NorthSideSox72

I was talking about Prez ads I guess, but didn't specify. OK, here are the three ads we are discussing. You decide which is best/worst... Demon Sheep

A few tidbits from the Trib, looks like the pieces will start to move pretty soon. Some interesting info, dates, etc. in here. Highlights... --SI reporting Sox trying to get M56 in a 2 year deal --Eligible FA's are MB, Pierre, Vizquel and Castro, plus Frasor on a $3.75M option --40 man is at 36 now, but the 36 includes the above --Some players who need to be protected from Rule V by 11/18: Leesman, Kuhn, JorDanks, Short and Greene --Final coaching staffa announcements coming shortly after WS concludes --Sox will have org meetings for first time since 2007 --Sox will know Hahn's status by those meetings

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 08:22 AM) I did the same thing, but I haven't had my house reappraised in the last few years, so I have no idea what it's actually worth anymore. I'll go with... less than it was a few years ago.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 08:21 AM) I'll stick with the Demon Sheep thank you very much. That rings a bell, but I don't remember why. Demon sheep?

As I said on FB, this is probably the 2nd most WTF political ad I've seen. The whole thing is bizarre, but the smoking is probably the most bizarre. Nothing tops Mike Gravel throwing a rock in a lake though.

QUOTE (hawksfan61 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 07:10 AM) 7 years is what I have seen, 10 seems a little extreme. Also, I wouldn't bother trying any of those tricks to try to fool the polygraph (i.e. the thumbtack trick). Best case scenario is that it will make the poly come up inconclusive and you will be put through it again. Plus if you get caught, you will probably be immediately terminated as a candidate. That is the key with any of these agencies - just be upfront about it. You'd be surprised what they are willing to look past... but if you lie about it and they get even a whiff of that possibility, you are done.

Seems like some good adjustments to make to the program, but the real problems in the program were the ones forcing people to be late on payments, which was ludicrous. We'll see how this plays out, but on the surface it seems like a good thing. Small one though.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 07:52 AM) Some here would apply that same standard to the WH's current occupant. And to an extent I agree. Though, I do think Obama is better in debates than Perry has been. That's not saying much though. They both shine during organized, written speeches, but struggle to varying extents in other situations.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 07:14 PM) Once Perry's team starts with the ads and stump speeches, watch him rise in the polls in the areas he has been. He's damn good in person. I have seen him a few times and he connects with an audience. Correction - he's damn good in person on a stage with no one else involved in a discussion. He's good at giving speeches.

Anyone else having a problem where you go to Facebook, and it just says "Forbidden 403"? Got it in multiple browsers. Weird.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 03:09 PM) They made it look like it was about 6 phases with smaller ones in between. I think my chances are pretty slim since i was in college under 10 years ago and I saw what the drug policy was. 10 years? The only agency I know of that goes that far back with drug history requirements is DEA. FBI was more lenient. Let's just say, I had to document some things from college too... I was 5 years out of college at the time I started the process, and it was a non-issue.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 02:54 PM) Moved on to phase 2 starting this week. Of 63. If you want to know anything about what lies ahead, PM me.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 12:08 PM) All thought FS said an ACL... I wonder which is right? http://www.chicagonow.com/future-sox/2011/...zzie-prospects/ I had thought wrist or hand was right, I remember seeing that. Not sure where ACL came from, but maybe someone knows something I don't.

Good luck, Mr. Walker. Your time needed to be over here, but by all accounts you worked your tail off, and I hope you succeed back home.

This had been, for a while there, one of the best threads for discussion I'd seen on the site in some time. People were being reasonable and having a good talk about the Sox' weak farm system, what it really means. Then the seagulls arrived... QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Oct 21, 2011 -> 05:59 AM) I find it comical you mention all those names: The only player that is a worthy player on a playoff contention team that was drafted was Daniel Hudson and we traded him away when he had 6 years of service time before becoming a free agent. The White Sox will never be a playoff team with players in your lineup such as Morel, Beckham, Axelrod, Short, and Flowers unless your using them as a backup. Our development of Beckham is a prime example of how we ruined this player. Look at what his swing has turned into the last 2 years. I think perhaps you don't have much real perspective here. Go look at what other teams have produced in the same timespan. Some will be better, some will be worse. Very few will have the kind of all star level guys you seem to think are commonplace. I think if you bothered to look around, you'd see that those results (note I said results - not current condition of the talent left on the farm) are not great, but also not bad. QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Oct 21, 2011 -> 06:02 AM) Josh Phegley just tore his ACL getting prepared for AFL. That's why Michael Blank took over his spot. Phegley is bascially done with our organiztion because the huge liability on him is his defense. You can't have 2 horrible defenders behind the plate with him and Flowers. His ACL? Last I saw he had a finger injury. Did I miss something? QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 21, 2011 -> 11:19 PM) FYI Thompson broke his hand last year. It wasn't a shoulder injury. Oops. Thought for sure he had a shoulder injury, or maybe that was in a prior year. My bad.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 12:21 PM) so, what is the "bondage" part of this story? he let the animals out and shot himself That was a tangent that Tex brought into the conversation. Some other guy who also owned exotic anomals, apparently died in a spectacularly embarassing sexual condition some time in recent years.

SS2K5 currently arond 84k, Balta around 75k. But Balta's pace has been higher for a while now. Who gets there first?

Red Sox officials now incensed about rumors of a done deal, and are saying they aren't even close yet.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 20, 2011 -> 01:38 PM) If you look at our recent drafts...excluding 2006 and before...the Sox have actually had a fairly good record to my eyes...but there are 3 issues currently hurting this org: 1. Injuries, and I mean freak injuries. That whole 2009 class seems snakebit. 2. Promotions. Sale, Reed, Beckham, Hudson, and Morel all raced up to the show. 3. One godawful trade with the D-Backs. (You'll like that one...you can take that as a direct shot at the person who pulled the trigger). A look at what happened to the 2009 class injury-wise, and you will see how that would effect any system... 1st round pick: Jared Mitchell, broken ankle/leg in a spring training play 1st round supp pick: Josh Phegley, diagnosed with a rare platelet disorder 2nd round pick: Trayce Thompson, shoulder injury You lose your top 3 players from the first tworounds due to injury, that's going to hammer any system. I believe their sixth pick, Bellamy, also missed a lot of time due to injury.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Oct 20, 2011 -> 09:24 AM) This post makes me feel a lot better about the future of the Sox. Glad I could help. But don't mistake it for me saying the system is great - it isn't, it seriously lacks depth. It just isn't as horrifically bad as some are portraying it, is what I was pointing out. And that if they invest a little more in upcoming drafts and in other areas of the world on signings, I'd feel pretty good about this system being able to develop the talent.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 20, 2011 -> 06:58 AM) I'm with you. I have a three year old and a five year old. Don't endanger my kids just because this guy lost it. if that means killing them, then kill them. Absolutely. So far, the reaction has been pretty calm though. Even animal rights groups are acknowledging they had little choice but to kill many of them. I'm actually impressed they managed to capture some, which they did.

Yeah, the way the story I saw was written, it said he was killed shortly AFTER his capture. Interesting. But it also seems that no one really knows for sure how it went down.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 20, 2011 -> 06:54 AM) I get the feeling that our farm system will be much better by the time April rolls around. After we trade TCQ, Danks/Floyd and Thornton? Yeah probably. Plus the numbres 3 and 5 prospects from FLA we already got for Ozzie. By the way, Kalapse brought up the idea that we should try to find a system we feel is worse and make a comparison. I can't honestly say I know a lot of other systems in any depth, but when we were trading Ozzie, I did look at multiple analyses of the Marlins' system. And I am pretty convinced the Sox system is at least better than that one. Just looking at quality level at various points in multiple prospect lists, random sampling of players, the Sox system looks better to me. And I totally agree with those talking about the spending problem. That is the biggest issue, is being so unwilling to properly invest in the draft and in the international market. One other thing to think about... evaluating drafts is a little like evaluating the President. It takes a few years after, to really know how it went. Example? In 2008 and 2009, the Sox system was similarly derided as being one of the worst in baseball. But the following players entered the Sox system (draft, trade or NDFA) in 2008: Gordon Beckham (drafted, MLB starter) Brent Morel (drafted, MLB starter) Dan Hudson (drafted, MLB starter) Charlie Leesman (drafted, talked about as being on the cusp of MLB) Tyler Kuhn (drafted, possible Sox utility man in 2012) Brandon Short (drafted, Playing AFL, borderline MLB talent) Terry Doyle (drafted, playing AFL, getting attention) Tyler Flowers (via trade) Brent Lillibridge (via trade) Dan Remenowsky (NDFA pickup, now on the cusp) That's pretty impressive for one org in one year, at three years later. Three guys starting in the majors, two more playing in the majors, and a handful of other guys who have a good shot to make it. And I don't think it was recognized just how impressive it was, until at least 2010. Now if the Sox can just invest in the system a little more, it seems like maybe the org has the right development staff in place down there.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) I don't disagree, but this is largely irrelevant when the topic at hand is the current farm system makeup. Reed, Stewart, Thompson, Saladino, Escobar, Axelrod, Doyle? Meh. I think this gets at the difference between... how good is an organization at producing major league talent... versus how much talent is currently in said system. For talent in the system, the Sox are certainly going to be near the bottom on most people's lists. But as Rock pointed out, you are looking at a system that, over a less than three year period, produced its starting 3B (Morel), starting 2B (Beckham), starting RF in 2012 (Viciedo), backup and likely future starting C (Flowers - partial credit), a reliever and 2012 starter (Sale), their closer who converted positions (Santos), another likely MLB starter (Axelrod), a highly touted reliever for 2012 (Reed), their utility man (Stealth Elf, partial credit), and of course a very successful starter they traded (Hudson). That is 10 guys since the 2008 draft. How many other teams can say they did that? Some yes, many no. I think you have to look at both sides. The Sox have gotten decent performance from their system, but their depth of talent is sorely lacking. Two related, but still distinct, viewpoints.

I'll drop a quick bomb... no way I trade Dunn. He has basically zero value at this point so all you get back is another bad contract. But Dunn's history says he is likely to bounce back. I keep the guy for 2012. If he sucks again, he said himself he probably retires anyway.