Balta1701

QUOTE (Real @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 01:16 PM) LOL its for LINEBRINK!!!! Please tell me you're not kidding and add a source. PLease?

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 01:11 PM) I need to take time to read the Science article, but the Loom blog points out something to keep in mind. I'd bet there's a reasonable chance they actually do exist as As-rich bacteria in nature, if the chemist who presented yesterday is worth his salt. He argued quite convincingly that in a normal DNA chain, anything bonded with As instead of P is a particularly weak link and leaves the chain easily severed, requiring repair. The suggestion I got was that this substitution and weakening of P-rich structures was the main mechanism of As poisoning in normal life. Getting around this problem would probably require some mechanism by which either the chain is strengthened/protected by another cellular component, or a mechanism by which breaks are rapidly repaired so as to not become systemic and kill the organism. Both of those seem to me to be adaptations that would require significant expenditures of energy to maintain. As such, if the bugs weren't living as As-rich bacteria in nature, there's no reason for them to maintain this adaptation over multiple generations; it'd be a large selective disadvantage because it'd be such a large waste of energy.

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 12:45 PM) Does anyone realize how much this guy sucks with runners in scoring position?? Isn't that a big indicator of how good a hitter really is? He has a career .902 OPS overall, and a career .890 OPS with RISP. He had a bad year with RISP in 2010 and a great year in 2009. So yeah, that's an indicator of how good of a hitter he really is.

One thing worth noting...Sale has pitched about 160-ish innings each of the past 2 years. If he's in the bullpen, that backs off to 60-70. The general rule is that pitchers seem to get hurt a lot more if they jump by more than 25 innings/year (the Verducci effect). Putting him in the bullpen could set back his development in terms of throwing innings by a fair amount. If you put him in the bullpen, you better be ready to keep him there, because there's a 50/50 shot he'll never leave.

Don't remind us.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 12:59 PM) Which they did in this case, but then after its all done, you're supposed to also turn off the methadone. And especially don't give them the super-heroin, like they did in this case.

Julian Assange fired from IT job at the Pentagon.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:47 AM) It's the 23rd pick, and the Rays would get that one since Soriano has a higher Elias ranking. Nats would get our 2nd round pick. Wherever it goes...our first round pick is already gone. If we signed Soriano now...all we'd lose is the 2nd round pick.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:44 AM) We would lose another pick if we signed Soriano I wouldn't have wanted to lose the 19th pick for Soriano, but I'll tolerate losing a late 2nd round pick for Soriano and the 19th pick for Dunn.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:40 AM) IIRC, Rizzo confirmed it was Viciedo they wanted, but KW said he wasn't available. This was on B&B the week after the deadline. Wasn't it Viciedo + Hudson or Viciedo + Jackson?

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:24 AM) Andrew Miller got non-tendered. Talk about a guy that Cooper would love to try and fix. If we got him, Hawk won't shut up about his Nintendo stuff. If Thornton's moving into the closer's spot, he's worth a tryout as that bullpen 2nd lefty.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 09:15 AM) I'd like to see the Sox take a flyer on Lastings Milledge since he was non tendered by the Pirates and will only be 26 at the beginning of the 2011 season. He was the 12th overall pick in the year he was drafted and could still blossom and he plays a decent RF and has good speed. Shouldn't be expensive. One nice side-benefit of signing Dunn is that we don't need a separate backup 1b; in a pinch, even if Dunn is at the DH spot, he can be moved out there. Saves a bench spot somewhat. But...a 4 man bench out of that crew is Castro, Vizquel, De Aza, and Teahen, and I see no reason to think that Milledge is obviously a better potential turnaround case than De Aza.

We all should be scared about cooperation between the animals.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 08:47 AM) Other reports today... Private sector job growth in November at 93,000 (vs 58,000 expected), the highest in 3 years and the 10th consecutive month of growth in the ADP report. October number revised up nearly double from 43,000 to 82,000. Senate failed to advance jobless benefits extension. I didn't bother to post anywhere that I was taking the under in the official job numbers? Damn. That was an easy one, they were projecting like 150,000, which would have required 57,000 public sector jobs on top of the private sector jobs report there. Well, anyway, small private sector job growth, small public sector job decreases, down quite a bit from the October pace, with Sept. and Oct. revised upwards slightly.

Unification of wall street, the oil industry, and the Illuminati.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 08:49 AM) That wasn't TARP. People seem to not understand this - what needed to happen (which I am sure we both agree with) is for TARP to go out, and quickly, then follow it up with more considered, deep rebuilding of the regulatory environment. The former was necessary no matter what, and the US ended up paying nearly net-zero dollars for it. The failure was not TARP - the failure was in the weak overhaul attempts that came after. But what you seem to not understand is that given the political power of the banks...the political power that allowed them to write the rules that allowed them to build the taxpayer-backed casino in the first place...the only point in the last 20 years at which we could have done anything about the regulatory environment was when the banks needed something...aka 2008. By 2009, the jig was up. The Banks were back to happy, the DJIA was going up, and they were right back to buying Congresspeople and screwing everyone else. And oh by the way, see those campaign finance regulations? Yeah, those are gone too.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 08:48 AM) but also force BOTH parties to show where they stand on above 250k. It will pass with a nice bipartisan margin.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 08:40 AM) TARP was a huge success, I still don't get why people have issues with it - other than the what-happens-after being really lame. But that's an interesting point about foreign banks getting the money. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet. The biggest, easiest complaint that anyone can make about TARP is that while it saved the current system...it saved the current system. Yeah, it kept things from getting worse at a surprisingly low cost at the end. But it also put massive amounts of money into the hands of the very people who caused the mess, made 100% sure that they didn't do anything to reform and protected them while leaving everyone else in the country out to dry. Whether we end up turning a profit on these plans or not is an argument that misses the point. We made low (or zero) interest loans to a bunch of financial institutions to protect them, with the U.S. government assuming all the downside risk, and in the process protected a certain class of U.S. citizens and world investment elites.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 08:37 AM) Are you saying he's got zero minor league options left heading into this season? I thought he still had one left for the 2011 season, but I could be totally wrong about that. No, he's good through 2011. The Sox have him for 1 more season. ST 2012, he's gone if he doesn't make the team. (Worth noting is that Castro's contract does expire next season, so there is still room for him if he can do anything of value this year0.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 12:57 AM) I wouldn't trade Viciedo straight up for Bailey. I think the Reds would jump for joy if they could get Viciedo and Quentin for Bailey. I think the Reds would only do that move because we're giving up so much talent. They've got 3b and 1b and RF already covered, and they're doubly-covered at 1b (Votto and Hosmer) to the point that they have to move the 2nd one to the OF. It makes no sense for them to pick up another pair of guys who they can't play anywhere.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 08:33 AM) Wow, the idea of Viciedo for Bell would really be going for it. I'd hate to trade that kind of talent for a closer. Since he's arb-eligible anyway and we have to pay him I'd rather pay Putz. Then, if we're going to trade Dayan, either target a young starter with top-3 ability or go after a dynamic young reliever with legit closing potential. Dayan has serious talent and he should fetch someone who has real potential and will be under control cheaply for a while. Like it or not...the value of a blocked player who is seemingly limited to playing only 1b isn't going to be a top flight young player.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 12:25 AM) How much worse defensively is Dunn than Quentin? Dunn hasn't played the OF in a couple years. However...the last time Dunn played the OF, he was just about as bad as Quentin.

Stop using it, if you use it then you'll have to tell us what it is.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 07:25 AM) If Konerko comes back, we have a huge trading chip in Dayan Viciedo, can he get us Bell? I think that's exactly what will happen.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 3, 2010 -> 04:06 AM) Pretty sure he gets 2011 to establish himself in AAA, if he is not moved by the end of the offseason. I believe he's also out of options next year, so yeah, he'd be moved at the end of ST, because he'd be released.