Balta1701

Yay, more dirty little bailout secrets! I so can't wait until these guys aren't running things any more.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 10, 2008 -> 09:56 AM) While I agree that Presidents get far too much blame/credit for the economy, the reality is that this administration has been an abject disaster on so many things that its hard to count. I really wonder if this isn't being said so much these days that the reverse is now true. Like when everyone says that "Player x is underrated" so often that they're now officially over-rated.

Also, FWIW at this point, the President Elect starts with a 70/25 approval/disapproval rating. In no small part because of how he took office I'm sure, the current debacle in chief started off about 15 points below that.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Nov 9, 2008 -> 04:42 PM) Didn't even know Olmedo Saenz retired. He was always one very smart hitter with the Dodgers.

Hinrich out about 2-3 months.

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Nov 8, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) I think you can expect him to sign for 3 mil per year between 3-4 years. I really hope they pick this guy up. A signing like this really dampens the blow from potentially signing a type A player, which I think the sox will. For a 19 year old, a 3-4 year deal would just be absolute foolishness. The way those deals have to be structured, we have to cut them and thus we wouldn't even get draft picks if the guy walked. If he's actually 19, I have a hard, hard time believing he'll be in the big leagues and producing a lot until the last year or two of that deal (age 23). If you're signing a 19 year old Cuban, even if it costs a little more, you have to make certain you have him under control for the usual 6-8 seasons, give or take his time in the minors. If it takes him 2-3 years to adapt to major league pitching and fill out his body, and the next thing you know you're cutting him and he's signing with the Yankees...well, we'd be pretty annoyed.

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QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 08:32 PM) I was thinking a true (I) coming from out of no where. Ah. I'm still after Holy Joe.

This is already fascinating. Seems the Obama victory has already helped President Bush's negotiating teams in Iraq, because the Iraqis believe he might actually hold to any agreement they sign with the U.S., while they felt like another Republican would never do so.

There's your baseline. Go forth from there.

Couple names I'd point out for a few reasons. Tony Graffanino, Ben Broussard, Oneli Perez, Victor Zambrano, Casey Rogowski, Ryan Wing, Eric Milton, Morgan Ensberg, Andy Gonzalez, Tomo Ohka, Rob Mackowiak. Cliff Politte. A couple guys that might actually interest me if we're looking for another bullpen arm are Kiko Calero and Jorge Sosa. No idea on their health status (Calero really went off a cliff lately but his slider used to be nasty, barely pitched last year), but if they're healthy enough to pitch I might not mind seeing if Cooper could pull something off with those guys.

Dredging this thread back up, the investigations about who did what are starting to produce some results.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 05:45 PM) The Rays saw an almost 500,000 person jump from 2007 to 2008. Along with that, season ticket sales surely will rise this off-season. The Rays won't shy from spending some money this off-season, but they just have to be smart about it. Dye actually does make sense for them, seeing as they would avoid a long term commitment. With the young core intact in Tampa, they know they are going to be giving some big money deals to the core relatively soon. Aside from David Price and BJ Upton, a good portion of their "Young core" has already been extended for a while. Kazmir, Longoria, Crawford, Pena all have a contract covering a couple more years.

This made it to the AP faster than I thought. Guess that's what happens when Hollywood starts making noise.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 01:42 PM) I'm hearing that Obama will most likely pick off the Omaha electoral vote in Nebraska. The Omaha World Herald calls that EV for the President Elect.

The Star-Tribune has an analysis from the MN race of where the majority of the undervotes came from in the Senate Race relative to the Pres. Race. Unsurprisingly, they mostly came from counties Obama won. Typically, you sort of expect 1st time voters to have a higher undervote rate, especially with those sorts of machines, because they may not mark them completely or accurately. The recount will look at many of those by hand to go after voter intent.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 05:21 PM) I'd bet that a popular Sox player gets traded maybe 2 or 3. Is anyone really untouchable if the right deal was offered ? I'd say Mark Buehrle. Jim Thome. IIRC, both have pretty complete NTC's.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 04:57 PM) Franken would be a national disgrace. Coleman is fine. I wouldn't say that. He's facing a potential investigation for accepting unreported clothing gifts of significant, Palin-level value from a Republican donor. That's sort of on hold until after the election/recount.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 03:35 PM) It's hard to get elected, it's hard to introduce any legislation, you have to decide to caucus with one of the other. No national committee to help. No fund raising doors opening up for you because of the D or R. No extra campaign help with out the D or R. It's called a two party system for a reason. I can't see how it is easier. But the issue is, Lieberman got ALL of those things from the Dems in 06, despite losing in the Dem primary. Only a handful of Dems avoided endorsing him, he got plenty of fundraising help including other people from the party making appearances for him, he still wound up with his (useless, Bush-covering) committee chair, and so on.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 04:34 PM) Jindal is basically the Republican Obama. What i imagine will happen is that he'll be the VP candidate in 2012. Most likley for Romney as Palin has been discredited at this point, and he'll branch off from there. Very likable, very well-spoken, and very much the future of the Republican party. A year ago I thought Elliot Spitzer was an obvious candidate to follow Obama in 2012 or 2016 depending on how this year's race went.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) i guess at least Franken hasn't been convicted of a felony involving bribes. i suppose if both are in the senate Al will actually have someone to look down upon and lecture to about responsible governing. Coleman may be working on that though...

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) The Minnesota 'recount' is going to be ground zero for the completely bats*** crazy left wing of the Democrat party. Expect the worst, they will do anything to get someone as crazy as them into the senate. And so the Republicans have never done anything bat**** crazy (like a month of ranting about ACORN or jeopardizing their entire administration by their actions through the DOJ or having an angry mob break down the doors and charge in to a room where a recount is happening) that would make them go hard after a recount?

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 12:09 PM) I am kind of sad to see Old Joe acting this way. I can't say he doesn't deserve the treatment he is receiving. But I find no joy in watching it happen. In a small way he represents someone like we've talked about here. A true centralist who embraces planks from both platforms. I, naturally, disagree, but I'm not going to disagree based on politics, I'm going to disagree based on his performance on that committee. The Homeland Security committee is an oversight committee. It's job is to make sure the people appointed to positions in DHS are qualified, and to conduct oversight on DHS activities. Compared to his counterpart in the House, Congressman Waxman, Senator Lieberman's committee has been an absolute joke. From the failures around Katrina, to planning for future disasters, to the illegal NSA spying activities, to investigating contracts, and so on, he has done essentially nothing. Joe Lieberman was the one holding the gavel when one Mike Brown was approved as FEMA head. First and foremost, he has been a joke as head of this committee. Now, to add in the partisan stuff...why is Joe so desperate to keep this committee? Unless he wants it so that for some reason the Homeland Security committee can be completely inept, he wants to use it against the President. That's the main thing he'd have to do at that committee. So why exactly should a Democratic Senate set itself up to have trouble with its own committees?

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 7, 2008 -> 11:34 AM) Well, to be fair, in some ways they are right. Really though, through the trade market, what team in their right mind would want Konerko/Swisher/Dye and give up a major league ready player that's actually decent? Of vice versa, How are the White Sox going to get major league ready players without any actual prospects to trade? I think most of us thought similar thoughts last year, that the system was bare and KW would struggle for a couple years to rebuild things.