Balta1701

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) Except a competing private conpany, in a perfect world without state endorsed oligopolies, will keep them honest by offering identical services at lower prices. Government just tells us how much something costs then forces us at gunpoint to buy it. There are zero laws requiring you to stay in this country.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) So much for government by and for the people. Im resigned to the fact that were seen as mere subjects by our rulers, Im always surprised though when people are proud of that dynamic. I'm one of those people. You're using my resources too.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 02:53 PM) He already pays taxes for the use of those other things. And a private company would have the right to determine what the appropriate rate would be to use the benefits it provides, yes?

So the argument that he's back and not that his 29 year old season was a peak season is a 21 game hitting streak? That's cute. His OPS in the first half was .726, his OPS in the 2nd half when he should have been recovered was .714. Are we talking nagging back injury for a 3b territory here? Because I have zero interest in a 30 year old 3b with a history of back injuries. We've kinda been through that already.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) I dont go to jail if I refuse to give a private company my money. If you stay on their land and use their resources however, they're very likely to bill you for it, or have you arrested for trespassing. Are you currently located within the territorial borders of the United States?

QUOTE (midway @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 02:38 PM) 3B solution...David Freese!! Include him in any trade package with the Cards because it looks like he may become available this winter. Was he hurt this year? Because his numbers were way down from 2012 and darn near Gillaspie-like.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:54 AM) Would the Bears have won if Rodgers played? Probably not, because GB would have scored 35 points minimum. But who cares? If the Bears beat Detroit Sunday, they will have a major edge in the divisional race, as the Pack have to play a few games without #12. This isn't the NCAA tournament, they won't take injuries into account come playoff time. The best records make it, the Bears are tied for first, enjoy a victory at Lambeau, it has been a while. Would the Bears have won if both Rodgers and Cutler had played? No idea.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:43 AM) I think this coming year is a transitional year or whatever you may want to call it, but I also think that Hahn isn't willing to go into the year with a position like catcher unaddressed. If, as we think, they don't see much room for improvement from what was literally league worst from those two...I think he'll pursue short term options. That is, he'll pursue short-term options if he doesn't like any of the long-term ones. No reason to be horrible for s***s and giggles. You're not going to give a guy like AJ an amount of money that will make you think twice and at his age, you'll want to give him more rest anyway. I don't necessarily believe that having him or someone similar around precludes seeking a young, long-term replacement If he wants to pursue a short-term option, either it better be for an absolute minimal salary (low enough that the guy could be traded to a team whose backup catcher gets hurt), or he better put a team around that catcher who can compete because it makes no sense to give a catcher a solid salary and then put a team out there you're not confident in. Is AJ going to be available for under $2 million? Then I'll talk. If we're talking $5 million, that's way too much to waste on this season unless we're spending a lot of money elsewhere.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:41 AM) Do you honestly think that Packers wouldn't have made up that 7 point difference with Rodgers playing? The Bears are not more injured than the Packers, that just ridiculous to say. The Packers were Rodgers, Lang, Bulaga, Matthews, Perry, Finley and Cobb. That's 7 starters. 3-4 of which are Pro-Bowl caliber. And how many more points would the Bears have gotten had Cutler been healthy? Or now many fewer points could the Bears have given up had they had Briggs and their interior D-line including a missing pro-bowler there?

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:27 AM) The main thing is because: 1. Whether Phegley/Flowers deserve any developmental time is highly debatable. 2. There is nobody else that deserves that developmental time in our organization. 3. AJ or similar player would provide a substantial marginal gain over the other options and has a decent chance to outproduce Saltalamacchia. 4. AJ would be cheap. 5. You get 2 years to find the team's next catcher. If someone appealing reaches FA a year from now, you can make a move on that player. 6. Saltalamacchia has spent about 4-6 months of his life as a player that looks like he deserves a 4 year contract approaching $10/year value 7. Salty is a low OBP, extremely high K player that seems contrary to organizational goals. 1-2. Correct. However, that only matters if your goal is to win in 2014. If not, then they deserve it more than anyone else we currently have. 3. While this is true, it only matters if your goal is to win in 2014. If not, then giving time to AJ that could be given to anyone with a 1% chance of developing into a long term option is a mistake. 4. Yes, but not as cheap as "not signing anyone". 5. But you also reduce the chances of actually having anyone in your system turn into your next catcher by having AJ in the way, and frankly you make it harder to find a long-term option by trade or FA because you already have a starter int he way you can't move. 6-7. I agree. AJ Pierzynski is not a long-term option, and signing a short-term option makes it harder to find a long-term option unless our goal is to field a competitive team in 2014.

QUOTE (Tex @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:32 AM) A couple other problems with the laws you didn't mention. As you know there is a huge difference in driving 500 miles or ten hours through congested eastern cities and 500 miles or ten hours across the open spaces of the western plains. Those obvious differences are not factored into the rules. Also depending on your schedule, erratic sleep hours and not nearly as recuperative as regular hours. I'm not certain if there is a way to write the laws to reflect that. Overall, I know a lot of drivers in the 1980s appreciated restrictions being put in place. I agree the laws aren't perfect, but they really aren't too bad most of the time. Now with computerized logs, I see an opportunity to relax some of the rules. The fear before was with paper logs there would be too much cheating, so make it more restrictive so with the cheating there would still be some margin of safety. I have a great idea...we could have the government construct a website where truck drivers could register their hours and have them reported to their employerrrrrrr....umm...wait a second.....

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:24 AM) Could be entirely possible the Sox sign 2 catchers with the idea of giving Phegley more time at AAA and non tendering Flowers . More time at AAA isn't going to change things for Phegley. He's 25 already, he destroyed AAA last year, first arrived there in 2011, and has nearly 800 PAs at AAA. Either he's going to produce in the bigs or he isn't, there's zero sense in which he was rushed. if they sign 2 catchers, then Phegley is a DFA candidate because they'd rather have the roster spot.

QUOTE (Tex @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) Which is why the rules were revamped after deregulation in 1980. Prior to that pricing was fixed. Once compenies were allowed to set their own prices, the obvious way to increase profits was to force drivers to drive longer hours and at higher speeds. The work hours were put in place with a lot of industry involvement, some would call it lobbying with high priced former government employees. In principle, Tex, I have no problem with industry involvement in writing "some" rules for how that industry operates. An industry should be involved in doing so, frankly, I think it's quite obvious that the trucking industry might well have some expertise on trucking I don't have. There's definitely a line that can be crossed though. I got the impression doing a bit of reading that there are a few loopholes for management that would really be nice to have closed, somewhat relating to the downtime associated with loading and unloading vehicles. The case of cooperation and a somewhat fair result that benefits the public and the industry can readily be contrasted with the results of things like efforts to regulate and deregulate the financial industry, where anyone trying to write a positive rule is simply pushed aside.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 01:01 AM) The bears need to see what he can do in this system as this is finally a real NFL offense. The only answer i've gotten from him so far this year is "Get hurt at the same rate".

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 07:58 AM) And whoever pumped Ortiz full of PEDs deserves the other half of credit. And Manny.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 10:12 PM) Salty's got a career .795 OPS against right handed pitchers. Platoon him with Phegley. That's a huge upgrade over last year. I think Hahn will make a serious effort to get it done. For $10 million a year, that doesn't hugely impress me.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 09:42 PM) <!--quoteo(post=2886845:date=Nov 4, 2013 -> 07:00 PM:name=Balta1701)-->QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 07:00 PM) <!--quotec-->The downside is that he puts up numbers close to his career numbers of a low-.700's OPS without great defense he's put up every year of his career before last year and you're paying $10 million for a guy who gives 1 WAR next year and declines from there. I have no idea how you look at his career and say te risk of a market value contract is minimal when he's been barely above replacement until last year. The risk is you're paying a fortune for the guy the Rangers let walk. Maybe it's the right move, but the downside is quite plain. Lol...I'm so sick and tired of this new assumption that players automatically regress at age 30. He was a 1.6 & 1.9 WAR player in 2011 & 2012 before his 3.6 WAR season last year. He's been a very solid catcher for three straight seasons, so I'm not sure where this "barely above replacement" comment is coming from. Also, in the AL Central, he'd be able to face RHP even more frequently, yet somehow with us at age 29 he'd become a 1 WAR player and then be even worse in 2015 at age 30. I forgot that all players follow a bell curve and peak exactly at 30 years of age before rapidly declining. And why do I care that the Rangers let Salty go? Why in god's name does that matter at all? I guess the Red Sox shouldn't have picked up David Ortiz way back when because the Twins let him go. Or are you saying the Rangers don't ever make mistakes on player evaluations? Just a very strange point. He has been a tolerable Cather for 2 of 3 seasons and had a great career year right before hitting Fa, and his numbers in those tolerable seasons weren't muh better than the numbers that made Texas let him go.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 09:39 PM) I don't believe so Googled to find the name...Swihart, started this season in high A ball? If they think he's a candidate for the future then AJ could make a lot of sense for them as a 1 year player on a competitive roster.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 09:36 PM) I believe J. Heyman polled 5 baseball writers, and all 5 of them said McCann to Texas. Doesn't Boston have a catching prospect a year or two away?

QUOTE (ChiSoxFan05 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 09:34 PM) MLBTR says Rangers, Boston, and Yankees are early McCann frontrunners. If he were to sign with Texas, would anyone be opposed to a one year deal for Pierzynski? It would give Phlowers a chance to develop. Would AJ be willing to only play 20-30 games and take a minimum salary as a backup? Otherwise...you're not developing those guys, you're replacing them with a veteran and admitting you have zero obvious catchers for beyond 2014.

That was solid by Forte

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 08:01 PM) LF- Viciedo CF- Jon Jay RF- Garcia 3B- Pablo Sandoval SS- Beckham 2B- Semien 1B- Abreu C- Saltamacchia DH- Dunn The Sox acquire Jay from the Cards in a deal with Alexei. Other parts, but those 2 are the principals. The Sox acquire Sandoval in a deal with SF involving De Aza and pitching. Gordon Beckham is right now barely adequate any more at 2b. He's not moving to SS. You may as well pencil in Viciedo there.

30 yards and not a hand on him.

That was about as awful as I could imagine.