Balta1701

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 05:05 PM) Paulie's major league clock started in '97 and Dunn's started in '01. Paulie also turned down better offers to stick with Sox where Dunn went where the money was. Again, this is only barely true. The Sox came forwards with comparable offers to better offers than he got both times. The Sox were a couple million below the Os/Angels in 06 but things became pretty comparable when you factored in the tax rates at the time.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 04:52 PM) Both fair assessments. At least Flowers has the fact that he has a decent understanding of the strike zone and could run into a ball. Phegley is just going to go up there hacking to no avail. This problem is why I keep saying that this is a decision Hahn can only make after hearing his scouts. But...if his scouts are saying Phegley has zero chance of becoming a starter, you have to come away with McCann or Salty this offseason when they're available.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) Aren't the Mets problems more Bernie Madoff related? I don't know if being his victim falls under stupidity. That hit them but it wouldn't have mattered if they had a solid team on the field. They've spent money anyway, but they've wound up spending it on guys like Johan Santana and Jason Bay who totally, completely underperformed what they were paid to do. Until 2012 their payroll was one of the top 6 in baseball every year since 2000. They have finally started clearing out the bad contracts over the last 2 years. They might not be spending money right now because of Madoff, but that's not why they're hurting, they're hurting from the terrible contracts they gave out.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:59 PM) I just don't see how anybody could be anything but dismayed at having Dunn on the team. At least Paulie has a history of excellence. Same with Robin as much as I detest him as a manager. Dunn on the other hand has sort of trainwrecked this franchise cause of his salary and performance IMO. I don't see how anyone could be anything but dismayed at having Konerko on the team. Paulie's history of excellence ended nearly 2 years ago and he hasn't even been adequate since then. His failure last year was the single biggest part of the trainwreck that was the white sox offense and clearly his work as captian was completely inadequate, based on the 2013 white sox's status as the most unfocused, unprepared, uninterested team I've ever watched.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:33 PM) I think they realize neither is a #1 catcher. Flowers has shown in the past he can be a good back up. They liked him so much as a back up they gave him the #1 job, and as you pointed out, had zero back up plan. If this is the case, and they think there is a 0% chance of either of them hitting well enough to be a #1 catcher, then they simply have to come out of this offseason with either Salty or McCann (or pull off a trade for one).

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:25 PM) That's how I feel. I 'despise' Dunn the player, everything about him. Not Dunn the person. I like his interviews. As far as ability, I'd much rather have Paulie and Abreu this year than Dunn and Abreu. To me, Dunn signifies striking out and losing. Paul Konerko was the captain of the 2013 White Sox and supposed to be one of their leaders. He signifies a total failure as much as anyone not named Robin Ventura.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:18 PM) The officials shouldn't be deciding what the limits of one's athletic ability may or may not be, especially not in real time. I think "making pass interference calls reviewable" is just about at the top of my list for rule changes I'd like to see in the NFL. It's just such a huge play, it can make things swing by 50+ yards and we can all remember seeing incredibly bad blown calls on it. Same standard as every other overturn, there has to be conclusive evidence nothing happened on the video (or that the guy was completely mangled while trying to catch the ball), but make it reviewable. In this case, the call on the field would probably stand as you can't clearly demonstrate he'd have been able to make that a catchable ball.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) I think someone would pick him up. Quick, versatile, middle infielder with good bat control who is super young? I think he'd be gone in a second. But to keep on their big league roster for the full year? That's a stretch to me. Maybe the fact that he could be a utility guy would help, but putting him on the big league roster at age 22 when he clearly needs AAA level at bats would seem like a pretty poor move by any team that claimed him.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 02:59 PM) Is there anything you've seen that indicates anyone in the org. is jumping off his ship? I read as much as probably anyone about the Sox and I haven't seen anything except Hahn saying he may have overlooked ( or something along those lines) the catching situation. Yeah, that's what I meant. Those quotes definitely did suggest that the Sox could have soured on him, and the fact that they're constantly linked to every catcher who is available (not just by us) could suggest that as well. Then again, they could just be doing their due diligence as well. I won't know the answer to that question until mid-Feb.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) While I don't think he will be anything special, I am semi-surprised so many people are jumping off the Phegley ship so soon as well I'm pretty sure I predicted everyone jumping off his ship before he was even called up. That said...if the team/org/scouts are jumping off his ship too, there might be a reason.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 02:28 PM) Travis D'Arnaud was one of the top rated prospects in the minors coming into the year. Given, Phegley was repeating AAA (I think for the 3rd time), but compare their numbers there and then at the majors. I think there's a bigger adjustment for catchers than people realize. It was his 3rd year in Charlotte but he only received 90 PA's there in 2011 and that was as a 23 year old who missed ~1/2 of the previous season, so he was definitely pushed up to AAA pretty rapidly. They gave him time in AAA but he might well have still benefited from finishing the season there if there wasn't an opening at the big league level.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 02:03 PM) Anyone watch "Almost Human"? Worth catching? It was intriguing and so far decent. Hard to know where it's going, can't see a coherent story line yet. Its what it promised, a cross between a cop show and a sci-fi show so far. If you're a fan of those genres probably worth checking out.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) Alright Rick, do your thing Not sure whether each of those will be good purchases for us. One is a hard throwing reliever in his early 20's who will probably need a fair amount of development time...but we have a number of those. Yeah you can never have too many, but in terms of "how valuable would this guy be to the White Sox" you have to take into account what we're already holding. The other, a slick fielding shortstop in his early 20's, could be useful but SS isn't a position where we have an obvious available spot to fill right now. Compare us to the Cardinals for example - which team could use him more? In both cases you could understand how the Sox might put in an offer but be beaten out by teams that have immediate needs in both of those positions.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 12:30 PM) I love that the guy gets out of the insane asylum and is allowed to torment the guy that saved the president's life. Ah simpler times. Today he'd just go stockpile guns.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 12:33 PM) Especially because the long speech was the tradition of the day. And he also had a reputation for giving long speeches.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) I was under the impression that most people had given up on Phegley and Flowers. We'll know if the Sox have given up on Flowers if and when he's offered arbitration. They made some positive sounds around him when it was learned he had suffered a shoulder injury the whole year. I'm not sure about Phegley. At the very least they seemed to like him in the minors and he actually performed in the minors last year. He actually earned a shot, and he's only had about 3 months of actual big league experience. I understand if you're dumping him in favor of McCann or Salty, but I'd vastly rather go with him than AJ. Worst case scenario is he continues not hitting at the back of your order and you continue looking for a catcher. That's bad if you're looking to compete right now but that is totally what we should be doing with the pieces we have - play them until a better, long-term option presents itself.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 12:36 PM) I would still rather go with a full season of Phegley. He has a history of being a slow starter at each level and would rather give him a full year the way that Flowers was before moving on from him altogether. He at least presents the opportunity to be a long term solution, and if not you can deal for a long term solution as you continue to develop assets. If AJ gets up from 65-75 wins next season, is he worth it. If we are going to be drafting in the top 10, it might as well be as high as possible and be able to have as much bonus money as possible instead of limiting yourself by throwing out short term solutions with no long term implications in mind. If Phegley can show he handle the load next season, you have a long term solution and more money to spend to bring in additional talent. I still come down to "If Phegley has a 1% chance of being a long term solution for the Sox at catcher...that is still better than the chances of AJ Pierzynski being a long term solution at catcher". I understand the Sox signing a catcher, or even trading for one, but it would have to be a guy who would fit well with about 200 PA's if they're not shooting for a high-valued one. It makes zero sense to sign a guy who we know won't be a solution in a year or two.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 01:20 PM) I'm not saying I would do it, I am just giving rationale here. Back to #1, I doubt it is $10 million based off of what free agents have gotten. We might get away with giving up $10 million or so, and paying only $5m, if we didn't take a real player back. Then we lose a couple million to sign Konerko. Then our draft position is higher and so we have to spend more money on a draft pick too.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 10:12 AM) He was a 12 year old eating skittles and skipping home. Get your facts straight! And George Zimmerman is a hero.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 10:12 AM) Plus, Kuechly was face guarding AND grabbing him before Gronk even entered the endzone, before the ball was thrown. That's defensive holding and not pass interference.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) Who has ever said this? We've made that decision as a society when we allowed every nut like George Zimmerman who wants to stockpile guns and wander around the streets with them dispensing justice to do so.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 09:44 AM) Far more than you. When the Sox say "we are at our budget," then they are at their budget. Smart teams save money in case they need to go over budget. Sometimes it makes sense to go over-budget. But, in this exact instance in the 2013-14 offseason, there is absolutely no need to lose money when you can make money. Would you not agree with that idea? There's also an opportunity/cost discussion here as well. Had the White Sox invested $10 million a year last offseason in, I don't know, Edwin Jackson or something like that to fill a minor role...they could have found themselves having less in the budget this year when a potential all-star 1b suddenly defected from Cuba and became available. Having that money to spend hopefully has enabled us to plug the biggest hole in our lineup in one fell swoop.

The states with functioning websites are either right on track for their enrollment goals or actually outpacing them. There was no reason this couldn't have worked just fine, right there's the evidence, a dozen governments are doing just fine. Thanks, Secretary Sebelius.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 09:35 AM) It's not impossible that they were both s***heads. But thankfully one of them had a gun, so we know the other one must have been at fault.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 09:21 AM) Don't forget, JR got a sweetheart deal from politicians himself. Loria also got revenue sharing to the point where he didn't have to let anyone in to watch Marlins games and still turn a nice profit. In hindsight, given that JR was considering moving the team to the Tampa area, I think the Illinois legislature wound up saving him from himself.