Balta1701

QUOTE (JoeCredeYes @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 08:43 AM) How's he running? Is he playing the field or just DHing? He's been in LF most games.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 20, 2009 -> 07:24 AM) How has Santana been since he has been in NY? The same? No, he hasn't been "The same" since he went to NY. He's 1 step below where he was with the Twins, which is still really, really good. Basically, he's progressing exactly like a pitcher should; his best seasons were when he was 25-28 years old.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 08:10 PM) Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren are the 2 best pitchers in baseball right now. And as we say in Serbian, "TAĆKA." Depending on how you define "Right now", I have to fire back with Greinke and King Felix, who are putting up incredible numbers in the big league circuit, either season-long or over the last 6 weeks or so.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 07:46 PM) Just Walmart or the thousands of small, medium, and large businesses whose employees qualify? Basically you are asking employers to pay an additional tax on wages beyond what they are already spending. Which IMHO, will hurt small business a lot more than Walmart and the other large companies that employ minimum wage employees. Of course, the bill as written excludes legit small businesses. Probably more generously than it should. But here's the real small business counterpoint; small businesses already can't afford health care costs anyway, and they get charged more than a big company because they're small and have less negotiating power. This prevents small businesses from being able to hire the best people because they can't offer health care benefits, and also prevents people from starting up small businesses because they can't afford to lose their own personal health care or afford to go out and buy insurance on the individual market.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 07:36 PM) The programs that Walmart employees use are the same programs available to the working poor of other companies. Which is a more humane company policy: Have them pay a tax if they're going to have the government providing health care services to their employees.

Since 2005, Johan Santana has an ERA of 2.88, 1041 strikeouts, an ERA+ of 151, has thrown 1042 innings, gives up 7.5 hits per 9, has a 1.064 WHIP. He leads every single one of those categories out of the starting pitchers you named. He leads more categories too I'm just not going to write them all.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 07:11 PM) Giving that 3 year, $36 million to Jose Guillen was ridiculous. As was them throwing so much money at relievers the past few years like Farnsworth, Bale, Tomko, Horacio Ramirez, and Juan Cruz (costing them a draft pick.) It's too bad there wasn't more substance to that Grienke for Franceour trade earlier in the offseason. An intelligent team would be putting money in to those guys and then attempting to move them around the deadline to whatever team they can move them to, even if they need to pick up some of the salary, as long as they get a potential MLB-caliber player in return. Farnsworth, for example, ought to be movable right now; despite all we've seen of him he's still put up a 4.24 ERA this year. I can't figure out why, for example, we're not hearing Adam Dunn's name on the trade market for teams that need a bat (see: Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:34 PM) Simple...is BA putting up a 800 OPS (or close to it) against EITHER RHP or LHPing? Ozzie knows that Wise is capable of doing that at least, as recently as last season...he witnessed it first-hand. I can put together a stretch of 130 AB's in 2008 where Anderson put up a .251 average and .777 OPS. I'll grant it's possible Ozzie was kicked out for some of those games. This is silly and all it does is demonstrate what you can get when you select a small number of at bats for a poor player.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) So it's really, 640 OPS BA versus 800 (if he can do it) OPS Wise, and that's clearly a decision that could go either way, with arguments on both sides. Also clearly, BA didn't do anything to prove he should play everyday or get more playing time. On BA not earning playing time, I'll totally agree. I just can't see how anyone could make a case that Wise will put up an 800 OPS against anyone and Anderson won't.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:21 PM) All of his moves so far. JP Howell for Joey Gathright, Mike Jacobs as a starting 1B, etc., etc., etc. He has done nothing in the past 2 years or so to improve that ball club at all. How have their drafts been under his reign? For a team like that, that's really all that matters. Can anyone legitimately say that they have talent progressing at the lower levels or reaching AA around now? For a small market team that's the way you have to do it...plug holes where you can, stay competitive, spend a little money to keep people in the seats, make trades to bring people in but don't sacrifice any young talent in them, sign people with an eye towards affordability and trading them before they walk, and draft well enough that you can develop top of the line talent from your own system, because no one is trading away top of the line talent any more (unless they make Greinke available).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:10 PM) Have you ever thought maybe Ozzie's trying to demonstrate clearly that he needs some help at that position? Really? That's the best you've got? This is Ozzie's way of demonstrating to KW that he needs something different, putting Wise out there every day?

QUOTE (OilCan @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 05:05 PM) And .323 in his last 10 games with 2 HRs. What was the scouting report on this kid before we got him in the Javy trade? Seriously, the kid was thought to have some legit talent until he hit AAA in the Braves org and completely failed. Epic. He's still striking out too much for my taste.

Brent Lillibridge is hitting .327 with a .931 OPS in July.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 04:50 PM) That wasn't Ben Davis. You're right. Blake Davis. My mistake.

MLB's first 12 game winner? Jason Marquis.

Quentin is playing, is 1/2 with an RBI double and a HBP/run scored on a Betemit double. Anyone with any more details on his actual spryness today? Colon going for Charlotte, 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks so far through 5 innings. Home runs by Ben Davis (Yes, him) and Jeff Fiorentino against him.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 04:24 PM) Wait, I thought Democrats want the Government to provide health care for everyone. Certainly do. We just want Walmart paying their fair share.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 03:19 PM) Is the negative impact on small business enough to offset jobs created by Wal-Mart and their suppliers as well as the billions of dollars their stores help Americans save? This is so going to wind up in the Filibuster, but are the billions of dollars in "Savings" also worth the billions of dollars in costs associated with their low wages? (the government providing health care for all their employees, the depression of wages in every other industry, the energy and personal costs associated with moving all of manufacturing to countries with weaker environmental standards and less employee protection)

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 03:35 PM) Got no problem with walks... but players with passive, Nick Swisher esque approaches at bat is a different story. Hopefully Mitchell doesn't fall into that group. I don't mind a Swisher-esque approach at the plate either if: you have good power when you do swing, and when you get on base, you have some skills that you can use to take advantage of being on base.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 02:27 PM) When I read the options I knew better to equate the single moon landing with the NASA organization as a whole. Different point though...the moon landing specifically was a gigantic technological challenge almost on the scale of the Manhattan project. Nothing NASA's done or even attempted since then has even come close. They've produced some interesting stuff, but the developments associated with the Lunar Program in particular are so far unique.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 02:05 PM) Obviously, that was NOT the time for Jenks. Thornton has pitched a lot recently. Who would you have used instead of Poreda in that situation, with those two batters coming up? Pena, Carrasco, Dotel or Linebrink? If we constantly have to use Dotel and Linebrink in games where we're trailing, then they're going to be toast by the end of the season... If you can't use Poreda in that spot, then he shouldn't be on the big league team.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 10:27 AM) It's obviously an achievement to land on the moon, but really, what impact did that have on us, except for the phrase "we land on the moon but we cant (insert thing that hasn't been done)?" Society didn't change at all. If there were such a thing as an impact on society, I'd believe landing on the moon would make Americans even more arrogant. How much stuff was developed directly or indirectly from the 1960's NASA programs though? Where would the world be without satellite technology, the computers, combustion, and materials that were developed as part of the lunar program?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) If there's a BA/Aaron Poreda/Sean Tracey "conspiracy," why does Ozzie keep playing Gordon Beckham, a rookie, every single game? Given how he was admittedly reluctant to do so when Becks first came up (we had at least a couple threads on that), I'd say the answer for the first couple weeks was "Edict from above" and now it's "my God he's just that good".

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) He set up Poreda to fail today. He hasn't pitched in a week, he's already wild. Let's throw him in there rusty with the bases loaded! It gives Ozzie a reason to not pitch him or have him sent to AAA. If Ozzie doesn't have confidence in him right now, then what's he doing on the big league roster anyway?

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Jul 19, 2009 -> 07:58 AM) When is a decision going to be made to say this guy is ready OR NOT??? I cannot find anything on this site even HINTING when they will even consider bringing him up and it's killing me. Please fill me in guys, are we likely to see him in the Ray's series? There was talk of him playing in the Orioles series but they decided not to because he was a little sore after his game last Thursday. They're doing this day to day right now, as they should. It's entirely plausible we'll see him next series; depends on how he's feeling today.