Balta1701

If anyone thinks that Pujols won't clear a $250 million+ contract if he stays healthy this season, you're kidding yourself.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 11:33 AM) LOL, yeah, that GOP will be our budgetary savior! Not like those evil Liberals! If we cut taxes more we can make up the difference.

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QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 04:21 PM) Ugh via I'm going to take this report as good news. At least as much as one can in a situation like that one.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 08:38 AM) New offer or is that what he turned down? Option 3: offer that someone "leaked" to the press to make the player seem like the greedy one.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 02:02 AM) Are you facebook creeping soxtalkers? The only ones who ever facebook stalk me are the Republicans and the Texans...sigh...

One more good one. Somehow fitting that the cell phone plays another important role.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 06:01 PM) You think they're bad? Excellent rotation. Above average bullpen. ALthough they added Scott Downs, their bullpen was actually below average last year. Their rotation is certainly above average, but after reading what you said about the White Sox starting staff, I think you might lose your mind if Scott Kazmir was the Sox's 5th starter option. I'm not sure I'd apply the word "excellent" just yet.

The NY Times with a piece on how many years of planning and really, practice, it took before the organizers finally pulled off the overthrow. Several years of work, attempts at protests that were broken up, increasingly sophisticated organizing techniques, culminating in the final protest happening in response to the events in Tunisia, with all the added craziness of the 20 planned marches and the secret march that made it into the square.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 05:33 PM) That falls under the "preferred programs" clause Yeah, but the difference with the DOD is that it always falls under both sides' preferred programs.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 05:29 PM) Both sides full of s***, using it only to attack their opponents' preferred programs and praise their own while not really caring about the budget at all? Add in the corruption that is the DOD and you've got it all covered.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 05:12 PM) If anyone wants to see the current state of laughable party-gutter politics in Congress nowadays, just look at the reactions to Obama's budget. Derision from the left AND right - which is fine if it makes any sense. But the descriptions people are spewing are just utterly ridiculous. You've got Lefties like JJ Jr and some liberal organizations saying that Obama is promoting radical right wing agendas, and GOP folks saying the exact opposite, all with a straight face. Its a little terrifying, really. I'm personally partial to Senator Jeff Sessions's statements yesterday, on CNN. Here he is being asked if the $1.1 trillion in 10-year cuts proposed by the President's budget is a good starting point. And here's Senator Sessions a few moments later in that same interview, praising the Republican budget for...saving $1 trillion in spending over 10 years. I think that sums up the budget debate well.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 03:11 PM) And if they resign Pujols, they can probably kiss all of the free agents they have good-bye because they will be paying an additional $15 million a year or so for the same thing they already had, if not less as he gets older. We're just making the case that the Cards should have been smart and offered him 10/$250 about 3 years ago. Now that they've let it get to this point, we can just go back and forth; it's a no-win situation for them. Lose Pujols, wind up rebuilding with a weak team and little minor league help, plus probably lose a good chunk of ticket sale revenue from an angry fanbase. Sign him, and handicap the franchise financially if his performance declines.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 03:06 PM) It never hurts to point out how wrong everyone who was beating the drums for the Iraq war were. Again. Because I don't think this country is any less susceptible to the same bulls***, different location today. If it makes you feel any better...the guy running the program where we sent people to Egypt so that the Egyptians would torture them until they said "Yes, Iraq planned everything" was Omar Suleiman.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 02:56 PM) They wouldn't have to rebuild at all though. They'd still have a very nice rotation in place and have a lot of extra money to work with to fill Albert's void and still be able to fill whatever else they need to at the time. Chris Carpenter is also a free agent after this season. They'll still have Wainright and Garcia but Wainright gets more expensive. They're paying Kyle Lohse $12 million in 2012. Ryan Franklin is a FA after 2011. Jake Westbrook gets $8.5 million in 2010. Wainright, Garcia, Lohse, and Westbrook isn't what I'd call a "very nice" rotation. It might be serviceable.

NSFW and giggle-filled.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 02:44 PM) He can do what he wants. He also has to be prepared for people's response for asking for an ARod contract, and possibly leaving the only place he has ever played. If I am a franchise in St Louis's place, I am not about to cripple my team for something like 5 to 10 years to sign Albert. A place like St Louis cannot afford to have something like half of their team salary wrapped up in two players, and still be a viable team. There's a lot of things worth replying to here. 1. Won't the Cardinals be crippled for 5-ish years if they don't sign Albert? 2. If he were to leave...I have difficulty thinking that the response would be a Lebron-like response, barring a TV special of some sort. Leaving for more money is one thing; people would be just as angry at management for not offering him the deal that he got elsewhere as they would be at him for taking it. 3. (A question I can't answer)...how much does team revenue drop if that team falls back to the back of the division for 3-4 years while they rebuild, loses LaRussa, and has to deal with Holliday's contract being their big mistake? They don't have the pieces to do a rapid reload if they lose Albert unless they sell Wainright, Carpenter, and Rasmus.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 02:31 PM) Six? We don't have one. We don't even have half of one. I will concede that if Peavy only misses a month or so we should be alright. Anything more and it's 2004 all over again. How good were the 5th and 6th starters of the 8 playoff teams last year? Rangers got 1/2 a season from Harden as their 5th starter and traded for a better one because he was so bad. Twins had 28 starts and an ERA of 5.5 from Blackburn. Yankees had Vazquez and Burnett as their "4th and 5th starters" based on performance. Had to use Dustin Moseley for 10 games. Rays legitimately went 5 deep but James Sheilds had an ERA over 5. Teams are still winning without going 6-deep, or even 5-deep very strongly.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:33 PM) How about best movie sequel/prequel? Sure, Godfather 2 and Empire Strikes Back are probably shoe-ins for the top spots, but it's still sort of a changeup of topics. I'd imagine we'd really struggle beyond about #20 on that. Best Guitarists would be fun. I think we had a thread on that at somep oint.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:37 PM) He's largely inconsequential and unoriginal and just goes along with Thomas and Scalia. The politicization of the SCOTUS is a different issue than Thomas's worthlessness. I disagree. They're the same issue to me.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:41 PM) Have you heard what their offer is? I haven't seen it anywhere. And part of the answer to your question about the 5 year plan is that he supposedly wants 10 years. All we know is that the 2 sides are so far apart in concept that there's been almost no reason for them to talk, and that Pujols wants an A-Rod style deal.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:22 PM) Then why go through all this drama if it isn't about the money? If he is really that ethical and enjoys it so much he could have found a middle ground. Why is it Pujols's fault that the Cardinals want him to take a discount? If he's worth that much to that franchise, if he's so important that they've built their whole 5 year plan around keeping him, why wouldn't they step up and do what it takes to keep him?

QUOTE (PeavyTime @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:20 PM) They were the lower seed against Cleveland and Orlando and dismantled both teams then took the Lakers to 7. Home court isn't much of an argument. The Lakers were just a bit better. The Celtics last year are exactly the same as this year's Lakers, no sense beating your head against the wall for this ridiculous regular season. And if it comes down to Lakers/Celtics in the finals...you bet your tail that the Celtics are going to be happy to have game 7 at home. Rivers has I believe said so publicly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:24 PM) Some people see abortion as murder anyway. Thing is, the court system doesn't, so this won't fly. I know that...I'm just asking...in terms of the law itself, if a state chose to legalize murder, could they do so? They'd be disagreeing with Federal laws and the Feds could take actions to respond in carrot and stick style, but the Feds can't force a state to prosecute a crime if the state chooses not to, can they?