NorthSideSox72

Dan updated the content of our prospect profiles, and then we added links to any videos and/or interviews we have with each player. So, the profiles are now ready for the season. They contain basic background info, a link to stats, list of accolades/awards, links to any videos or interviews, FS rankings history, an overview report, likely future role and best guess ETA. We have profiles of 36 current prospects, and another dozen or so "graduated" ones, some of whom will be in Chicago this year. So take a look at these profiles and brush up on your prospects for the year. FYI, the basic reasoning of who we do profiles on is, if they reach the T25 at any point and have spent at least a day in our minors, we do one.

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 18, 2014 -> 02:33 PM) 21 K/9 LOL 28 K in 18.2 IP is 13.7 K/9.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 03:14 PM) Oh the controversy there. His family thought he was a top ten pick and he ended up going in the mid-20's, now is playing independent league cause nobody else thinks he is good enough/worth the headache. Wouldn't have been as big an issue had they not laughably drafted KW Jr in the 6th. I mean, I get it, everyone does those kinds of drafts - but they do it in the late 30's. Drafting him in the 6th was terrible.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) I find it interesting that Viciedo and De Aza havent been in the lineups at all together and Danks is getting a lot of playing time I think everyone knows one of them (Viciedo, De Aza) is likely to be traded, if not before Opening Day then during the season. They want Danks to be as ready as possible to be the 4th OF at some point this year.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 01:09 PM) Does al Qaeda have an open credit account with Airbus? You don't need a 777 for this kind of thing. A 40 year old Cessna would do, and in fact would be much easier to hide, use, and fly in without notice (or notice when too late). But more likely you don't use a plane at all, which was my point.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 12:56 PM) I couldn't look at their pictures. Glad that they are okay, but who are they? Prospects? More "prospects" than prospects, but yes they are White Sox minor leaguers. Barraza was somewhat highly considered as a catching prospect after being drafted in the 7th round in 2012, but he missed 2013 after having TJ surgery. Still young and could be interesting.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 12:48 PM) 14 North Carolina Central over 3 Iowa State BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Can't access Twitter from here, but if you follow the FutureSox Twitter feed, check out the two pictures we RT'd recently from Jose Barraza and Jordan Guerrero. They were in a car wreck, and got bloodied up a bit. No serious injuries though, fortunately. But the pictures are frightenting.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) For rogue nations/terror groups, obtaining a long range warhead is nearly impossible, possibly even more so than hijacking a 777 without getting caught. My point is you don't need a long range aerial weapon to accomplish that, in fact that makes it much more difficult. You'd only do it if you had to operate on a continent away from where you could just roll something up, like the Americas.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) Israel is putting their air defense on high alert for the immediate future as they think there is a possibility that the plane was hijacked with the ulterior motive to use it to deliver chem or nuke weapons into Israel. That seems like a really hard way to do something that could be done much easier.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 15, 2014 -> 09:10 PM) I can't decide if the Malaysian government is very good at keeping secrets or completely incompetent I'm going with the latter. I think they just don't have the resources, knowledge or experience for investigating flight disasters. Add in that this one is so strange and it is plainly over their heads.

My guess is, the US is combing through satellite images right now, for anything they have in that area for that timeframe. They can use data on flights in that area/time that were known, try to eliminate some, and maybe get lucky and find it that way while it was still in the air. But that is a LOT of data to comb through, and it would take time.

No surprises. With Downs a lock (barring injury), the LOOGY battle is down to Veal and Purcey. Veal is out of options and probably has the inside track.

Yeah, finding some Jet-A is easy. Landing that monster at an airport within range with no one noticing, that would be awfully tough.

Thing about this stolen plane theory is... where it was headed, in that direction, there are only so many places to land. Andaman Islands have only 4 airports, and the Indian Military has a heavy presence, so it seems impossible a giant plan could land there without them knowing. So, going that general direction, where else is there within the range of that plane as-fueled that it could land? I'll throw out one theory - Sri Lanka. Semi-lawless parts of that area, militant groups, little central control, and a big enough island that it has lots of airstrips. Might be able to land a plane there without the Indian military being aware. But I still think there is a 99% chance it is sitting in the Indian Ocean somewhere, what's left of it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 03:51 PM) aka Wite showing up drunk... We prefer to call that a "feature".

Assuming no technical difficulties, we are planning to record this tonight. Look for an article with a link in the coming days.

Brian Boesch, the media/PR/broadcast guy for the Winston-Salem Dash, was our guest writer today on FutureSox. Wanted to give readers a view into an aspect of minor league life other than the players and coaches. Brian tells us about the life of a broadcaster in A ball.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) A million dollars a year? We aren't talking about a million dollars a year here. That is the kind of incentive that goes to a big box retailer. We are talks more zeros than that. Raw numbers are one thing, but it is the difference between the packages - direct tax/finance and everything else - that matters. So it is more a relative thing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 12:44 PM) If the numbers are close, I am sure they choose a friendlier state. If they aren't, you had better be able to justify it to your shareholders, or you will have a shareholder revolt/lawsuit on your hands. They care more about ROI than they do on reputation. QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 12:48 PM) Shareholders care more about Tesla being able to sell the cars themselves, putting a key factory in a state that isn't allowing that tells shareholders that Tesla is okay with that legislation or knows they can't fight it. That would plummet share prices more than saving a million every year in tax benefits. Basically, the offer from AZ or TX would have to be IMMENSELY better than NV or NM offer, as well as there being some other huge non-financial incentives offered, in order for Tesla to choose one of those states.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 12:27 PM) It all depends on what the incentive packages look like. If they get offered enough freebies, they would locate anywhere, just like any other company. They have shareholders to keep happy. How is everyone missing this? First, there won't be some magical thing where one state is offerring millions in tax incentives and the others aren't. They will all do it, to slightly varied extents. RISK is a HUGE part of the picture when the make these kinds of decisions. It is not just about the possible reward, but the risk to that reward as well. If a state has already given them the finger, and cost them money, then you are putting the company at much higher risk of things like changing the tax goalposts or who knows what else in that state. They would be saying, hey, you screwed us before, but we'll move a giant factory that is key to our success there anyway, because your tax incentives are better by a few hundred K a year. Might as well wear a sign that says "Again! Again!" And that doesn't even touch on the fact that, with a company like Tesla just getting established, reputation is important. Or the fact that their future depends (much more so than other companies) on the cultural and political landscape. By choosing a state that has shown signals it isn't as friendly to their product, they are choosing a state where any future decisions made by their government (beyond just the initial deal) are much more likely to be less favorable. Shareholders want long term VALUE - the extra small amount of direct money difference in the published incentives will have nearly zero effect on value. It has to be the total impact of the move on value, not just one aspect of it. A half a million dollars, or a million dollars, is all well and good. But when you are talking about basing thousands of people and your key battery facility for electric cars somewhere, you have to think much more broadly than that. That's what successful business people do.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 11:58 AM) If they have no where else to go they will. I think you missed the earlier information. There are four states in the final site list - two of them don't allow Tesla to sell cars there. All four will undoubtedly offer big incentives. Why on earth would Tesla choose a state who has shown a history of screwing them? No way Elon Musk is that stupid.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) If the incentives are right, they could still build the cars in that state but sell them elsewhere. It doesn't really shoot them in the foot. A co-worker bought one of the first Teslas. He put money down on it before production had even started. The car is absolutely awesome. I meant the STATES shot themselves in the foot. You really think Tesla, who will get big time incentives from all these states involved, is going to choose a state that told them they can't sell their cars there? No way.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) Where does he start this year? Birmingham? That's my guess, yes. No one is ahead of him really, at that level, unless they are having Black repeat AA. Marrero is on B-Ham but he'll be a bench guy. Ravelo should be the 1B in B-Ham.

I had to post this somewhere... So, New Jersey's Governor Christie passed an Administrative Action (no need for the legislature) that effectively bans all direct car dealerships. Cars MUST be sold by third parties. This move effects exactly one company - Tesla, who will have to close it's two dealerships in the state as a result. Leaving aside the amazing hypocrisy here, of Christie's touting of free markets and then doing the opposite and stifling competition... and leaving aside how awful it is for the government of a state to target a specific business this way to make other businesses happy, turning the state into a tool for businesses driving out competition... this, to me, is a great example of how the corporate money invading politics actually results in business-stupid policy. Here's the kicker... there are two other states that have passed similar laws or actions - Texas and Arizona. Funny thing, Tesla is right now looking to build it's new Giga battery factory, with seven thousand jobs at the beginning and more later, as well as a possible new vehicle plant nearby with thousands more jobs. There are four states in the running - Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. This is called shooting yourself in the foot. Congratulations, TX and AZ (and NJ). Your "leaders" are lining their warchests with lobbying money, while costing jobs and tax revenue that would actually help people in your states.