Balta1701

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 03:33 PM) Oh, and the realistic chance that one day the government would be deciding your health care decisions because of cost concerns. Like the UK article Alpha posted. Would you really want moronic Republican tea partiers holding up a funding bill that would determine if you get that life saving operation or not? You want that option to be in the hands of a politician? Medicare, by the way, is not funded through the normal appropriations process, so this setup actually doesn't really apply. Medicare has its own dedicated funding stream and does not need to be reauthorized every year.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:47 PM) Could be Quintana to Toronto for 3B Lawrie and RHP Aaron Sanchez. This is about the only structure of a deal that I think makes sense involving Q.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:59 PM) Scouts like Myles Jaye as well. Another good point. And let's be honest, would anyone be surprised if the Sox had another contributor step up in their minor league pitching staff in the next year beyond the guys I listed? I wouldn't.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:40 PM) No. Santiago will be more valuable than Headley this year and probably every successive year, is under team control, and is cheap. Headley is an old free agent to be that has been worth top talent for a period of about 6 months of his life. I'm happy to have Headley on the team, but I'm not sure if I'd even give up Rienzo-caliber players for him. I'm guessing there is some team that will give up more than that, especially if they hold on to Headley until the deadline. I concur with no. Hector put up 1.5 WAR last year and pitched out of the bullpen for 1/3 of the year. If he's a 2 WAR player for the next 3 years (i.e. he doesn't improve at all), he'll basically be paid $5 million to put up $30+ million in value. Read the trade this way and ask if you'd do it...would you send along Keppinger and $25 million extra in exchange for Headley, while still taking on his $10 million next year? I sure wouldn't.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:31 PM) Sin taxes just hammer poor people, usually. Someone addicted to cigarettes and is just scraping by isn't going to add to their stress by not smoking. They're just going to have give even more of their income to the habit. I'm pretty sure there is convincing data out there showing that as the cigarette taxes have gone up, more and more people have stopped using them.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:34 PM) Shame on the government for trying to make sure everyone can have medical care. How is it that giving people the opportunity to literally be alive is somehow subordinate to "jobs legislation"? I put jobs legislation in quotes since the government has to do things that Republicans don't like in order to create jobs Sick people should work harder.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) Please explain where all this pitching depth is. A solid starting 5 right now for a team rebuilding would be Sale, Santiago/Quintana, Danks, Rienzo, and Johnson. At Charlotte next year we will have Bassitt and Snodgress, both of whom have major league arms even if they aren't heralded (and let's be honest, this is one team that gets the most out of their arms). On top of that, Chris Beck right now is actually ahead of where Erik Johnson was coming in to this season. He'll start at AA next year and there is a very good chance he's knocking on the door of the big leagues by the middle of next season. I would have no issue running those 5 starting pitchers out there including the 2 rookies on this team after the way they finished up last year, and frankly there's a good chance that's still an above average rotation. Yes it's a gamble to run 2 rookies out there, but if the team thinks Rienzo and Johnson are potential starting pitching options (and both look like they are) there is little to be gained by putting them in Charlotte or wasting a year in the bullpen with them next year. Put them out there and let them develop.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) With the several promising infielders and the likely signing of Trea Turner, perhaps a short term solution at third would be reasonable. Between Gillaspie, Semien, Tim Anderson, Trea Turner Carlos Sanchez and Micah Johnson they might not need to spend on a long term solution at third. One or two years might be just perfect, and require less of a price in both money and players. Frankly, if we're just looking for a short-term solution, run Gillaspie and Keppinger out there and wait until a solid long-term option presents itself.

Butler is scheduled to play tonight at least.

By the way, I should add this. Kathleen Sebelius should be fired for the website errors. Unfortunately I don't know what the succession sequence at HHS would be like or if the President even has the authority to appoint an interim head, and it would probably take the Senate 6+ months to confirm a replacement, but when 20+ states can pull off building a website appropriately and the HHS cannot, then HHS needs a different leader.

The obvious trick there is that they're not enumerating the programs they're counting. Clearly they're including Medicaid in that number since they use the phrase "means-tested", but if they wanted to write an honest article, they'd include the list of 15 programs they counted in it. When they don't do that, there's probably a reason.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) If they do trade a starter, I think it's more than likely they sign a free agent to compete for a spot in the rotation. I don't think it would be a big money guy, but a guy like Johnson could make some sense depending on health. If it were me again...if I traded a starter the guy I'd look to sign is Gavin Floyd. I think he's unlikely to be ready to pitch before mid-season and that gives the 2 rookies in the rotation plenty of time to see what they have.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 11:58 AM) Tim was on two world series champions, which means he can never leave SF. Throw in the "history as a cy young winner' and that's why we wind up with this contract.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 10:57 AM) Our pitching depth is grossly overstated on this board. We should not be looking to trade Santiago or Q unless we bet blown away by an offer. You trade one, and a strength is no longer a strength. Personally I think you are grossly understating our pitching depth, and I think the right move, if available, could take advantage of that. It's a gamble but it's the kind of gamble I'd consider if I were in Hahns chair.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) Then wait for him to become a free-agent instead of giving anything up for him. For once, Marty is right. "We could make him a $14 million qualifying offer" should not be viewed as an excuse to trade for anyone with only 1 year on their deal.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 07:07 AM) I think there's a bit of an overall story building with the mystery behind Lizzie's husband. It will be interesting to see how that's handled. And, I'm glad to see someone else agrees about Spader in this series. They're definitely building that story gradually, there were quite a few references to it last night, they introduced some new motivation for Reddington's character last night, and next week clearly deals with some portion of that.

First of all, I can't find the £30bn quote in the article you linked. Secondly, it's unclear whether that is a cumulative deficit or a 1 year deficit. However, in either case, it's useless because there's no context, i.e. the size of the UK economy. That's exactly what I mean when I complain about "oh that's a large number!" writing. A 1-year deficit of £30bn would be about the equivalent of 2% of the nation's GDP. Even if reforms are not undertaken, filling that gap would require effectively a fairly small tax hike. Similarly worth noting would be that the UK currently spends about 8% of its GDP on healthcare, so increases in that number aren't out of line with other countries. Canada spends about 10%, France about 11%. The United States of course spends about 16% of its GDP on health care.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 09:02 AM) I'm sure the Braves would let Greg Walker go

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 07:33 AM) Well like it or not, Dunn will likely be our cleanup hitter this year. I don't disagree that long-term we'll need a left-handed bat to balance the middle of the lineup, but I doubt we'll add that player this year. McCann would probably be the one exception and even he is a huge long-shot. Actually, if I had to guess, I'd bet Dunn slates in 5th in this lineup as currently constructed, with Garcia and Abreu ahead of him and probably Viciedo behind him.

Other than Jaramillo...can we name someone with a solid MLB track record who is currently available?

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 09:36 PM) Jesus, that's really bad. Francisco Liriano would be a 100 million dollar man on this market I'd bet this really winds up distinct from "the market" and comes across as something only San Fran would do for him.

Good lord.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 08:42 PM) Looks like it was a little over $14 million this year. Was that before Flacco and Rodgers got extensions? That's definitely going to impact that number, but good point some of it is probably in the bonus

QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 07:33 PM) Chase Headely for Tank Neither lived up to there potential last year. Can you get the Padres to send over 3 more years of pre free agency team control?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 07:30 PM) How about 2 years, $35 million to stay in San Fran. Seems a bit pricey to me, unless the Tim of a few years back returns. Seriously? You're not making that up?