Balta1701

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2016 -> 01:31 PM) White Sox are going to have some interesting decisions with Q and Robertson. If you could have Moncada, Benitendi and, let's say, Baez or Contreras, would you do it, knowing that would submarine any remaining wild card chance but put you in a much better position to compete in 2018 and 2019? (They're not likely to be part with Schwarber for Robertson...although Jones AND Robertson would at least make them think a second or two about it.) Including Robertson AND Nate Jones together as a package? If Burdi is as good as advertised, and maybe Hansen ends up there instead of starting (going max effort velocity-wise for short stretches), then you have the makings of a team that could make a deep run if they could get progressions from Rodon/Abreu/Shields and use the money freed up by trading Robertson to fill in a rotation hole (along with Fulmer). Or you stick Burdi, Hansen AND Fulmer in the pen...another option. I would but they won't even think about it.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 7, 2016 -> 01:26 PM) Has Hillary "Superpredator" Clinton released a statement on the recent murders of black men? There was one last night on the Tuesday shooting. If there was one on last night's then Google doesn't list it highly yet.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 7, 2016 -> 01:07 PM) It may be crazy of me to say but they are hitting a HUGE fork in the road moment right now. Baseball is such a funny sport that when things start to turn for the worse it sometimes isnt repairable. The Cubs might actually be in the middle of a very epic meltdown to where they even lose the lead in the Central eventually. Its difficult to undue self doubt when a young player starts to self doubt. Hell, even when a veteran starts to go down the dark mental road. This one is on the GM. They're going to get better whenever Fowler comes back, but that team needs bullpen help.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 7, 2016 -> 01:07 PM) It may be crazy of me to say but they are hitting a HUGE fork in the road moment right now. Baseball is such a funny sport that when things start to turn for the worse it sometimes isnt repairable. The Cubs might actually be in the middle of a very epic meltdown to where they even lose the lead in the Central eventually. Its difficult to undue self doubt when a young player starts to self doubt. Hell, even when a veteran starts to go down the dark mental road. This one is on the GM. They're going to get better whenever Fowler comes back, but that team needs bullpen help.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 7, 2016 -> 12:38 PM) I dont think Rodon was rushed, I think Rodon's problem so far has been the inability to develop an average 3rd pitch. Him taking the next step largely depended on his ability to develop his changeup, which hasn't gone all that great. If batters can sit on two pitches, he will continue to get hit. He's throwing more fastballs and less changeups and sliders than last year, batters know that and are sitting dead red on fastball. An entirely valid question in reply though is whether he would have been more successful developing that 3rd pitch in AA and AAA for the last season+. Right now he has to pitch to win games because the White Sox are trying to win games and he's the #3 starter on a team that tells itself they're a contender. He cannot afford to give up a home run on his worst pitch, or walk the bases loaded because he is working on that 3rd pitch. No one cares if Charlotte or Birmingham lose a game because he throws too many changeups. It is certainly possible to develop a 3rd pitch at the big league level in the offseason or throwing sessions, but that may not work for everyone. So far it has not worked for Rodon, and the organization seems to have bet that it would.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 04:23 PM) whitesoxdave ‏@barstoolWSD 10m10 minutes ago Chicago, IL Buster Olney just said on ESPN Radio the White Sox should sell high with Quintana to the BoSox and that they'd def overpay #Benintendi So has this thread turned into a catch all for major trades out?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 06:40 PM) So the attorney general, a week or so after visiting with Bill Clinton on a plane on a tarmac of all places, an elitist move in itself, announces predictably just now that the case is closed on Hillary e-mail. She had to be so happy; all she did was say the FBI investigated, recommended no charges, so no charges. Took her off the hook completely. She needs to have a private meeting with the FBI director on a plane on a tarmac where they can privately hoist a cup of champagne over this exoneration. Yes it was so predictable, but what baffles the little guy taxpayer is how the hell the FBI director can say she DEFINITELY did wrong, did a lot of things criminally wrong here, but no reasonable prosecutor would prosecute. Also that there was no criminal INTENT of Hillary. Well gee wiz, there's no criminal intent when I drive 100 in a 65. I just temporarily wasn't thinking and hit the gas. I had no ill will here; no deviant behavior trying to break a law. It just happened. My bad. There was no criminal intent when I left my child in a 100 degree car; I just thought it'd be less than one minute as I went and bought something inside the gas station quickly. I didn't know I'd get an important phone call in the store as my child nearly died in the car and a bystander had to break the window open. Heaven forbid I am being arrested? There was no intent dammit! How the hell can the FBI director say she did SO MANY things wrong but no reasonable prosecutor would ever prosecute here? I'll find a prosecutor or two who will press charges. Trump should just go nuts IF HILLARY actually agrees to a debate or two. All he should do is talk about Crooked Hillary and the emails and Arkansas and Bill's behavior in the oval office. He's going to lose anyway; I'd talk about no issues. I'd just keep saying: "As a form of protest against the FBI allowing Hillary to skate on the e-mail issue, I only will talk about my opponent's non presidential behavior of the past. The system is rigged and she is crooked."

So, it's probably worth noting that although stock markets particularly in the US have mostly recovered from this vote the market in US Bonds is still reeling, with 10 year bonds in the US, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France hitting all-time record lows this week as people are buying them while fleeing the Pound and possibly as insurance against a future market downturn. Furthermore, analyses based on these shifts in the bond market are now consistent with the types of shifts commonly seen before recessions in the US, such that major banks are now beginning to predict substantial chances of a recession within the next 12 months. You may not be able to use the classic indicators for umpcoming recessions given that some of these shifts are due to a country deciding to destroy its economic base and that is quite unusual...but there's a worrisome pattern emerging.

Btw, no one pointed this out in here yet, Burdi pitched this afternoon for BHam. His line: 0 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 4 ER (ERA is currently infinite, presumably some of those runs scored after taken out).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 01:23 PM) Yes, it was their female radio broadcaster who started going off on that point...like it was the most obvious thing in the world (which it kinda is). Where's the change/curve and 10+ MPH differential that's ideal? Why is everything hard? Why isn't he throwing his best fastball when he has shown time and time again he can throw 94-98 MPH in games even where/when he's around 90-110 pitches earlier in the year. It's not a stamina or pitching deeper into games point. And he's not getting significantly better command/location in the strike zone at the lower speeds. Farmer and DJ have both been going off about this issue pretty much all season long, but it still hasn't changed at all. Not that it's their job to "fix" Rodon. Most guys who can top out at 98 don't throw 98 with every pitch. David Price was brought up as an example a second ago - his best fastball his first 5 years in the league was always 98-99, but his average fastball was 93-95.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 01:05 PM) Instant gratification is rare in MLB. David Price is a guy Rodon has been compared to often. He struggled his first full year in TB, then took off. It's coming with Rodon, but it is weird that those who want total rebuilds have zero patience. Well, to be fair, part of the reason to have zero patience is that the organization keeps saying that this guy is ready to be the #3 starter on a team challenging for the central this year (lots of exclamation points!!!!) and then makes decisions based on that. Anyway, one of the more interesting comments I saw from Yankee broadcasting last night is that for Rodon, every pitch is hard, harder, hardest. Both Rodon and Price came up throwing a fastball that averaged 93 mph, but Rodon's slider is 2 mph faster than Price's average slider, so the difference between the pitches is less. On top of that, when Price started having success in his 2nd full year he was mixing in a curveball in the upper 70s (and a changeup on occasion as well, or at least pitch-FX is thinking it's a changeup even though it matched his slider in velocity). It'll be interesting to see if Rodon can find that kind of success without something that has a bigger velocity difference from his fastball - right now if his fastball and slider aren't both on, then there's nothing in his arsenal that forces the batter to speed up or slow down.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) Ball game the sox are averaging 5.1 runs a game over their last 12.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 08:03 PM) http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/16803547...x-assault-claim Kang of the Pirates being investigated in sex assault claim (in Chicago) WTF Kang? Now I'm not even sure I can cheer against the Cubs this weekend.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 07:26 PM) That isn't what I am saying at all. And I think you know what I mean, like usual. I think they will absolutely try to make him a starter, but they won't stretch it over 4 years. That would be the most un-White Sox like thing ever. So do you think they can turn him into a starter in under 3 seasons? Because a general guess from me would be 2 years and 3 options is pushing it close.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 07:23 PM) Does anyone see Burdi getting sent to the minors for four more years? Basically I think that's you saying you think there's 0 chance of him being turned into a starter. I'm ok with that, just be honest and say what you mean.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 07:19 PM) Does anyone really see Burdi being sent down 4 times? Option years don't really matter then. Sent down isn't the scenario where it would obviously matter. If he's brought up this year and then hypothetically they wanted to make him a starter, wouldn't they need to have him in the minors for >1 year, and every year that he would work at getting stretched out and starting would thus be a year that took another option?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 01:25 PM) Fulmer's 9 starts? A total of 23 IP, or basically 2.5 innings per outing. Rodon's 9 outings were for a total of 24.1 innings, or still short of 3 IP per outing. I'd classify both of those as not being "pushed". Now contrast that to Sale's 2010 which actually saw him throw 33.2 innings professionally after being drafted. I was reading your words as meaning pushing guys to actually start games rather than having them come out of the bullpen. The big difference would be in the preparation - if they actually want the guys starting long term, they'll still have them start games so that they go through the routine of warming up as a starter and still get used to the every 5th day schedule even if they don't pile up the innings. The bullpen alternative doesn't give them the starter habit and it might not give them the every 5th day routine either.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 01:14 PM) These are not arguments I'm seeing anyone make in this thread re: Clinton? In fact bmags "classic Clintons" would be the exact opposite of what you're saying? eta: I think I've been pretty clear that my vote for Clinton in November is primarily about the Supreme Court nominations and secondarily federal and executive appointments that won't destroy the liberal gains over the past decade, not because I think Clinton will be a phenomenal President or doesn't have her own flaws. It's rather funny that as he tried this version of declaring a pattern as at the same time I was just reading an article that called the media's tendency to treat things that would be minor for other politicians as huge major incidents if they involve the Clintons as "the Clinton Rules".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 01:15 PM) The Sox historically don't push starting pitchers the season they draft them. Well, this has been kinda different recently, at least for the first round picks. Fulmer started all 9 games he appeared in after being drafted in 2015, Rodon had 9 appearances and 6 starts in 2014. They kept some of those guys on innings limits, but they were still starting. Sale of course went straight to the pen...because they were planning to call him up immediately to work from the pen (possibly as part of his signing agreement).

QUOTE (FT35 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 12:58 PM) I used to think this too for stability sake...but my hope is that they are in a position (either clear buyers or clear sellers) to do something. If they are in a position to buy, that means we've strung some good play together and are in the picture. If they are out of it, then that opens the door to oversell some of our vets to many teams who overpay at the deadline as they "go for broke." I hope the position is clear...unlike last year's trade deadline brain freeze when we were brutal all year, then strung together enough wins leading up to the deadline to paralyze our thinking to keep Shark--then were even more brutal in the 2nd half. Give me one way or another. Let's take the hypothetical that the Sox decide to do nothing. Is there anyone big they lose this offseason? I'm not seeing anyone major who is going to be a free agent any time soon. Last year they needed to do something with Samardzija and didn't, but they don't even have that this year. End of 2017 they have some huge decisions because they'll be losing Lawrie, Cabreroid, and Frazier, but this year if they were to stand pat then that still sets them up for one "last ditch effort" next year at trying to fill holes by trading for big name players like they do every year.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 12:57 PM) Right, but you throw intent out the window there. "I didn't know it was classified" is incredibly plausible and accurate. How are we enforcing anything at that point? We're not. But this whole investigation was never about figuring out how to manage this system even at the Secretary of State level, it was about Congress wanting to make sure bad things about Hillary stayed in the news, and everyone knows that.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 12:53 PM) "Are our classification processes too broad and opaque to ever actually prosecute anything except the most brazen examples?" It's not just that its broad and opaque...it's intent. When you have 2 million people with security clearances, you are going to have a lot of accidental leaks of classified material. When Petraeus gives classified material to his mistress they draw a line there because he's doing that on purpose, but when the system is this big you can't charge everyone who accidentally mishandles something because you'll put half a million people in jail.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 12:41 PM) Provided Morneau is able to join the club after the all star break, the Sox will have a couple weeks to see if he'll contribute enough to worry less about adding an impact bat. I'm sure, however, they will be in talks with teams laying the groundwork for potential deals. Jay Bruce makes sense, especially if he stays healthy and continues hitting well. He probably wouldn't be outrageously expensive, either. I don't see a deal for Lucroy happening as that would require a trade of Fulmer. Otherwise, I'd like to see them add another bullpen piece or two. I'm still not sold that this team will compete. Adding a bat and some pitching will help, but that bad stretch through May and part of June was pretty telling. I just don't want to see this team trade away a good chunk of their prospects now that they are actually building a decent farm system. If you're in the GM seat and expecting anything whatsoever from Morneau when evaluating what you need to do at the trade deadline I think you're doing it wrong. Just too much of an unknown, even if he comes out and has a first good week when he comes back. What happens if you don't fill that hole and he slumps in August or another minor injury creeps up? If you're adding players you have to assume that he won't be effective until he proves you wrong.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 12:01 PM) She absolutely should have not set up the server. It was not illegal, it was stupid and more of an office regulation issue. Bill also should not have went to go talk to Lynch. It is just classic Clintons. What would also be worth asking out of this case would be questions like..."why is it we're spending $20 billion a year to record every phone call and email message on the planet but we can't afford to keep computer systems at major federal agencies up to date enough for a cabinet level official to be able to use a cell phone to send email". But again, that would require Congress doing something other than trying to campaign.