NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 01:52 PM) That is true...this does set up this team exactly for a Left handed, good defense, speedy CF leading off, and Crisp does fit that profile. I thought Crisp was in suspended animation because he's rumored in the Red Sox offer for Santana?

prender1482 posted this in the Trade Winds forum by digging up a thread from discussion back in August about Quentin (copying it in here)... From Rotoworld: MLB radio is reporting that the White Sox will acquire Carlos Quentin from the Diamondbacks for Chris Carter. We hope the Diamondbacks are getting a quality pitching prospect in return as well. Quentin's stock is down, especially following shoulder surgery, but he's still a fine bet to have a long career as a regular corner outfielder. Carter, who shares the same name as the first baseman the Diamondbacks traded to Boston in the three-team Wily Mo Pena deal, hit .291/.383/.522 as a 20-year-old in low-A ball last season. Dec. 3 - 1:16 pm et Source: Metsblog.com

According to the latest declassified NIE on Iran, the country halted its efforts towards building nuclear weapons in 2003, and that if it restarted, would take until at least 2010 to 2015 to produce enough uranium to pull it off. The NIE placed a "high confidence" label on this conclusion. Have to say, wasn't expecting that.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) IMO yes. He usually has an incredibly high OBP (.400+) so yeah he'd be a great fit at the top of a lineup that features quite a bit of power in the middle. Then I'd bet KW is working on him and/or similar CF's with high OBP and maybe some speed. I think Owens is his backup-backup plan for CF at this point, and is more likely to be that 4th OF.

Fukodome to lead off and play CF perhaps? Is he that type of hitter (I must confess I have only seen a few numbers on him). More likely, KW is again working under the radar, and it will be something no one expected. He does excel at that. And I think Owens is an almost ideal 4th OF, who also gives a nice PR option on the bench. He's solid defensively in CF and LF, except for that arm.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 01:35 PM) How does making Quentin our LF make us better ? I know he's cheap, but unless he's ROY, I don't see how this closes the gap with Cleveland and Detroit. What kind of numbers are realistic for him ? Does anyone see Jerry Owens platooning with him ? Look, I'm as big a supporter of Owens as anyone here, but Quentin is a very large upgrade over Owens in LF in almost every phase of the game.

Well, when Kap said that the Clinton campaign would to anything to destroy her opponents, it appears he was right. Kindergarten? WTF?

QUOTE(SnB @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 11:11 AM) I don't understand why this has taken like 4 years to accomplish. The train already goes right past it, all it would have to do is stop during baseball season. Can't build a train station without all kinds of studies (are there enough passengers on enough runs to make it worth it? Will it improve the neighborhood, and/or overall ridership? What is the environmental impact?), analysis (where can a station be built? What can be fit there? How big a platform? How many trains should stop there? Do they put on extras for the game crowd?), public meetings... and the real killer - finding the money.

The Des Moines Register, highly respected when it comes to keeping accurate poll tabs in Iowa over the years, has a new poll out... Huckabee: 29% Romney: 24% Giuliani: 13% Thompson: 9% McCain: 7% Paul: 7%

The Des Moines Register, highly respected when it comes to keeping accurate poll tabs in Iowa over the years, has a new poll out... Obama: 28% Clinton: 25% Edwards: 23% Richardson: 9% Biden: 6%

So, John Murtha works with the military liaison on Iraq to Congress on a compromise bill for funding of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Dems agree to remove or significantly push back the required pullout date, and in exchange, the Republicans accept a ban on all torture and a set of readiness conditions for the troops to be required before sending any of them to war. Sounds pretty good to me - its at least progress in some way. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi is saying no to that compromise, and now even Murtha is backpedaling away from it. No word on if the White House would even have accepted such restrictions anyway. Again, our government has become so polarized that it is incapable of compromise. Link to story.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 02:20 PM) I think a cutback in ties is entirely appropriate. Possibly trade sanctions, no idea how much trade is left with that country though. But here's my counterpoint question...what happens if some guard resists an operation to pull this person out? How much bloodshed would you tolerate? 1 death? 10? 100? Any operation to rescue someone in a situation like that, IMO, has no choice but to go all the way with the hardware in hand.

Metra has released their 2008 Program and Budget, including capital program projections. There is a little over $1M set aside in 2008 and a similar number in 2009 for the 35th Street station on the Rock Island line, which is an already-promised Congressional earmark. So the money is still there, and it looks like the station should open for 2009, as far as Metra is concerned.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 02:15 PM) And clearly we should be just as extreme and allow intolerant countries to execute people for something like calling a teddy bear Muhammed. I'm not saying lets drop some nukes and blow the country to bits. What's wrong with being firm with the Sudanese government? Cut a deal behind close doors - let her go or we stop funding your poor ass country. I love these types of debates because in this instance I firmly believe Bush's mantra of you're either with us or against us. If you believe in a fundamental ideal, like freedom (of speech, religion, etc), it makes no sense to me to "allow" other countries to not follow that fundamental ideal. It's one thing if a backwards ass country wants to do it within their borders with their own people (though even then I think we all agree there are times to step in), but when it involves one of your own citizens I see no problem with putting your foot down to stop it. While I don't at all see this as "with us or against us", I would support an operation to get her out. For that matter, I think a good response would be to not just pull her out, but pull some other ties back as well, making it clear that such a reaction is not tolerable.

Amazing. We have a thread discussing an event symbolizing the problem with extremism... and already we have some people indicting an entire religion for it, and others on the other side justifying this ridiculous action. No wonder this country is having a hard time finding a political middle.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:52 PM) Good stuff. With the recent rumors about Fuk and Bay, I am excited for the meetings. When do the meetings start and end?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) One witness claims the hostage taker showed the people in the office a bomb strapped to his chest. Other reports now have the man demanding to speak to Senator Clinton. She has canceled a speech she was supposed to give at the DNC in about 10 minutes. So, this is certainly a variable I don't think anyone had planned for. Howard Dean was quoted as saying it "involved a staff member", which seemed like a weird choice of words. The guy with the bomb may in fact be someone who had been doing work for the campaign.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) I'll stick to what I'm thinking. I'm sort of confused as to that as well. Are you saying that 3 seasons of splits for a middle or short reliever is insufficient to decide how they perform in those scenarios? If that is the case, how would you make that determination then? If you were looking at whether to sign, keep or trade a MacDougal, a Linebrink, a Riske or a Thornton, would you not be curious how a setup or 7th/8th inning type guy does in critical situations (runners on, late innings, close score)?

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:27 PM) Second, I think you're not understanding Kalapse's argument. Please inform me.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:23 PM) 150 IP? Seriously? That's barely a full season for a starting pitcher. I think enough has been shown that Riske has tended to do worse in more "clutch" (however we want to define that -- late innings, closer leads) situations, but I still think you guys are underrating him. Again, that WXRL stat had him ranked in the 90s. I'm not going to claim that it's a perfect stat, but I'm pretty sure it adjusts for the guys he's facing as well as the situation he's in (I may be wrong there). With 30 teams having six-to-eight men bullpens, Riske seemingly slots in perfectly as a #3 reliever on a perfectly average team. If he's your fourth best reliever, your probably in pretty good shape. If he's your second best (or best) reliever, you're probably in some trouble. Here's what I've been arguing -- or at least I think it's what I've been arguing. We're paying Linebrink 4/$20 to come here and be, for all intents and purposes, our second best reliever, when the signs (peripherals) are showing he may struggle to even be a middle inning type. No -- I wouldn't want the Sox to sign Riske with the expectations that he could come here and be a set-up guy, but I would've rather they'd offer Riske 2/$8-10 (which he may or may not have taken, I'd guess he wouldn't've) or not give anyone that much money in the frst place. My basic issue here is with the principle of giving non-great relievers big money (relative -- when compared to other relievers). There seems to be the thinking that Kenny's logic for building last year's bullpen was poor, and nobody has really shown that it was poor. Sure, the Sox (scouts or Kenny or whoever) may have identified the wrong guys for last year's bullpen, but I have no issue with throwing a lot of good arms/failed starters together and seeing who sticks, especially when they were basically trying to put together the back of the bullpen that way (they thought Jenks - MacDougal - Thorton would be solid -- it obviously wasn't, but I'm not sure anyone could've predicted massive collapses from the latter two). I don't like giving Linebrink 4 years either. I think $4-5M/year is close to reasonable, but I would think that 3x$4 should have gotten him. A few million difference. But in any case, I agree with your basic point that just because the bullpen last year sucked from May through July, that it means KW necessarily needs to go the opposite road this year. Relievers are notably streaky. But I do think that adding 1 experienced, reliable, solid setup guy or mid-reliever like Linebrink is worthwhile. Not just because it gives a consistent setup guy for Jenks and improves the overall pen, but also for his influence on the youngsters and less-than-stables around him. I see no reason to go out and get any more bullpen help at this point. This pen: Jenks Linebrink Thornton Wassermann Logan * With the * being one of the younger future marginal starters who can do long relief (Broadway, Phillips, Haeger, Masset) and who isn't traded away during this offseason. I think that's likely to be a decent bullpen. Trade MacDougal if you can, same for some of the names I just mentioned, if they can fetch anything. Have Day, Aardsma and a few others in AAA ready in case someone like Wassermann falters or if someone gets hurt.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 01:14 PM) Whatever word is used, it means the same thing. This isn't even semantics, it's aesthetics. I said nothing about demeanor. "much more statistically reliable" != "statistically reliable" This is kind of funny. There is one poster trying to assert MacDougal's ability based on about 15 innings of exposure in high pressure situations in part of 2006, and another one telling me that roughly 6 times that much over three seasons isn't enough to be statistically reliable. I give.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 12:49 PM) First, it makes little sense to make a sample size argument while relying on reliever splits, even over 3 years. Now, if you can show that the standard deviations (hey, we're using stats, so let's talk stats) are small enough that those splits are reliable, I'm open to correction. But I really doubt you'll be able to show that. Second, even if the splits were reliable (which I doubt), you would have to compare them to league averages for them to be meaningful. There are reasons beyond 'unclutchness' that a pitcher is not as good with runners on -- fielder positioning, the basic odds about the hitter he's facing, pitch selection, etc. Third, why is it we praise "clutch" pitchers? Because of the drama? You can say that unclutch pitchers wilt under pressure. You can just as well say that clutch pitchers apparently don't give a f*** until they've already done damage. Why would I praise someone who's too lazy or indifferent to do a good job the entire time they're out there, especially when they're only going to be out there for one inning? First, I tend to avoid using the word "clutch", and I'm pretty sure I didn't use it here. Second, I could care less about their demeanor out there. Calm and collected is fine. A bit hyper is fine too. Whatever works for them. Third, the whole reason I used a 3 year period is that it was going to be much more statistically reliable than a half season. I couldn't tell you the standard deviation for a 3 year split, but you figure a reliever like MacD, Riske or Linebrink might put in 40 to 60 innings in a full season, that's 150 IP over 3 years. So, maybe the equivalent of 50 to 100 IP with runners on, give or take. I'd consider that a decent sample size.

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 12:53 PM) while we may not agree with the punishment, isnt it the individuals personal responsibility to understand and obey the laws of the land in which they are in? it's ok to sell marijuana in amsterdam. so is it fair for someone to come to the US, sell it, and then complain about the punishment they receive? as american's (or in this case Europeans) you do not have a golden ticket to travel the world and dis-obey other countries laws and regulations. OK wait... seriously, are you saying that this teacher deserved to be arrested and prosecuted because she allowed these children (Muslim children, by the way) to name a teddy bear Mohammed? You must be joking. I've travelled a lot, been to about 20 different countries. Yes, you do what you can to respect that culture. You don't disrespect places of worship, or insult people's beliefs. But this was absolutely none of those things. There is no justification for her being treated this way. Its a disgrace.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 30, 2007 -> 12:16 PM) Maybe it is my maturation as a voter, but I could care less about Romney's religion, Obama/Richardson's race, Hillary's gender, or any of the other potential "firsts" held in this Presidential election. I have been trying to strip away all of the superficial stuff, the media portrayals, and the other stupid stuff, and dig right into what the candidates are running as. I have spent a lot of time already looking at platforms and positions. I really don't like that two of the top guys in the race, have seemingly switched opinions on key issues, such as abortion (which isn't as big of a deal to me) and immigration (big deal to me). If I had to rank people right now it would probably look like this. Thompson McCain Paul Huckabee Guiliani Romney The rest of the field. Alan Keyes I should have clarified - I could care less about Romney's religion, same with Obama/Richardson's race and Clinton's gender. I was saying that some people will care. Alan Keyes. LOL. OK, here is my GOP field, spaced appropriately... McCain Paul Huckabee Thompson Romney Giuliani Hunter Tancredo Keyes

I don't have an image of it, but, one of the three baseball cards I kept from my childhood collection (sold the rest before college) is the infamous Billy Ripken "f*** Face" error card. Its a Score card, with those words written on the base of the bat in his hands. I actually got one in a pack. Incidentally, the other two I kept: Carlton Fisk rookie card that I had him sign, and a 1959 Mickey Mantle Topps card in near-mint condition that I found lying in an alley.