1. Anderson SS 2. Abreu 1B 3. Cabrera LF 4. Frazier 3B 5. Davidson DH 6. Lawrie 2B 7. Garcia RF 8. Soto C 9. Tilson CF That's a bad offense. I would put Atlanta in the group as well. Miami probably is better. However, as I said they will not be the worst offense in MLB. I'm still predicting there will be at least 5 teams that score fewer runs than the Sox.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 01:29 PM) Which offenses are worse? Off the top of my head San Diego, Atlanta and Philadelphia, Oakland. I'm sure once I look closely there will be a few others as well. edit: Probably Milwaukee and Miami too.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 01:04 PM) I think they will challenge for worst offense in baseball. They'll hit some homers because of Frazier and Abreu. They won't be on base often enough to sustain anything though. They have a #1 starter. A #3 starter (with tremendous upside) 2 #5 starters and Shields who is probably toast. The offense won't be that bad. There will be 6-7 teams which score fewer runs. They have 4-5 professional hitters. I agree with the starters except Gonzalez is closer to a 4 than 5. Hopefully, Rodon improves again and can be a 2. It's still decent. Don't forget the pen which will probably be the default strength of the team.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 11:13 AM) Joe Flacco shouldn't be allowed near the hall of fame. He's made good money. He can buy a ticket.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 12:22 PM) They are absolutely one of the 5 worst teams in baseball. Why do people think otherwise? Because some disagree with your evaluations. They have 4-5 MLB hitters, 3 decent starters and a decent bullpen. That's more than many of the bottom tier teams. No one is saying they are any good but they have more talent than more than a few teams. Plus they fired Robin who is the primary cause of their issues last year.

71-91

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Feb 8, 2017 -> 12:16 PM) I think that was truer in the past, but with interleague play there's less mystery in changing leagues. He's talking about a fundamental change in his approach which may not even be warranted. Didn't he have the worst BABIP last year, suggesting he was horribly unlucky? However he does it I hope he has a great year, because he seems to be a great guy. And of course a candidate to be flipped mid season. Very true. but I still think there are just too many different pitchers and team with different approaches that it take the majority of the first year to adjust.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 07:44 PM) His adjustment might - might - last one time around the league. Then pitchers will start jamming him, he'll get frustrated, and go back "to what always worked for me in the past". Not that I dislike the guy. I just don't believe what guys say in the offseason. In one time around the league, he will learn and understand the tendencies of the entire pitching staff and get comfortable in all the different ballparks? most hitters will tell it takes the first year before getting comfortable with the change. This usually shows for most hitters.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 04:26 PM) This offense ranked 21st in OPS with Adam Eaton last year. I just don't see it. I was looking at runs scored where they were 20th. So they will be probably just short of that because they should be slightly better or even nearly everywhere else.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 03:48 PM) There is no good reason to at least try him up there. Either #1 or #2 depending on what you want to do with Anderson. Yeah, this is a planned rebuilding team. Try whatever they think may help in the future. If he is bad there, who cares. Losing is the goal for this year anyway.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 01:47 PM) They might not be the worst, but the aren't going to be middle of the pack without some 3 standard deviation seasons from almost every player on the team. I think with the current bullpen and 3 decent starters and an offense around 20, they could finish in the bottom middle third of the league without that many standard deviation improvements from every player. i doubt they will be in the bottom 5.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 03:47 PM) There are about 25 teams in baseball who could use Q right now. There are teams out there who make a ton of sense, Houston is just one of them. Honestly farm system or not, the Yankees aren't catching the Red Sox anytime soon without some outside blood being poured into their franchise. Pittsburgh needs a big move worse than any franchise in baseball right now. Just not very many who are willing to empty the farm system for him.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 01:39 PM) Yeah, I think the lack of K's hurts his perceived value in trade negotiations but is also an excuse to try and cut the cost down. My counter-point to that are the facts that Q pitches half of his games in a hitter friendly band box and yet still puts up the numbers of #1 or #2 pitcher while pitching 200 innings per year. Q would be the best overall pitcher on the Astros staff and Luhnow knows it. Luhnow just needs a bit more time to give up his prospect coddling ways. Learning to let go is never easy at first,lol. I agree. This is the rationale, I think, that others use for not putting him in that class of pitcher.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 12:29 PM) Is this really a thing? Genetics?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 11:27 AM) Minus Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, they are predicting the same results as last year? Yeah. I don't know. They are probably figuring, Abreu and Frazier won't be as bad and Anderson will improve. The offense will be around 20th. They still have a decent bullpen and a good 3 starters. Along with the fact that some of the players acquired will be up at some point. They aren't going to be good but as currently constructed, they aren't going to be at the bottom.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 09:01 AM) I swear it is just because he can't dial back and hit 95. Guys like him usually take to get recognized. That's part of it. The other is his lack of strikeouts. He isn't a "dominant strikeout" guy. He has to pitch to contact which does make GM's about trading a TOR package for him and makes the "list" experts devalue him.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Feb 5, 2017 -> 03:23 PM) So you're saying you have a feeling something's gonna happen soon? I wish I'd trademarked that a few weeks ago. months?

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 05:21 PM) Whitley is talented, but also is at least four years away from the majors at this point. That needs to be considered I don't think that is a bad thing for some of the prospects. The Sox should build a consistent stream of talent to have a longer period to be competitive. If they get them all within a year or two, it may shorten the competitive window. Augmenting future drafts is not bad if they are getting higher end talent.