Balta1701

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 03:25 PM) That chart supports my point. Except for the part where you talked about the increasing rape rate, which was false. Aggrivated robbery has gone up, but a 40% drop in murder rate continues to be pretty darn good.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 03:23 PM) And rape, and violent crime, and corruption, and one-party rule. The incidents of rape in South Africa have declined since 1995 by about 25%.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) Crime has gone up. I should also add some details to show this being untrue. A few types have gone up since then, particularly robberies, but a 40% decline in the murder rate is pretty darn good.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) Life expectancy has gone down. . So you're blaming Nelson Mandela for AIDS. I get it that his successor has been a denier, but that's a terrible reason to keep people in servitude.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 02:46 PM) The country has gotten worse for whom? The Africans who were oppressed for generations under the Apartheid government? South Africa's GDP versus year, with the blue line marking the end of Apartheid.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 02:09 PM) If the biggest problem the White Sox have is who the back up to the back up is because Paul Konerko took up a roster spot, the Sox will be a lot better than anyone could imagine in 2014. Unless Alexei Ramirez pulls a muscle and misses a whole lot of time because he doesn't have any reasonable backup and is getting older.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) If I were them I'd trade down. If they could find an adequate QB option in FA (Cutler?), the thought of Clowney and Watt on the same field at the same time is absolutely terrifying.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:56 PM) Leury or another guy who can play SS as well as the OF will be on the team. The back up SS isn't going to be Beckham or Keppinger. I know you don't think so, but why don't we make a real wager on it? Put your money where all your ridiculous posts on this subject are. Please take note...I was replying to a post suggesting Keppinger and Beckham could cover the backup SS spot. I was not suggesting this, I was responding to continued suggestions from others that it could happen.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:56 PM) Who was going to play SS when a lot of people wanted Alexei dumped at the deadline? Prior to the Leury trade, they'd probably have called up Semien. At that point the season was a lost cause anyway so there wasn't much obvious harm.

Since we're on the subject of the Texans...if the season ended right now they'd have the #1 pick. Associated questions with that statement: 1. Would they pick Clowney? 2. If they did, would any QB ever successfully throw a pass against them again (sarcasm, but get the point)? 3. Would they consider finding a QB and having Clowney drop or trading down a couple spots to find a QB instead?

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:41 PM) Not sure. Schaub is kind of a weird case. Palmer at least had a major injury that messed him. Schaub just went from really good to really bad in one season. I think the correct phrase is "overcompensating". His skills starting to go downhill, he knows it, so he starts trying to push things harder and harder.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:20 PM) The Sox got Matt Thornton for Joe Borchard. What the Sox value in pitchers on the trade market is not dissimilar to what some orgs value in position players. Youth, athleticism, draft pedigree, promise. Just because he is 27 doesn't mean is a lost cause. I think Beckham needs a change of address, but that is my fear as well. Trade him to the Dodgers and he turns into Jeff Kent. That'd be our luck. Both of those guys were minimum salary players. Gordon Beckham is not.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) You'd have to give the Mariners a call first and foremost. If only Cano hit RH.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 11:47 AM) Scott Merkin talked about Keppinger supposedly being able to play shortstop. He has played 178 games there, but... none since 2010. Beckham played two partial games at SS last year. If the Sox think one of them can handle SS for, say, 5 games in a year... then maybe, if you can't trade Keppinger (which I hope they do but may not be possible), you go with a bench of Keppinger, Konerko, Danks and a C. You have 4 guys to cover 3 skill IF positions, 4 guys to cover 3 OF positions, 3 guys to cover 1B/DH and some PH, and 2 catchers. Might work out OK. Again I keep pointing this out. Alexei Ramirez played every single game until they traded for Leury, and certainly looked for portions of the season like he could have used time off. He did not get that time off despite having those same guys on the roster. Beckham playing SS or Keppinger playing SS because Ramirez was seriously injured in the middle of a game is acceptable, but the teams actions have already said how much confidence they have in those guys starting more than 2 games per year. 0.

QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 11:12 AM) Of the available players that could mentor Abreu through a full season at first I rank them Konerko >>>>>>>> Dunn >>>> Kep And I'd rank it as Ramirez>>>>>Viciedo>>>>>>anyone else who actually speaks his language>>>>>The hitting coach>>>>>Konerko. If we're bringing Konerko back to be a coach then he should be a coach. I'd have had zero problem with that.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:31 PM) Seattle has a really good young core. This move likely will pay off in the short term. Long term? Yucky. Their rotation as-is (meaning before a deal for David Price) has a chance to be the best in baseball. Felix, Walker, Iwakuma, Paxson, Hultzen, Ramirez... Bullpen is deep as well. Franklin, Miller, Seager, Zunino... and now Cano. They need outfield bats, not another starting pitcher. If a couple of those young guys just have decent years next year they've got a shot to be right with the top of that division with this move. It's an insane amount of money but I get why they'd do it.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 09:51 AM) Exactly. In this new pass first era, I'd have to think that almost all of the passing/recieving records are going to broken by somebody. Even 10-12 years ago, 4000 yards in a season was the bench mark of the top quarterbacks. Now that is pretty much the standard with the top QBs passing for closer to 5000 or more. All those passing yards have to go to somebody. Its just really hard to compare todays recievers of the past couple generations (Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Sterling Sharpe, etc.) Its really almost like apples and oranges. And even though he played in a prior generation, I would have loved to see the numbers that Sterling Sharpe would have ended up with had he been able to play with Favre in Favre's prime. Sharpe was an absolute beast. I loved watching those Bills teams of the 90's. Andre Reed can't get into the HOF right now despite clearly being a HOF player if you watched how he tore teams up. If you put him in the last decade his numbers would be ridiculous. And then of course there's the fantasy of Jerry Rice playing in this era. My lord, I wonder if he could drop a 30 TD season somewhere along the line.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 09:57 AM) Sounds like Jay-Z is using the M's as leverage against the Yankees. There's no reason Cano shouldn't have accepted the 9/$225 on the spot other than that. The first sign of a good agent is when they pidgeonhole themselves and only want to sign with one team, and when another shows interest, you continue to increase your bid until they storm out of the room in a fury, limiting where you can sign. Offers don't go away just because a team storms out of the room. Or at least they shouldn't. The team storming out of the room should be the team deciding this is the point where they want to stop bidding against themselves. If Cano waits too long then the M's might spend their money elsewhere, that's the risk, but the M's weren't likely to go and sign an impact bat in the next couple days...because there aren't that many more remaining.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 09:56 AM) Be careful with 1491. It is a good read and points out a lot of important historical data points that most of society doesn't know. But other anthropologists have pointed out that he stretched some conclusions too far. That 95% number is really only true of some specific tribal groups, not all AmerInds as a whole. Really? I'd be interested in reading more about the distribution of impacts if you have a citation or two?

QUOTE (staxx @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 09:44 AM) Abreu is going to start at 1B regardless of what Konerko does in ST. That's what spending that type of money does. If someone would be the out man out, it would be Dunn. Unless you count his signing bonus...Adam Dunn is paid more than Jose Abreu next year.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:23 AM) Gays are discriminated against on one f***ing issue that nobody shuts up about. Yeah, that whole "you can be fired or refused housing legally in more than 1/2 the country for no reason other than being gay thing" is just a pittance.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 02:02 AM) I kept thinking that... Without looking up the stats I would think he has to be 10 ten. There are a whole f***ton of great wide receivers who would have insane numbers if their careers took place in the past 5 years...that's one position it's really hard to adjust for.

QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 08:42 AM) Bottom line after reading and rereading most of the posts here I believe there is a benefit to having Konerko signed in helping Abreu's rookie MLB season. I also agree with Balta there is a possibility that having a someone available that could, if called upon, play 60 games, could cause them to be too protective of Abreu and actually stunt his growth. If the organization cannot bring Abreu through his adjustment to the MLB, then those responsible should not have their jobs. But I would rather the team have flexibility than Abreu being forced to play 150 games no matter what. There's one thing you're missing. I'd rather have flexibility too...in the roster. We already have 2 guys who can backup 1b to give Abreu extra time off if needed, Dunn and Keppinger (and hell Flowers in a pinch). We're sacrificing flexibility at every other position in the lineup in order to have extra flexibility at 1b/DH...which is one of the easiest positions to move someone to for a couple games if needed. Oh, and we also could throw Andy Wilkins onto the bench for a few games if someone got hurt so we even have an obvious 4th backup at the minor league level. We're saying the only position we want any flexibility at is 1b, and it's ok if we have none anywhere else.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 11:16 PM) Does that mean A-Rod is innocent of roiding? And are you of all people upset baseball is finally cleaning its act up? Have beef with Selig if you must, but that shouldn't change that the fact that A-Rod is roading douchebag who thinks he can buy his way out of his mistakes. He deserves no sympathy from anyone whatsoever. No. That means baseball itself is a multi-time offending douchebag and so baseball deserves as much credit for doing the right thing as say, Ryan Braun gets for doing the right thing after every other s***ty thing he did. MLB deserves scorn here as well. I would agree with you that ARoid deserves more scorn...but MLB is a bunch of douchebags who made a fortune off of roiding and they similarly deserve very little credit from anyone.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 6, 2013 -> 01:40 AM) You know yesterday when I made the statement about Sale have the most trade value of any pitcher in baseball, I made that comment with Jose Fernandez in mind for the #2 slot, simply because he has only done it for 1 year, and in the NL. If he repeats his performance next year, then I think he'd be #1, but right now I just don't think we can expect someone to trade their farm system for a rookie of the year. It's worth noting that if all his options get picked up...Sale is actually under team control for a year longer than Fernandez right now.