Balta1701

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) I would non-tender De Aza because of his steady decline, but let's be honest - there are degrees of sucking. Jordan Danks is not De Aza's equal with the bat. But Jordan is also significantly better than De Aza on defense, particularly if you count ability to be a backup CF.

QUOTE (The Wiz @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 01:53 PM) I feel the people who are really in support of De Aza being back are the people who really put a ton of stock in stats. On paper sure he isn't bad. But when you actually watch him play and all the little things he does wrong, he doesn't really fit into what I assume Hahn and the rest of the FO are trying to build here. I think they are gonna be looking for fundamental players who can be counted on to actually catch most routine balls in LF and not get picked off at 1b when down by a couple runs in the late innings. De Aza has tools, but he isn't developing anymore and has been one of the main reasons why it looks like a circuit act on the field occassionally over the past 2 years. A lot of these reasons are why I also feel Viciedo will be gone. At least with Viciedo you can still get to "the team has control of him for 3 more years and he's young enough that a breakout season and several successful years afterwards" are still possible. If the Sox get rid of him because they've decided they don't think that can happen for him in Chicago, I get that, but I also would have no problem with the White Sox spending $5 million on a guy like that if one were brought in. That's very different from the case with De Aza.

I was perhaps the biggest fan of De Aza getting his shot when he got it, I think he'll earn his contract in general if he is brought back but here I have to say, no. He does not fit where this roster needs to go. He should have been dealt last offseason to avoid having to make this decision if he had a bad year. If offered Arb, we're talking about having him on a 1 year, $6-ish million deal. If De Aza was available as a free agent for 1 year, $6 million, would you say that was a good use of resources? I wouldn't. He's a guy who could potentially help fill a hole on a team for a year if they're looking to compete, but he's not a long-term option and he's not going to be easily traded unless he starts off on a roll that he never found this year. When we signed a guy like Paulino, or Downs, we could say "that gives us a chance to hold him if he gets better, trade him this season if he can bring a return, or at least have a solution for multiple years if he does well". None of those are the case with De Aza. If we're looking at a $75 million or lower payroll next year and not bringing anyone big in, then I'd rather take a chance on a reclamation project with several years of team control for that money. If we're looking at a higher payroll, then we have to ask whether De Aza fills the team's needs and that's a hard sell to me as well.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) Once again, why is the officer using deadly force if Brown isn't armed....? You're telling me that you don't shoot him in the leg or knee or at least try before he gets closer? It's not like this guy is going to be "quick" or be able to fly at an officer at that size. And six shots or more? Unless he was crazed on meth or some type of drug, then it's going to be very difficult to explain this one. No. This is not Hollywood. That does not happen. Ever. If you're taking a gun out and pulling the trigger you assume it is to kill. That's why it should only be a last resort. You aim for the center of mass.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:39 PM) Given that cops are being shot at down there (with real bullets), it would seem reasonable to be pissed that media members aren't turning off gigantic flood lights in the area. Sure, it's not the nicest way to tell somebody to turn a light off, but I would have little patience in that situation as well. edit: oh and the molotov cocktails, and a reported "infiltration attempt" of a command post. I can't find a press report of that actually happening. Link?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:12 PM) I can see that. The 160 may have been reasonable depending on how long he missed and his max limit prior to the injury. His long term health should be the priority. The other real problem with this logic, as the Nats have demonstrated, is that they might well have given up a chance to win the world series by shutting him down. They expected "oh we've got great young talent we'll be right back next year" but then they had some other injuries and missed the playoffs completely the next year.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:32 PM) What is the longest a taser could shoot? Wouldn't it be standard operating procedure to tase an unarmed assailant (assuming Brown was charging forward)? The officer didn't have one first of all.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:39 AM) How so? A guy trying to "evade" is not going to be a threat to the police officer. A guy trying to charge directly at him doesn't sound like "evading" to me, a guy evading sounds like he's trying to "get away". Maybe you mean the same thing by the language there but it didn't sound like it.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) Yeah, I think this is a good possibility, and would explain the skirmish. Brown knew he was about to get caught and so he tried to evade. The word "evade" doesn't fit with the description that was just given.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:23 AM) Is there any credible evidence or even PROOF so far the officer KNEW about the cigars/robbery? If there is, I haven't seen it provided by the police department. Otherwise, we still basically have a situation where an officer is just clearing "innocent" civilians out of the street for blocking or obstructing traffic and got himself into a dangerous confrontation which quickly escalated and spun out of control....albeit a very big civilian, but one a police officer has been trained to deal with, presumably. No, in fact by almost all accounts the officer would not have known about the robbery beforehand.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:11 AM) If you are running at someone your chin would most likely be pointing down since you would have body lean forward. But to know where you're running you also would have to have your eyes aimed upward at the person. At the very least, it is equally consistent with a person on their knees and perhaps the angle of impact might tell something.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 09:42 AM) And the shot through the top of the head suggest charging at the police. This shot could also suggest that he was kneeling down as has been claimed by some of the witnesses as well. At least personally, I can't figure out how I'd be "charging" at someone with my head pointed downwards. They'd step to the side and I wouldn't see where I was charging. I guess it could be that he was getting shot at and ducked his head in response.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 08:38 AM) I would be pretty pumped about a Sale/Q/Shields/Danks/Rodon rotation. Add in a veteran LH bat like Markakis or VMart and that is a serious playoff contender. I gotta keep noting this. The Tigers are almost certain to offer Martinez a qualifying offer after this season barring a huge injury in the next couple weeks. That means the White Sox would have to both pay him a market price deal and give up our 2nd round pick (or maybe even 1st round pick if we win a couple more games) to get him. I find it extremely unlikely that they will part with that draft pick for Victor Martinez. He's a very short term lease given his age and injury history. They're not signing him to a 5 year deal to be part of their long term core and that's the only type of player that I could see them parting with a draft pick for.

Greg Maddux threw in the low 90's in the most dominant part of his career.

QUOTE (Tex @ Aug 17, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) $300 for oral sex?? A quick google search reveals he overpaid. So, you're an educator, and you've now done this google search? Please wipe your computer's history now.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 17, 2014 -> 04:29 PM) yeah both are scummy, but this seems like a weak case. Just surprised it actually resulted in some indictments. Rick Perry = a ham sandwich?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 17, 2014 -> 03:27 PM) I was told by some guy there is an increasing "us vs. them" mentality regarding cops and the public nowadays. Is this true? Does anybody know? Last time I looked, the cops shiny new facilities were paid for by taxpayers. Protect and serve or are we headed for more of these confrontations?? A libertarian I know last night said he thinks the cops are convinced the public won't be able to handle the total collapse of the economy when it comes soon and cops will take to the streets in their shiny new tanks we paid for and it'll be armageddon basically. 1. There's no way to quantify that. However, this type of confrontation is definitely possible when you have a complete breakdown of trust between authorities and the community. Take a look, for example, at LA recently as a counterpoint. They had a shooting of a person by the police, possibly unjustly, last week, but there are no riots in the street there right now. A big part of that is having some degree of trust between the people and the police that if the police did something wrong, it will be dealt with, which is missing in this location. 2. Your "libertarian" predicting the end of the world will have a very poor record in predicting the end of the world but he will continue making that prediction until you laugh at him. We're on the 4th season of "doomsday preppers" currently. How many seasons will they get before people start thinking "hey wait a second, they're prepping for doomsday and it hasn't come! Maybe I should stop giving them attention". You should respond similarly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 15, 2014 -> 08:10 AM) It's one thing if we're trading Viciedo for Alvarez, but they're going to ask for a lot more. With Marte, Polanco and McCutchen (not to mention Travis Snider)....no need for an outfielder. The best we're going to get is Jose Tabata. If they wanted Viciedo they could always stick him back at 1b without too many long term problems.

Baseball seems like it's in good shape with revenues, league size, growth rates, new TV contracts, and it has had 2 decades of labor peace. I'm not sure "taking a harder line in labor negotiations" is something I want to see from MLB's ownership. They've got a good thing going overall, especially now that they've got the draft-rigging figured out. About the only thing they'd genuinely fight over, as far as I can tell, is the size of each side's pie slice.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 14, 2014 -> 03:26 PM) Alvarez is just a worse Adam Dunn. A worse version of Adam Dunn could still be a useful contributor to a team as long as he is not paid >$10 million for the privilege.

I still cannot believe Dunn is not gone from this roster yet. Seriously how on Earth is that possible? He's got what,

Ha!

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 13, 2014 -> 04:32 PM) As much as I think he should get a day off every two weeks or so, I completely agree with you on this. Also, they probably want to see how he reacts to one of his biggest slumps of the year. I think "When the announcing team calls out how he looks at the plate, whether from exhaustion or injury, it is an appropriate time to give him a day off" is a reasonable standard to me. They've done it twice this year. The last time, he played until he couldn't walk. That's why I'm calling this out now. It's time again.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 13, 2014 -> 04:30 PM) Maybe because one isn't enough to take effect and 1000 can destroy your liver. These should not be ignored. And would you say playing while over-tired could also have negative effects?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 13, 2014 -> 04:18 PM) They probably don't even watch the games or know that Abreu was an all-star this year. I bet Hahn couldn't even tell you the name of the team who plays in San Francisco. I see, so you're in on the "they actively want him hurt" version. Well that fits with how they've treated him this year too.