southsider2k5

Eh, there is nothing about us that should be dominating the headlines. I think we fall into the fringe of the second tier of teams. We aren't in the Boston/Yankees/Phillies group for sure. I would tend to put us at the end of the next batch of teams that if they have things go right for them, they have a chance at making it. There are still questions to be answered for sure.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 08:11 AM) Poll added!!! Doesn't bother me at all. I was thinking it could be another thread later, but it is all good.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 09:22 PM) Cards reportedly offer Albert 8 years, $240 million via Heyman. They were reporting 8/200 this morning on the score. If the $240 is true, I go back to my greedy bastard feelings and am pretty content about it.

Since when does Cash Cab have a Chicago edition, and has anyone done it?

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 04:21 PM) Atlanta gave Buff a 5 year extension worth $26 mil http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=6125392 It will be interesting to see if he plays the whole five years at a good level, or if he gets lazy.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 02:09 PM) Actually, he looks like he been eating too many of those philly cheese steak subs. We'll just give him #45...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 01:50 PM) There's a lot of things worth replying to here. 1. Won't the Cardinals be crippled for 5-ish years if they don't sign Albert? 2. If he were to leave...I have difficulty thinking that the response would be a Lebron-like response, barring a TV special of some sort. Leaving for more money is one thing; people would be just as angry at management for not offering him the deal that he got elsewhere as they would be at him for taking it. 3. (A question I can't answer)...how much does team revenue drop if that team falls back to the back of the division for 3-4 years while they rebuild, loses LaRussa, and has to deal with Holliday's contract being their big mistake? They don't have the pieces to do a rapid reload if they lose Albert unless they sell Wainright, Carpenter, and Rasmus. And if they resign Pujols, they can probably kiss all of the free agents they have good-bye because they will be paying an additional $15 million a year or so for the same thing they already had, if not less as he gets older.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 01:52 PM) Yes Gotcha. That makes sense. Even you have to give credit to the first four, and Peavy if healthy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 11:27 AM) Why is it Pujols's fault that the Cardinals want him to take a discount? If he's worth that much to that franchise, if he's so important that they've built their whole 5 year plan around keeping him, why wouldn't they step up and do what it takes to keep him? He can do what he wants. He also has to be prepared for people's response for asking for an ARod contract, and possibly leaving the only place he has ever played. If I am a franchise in St Louis's place, I am not about to cripple my team for something like 5 to 10 years to sign Albert. A place like St Louis cannot afford to have something like half of their team salary wrapped up in two players, and still be a viable team.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 01:31 PM) Six? We don't have one. We don't even have half of one. I will concede that if Peavy only misses a month or so we should be alright. Anything more and it's 2004 all over again. What? We don't have half of a starter? Buehrle, Danks, Floyd, Peavy, and Jackson equal nothing?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 12:06 PM) I don't think currency conversion is a way to necessarily ding you. There are costs associated with dealing with that. And there is no requirement for any credit card I have to pay from approved merchants or cashing in my points. People need to spend time and review what CC they end up signing up for. Get one with zero annual fee and a good point system, but understand that point system. Outside of that, interest rate won't matter too much, unless you plan on carrying a balance. And what you are referring to relates to your rewards program. That is a completely seperate point anyway and it has nothing to do why people carry a debt. You don't win paying double digit interest, ever. Increasing the required minimum payment was a good start, but why people think that paying the minimum is a good idea (while still spending on luxury items, instead of cutting back) just blows my mind. Yeah, having dealt with currency conversions for like a decade now, there is a spread involved there. You can't just go out and buy Euros with your dollars at the last traded price.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Feb 14, 2011 -> 10:58 PM) So you mean the best white rapper to ever do it then? I agree. Vanilla Ice hates you.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 11:58 AM) One game is very important in a playoff series. I assume that's what you are saying. Exactly.

QUOTE (WHITESOXRANDY @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 11:45 AM) No s***. When is the last time that this worked? It's unbelievable that the Sox are "all in" but have no 5th starter. But, they can afford the most expensive DH in baseball. Pitching is what they need to win. Pitching is what cost them the divison last year and this year they have less than last year. At the end of this season when the Sox have once again finished second to Minnesota THIS is what we will point to as to where the Sox blew it! Kenny Williams should know better by now than to go into the season short on starting pitching. Adam Dunn isn't going to make the difference up. We have no sixth starter. Our fifth starter is hurt. Not many teams have six major league ready pitchers in their system.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 11:34 AM) You're probably right. I for one hope that if we crash and burn again that we finally decide to go in another direction (i.e. committing a ton more towards the draft and player development). I know that won't be popular. But looking up at the Twins every year isn't popular, either. We started to try that last year when we tried to dump AJ. We were also an Adam Dunn signing with someone else away from that this winter from the sounds of it.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 11:36 AM) The top 8 teams here have a collective .779 winning percentage at home vs a .630 winning percentage on the road. You bet your sweet f***ing ass home court matters. The difference in those percentages adds up to almost exactly one game if you multiply that out of a seven game series.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 09:45 AM) They better hope that Vitters, Jackson, Cashner, and others pan out (and you know how often Cubs prospects pan out). If the Cards lose Pujols, they should take the money they had designated for him and go after Prince. Funny thing is that with all of this, the Reds have a chance to have the best team in that division if they can make some smart moves in the next few years. I can't argue with that. If Cincy's pitching holds up, they will be tough, and in a great payroll spot.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 08:39 AM) Take it FWIW @SI_JonHeyman one competing baseball exec told me he believes #cubs will offer pujols the a-rod deal ($10 mil, $27.5 mil/yr). supposed to be 10 years of course, not 10 mil I hope so. That deal will cripple the Cubs within a very short period of time. It will be just like Soriano. He will put up numbers at the beginning, but there is no way he will be worth that amount of money at 37-41 years old. It will also mean that the Cubs won't have the money to spend on other players to put around Poo_holes.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 09:20 AM) Mike, fix your title. You left the "c" out of predict. Thanks Yas!

Is Eddy's contract finally up after this year?

Let's hear what the Sox record will be this year, where they will finish (how far they make it in the playoffs, if applicable) and any other details you want to throw onto the record this year... Such as what stats/awards hitters or pitchers will achieve, milestones, or just bold predictions in general. Ah, Spring is in the AIR!

From Merkin's mailbag http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...ws&c_id=cws

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 14, 2011 -> 09:16 PM) I had never thought of him as a greedy player. Is there something that happened in the past that I don't recall? Reading the story about how his draft negotiations went, the big contract he signed, and then hearing about these negotiations has put that feeling in my mind. Who knows if it is right or wrong, but that's the impression all of this has left me with.

I love watching Frank Martin coach. Its like watching a reincarnation of Bobby Knight.