Balta1701

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 11:48 PM) A 3rd times a charm Balta? My bad man. No offense to you. Just something that keeps coming up.

Ok, I can't wait any more to post on this one. There's been accusations in the South Carolina GOP primary for the governorship that one of the candidates had an affair with a staffer/blogger from that state. It's been dragging on for about 2 weeks now. The thing I find remarkable? The other republican in the race just released the results of his polygraph which he took to prove he didn't push the story.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 05:36 PM) I understand what you're saying. The pitching has been a disappointment... yes. That was not expected. But I just don't understand why we chose to accept offensive mediocrity (at best) in the first place. We have THE lowest team batting average in the American League. We're near the bottom in OBP. We're 9th in SLG. All despite the fact that everyone is healthy. The sad part is that this (to me) is not a surprise... which is what I find so frustrating about the design of this years team. You shouldn't spend $100M and expect to have a mediocre (at best) offensive team. That's just not acceptable IMO. Teams that are spending just about as much as us (Or more) with Mediocre offenses: The Sox are 22nd in Runs, spending somewhere around $98 million if you count the money from the Dodgers. The Tigers are spending $20 million more than us and are 20th in Runs. The Cubs are spending $45 million more than us and are 23rd in Runs (13th in the NL). The Phillies are spending $40 million more than us and are 18th in runs (10th in the NL). The Giants are spending $98 million and are 25th in Runs. Seattle is spending $98 million and is 26th in runs. Houston is spending $92 million and is 28th in runs. Furthermore, more than a few of these teams planned to win with pitching. Seattle, the Giants, etc. Now look, I'm going to agree with you that the DH platoon was a poor idea. But let's come back to reality here. $100 million in salary does not make you a big spender in the MLB anymore. 14 teams are at $92 million or above. And even if we'd signed a DH, we're still at the bottom of the league in offense...because Quentin, Beckham, and others have fallen flat on their faces, and none of them were going to be replaced coming into this season.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 05:18 PM) AJP will be a Type A free agent at the end of the season and if you cant get two high quality prospects back you might as well hold on to him. No one is offering AJ Pierzynski salary arbitration at a starting value of $6.75 million this offseason, not at age 33/34, and especially not when he's hitting .218.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 05:07 PM) What I'm saying is we should have done that in the offseason... rather than suffering through the inevitable. And my response is...even if we had added an offseason bat...unless that bat can make Quentin, Beckham, Pierre, Ramirez, and Pierzynski not get off to horrid starts, we'd still be a below average offense, we'd still be a below .500 team by several games, and we'd still be talking about selling guys. Worse yet, we could have forced ourselves to make a trade for that guy or given up draft picks to sign that guy.

Senator Bill Nelson of FL just made a very key accusation on MSNBC... That the integrity of the full well has been compromised, and oil is now leaking directly from the seafloor in the area around the well. That means several things. First, that would mean that there is a way for oil to get out that can not be slowed down by any of BP's current containment cap measures. Second, that would be another way for significant quantities of oil to escape beyond whatever BP's count estimate is. Third...and here's the worrisome one...if oil has broken out of the main pipe, and your drill a relief well to try to seal it at a level above the breakout point, you don't stop the leak; it goes around your attempt to block it.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 05:00 PM) IF the Mets could have a top two of Santana, Buehrle LHP's or not, they'd take it. Plus...when you count the Braves with Heyward and the Phillies with Utley, Howard, Ibanez, etc., the guys in their division have some key LH bats in their lineups.

QUOTE (scotty22hotty @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:58 PM) Getting rid of Pierre and signing crawford in the offseason would be a start. No, it wouldn't. You'd save $4 million for 1 year and commit yourself to a $15 million a year + OF. That's the only FA you sign. You don't get a DH, closer, or 1b, you have to find those within. Remember, you're competing with the Yankees on Crawford.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:47 PM) He's going through the Hoffman issue right now of not enough separation between fastball and change-up. I think another issue for him is that he's getting everything up. That was certainly the case last game.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:45 PM) I just think that hitters have seen enough of Buehrle in the AL for so long and when his stuff isn't 100% like it is now, he's going to struggle. I could see him going to St. Louis and really pitching well from the get go though. I think it's only a matter of time before things snap back into place for Mark. I think he'd rip the NL apart.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:29 PM) Looked it up - .566 AL vs NL in the past five complete seasons, goes down to .530's if you go to 10 years. This year so far, the NL is actually winning (in an admitedly small scale): .476. A .566 winning percentage would have won 2 divisions last year. That's basically the Rockies winning percentage last year. That's really good. That's a 92-70 average record over 162.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:29 PM) IIRC, Oswalt said he'd approve a trade to Washington, so I'd assume he'd pitch for a bigger team such as the Mets, but then again he might not like the bright lights of NY. There ya go. Furthermore, he can use that NTC as leverage if he wants to turn the $16 million option year into a guaranteed year as well. Buehrle's contract has a kicker, but at least you know what it is.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:27 PM) Would the Mets prefer Roy Oswalt over Mark Buehrle though, considering what both have done so far this season? Oswalt has a full no-trade clause while Buehrle does not.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:24 PM) The description fits Leake to a T. Polished college arm. Not a lot of upside but a very good chance to become a #3 starter. Fastball that sits 88-90. His average fastball this year has been 88.5 mph. Only reason I brought that up is that other teams have pulled off that move with some success in the first round. The problem is not going after those type of guys, the problem is going after those type of guys and then figuring out too late that they're awful.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) But that doesn't mean that we should have built a team that, by design, was going to be at-best mediocre offensively and pray that our pitching would save us. Hypothetically then, what should have been done differently? I'll grant you bringing in a legitimate DH, but even in that case, if everything worked, that team is still mediocre offensively. The other holes we filled last season were either 3b/2b and LF/leadoff. Was there a better LF option? I could see Beltre being a better 3b option, but even adding Thome and Beltre wouldn't have made this a top-flight offense on paper.

It sure sounds like the actual attempt to build a clean energy economy is going to get stripped out of any energy bill that goes before the Senate this year. So NSS and others, your grand bargain, where we give up enormous amounts of money to coal, nuclear, and oil interests in order to buy them off so that they won't complain too much about cap and trade of CO2 emissions is likely to be replaced by giving enormous amounts of money to coal, nuclear, and oil interests, so that they won't be too mad if we give much less money to renewable energy companies.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:13 PM) Who Kotsay? He's still started half the games in June so far. I don't see any benefit to playing him even that much as he's only taking away at-bats from two of our trading chips in Konerko and Jones. No, Jones is the one who hasn't been playing much recently.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 04:08 PM) Oh, I wasn't aware of that for Viciedo. I knew we had that with Alexei but I thought with more teams vying for Viciedo that he did have an opt-out. I think the reality was...no one was giving an opt-out option to a guy who'd be 23 when he was able to opt out.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:59 PM) The Sox paid too much money for Viciedo to sit in the minors for 4 years and then eventually leave. If he can't field, he will come up and DH by next year. If you get two decent offensive years out of his current contract or 1 (and then trade him for some other prospects), then at least you recouped your investment a bit. There is no opt-out clause in Viciedo's contract (or Alexei's) like there is in some foreign contracts. Viciedo will still be under the Sox's control for the full gamut of arbitration years, assuming he reaches the big leagues before his current 4 year deal expires.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:48 PM) The difference is that the pitching is talented enough to turn things around and be very competitive... But the offense is middle of the pack at best even if they play well. We were counting on the pitching to be outstanding and save us. That's a bad position to start from. How many teams reach the playoffs by being good at everything but not great at anything?

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) NO to McGuire. He's being touted as this year's 'safe pick' who 'knows how to win.' Would that description have fit Mike Leake last year?

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:46 PM) Is her saint bernard going with her? She has got to be related to Marge Schott somehow. I'm going to find your grandmother, call her ugly in front of your eyes, and I expect you to laugh.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) Peavy seem untradeble. And on wikipedia it says that if Buehrle gets traded he gets a $19 million player option. Is that true? If yes, that was crazy for KW to agree to that. The Cards won't even trade for him for nothing. It's sort of true. 2 things happen if Buehrle is traded...his option year becomes a guaranteed year, and there's a salary kicker for the other years, so that he makes more each year beforehand. $19 million is probably pretty close to the total amount that gets added to his contract, but it's not a 1 year, $19 million option.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:49 PM) probably won't taint her career, she hada long one. Sadly, this will taint her career, and it should. Forced to resign out of embarrassment rather than at the time of her choosing.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:38 PM) Yes, but that was before the turmoil that went on in East Lansing last season. And there's always questions of money and power going along with those offers.