Balta1701

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 12, 2009 -> 04:15 PM) Who said we had to keep them? I wouldn't have minded Sweeney for CF last year and we could use him right now. .254 batting average, .666 OPS this season for Sweeney.

QUOTE (tommy @ May 12, 2009 -> 04:27 PM) How lucky is Pods ? I swear half the time he gets on is on some defensive mishap by the opponent. There is nothing wrong with putting the ball in play and forcing the defense to make a play. Be nice if Lillibridge learned that lesson from him.

Come on Josh, really time to get started with the bats.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 12, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) Permission to use Lillicurse? Only if he fails to get a hit in his first AB today.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ May 12, 2009 -> 04:13 PM) I was talking more about Fathom's signature. He can't say that Lillibridge has made all those players bad, since Dye isn't doing poorly Explain your madness Fathom. Makes sense to me. Everyone who could stand in the way of Lillibridge getting playing time has been injured or benched for no reason.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 12, 2009 -> 04:12 PM) Clayton Richard perfect thru 0.2 IP. The lillicurse.

Hey, we get to see LaPorta today. I have a feeling that won't go well.

It's also possible Anderson could be back later this week, it'll have been 15 days for him on Thursday.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 12, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) Who's responsible for acquiring Swisher in the first place? But I think Ozzie has some blame because he ultimately controls the lineup and did not want Cabrera or Swisher back for the 2009 season. Yes, acquiring Swisher was a mistake. But...the guys we gave up so far haven't exactly made us miss them.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 12, 2009 -> 02:59 PM) Percentages don't mean anything. What are the counts? Its dropoff is actually steeper in recent years, probably because of all the work the statisticians have done to exclude people from the labor pool. data through here, done by the BLS originally.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 12, 2009 -> 02:51 PM) Because they are so dismantled and everything. Link.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 12, 2009 -> 02:28 PM) Awesome post. When the trade happened, it seemed like a bad trade. After seeing how awful Marquez is, seems even worse. When you see an injury to minor players like Brian Anderson cause our lineup to look terrible, that's when you get mad at KW for not acquiring enough MLB caliber players in these deals. So let's see, we're supposed to get back incredibly talented, MLB caliber, cheap players by trading away a guy who was just flat out awful for us and who has a contract we're trying to get rid of...and it's KW's fault for not making this happen.

The dismantling of unions over the past 30 years or so has done wonders for the expansion of the middle class.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 12, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) Cowley via twitter: DId he get HBP in the foot recently?

I'm not sure if it's on the same subject or not, but there is a real effort by bond-issuers to screw government entities that issue bonds. A government entity, whether federal, state, or local, typically defaults on its bonds at much lower rates than private bonds...yet, they wind up paying the same or often higher levels of interest to secure that financing.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 12, 2009 -> 01:10 PM) What does promoting Danks have to do with Beckham. They play other positions so I'd imagine long term the Barons will be moving Cook up to AAA. Danks will be getting the AB's and barring a failure will be sticking in AA for the rest of the season (or a collasal success which has him promoted to Chicago, but I'd be hard pressed to see him doing anything but spend all season in Bham). If, hypothetically, Anderson fails when he gets benched behind Wise for the next 2/3 of the season, and D2: the Mighty Danks performs well at AA, any chance we'd see him at the end of this year/early next year in the real show? Or is he just too raw still?

PItch your heart out Clayton.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 12, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) If Linebrink stays healthy and has a good year (far from guaranteed, I know), I'd try to move him ASAP as well. Good point...if it hits July and we're out of the race, I'd take pennies on the dollar for him. That'd clear a ton of salary.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 12, 2009 -> 09:55 AM) Then why promote Danks? For just 7 days? Seems like a weird move. I think we see Cook, or possibly Gartrell, sent to Charlotte. I can't imagine they'd promote an actual prospect and then just send him back down. Someone's going to be moving up to Charlotte when Beckham is ready to go again.

The big question I have is...can I improve on that $85 million by trading my guys at the deadline this year? If I trade Dye and Dotel at the deadline, that's another $6 million or so I've freed up, and I may potentially have an extra pitcher or two afterwards.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 11, 2009 -> 07:17 PM) Oh, well thanks for clearing that up then, Mr. Boras's assistant. You may not like how definitive I was there...but seriously, do you have any doubts at all that I'm right?

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 11, 2009 -> 07:27 PM) Told him to hit the other way. That's what the Twins wanted him doing.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 11, 2009 -> 07:24 PM) Yes, it was Walker who forced Pods to bunt for hits, not Ozzie. He never had a season with the Sox that matched his rookie campaign. What did Walker tell him in 2006 and 2007? As you have shown from the numbers, Dye has had success in a pitcher's park in Oakland, and it's silly to use his injury plagued 2003 season as evidence that he was lost as a hitter. Why don't you talk about AJ's OPS? His three lowest season totals have come when he's with the Sox, and with the exception of 2007, AJ has benefited from USCF. Get back to me when Walker turns in a Mark DeRosa project. Clearly, Walker told Pods to get ridiculously hurt in 2006 and 2007 such that his body will never recover. When Walker turns in a Mark DeRosa? God, you realize how specific you're going to require me to be there? I can't use Konerko because he started off here, even if he's had excellent seasons with Walker when healthy. I can't use Dye because he had good years before he came here, even if he's been better since he got here. I can't use anyone we actually bring in and develop, like Quentin or Ramirez, because they're not recovery people. I can't use Anderson if he keeps performing, because he started off with us. Brent Lillibridge could start hitting .350 tomorrow and I couldn't use that. Basically, the only guy I can think of who would fit the billing would be if Walker had turned around Erstad or Betemit. I can't even think of other guys who would be candidates. And since Betemit is benched, Walker could be Jesus and he can't help there.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 11, 2009 -> 07:07 PM) I'd be curious to know though whether there was a clause which exists in the contract which allows the club to opt out because of some sort of extraordinary circumstance. Let's make this as clear as we can make it. Scott Boras is never going to allow any of his players to sign a contract that would allow a team to terminate them based on a steroid admission or suspension.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 11, 2009 -> 07:08 PM) It's not a negative at all. He'll make a good second leadoff man, but I think you can find a better leadoff man down the road. Hopefully someone like D2: the Mighty Danks can fill that role.