Balta1701

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 02:49 PM) I think they might sign a 1 RHP and LHP for the pen, and plug Carter and Infante in for the other spots. I feel like I'd be really surprised if Carter got a shot to start the year. I'd be equally surprised if Infante didn't. That said, they may be that strapped for funds that they roll the dice on him.

I feel like I stopped being surprised by these sort of content-lecture memos from them about 5-6 years ago.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 02:46 PM) Sox have a new marketing slogan for 2011 already. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2010/12/09/whi...-and-billboard/ I assume it's "The Kids can play 2"?

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 02:41 PM) Which is negated by the 3.5M we are getting from the dodgers for Pierre. B-R has that included in their list though.

Why the Democrats in Congress don't like this deal in 1 graph: In case you can't read the caption; the balls represent the size of the tax cut given to each income level; low incomes at the top, high incomes at the bottom. The 3 columns are: Democratic plan, Republican plan, Obama compromise.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 01:11 PM) I like the Angels if they are able to pick up a Adrian Beltre. They will probably go hard for Soriano too, but If I were them I'd see what I could do to pull Justin Upton. Even with Beltre and Soriano, I'd say they're still at best in a dogfight for that division with the Rangers, and maybe the A's, right now. They've really been hurt by their prospects not turning into the All-stars that they looked like.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:55 PM) So are you saying that you wouldn't deal Dayan, Flowers and whatever scrub for Broxton and maybe another piece? It depends on what you mean by "another piece".

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:52 PM) I'd move anyone for the right offer, I'm just afraid of trading him for far less than what we should. Unfortunately...if we move him now, I think that's the likely result. His ceiling is a more powerful version of Vlad Guerrero, but if you move him now, you're moving him as a blocked player with a fairly low probability of hitting that ceiling.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:46 PM) I think it's too early to say he "belongs" there though. I absolutely think he needs/deserves more time dedicated to one position for a full year before we can make that judgement. And, even if it is two years, he'll still only be 23 and we'll have 3 years left of control on him. I could absolutely see a scenario where he and Konerko split time in 2013 because PK starts to falter. The reason why we think that is just body type. It sounds a lot like he's the sort that will be built but have some weight problems over the years. Even with his cannon on the right side, that's going to make handling any other position difficult because it'll limit his mobility. Oh, and a tradeable asset with value sitting at Charlotte for 3 years? That doesn't sound like the Kenny Williams I know.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:43 PM) Why? You're not alone, a lot of people feel that way. I think I'd say because he belongs at 1b/DH and it will be 3+ years before the Sox have a role for him.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:42 PM) Yeah, major league LF in 2012 would be a great goal. A wonderfully Juan Pierre-less goal indeed. If everyone repeated their 2010 numbers, he'd be a lot more likely to replace Quentin.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:41 PM) I do too. He's young enough where using him in the bullpen for a year shouldn't really hurt him. And if we're "all-in" for this year, having him at the back end of the bullpen gives us the best chance to win. Actually, it certainly can hurt some guys. He's been adapted to working 150+ innings (albiet in college) the last couple years. Dropping back to 60 could mean that it takes several more years to build his arm back up to starter level, or could also mean that he comes out as a starter the next year and something really goes wrong. However...frankly, it's a crapshoot. I worry most about the 150-60-175 innings path, because that's gotta be crazy on the arm, but some guys can take it and some guys can't, and I have no idea how you'd predict in advance.

Well, tis the season to forget about threads.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 12:36 PM) Aramis Ramirez is big and made huge midcareer strides defensively. Viciedo has the arm. He's 21. I'm not promising anything but I'm also not seeing minor league time as rotting just b/c i'm impatient. On this one I'll agree...he hasn't had nearly enough time at any position to judge his long-term defense at that position. Especially since he bounced around between 1b and 3b last year and then spent a long time sitting on the MLB-bench. I don't think he's a 3b long term...but if you went out and bought him a 3b fielding coach who's job was to do nothing other than work with Viciedo on his fielding at 3b this year, I bet you could make him a decent option within a year.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 09:59 AM) Of course it would have! Like I said, lets spend 10 trillion and just pay everyone a salary. Unemployment solved! We didn't FIX any of the economic problems we have, but we sure created jobs didn't we? No, the output gap is not $10 trillion in scale, it's still a couple trillion in scale. And considering we went from losing hundreds of thousands of jobs per month to at least steady, yeah, I'd say we fixed a good chunk of the economic problems.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 09:33 AM) Carl Crawford, ages 34, 35, 36 will be making somewhere in the region of 20.3 million bucks per year. Those are going to be hilarious years. I think the Red Sox are getsing close to the point where they realize that they can count those seasons as net loss/writeoff seasons if they can win a WS or two in the first 4 years of the deal.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 09:16 AM) They've been so under the radar this offseason that it wouldn't shock me if one of those mystery teams was the Twins. Just a hunch, though. I'd be 100% absolutely stunned.

The DREAM act passed the House last night. Now on to its sad death in the Senate, to the dismay of the armed forces and the economy.

Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 08:54 AM) I figured the emergence of Gardner would preclude that from happening. I did figure the Red Sox would be in on him, but their trade for AGon made me think they would shy away from handing out two nine-figure deals in such quick succession. Having a decent player coming up at a position usually never prevented the Yankees from going after the big money guy.

The Royals are so overloaded at 1b though that Viciedo really isn't worth that much to them. Butler is already there, with Ka'aihue there as well, and Hosmer on the way up and killing the ball, Viciedo would be their 4th 1b. 3b isn't really that open for them either; take a look at how they already moved Gordon. And consequently, moving him to the OF isn't really an option either.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 08:48 AM) Am I missing something? I thought Bartlett was traded to the Padres??? You're not missing something, although I'm reading this morning that the Bartlett deal may fall through.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 08:45 AM) Yeah, yeah...good call, Balta. As late as 7pm Pacific last night, most people seemed to think Crawford was going to get screwed because the Yankees and Red Sox were not going to be big players for him, but rather, just bit players to make sure the other didn't get a steal because of lack of interest. Surprise, surprise. If you want to brag to me that I was wrong, I came into this offseason 100% convinced that Crawford would be a yankee.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 9, 2010 -> 08:44 AM) I didn't even notice it was for that darned Bartlett. Great, another Piranha back in town...coming off a down season, of course he'll end up being an MVP candidate again next year. However, on grass, Bartlett's game isn't quite as effective IMO. Interesting they're going away from power in Hardy and back to their old SS. So that leaves the new Iguchi for 2B, Bartlett at SS, Mr. 2nd half ROY at 3B...not altogether bad, but they still have to find at-bats for Cuddyer, hope for a rebound from Span and pray that Kubel and Young don't play any worse defensively. Of course, Cuddyer could end up at 1B with Thome DHing depending on Morneau's status. Huh?

Well, I guess there was something unique, new, and interesting in those Wikileaks cables.