NorthSideSox72

There is no such thing as low risk / high reward. Please stop it. You can say it is a low-risk signing, because it is. It's only 1/$3M. But the concept is high risk / high reward or low risk / low reward, because risk isn't about what happened in the end. It's about the chances of something happening in the future. If there is a high chance of a high reward, that person isn't signing for $3M. It is also about the LIKELY reward, since obviously ANY investment could go big or go bad. Same in baseball as any other investment. So this is low risk / low reward. And that's fine. Now go get a bloody right fielder.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 10:37 AM) So if you were the best dancer at Juilliard and I compared you to Michael Jackson and Prabhu Deva, your first response would be to take offense? If someone compares Rubio to Clinton as a politician, he should say I don't take it as a compliment because "I'm not a philanderer and accused rapist like him." It's like your brain is constantly just starting to slip into another dimension or something. Come back, caulfield!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 8, 2016 -> 11:41 AM) Yeah, I'm not sure how prevalent this is in the Chicago area yet. I know MidAmerican has a lot of wind development in Iowa, and I have seen many of the wind farms in the rural areas of Illinois. Is there still a lot of wind development happening in Illinois? There are a number of wind farms now in IL, not sure how much power output. A few solar projects. But I was more getting at civilian-distributed, where a person puts panels on their home and does net billing with the utility.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 8, 2016 -> 11:24 AM) Well, so here is the issue...some of the aggressive renewable portfolio standards, particularly in California, have brought a lot of wind and solar onto the western electric grid. Additionally, the production tax credits being extended through 2021 has finally provided developers with some sense of stability. So what happens is that certain states that are in proximity to states with high renewable portfolio standards, or in areas where wind or solar are particularly feasible to develop, have tremendous opportunities, if they have flexibility with their fossil fuel generating resources, to purchase solar and wind energy for tremendously low prices, sometimes even getting paid to take the energy, on the wholesale market. Enter distributed generation customers who now wish for the utility to compensate them for their solar energy at a retail rate that is often 5-10 times the wholesale rate. Why would a utility want to be on the hook for that? It's basically the second coming of PURPA, which many utilities are finally unwinding now. California, I must say, bless their hearts, are going to be paying many other states to take their solar and passing those expenses onto their rate payers. And then when they need other states' fossil fuel generation, they tax their ratepayers additionally for that dirty energy as well. I know ComEd allows for net billing in Illinois. The put-back rate is lower than the paid rate of course, but the spread isn't huge, like maybe 20%. Not many times over. It also depends on the supplier you connect with (you can elect a supplier other than ComEd here). People who have solar can, at times, push back more than they use to credit against when they actually use it.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 5, 2016 -> 09:03 AM) Yeah i believe asshole governs via fiat and regulatory agencies...YES. He is a clown. A family in SF with a dead daughter says you are full of s*** like OBAMA... But why do you hate the baby Jesus?

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 04:31 PM) http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/border-a...article/2582401 4 more years of asshole please! best President ever.... That kind of policy change can't just be snuck in. Do you actually believe it to be true? I'll wait until someone can point out an actual policy document, or an official announcement, or even an actual journalistic piece on this before being concerned. I mean, the Examiner? Might as well expect MSNBC to do a fair treatment of a Republican presidential candidate.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 08:23 AM) I don't mean to sound like a tool, but is there any legit proof that this guy is really 16? Ben Badler of Baseball America - who is probably the most expert guy out there in the US on LatAm baseball - was discussing this recently. Believe it or not, the records in Cuba are considered much harder to fudge and more likely to be accurate than the ones from the DR. That was in reference to current times, and apparently a decade or two ago it was much worse in Cuba.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 09:20 AM) Obama is not a good public speaker. He doesn't make a room laugh or feel comfortable based on off the cuff remarks. Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich were two of the best in that category that I've seen. Obama is a robot in comparison. It drives me nuts that people keep saying this. I agree that Clinton and Gingrich were (or are) better. But I do think Obama is quite good - far better than his predecessor for example. And far better than most of the current Prez candidates in either party.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 09:10 AM) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mar...02c9_story.html Marco Rubio is running scared https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-l...ters/?tid=a_inl That's the biggest hole in the Rubio candidacy...he doesn't have the ability to improvise and have that feel for different audiences that Bill Clinton and Obama were so good at sensing intuitively. Everyone is criticizing him for giving the same canned speech over and over again, and being the product of his speech writers. If you look at his policies, he's very much the same thing as GW Bush. Hard line/military interventionist, cutting taxes on the rich/supply side economics, God knows exactly where he stands on immigration at this point. Just like Obama, people are projecting their hopes/dreams/aspirations about what he and is and what he represents and I wonder if it another sort of trap that voters will quickly become disillusioned whenever a young/attractive "change" candidate comes along. Rubio's currently getting a huge advantage of looking "normal" or more palatable because of the constant comparisons with Trump and Cruz...the longer they stay in the race together and the other candidates who are/were legit possibilities are wiped out (Bush first, then Kasich and Christie depending on NH, my sense is Kasich can stay in this longer and will start to spend more and more time "mentoring" Rubio unless they absolutely just don't get along well), the better Rubio's chances of winning the nomination. I actually think that Rubio can do that, but keeps trying not to. Watching the debates, he is at his best when he responds off the cuff. But it seems his handlers prefer he stay on-story.

Future Sox is in the process of ramping up some new writers. The first of this wave to publish an article is Matt Lynch, who is MDL27 on SoxTalk. Matt's debut post is taking a look at Adam Engel and asking if he's really a potential starting outfielder. Bonus: Matt saw Engel play live in college. Give his post a read, and welcome him aboard!

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Feb 3, 2016 -> 05:12 PM) I was sitting in on that seminar and I was impressed with his responses as well. I really hope he makes it to the majors at some capacity because you can tell he is a likable player. If nothing else I think you are looking at a future coach or manager, if he ever wants to go down that path.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2016 -> 09:01 AM) I had been having stability problems for a while. I finally called and actually had a great experience. They sent someone out and it turned out squirrels had been chewing on the power lines. I am now pulling 125 mb download speed. We had that same problem more than once. Damn squirrels.

Fulmer and Anderson both cited in their "just missed" article, though the info about Adams is inaccurate and I'm not sure where they got some of it.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 06:08 PM) Marin pitches well statistically, but the Sox release him, re-sign him only to send him to Mexico, bring him back. He does well as a starter, so they move him to the pen and then back again. It's weird. Which tells me that the Sox think he's a AAAA player. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 07:05 PM) The fact that the Sox released him and no other major league team bit should tell you that it isn't just the White Sox who don't have a big opinion of Marin. True at the time of release, but you also need to understand his unusual story after that. He was basically just an org filler guy, got hammered in a couple games for Winston-Salem, so they released him. He went to Indy ball. All of this is nothing unusual. But while playing in the Frontier, he made significant changes to pitches and added a cutter. He was then scouted by MLB clubs, got calls from three or four, and took the Sox offer to come back. On return, he was a very different pitcher - fastball velo up a few ticks, new cutter, revamped change-up, slider. Was successful in AA as a starter. He was ready for AAA but they didn't have a slot, so they "loaned" him to Mexico, then brought him back when a rotation slot opened up. He did well in that role, but ultimately he's probably a reliever - low to mid-90's tailing fastball, a "major league cutter" according to a scout, and a decent change-up. That won't work as a starter, but it might as a reliever. He's a prospect now, but not a high end one. He could see the majors in 2016, that honestly wouldn't surprise me.

While covering SoxFest, Brian snagged interviews with some key White Sox prospects who were there - Carson Fulmer, Adam Engel, Jacob May and Eddy Alvarez. You can see them all here. Again, nice work from Brian here.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 09:44 AM) More Legal Magic Words, this time from Cliven Bundy. lolololol I've been arrested for an armed takeover of a federal facility. I will send a certified letter indicating that the facility is in fact mine and you bad cops should get out of my way. This is REALLY going to help his defense at trial, haha. Or maybe he's going for an insanity defense?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 05:33 PM) Tesla is supposed to reveal Model III design in March and start taking preorders. I'm excited to see what it looks like. That's the less expensive sedan, right?

Trump losing Iowa is news, but to me the fact that Rubio is in a near-tie with him for 2nd is the biggest news here. And allows the GOP to continue having some chance of winning the general. Also... QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 07:09 PM) Both parties are for big government, the difference is just what part is big and what isn't. 100%, my man.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 03:53 PM) His command is going to come from being healthy and getting regular reps. Because of his health his career highs are 111 and 112 IP. That puts him further behind than he could have been. They are related, but his command isn't just a health thing. He gets gun-happy, and I think part of the problem is in his head. He's had more innings than a lot of relievers going to the majors, though not starters.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 03:00 PM) With Montas it is all about health. I think that's second. First is command, which he still lacks severely.

Just want to point out that the winner of Iowa, pretty often across parties doesn't win the nomination. Happens plenty.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 02:06 PM) https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-l..._opinions_pop_b How the Dems theoretically attack Trump in the general, and whether it would actually work or not...of course, not taking into consideration a potential Bloomberg run throwing things into more chaos. You don't attack Trump. You just feed the beast. Set him up to sound like a jackass, which he will do for you. That will continue to fire up the base, but equally repel anyone not in that deep base, thus ensuring a Dem victory. I still don't believe Trump wins the nomination anyway.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 09:33 PM) Gotta be tough to be little kids of candidates running for president. I sincerely feel bad for them. Totally agree, and I'm never going to make a thing of this or any other similar moments. They're kids. We're going to start trying to read deep meaning into a 7-year old's behavior on TV? Come on. None of these candidates' kids should be scrutinized that way, that seems pretty clear to me.

QUOTE (Louis Penna @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 09:02 PM) Lawrie posted a video earlier that he couldn't make it because he has a lot of family in town and he just recently got married. Not sure about Rodon though. Welcome aboard, Louie! QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 03:15 PM) The 2 other things that stood out to me today were Buddy Bell saying the Latin players don't play games anymore. They just train for showcases so when they get signed, they basically have to be taught just about everything. That a quick fix from Latin America are few and far between. And E.Johnson seems to have developed a routine in which he has great confidence. Whether that actually works, we will have to see, but if he thinks it does, there is at least a chance. And a bonus, Wimpy and Kitty are two of the coolest guys around. That statement from EJ about routine is something he's been saying to everyone who interviews him for about a year. It's become his focus. He's a very intense guy, to where it's hard to get him to loosen up. Which is great for focus, but I worry he's wound too tight and might crack. Just my personal view.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 06:39 PM) Since you are there, do you agree than Hahn implied he was working on a deal earlier today? Someone tweeted that That was Cat Garcia who tweeted that. I asked people who were there, and they heard nothing of the sort. Be careful with Cat, she's a serious attention hound, to the point where Hahn made fun of it last year.