Balta1701

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:58 PM) Are you being purposely obtuse? the development of nuclear weapons has been the strongest deterrent for attacks from other nations of the past century. If Libya had indeed continued to develop them in the 00s they would have been met with sanctions following the uprising but they most certainly would not have seen an airstrike against. Qaddafi was mad, and the airstrike was carried out by a number of countries. Libya didn't need to hit the US navy, or sell it to terrorists to smuggle into the united states or whatever other absolutely bizarre, albeit creative, scenarios you created, they could have merely threatened to use nuclear weapons against nearby states or allies. In what cost/benefit analysis do you see NATO going thru with an airstrike if it carried the potential of a nuclear attack. Would than not obliterate the argument that it was to protect human life. The nuclear weapon cannot be seen if not without the major deterrent effects it provides, in addition to respect. What nearby states or allies did Libya have the ability to actually threaten?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:54 PM) Nuclear-weapons-as-invasion-deterrence isn't where I'm taking exception, btw. It's that this lesson is learned from Libya instead of, say, Iraq. There you go. Nuclear weapons prevent a massed, focused, large scale invasion. They may make airborne decisions much more complicated, but they do not necessarily prevent them if the country has no means to directly respond.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:39 PM) Hey balta do me a favor and tell me how many countries with nuclear weapons we've conducted a multilateral attack on in the last century? How many countries without nuclear weapons have we attacked? Where would Libya deploy them?

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:45 PM) I read somewhere that's he's been learning a cutter and that has lead to his drop in stock. The writer suggested that if he dropped his cutter he'd rebound. I don't know that there's a team which does a better job of teaching a cutter than the Sox.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:39 PM) Well, the good news is that McGuire looks like a very solid young arm. The bad news is that Drabek seems to be a failed prospect. However, both are under team control until at least 2018, I believe. Hopefully Coop can pull a "Gavin Floyd" on Drabek and turn around a failed Phillies top pitching prospect. Between Castro, Stewart, and Drabek, we'd be putting a whole lot of faith in Cooper's fixems for this rotation.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 04:44 PM) Centerpiece of the Halladay trade wasn't he? Correct. The Phillies wouldn't give him up for Cliff Lee either.

It's not K0na

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 02:38 PM) I certainly didn't imply that he would deploy nukes on his own people. Then there's really very little method for him to deliver them. Can't hit the U.S. Navy off shore without damaging yourself and risking losing the weapon, and shipping them in terrorist methods to the U.S. seems like at the very least an arduous, multi-year process, not exactly the easiest combat tactic.

That's pretty much exactly what the article argued.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 03:28 PM) You're really Balta-ing this conversation. I didn't say that someone would write an entire article about it, but if there are rumors out there that this happened, you don't think a single line in one article by the dozens of baseball writers in Chicago or a twitter post or anything would appear? There needs to be more graphs.

In ARod's personal version, he hollowed out a syringe shaped hole in the middle 43 pages.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 02:23 PM) lol, Humber bringing an Ubaldo-like package. Really? Why would you trade him otherwise? Incredibly friendly contract, put up spectacular numbers last year, just wore out towards the end, under team control for 4+ years.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 02:18 PM) Humber will be just entering his arb years in 2013. If the team is out of it and going no where, and if someone blows you away, yes. If Humber is pitching anywhere like he was last year, then the price for him ought to rival Ubaldo Jiminez. If he's not pitching as well as he did last year, then there's no real good reason to move him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 11:13 AM) Dunn doesn't seem like a media type at all. I can't even remember anything from an interview with him last year. Some guys don't the need to dryhump a microphone anytime it is in the room. Every third word when he gives an interview is "um", if I recall correctly.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 01:26 PM) The minute he could be moved with the Sox paying no more than half his salary, he will be gone. I still struggle to see the Sox eating $20 million.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 01:51 PM) I think EJax signs for way less per year than that. I think he's going to wind up in the 5 years, $60 million range before this is all done.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 11:05 AM) I don't know that you can say anything for sure. There'd be a pretty strong incentive to get in there and secure that stuff before the uprising caused a lot of it to slip away. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Iraq, and even more so, it was not the case in Libya, where a whole bunch of shoulder launched SAM's have vanished into who know's who's hands. The right comparison would hopefully be something similar to Pakistan...where the army realizes that they can't afford to have those things deployed in a civil war, and the Army holds its grip on them as a way to maintain its own power during the transition.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 10:40 AM) It would prevent that whole NATO airstrike plus CIA training campaign thing you seem to be forgetting about. "Using nuclear weapons on your own civilian opposition" doesn't seem like a practical strategy for holding on to a country. Deploying nuclear weapons against the Eastern part of his country might have prolongued his rule slightly, but it also would have destroyed it, since there's a whole lot of oil and economic resources in that area...and "Quadaffi nuked my parents" is probably a pretty good reason for you to lay down your arms if you're in the army. Nuclear weaponry would prevent a large, massed, Iraq-style invasion, but at some point we're all going to have to agree that would be completely nuts.

Forbes Magazine on "Why Best Buy is slowly going out of business"

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 10:25 AM) I would play him extended minutes in blow out games so he can start hitting some shots. He needs to get hot, that would take the 2nd unit to another level, especially with Watson out. Maybe Korver has just hit the wall and lost his touch?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 10:14 AM) I think you're undervaluing what Peavy would be worth if he pitches like a legit front of the rotation starter. Once you get to the trade deadline, the price to acquire players usually increases, especially for starting pitching. Look what it cost the Cardinals to acquire Jackson (mid rotation starter) and some relief arms. GMs are willing to pay a premium at the deadline if a player is believed to help them make and/or succeed in the playoffs. With the lack of quality SP, the price is always crazy. We wouldn't have to eat much (if any for a team like the Yankees) of Peavy's salary to get something of decent value for him IF he's pitching like a #1 or #2 starter. Remember, if you count the option/buyout, Peavy on July 1 is still going to have like $12 million remaining on his deal for the 2nd half of this season. If he's pitching like Jake Peavy 07, you might get a team to take on most of that, but I wouldn't expect much of value in terms of talent alongn with it, just because of the risk of injury recurrence. But if he's pitching well enough to be moved, and the Sox are genuinely noncompetitive, and the Sox can save $5 million out of that pool, that's $5 million that could go towards a legit upgrade next season and maybe even add in a piece. Would require the Sox to chip in a large chunk of that $12 million remaining, but it'd be smart business.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 09:22 AM) You sure this line of thought isn't incredibly outdated? I know it USED to be that way, but guys seem to defect with regularity now. Alexei peaked in his first year? At least offensively, absolutely. .792 OPS, hasn't touched .750 since. Defensively he didn't, because he was playing 2b and it took him a while to become a really good SS.

I'll wait for a Pt answer...is that the sort of problem that might be related to being overweight/out of shape?

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) I think you missed the sarcasm. If that was sarcasm, then yes. Totally.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 09:10 AM) With the Sox, operate with the assumption they aren't picking up salary. It has happened about twice in the last 10+ years. You have to admit that sticking to a "The Sox aren't picking up any portion of Peavy's remaining salary" rule this season would be nuts. If the Sox are below .500 at the break and Peavy has pitched well enough that another team will absorb $3-4 million of what he has left, maybe even just the buyout, and give something back that might prove org. filler, the Sox would be crazy to hold him. That's "Fire everything!" level stupidity.