Balta1701

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 11:19 AM) That's at best, which leaves room for him to be a .700-.750 OPS player, which is not something to be desired at 3B (even though anything in that would have been good from 3B last year). Nobody expected Brent Morel to be a real strong offensive player and, save a strong September last year, everyone's expectations have been proven correct thus far. With good enough defense, a .700-.750 OPS from 3b would be a reasonable contribution. Not talking all star, but you're more than content with 5 years of that, it would generate substantial excess value for your club.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 11:08 AM) He was projected to be a .750-.800 OPS bat at best and most people considered him to be a short-term gap until something better came along. A Scott Brosius type player. A .750-.800 OPS at 3b with solid defense is a very valuable player. If that pushed up to an .825 OPS then that player is a borderline all star.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 10:40 AM) Once you open "any and all records" up as legitimate, then Obama's got to release his college transcripts, his student loan information, etc. etc. There are plenty of things that are either dumb, irrelevant or both. One of those, imo, would be medical history outside of anything that may seriously impair their ability to perform their duties (e.g. terminal cancer), since it is none of my business if Mitt has some allergies or once had a broken arm or if he takes Lipitor to lower his cholesterol and doesn't impact his ability to be a President. Another would be college transcripts, because how Mitt or Obama or whoever did in undergrad 20-30+ years ago really doesn't matter. At all. Candidates should not be forced to disclose any and all personal information requested or otherwise suffer from the impression that "they must be hiding something!" Actually, it ought to be very much your business whether a Presidential contender is taking cholesterol medication, because having to deal with a cholesterol problem substantially increases the chances that the Vice President is going to wind up taking over. Or if he's allergic to bee stings, a single bee sting might remove the head of government and create a near crisis. College transcripts, yeah, that's iffy, but heck, if someone wants to double check to actually make sure a guy went to the courses he's alleged to have gone to, why not. I believe I recall an example of a Notre Dame coach hiree having a college on his resume that he actually didn't attend.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) WHERE ARE HIS COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS? WHAT ABOUT THE SHAH WHO FINANCED HIS RADICAL EDUCATION? MADRASSAS! See the difference there though, you crossed into demanding non-existent documents 1/2 way through that statement.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 10:12 AM) Me as well. Auto-pay everything possible, put as much on the credit card as possible (the rest auto-bill to checking). The credit card is then set to auto-pay once a month the full balance on due date from checking. I rarely have to actively pay a bill. I don't auto-pay the credit cards, it gives me a reason to check to make sure statements are accurate every month.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 10:07 AM) AJ hasn't earned his job? Yes he has. So now he has to re-earn it in spring training?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 09:58 AM) But how far down the path of birtherism do you go? I have no issue with the press having checked into those allegations. They were clearly untrue, the documents all exist, there's no reason to file lawsuits over documents that have been checked, that should have been that.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 09:38 AM) This is why I want an open competition to let the cream rise to the top. The last several years, it was obvious that several players were getting playing time they did not deserve. There were also players who would earn the playing time and then not be allowed to start more than a couple of days in a row. That has to demoralize a team. I think Ventura, or any new manager should walk in the door with everyone on equal footing. That gives guys like Lillibridge hope and enthusiasm because he knows he has a real opportunity to win the job. It also give guys who had been the anointed starters a jolt of competitive drive to keep their jobs. I think these guys will come in motivated with a fresh attitude because of new leadership and being embarrassed by last year. Let the best man win. Let the loser know he can win the job back and will get playing time. It would only make the team better in my opinion. The problem with that thinking is that "Having to re-earn your job" can demoralize a veteran. Of course, the only one I can really think of who might have that problem on this roster is AJ.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 09:29 AM) Therein lies the rub. What people should actually care about, and even what the actually DO care about, is trumped by what the media thinks the public should know/will get the most viewers. And I have little to no issue with the media scouring everything they can find. It's the Presidency for crying out loud, this guy/girl would command enough nuclear weapons to end life on this planet.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 11:51 PM) My wife does it, she insists... So that you don't see the random hotel reservations :-)

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 08:54 AM) There is no scenario that lands Dwight with the LAC that doesn't involve Blake. Especially after the CP3 trade, what do they even have left worth offering? They have to include DeAndre Jordan for $10 million to even get close to matching the cap number, but with his contract he's not going to save Orlando a cent, he's a 4 year $40 million commitment. Instead they have Maurice Williams with an expriing, but he's only at $8.5 million, so they'd need 2 players included to work with him. They don't have their valuable #1 pick any more. Billups and Foye are expirings, but who the heck cares, there's no obvious offer here that is remotely enticing without Griffin.

No one is forced to run for this position. Anything the people might legitimately care about is pretty much fair game.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 01:10 AM) i wonder why no one said this when LeBron decided to join Miami. I'm pretty sure a lot of people did.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 01:37 AM) I can't remember where I heard this, but I also heard that all season Morel was worried about losing his job, so he was just swinging for contact, trying not to strike out. Then in September, once he no longer had to worry about being sent down, he started to feel loose at the plate and swing normally. Maybe if Ventura can instill come assurance and confidence in him, September can be a thing of the future. Wow, so you're saying that a manager who always defers to his veterans but constantly and randomly benches his rookies might be doing some damage to that rookie's confidence? Who Knew?

Everything onto a credit card. Credit cards paid in full once a month from bank account online.

Well, I had the Alcatraz twist about 30 minutes in advance.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 07:10 PM) well he's not great, but the whole 500-600 at-bats logic doesn't matter if we're completely devoid of passable talent at 2b at the major league level or nearMLB-ready level. awful to say, but lilli may be the best talent we have for 2b. but that is something you have to determine in spring training and then decide how many wins it's worth to you to stall Beckham's development/value Beckham ought to get the first month at least just to see if he can snap his head into the game, longer if he has a good spring. Same for Rios and De Aza. After that, start playing whoever is earning it.

No, but he should have the option to earn a spot if he substantially outplays Beckham, Rios, or De Aza.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 04:15 PM) Five missed Octobers in the last six seasons says otherwise. The current model is played out. Been played out. We can argue to death over why we've missed those Octobers though. If we had just drafted slightly better over that time period, if we had 1 extra bullet to fire, or we had 1 fewer trade blow up on us, that number could change hugely. Let's at least put it this way...for a team with the system where it has been the last 6+ years, the Sox have been incredibly successful. A minor imporvement to the system or a minor improvement to the trades that have been made, or even a minor improvement to our luck might well have put this team in the playoffs more than that. And that's not even saying anything about the manager for that time period.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 03:23 PM) I don't think JR and the fanbase have the patience for it....not after 2005. Of course, the argument could be made that with the World Series trophy already safely tucked away, the Sox should look at building a more sustainable model of remaining competitive than gambling/juggling/tinkering and rebooting in July every year. One thing worth considering though...that model might well be a lot more sustainable than we think. The Sox have managed to stay "Competitive" at some level for nearly a decade with that model, only drafting in the top 10 once. They've overhauled their roster repeatedly, and still wound up close to a pennant race every year. And for most of that time, they've had one of the bottom systems in the big leagues...they've just managed to pull their wins out of a different place, finding undervalued discards that teams were willing to give up for various reasons and turning them around. This model might be a lot more sustainable than you'd think. It might look pretty darn good if we pulled out either the Swisher or Jackson trades, or if 1 of Dunn/Rios/Peavy hadn't fully imploded, or if Quentin could have stayed healthy.

Wikipedia is now the biggest name out there planning to go dark on Wednesday in protest of the proposed internet copyright legislation sitting in front of Congress. Get whatever you need to research done on Tuesday.

So the problem is that international players have left Puerto Rico to go to other countries not covered by the draft. If we extend the draft to cover all countries, will they leave for the moon? This argument actually suggests that an international draft would be a great thing for Puerto Rican baseball, since players would stop having a reason to leave.

Comparing the Free Agents the Mets signed this year to Reyes's salary THIS YEAR is particularly foolish, since Reyes's contract is hugely backloaded, $10 million in 2012 and 2013, $16 million in 2014, and 3 years at $22 million before an option year/$4 million buyout.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 01:26 PM) No offense, but 3200/17-5 is nothing this year...he's vastly improved this year, but he's still a qb you're just going to ask to manage the game unless the situation demands otherwise (such as when trailing with less than 2 minutes remaining). And like it or not...the Giants D line and the Ravens full D would be much, much bigger challenges than the Saints line...and even beyond that, this isn't the Giants D that he faced earlier this season.