southsider2k5

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:32 PM) Honestly, what we've seen over the last 8 years is the gap between urban and rural voters continuing to grow. Cities are reliably blue. Rural areas are reliably red, and the way districts are drawn has a major impact on the color of the House. The Dems need to provide a more effective message to rural voters on healthcare and jobs if they have any hope of getting back the House in the near future. I really believe where they have been getting hit the hardest is the graying generation that grew up in an era where generations of their families before them were able to work in the same job for a generation that provided a middle class income, insurance, and a retirement. Nothing great, but comfortable if you were decently smart about it. So they went through thinking that they would be able to do the same, and then the world completely changed on them. Automation, free trade, and federal restrictions just completely destroyed entire industries that generations build their lives around. It has left dead and decaying towns in its wake. I was born and raised in one myself and have watched its decay and rot with a front row seat. The people that Trump has been able to turn into his camp more than anything were people who lost that comfort, and for some ungodly reason have bought into this idiot's siren song. They have watched as their grandparents and parents jobs have gone to China, and they have wanted someone who was willing to speak their language of anger and disgust over it, and not a realistic voice telling them that this is reality in the 21st century. That is a long way of totally agreeing with you on the idea that jobs really is something that a party could make a killing on in the electoral column.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:30 PM) You love drawing false conclusions don't you? Where did Balta say Dems should keep doing what they're doing? We need to learn from the Tea Party and the Kochs, and focus on grassroots campaigns like schoolboard, town councils, state legislatures, etc, so we can undo the gerrymandering. Balta just literally told me that it wasn't the Democrats fault the lost the election. By all means, keep on the same path then.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:26 PM) How do you know this is Robertson's low point? It is just as easy to say how do you know it isn't. I have his career numbers on my side.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:42 AM) You guys are advocating John Paxson getting a 7th coach? 7? That's absurd. Hoiberg probably can't coach but if you watch this dumpster fire and he's the first thing you blame then we are watching different televisions. Really I want to see Foreman sent packing before Hoiberg. Then let the next GM figure out what to do with this mess.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:18 AM) Here's the basic problem with this logic: you're using Donald Trump as an example of successfully firing up his base, when he: 1. Lost the popular vote badly 2. Would have lost in a blowout, with a bigger vote difference than the 2012 election, had it not been for the intervention of the FBI and crimes committed by a foreign power to aid him 3. Might very well have lost despite the others had it not been for voter suppression laws 4. Might very well have lost despite all the others had the media not gone along with #2. How much of a lesson can you take from a race decided by the FBI director as much as anything else? By all means then, the Dems should keep doing what they are doing because everything is fine. I mean it isn't like they have lost the House, the Senate, and the Presidency in the last eight years.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:23 PM) I am actually proud to have been mentioned by the great Obama35. Correction, the LATE great.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:13 AM) Agreed - but someones gotta fill out the rotation. They want Giolito, Lopez and Fulmer in AAA until at least mid June. Also true. I mean they could have done a bit more dumpster diving and I wouldn't have been sad about it.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:14 PM) This is true but I do have some doubts that ownership allows the front office to operate with that luxury in mind. I think if that were the case here we would have seen more aggressive dumping of salaries for nothing.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 12:05 PM) I agree with raBBit. I'd much rather trade Jones for a haul now and let Robertson rebuild his value than the other way around. In a rebuild it is all about maximizing your assets. Dumping everyone on their low points is a waste of potential assets.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:20 AM) He caves under pressure and doesn't have the right makeup to be a closer. When he unravels he completely unravels and now that he's going to walk everyone in sight that means more innings will start off poorly for him which will lead to him becoming unglued more often. When he's on he's on, but the problem with those guys is consistency. Once his confidence in his stuff is even questioned he goes completely in the tank and he hasn't been elite in 5 years so its not like he's going to get it back. What he did in Kansas City was the last nail in the coffin last season. I've honestly never seen anything like it and it soured me on him permanently. QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:35 AM) If you only look at the AB's where Jose Abreu got a hit he bat a perfect .1000 on the year! Incredible! Robertson is a case where I am 100% comfortable waiting until June to say I told you so. I hope to god its on a different team, even if they want to compete in 2017 (stupid, but whatever) they are better off shipping him out so hopefully that's what happens. I wonder what Rizzo would've added to the Eaton deal if the Sox would've included Robertson and not stuck to the silly "only sell one a piece at a time" mentality that really doesn't make too much sense. At this point you could literally just debate yourself.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:28 AM) Looking at the game log from last season, he had 4 games where he gave up more than one run. I see a command trend to this. Before the first game, he hadn't pitched in 5 days. The second time, a week. The third time, 12 days. The fourth and final bad game came after he had pitched the day before though so that's an outlier I suppose. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...p&year=2016 Edit: if he doesn't pitch that one game against KC when it was a blowout, who knows what happens. Also, 16 of his 24 earned runs on the season came in 4 those outings. I want to say that one of those stretches he was coming off of a sore knee...

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:26 AM) How to Talk Baseball in 2017: 1) Pull up Fangraphs leaderboards 2) Regurgitate Allen definitely isn't an elite closer, but he's also definitely better than Robertson and no WAR figure calibrated to evaluate starting pitchers will convince me otherwise. Fangraphs>Feelings

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:11 AM) I think he could be given away right now thus avoiding his 2018 salary. That's the problem, I dont want to pay him to stink up that team with his losing. The Sox aren't in a position where they need to care about salaries.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 10:46 AM) Robertson's market should be better at the deadline assuming he pitches fairly well in 2017 Contending teams are always looking to add bullpen help for a stretch run. I don't think he brings back a Chapman or Miller type of return, but he could be one of the better relievers on the market. If he stays healthy, I think a bounce back is a pretty solid bet for him. He has a really nice history of being in the second tier of closers.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 10:50 AM) Verlander is a Hall of Famer who may have suffered a little mid-career trough due to injury but just came roaring back with (IMO) the best year of any AL starter last season. If he were a free agent this offseason he would probably be getting a raise, and Detroit (rightly) believes they can win with him. Comparing his situation to the likes of David "7 run blown save" Robertson is silly. And yet no one was willing to give up anything of substance for Verlander either.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 07:33 AM) I followed the election pretty closely and never would have guessed this. "Love Trumps Hate" seemed to be more prominent. Because everything sucks (especially foreigners who commit tons of crime/terrorism and terk all our jerbs through illegal immigration/trade) and we need to MAGA. Hillary's message seemed to be that everything is mostly okay and she'll be more of the same. Bleh, My first guess was "I'm with her"

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 25, 2017 -> 10:00 PM) Why are you guys fighting about Clinton in the Republican thread? Fighting about Clinton is about the least important thing that anyone could discuss. The clear lesson should be there for finding a candidate that isn't just the next in line. No one wants the John McCain or Hillary Clinton. People today want to be inspired. It was propelled Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump into office. They had the ability to fire their bases up. Learning the lesson of why she lost is very important if the Dems want to take back the White House in 4 years. In reality that campaign should have already started.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 25, 2017 -> 08:15 PM) You don't know how much your opinion means to me as resident hard-line GOPer and Reddy fan favorite. Yet how many times have you responded to it?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 10:41 AM) I have a feeling Gonzalez will implode (or at the very least, not pitch anywhere as well as he did last year). If there was a player on this roster I would have moved for a minimal price, it would have been him. He has no upside left to improve into, and a pretty good chance at flopping.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 10:31 AM) Verlander is still owed a ton of money on his contract and the Tigers want top prospects for him while also trying to contend Which goes a long way towards confirming the market that the Sox were trying to trade guys like Frazier, Cabrera, Robertson etc pretty much sucks, and it isn't some ridiculous conspiracy to try to win next year.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 02:34 AM) I'll be there tomorrow. Got tickets for $60. Not too bad, but still a far cry from when I was a kid and they were $8 student tickets. A few years ago you couldn't get standing room for less than $100.

This one is even better. Hoiberg tells Jimmy to call a time out after a hit free throw. Butler tells Hoiberg "f*** no!" There is a clip at the tweet. Stephen Noh ‏@hungarianjordan 57m57 minutes ago Hoiberg told Butler to call timeout and Butler looked at him like he was crazy. Butler freelanced and scored on the next play.

The Tigers were an interesting mention that article. It was a pretty strong rumor that they were looking to move anyone and everyone this off season, even Miguel and Verlander. They moved basically no one.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 08:21 AM) Honestly I've never gotten the impression that there's a bunch of pressure on the prospect pundits to be accurate. I think that would be especially true at ESPN, whose reputation is not at all at stake. Part of it is that I don't think anybody is really going back and checking all that often, not to mention that there aren't necessarily clear criteria for retroactively grading someone's prospect rankings. This is a really good point. Outside of a very few instances, I can't recall prospect hypers being taken to the mat over their ratings and rankings years down the road. I mean the one thing that comes to mind is the whole Chris Sale is a reliever thing, but in general? I can't recall anything substantively ever being done.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 02:27 AM) http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/evaluating-...s-shields-deal/ I will be the first to tell you how much I respect Law's opinion, but to suggest that he doesn't have any sort of agenda is BS. Future Value 40. That is below average.