ScottyDo

Just sign Dunn AND Konerko! I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just sign Dunn first, please!

Good luck, Jenks! I feel like you can be successful with someone else next year, but I'm with the Sox: it's not worth paying to find out. Not the price you're going to command, anyway.

I think what he was trying to say was that the PROCESS of modern slavery (i.e. monitary debt for coercive purposes) is similar to the process of lending money with the expectation of something in return other than capital + interest. I don't think he was suggesting that the results that follow are similar in any way. I'm pretty sure we all know that being a Boras client isn't slavery. Somebody brought up that you don't have to bring up loans less than $500. Well, it wasn't less than $500. Or even close to that threshold.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 09:11 AM) Um, no. You can choose to either look at 88 wins in a vacuum or look a little deeper. I don't give a s*** that we went 8-1 the last week and a half to pad our overall win total. Teams that are out of it or that have already clinched mid-to-late September simply don't give a f*** and are either resting regulars or playing minor leaguers. How many stars got shut down with two weeks to go because of mysterious injuries? The Rays wouldn't even play Longoria when it was clear he was fine the last 2 weeks or so of the regular season. Playoffs begin? He's back!!! Josh Hamilton was out all of September because the Rangers had such a big lead but of course they claimed he was "hurt". Playoffs begin? He's backkk!!!!! Miguel Cabrera gets shut down with over a week to go. Think that happens if a playoff spot is on the line? Pitchers all over the place were being shut down to "save" them for next year. There's just no real value in finishing the year strong when you were already out of it well beforehand. You know what, I've heard all this before. To me it's simple: BEAT THE MOTHERf***ING TWINS! I don't want to hear this nearly bulls*** or we're not far off. They've been bendin' us over every year (save '05 when they weren't ever in it) and rammin' us up the ass with extra shiny lube. We're like 3 and 53734267464 in Minnesota the last 3 years. "Oh, well, they're outdoors now. They're not gonna be that good." Fail. Just like Sox fans can get on the Twins for losing to a 200 million dollar juggernaut every year in the playoffs I will do the same damn thing for us losing to the team that Sox fans mock for losing to the Yankees. See above. So you apply those rules to everybody's win totals, huh? Every team plays 10 fewer games to you (but only if they win them)? You're applying random qualifications to one particular win total, and I'm not even sure what you're trying to say with it. Are you saying the team was worse than their record? That their talent level was a ~80 win team? I just don't see how you could justify such a statement simply because some of the wins came late. If they had lost those games, would they count to you? It's just nonsense to apply those rules to the Sox only. The players we had won those games vs. Boston and LAA. They're not slouches, no matter what time of the season. But I guess Boston Yes. The Twins beat our asses into the ground. It was shameful. I'd like to hear your plan that makes us beat the Twins but doesn't involve us building on the team as currently assembled. . See, what it sounds like to me is that you're mad at them for sucking vs. the Twins and trying to find ways to make it sound like the team was terrible overall. You called them an "abject failure" I believe. Do you really not believe there's a spectrum of success? Should I be evaluating this team as though they're the Houston Astros, since they both failed to make the playoffs? The 2010 White Sox weren't an abomination. They were a decent team that didn't win when it was most necessary. They can be a good team next year if they play their hand correctly. All you can do is make your team good and hope it competes well against its rivals.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 09:17 PM) Bobby Valentine...ugh Agreed, I'd much prefer Jose Valentin. His voice is hilarious.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 07:56 PM) Who cares if they won a bunch of games once they were well out of the race to make their win total look decent? This was a team that underperformed most of the season when it mattered (save the insane 25-5 run). We won 90 games in 2006 with the entire pitching staff falling apart. Have we won 90 games since? The fact we won 88 games means absolutely nothing going forward. I don't understand what you think win totals mean to people. To me, "we won 88 games" means that we had the talent to win 88 games. That's not a stretch. You can take that win total and estimate how far off you are from legitimate contention. You then take that information and logically conclude that you should not blow the team up. That's what 88 wins means going forward. You seriously give no one but the most bitter fans any credit. Just because a good handful of us think we're not far off, you assume we're Pirates fans who would crap our pants over a 2nd place finish? Of course nobody's satisfied with 88 wins and a playoff miss. Some of us just think we should evaluate our aggregate talent based on wins. And in that case, we're nearly talented enough to do something. Randomly taking those wins away towards the end of the season is odd because we also lost a few meaningless games after that last Twins series knocked us out. Unless you're trying to quantify our team's "guts" or something equally ephemeral, those losses are just as meaningless as the wins you're harping on. I get that you're unhappy with the season, but there's no need to undercut our evaluation of the team when it's based on real results.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 12:29 AM) But really, I think the point is, how is this any different than all kinds of other creditors that loan money to people using ridiculous terms to exploit their present unenviable position? This particular kid was allowed to sign with other representation, was he not? So it isn't like Boras is using the debt to force him to use Boras's company as representation. So I fail to really see the comparisons to slavery and prostitution here. Is it slimy, of course. But slavery? That seems a bit dramatic. It's different because he's not accountable to anyone for anything, whereas American lenders usually are (see: Kardashians, heh). Legality has little to do with this discussion, its just gross.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 06:29 PM) Berkman and Lee could probably be signed for around $12 - $14 million combined, which is what the Sox would pay for Konerko or Dunn. Lee and Berkman could have good years, and a gamble like that could pay off well. Or they could both tank...but that would be more surprising. I like the idea of getting the picks for Paulie and possibly targeting a big FA next year (Fielder?). But, I'd also be okay with Paulie returning for 2/$24 million. If we don't get a Dunn deal done (heh), I doubt it's with an eye towards next year. The big-name 1B's will command $100M+ contracts, and when has that ever been an option for us? I like the idea, too, but it's seriously not going to happen. I don't believe I've ever made a guarantee on this site (except I guaranteed Bonderman would suck a couple of years back and he randomly didn't) but I guarantee the Sox will not sign Fielder or Adrian Gonzalez to a mega-contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 03:41 PM) Wow. I guess the Dodgers money problems are over... Yah, apparently they replaced them with a drinking problem. Good for Uribe, though!

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:19 PM) You don't want to know what actually happens in some of the Dominican camps if you are that offended at what Boras did. In fact, this isn't really a story at all. Boras loaned Salcedo $70,000, and then the kid ended up getting a $1.6 million signing bonus from the Braves. Agents do things like what Boras did all the time. They just have to file such items with the Union. Boras did so. QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:23 PM) As opposed to teams taking advantage of a foreign players ignorance to United States laws on contracts? And was does "hooked into your services" even mean? I mean seriously, if Boras is basically lending these kids pennies compared to what just their signing bonuses are. They can pay it back easily even after taxes/agent fees and whatever else. It doesn't mean a player is locked in for 10 years with that agent. Agents do this all the time, it's called recruiting new clients. A player wants the best agent he can get, and hell I don't blame anyone for using Boras. I would do the exact same thing. Yup, a bunch of crap that happens in Latin American recruitment is bad. The teams exploiting Latin American players is bad. Why does that make this Boras stuff less bad?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:21 AM) Heyman That's about exactly what I was hoping for, and why they didn't offer him arbitration. I can't believe people were so outraged about that.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 11:49 PM) There's a shocker. http://scottmerkin.mlblogs.com/archives/20...e_offer_to.html I actually thought the most interesting part was the confirmation that AJ and the Sox mutually agreed to forgo arbitration.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 12:34 PM) I'm not as angry about this as Tex seems to be, but I really don't see a big problem with this. It might have its disadvantages, but I'm thinking overall that it is probably a good thing for the players. In regards to that specific story about Salcedo, it says he was tendered a $1.6 million contract. If you owe somebody money and you come into $1.6 million, people are going to come back expecting to be repaid and Salcedo would be a huge jagoff to not honor his debt. I doubt Boras is hounding the guy who borrowed $5,000 and never received a contract from anyone. Signing a $1.6M contract does not necessarily mean you have $1.6M in the bank a few days later. I think it's pretty clear that Boras is exercising leverage in an unfair and unregulated fashion. It's bad news.

P.S. This has quickly become the best/worst thread ever. Joaquin will be remembered fondly for years to come.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 28, 2010 -> 11:36 PM) You can get a sandwich pick, just don't pick your sandwich. I dunno, I have a pretty toolsy sandwich, and it plays a stellar center field. It's a grinder, too, which I believe makes it...grindy.

Is he Type A or Type B? Do we get a sandwich pick? Man, I could go for a good sandwich pick right now...

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 28, 2010 -> 10:06 PM) If M Night M. Night Shyamalan made a film about Waldis Joaquin’s tenure as a White Sox it would be called Untouchable and it would be an awful, awful film. Greenlight it

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 24, 2010 -> 12:45 PM) A small part of my soul, assuming I have one, dies whenever I hear the phrase " maybe coop can fix 'em?" This guy is a scrub and won't have any impact whatsoever for the Sox. Prescient

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Nov 28, 2010 -> 06:24 PM) What color is it? Black alternate with a 2011 World Series patch. I may have been a tad overzealous.

Anybody want to buy a Joaquin jersey for cheap? I made a horrible mistake...

It's official. Meh!

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Nov 28, 2010 -> 03:54 PM) Coop has nothing to fix. I miss him already

I don't think it's hard to see how having poor prospects and their families owe Scott Boras money is a bad thing. You clearly can't assume Boras is above exploitation. Also, kiva.com is amazing. Microlending FTW. Completely different, though.

QUOTE (Big Daddy Kool @ Nov 27, 2010 -> 10:15 PM) Phil is STILL on drugs: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sc-sp...,2987036.column Seriously, though, the guy has a Whitney-like crack problem this offseason. /libel

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 26, 2010 -> 03:24 PM) Everyone knows CQ shoots his State Farm commercials during the offseason. Hahaha I wasn't the only one to think that, huh?