Balta1701

QUOTE(supernuke @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:05 PM) I see a lot of people are talking about draft pick compensation. I thought that with the new CBA there was not going to be any compensation anymore. Can anyone clarify this? That was only a rumor. In fact, they did maintain draft pick compensation for Free Agent losses in the new CBA, although they decreased the value somewhat. Here is a summary of the changes according to Baseball America.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) Err, I said that. I said, if we can get some good youthful pitching in a trade, then do it, but if we can't get something good then keep the five. If all 5 of the starters were signed for 2 years, I'd agree (which is where we were last offseason). But the reality is, we have 2 starting pitchers who will be hitting Free Agency after 2007, and it will cost us more than likely an additional $10-$15 million a year (at current going rates) for 5 years or so to keep both of them around. The fact is, it would be insane of the White Sox to sign both Freddy Garcia and Mark Buehrle to the type of deals they could command on this open market. Which means the White Sox have to face 2 options...try to resign 1 of them and trade the other one (Buehrle being the preferable signing because of simple age constraints and performance) or hold onto them both and almost certainly have one, if not both of them, walk as Free Agents, with the White Sox only receiving draft pick compensation. The latter option makes sense if we are planning to seriously contract salary after 2008 and go into a true rebuilding phase for a couple years, where our outfield is Owens, Anderson, Dye, our infield is Fields, ?, ?, Konerko, and our catcher is ?/Stewart/Molina, and our Rotation is Jose Contreras (for 1 year), Brandon McCarthy, Charlie Haeger, Lance Broadway, and whichever pitcher we can resign. But that's the only way it makes sense to me to hold onto all those guys and risk letting them walk. In 2008/2009, having traded one of our SP's for a bunch of prospects this offseason and signed the other one puts us in a much, much, much better position, given that the talent we could acquire now could be ready in 07/08, and anyone we get with the draft picks won't be ready until several years after that. We have to deal at least 1 SP, because I don't think we can resign them both, and we will be so much better in 2007 and 2008 by making a trade and putting McCarthy in if compared to holding onto both 07 FA's and risking having them walk for draft picks.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:22 PM) Well, Pods better toughen up, because it's very hard for speed players to stay healthy throughout the entire season. One more thing to suggest to Pods...I don't care what happens on the play, keep running full speed until you hit first base. And keep your damn eyes on the ball in the outfield.

QUOTE(TheOcho @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 04:16 PM) I also don't buy into his whole "injured" excuse. If he was really injured since ... last year? Shouldn't he NOT be playing? Oh yea ... then there is his fielding with no arm. So, as we all know, there are different degrees of being "Injured", some of which you can play through, some of which you can play through but at a reduced level, some of which you can't play through at all. In the 2nd half of 05, Podsednik was clearly injured, in a couple of ways. I believe he had a hamstring problem that made him sluggish, and he had a back problem as well. He was still able to be a productive hitter after he hit the DL for a stretch, which made him somewhat useful, but he was clearly reduced from where he was before the AS break. In the offseason, Podsednik had hernia surgery which both limited any chance he had to spend the winter recuperating and getting into playing shape, and when he hit spring training, he had if I recall correctly some problems with scar tissue. When ST hit, he was not ready for ST, and wound up being unable to play until the last week of ST. He then started the 2006 season basically after having a week to get in shape, and probably with some scar tissue and other problems still lingering. He was still able to play baseball, but at a clearly reduced level. Honestly, after having seen how badly he was reduced, it might not have hurt the team to put him on the DL for the month of April, send him to AAA on a rehab assignment, and actually give him a chance to get in shape and fully recover, something he never had. I can't guarantee that Podsednik won't come back at the same reduced level, or at an even worse one, next year. But it's at least possible that a whole offseason of rest, hopefully punctuated by getting into much much much better playing shape before the start of ST, might be just the thing Pods needs.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 05:07 PM) Then I guess my follow-up question can be directed to the both of you... What would you do to help preserve the sport of hunting and reduce the Anti-2nd amendment/anti-hunting groups such as PETA? Doesn't PETA do enough already to reduce their influence?

"Here's to the losers" - K.C., Pittsburgh.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 01:39 PM) You're right. My family members all invested in themselves, went to school, and have decent jobs that give them the choice of obtaining health insurance. They're not sitting around waiting for handouts. And what happens when a person is so sick no one will hire them?

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:32 AM) 2009, just enough time for George W Bush to have had a one year vacation.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) I just don't think it be that bad for McCarthy to season up in the minors a little more if we can't get something worthwhile for one of our starters and that something has to be starting pitching. Brandon McCarthy's arbitration clock has already started.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 12:01 PM) quick! universal health care for all! let's set it up like the Canadian system cuz it works so well! You wouldn't say that if you had a family member sitting around suffering because they don't have health insurance.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) It's pretty obvious that Ozzie doesn't feel the desire to get him into the rotation. That's why I have no problem at all if we trade him for a big time player. McCarthy's only role next year with the Sox should be as a starter. Anything else is just asinine. The big issue I'm still focused on right now is Free Agency. With the market ballooning once again, we're facing a situation where 4 of our 5 starting pitchers hit Free Agency at the end of 2008, 2 of which happen at the end of 2007. I think it is really, really, really stupid to set yourself up in a position where Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Tadahito Iguchi, and Jermaine Dye all just turn into draft picks because they hit the market and you're not willing to go to 6 years on Buehrle to match what someone else offers. They have so much more value right now. If we're looking at a complete, 4-year rebuilding process starting in 2009, then that's an acceptable option, but I certainly don't see that as the smartest move. Hopefully, this is just KW posturing before the winter meetings.

I can think of few stupider moves.

Does anyone else really, really, really want the Cowboys to lose this week, and badly, just so the "Romo=God" crap stops?

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 10:45 AM) That's the thing....our offense wasn't excellent during the 2nd half of the season. I'm pretty sure it was in the bottom 50 pct of the offenses in MLB during the second half. We've been joking about this for almost a year now. Have you ever been to a wrestling event where every single female that is slighty overweight has a Matt Hardy sign? That's how it feels to go to a Sox game. 16th out of 30 teams after the all-star break in 2006.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:40 AM) I also think we'll see Pods have a better all around season (even If he's not my first choice, I don't expect him to be near as brutal and I could see worse options at the top of the order). It's also possible that if he could manage another up season (in his career, he's thus far gone good, awful, good-until-injured, bad) he could significantly raise his trade value for next offseason.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:02 AM) Any system involving the electronic transfer of information is dangerous. Credit card purchases, emails, bank transfers, even regular paper mail is dangerous, s*** walking your check to the bank was dangerous back in the day. Basically you could write this story about any of those subjects and just interchange the title I think what's probably most noteworthy about this story is that it has the potential to affect a much larger group than anything else you cite (except the NSA). And it's compounded by the fact that banks go to extraordinary lengths to prevent people from being able to recover losses if they're stolen via a debit card.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:29 AM) Even with all of the career years and incredible second halves some of our players had in '05, the attitude that Ozzie and A.J. brought to this squad was what pushed that team over the hump, IMO. Personally, I'd say it was the pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching, and pitching...but a key part of that pitching is having a catcher who the pitchers trust.

Aw Jeez

Linkity.

$? Presumably this makes a trade a little easier if it's a reasonable number?

QUOTE(beautox @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 05:30 AM) but in all seriousness I don't think Visa and the rest of the "payments industry" would let criminal organizations undermine the global economy. If it cost them money to prevent it...I wouldn't be so sure. Anyway, I guess it's probably going to be left up to me to point out that many of the same companies who design and build and sell these ATM systems are the same companies who are designing and building and selling the electronic voting machines that many places are now using.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:31 AM) Should be back into the 70s by Sunday. Thank God winter is almost over for me. Don't forget Tex...this is an El Nino year...so winter may well actually just be getting started, even for you.

QUOTE(ChiSoxLifer @ Nov 30, 2006 -> 11:01 PM) As I see it right now BA barely has a AAA bat. BA does play good defense but it wasn't even enough to play CF full time over a career utility player. Please for God's sake do not judge Brian Anderson's performance based entirely on Ozzie Guillen's decision making.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:34 AM) Technically we could deal AJ and just sign a stud defensive catcher like Molina whose as clutch as it comes with the bat (he really is). He's just slow as mud. I've been one of the people who's been going around all fall saying that if the right offer comes along, I'm willing to trade almost any of the vets on this team in order to make the team better, so hopefully people will take note of it when I say this: If we want to be competitive the next few years, we need AJ as the catcher. Not because it's impossible for us to replace his production, not because he's such a great catcher or he's such a great value or anything else like that, but entirely because he's such a key part of this team's attitude. Bringing in Ozzie was a big step at getting away from the lackadasical Manuel years where it seemed everyone waited around for something to happen. But every one of us noticed how much of a difference it made when we threw AJ into that mix. I for one feel that if you were to trade AJ, you're basically trading away this team's balls.