Balta1701

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 09:19 AM) I got news for you. Most rich people understand that this is a bad idea. Only the ones with a conscience.

QUOTE(Soxy @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 06:55 AM) I agree. No. No. No. I don't know why people think this would be an awesome idea. Because it benefits the people with a lot of money. And the people with a lot of money are the ones with the biggest voices in this country.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 11, 2008 -> 08:18 AM) As you may have inadvertently hinted there, not all endorsements are "oh i like this guy, vote for him". Many are for political gain. "Hey, i gave you my support, now give me something back". Or, it's "I think if this person is elected, I will benefit more from having him/her in the job".

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 05:48 PM) Gio for Roberts, or Gio and plus some for Roberts? If it's the Cedeno/Marshall one, Gio alone might well have beaten it. But there appears to be a reason why this deal hasn't happened yet, because that price clearly isn't enough.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) With all this witty banter, i think if we banded all of SoxTalk together we might just give the Daily Show a run for its money. I hear they're in need of writers. Of course, this is a Dems only thread...

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) That stance would kill him in the GOP Why? Craig's still in the Senate.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 03:26 PM) You have some big time expectations from Quentin there. I like him as well but not expecting a .900 ops season out of him this year. In 2006, his first callup before he got hurt last year, here's his numbers in 166 at bats: .253 .342 .530 872, 9 home runs. Here's his career minor league numbers: .312 .427 .526 953 You guys will be amazed at what this kid does if he stays healthy. 9 home runs in 166 AB's is a 35 home run pace on a full season. Takes a ton of walks, slugs like crazy. His numbers are to die for. The only question is his health. Last year on his stint in the minors he put up a 1.004.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 03:20 PM) Come on now. Pudge is the worst hitter in their lineup. With reasonable health, how many of those 220 HR will come from Thome, Konerko, and Dye? Near half. Those 3 are the heart and soul of the lineup. Who's the 2nd .900 OPS guy? Swisher and...? Quentin should be also, if healthy. He's been a 900 OPS guy his whole way through the minors.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 12:48 PM) I'm trying to remember, I think I lonly donated twice last year, maybe three times. I will do better this year. You gotta put it on a calendar somewhere or you won't remember. I hit 5 last year. Up again next Tuesday.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 03:03 PM) Yes and no. The difference being the Tigers offense isn't built around Sheff and Pudge. Our offense is built around Thome, Dye, and Konerko. Not saying I'm worried for this next year, but there is a difference. If it works right, our offense shouldn't be built around those 3 any more than the Tigers are built around those 2. We should have added to >900 OPS guys to the lineup this year, who should just be generating all sorts of offense, and we hopefully have a couple better hitters and more distributed power as well. With a reasonable amount of health, our lineup would hit 220 home runs if a lot of guys had bad years.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 01:57 PM) I had to ask where they were............ Sorry guys. Eh, you're forgiven.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 01:58 PM) Funny that this is mentioned but the ages of our offensive core isn't. Thome is 1.75 years younger than Sheffield. Dye is 2 years younger than Rodriguez, Konerko is 5 years younger than Rodriguez. If we're worried about Thome's age, then they should be 5x as worried about Sheffield's age. IF we're worried about Dye or Konerko's age, they should be 8x as concerned about IRod's age

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 01:50 PM) I like our overall lineup and bullpen. I just have 0 faith in the rotation(I'm starting to sound like a broken record here), I just can't see a contender having JC, Danks and Floyd at the back of the rotation. Well, the fact is that it certainly appears that our organization has more faith in its rotation than its fans. All the talk coming into the offseason and in fact during this offseason has been about the lineup. Ozzie commenting on how he wanted more on-base, ozzie commenting on how he's not worried about the rotation but is still worried about the lineup, etc. Whether we like it or not, they looked at the roster, saw that they had a bunch of holes, and figured that if they wanted to fix things they had to gamble somewhere, so they chose to use their resources to totally overhaul the lineup (as they should have) and gamble with the rotation they have. I think it's the right move, it's our only chance for a quick rebuild, and if these guys fail, we're still a couple people deep at that slot. Going into battle with these 5 may not be the best option history has ever produced, but for this team and organization as constructed at the end of last year, it's the right one.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) Let's just get rid of 100% of our government altogether. And...according to Ron Paul's early 90's news letters...black people too. We better, because otherwise "the animals are coming."

QUOTE(Wanne @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 12:20 PM) I definately agree with that....but a little of both. Not sure home much more of a dropoff some of these Sox hitters can have. I still wish Kenny could pull the string on another SP. I'm ok with 1-3...but 4 and 5 scare the s*** outta me. Is there enough ammo left for Bedard? No there isn't.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 12:14 PM) I don't know how big of a dropoff you'll see from Pudge or Sheff. Each had their worst seasons of their career. Personally, I think we'll see a better season out of Sheff. As far as the Sox, Thome and Cabrera should have some fall off. I think the difference between the Sox and Tigers are the players that will likely see an increase in production, and not necessarily a dropoff. Sheff also just turned 39, and IRod 36. And there's now drug testing.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 12:08 PM) I give everyone a pass on that war vote. First off, the underlaying evidence was faulty. If I could get it right...

Donate blood every 2 months or so.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 11:52 AM) It would probably be a disaster. Any regressive tax is not what we need to be doing. IMO, you could certainly design such a system where it wasn't regressive. The problem is that the tax code would probably wind up being even worse than it is now. You'd literally have to go product by product and decide..."Hmmm, what tax rate should we put milk at? But what about those higher cost gallons up there? What about the organic/soy varieties? They may be luxuries for some people but what about for people who can't drink milk" and on and on. And it'd open up an even bigger vat for lobbyists, because what better way to kill your competition than to have the government raise the sales tax on say, foreign made cards as opposed to those made by Ford and GM. Salvation for the auto industry! Great for Jobs! What could go wrong!

1992...And suddenly...every unsolved murder in Chicago was declared solved.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 11:21 AM) I think he would pull votes from both. But it will depend on which nominee from each party. For example Dems that just could not pull the handle for Clinton, but who would shudder at voting for say Thompson, would be more willing. Same thing, a GOP who just could not stand to vote for Giulianni, but would gag at a Clinton vote, would. Compared to say myself who would not vote for Clinton, but would vote for McCain. Another GOPer and I would look at Bloomberg[/color] [/color] I hate to say it, but if the Dem nominee wound up being Hillary...I'd wind up considering myself undecided in that 3 way race. I'm just so sick of voting for people who voted for this damn war...

QUOTE(buckweaver @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 09:55 AM) I really don't know the answer...in fact, I was thinking this morning that if my 13-year-old son didn't love baseball so much I might just try to give it up and look for other things. So maybe it's yes...regular blood tests for those who want to play or take a hike...and let Don Fehr take Scott Boras with him. Of course, I know that team management has looked the other way while the turnstiles were rolling, but what would happen if we we were to institute a real testing policy? If we can't rid the game of drugs that will do bodily harm (taken for temporary strength and financial gain) then why would we want to be fans or encourage our kids to desire to play or even be fans? All this said, I certainly don't have the understanding of how to make it happen. I'm just disgusted by it all. It's possible the only way to make that happen is for Congress to do it, because the MLB and the Union will keep saying "Our program is working" every time they get caught with something that gets passed it.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 09:04 AM) For Republicans, anything that moves us away from 1950 is terrible. Abortion was illegal, Mexicans were legal. No dirty words on the radio, no homosexuals flaunting their lifestyle down mainstreet. We supported wars dammit and we won them! Everyone knew there was one True GOD, the only enemy was communists and we knew where they were, and Joe was going to find the rest. None of this Make Love, Not War Hippie nonsense. Factories could send pollutants into the air and water and keep Americans employed. Kept the government out of the workplace. Ahh, the good old days. Except of course those darn tax rates were too high, and that crazy socialist Ike spent all that government money on those highways. What we need is more like the 1950's with tax cuts.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jan 10, 2008 -> 09:04 AM) Are the floodgates opening? http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/...for-obamas-run/ No. For example, Clinton received an endorsement yesterday from a Congressperson in Nevada that was clearly timed well enough to get it put in local articles about Obama's union endorsement. And Johnson's endorsement, while well timed, was not unexpected, as Johnson-Daschle-Obama is decently well reported path of mentors/friends.