NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) Ah I see, typo. Ninnymuggins. lol

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 11:43 AM) You have to expect to see some negative nannymuggins after a year like last year. Message boards are overly emotional. Nannymuggins?

Just last night went to a just-opened Mexican place in Northbrook called Agave. Not sure if you want to trek that far, but it was very, very good. And I've spent a lot of time in the southwest and at some darn good Mexican places in Chicago. I was legit surprised that this little place in friggin Northbrook was that good. It's right next to the Metra station (I mean RIGHT next to it, the platform is 10 feet from the windows), if anyone wants to try it. It's not cheap, but not ridiculously expensive either. Less than places like Adobo. Also has a bar, good wine list (my wife tells me - I don't drink wine).

So, I say this being formerly in law enforcement... it disturbs me when city/county/state governments are so afraid of their own police that they sign contracts with their unions that so fully and easily protect bad cops. I'm all for unions for police, and for those unions to fight for protections, but when those protections get so absurdly huge that it takes an act of Congress to get all the evidence to the right people, it has gone too far.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 11:14 AM) I can't even add anything except that the institutional response is horrifying. Our institutions of power have been set up with it being far too difficult for individuals to do the right thing when these situations are in motion. Agreed on all.

In the current market, this was the best possible move at C. Good platoon partner for Flowers. Need to save money and tradeable resources to address the bigger problems - 3B, SS, RF, maybe 2B

Sounds like State's Attorney wanted to charge a long time ago but was waiting on the federal investigation to complete. Not sure what value there is in waiting for that, unless they thought the Feds could put together more evidence somehow than their office could. Also, watched the video. Yeah that's murder, completely unjustified. And I agree that Rahm saying he signed off on a $5M settlement without knowing a video existed - when it was Police dash cam and would have to be in the most basic core of evidence - is a bad, bad look.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 08:50 AM) and thanks for that additional facts.... but that is why yous guys do a great job. i wouldn't or have the skills to corpate these items. edit ~~~ damnit, i should let it go and i can't. so pls do not take this the wrong way. wendelken, was on the team for how long ???? and only pitch 4 times, why, b/c he sucked up the word lousy, and the coach had no faith in him. there was a reason why he was almost not on the 40 man roster. but this can at attributed to having a bad afl. and i hope i am right on a bad afl. No. JB left the AFL because he was added to the US National Team for the Premier 12 tournament in Asia (along with OF Jacob May), as noted in the article. It wasn't about his very brief performance in Arizona.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 08:20 AM) overall i was ok-really happy for some of the sox players like engel and peters. but in the hitting i was disappointed in trey and delmonico pitching brennan, tago more than held their onw. wheeler and leyer with a total of 6 innings or less were ok. and wendelken really had a terrible afl. but this is but another stop in getting better. baby step great job to all as usual. Sample size is key here. Wendelken pitched just four times. Trey only played in 10 games. Heck, even the guys who started only got somewhere close to 100 PA.

Our own Kim Contreras was in attendance for quite a few of the AFL games, and got to take in the action from up close as well as speak to some scouts and players. Here is her recap of how the 9 White Sox prospects looked and performed in the AFL. What are people's thoughts on the players there?

You want to know Almonte, he's a split personality pitcher. When he overthrows, which he does semi-regularly, he's got a fastball that runs 93-95 and touches as high as 97, but it's flat and left up. Slider runs upper 80's even touching 90, and flattens out - also up. When he isn't over-throwing, he's more 91-93 with the fastball and 84-87 with the slider, the both move more and he keeps it down. When he's this guy, he's quite effective. We saw him live twice this year. Reports are here and here. Also we have video on our YT channel here.

Up and coming prospect in Almonte, likely would have been in the 20-30 range of the T30 this coming January. Has encouraging stuff, and when he doesn't over-throw he looks like a major league starting pitcher, probably back end. But he's somewhat inconsistent.

It was pretty well known he made mechanical changes going into 2015, so we know his rebound wasn't just luck. But this is a nice in-depth look at the details of the change, which is great to see. By the way, note how Erik speaks. He's an over-analyst, always has been. Very intense. Konerko on the mound. He was that way when I interviewed him both in 2013 and 2015, and I've heard others who've spoken to him say the same thing, so it wasn't just the mood he was in at various times. It is who he is. On the one hand, that means he can adjust well. On the other, he may tend to over-adjust at times and get into deep ruts.

If I'm reading the bracket right, if Iowa State beats Va Tech and Illinois beats UAB, then Illinois and Iowa State will play the championship in this Emerald Coast Classic tournament. Can't remember the last time they played each other.

Wow, iamshack that looks like a model kitchen you'd see at Abt or something. Looks fantastic.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 22, 2015 -> 08:26 PM) You are correct. He (Barnum) was 19, born in Jan of '93. Still, can't see anyone signing him and keeping him on ML roster. yeah, I didn't even include him in the 40-man article because he has zero risk of being selected.

They've told him the target is AA, barring the unexpected coming up.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 21, 2015 -> 08:01 AM) Doesn't he have another year left before he is Rule 5 eligible? No he does not, because he was 19 when he signed. If he was 18 when he signed like Hawkins, he'd have another year. QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 21, 2015 -> 12:47 PM) By any chance, is there going to be a write-up of potential Rule 5 guys who were left off their respective team's 40 man rosters? We (FutureSox) will do a Rule 5 preview focused on White Sox needs and risks. But Baseball America does some really good in-depth reporting on key available guys prior to the Rule 5 that I recommend reading as well.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 03:06 PM) I don't get the point of Brennan unless they know something we dont. I was wondering about that too, and the only thing I can think is, they sniffed something in Arizona. Lots of scouts down there, maybe they got word teams were on him. QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 07:26 PM) Per @MLBPipeline, highly ranked Rule 5-eligible #WhiteSox prospects NOT added to 40-man: Ps Onelki Garcia, Myles Jaye, 1B Keon Barnum. https://twitter.com/philgrogers/status/667868208834154498 Jaye was on the fence for me. He's a significant prospect, but he was in AA and was pretty inconsistent there. Barnum: a 1B with one tool, power, who hasn't hit more than 9 home runs, or played above Advanced A ball? 40-man protection isn't so much about prospect value as claim risk, which are not the same. Garcia has some intrigue, but he got beat up pretty badly at AA and AAA last year. LAD had waived him last offseason, and he's only gotten worse since, so I don't see it. But, hey, once-highly-touted lefty is a good profile to have going into Rule 5. So maybe.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 07:07 PM) Sort of off topic, but where do you guys think Eddy Alvarez starts? Dictated by where Anderson is. I assume Anderson is in Charlotte to open the year, in which case Alvarez is in Birmingham.

Dan wrote a post about some young hitting prospects in the system who have shown positive signs of development in the upper levels. Are we seeing a little evidence of progress?

Wendelken I get. Surprised they didn't protect Tago. And Brennan has about half a season's innings in A+, seems like a wasted add to me. No one is picking him.

Interesting topic. By the way, Einhardt was released I believe. My guesses... AAA: Beck, Jaye, Heidenreich, Blackmar or AAAA, Drabek or AAAA AA: Fulmer, Danish, Guerrero, Clark, Dykstra (that is a NICE rotation) A+: Erwin, Almonte, Adams, Lowry, Thompson, Stephens (another nice rotation - though the first three aren't likely to stay there all season), which is six but I think piggyback Erwin and Stephens maybe A: LMartinez, Quintero, Solórzano, Easterling, Frebis (hard to say, this could be a very good or very bad group or anywhere between) Rk: Acosta, Magallones, Done, ASanchez, Comito plus filler and, later, draft picks (plus a LatAm guy or two we're not thinking of yet) Previous starters to bullpen (Some were already moved): Montas (AAA) if not on Sox, Marin (AAA), Barnette (AAA), RLeyer (AA), Wheeler (AA), Cose (AA), Brennan (AA), Trexler (A+), Ball (A), Banks (A or A+) Left out, maybe pen, maybe gone: Bucciferro, Peralta Will join later: Hickman, Fry The above also assumes EJohnson is pitching for the White Sox, and Scotty Carroll is either with the Sox or found another gig.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 10:10 AM) Preventing first responders from providing care is assault, at least it is in this state. I've been an EMT, and I've worked in law enforcement as well. I highly doubt that preventing care is assault. It is illegal to be sure - but probably something like "interference with official acts", or "reckless endangerment" or the like would apply. Unless he actually assaulted or battered them. It isn't clear what "interfere" meant in this case. Assault has a specific and narrow definition - it is harming another, usually by indirect means (meaning not fists or feet but instead a weapon or object/missile, as fisticuffs would typically be battery, not assault). And because public officials were victims here, of an assault or battery did occur, it would likely automatically upgrade to aggravated. States do have subtle differences, but the general idea is usually the same. I did not work in Minnesota.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 09:50 AM) http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/11/18/2...ing-identified/ OK, so the Police Union says he wasn't handcuffed and went for the cop's gun. Means it could be true. There is apparently a lot of video, which maybe would tell more. But it still says nothing about assaulting a paramedic. QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 09:57 AM) The police have a lot more to lose by lying than a civilian. When does a black person ever come out and say, "oh yeah, the police were justified in shooting him. We're not going to make a big deal out of this." And this... yeah, so, this is pretty racist. You want to rail against supposedly racist people who tell a biased story of events about cops, but then respond with the exact same racism on the other side? That's kinda twisted.