Balta1701

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 12:27 PM) Yeah, fair enough. I don't think we'll be anywhere close to them this season, however. I think we have a chance to be...but it all hangs on the pitching staff. The offense needs some depth, but on paper we have a good offense, comparable to last year, maybe better. Our strength on defense should still be there, and might well be even stronger since the 3b black hole isn't there, on paper. The pitching staff last year was the weakness. Middle of the league starters, middle of the league relievers. Adding in Danks, having guys who are stretched out, and having guys who are no longer rookies...those could be the things that make up the ground. OTOH, if Sale and Quintana run into the Verducci effect, then we have no chance.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 12:20 PM) Probably zero. However, with how far away we are from the Tigers at this point, is our backup or utility infielder's defense prowess really a major concern? Honestly, yes, and I think last year should have shown that. We could have had an extra game or two in the W column with a solid backup IF, maybe more if Robin felt comfortable enough to rest guys. Olmedo is my response there. I get why the bench became so weak last year, because we traded away portions of it to find starters, and that was the sacrifice we had to make after injuries happened. But there's definitely wins that can be found with a deeper bench this year.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) It''s Adam Kennedy. I don't need to know any statistics. He sucks. Seriously, how many backup IF's/utility guys would you not say that about?

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 12:09 PM) http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kennead01.shtml According to them his Fld% at 3b is .967 and at 2b its .958 for last season. Looking at it though he only played like 60 games last season. 2011 @3b he was .965, 2b .993 and 1b .992 in 140 games No offense, but I don't feel like I learned anything from this statistic.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 12:07 PM) So what's your rotation for next year? I don't think we have the depth in the rotation to trade a starter if the plan is to contend next year. As far as the offense goes, I'll call Keppinger an upgrade over the totality of 3B last year, but that still leaves them a bat short from possibly matching last year's offense and the simplest way to improve it is to sit Viciedo v. right-handers. Sale Peavy Danks Quintana Floyd Santiago Axelrod Castro They may...may have the depth to trade a starter, but that depends on how comfortable they are going with a lefty-heavy rotation, or going with Axelrod or Castro in the 5th slot for a portion of the year. IMO, if they want to trade Floyd, it's because they've decided they're comfortable with Santiago in the 5th slot. And they're not a bat short, on paper. They could benefit from having more LH hitters on the bench, I'll grant you that...but that ship already sailed in the OF when they resigned Wise.

How do we make up the ground against Detroit? 1. Better starting pitching. Basically, that means: a.) Sale doesn't take a step back due to innings b.) Quintana is an adequate 3rd or 4th option and doesn't take a step back due to innings c.) Get Danks back, get a nearly full season from him with at least solid performance We're in pretty good shape on depth/guys from AAA who can step in if someone gets hurt, better than last year probably. Those 3 things are the rotation keys. 2. Better bullpen performance. That happens, mostly, by having Jones and Reed no longer be rookies, and perhaps by a full season by Veal. 3. Same defense, if not better. A couple guys might take steps back with age. Viciedo hopefully could get somewhat better in a 2nd full season out there. The possible real upgrades...3b now has a stable player at it when 1/2 the season last year was awful and You wasn't great, and Flowers hopefully can match, if not improve upon defense at home. 4. Only a small step backwards on offense. There are still a lot of guys who could get better there, but we've played moneyball too. We've improved 3b substantially even if Kep doesn't have a good year, solely by getting rid of Hudson and Morel's 1/2 season. Flowers should be an OBP upgrade at C, even if he's a slugging downgrade. 5. Better bench. This really was a big weakness last year, particularly in the 2nd half. It made people wear down, and cost us games every time someone like Olmedo was out there.

Over the last 2 seasons, Hafner has fewer HR than AJ hit last year. Tell me again about how Hafner somehow replaces AJ's production? Dunn in LF would be much, much worse than Viciedo and Flowers in the same lineup. You said yourself protecting your rotation is more important than the offense, and yet you're willing to destroy, utterly utterly destroy the defense behind them?

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 10:16 AM) Only other one I can see to get fairly cheap would be Adam Kennedy... versatile defensively and hits lefty a bit of an old guy though at 36. I'd really like this suggestion. How is his defense these days, 3b/middle IF?

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 09:39 AM) Ryan sweeney is a lh free agent.... Could actually be a reasonable option/fit. Only problem is we already signed a LH hitting backup OF. Sweeney could be useful if we were carrying a large bench and going with only a 6 man pen. Otherwise, with a 4 man bench, I tend to prefer having 2 guys who can play the IF over 2 guys who can play the OF, seems easier to move a guy to an OF spot for a day if things get tight than the otehr way around.

Article from the Post on the "Search for a motive". going to highlight one part of the video game thing since I really don't like how it was written. Really, Post? Warcraft 3 and Dance Dance revolution fit under your definition of "Violent video games"?

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 29, 2012 -> 05:34 AM) So people living in Montana and Idaho should be bent to the will of those from NYC and Chicago? The need for states' rights is greater now than its ever been with the formation of mega-cities and the increasingly disperate ways-of-life the modern era has brought. You've done a great job of explaining why Chicago, New York, etc., should be allowed to ban handguns (or hell, all guns), ban concealed carry, and keep track of dealers who are supplying weapons and ammunition to their cities.

QUOTE (Brian26 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 08:01 PM) HAFNER? Dear God. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 09:52 PM) Who is gonna take Hafner's place for the 80 games he misses with injury? QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 10:00 PM) Grady Sizemore should be ready to play 10-15 games. And this is why Marty always suggests trading our guys but never suggests what player he wants back, because no where is it possible that Dunn in LF and Hafner at DH is an upgrade over our current setup. A 36 year old DH who has played 100 games once in the last 5 seasons, had a OPS barely over .800, and dropped down to .784 last year. That's somehow an improvement?

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 04:13 PM) To me it makes the most sense to deal an OF. Beckham does not hurt the team defensively regardless of his below average bat. We have been super patient with him- it really makes no sense to deal him at this point. Hopefully he can turn things around with the bat this summer. The problem with dealing an OF for this team is we don't have an OF ready to step in either...so we're in the position of dealing one of our OF's, trying to find a taker for that OF, but then also trying to find an OF of our own somewhere else. At the very least, that's complicated...if you deal one away, now you're left with Dewayne Wise and Jordan Danks as the replacement OF's at this point. Yeah you can sign someone to fill the gap...but then why is the team you're trading with not signing that same guy?

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 03:23 PM) Right, which is why I said he could be traded as part of a package. If Hahn swings some deal to acquire an infielder and needs to move someone, Beckham could be a throw in along with Floyd and Thornton for example. In the long run, however, I think it's more likely an outfielder gets traded, and we will be watching Beckham struggle at the plate again. The other thing to ask is...why should the Sox trade him for anything right now? He's not going to break the bank, he's not blocking anyone, and maybe somehow this offseason is the one where he straightens things out. Sure, could be really low probability at this point, but the Sox wouldn't give him away as a throw-in.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 02:04 PM) Prove it. He might actually be right in one sense. A minority which has no interest in governing, gains a minority large enough to prevent budgetary agreements from passing due to supermajority requirements, and uses that power to protect the wealthiest stakeholders to the point that they're willing to sacrifice the credit-worthiness of the state itself... sounds an awful lot like what happened to California to me.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 01:41 PM) Money always talks for PJax. If he gets a multiyear deal with a promise to add to the current roster(who knows how that can be done), it might bait him. He knows the Lakers arent calling anytime soon I know money always talks, but the dude is what, 67 now? A multi-year, $30 million deal may be a ton of money but it would require him coaching until he's 70 and maybe never even having a team that can make a conference finals run. I have to figure the roster should be a big deal here.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 09:29 AM) They can prescribe the medicine for that, too. Yeah, but if you have a chronic condition, you'd be much better off going to a place where they can give more personalized, regular care.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 01:02 AM) Might be interesting to see how he got the guns. Gun show? Might be fruitful to talk about private sales in terms of gun legislation. I can't sell my privately owned Vicodin, maybe it won't hurt if I have to go through an intermediary to sell my gun. I traded some stereo equipment for a Glock on Craigslist and I was shocked that that is legal. Beyond that, my biggest takeaway from this crime is that it brings into focus our punitive corrections system and how it fails to rehabilitate people like this killer who clearly had some problems. Our blood lust to punish interferes with our ability to reintegrate these folks and try to make them productive members of society. If you want to take it farther...it's also another case of failure of society to deal with some variety of mental illness.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 11:58 AM) I hope this is the end of the suicide pacts in washington. These austerity packages end up hurting real people while not doing much to the politicians elected. Matt Yglesias offered that instead of these cliff packages, the agreement should be that the speaker of the house, senate leader, etc get kicked in the nuts if they don't come to an agreement. It makes more sense. However, I do kind of enjoy how we have this huge austerity package to dramatically reduce the debt. And suddenly this "serious" washington clique that has claimed the debt is the country's biggest problem, is falling over themselves to prevent it because it will hurt the economy. Stupid is as stupid does. These suicide pacts are doing great for the people out to force cutbacks in everything. Just look at the offers that have been put on the table, including large Social Security cuts, spending cuts on everything, etc.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 11:49 AM) This is going to suck for everyone but maybe just maybe this is the kick in the ass we need to realize that s*** needs to change. That being said, how many of us middle class taxpayers will be really scrapping by with the tax increase? Will anyone be forced to go on the government tit? The problem with the argument I hear from people is that we paid these rates prior to 2001 so it shouldn't be a problem. However, inflation has caused price increases to basic goods and I don't know about you, but my salary has been low or stagnant for the better part of a few years so there is no cost of living adjustment. The real problem is...if you take $3000 out of the pocket of the average middle class taxpayer, that's $3000 less they have to spend this year...which is $2000 or so less they actually do spend, which winds up knocking a lot of people back out of work and pushing the country back into recession. It's not the household teetering on the edge that this impacts heavily; there are programs to help with that, and if they're teetering on the edge right now, there's more going on (job loss or poor financial decisions or health care costs).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 01:28 PM) Unless of course you see the flaw in his swing and want to guarantee that you can acquire him. At this point, I can't fathom why any team would believe there's a simple flaw in his swing that can be corrected. He's tried a hundred corrections...to the point where I can't believe he'd have any confidence in what he was doing. But if you want to make the comparison...yeah, the Joe Borchard for Matt Thornton trade would be a comp. The most anyone would give up for Beckham is a struggling failed prospect on the verge of being non-tendered. Even if a team wants Beckham for that reason, they're not giving you anything but their own scrap heap in order to get him.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 10:57 AM) While I can always see Phil going back to the lakers due to his relationship with Kobe and Jerry Buss, I can not see him wanting to take on a project like this. I have no idea who you can bring in with Deron Williams. I can't see Phil going to a place where he has a roster that can't obviously win a title this year.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 10:51 AM) Depending on what Hahn is targeting, Beckham could be traded (in a package) for a 3B and Keppinger moved to 2nd. Or an outfielder could be traded for an impact LH bat. Beckham has effectively zero trade value right now. He's not negative like Floyd would be to some teams because he doesn't have a huge salary, but he's a first-year arb player, so he won't be underpaid any more, and if he puts up another year like 2011-2012, he's going to be non-tendered at the end of this year. Basically, if I'm a team that might like to try him out, I might as well wait until the end of the year when I can get him off the scrap heap, rather than trade something for him now.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 01:19 PM) It should be interesting to see what he costs. Every year there are a few guys at the end of free agency that for whatever reason slipped into a lower than value contract. Hm. One would think that for what he costs, he'd be going to a team that can play him DH/1B every day. There's been talk of the Astros being interested in him again, I believe.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 27, 2012 -> 09:04 PM) Good points, I sometimes forget how epically bad Morel was last year. Flowers should easily exceed that .286 OBP, hell he did so last year in minimal playing time. I just think Keppinger's BA is due to fall some and so will his OBP as a result. If so, his OBP may not be that much better than A.J.'s was last year. Kep's OBP career mark is .337, which is higher than AJ's career mark of .324 or the .318 he put up in his time in Chicago. So an "Average" season for Keppinger might be slightly better than AJ on that mark, although who knows what he'll actually do if he's considered the starter coming in to the season at a position. Basically, we may have lost some slugging out of the changes this offseason, since AJ had a ridiculous year last year (depending of course on what Flowers does), but it'll be really hard to match last year's OBP, just since 3b was so bad. We've almost certainly upgraded on that regard, at least on paper. Billy Beane would be happy. Oh, and while bashing Morel, don't leave out Hudson, he gets a portion of that blame too.