Balta1701

Since Morris was discussed elsewhere in this thread...Bill James took a look at whether there is such a thing as a Big Game pitcher and whether Jack Morris meets that standard.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 05:49 PM) Oh don't get me wrong, they pay well, but your life sucks. You work for that money by working 80-100 hour weeks. Job security sucks. You change jobs and move constantly. It's not some amazing deal where you just show up to the stadium, get paid bank and let the "disposable players" make you all the money. That's a complete fallacy. You realize you just said that to a person who spent 6.5 years in Grad School for 1/10th of those salaries?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 05:43 PM) Coaches are disposable. Coaches get fired all the time. Until coaches make it big, they live pretty awful lives as assistant coaches. I don't know every school but here's University of Tennessee's assistant coaching roster salaries: I dunno, I might be pretty game for that pretty awful life.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) You could really pull your hair out looking at things like that on all the 1st RD picks we've missed on. The reality of baseball is that every team can do this.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) Google's going to sell Motorola to Lenovo for $2-3 billion. Unfortunately, this probably means Moto will stop producing affordable and functional devices like the Moto X and Moto G. Although it's hard to figure out how the tax setups work outside of the company, the list price on buying Motorola was $12.5 billion.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) im not angry, the joke ceased being funny last season. Last season's jokes were about him refusing to return. This season's jokes are about him being constantly injured.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 04:04 PM) This team is going to destroy next year. Destroy what? Another of Rose's joints? (get angry at me for another joke if you want).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 02:52 PM) I used dump just because they would have to get rid of his contract, but I agree and think Gibson is more than worth what they pay him. The big mess would be if the Bulls traded Gibson to get cap space and failed to get Melo or LeBron or eventually, Love. That would be bad. Eh, at this point...losing Gibson for nothing wouldn't really put a major dent in how this team's future looks to my eyes.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 03:10 PM) With the classes that some of these 'student athletes' take at various colleges, not sure if they are really getting an education. While this is certainly true for some...you have to admit, for a lot of them, these programs open doors that would otherwise be completely shut. They get access to tutoring, resources, leadership, and facilities that even regular students don't get, they constantly have people looking over their shoulders, these types of programs are a path to take people who might not have focus and give them a chance to have a life. The commercials are right on this...very few athletes even on the football teams of the big-name programs actually ever play a down in the pro-leagues.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 02:57 PM) I heard it's possible that Rodon could fall (a la Appel in 2012) due to his contract demands. If he knows he's the best in this class by a wide margin, he might demand it. It's conceivable that the Astros and Marlins might not want to commit that kind of money to one player and rather spread it out. How would that work? If a guy fell from #1 to #3, would that mean we'd have to underpay all our other picks in order to pay his bonus?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 03:01 PM) Actually I would prefer this. Get the "professional athletics" out of the universities and make the NFL go like baseball and create their own minor leagues. We know this will never happen due to the money generated but it would solve many of the problems. If you look at the other side of it...how many people would never get an actual university education if this happened?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 02:32 PM) For two people?! I can't go to a bar/pub by myself and spend less than 20$, and that's what I spend before I'm about to play an actual league hockey game. Going out to watch a game?! That's like 2-4 hours depending on the sport...and 4-5 bud lights isn't all I'd be drinking, not to mention eating...plus tip. We might be comparing "City" and "non-city" prices here.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) But all of that can still happen today, and points-shaving schemes aren't detected because a player suddenly has a bunch of money but through other methods. It's not like the people fixing games want these things to ever be detected, so they're going to seek out players that can keep their mouths shut and keep the cash hidden away anyway. All that your scenario does it kinda-sorta change it a little bit but with ultimately the same outcome. Kinda-sorta change it = creates an incredibly obvious way to make it happen and look legal.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 10:55 AM) 1) Point-shaving already happens, so... 2) Why doesn't this same argument apply to the NFL? 3) What you suggest is already very much illegal. At least in the NFL you can make the case that the amount most people would take in from shaving points is small compared to the league minimum wage for guys on the field. The people who played something like 2/3 of the snaps for Florida State's national championship team will never see a 6 figure salary for playing football. That's a big difference. And if you're letting people sell merch anyway, it's going to be really hard to prove that the extra $10k they bid was actually tied to performance and not just a guy really wanting a piece of merch he has an attachment to for some reason.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 11:43 AM) Isn't it possible that De Aza opens the season as the starting CF? The Sox could get Eaton warmed up in Charlotte while showcasing De Aza for a trade in June. It keeps Eaton's service time down and allows the Sox to market their assets in the outfield. Plus you get your young core of Semien, Eaton, Davidson, and Sanchez playing together everyday. Adam Eaton being stuck in the minors to keep his service time down would frankly be a cheap, bush-league move. This is a guy who already earned a big league starting OF spot last year for a team. He gets hurt, sure he can go to the minors, but this is a 25 year old who has done his time.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) It also pays for multi-million dollar coaches' and AD salaries, SEC/Big10 etc. TV network salaries, shiny new sports facilities, etc. And again, it's not like the only option in play here is "salaries from the schools." That's not even what these NW players are organizing for. And if you let Manziel sell his autographs, it wouldn't affect funding for any other sports at all. The obvious counter-point no one has mentioned about letting Manziel sell his autographs is the guy who pays $50k above market value for Manziel to throw a pick-6 late in a game allowing the opposing team to cover the spread. You know 100% well that would happen in almost every game.

If you're going to block the entrance to a parking lot during a snowstorm, please be the first back to your car the next morning. Kthxbye.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 08:56 PM) You don't turn down trades that make the team better. Period. You don't hang up on a GM because you are worried about what to do with Alejandro De Aza or Jeff Keppinger, or whoever doesn't deserve to be starting anyway. If we lose Jordan Danks, oh well. There are a million Jordan Danks out there. It is why he went undrafted in the Rule V draft last year. If it means you have good players on the bench, all the better. Heck the Yankees have done this for years. The reality is if De Aza were half as good as people think, he would have been pretty easy to move. The fact that he is still here, pretty clearly shows that he has no real value. Then why are you angry about having to dump De Aza?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 08:21 PM) So until they traded someone, they shouldn't have acquired anyone better? That is just silly. If they weren't prepared to let the current person go then no. You can't stash guys in AAA because you don't want to give up guys you already replaced.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) Again, this is why he is still here. They aren't going to give him away. If they weren't willing to give people away then they shouldn't have traded for replacements.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 05:20 PM) Pretty much every industry takes a 93% cut from its employees. Maybe more industries should try unionizing then?

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 05:42 PM) The book is out on De Aza. Every GM and serious baseball fan knows what he is and is not capable of. I don't think he loses value on the bench at all. He loses value with a serious injury playing in games, though. Just my thoughts. Even if he hits under .240 with an under-.700 OPS for his first 200 at bats like he did last season? And that winds up being his numbers in July because h e got fewer PA's?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 04:04 PM) I would be willing to bet there have been more people hospitalized by exposure attending NFL games than getting hit by lightning or injured from a tornado attending an NFL game before they started stopping them for the latter. I think they are more concerned with massive amount of casualties at once. IIRC one of the most common occurrences at these type of games winds up being cardiovascular issues.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) Funny thing is these days bad weather holds up NFL games more frequently than ever. Isn't that only because they finally stop play when there's lightning?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jan 28, 2014 -> 03:31 PM) Can they seriously compete with Detroit as they're built right now? I can't see how management would think so. If Dunn could bring a solid prospect in return for a year of his services then I'd be up for it. He. Can't.