NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 26, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) There's one more factor that you didn't mention. Yes, this was a trade of potential for potential. But this wasn't just a swap of two top prospects who are in AA. We traded away a major league pitcher. We traded away a guy who appeared ready to pitch well in the majors in 2007 (I'm not talking about pitching like an ace or anything like that). McCarthy has major league experience and some major league success. Danks on the other hand, has a great deal of potential but little chance of pitching well in the majors in 2007. Even if he becomes great, it is unlikely that he's show up in Chicago this year and show it this early. So Danks might be better than McCarthy in the future, but it hurts the 2007 team. And the AL Central's 3rd place team didn't need a downgrade, it needed an upgrade. That is, if we wanted to contend this year. I don't agree with that. I have not seen Danks pitch, but from what I have been able to read so far, and know about B-Mac, I don't think one is more ready than the other. If both pitchers were to start in 2007 at the ML level, which I suspect they will, they seem to have similar chances for success. B-Mac has the advantage of having seen MLB hitting. But he also has the downfall of having not done well against it in 2006. There is positive and negative there. I think Danks/B-Mac is probably even-up for 2007, if Danks is in the rotation. They will both struggle at times, and show brilliance at other times. No one knows for sure how often each will occur, though.

QUOTE(shipps @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 04:01 AM) Iam curious as to what his blood alcohol level was just to see how drunk he was.Because .08 really isnt that drunk but once you start getting into the 1.5 and the 2 your an absolute idiot and should go to jail for a while. At .08 your reaction time is slowed quite significantly. Your eyesight is diminished as well. You may not realize it, but you are much less safe at .08 than when you are sober.

Its sort of funny that people on both sides of the fence on this issue are using the same argument - you don't know what (insert BMac or Danks here) is capable of, he's a wildcard. But that's the whole point, isn't it? We traded one very good pitching prospect for another, and might have made out even in that sense. But... that wasn't the whole trade. We also got 2 more pitchers, one of whom might turn out to be quite good and the other a long-shot. In exchange, we gave up an outfielder prospect (which we have a bazillion of) that doesn't look like he is ever going to reach the big club anyway. So, even if you think B-Mac is better as a prospect than Danks, remember, we definitely got the better end of the other 3 players involved. And if Danks and B-Mac are pretty equivalent in potential, then we made out big time in this trade.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Dec 26, 2006 -> 08:05 AM) My absolute favorite baseball player all time. Happy Birthday! Mine as well. to the Commander.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 24, 2006 -> 09:59 AM) When you going down? Not sure yet, flexible. Don't want to derail the thread though - let me know if/when you have specific dates in mind. Went last year for the first time - had a blast.

Just saw this when I picked up the Trib this morning. Shocked. Weird. But I like it. I think we got the better end of the deal - 2 high prospects and a maybe, for 1 and a never gonna be. I can see why KW decided he had to take it, even though its a huge chance to take. And let's remember - in 2005, our 5th starter slot was a near-6 ERA hole most of the year with El Duque. So the fears expressed about white flagging it are pretty ridiculous. This organization has gotten a lot stronger in the young pitching department in the last month, and we still look good for 2007. Although, I am now hoping that one of these prospects (of the Floyd/Danks/Haeger/Broadway/Phillips/Gio starter group) and Pods get traded for a better LF option. That would make the offseason complete, in my eyes. QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 24, 2006 -> 09:10 AM) BTW, I'm now even more to get to Tucson and see guys like Floyd-Gio-Sisco-Danks-Masset go at it. It will be fun to go out to the back fields and watch some of these guys. Totally. I was planning on it anyway, maybe now I'll spend a little more time there than planned.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Dec 22, 2006 -> 10:23 AM) I'm surpised they didn't get him for more than just DUI. Typically, when charging for something like DUI, the smaller things like public urination are not addressed. Not worth it. Unless the prosecutor is trying to make a point about something.

Update, with a few more juicy quotes. Sorry to keep beating the drum on this one, but some of the new quotes in there from Goode are just priceless. Immigration law that "allows non-Europeans" into the country? Oh no, not that! He refers to himself in the third person. And my favorite, in response to criticism, he points one that "one woman" wrote a letter supporting his position. Delicious.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 22, 2006 -> 07:39 AM) I would just like someone to explain to me how you get adjusted to MLB pitching in Charlotte? There are somethings that another year at AAA, just doesn't teach you, such as the speed, nuances, and intensity of the MLB game. Ryan Sweeney could stay in AAA until 2010, but there is still going to be an adjustment period when he hits Chicago. Heck look at Joe Crede, he was MVP of AA and AAA, and he still took 4 years to put together an entire solid season at the MLB level. Just a guess as I am no expert on such things, but, maybe it depends on whether or not the player has specific, known weaknesses he needs to work on. For example, if Sweeney has something mechanical about his swing, or he can't read breaking pitches, or some such thing, then that should maybe be worked out at AAA. If its more a matter of general experience, then I agree, he could probably learn faster at the MLB level.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) I'm 100% convinced he's already running, and so therefore I just see this as a means to drum up media attention before the official "announcement" season starts next week with Edwards. In other words, I don't even see any reason to ask him to run because as far as I'm concerned he already is. OK then.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 04:19 PM) Except George W. Bush. Bush is NOT on Brownback's end of the spectrum. Bush is not, and never was, far right on social issues. He catered to the far right, but if you look more closely at his actions, he is just not that far off to the right socially. Brownback is waaaaaaay out to the right. QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 04:19 PM) So let's see, high-ranking aide to the Senate Majority leader launches a "draft" campaign a few weeks before the guy was certain to declare he was in, and you read that as something other than an attempt to get in on some of the positive press that guys like Obama, Clark have gotten from "Draft" campaigns in the past? WTF are you talking about? I just said "please run", as in, I want him to run. ??? I make no allegations of any kind.

Combined updates on Brownback and Richardson (sort of a funny combo). Dear Sam: There is room at that end of the spectrum because no one can win from there. Dear Bill: Please run.

Updated, see details in first post in thread. Next update on Lin during Spring Training, if not before.

December 5th, 2006: The Chicago White Sox agreed to terms with 20-year old Taiwanese amateur RHP Po-Yu Lin, including a $300,000 signing bonus. Future Sox article from Jason Gage Overview on Lin... • Lin is pretty big for a 20 year old from Taiwan, at 6’ tall and 216 pounds • He is said to have a fastball that currently tops out around 92, and breaking stuff with serious movement • Lin was the ace of the 2004 Junior National Tournament in Taiwan at age 18 • Guesses on where he ends up in the Sox system range from Rookie League to High A, but we’ll know more after Spring Training • The 300k signing bonus he received is not exactly a monster for an international signing • A regular on Taiwan Baseball named Ben has stated that Lin’s closest MLB or MILB analog is Po-Hsuan Keng, who he says is a carbon copy physically. Keng managed a 2.33 ERA and a 10:3 K:BB ratio in 70 innings in 2006 with the Blue Jays’ class A affiliate the Lansing Lugnuts. Notes and other links… • Lin is NOT the same person as Lin-Po You, who played in 2006 for the Anchorage Bucs of the ABL. Reports equating the two appear erroneous, according to my research. • Here is a video of him pitching in High School Contributions to this report from: Jason Gage of Future Sox The Cheat from SSS Taiwan Baseball Armchair GM

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 11:59 AM) Woman who spent her time posting on liberal blogs and attacking Democrats while pretending to be a left-leaning voter hired as the New Hampshire communications director for St. John McCain's campaign. So, you're saying your a registered Republican, Balta?

QUOTE(Hatchetman @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 10:52 AM) i dunno how old some of you are, but it seems the older you are the more you tend to be realistic/pessimistic. just looking at the moves that were made, i don't see much if any improvement in the 2007 roster versus the 2006. maybe the rotation will be a little better, but then probably the konerko/thome/dye combo will be a little worse. the bullpen is pretty frightening and the LF/CF combo is horrible. it's nice to have a backup catcher though. I'd contend that, the older you are and the more you are around baseball, the less likely you are to be one of the people on this board who makes every move out to be either genius or disaster. We've made some small improvements thus far. Others could be, and may still be made. But right now, we are indeed a little better off than we were at the end of the season.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061221/pl_nm/..._india_usa_dc_3 What part of the seperation of powers does Bush not get? For that matter, what part of his 35% approval rating and the rout of his party in the '06 midterm is not clear to him? Honestly, I have a hard time seeing how the man who took us into an unmitigated disaster in Iraq and who quite obviously doesn't acknowledge the role of the other branches of government, is not the worst President of our time. This kind of crap, where he pretty much says he is a King, is awfully scary to me. And it ought to scare the Republicans on this board too, who are supposedly in favor of smaller government and true democracy.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) Congresspeople are sworn in en masse. They don't actually have to hold anything. which leaves they hands free to cross their fingers behind their backs.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:18 AM) That was more my point. If this were, oh hell, name some Republican, they would have manufactured documents to make sure that the person would have gotten jail time and smeared them through heaven and hell and back again. Who is this "they"? Seriously, this is the absurd part to me. I see absolutely zero indication that Republicans are somehow treated worse in similar circumstances than Democrats. None. You said, in bog capital letters, that some phantom Democrats were complaining that it was DIFFERENT. I said no, its the same. Now you say it IS different, and shouldn't be??? I just don't see anything here beyond a scummy NSA doing dirty work that some politicians in both parties would do under similar circumstances. And I see a judge accepting an easy plea, which is what happens to most politicians. Nowhere in all of that is party affiliation a factor.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:14 AM) So people with better jobs were heading down to the meatpacking plant to try to get worse jobs just to save the plant? I really have a hard time buying that, especially since the article mentions the company raising wages in the same article. If they were attracting enough attention based on either saving the plant, why would they need to pay people more money to do so? That is kinda contradictary IMO. No, people in a community like Greeley, a college town with a lot of low paying jobs if you aren't in academia, will often bop around from job to job. Or be out of work. Or work some jobs seasonally. Therefore, if full time regular work opens up at this plant, and these semi-transient workers see a way to get that job and help out the town to keep the plant running, they will go for it. Heck, the article even says that - the guy whose friends were sent away. Add that the wages going up, and there you have your increased demand. Regardless, like I said, I am all for what they did here in getting them out. There is zero reason ever for it to be OK for illegal immigrants to be here. The laws need to be enforced more strictly and more often, and the laws need to be re-written to guage immigration policy with economic needs.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:12 AM) Obstruction of justice is not too much of a stretch here. Oh definitely. In fact I'd say its exactly that - the crime he pleaded to is just a version of such. And obstruction usually doesn't get people jail time (Martha aside for the moment). It CAN, though. So, should Berger have gone to jail?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:04 AM) It also didn't mention the fact that a lot of these illegals had stolen the identities of many US citizens. Yet another reason why I was glad to see the stiff justice being applied, even though the community had to suffer for it. It was the right tactic, and the right message, I think. In the future, companies and communities will be less likely to turn a blind eye on illegal activities.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:03 AM) Well, the judge sure did by giving him a small fine and community service. He pleaded guilty to removing and retaining classified documents, not selling them to foreign countries. I wonder what the max penalty is for that? I'm guessing not much. Jail time may not have even been an option. I really don't know. My point is, no one said this was OK, or "different", in any way shape or form. What penalty he received from the judge doesn't say anything about that. Here is a question - what is a fair penalty for this, anyway? Just curious what people think.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Dec 20, 2006 -> 10:26 PM) Really? We're still selling out season tix? I think attendance is going to be worse than it was in 2006. If they are renewing 97%, that means there are only a few hundred available for the entire waiting list, plus anyone new getting in. I'd guess they're selling out the season tix again. FWIW, we renewed our 27-game plan, after trying to go from 27 to 81 in our current location (unfortunately, someone renewed their weekend plan in our seats). Its not often you can get front row season seats (even if its just 27 games), so there is no way we are not renewing.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 06:52 AM) But it's DIFFERENT! Obstruction of justice, etc. when it's to protect the Clintons is just protecting our country! The strawman thing went out of style a while ago, Kap. No one has said anything to defend this, and I suspect no one will. Its not different. Its the same. Show me where anyone other than you said otherwise.