iamshack

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 03:35 PM) Don't get on Rongey or he like many media members might tire of this site and go elsewhere. If he gives us an inside comment like that, why not, uh ... believe him. Asking players to defer money or give up money to get others is ridiculous, stupid and doesn't happen. These guys can say whatever they want. They don't give up money or have money deferred til later to acquire Johnny Damons. Get real. Damon has enough money and they know that; and then there's always somebody else to acquire at a later date and they know that guy needs money too. You know what, Greg, you're right. I should have consulted you first before posting. My bad.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 12:10 PM) Sunshine is a cool flick... I discovered it like a year ago. I thought Shutter Island was quite good. Now that I think about it, my theater experience sort of sucked, so maybe that had something to do with me not caring for it. I also read the book, and was hoping for a plot adjustment that never came. You honestly didn't see that conclusion coming about 1/2 way through the movie, Steve?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 02:11 PM) Down 11lbs and 7 percent body fat since day 1. Congrats, Rock! I am going to weigh myself tomorrow night when I roll into work. I need to measure my body fat percentage....never did it before I started though.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 11:30 AM) What equipment is needed to do this program? Come on, dude, read the thread. This question has been asked and answered about 15 times now.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 02:25 AM) This is just simply not a real-world scenario, shack. You have to know this. The ONLY way something like this works is if Peavy or someone else volunteers this. It's not up to a GM to start asking his players who would be willing to talk about a contract re-negotiation so another player can get signed. For starters, who do you ask first? Second, do you have any idea how difficult it is to sometimes get ahold of your own players during an offseason? A lot of times, these guys disappear until it's time to report. And they often don't return phone calls right away (even to their own agents), which leads me to: Third, do you realize how long the renegotiation alone can take? It can take weeks. Does it really sound feasible to get a renogotiation with one player done while negotiating with another player at the same time, knowing that one negotiation depends on the other? Not to mention you'd have to get it all done within a couple of days. I'm sorry, but this just wouldn't happen. It's not realistic. This is pure nonsense. Every player has cell phones, Mr. Rongey. Kenny calls our players all the time. Especially the ones based in America. Secondly, we're not talking about a re-negotiation of the entire contract. It's changing the terms of compensation very slightly. It's an addendum being added to the contract that might take 30 minutes maximum to draft. Trust me, it would take no time at all, and it could have been done over the course of the negotiations late last week. Finally, Kenny takes a very aggressive approach with his veterans. He involves them in the direction of the team all the time (just ask DA). He certainly could have approached Jake or Paulie or any number of guys, even at the same time, and given them the low-down. It's really not very unrealistic at all. You're acting as if he would have been asking them to give up their first-born or something.

Where's everybody been? Hope your not all taking the weekend off.....

QUOTE (Linnwood @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) Maybe this was discussed else where, but don't feel like wading through 133 pages to find it: was Spring Training location a serious part of why Damon went to the Tigers? Or am I missing sarcasm? No, it evidently was a factor. It appears that KW is being a bit sarcastic in emphasizing that he doesn't know if the White Sox ever really had a chance to make this happen - that maybe they were being used by Boras simply to drive up a sweeter deal with Detroit.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) Forgive me if it's been posted already, but Mark G's twitter implies we may still be pursuing another LH bat http://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/9438758715 Or at least that it's in our minds to do so. It appears that he meant Dye in lieu of Damon...

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 02:40 PM) Well, sure. You're in the fortunate position on not having to think that extra $3-4 million on one player is a "big deal" when you aren't the one that's working within the budget on a single season. Yes, it does matter. The deferred money makes a difference within this baseball season on this payroll. Paying nearly double for a single player is a big deal, dude. Unless you can find a way to spread that money out over the next season or so. And you're not serious about one of the veterans restructuring, are you? How many guys do you think would be willing to come forward to volunteer that? And on what planet would a MLB general manager go to one of his vets' agents and say, "hey, we want to re-work your client's deal so we can sign Johnny Damon."? And what agent would say, "yeah, sure, no problem!"? Even if they were to try something liek that, it won't happen for a 36-year old Damon. This isn't Pujols we're talking about. Jake Peavy just came out and stated that he wanted Johnny Damon on his team because he is a winner. My guess is if Kenny went to Jake and asked him to defer $2-3 million from his salary this year over the next three years, he would have been cool with it. Obviously you can sit here and argue against it because it is unknown. But the guy comes out in the press and says he wanted the player, well, then my guess is he would put his money where his mouth is.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 02:18 PM) That was the public story. If you actually read what Jones did...he got more total money in the deal because the Braves guaranteed what was an option year and added in an additional vesting option year, and in exchange he took a smaller salary in a couple of years earlier in the deal. He got more total money out of it. And we couldn't do this because?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 02:07 PM) That never happens in baseball. No? Chipper Jones.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 01:51 PM) It doesn't matter if it's customary or not, that's completely beside the point. The point is that spending around 4.5 on Damon this season is a lot different than spending 8 this season Really? In the grand scheme of things, I respectfully disagree. This was a matter of principle, not finances.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 01:46 PM) Shack, the difference is the deferred money. You're more perceptive than that. Honestly, and I am not trying to nitpick here, I just don't find the deferred money to be that big of a deal. We're talking about a pretty sophisticated corporation asking a player to accept terms which are fairly uncharacteristic in this industry. Certainly, the concept of deferred money is not necessarily uncommon, but the idea of a 1 year, seven figure deal involving deferred compensation is fairly uncommon. I think this had more to do with principles than compensation. If it was really about $2 million we needed to defer somehow, I would have hoped that one of our veterans would have been willing to restructure for the sake of winning.

Well, if it isn't rain on my parade and piss in my lemonade...

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 12:59 PM) Yah I see where you're coming from here, but the way I see it, this is the most unpredictable offense we've ever had so our attempts at sorting it all out are futile. I can completely realistically see us scoring anywhere from 700-820 runs. That's a pretty wide range of possibility, simply because every player in our lineup has a high upside but fair odds against fruition. I just don't see how everything is doom-and-gloom, because more than any year I can remember, we simply have noooooo idea. I think maybe we're really just scared of the uncertainty. FTW

QUOTE (since56 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 09:39 AM) Wow! Annointing him a hall of famer at this point amazes me. I remember some talking head once saying Mark Prior would be the next 300 game winner. I hope Beckham can adjust to 2nd base, has a solid year and doesn't get caught reading his own accolades. Hah. Skeptic.

Saw Shutter Island last night. Thought Kingsly was amazing and DiCaprio was good, but the movie was too long and very predictable.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) I was a mad man with my pushups today, doing 40 more than last week. Last week I did 10 more than two weeks ago. No idea what got into me but I know it was going to be a good day when the military pushups were coming easily. I'm starting up week 3. That's awesome, man. Keep up the good work!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 09:00 AM) The difference is much bigger for this year when you compare the 8 million dollars in 2010 to the 4.5 million that they Sox would have paid this year. Ahh, I know what he was trying to say, I just like to give him hell once in a while... I also find it a bit humorous that all the sudden we are considering deferred money in a 1 year contract to fit into some form of customary. It simply is not.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 05:29 AM) You think Damon would've made up a 6-game deficit? And you think it was the Sox' fault he signed elsewhere? $8 million, dude. For one season. For Johnny Damon. I think 7.5 (with some deferred) is workable, but $8 mil all this year? I don't know about that. He would've helped the lineup, but I think it's debatable just how much it would've helped them. Hah, Ranger. That extra 6% is the real killer, eh?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 06:54 PM) according to ozzie he most definitely was. And don't forget he was the guy who called out OCab on his s***. But onward and upward - Jones reported to camp early along w/Gordon and to quote Merkin: I'd love to see an outfield of Jones, Rios and Quentin with Pierre at DH and Kotsay being used just as he was last season, a role player off the bench. That's great news....I'm one of the more excited fans about the acquisition of Jones, as I have been hoping Kenny would acquire him for some time now. A semi-return to form by Jones could really go a long way to stabilizing our offense after the loss of Thome and Dye.

But KW and Jerry wanted to sign Thome and Ozzie basically said he would refuse to get him consistent at bats. JR has said he can't hold Ozzie accountable without giving him the roster he wants. KW has been chomping at the bit to add a LH bat and Ozzie has been dragging his heels and trumpeting the value of flexibility and speed. All signs point to this being Ozzie's experiment with Kenny having a short leash on him should it fail.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:54 PM) That KW put himself in a financial straight-jacket with the Peavy and Rios acquisitions... There were a lot of "ifs" at the eve of 2005, too. Iguchi, Pods, Dye coming off an injury, and exactly what did El Duque have left, if anything? How close was McCarthy (not unlike Hudson this year)? Takatsu was the de-facto closer but everyone was worried about hitters sitting on his FB and laying off the frisbees (see One Tricky Pony). The bullpen, there were no hints of the seasons Cotts and Politte would have. The problem I guess is when there's no margin for error, everything has to go right. We have insurance for one injury in the starting rotation, that's good. I'm starting to believe that Tyler Flowers is going to be given a serious look as the DH at some point this season, maybe even in the first half. Otherwise, there's not really any logic to what KW is doing. So you're claiming that Ozzie is just rolling with this roster and taking one for the team by pretending this is just what he has always wanted?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 06:40 PM) I understand that sometimes moves like the Carlos Lee one will work out mysteriously in the end (while somewhat baffling at the time), but this approach isn't any better. We've constructed a Minnesota Twins-like team to play at USCF. Whoopee. Well, this is all on KW...I don't buy the whole blaming Ozzie thing for our present line-up construction. So, because this strategy worked in 2005, it will work again. We shall see. What do you buy then?

Well then...I hope he buys something great with that extra million or two...