Balta1701

Here's a thought...if Garcia and Vazquez, or 1 of those 2, were also to pull out, would we have less need of a backup 6th starter? Would that make pulling off that last trade and going with 5 guys a little easier? Anywho, this thing started coming apart the day it was thought of. ARod's shenanigoats and the idiocy over Cuba is only hastening its demise.

This whole thing is coming apart, and aside from the fact that we may never get to see that Dominican Republic lineup, I can't say I'm disappointed.

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 11:14 PM) Tell me about it, this was around the time last year that I believe they pulled the team together and started to make a run, however with all the changes going on and Tyson not playing to his potential all we can hope for is a good draft pick. But a nice win. Almost everyone said that we were going to take a step backwards this year after the Curry heart mess, and it seems like they were right. But that doesn't stop us from planning. We've still got a major expiring contract, a big amount of cap room, 3 first round picks coming up in the next 2 years (at least 2 of which should be lottery, and maybe high lottery), and we've got some very good young talent in guys like Deng, Hinrich, and maybe Chandler (if he stays healthy), all of which still have plenty of room for improvement and development as the team grows. This is a team which is in really, really good shape for the future. Barring any more Curry-sized surprises, in 2 or 3 years, if Pax holds onto everyone or makes smart deals with the guys he does move, this team could be scary good.

I think the reality of that site that we're all talking about is probably something like this...he's pulling stuff off of every source he can get, and using lower levels of credibility than people who have to say report to a news desk. That means that a lot of the stuff he reports is either going to be plants or it is going to be random rumors which arise somewhere. But, as we all know, every so often, even at a message board, or on the radio, or somewhere along the line, someone may very well leak something which is true. It won't happen very often, but when you fire enough shots, eventually one of them may hit the target. This guy will be right eventually. He'll be wrong a lot too, but so will we. But eventually, he'll get something right, and it's up to all of us whether we want to bother thinking about whether or not we want to care about all the times he isn't right.

QUOTE(whitesox1976 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 08:47 PM) After reading about the proposed trade on chicagosports.com, Patterson would be traded for a minor leaguer. The Cubs obivously aren't losing much in Patterson, sounds to me like Baltimore would be getting the better of the deal. Anything the Cubs can get for Patterson at this point is an improvement.

Wow, so Houston did outspend us.

The big question for the Brewers, IMO, is whether or not they will be able to afford to hold onto CLee after this season. I doubt they're going to be able to...especially if they dump money on anyone else this season. They need CLee to provide some power in that order while they wait on Prince to Develop.

I don't know if this is something that can be blamed on Bush, because somehow I doubt this decision was made nearly that far up the chain of command. Dept of Treasury somewhere sure, maybe even the SecTreas. Anywho, great move IBAF. Someone needs to embarass baseball and the U.S. to the point that they'll have to either let Cuba in or cancel the bloody thing. If Cuba can't show what they've got, then it's not worth antyhing.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 03:07 PM) I think a case can be made either way. My point about Dye is that he'll draw more walks hitting 3rd than if he hits 5th or later, thus increasing his hitting value, while I think Thome will be the same hitter in any slot. Plus, hitting Thome behind Paulie will force him to continue being selective, knowing that if he walks, Thome could hit a 3-run dinger behind him. It is also possible to hit Dye 3rd against lefties but drop him against righties, with Thome moving up. I'd leave Konerko hitting cleanup when he's in there, but wouldn't hesitate to move other guys. As Juggernaut points out, however, the key may be Uribe in the #2 hole. I disagree with a couple of points. First, I disagree with the statement that Thome will be the same offensive threat in any spot, for 2 reasons: 1. In the 5 hole, behind Konerko, people just have less of a reason to pitch to him. I could understand it if we had another 30 home run guy to hit behind Thome (i.e. Crede catches fire or something like that), but without that, if you have Tad hitting .280 with 15-20 home runs behind Thome (decent numbers), if you've got an open base and the choice of which one to pitch to, you pitch to Tad. If Konerko's hitting behind Thome and you've got an open base, the walk to Thome may very well give Jim the chance to waltz home. 2. Jermaine Dye even in his best years is not going to take nearly as many walks or have nearly as high of an OBP or knock in as many runs as Thome. Dye's Career OBP is .334, and that's basically what he has put up every year except 1 or 2. Thome's OBP for his career is .408. JD's best year by far in terms of OBP would be one of Thome's worst years. JD has knocked in 100+ runs twice. Thome has done so 8 times. We will score more runs with Thome hitting behind Podsednik and Uribe than we will with Dye hitting there, and we will score more runs with Thome hitting before Konerko and Dye than if he hits after them.

With all of these posts saying "Oh, those people should have bought insurance" or "Those people should have been required to buy insurance", I'm left wondering...what would happen to this country if we forced people or didn't help people who didn't buy insurance against some possible but unpredictable catastrophe? Seriously, if the Federal Government plans without expecting a category 3+ storm to hit New Orleans, why should people in that city plan for the government to fail them? They weren't exactly the ones building the levees, and somehow I doubt that the feds went and handed them a brochure 10 years ago saying "you should buy insurance because we didn't build the levees strong enough." If a tsunami devastates New York city, should we tell the people they're SOL because the federal government didn't plan for an island in the Azores to collapse, and they should just get on with their lives and feel lucky they survived? If a Lahar buries Seattle, should we just say "Sorry, you should have bought insurance against Mt. Rainier." Should we expect every single American to purchase insurance to protect him or herself from situations which should have been considered very unlikely, like the complete failure of the levees around New Orleans? Hell, should people who work in high-rise buildings or in government buildings buy terrorist insurance, and be told they're out of luck if they didn't buy it and a terrorist does hit that building?

Good for him. At least he'll draw a paycheck.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 06:18 PM) Hawk: Paul Konerko steps in, batting .432 with 85 homeruns and 450 RBI DJ: And its only May, Hawk. Imagine what those numbers will look like in September! Hawk: DJ, I fully expect that Paul Konerko will finish the year with well over 300 homeruns. For the undefeated White Sox....

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 05:39 PM) He is still signed for two or three years and by that time they will likely have playing time to offer him as hammer said. Everyone says he would have been the number one pick in virtually any other year outside of 2003... arguably the best draft ever. Do you know which one it is? He came out in the same draft as Kirk, and Hinrich should be a restricted FA in 07, if I understand things correctly.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 06:32 PM) He will be the star ( he isn't now) the bulls build around whether anyone likes it or not I don't just like it, I love it. I was thrilled when we made the deal to get that guy from Phoenix. I just hope we can build a team around him & Capt. Kirk, and that sometime in his life Chandler turns into a decent BBall player. Just out of curiosity, is there a younger team in basketball, at least in terms of their starting 5, than the Bulls? I still sit here, look at this team, and think the best years are ahead of almost everyone on their roster, and if they hold together, and add in a few more draft picks like what we picked up from the Knicks, this team could turn into a real force in a couple of years.

Chris Matthews: Tom Delay " lives basically, like a regular middle class person. He doesn’t live well at all." I want to be that middle class!

The Non-Partisan Congressional Research Service has issued a report saying that Bush's program "Does not seem to be well-grounded" in the law as the administration has suggested.

Eek...according to a secret Pentagon study that has been leaked to the NYT...a whopping 80% of the deaths suffered by the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq (and presumably this would therefore apply to the Army as well) could have been prevented by equipping our troops with Body Armor that has been available since 2003 but has only begun to be purchased by the Marines this year.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 05:01 PM) -Second--the outfield was already full without Abreu; not it's overcrowded. I can't believe Cubs wouldn't give Murton the opportunity to start. Makes you wonder whether or not he's part of a deal centering around Zito. Oakland's outfield situation is equally as crowded, but he's their type of player and I certaintly wouldn't believe Beane avoids him because of crowded outfield. With Dusty Baker managing the Cubs, there's no reason to think that Murton will get the playing time he sh ould get, so I could easily believe they would put someone else in front of both him and Pie.

WAR!

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:25 PM) I think he signed a minor league deal but could win the starting job depending on how he does during spring training. And depending on what they wind up doing with K. Matsui (has that been finalized yet?) Boone's a lot cheaper than Matsui, but may very well put up worse numbers.

To me, this says 1 of 3 things. 1. Mark Prior will not be fully healthy in the next several years and Jim Hendry has not told us this 2. There is a lot of money going to the Cubs along with Abreu 3. There are a lot of players going to the Cubs along with Abreu (Gio?) Personally, I would wager on the 1st. This happens...it screams the Cubs knowing something we don't about Prior's arm. Just comparing the prices of the contracts...you could sign DLee for 3 years with the money you'd save by holding onto Prior compared to Abreu.

Vick is officially kicked off of Va Tech's team.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:53 PM) The Pistons want him to assume the starting PF role in 2009 after Rasheed's contract expires. He gets hardly any playing time as it is right now, but he gets to practice with Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess. I'm assuming that he has been hitting the weightroom something fierce with those three giving him advice. If McDyess wasn't on the roster, I think that Darko would be getting 10 to 15 minutes per game. As it is now, there really is no opportunity to get him in there unless they are up by like 20+ to start the 4th quarter. If McDyess or Rasheed Wallace were to get injured, Darko would most likely get those 10 to 15 minutes per contest. Isn't he almost to his restricted FA Year? I can't imagine the Pistons being able to hold onto him if they're not able to give him a shred of playing time.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:10 PM) Even though he isn't working right now...I'd put Theo Epstein up there. Maybe not top 3, but definitely top 5. I don't know about that...guys like Theo, Cashman...they were in the advantageous position of being able to make mistakes at will and still having the money to overcome them. If the Red Sox waste $10 million on a guy, will it derail their franchise that season? Of course not. If the A's or Braves or White Sox do? Probably will. I think that the real skill in the GM job is in finding a way to build a team at a lower cost that can continually win. It's easy to just point at the best guy on the FA Market and say "Wer'e going to spend $15 million a year on him" and do that every year. It's a lot harder to decide what positions to spend your money at, what prospects to trade, what positions you can fill with young guys, what positions you need a FA for, what FA's are available at below market value, what guys fit into your puzzle best, etc. That's what guys like Schuerholtz, Beane, and KW have done so well.

QUOTE(rventura23 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:03 PM) Im guessing no tejada trade, is there any chance we resign contreras for a longer term contract (2 or 3 more years)? Id still rather have Jose than Tejada if they both have more years on their contract, but Id take Tejada with years over Contreras with only one year With Brandon ready to go? I just can't see that happening.