iamshack

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:32 PM) Agreed that Gonzalez is a pipe dream, due to the reasons that you outlined. I think it's more likely that they sign somebody like Blalock and go after Crawford in June if they're in contention. Then again, I still can't figure out why they let Thome and Branyan (who cost nothing) slip by. They're obviously looking. At the very least, it seems to me that the "impact bat" that JR and Boyer speak of is somebody more impactful than Damon. Blalock is a Boras client. It would be interesting to see if the two parties could work together after the failed Damon Negotiations. Kenny did mention that he and Boras had some good discussions which might lead to inroads in the future. I see the Crawford idea, but I think it would be pretty difficult to trade Crawford midseason considering Friedman thinks this team is their best in team history.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 05:23 PM) How so??? you cant win a game without driving in runs. It's not something based on individual performance, but rather, influenced heavily by your other teammates.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 03:02 PM) I take it this was very recently? I checked MLB's player page before posting that and he was still listed as a FA. Yesterday.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 02:53 PM) Wow, they really do love Gordon Beckham. They picked him over Kinsler, Pedroia, and Utley though? Hmm... Well, Utley is 31 already, so I can see them thinking maybe he will decline during the second half of the decade...

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 02:23 PM) Sorry, I didn't connect those two ideas very well. (1) Damon is not an "impact player" in my opinion, but he's relatively close. (2) Damon likely would've cost the Sox at least $7M if Kenny didn't pull out his bid, announce the value of his offer, and thus undermine Boras' ability to drive up the price via a bidding war. Oh, I can agree with that. My point was that the money IS there. And they WERE willing to spend it on Damon. But only to what the market dictates, not what Scott Boras dictates.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 02:17 PM) Apparently they don't consider Damon to be an "impact player." He's close, but they would've spent $7M+ had they been forced to out-bid DET. They're either going to go with a cheap, one-year deal on a guy like Blalock or will go after somebody like Crawford in June/July. ? You lost me there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 01:08 PM) He said money was there, he never said exactly how much. Well I doubt he meant $3 million. Both JR and Boyer have stated the money is available to acquire an impact player. That would seem to imply that is a reasonable amount.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 01:02 PM) It may not be so easy for KW to convince JR and the rest of the board to increase the budget by 10% in a bad economy and with slowly-waning attendance. Especially after he convinced them to dole out over $100M on two players last year and the team bombed in response. JR has already come out and stated that the money is there, as did Brooks Boyer.

I see both of your points. If you're going to spend $100 million, you may as well attempt to win. If it takes $110 million to win, it's probably wise to scratch and claw and do everything possible to obtain the additional $10 million than to waste the $100 million to come up short. However, at the same time, this is a slippery slope argument and there is no guarantee that spending the additional $10 million is going to get us over the hump. Obviously, the best course of action is to minimize vulnerability in the marketplace by stockpiling talented pre-arb players through the draft and international signings, but that is neither here nor there.

Seems like a pretty nice honor considering what Ian Kinsler's been doing for the past 3 years.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 10:22 AM) KW obviously had been negotiating with Toronto about acquiring Rios, and it had to include Toronto eating some salary and the Sox sending viable players back, because if KW really wanted him and was willing to pay him the entire salary, why would he have risked Toronto placing him on waivers and having another team claim him? He obviously put the claim in to block. I'm sure he liked Rios as a player and probably coveted him, but not that contract. I'm pretty sure KW was as surprised as anyone his claim was successful or unsuccessful depending upon how you look at it. The contract is burden especially if Rios continues to play as he has. As for Konerko, it was widely thought the White Sox probably went at least a year too long with their contract, but that was after a WS win and Paulie was a hero. Losing him after that would have hurt some of the momentum they had built. Even with the 20/20 hindsight, and as much as I like to rip some of their mistakes, you can't give them a hard time about that contract. You've been arguing this for some time now and I just don't know how one can argue it was "obviously" a claim to block. The Organization has a very good history at bringing in players down on their luck and turning them around through coaching and opportunity. And despite the fact that the contract looks like an albatross when Rios plays at his absolute worst, he is very capable of returning his performance to a level where not only is the contract acceptable, but where it becomes club-friendly, especially considering the value his defense alone brings. I don't find it hard to believe under these circumstances that Kenny put in the claim because he actually wanted the player. That isn't to say that he didn't think Toronto would throw in some cash in exchange for some minor league talent, but you're making it seem as if KW was completely unprepared to take on the player and the contract, which simply does not gel with his past history or that of the Organization.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) You could also make an argument that if Dayan Viciedo had come along with the bat quickly enough, he could have been able to take over for Konerko at 1B this year and that would have ended up providing the flexibility to spend an extra $14-16 million instead of just $4 million, which is currently leaving us $2-3 million short on Damon. Or the Linebrink contract, that's another hole in the budget, so hopefully we can get something out of him again this year. Ahh, yes. I keep forgetting about Viciedo! Can't wait to see more of this kid this spring. From all accounts within our organization, he is everything we were told he was at the time of the signing. Would be great to see us not miss a beat in our production at 1b despite trading away Carter and Allen...

If there is anything I feel like I absolutely need weights for, it's for Legs & Back. Still doing some of the lunges without weights, and it obviously does not provide the full effect. Wish they would have split Back & Biceps and Legs & Back up more for phase 2. Seems a bit rough to do back work just a day apart. Kenpo X today.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:45 AM) I think people are putting way too much in downtown Detroit as a dump in swaying Damon. Some of the close-in suburbs are very nice. They have 4 kids, 2 are in school, so Damon's family probably doesn't join him at least full-time until June and probably goes back to Orlando by the end of August. So its 3 months at the most per year, plus its six weeks extra he gets to stay at home vs. signing with the White Sox as the Tigers train not far from his home. I think his only reason for taking less cash is he thinks the White Sox are the superior team. I'm sure everyone on this board would probably live in downtown Detroit for a year for $1 million. Great points, DA. It's not as if Damon and his wife are going to be living in the slums of Detroit or something. There are very nice areas in every American metropolitan area (yes, even Detroit), and I'm sure Johnny could find an amazing condo in the city with all the amenities of New York without even leaving his building. I live in a condo building on the north end of the Strip here in Vegas (which has been hit pretty hard as well by the housing crisis). We've got units in this building going for $30 million still despite the fact that half the units are on the market in short sales. We have every amenity in this building, to the point where I don't have to leave for days at a time if I don't want to. I'm sure there are similar buildings in Detroit where Mrs. Damon could live in anonymous luxury for weeks without having to set foot on the concrete of Detroit if she doesn't want to. They could also rent a luxury home in Auburn Hills (or some other affluent suburban area) as DA says. It isn't as though they are going to have to live in squallor in the inner-city if Damon indeed is forced to play for the Tigers for a year or two. Certainly Detroit isn't the vibrant city of culture that Chicago is right now, but I am sure Mrs. Damon will make do. I am certain the Damon's have other homes she can stay at and I am also certain she can travel as often as her little heart desires.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 20, 2010 -> 09:12 AM) Danks, Floyd, and Thornton say hi. Jenks was relatively cheap for a while, and Hudson will likely be rounding out the rotation next year. Developing young pitching frees up funds to sign veteran talent when guys like Getz, Nix, and Fields don't pan out. I agree that the Sox haven't developed enough strong position player talent from within, but their development of young/cheap pitching has been pretty impressive and it's helped the team financially. Really agree with the bolded here. While we have certainly showcased a major shortcoming with developing position players in recent years, Kenny's acquisition of Floyd and Danks has honestly probably negated a lot of the negative financial effects of said shortcoming.

Levine saying Sox pulled their offer.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 02:40 PM) Nah not psychic. I just like to guess. But I hope I'm right... I'm tired of checking. Hahaha it's a hometown thing... you wouldn't understand Joliet Central?

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 03:05 PM) The Drambowski story is up on mlb.com I just spit up my water at work...

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 11:23 AM) I take it that Rock's source has bad news regarding Damon? I believe he said the entire thing was a farce.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 08:43 PM) f*** you and your warm weather. B&B and ARX tonight. My arms kill. The end Good work, Rock! Keep it up....I dunno how you do that ARX after these resistance workouts...I am still too much of a wuss to do it. Just finished my vinyasas. Still find that final half moon and twisted half moon to be brutal on my standing leg...

QUOTE (Getupstretch39 @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 12:56 PM) I'm supposed to get the DVD's from a friend tonight, plan on starting this tomorrow. I'll post updates as I progress and I'm sure I'll have questions for you guys. One thing I did want to ask those that have done it though- I don't want to let my gym membership go to waste, any good ideas of what I can do in the gym to supplement this program? I'm worried there won't be enough energy to go around....but if I do make it to the gym, should I be focusing solely on cardio there? I've been doing P90X for about 30 days now, and I am finding that I like to get a little extra cardio in on my days off work. I have a road bike that I ride when the weather here is nice in Vegas, so I ride about 8-10 miles to supplement my P90X workouts on my days off. So you may want to do something at the gym along those lines? My advice will be to just do what you feel like doing...after 2-3 weeks you will have a good idea of what your body wants from you...

Woo, I LIKE Back & Biceps! First time I've done it, but man, if you don't feel like you're accomplishing something there, you're dead... Had a nice little 9 mile bike ride this afternoon to make up for a bunch of crap I ate last night while watching Paranormal Activity...

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 06:32 PM) Netflix still hates me. Ahh, I have Blockbuster's mail-in service. I'm pretty happy with it so far, and they have everything in Blu Ray, which is more than seems to be the case with Netflix.

Watched Paranormal Activity last night. Pretty scary and pretty solid for a movie that cost about $15k to make.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 12:13 PM) I finally saw "Hard Eight," the 1st film from my favorite director P.T. Anderson, not great, but not bad. A pretty solid effort from a first-time filmmaker. Clearly, he learned from any mistakes he made on this film. Hah, Hard Eight is awesome! I need to see that one again...I love the cast.