caulfield12

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 31, 2018 -> 08:49 AM) Nice write-up Y2Jimmy. Interesting that we plan on using Pinto as a starter. Still not sure why he couldn?€™t just jump to the AAA rotation as I?€™m not exactly sure who is blocking him there. Probably because AA or High A is a much better environment for a pitcher to build confidence in ther secondary pitches or simply experiment with different fastballs...and it’s not like it would somehow prevent him from being recalled just as easily as a Charlotte pitcher.

Well, Bezos is still in much better position than Zuckerberg...the irony is that if they (eventually) do heavily regulate the data-driven companies like Amazon, Google and FB, then they will get absolutely massacred by Alibaba, Baidu, Ten Cent and JD.com in China over the long run (because there?€™s no such privacy prohibition here...in fact, Apple had to agree to turn over all their cloud data to the government, in order to sell its Iphones and Ipads.) On the way to golf course, Trump unilaterally decides that WaPo should have to be registered as a “lobbyist,” lol https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/31/t...ff-bezos-492853

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 31, 2018 -> 04:23 AM) Trump complaining the USPS is being used as Amazons delivery boy. Isn’t that what the USPS does? He also b****ed about their taxes, which, considering the source, is hysterical, He did fail to mention his “very successful” tax cuts trimmed their tax bill close to $1 billion. The largest driver of profit was due to package delivery... Losses mostly related to underfunded pensions/benefits. And Amazon enjoys a cheaper/discounted rate because they provide so much business to the USPS (as opposed to going with Fed Ex, DHL, UPS, etc.)

Karen Gillan would have been a better Croft than Vikander... Ready Player One was pretty darned good, especially for those nostalgic about the late 70’s and 1980’s. He first half was like being inside of a video game/VR, while the second half was a good guys/bad guys thriller with some teenage romance thrown in. If anyone but Spielberg directed, it would be in the upper 80’s at RT instead of hovering around the high 60’s. It was better than I was expecting based on some of the more critical reviews.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 30, 2018 -> 08:35 AM) I would say that only Shields belongs on that "good news" list. And yes Avi should be moved if a premium offer is made; Sox have some depth at his position. Another way of thinking about this is that Avi might sign a long-term extension at a 15-25% discount due to defensive limitations and keeping his size in check will always be issues that slide him more in the direction players that get most of their value from offense (unless he can continue to rack up outfield assists with his arm.). Plus, he feels undoubtedly feels more comfortable/relaxed around so many Hispanic players and coaches. Other than Jimenez, who do we feel “pretty confident” about at a corner oufield spot as a long-term solution? Delmonico? Cordell? Luis Robert, if Engel is actually for real this year in CF? Leury? Rutherford really looked lost (still) this spring hitting 95+ fastballs and has a bit of a bat wrap issue to deal with...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 30, 2018 -> 08:59 AM) This season absolutely. You're talking to the person on this page who was probably the loudest and most obnoxious advocate of "play the kids!" this offseason every time someone suggested that Moustakas or Morrison or someone like that hit a lot of home runs last year and should be signed. Davidson was one of those kids we needed to play. We need to find a couple regulars outside of the huge talents we brought in last year. Here's Davidson's chance to be one of those. He needs to walk more and put the ball in play more this year. Good start. Let me see an .850 OPS and I'll happily give him the DH slot going into next year. Except Moustakas would have taken most of his playing time from Yolmer, not Davidson...nevertheless, in the end, a one year deal would have been pointless, even at the discounted rate he signed at. The argument was always that discounted rate for 3-4 years. At any rate, we can compare their numbers, along with Delmonico’s, at the end of the season.

QUOTE (SonofaRoache @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 06:01 PM) We have our young guys locked in for 5 or 6 years at non crazy salaries, even with ARB. That will be it for our window as we'll have to replace a few with young guys we draft etc. The good news is we'll have Abreu, Garcia, Shields, and Anderson's contracts off the books. In case you missed it, Anderson signed a long-term deal for around $25 million...so you're stuck with him. Under terms of the deal announced on Tuesday, the 23-year-old Anderson will receive $850,000 this season, $1 million in 2018, $1.4 million in 2019, $4 million in 2020, $7.25 million in 2021 and $9.5 million in 2022. The White Sox hold club options for 2023 at $12.5 million and 2024 at $14 million. If either option is declined, Anderson receives a $1 million buyout. dailyherald.com

Davidson, haha... Hopefully he doesn’t end up like Tuffy Rhodes or Chris Shelton after today

Moncada putting some good swings on in garbage time...unfortunately both stayed in the yard.

Nobody mentioned Avi Garcia...the most relevant for present discussion. I wouldn't be totally opposed to Leury or Yolmer if you could get a bargain deal done. But neither of those guys, nor Davidson, would be on the list of front office priorities.

QUOTE (SoxFan2003 @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 01:22 PM) Has anyone else gotten the Movie Pass? $10/month and you can see one movie per day (excluding 3D). I've had mine for just under two months and I'm on my 9th movie: 15:17 to Paris: Thumbs Way down (never use the actual historical participants who lack professional training as actors) The Commuter: Exactly as good/bad as you'd expect a Liam Neeson movie to be. (Agreed) Den Of Thieves: Cool bank robber movie (one of Butler’s better performances in a long time) Three Billboards: Didn't like. McDormand was great, as usual. (Still liked more than The Shape of Water) Annihilation: Interesting (liked but didn’t love, overall worth hecking out though) Death Wish: Terrible Black Panther: Great if you're into the Marvel Movies (although it’s more Bond crossed with a cultural renaissance) Game Night: One of my favorite comedies in a while (or comedies have just plain sucked) Unsane: Could have been a lot better. The Iphone has a long way to go to be able to make a movie that looks professional 7 Days in Entebbe: A movie that tries to make you feel empathy for terrorists. Interesting choice. (Will try to check it out...my father tried to get me to read the book back in the day)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 12:34 PM) Something is wrong with him copying and pasting the apostrophe' from whatever font he's originally seeing the quoted text in, all of those used to be apostrophe's (sic). When you go back and edit a post, at least on my ipad, it converts to that weird symbol unless you manually go back a second time and fix back all the apostrophes that should actually be there (and were in the original post.)

Wow, Ohtani is starting as DH and hitting 8th...he’s starting pitcher Sunday too, right? (Btw, What the heck is going on with apostrophes, just an ipad problem?) Good luck, kid.

https://amp.mlb.com/269743968-young-white-s...n-2018.amp.html Yes, it?€™s filler for the casual fanbase, but we?€™re at least one full season away and closer to a 70 win team and bottom 5 in the majors than one approaching .500. Everyone should understand patience by now, and that this year will be pretty hard to get enthused about watching the likes of Shields, Gonzalez, Santiago, Soria, etc., but there?€™s no point trying to spin someone just to sell a few more tickets. Actually, just watching Moncada, Delmonico, Engel, Giolito and Lopez was enough for most die hard fans...along with Avi, Abreu and Davidson/Yolmer/Leury. Clearly, we also had our ups and downs with Anderson/Rodon as well. Non-linear progression. If nothing else, Cleveland and the Twins are well set up to be better than us until 2020, barring some huge free agent signings this offseason or a huge jump up to a $100 million/year broadcasting rights deal. Sure, Kopech, Hansen, Cease and Dunning could all light the world on fire simultaneously to Jimenez’s arrival...but counting on that is as crazy as expecting Ohtani to win both a Cy Young and Silver Slugger in his first three seasons.

In June 2016, James Shields was coming off nine seasons with 200 innings and more than 30 starts. Reliable arms don't grow on trees, and Shields played a major role in the Royals' rebirth and push for the 2014 American League pennant. Tatis had yet to play in a professional game. "You're always taking a risk on a player that hasn't played a game yet," said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. "The further guys are away from the Major League level, the harder it is to project. You have so much less information. We were giving up a proven Major League pitcher for a guy who hadn't played a game." On the day of the trade, the White Sox sat two games back of Kansas City in the Central. The division was wide open. They needed a starter. Preller, meanwhile, had begun tearing things down after his own ill-advised push for contention in 2015. The Shields trade was one of seven that year in which the Padres netted prospects for a big league player. While working with the Rangers, Preller got his first glimpse of Tatis as a 14-year-old at a tryout. He vowed to keep Tatis on his radar, and when trade talks developed in 2016, the Padres sent scout after scout to White Sox camp. "All the information basically came back the same," Preller said. "We had a chance to get an extremely talented prospect, even though he hadn't played a game yet, and he should be the target." On June 5, 2016, the deal was finalized: Shields and cash to the White Sox for Tatis and Erik Johnson. Nearly two years later, Johnson is largely forgotten. But at the time, the 26-year-old righty was believed by some to be the centerpiece of the return. Outside scouting circles, Tatis was on nobody's radar. He was merely the son of the man who once hit two grand slams in an inning. "Most people didn't believe in me," said Tatis. "But they hadn't seen me play. What can I say? Now I'm playing baseball, I'm showing what I've got, and here we are." It didn't take long for Tatis to skyrocket through the prospect leaderboards. Last season, he batted .281/.390/.520 and launched a franchise-record 21 homers for Class A Fort Wayne. At 18, he made the jump to Double-A and held his own during San Antonio's playoff run. "When we got him, it was very clear that our scouts had done their homework on the raw talent," said Padres farm director Sam Geaney. "By instructional league, it was clear we had a pretty special talent on our hands. Going into 2017, we had a good idea that this guy was probably our best position-player prospect." He's now widely regarded as one of the best in the game. Tatis is ranked No. 8 overall by MLB Pipeline and No. 2 among shortstops. The Padres already have begun planning their future around him, shying away from multiyear shortstops this offseason (Galvis was signed to a one-year deal). https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/padres-fern...ing/c-268604288

Royals are toast...they better hope Soler can salvage his career, along with Gordon, Escobar and Kennedy. Bad farm system as well. Moustakas is already trade bait.

The second Pacific Rim was mostly disappointing. Annihilation: 3.25 stars Game Night: 3 stars

Kiki Hernandez and Toles can also play OF for the Dodgers...

B. Unless Ivanka or Hope Hicks were attending...”Einstein Grant” Melania and the Donald, no way.

For some reason, I’m getting all these weird messages about time zones, UTC, board settings, can’t even tell if a post actually there or not...delete other two.

Response to Orrin Hatch: Great job, guys! You want to put tariffs on Chinese goods but forgot to research the fact US steel and aluminum originate from (allied) countries like Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, South Korea and Brazil. The US is stlll a net exporter of steel, it’s aluminum that's the bigger issue. Good job crashing the stock market and starting a trade war with no benefits. You just made everything like cars, ships, buildings, soda cans, racquets/baseball bats, foil wrap and airplanes significantly more expensive. Watch China effectively create a “double tax” on GM and Ford imports here, as you’ve already exacerbated cost-push inflation before our goods have even departed American shores. Good luck American farmers in the Heartland whose agricultural exports will take the biggest initial hit. Beijing has an array of high-profile targets for retaliation including suppliers of soybeans, the biggest American export to China. A curb on purchases could hurt farm state voters who supported Trump. "We've clearly heard from the Chinese" that soybeans "are definitely one of the largest things that could be targeted," said Jake Parker, vice president for China operations for the U.S.-China Business Council. Source: yahoo news Oh, by the way, those steel and aluminum jobs aren't coming back. While American steelworkers have lost 75% of their jobs from 1962 to 2005, a major study by the American Economic Assn. showed that much of this had been due to improved production technology as output per worker rose fivefold. “Thus, EVEN IF trade protectionism eventually leads to increased domestic production, increases in employment may be far less than many hoped,” a report from the highly-regarded Eonomist Magazine reported. “There are less workers needed and such threatening talk as this will not ameliorate the situation. Any new plant will have mostly robotics to do 85-90% of the jobs.”[/b] But can the robots vote or buy Trump’s Chinese-produced (racist) “American Dreamer” hats for $50? Won’t that pretty much wipe out that poor WI woman’s $1.50 extra per week Paul Ryan promised? Great cabinet, $5000 chairs are too cheap for Dr. Ben, flying coach/economy is beneath their collective dignity... Speaking of VA Chief Shulkin’s $120,000+ UK boondoggle. “The travelers’ expenses in some cases were inadequately explained or poorly documented, investigators found.A member of the security team’s expense voucher included “an inexplicable $3,825 overpayment for airport parking and a $2,718 overpayment for lodging.” The report mentions another unusual expense: VA had official “Trip Book” itineraries printed for the entourage, 15 copies at a cost of $100 each. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/opinion/...col-left-region Taxpayers, You’ve Been Scammed First of all, even if the process were to work as advertised, it would take a long time — probably decades. Even the most optimistic analyses suggest that there would be little effect on wages for the first few years, which means that for now what looks like a tax break for the wealthy is, in fact, a tax break for the wealthy. Second, the story relies on a long chain of events with multiple weak links. For example, corporations with monopoly power won’t see lower taxes as a reason to invest more; they’ll just take the money. Meanwhile, there’s growing evidence that big employers are using their power to suppress wages; cutting their taxes won’t change that fact. So even in the long run we shouldn’t expect a lot of trickle-down. But wait — weren’t there a lot of stories about companies using the tax cut to give their workers bonuses? Yes, there were — but only because the news media let themselves get played. Most of those bonuses would have happened anyway: In an economy with low unemployment, there are always some companies deciding to pay a bit more to attract workers. But companies had every incentive to pretend that the tax cut was responsible, if only to curry favor with the Trump administration. And in any case the bonus hype was out of all proportion to the reality. So far, we’ve seen about $6 billion in bonuses versus more than $170 billion in stock buybacks, that is, handing money to wealthy stockholders. And money spent on buybacks is money that isn’t being invested in plants and equipment, the supposed point of the tax cut.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 12:48 PM) utility infielder (3B) who hit like 6-7 homers in spring training ...Wilson Betemit ? Right...

If Robert is going to be out for an extended period of time, Hahn should hire 24 hour bodyguards to keep Eloy, Rutherford and Collins from suffering similar fates over the remainder of ST.

American workers will see only a small portion of the massive windfall of money going to companies following corporate tax reform, according to a new analysis from JUST Capital. With the corporate tax rate dropping from 35% to 21%, many companies have announced plans to hike wages and give out bonuses. Yahoo Finance has compiled a list of names. This year, JUST Capital estimates that the Russell 1000 companies it follows will see $150 billion in tax-related income. Of the 90 of the largest publicly-traded companies that have announced plans an average of 6% of that tax-related income will go to workers, according to JUST Capital’s analysis. “Perhaps most concerning is if we assume that all proceeds not already earmarked for other uses actually flow to management and shareholders in the form of stock buybacks or direct distributions, then 58% of corporate spending will be running counter to the public’s definition of what is just,” the report said. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-wor...-163125120.html

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 09:40 PM) It was essentially the same as the DACA meeting where he agreed with passing a clean dream act and then with supporting whatever Congress came up with. Why do you think he has any idea what he's talking about and won't get his ear bent by senior White House staff yet again? There’s almost no one left for him to talk to?