Balta1701

If we had the starters pitching like they did in 05, along with this offense and a functioning Brian Anderson, we could overcome 15 games if we had to. But the key is the starters.

QUOTE(Jake @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 08:47 PM) Now that I think of it, I wouldn't mind moving Pods right away. But don't play Rob there, bring up Sweeney and see if he can help spark something. No offense to Ryan...but I don't want to see him in the big leagues until the end of the 2007 season. Stay in AAA, practice, and try to develop some more power, yes. Don't start his arbitration clock too early, don't rush things, don't scare the 21 year old into changing his swing. The goal should be to try to have him ready as a possible replacement for Dye at the end of 07, IMO.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 08:44 PM) Jeff Brantley, considering his run of stupidity, said there should be no doubt that Schilling is the one American League pitcher that should be selected if you need to win a game. Isn't this the same guy who said Papelbon is the player he'd want on his team most, over Pujols? Yup. In other words, the Red Sox are unstoppable in his eyes..

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal posted an article which unfortunately is only available to subscribers as far as I can tell, but Here's a summary of the math, albiet from a left-leaning web blog. Anyone who finds the actual article somewhere where it's freely available, I'd love to read it somewhere without subscribing to the Journal. So, the deficit is decreasing, beyond what was projected. How is this happening? Well, it could be happening from additional growth beyond the standard economic predictions, but according to the Journal piece, this is not what happened. What is actually happening is that more and more earnings are being concentrated in the folks who earn the highest wages already. While the median income has stagnated, the upper incomes have continued to soar. This has the odd result of actually producing more tax revenues for the government, because despite Bush's tax cuts, the tax code is still somewhat progressive, and higher wage earners do pay higher taxes. This has the effect of slightly lowering the deficit, despite the fact that the reduction is entirely due to increasing income inequality.

A Federal District Court has refused to dismiss the first of the lawsuits challenging the Bush Administration's NSA spying program. The Bush Administration had sought dismissal on the grounds that the case would expose state secrets. The decision will presumably be appealed to the 9th circuit court of appeals, followed by the Supreme Court. One of the money quotes on why the State Secrets argument fails:

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 06:10 PM) He's really had problems with LOOGYs (or is the plural LOOGIES?), especially those with a sidearm and below delivery (Lopez, Myers, Walker). He's been easily neutralized by them of late. But really, he's about the last guy on the team to complain about. We knew coming in that he has a reputation as one of the streakiest sluggers in the game, and he's lived up to that reputation. The last time he faced Lopez, he doubled to the opposite field off of him in the 11th inning of that 19 inning marathon when we were coming back to tie it at 5.

QUOTE(VenomSox @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) News: The Nationals granted catcher Matthew LeCroy his unconditional release, three days after he was designated for assignment. Matt Lecroy is a catcher in the same sense that I am.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 03:33 PM) Widge didn't get the bunt down either (Ozuna failed also) Widger didn't even try to bunt that at bat IIRC. He tried to bunt for a hit leading off an inning later in the game. Blew my fishing mind.

Thome has a bad few games, maybe a bad few weeks, and follows it up with a few games/weeks that are equally good. I'll lay you decent odds he destroys the Rangers this weekend.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 02:28 PM) a.) Brady Clark. Gives us a real platoon partner for Podsednik, and it guarantees Mackowiak won't see much CF in the second half. They have Gross and Hall who can play CF, and Hart (?) can fill in the corners. They could use pitching, so maybe Phillips/Haeger plus a lesser prospect could get it done? He's still not a terrible idea at this point, but the one thing is: I don't want another player that Ozzie feels needs to get playing time ahead of Brian Anderson. You know that's what would happen, Clark would play some in LF, but he'd also play some in CF, and Mack would still play some in CF, and Anderson's at bats, and our CF defense, would go down even more.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 04:05 PM) Just an FYI, the Twins are now closer to the Sox (4 GB) than the Sox are to the Tigers (5.5 GB) We are also now tied with Boston.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) No...Wickman is mediocre Which of course makes him by far the best pitcher in the Braves' Bullpen.

"I was a Republican - until they lost their minds." The Great Sir Charles. More from the Round Mound of Rebound.

The only person he'd be moving past would be Uribe. Wait and see if he gets his power stroke going first, and wait until he does this for more than a few weeks, and then maybe we'll consider it.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 01:37 PM) When has Garcia been anything near good against a good team? 2005.

Let's see how this team responds to adversity. Like, you know, being swept by the Yankees after losing 2/3 to the Red Sox.

QUOTE(TheHolyBovine @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 12:59 PM) They also have Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and several more pitching prospects with great stuff in the minors. They will be the team to beat in 2007 and beyond. Don't count this Tigers team out either. Their pitching is likely to only get better. Zumaya will either be closing or in the rotation next year, Verlander will have a full season under his belt, Bonderman is only getting better, Maroth will be healthy again, and they have a couple more of those pitchers in the pipeline.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 01:10 PM) So how many threads does the backup catcher have now? 3? 4? How about we just keep those going and stop clogging up PHT with the same repetitive crap? So what does our backup catcher deserve more of...playing time or PHT threads?

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 01:08 PM) I've really admired, from a baseball aspect, how they've capitalized on every opportunity they've been given this year. They believe they're going to win games, no matter what the score is in the 6th or 7th inning. Like I said the other day, if they were in the NL, I would be a fan of the team this year. And yet last year, when the White Sox were doing the exact same thing, the team wasn't good enough for you?

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 01:06 PM) It's amazing how bad we are, and we still have the second best record in the majors by 1.5 games. It doesn't make very much sense. If Boston wins today they tie us by my count.

A Red Sox win today and they tie us. 2-7 in our last 9 games. Scott Podsednik 0/10 this series Tadahito Iguchi 1/9 this series Jim Thome 1/12 this series Paul Konerko 2/10 this series, 2 home runs, 2 walks. Jermaine Dye 6/9 this series. AJ Pierzynski 0/9 this series Joe Crede 4/10 this series, 2 home runs. Juan Uribe 2/7 this series, 1 home run Brian Anderson 4/8 this series Alex Cintron 0/5 this series Rob Mackowiak 1/3 this series Chris Widger 0/3 this series. Pablo Ozuna 0/3 this series. That's a .221 batting average for our team over these 3 games.

Scott Podsednik 0/10 this series Tadahito Iguchi 1/9 this series Jim Thome 1/12 this series Paul Konerko 2/10 this series, 2 home runs, 2 walks. Jermaine Dye 6/9 this series. AJ Pierzynski 0/9 this series Joe Crede 4/10 this series, 2 home runs. Juan Uribe 2/7 this series, 1 home run Brian Anderson 4/8 this series Alex Cintron 0/5 this series Rob Mackowiak 1/3 this series Chris Widger 0/3 this series. Pablo Ozuna 0/3 this series. That's a .221 batting average for our team over these 3 games.

AJ 0/9 this series...

Cintron 0/5 this series...

AJ is on deck.