Balta1701

06 civic here, haven't had a problem requiring service other than just put new tires on it last Friday. That was also the first year that the new model was introduced, just like this year's.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:18 PM) Not necessarily, I live within walking distance of Wrigley Field, very little has to do with the actual team. All they have to do is get some ex-Cubbies and the fans will go insane "Sandberg" as Manager and "Ghost of Ran Santo" as GM would be good enough. Its got a great location. 3 years ago everyone would have agreed. Now it actually seems different. Now that they have big underperforming contracts, had a few winning but disappointing years, they're actually seeing attendance erode, there's really a malaise about them.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:14 PM) I haven't googled yet, but I seem to have a strong recollection that the Soc Sec taxes paid by employees and employers is set for both disability and retirement funds. I've said before I wanted the programs fully seperate, and I seem to recall researching that at one point. If this is not the case, then where else would the money come from? General funds? if the trust fund for retirement runs out, then OASDI simply starts paying out what it collects in benefits, which at the time will be about a 20% benefit cut across the board (but most, if not all retirees will still collect more in benefits than they currently do).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:12 PM) Maybe. I haven't been able to find anything detailing those cut numbers exactly. If they aren't related to the state cuts, and instead are cuts at the local levels, it is a different story. Right now local cuts are typically making up 3/4 of government job cuts nationally, state cuts 1/4, and federal ones are just starting to kick in. Of course, funding for all 3 levels is very intertwined.

Serious question here...what is the relationship between the Social Security Disability Trust fund and the regular program, especially in terms of the benefit cap? If you raise the tax eiligibility, does some fraction get earmarked for the disability fund? How is the funding for each determined? Until this moment I didn't know that there was a separate trust fund for the disability portion of the program.

QUOTE (Papa Tru @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:06 PM) geez, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the NFL to take that team away from Al Davis.. what a fool The league doesn't have that kind of power. He's already beaten them in court on cases where the league tried to exercise power over him.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:02 PM) But aren't Beckham and Humber different situations? Is Gordon eligible for salary arbitration for 2012? No. Both of them are still pre-arb. This happens for Beckham because we waited until after June 1 to call him up in 2009, so he stays Pre-Arb for 1 more year.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 04:00 PM) Yeah, I figured it out (see above). Can the White Sox decline Frasor's option and still offer arbitration? Not saying they would do that, but could they? Or is it all or nothing, accept or decline the $3.75 million club option. He stays or becomes a FA? He's Type B? But I still don't see how they sell letting Danks and Ramirez go to the fanbase and claiming to be "All In" still... They can't. Impossible. Even if KW/Hahn pulled off a Sizemore/Lee/Phillips haul, it wouldn't be until 2013-2014 that some of the fans started to come back on board. Yes, the Sox can decline his option and offer him arbitration.

However, the Raiders don't have a 3rd round pick next year, they already traded that away, which means that the picfk they're likely to lose will be a comp pick for Nnamdi

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 03:55 PM) It still doesn't include Frasor. KW's history indicates he has almost always held onto acquired players to justify the trade return. One of the few I can actually remember him letting go was David Riske. Then the bigger increases for Humber and Beckham. Vizquel, Pena, Castro all need to be replaced....DeAza and/or Milledge, minor league reliever and Flowers, possibly Tyler Kuhn depending on how they use Lillibridge Santos, Lillibridge, Sale and Morel aren't accounted for. That could be something like $7.5-12.5 million (especially with Frasor, since he would be at $3.75 alone). No matter what you do, you're still looking at around $100-105 million with Buehrle. None of the savings will be plugged into added payroll in all likelihood. And there's zero veteran presence on the bench going that way. If Ozzie's around, not sure how much he'll like that. Caulfireld, almost everyone you mention there except Frasor is a minimum contract guy. He gets himself to legitimately $95 million if he signs buehrle but trades away the 4 he wants to move.

Actually his numbers for 2011 are pretty close, because he's subtracted Quentin, Danks, Ramirez, and Thornton, and that's nearly $30 million between them. He's missing about $5-7 million from minimum contract guys and the $3.5 mil for Frasor.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 02:31 PM) Getting rid of Danks, Quentin, Ramirez, and Thornton would bring an influx of talent in hopefully. It would also put the payroll at $79.25M which allows for Buehrle to be resigned and $15-20M to fill in holes. That's way more than Mark Buehrle would get in a competitive market bidding. And a ton more than he'd get if he limited himself to a couple teams.

Then you have little reason to complain about the state's post-tax-cut job losses, as you just told us that they're good and necessary.

Terrelle Pryor to the Raiders. 3rd round supplemental.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 01:57 PM) Danks is a proven commodity. Prospects are iffy. Look at what we gace up to others. You build around pitching and danks is a very good one John Danks leaving after 2012 if the Sox can't expand salary again is even more certain than John Danks's performance.

Over the 2 month period June-July, there were 15,600 government job cuts in the State of Illinois.

So...does getting a $7 mil a year discount on Weaver negate some of the Reagins badness from the Wells deal?

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 12:44 PM) I think Escobar is still only like 22 so I wouldn't mind leaving him in AAA another year to see if his bat can improve a bit more before relegating him to a utility role in the bigs AAA for another year is entirely the right move for him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 01:25 PM) His peak value is pretty much right now. This is not necessarily true. He's had a rough year and gotten closer to FA. A smart GM would have spent more to get him last offseason than they would now. He also could come out next year and have a 2 month stretch where his changeup is on all the time, making him look like one of the best starters in MLB and making that his peak value.

Seriously, we're in a "would you sign D1 to the Weaver deal" thread and we've got pimping of Toronto's GM?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 01:07 PM) He's the WSJ's lead economic editorial writer. John Chait lays into his "argument" pretty harshly. You'll notice that the Chait piece attacks "Moore's" argument, not the "WSJ"'s argument.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 09:45 AM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/break...0,5861355.story This has to limit Danks to 5 and $70/75, doesn't it? Of course, he COULD get more on the open market, but that's a pretty strong deal for the Angels....as many were suggesting Danks would get almost as much as what Weaver ended up with. I don't you can make many arguments that Danks has been in Weaver's league the last 2-3 seasons as a pitcher. Not consistently. Danks has been close to a 3 ERA at times (mostly in 2008), but sub 2.00? No way. One pitcher taking a below market deal ≠ all pitchers will take below market deals. This might well increase D1's free agent market value. The competition has dwindled in 2012 now.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 09:59 AM) So KW has no authority to decide who is on the roster? Does Ozzie have to sign off on all roster decisions and call-ups? If KW wanted Reed, but Ozzie said no, then that's it, end of story? If KW wanted Reed on the roster he can make it happen, but he cannot force Ozzie to play him. We saw exactly that story happen last year with Viciedo. Kenny put him on the roster, Ozzie benched him for a month.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 09:46 AM) Then if Reed is the best option w/ all things considered, KW needs to call him up and force Ozzie to use him. He still is the general manager. Kenny doesn't have that authority. That's the deal when only the owner can fire the manager, not the GM.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 09:38 PM) Decent risk for the Pirates, but I really like this deal. $14.75 million to lock up a guy who's made it to the big leagues for 9 years? People risk that level of money on guys who have never played an inning of minor league ball.