NorthSideSox72

I've been working on this one for a few months. It has some potential to ruffle a few feathers, so I wanted to get it right. For those unaware, there is a lawsuit (now class action) out there, claiming minor league baseball players are paid so little that labor laws are being violated. Instead of exploring the legal or moral implications, I took a different route - I made a case for how paying them more money is actually a smart investment decision. If a team was willing to lead on this, they could gain competitive advantage. Read my business case here. I would love to hear what people think on this.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 08:14 PM) Did you hear he has good makeup? I'll second Will, having spoken to Adam, talked to his coaches, and helped him write a guest article for FS last year (he wrote about playing Aussie ball). Also, they wouldn't have sent him to Australia to represent the team like that if he didn't have good makeup. QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 08:08 PM) Our minors are looking stacked. I'm pumped. We can trade for anybody Well that is a bit of an overstatement. I think the lower levels are looking pretty darn good, but the upper levels (AA, AAA) are still not great and there is a lack of elite talent. System is improving, but mostly in quantity of "could be interesting" guys as opposed to a few "elite" guys.

I will say, the fight scenes in Ep I between Darth Maul and the two Jedi were fantastic. Qui-Gon Jin (sp?) was good casting, so was Obi-Wan. That is the beginning, and the end, of anything good in that movie.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 04:12 PM) Why? Horrible and at-times even bigoted writing and characters. Awful special effects - impressive in ability but totally missing the mark in impact. Irritating lead actors, especially both of the Anakins. And... Jar Jar.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 12:26 PM) I'm curious, how old are you guys? When did you first get into the Star Wars world? 42, about to be 43. I remember the originals fondly. And unlike the Lucas-led disaster prequels (which were hot garbage), the original three movies had great characters and stories. QUOTE (juddling @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 12:45 PM) I had to be 7 or 8 when we went to see the original Star Wars. I remember liking the movie but my biggest memory from that day was it was the first time I was allowed to salt my popcorn myself...and damn did I blow THAT job. I remember it was like eating a salt lick. Just thinking about it now, makes my blood pressure rise 30 points. This is fantastic.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 10:04 AM) Doesn't seem like AFL is going very well for anyone. Pitchers are doing well. Hitters not as much, though Delmonico has shown some pop. It's also pretty early.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Are you serious? Yes, because I look beyond my front yard. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Do you know any recent college grads? No jobs. Yes. It's tough out there. It was tough in the early-mid 90's when I got out of school too. The only time it wasn't was maybe around 1998-2001, but even then it wasn't easy if you weren't in tech. The job market right now is better than at lots of other times - and yes, also worse than some others. Look at the numbers. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Do you know anybody over 50? No jobs. Job outlook - grim. Uh, yes, plenty. Tough for some, good for others - like at EVERY OTHER TIME IN HISTORY. Which is why you have to look at the numbers. They're above the running average in terms of jobs right now. Are they fantastic? No. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Middle class making no headway on retirement funds. Heading for a huge disaster when all these people above 55 start retiring. Retirement outlook - Poorhouse for people used to at least having food, leisure money. This is patently false of course. The equity markets have nearly DOUBLED in value in the past 8 years from bottom to top. Some people won't make it work - others will - but if you were able to put money aside in a 401k or the like, you're doing quite well. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) The economy is terrible. Businesses not making money, constantly laying people off. I've been reading about predictions of impending doom. Also patently false. Businesses making record profits, layoffs not especially high right now either. On the lower side in fact. Whatever you are reading must be written by some odd birds. Might the market turn down? Sure - like it always has at times. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) So much money lost on stock market. By lost you mean gained, right? Are you reading charts upside down? QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) Nation's debt ridiculous. This one has some truth to it. Congratulations, here's a cookie. QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 04:49 PM) WHy all the optimism in your post? See above.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 02:13 PM) Not a bad list. I think our lousy economy, however, is the biggest deal right now, though. I think we're in a world of hurt. I just hope we avoid a total collapse of the banking system and all our savings are gone and we'll be on the street once we get laid off by our broke employers. Are you posting from a time warp or something? Or possibly in the basement of Drudge Report HQ? I mean, income inequlaity is an issue and the economy isn't perfect, but it's been generally doing quite well the past few years (compared with history).

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 10:49 PM) Fired someone today and it felt f***ing great. I've been managing people for 15+ years. Dozens, maybe close to a hundred total over time at multiple companies. I've had to fire or lay off a handful... and it was never, ever fun, even if they were clearly underperforming and needed to go. I have a hard time imagining a scenario where it would feel good.

Thumbs up for The Martian. Having read the book first there was some disappointment here and there for what they did and did not include, but most are minor quibbles. Overall a very good movie. Only real flaw to me was that some of the significant characters - NASA Director played by Jeff Daniels and much of the Hermes crew aside from the Pilot - were not interesting enough. Too flat. But other side characters were quite good.

We've got our preview up for the various foreign Winter Leagues, with 19 players (and a couple coaches) representing the White Sox. There are major leaguers like Leury Garcia, prospects like Michael Ynoa and Omar Narvaez, and some org guys playing in the Caribbean. The article touches on the likely reasons why the various players are there. I'd focus mostly on guys fighting for 40-man protection - Ynoa, Marin, Garcia and Rondon (though the last one is highly unlikely to be a Rule V risk).

We just added 20 more new videos, these from Fall Instructs, to our YouTube channel. We are now above 65 current White Sox prospects for whom we have exclusive videos up on the channel. But two in particular you should really watch... 1. RHP prospect Chris Comito got to face Yasiel Puig, who was rehabbing in Instructs. That by itself is interesting, but what really made it interesting was , sending Puig reeling back out of the box. Kind of hilarious. Welcome to Instructs, lol. 2. . Taylore Cherry pitching, and he is just a giant human - gut and all. He's also got a strangely casual delivery. But the best part is the play at first - kind of an Instructs in a nutshell moment. Anyway, the new videos include the following minor leaguers: Comito, Cherry, Yosmer Solorzano, Carson Fulmer, Andres Sanchez, Brandon Quintero, Corey Zangari, Bradley Strong, Grant Massey, Franklin Reyes (though sadly only one swing from him), Ryan Riga, Zack Erwin, Jacob Cooper, Antonio Rodriguez and Seby Zavala. Also, one of the Sanchez clips shows Casey Schroeder with a back-pick at first base.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 10:50 AM) I think I like Wanne's better but Thompson hasn't earned his place up there yet. Swapping him for Eaton would be the way I go. Seconded. But both are quite nice, good work.

Related... a bunch of previous Baseball Prospectus guys, including one of the former co-founders (Joe Hamrahi) are starting a new prospect-focused baseball site called 2080Baseball.com. Also seems to include CJ Witt (former BP), Nick Faleris (former BP), Tucker Blair (former BP), Jeff Moore (former BP) and Mike Ferrin (XM Radio). And they threw some subtle shade at BP along the way.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 10:22 AM) This study is forcing economists to rethink high-deductible health insurance The theory was crap to begin with. No one "shops" medical costs, because the entire system is set up such that you have NO idea what things will cost upfront. That plus the highly inflexible demand curve mean the shopping concept just doesn't work with health care.

Maybe a banner of former Sox currently in the playoffs (Buehrle, Richard, etc.). Too depressing?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 04:48 PM) yeah, my father retired as an attorney a few years back. He did quite well, but he was clear with me in my high school / college years that he wouldn't recommend the field, and it only got worse later. He would tell me in the last decade or two that it was nearly impossible to make partner anywhere anymore, and even just getting a job in private law was very tough. Which is odd when you think of how litigious society has become, but apparently (as you said) there was just a huge wave of law school grads added to the system. A lot of lawyers find corner market jobs now. Like FBI, or contract work with firms that specialize in surge needs.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) It's all part of the plan. The media comes through for the Obamas and Hillarys of the world when they need to: saying who won debates and the days right before election day. They will be "critical" at times when it doesn't matter, like with 2 years to go in the regimes. But when it's time to come through for the Democrats, oh boy, the liberal media will come through for you! um, this was a Democrat debate.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 10:59 AM) We can not give them back the $150 billion to start with. I assume you realize that was their money, right? I only ask because I've seen a lot of people who seem to think the US is paying them tax dollars or something.

The black and white coming from some (DA mostly) here is hilarious. Seriously, the guy got promoted to GM from within. Guess what happens for EVERY executive in ANY field when that happens? They still have to report to the person above them, especially if they moved into their job. The reins are never handed over instantly. The job allows lots of control, but not all. This is reality. Why is that even a question? KW has some control, and Rick works for KW. Rick is the GM and makes a lot of, but not all of, the decisions. And major decisions go through management. This is not complicated, nor does it mean Rick is either a dolt or a master knight of the secret squirrels. He took a job that is a lifetime dream. He took it knowing FULL well who KW is, I am quite sure - specifically, KW is a control freak. Zero chance Hahn didn't know that. He's working into more control. He's young and has time.

So, does CNN get paid by Clinton? Holy crapola, their home page has been a love fest for her all day long. I mean, she did well, but I honestly think O'Malley and maybe Sanders did more positive for themselves than she did.

Josh Norris (BA), Bernie Pleskoff (MLB) and John Arguello (Appraising Arizona) are all there live. Following them on Twitter, we'll see if they have anything to say during the game, or in write-ups after.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_White_...ail_controversy There is also no actual evidence at this point of Clinton doing this deliberately to avoid public disclosure laws or anything like that. Oh come on. I am not going to say that IS what happened, but let's be honest - that is the most logical explanation. I mean, this very intelligent person decided to conduct extremely high level State Department business via a Yahoo email address on a private server. And some emails were "lost". Really? I suppose there is a small chance she was just dumb - but much more likely, she did it knowing it was wrong, which is pretty bad. And frankly, either way, it makes her look incompetent.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 12:47 PM) I remember when Republicans were equally upset with many in the Bush administration using RNC servers and deleting most of the records specifically to get around public records requirements. I am usually loathe to pull out this line, but here it fits - both sides do it. Politicians from both sides will do this sort of thing if they can get away with it.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 11:51 AM) Well, disagree on the email mess. It shows incredibly poor judgment, an opinion Dems and Repubs hold. I can agree that it's played out at this point, but it's still an issue to talk about when you're debating why she's not a good fit for President and you are. You don't win campaigns by being the "good guy," especially when the person who should be attacked/criticized is the favorite that everyone knows. I definitely fall in the camp that, at best, Clinton was industrial-grade stupid to get into that email mess. At worst, it was a way to more easily hide stuff.