Balta1701

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 08:45 PM) Shark is the gift that keeps giving. Did he do well against Boston in late July?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 08:34 PM) I wouldn't see why not as long as all parties agreed on the final price when it came time to sign. There was some last-minute negotiating at the closing for our house over some dumb bs that was sorted out without delaying anything. Want to make it quicker, have an idea of how much it would cost to fix before going in.

Well that's what I get for looking away to do a bit of work.

Yes. Finished up next week's first classes. F*** this buying ticket. Foo Fighters tomorrow night.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 05:24 PM) Who is saying the US economy is growing 3.5 - 4% per year. I've never seen any sort of growth figures that high. That would be insanely strong growth for a country our size. Maybe you and I are thinking of different metrics from a growth perspective? All of the Republican candidates insist they'll make that growth rate happen if you vote for them

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) Did he start Habitat for Humanity or was it something he got involved with after term? It officially started in 1976 but he joined in 1984 and became their most well known proponent.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 04:12 PM) Honorable mention David Wells. I was feeling like he and Royce Clayton deserved to be mentioned somewhere in the thread but didn't want to disrupt the obviously deserved unanimous votes.

That's exactly how doubleT was in doubleA. Even on the road, he was always a nice guy, out signing for people down the lines.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 03:57 PM) I'm not sure why the guest host on Limbaugh's opinion on Hillary Clinton should be given any weight... DEMOCRATS MUST CARE ABOUT RUSH LIMBAUGH'S SHOW AND LISTEN TO IT CONSTANTLY BECAUSE I SAY SO AND I'M GOING TO KEEP SAYING IT UNTIL YOU DO.

If Reggie Wayne is coming back, it's probably not about money, it's probably about coming back with a team that can compete for a super bowl.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 03:05 PM) This is the first reporter I have seen that mentioned Ventura NOT being safe. My guess is it's nothing more than an assumption based on the fact that any other manager in a similar position would be on the hot seat.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) Trade Quintana? You guys are crazy! Who the hell would pitch for the Sox next year then?? Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon, Erik Johnson, Carson Fulmer, John Danks, Free agent?, Chris Beck, Francellis Montas. Not as strong as this year's rotation on paper but could very easily be just as good. Equally fair question in reply would be "who the he** will play 3b and RF and C and 2b and SS and DH" for the White Sox next year if we don't move him to fill some of those gaping holes.

Only noticed this because of the highlighting in the last post, but I'm pretty sure Matt Albers cannot be "protected". He has more than 6 years of big league service time and is on a 1 year deal. He will file for free agency a few days after the world series and that will clear his 40 man roster spot, unless he is resigned to a contract extension before that date.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 12:37 PM) I don't really understand why Rovell thought the Sox report was even worthy of posting. What's his point? Like has been pointed out, scouts are routinely wrong. Just look at any draft in any sport. I still found it interesting and it was well timed since they retired his number in New York over the weekend.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 12:04 PM) And China could very well be crashing. You just never know when that bubble is going to burst. They've done so much to stop it so we will see. More so though, it appears a lot of what they are doing recently is to do everything they can to keep the Yuan in China vs. those funds getting spent overseas on real estate, etc. They want that money re-invested in their economy vs. others. Since they're such an exporter and not an importer it's hard to see that even if their bubble does burst, it will move that far out of China. Their bubble bursting could just push prices down even more on Chinese made goods, leading to higher U.S. corporate profits. The U.S. demand for those goods isn't going to go away. Some of the numbers I saw a few weeks ago argued that ~98% of Chinese stocks were owned by Chinese nationals and corporations and that the government has allowed very little foreign investment in those markets. Even major implosions in their stock markets and real estate markets could very well stay confined mostly to China.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 11:45 AM) I thought the top 15 picks, not 10, were protected? Under the new CBA it is the top 10 picks (can be top 11+ if a team receives a compensatory pick in the top 10 for not signing a previous year's draftee).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 11:38 AM) Our economy affects China on a macro level WAY more than China hits ours. With the barriers to entry, things don't really flow that way. The way I'd say it is their undervalued currency is a major long-term negative on the U.S. Job market, so they have a huge long-term impact, but short-term shocks in China aren't likely to flow the other way. Close enough.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 11:36 AM) These are two teams we can and should beat Red Sox have been playing a bit better lately, 12-10 since they snapped the White Sox winning streak, 6-4 in their last 10, just split with the Royals in a 4 game set.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 24, 2015 -> 11:27 AM) That their finger smell? Seriously, I don't know the answer..but am I right? I actually presume this is a decent enough to buy. But better yet, just stick with consistent allocations (DCA) and you should do fine (as long as you are looking long term). I don't invest for the short-term or with short-term funds so I can't comment on that. Anything I have in the market, the plan would be, that I have no short-term needs for such funds. The U.S. corporate market still seems strong, Europe is at least currently stable until the next Greek crisis arrives in a year or so (or in a few months depending on what the IMF does), China's fluctuations will hit the U.S. manufacturing sector even more but that's already been devastated so the exposure to the U.S. of that is limited. The U.S. market should weather this as a temporary blip/correction unless someone does something stupid...i.e. the Fed could raise rates in the near future as they've been threatening to do and turn this into a major rout...or we could run into a 2002-style explosion of all sorts of financial fraud schemes that were surviving as long as markets kept moving upwards & couldn't survive the down blip.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

So, this weekend we had a fan knocked unconscious by a ball of Schwarber's bat. Earlier this year there was a fan impaled by a bat fragment at Fenway. Baseball has stated this is an issue they're going to study in the offseason. ESPN here reports that there are 1750 fan injuries per season on foul balls, with the majority less severe than those obviously. They're already facing lawsuits from some of the injuries this year. Players including Justin Verlander have issued public statements supporting increased efforts towards fan safety after a fan was injured at their game last week. There's a blog and a book upcoming on the issue. When even players are joining in calling for more safety that's an issue reaching a crescendo. Despite the "foul ball" warning on tickets, I think it seems clear that MLB is going to recognize that "severe fan injuries" are a threat to their business model and they're going to have to do something to at least reduce the risk for fans in their stands. Pictures of a dead fan stabbed by a baseball bat or hit in the head by a baseball will do real harm to their business model and that's one baseball can't afford. So let's see if anyone has any opinions on this. I'm not quite sure what will be done - ballparks sell more tickets by putting fans closer but that also puts fans more in harm's way. More and longer nets? Higher fences? Do nothing and get into the NFL like setup where they're facing a major public backlash? Open to suggestions and interested to hear other people's reactions.

I don't have a problem with a fairly long preseason but I do think it winds up being a mistake playing the veterans in these games. The "long preseason" gives the 2nd team and the rookies a chance to work and get up to speed that they really need, but because they've sold ticket packages for 10 games instead of 8, every team faces pressure to put their actual starters into the lineup when really they'll be ready to go anyway.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 23, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) Another 2 homers in the first for the Cubs today. Seems like everyone in their lineup is currently on fire. Hopefully Cardinals remember how to score, as Cubs/Pirates are quickly closing on the NL Central lead. The Pirates are on fire and have been IIRC the best team in baseball since May 1, and their lineup just got better. It'd actually be nice to see a race in the NL Central the next couple weeks. Here's one that's bothering me and what inspired this post: right now, the #1, #2, and #4 records in baseball are all in the NL Central. If the season ended today, the #2 and #4 records in baseball would square off in a 1 game play-in for the wild card and then neither would have home field advantage in the next rounds. The Pirates would be leading any division in baseball other than the NL Central and they need a run to avoid a 1 game play in. The Cubs would be leading any divisions other than the AL and NL Centrals, they'd be winning 4 of the divisions in baseball with their record, and they're almost certainly on a path to a play-in game. It's a little bit surprising that the 1 game playin has a chance to hit 2 of the top 4 teams so soon after it was implemented.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 23, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) Another 2 homers in the first for the Cubs today. Seems like everyone in their lineup is currently on fire. Hopefully Cardinals remember how to score, as Cubs/Pirates are quickly closing on the NL Central lead. The Pirates are on fire and have been IIRC the best team in baseball since May 1, and their lineup just got better. It'd actually be nice to see a race in the NL Central the next couple weeks. Here's one that's bothering me and what inspired this post: right now, the #1, #2, and #4 records in baseball are all in the NL Central. If the season ended today, the #2 and #4 records in baseball would square off in a 1 game play-in for the wild card and then neither would have home field advantage in the next rounds. The Pirates would be leading any division in baseball other than the NL Central and they need a run to avoid a 1 game play in. The Cubs would be leading any divisions other than the AL and NL Centrals, they'd be winning 4 of the divisions in baseball with their record, and they're almost certainly on a path to a play-in game. It's a little bit surprising that the 1 game playin has a chance to hit 2 of the top 4 teams so soon after it was implemented.

QUOTE (beautox @ Aug 23, 2015 -> 11:19 PM) Saladino has constantly been hurt since becoming a pro. Truthfully its hard to gauge what his real power potential is considering that power is usually the last tool to develop and he has often been hampered by overcoming injuries. I don't think becoming a player similar to Trevor Plouffe is out of the question with a tick less power. If you extrapolated his 2015 stats out over the course of a season's worth of ABs (600) he would be a 2 win player just off his defense and base running. if he is capable of putting up a like like .250/.330/.420 all the while improving his BB & K%'s we could be looking at a 3Win player on the cheap. I personally want to see what all of Sanchez, Saladino & Thompson are about and what they're capable of at the major league level. I see Saladino and Thompson as very positive bench contributors but the current state of the white sox should afford them plenty of looks and chances to prove people like myself wrong. Going into this offseason I think 3B should be our biggest point to address. If we let Alexei go we can see what we have in Saladino at SS and if its a horrible failure Anderson should be ready after the super 2 cut off and he can be moved back into a utility role. As for catcher situation try to package Avi and Micah and a low level arm for one of my previously mentioned targets. If that fails re-sign Soto and bring back our old friend Pierzynski as a platoon. Soto vs. LHP - .324/.410/.618 AJP vs. RHP - .309/.343/.462 It doesn't have to be a strict platoon per se but it might be cheaper than acquiring a young catcher and I'm pretty sure AJ could be had for a 2 year deal the second year being an option and a buy out. I don't think its smart money to go after Wieters this offseason. Points in reply on Saladino: You use the "if you extrapolate his 2015 stats" regarding his defense and fielding, but one of the things illustrated by our discussions of him last week is that it's extremely unlikely that you can extrapolate his 2015 stats. He's on pace right now to be something like a 4.5-5 rWAR player on defense on his current rate. That kind of rate puts him as having a nearly unprecedented defensive season if he could extrapolate it - the best ever was 5.4 and that's Andrelton Simmons at shortstop. Only a handful of guys have ever put up >4 defensive WAR seasons at 3b, Manny Machado is one, Brooks Robinson is another, and even then they couldn't sustain that pace for more than 1 season. In other words, you have to expect some falloff from him at 3b in terms of defense. He could still be very good but "if he is by far the best defensive 3b in baseball history" is not something you can just assume for a guy based on a great first 2 months. Second...if you look at the numbers you put up for him by adding, you've just said Saladino would be putting up a .750 OPS. That would be basically tied with Adam Eaton as the 2nd best offensive producer on the team if he did that right now. That would be him showing no dropoff whatsoever from his minor league averages including seasons at lower levels. That's a huge jump in performance for Saladino and it's another one I don't think we can count on. So, if you're expecting a 3 WAR player on the cheap, I think that the extreme numbers you just had to project for him at 3b implies how hard it is. He needs to be either a historically good, hall of fame quality defensive 3b, or he needs to take a huge jump forward offensively in the big leagues and hit as well as Adam Eaton. I think you make a strong case that he can't be a 3 WAR player at 3b. However, that's why I want to see him at short next year. At Shortstop, the average OPS is about 70 points lower than at 3b. With a .750 OPS at 3b he's a league average bat, with a .680 OPS at shortstop he's a league average bat. If his glove is strong enough to hold at SS, his bat could well be good enough to be your 3 WAR player next year on the cheap and it doesn't require him to do anything I don't think he can do. Second point: I think both Soto and AJ are going to get more money than we expect this offseason. Combining Soto and AJ you're on pace for ~3 WAR worth of catchers. Maybe both of them come at a discount because of age/HGHistory/inconsistency, but I think there's a good chance that for those 2 you'll need to invest $10 million, maybe more, in your catcher's spot next year. Not something I'd personally do, but of course that's coming from the "this team isn't competitive right now" perspective that I have.