Balta1701

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 04:47 PM) Plus, as I said in the Catch-All recently, never, ever, ever f*** with a geologist. In actual physical combat? Just aim for my knees.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 05:28 PM) Need more from the Yankees I think to make this work as a good Sox deal. Plus I think you answered my question to the other post I made. Thanks! It'd be nice to put one more other piece in there (that is presumably a not top 100 prospect), but this is about the level of return I'd expect for Matty, given his contract status and his lack of ability to close.

Montero not hanging on at C, blanked on his name.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 05:25 PM) There doesn't appear to be any great upside for the Sox. We trade a quality left handed relief pitcher - rated one of the best mind you - for a AA catching prospect? Maybe with another real good Yankee prospect we would be doing good, but it seems all we are doing here is dumping salary. That is something KW said we wouldn't be doing. He wanted impact major league ready players. He has an infatuation with the Yankees for some reason and has been fleeced before. He was still a top 100 in MLB prospect coming into the last 2 seasons based on BA's rankings

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 04:46 PM) Just saw his minors stats. You're right. I thought he was better than that given that he was ranked so high in the Yankees' system. He's supposedly their best defensive catching prospect, while there is question about whether the other guy will even hang at C.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:55 PM) Get rid of the DH. The ability to catch a baseball should be part of those high salaries. Not going to happen, nor should it. Not only because it gives a bunch of extra old-timers a chance to maintain contracts every year...some of us like watching the game with the DH. And some of us really like the fact that there is a strategic difference between the 2 leagues.

Bunch of random legal and political nuggets in this article.

MLB.com floating that the Pirates might put closer Hanrahan on the market if they're unable to extend him (which they'd prefer to do, but they are the pirates).

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:43 PM) I really like the idea of a young long reliever--either Stewart or Axelrod, and Reed, Frasor, Ohman, Crain, Thornton, and Santos. That's a pretty solid bullpen I could support. Once they start throwing in a younger lefty, it becomes worse in a hurry. I'll note again, I think putting Stewart in the bullpen this year is a terrible idea, worse than putting Sale in the pen last year. Stewart is desperate for innings on his arm. He's actually a converted reliever...he started off as a Reliever and then Toronto converted him to a starter recently. He's growing into the position and became one of Toronto's better lower-level starting pitcher prospects when we had him...but he still needs innings, desperately. Putting him in the bullpen, even for 1/2 a season, un-does every bit of good work Toronto did on trying to turn him in to a starter. Sale it was a setback of a season or two maybe...Stewart, you put him in the bullpen one more time and that is it for him being a starter, ever. You cut him down to 50 innings again, he will be 30 before you can get him up to 150.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:36 PM) I agree with you Balta, but don't forget we have a surplus in the OF including a large million dollar albatross non performer in CF we are keeping. The big league club definitely has a surplus of OF in the near term, but a defensive minded CF is always going to be something useful if you can mold him into a "Better than Rios" level hitter in another year or two. I mean, maybe there's a bigger plan for those roster spots that will emerge in the next 2 weeks. If not, he'd be the next guy on my list to protect, because I think he'd be the most logical one to draft if I were a bottom-dwelling team.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:34 PM) I think he'll look for 5 or 6 years, and if I'm the Sox I don't do that for Danks. I still think he's a greater than average injury risk, and is prone to inconsistency and dead arm periods. I wouldn't do 5-6 years for him either, but I have to challenge you on one claim...why do you conclude that D1 is a "Greater than average injury risk"? He's a guy who came up to the big leagues very early and has regularly just come out and pitched. He's never built up the number of innings we'd really like, but that's more a function of him never learning how to put a hitter away quickly than it is him missing starts. He pulled an oblique this year and that was the first year since 07 where he didn't start 32-33 games, and a "pulled oblique" doesn't strike me as the sort of injury I'd call "recurrent".

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:28 PM) If Gingrich wins or is within a couple points in Iowa, and manages to actually win NH, he's got a very good chance of winning the nomination. If the same person wins both IA and NH, I'd probably say the race is all but over, regardless of who wins them. Unless it was Ron Paul.

LOL, I start looking at team cap figures, and immediately find an article at NY Jets Cap.com from today analyzing whether the Jets could take on Peyton Manning next year. Almost if something motivated the author to write it last night...

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:19 PM) We really don't see Dan Snyder going after Peyton? Even if he really wants to...this one's gonna be tough for him. They're still close to the cap again this year, they've already got some decent commits for next year, I'm just not sure they can 100% swing that. Probably could, but it will be rougher on them than some teams, just a guess.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:20 PM) Thornton is gone. Are both of those guys lefties?

GOP-Pollster finds Mittens and Newt polling neck and neck...in New Hampshire. That'd be the epic disaster for Mittens. He's supposed to win that state by 40.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:13 PM) I guess, but it wouldn't surprise me if gets taken and plays decent for somebody next year. I'm iffy on this one. He does seem like he's got a decent shot at the big leagues, but I'd have to ask my scouts whether they thought he'd be too much of a drag on the roster having to keep him around the entire year next year. I think D2 is an excellent candidate to pick in the rule 5, because even if he doesn't hit well, he's supposedly a plus-defensive CF, which means that he can fill an almost daily role for someone coming in as a defensive replacement. He gives value to a team even if he doesn't hit.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 12:05 PM) I've always assumed they suffer from the same long-term problem that the Bears do: lose your HOF MLB, lose your defense. Still though, as they've had people move out, they've moved other stars in. Ngata is one of their big performers now, hes' not going anywhere.

I know I've said this before, and I don't have my own roster to manage, but if I were at the bottom of the league and I had room for a backup OF or a Utility IF, I'd totally be grabbing Danks or Kuhn.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 11:31 AM) I really don't like Flacco. They have a small window left with that defense so I figure they might as well go for it. That defense has been formidable for so long it just seems like it always is going to be. The bigger difference though is between "Not liking" a guy and "Willing to give up 2 full drafts to replace a guy". They may not be thrilled with Flacco right now, but I don't think they're at the "desperate to replace him" point yet. If Indy waits a year and tries to move him in 2013, maybe then.

Does that mean they added 2 of the guys who needed to be protected but skipped on Jordan Danks?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 11:21 AM) I thought I replied to this yesterday, but it must not have gone through. If an event that happened in 1919 is a main concern to not allow a franchise in a certain city, then I don't think there's much reason to worry about putting a team there. But then again, Pete Rose. The gambling issue still looms over baseball. And especially with the higher ups, it seems to loom a lot. I just can't imagine MLB being the group that takes the first plunge into Vegas. Maybe, maybe they'd do it if the NBA put a team there and it was a success. Of course, the fact that 1/2 of Nevada is in foreclosure makes putting a team there in the near future very unlikely, so even in principle we're talking 10+ years out.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 11:24 AM) How about Alexei Ramirez? I always hear TV guys say Alex-ei, but the PA guy at the Cell pronounces it Ale-say In 2008 when he first came over, he didn't correct anyone when they pronounced the X the first way. Then after his 08 season, he pushed a little and asked the team to say it the right way. Might have been the language barrier keeping him from asking in the first place. The Ale-say is supposedly the right way.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 11:13 AM) Not starting another thread yet, but if the Sox were to try to sign Danks to a multi-year contract now (if they were resigned to the fact that Buehrle was gone), what sort of contract gets it done? He's young and has shown that he COULD be an ace. Could the Sox even afford him at this point? If we've gotten to this point, I'd imagine we'd need to be in the range of 5+ years and >$75 million. If he gets to the FA market healthy and has a decent year this year, he'd be looking at Lackey-level money, which was 5 years, $82.5 mil when signed.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 18, 2011 -> 11:16 AM) Does the US export X-mas trees? I'm pretty sure it is the other way around, we have some domestic for domestic and some imported from Canada. That being the case, more X-Mas trees selling is more or less a zero sum game for the economy as a whole. The industries you are talking about tryingto beneift actually export goods, and make it harder for other countries to compete, neither of which really come into play in this case (and both of which are a different topic of discussion with regards to government involvement). Actually, I'd say that the main competition for domestic live Christmas trees is plastic Christmas trees, most likely produced in Asia, and then imported into the U.S. Probably with, like most things there, non-trivial levels of government support (at least through the currency manipulation).