NorthSideSox72

I have just two wish list items left: 1. Trade Viciedo, ideally for an arm, probably a prospect. 2. Acquire a decent 4th starter, RHP preferably, on a short deal. Beyond that, everything else is just if-an-opportunity-presents-itself. No other glaring needs are there, to me. Catcher isn't deal but there is little to no chance they can improve that at this point in this market. 3B is maybe not great, but Gillaspie with a guy like Saladino platooning against LHP is an above-average bat for the position (below average glove though). 4th OF right now looks like Shuck vs Danks, not ideal of course so maybe a small upgrade is possible there.

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) I personally don't condemn people for life in regards to PED use. I judge character far more by off the field issues such as beating their family, rape and other violence. Which is prevalent in today's professional sports. Everyone has the right to support who they want. If you feel you don't like the team assembled don't support them at all. That will be the only way you can take a stand against GM's bringing players with a history to your team in the future. QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 01:32 PM) If he's getting tested more often due to his previous failed test, then it's likely he's more clean than a random player on the team. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 01:40 PM) I cheer for both. Applauded Frank when he was with other teams, laughed when Garland gave up 2 home runs to him, cheered for him against any other team. Still like watching Buehrle pitch. Hated watching Konerko playing as a shell of his former self because of what the player had once been. Definitely did not enjoy watching guys like ManRoid, Brett Myers put on our uniform. Will figure out how to cheer for name on front, but doesn't mean I ignore the name on the back. QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 01:56 PM) And please don't lump Brett Myers in with the roiders, Myers was a f***in scumbag, that was one guy I truly never wanted on the Sox. The above covers most of it for me. Myers is a different level, not comparable. Q and Flowers screwed up many years ago as minor leaguers, and I have no problem with them continuing to get a chance after they paid an appropriate price (which they did). I would have preferred someone not Melky if a similar player was available, but as one wasn't, I am willing to give him that same chance after he paid a price. And as fathom notes, the way testing is now, I think it is a lot harder to get away with it, and a lot fewer guys are doing it (though it is not none of course). I won't be buying any Melky shirseys, and I won't be a big fan. But none of this is going to stop me from rooting for the Sox.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 15, 2014 -> 09:55 AM) I've said back here before, I have always been a fan of The Nature Conservancy and the way they go about their business. Far more so than Sierra Club and other non-profits in this space. They don't over-emphasize lobbying. They are focused on making change themselves. Sometimes they buy land, but even when they do, they don't just sit on it - they do conservation that often includes personal use, agricultural use, etc. But they also help implement easements, and partner with lumber companies, etc. They are realists, open-minded and business-savvy, and they get good results that way. I'd suggest they've always been in a mode of doing what is being discussed here. They look at the whole picture, and act accordingly. Want to add to this... in some ways, this parallels the internal rift currently in the GOP nationally. You have the extremists (mostly Tea Partiers in that case) who insist that the only way to do things is absolute. The environmental lobby has, in many areas, had this same problem - and in both cases they constantly shoot themselves in the foot. Then there are the realists, who are better at actually accomplishing anything.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 15, 2014 -> 09:36 AM) Apparently there's a bit of a ideological civil war going on in the conservationist world There's also a pretty good profile here of the Nature Conservancy's shift at the national level to working more with industry to mitigate effects than simply buying off parcels of land for preservation. Relatedly, The Nature Conservancy recently reintroduced bison to the Nachusa Grasslands out near Dixon, IL. I've said back here before, I have always been a fan of The Nature Conservancy and the way they go about their business. Far more so than Sierra Club and other non-profits in this space. They don't over-emphasize lobbying. They are focused on making change themselves. Sometimes they buy land, but even when they do, they don't just sit on it - they do conservation that often includes personal use, agricultural use, etc. But they also help implement easements, and partner with lumber companies, etc. They are realists, open-minded and business-savvy, and they get good results that way. I'd suggest they've always been in a mode of doing what is being discussed here. They look at the whole picture, and act accordingly.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) Assuming we move Tank soon, what does everyone think that the Opening Day Roster will look like? (also assuming no one gets injured during Spring Training). This is what I have: Lineup: Eaton CF Cabrera LF/RF Abreu 1B/DH LaRoche DH/1B Garcia RF/LF Gillaspie 3B Ramirez SS Flowers C Sanchez 2B Bench: Brantly C (Nieto goes to AAA to get at bats) Saladino IF (platoon 3B; I believe someone posted an article on here in a thread that said he would be ready by spring training) Danks OF L. Garcia IF/OF (25th man, pinch runner, can play emergency OF; would love them to sign Bonifacio for this though, and to take at bats away from some lefties Rotation: Sale Shark Quintana Noesi Danks Bullpen: Robertson CL Petricka SU Duke SU (L) Guerra Jennings (L) Putnam Surkamp LR (L) (doesn't hurt to have a third lefty as Robin can't burn through all of them by the 7th inning this way, can also serve as mop-up guy) 1. I'd say Micah Johnson is likely the starting 2B, as long as he's healthy and doesn't completely suck in ST. 2. Leury Garcia, hopefully, has no place on this team (unless Saladino isn't healthy). I think the bench ends up being Brantly, Sanchez, Saladino and a 4th OF (Danks or Shuck or other), and I'm totally OK with that. It's a bench. Saladino tore up LHP last year so he makes a nice platoon partner for Gillaspie and Johnson, and he's played some OF in addition to playing all the INF positions. Sanchez can handle any infield position and has some speed for a PR role. 3. I don't think Surkamp has a role on the team - I think that last slot goes to Webb. You don't necessarily need a long reliever specialist - you can cobble together 2 inning stints, which guys like Webb and Putnam have done before.

I really don't like that this Iowa State team appears to soft-pedal it when they get a lead, especially against a lower level team. Signals potential danger later. And the pre-game technical was just incredibly stupid.

So you want a guy who is relatively frugal as MLB owners go, to spend $100M+ on a property, to try to pull off an architectural miracle (fitting a stadium a hundred feet above true ground, hovering over an expressway, and abutting a river) and a multi-BILLION dollar stadium, when the one he has was just renovated and is only 25 years old? And in an environment where Illinois and Chicago government weren't even willing to chip in on the Wrigley project? Come on now. Let's re-join reality. Now, I could see the Sox owners as a consortium trying to find a south loop or west loop property big enough and simply buy the land speculatively, to sit on for now. Rates are low, property prices have recovered but are still not at their previous peak. Might be worth the offset of property tax costs for undeveloped land. Maybe. But even then, they won't be planning to build for a very long time. Decades really. So even that is unlikely.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 10:07 PM) Maybe a little. But he doesn't spend much time in the minor league camp. Just because they are on the 40, doesn't mean they are in the major league camp. I just want to point out that there were whole articles written about Cooper spending time in camp for the Fall Instructs this year. He actually was quoted talking about being excited to see guys like Brennan, Trexler, and other semi-obscure guys. He clearly spends some time with the minor leaguers, even if only very occasionally. The bigger effect is indirect I'm sure - Cooper exerting his philosophy down through the roving and minor league pitching coaches, and receiving reports back up. But there is clearly at least some direct work too.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 12:57 PM) Doing some shopping today and walking in the parking lot behind a young couple that had just gotten out of a Prius plastered with every pro-environment and anti-Republican bumper sticker you could imagine. Both promptly stomped their cigarettes out on the ground before entering the store. But were the cigarettes organic?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 04:33 PM) I'm surprised feminists aren't all up in arms about how it stereotypes the genders. I guess I don't see it, if you see what is really going on. Some of it on the surface yes, but the whole idea is there are dynamics behind each one, so you aren't just seeing that one "brain" behind each character. I liked it.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) The cockpit controls look....simple. I didn't know you could fly a plane! Fly? Yes. Land? No.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 02:01 PM) Morons: http://gizmodo.com/how-greenpeace-wrecked-...s-in-1669873583 Idiots.

Never been a big Mad Max fan, but the latest preview for that reboot looks pretty damn fun. Also, especially having daughters, I loved the preview for the new Pixar movie Inside Out. Looks fantastic.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 01:21 PM) Study from earlier this year - interests of businesses and economic elites correlate strongly to actions of government, will of actual voters has little to no influence whatsoever. Which sounds a whole lot like the head of JP Morgan being able to call people in Congress and lobby directly to me. All the more reason to vote - for different people. That's kinda the idea.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 12:53 PM) That Wall Street can get whatever they want, including the setup for the next collapse and bailout, and what the rest of the country wants doesn't matter in the least? I think that's pretty fair. Who said it was fair? You are a master at conflating things despite a massive chasm between them. It is stupid. It is unfair. It is dangerous. And absolutely votes still matter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 12:38 PM) Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP MorganChase, was personally calling people in Congress to whip for votes on that bill last night. Remember how I said that I had no real good way of convincing a person who thought their vote didn't count why they should actually vote? Yup. Much as this legislation pains me, you made an absurd leap there. QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) Fixed that for ya. Well yeah. The GOP is essentially already within two known camps - the Tea Partiers who are against it on principle, and the rest of them who are in the pockets of banks. The Dems aren't as set in stone that way. Of course he called mostly Dems.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 10:03 PM) I share what I can. I'm not a an oracle. I'll use IMO next time. I've had my share of solid info on deals though, but I get as much bs info fed to me as the next guy. Good on ya.

Detailed write-up on the Jennings trade and the Rule V draft results for the White Sox.

Detailed write-up on the Jennings trade and the Rule V draft results for the White Sox.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) Yea I just meant the rules- what makes someone eligible for the minor league phase and what a team has to do with them to keep them. Here's what I can give you... Teams have AAA and AA protection lists, each about 35 guys (you have to look up the exact number, it's in the 30's). So basically the team can protect about 70 guys outside their 40 man rosters from being picked up in the Rule V minor league phases. The payment for minor league phases is $12k, return cost is $4k (as opposed to the 50/25 for the MLB portion). Basically, unless someone made a clerical error, guys who are selected in the minor league portions are outside the 40 man AND outside the next 70-80 guys in the system who are even eligible. Meaning, they are almost never worth much. I have looked before for a good single source for those rules, but I've only found bits and pieces. If you find a good one, about the minor league phases, let me know. Also FYI, the teams do not publish those protection lists, sadly.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 02:47 PM) Well good My fav KAnny follow lives. North do u have some write up of minor League phase of rule 5 eligibility somewhere? One of our writers (Will Siskel, not me) is going to do a post on the Rule V results sometime today. Will go out over Twitter, FB and on here when it's up. Or did you mean the rules for the draft?

Guys, I like Rock too, but not everything he posts is based on inside information. He also has his own opinions. Not sure which he even meant here. Clearly the team is still looking to upgrade at least LF. C and RP are probably based on opportunities is my guess - purely a guess though. I personally think they need one more RH starter too. But RF and SP are the only high priority items left in my view. The C and RP upgrades, at this point, are just nice to haves.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) Didn't the cops say they smelled weed? I wonder if the judge is a season ticketholder. Whatever it was, I don't think his status as a player hurt him. You would think this should at least scare him enough so that the neighbors won't have to complain about the noise anymore. Having lived in Ames, at least back then, the Ames city cops were not always fond of the students. In fact, for some of them, if you were a student, that worked against you. The university has a seperate department, that's a little different, but this happened off campus with Ames PD responding. The judge, I have no idea. Could be they helped the player get away with it here. But notice too, the cops are saying they may still file drug charges.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 02:20 PM) I wanted the Sox to jump on Bryan Emery (16, 6'4, 200 L/L) but he signed with the Yankees. I know they still have a just short of a million shy of INTL spending as of July 2nd, but they could have used that money to sign more players under the radar. Well they still can. For that matter, we don't really know if they still have that much - we know that is the MOST they still have left, but there could be signings that were not published.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) I actually liked Robinson Leyer- thought he had potential. Well that's good because he is still around. Euclides Leyer, his brother, is the one who was taken.