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QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Feb 13, 2012 -> 01:25 PM) My wife and I have been having a debate for the past couple of weeks. We are planning on getting a new car in the next 1-3 months. My daughter is 15 and just started taking driving lessons. She has to have her permit for a minimum of 9 months so she won't be getting her license until December at the absolute earliest. The car we have now is a 2003 Grand Prix with over 222,000 miles on it. It has a few minor problems but runs pretty good for the most part (knock on wood). The debate we are having is whether or not to keep the old car for her to drive around so we don't have to worry about her getting into an accident with the new car or trading it in and knocking some money off the new car. My wife wants to keep it so our daughter can drive it and there's no chance of her wrecking the new car. I'm looking at all the added costs of keeping it when the only person that will be driving it doesn't even have a license yet since my wife doesn't drive at all. Our insurance will go up, we still have to keep up the maintenance, plus we have to find a place to park it since we only have a single car driveway that's already filled up with 3 other vehicles. We have full coverage on our car now but if when we get the new one, we could drop to liability on the old one to save a little money. The problem with that is if my daughter has a minor accident (say she backs into something and takes out a taillight and cracks the bumper) then we are on the hook for the cost of the entire repair. Also, if the car suddenly needs some major repair (engine blows, transmission goes out) then we might as well junk it and get something else. At least if we trade it in we'll get something out if it. Even if it's only $1000. We do have a suburban that she could drive if she really needed it but my wife thinks its too big for her. I think she'd actually be safer in it. It takes a lot to wreck a suburban. If she is at all a decent driver, put her in the suburban. That's what I learned to drive in and I was comfortable driving vehicles of any size because of it. Also, it is safer. My first "accident" was when someone hit me from behind and I was to nervous to avoid it. The wreck totalled the other vehicle (Z24) but barely dented the bumper on mine. Turns out she was 16 with a new license as well. Her father called mine and wanted to see if everything was OK. My Dad laughed and said don't worry about it and explained the situation. The girl's father's reply....can I buy the Suburban.

QUOTE (StatManDu @ Feb 13, 2012 -> 12:59 PM) Was this performance Grammy worthy? On 6-19-77, White Sox first baseman Lamar Johnson sang the national anthem & hit 2 HRs in Sox 2-1 win vs A's at Comiskey Park They should have had him sing the National Anthem at least once a week after that.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 13, 2012 -> 01:45 PM) I don't know, but now he just tweeted this.... Keenyn Walker @Keenyn_Walker About to go get a massage and lucky the family I'm stayin with is a chiropractor! Should be good to go tomorrow! Probably just from lifting Either damage control realizing how bad his other tweet sounded, or he was just being dramatic the first time. If this is true he could be in a lot of trouble. If he goes to a chiro without consulting with any of the team medical staff first, he will get in some deep #%&* from the team.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 9, 2012 -> 05:45 PM) 1.) I like that post a lot, but I just don't understand why Peavy, Rios, Dunn aren't enough reasons to bury Kenny. Having those guys cost me my favorite player in Mark. I will say this. The booing will start on Opening Day this year and The Cell will be a very very negative place to be with all 3 of those guys getting booed big time all year IMO unless they produce. It will be such a negative place to be. 2.) I love that post. Post of the new year. A lot of Sox fans were against the Dunn signing. My dad was furious. Said Dunn would be a bust. I trusted the folks on here who were so excited and figured it'd be nice to have an automatic 40 homer guy to go with Paulie. Just because you focus on those 3 not everyone does. The Dunn move was bad last year. Doesn't mean it will be. I'm glad you can predict the one of a kind injury Peavy had, no one else di. Rios, you get that one. KW has made many more good moves than bad ones. Overall he has done a good job. Do you really think a player will get booed if they don't produce? That would happen regardless of past performance. Fans were booing Thomas at the end of his run here. He's a HOF who had a devastating injury. I have complete faith in Sox fans will boo if they don't produce as is thier right.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 09:37 PM) I'm pretty sure KW hired Wilder from the Brewers and it was a highly regarded move at the time. IIRC, Wilder then went on to interview for the Red Sox GM job a few years later. Clearly the guy was considered a strong talent evaluator and had a great resume, so it's hard to blame KW for hiring him and trusting him in a significant role. The question is why did it take so long for KW to become aware of Wilder's illegal activities. It's one thing to have trust in an employee, but you still have a responsibility to oversee their actions and it doesn't appear that KW did a great job of that. Unfortunately, we'll never really know the details of the whole Wilder fiasco. OK, I thought Wilder was there prior to KW. I just remember KW talking about how he always looked up to him and thought of him as a trusteed mentor. He must have known him from outside the organizartion. KW is definitely on the hook for hiring him. I think it took so long because he did trust him and gave him a lot of room to operate on his own. Maybe that's why he Wilder thought he could get away with it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 07:27 PM) Another reason for KW to fall on his sword, in the collective scheme of things. Still...I'm sure he learned a valuable lesson. But that same type of situation toppled Bowden and Jose Blame It On Rijo in Washington. To be fair KW inherited him from Schueler and subsequently let him have too much free reign. I don't think KW should fall on the sword for someone he inherited even if it did happen on his watch. Bowden hired Rijo and thus was more responsible for him and his actions.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) Keith Law doesn't like our minor league system. While I am w/ the people who think he has irrational hate towards the Sox, it's hard to say this has any relation to that. He writes.... I like the part where he says "get the other teams to play by his rules." This is actually smart business and many owners wanted to force caps on bonuses. This way a) you don't have to pay alot of money for someone you has never and may never play in the MLB (simialr to the NFL rookie cap), 2) the teams with the most money don't always get the best players. This just shows how Law is biased against the Sox, we also may have found the reason: he doesn't like the way JR weilds power in the MLB

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 05:57 PM) Gonzalez, Hudson on the minus side, not to mention the $4M for a month of Manny. Agreed. I still think the overall body of work is on the plus side.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 03:53 PM) In the end, you take risks. We've seen that money go to the likes of Silverio, Anderson Gomes and Orlando...and it's a better idea to take the risk of 10-20 Jordan Dankses or Trayce Thompson's making it and becoming a superstar than drafting the likes of Royce Ring, Broadway, McCulloch or Poreda in the first round (well, Aaron was LH and at least had some above average heat at one point). Plus it helped to keep his brother in the fold, there was that theory as well. He had all the raw physical tools (not unlike BA) that you look for in a young outfielder, not unlike our drafting of Sweeney. The problem has always been the long swing, power and K numbers. That's what happens with 90% of toolsy outfield prospects, they go bust. And saying is Cespedes worth 8-10 Joe Borchards in terms of price isn't quite the point, although the numbers are scary. If nothing else, it makes the Viciedo and Ramirez signings look even more "genius" in retrospect. Then again, if we just had average results in the Dominican and Venezuela over the last decade, our farm system would actually be competitive vis a vis the rest of MLB. I think some of this was fallout from Wilder and his kickback scheme. Players may have been hesitant to sign knowing they has to give some of the bonus to them.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 03:21 PM) How Kenny has kept his job is beyond me. Dunn.Peavy. Rios.Those are the kind of baseball players who get a guy fired. If Reed fails at closer, he also gave away the Sox only closer candidate for this season. Sergio for nothing. Real wise. Oh I forgot. Ozzie didn't have to play Rios and Dunn so that takes Kenny off the hook. Oz is at fault for playing them. Danks,Floyd,Rameiez,Pierzynski,Thornton,Contreras,Garcia,Quentin,Jenks,Thome. Those are reasons that he has done a pretty good job during his tenure here. If you want to be short sighted and only look for a the last few transactions sure he's had a bad run. It may be time for him to go just like Ozzie. Every job in sports has a shelf life. Sooner or later he needs to go. However to only look at a few deals is a poor way to judge someone. Many people talk about sample size. Those are a pretty small sample size.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 02:10 PM) Have you ever signed an employment contract? Did it tell you exactly what you had to do everyday? Some do, some don't. Every professional job has a job description. If you're going to petty enough to say every single second of every single minute. Of course not, although my current job with the state makes me write down by 15 minute increments on my time sheet. Do you really know JR that well that you know what his decision's would be. At best it's a calcualted gamble. You really do hate KW enough to assume he's always lying and phony. The peopel I kow that know him think he is very straight forward with them. They say he is arrogant and can be difficult to deal with because he wants everything done his way but you at least you know where you stand with him.They also say he doesn't like the media and will puposely mislead them. Which is pretty obvious to everyone. Before you ask I do not have documented proof that my friends work well with him and respect him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 06:07 PM) The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. Its really good. I forgot about that one. It is good.

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 03:27 PM) Last night my wife and I went out to dinner with a group of friends. We talked about the Super Bowl, but then the conversation turned to everyone saying what their favorite sport was. I of course said baseball, and the woman next to me said she enjoyed it but found it a little boring. I told her that once you understand the nuances of the game it is very dramatic and exciting. I used game six of this past World Series as an example. Long story short, she is a very literary person and asked me to reccomond at least three books about baseball. I've thought of Moneyball and Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer. I know I can count on all of you to help me come up with a third, and probably a better one and two as well. Help me out Soxtalkers. I want to convert her from basketball to baseball! Cal Ripken's book is excellent. If she wants to see how baseball is connected to american history there is a good book about Moe Berg, the catcher who used his international baseball travels to spy on other nations.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 11:34 PM) The better question is how much do we blame our.... 1) college/high school amateur draft scouts 2) minor league development people (Bell now) 3) major league coaching staff, especially Ozzie and Walker 4) front office, KW and Hahn specifically You can say "the buck stops here" and it's ultimately KW's responsibility, with scouts merely providing advice and counsel, guidance and their combined years of collective wisdom (I think Moneyball suggesting it's 150 years is a bit much, don't remember Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright doing much scouting during the Civil War)... I think it also has to do with overall philosophy. Until a few years ago the Sox were drafting the Low ceiling but supposedly safer players such as Broadway and McCullough in the first round. I think they figured out that even these players have a high fail rate so they should change their philosophy and go for the raw but possible superstar talents like they have in the last few drafts with Sale, Mitchell, Wlaker and Thompson. All had big question marks but big talent. My personal opinion is that KW is very smart and knew he didn't know drafting. He knew development which was his role in the organization before he became GM. So he relied heavily on people that were here before him such as Shaeffer and Wilder. He probably gave them to much power as the conservative style of drafting really doesn't fit with KW's "go for it" attitude with everything else. I think is why he is still around. JR is allowing the drafts from the last few years to mature (for lack of a better word) and see if KW can do it his way.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 06:21 AM) Never said majority, he either said several or many or a few, but he did say, Jerry said no, so it was no. It certainly didn't seem like it was brought to the BOD, which, BTW, Jerry handpicked. And if it was Stern only mentioned Jerry's veto as the only thing that really mattered. If the investors want to sell their shares and get out, I don't think it would be difficult to do. This is the point you should have made earlier. This is correct. Jerry built the group to buy the team with mostly close associates who will agree with him. This way he will always have the majority of votes on his side. However, if they ever turned against him and voted against him, he could not overrule thier vote. This is unlikely as he has made them so much money in real estate deals that it wouldn't be worth it for them. Your premise of selliong the team is still flawed. If a minority of owners wanted to sell and a majoirty didn't, the team wouldn't be sold regardless of who was the Chairman. What happened was that Jerry didn't want to sell and so his group didn't sell. The people who wanted to sell could sell their shares to someone else if approved by the board. I believe a couple did and Jerry even bought someone's shares.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 10:19 PM) SR: I was actually just talking about that with Helen [Zelman; Diamondback's baseball operations assistant] and one of our scouts. In terms of looking at and projecting amateur players, [we often] look at their athleticism, we look at their performance and physical tools, trying to assess whether or not they'll be good professional players. And one of the harder parts is assessing what kind of aptitude they have to learn as they progress up the professional baseball chain. People automatically gravitate to things like, 'What is their GPA at Georgia Tech?' or 'Where did they go to high school and were they on the honor roll?' But sometimes the difference between athletic aptitude, the ability to take something you watch happen, or something the coach asks you to do, and immediately do it, might be different than if you can solve an equation for X. I think this is one of the more interesting quotes in the article....and it really goes to the failures the White Sox have endured with Josh Fields, Borchard, Brian Anderson and all the uncertainty about Beckham's future as well. Then there's that leadership element....the "this player makes the players surrounding him XXX times better just by his presence in the line-up and clubhouse" factor that's so hard to measure accurately. For example, how much will the White Sox miss Mark Buehrle because of that "value-added" element to his game that Greg likes to point out? How much will we suffer when AJ is no longer the full-time catcher? How much did Everett and Rowand provide the team in terms of leadership in 2005? How much did losing Juan Uribe or Joe Crede have to do with our "failures" in 2009-10-11? On the negative side, how much does Rios hurt the team chemistry, above and beyond his actual performance...or even with a manager who was obviously not fully engaged and loyal? Again, I agree with all of this but it doesn't really discount what the Sox have or have not done. Joe Borchard was known as an extremely intelligent person. He was always classified as a "thinking quarterback." That's saying something especially at Stanford. Brian Anderson was a carefree guy but not a bad guy. Josh Fields was known for his leadership in the huddle for big games in college football. I know no one will miss AJ in the locker room He does work hard and knows how to call a game, so the Sox may miss that. I'm the first one to bring up the intangibles and things you can't measure by numbers in baseball. I'm just not convinned that the Sox aren't doing it. I think KW really looks at the character of a player before he signs/trades for them. Remeber when he signed AJ when it looked like no one else would. He said he spent a long time talking to people within various organizations he player for to determine if he should sign them. I don't think grooming someone in your organization necessarily helps this. It all factors in. The manager especially in this case. I think Ozzie is a very good manager and will be successful. However, it was obviously time to go. I think the players knowing he wanted out played a large factor into the poor performance last season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 08:57 PM) A little more conservative and risk-averse, I could see their farm system ranking in 12-18 range instead of the bottom 2 or 3 organizations. Of course, a lot of that's going to be determined by how well the team finishes in 2012 and 2013, in terms of slotting and draft position for the first round picks. If we are in the 70's (especially lower 70's) for wins the next two seasons, then it's pretty hard to imagine not improving that farm system...and bringing in Soler or Cespedes would also have a huge impact, obviously. Where KW is 90% MLB results and 10% farm system development, nurturing, I think we'll see more of a 70/30 split in favor of the results at the major league level and balancing payroll/profitability with long-term sustainability. The flaw in the KW model has always been consistency and year to year fluctuations caused by his changing the chemistry and make-up of the roster around so much...and not having a wave of "Sox bred" players being promoted year after year from within, players who have learned to play the game the right way as opposed to learning 90% of it at the major league level, when results always have to be prioritized over teaching/development. I agree with everything you said but I don't it's a flaw in the KW model as much as it's his philosophy from his point of view. Most prospects don't turn out successfully so if you can package them for someone who has had success, you have a better chance of being good. This is the way KW looks at things. Both philosophies have advantages and disadvantages. I'm not sure there is a "right way to play" the game other than busting your rear all the time. There are many philosphies on the right way.

A friend brought me a bottle of 20 year old Tawny port from Sandeman's for the Super Bowl. My 14 year old daughter decide to bring up the topic of a new boyfriend today. I'm having a couple of glasses tonight.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 08:12 PM) I've sort of wondered if Kenny is just being kept on to merely clean up his own mess. To allow Hahn have a decent position to start out with. Let Hahn eventually take over with a clean slate after Peavy/Rios/Dunn are gone, and hopefully he'll have a semblance of a farm system to play around with at that point too. If so, one would hope he's had great say in the current moves being made to "rebuild." It will be interesting to see his philosophy. KW is as as different as you can get from Schueler who held onto all of his prospects of which most don't turn out. I have a feeling Hahn will be more like KW and trade for established veterans and use the farm system more as trading currency than prospects for the Sox.

QUOTE (K-Rock @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 07:45 PM) Do you think he would be willing to wait that long? As the second best candidate out there he should have better options out there before 2015 I do think he will wait that long. He sees how loyal JR is and the resources the Sox have. He has pull out/turned down other opportunities in the past. He is biding his time because he knows KW's tenure as GM is about over.

He will be the GM by 2015.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 03:15 PM) Do you have a copy of their bylaws? I'm just relaying what a partner went on the record with. I do not have a copy of the by-laws. But that is how the partnership arrangement works in general. He cannot overrule a decision by the board. I'm going by information provided by some friends within the organization. I don't know where you got your information from but that was my understanding of the situation.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 01:43 PM) He can override any board request, and has on several occassions, some being correct and some not working out so well. Truth be told, although JR does listen to his partners, they, at least according to Stern, have no "rights" . His is the final decision, and its worked out well for all of them. No he can't. He is the managing partner. He runs the day to day operations but the board needs to agree with the large issues. The example of selling the team wasn't the fact that JR said no so it wasn't going to happen. It was that some not all of the members wanted to sell and JR was one of the ones who wanted to keep it and his group of voters were the majority. You can make the case that the majority of the voters may agree with him and he runs it like Daley ran ran the city council but this only happens as long as he has the majority of the voters on his side. He cannot override a vote of the board.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 11:22 AM) All those good responses to my post and then this? Some of us think the White Sox owner has a ton of money and if he ever sells the team will make a zillion dollar profit as well. So yes I wanted him to fork over some money to pay Mark. Cheers to the fans who toast the team with their 10 dollar beers. You do realize that the person you are referring to a "owner" (I'm assuming it's JR) owns less than 15% of the team. It's not like the Bulls where he owns controlling interest and can do basically whatever he wants. He is the managing partner of the Sox but needs to go to the whole board to make big decsions like"let's lose money this year."

QUOTE (hi8is @ Feb 2, 2012 -> 06:03 PM) The Cuban chips begin to fall. I wonder what the contract will end up looking like. Give me Soler! My friend didn't know the details. He was in a training room when the news went flying around the DR.