NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 29, 2011 -> 09:18 PM) So how come this s*** isn't thrown in our faces every single day like W.? And this week, it's even lower. Considering we're in the worst recession since the 30's, the partisan hackery in Congress, and the overall disappointing job Obama has done so far... I am honestly surprised the numbers aren't a lot worse.

Serafin in Charlotte? Interesting, he didn't have all that great a year in High A even. I know, end of year fill-in promotions, but still, surprised he was the one they picked.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 29, 2011 -> 11:51 PM) And there is a reason why De Aza was let go by the Marlins. He's not that talented. His skillset is probably that of a borderline starting CF/4th outfielder. However, what is encouraging about De Aza this season is the power he's shown, it's a dramatic improvement over what he's done in previous years at any level. Either way, he should stick on the roster the next couple of years as he'd be a useful 4th outfielder at the least. I was thinking it was more this... QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 30, 2011 -> 07:56 AM) Balta and I have been highly supportive of De Aza ever since he was signed last year. The guy has never really been given a legit chance at the major league level. He unexpectedly won the Marlins starting CF job over a couple of their top prospects a few years ago and got off to a great start before suffering a bad ankle injury. He never really recovered from that and didn't get an extended look ever since. He is a good defensive player, has good wheels, puts the bat on the ball and has pretty decent gap to gap power. The reason the Marlins gave up on him is because they had a bunch of talent in the OF or coming up whom they were higher on (Maybin, Hermida, Stanton, Coghlan, Willingham). I was willing to even give him Pierre's role at the start of the season. He still has to prove he can keep this up over a full year, but I've always liked what I've seen in him going all the way back to watching him with the Marlins. Injuries are what killed his chances, I think. Going into 2012, I would feel better about De Aza than Pierre, of that I am confident.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 29, 2011 -> 10:52 AM) Bachmann: God sent the hurricanes and earthquakes because he's upset about the deficit. No, that's not an Onion link. When people earlier pointed out lefty and righty crazies, people that are bloggers and what not, blaming Congress or Fracking or little martians for the natural disasters... it could be dismissed, because these are just idiot screamers. But this idiot screamer is running for President, and there are people who actually support her. Now that is scary.

Sure would be nice if the Sox could pick up another game on DET before the series with them.

To me, the whole paper vs electronic for bills and other documents, should be easy to solve. But of course, it is made difficult. Case in point - I changed a lot of my regular bills, like cable/internet/phone, ComEd, gas, etc., to just automatically come out of my credit card, and also only send me an email bill. Since everything happens on it's own, I was just throwing the bill out anyway. But then, due to some confusion over an old versus new account, when we got a new credit card (from expiring), Comcast updated our OLD account that had been closed for months, instead of the new one. A bill was missed, then another. Meanwhile, they sent no extra emails, made no phone calls, sent no mail. So of course the bills I got just said "your statement is ready to be viewed", and I didn't know anything was wrong. Until they cut off our services. This should be abundantly clear and simple. If someone is on e-bill, keep it that way, but if something has gone wrong - like a missed bill or the like - then you should call, mail, email something other than "view your bill", ANYTHING to get their attention, before actually cutting off their services. Pissed me off, especially since it was them who put the new card info to the wrong account (and after I told them this, they did indeed remove the late charges). E-bill can be great, if used properly.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 29, 2011 -> 08:45 AM) that's after working out all summer and adding weight. Runs in the family. Seriously? You must be one skinny dude. But that sort of gets at my greater point - that for some people, 6'3" 165 might work just fine. Others, not so much. And both might be healthy, or both unhealthy, etc. The target weight ranges make broad assumptions.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Aug 28, 2011 -> 11:07 AM) that is true, there are some issues with the BMI calculations. still though, there are too many obese people. when i say obese, i am talking about an extreme situation. It is a huge problem, no doubt. But Alpha is right that how the terms are defined is a little whacked-out and inconsistent. I'm 6'3", and according to various listings I have seen, my weight should be 160 to 195, depending on who is interpereting what my weight should be. Now first of all, that's a big range. Second, if I reverse engineer the math in my fat % and BMI, in order to weight 160 pounds, I would have to have NEGATIVE 8% fat. Seriously, a guy who is 6'3" with any kind of muscle on him is never going to sniff 160 pounds, and will in fact struggle to be 190, even they are in shape. When I weighed 210 pounds, I was at 17% body fat, which is right about where I should be. Maybe 200 would be more ideal. Point is, the numbers are fuzzy at best.

I think it's interesting, you have these three underperforming guys: Dunn, Rios and Beckham. In each case, something suggests they will turn it around, so, which is most likely? Least likely? --Dunn has a long major league history of getting it done at the plate, regardless of poor technique or athleticism. --Rios has long been lauded for having high end tools and talent, but not necessarily results. --Beckham rocketed all the way to the majors in a year and succeeded briefly at each level, but has since failed to adjust consistently. Which of the three is most and least likely to pull it out in 2012? No poll, just looking for what people think on this.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) Why don't we talk about Reed more often? His numbers are awesome down there. He could be the shut-down setup guy that lets Sale move to the rotation. EDIT: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/p...id=reed--001add 13.2 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9 and HR/9? Are you kidding me? And he hasn't struggled at any level. We talk a lot about Reed in the FutureSox forum, if you go check it out. We talk about all the others I mentioned too.

Idiots come in both parties? I had no idea. Shocking.

Per Mark Gonzales: Which is what we were all thinking anyway.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:16 PM) The 8th deadliest hurricane in Atlantic history was the Newfoundland hurricane of 1775. The three deadliest hurricanes that were actually named, were Mitch, Fifi and Flora. Fifi. Really?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:28 PM) Nope, and he even replied to a different tweet. I don't think he really knows. Any idea who could actually answer that question? I sent an email to Gonzo, he may know, and would certainly know who would.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 10:37 AM) This would work for me. Although we would need a good #6 option in AAA or in the pen. You can't trust Peavy to give you 200, and who knows how Sale's arm will hold up. He hasn't been discussed much, but Dylan Axelrod has been awfully good in AAA this year, and the org seems to have taken to him a bit. He's not a bad #6 option, though I'd rather he was #7.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 10:14 AM) Pretty much. The guy has had so many injuries the last 3 years, I have no clue how anyone can expect him to ever be back to the guy that we thought we traded for. So many? A broken ankle and the one, big, huge lat one. Ankles heal fine, the only real issue here is the big one. History says a lot of pitchers come back from major reconstructions. However, it is true that Peavy's injury was unique, so that is the big X factor.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 10:13 AM) I'll be waiting for that the same way I'm waiting for the Sox to make that comeback everyone's been talking about all season. Despite my saying the Sox aren't out of it, a few days ago when they were 5 back with 5+ weeks to play... history was still against them, they had maybe a 10% chance. Now they are 7 back with less than 5 weeks to play, so now we're probably 5% or less. Pitchers having major reconstructive surgeries, this is a pattern that has repeated itself many times. Is it a guarantee? No. But I feel one heck of a lot more confident in Peavy getting back close to form, than I do the Sox winning the division.

Also, I think the discussions about Peavy on this board have been psychotic. Seems most people either thought he'd come back and be JFP, or would never come back to form and was basically done. Seemed obvious to me that what happened is what should have been expected. Like any pitcher after major surgery, first year back is basically just getting your arm back, and pitching mediocre. It is the 2nd season after, when they usually get their form back. Look for Peavy to be back to, or nearly, the JFP we traded for, in 2012. And yes you can quote me on that.

I personally would rather trade Danks, re-sign M56 fpr 2-3 years, and have a rotation that looks like: Buehrle Floyd Peavy Humber Sale/Stewart Let Pierre and Castro go free, trade TCQ as well. Use the TCQ and Danks trade(s) to get a big time upgrade for LF. Viciedo in right will probably approach Quentin's value. Possibly also pick up a young gun to compete with either Beckham or Morel, if you can. One of the veteran pitchers in the bullpen should go too, one of Frasor/Crain/Ohman/Thornton, if not two of them. The Sox don't have much depth in the minors, but they do have a few relievers that I think could be quite solid for cheap (Reed chief among them, but also Infante, Santiago who I think ends up a reliever again, Remenowsky). Why trade Danks? Other than his high value and the fact that a long term deal will cost a fortune, I also have always thought he looked like he was at the edge of his endurance out there, muscle and joint-wise. He seems to hit a point each season where he has a bad month or so, where he just looks exhausted. I have a fear he may be an arm injury in waiting. Call me crazy. Do all that (trade Danks, CQ, a vet reliever) and allow Pierre and Castro to go, and you just banked some money. Get an upgrade at LF, and even better if he is cheap too. Suddenly, the 2012 team looks like an improvement, if at least one of Rios or Dunn can get back to form (and they aren't tradeable for any practical purpose). I even thought about trying to trade AJP, but you won't get much for him, so maybe Flowers can learn at the major league level how to handle pitcher by watching AJ for a year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 08:16 AM) That's entirely because the eye forecast takes it right offshore. If it gets onshore a little more that would weaken it a lot. Yeah I figured, it looks like the perfect skid - just offshore enough to keep powerful, but close enough to do lots of damage for a long ways. Not a good combo. I wonder if a hurricane/tropical storm has ever actually made it to Greenland while still packing tropical-level winds like that.

That Bristol lineup is brutal. Of the 10 guys that played, only 2 have higher batting averages than .222, and only 4 have higher than .200 - the other six are below the Mendoza line. Yikes. Justin Greene making the most of his chance at Charlotte so far. Kevan Smith still en fuego. Last 8 games: 17-for-30, 6 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 4 BB vs 3 K. .567/.606/1.000/1.606.

QUOTE (WHITESOXRANDY @ Aug 25, 2011 -> 07:46 PM) Shrek does sound intimidating. LOL, was that intentional, or a typo?

QUOTE (G&T @ Aug 25, 2011 -> 08:29 PM) Could be a big one so... Wow, I can't remember seeing a hurricane that made it that far north and still packed tropical storm-force winds. It still seems to register high winds all the way to Greenland, according to their predictions.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Aug 25, 2011 -> 01:24 PM) He'd make a great groundball middle reliever. I agree. He can throw 95 at times, consistently 93+, according to scouting reports, and has multiple pitches with good sink to them. He's always excelled at inducing ground balls, and he doesn't walk many guys. But he is a relatively small guy for that velocity, and has a high effort motion. And he really lives on 2 pitches, with a show-me third. Plus as I said, seems like stamina is an issue. I do really think he could be a solid middle reliever if given that chance, and I'd bet that is what they do for next year with him.

My stances on issues, while they vary from issue-to-issue in terms of whether it fits in as "lefty" or "righty", are usually pretty strongly felt. However this issue I have to admit, I have always been torn. I honestly don't know what to think, other than, this issue will probably never go away and never really be solved.