Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 22, 2015 -> 02:55 PM) There's a lot of things I would change. There are players I would rather not be on the roster, but I'm a White Sox fan and want them to do well, so they are on the team, I'm not going to go on a message board and moan about every little thing. As I stated, game threads here are comical. The White Sox can never trail or the world is coming to an end. They can never make an error. The pitcher can never give up a run. There was a 1-1 game after 4 where there was b****ing about the Sox offense AND b****ing about the pitching. Just the Sox usual line up: Eaton, there's a thread he's so bad he shouldn't lead off, Melky, there are posts he's a waste of money, Abreu, I've read a couple of posts he's basically just a tick above average, LaRoche, they need to get rid of him, he a huge problem, Avi, all he can do is crash, and crash hard. Gillaspie, he supposedly is not a major league starter, Flowers, he is brutal, and Micah/Sanchez although not a ton of complaining about Sanchez, Micah got some. So with a line up that bad, when they lose, you then have to blame the manager, oh and while your at it, fire Brooks because the crowds suck, although you say it's because the team doesn't win enough and he makes zero decisions about that. And I'm the irrational one. As I stated, I will have tickets to 40 games, with 3 parties and a bunch of other bonuses for less than it would cost me to see the Schaumburg Boomers. They have put in great effort. It's too bad people don't notice. For comparison I had to go over to a Red Sox message board just to see what they were up to. At this one, the top 2 threads are "Is the actual rotation the worst in the last 10 Y? Is the actual lineup the worst in the last 10Y?" I also went through to some of these and yup, sounds familiar. The page I hit randomly had them ripping on Middlebrooks early in a game for striking out. There's also plenty of "tear it down" talk, etc.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 22, 2015 -> 02:59 PM) Yeah, we are talking about a rookie draft, not a free agent class. Whoever we pick is going to be the same price. My point is they should not be thinking "who complements Rose the best?" it's "Who could be a great player for Fred Hoiberg!" I think they can also target needs, but basically their needs are "backcourt depth and frontcourt depth and whichever one they don't fill in the draft they should try to fill with the MLE", so that clause works ok for me.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 22, 2015 -> 02:47 PM) Not sure bulls should be making long-term decisions based off of rose. They pretty much have to, he's under contract as a $20 million player the next 2 years. "Not making decisions around Rose" = "mailing it in the next 2 seasons".

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ May 22, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) I think if you put Sanchez in the two hole he may be a little bit more patient. He's a smart baseball guy. Given that he's a rookie, I flat out want to see production from him before he moves up in the order, unless the team reaches "throw in the towel" point.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ May 22, 2015 -> 01:06 PM) Yeah I'm about at the point where you need to shake things up. The line up needs guys who will make contact when people get on. Not K machines like LaRoche and Melky with RISP. I would move Sanchez up behind Eaton and bat Alexei 9th. To note, sanchez is 5 for his first 24, good for a .208 batting average with 0 walks. Putting that player 2nd doesn't scream "improved offense!" to me.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 22, 2015 -> 12:58 PM) Starting him against LHP only diminishes your returns from him. To me that's like saying that having Leury Garcia on the bench only diminishes our returns from him. No it doesn't! When there's a lefty on the mound the returns are Leury-Garcia-Worthy!

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 22, 2015 -> 12:42 PM) Abreu's OPS was not the issue that was brought up. The issue that was brought up was his run production with runners on base and I simply stated that he has been fine in that department. And since we're on the topic of Abreu, I brought up in reply that he's been a major part of the problem.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 22, 2015 -> 12:20 PM) This is not nearly as bad as you are making it seem. Last year he drove in 19.5% of the runners on base, this year he is at 16.7%. If he drove them in at the same pace as last year he would only have three more RBIs. For reference, during Frank Thomas's 1994 season (one of the greatest offensive seasons in the games' history) he drove in 17.8% of the runners on base and Miguel Cabrera is at just 15.8% this year. Abreu not driving in runs is not an issue for this team. Jose Abreu's OPS is down 120 points from his total season last year. Jose Abreu changing from an all-star to a "slightly above average" offensive 1b is a major issue for this team offense.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 21, 2015 -> 10:26 PM) And they should all be making less than 15 dollars hopefully. When I was a "food worker" in college and after I also should have made less than 15 bucks an hour because my job was a joke. My personal favorite was the Tennessee congresswoman who explained how $2.15 an hour was fine for her while in school and when you adjusted for inflation that came to between $12 and $14.50 an hour.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 21, 2015 -> 10:14 PM) Maybe they make that at first but if they work hard they will make more. If you work hard and succeed in school odds are you will be able to further your education, sometimes for free. And minimum wage isn't something you would be at for long if at all. Today $15 is not minimum wage so certainly some skilled people make that much. Which is why the high school freshman cooking fries shouldn't make that much. According to the BLS less than 10% of food workers are 19 years old and under.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:22 PM) Does McDonald's actually pay restaurant employees or is the owner of each restaurant responsible? Something like 10-20% of their outposts are owned directly by the company and they could directly change situations in those.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:25 PM) Bottom 3rd whoopie Your response to that one should be to recognize that teams who get more runners on than us will also leave more on.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:21 PM) Sox get bases loaded and do not score much at all amazing how bad they are. We're actually hitting .294 with .778 OPS with bases loaded, 13th best OPS in MLB.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:19 PM) You really have to work at it to leave this many guys on base all the time. 10 teams leave more on base per game than us as of now

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:11 PM) For some reason, I thought Cruz hadn't signed a 4 year deal. It's closer to $90 million than $120 (differential if you subtract Melky's deal), but still not tenable for the White Sox. I was off by $15 million because I only counted Cabrera for $30 mil instead of $42. Close enough.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:08 PM) how will this rally fizzle out? Based on lineup slot, GIDP?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 21, 2015 -> 09:04 PM) Obviously, it's hindsight....but Russell Martin/Nelson Cruz instead of Melky/Bonifacio and we're still a contending team. It's not only hindsight it's an extra $120 million. Those 2 are under contracts for more than the White Sox spent last offseason entirely.

Wondering if anyone has figured it out yet...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2015 -> 05:28 PM) Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 6m6 minutes ago Robin says Danks changed up his delivery & is more confident. "He feels like he's got a little something extra to get people out with." Link

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 21, 2015 -> 04:02 PM) I am starting to worry about this team holding up. It's the third week of May and there's already been 10-15 "must win" games.

QUOTE (scs787 @ May 21, 2015 -> 03:09 PM) Thanks for the info balta. Didn't want to get myself into any trouble, nor did I want to get my boss into any trouble(I also work for him once a month for his wrestling promotion). The company looks legit, website, job listings on indeed/monster, businesses all throughout the country, so I figured there shouldn't be a problem but just wanted to make sure. I did the independent contractor thing on a summer job in HS, no taxes were taken out initially but my employment was still IRS reported by the owner and I still had to pay them at the end of the year if income got high enough, so that's my version of it.

QUOTE (scs787 @ May 21, 2015 -> 02:41 PM) Question. I just started a little side job picking up bank bags. It's about 1 hour a day. Boss man told me I get about 100 bucks a week. When I asked if that's after taxes, he said there is no taxes....Is that even legal? I'm labeled as a sub contractor. Wouldn't I just have to pay taxes come tax time? Any tax specialists out there care to tax a guess on what I'd owe if I make 3k from this the rest of the year? If you're a sub-contractor they can pay you and you'd be basically operating as your own "business". They would therefore not have to take taxes out of your income, but if your income was high enough you would have to file taxes on your own. Here's a guide as to whether or not you'd have had to file based on 2014 numbers. If your income is low enough, basically they would write you in their accounts as a subcontractor expense and you would just be able to pocket the money without filing a return - the exemptions are large enough that you should be paying federal taxes on only a $5000 a year job anyway. If you are earning a larger dollar amount from a different job, then if you're listed as a subcontractor you probably will have to report that income as a side position on your return once it reaches a certain threshold. They will also have to report your income to the IRS as a subcontractor once it reaches a certain level as well. State rules may differ from federal ones as well, I should note.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 21, 2015 -> 02:17 PM) I do believe in things like healthcare being a human right. But advanced education, wages and luxury goods are something you work for. And I don't see any reason to change that. I've worked 3 fast food jobs and they were a joke. Paying someone the same salary as a teacher or the like is hilarious. Um, you don't realize what my response is going to be?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 21, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) College isn't a right IMO. Either are luxury items. Too many people are of a different mindset. And yet they're supposed to be able to find something better than minimum wage jobs.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 21, 2015 -> 01:57 PM) Health care has been a handout for a long time, especially for women and children and the poor we're talking about. Preferably even in situations where they're not already covered, family members would take care of their family. The nanny state shouldn't be expected to. College is available to anyone. Take out a loan. Welcome to the world everyone else has been living in for decades. The good news is you can afford to pay that back on a minimum wage salary, right? And I'm sure you have no problems with your tax dollars going to pay for the health care among the poor right? That's not a cost you'd prefer to not pay as a taxpayer? Because I'd much rather McDonalds pay for that than me.