caulfield12

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald...4b058ce7aaaf3c0 The conflict with Trump Intl Hotel in DC...foreign countries wanting to book it to curry more favorable reception or treatment...and, most alarming, dealing with the GSA, which he would obviously be in a position to influence in their bidding/negotiation process with the government over his own leased property. This one ranks right up there. Supposedly he dumped all the stock related to the Dakota pipeline, but there's no way of knowing what his hedge finds are holding in their portfolios.

Anderson has much better hands and more whip or lag in his swing by far...compared to Avi, Beckham or Viciedo. Dayan could swing hard, but lacked the hand eye coordination. And he can turn on a fastball, rather than being a better offspeed hitter and trying to dial it up but always being in between due to the inability to cover a plus or high fastball. Eaton, for example, is projected to be at 3.6 war this year (not sure if that accounts for troubles in CF upcoming.) Wouldn't shock me if Tim beat that.

Candidates for office and then being the President and doing nothing to even acknowledge the possible conflicts are two clearly distinct issues...

The Braves aren't interested in Quintana? Pirates? Rangers? Wasn't there a rumor more teams would consider Q than Sale?

http://www.ew.com/gallery/best-movies-2016 Now have seen 8 of the Top 20...have some catching up to do. Movies like Moonlight...no chance to come to China, so have to make do with screeners for the Academy whenever they pop up online. On the plus side, though, will get to see The Great Wall with Matt Damon first. Really liked The Handmaiden, but it's definitely not a family movie. Still digesting The Lobster, so to speak. Might need another viewing. On to Sing Street, Ireland/UK music story.

As we all know, Hahn adoration lasted until around mid-May, 2015...when Eaton and Cabrera were looking liked they'd never played the game of baseball before. He and AJ Preller of the Padres "won" that offseason, along with the Red Sox. Last year, you had Frazier and then a ton of "small/under the radar" moves that looked like they could POSSIBLY work if everything went exactly right (which of course, it didn't, starting with DrakeGate). This time, we're not going to be able to start drawing many conclusions until around mid-season, 2018.

Have a feeling that Quintana might end up being traded in June/July instead. Perhaps Hahn/KW will set out to find takers for Frazier and Cabrera first. Maybe Jennings, with the right offer. It's also obvious they hope to see rebounds from Robertson, Abreu, Lawrie and Garcia before moving them, not to mention Petricka/Putnam. Jones could go either way. Most seem to prefer trading Robertson first, then building up Jones' value by installing him as closer sometime between June and the beginning of August. Probably would mean holding onto Jones into the 2017-18 offseason, but lots of variables there in terms of performance for both guys. Not to mention the upcoming decision about what to do with Burdi for 2017.

Tucker, the fifth overall pick in last year's draft, batted .276 with six home runs, 19 doubles and a .750 OPS and 31 stolen bases in 101 games with Quad Cities (before his promotion to Lancaster late in the season). Baseball America regarded Tucker as the industry's 35th-best prospect in its recent mid-season rankings. chron.com/sports He sucks, lol! But, because he has a pretty (and projectable) left-handed swing but limited power (so far), he's nearly untouchable.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/la_la_land LA LA LAND taking the early lead for Best Picture from this week's buzz...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 08:49 PM) The sad fact is that there is so much insider trading done in the house and senate, except then they call it things like "lobbying". Just imagine how much money you would have made if you put all your money into big banks, the defense industry, private prison/detention center contractors and Amazon on November 7th... Amazon's yet another interesting example, because the tech companies tend to be more "liberal/Democrat" (especially the West Coast-based ones) and the Amazon Go logistics automation program promises to wipe out thousands of jobs in various industries. Starting with cashiers, but eventually spilling over into other areas of job responsibility. Not only that, but most tech companies are on record as wanting to continue the influx of tech workers on H1B visas from places like China and India. So is that good or bad in Trump's mind? Amazon might be the most successful company in the US, if not the world, right now. Shouldn't that be celebrated/touted? What about Google/Uber/Apple autonomous/self-driving cars that will replace drivers? Banned for displacing more workers? http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/08/media/trum...e-ep/index.html Trump is going to attempt to stay on as EXEC Producer of Celebrity Apprentice. SIGH. That agreement, first reported by Variety and confirmed by sources at NBC and the Trump campaign, means the president will have an interest in a show aired by a media company that also reports on his presidency -- a major conflict of interest for the network. "The Apprentice," which Trump hosted for 14 seasons, was created by Mark Burnett and is owned and produced by MGM. The 15th season, hosted by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will air on NBC starting January 2. NBC Entertainment, NBC News and MGM all did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the decision to keep Trump as an executive producer. It is unclear how much Trump will be paid per episode. And I guess we're just supposed to take his spokesperson's claims that he has sold all of his individual stocks (but not necessarily any hedge funds) at face value? And who needs that stupid Daily National Security Briefing stuff...I'll just let those great/brilliant/amazing generals that I'm bringing on board sort all of that foreign policy stuff out. Except for the times when I start WW III with China over twitter.

http://nypost.com/2016/12/08/victor-cruz-b...cist-vandalism/ In other news, PEOTUS Donald J. Trump will next go to war with the NY Giants/Victor Cruz. Bet a house on it. He'll probably suggest it was an "inside job" perpetrated by minorities to make him look like the bad guy. It's one of the headline stories at ESPN.com as well, but can't seem to get that site to work right now.

Haha...Houston is funny. What next, Tucker for Quintana alone is a fair trade? The dude's 2 1/2 seasons away from the majors, in all likelihood. In some ways, you can really admire the way that Luhnow had a vision for turning that organization around and actually accomplished it one year earlier than expected. But they'll see, just like the Rangers, what happens when you don't have DOMINANT starting pitching in the post-season. Heck, the Rangers started Hamels and Darvish back to back against the Blue Jays, and that wasn't enough. The most competitive game was started by a more pedestrian #3 in Colby Lewis.

That year he went to the Astros, almost any team in baseball could have traded for Fowler for a couple of B and C prospects. His value was similar to Trumbo/Segura coming into 2016.

Greg, nobody would have banned you for that. We've just learned to accept that respect for the office of the presidency has gone out the window since Nixon. Remember all the "you lie/d!" stuff with the congressman confronting Obama? Calling Hillary or Trump "crooked" is nothing. I've sometimes called him PT Trump. Even Newt Gingrich, his close advisor (supposedly) says he's 1/3rd PT Barnum but hopefully more Harry Hopkins (FDR's close advisor).

QUOTE (QuickJones81 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 09:10 PM) Missed my point. The point was that success in small samples should be taken with a grain of salt. Still plenty of opportunity to go in either direction. If you remove all the Trea Turner statistics against a pretty terrible/outlier of a Braves' team, he starts to look more like an ordinary mortal. His overall numbers being lifted largely through that opponent would cause me to pause in anointing him a superstar just yet. Same with Benintendi's initial success, or Moncada's struggles. Or you could look at someone like Byron Buxton, who struggled/failed repeatedly and has FINALLY just started to figure things out the last couple months of the 2016 season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 08:52 PM) If they succeed during a call up, they are the next Gordon Beckham. If they fail, they suck. Oh Soxtalk. And even if you initially succeed, you can STILL end up "failing" or at least falling off significantly. Look at Puig and even Abreu for two examples. That's why I'm really hoping Tim Anderson continues to progress and doesn't have typical the sophomore slump. Game of adjustments...and he's made them every step along the way, SO FAR.

The last two or three months of the 2018 season will be key. How close are you to contending? Do you "jump start" the rush for competitiveness by spending into that huge 2018-19 market...or patiently wait it out another year and then really set yourself up even better for 2020-2022/23 (see the rush to sign Robertson two years ago)? Left unspoken is the obvious point that a huge name like Harper/Machado/Donaldson, etc., can basically be signed with a backloaded deal with money essentially being "borrowed" against the new broadcasting rights/t.v. deal. Then the question becomes for those running the team whether the franchise has MORE value with a huge marquee name added (thus securing an even better media rights deal), or whether they're better off allocating that money in the traditional White Sox way of contracts under 5 years and definitely under $100 million.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 08:07 PM) I know we've been burned like crazy but still feel most comfortable leaving 1b power hitter as the position we find in FA It's easy enough with money and/or a deep farm system. The problem is when you're trying to find a "high quality" DH on a 50 cent budget, you end up with band-aids and quick fixes and reclamation projects (see Morneau). As usual, the rotating DH (to rest 4-5 regulars) would be another idea, but perhaps is not idea for a young team. It would work better with veterans in their early to mid 30's, like Yankees teams over the past 2-3 years.

The key here is that catching spot, and CF. Can Collins play it well enough...and not impact a young pitching staff from a defensive/leadership standpoint in a negative way? We'll find out soon enough, because he's going to spend time with a lot of those young pitchers before they reach the big leagues. We've seen with Eaton, Cain and Heyward the value that the market is playing on DRS/WAR now (and also the difference between Eaton/DeAza/Rios/Pods in CF vs. on a corner). If the White Sox can develop Basabe (big if) or bring in another version in Cameron, then that solves your four main pieces to the puzzle, and you can address the corners much more easily. In reality, CF and catcher has been an issue for half a decade now...and CF, much longer. And with AJ, you lived with the defensive shortcomings because he made up for it offensively and with gamesmanship, for most of his White Sox career. Fwiw, Tucker was playing CF in the Quad Cities this summer and looked pretty natural/fluid in the few balls hit to him, but he's not Devon White out there either.

You better be 100% right on Bregman if you do that, obviously. Too risky, to me. I'd prefer to get that package of 4-5 guys, you have a Cameron and a Basabe together in the system, the odds are greatly increased that you're going to hit on at least one of them. Of course, as part of that trade you still have guys like AJ Reed/Tucker/Martes, etc. Putting all your eggs in one basket is risky in investing, and it's the same for prospects.

Moncada? Unless we made the greatest under the radar trade for Manny and stashed him at Charlotte. That, or dreams of 2018 FA market, haha.

Have spent about six months over the last decade in the Phils, mostly Manila and Cebu...just sent this photo essay to one of my friends who said she was originally in favor of Duterte (they're from same hometown, Davao.). She's VERY Catholic, as well. Interested to hear her reaction/s.

After reading story after story about Goldman Sachs/Obama/Clinton speeches...now roughly half of his nominees have direct or indirect connections there. Not to mention those same 2-3 big banks are the ones primarily responsible for pushing the Dow Jones to record numbers since the election.

http://www.avclub.com/article/right-wing-c...dc-pizza-246891 Just this last week, you have the Pizzagate alt-right conspiracy gun nut situation. That did result in the son of a Trump nominee getting the boot, but it could have turned out much worse if not for quick intervention. I do think we're not far away from the point where an Alec Baldwin or Tina Fey or even the woman who came out very directly in an "in your face" way (for wasting time on Twitter) against Trump on Twitter is attacked (her name was made public very quickly). And then you have the reverse side, people seeking fame/attention/notoriety from attacking Trump online and drawing his return fire. Both are not positive developments, obviously. You're still having these headline-grabbing stories every week...this time, the NYC hijab attack by a group of drunken idiots. http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/opinions/fre...itis/index.html On Trump's effect on free speech...Boeing losing $1 billion in market value due to tweets on Air Force One contract is yet another example

QUOTE (Two-Gun Pete @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 07:32 AM) While I believe you're correct, in that there is ZERO reason to rush them/EVERY reason to max out their controllable years, be prepared for morons in the media and moron fans to b**** about how they "want to see Moncada and Giolito play" right away. This will be especially true if any of them show anything in Spring Training; historically, this front office has been suckered by spring training performances. For my part, Id be ok with any of the new acquisitions not making their debuts for the Sox until they're not only "ready," but DOMINATING down in Charlotte, and they force a move up. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...22&sid=l122