NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Nov 8, 2007 -> 10:24 AM) I think that's right. His control is not good. Broadway did not do well in AAA. His numbers are worse than his 4.65 ERA indicates. He had a 1.5 WHIP and K/BB of 6/4.5. That's terrible. And the IL was a horrible offensive league last season. I don't think Broadway would do well as a starting pitcher in the big leagues. If you are going to look at his numbers in AAA, then you should also keep in mind that he spent that year adding a new pitch and experimenting. He and people in the organization have said as much. That's not to say the numbers are completely invalid, but, if you want to get into saying "his numbers are worse than his ERA indicates", then you should consider the whole picture. I liked what I saw of his MLB start, but it was just one start. His track record seems to indicate he's marginal for being a major league starter.

QUOTE(BlackBetsy @ Nov 8, 2007 -> 10:14 AM) The problem with the rebuilding scenario is that I simply don't trust this organization's ability to assess minor leaguers, especially those in other organizations. I think they would overpay for premium prospects and the team would be better off with their established players. First and foremost, this organization needs to get better at drafting and evaluating amateur and minor league talent. Period. Everything else is just putting fancy finishes on a crappy foundation. (Unless the Sox are going to become the Yankees and spend $250 million a year out of their player evaluation problems. Start holding your breath for that, folks). The other issue is that the 2007 offensive performance was as much of a mirage as the 2006 offensive performance. The Sox were an extremely poor (relative to the league) offensive team in 2007 after being a very very good offensive team in 2006. But if KW thinks that the baseline for the Thome-Konerko-Dye offense is 2006, he's way off. Two of those three players (Konerko, Dye) had their best years from an OPS standpoint and one shouldn't expect 2006 to be repeated. Even with a bounceback from Dye and Konerko to 2005-level production, this may top out as a 83 win team, which, for all intents and purposes, is a wasted year from an organizational standpoint. Unless there are MAJOR upgrades to CF, LF, SS, and 2B, as well as the bullpen, this team is NOT going to win the 90+ games necessary to make it to the playoffs. Adding Torii Hunter to this team won't make the difference, especially if Garland is swapped for Gavin Floyd in the rotation. You are certainly correct that the "baseline" for those hitter is neither 2006 nor 2007 - its somewhere between. One thing to keep in mind too. Its become apparent since the season ended that, unlike at the end of 2006, the organization has made a lot of internal changes to scouting staff, coaches and player development. Kenny and his crew are not blind to the failures. So whatever the team did before, I wouldn't look at that as a predictor for the future anymore, in the area of player development.

QUOTE(Chet Lemon @ Nov 8, 2007 -> 09:34 AM) Robertson, not as much, but Rudy does have Olson and Ashcroft working closely w/ him. Oh goodie. Maybe he can have Ashcroft sing at his innauguration.

This could be put in the Investing thread (re: oil), or the catch-all anything thread... but it seems best here. My wife and I finally bit the bullet yesterday, and ordered a hybrid vehicle. Due to the ridiculously high demand, it will take 3 to 6 months to get it. With gas prices soaring again, the amount of gas my wife uses to get to/from work, and out desire to try to reduce our energy usage and pollution levels, we thought it was time to seriously look at doing this. Since its been discussed in here many times, I thought I'd share the math with you... Our current car is a 2004 Saturn VUE AWD V6, and it averages about 17 mpg (though it can be 15 or 16 at times, or 20 at best on all-open-road miles). It was rated to get 18 city and 24 highway, via the older rating system, which was not realistic. The wife drives a 44 mile round trip daily to work and back, plus we put some miles on it here and there, and we end up with about 1100 miles per month. The miles are almost entirely "city" for mpg purposes, because in rush hour, the highway is stop and go. So our gas costs look like this... @$3.00/gallon: 1100 miles / 17 mpg = 64.7 gallons * $3.00 = $194.10/month @$3.50/gallon: 1100 miles / 17 mpg = 64.7 gallons * $3.50 = $226.45/month We wanted a car in the same small/compact SUV class (reasons are multiple, but they include camping trips, dirt roads to our property, AWD for snow/ice and safety issues). The only full hybrid in the class was the Ford Escape / Mercury Mariner, which gets 34 mpg for city use, which is on the newer more accurate guidelines (was 38 before I think). So now our gas costs would look like this: @$3.00/gallon: 1100 miles / 34 mpg = 32.4 gallons * $3.00 = $97.20/month @$3.50/gallon: 1100 miles / 34 mpg = 32.4 gallons * $3.50 = $113.40/month We're around $3.25 right now, but it will probably hover around $3.50 for most of next year, so we'd be saving about $113 a month, or $1360 a year. The differential cost of a hybrid over a non-hybrid in the Ford Escape (similarly equiped) is about $3400. That means that on gas savings alone, the payoff period is 2.5 years. That's shorter than we'd own a car typically, so, even just looking at the cost of gas over time, it looks like its worth it. But it gets better. The federal government gives $2200 one-time tax credit (not a deduction - a full credit) for this model hybrid, and Illinois gives $1000. That means that $3200 of the $3400 differential price is wiped out anyway, and the $200 you make up in gas savings in about 2 months. So, given the tax cycle, the payoff period for this car is now, at worst, a year. Everything after that is money in our pockets. Our situation is not the same as everyone else's of course. If you buy a Prius or something that gets even more mileage, you save more. If your current car is already very efficient, you save less. But for us, the cost savings alone will be quite significant over the 3 or 4 years we are likely to own that car. Then there are the side benefits. Resale value of a hybrid will probably be quite good, given the high demand. And then there is the fact that if we are using half as much gas, we are probably putting half as much crap into the air and water. Basically, this works out great for us. Payoff period in under a year, and we're doing a tiny little something better for the environment. Next time you are looking at cars, you should explore this path as well.

Phoenix wins 6-5. Sox players... Sweeney: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 SB Getz: 1-5, R, RBI Lucy: 0-1 Russell: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Day: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

St. P paper still shows Sox as an interested party for Crawford.

Miami Herald still sees the Sox among the teams in the race for Cabrera, along with LAA, CHC and LAD.

Good.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 10:20 PM) A lot of those questions were really weighted and doesn't really give good choices to "vote" on. Yeah, it sure isn't perfect. But its the best I've seen. Use the sliders under each question to make it more or less important and you can change the weighting.

QUOTE(Steff @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 08:44 PM) And on the other side I'm sure the player would be oh so happy to entertain an offer after just being called (sic) broken down. That too. Eckstein isn't coming to the Sox. Its one of the few things I'd say is certain at this point.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 06:59 PM) I went to college for 4 years. It's not blind hate, but good attempt. I always chuckle at this kind of crap. I've seen it said for frat boys, cops, jocks, women, men, every race, every religion... I knew some jerks who were an X, therefore all X must be jerks. Spare us.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) I don't know who else is interested in Eckstein, but I'm sure KW still is. If KW signs Eckstein, it will probably save the team at least as much as they will pay Uribe this season over the course of the contract compared to what he would probably have had to pay him out of desperation. No chance. When a GM comes out and says he has concerns about his health, he isn't then going to sign him.

Two new state-specific polls released today: Zogby in Iowa, Rasmussen in NH. Both show Clinton's lead shrinking, and both showing Obama being the biggest gainer of those points. The Iowa poll,which was this in August: Clinton 30% Edwards 23% Obama 19% Richardson 10% Is now this: Clinton 28% (-2) Obama 25% (+6) Edwards 21% (-2) Richardson 9% (-1) In NH, the Rasmussen poll, back before the most recent debate looked like this: Clinton 38% Obama 22% Edwards 14% Richardson 7% Now it looks like this: Clinton 34% (-4) Obama 24% (+2) Edwards 15% (+1) Richardson 8% (+1) As the gap continues to close, I think that Mr. Richardson's phone will be ringing off the hook around X-Mas and New Years' with VP offers from the top 3. As Rex said, I think he has the option to play king-maker. The other three are that close.

QUOTE(knightni @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 06:06 PM) This just in: Kenny Williams is not stupid. http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....eins-healt.html He also hinted in the article about still looking for upgrades. Sort of a casual reference, like, "we don't NEED to, but if the right situation comes along..." Classic Kenny.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 03:29 PM) Couples Peeves. The moronic couple that has the the girl wearing the "My boyfriend is hot" while the dork has the "My girfriend is hot matching shirt" I don't think I've ever seen that. I'm pretty sure I'd be ill if I did.

Major equity markets currently down 2 to 2.5% (Dow down 2.64% ~ 330 points) on further credit market fears, oil pushing $100/bbl and GM posting a whopping $39B loss (including a $1.8B operating loss AFTER special items). Ouch.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 02:45 PM) Heh . . . I'm not saying the two situations are necessarily comparable but it is pretty funny that I can so easily plug Uribe's name into some of the posts from the Pods Signs thread from Dec. 1st of '06. Its definitely, eerily similar. And I'd bet that sort of thought has occurred to KW. Even in the worst lens on this board as far as KW's abilities, I am sure he knows how bad the Pods decision ended up being. All the more reason why I tend to think he's looking to make serious changes at SS and/or elsewhere. But hey, I could be wrong. Its still "maybe". We may still end up with the 2007 lineup again. And that would make me very upset.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 02:33 PM) The national polls with 52 weeks to election day have Rudy Guilliani at 28%, Thompson in second at 19%, McCain in 3rd at 16%, and Romney in 4th at 11% The Dem side has Hillary still with a sizable lead, but it has gotten MUCH smaller. She went from a 51% to 21% advantage over Obama to a 44% to 25% advantage from the last CNN poll in October. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/05/poll.presidential.08/ Already posted. I guess I should have put it in both threads though.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in '05 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 02:27 PM) I can hear the excuses already. The organization can talk the talk about making changes this offseason, but they can't back it up. I can hear the whining already. The fans want changes, but they can't wait more than a friggin' week for them to happen. If KW made a deal the first day of the GM meetings that benefited the team, then great. But keep in mind that is a rarity - these things usually take a lot more time than that. And re-signing Uribe to a contract that appears pretty harmless was, at this point, the smart move. It means the team doesn't look as desperate, and it now has an insurance policy. Again, I'll be right there complaining with you if this is all they can do. I don't want Juan starting in 2008 either. But how about we actually see if that's the case first.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 01:51 PM) You're not in favor of ethanol? Why? (I'm not either, but I'm curious as to whether or not there's any paralells at all). I can't speak for BS, but from my perspective, ethanol in the current US iteration (which is corn ethanol) is at best a bridge technology, and ultimately shouldn't be the way to go. Corn is just not energetic enough, and by the time you process and create corn-based ethanol suitable for vehicle use, you've used as much oil as you tried to avoid anyway. The better choices are hybrid or electric cars, and as for bio-fuels, they need to advance the use of more energetic substances like switchgrass and sugarcane, and further, setting up greenhouses for things like algae (saw an article about an algae farm, apparently algae is teh awesome for fuel generation and growth cycles).

My results, removing the candidates not running... 1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%) 2. Barack Obama (69%) Information link 5. Dennis Kucinich (60%) Information link 6. Bill Richardson (60%) Information link 7. Christopher Dodd (58%) Information link 8. Joseph Biden (58%) Information link 9. Hillary Clinton (57%) Information link 10. John Edwards (56%) Information link 13. Ron Paul (54%) Information link 14. Mike Gravel (50%) Information link 16. Mike Huckabee (38%) Information link 17. Alan Keyes (36%) Information link 18. John McCain (36%) Information link 19. Mitt Romney (35%) Information link 21. Rudolph Giuliani (32%) Information link 23. Tom Tancredo (29%) Information link 25. Fred Thompson (27%) Information link 26. Duncan Hunter (23%) Information link Al Gore was #2 for me, though he isn't running. And I am kind of surprised I have Kucinich that high. Not surprised that Ron Paul is my highest GOP'er. I think I still prefer Richardson and Paul, but Obama is growing on me, as is McCain.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 01:15 PM) Round is a shape. 90 loss team and we keep bringing back more members of it. It was funny, at the ASB Kenny was talking about changes. the only changes are that we got rid of Gooch and Mack. The band is still back together. Its early November. Now, if we end up with Uribe and no significant changes in the outfield or SS or pitching come late February, I'll be right there with you complaining. but we're not nearly there yet.

Here is a link to the Select Smart one.

Yeah, the Select Smart ones are usually more complete. You can google Select Smart to find it.

QUOTE(AssHatSoxFan @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 11:52 AM) what about the Loud grunter who has to let everyone in the entire gym know that he is stronger and buffer than you for every single rep he does ...then he make sure to drop the bar to the floor from a significant height, so that the whole gym feels the boom. Ridiculous. And not to pick on one gender... how about the girls who go to the gym wearing enough perfume to give me a headache from sitting next to them, and makeup that was applied with a spatula, get on a machine, set it to 1 plate and do little half-ass non-reps with it? Why bother going to the gym? Why not just go to the bar?