southsider2k5

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) Read again. They are raising ticket prices, which means raising payroll, which means trying to contend, which is exactly what the Royals are trying to do which makes Martinez a "perfect fit" for them. The White Sox could use a little more offense, a little more contact, and left handed presence. Just what he provides. I haven't seen anything about ticket prices going up. How much are we talking? What seats are we talking about? The only person I have seen say anything so far was a season ticket holder who said his entire package went up $1 for the entire season.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) Yeah, WING NUT. As in, her views are borderline socialist. I am 100% sure you don't put that in the same category as someone who thinks the weather changes because of teh geyzzzzzz. I mean really, just stop. You want to try to paint the picture that both of them are politically extreme but from opposite ends. No one is even contesting that. What is clear as day in this case is that in addition to being politically extreme, Aransas has no grasp on reality OUTSIDE the political world. Not as in "borderline socialist". She is an actual admitted Socialist. She advocated for completely unrealistic and failed realities. To you it isn't a big deal. To me, she has no grasp on reality or history. She might as well be viewing the world as flat and the sun revolving around it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:31 AM) Seriously, stop it. You know the difference, you're just trying for the scorched earth equivalency here. Its beneath you. Remember me? I'm not some party-line voter. I'm not defending Schakowsky in the slightest, hell I just said I wanted to see a better opponent. So please drop the act. Not really, no. Honestly I spent most of the night trying to figure if she was actually being serious. She is a true wing nut.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:27 AM) Is any player in the world a $100M upgrade? It doesn't even make sense to look at it like that. But again, I never said we should run out and throw a bunch of $ at Sandoval. I'm just stating that Conor Gillaspie shouldn't be an everyday player and not signing any player because you would have to move Gillaspie is just silly. When a team has as limited of resources as the White Sox have, you look at every dollar like that. You have to optimize your spending, and not just spend blindly. Otherwise you end up like the Tigers with a $150 million team with huge holes in it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:20 AM) You really don't see a difference between "my political views are extreme" nuts and "I actually think the weather changes because of someone's social behavior" nuts? Come on. One is nuts in the political sense, the other is someone who is actually, societally, not dealing with reality. Some of her views I consider to not be dealing with reality.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:07 AM) She is an actual SOCIALIST!!!! If course because no one uses Socialist in an inaccurate manner in politics today.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:11 AM) LMAO. How do you get into contention if you are afraid of paying good players? If Victor Martinez is a good fit for the Royals, he is a good fit for the White Sox. Newsflash....Hahn is trying to win, not see if 1 in 100 waiver claims works out. I am also pretty sure he is actively trying to not give out any stupid contracts.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) That final spot is actually replacing James Shields and his 227 IP of low 3 ERA baseball. You can't expect a youngster to pitch that many innings, let alone with such a low ERA. That automatically leads to more innings out of the bullpen, which was their strong suit. And if you pick one of those 6/7 options, there's no guarantee he succeeds. Then how many starts do you give him? Who goes next? I'm not putting the White Sox above them, but they do have some questions marks heading into the season. It really is that simple too. I don't get how this is even up for debate.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) The Red Sox (if they spend a mint on free agents), Orioles (if they keep Cruz and Markakis and continue to improve the rotation), Angels and possibly the Tigers (depending on what happens with Victor and Scherzer) all will be favored over the Royals at the start of 2015. A lot depends on Richards' time frame for the Angels...but it wouldn't be a shock to see Las Vegas betting line setters favor the Angels over the Royals even if Richards isn't projected back until mid-season. After 29 years of drought, nobody in KC actually has the brazenness to expect the World Series again in 2015. I can't wait to see the meltdown in KC if they try to pretend they didn't go the World Series last year.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) Agreed. In fact in Illinois, generally the GOP runs more moderate candidates, i.e. Dold. She's pretty darn far left, but she isn't living on another planet. I can't vote for someone like Aransas, who simply has no grasp on reality. But I generally plan to vote more red than blue for state level offices because right now that is more what IL needs. I just wish the state GOP would find more reasonable candidates in some races. She is an actual Socialist. She said exactly that. I know because I saw her speak at an actual Socialist convention put on labor union leadership years back. Having heard her speak, she has no grasp on reality either. She is a true life wing nut.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:48 AM) He did have a point where he notes that people are counting on Rodon to do the same thing for us in order for the Sox to be competitive next year. The difference being is that no one is talking about the White Sox as a World Series team next year, while the Royals are looking to get back there next year. Take away your ace, and that becomes incredibly harder.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:46 AM) I think that Schakowsky is very popular and well-liked that she would be tough to beat, and the GOP would rather spend their time and $$$ elsewhere. Speaking of wing nuts...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:23 AM) Is it really THAT difficult to replace Billy Butler's DH production and Aoki in RF when Dyson might already be better? That's not a lot of question marks. Imagine they add Victor Martinez and, let's say, Rasmus. That suddenly becomes a team where Omar Infante is the only "breather" in the line-up for an opposing pitcher, if you want to call him that. Moustakas struggled in the regular season, but they're not going to replace him after hitting five homers and playing so well in the post-season, any more than the White Sox are going to replace Conor before 2015. That rotation doesn't have questions in it? lol.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:11 AM) WHY? They have Ventura/Duffy as co #1's going into the season, then Guthrie and Vargas for the back end. It would be like assuming the White Sox would need a pitcher when they only have one rotation hole, when in reality there are probably two more(depending on your feelings regarding Danks and Noesi) and that's IF Rodon makes it in 2015. Ventura Duffy Finnegan (the Royals see him exactly as the White Sox view Rodon) Vargas Guthrie Kyle Zimmer (depending on health, was pulled from AFL) Sean Manaea Liam Hendricks Lamb Binford If they're going to make ANY move in their rotation, it's for a one year veteran "placeholder" to have as additional insurance for Finnegan, but I'm not even convinced 100% they will go that route. They might even look at Aaron Crow as a possibility, although it's a longshot.... The Royals have DH and RF (do they add another big name or platoon Dyson with someone?), and the only other starting position that's open for debate about changing is 2B with Omar Infante, but they don't HAVE to get rid of him, either. So you're telling me if the White Sox had THREE high draft picks all close to ready for the majors....and there was only ONE available spot in the rotation, and then you had three or four other realistic possibilities in Hendricks, Lamb, Binford and Aaron Crow, that you'd STILL pull the trigger on expensive/overpaid veteran starting pitchers in the Peavy/Volquez/Hammel/Vogelsong, etc., tier???? Even with the injury to Zimmer, I think a big-time pitching move is highly unlikely. World Series teams don't go into seasons with that many question marks on their team.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 08:46 PM) If anyone learns anything from history he'll accept. He needs to be Batman meme slapped if he doesn't.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:01 AM) Especially when you think about when they actually signed the extension. Exactly. Neither was actually necesary.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 08:40 AM) You're kidding yourself if you think Sandoval's bat is only a slight upgrade over Conor. Is he a $100 million upgrade?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 08:04 AM) For those speculating about what it will take to sign V. Martinez, it might be interesting to note what some of the other great hitters are going to be getting paid in their late 30's, and beyond: Age 36 -39 Albert Pujols 25M, 26M, 27M, 28M, Plus 29M at 40, 30M at 41 Robinson Cano 24M each year, plus 24M at 40 Miguel Cabrera 30M, 30M, 30M, 32M, plus 32M at 40 with vesting options for 32M for two more years if top 10 MVP Given that Victor is the only really great left handed hitter in this year's free agent market, I would guess that it will take at least $20 million, per year for the first 3 years, with something close to that for the 4TH. I know that he is pretty much strictly a DH, but he is a switch hitter, and last year helps him make the case that he is aging well. Please don't assume that any of this suggests that I'm advocating signing him to that kind of contract. I'm simply speculating about what it might take. That Cabrera contract is going to go down with the 2nd Arod deal as one of the worst in baseball history.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 07:36 PM) How early are the earliest free agent signings? (Generally) They will start right away. The bigger ones seems to gravitate around the winter meetings.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 07:39 PM) I would love for the Sox to go all out on the July 2nd market, those 9 kids that the Yankees signed are going to be the next wave of great Yankees prospects (If they pan out), the Yankees went to having one of the weakest systems in baseball to having one of the strong in one day. I would for the Sox do that, but it won't happen. What are the odds of 9 sixteen year olds all panning out? The odds of 9 22 year olds are pretty bad.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 05:59 PM) I stumbled across an article yesterday that speculated Seattle does have room in the payroll for VMart. I have no idea if that's true or not but it could make sense. I'm guessing VMart lands in KC. They are going to have pressure to go after a starting pitcher, whether it be Shields or someone else.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 06:30 PM) question int"l signing is being referred to int'l draft right? There currently is no international draft.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 04:56 PM) Royals ARE an interesting fit, actually. Seattle is my favorite, non-Detroit, landing place. With the money they have spent in the last couple of years, it makes sense.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 05:24 PM) He looked like he might profile as an Adam Eaton type, when I first started looking into his career. You know, high pitch count, good OBP, good speed and defense. Then I read this: http://monkeywithahalo.com/2013-articles/j...hink-he-is.html That wasn't very reassuring, at all. That was slightly bitter.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) I'm willing to drive and pick him up from the airport. Why? The guy has been awful or hurt since 2011.