Balta1701

More bad news for Delay...The Jack Abramoff (btw, isnt' that the worst sounding name you've ever heard?) case is also getting closer and closer to the hammer...now emails are surfacing which implicate his staff in that mess.

Seriuosly though...in that division, who would you say the Bulls are better than? The Pistons or Pacers? The new-look Bucks maybe? The new look Cavs with a possibly improved supporting cast around Lebron? I like the Bulls as much as anyone else, but with as much turnover, and as many questions as there are with the Bulls' lineup...until they prove something more to me, i dont' see how you can rank them better than anyone in that division except Milwaukee, and that might be a stretch also.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 11:32 AM) Do we even need to go here? He's playing San Diego. It's hard to put up numbers there. In the Cell he'd hit 30 HR easily and I think he could hit 40. Just to play Devil's Advocate, isn't it possible that the dropoff could have more than 1 cause? I mean, I've been suspicious of Klesko for a long time, and he's had a dropoff due to the park as well.

QUOTE(Frank the Tank 35 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 11:36 AM) I'm not a big fan of Thome, but if PK leaves, I see that as the most likely option. My only question is this...what happens if Thome can't play?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 11:08 AM) I was thinking more of Thome at first base and batting third with Frank at DH and batting fourth. Thome is nothing special defensively at first base but he isn't horrible. I don't like the idea at all of having to put either Thome or Thomas at 1b. Both of them strike me as people who could benefit tremendously from the DH Spot.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 11:05 AM) What would the point of that be? Teixeira would expect even more money than Konerko. I know he's worth a lot more than Konerko but if we aren't going to shell out the cash for Konerko we aren't going to shell out the players, prospects, and money that Teixeira would cost. And guess who Teixeira's agent is? Boras. He was already rumored to want a 10 year contract for Teixeira. Not going to happen. But on the other hand, Teixeira has at least 3 years left before he becomes a Free Agent. He is relatively cheap for those 3 years. If both Jose and Teixeira would be considered people nearly guaranteed to depart through free agency, then why not trade Jose and a few parts for Tex now, then dump Tex right before he hits Free Agency to someone looking for a big bat at 1b then?

Good to know our likely next Supreme Court Justice doesn't let little things like seemingly obvious ethical issues slow him down.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 08:51 AM) This makes me feel better That sounds like the reason why Crawford was traded and the reason that Curry frustrated everyone in Chicago. If Curry couldn't learn how to play the right way from Skiles, I just can't see how Larry Brown will make much of a difference either. Larry's a great coach, but he's not so far ahead of Skiles right now that I think he'll be able to get Eddy to jump either.

Now this is just funny...Ronnie Earle is using the exact same arguments Delay used to argue that the new judge is unqualified. (Reg. Required).

10 years ago, this used to only happen in Japan...U.S. stars were so worried that endorsing a product would screw up their career...that they'd be viewed as selling out, that they were unwilling to do those commercials. Over the past decade, the money's just become too tempting I guess. As more people took it, the taboo fell away.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 10:04 AM) Contrearas is a FA after next season. I think he is the guy they gamble on letting walk. I would build this team around Garcia, Buerhle, and Garland. I think Garland has the most upside. I would think 4yr $36M is what he will ask for with money coming in the year Freddy is off the books $7M, 9, 9, 11. In arbitration I think he gets Clement money. Jon, AJ and Crede need to be locked up long-term. This is exactly why some of us have been considering whether now would be a good time to trade Contreras for some high quality players/bats/prospects/something like that. He's the one they'll probably let walk, and we can get a ton for him right now after his performance in the 2nd half.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 09:51 AM) Don't you mean 2006? Oh bloody hell... Mods? Little help?

I continue to hold out hope that some time in my life, Americans will be embarassed by the fact that these laws were passed.

Didn't see this posted anywhere, and I checked back several days worth of pages. We get rings on day 1. And the Tribe will be there to watch.

QUOTE(joeynach @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 09:40 AM) By the way Buehrle is a potential FA after 2006 as well, I would like to see KW do what he did with Freddy and the 3 year extension at 27 mil. That would be great for MB and eventuall for Garland after he finishes his first 3 year deal, just like MB. I believe the team has an option on Buehrle for 2007 which will almost certainly be picked up. Hopefully it won't even come to that, because at the end of 06 KW will be smart enough to realize he's the face of the franchise and we must ink him to a new deal before he hits the market.

Here, I think, is the simple fact. Dustin Hermanson was signed in the 2004 offseason for $2 million a year. Seattle just picked up the option on Everyday Eddie for something like $6 million a year. If everyone knew Hermanson was able to pitch, he would clearly have significant value on the trade market. However, there is no reason right now why any team would give us the real quality in a trade that a 35+ save a year guy who's paid only $2 million a year would normally get. Why? The same reason no one will pay for Thome right now - no proof he's healthy. If you want to trade Dustin for some real quality prospects/players, you have to show the world he's healthy first. Even if it's just for 1 month early next year...if he comes out and pitches well and shows no signs of injury, his value will go through the roof for all thsoe teams Rock listed, if they're anywhere clsoe to the playoff hunt. But right now, you'd have to trade him for a massive discount...and the downgrade in the bullpen is clearly not worth anything we'd get for him at this poitn.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 08:54 AM) Or eight-peat. "Minimum".

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 09:21 AM) I'd like to see a 3 year, 21 million dollar deal for Garland with an option for a 4th year at $8 million. Sounds like perfect numbers to me...I'd even tolerate another $3 million on the deal if it holds onto him. There are 3 guys on this team right now who should not be allowed to leave. We made a mistake by not finding a way to sign one of them last spring. The other 2 are named Mark and Jon.

Oh, and there's 1 more thing I need to point out...none of the previous post is designed to suggest that malpractice itself isn't a problem, or that there's not anything we could do about it. The one other key piece of data in this debate is the fact that nationwide, a very small percentage of doctors are actually responsible for an overwhelming majority of the malpractice cases actually filed. Study after study has shown this to be the case. In Pennsylvania, roughly 4% of doctors have been responsible for nearly 50% of the malpractice claims filed, and 10% of the doctors have been responsible for roughly 80% of the malpractice claims filed. Those 10% consist of doctors who have had 2 or more claims filed against them. In Florida, the numbers are slightly different, but the story is the same...7% of that state's doctors have had 3 or more malpractice claims filed against them, and those doctors account for more than 20% of the malpractice claims paid out over the last decade. There is a very simple way to decrease the amount of malpractice in this country - less malpractice. How do we accomplish that? Very simple...the AMA needs to either allow other people to discipline doctors with poor performance records, or they need to discipline them on their own. If we simply forced repeat offenders to pay higher rates, or forced them to seek additional training such that their risk would drop, it would dramatically reduce the number of malpractice cases filed in this countyr, and it would save lives.

QUOTE(mreye @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 07:35 AM) Or trying to cover malpractice insurance costs. I think you can partly blame our sue first society. You could, but you'd basically be incorrect. First and foremost...we all know that medical malpractice insurance premiums have skyrocketed over the last few years. Before we jump to the conclusion that it's because of those damn trial lawyers, we should probably take a second to see if there's data to verify that. Because if a jump in the cost of malpractice premiums were the fault of the lawyers, it would only logically make sense if there was an increase in either the number of malpractice cases or the cost of paying those out. Guess what...it hasn't. (p.s. the blog linked to links to the actual report, if you want the raw data) So basically, we have a situation where the amount of money being spent by insurance companies to cover malpractice payouts, litigation, and so forth, has remained roughly constant over a long period of time, with growth matching inflation in the nation. But at the same time, the cost of malpractice insurance has far outstripped the rate of inflation or event he cost of payouts. So, something has to have gone up during that time. Take a bloody good guess where the money is going. In other words, malpractice premiums are skyrocketing, and the only thing skyrocketing along with them is the money being made by the insurance industry. Lawyers aren't cashing in - the amount of money they're making in lawsuit claims has remained virtually a constant after inflation. The amount of malpractice cases, or suits filed, or suits dismissed has not increased in the last decade. The only thing increasing is insurance company profits.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Nov 2, 2005 -> 09:09 PM) On Hermanson, I think he is about a 2.00-3.00 ERA, 1.10-1.20 WHIP type pitcher normally when fully healthy. What made him so solid this year was his ability to use that slider-fastball mix very effectively. When his fastball was in the 92-95 range, you saw him pitch very effectively. When his fastball was in the 88-91 range, he was hit quite a bit harder. He was undoubtedly also helped by the Sox superb defense. No way do his stats look as good as they do without a good defense behind him. Hermanson threw 95 this year??? As far as I coudl tell, he got hit quite a bit harder when he started being unable to locate things when his back really went out on him. I didn't notice these 95 mph fastballs from him really at any point during the year.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Nov 2, 2005 -> 09:05 PM) 40% shooting, 50% free throws, and only 8 rebounds in 42 minutes ( seems like that could be the most minutes played in a game in his career). It was a decent game i suppose. He lived through it. It was a good game.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Nov 2, 2005 -> 06:06 PM) Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts Curry 19 4-7 0-0 5-12 2 4 0 1 0 1 0 13 At the half. And notably...he's still alive.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 2, 2005 -> 06:09 PM) If we stand pat, we get passed. Next year will be different then this year. Well, no matter what happens, we're not totally standing pat...we have a new 5th starter, and almost certainly a new DH until July.

QUOTE(bighurt2719 @ Nov 2, 2005 -> 06:11 PM) no but green berets hit bloop singles in the clutch and when they play first base it makes me laugh out loud And costs us ballgames. Which makes me swear.