Balta1701

Ziti would be good tonight.

Seemingly thanks to the possible revolution in Egypt, the markets have retreated from your guys' numbers, the S&P is down to 1275-ish.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 01:35 PM) Big and country strong Adam Dunn Big and country strong Jim Thome

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 10:33 AM) Yeah me too. Anyone interested in mypoints.com, let me know. It is especially kind to you if you do a lot of shopping on-line. I almost never buy anything through them and they're paying me about $100 a year.

It's an easy, indisputable revenue stream that doesn't require raising taxes. You can't beat it.

Very few people around.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 08:35 PM) I know what you meant. Honestly, other than Kershaw and a healthy Strasburg [i'm so bummed we won't get to see him this year], there's not a pitcher in the NL 25 and under that I would take over Gallardo. Might as well give you a few more possibles. Madison Bumgartner, Tommy Hanson.

Except for the fact that the West only has 4 players.

Link

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 09:41 AM) And I would say that the odds of everyone on this staff being healthy all year are slim and none. Once Peavy comes back there is a high probability that someone else will be even slightly injured (miss a start or 2) or need a break. Even Danks has blister problems flare up every now and then. If we really are "all in", Freddy is a great insurance policy to have and what a fantastic piece to have to rest guys and to help set up the rotation for the playoffs in September. All of our starters have proven to be pretty clutch at times, but I'm not sure that in a meaningful game in September that I wouldn't want "Big Game" Freddy on th mound to secure any playoff hopes. The real problem with signing a Garcia is...what do you do with him if all of your other 5 starters are healthy. If you can get him on a deal where you can option him to the minors, that's perfect, but he ought to be able to find better than that just by going to NL clubs. The other place to put him is the bullpen...but I don't think that works that great either. I noted earlier how I don't think he's a good bullpen fit with his health issues and with his history of needing a long time to warm up. Beyond that though, there are only 2 guys in the bullpen who can effectively be sent down to the minors, Sale and Infante, and frankly, I expect that both of them would outpitch Freddy as bullpen guys this year.

One more graph...this one just to shoot down any suggestion that Medicare is somehow in trouble because the population is getting older. Paying for that requires small policy changes. The real long-term trouble comes almost entirely from the fact that health care costs are growing at 10% a year above the rate of GDP growth.

link

This graph is a few years old so it doesn't show the financial crisis on it, but I think it ought to sum up why I think that Health Care costs are the #1, #2, and #3 priorities if you're serious about the deficit. (Vertical axis is %age of GDP. The non-Medicare budget has been shrinking as a fraction of GDP. The small expansion around 2005 was Bush's war. There's a 2009 spike on any updated version of this graph, because GDP contracted sharply. The rest-of-the budget line is flat because the CBO bases its numbers on the assumption that current policy will continue. Growing the defense budget at a rate greater than GDP growth, which has also happened, hurts that line, but only slightly.)

Study finds rampant painkiller abuse among former and current NFL players.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 11:35 PM) I'll use the Balta method here. So, what you are saying is... 1. Social Security is OK now but will break later, so who cares of we are borrowing from it and not fixing it. 2. Because interest rates are low now, that means the doubling of debt is no problem. 3. Small stuff isn't worth doing, and the big stuff is impossible. Did I get that right? Point of the thread: what would you do? I told you what I'd do, and you are telling me its not that way right now. Well, that's kind of my point. I'm saying what I'd want to change. And where are your actual suggestions? So far, I've seen you rip apart other ideas, but other than leaving Iraq and Afghanistan (which is happening anyway), I haven't seen you suggest any action. Social Security is not broken, and its entirely possible it won't break later. Interest rates are low now, so yes, the doubling of debt is no problem. The higher it goes right now, the more rapidly we're going to pull the economy out of the hole. Small stuff is only worth doing if you can justify why the program is bad. Cutting for the sake of cutting is silly policy. Don't make inapt comparisons as a reason to justify cuts; be honest and tell me why rural areas should have their services cut or why we don't have enough lead in our toys. Oh, and we're not pulling out of Afghanistan. Nice try. Solutions: Step 1: some version of an infrastructure bank to get people actively back to work while simultaneously improving infrastructure. This has been needed for years anyway. Step 2: in about 2 years, allow the Bush Tax cuts to expire. Step 3: Either pull out of Afghanistan or raise taxes by $100 billion a year to pay for it. Take your pick. Step 4: You need a complete health care system overhaul. The ACA was a start, but it didn't do everything. Some of the things Y2HH talks about would be nice; much more government imposition on the rates Medicare pays for prescription drugs, much more active management of the program's expenses from an outside panel. That said, even that won't do it forever, it's just another couple year patch, just like the ACA was. So, either we're going to have to accept much higher tax rates in about 20 years to pay for Health Care costs that go up by 10% a year, or we're going to finally give up and create the Public system that works everywhere else. Step 5: in About 10 years, re-assess where OASDI actually sits. If a small tweak is needed then, a small tweak can still be done. Step 6: yeah, make the small cuts you can. $75 billion from defense spending, clear up regulations, etc., but don't pretend that you're going to get more than a handful of cash from it, not only because of the politics protecting certain expenditures, but also because a lot of them actually do good things for the economy.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 10:15 PM) This may be the first time Ive rooted for the Knicks, its odd but feels strangely good. I felt really damn dirty about it too.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 01:41 AM) Im sure at one point they said a 5 man rotation would never happen or bullpens as big as they are currently... There's a limit though...the larger your rotation gets, the smaller the rest of your team gets.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:46 PM) Watching about every single Bulls game (except when the Hawks are on), I can't call Rose an average defender. The guy still has no idea how to play the pick and roll, which is going to be shoved down the Bulls throat in the playoffs. I haven't watched every single game...but I've definitely noticed a big difference in the effectiveness of teh P&R against the Bulls comparing the games I watched in Nov., when they were being torched, and the games I've watched recently, where they use it but it's not a big time option.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:49 PM) They are both one and two in sacks and points given up. They are also both top 5 in takeaways. Pittsburgh is better against the run. Green Bay is better against the pass. Pittsburgh has a scary safety with long hair, Green Bay has a scary linebacker with long hair. But...they were missing that scary long-haired safety for a chunk of the year.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 07:40 PM) Surprised this came so late. Their season has been over for weeks... Apparently their OL coach is the top internal candidate. I'm shocked about this too...because all the teams where Fisher is a likely landing spot (Dallas) have landed a guy already.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 06:28 PM) Well has it been justifiable? Are they actually worth that much? I mean, you essentially acknowledged that other players have been graded highly, but is it fair? I don't know that it is. Escobar had an OK year offensively, hit the ball well over a short time frame in the AFL, and suddenly he's the 2nd best prospect in the White Sox system? I think Viciedo and Morel have much, much brighter futures in the majors than Escobar does. If a guy is worth as much defensively as UZR says he is, then probably, yes he is worth that much. This is one of those areas though where I start questioning total faith in the advanced defensive metrics.

I'm at a place called Vertigo

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:37 PM) How many of those yards given up by GB are after they've gone up by 20 points and start playing prevent? Green Bay scored 24.3 points per game this year, Pittsburgh 23.4 points per game, so presumably...not that many more than the Steelers.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:30 PM) How are the defenses not comparable? You couldn't find two more comparable defenses. Pittsburgh's defense, especially run defense, is head and shoulders above the rest of the league. They're 1 and 2 in scoring defense, but pittsburgh is well ahead of GB in yards given up.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 04:42 PM) I was listening to their podcast and Goldstein said he takes position scarcity strongly into effect so that's why. I don't get it. I don't think he is anything but a .260., ML slap hitter with a great glove. Those guys are more prevalent than a 40-plus HR, .300 BA guy like Viciedo. Do analysts realize that he is still ONLY 21 years old? The weird thing is....260 slap hitters with great gloves seemingly have become fairly highly prized at the SS position, especially now that there are general defensive metrics so that you can confirm how good defensively a player is. A .260 hitter with a great glove pretty much describes Elvis Andrus and Alcides Escobar , and these guys have been viewed as very high level prospects. Both of them had minor league OPS's right around .700 and have hit .265 and .250 in the big leagues overall so far, with OPS's in the mid .600's.