Balta1701

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:58 AM) when he left the cubs. He was a different player and body type in Texas. He didn't bulk up to sosa size but he definitely changed. The cubs traded him because they though Grace had more power. this also isn't an exact science where ever single case these things happen. this is still all my opinion not proof. But I'm pretty confident in what I saw back then as I'm sure many people involved in baseball were, including the writers. Being with the players in locker rooms and training rooms is an advantage. for example, seeing acne on guys backs that look like burns because is was so bad is not real common in guys in their late 20's, unless other things are going on. I certainly don't see that. Maybe he changed, but it's so subtle I can't fathom how you can clearly say "This player wasn't juicing because his body type didn't change". Especially when normal people add mass at about the same agem. Anyway...my point is, unless you saw Tetrahydrogestrinone's back in 1991 and verified that there was not an abnormal amount of acne, you've got at best a circumstantial case that the guy was clean. Given that he clearly was willing to do so later in his career, I simply choose to believe that the reason he was an athletic freak early in his career has a good chance of being chemical as well. And I have exactly the same amount of proof of that as people have that he was clean.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:49 AM) Cause if we add pieces to the puzzle, we won't be finishing in last place. It bugs the hell out of me that KC & Minn can add pieces to their roster this off season and so far we haven't. Adding Josh Willingham, Ryan Doumit, Jamey Carroll, and Jason Marquis to the roster while losing Kubel and Cuddyer earns compliments from you? Jonathan Sanchez, Yunieskey Betancourt, Jonathan Broxton, and Jose Mijares is an imposing set of additions? If either of those teams are getting better, it's because players on their current roster take steps forwards. Much like the White Sox.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:45 AM) As we stand right now, I see the Sox finishing in last place... My hope is to trade some huge pieces for top prospects You're going to be disappointed. The Sox have made it pretty clear that doing what you demand is not their plan.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:42 AM) That trade has yet to happen, and most likely will only be Turner. Yeah, that'd be a classic "Someone helping Theo out" price for garza. That'd be nuts.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:39 AM) Okay great, now Rizzo=Konerko. There are a ton of examples of inflated prospects due to that league, and so far Rizzo hit like s*** in the bigs. It was a decent pickup for a rebuilding team to see what he can give you, but it's not like he's a cant miss stud. If you apply the same logic, then getting Castro from the Padres was an absolute steal, because he's also a former can't-miss stud.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) To be fair, he's a career 31% shooter from beyond the arc. His career mark doesn't mean anything, given that he obviously became a better 3 point shooter to start last season (but then fell on hard times at the end).

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:33 AM) According to reports Garza to the Tigers is getting close. Plus the Rizzo trade was outstanding for them And according to reports the White sox were about to get Kyle Drabek from the blue Jays. "Getting a top prospect" doesn't mean anything if the guy doesn't turn out, and "Reports that getting a top prospect will happen" mean less than nothing.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:31 AM) The team on the north side looks to be bringing in 2-3 top 100 prospects in baseball.. You're giving them credit for something that hasn't even happened yet.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) We've 2 holes on our bench as we stand right now.. And this is normal in January. You don't run out and offer big money to backups to fill out the bench. You offer minor league deals in February to guys who can't find anyone to offer them a starting job.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:20 AM) I am more worried about our bullpen situation. We could possibly have 3-4 holes in the pen, cause Ohman is worthless. If any of our pitching gets injured, we are totally screwed. We just don't have the resources in the minors to replace people. I hope KW starts bringing people into this organzation Will Ohman is not worthless, Will Ohman is a solid 2nd lefty, LOOGY. He still held lefties to a .234 average/.677 OPS last year, he just had a manager who insisted that he needed to be able to get righties out as well. He's a very useful piece if used correctly, in a deep bullpen where you use him to get out key lefties more than anything else, and you hide him from tough righties. He ought to still have some trade value even, if teams realize they're weak against LH batting. We're going to be "Totally screwed" if anyone gets hurt. THat's the end result of last year's mess. We need a whole lot to go right to be competitive anyway.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:15 AM) You could roll the DoE's nuclear responsibilities into the DoD, but you'd lose all of the DoE national labs in the process. And especially with "Test ban" treaties, the national labs are vital to maintaining that arsenal. You shut down the labs, you may as well just dismantle the weapons. They simply cannot be maintained without the research and testing infrastructure.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:12 AM) Yeah there is, especially when he makes a good amount at a decent clip. He's shooting .277 from 3 and taking enough of them that it's making him currently have the lowest FG %age of his career so far. He shot around 27% from 3 in 09-10, but he only took 60 of them on the year, this year he's already taken 47. He needs to shoot the 3 better if he's going to take this many. There's no way around it, it's dragging down his game.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 10:09 AM) IMO DeAza is not a starting OF.. if DeAza is the starting CF than we need to sign a 4th OF. De Aza may not be a starting OF, but he absolutely deserves a shot to see if he is one. And right now, Brent Lillibridge is a solid option as a 4th OF, with a legit shot of moving ahead of Rios if he can repeat last year's performance somehow. You're correct that we need something in terms of backup IF. That may come from our system, but there's no need to rush on that, backup IF's can be found in February or even March if we decide that guys like Kuhn and Escobar aren't capable of handling that role.

Where do you get the idea that we need a starting OF? We came into this offseason needing to get rid of OF and we did that.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 03:34 PM) Sounds like he may have fallen into a river. Missing person. Reports now confirming that the body found was in fact the body of Coach Philbin's son.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 09:55 AM) Eh, the last game or two maybe. He was brutal the first week of the season. It may not seem like it, but he's shooting 50% from 3 on the season and 44% from the field overall (his career marks are 41% from 3 and 43% from the field).

If we're judging solely based on body type changes...I didn't even bring this name up first...when did Palmeiro's body type change?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 09:26 AM) The only real push for Rose was by the Steven A Smith types, and by people who thought we needed a scoring big man more than we needed a PG. Huh?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 08:26 AM) just to be clear, by you agree with his foreign policy you agree with pulling out of all international treaties (including NATO), eliminating all of our bases, and all future uses of military influence. Not just pulling out of Afghanistan, correct? And...you wnt to eliminate the fed, go to a gold standard, etc. Presumably there's an implied "Eliminate our nuclear arsenal" in there along with the "Eliminate the Department of Energy", although no one in the press has been intelligent enough to push the candidates on that one (you really can't maintain a nuclear arsenal without the DOE)

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 08:18 AM) Maybe AA is waiting on some other dominoes to fall, which in turn are waiting on other dominoes: Darvish (TEX), Fielder (TOR/WAS/TEX), Garza (TEX/TOR/DET). KW is beatable when he targets a guy in your organization and you say "Yes" to him before he has a chance to shop around and realize there are better offers for what he's trying to trade. That's how the Santos offer went down, that's how the Jackson deal went down. If you sit around and hesitate while KW has an offer on the table, then he might well get the chance to call other GM's and realize he can get an even better price for whatever it is he's trying to move. We kinda saw that with the Peavy hesitation/Deal...Hudson was in the first deal but not in the one that happened, KW pulled him out.

What the?

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 07:23 AM) @farrellball My source says Floyd to Jays will still happen Sigh. If this is gonna happen then AA better get his act together and pull the trigger before the Sox do somethig else with the guy he'd like.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:37 PM) Im not sure many "true" Democrats would vote for Paul (some of his stances are pro-life, extend tax cut on wealthy, wants to give Dr's who commit malpractice a tax credit, eliminate income, capital gains and death tex, etc). I personally find him more palatable than many of the republican candidates because hes not as focused on social policies. At least he has the guts to stick by small govt in most cases and at the end of the day I really do prefer a smaller federal govt, I just really dont trust the people who claim they are for it. It's the very specific small government though. For example, he has repeatedly attempted to itoduce "life begins at conception" laws at the federal level which would clearly compel abortion bans, which he also supports. He also is happy to support corporate rights over individual rights, for example, since I'm still waiting for a coal plant to pay me back for my lungs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:27 PM) If Rios can put up a 700-725 OPS and play above average defense (2009-10 version, not 11), then it's a huge plus. Whether he will or won't do that, only the Shadow Knows. I'd bet that he could still give an average CF if he cared, and an above average LF. Happily, we can put De Aza into cf and move rios where he ought to be effective, if someone can make him care.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 08:42 PM) I would disagree. One of the really accurate things in Canseco's book is that he made the PEDs popular in MLB. The only drugs prior to him in 86 or so were cocaine and amphetamines. There were probably were a few but there weren't many. At the time most players looked like normal people. Most didn't even lift weights. He wrote that he was stabbing McGwire's tuchus when Mac was a rookie in 1984.