Balta1701

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 02:57 PM) I'm thinking two things... Jenks grabbed the wrong link and ss2k5 didn't read the story he was quoting with hilarity. I figured the first part, but I sorta expected that 2k5 would have a legit response. Perhaps Obama's Libya actions caused the bus crash, but Bush could have prevented it.

Link

Ok, I'm lost, what does any of that have to do with a bus crash in Englewood?

No iPhone5 until the fall?

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 02:29 PM) Having said that, your main point is well taken - not wasting so many good picks on bad players could have made a "good" 10 years great. You know what? I don't think there's a team in the bigs, even legendary Boston, that can't say the exact same thing.

That's actually impressive. They wrote a whole article about how high-income earners are affecting state's revenue situation without ever acknowledging that having all of your income growth concentrated in the top 1%, while the remaining 99% stagnate or get worse, might be a bad thing.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 10:02 AM) Although you bring up some valid points, the fact is a strong farm system has two deliverables: depth for you MLB team and trade pieces. It´s not about depending only on homegrown players, but trading pieces you drafted for established players. You can´t do that if other teams don´t think you have enough to offer to deal with. The best organizations have a balance between homegrown, international, trade acquired, and FA signed players. Right now, the future of the Sox is showing too much dependent on FA´s to build a contender within budget. And although you're 100% right that you can't trade talent to other teams if you don't have it...let's look at the actual case study of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox have had, by all accounts, a bottom of baseball farm system for the last half-decade at least. You could have written this post in 2005-2006 and been just as accurate. Despite that, the Sox's minor league system has produced a fairly regular supply of players for the major league system. Although it hasn't outproduced Boston, it has been still producing big leaguers. Furthermore, it has given Kenny Williams ample ammunition to be the most aggressive GM in baseball in the trade market. Yeah, we're going to regret having dealt Gio. But otherwise, we complain on and on about how the weak farm system has prevented trades, yet KW still manages to pull more of them off than any other GM.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 11:56 AM) That's the major criticism of Joe Buck. He shows no emotion whatsoever. OTOH, you've got guys like Chris Berman, who screams "OH NO!" when Graffanino misses a ball. It's nicer to have bland than it is to have a guy rooting against your team.

Happy Birthday Fascist!

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 09:07 AM) That's true on the oil part, no doubt. I should have mentioned that. But I have no idea where you are getting the idea on the other stuff. Exit strategy? We haven't entered, for one thing. For another, the goal itself tells you the exit strategy: pressure continues to mount on Qaddafi until his administration breaks (which it is already doing). Then the air raids stop. The obvious step after that will be the humanitarian aspect, which they have stated as well (though perhaps not as clearly as they should have). As for planning for things going wrong, what exactly do you mean? If by going wrong you mean Qaddafi somehow overcomes this and then starts taking back more areas by force (which is pretty unlikely), then you have to address that situation as it comes. Now ask yourself the same questions about Iraq, since you so enjoy making that very loose comparison. Lack of exit strategy? Certainly, they not only didn't have one, but hell they didn't even have a middle strategy for taking control of the country. And as far as things going wrong, it wasn't that they needed specific plans for every possible outcome, because that's not practical. The problem was that they assumed everything would go perfectly, even when most of the international community was sure it wouldn't. Here, I see no such assumptions, but more importantly, even if it does go wrong, the consequences are much, much less severe than in Iraq because we didn't invade. If we were willing to begin launching air raids in Libya (which we wouldn't be doing if it wasn't for their oil supplies, even you admit that)... Do you really think we'll allow that country to endure a period like what Egypt is going through right now...constant riots, no recognizable government, fairly violent debate over the direction of the country? Esp. if it disrupts the oil exports? Anyway...it's interesting how "breaking Qadaffi's military" became the goal of this humanitarian operation almost immediately, and how the army is providing the rebels with close air support while denying that it's providing close air support. It's also interesting that people, including you, continue to say that the goal is to remove Quadaffi, but that is exactly my point about the lack of an exit strategy.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 08:53 AM) And really, this has next to nothing in common with Iraq. The similarities begin an end with: US military involved in campaign in EMEA country run by a bad man. Everything else is night and day. So please, stop with the comparisons. Except for the large, noteworthy fact that neither one of those campaigns would have existed without black gold. (And anyway, there's still a lot more valid comparisons. Lack of exit strategy. Lack of planning for things going wrong.)_

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 12:39 AM) Honestly, I just think back to the '06 offense and how dominant it was for most of the season with Thome at #3. Now we've basically got his clone and I want him at #3 as well. Not that worried about the string of righties as CQ, for whatever reason, is much more potent against RH pitching than he is LH pitching. Again, I gotta step up to defend big Jim here. Adam Dunn is a very good hitter. Big Jim was a ridiculous hitter. Jim Thome was one of the best offensive producers for a decade. Adam Dunn's best season would be, for Jim Thome, a down year.

With MLB TV and MLB extra innings options...just complain about the blackout rules. Seriously.

10 wins against the Twins.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 12:55 AM) I've got my fingers crossed that Marquez is claimed, but sadly, I doubt it. Why? He's not on a big contract, and if no one claims him, he's a free agent. There's no real reason to expect him to decide to return to the sox.

KW Jr with a base hit

Worth pointing out that Caterpillar's effective tax rate paid to the state of IL is 1.4%? (only link I have is a blog, feel free to dispute #'s).

OHman gives up a 3 run HR

KW JR is in.

Lillibridge singles in Quentin, 4-1 Reds

3 run HR by Stubbs, 4-0 Reds.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 04:33 PM) Tempering your excitement regarding Danks? That's like saying you have concerns. He's one of the three sure things on this team that I don't worry about at all. Thornton and Dunn being the other two. How are you not a little bit concerned about Matt's elbow?

Gomes hits a long HR, 1-0 Reds.

Ever think that the numbers you're citing as confusing might be linked? For example, you cite M-56's low K rate, but then cite both a low LD %age and a low HR/FB %age. Hypothetically, let's say that a few balls that typically would have been strikeouts in a previous year wound up being hit, but only hit weakly, such that they turned into a lot of extra popups. That would accomplish all the numbers you're talking about, and there'd be no reason to expect it to renew again this year.

Let's be clear though...the No-Fly zones over Iraq were established by the U.S. while citing U.N. resolution 668, which condemned Iraqi violence against the Kurds. It did not explicitly authorize no-fly zones, but it was taken to do so by the U.S. and allies when they decided to establish the NFZ's. it's more complicated than just saying "no".