NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) He's a Yankee. Oh duh, nevermind. Not sure then, maybe Lujan?

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) Ah yes, I'm so looking forward to this weekend! 69 is the high today, 76 the high tomorrow, and 74 on Sunday here in Knoxville. 0-10% chance of rain too. Sounds just about perfect. You live in Tennessee, you don't understand what the first 60 degree day does to a Midwesterner.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 10:20 AM) Another interesting set of battles ought to be who ends up closing for these teams this summer. Link in AAA, Teixera in AA. That's my guess.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 08:15 AM) Charlotte John Van Benschoten Jeff Marquez (depending on Colon/Contreras) Richard or Aaron Poreda Lance Broadway John Egbert AA Ely Anthony Carter (maybe) or Carlos Torres Santeliz Cassel Harrell Other names McCulloch Matt Long Zaleski Omogrosso Rasner would like to see Santos Rodriguez and what he's got but that will have to wait Well, first, know that some of those names won't even be in the organization come mid-April. Broadway isn't likely to go to AAA again, for a 4th year, that's like a death sentence. He makes the club or he's shown the door. Richard won't be in AAA nor will Marquez, they are both making the team, one way or the other (though I would prefer Marquez starting in AAA if Colon and Contreras are both healthy, it won't happen). Also, no way they have Cassel repeat AA after he not only spent a full season there, but put up some of the best numbers of any starter in that entire league. If I assume that Broadway is gone, and others are not (which is unlikely, but I can't say who might get traded), it looks like this: AAA: Egbert Poreda Cassel Van Benschoten Torres (possibly goes to pen, in which case, Harrell gets this slot) 'pen will include: Omogrosso, Wassermann, possibly Russell, possibly O'Malley, Link, Lujan AA: Harrell McCulloch (if he is still even in the org, if not, possibly Carter) Ely Long Rasner That's about as far as I can project it right now.

QUOTE (shipps @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 08:27 AM) I f***ing love you to man. I love that shipps can manage to get a grammatical error into a 6 word sentence.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) Does it say something when Stefan Gartrell makes an appearancwe before David Cook? Yes, that was what I was thinking. I really don't get it.

Looking at just internal guys (which isn't the KW world of course, but what the heck), look at the team we could have in 2011 (and some in 2010), in terms of solid young talent... C Flowers 1B Viciedo 2B Beckham (interchangeable) SS Ramirez (interchangeable) 3B Fields LF Shelby CF Danks RF Quentin DH Allen And behind them on the bench or if the above fail or are traded: Lillibridge (CF, SS, 2B) Getz (UT IF) Miranda (SS, 2B) Kuhn (SS, 2B) Retherford (3B) Dubler © Kroeger (OF) Martinez (OF) SP Buehrle SP Danks SP Floyd SP Poreda SP one from: Marquez, Cassel, Eggy, Richard, Harrell, etc. And whomever in the pen. Plus I am probably missing some guys. That is a lot of very good talent. I'm psyched.

I can't believe with all these minor leaguers getting time, we haven't seen David Cook at all. I'm not saying he should be annointed a job, but I do think his performance has earned him a look here or there.

QUOTE (scenario @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 04:03 PM) Absolutely hitterish. Note to Ozzie... give Kroeger some reps in CF... soon... so we can see how he looks out there. Well, I'm not sure if he's played in center much. Has he? BB Cube just shows OF for his minor league time. Played there a couple games with the D-Backs.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 04:00 PM) Man, Kroeger hits the ball hard. He looks hitterish. Like I said.

Beckham shouldn't be on the big club. The guy has like 3 weeks of minor league experience, total. I'm glad he looks great, I can see him being very good, but no way he belongs with the big team yet.

The more I look at his numbers over his minor league career, and see him in ST, the more I have the feeling that Josh Kroeger may be a really good pickup for this club. I can see him going to Charlotte and raking, and if someone gets hurt or falls off, getting a shot with the big club later in the year. But I've only gotten to see him play once, I'd like to see more of him. Anyone else have any thoughts on the guy?

I feel really good about many of the open questions we had going into the spring, so far: 2B, 3B, back end of the rotation. CF is still a big question mark to me, though. I don't like what I've seen so far (not just results, but how they look too) from either Owens or Anderson. I'd love it if they gave Alexei some more time in CF, and allowed Nix or Lillibridge to play some short.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) So that takes Daley out the governor sweepstakes and leaves the field wide open for Madigan. Damn the Daley's are going to run Illinois from the local, state and federal levels. That is f***ing scary. Could be a very Irish representation of Illinois. Irish mayor of Chicago, 2 Irish Senators (Durbin, Daley), Irish Speaker of the House, Irish Governor. IF all those things were to happen, which is by no means guaranteed.

Jeez, Corky is destroying the ball this spring. Not sure if that is good (because he has improved offensively), or bad (because its just a streak and he'll get the job and be back to his normal self). And Russell is really struggling.

IN.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 02:46 PM) The bolded part is also, not coincidentally, what Broadway hasn't been able to do which is exactly why he doesn't look like he's going to amount to anything as an MLB pitcher. Not the speed of his fastball. Exactly. You can throw a fastball that tops at 90, if you have superb control and/or some deceptive pitches that you can consistently throw for strikes. Broadway has none of that, nor the speed.

QUOTE (shipps @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 12:43 PM) I know in these economic times I shouldnt complain about my job cause I should be thankful......but what the f***?! This place is a f***ing circus today and now Iam crying as I am typing. hohum I'm sure you've worked the ER enough to know how this works. AS temperatures increase, IQ's decrease. Warm weather means more 911.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 11:16 AM) The leadoff hitter also bats in front of your best hitters and comes to the plate as much as anyone on your team. It should be a priority that that person is someone who gets on base more frequently, and probably in scoring position whether its hitting for extra bases or stealing, than most. Absolutely. Which is why you want to pile high OBP guys in the front, ideally with some speed. Still doesn't change the fact that if you build your roster in terms of order slot, you are limiting yourself artificially.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) The other key is...if the good banks were forced to take the money, and they start giving it back, that leaves more money available for the zombie banks that truly do need the help. The other part of the loss the government will take is that every one of these that went out had a built in 33% or so loss, according to the TARP oversight panel, since Paulson under-priced the government relief funds. Both true too.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 04:07 AM) That leaves us with one major problem, who is our leadoff??? Anderson definitely can't do it, and Getz is more of a #2 hitter. That's why I think that Jerry might be our starting CF although I'd rather go with BA in center and take our chances having Lexi or Getz/Nix leadoff. A leadoff hitter leads off once a game for sure, then the same % likelihood as everyone else. You don't dictate your roster by spot in the order. You get the best 9 guys you can, then put them in the order that makes the most sense.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) So if they pay back the money, that means that it really didn't cost us as much as they say? It does reduce the cost by that amount, yes, although the governemnt loses the implied forward returns on the loans, and still has some cost on the lending due to opportunity cost during the time the money was out. Those are marginal though, and yes, this money would now be back with the government. I personally think this is a good development.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 10:01 AM) Did he just seriously blame Obama for causing panic after defending his advising on national TV that millions of people should dump all their holdings out of the market in the same paragraph? Oh wait, just consecutive ones. Cramer is a respected financial professional like Jesse Jackson is a statesman.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:35 AM) Where the hell has he been? In case you haven't noticed, Alfonso isn't exactly a gamer. He just seems to kind of float through his play, padding stats and expecting to be worshipped. What does he know about intensity?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) I mentioned when Goldman Sachs said they were going to pay the TARP money back as soon as possible because of the new restrictions being places on it, that it would start a line of banks taking money out of the lending system and paying the money back early. Now it is happening. This is going to make sure that only the banks that are need the money to rescue their capital ratios take it, and the banks that are solvent, aren't going to lend because they are still paranoid about the values of their investments falling below their lending levels and having to be revalued because of Sarbanes Oxley. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...0,5613366.story Not a surprise, and that is fine anyway. I don't agree that these banks won't lend. If lending is part of their business model, they will contonue to do so. I think these paybacks are what you say, they simply don't want the restrictions. I know for a fact that the feds pushed this money on some banks that didn't even want it. Besides, I think having lending be somewhat more restrictive is ultimately a good thing.