iamshack

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 06:08 PM) You can't question it in one offseason. The Sox biggest hole right now is easily 3B and it's also easily got the greatest scarcity in the MLB right now because there are very limited resources and up to 5 other teams who have or could inquire about a 3B (I have New York, Cleveland, Oakland, LAA, and Philadelphia), so to fill it via free agency is going to be expensive or risky, and to fill it via trade could prove to be in waste because you may have the player for one or two years and then they're gone. If Hahn decides that it's simply not worth the financial risk to bring in a guy like Youkilis on a very expensive contract, then I have every right to believe him. He's done incredibly well working other contracts into the budget, so I have faith he can do it again. Hannahan this early in the offseason though would be incredibly disappointing. If he is brought in to strictly be a bench player, that's one thing - it's a left handed bat with a bit of power - but if he is brought in to compete for the starting gig, then the move is pretty much worse than the Teahen move. If they could move Floyd for Saltalamacchia and a prospect or bp arm, I'd just do that and then use the savings to sign Keppinger. Go to ST with Sale/Peavy/Danks/Santiago/Q, use the remaining scraps left in the budget to sign another pen arm or two and call it an offseason. I don't want to move Ale...and I don't know what you're really going to add to make you any stronger of a contender this year, so what is the point? If the DBacks would consider something like Alexei/Viciedo/Reed for Upton, I'd go for it and move Sanchez up to ss, but we know that isn't going to be enough.

Honestly, if you are that freaking trigger-happy around black teenagers, or anything that scares you in general, why not just go to a different gas station? Let's not pretend as if obnoxious teenagers or adolescents of any race don't loiter in public places or intimidate others by congregating near the entrances of all kinds of different businesses. They do. It is annoying and it is frustrating. We shouldn't have to feel threatened or go elsewhere. But pulling a gun and shooting them is clearly not an alternative.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 06:58 PM) It's too bad the Sox didn't have a club option on a decent 3B. Oh wait, they did . . . They could sign him right now if they offered him those same terms again.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 06:54 PM) There has to be someone out there that would be better than Jack Hannahan at 3B. Hopefully this tweet is true and Hahn is trying to get creative, because settling for crap this early in the off-season is completely unacceptable IMO. What do you expect, considering there is no money to work with, not many prospects to trade, and apparently no one willing to give us much for the major league pieces we're willing to move? Apparently Youkilis wants one more big contract or a "premium" figure for 1 year. Since $13 million seems to be the magic number this week, my guess is he wants something along those lines. Not happening for us.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 02:46 PM) I'm assuming you are referring to the History Channel series? If so, I agree. Very well done so far. Yep...very entertaining.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 02:41 PM) Haha, we're at the opposite ends of the spectrum then. In fact, last night I was just telling the roommate I mentioned in the previous post that I just don't like Brown Ales. I'm in the wheat beers, pilseners, pale ales, and IPAs side of things. Stouts, brown ales and porters are just not appealing to me. Have you ever had anything from Samuel Smith?

Can't get enough of Mankind...what an interesting show...far better than the previous thing they did a few years back.

Oh boy...not this again. Please, HahnSolo,make a move...

QUOTE (farmteam @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 01:09 PM) Not sure about Minneapolis, but we did back when I lived in Bloomington, IN. My roommate always drank Dead Guy Ale (I think that was the name of it?), but I never had any. I'll check next time I'm at the liquor store. In case they have some, any recommendations on what to get? Well, I am a big fan of dark beers...either stouts or brown ales...so Guiness, Newcastle, etc. Anyways, they make a Hazelnut Brown Ale that is marvelous. Has been my favorite beer for about 15 months or so now.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 12:46 PM) I live about 40-45 minutes from Wisconsin, and I'm jealous of one of my college roommates who lives in Madison now and can get it any day he pleases. But at least I'm able to get it occasionally; it would indeed suck to be that far away. Does South Carolina have much in the way of an active craft scene? Do you guys get any of the Rogue beers from Oregon over there? By far and away my favorite.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 01:21 PM) I would be shocked if AJ is brought back at this point. He and his team want to capitalize on this last season and we simply arent ponying up the cash. The Sox are banking on his fear of going to a new clubhouse that doesnt know him as well as ours, not sure thats going to work. Only chance he's back here is on the cheap (market relative) Problem is, the team that signs him ultimately won't know everything until it's too late...maybe they can trade him back to us in May for pennies on the dollar. You'd have to think though, if you were an opposing GM, that AJ has managed to play in Chicago for 8 seasons, with all different players, different coaches, a different manager, etc., and managed to stay out of trouble for the most part. That would leave me to believe that as long as I had some other strong veterans in my clubhouse, they could keep him in check.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 10:27 AM) I just have zero faith in Rios being close to an .800 OPS player next season, I think we'll be lucky if he breaks .750. Yeah, I understand...I have always been in the minority with him...but do you really think Granderson is going to be anywhere near the same player without that short porch to launch to for 81 games?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 4, 2012 -> 11:06 AM) Swap Rios with for him, no idea actually if that's a fair deal just popped in my head. Yuck...

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 05:10 PM) Doesn't make sense. We trade a starting pitcher for a back up catcher? Now Chavez being signed does sound plausible Calling him a backup catcher isn't exactly presenting the entire picture. That backup catcher did hit 25 home runs last year.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 01:41 PM) Oh yeah, he for sure said "you're about the color of her dress" but it absolutely sounds like "you're about to cum on her dress." Add a hot model and you have a quick blog headline. And I think JB said "You're about to get the load from Phil" right before that

Shannon Sharpe is really hard to understand sometimes. Sure sounded like he said come to me.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) The 2005 team was shutout 6 times and scored 1-2 runs 40 other times. The 2012 team was shutout 11 times and scored 1-2 runs 34 other times. The 2005 team was 6th in the AL in strikeouts and 12th in average. The 2012 team was 6th in the AL in strikeouts and 8th in average. The relative successes of the 2005 and 2012 Sox had absolutely zero to do with strikeout totals or batting average. I wasn't really talking about the strikeouts so much as the ability to score runs consistently as opposed to putting up big crooked numbers quite a bit, but also being shutout quite a bit more.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 01:53 PM) Are we talking about the 2005 White Sox that were 6th in the AL in strikeouts, 12th in average, and 9th in runs scored, or is this a different 2005 White Sox? How many times did they get shutout versus the 2012 team? How many times did they score 3 or more runs versus the 2012 team. I don't know the answer, I am just guessing. And by the way, just because I don't like Notre Dame doesn't mean you have to act like a salty little girl in every thread I post in. Edit: Upon further review, my memories are clearly not necessarily what the numbers would suggest. The 2005 team was shutout 7 times, 4 less than the 2012 team, but nothing too significant. The 2005 team scored 3 runs or more 112 times, and a total of 741 runs. The 2012 team scored 3 runs or more 115 times, and a total of 767 runs. Again, nothing significant. Clearly I was wrong.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 12:44 PM) Great post, been saying this to friends for years. This is why batting average and contact are underrated. They lead to more consistent run scoring, which over the course of a season are more valuable than just the sum of the individual runs. This is a big reason why your 2005 White Sox won 99 games, IMO. Sure, you need to have some great pitching, but they seemed to score 3-4 runs at least very often which led to a lot of 1-run games they won. They didn't put up 7 or 8 very often but they didn't seem to get shutout much either.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 01:07 PM) Count me in the "no Youkilis" group, if that exists. He won't be worth the money he'll get & I don't think we're close enough to title contention to try to fit his salary into the lineup. Find a cheaper stopgap and live with it for a year or two while you find a third baseman elsewhere. I also don't want him for 3-4 years and this market might get him that. You think he's going to get something that lucrative? I was kind of hoping something along the lines of 1/$8 million or 2/$15, but I guess maybe I am naive.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 11:58 AM) In terms of Salty's value... he's got 2 arb years left, and will likely only get about $3M for 2013. That versus 1 year of Floyd at $9.5M, which is slightly under market, but only for a year. I'd say the Sox would likely get a prospect as well, but not a big one. I like the idea. Salty with a .779 OPS vs RHP in 2012. Makes a perfect match for Flowers. And I don't think Salty will be a backup, I'd bet he gets half the AB's, unless or until one of them shows they are much better than the other. And there is no commitment past 2013 for Salty either. This also frees up about $6M in payroll space to help with 3B, which is a potentially big factor. I agree. Make the deal for Saltalamacchia and either a BP arm or a prospect. Use the cash to sign Youk, then you have C and 3b taken care of, and potentially a piece to add to your pen. This is actually the most intriguing thing I've read about speculative moves lately.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 3, 2012 -> 12:33 PM) You've gone over the deep end in paranoia to defend your boys. I never said anything quantitative about anyone's schedule. He is right though...hard to ask ND to do anything else than what they've done. For the last several years, they've put together a schedule where, if they were to somehow run the table (I don't think anyone outside of South Bend and Lou Holtz thought they would), they would play in the BCS Championship game. Well, here they are. As for the conference championship point, I think that was ruined last year when Alabama reached the BCS Championship game and won without having to play in the conference title game... Say what you want about ND in terms of just how good they are compared to Bama or Oregon or Georgia or Florida or whomever, but with the way the BCS is currently set up, they certainly deserve to be right where they are.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 2, 2012 -> 09:31 PM) YOU ARENT ALLOWED IN OUR CLUB STAY OUT I was pretty shocked at Herbstreit's rant...wow.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 2, 2012 -> 07:55 PM) Anybody who thinks ND is going to lose by double digits is welcome to PM me and put their money where their mouths are. Otherwise you're just all talk and all yellow. Also, NIU is not the worst team in a BCS Bowl nor will they lose by the most. I tend to agree with you that the game will be close...I think Bama this year is a bit overrated...but either team could certainly lose by double digits. Double digits is a 3 point game with a late fumble or pick 6, and certainly not always indicative of a blowout. I get that you really love ND, but dial it down a notch and I think people would be more willing to have good discussions with you.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Dec 2, 2012 -> 07:14 PM) Up to that point the Bears had 9 rushes for 15 yards. They were having trouble running the ball. Michael Bush had 1 carry for 1 yard before that 4th down play. You should take the points there in most situations (making it a two possession game), but especially when the Bears weren't showing the ability to effectively run the ball up to that point. And if Bush would have run again for 1 yard, he would have gotten the first down. IT WAS 5 INCHES. 9 plays for 15 yards averages to what? More than 5 inches.