Balta1701

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 12:55 PM) I agree. If the number of allegations are real, he would get convicted which is what should happen. He should not be allowed to skate away with just a resignation. Welcome to the world men have built.

QUOTE (cjgalloway @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 01:48 PM) I would think it's the exact opposite. Throwing 6 innings is more stressful than one inning two straight days. Rodon to me seems destined for the bullpen. Not sure if you know this or not, but the guy you're replying to is an actual physical trainer who has worked with baseball players before. If he says that Rodon would be a poor fit for the bullpen in reply to me, then I'm going to drop that idea and just assume that Rodon is our 5th starter giving us 75 innings if we're lucky in 2018 and maybe a handful more in 2019.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 01:35 PM) We better be competitive in two years. If we are Jose Abreu is the offensive force to lead the young talent to a championship The only way we're actually competitive in 2019 is if everything goes right - no one struggles, few major injuries, people develop rapidly. One or two bad luck injuries to people we need to develop and we just aren't there in 2019, we're counting on too many things to go right. That's why I keep saying the Abreu and Garcia questions should be dealt with right now - because I'm circling 2020 and as of now neither of them are under contract for that year. We can't have our team take a step forward to 85 wins or something like that in 2019 and then have our #4 and #5 hitters depart as free agents. Either get the extensions done or move them.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 12:31 PM) But is it worthy of destroying his career and any good he may have done in public service if it's not worthy of a trial? How do you determine this without some sort of measure? It's a slippery slope of doing this based on allegations. He, of course will need to answer to his family. You're somewhat right - the Congress needs to develop a better way to deal with this and a clear path by which this can be treated as an ethics violation. If that isn't done, it does set up an opportunity for someone to do a James O'Keefe setup where they try to bring down a Congressperson based on false accusations. There are unfortunately, a number of other issues with this though, including the fact that Congress has made it nearly impossible to report harassment by their members, and the fact that you can't really set up something like this that would police Congress without having to deal with the dozen+ credible claims against the President. At some point, Al Franken had to go and yesterday's was the straw that broke the camels back. Even if some of these are invented, there's photographic evidence of a couple of them, and he was not going to be in a position to do his job or represent the people of Minnesota any more.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 12:23 PM) Sure. But you can't go back and prove that they did or didn't take them because they weren't put on trial. These people will go to trial. You will have evidence if they committed a crime. Al Franken will never go to trial. He'll go home and have to answer to his family at most. Someday he may write another book for all we know. That's the world we live in - the stuff he did is such a small crime that you can do worse and be President of the United States.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 12:15 PM) Odds are he will pitch for the Sox in 2018. Isn't that what I said?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 01:13 PM) Should anyone really be forced out due to allegations? Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Shouldn't they be allowed to continue on until either they admit to it or proven guilty in court? Do you think that there are people who played professional baseball in MLB who used steroids and did not get caught?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 12:11 PM) Plus, since the team will be cost-controlled at so many positions for a while going forward, I wouldn't mind them handing out 3-4 year deals to a few free agent relievers when the time is right (next off-season, year after). That bullpen could look impressive rapidly if you've got a Rodon, Cease, and Kimbrel out there.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 01:06 PM) Keith Ellison should get his senate seat. Then we one step closer to President Keith Ellison. Link

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 11:45 AM) Well how long do you think it'll take to build a dominant bullpen ? You absolutely need one to be serious about contending. That means 3 or possibly 4 guys the Sox don't have yet. I know it's pretty illogical to sign RP's to more than 2 or 3 years but the bullpen is my biggest worry for when the Sox start contending. I suppose this year could be all about trying the scrap heap relievers but guys who produce like we had like Robertson, Swarzak and Kahnle are going to be very hard to find. If some of the youngsters who are "maybe" folks on the rotation, like Cease, Danish, and Adams, wind up being in the bullpen by 2019 - it could turn around pretty quick. Edit: Oh, and as of right now I think there's a nonzero chance we could see Rodon out there for a stint in 2018, with how shoulder injuries go.

My message also remains straightforward: if you're not going to trade him now then extend him now.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 10:55 AM) More guns!!!!!! There are 10 states that will issue you a CC permit even if you're not a resident in those states.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 03:46 PM) Any truth to the rumor that he is the leader for a gold glove? Now that was a good one.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 02:29 PM) Balta, Actually its quite opposite. Without East Jerusalem Israelis have nothing. What do you mean by "Have"? As of right now they have access to the temple but aren't allowed to pray there. They control the land and govern it, the people who live in that city only have whatever rights Israel grants them. They can't vote, they may not even be able to commute to areas where they work.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 02:22 PM) Balta, I disagree. It absolutely changes the nature of the occupation. Jerusalem is the prize. The country with the largest army in the world, who has an administration that has been antagonistic towards Muslims, just agreed to put the embassy for the "occupiers" in Jerusalem. Now this statement should not be taken in anyway as saying Israel is right or wrong about whether Jerusalem should be theirs. It is just that if I were a Palestinian or Muslim, I would see this as the first step to trying to unify Jerusalem under Israeli control. (edit) The reason being the idea of "Jerusalem as an international city" is off the table now. While that's off the table, it was never really honestly on the table in the first place. Like it or not, since the 2000 or whenever they ended talks collapsed, Israel has been gradually claiming larger slices of the occupied territories and undermining any chance at any agreement. There was no chance of an agreement. There was nothing on the table that could be done - Israel is an occupying power claiming all that territory. This takes off the table any concept of deals that were never on the table because Israel was more than happy with the status quo.

I would think Carlos Gonzalez is a solid option if it seems likely that Garcia is going to be traded. He would not make sense otherwise as I don't expect Jiminez down for long.

There is some talk here of Texas and Florida working together to trigger a shutdown over the fact that the final hurricane disaster supplement proposed to Congress by the administration (not even passed out of committee) is only 1/5 or so of what is actually needed to rebuild from this summer and those states are otherwise SOL.

While if in that position I would have preferred the status quo and I expect some angry riots, I do wonder if the "This will drive so much more terrorism!" fears are overblown. Most terrorism isn't driven by these kind of issues outside of the occupied territories, most terrorism is directly driven by occupation and violence at the site, and this isn't going to change the nature of the occupation. It will shut down the peace process, but an appropriate reply is "What peace process" as we don't currently have a peace process, we have Israel gradually incorporating all of the occupied territories into its own land.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 10:53 AM) id be willing to agree to 30 days or at least until after the 1st of the year, I think 30 days is reasonable. Spoiler tags for 30 days? Beyond that, if you come into this thread you should expect it.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 11:54 AM) I think the front office is smart enough to realize paying retail for a mid 30's first baseman is not a great idea. Then we need to make that call and move him now. He will be worth substantially less in a trade next offseason with only 1 year remaining. If we want someone who is "younger or better" to be patrolling 1b in 2020 when we have a competitive team, we'll be better off taking the best players we can get for him now. Either commit and say that we will pay that price for his early 30's, the years when we will be ready to compete, or move him to a team that can get value out of his 2018 and 2019 seasons.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 10:44 AM) I think his comment implies extension. Then I'm going to keep talking about trading him until it's done, so let's just get it done.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 10:41 AM) Barring any major changes, I find that very unlikely. He seems to express his desire to stay in Chicago for life every time he's interviewed. Then tell me how to make sure it doesn't happen and I won't complain. A contract extension could be appropriate. As it stands right now, I'm looking at my "to be ready to compete in 2020" team having their #4 and #5 hitters potentially walk as free agents. If he won't sign a contract extension then that undermines the latter part, and I have to look at filling that position somehow. It's the right time to get something done, if he won't extend then he's worth more in a trade right now than he will be next offseason.

QUOTE (kwill @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 09:43 PM) Does anybody else think they may look at the market on Mike Moustakas? As it stands the White Sox really don't have a 3rd baseman. He is going into free agency on the younger side at 29 years old and won't command a long contract. If the price gets dropped to 5/70 million maybe with some dollars front loaded to add more appeal wouldn't the White Sox have to consider. The last year he would be playing at age 33 which means you should be getting mostly prime years. He was an above average defender until last year when he became just slightly below which could have been an off year defensively. Travis Sawhik wrote an interesting article coming to the conclusion that his power is real and could probably play even better in our park compared to a stadium like Kauffman that is a pitchers park. Next years crop of 3Bs to me is not very good beyond Machado and Donaldson. I never put any stock in us actually being contenders next year for Manny Machado as the dollars and years would scare the Sox off. Josh Donaldson would be going into the following year at 33. I think this would allow Jake Burger to take his time in the minors like we are doing with Collins. The White Sox could see how he develops, move either Burger or Moustakas when Abreu's contract is up. Personally, as of right now I want to see Yolmer get a full year there, or at least to get the first shot. He earned a full year as an IF starter with his performance last year and 2b and SS are currently spoken for. Yolmer was a 2 fWAR player last year, and amazingly, Moustakas was a 2 fWAR player last year.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 6, 2017 -> 11:09 AM) I am not a fan of that deal, or Red Sox prospects in general right now. Chavis' numbers really came back to earth after he got promoted to AA. If that is the best deal on the table I think we keep Abreu. Then the only question I have left to ask is...what are you going to do to make sure Abreu doesn't walk after 2019?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 03:13 PM) Robert is a fringe guy? Not even top 10 in baseball.