iamshack

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2010 -> 10:06 AM) I might as well say this now so that I don't have to waste my time in the game thread: Javy Vazquez will dominate the Sox today because he always fares well against National League teams.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 1, 2010 -> 10:02 AM) HOW IS RIOS NOT STARTING?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?! I'm at a loss...I almost want to cry in my AM beer already. Read.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 1, 2010 -> 10:01 AM) Rios won't be in the lineup today or tomorrow because he returned to Chicago for the birth of his child. per Merkin/Gonzales Jeesh, priorities...

QUOTE (chisoxt @ May 1, 2010 -> 08:48 AM) One of the things that made the Schueler era difficult was the organizations reticence to spend money...Every contract was a prize fight dragged out in the press....arbitration hearings....refusal to sign decent free agents. Jack Gould, a former White Sox organization bean counter, took tremendous pride in winning arbitration hearings. Hawk used to make a joke about it on the broadcast. We do not have this problem now as our payroll is high and we tend to sign our guys. But, the team is lousy nonetheless. And as I recall, how many 90-100 loss seasons did we endure between 1997 and 2000? Those teams were not good but they were not horrendous. I guarantee you one thing, the longer we are in denial that this team is past its prime, the more likely we will see 90-100 loss seasons. Are you kidding me? Have you not realized how much our roster has been made over in the last 2-3 years? The 05' team is basically gone, with the exception of Mark and Paulie. We now have one of the younger staffs in the major leagues, especially if you consider that Freddy is just a stopgap until Hudson arrives (or another young arm is brought in), we have 2 outfielders in the primes of their careers, we have a ss and 3b in the prime of theirs, Gordon, and then a few vets like Andruw Jones, AJ and Juan Pierre filling out the lineup. Overall, this roster is pretty young at this point. All that needs to happen over the next few seasons is the addition of a 1b to replace Paulie, a catcher to replace AJ (Flowers), and another 1-2 OFs (Danks?). Compare the relative age of this roster against other teams in the MLB and we are very well positioned in regards to age.

There is absolutely no way anyone can evaluate the Peavy trade based on the salary we absorbed at this point in time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 11:56 PM) People underestimate the ballpark factor, as the outfield can play him even more shallow at the Cell as opposed to the spread out outfield of Florida, Colorado, and even Dodger stadium. Fair point. I just refuse to believe he is THIS bad.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 10:44 PM) It's not like he's not making contact. He's playing the same way he always has, he just isn't nearly as fast as he used to be. If this was a few seasons ago, he'd probably have 5-6 more hits and his batting average would be much more respectable. He is actually capable of hitting line drives. I have seen it before. He's just hitting the ball right at the second basemen and ss every game. Tough to get many hits that way no matter how fast you are.

I admit the guy has been brutal, but he can't possibly be this bad so suddenly. He's just pressing. I predict he'll be an important part of this team as the season goes on...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 12:02 PM) Brilliant! Just keep proving my point, good Sir.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) I hear you but like most Americans these days we don't have a ton of savings. Having a $5K or greater moving expense and having to potentially pay our current mortgage on top of our new rent in Portland in case we have trouble selling our place could be crippling. Just weighing the pros and cons right now. And what if my wife struggles to find a job there? Will they give you a window of time to try and sell your house?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 03:18 PM) Did you move from Chicago? What were the moving expenses ultimately if you don't mind me asking? Yes, I moved from Chicago. I have no idea what the moving expenses were...they paid for everything themselves, and I have no idea what the "stipend" was actually supposed to cover. I basically was able to pocket the entire thing. My guess would be $1kish for the car and $3-4kish for all my stuff? But I am a single guy, so I didn't have all the things you and your wife had...I wouldn't get too caught up in the moving... This is a lifestyle and life-changing decision for you primarily. If you really want to do it, don't let the money hold you back. You can always make more money. What is important is that you and your wife are happy.

Sqwert, I moved to Vegas almost 2 years ago. Part of the reason I was willing to was because my company took care of everything...they paid to move all my things, including my car and they paid me a moving stipend of like $6k on top of that. Everything went extremely smooth except that my car took a little longer to get there than I would have liked. I did a lot of research on housing and thought I had a great place all picked out until I went to look at it when I came in for my interview. It was a nice place, but the location is something I never would have chosen had I actually lived in the area. So luckily, I found that out when I went to look at it and started looking in a different area. Ultimately, the second place (the place I live now) turned out to be just what I thought it would be and I moved in there. But I would be extremely hesitant to sign any lease without seeing the place and the surrounding area first in person. As for the rest of it, you're just taking a huge leap. Research the weather, the city, the local industries and businesses...that will give you an idea of what the people there are probably like. But you really won't know til you get there and live there for a while how you're going to like it. That being said, nearly everyone I talk to says Portland is an amazing city and somewhere they would love to move. It seems like a great place for you.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 04:16 AM) Lucky for you then because 8 is already confirmed. Once upon a time 6 was supposed to be the last one as they were shooting for two trilogies. Nine of them is all but a lock in my opinion as there is word they are looking to now end on three trilogies... as people are putting it. I just watched VI last week...not a good movie.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 12:57 PM) By the end of some of the resistance workouts, I can barely do 8. I just downloaded one on one with Tony Horton and also the insanity series. Looking forward to adding this to my plan. As I said before, my muscle results have been very good, but I havent leaned down as much as I wanted to, so I am adding some more cardio to the mix. You just eat too well, my friend...

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 09:58 PM) i dont know, maybe they didnt show it on tv, but i was there and when jenks came into the game thornton was indeed up and throwing in the pen. great game Oh he was definitely up, and he was ready. Was just sitting there flipping the ball and waiting for the call when Bobby got into trouble...

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:42 PM) Even though we all probably wanted to see Thornton in to face Griffey Jr., Ozzie made the same move every other manager would at this point in the season. If he pulled Jenks there, you run the risk of losing him mentally for a while. If Jenks blows 4-5 saves in a short span, then maybe Ozzie would have pulled him. I absolutely see this point. However, I don't really care what every other manager would do. And I'm not upset with Ozzie for handling the situation in the manner in which he did. But he did have Matt up and ready, for what situation other than the one that presented itself, I am not really sure. If he's already up and warm, I don't think throwing the few pitches it probably would have taken him to retire Griffey really adds any more stress to his arm. As for Bobby and his mental state, yeah, maybe he loses a bit of his mojo. But maybe he needs to. I don't know. But I'm more concerned about the mojo of the entire team rather than the mojo of one guy right now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:35 PM) Apparently only when you aren't the one being questioned. I'm not even sure what this means. I am all for staying calm and looking at the big picture, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't reasonably and intelligently analyze game situations.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:31 PM) Great question. Jenks closed the game and got the save, yet here everyone is questioning it and parsing it apart. What the hell does it matter? So now it is only appropriate to discuss something when something actually does go wrong as opposed to when it just almost goes wrong?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:24 PM) Except yesterday wasn't a save situation... What the hell does it matter? Is it not more important for guys to get outs in close and late situations than whether or not the situation is termed a certain way or counts statistically a certain way?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:11 PM) It has nothing to do with "custom" or the logic of a closer (and I'm not a fan of that custom either, FWIW), if Bobby Jenks is supposed to be the best reliever in the bullpen - leaving aside whether he actually is for a moment - then you should have a reasonable expectation that he can get an old, broken down, way past his prime hitter out whether he is a lefty or not. Oh there was absolutely a reasonable expectation. The question is whether or not it was worth it to step up the chances of success marginally for the overall well-being of the team, as opposed to any ill-effects it may have had on Bobby and accepting a slightly lesser chance of success in that situation.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:07 PM) If we can't rely on Bobby Jenks to retire a 40 year old Ken Griffey Jr. and need help from a specialist, then we're basically f***ed anyway and it doesn't matter. This is true over the long haul...however, just because he's struggling a bit now and you might pull him doesn't mean he'll be struggling in 2 months and you have to pull him then. I understand what you guys are all saying, I'm just worried more about the overall mental health of the team and the fans than just Bobby right now. We needed to hold on to this win, and thank goodness we did. I'm glad the move worked, as you're right, we are going to need Bobby and we are going to need him to be confident.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 07:03 PM) I don't like it but much like the "leadoff hitter" I have to learn to accept it as a part of the game that will not be going away any time soon. And since the people who run and play the game of baseball are so set in their ways Bobby Jenks is going to be in the game just about every time we have a 9th inning lead this season so like it or not the manager needs to show faith in the fat man and not embarrass the hell out of him on 19 games into the season. Well, fair enough. I guess Ozzie's having Matt up and ready was a nice compromise, serving Bobby notice that we're not going to allow him to just wistfully blow games, but at the same time, he didn't have to come off the field in the middle of the inning.

QUOTE (Tmar @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 03:58 PM) Ouch, I'm sorry. Thanks. I am deeply appreciative of your concern.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 07:57 PM) I agree with you 100%. Watching the game it didn't even dawn on me to get Thornton in there vs Griffey, you just don't pull that s*** especially in April, it just wreaks of desperation and humiliates your closer. Of course I also think game to game momentum is a tremendous crock of s***. Speaking of crocks of s***, I am shocked, that you, of all people, would put any support in the ridiculous concept that is the closer in MLB.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 06:10 PM) I don't really care what you guys are talking about - why would a manager pull his closer just to go with a L-L matchup? That's just not something that's done. So because it is not customarily done, we should not consider doing it? I agree with doing things a certain way because they make sense. I do not agree with staying with custom sheerly because it has been custom in the past. If the custom is silly, which, when it comes to the closer position in baseball, it certainly is - there is absolutely no logic behind the closer's position in baseball - then you change it in favor of doing the the thing that allows you the best chance to succeed.