Balta1701

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2007 -> 11:25 AM) You don't think this will piss off INS. Trust me, they are the biggest idiots in the world if they have illegals working for them right now. They don't have to be working directly for the pizza place to have an effect on the price of the pizza. How about the people picking the tomatoes, making the cheese, etc?

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 08:17 PM) So, who the hell you got in in your basement?!? Sadly, I can not yet afford a basement with my life.

Shockingly few people will be willing to predict or care about what Alex Cintron does in 07.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 07:25 PM) the steve sax moment has to be up there. What moment would that be?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 04:14 PM) I like Dye and all, he is a great guy, great player for us. But is he really worth that much money? I mean this season was the tops of his career. His next best season hadnt happened since 2000. His years between 2006 and 2001 were somewhat pedestrian. His career numbers are .277 .339 .486 which should really deem his paycheck to be what the market demands right now. IMO he should be paid more than Paul Konerko who has been much more consistent since 2000 than Dye. Jermaine Dye is not worth that much money if the White Sox are spending $60 million a year on their starting 5 pitchers and have a $100 million salary. Jermaine Dye may very well be worth that much if the White Sox are spending $25-30 million a year on their starting pitching and would without Dye have a $85 million salary if they resign Crede. It's a matter of filling holes. If you have a big hole that an expensive player could fill, and you have salary freed up somewhere else, then that expensive player becomes more affordable. The White Sox could not afford dye in 08 with a Garcia, Buehrle, Contereas, Garland, Vazquez rotation. The White Sox may very well be able to afford Dye in 08 with a Danks, Contreras, Garland, Vazquez, Floyd/Haeger/Broadway rotation (especially if one of Garland and Vazquez is moved to clear more rookie room before they hit FA). If some of guys like Danks, Gio, Broadway, Haeger, Floyd, Phillips, and McCullough start to pan out, along with the ungodly cheap bullpen, the White Sox will be able to afford to spend money on 30-35 home run bats if they so choose.

So, I'm waiting for some of those out of college to chime in. I'm sure that there have to be some beautiful moments from the Lamont/Boom Boom eras that i just can't remember.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 07:11 PM) How do these sort of sickos get by for this long without getting caught? It's like a lot of criminals...people are surprisingly able to put things out of their minds and have normal lives despite the things they are doing. It's actually a fairly amazing ability of our brains. A person can go to work, go shopping for a couple people, and then go home to the young boy tied up in the basement, and no one that sees or talks to that person will ever be the wiser.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 05:10 PM) That's fair, I think I understand where you are coming from. He was considered raw when we got him and I think he is one of the better bets to make the majors (and stick) from our system. I just hold a grudge of sorts against the people that think he's already better than Pods when they really don't know a thing about Owens. Not that I mean to include you in that, but I have a general feeling that Owens is overrated by a lot on this board. Think I'll chime in here...in terms of most of the categories where people make judgements about players, yeah, Owens's numbers just aren't that great. No power, not a great defender, doesn't do anything especially well except run. However, I will fire back that there can be places for people like Owens on big league ballclubs if they are willing to accept their spot. In other words, a slap hitter who can do nothing else but run and put down a bunt (how's Jerry's bunting?) can be surprisingly useful for a team. You don't win championships by having a guy or two like that, but you can actually lose championships by not having a guy or two like that. Owens has some issues, granted. Last year at the plate he was a real disappointment compared to his #'s at AA, and his 60% career SB %age in the minors isn't anything to write home about, but the counter is...these are fairly easy things to learn. It's not all that rough to learn how to be a slap hitter who gets on base when you have really good speed and can turn a bunch of ground balls into singles. And it's not going to be impossible for a guy to learn the technique to dramatically improve his SB %age (just look at Podsednik). Owens may very well not pan out. A speed guy who hits .260 in the big leagues and doesn't take many walks is pretty useless except for his legs off the bench. The 2 big things Owens needs to learn is how to just be a slap hitter and take what the pitcher gives him (even if its' just a ground ball and a race to first), and how to steal bases and distract a pitcher effectively. But the one hopeful thing is...those are skills that people can learn if they have the speed. The difference between Juan Pierre and a 4th outfielder with speed isn't nearly as big as the difference between a Jermaine Dye and an OF prospect.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 06:31 PM) well now spataro has his 15 mins of fame and he could frame that SI magazine where they name him. So who else wants to say something scandalous and get your name in an SI magazine? Barry Bonds is definately cheating. He's on somethin'. Maybe a few things.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 06:20 PM) Because position players are more durable than pitchers and are much easier to pan out on a year to year basis than pitchers, and (some of) their contracts in the current market are atleast somewhat reasonable. I would also fire back that in terms of raw value in a trade to other teams, a pitcher who is having success is worth more that what his value should be given that he's not playing every day. A #3 starter who pitches every 5th day right now in Free Agency is making as much or more than Konerko. Average pitchers right now seem to have the value of very good starting position players. Think of position players who $11 million a year is a fair deal, and then realize that Gil Meche and Ted Lilly are getting similar contracts.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 06:33 PM) The worse thing about that Neal Cotts game is Loaiza followed that up with a pretty damn good start vs the Tigers and we lost anyways if I remember correctly. I still dont know why Loaiza didnt just face the yanks. The way I recall it, it was Buehrle who could have pitched against the Yankees on Normal rest that day due to an off day, but Manuel went with Cotts anyway. One I gotta throw in as incredibly dumb; throwing Loaiza out in game 1 against the Twins in a key series in 2003 when Loaiza was sick as hell. Cotts would have been a better option that day.

Condi Rice

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 02:51 PM) BTW, 39 on the active roster now, correct? Excellent point, this frees up a spot on the 40 man. Pelfrey and Milledge for Buehrle is again possible! yay! (I'll stop dreaming now)

Scary thing is...with the way that Mets rotation is sitting right now, he might legitimately have a shot at starting for them at some point this year.

House passes Medicare drug package reform bill, giving Medicare the right to negotiate lower prices with drug companies. Again, not a veto-proof majority, but a solid one. Link. Check what is this, 5, 6 now?

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 01:13 PM) Nothing can be "good" for that cheap. Not the sauce, not the mozz, not the toppings. Immigrant Labor.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 11:07 AM) So it's ok for Harry Reid, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, et. al to support raising the number of troops as recently as three weeks ago, and then when the president wants to do it, it's "the worst foreign policy ever"? Can you provide evidence for this being factual? Especially within the last few weeks? I've seen this fired out a couple times by Republicans in the past few days and haven't yet seen any evidence that it's true. I mean, yes, there is always Lieberman out there, but for a counter-point, in June of 06, the Reid/Levin amendment calling for the start of withdrawal by the end of 2006 received 38 of 44 Dem votes in the Senate. There were certianly points at which a majority of Democrats even would probably have supported more troops, such as back in 03-04. But that certainly doesn't mean that the situation on the ground or in our army can't possibly change over the period of a number of years.

Congressman Ron Paul from Texas, who ran for the Presidency in 1988 under the Libertarian ticket, seems to be on the verge of throwing his name into the Republican list. Link. (This could potentially also open up his House seat, if he were so inclined)

Yesterday, Harry Reid surprised a few folks by suddenly launching a tough fight for a watered-down version of the ethics reform legislation in the Senate. The original plan as I understood it was to pass a rule similar to the one in the House, forcing the Government to acknowledge who was asking for and getting what earmarks. Reid suddenly came in yesterday and threw his weight behind a version that would still allow significant quantities of earmarks to go un-sourced. Happily, it appears that Reid has lost this fight, and the tougher rules will prevail. Harry, we're watching you, stop the B.S.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 09:55 AM) Only if he's trying to get Iraq pregnant. At this point, that looks like a better plan than the one we're trying now. Ok everyone, new strategy; we need to get Iraq pregnant!

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 05:21 AM) So *we* are dying (literally) to give Iraq back to the them. And it will be a victory when we are out? Haven't you listened to a single word the President has said in the past 2 years? As long as we stay, we have not lost. The only defeat is pulling out.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 06:07 AM) When Brand was 22 he averaged 11.6 rebounds a game. He also can score. The trade made no sense. Chandler is so elite, Paxson couldn't wait to dump him. Not justifying the deal, but just making sure all the facts are out there; it was also pretty well known that Elton Brand was simply not happy at all in Chicago, and given all the losing it's hard to blame him. It was very, very likely that Brand was going to make absolutely certain that he got out of Chicago when his chance to be a Free Agent came along, which would have left the Bulls holding nothing.

So, based on previous evidence, is it a safe bet now that KW does have something in the works to turn Buehrle into talent before he hits FA? QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 12:41 AM) Since I'm on a bit of a roll with this sort of thing (Pierre, Soriano, etc) I'm going to take a stab at JD's next contract which I believe will come from the Sox. 3 years, $37M guaranteed. $11M per with a 4th year team option worth $12M or a $4M buyout. I know it seems low but just wait until the press conference, I'll be right in the end. Couple things to consider when talking about a contract for JD: 1. He's still very much underpaid for this year. So in other words, if he gets to $11-12 million a year, that's a $5 million raise for this season alone. 2. In the back of everyone's mind, the same thing that made JD so cheap for the White Sox will still be a thought; JD's injury history. Yes, he's been healthy the last 2 years, but he should know very well how much money even a minor injury this season could cost him. One stint on the 15 day DL could cost him $5-10 million if he doesn't sign a contract extension before the season. In other words, there is a monetary security reason for JD to go ahead and sign; he gets money earlier, and he gets it guaranteed whether or not he stays healthy and has a monster season this year.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 06:41 PM) I really think this could be the best WR draft in history. Unfortunately that's about all that's in it. The Detroit Lions will be in heaven.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 03:55 PM) And how would you have liked his treatment to be adjusted. It would have been really, really nice to see him have some willingness to pull a starter early. Vazquez in the 5th inning, or Buehrle in the earlier innings of games where he was getting shelled. Ditto Garland Early in the season. Hell, just look at some of Buehrle's lines from last season: 5 IP, 11 Runs 6.1 IP, 5 runs. 3 IP, 8 runs (pulled early) 7 IP, 5 runs 5.1 IP, 7 runs. 6.2 IP, 6 runs. (All from July and August, 2 of his bad months) Here's another one for you: even throughout all of the months Buehrle struggled, Ozzie pulled him before he threw 90 pitches only 4 times all season (not including the rainout to start the year). And 1 of those was a game early where Mark went 8 innings and got the win. Only 2 times all season did Ozzie pull Buehrle from a game before he threw 80 pitches. Our bullpen threw by far the fewest innings in baseball last year. It certainly wasn't the best bullpen in baseball by any stretch of the imagination, but it has to be able to give us more than that (Especially since there was plenty of room in some people's arms, particularly McCarthy, to give them more regular work).