NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 03:01 PM) I think another worthy point to raise in response to this is that the biggest natural disaster to hit the US in 99 years was not due to the biggest storm or most catastrophic event to hit the U.S. in that time, but was in fact due to a storm hitting a spot that had been totally neglected in preparation for the exact event that happened. There was still no reason that those Levees should have failed other than the fact that the people who built them did a sh*tty job, and once they were built, the agencies that oversaw them never funded the upkeep. There is also of course the fundamental problem of having a city in New Orleans at all. its a sub-sea level flood plain (part of it anyway). I sure as heck hope we take this opportunity to NOT rebuild residences and businesses in those lower areas, and instead, make those open spaces, parks, gathering spots, etc. that can flood to no great damage. Otherwise, we're just asking for it to happen again.

QUOTE(BMac Attack @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 12:03 PM) Well, it's precisely because of that defense that you guys mention that I think they're going to keep him around for a bit, because that's quite valuable in the pitching/defense scheme we run on. Also, since it'd be stupid to try to get rid of a guy whose current value is nowhere near his ceiling, I'd expect the Brian Anderson Experiment to continue unless he screws something up too bad for it to continue, i.e. doesn't improve AT ALL offensively. I think if he can bat in the .240-.250 AVG range with similar power numbers and a general upward trend going forward, really the Sox offense needs nothing more out of that spot, and we can expect to see him in the outfield for a few years to come, which'd be okay, albeit not ideal. Nice first post, and welcome to Soxtalk!

What's funny is, all the regular posters in here could probably have predicted each others' scores within an accuracy of a few points.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 11:06 PM) OK this I totally don't understand. Have you ever heard someone argue that in a crime infested neighborhood, that we should pull out all of the cops and it would make it better? Seriously, in a situation that is dangerous and volitile, why would you pull out the authority figures, or try to argue that more of them would only make the situation worse. When Nancy Pelosi wants to argue that we should withdraw all of the police officers out of LA, I might listen. Until then, this makes no sense to me. Except LA is (nominally) in the U.S., and Baghdad is not. That is a pretty important difference. She is saying we need to turn Iraq over to Iraqis. I agree with you though in that the result of us pulling out will ultimately, probably, not result in a positive short-run for the Iraqi people. There will probably be bloodshed, maybe civil war, and a lot of fracturing, until they finally arrive at some sort of self-government.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 01:27 AM) 20 Also 20. In line with my buddy Colin Powell.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 11:00 PM) This is a question I have yet to seen answered. Exactly how should we have been prepared for the biggest natural disaster to hit the US in 99 years? How many people should we have standing by for an event like this? Where should they be stationed? How much equiptment should be sitting and waiting? How much in foot and temporary shelter should sit waiting for a natural disatster? What budgets should be taken from to make sure this never happens again, or should we just raise taxes for this just in case event? In the case of Katrina, the amazing thing is, we had all sorts of warning. Further, the warnings were clearly calling for something huge. And yet, look how many days it took before FEMA got really moving. Or in the case of the state of Louisiana, when you have a Cat 5 hurricane coming into NOLA where you've been TOLD there is a good chance the levees will break, why aren't you activating every single Guard unit in the state to help get people out of low-lying areas? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see or read of these things happening. As for the details on equipment and manpower, and their location exactly, that is something every locality and state has or should have for common scenarios. And NOLA had one, but as I recall, they didn't follow all the guidelines set forth, and further, the plan itself was ridiculed by FEMA years prior as unrealistic. That one you can put on the local government and their poor planning. Budget? You can start by getting FEMA the heck out of DHS. When FEMA was placed under DHS, not only did they add unneeded layers of beauracracy, they also put them in a funding pool where they were guaranteed to be short-changed due to terror initiatives. And that is precisely what happened. And, oh yeah, small thing... maybe they shouldn't have put someone in charge of FEMA who had ZERO experience in emergency management. That was not only fatally stupid from an effectiveness point of view, it was also politically assinine.

Thanks for the info Gene, I appreciate that. I guess I am sometimes a contrarian on these things. The parallel to the business world is interesting - when looking for those folks that would eventually be senior executives, you look for someone who makes their way up the line quickly at a young age, and who has the right pedigree (degree/school, measured success, etc.). BUT, sometimes, there are outliers. People who bloom late, or who took a different path, etc. Those people also sometimes, if they have the right skills, can get to the highest levels much later in their careers. The main reason why is this factor: success itself is a skill. People who show they are unusually effective at kicking butt at increasing levels of responsibility have a valuable skill, regardless of their age or what school they went to. Looking at sports, I think its a similar deal. Now, this Mercedes kid is probably not that guy, as his numbers are nothing spectacular. But someone like a Heath Phillips might be. If you can find a way to win, that is key, and it can sometimes overcome a late start or lesser peripheral skills. My favorite example of this in the sports world is Steve Largent, who despite being a late round garbage pick out of Tulsa with little speed or size, became one of the great WR's in NFL history. And I think that the people running these minor league teams agree with me. Why? Because if they didn't, then guys like Mercedes wouldn't have jobs. They'd be released, in favor of a 22-year old with more raw talent. I'm not saying you guys are wrong - I think you are right for 95% of the players out there. I just think its interesting to find people who are those "sleepers" or late bloomers who manage to win at multiple levels, because other folks may dismiss them, allowing a coach/scout with a good eye to get them cheap.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 09:21 PM) I'm more concerned with his defense than his offense, but, now in his 2nd full season, I expect him to strike out less, and improve that avg to the .250-.260 mark. His defense? BA is one of the best defensive CF's in baseball. Not THE best, but he is up there. He gets great jumps and makes good lines, has some good speed, is solid with the glove, and has an excellent arm. He is at least on par, if not better than, Rowand was. His defense doesn't concern me in the least.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 04:55 PM) thebaseballcube.com Stats on just about anybody. Has college stats on many as well. Thanks, I appreciate that. Two interesting things, now that I see his background. First, he was a 2B until 2006, when we moved him to SS. Second, looks like he actually pitched in a couple games in 2005 as well. I also just saw that he had 38 errors in 137 games in his first year at SS. Not great.

QUOTE(PAUL KONERKO 14 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 03:58 PM) Cintron is definitely a better hitter than Uribe, but not better on the D. Cintrons defense isn't that bad so I wouldn't mind that much having Cintron start, I like the guy. I'd say they would be more or less equivalent offensively in 2007 - one with more power, the other one slightly higher OBP and better baserunning. so which is better may be a philosophical question. Uribe, I think, does have more talent than Cintron offensively, if he can ever learn just a little bit more discipline up there. Cintron doesn't have nearly the range on ground balls that Uribe does, nor does he have the arm - neither of which show well in the stats, but are still true. The defensive drop-off would be pretty big.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 03:47 PM) The fact that he's never been above AA in 6 seasons. Hmmmm... I wish there was a way to check out the scouting reports on some of these folks. Just to see what the people who are coaching and watching them are thinking. By the way, I could only see 2 seasons of data on MILB.com. Where do you look up prior seasons for folks in the minors?

QUOTE(danman31 @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 03:21 PM) Mercedes is a non prospect. Nanita and Oneli Perez both had good showings in their leagues, that's good news. Both had solid (or better for Perez) years last year and will push the 08 roster with duplicate campaigns in 07. Why is Mercedes a "non-prospect"? Seems as if a guy can play shortstop, put up decent offensive numbers with a little power at High A, has some speed and played well over the winter... should be worth looking at. Do you have any particular reason why he is a non-prospect?

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...sp&c_id=cws Thought people might want to see this. Gives little snippets on various players. What do we know about Victor Mercedes? Listed as a shortstop, played for W-S last year. According to the article, went 7 of 14 in winter league play. 2006 with W-S, put up .273/10/52 in a full season, plus 20 SB, and 34 2B. A year previous in 2005, jumped around through rookie and low A ball. He is 27, so he's not young - but his numbers look impressive. If he plays any sort of decent defense at SS, with that sort of offensive stat line, I wonder if he might be an in-house SS option in a year or two.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 01:18 PM) Ok, Cintron put up a .310 OBP in limited time which was only 25 points higher than his batting average that's pretty damn brutal. Who's to say if he gets starters ABs that his batting average doesn't plummet taking that horrid OBP right along with it? I just don't get how you could use OBP at all, Uribe was terrible last year I totally agree I just don't see how Cintron is any better. Cintron will be substantial a drop in power and defense, no doubt. But I don't see how you can just dismiss OBP out of hand like that, since Cintron's OBP is 20+ points higher for his career than Uribe's - not a small difference. Heck, even with Juan's power, their career OPS numbers are actually almost identical (.730 v .727). Offensively, Cintron will be pretty close to Uribe, and would likely be much higher in terms of getting on base (which is key for him in this lineup). Note: I still would rather have Uribe by a long shot, mostly due to Uribe's much better defense. I am just saying that the offensive production from that slot would not change much in this case - we'd just get less power but more OBP.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 07:20 AM) Crap, I just discovered my collection of vintage computer cases are obsolete. None of my bags will hold this thing. I'm looking at the Targus XL backpack. I also see they eliminated the PCMCIA slot. I like the six USB ports. I won't need a hub. Bluetooth should eliminate the USB connection for my phone, PDA, and mouse. I'll pipe up here on the bag... If you want a backpack type bag, I got one a while back that is just about the coolest pack ever (of the non-camping variety). Check out bags with the brand name Swiss Gear. I don't know what model this is, but can hold even large laptops, has every kind of pocket you need, comfy straps, useful compartments, and can hold a butt-load of stuff. Plus its tough as hell.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 09:15 PM) it's out of control for both parties. a lot of the pork increases were earmarks by democrats as well as republicans. That was my point - you stated specifically that Dems lived on pork. In reality, this is one problem that is not party-specific.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 05:45 PM) you like low taxes but not tax cuts? it's not just "tax cuts for the wealthy!", but tax cuts for everyone. lame democrat slogans are often misleading and inaccurate, but easy to remember! yea! as for the start on removing pork? yea, right. the democrats LIVE on pork. no way they are legit in this attempt. The attempt is what it is. Read the article. The bill passed. Is it everything we want to see? No. But its a far sight more than any attempt made by the GOP congress. You can doubt it all you want, but its there in black and white. I think taxes are fine where they are for now, and once we get out the nightmare that is Iraq, we should decrease the budget accordingly and split the surplus between debt reduction and lowering some targetted taxes. And if you actually think that the Dems "LIVE" on pork any more than Republicans do, then you truly are drinking the GOP kool-aid.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 05:31 PM) sounds good to me. lets also make the tax cuts permanent. low taxes and low government spending. excellent combination. looks as if Balta has totally bought into the dems bs on this. I agree on low taxes. Tax cuts I am split on. as for Balta and the Dems' B.S., his statement is accurate - the GOP couldn't even make a dent on those subjects. The Dems have gotten things started at least.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) And we will face this sort of disaster again, and probably sooner than we think. And it won't be in the same form. Or the same place. And it probably won't even be nice enough to give us a couple day's warning as to the exact time, and we may not even have the years of warning that we had on the NOLA Levees. And we have prepared for some of them. A lot of California is pretty ready for a quake, much of the US coastlines are in the process of preparations for Tsunami warning systems, etc. Some things like Tornadoes we have already gotten very, very good at dealing with. Then there are others that we have ignored. NOLA was one. Memphis and the New Madrid is another. Plenty of others to choose as well. I think our federal government needs more focus on these disaster preparedness issues, instead of focusing solely on terror and crime response.

QUOTE(spataro51 @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 02:31 PM) That whole picture just irkes me..... First why in the heck doesn't he have a nice suit on? and second is i hope KW has known about him possibly sitting out!!!! Regardless of Uribes free swinging at the plate his defense his great and without him would leave us with a BIG hole!! Defense and pitching wins Championships! Even if we try to trade for someone else or make some other move, this still hurts us. For one, Uribe has effectively sliced his worth down to the bone, so he is a less effective bargaining chip. And, the uncertainty is maybe worse than knowing for sure what will happen. Also, this puts is in a weaker trading position, as we will now appear to be in desperate need. This is a negative-value situation, and even if we get a better SS by April 1, we will have lost something. And what the heck is up with this twice-a-month visit thing anyway? Seems like the judge just wants to make a point. If he was suspect or a flight risk, they could have just held him in-country.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 02:22 PM) http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/ea...076.html?page=3 No one argues that the response was small, the argument is that the response apparatus should have been there PRIOR, and therefore, during and right after. Not days after. This does nothing to debunk that reality, a reality caused by an inept and arrogant response from FEMA as well as state and local agencies.

Not. Good.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 5, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) Some players need the regular ABs. What makes you believe the rest will help? Plus, I'm not certain resting him that much is good for the pitching staff. I seem to be the only one that thinking AJ on the bench for a bunch of games is not a plus for the team. AJ is a catcher, he is no longer what I would call young, and he is a big guy. All of that contributes to significant wear and tear. I'd be happy with him sitting for 30 games a year.

Also, the house passed PAYGO legislation for spending, which me likey. Makes it tough to bloat programs and increase deficits, but also disallows major new spending without finding the money. Muchos gracias.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...SPORTS/70105011