caulfield12

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 4, 2016 -> 10:05 PM) It's amazing how you hear different stuff. CNN has Hillary winning in the landslide I predict. However ABC I think had it tied. Meanwhile, don't shoot the messenger, Hillary fans. But driving tonight I was listening to Hannity and he had a sheriff on blasting Hillary for his behavior in allegedly laughing while representing the guy who raped a 12 year old years ago and the 12 year old was brutally attacked. Is this some sort of bulls*** story or did Hillary really do this? Hannity was playing clips of Hillary laughing, etc., and the sheriff and victim were on and both attacked Hillary. If this story is true, how can you Hillary supporters even consider voting for her? I'm assuming there's a chance it's all true since Hannity spent his whole show on it. I mean, yes, Donald is disgusting, but how can anybody put an X next to Hillary Clinton's name? I also heard Larry the Cable Guy say the U.S. will fall apart completely if she is elected and has eight years to wreck things. So is it over? Will the USA become an utter disaster under Hillary like they say? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinto...5-rape-suspect/ So we're now to the point where no political candidate can laugh under any circumstances. If you're a lawyer, there are nuanced cases like this (often taken pro bono) where there's no clear right or wrong. If we jump to the conclusion that any man accused of rape is guilty without a trial and no female lawyer should ever defend someone accused of rape, where does that get us as a society? She wasn't laughing at the defendant or her client. Twitter's ability to allow posters to slant every situation through their own politicized lens is slowly eroding public discourse to the point where there's really no incentive to be honest, rational or even attempt to be objective anymore. And that does it. Larry The Cable Guy and Joe The Plumber are the only ones capable of really fixing this mess, getting under the hood and really giving our entire Federal government an overhaul.

It might be the first Word Series since 2001 where nobody complained about the late time the game finished....kids having to stay up too on a school night. The fact there is no timer in baseball is one factor. The game was over until that crazy wild pitch. When's the last time a runner scored from first on a single and two runners scored on the same wild pitch in a single game, let alone the span of minutes? Ross homer in his final game. The eighth inning. The Indians really should have won that game, with their best hitters in the bottom of the 9th, a struggling Chapman and then not scoring in the top half of the inning on the insane bunt try and Lindor play up the middle. The craziest thing would have been the game being restarted the next night....sudden death in prime time. But the weather gods giveth and taketh away. And at least it was guys like Zobrist, Montero, Edwards and Montgomery who will be remembered for that last inning.

1960 Pirates/Mazeroski 2001 Gonzalez/Rivera 1988 Gibson/Eckersley 1991 Twins/Braves..Puckett walkoff homer previous game Joe Carter/Mitch Williams...92 or 93 We can safely say it was probably the best in the last ten or fifteen years, and the tv interest going to 2001/04 levels backs that up on the historical significance side. It even beat 1985 Super Bowl for local....and barely lost out to Jordan's last championship game for the Bulls against Utah.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 4, 2016 -> 02:12 PM) Not sure what the point is here, friend Balta made the point about pushing prospects up too quickly. Everyone (myself included) was concerned about the adverse consequences for Anderson...at any rate, he has become one of the keys to the future, but it still doesn't matter without a catcher, CFer, DH, fifth starter or dominating bullpen. On the pitching side, Fulmer obviously struggled, but at least they didn't force up Burdi as well just to give the fans someone to be excited about. We thus head into 2017 with the same long list of needs as 2016 but not nearly as many good fits...which will invariably force Collins, Burdi, Hansen, etc., to be put on expedited paths to the big leagues. This is especially the case with no major league catchers at the top of the pipeline. They're not going to give Kevan Smith the job unless they trade Sale and Quintana...which would likely return a defensively-gifted catcher anyway.

The thing is that Anderson and Morneau both produced beyond expectations and they weren't even close to the Indians without 3 of their Top 7-8 players. 1. Lindor 2. Kluber 3. Brantley 4. Miller 5. Kipnis 6. Salazar 7. Allen 8. Carrasco 9. Carlos Santana 10. Jose Ramirez

The White Sox have little chance (assuming payrolls stay the same or slightly less) without leveraging Sale and/or Quintana for packages like the Indians received for Bartolo Colon (Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips). Basically, you've got to get at least TWO regulars that are 2.5-3.5 WAR (or more) for that one player, if not three. Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense. Greinke for Cain/Alcides Escobar is yet another example. The Cubs' main risks will be in the bullpen (do they go after Jansen or give the job back to Rondon/Strop/Edwards?)...and the health of the starting rotation, whether Hendricks can sustain his success (expecting another ERA title is foolhardy), but they have numerous plausible ways to cushion the back end of the rotation by trading spare parts and/or adding salary in June/July trades. They absolutely don't have to do much more than target 90-93 wins to outlast the Cards/Pirates, who are both in transitional phases (the Cardinals just cut loose Holliday, the Pirates have to decide what to do with McCutcheon and already traded Melancon). Obviously, their target next season will be 105+ wins, with Arrieta possibly in his last season and Lester perhaps in his final "prime" season before his career arc turns downwards again. Assuming they let Arrieta go after 2017, there are a number of decent options on the FA pitching market, compared to this year. The other danger is losing key front office personnel like Hoyer, McLeod, Randy Bush or Shiraz Rehman, but those guys aren't irreplaceable...every aspiring young baseball exec in the industry would die to work for the World Champion Cubs (for free or even pay for the privilege) and learn under the mentoring of Epstein/Maddon, etc.

http://thefieldsofgreen.com/2014/10/02/how...mlb-franchises/ This is a 2014 article that puts the additional value of making the post-season at $20-30 million. Just for FOX Sports alone, it was estimated at $20 million for advertising revenues. So you've got: Substantial Increase in Franchise Valuation, by a factor of 10-15% if not a 25% increase overall The looming ability to borrow against values derived from a windfall broadcasting rights deal $35-50 million from the post-season appearance, additional season ticket sales, merchandising/concessions Entertainment Complex will start generating revenues Settling of the rooftops issue, to a large extent They're not far from a point where they will have a Cubs Hall of Fame museum or statue park with Fergie Jenkins, Maddux, Sandberg, etc., statues soon to come. Maddon and Epstein under contract into the future, two of the best in the game. “Got through the tough times,” Epstein said, and he started talking about when, in his first year, the Cubs took out a full-page ad in a newspaper trying to sell individual-game tickets, accidentally transposed two digits in the 1-800 number listed and ended up sending prospective customers to a phone-sex line. Ricketts laughed. Those were the old Cubs. Today they could call themselves champions. Early in the game, two fans sitting near Epstein were harassing him and his family. He asked them to stop. They refused. He summoned security. Before being escorted out, a woman doused Epstein and his son with a cup of beer. “He made sure I knew right away it wasn’t about one person,” Ricketts said. “It was about the organization. We talked about how you treat people and the right people will create success. It takes time. It won’t come overnight. He’s honest with everybody everywhere he goes. He’s also not in any way some kind of crazy dictator,” Ricketts said. “He just leads the right way. What I realized early on is the quantitative stuff is there, but that’s not a key. The key for him is hiring the right people and helping them get to the right decisions. And each of those decisions is what built this team.” http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-theo-epst...-155257017.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clintons-primeti...-090002058.html Clintons prime time soap opera reaching its finale?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 3, 2016 -> 03:55 PM) If you want to argue that $30ish million in free money doesn't make a difference to the Cubs, go ahead and play with that ball. If the original poster has some actual knowledge of the dollar difference involved here, I would like to know it. http://www.bleachernation.com/2014/03/19/t...business-plans/ Look at debt and required service payments about halfway down. Worst case scenario (and it's financially prudent, regardless) is that $30-35 million causes them to pass on an Arrieta extension. It's actually in their favor to use that financial prudence argument with fans, like the Cardinals with Pujols. Between 2019 (tv rights money blows up), anticipated increase in franchise value, the entertainment complex and most of the rooftop stuff being over, they won't have to worry about anything other than allocating money efficiently (see Epstein's bad deals in Boston, the Yankees, Pujols/Hamilton/Wilson/Weaver/Vernon Wells with the Angels and now the Dodgers with their current owners and multi billion dollar tv deal). It's not going to be what derails them. That would be major pitching injuries or non performance, not unlike the White Sox dealt with...remember, they had McCarthy as an "extra starter" in 2006 after Javy was added and eventually dealt him for Danks. Between Schwarber, Russell, Baez, Contreras, Almora, Soler, Edwards Jr....they have plenty of young position player depth to deal from. Unless the Pirates can pressure them, they won't have to win 100+ games every season, either. They also don't have another owner in the division like Ilitch in the AL Central creating additional/artificial competition with elevated payrolls.

Very simple. 11-1 vs. 11-6. Although they can argue back the historical nature of the comeback and one of the best and most memorable Game 7's in the last thirty or forty years. Adjusted for tv sets available compared to 2005 or 1995, some of the highest tv ratings as well...that eclipsed the NFL regular season again for the first time in a long while.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 3, 2016 -> 03:01 PM) I gotta agree with Captain here. From everything I've read the payroll concerns on the N. Side have been vastly over stated and probably emerged mostly out of the wake of the Wilbon's exposure in the Maddon ponzi scheme. Is Rickets the most liquid and well financed owner in MLB? Nah, probably not even close. But the asset he's sitting on just probably increased it's value by 15-30%. If he wants to leverage that into a higher payroll I'd imagine he'll find a way. It didn't stop them from quickly building the best team in MLB so how the hell is it an issue going forward now that Rickets just turned the Cubs into a money tree? If they weren't before, they sure as s*** are now. Not to mention the potential collateral of that Cubs' Network...see McCourts with the Dodgers trying to separate out just the parking rights and borrow against that from future anticipated revenues. Then you've got the forthcoming mint known as the entertainment complex that will print additional money.

Yeah, in 2003 or so I would have been livid. Now it's a bregrudging respect for the Cubs doing things right and following their plan to a T...investing in Latin America, investing in one of the best managers in the game and a gaggle of top-notch front office people. I would have hated Ricketts back then as well...the feeling today is more one of happiness for the sport of baseball and its future, but less and less about the White Sox. In fact, it has made me realize how much I still love the game, and also why following the likes of Yasiel Puig or rooting for the small market Royals or this season the Indians whenever the White Sox were already eliminated provided enough motivation to keep the flames burning in terms of cherishing the sport and its long history that is unlike any other.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 3, 2016 -> 05:53 AM) They had The Rock (who is half Polynesian) and a Native Hawaiian girl in the main parts. Why should it be controversial? http://reagancoalition.com/articles/2016/p...ooks-obese.html

Yeah, The Accountant wasn't a bad action flick at all. Y2Jimmy has said enough...just not so sure about needing a gun that's essentially an anti-aircraft weapon, that was overdoing it just a bit. http://www.metacritic.com/pictures/novembe...-preview?ref=hp FINALLY SOME PROMISING MOVIES TO LOOK FORWARD TO AS NOVEMBER HITS Allied (movie everyone's claiming was start of Pitt/Cotillard fling or non-fling) Miss Sloane, Moana (somewhat controversial animation film because of the S.Pacific ethnicity portrayed), Arrival (it's officially AMY ADAMS MONTH), Loving, Manchester By the Sea (Affleck Brothers cleaning up) and Nocturnal Animals (more Adams) all look like potential Academy Award nominees. Rules Don't Apply looks interesting. You've ALSO got a Mel Gibson pic about a WWII conscientious object/medic (back to his Catholic roots again), Dr. Strange is getting very good reviews despite the lack of an Asian cast, the Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts (am a bit tired of Eddie Redmayne at the moment) and another possible breakout comedy with Hailee Stanfield/Woody Harrelson (The Edge of Seventee).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/reports-detail-t...-190230912.html Trump dogged by Russian connections...and questions.

Schoenfield knows the White Sox about as well as any ESPN writer. The need for just a paragraph (2-4 sentences for most teams) precluded him from going into too much detail. He's written much more detailed articles in the past (especially after the +13 over .500 start this year) on the Sox.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1792798...ahead-offseason If you go by Las Vegas gambling odds for winning it all in 2017, somewhere between 19th and 21st. Feels about right...split the difference and you're at 22. Not terrible enough to the bottom, and not good enough to contend for a playoff spot. Cubs 3-1 Dodgers/Nationals/Red Sox 10-1 Mets/Indians/Astros 12-1 Blue Jays 14-1 Giants 16-1 White Sox start off at 60-1 odds.

Not feeling as upset as I thought I would... The Cubs had to overcome the 3-1 deficit (last since 85 Royals), Cleveland crowds, Francona, Kluber, Miller (finally got to him at the end of the series), blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead with two of those runs scoring on a wild pitch, their closer blowing up (yet again) in the post-season. The Indians had four at-bats to either walk off or go ahead and couldn't get over the hump...maybe part of it was due to the weather in the bottom of the 9th. When they had Rajai Davis up with a chance to tie the game again, it started to dawn on me that nobody really deserved to lose that game, and that the Cubs fans didn't really deserve to be heartbroken/have heart attacks twice in the span of one game (assuming it didn't happen on the Lester WP). Not to mention surviving Baez's insane bunt attempt with a chance to drive in the go-ahead run and Lindor's play up the middle to preserve the tie against Fowler. This game really reinforced the impact that managers can make, especially in the post-season (although they tend to overmanage, too)...reminding of all those arguments about the coaching staff not really mattering that much over the last 4 seasons. In the end, the heroes were guy like Ross, Zobrist and Montero (some huge hits this post-season in his likely swan song with the team)...Lester, the veteran, holding back the tide for the most part, Bryant scoring from first on the hit-and-run single. Zobrist has now been a key player on the last two World Series teams in his mid 30's and had one of the most professional at-bats in his career with that opposite field double. Plus, I think he's a Chicagoland (well, maybe an hour away) native. The Indians just ran out of relievers (and gas) after having to use Miller and Allen so early....Shaw is just not that dominating. Pitching three times on short rest finally caught up with Kluber, and one of the few second-guess areas was Francona letting Kluber extend the lead to 4-1 on the Baez homer, but that's easy to fault in hindsight. Still, imagine if they had a healthy Salazar, Carrasco and Brantley...There's zero doubt that team will be back again with a vengeance, led by Lindor and Kipnis up the middle.

There's zero reason to believe the Indians are actually going away. Bauer was like their sixth or seventh starter in March. The had Clevinger, Tomlin, Cody Anderson....after Kluber, Salazar and Carrasco. They've also still got Bradley Zimmer and Merritt, and very strong quality depth in the low minors despite the Miller trade.

Losing Petricka and Putnam doomed the season. No, it was the lack of offdays in April and May. No, it was Matt Albers' conditioning level or lack thereof...not to mention overusing Robertson early as well. If we only had Austin Jackson back in mid July the season would have turned out quite differently, or LaRoche quit a month earlier. The White Sox have perfected the art of excuses covering their poor judgment. That an entire season could fall apart due to a combined loss that doesn't equal one of Brantley, Salazar or Carrasco alone is ludicrous.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Nov 1, 2016 -> 10:47 PM) I agree with your idea to build around the starting pitching. Watching the playoffs, I'm convinced that they are not that far away from a playoff appearance. They just need to add guys who can get on base consistently. It seems like 10 years of all or nothing teams. On the current roster of everyday players, I'd hold on to Anderson, Frazier, and probably Eaton and listen to offers for everyone else. Build the minor league talent pool with smaller trades for teams' 5-10 ranked prospects at the trade deadline if the season isn't going well. The important thing is to be aggressive at that time and dump guys like Jones and Robertson and Cabrera that teams want for their playoff push. The Duke to STL trade is a good example. They took a flyer on a mid level prospect. We'll have to see how it turns out. Sale for a team's top 4 or 5 prospects sounds great if they turn into Arizona, Baez, Contreras, etc, but that's no guarantee. I'd rather acquire talent and do a better job of developing it. Except Frazier and Anderson weren't particularly high OBP guys...

Yes, but had we signed Desmond or Fowler, we would have gotten that compensation back when they declined qualifying offers...so paying either of two guys who put up 3 WAR seasons under $10 million AND getting draft pick comp wouldn't have been a bad deal at all. We signed lots of veterans this year to one year deals like Latos, Rollins, Morneau, Navarro, Avila, etc., so one more wouldn't have "ruined" the hypothetical long-term plan.

No, they didn't say that all. They said they can't prove a direct, conclusive link between Trump and Russia...not that foreign agents haven't tried to influence the US presidential election. Proving a conspiracy is always challenging. In the same way that being reckless with an email server isn't the same thing as bring a traitor or committing deliberate espionage. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/po...nald-trump.html

If the White Sox didn't have the necessary budget leeway to add another $5-10 million (the cost of finishing with either Fowler or Desmond), then they shouldn't have bothered to sign Robertson, Cabrera, LaRoche, trade for Frazier, etc. The margin of error was just way too thin, and it proved itself to be prophetic when Rollins and Latos struggled, Avila/Navarro struggled/got hurt and finally the Austin Jackson injury. Of course, the most mystifying part of last season was adding a lot more money onto the payroll for James Shields (when they were still in contention), money that they apparently didn't feel justified spending before the season began, even though it amount to much less than they eventually allocated to Shields. You can't defend the White Sox front office for falling short on adding an impact bat because they "ran out of money/budget/resources," because EVERYONE AT SOXTALK saw that situation coming from a MILE away. In fact, while many were not confident about a Cespedes deal, Gordon was a very real possibility, along with Desmond and possibly Fowler. Obviously, Gordon got hurt, but his asking price came down $18-28 million from the original expected/asking price at the beginning of the off-season. Looking at Jackson's last 2-3 seasons and his enigmatic performance, it was about as realistic for him to return to a 3 WAR player as it was for Lawrie. Of course, they could have traded for Jean Segura, for example, but 28 other teams missed out on that lower-hanging fruit (Trumbo as well).

Carlos was not the Junior (not Javy) Guerra or Carlos Torres of his time.