Balta1701

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) Fastball velocity regressed to a pedestrian 92.7 mph along with 83.3% save percentage. Thankfully we don't have a pitching coach with a record of teaching people how to give up a few miles per hour on their fastball in exchange for better movement and control, because if we did you'd probably feel pretty dumb for writing that.

Germans drink a lot of beer.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 01:43 PM) They didn't win in 2012 and two years is an eternity when you're talking bullpens especially since Reed has regressed. 2012 ERA 4.75, 1.36 WHIP, 55 IP, 9.3 H/9, 8.8 K/9, 1 HR/9 2013 ERA 3.79, 1.11 WHIP, 71 IP, 7.1 H/9, 9.1 K/9, 0.8 HR/9. Literally every single one of his numbers improved last year without exaggeration. That's the worst job of regressing I've ever seen.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 12:40 PM) We need one of the insiders to find out how good it could have been if Crain pitched the last two months. Curious what was on the table. I doubt that would ever be known. The last thing the Rays would want is for one of their actual talented prospects to hear that he was potentially on the trading block.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 01:32 PM) MLBTR says that the Sox may have to potentially surrender their 2nd RD pick to sign Salty. If that's the case, I give it a big HELL NO. But for us to give up a pick means the Red Sox would have to offer Salty a qualifying offer, which is like $14M or something. How would he not take that 1 yr deal? Does anyone want to throw out a legit guess at Salty's contract? If he's talking 3/$30 or more, then that could certainly be worth turning down a qualifying offer.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 10:19 AM) I think there is a real need there. All we had to do was see Ramon Troncoso to see that. Is it the biggest need? No, but it also won't be a huge contract either, like is being talked about for some other spots of need. I definitely would like to see at least one experienced arm brought into that bullpen just since there are so many kids in it. That said, if Petricka, Webb, and Jones are the RH arms, a veteran lefty might be a better fit. Also worth noting that the Sox might well pick up the option on Lindstrom and there's the veteran arm.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 09:54 AM) Crain seems like a guy if healthy that the Rays would go after to sign in the offseason which could have been part of their interest. They can do that anyway though. He's not getting a $13 million qualifying offer so he's not going to bring them a draft pick or anything.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 09:49 AM) I was pointing it out more for you saying a particular Washington party was the worst Washington party "in the country." I knew what you meant though. I had to specify because I'm sure there's a yearly neo-nazi gathering somewhere in the country that obviously is a worse event...but that's the level you have to go to for something worse.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 09:31 AM) I can't imagine Leyland is in good overall health. I'm sure he's still smoking a pack a day and has been for years and years. He supposedly had a cigarette during a break when the lights went out yesterday.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 09:35 AM) Oh yeah? Name a worse one. It's a night of the people who are supposed to be skeptical of government, the people who are supposed to be the oversight of government, laughing it up, celebrating, and drinking alongside government. Making jokes about how the WMD's aren't over here. It's a celebration of everything that is wrong with Washington.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 09:27 AM) Long term, fortunately, this will correct itself politically. I'm just going to hope you're right about this...but I think there's good reason to believe you're wrong. We have a system with way too many points that allow a determined minority to prevent anything from happening. Historically our system has worked because no minority has ever been willing to use them all and the kitchen sink simultaneously. Those historical norms have now been thrown out the window. IMO, we saw something like this in California after 1978, when an initiative was passed requiring a supermajority to pass a budget. It caused years to decades of financial crises, budgetary panics, missed deadlines, and so forth, that were small enough they didn't hurt the country but by everyone's account they were terrible for the state. A determined minority could prevent a budget from passing and they did so almost every year until the majority was forced to give in to large numbers of demands to get single votes from the one or two persuadable votes. Those holdouts would then either face primary challengers or they'd be replaced when they hit their term limits. The only way the state got out of that was when one party got enough votes to actually run the state on its own. It took decades and the failed governorship of an Actor before it happened. And since they haven't tried to fix the rules, who knows if the budget will be stable long-term.

Great sounding quote there. Real dignified.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 16, 2013 -> 03:32 AM) I think he shows a good personality only once a year, at the Washington correspondents dinner. Otherwise, he's not that funny. That might well be the worst, most hideous yearly Washington event in the country.

So the House Republicans were planning a vote on their plan that the senate won't pass this noting and that was delayed. They were then planning another vote this evening on their bill that won't pass the Senate, and once again there has been no vote and I'm about to go to bed. As of now the House Republicans clearly do not have the votes to pass any package and are still unwilling to pass a bill mostly with Democrats.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 06:10 PM) I have a weird feeling he's going to be the one to push Viciedo out of LF in like 2015. All of that would be good. Viciedo still being good enough with both the bat and defense to be playing LF in 2015 would be good. Jacobs stepping up would be good. Viciedo being pushed to another position because someone else is ready to contribute also...also good.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) I have to laugh that about a year ago people were trying to paint John McCain as a radical. To be fair, we're not talking about bombing anyone today...

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 05:27 PM) Guys September 31st isn't a real day. You have a point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 13, 2013 -> 09:33 PM) Will Boston score this series? QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 05:19 PM) Wow...six consecutive strikeouts for Verlander, after a tongue-in-cheek "rough start." Comparisons to 1968. "We're not watching the Marlins...the Twins, the White Sox..." Tigers' radio. The Red Sox are a VERY GOOD hitting team, and they're being made to look like Little Leaguers. That's how last game started to, as I note above.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 05:07 PM) They're pushing him into a corner to invoke the 14th amendment. Just so it's said, whether this actually would work isn't up to the president, his legal staff, or even the supreme court. It's up to bondholders, the people who would be coming in to buy the next issuance of bonds after the limit is hit. And I personally wouldn't buy that bond unless the premium on it was huge. There are almost guaranteed to be years, decades of legal challenges regarding any bond that is printed which is against the law. Eventually it would wind up in the supreme court, who might very well decide that the debt limit is constitutional and the bonds were illegal and now have no value. The President doesn't get to interpret what's constitutional and he doesn't set the market price for bonds. If he tried to do that, the bond market goes absolutely insane at the very least.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 04:55 PM) I don't really see impeachment being an issue here. He's referencing a couple people (Rep Gohmert, Sarah Palin, Texas's Lt. Gov) who have said that if the U.S. defaults on its debt then it should be considered an impeachable offense. it's out there but has about as much support so far as you'd expect.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 04:28 PM) Wait, what happened now? I feel like I missed something in class. Nothing yet, just a lot of talk.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) Heh. Maybe the Senate leaders have the same fears we do... Senate have temporarily halted further work, to let the House finish their bill. House sources are saying their bill will allow for a simple majority vote in the Senate after amendment changes. So, the house can send a bill with whatever garbage amendments they want, the Senate can then do simply majority votes to strip certain aspects and pass the rest. This avoids the Cruz scenario. Also allows the house to say they "tried", and the house full vote will likely pass a relatively "clean" bill. Just so it's noted, this was the exact scenario they were doing on September 31, the House passed a bill with things they knew wouldn't pass the Senate, the Senate stripped them out and sent them back to the House, the House then refused to bring the altered bills to the floor.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 03:01 PM) Isn't a quorum 50%? If so, the 20 most moderate Republicans could say they'll go along with that, then sneak back and join the Democrats to pass something while they're gone. The Democrats can't bring anything to the floor for a vote unless 20 house republicans fully break ranks with the speaker and bring a Democratic-led bill to the floor. So far the Democrats have tried to get them to sign on to a petition that would do so, but as far as I know 0 House Republicans have been willing to do so. Similarly, none have publicly endorsed doing so. Having a Senate "compromise" bill might change things but the senate compromise is virtually no different from the clean spending bills passed in the senate previously. Basically, I wouldn't count on that happening.

One of ARod's lawyers had to be physically restrained from going after one of Tony Bosch's lawyers during the appeal hearings last week.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 15, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) So it now appears it will go down something like this... --Senate is putting together a deal, to hit the floor Wednesday, being crafted by people from both parties. Sounds like extending gov't funding and debt ceiling to Jan/Feb period, adding income verification to ObamaCare, --House is saying they are working on something, but apparently it is just the Republicans, and will include yet more ObamaCare stuff. --Senate will pass their bill, and send it to the house late Wednesday, with Obama's pre-stamp of approval. It will probably pass with relatively bipartisan support. --House may not even get a bill done, and if they do, it will be fully GOP-led, with little or no Dem support. This will put the issue squarely in Boehner's lap as we hit the deadline. He'll have a very difficult decision to make, whether or not to buck his own party core. What will he do? The House Republican leadership are now talking about passing their bill and then leaving town to prevent the House from even considering any legislation that will/could possibly pass the Senate.