Balta1701

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) Revenue means how much the team brings in. If some of that revenue is diverted towards student-athletes, then it comes from somewhere else. Maybe the seven-figure salaries of the coaches and administrators. Or do you want to cry poor on behalf of the NCAA colleges now and tell me that, despite being a multi-billion dollar entity, they couldn't possible afford to actually pay the athletes? Revenue for any of these college teams/departments is legitimately a garbage number. They often don't have to account for significant portions of their budget, whether it be things like stadium renovations or construction or the time cost of university administrators who wind up dealing with the athletic departments. In many cases, revenue numbers are rigged to always look positive, by keeping things like stadium costs on the books of the school or state. Furthermore, it's not just funds in and out that matter to these schools. A school could be barely breaking even on its athletic department, but thrilled because a strong team in that department is providing them the equivalent of free advertising across the country (IU!) and whipping up support amongst donors who give to the school's alumni organizations. Conversely, a school could have a profitable athletic department, but if their team isn't ranked in the top 25, people get fired.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 03:06 PM) They had him locked up for years before free agency. There was plenty of time for extension talks. Again, this was a way to let Mark walk away, and have it be Mark's fault, not the White Sox. Well yeah...he did get a team offering him 4/$60 on the open market. That wasn't happening in extension talks either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 03:00 PM) If they really wanted him, they would have made him an offer before free agency, like they did with Jake Peavy. Didn't he specifically tell them he wanted to test free agency?

QUOTE (MAX @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 12:15 AM) The white sox roster is usually quite dynamic throughout the year, so I don't blame pectora for messing it up somewhat. Some years, however, make no sense at all, like 2006. I don't think "A dynamic roster" has very much to do with it at all. I think PECOTA seriously underestimates the things the Sox tend to be good at and highlights some of our weaknesses. We have pitchers who, for example, sometimes trade velocity and strikeouts for better control (one of Cooper's signatures). PECOTA loves strikeout pitchers. It never liked Mark Buehrle.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 14, 2013 -> 09:25 AM) I think it is pretty clear the number the Sox could have brought Buehrle back for was an insult to Mark, which is why they never made an offer. They intended to move on without him. When Mark came back to the Sox and said that their offer was $60 million, there was nothing the Sox were going to be able to offer that was worth $24 million. If Mark had come back and said "I have an enormous offer from Florida but I would be willing to go for a much smaller deal in exchange for no-trade protection, which I already have in Chicago", the Sox would have jumped right back. That $24 million was worth more than no trade protection.

Today, for the first time ever, the Senate Majority leader had to file a cloture vote on a nominee for Secretary of Defense.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Feb 13, 2013 -> 06:16 PM) Congress did not like the PMG thinking he can change delivery days on his own without there approval in heaing today! He'd probably be happy to trade continued Saturday Delivery for fixing the insane pension prepayment rules. But more likely Congress will do nothing.

I love this fanbase. Vote early, vote often.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 13, 2013 -> 03:33 PM) LOL Hedo Turkoglu popped for roid abuse - 20 game suspension. Interesting that there's this orlando connection in the NBA.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 13, 2013 -> 01:16 PM) http://finance.yahoo.com/news/opec-surviva...-152029951.html I didn't realize that number was so high. I figured like 40% or maybe 50% at most. Good news. It is 45%...when you talk specifically about oil. The trick there is that the U.S. has always had ample supplies of coal and gas to meet its electricity needs. Over the past decade we've seen a shift from coal to gas as new gas extraction techniques have come online...but really, that hasn't changed the mix. The U.S. wasn't importing much coal or gas in either case. What really has changed is this...we're driving less: We're driving more fuel efficient vehicles: And we've started producing slightly more oil, particularly thanks to North Dakota being ripped apart (see: the small blue uptick on this plot, and it's important to use this version to show how small the uptick really has been).

QUOTE (Cali @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 08:40 PM) Has there EVERY been a team more set up for unmitigated disaster than the 2013 Dodgers? Like it might be really BAD. Like No playoffs, multiple games behind the division leader bad. 2011-2012 Boston Red Sox

Mike Piazza on the Daily Show tonight, hawking a book apparently. (Stewart is a Mets fan)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) When you promise not to trade someone, but refuse to give a NTC, that should raise a red flag. I wouldn't trust them. This was also a team that had played this game before. If the NTC wasn't a bad sign...the extremely backloaded contract should have been. That is the other key part of the Marlins trade game, pay a small amount upfront and then move the player before the bad years hit. And they did the same with Reyes.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 04:24 PM) I've never had any problem with that. I've changed my tone a bit in believing that he could make it as a starter, but I believe he would be incredibly streaky as a starting pitcher, depending entirely upon the effectiveness of that screwball. As a reliever, he can light it up to about 95 and then the screwball (so long as hitters don't wait on it, like Cespedes did last year) it can be extremely effective. I actually checked this, there was basically no change on his fastball between starting and relieving last year. He didn't gain any velocity in the pen or lose any when he was starting. Yeah, maybe that changes if you try to throw him 230 innings, but we haven't seen any evidence of him throwing harder from the pen. What we really saw was that Santiago struggled more with the control of his offspeed stuff out of the pen. People could sit back and hammer it because he couldn't keep it down.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) Looking at what the Sox lost during the offseason, I don't see a substantial drop in wins for 2013. The starting pitching could (and should) be as good or better. The bullpen looks very solid. Third base is at least a minor upgrade. Catcher might be the only big drop off, and that's only because of AJ's outlier of a year. Realistically, I think Flowers and AJ have similar years in 2013. 3b ought to be more than a minor upgrade. It really is hard to believe how little the sox got from that position last year. .600 ops from that position with rotten defense. Average defense from Kep and his career .730 ish ops would be like replacing one of the other spots in our lineup with an all star.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 09:06 AM) That is ridiculous and you know it. i am suggesting that this is Marks chosen profession, one that has paid him millions of dollars to play. Many of us miss school functions and kids moments due to work, it sucks but it is the way it goes. I dont feel bad for mark because he had an ideal situation with the Sox where he did have control of where he was traded with a limited NTC, as well as upper management that treated him very well, and he chose more money for lack of a NTC and to trust a untrustworthy businessman at his word. Unfortunately Mark got swindled by a businessman, but i dont feel bad for Mark because he is well compensated for it. Small correction...he was a 10/5 player with the Sox, so he had a full NTC by the end. He gave up those rights when he signed elsewhere...if he'd decided he wanted that NTC it would have required him to stay.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 09:04 AM) There is a concern with choosing someone too young and having them serve for three decades or longer. If they go outside Europe, I believe they will go older to shorten the time. The best laid plans...they picked a 78 year old, probably for the same reason, last time.

I saw talk this morning saying this signing might push swisher to 1b.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 12, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) spring training is f***ing long... WBC

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 11, 2013 -> 09:41 PM) Mark could have held out for a no trade clause. He had a lawyer, Im sure that his lawyer advised him what a merger/integration clause means. I know what I tell my clients: "I dont care what he said, I dont care what he promised you, you see this clause right here, it says it doesnt matter." And I'll bet his agent also told him that holding out for an NTC would cost him $25 million.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Feb 10, 2013 -> 09:11 PM) Illinois winning tonight may have just helped keep Indiana at #1. We're not #1 after this week. We're just not.

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Feb 1, 2013 -> 02:37 PM) http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/p...id=anders002lar 40-man roster is now full. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 10, 2013 -> 07:25 PM) The Sox have one spot open on the 40 man, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see them make another claim. First post was in the Lars thread, only on phone so difficult to check to make sure.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Feb 10, 2013 -> 05:46 PM) I'm not worried about Giambi having that much of an impact, but Dice K? That could be trouble for the Sox. At least the Indians are TRYING to do something. Seriously? That 8.28 ERA he put up last year scares?

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Feb 10, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) There's no such thing as a good loss, but Indiana losing to illinois may have finally woken their asses up. Feed the ball to Zeller and let him work. He's the best passing big man in basketball and it showed today. Very tough to beat when Indiana plays like this. If nothing else, today we turned around and faced the same "no fast break points" game plan that the Illini used, with a better team doing it, and succeeded this time.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 8, 2013 -> 09:20 AM) I'll add that to the list of keys to beating Indiana: 1. Limit fast break points 2. Play them outside of Bloomington 3. Put on Wisconsin jerseys The only one of these that the Buckeyes didn't do today was put on Wisconsin jerseys.