TaylorStSox

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 10, 2012 -> 06:33 PM) I get that you have to do the workouts...but a lot of the justifications for how steroids fail to impact those certain joints sounds a lot to me like the excuses people gave for why steroids wouldn't help people hit a baseball farther. You are probably doing so more accurately than those and with a better understanding of the actual mechanics...but the tests of guys like Clemens and Gagne are the counter-evidence. These guys built themselves bigger and their pitching performances got stronger. Eric Gagne on the juice threw 100, off of it threw low-90's. Was the juice increasing his velocity, or was he only completely healthy for a very short time in his career? Clemens always threw hard. Pitcher's take PEDs for the same reasons cyclists do, recovery.

I think the juiced ball was a bigger issue than PEDs. Regarding Pedro, people equate size with steroids. Pedro was a tiny guy. Steroids don't really benefit a pitcher's velocity as much as they improve recovery and allow a pitcher to bring his A game during every outing.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 03:59 PM) I don't care if posters on this board question my information. I do find it interesting that I'm being held to a higher standard than other folks around here. You might be setting yourself about by talking about your "source" all the time. I don't see other posters doing that.

BMac had a nice little quote about sources and hot stove talk.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 12:27 PM) Has Rock's source every been right? What about yours? I have a source? Sweet.

Has Marty's "source" ever been right about anything? I honestly don't know.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 01:52 AM) We've spent years amassing the young talent that we have. Why is Justin Upton the guy we sell all the young pieces for? JU is really the missing piece on this team? I bet I could come up with 15-20 outfielders I'd rather have than Upton- he's no superstar. Now we all understand that he's already done a lot at a young age, and that's the path HoF-type players take, but he's shown zero ability to improve over the years. So Viciedo, De Aza plus a bunch of young guys gets us a guy who was out-slugged by Tank and Rios last year. Great. Tank hits lefties like nobody ever has. I'd bet on Tank improving more than Upton improving next year. Alex Rios was a better player last year and has the same if not better contract than Upton. AND has seen AL pitchers. PASS, unless you can convince me that JU will become a superstar. Everything you say is true, but damnit, Justin Upton is sexy! He was a the number 1 draft pick overall. Some prospect site probably had him rated as the number 1 prospect in baseball 5 years ago. Players always suddenly become superstars after 3,000 PA's.

Hey, don't let me stop you guys from creaming your pants over somebody else's uber prospect with an unlimited ceiling.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 12:44 AM) Upton's wOBA the past 4 years 2009 .385 2010 .349 2011 .385 2012 .341 Rios' wOBA the past 4 years 2009 .302 2010 .344 2011 .267 2012 .361 There's also a 6 year age difference between the two. Not only does Upton have a higher ceiling, even though it looks like he hasn't completely hit it yet, but he's also not as awful as Rios when he has what is considered a down year. In fact, Upton's bad years are considered good years for Rios. These guys aren't in the same league. And obvious fantasy advice...draft Upton next year, don't draft Rios. The pattern is quite obvious. I don't know what any of that means. I know they're similar players outside of Rios' awful '11. Upton's slightly better. The idea that the guy still has considerable upside after 3,000 PA's is kind of laughable. Yeah, he was a number 1 pick and a sexy prospect, but he's probably not going to get significantly better. 3,000 PA's is substantial.

I'd love to have Upton, but I'm not going to getting moist and sell the farm for him.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 12:36 AM) Upton's ceiling is much higher. But yeah, Upton likes to have a pattern of up and down years. His ceiling? 3,000 plate appearances. He is who he is. He's slightly better than Rios. He walks more, k's more and steals fewer bases.

Upton's one of those guys that if he was a Sox player, people couldn't wait to move him. But, since he plays for another team and was an uber prospect he's the bee's knees. Upton already plays for this team, his name is Alex Rios. You really think he's suddenly going to get better after 3,000 PA's?

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 11:43 AM) Don't the Reds have Billy Hamilton, like the top leadoff prospect in all of the minors? Ruddy Yan

Youk's fat.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 12:20 PM) If he's ready bring him up at SS and deal Ramirez. See, now this move would be a net negative. Rookie SS, bad second baseman, bad 3rd baseman vs. Rookie 2nd baseman, and good SS, bad 3rd baseman

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 11:45 AM) At least for 2013, bringing up Sanchez is questionable at best. Everyone complains when the Sox rush their prospects, but they always want the Sox to rush their prospects. You're right. He does seem like the type of player that might adjust to the jump quicker than others. It's not ideal, but there don't seem to be many viable options.

I'm not convinced Keppinger/Beckham is better than Beckham /Sanchez, especially factoring in money. Sanchez has the potential to be an ideal 2 hitter with some speed. Beckham has enough power to justify 3rd. It might be an upgrade defensively. From what I understand, Sanchez has a real good glove. It would be nice to have more range at second and Beckham is better at third than the corpse of Youk.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 10:28 AM) Everybody available sucks as bad as Beckham anyway.

At this point, unless they can get real creative with a trade, they might as well move Beckham to 3rd and bring Sanchez up to play 2nd. *shrugs*

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 29, 2012 -> 03:06 PM) We have plenty of bad relievers. I'd be all for a total reshuffling of the bullpen. I wish we'd trade some of the current parts basically for anybody else. I like Reed. The rest of the guys are all a dime a dozen or worse IMO. Nobody is reliable besides Reed. By reliable I mean by old White Sox standards. Guys who can get people out. This is definitely one of the more "WTF?" posts I've read in a while.

My building has free Wifi. Would I be better off switching to Uverse for TV only? I imagine it's cheaper than Comcast. We're paying in the neighborhood of $100 for cable with HBO and Encore without DVR. Do they get the B1G Network? I know I can look this up.

A few friends and I were watching Black Friday videos for fun. The running joke was that these people are killing each other for the right to buy something. Videos of people biting each other and fist fighting... The s*** isn't even free and people are fighting. Consumerism is a motherf***er. Gamestop sells used copies of most games for about $35 everyday. There's no difference between a used copy and new copy of a video game. People crazy!

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Nov 21, 2012 -> 03:39 PM) We took a puppy training class and the trainers had a Greyhound. She was very timid and shy. They said she was also very sensitive. They said that another trainer used her as an example of how to walk a dog and used the method where they snap the leash back to "correct" the dog. It took them two weeks to get her to walk on a leash again after that. Needless to say, they didn't use that method when they taught us. They have a chase instinct more than a running instinct. It's Huskies that love to run and run and run. Greyhounds are bred for prey drive. That's why it's probably a bad idea to adopt one with a cat. These type of homes do work, however, the dog was bred to chase small animals.

People need to understand that with dog breeds form follows function. Pit bulls weren't selected for dog fighting because they fit a certain physical/mental criteria. They fit that criteria because they were purposely bred for dog fighting. The name American Pit Bull Terrier shows this. Pit = dog fighting ring. Bull = Bulldog lineage which gives them the bite/hold/shake which is a trait unique to bull dogs. Terrier = Terrier lineage which makes them tenacious, aggressive and fearless. This is the same for all "sporting/working" breeds. Greyhounds look the way they do because they were selectively bred to be the ultimate racing dog. With pit bulls, the selective breeding also resulted in a dog that's tremendous towards humans despite their aggression towards other dogs, which makes them great pets for people that understand and have experience with the breed. Adoption agencies do the breed a great disservice by adopting the dogs out to every fur mommy that wants to save a dog.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 19, 2012 -> 01:37 PM) My two Danes will roughhouse together, especially right now, as they are both reaching physical maturity and beginning to sort out who will be the Alpha, but as soon as one makes any sign of pain or showing submission, the other immediately stops and backs off. With my parents' Irish Wolfhounds though, I have seen them really go after one another to the point where you're not sure when one of them will let up. That sounds terrifying. That's like 2 werewolves wrestling.