Balta1701

QUOTE (pktmotion @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 02:58 PM) But his problems are fixable. Really?

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 02:27 PM) Even if the Sox went to firesale mode, there aren't enough players to trade that would make the Sox worse than Houston, Cleveland, and Kansas City...and probably a few more. If the Sox have the 7th or 8th pick in the draft in 2011, that would be fine with me, if the draft is as deep as people are saying it will be. The White Sox are currently 1 game up on Cleveland and 2.5 games up on K.C., and we're even with K.C. in thew in column. The White sox are 7.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for worst record in the league. We're closer to Baltimore than we are to the Twins.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) To make you laugh I don't think it worked.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 02:13 PM) How valuable is Nunez? I would probably do this. 24 year old in AA for the 3rd year in a row with a 1.37 WHIP. Right now, not looking too good.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 02:06 PM) Not all skill levels are the same -- understand that first and foremost. You will never have "one" league where everyone fits, this goes for school, jobs, etc...some people are just better. That doesn't mean you can't learn the values of winning and losing and trying harder after failure regardless of this natural inequality of the evil evil world. The lesson of winning and losing and getting up after you've fallen remains intact, regardless. Except for that other league, who you don't have to worry about losing to, since you've been bailed out by the government rules.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:58 PM) No, not quite, but way to try to twist words. You failed, but you tried. Just like there is a A, AA, AAA, Japan, MLB, etc. There CAN be different skill levels at the same age group. That doesn't mean winning and losing cannot still be done and done with class. These are still valuable lessons, and fun can still be had while keeping score and understanding both victory and defeat. But keep pretending otherwise, seems to work for you. And now let's imagine there's 6 teams. So, you try to come up with different levels, and you figure out rapidly that you can't...you wind up with ridiculous splits like 2 teams in 1 league who always play each other and 4 in another. No matter how you want to look at it, you've let your major, overarching principle of "teaching them a lesson" go, and so I can keep coming up with scenarios that will make the rules you require more and more complex/unworkable.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:57 PM) Except he makes 8 times more. What would be the Red Sox motivation for eating all but the pro-rated minimum left on Lowell's deal and getting nothing at all in return? The fact that they were on the verge of getting Max Ramirez for Lowell and eating 3/4 of his deal says they should probably hold out for a decent young player. At this point, if they could get another team to pick up a million or two of his salary, that would free up a roster spot for them, and they could certainly use that in their beaten up OF.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:47 PM) I come up with a rule that doesn't allow a team of black belts to compete against white belts. So, basically, you come up with a rule that teaches the exact lesson about winning and losing that you decried a few posts above, about how if you're not good enough to win, you should go cry to someone else and try to get the rules changed. See how it's not as open and shut as we'd like to think? I don't like the solution they came up with. But let's not pretend that under certain circumstances, we might not follow the same course of logic they did.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:38 PM) At *all* costs? Err, not quite. This is akin to being Muslim and being a radical Muslim. There is a difference, so saying at "all" costs is what I'd consider extreme. But there is a happy medium when it comes to winning and doing it right. So, then my question in reply would be...if you're in charge of a league where one or two teams have been running rampant and blowing everyone out and running up the score, to the point that half the players on your team don't want to even show up because it's no fun to face off against the team that has Bryce Harper at catcher, what do you do? Do you sit by and let half the league's players quit because no one wants to put up with that any more and no one is having any fun, or do you try to come up with a rule that makes things more workable?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:35 PM) Trying to pull everything is the worst thing a hitter can do. And it leads to lots of bloops towards RF.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 01:09 PM) What I was trying to say is he has to learn how to pull the ball without flying open. Keeping closed for a longer span, just like Beckham did in his first AB last night. It's all about hip rotation for Quentin, and he's been flying open so fast that he just flicks the ball for those lazy pop ups to right field far too often. And why is he flying open so fast? Because he's been trying to pull everything. It's a classic mistake that we see all the time, you see a pitch you want so you jump out at it and you wind up popping it back to the screen because you pulled off of it. When you're keeping your shoulder closed and driving the ball up the middle or the other way, you'll pull the ball naturally when a pitcher comes middle/in on you.

So...the only lesson that matters is win at all costs, and sportsmanship should be laughed off as an antiquated useless idea?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 10:59 AM) I doubt that. She'd get some support - if she even runs - but she won't win the nomination. She'd get crushed in the general, and I think the Republican leadership realizes that. I'll still stay in the "the only thing that stops it is if she decides she'd rather make $10 million a year on the lecture circuit" group. Back on the subject of the spill, for the northern coastline of the Gulf probably all the way to St. Petersberg, the exact weather system they didn't want to see is forming, a stable high pressure system over the Gulf, but on the other hand, the Florida Keys are happy. For the next few weeks, we're probably likely to see mostly strong clockwise currents pushing the Oil towards the Florida Panhandle at the surface (currents at depth are a different guess). But there is rotation away from the Keys and the Loop Current, which might provide a barrier from oil getting into it. This setup though is bad news if any Hurricanes make it into the Gulf.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 12:31 PM) I'm pretty sure the final year of Magglio's deal with us was for $14.5 million. That agrees exactly with what I said.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 12:01 PM) Quentin's a power hitter...we need him for his ability to drive in runs. Getting a couple of bloop hits to right field isn't fixing the problems with him. His problem is every time he hits the ball to LF, it's off the end of the bat. Thus, he needs to continue to work on making himself comfortable at the plate, and I'm optimistic that his leg kick is a step in the right direction. But if he's trying to pull everything, that is basically the definition of flying open. Both 2k5 and I were confused because we think your solution contradicts itself.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 12:25 PM) How is Viciedo any bearing on this decision. Morel is playing 3rd in AAA. They can run Nix and Omar out there if need be. Save the money and use it on the draft and on the international signing period. Because if Konerko is traded as well, who would take over at 1b? Kotsay?

Link

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 10:42 AM) I probably overreacted a bit in this case, but I truly despise Palin. More so than Bush, or even Glenn Beck. She personifies everything that has gone horribly awry on the right in the past decade or two - she embraces ignorance, she has no substance, she parrots social conservatism coated in sugary narrative to make bigotry seem somehow helpful, she harps on fiscal responsibility yet led her state in a way that was quite the opposite, and she has shown zero interest in the basic concepts of fact, science, or compromise. She is the perfect example of what has decimated the party I once supported. Which is, of course, why she'll be the 2012 nominee.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 10:36 AM) OK, so she is saying that because of this awful spill underwater, we should drill more on land? I suppose it would be easier to fix a blow-out on land. Except of course that ANWR is actually much more difficult to get equipment to than in the Gulf, since its so remote. But really, come on. Regardless of that reason, she is still saying more drilling is good BECAUSE of this accident. Its assinine. If you make the assumption that all drilling onshore is safer then that would be a reasonable conclusion. You're obviously right though, drilling beyond the arctic circle has its own set of challenges (we had a small leak from the pipeline up there a couple weeks ago).

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 10:27 AM) What is the highest annual contract amount that the Sox have ever signed, especially long term? $14 million? The highest value single contract the Sox have signed was Konerko's 5/$60. The highest value 1 year payment that the Sox have signed was Buehrle's 4/$56, with the $14 million/year latter years. The Sox have offered higher values than that (i.e. the offered Ordonez deal, the Torii Hunter offer) but have not signed. The Sox have also taken on Jake Peavy's deal, which pays $15 mil this year, $16 mil next year, and $17 mil in the final year of the deal, but that was not "signed" by the Sox, only taken on.

Scott Boras is already trying to tell the Nats not to keep him at catcher.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 09:50 AM) So you honestly think that Kap enjoys watching millions of people get their livelihoods destroyed while the people who do it get off free? I mean...really? As long as he saves the extra $.03/gallon.

I don't believe what I'm going to write but it's time for someone to play Devil's advocate here. Go watch a 59-0 NCAA football game. And I mean really sit there and watch it. There's plenty of them every year. How does the side going down feel on that one? How much of a difference do those last 20 points make to the bottom line? How can anyone possibly argue that games like that are a positive for anyone. Horrible sportsmanship, basically you're taunting the other team. Or, go to baseball. Ever play in a game with a 10 run mercy rule? I know I have. By the time it's 17-0 in the first inning, do you really want to keep playing so that one side can run up the score or do you want to quit and go drink a beer and swear at those guys for being such crappy sports?

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 07:25 PM) I'm not sure I'm up for a "platoon" of Vizquel and Nix. That means Vizquel gets the majority of the at-bats, and I just don't see how we can be successful with a line-up that regularly features both of the Powerless Brothers - Vizquel and Pierre. Now while Nix isn't the most optimal selection, at least he offers some power to go along with some decent speed. I'd take my chances starting him most games and then use Vizquel for late inning defense. You know, most people probably don't want to hear this, but Vizquel is up to hitting .241 on the season, after hitting .321 in May. Yeah, yeah, it's powerless, yeah it's only 1 month, yeah he's old, yeah it's a low OPS. But frankly, for a guy who's supposed to be a defensive backup and replacement if someone gets hurt, I can live with him finishing the season hitting .250. Even if he gets a fair number of at bats while Teahen is out, Omar Vizquel getting a couple hundred at bats and hitting .250 doesn't cost us the season. The big guys not producing does. We'd have a more legitimate gripe if he was still hitting .150 but he's not; he's doing pretty much exactly what you expect from him, and really, what you expect a backup/defensive replacement to do.

May, 2010 may well have been the month when it all started to click for Viciedo. He still doesn't walk as much as you'd like, but the power finally reared its head. .304 average (31/102) 8 2b 7 Hr 15 RBI 3 BB 19 K .355 OBP .588 Slug .943 OPS