Balta1701

some parts of me will be tastier than others.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 08:11 PM) That is so ironic to hear, when everyone on the left has complained about the trillion dollars worth of war being this terrible waste of money. So which is it? Depends...are you willing to never again complain about government spending until we're back close to full employment? There was a fun meme running last week saying that the best thing that could happen for the global economy is an imaginary invasion threat by aliens. It would provoke governments into large spending programs on materials, bring a lot of people back into employement, and since aliens aren't a country...no one would actually have to die. Cutting back on defense spending now = fewer jobs. Cutting back on spending on education or infrastructure by the same amount = fewer jobs than if those cuts were in defense. If you tell us we need fewer jobs and the government has to be cut, then we may as well cut from defense, since that'll do less economic damage than if the cuts came from elsewhere.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 10:15 PM) Yea, everything's useless when it comes to defense spending. Everything. Let's go save Libya again. And let the Chinese just march over the entire world. Etc. Yup. We're American weenies that just throw money at everything useless. Yes. The Chinese are going to march over the entire world. Yes. I think you've just illustrated quite well why the defense budget should be cut.

That's a solid starting offer.

The thing to remember though...Terry Ryan had exactly 2 ridiculous benefits. He got the #1 pick in the right year to get a player who came up and hit while he was still GM (and then departed before that player's knees gave out), and then he also happened to hit absolute gold on a rule 5 draft pick. He also was the beneficiary of some really stupid trading by the Giants too. If we wanted to there's room to criticize him as well. Letting David Ortiz walk right before he turned into a (possibly chemically enhanced) hitting machine.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 09:13 AM) jonmorosi Jon Morosi #Tigers add Guillen, Turner, Rhymes, Dirks, Marte today. Is that Damaso Marte? If so, they also need to find Orlando Hernandez.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 03:51 AM) Oh they absolutely do. They have good hitting, a talented bullpen, and capable 2-4 starters. I don't care for the team long-term, and I think the Sox can win the division; regardless, this Tigers' team reminds me a lot of the 2003 Marlins. I still think either Boston or New York would tear through that pitching staff, sans Verlander, but he gives you 4-8 wins pretty much automatically (if they don't use him in relief on his throwing days). If Verlander is magnificent, finding 3 other wins should not be hard. If he struggles on short rest, so too will the Tigers. Fister, Penny, and especially Scherzer would need to step up. That will not be easy. Verlander, more than anyone else, will define Detroit's future. Well, maybe not more than Eminem. Having a 5 game series to win instead of a 7 game series would help. But let's not ignore the fact that Verlander won't be pitching against garbage when he goes out either. He'll be pitching against Captain Cheeseburger or against Beckett/Lester. And he'll be doing so on the road, probably both times. Against really good offenses.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 10:33 PM) And everything's really up in the air with their #2/#3 starter. You'd have to think they would go with Fister and Scherzer, although Penny and Porcello have had their moments all season long. too. Scherzer got his brains beaten in his last time out. But we don't have to pay attention to Scherzer getting destroyed by the Royals, we can just move on to someone else who's had a great 3 week stretch and use them as the reason why the Tigers are unbeatable.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 08:26 AM) What in God's name are you smoking? You know, he might actually be right...there's probably motivation for a number of moves that we don't understand, like managing the clubhouse. Ozzie Guillen made a lot of the same errors he makes now when he had winning teams, he just would have the players respond better. That's why I say Guillen can only be evaluated based on the team's performance. If he's making mistakes on the field, fine, as long as we're winning games. But this team has now underachieved for 3 straight years, in almost everyone's eyes. The fire that you see in a team like this year's Indians, or the 2008 White Sox, where they play like they're never out of a game, has been missing for a while. We go through months where the team is nearly unwatchable. That tells me that Ozzie Guillen is simply failing to do what he's supposed to be good at.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 02:37 AM) So we can't afford Quentin, so we'll go with DeAza, Rios and Tank. Well Rios ruins our team's chances in that scenario and along with Dunn n Jake we have a .500 team or a few games below again next year just like this year. So I do get it. Well, if we can't change the players...why not change the manager and coaching staff and see if we can find a combination that gets through to those guys? Otherwise we're just sitting there pouting.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 11:24 PM) My guess is the Sox would have to eat $20M. There's no reason to do this unless the total savings would be >$15 million. There's at least a nonzero chance Rios could pull together a good year next year if he works over the offseason and there's a new coaching staff.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 12:41 AM) Unless Sabean thinks Rios can turn it around...hmmm They've spent a decent amount of money the last couple years on guys they hoped would "Turn it around". Huff, Tejada, Renteria come to mind.

Quit telling me who I can and can't insult

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 08:29 PM) Doesn't mean they are producing. Of course. Once it's drilled it's an asset that can appreciate as oil everywhere else dries up.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 08:29 PM) Your numbers are off on F-22. Did we stop those after 100 useless ones and spend $35 billion on 0 F-35's? I have trouble keeping track of those many hundreds of billions.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 07:21 PM) I'm trying to figure out where it started that CQ was a clubhouse cancer. Probably when he hung around Brian Anderson, had anger issues, and broke his own hand in frustration.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 06:50 PM) Maybe he should have traded most of the team when the market would be higher. I had no idea how many bad contracts the Giants have. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/gian...assignment.html Since they won it all last year, that ought to give us some hope.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 03:53 PM) They're going to have a starting pitcher end up with 22-23 wins likely and a perfect closer on the year (at this point). If this was the Twins a year ago, everyone would be saying they have a great shot to advance to the World Series. Last years Twins team had the 5th best ERA in the AL and the 4th best bullpen ERA in the AL. This year's Tigers team has the 10th best ERA in the AL and the 11th best bullpen ERA. So yeah, if you added Verlander to last year's Twins team they'd have a great shot at the W.S., because that Twins team had a full pitching staff working their tails off around him. This year's Tigers team has Verlander and a bunch of weakness. Hell, that's the 11th bullpen ERA out of 14 and they're pitching in Comerica for crying out loud.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:59 PM) While I'll give props for his production, I tend to not like grumpy players. I'm not saying he's bad in the clubhouse since I'm not there. But i find it hard to believe he's helping the situation when it comes to team chemistry. The clubhouse walls were hurt a bit today, if that counts.

You will now be criticized for posting something from a blog.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:53 PM) Because certain people actually understand how payroll and contracts work? And yet you want a 3b upgrade?

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:50 PM) BTW, anyone notice how polished PK has become as a hitter? He's hitting to both sides of the field and does just as much damage without putting the ball in the seats. He should be a keeper. Yeah, dude's ridiculous.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:34 PM) and a SIERA 1.5 runs lower. Please tell me we can come up with an updated version of this one with a 2nd set of words having the acronym "NVADA"

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 31, 2011 -> 05:34 PM) Is there a single manager other than Ozzie that would put Rios in the #4 hole right now? I dunno, LaRussa does bat his pitcher 8th sometimes...

Something done by House Republicans gets called unprecedented! Drink!