NorthSideSox72

So the wife and I get the rare chance this weekend to go out on the town without the kid. Trying to decide where to have dinner. Looking for something north side-ish, or maybe near west side, in the city. Something nice, but not I-have-to-wear-a-tie nice. Really good food, nice selection of wines and beers. And no loud music or bands - I want a place we can actually talk. Suggestions?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 09:00 PM) Garland, Olivo, Cameron, Gload. We can have a few bands Gload signed a new 2 year deal already, to stay with FLA. Sadly, he won't be returning to the South Side.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 10:20 PM) Viciedo's obvious conditioning issues are not gonna allow him to handle 3B long term. If the dude can't stay in shape when he's 20 years old, he's never going to. Morel has excelled at every level and obviously has no trouble with the game's best AA prospects. Obvious conditioning issues? He actually improved since he's been here in this regard, according to reports I've read. You got the reaction you did to your post because you declared future events as if they were fact. They of course are not, and they may not even be likely (especially Morel). AFL is a short season, very short. Let's see how he does against a couple months of AA pitching before declaring him anything more than a very nice prospect (which he is, and that's certainly a good thing).

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 03:10 PM) The gov't doesn't even do that, at least in my experience. The military does Operation Golden Flow. Not entirely true. They start with that, and do a hair folicle test later, for certain agencies. Or at least they used to. Also folks, keep something in mind - cutting your hair will have zero effect on results of a hair test, unless you shave it all clean off (which might be a tad bit suspicious). And as soon as it grows in a bit, they can test again.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 03:02 PM) Two things appear to be the "main" complaints: (1) how's the wind noise? I didn't really notice it on the streets. On the highway I did, but no more than any other car I've had/been in. (2) how's the passenger fold down seat situation? It looked a bit clunky having to fold up the bottom of the seat, take off the head rests and fold down the back of the seat. The KIA sportage it was a one lever, 2 second motion. I don't think this is a major negative, since I don't see a big difference in a 10 second process versus a 2, but wondered if that became tiresome after a while. And how is it in the snow.? I'll be getting the 4wd version. I'm not crazy about the automatic 4wd (just another automatic function that will eventually breakdown), but I've heard it handles really well in snow/off road conditions. I'm not planning to do jeep trails with it, but it would be nice to get off road a little. Wind noise seems no better or worse than most cars. I mean, its not a Lexus, but its plenty quiet. Much quieter than my Saturn had been. The fold-down is indeed a bit of a pain, you are correct (forgot about that). It works fine, but its a little time-consuming. Its done that way to make more room for storage in the back when the seats are still up, so that's the payoff. I don't mind the extra 10 seconds, because its very rare we do that anyway. If you plan to do that a lot for some reason, maybe its an issue.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 06:08 PM) Morel will be in Charlotte by mid-season. Viciedo is a future 1B/DH. Can I borrow your crystal ball?

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 03:24 PM) I don't think that's true about Dotel. He's on 4 out of 5 times and in those 4, he's really on. It's just that the 5th time is usually explosive. Most relievers are never as good as he is in those 4. You really have to look at relievers around the game. Relief pitchers stink, for the most part. I think that's pretty much what I was saying. He's more polar than most - really good, or really bad, no in between. I agree he's better than a lot of those out there, taking it all into account. I just think that, also, you can tell right away with him if he has it or not.

Just curious... we have some minor league free agents in the system, i.e. Ehren Wassermann, the infamous David Cook, Restovich, etc. For minor league FA's, is there a deadline for when they need to be signed by current team? Any good source of info on where they go? Also, guys like Wassermann who have played in the majors (like Williams last year), are you considering them on the list?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) *awaits response from NorthsideSox72* Heh. I have the 2008 Escape Hybrid. I even posted a whole spiel about my math in deciding whether or not to go for the Hybrid, back then, somewhere in the Buster. I do like the FEH a lot. I'm surprised how much I like it. Its given me basically no issues - the only thing is, on occasion, something happens behind the dashboard that sounds like its percolating coffee. Weird. Otherwise, its been great. Anyway, for me, the hybrid equation worked out nicely. By the time I got my tax credit in March of 2009, the difference had already paid for itself - 15 months pay back period. But that was also covering 2008, when gas prices got truly insane. The math would be different for you, as I'd say its more likely you will average like $3 a gallon for gas over time (instead of $3.50 or $4), and also importantly, I am not sure if the FEH has reached the production threshold where the credits are gone. Leaving aside the hybrid/non-hybrid part, the Escape is the same car, and I've liked it a lot. Can't speak about the V6 though. My car before that was a Saturn VUE V6 AWD, which had the Honda-made Red Line engine in it (265 HP), and was very fast for an SUV. So the FEH was notably slower, but honestly, I just don't care about that, and its never caused me a problem. I'm not drag racing - my wife uses it to commute with the baby. If you have other specific questions on the Escape, let me know. ETA: Forgot to add, mine is the AWD version of the Hybrid, which i thought was a good idea for Chicago (and my camping trips). Just note that the AWD version subtracts a few MPG clicks on either hybrid or non-hybrid.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:01 PM) He's been a pretty good player for us, very flexible and although prone to the big HR, he's been overall very good. Dotel is an off or on pitcher, even more so than most. 99% of the time, you can tell from batter #1 if he has it or not. I think Dotel was a fairly effective pitcher in his time here, but I think he could have been even more than that if Ozzie had handled him a little better in that regard.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) *the UN Yes, the UN did right there too.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:01 PM) The presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia was a mistake. Granted, there wasn't really any way to know that then as clearly as we do now and we're obviously not in the business of making bin Laden happy, but that was a pretty big deal in the Muslim world and did play right into the narrative that they were still developing. That part probably could have been handled better, I agree. After the first Gulf War was over, they could have supported the operation from Turkey and carriers in the Gulf, or Kuwait, and that would have been better.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:55 PM) I totally forgot about this. There's your smoking gun. Kalapse, I am going to specifically ask you about what I posted earlier. What are your thoughts on Murphy?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:20 PM) Then we were lied to. All you have to do is go back on previous owner and GM comments about putting money out there on salary spending. Obviously finances are a concern for all teams unless there is collusion amongst team ownership as has been put out there by agents. I am hoping we are working on a new master plan to win No one lied to you. Show me a lie.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:08 PM) Pulling back to avoid the perception that we were killing indiscriminately, offering generous concessions, and establishing a permanent military presence in the Middle East to patrol Iraq's airspace and enforce sanctions? That seemed like a good idea at the time but ended up backfiring (see 9-11 to present). It would've been one thing if we supported the uprising after we rhetorically encouraged it but we didn't do that for some reason. I know a lot of my criticism of U.S. foreign policy has the benefit of hindsight but the common denominator in all of them is that excessive force doesn't work long-term, and we aren't consistent with any kinds of principles of who we support and why. I completely agree on excessive force, which is why I think we did it right that time. The sanctions had major collateral damage, but the overall effort to stifle Saddam actually served its purpose quite well, at a much lower cost of life and money than if we had tried to march into Baghdad. The more recent Iraq war should illustrate that nicely. Furthermore, I don't think 9/11 is traceable to either Iraq war in any material fashion.

Thanks to a change to IL state law and a 12-5 vote, the Cook County Board has finally overridden Stroger's veto of a half-cent reduction on the sales tax (this represents half his original increase). Article. Good.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:49 PM) Trying to keep an open mind, but at the same time I hope we are not making a mistake here. I thought winning was the name of the game. Maybe we have something up our sleeves for the Winter Meetings in the way of trades, but I am not to optimistic Winning is the name of the game, but the Sox are a business, and like any business have fiscal constraints. You try to win, within your available reality.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:43 PM) The majority of it, yeah, but if you look at the big picture and see how we were playing some realpolitik hardball with Saddam (only a couple of years ago he was an ally and we were all wink-wink about his intentions to invade Kuwait) and the more I think about it the more I realize how bad of a strategic mistake the whole thing was. We should've either done it, and gone all the way to Baghdad and gotten it overwith, or just left it alone. Agreed on your first part, if you go far enough back, Saddam's very presence and strength is partly the fault of the west. Kind of like the Israel/Palestine problem is ultimately caused by the creation of the Israeli state in the first place. But I completely disagree on the first Gulf War aspect. I think Bush I handled that exactly the way it needed to be handled.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:20 PM) Well, the UNSC did say they'd lift the sanctions if Iraq disarmed. Iraq didn't disarm so the sanction weren't lifted. Kinda gotta split the blame on that one between the UN and Saddam. There is no split. The blame is squarely with Saddam and his buddies.

One guy I think is being severly underrated here, and elsewhere, is Dale Murphy. 7 time all star, 2 time MVP, 5 time GG winner, went 30-30 once, hit 398 HR playing before the steroid era really got going, 100+ RBI five times while playing for a lackluster offensive Atlanta team (most years), durable player who missed very little time (once played 740 consecutive games), and he didn't stretch his career on forever as a DH to achieve those numbers (never even played in the AL). His numbers look better to me than Dawson's, and certainly Baines', especially when you look by period - career OPS+ is 122 (better than the other two). He was considered one of the best power hitters, and one of the best outfielders, in the game, for some time. I think you could even make a case for him over Jim Rice. ETA: B-R calls him arguably the best player of the 80's, and Murphy was known as a solid character guy as well.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) White Sox will not offer salary arbitration to free agents, Dye, Dotel, Podsednik and Castro. per Reifert. I thought Pods and Castro had already filed for FA, so that would be moot? No surprise on Dye and Dotel.

One of the biggest questions wasn't on the list - who will be the DH? Also, I doubt that Hudson is the long reliever with Carrasco in the middle. I think you flip those two roles. Great article though, nice recap.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 10:12 AM) Link? This is not exactly news. Has something new developed? In the Diamond Club there is a thread - Halladay says he'd reject any trade deal that was done after first day of Spring Training. He is forcing TOR's hand.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 10:14 AM) You should really check out Sox prospect Brent Morel. He just lead the AFL in hitting and is a plus defender at 3B. I'm already very aware of Mr. Morel. He played at W-S last season, and would likely be in Birmingham in 2010. Viciedo played 3B in B-Ham last year, and despite rumors of maybe moving him to 1B or elsewhere, the Sox seem to like the idea of sticking with him at 3B. He'd probably be in Charlotte in 2010 if he's a 3B still, and that means a Crede deal could potentially block him - that is why Viciedo is the conversation piece here, as opposed to Morel, who will not likely be double-jumping to AAA.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 09:53 AM) That's all well and good, and I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but you do risk losing him that way. Would Dotels value be replaced by whoever replaces him in the bullpen? I'm not talking about financial value, I'm referring to performance. If the Sox had another $20M of headroom, then sure, offer him arb. He would probably (but not necessarily) be better than what else we could find. But you cannot take the financial aspect out of the picture, because these are not the Yankees. The Sox have limited money left for OF, DH, and assorted other lesser needs. So the real question is, if you sign Dotel for $6M versus someone else for $1M, is that difference in results going to outweigh having to settle for scraps for OF and DH?