Balta1701

Hell, you can have them for all I care.

Who will be the one to stop it, I ask?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) The funny part is that the Sox would have been a much better match up against the Yankees versus either Detroit or Minnesota. If Detroit had the chance to set their pitching rotation (Verlander in games 1 and 4, Jackson in 2 and 5, Porcello in 3) then I wouldn't count them out either.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 12:09 PM) Very true JPN; the Twinks were so overmatched. Yet think of all the times we played them and the Sox seemed to overmatched or at least guaranteed to lose in the dome. Crazy. If Carlos Gomez and Nick Punto hadn't made baserunning blunders that made Alexei look good, and/or the ump had called Mauer's ball fair...I'm not sure we wouldn't be talking about how overrated the Yanks were.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 12:11 PM) So long then. Until I catch you I can't quit

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:45 AM) THe problem is that Cleveland signed both QBs to big money... and they are torn as to who to use. normally when you have a big contract player, you play him regardless because you need to validate the money. But, since they have TWO big contract guys at the same position, they flip and flop back and forth as to who they want to play. It's a real mess. And, unlike the last team to do this...they weren't willing to commit fully to either of them by getting the other one out of the way.

Really, we all need a break. This game is too much work.

Politeness, Please.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) In reality they probably aren't profiting off of these policies, otherwise the insurance companies wouldn't be offering them, because they, by definition, would be losing money on them. I came up with another response to this while @ the gym. "Really, you're actually going to argue that insurance companies won't take out policies on which they'll lose money? Didn't you already help buy one that did exactly that?"

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 10:06 AM) So why not trust Herm with Jim Thome, who plays way more games a year than Johnson does on average, and is still putting up better OPS's than Johnson? Here is a hint, Johnson has not had a higher OPS than Big Jim in any of the last three seasons in a side by side comparison. He has also played more games than Johnson, except for last year, when he rotted on the bench in LA for a month. Big Jim is 39 and Johnson is 31.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) In reality they probably aren't profiting off of these policies, otherwise the insurance companies wouldn't be offering them, because they, by definition, would be losing money on them. Actually there's 1 way it could work and be profitable for both...if it allows the company taking out the policy to cut back on its health care spending, or dump more of its health care spending on to the government.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:54 AM) He also consistently averages no power and under a 100 games a year. Pass. But he's also never been tried at DH, and some of his injuries (i.e. the broken leg, the broken cheekbone) were things that he suffered while playing the field. (Again, if I were in KW's chair, I wouldn't even make the offer unless the team doctors approved it first)

I think this thread is an excellent example of Moore's biggest mistake in this movie. We have a gigantic economic crisis brought about by obnoxious deals involving banks, investment houses, ratings agencies, the government, the regulators, etc. The only thing that keeps the whole thing from going down is the government pumping in trillions in cash and taking on most of the mistakes without getting anything back in return. Everyone celebrates and the banks go right back to doing what they were doing beforehand, except with an implicit government guarantee. The only constant is that the well connected bankers walk away with billions at every step. But that's complicated. Making the case for what went wrong is complicated. Understanding how things like executive pay, stock prices, clawbacks, the relationship between the regulators and the banks they're regulating, the ratings agencies and their implicit government support, etc., all link in to that mess and how to fix it...that's all complicated. So instead, we go after the thing that sounds the worst, but didn't really impact the crash at all; these employee life insurance contracts. Yes, they sound scummy, yes there's some logic behind them, yes they probably should be more regulated than they are, but they're so far from the root of the problem that if you came out and banned them entirely tomorrow, absolutely nothing would change, and we'd still be well on the road to the next bursting bubble.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:30 AM) He did just have his best year, and played a full season. Buying at the top worries me. He only played 133 games?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:02 AM) We will be much better served reserving the DH spot as a utility to give our players rest without taking their bat out of the lineup than locking down the position with a 40 year old albeit still solid hitter. Most seasons, unless we're wracked by injuries, Ozzie has done a fine job of giving people the rest they need. He probably tends to bench/platoon some people more than he should (although there's the occasion, like Cabrera in 2008 or Konerko in 2005, where he just never sits a guy even when he needs it). If we can hold Kotsay and Nix spends the offseason working on his defense at SS and 3rd base, we're going to be in pretty good shape with our bench. We still need a starting OF and a DH, but having a guy at DH who also plays the field isn't necessarily the best use of our resources. It could be if we could find the right player, but we shouldn't limit ourselves to that.

QUOTE (rudylaw @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:18 AM) Sox should have signed Frank in September. Put him in a Sox uniform and sat him on the bench. Maybe give him an at bat or two in a blow out. From the last photo I saw of him, he looked quite out of shape. I bet he'd hurt himself if he tried to play without several months of conditioning right now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 07:47 AM) What do people think Johnson will be signed for? He made $5.5 million last year. If anyone offers him a lot more than that amount, they can have him, with his injury history. I'd start at $4 million with an $8 million option/$1.5 million buyout. Something like that.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 09:20 AM) I would imagine you would have a pretty hard time not only making the payments, but finding a company that would be willing to underwrite a million dollars worth of risk based on the value of your yard being mowed. What exactly is your household worth? 2 years ago he'd have had all of wall street lining up for that policy.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 11, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) Is that a comparison to who Morel could be like? Very good glove, line drive hitter, keeps moving back and forth between Catcher and 3rd base, sounds like Inge to me.

Just securitize your sorrows and sell them off to a few investors. The ratings agencies will still grade them AAA.

Hardass.

Fancy-pants beverage drinker.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 07:41 AM) How much are you paying your neighbor a year? He's preventing his neighbor's home from losing value by maintaining the value of his own home. And by not starting fires randomly.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) I really don't get the outpouring of support for Polanski. He drugged and anally raped a 13 year old girl, yet all sorts of celebrities and European politicians are rushing to his defense. Its going to be hard to convince myself to see another Scorcese or Wes Anderson film after their support for him. I think part of it is that a lot of people actually personally know him. If you know a person very well, it's hard to wrap your head around him doing a terrible thing.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 11, 2009 -> 06:58 PM) Twins have been playing some awfully dumb baseball. 4 day hangover?