Balta1701

Brantley also said earlier this year that if he had to choose 1 player to start a team with, it would be Papelbon.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi?sortColumn=sos http://teamrankings.com/mlb/27powerratings.php3

So, I didn't think this was worth a new thread, but it's sort of interesting...Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have started up his own blog. This will seemingly make him the only blogger in Iran not under threat of arrest for communicating with the west.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 09:39 AM) I just wonder how much the Sox are willing to spend on a new LF or SS when Uribe and Pods are fairly cheap. Crede is due a raise and all the escalating contracts will go up next year, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. At least based on his current production, I'm not sure that in 2 years, Uribe will still be considered cheap to my eyes.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 09:15 AM) All fair points. They also have a ton of position prospects at every position in their system, however that means it's going to take a steep price of young pitching to get him. Yup. Which is why everything said thus far has been..."You want Crawford? It's Ervin Santana + a couple more. Or it's Brandon McCarthy plus a couple more." And so on, depending on who's asking. They have no obvious need to trade him, they're not going to win the AL East for a couple more years, so they can hold out for another Kazmir and even their fans can't complain, because it's the right move.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 09:10 AM) I don't know why Crawford would be available, isn't he signed at a fair contract for a player of his calibur through like 2010? The whole idea behind Crawford being available I believe is that a.) He's not going to be resigned by Tampa if he hits the FA Market, b.) his value in a trade is very high around the entire league right now, c.) Tampa isn't going to be ready to compete in the AL until a few years down the road, i.e. right around when Crawford is looking at leaving as a FA, and d.) They have a lot of other potential outfield talent heading up through their system.

This of course is all the fault of a guy 2 buildings over. Interestingly, he's walking around with a broken ankle right now. Supposedly another professor stepped on it awkwardly by his pool a few weeks back.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 08:59 AM) I'd like to see Mack starting in LF next year. Maybe even this year. Then let whomever matures out of AA and AAA come in at a reasonable pace - no need to rush them. Mack has 40 more OBP points, plays better D, has a better arm, has good speed, can bunt, BB and K about the same as Pods, and hustles like hell. Yeah, I know, he's not done well against lefties (.279 OBP), but Pods is just as bad (.281), and Mack hasn't gotten to see many of them yet. If we had a righty who could also play LF...Mack would make an ideal platoon partner out there.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 10:39 PM) The Dodgers are easily the second best team in the NL. I'd actually pick them if they ended up playing the Mets. If it comes down to that series, I don't see how you can possibly pick against the Dodgers, for 1 simple reason: Starting Pitching. The Dodgers not only have better starter numbers than the Mets, on paper I think they're another step beyond them, mainly because I have very little confidence in the ability of the Mets' starting pitching to go into the playoffs and pitch as though they're a bunch of healthy, 27 year old men. The Mets' Bullpen has carried their numbers a little bit, but I'd be ungodly nervous about taking Pedro, Glavine, El Duque, and a few other pieces into the playoffs as key parts of my rotation.

So, Jon...offense... Me and my forthform chums thought it would be quite corking if you could give the bullpen a decent lead so that MMac, Thor, and the big man could take a day off.

Man, that was a Beauty.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 07:29 PM) Jackie Hayes, you pinned it. The throwing around of the phrase 'acting like Nazis' is insinuating that they are out to eradicate Muslims from the earth ror something. PLus, has nothing to do but distract you from the wackos present at the SF rally. You're 100% right. The Nazis pioneered the technique of an armor-led rapid assault, the same sort of design we used in Gulf war 1. Does that mean that Schwarzkopf believed in the natural superiority of the Aryan Race? Somehow, I doubt it. Here's the way I've thought about it. If a person is trying to link a behavior of some person, army, country, or political opponent to the Nazis, and then doesn't bother to explain further why exactly they think the behavior is bad, then all they're doing is trying to link their opponent to the Nazis under the assumption that every single thing the Nazis did was terrible and anyone doing anything remotely similar must be totally evil. It's, IMO, quite intellectually lazy, but the problem is that for people who don't give things a second thought, it can be effective. If you want to prove something's evil to me, then prove that it's evil. Don't just say that the Nazis did something and therefore it's obviously evil. Of course, also here, I would consider making note that pointing at the wackos present at the SF rally does nothing but distract people from any genuine arguments made against a certain policy. "Yeah, you have all these reasons why this operation may not work, but look, this guy thinks the Israelis are Nazis and you agree with him! You're clearly wrong!" I put that sort of discussion on a similar level as making Nazi references. It does NOTHING to contribute to most debates, just as most Nazi references do nothing to improve the quality of most debates.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 07:26 PM) No, the showing of these photos is to show that as is usually the case, whichever side or protest it may be, the loudest ones tend to be the wackiest ones. Especially since this took place in san francisco. While a majority of people who are against Israel may be 'normal' people, I don't think you can claim that the signs and people pictured there were in a minority at that particular rally. However, the question is...does that particular rally represent a majority of the people who think that the Israeli operation was a mistake?

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 07:07 PM) Wow those are extremely impressive numbers. I'm kind of bummed I missed the game now. Schmidt matched him. Retired the last 22 hitters he faced, IIRC. This has been a DYNAMITE game to watch if you like pitching.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 06:55 PM) Namely, because we can win without those two, so why get things started? The one advantage to maybe bringing up Fields is that if he comes up and actually gets a chance to face big league pitching and struggle against it a little bit, it might illuminate a few of the holes he needs to work to fix in his swing before the season starts next year.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 06:28 PM) Garcia has a better outing than Buehrle, yet I guarantee when he gives up his next first inning run, people are going to be screaming for him to be pulled or hoping he breaks his ankle. Garcia gave up 3 runs in 7 innings, and got hit around pretty hard in the first few. Buehrle gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, and only got hit around pretty hard at the end...but wouldn't have given up most of those runs at all had the defense turned a DP. I'd say they both did decent. Garcia was pretty darn wobbly early in the game.

Man, I think you just have to wonder what sort of numbers Maddux would have put up this season if he hadn't spent 2/3 of the year on a minor league team.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 03:15 PM) http://encyclopediadramatica.com/index.php/Godwin's_Law So if Mr. Bush is now talking about "Islamo-Fascists" in order to link the terrorists to WWII, does that mean we've lost the war on terror?

Come on Big Jon...time to find that Mojo you had a few weeks ago. And if Sweeney comes up late in the game with men on? JUST WALK HIM.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 03:25 PM) There's a couple of schools of thought on that. I think it'd be a sure thing Fields comes up if he was on the 40 man, but he isn't.... Yeah...if they don't think he's fully ready, and they know they won't have a spot for him for a while, it might pay to avoid starting his arbitration clock until next year. I absolutely hope they don't bring Sweeney up for the same reason.

Meow...meow...meow... Shoo Cat! Shoo!

Bye bye kitties. Hope you enjoyed your stint at the top. Now I hope you also enjoy your longest losing skid of the season.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 01:53 PM) I am a little surpised the Tigers have not been bitten by their lack of a dominant closer more often. They make a pretty good case that you don't need a dominant closer, you just need A closer who is willing to do the job. Nicely done BA. And yeah, he got thrown out on the basepaths, but they may have only cut the ball off because he was running. Tell Bobby to sit down. I would not mind at all if Riske got some work this inning.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 13, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) The only way I'd leave Thronton in there is if we score another run here If we score another run here, I bring Riske in. No reason to wear Thornton out either.

Granderson brought that back. Wow.