caulfield12

Depends on the money...would he sign just a bargain basement one-year deal, and how willing would he be to include an option for 2019? If you're only getting him for one year, the payoff's/upside's considerably less. And what is a bargain for a catcher? The same as Holland made for us? $7-8 million?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 15, 2017 -> 09:18 AM) Businesses have been making record profits and hording cash for years. Nobody is struggling for money to invest. Giving them big tax breaks won't change the job market or turbocharge the economy, but it will continue to widen the wealth and income gaps. And you know, that bolded is a pretty important point. We had an intentionally hamstrung recovery stimulus package at the peak of the worst economic crisis the world had seen in 80 years, but now we can deficit-fund a tax cut for the wealthy that's more than twice as large and not a single Republican seems to care. This country could really use $1.5T in spending on something actually worthwhile like infrastructure. And yet Obama is ALWAYS the one primarily blamed for the $20 trillion deficit. Not Bush. No mention of the US government successfully bailing out the automobile industry (turned a profit on those loans), and how cataclysmic things could have been had we followed GOP/Romney orthodoxy of letting them all fail. (Of course, the GOP was perfectly unwilling to let more than a couple of the smaller banks fail, but that's another story.) Does it really matter now, anyway, since the level of concern about that $20 trillion debt from the majority of GOPers is probably about a 2 or 3 on a 10 scale, except for a few of the most outspoken House Freedom Caucus members? There doesn't seem to be much concern about adding billions and billions of dollars to the defense budget, either (even though we're supposedly "isolating" ourselves from being the policeman of the world, instead preferring to respect national sovereignty and even putting it out there that Japan and South Korea should have their own nukes). Meanwhile, there's not even a hint of a $1 trillion GOP infrastructure or job training/retraining bill. It seems that those representatives and Senators simply are being forced into a box where they feel they HAVE to do SOMETHING that will be perceived positively by at least 50% of the country (Yay! TAX CUTS!)...and maybe sneaking in the ObamaCare mandate repeal can be buffered/mitigated by the bigger story of the tax cuts. One thing is certain...they're certainly not doing any favors (to local pols) by lowering that mortgage interest deduction to $500K. It will have a disproportionate impact on blue and purple states (mostly NE), along with CA.

One of the "betting odds" websites has it ranked like this: Michelle Obama Kaine (blehhh) Warren Booker J.Castro Klobuchar Bernie Sanders Biden Bloomberg Cortez Masto (that's a new name, relatively inexperienced) No mention of Kamala Harris, Gillibrand, O'Malley, Sherrod Brown

Well, I see things never change around here...the irony is that a lot of these "fake" issues and conspiracy theories are doing exactly what they're intended to accomplish, driving away the conversation from the most salient issues of the day. Even some of the Fox News on-air talent is pushing back against the Uranium One story and Sessions going after the Clintons' "corruption" storyline. Meanwhile, none of the probably 100's (by now) of examples of nepotism and violations of the emoluments clause by Trump and his family are being highlighted because it long ago failed to shock...or all of the millions of dollars spent on Secret Service, travel, golfing, Trump venue rental/fees...or even the Pence/Colts stunt and all of the money that was allocated to that rather than a million other better purposes.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/18/opinions/gun...nion/index.html Do we love our guns more than our children? http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/us/californi...ings/index.html Mental health issues galore Neal had been out of bail on an assault with a deadly weapon charge from January, officials said. Neal, 44, "was not law enforcement friendly" and authorities a number of times had come to his house after complaints that shots were fired from the property, Johnston said. Neal's sister told CNN's Sara Sidner that he had struggled with mental health issues for at least 20 years. "My mom spent a great deal of her time and nearly all her energy trying so hard to placate him," said Sheridan Orr, who was with her distraught mother in North Carolina. Neal's mental state began a steep decline about a year ago, said Orr, adding the family had tried to get him help. Before police shot him dead, Neal injured at least 10 others in a string of shootings that spanned at least seven sites in the small community of Rancho Tehama, west of Corning, police said. Those locations include a locked elementary school that the shooter fired into from the outside, injuring a boy. The shootings started in Neal's neighborhood shortly before 8 a.m., where he killed a woman neighbor who had a restraining order against him, Johnston said. Neal had been arrested and charged in January on suspicion of assaulting her with a deadly weapon, he said.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 15, 2017 -> 09:03 AM) League revenues are growing at more than 5% per year right now. At that pace it should take less than 15 years for contract values to double. At that pace, $25 million for JD would be something like $12 million for him in 2005. That year, Johnny Damon signed with the Yankees for 4/$52 as a 32 year old. Martinez has been a comparable player, maybe a bit better than Damon was, during the years preceding his deal, and he's reaching FA younger. If we can assume the local broadcasting rights deals continue unabated...despite the cord cutters/higher subscription fees. The stock market has been doubling that pace, but how long before the long-awaited recession hits after nearly a decade of growth?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 15, 2017 -> 06:54 AM) Bernie Bernstein? Did they decide Jewy McJew was too obvious? Must be a relative of Bonnie, lol...why would someone saying they’re Bernie or Lennie have an email address of albernstein?

Or the estate tax...is that still on the table in either bill?

$25-30 million per year for a relatively one-dimensional offensive player (corner OF/DH) is crazy in this day and age...especially with all of those contract years in the 30's. (And yet the Tigers were happy to throw that money at Justin Upton.)

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 14, 2017 -> 07:09 PM) Greg probably heard the Rush Limbaugh said Roy Moore's behavior can be explained. He was a democrat when he was hitting on high school freshman. Now that he is a republican he would never do that. Greg might not believe it unless he sees the actual story. Rush Limbaugh floated a Hail Mary defense of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore this week, telling viewers of his widely consumed radio show that Moore was a Democrat during the period when five women say he made sexual advances on them as teenagers. “Did you know that before 1992, when a lot of this was going on, that Judge Moore was a Democrat,” said Limbaugh in comments published Tuesday. “While he was a Democrat, nobody said a word. When he supposedly was attracted to inappropriately aged girls, he was a Democrat.” http://www.imdb.com/news/ni61724103/ Howell Heflin, fwiw, was the last Democratic senator from AL, overlapping that time period where Moore switched parties. Very simply, Dems went from controlling Alabama during the time of George Wallace to totally being shut out electorally as the Reagan Revolution/Moral Majority switched the Solid South over to the GOP. It was all about winning election/s.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/06/opinions/why...bins/index.html Why We Don't Give A Damn About Mass Shootings The statistics speak for themselves. A mass shooting is defined as an event where at least four people are shot. We now have one every day in America, if you adopt the broad definition used by the Gun Violence Archive. In fact, Vegas wasn't the only mass shooting on October 1, it was just the biggest. There was one outside the University of Kansas on the same day.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 14, 2017 -> 07:13 PM) 82 year old Jerry Brown? Running for President? He better have a qualified VP. Could we make this Barack Obama guy his VP candidate? I'd be ok with that setup. I'm pulling for the Bernie Sanders/Larry David ticket if Governor Moonbeam's running...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 14, 2017 -> 07:15 PM) The Senate bill is the one that has to follow the "no more than $1.5 trillion in new deficit spending" rule, the House does not. Right, and the ObamaCare mandate being eliminated would save $300-400 billion.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 14, 2017 -> 03:59 PM) In contrast to tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, Democrats have put forth a plan that would put a massive dent in childhood poverty. Brown-Bennet Child Allowance Cuts Child Poverty By 44% It would also pull nearly four million adults out of poverty. Zero chance, but it's a worthwhile policy to promote in 2018 and 2020...Brown possibly making a run at the presidency and going for a Robert Kennedy 1968 populist/poor people's campaign feel (similar to what John Edwards and Gore have attempted).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 14, 2017 -> 06:12 PM) House, the Senate bill is slightly less awful Probably because the Senate bill has to balance out from a budget standpoint (instead of using dynamic scoring?)...isn't that the version that pushes the corporate tax (35% to 20%) phase-in back? Trump's not going to like that particular change.

Anyone at least moderately upset about the sexier/bikini-zed versions of the Amazonian battlegear for the new Justice League film? https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/justice...-171229276.html If you look at 300, Thor, Captain America...those movies thrive on showing shirtless men. I guess the contrast here is too obvious to pass up because you had a female director/costume designer for Wonder Woman versus two men for Justice League.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2744196...paign=editorial Already released and coming back to the US. That was faster than anticipated. https://sports.yahoo.com/suspension-not-exp...-191515120.html Players should be suspended, but not expelled.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/opinions/the...ovic/index.html The state of politics these days is so bad that Trump Jr./WikiLeaks, sexual harassers (not named Moore), Trump trying to jam ObamaCare mandate repeal back into tax reform and Sessions lying (again) are still not getting much play even with the President largely out of the picture due to his Asia trip. And he’s still not close to signing a bilateral trade deal with any individual country that’s “advantaging” America.

So it’s four, plus the shooter. Same thing with LV, should we really credit Paddock with 59 when one was himself? Most reports now will put that shooting back at 58.

Yeah, Obama has come across as almost squeaky clean in terms of extramarital affairs...with media the way it is now, it would be pretty hard to cover up, but you never know. I think the key for Trump is that nobody's ever considered him to be anything but "fake/conveniently religious," reinforced by his Second/TWO Corinthians blunder. So he gets a pass for his behavior/s because it's almost expected with him, it's part of the package (like the Miss Teen USA/Miss USA allegations about him watching the girls changing) that is Trump Inc. But SoxTalk would be HARD-PRESSED to name even a few Democrats who wrapped themselves in the flag of pious religious belief/Ten Commandments/patriotism...who were exposed to be such hypocrites as we're seeing in the Moore case.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 13, 2017 -> 02:56 PM) lol, you keep telling yourself that. It is all about power protecting power. Nothing more, nothing less. It why Hollywood protected its own, and it is why Washington takes care of its own. Turning it into a political ideology it exactly what turns out people who "protect" Roy Moore by making party more important than country., You can imagine Obama having an Access Hollywood-ish comment coming out and it not sinking him? “Cling to their guns and religion” almost lost him the presidency. We have to talk about degrees of severity here. Moore and Trump are equal to Clinton? I don’t think so...because you’re talking about consensual adult relations (where the accuser got her revenge) versus a situation that underage high school girls (one a Trump voter today) never stood a chance. Even in 2017 Alabama, the only chance they have is a modernized version of To Kill A Mockingbird with Atticus Finch as their attorney. The very idea of defending behavior that borders on pedophilia is scary...and it won’t be accepted by the American people, women in particular. Clinton has tarnished his reputation in many ways with Dems, no moreso that the comments during the 2008 Democratic primary in South Carolina. He helped cost the Dems elections in 2000 (Gore ran a terrible campaign as well) and 2016, and that isn’t forgotten. Yet, at the end of the day, at least we can admire his intellect and political acumen. Those on the GOP side can likewise admire GHW Bush, Trump, Moore, Hastert, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig...the difference is that Dems don’t often use religious faith to justify their behavior and hypocrisy. There are undoubtedly equally bad actors on both sides, but that whole Family Values tagline is getting more and more unseemly by the day. (PS, Jimmy Carter is arguably the only president going back to at least FDR without a string of marital affairs/indiscretions...and did more after leaving office than any modern-day leader. In a further irony, his religious beliefs were used against him due to his painfully honest “lust in my heart” comments.)

Sean Hannity was the first out of the gate defending Moore on his Fox News radio show shortly after the allegations broke Thursday. Hannity first attacked Republicans like John McCain who called for Moore to withdraw. "So now you've got the swamp, you've got the sewer, you've got the establishment -- they hate Roy Moore...(he's) somebody they can't control," he said. Then Hannity jaw-droppingly agreed with his guest that Moore's relationships with the four then-teens were "consensual." After a media firestorm erupted, however, Hannity backpedaled, saying he "misspoke" and he only meant Moore's relationship with the older teenagers, not the 14-year-old, was consensual. Despite Hannity claiming he "misspoke," that night on his Fox News show he continued trying to help Moore. This time, though, it was by way of his guest who attacked the credibility of Moore's accusers, saying "there are women that are victims of predators," but they are "very few and far between." Hannity didn't push back at all. (In reality, studies have found only 2% to 10% of sexual assault claims are false.) Then there was Fox News' Gregg Jarrett who publicly questioned the credibility of Moore's accusers. According to Jarrett, the validity of the claims is called into question because the news came from The Washington Post shortly before an election. And on Saturday night, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro also sought to undermine the credibility of the four women by noting that the incident occurred 40 years ago. Her guest, Fox News contributor David Bossie, further tried to delegitimize the women by claiming that one of them was "a leftist activist in Alabama." Of course, neither mentioned that Leigh Corfman, who was 14 at the time Moore allegedly touched her sexually, told the media she was a Republican who had voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. SNL gets tough on Roy Moore, Fox News defends him http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/12/opinions/roy...llah/index.html And none of this will come back to bite the GOP in 2018/2020 elections, of course...

Why aren’t GOP families in AL encouraging their 16-17 year old daughters to embrace guys over 30? Because if it worked so well for Joseph and Mary, shouldn’t that produce even more prophets for society? Pro-life? Let’s make it more expensive for loving families to adopt unwanted children! https://epeak.in/2017/11/03/the-republican-...adopt-children/ How anyone who actually patterns their life on the New Testament could support this is beyond me. Did Jesus ever wield a weapon that wasn’t in the form of challenging words and parables? A final irony is the fact that most of the religious/fundamentalist schools in the South came into existence in the 60’s and 70’s to provide an escape from public schools after the desegregation decisions started rolling in...but it’s really about “religious freedom.”

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 9, 2017 -> 10:46 AM) Whatever. You said it was wrong, show us what's right. But you won't because your post was to insult me and then you found out it wasn't something I created. It must have been Putin Bots. Although Mike Oz is more famous now for opening up packs of Donruss Cards from the 90’s with former big leaguers...that, in and of itself, should not be disqualifying.

During the investigation, the school and Pac-12 Conference have been receiving assistance from Chinese e-commerce goliath Alibaba, the presenting sponsor of the Pac-12 China Game. On Monday, UCLA and Georgia Tech received a tour of Alibaba in Hangzhou and met Joseph Tsai, the executive vice chairman and co-founder of Alibaba. Tsai, who recently reached an agreement in principle to purchase a 49 percent minority stake in the Brooklyn Nets that includes the option to acquire controlling interest of the NBA franchise in 2021, splits his time between Hangzhou and La Jolla, California, where his wife and children reside. While talking to UCLA players at Alibaba on Monday, he made it a point to single out freshman guard Jaylen Hands and tell him he watched him play the Bishop's School while Hands was at Foothills Christian last year. "Every young person makes mistakes, but the key point is how they will handle it after making the mistake," Tsai said before the game Saturday. "I think sometimes things can be very complicated, and the last couple of days I've seen firsthand professionalism on all sides." Before the game in Shanghai on Saturday, the Pac-12 announced that next year's China Game would be a matchup between Cal and Yale; Alibaba extended its sponsorship of the game through 2020. Money talks in China... http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ucla-players-...ory?id=51082652