iamshack

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 09:49 AM) We broke ground on a 4-6 month home addition project in mid October. Finally got far enough in late April that we had to move into my parents house. As the calendar turns to August, still haven't moved back in. And did I mention that my wife is due to deliver baby #2 in 33 days? Zero stress in my life at the moment. I feel your pain. I was going through my wife's pregnancy and trying to move my parents from Chicago to Vegas. Found them a house in May, moved them in June. Drove with my dad and 4 dogs and 1 cat from Chicago to Vegas. Arrived the night the Hawks won the Cup. Baby came less than a week later. You'll get through it...just take it one thing at a time.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 08:25 AM) Why is he being passed around MLB teams like the town bike? And his career OPS is not .800, it is .719. The guy has been exposed against righties, he is what he is. He crushes lefties and sits down against righties He's been plucked more times than the rose of tralee, I'm told.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 09:17 AM) We finally finished remodeling pretty much our whole house after four years this summer, so now my wife wants to move. Of course!

Now we know how to beat the Royals! Steal their sandwiches!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 08:38 AM) Thanks Shack, much appreciated. It is a very solid house. Roof, Windows, siding, furnace, AC all new within the last 5 years. My only issue is that we have old school wiring romex and another kind(cant remember which). It is an actual breaker box with old fuses, very dated. it is grandfathered in, so any rehab project I start, will begin with the rewiring of the house I am assuming. I've got to do all new electrical and plumbing eventually too. The good news is, you'll know it is done and done well when you do get it done.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 08:14 AM) This is already being planned. But it is the both of us. THe house IS dated, it is owned by a couple in their 80s, and it is like stepping back into time when you walk inside, with some of the tile and wall paneling. Its all good though, it is functional, and the house is in great shape. Thats great news, Kyle! Congrats! We bought an older home too, owned by an older woman in her 80's. Friday the AC went down. Had a guy out almost immediately Friday afternoon. The guy says "Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is, I know exactly how to fix it. The bad news is, your unit is a commercial unit, and I don't carry commercial parts." Needless to say, this weekend was an adventure with a 6 week old and 4 dogs...all of us sleeping in one room, another night I put up my 4-person tent in the yard, and then last night we stayed at one of the casino resorts. Hopefully this morning they will get it fixed! But back to you, Kyle...I've found that with older homes, especially if it was owned by a long-time owner, they were less likely to do a bunch of s***ty DIY projects or 15 different updates to the bathroom, which only increases your odds of some crooked contractor doing a shady job. Our house, while dated in many aspects, is built like a freaking fortress. Nearly every contractor I've had come over has marveled at the build quality and design. If you are planning on using a contractor to do some of those updates, I HIGHLY encourage you to invest in an Angie's list account so you can see reviews and hold these guys accountable with a potential negative review. I can't speak highly enough of some of the contractors I have found using Angie's list. Again, congrats! Hope you got a big yard for that family of yours (both 2-legged and 4-legged)!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2015 -> 11:45 AM) Yankees had a white sox quality rundown going and then for some reason Alexei just gave himself up and stopped running? He better be hurt. Stone made it seem like he believed he was out of gas.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 2, 2015 -> 06:12 AM) Who is this posting And who gives a s*** about his texts

Brotherman!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) Scot Gregor ‏@scotgregor 17m17 minutes ago Danks after pitching 5.2 innings vs. #Yankees and allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 8 Ks: "Tonight’s the best stuff I’ve had in 2 years" Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 8m8 minutes ago Danks: "It’s nice to be able to reach back and throw a respectable fastball.” Danks: "The first time I looked up and saw 93, I wanted to throw confetti out there." Good to hear.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 06:59 PM) Prior to this season, you bet your life they would have. Yes, prior to this season. Right now, they need him.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 06:51 PM) Hey I bet the Yankees will let us have A Rods contract I bet they wouldn't.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) How come you guys can't love a pitcher who obviously is making a steady comeback from injury? I'm thinking a lot of you guys dislike him cause of his contract. I'll say it for the 90th time. It's not his fault the Sox paid him that much. And it's not like he's loafed at all coming back. He's a real ballplayer IMO. Greg, I'm with you on this one. Johnny takes a lot of s*** for his contract...which I suppose is part of being a professional athlete. But he sure does seem to get underwhelming support for all the times he does pitch well.

Very pleased to see this effort tonight. Let's force the FO to take on some money in August, boys.

Interesting nugget about Cargo by Stone there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 08:04 AM) Rodons problem is he has to throw strikes consistently. Does that get solved in AAA as opposed to the Majors? I don't see the difference. AAA may only mask it, potentially, because you're going to have weaker hitters swinging at more of his crap out of the zone. The question is can you afford to take the lumps at the mlb level right now if you're fighting for a wildcard. Edit: I see Balta beat me to the punch.

Good gravy. You guys are living and dying with every game.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 07:32 AM) For me, I was 10 when the 1983 team happened, that is the team that hooked me for life. Yeah, that team got me too. I was 6 that year.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 02:06 PM) Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 3m3 minutes ago "We were aggressive on multiple fronts. Ultimately costs did not justify the return." -- Rick Hahn See, he's just no fun. He's so polished when he speaks...never slips or hints or gets pissed and complains about another organization. Part of the fun with Kenny is he would drop hints about what had happened and then one way or another, the hints he was dropping would come to light in a few years. Darn you, Rick!

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 09:51 AM) There's more to it than what a guy's WAR is this season. Avi is a young player who you are trying to develop and LaRoche is a veteran with a track record and a big contract that you want to get value out of. It's not a deal where they necessarily think these players are better than rest-of-season Upton or whomever, but you have to figure out how to handle these guys in the ways that benefit the team most now and in the future You obviously have the most flexibility with Avi. If you can get a bat, send him down to work on very specific things in Charlotte (pitch recognition, strike zone recognition, etc). I don't care if he hits .100 down there, but just get regular PAs and make him work on his deficiencies while the big league club is trying to win now.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) I think it goes back to how you forecasted the team based upon the changes. I defended Melky all season and Alexei as well, saying they should rebound. I feel the same way over LaRoche, but his might not be until next year as I think his performance is injury related. All that said, we burried ourselves in a hole and have existing holes. If I were to forecast this team, I'd say Saladino is due for a regression (he isn't as good as he's shown, imo) and Avi, LaRoche, and Flowers are still major holes in the lineup. Saladino is below average at 3B with Sanchez being capable of being average. That is still a lot of below average guys on my forecast and as is, I don't think our pitching staff (as good as it is) can make up for those holes down the stretch (considering who we have to leap frog). With a significant upgrade in RF, I could see it being more possible (although I still wouldn't put it probable). Bottom line, I can't get behind buying rentals when my forecast says, their is a chance if we upgrade (I call it 15%) and almost no chance if we don't. I also have to consider the moves the other teams in the race made (i.e., Toronto). I am totally on board with buying, but I am not on board with renting given my forecasted playoff odds (and I have no science behind them other then my view of our team and my view of other teams in contention). Yeah, I can live with that. I think the chances are better than you give us, but I don't want to move any key prospects for Upton or Cespedes.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 09:20 AM) What if this streak had come in June and they were still at the same overall record right now? The streak did come in June as well. That's part of what I'm trying to say. This isn't the first time this team has done this. But most importantly, the team may be fundamentally changing right before our eyes, due to both recent additions as well as player development and regression to the mean. If you truly believe that, you have to somewhat dismiss the record and ask yourself whether your expectations going forward give you a realistic chance at beating out these other teams. For me, you're going to have a difficult time convincing me that we can't get this done. We just need a little shot in the arm here.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 09:11 AM) I agree with the 2nd part and I think that is why it goes back to what Kenny & Rick thought about the team (including Saladino and Sanchez) prior to the winning streak. If they thought those guys were going to be the change / spark, then great, go ahead and buy, but you also can't ignore our current position (3.5 back with multiple teams in the way, including 1 team, the Tigers, who is right their with us and selling like crazy). I will reiterate that I am okay with buying, but I am not going with buying rentals given our position. If we were the leaders or had > odds, I'd be okay with buying rentals, but in our current situation, I absolutely don't think it makes sense. If the club wants to trade for CarGo or Bruce, fine by me. If they want to give up a top 100 prospect (plus others) for Upton or Cespedes....no thank you. What does this mean? Immediately prior to the streak? My concern Jason is that the first half of the season we had a large number of players performing well below what could be expected, based on career norms. I think over the past week, we've seen some regression to the mean. How can you forecast the remainder of the season based on data that is most likely not reliable either? My thought is you have to forecast this offense to be better than it has been. Now if you can add to that, well, I think you've got a pretty good chance at this based on the pitching staff you have assembled, that honestly, has NOT pitched over their heads at all this year.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 08:57 AM) Anything we give up for a rental when our backs are against the wall, is extremely risky. Belton Bill Melton was on yesterday and he had some interesting points (later on he kind of went back on them though, but I'll ignore that for the purpose of this post). Bottom line, he said that he hopes Kenny and Rick execute on whatever they planned to do prior to the streak happening. If they thought they had the goods to win, then do it, if not, then do that, but you shouldn't necessarily let 1.5 weeks of play impact your decisions for the rest of the season. I am actually giving Bill Melton more credit cause he didn't quite say it like that, but it was his point. It is also why I believe it is imperative for the club, if it is going to buy, to buy someone who will be here for the long haul (unless the rental is so cheap it is absurd not to do it, such as Beck for Cespedes or something like that). We should be taking a quasi Ranger mentality (or almost like a 2004 mentality when we acquired Contreras) and while the move might help us contend this year, the goal is for this to make us a better team in 2016 & 2017. With that in mind, when it comes to Shark, Hahn and Kenny have a ton of leverage right now. Dodgers still need that upgrade (and the list of pitchers like Shark is small and some rivals, including the Giants have upgraded). Angels have to also be interested in another pitcher (especially given the moves the Astros just made) and I presume the Yanks would be listening as well. I'm not saying I'm ready to sell as I want to buy and have said I want to buy (but potentially do a controlled sell as well). Given where the market is, if the Sox get the right offer, I don't blame them for selling Shark while still buying a bat elsewhere. I also am okay with them buying a bat and going for this thing, but please, please, do not buy a rental or make a bunch of moves ignoring our future. I disagree. A baseball season is full of streaks, and streaks can define the outcome of a season. If we're going to dismiss the 7 game streak, can we dismiss the 8 game losing streak as well? This team in particular, has been streaky. Additionally, this team has some young players on it in key roles that appear to be growing up before our eyes. Honestly, it depends more on what do you think the current state and potential of the team is for this season? Is it the team with Carlos Sanchez hitting and Alexei playing an outstanding ss? Is it the team with Saladino playing a solid 3rd base and executing at the plate? This team is not the team today that it was in the first part of the season. I firmly believe that. So let's carry out a plan with that in mind, not based on how things looked 10 days ago when all appeared to be lost.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jul 31, 2015 -> 08:18 AM) Yeah, I don't get the Avi hate on this board by some. He's already showing improvement from last year, and he's young. Superstar? Most likely not. But he could be a .280 hitter than homers 20+ times a year. I'm not sure he'll ever be a great (or even good) fielder, though. He'll never be more than a big cocktease.