Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 08:49 PM) Yeah, anyone who puts a lot of money into something to make it nice for their customers and to attract business has to be scum. They did so because they had another business giving them their produt for free. I could appreciate it as unique 20 years ago when people would be able to legitimately have a BBQ on the roof during a game. Renovations and 100 person plus bleachers? Come on, that's silly.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 07:54 PM) Can someone explain to me why his skillset doesn't match better with RF? Really seems like fewer fielding opportunities would be better, and his strong throwing arm is even more of an asset when they need to keep a runner from going first-to-third. Is it JUST the spin on the ball? Why would he be unable to get used to RF spin if he's new to the outfield anyway? I totally agree with you. But here's the one problem...since te white sox signed viciedo, he has played 3b, 1b, 3b, rf, and LF, in that order. They even still have him occasionally practicing 3b, including last year. At some point, the fact that he has bounced between positions so much is a real problem with his development. We should not be surprised that he isn't used to the position when he has had to play so man different positions.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 03:32 PM) The thing to remember is that these are not your mom and dads rooftop these are essentially skyboxes and the rooftop owners sunk a ton of capital into them. Some of them are no longer apartment buildings. Which is pretty much why I think theyr'e scum.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 05:46 PM) If he ended up being really cheap, I agree, he could be useful probably for an already good club who could use him a good amount at DH. With our current situation, I'd hope we add another quality outfielder that pushes Viciedo to DH within the next year. Personally, I still think with his arm, Viciedo can make an adequate corner OF if his bat measures up...his defense in 2012, when the team played like they cared, wasn't all that bad. He will never have the best range but the fact that no one in their right mind would take an extra base on him if it was close makes up for a decent fraction of that. If he'd gotten a tiny bit better in 2013 than he was in 2012 he'd have been a perfectly adequate defender, but the whole team forgot how to "grab the white sphere with your glove" in 2013 and he fit in nicely with that.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) This is silly. The Sox do need pitching. It is the price that people are balking at. If they signed cheap guys to minor league contracts no one would say, they have pitching, why sign another guy even it the price is small? The only poster saying there isn't innings for another pitcher is Balta. So he is the only one who can say the Sox don't need another pitcher. They need several and always will. You're 100% right. There are plenty of innings for guys on minor league contracts and I'd have zero problem with additional ones of those guys.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 03:20 PM) It doesnt matter. next year there could be an even bigger cattle price increase, and I will have year old steaks in my freezer. That's actually pretty unlikely as the herds were already culled somewhat to deal with the previous drought. No obvious set of conditions would make for increased prices next year, they could stay constant, but good weather would allow herds to recover, and worsening drought would produce potentially another domestic herd shrinkage, which would cause another temporary price reduction (and perhaps increasing supplies from overseas as well). In other words, there's no obvious reason other than nuclear holocaust that prices should continue to spike the way they have recently.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 03:14 PM) Im going to the store to buy as much steak as possible (Now is actually a really poor time. The 2012-2013 drought caused a lot of cattle to be slaughtered at the time, which reduced prices then but has led to an increase over the last few months.)

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 02:26 PM) The idea that a group of rooftop owners can force the Cubs to move is so ridiculous. It is the Cubs trying to make them look like the bad guys. They...kind of are, to my eyes.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:43 PM) Still, it wouldn't be as lucrative as what they are thinking they will get if they stay. The White Sox get advertising. They pay little rent. They draw 22k, and if you draw 22k and aren't the lovable loser darlings, the ad revenue decreases, their ticket prices most likely can't be top 3. Ricketts bought a rooftop a few years ago for $5 million. I don't know how many there are, but there can't be more than 10. He would only have to buy out the rooftops who would have their views compromised by the boards. Say that is 8. I think they make that $40 million up quickly. At their convention, they said the wrangling with the rooftop owners has somehow already cost them $20 million. I don't know how, but that is the Cubs claim. If you owned a rooftop, If Ricketts offered you a decent price or you could hold on a pay lawyers for a process you may or may not win, but ultimately when your contract runs out, will lose, I think you take the money and run. Let Ricketts make the "limited view" rooftops part of his capacity. I do know one thing, they aren't moving. No one could be that dumb. The key to this is that you're assuming people who took out a hugely-leveraged purchase of the Cubs seemingly on the assumption that ticket sales wouldn't decline couldn't be dumb enough to make another potentially huge mistake.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:29 PM) It is deep with unknowns and mediocrity. Which is exactly what happens when you bring young talent along. Fewer unknowns out there than in the lineup right now, frankly, but no one is calling for signing an additional 3b just inc ase.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) That's the other thing. The better your rotation is, the less taxing and exposing it is on your bullpen. I don't agree with you about Dunn, might as well see what he can do one more time, but I don't get why so many people want to see not just bad starters but more of guys like Troncoso as a byproduct. We also have a pretty deep bullpen right now too...Jones, Belisario, Downs, Lindstrom, Leesman/Veal/Surkamp, Petricka, Webb. Other guys like Rienzo could see time there as well if they don't get an immediate rotation spot. If we're getting to a guy like Troncoso again...there's a good chance it happened because we traded people away, even perhaps more obviously so than last year when he took Crain's spot and then shortly thereafter Thornton was traded.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) Not only is it hard to come by, in Dunn's case, it's almost certainly unrealistic. The money is guaranteed. f***ing over your roster on a hope & a prayer of saving a few dollars that you alone and no one else is obligated to pay is ridiculous. If Hahn calls the other 29 teams right now & says you can have Dunn at the league minimum, how much are you willing to give me, etc. and says I'm willing to talk INTL draft slots, unspectacular but solid prospects, A ballers, Rookie ballers, etc. then maybe you can even strike gold and get something of value that will end up worth more than that $5M or so, like say 4 years of a quality setup man or something at the price of 1.5 years of that same guy's FA market value. Why do we think he hasn't done this already? Or at least done so with the handful of teams that could legitimately use a LH hitting DH (which is, admittedly, very few)?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) Again, if the only other option was moving, why wouldn't the Cubs just buy the rooftop owners out? In the end it would save them a lot of money. The Cubs anywhere else suddenly have the White Sox attendance issues. If Ricketts moved the Cubs, he would have to be considered the worst owner in the history of Chicago sports. You know, there's a decent chance they're also thinking "man, it'd be so nice to have a shiny new ballpark with luxury boxes to bring in the real money and we can do so without losing much on ticket sales". They might not even be wrong, 22,000 fans coming in the suburbs but the luxury boxes sold and advertising all over teh park compared to 30k and the current limitiations?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 01:01 PM) Therefore, you shouldn't be opposed to adding more. But in order to turn those guys into tradeable assets, there needs to be innings for them to pitch, especially in the first half of the season. Otherwise, they can't be counted as solid, tradeable assets.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) If the White Sox have too many good pitchers, there are 29 teams that will take them off their hands. Which is why in the past year we've traded away 4 (and 1/2 if you count Jesse Crain's corpse).

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 05:57 PM) Wow, that is a long time. Most come along a little faster than that. Doctors can screw up replacements. There are also infections that occur that may or may not be someone's direct fault. Sometimes it's just that they had the problem so long that the soft tissues take a long time to work properly again. As I say to my patients, you had pain and abnormal mechanics for 20 years. Do you really think you will regain that motion and strength in a couple of months? Which is why "retirement" wound up seeming like a good option if health insurance wouldn't have bankrupted them.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 05:51 PM) Needed a better physical therapist. I could have her walking correctly in 8 weeks I think it was about 8 weeks afterwards before she was doing the stairs, IIRC.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) And your mom can be pissed at her doctor, but she can't sue them! That would make her greedy and ridiculous and cause our healthcare system to spiral out of control. (the problem of course is that "knee replacement surgery" isn't exactly a panacea for old, achy knees, so there's no obvious lawsuit to file)

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) Larry from SSS with some reasons why RH may have extra time to deal with Kepp/Gillaspie trades, 61 days to be precise. http://www.southsidesox.com/2014/2/5/53783...-semien-tinfoil Would allow for other team needs arising due to injuries, etc. I still think you're asking for a lot of trouble if you're not going to give Davidson a legit shot in the spring, because that's exactly the kind of setup where he would hit so well that he'd earn a starting big league role and then get sent down for 2 guys who struggled and were thus untradeable

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 04:07 PM) I will call the people who will quit their jobs to 'follow their passion' or whatever lazy asses all I want. 'Struggling artists'? Get a job. Why should I subsidize your crappy art. You want to spend your years volunteering for Obama, or Greenpeace or whatever? Fine, don't expect me to help pay for your insurance. And your mom should be pissed at her union for not taking care of her when it comes to insurance. And the doc who did her knees so bad she could barely walk. I think I'll just prefer to be pissed at the person who is a d*** about it to everyone.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 03:30 PM) Sorry, not release candidates, after thoughts. And if a HS kid is picked in 2014, according to you if they aren't up by 2019 they probably will never be with the White Sox. Here it is: I absolutely think that Hawkins could help the Sox in 2 years. It all depends on how well he performs. The fact is, if these guys aren't helping or close to helping the major league team in 4 years, they're basically after thoughts. Do you really think anyone in the White Sox front office views Jared Mitchell as a potential starting player down the road? But he went to college, so he should have been up in 3 years, right? If the high schooler they take in the 1st and/or 2nd round this year isn't up by the end of the decade, odds are pretty good they'll never be up with the White Sox. Of course, this breaks down when you use it on international signings. With a guy coming out of a U.S. high school being drafted moderately high...there's good film on him and he's been playing at the level of U.S. high school competition. If he isn't up in 6 years, then yes, something went wrong. However, a guy coming out of say, Brazil, or anywhere else like that...they have not necessarily been facing that same talent level even at a comparable age. They may, for example, then spend 2-3 years playing in the Dominican Summer League for that reason before they are even ready to attempt rookie ball. That is a consequence of the lack of coaching and development they might have had available to them in that country.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 03:08 PM) Why would it make sense next year but not this? Because next year we might know that someone isn't good, we might know that someone got injured this year...or, more importantly, we might be considering ourselves in a position where 1-2 extra wins during the year could be the difference between a playoff team and staying home.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 03:02 PM) Near 4 in AAA. Now you might have a point here if you hadn't paid any attention to the whtie sox minor league system, which I assume you didn't. Rienzo was promoted to AAA to start last year. Here are his ERA numbers by month: 7.71 5.74 2.30 1.23 (July, then called up and never pitched in August). He had about 1.5 bad, legitimately disappointing months to start the season after his promotion, then suddenly things clicked and he was lights out until being called up after the Peavy trade. It's not unreasonable to think that, given how he was pitching, with a full year in Charlotte his total ERA would be in the low 3's or better, but instead he was getting valuable MLB experience. He had a rough first month after promotion, which does happen to guys fairly often. That he was able to recover from that should be a testiment to his ability.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 02:59 PM) You told me if guys aren't called up within 4 years of being drafted, they are release candidates. Andre. Rienzo. Was. Not. Drafted.