Disco72

Hawaii trying to wean itself off oil with a combination of electric cars, wind farms, etc. It clearly makes sense from a transportation perspective and could be an interesting case study to follow.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 01:35 PM) "we don't have the budget." Just like old times!! You can't spend .50 if you only have a quarter!

Anyone got any predictions for the GA race? I think Chambliss wins with at least a 4-5% margin. Turnout is going to be very low, I think. In metro Atlanta, I waited about an hour and a half for the General Election. Today, about the same time of day as I voted in the General, there was not a single person there. Nobody was leaving as I came in, and nobody was coming in as I left. Pretty sad.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 12:09 PM) According to his career track record and the 2 times he's done that in 14 seasons, I'd put that more at a 14% chance. Considering that Dye has averaged 34.25 HRs/season and 95 RBI/season in his 4 years with the White Sox, I think you are nitpicking.

QUOTE (juddling @ Nov 26, 2008 -> 07:02 AM)

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 03:14 PM) So what makes a Cuban player better than a French player in baseball? The quality of competition makes the player a better "bet," but not necessarily a better player.

Anyone have any info on Santeliz? He seems kind of a darkhorse to be added, and his #'s don't look all that great. I'd guess he has a pretty live arm?

QUOTE (Texsox @ Nov 20, 2008 -> 11:00 AM) I approve them all. I guess I never saw the downside to it. It really depends on how private or open you are and how much personal information you put on facebook.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 19, 2008 -> 02:21 PM) I'd add Hosmer and Melville to the untouchable list at least for the next two years. This Royals team has a bright future ahead of it. I still see us beating them for the next couple of years, but when Gordon, Hochevar, and Butler finally pull it together they're going to come on strong. No offense to you specifically Thunderbolt, but people have been saying that about the Royals for years. I think they're improving more by adding some major league talent to the team (Crisp, Meche, even Guillen) rather than just waiting on the young guys. However, I'm still in the "believe it when I see it mode" on the Royals being a legit contender for even a wild card.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 11:53 AM) I think that had a lot to do with Daimler's attitude on the merger. From what I've read, Daimler said merger of equals and meant, our American subsidiary. Chrysler said merger of equals and meant merger of equals. Chrysler had some issues when DCX formed, but they were by no means in serious trouble at the time. General inability to work well together comes more from above than below. No doubt about that. I've heard the same things about Daimler's view on the "merger of equals." Back to the original question, would you expect the Japanese to act differently?

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 05:07 PM) I am getting so sick of the "it opened up a spot for Floyd or Danks" comment about Garland. How about the Garland wasn't very good in 2008 argument? Isn't that one pretty convincing? Cabrera was right around his career averages (slightly better OBP, slightly worse average) while Garland had a 4.90 ERA, his worst since his first year in the majors (and pretty close to his 2004).

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 03:41 PM) I'm getting really sick of people claiming Garland for Cabrera was a bad move. -Garland performed at his usual mediocre nothing to complain about but nothing to blow you away 4th starter self -Garland is a Type B FA who'll net the Angels 1 pick; Cabrera is a Type A and will net us 2 -Cabrera did not have a bad year for us and it was better than what Uribe would have done -Trading Garland allowed Floyd and Danks to land a spot in the rotation and we saw how that worked out I'm having a really hard time to claim a "loss" for KW here Frankly, Cabrera outperformed Garland this year anyway, even if we don't account for the picks and the fact that Cabrera > Uribe and Floyd > Garland. It is baffling that people continue to think we "lost" that trade.

Jeremy Affeldt signed by the Giants for 2 years, $8M total. Seems like a pretty decent signing. I think Affeldt could have gotten a bigger deal, but we'll see how this FA market looks.

QUOTE (Raf @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) Wow. The analysis is spot on. The Sox DID sell shockingly low on Swisher, AND gave up the best pitcher in the deal on top of everything. The chances of Swisher rebounding are much better than any of these former Yankee scrubs ever amounting to anything. There's a reason why South Side Sox is regularly linked to by other, respected publications. It's a great site with extensive analysis and scouting predictions, which is more than I can say about Sox Talk. I'm sure I will be kicked off now, so I will leave you all to bicker amongst yourselves. There's really no reason to bash SoxTalk like that, especially when the two websites serve different purposes. Don't worry, you'll have to do more than that to get kicked off! However, hopefully you stick around and engage in the debate instead of a "hit and run." Many of us thought that Swisher was worth more than that, but if the reports are true that other teams were interested, we have to assume that KW wants to win and thought this was the best deal for the Sox (as others discussed earlier in this thread). Based on production vs costs in 2008, Swisher is not worth much at all, but we all wanted to get back at least close to what was "paid" for him (in prospects and talent). That leaves his value in terms of future potential production...if teams were so sure that Swisher was going to rebound, I'm sure somebody could have beat what the Yankees gave up for him. It's also not true that freeing up Swisher's cash only helps in bidding for CC Sabathia (or a CC-like player) as another poster mentioned. Swisher's was money without a position that can be used to sign any FA. I'd gladly "dump" Swisher if it freed up money for a Furcal-like addition that makes sense for the team's structure rather than pay Swisher to sit on the bench and hopefully rebound.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 12:42 AM) The Gophers fell apart in the second half against Georgia State today, but still ended up winning. 3-0 to start the season, although it'd be really nice to see some consistent offense out of these guys. First ever mention of Georgia State in this thread? WOO-HOO!

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2008 -> 03:43 AM) Just because a $9 hamburger tastes better than a $12 hamburger doesn't mean that there isn't a $4 hambuger that tastes best of all. Kind of an off the wall analogy, but it holds up. If KW thinks he can get an upgrade in the rotation by trading Vazquez for cheaper, he will. I completely agree with you. If the Sox can get the same (or better) production out of a cheaper player, I'm all for it. However, the "he makes too much for a 4th starter" argument, in isolation, does not hold up when you look at the composition of the entire team. In an ideal Sox offseason, I'd drive Vaz to the airport (or pick him up if he gets dealt to ATL), but he's a valuable (though thoroughly disliked) player. Actually, ATL might be a decent destination for him....

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 02:21 PM) It does. The "bad" farm system is fine if you are continually producing talent to trade, but the draft has been a major weakness during KW tenure. Imagine where the Sox could be if they had in fact drafted well. Not so much in terms of home grown talent in the majors, but those extra bullets for KW to acquire who he really wants. KW is good, but there's room for improvement. He still hasn't produced a consistent winner. Until that happens, I'm not ready too put him in the top 3. What's your definition of a consistent winner? The sox have had very few bad teams in the last decade.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 02:20 PM) Does the Urlacher Int and Big Mike Brown Hits count too? Two nice plays, sure...that Urlacher INT is part of what makes the game look better at 17-3 than it really has been.

Bears have gotten beat so much worse than the 14-3 score would indicate. Awful defense today on all counts by the Bears.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Nov 16, 2008 -> 12:56 PM) The more you look at it, the more you have to appreciate KW's performance. He's definitely in the top tier in making positive moves for the MLB club. Of course, the farm system has been the major negative, and this year may be a good test of its improvement, or not. The above gets said alot, but that "bad" farm system has led to the acquisition of a lot of good players. Does it matter if the talent is home grown or acquired with home grown prospects?

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 05:44 PM) DCX failed for a number of reasons that had more to do with the reality of what they were doing not matching up with what they were saying. Poor choices in US marketing didn't help. Trying to make Mercedes a more mid-scale product just damaged the brand and the designs felt without any passion whatsoever. Failure to invest in Chrysler's lines and create a real identity for the companies have hurt them significantly. Beyond that, Daimler had its own major problems in the European market and for a while in the mid 2000's, Chrysler was the main financial engine of DCX. Benz didn't have its own house in order when it tried to merge things together. Impatient shareholders and poor upfront leadership doomed DCX, not culture. Well said, but culture clash definitely played a role. Those on the inside agree that these companies never worked well together. However, your analysis is also right on the money. QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 06:39 PM) Corporate culture being s***ty management clashing with non-s***ty management? lol - also true!

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 08:26 PM) Here's the trailer. Interesting choice of music. It must be one hell of a disaster to cause 15,000+ ft waves, enough to compeltely cover mountains in what I'm guessing is Tibet. Saw something on the 2012 stuff on the History Channel (I think) earlier this week. One theory is that a planetary alignment of the earth, moon, and a black hole on the winter solstice (Dec 21, 2012) could cause the poles of the earth to shift and hence the massive upheavals you mentioned.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 11:54 AM) I agree Williams isn't anywhere close to being a Top 3 GM in sports, but Stoneman is no longer GM for the Halos. It's Tony Reagins. I'd further argue that Stoneman's resistance to trading prospects probably cost the Halos at least one more WS appearance and/or victory. I also don't think Epstein has been that great, especially since he has the financial slack to cover some of his high priced mistakes.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Nov 15, 2008 -> 11:10 AM) She sure as hell's not getting paid as if she was a fourth starter,I dare you to compare Vazquez salary with other pitchers and then we'll talk... The Sox are also not paying Danks and Floyd like #2 and #3 starters, so the Sox can afford it in Vazquez's case. The Sox better have better options at 4-5 in the rotation than Richard and Marquez if they decide to trade Vazquez. I'm not a big Vazquez fan, but I don't like the current options better than him. As an aside, there are plenty of examples of pitchers with worse performance getting paid more than Vazquez (see Zito, Barry... Silva, Carlos...etc.)

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Nov 14, 2008 -> 11:22 AM) So did I, but some around here wanted to throw her under the bus. I don't like her, but that stuff is ridiculous. There were several people here that were pretty much giddy when the reports came out about not knowing Africa was a continent. Alot of people don't like her for her politics (including me), but I'm happy to see that these reports ended up being false. It just shows that all is fair in politics. Sad but true.