NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) WASHINGTON (AP) — Sources say the Obama administration will send $5 billion in aid to troubled auto suppliers. And it continues..... Rewarding failure. I don't like this one at all. Ford has managed to pick themselves up by the bootstraps, and not only survive, but also catapult to the top of many quality lists. And they are well ahead of GM or Chrysler in hybrids. And they are not taking any grants, aren't even taking the loans offered, though they did say they may want the line of credit just in case. Meanwhile, GM and Chrysler have failed to adjust, again, and are getting assistance that the SUCCESSFUL company isn't getting. This is crap. GM should be allowed to go bankrupt, then you offer special credit lines and loan conditions to them IF they remove the entire management team and tear up all existing labor contracts and start new. Chrysler can be offered same, but, they probably should be allowed to die. Then, you need to do something to reward Ford for actually being more responsible. Maybe some grant money towards alt fuel research for cars or something. That's the NSS version of an auto stimulus package.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) Guys scheduled to pitch today. (Unlikely all of them get in... but these are the guys on the schedule.) Danks Egbert Poreda Russell Wasserman Williams Interesting. Those 5 relievers are all guys competing for jobs. I am thinking we'll see more cuts in that group soon.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 02:11 PM) Dodd inserted a stronger version of the provision in the actual Senate bill and it passed solidly. It was not in the House bill. The conference committee was the one who came up with the final, weakened compromise, with input from the White House and the Senate, presumably including Dodd because he's the writer of the original provision. Yeah, this one falls mostly on Treas, specifically SecTreas, and by proxy some of the blame goes to Obama.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 11:28 AM) i DO blame him for some of it. He knew (or should have known) that the bonuses were there and tried to do somehting about it. I want a contract like that that pays me bonuses even while I run the company in the ground. I think your ire is aimed in the wrong direction. He had near zero control, and by the way, according to news I saw today, he has in fact convinced some of them to return the money.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) This should go over well. There is a difference between hundreds of millions for bonuses paid to people who caused the problem, and $10M on offices that are part of normal operating business. This one doesn't upset me that much.

So who will be your target of ire in today's game, K? Wait, let me guess... does his name start with a "J", and end in "erry"?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:50 AM) Am I the only one who remembers which part of the country was ridiculously excited when Geithner's nomination was announced? Wall Street got a guy they could live with, and he's done nothing so far other than protect Wall Street. Well, it would be awfully hard to find a guy qualified for that post that isn't associated with "wall street". But you could do a lot better than Geithner. Actually, I am surprised they didn't get someone from the Chicago financial scene. First, obviously, Obama's connections to Chicago. Second, getting away from New York would seem to be a good PR move. But the biggest reason takes some explanation. In the past year, a lot of hedge funds and trading firms have failed or gotten in deep holes. There is a lot of talk about risk management. In the trading world, there are two schools of thought - New York and Chicago. New York is higher risk and higher reward, Chicago is more conservative. And guess what? Hedge Funds, trading firms, and other investment groups have been failing at a much higher rate in the NY crowd than the Chicago crowd. Heck, ask people in the NY crowd, often they seek out Chicago people for areas like compliance and risk management, because the Chicago crowd is known for that. Look at some examples. While AIG is foundering, Allstate (Chicago area based) is doing reasonably well. While many investment giants like GS, ML, etc. are failing (NY based), one of the ones faring best (though not great still) is Northern Trust (Chicago based). So... who in the Chicago crowd is a good candidate for the job?

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:30 AM) I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox explore that possibility, and Getz does seem to have more atheltic ability than Mackowiak. Hmmmm. Mackowiak's issues in CF had little to do with athletic ability. He simply didn't get good reads, didn't position himself well, and didn't know the position. Being a good athlete doesn't make you a good CF, it goes well beyond that. That said, Getz did play 15 games in the outfield for Charlotte last year, all in LF. But that is the sum total of his OF experience in the minors. So even if he has the right raw skills, it would take him a while to adjust to CF, if he ever did.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) Hey man, I was only responding to Kalaspe's post where he brought Jose Lopez and Swisher up. He brought up Jose Lopez out of the blue, and I was simply stating that I'd take Lopez for 2nd base over Anderson in CF any time of the day. I can go further and say that if someone is faced with the choice of having Anderson or Lopez on their team, without consideration fort he positions they play, then they should always go with Lopez. I can't figure out how this comparison makes any sense.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:06 AM) Sorry for not being clearer I did not infer that Getz would move to center instead that he would hit lead-off instead of the buffons that they are trying to force in there. That's weird, I had thought you suggested it, but maybe I responded to the wrong post. I fully agree with you that Getz is a better leadoff option than any of the CF candidates.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 04:11 PM) Oh, GOODIE. Somehow, I just don't believe the AIG folks on this one just yet. Not sure why. I believe I said this weeks or months ago. The huge fall off in both capital AND reputation for AIG will absolutely havea big effect on the insurance business line. And if that, their most consistend revenue flow, collapses... they are headed for an epic fail. Like, bankruptcy will be too slow and not enough to stop a complete disaster type fail.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 09:54 AM) So who authorized the checks to be cut? He didn't 'know' about these and try to find a way to stop them, KNOWING the PR s***storm that would rain down? The contracts were written AND vested by the time he got there. I am all in favor of trying to get the money back, because its a B.S. bonus with taxpayer dollars. But I don't blame Liddy for it.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 09:13 AM) I think the team is trying to keep the pressure off of Getz by feeding the media and everyone all kinds of s*** about the pressure he will be under. This spring is only adding ot his confidence and helping him out. On April 6th he will be the first White Sox to step to the plate and Brian Anderson will be in center. The radio talk about Wise and Getz made those guys sound like buffons. Owens and Wise have zero upside. This is not like Swisher last year where he had some sort of success that did not translate. Getz at worst will be Owens and Wise. Getz played 15 games in LF in 2008 with Charlotte, but that is the sum total of his minor league OF experience. He maybe could become a CF, but, even under the best circumstances, it would take some time to get acclimated.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) The f*** is wrong with these idiots? Liddy is not the one we should be pissed at. He was chosen to clean up this mess. He's basically volunteered to do it. Do these assholes even read the news? http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20090319...rg/a5n3qjeqkhbs Dumbasses. Liddy actually managed to keep Allstate conservative and clean, in their investments and finance divisions. He's been at AIG for a whole month, and they expect him to fix everything? Do these people have any business sense at all?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 08:27 AM) OH NOES! We better get that health care fast-tracked before that popularity goes away. Jimmy Carter, table of (now) two, your table is right this way. However, Rasmussen polls have a lot to be desired... I'll point that out right away. Carter? One thing I think is interesting about Obama so far, that stands out as very different from not only Bush, but also Carter... is that he is doing a LOT of things. Now, I don't like all those things, but, no one can rightly say the guy is just lounging around, or not getting much done. That is sort of the opposite of Carter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 05:07 PM) John Manuel of BA there. Send that to every other team in baseball, and see if someone will trade for him. Just about anything will do. We already have a whole bunch of 5th starter type guys on the fringe of making it (Richard, Broadway, Egbert, Marquez, Cassel), more than the team can use. So let's see if we can get some value out of some of them that we won't use. If Broadway goes back to Charlotte for a 3rd full season, his value will decline rapidly (unless he goes down there and absolutely destroys AAA hitters). He should be moved now, IF that is possible.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) A couple more ticks upwards for Anderson and we're right back in to Anderson/Erstad territory. Damn you for saying that. Damn you. Maybe instead of calling him Dweezy, we should call him Werstad.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 07:53 AM) You know, most people with common sense understand this. However, I'm not sure that the idiots running the White House do. Therein lies the problem. Timothy "Boob" Geitner, for someone who was a GENIUS and HAD to have the job, is more incompetent then Paulson was, and that's saying a lot. I've said Geithner was a mistake since before he was confirmed. Nothing I've seen has made me change my mind on that.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 05:01 PM) AIG insured itself against its own risk. Someone please explain why we need to retain these financial geniuses again? QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 05:11 PM) You all are right. Every major investment firm is now dead as they once were. We just need to bury them, and have the government take it all over, since the "buck stops with Obama" now. Turn down the dial, man. Must every single thing you disagree with be turned into an absurd exaggeration? No one is saying anything of the sort. I work in the financial industry, and generally tend to agree with people say that Congress and the government shouldn't get overly involved in it. However, in the case of AIG, they are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay f***ed up, and yes, they may need to be taken over, split apart and recreated as some new companies, by the government (or with the help of the government). That's how bad things seem there. But no one is suggesting we do this across the board, and I don't even like that we did it as much as we did with TARP.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:52 PM) I've decided to pick on Donny Lucy for the day because this is a boring ass game, I need something to do and I've never ripped on Lucy before. I'm sure he's doing a fine job behind the plate, Gavin's been getting behind in the count and leaving pitches up, it's his own damn fault. Ah. Proceed sir.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:46 PM) Another awful pitch called by Donny Lucy and the dreadful Gary Matthews takes him deep. Does the broadcast have a speed gun? Otherwise, how can you get a good idea of what he is throwing, versus what was called?

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:41 PM) Getz has a good mind for the game. What did he do?

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:34 PM) The White Sox need a back-up catcher that can throw runners out. The only guy that has thrown anyone out is Miller. The others are like a combined 0 for 8. Teams are really going to take advantage of this. Looking at their numbers in the minors, both Lucy and Armstrong do very well at throwing runners out. I'm not sure the sample size in spring is enough to take anything from it, for either. I don't know Stewart's numbers.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:24 PM) Sick play by Chone to rob Lucy. Damn. Lucy needs all the hits he can get to make this team.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 03:15 PM) Fastest big man on the club. I've said before... on the basepaths, Thome is faster than the rest of the slow-middle guys in the lineup.