southsider2k5

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 12:55 PM) I bet Boston would, if the Tigers would take back a deal not including Buchholz. Does Boston have room for $20 million on their payroll? I can't imagine with his salary, Cabrera would command anything like he did a couple of years ago on the trade market. I honestly wonder if he was waived, how many teams would even put claims in on him.

I wonder who out there would even consider Cabrera at this point?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 12:04 PM) I'm going to outsource my reply. lol. So taking a bunch of money out of American's pockets is going to stop a bunch of money from coming out of American's pockets, because the government is going to do it for us. It isn't going to reduce anything because the costs associated with the government doing things isn't going to be less than what it would cost for medical care in the first place. The only way that they can make that happen is by driving a bunch of people out of business or reducing their wages by a large portion to make the numbers work, which is going to end up taking a bunch of money out of the economy again. It is such a circular argument here.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) This brings up an oddity that I have noted lately, that is good for discussion here. One number the markets are sensitive to is consumer confidence. The assumption is that, when consumers are more confident, they spend more. More granular numbers are available too, like % of people who plan to spend $X in some period of time. Those numbers haven't recovered at all. And yet, the actual spending seen as reported by real sales numbers for retailers have risen, slightly, in recent months. My posit, which I think I've stated before, is that the lowering of spending by consumers shot lower than was really sustainable by the American market. Basically, Americans are so used to spending so much, that they couldn't hunker down THAT much, for THAT long. But a further point here is that, I think, the recession causes people to think, and say, they will cut down spending my X amount. But that doesn't mean they actually do it. Certainly, for those who are losing jobs or income, their cut backs will be real. But remember, even a huge jump in UE like we have seen in this recession, going from 6%-ish to 10%-ish (or 10%-ish to 17%-ish, depending on which number you want to use), is still only having that profound effect on 4 to 7% of the population. For most others, changes that effect them directly are smaller. They will continue to spend. Anyone else have a competing theory, as to why these numbers have diverged? The consumer spending is being artificially effected by short term stimulus money that people know isn't going to be around. I am still getting unemployment and spending money. I don't have any prospects for work, so what confidence would I have right now? Even getting past that the growth areas are all artificial. Housing prices are up, only because of a short term stimulus item. Odds are that prices drop by at least the figure of the tax credit when they are done.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) Same here. The question should be is Thomas a unanamous first ballot choice. Keep in mind this has NEVER happened in the baseball HOF's history. It is not going to happen for Thomas for sure.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 0.3 percent to 144.96 in September, the fourth monthly increase in a row. The seasonally adjusted index is now up more than 3 percent from its bottom in May, but still 30 percent below its peak in April 2006. No mention of the 0.7% downward reduction of Q3 GDP?

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) Tell that to Joe DiMaggio. Joe also had a pretty decent career if you didn't notice.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) I think it was that rangercal character. I might be the least Frank Thomas fan on this board and even I can recognize and give credit for the man's career. There is no reason he shouldn't get 75% of the HOF vote the first time he is on the ballot, let alone once in a 15 year span.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 01:19 AM) It seems that Toronto may actually be willing to take on Sopel if they are given a pick/prospect as well. THat's fine with me.

Who the hell voted no and why?

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:09 AM) An average of 35 saves a year is elite. He also broke the all time MLB record for consecutive outs while doing it. One time streaks do not make an elite player. Sorry.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 07:52 PM) Looks like Bobby is getting no sympathy from Kenny So both his boss, and his boss's boss aren't happy with him. That's never good.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 09:16 AM) Me thinks he's drunk already. Nah, more like still...

Thomas should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 07:57 AM) I'm pretty sure I'd take the words of an actual economist over those of an assistant editor for Newsweek, on this topic. I'd also think the CBO has some idea of how math works. Still though, the bill is a monster, and ALL of this is projections and guesswork. No way around that. And its not as if there is some loud chorus all favoring one side on this either. I'd be there are real cost savings there, but I'd also bet they won't be nearly as big as they are hoping. That would be pretty typical. That's just it, neither one of them are lying.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 06:39 AM) One is scripted, the other is scripted and crooked. figure out which is which They both rank at about underwater basket weaving for me.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 10:54 PM) And by increase, of course, he means decrease. Anywho, when does this get split off to the normal healthcare thread? Except that, as usual, the numbers are garbage. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/20...d-still-vote-it

I think people have moved on from Simpson's references... What's next, Newhart jokes?

QUOTE (G&T @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 05:48 AM) Isn't it far too likely that Peavy read the Soxnet report like everyone else and mentioned it to this guy? If KW actually told him that they were going after AGon, why would he randomly tell someone he's never met? I don't doubt that the the Sox are going after AGon, but this doesn't justify the report. So you think it is more likely that the guy is reading us on the internet versus talking to someone in his old organization, or his new one, about things they are trying to do? As big of a fan as I am of what we do here, I still think the latter is the most likely.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 07:23 AM) I read where Orlando Hudson would be hard pressed to get the guarantee of a little over $3 million he received last year. Put him at 2B, leave Beckham at 3B, and I think the infield everyday defense is better than with Teahan, the offense is most likely better and you still have money left over. I keep reading about bargains. As giddy as people are about Teahan and Vizquel, and I find it shocking, the bullpen has yet to be addressed. There are plenty of reasons the Sox lost a lot in 2009. Having Omar Vizquel play 3B in the 8th and 9th, addresses only an extremely small percentage. As for waiting before commenting, if that's the case, why have a message board? KW said he was doing some projection with Teahan, why can't we? IMO the White Sox have spent $5 million that could have been spent on more pressing issues. Sure Vizquel is one of the greatest defensive players ever, but not only is he now 43, he's not going to play much. He had a little over 1 chance a game last year if you consider the 162 game schedule. Why? As far as I can tell, there isn't a single reliever that has even been signed yet this off season.

Funny, I wouldn't brag about that...

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 08:09 PM) This must be after your great takeover, right? Seriously, just cut and paste out the medicare and medicaid and replace it with "government health care". And it still isn't going to do anything in the long run, except run people out of jobs, and increase the debt.

Don't stop, get it, get it.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 04:46 PM) ESPN Insider (insert grain of salt here) is reporting Barker to Toronto. Many names bandied about for Toronto including Jason Blake and Garnet Exelby. But, that might just be people they WANT to get rid of.... I think Barker would go if they couldn't punt Sopel.

QUOTE (MattZakrowski @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 09:12 PM) A kid from my senior class is on ND's football team, he's a dumb as a box of rocks, so the tougher standards thing really doesn't fly too far. Well when you have that kind of evidence...