NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 03:16 PM) I got the impression that you thought the banks really weren't facing much in the way of systemic risk of lawsuits at all, whether they came from the mortgageholders or the investors. probably my mistake. I think there is risk, I think you are just using the term "the banks" differently than I am. The mortgage securities themselves are only in danger if the underlying characteristics are materially flawed, as this lawsuit is contending. That falls to the security issuer, and then that falls to the mortgage issuers, and then that falls to the underwriters for the most part. I think there is risk there, and there will be lawsuits (as I think I said, maybe I didn't though), but I do not think the risk is of some giant toxic unwind like we saw in swaps, and I don't think the people that will actually be hit hardest are the mortgage banks that you are talking about. The number of mortgages that will turn out to be materially flawed, in my view, will be relatively small. Of course, part of the issue here is, what the exact contract language looks like in the MBS's.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) Phegley Suffers Another Setback Ugh. That poor kid, that just really sucks.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:29 PM) And that's not even true. I'm not even in the top 10 around here when it comes to negativity. But I can't stand homerism and the residue from 2005 has all but vanished. I don't like the current position or direction my favorite team is in. I'm not overly fond of it either, but that doesn't make me think that everything Sox is terrible. This is a club that is in better position than a lot of other ones in baseball, and hopefully the team will spend a little more money in the right places to make them better. This is a team that won 88 games, and in my view, was a DH and a reliable closer away from being a 90's-win team. That doesn't sound like anything disastrous to me. So I guess I'm willing to be happy about some prospects we do have in a fairly weak system, and not just dismiss them as useless because I'm bitter.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) My point is I can't talk to some of y'all about our minor leaguers. Then I'll say something and a mod will threaten to suspend me. On what planet did Brent f***ing Morel dominate? LOL, no one is going to suspend you for talking about prospects. People may react strongly to you because you make everything out to be the end of the world, the worst of the worst, or some other extreme. You just seem so bitter that you can't see anything other than doooooooooooooom, and therefore everything Sox is terrible in your estimation. You'd think the Sox were the Pirates or something.

Love this move for the Cubs. There is a downside of course, as Sandberg will be pissed, ergo some fans will be pissed. But I was actually impressed with Quade in his time with the team. This was the smart, and unexpected, move. Very non-Cub-like.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:10 PM) I know you disagreed with the idea that they had any issues with the people they were foreclosing on, but I missed where you thought they had any issues with their investors over these. I feel like I need to respond, but I don't understand your post. I thought I illustrated the chain of players in a likely battle here, and really, its the same chain for investors or mortgage holders, except for the very low end of it. Is that what you meant?

QUOTE (gatnom @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:43 AM) C.J. Retherford says hi. A prospect who is the exact opposite of Escobar in almost every way says hi? QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:54 AM) Like was said above...he's still a guy who is young, didn't hit all that well at single A ball, and is only performing in the AFL. Just like almost any guy at A ball, if someone offers you a legit piece in exchange for him, you jump at the deal and if he turns into a star, you hope you're happy with the guy you got. Yeah, trading him now doesn't seem to have much point. He's going to have fairly low trade value at this point. If he goes out next year at age 22 and improves even further with the bat in AA/AAA, then maybe. I mean, I like his potential, but he's not a big trade chip at this point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:05 PM) Updating that last post, this one tells who the players are bringning that suit against BofA. The NY Fed is involved. That counts as a BFD I think. Yup, they are getting slapped around now. And as I talked about earlier, this is all about the underwriting. That's where the s*** is going to roll to.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) *obligatory smug Obama response* LOL, even in the worst characterization, one thing Obama is not is stupid, or uninformed of basic political information. He has plenty of other problems, but he shouldn't be in the same paragraph as O'Donnell.

If I was an active participant in Tea Party goings-on, I'd be f***ing pissed about the people who are chosen to represent my interests in the political arena. If what I wanted was smaller and more responsible government, I'd have to either laugh or cry at people like this O'Donnell character. Seriously, she makes Sarah Palin look like wonkish. How did this person get nominated? Did people want "change" so badly that they just blindly voted for someone they knew nothing about? Or did they knowingly choose an ignoramus?

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:37 AM) http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20019931-503544.html Keep up the good work boys, In one more year you will pass up the fiscal conservative, GW Bush. Just pathetic! And you don't think BushCo and the GOP Congress had some part in that? Plenty of blame to go around.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:26 AM) Right now he's a kid who just homered and went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored against among the best AA competition out there. Careful with that sample size. If he finishes AFL competition and still has solid numbers, that will be something to cheer about.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:24 AM) Yea, but you replied to my post, which stated that he was a decent prospect, and I said he was worth watching. Arguing an extreme with another extreme really isn't the answer. That was my point, that's why I posted what I did in response to one extreme, by stating that's he's worth watching. This is why I didn't go to an extreme.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 11:14 AM) He'll have to improve that OBP still with those numbers to be worth a damn as a hitter. Honestly, some people on here get so damn defensive about mediocre prospects. Does this guy have a chance to be a good prospect? Yup he does. But right now he's a 21 year old who struggles getting on base, strikes out a ton, and doesn't have HR power, but has a great glove. That screams future bench player if he can even hit enough to make the majors. Is he a guy to watch? Yes, but just because somebody points out a flaw doesn't mean they don't think he's a prospect. Yes they do. And there are also some people who like to make everything out to the extremes, which is what I was responding to. Clearly, this guy is not a blue chip prospect. Also clearly, he's not a lowly blip that would not even be that in another system. People want to categorize prospects as either blue chip can't-miss (which doesn't exist), or nothing. Except most prospects are in between. Its all about percentages - percent likelihood he's a major leaguer, present likelihood he's a major league starter, percent likelihood he's an all star. He's young enough that you can't bring down his ceiling a lot yet, but his floor looks to me like a utility guy, with a notable chance he becomes a starter. That's a guy worth watching in any system, IMO, especially for a shortstop.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 10:56 AM) Hopefully he does pan out, but it's pretty hard to get excited about a guy who had a breakout year with a .315 OBP in single A, with not much power and who strikes out alot. Prospect? Yes. Potential? Sure, mostly because of his defense. Rate of prospect? Average. No, he put up a .316 OBP combined in A+ and AA (it was .327 in A+), as a 21 year old, with a decent slugging number for a non-HR hitter thanks to solid 2B and 3B numbers. As, again, a shortstop with plus defense, and apparently some decent speed. Its just his bat control that worries me with the K's, but he's still young, and those numbers have improved (along with most of his numbers) in recent years.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 10:38 AM) Didn't you hear the news? The farm sucks and can't produce players who contribute. If we were more like the Rays then maybe. But since we aren't the Rays, even our good prospects aren't really prospects, just the top of the fodder pile. The system is pretty bad overall, but some people take that to an extreme. Every system, including the Sox system, has some solid prospects in it. I was originally not at all a buyer on Escobar (just ask some of the heavy FS contributors), but as time has gone on, I've realized he's better than I thought. He's worth watching.

Yankees now cannot win in New York. If the Rangers manage to win tonight, it seems almost impossible that they'd lose the series. Go Texas!

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:39 AM) It'd be harder to win it all if they expand, but it is pretty tough to make the playoffs if you are not a big money team. The wildcard will go to an AL East team every year so we have to figure a way to beat out Minnie or we stay home. Man do you have a short memory. The AL East's dominance hasn't been there for decades, its a recent phenomenon. Wildcard came from the Central just a few years ago.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 18, 2010 -> 11:20 PM) Pitching 200 innings pretty much every year helps. Which in itself is valuable, wouldn't you say? I think its strange, people are saying he's so overpaid at $14M/year. I think they are looking at his 2010, and where he fit into the Sox rotation (as a more or less 3/4 guy), and think he's not worth it. To me, he's still a bargain at that price, unless you think he's going to head downhill from here. Looking at his career numbers, he's pretty consistently a 3.75-4.00 ERA pitcher who gives you 200+ IP every year, and defends his position well. On most AL team's, looking at his typical numbers, he's a 2/3 guy, and could be better in the NL. That's worth a lot, given his durability.

So, we've talked about the Tea Party candidates that are, in some cases, handing elections to Dems that might otherwise go to the GOP. The Colorado Governor race is an interesting twist. After two different GOP candidates supported by the party turned out to be miserable failures (one of who won the nomination), good old Tom Tancredo is running under the Constitution Party. Tancredo is polling 35%, which is pretty amazing, the GOP guy is around 10%, and the Dem candidates (John Hickenlooper) is polling around 48% and is likely to win. Here's an even funnier thing - if the GOP fails to get 10% of the vote in that election, they will become a "minor party" in Colorado's system, losing access to millions in campaign funds, among other things. In this, case, I'm actually happy the Dem is benefiting, because Hickenlooper did a fantastic job as Denver's mayor, and I'd like to see him take over a higher level job. Article.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 18, 2010 -> 06:48 PM) Only in our pathetic system would this guy be a blip on the radar screen. He's basically a Latino Juan Pierre. This post is just full of ridiculous. His glove is highly regarded across the minors as a whole, which at SS is a prize by itself. He improved with the bat last year, and is still pretty young. He's a real prospect in any system. Latino Juan Pierre, LOL, wut?

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Oct 18, 2010 -> 05:22 PM) No AFL for Phegley. http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/...farm-staff.html I know this sounds simple, but, it could be the dude just needs some rest. He recovered from a major condition and then played again this year, I'm sure that took its toll.

B of A is restarting on the foreclosures already. Apparently they reviewed and feel they are good to go. They say it will result in delays for about 30k foreclosures, but still feel they are valid going forward with their processes.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2010 -> 02:12 PM) Really? How many franchises have we seen significantly boosted by a new ballpark? Temporarily, of course. Long term, perhaps not.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2010 -> 01:42 PM) There's obviously going to be a limit to what the Rays can do and eventually they're either going to have to trade off a guy or two for a haul or fall back, but there's every reason to believe that they have at least a couple more years, at least with the pitching staff. The other side though is...the Rays aren't the only team who has kept losing, and yet they're the only one who has legitimately taken that losing and turned it into a period of winning. The Pirates, Royals, Orioles, etc., have had long periods of losing, but they haven't done nearly as well. And yet, Tampa can't draw. If I were to make a list of the teams most likely to move cities, they'd be at the top. And if they can go somewhere and get some actual crowds, their model may change.