caulfield12

So much for this game, oops....Addison Russell statue to go up right next to Bryant, Rizzo, Schwarber and Maddon.

Let's imagine the doomsday (hopefully this thread disappears tonight or tmrw) scenario happens and the Cubs do win it all. On the negative side, the White Sox will practically cease to exist this offseason, and the Indians would be doubly motivated to make another run at the World Series in 2017 with Brantley, Carrasco and Santana all back in the fold, not to mention the additional veterans (like Pearce, mentioned in another thread) to supplement the current roster's few weaknesses. We've seen over and over again in sports, the team that just barely misses a title come back the next year, and, likewise, the title-winning team runs out of gas or loses its motivation and focus after all the celebrating and media attention becomes a never-ending distraction. This gives the White Sox even more cover to operate under the radar and start the rebuilding process in full. No first round draft pick protection, a scarce number of FA assets available, payroll pressures due to flat or negative revenue growth (taking into consideration discounted tickets over time) and few minor league prospects that would be in high demand for other teams. The other positives is that overall revenues/popularity (at least in the short-term) for MLB and MLB Media will grow...more young people will become interested in the sport (especially in Chicago) and a rising tide floats ALL boats, so the White Sox franchise value would actually grow by 5-10%. The positive (or negative) effect on the broadcasting rights climate in 2019 is another story altogether, although by rebuilding NOW, there's an extremely high likelihood they SHOULD have a competitive team by that time, rather than the approach of the last couple of off-seasons of trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Over the span of 5-7 years out from now (which seems like forever, in this moment), the Cubs will start to eventually lose some of the "Lovable Losers" appeal and they'll instead begin to morph into a corporate conglomerate franchise more and more like the Red Sox, Dodgers and Yankees that is judged more by wins and losses (and titles) than the touristic reasons of/for attending a game at Fenway or Wrigley. This will especially be the case if they were to win multiple WS titles or make the playoffs 3-4-5 times consecutively.

Schwarber moved up to second in the line-up....Joe Maddon Brilliance in action.

His programs still successfully sell advertising blocks. His supporters loyally buy or boycott products. In the end, 90+% is about economics and return on investment. Doesn't matter if it's the Kardashians or Real Housewives of .... and completely devoid of any social function other than pure entertainment. https://www.yahoo.com/news/reports-detail-t...-190230912.html Equally impossible to not have an investigation about foreign (Russian) interference/coordination with campaigns if Trump somehow wins and Comey stays on as FBI director. The country's pretty much equally screwed either way, now.

What next, a debate about the nooses around cardboard cutouts of Obama and Clinton at Camp Randall this past weekend weeke, with many arguing there's no racist connotation whatsoever since HRC was also included?

That would probably put the final nail in Playboy's eventual bankruptcy. Should stadiums funded with taxpayer revenues (unless 100% privatized) even have the right to use corporate names? It's an interesting debate. Most amusing line of Balta's statement is close to a reality already, our next manager actually might have been Kane County's in 2015 (in Grudzielanek), since we're banishing rhetorical Hahn lackeys off to run that franchise.

When is the result of the expedited investigation supposed to come out? Surely that's not going to be the biggest presidential election story since 2000 or Dewey Defeats Truman if Trump were to somehow pull this out of the jaws of defeat...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 1, 2016 -> 07:38 AM) The Frazier deal defines the big picture plan for the White Sox. They constantly believe they are one-two big name players away from competing for the wild card, and that failing to compete for the wild card every year is a mistake, so they should sell out whatever they can to get a big name player at a position of weakness. Put everything on the line and put as many big names on your big league squad as possible regardless of what it does to your organization. That's the Samardzija deal, that's the Frazier deal, that's the free agent signings of the last couple years, that sums up this team going as far back as bringing in Dunn and Rios, with the notable exception of 2014. Don't forget the great Jake Peavy Chase...

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 1, 2016 -> 09:07 AM) Heck, maybe we can get some sponsors like Dumpster Fire International, Anemia Society of America, and America's Funniest Bloopers. Shouldn't matter how they tie into the image of the ball club. Weiner's Weiners? If the White Sox just did the exact opposite of whatever their instincts were the last 2-3 years, they couldn't be any worse off. Yes, if the White Sox are the Cubs and Wrigley was renamed...Guaranteed Rate is giving them $75-100 million and it's a downpayment on another franchise pitcher. Diversified revenue streams. Brilliant. Everyone would be lauding the decision unless the entire organization fell apart next season and they didn't make the playoffs again until 2026. Of course with the White Sox, that money usually turns into another Keppinger, Teahen or Bonifacio instead.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Grudzielanek Managed Kane County in 2015...then jumped to Assistant Coordinator of Player Development with the DBacks in 2016. A more promising version of Getz.

Yay, ex-Cubs! Does he actually have any managerial experience?

Almost half the improvement is from that Pollock trade. Don't see the DBacks doing that one. Holland wouldn't be a bad idea, but isn't really a fireballer, and the Royals might trade Davis and bring back Holland on a similar incentives-based deal. Of course, that could submarine their chances right out of the gate. Pearce isn't a bad idea at all, but have a feeling he will want to play for a contender unless the White Sox promise everyday playing time. Also don't see Ramos as a possibility...someone will outbid us or a contender will come calling. Bottom line, they'd have to get Ramos and Pollock before any of this would start to make sense. Neither one seems like a very realistic possibility.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 31, 2016 -> 05:44 PM) This is all pretty bad though. The person who leaked the questions should be ashamed of herself. And again, why accept the question if you are Hillary? Don't you agree little things can say a lot about a person? If she gets a leaked question shouldn't she tell the leaker to give one to Trump as well? When's the last time you heard of that happening? St. Francis Xavier ethics class/student officer elections?

Wow...that yahoo comments thread (263 and stretching) is really brutal. If anyone in marketing took the time to read through it, they'd realize how big of a hole they've dug themselves into here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/white-soxs-re...&soc_trk=ma Maybe the goal was to steal all the thunder from the Cubs this week? It almost feels like we've had more negative overall articles going back to 2013 and probably even 2011 (Dunn) than positive articles. That's a pretty tough thing for any sports organization to accomplish. Whatever the Cubs do positively, we're taking the same exact number of steps backwards, and they're happening almost simultaneously. They almost have to trade Sale/Quintana because every move they make is going to be met with an eye roll/sigh at this point.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 31, 2016 -> 05:21 PM) Now this is amazing. Hillary accepted the leaked debate questions?? That says nothing about her character, though. She saw nothing wrong in accepting the questions. Hey, all's fair when you are the Clintons, right? She should never have accepted the questions in advance. A trustworthy person wouldn't have. These small signs add up, people. Explain this one! https://www.yahoo.com/news/cnn-cuts-ties-wi...-183855590.html Look at it like the SAT essay exam. It's pretty hard to imagine questions were asked that hadn't been anticipated from either camp. You can research past debates and moderators and their styles of questioning quite easily. I would argue that Clinton actually does worse when she's overprepared, uses pretested jokes or forces soundbites, etc. Let's say there are a field of 500 possible essay questions (released items from past exams) for the SAT. Students here in China will memorize every single one and develop a strategy with three bullet points of how to handle that question. The problem is that sometimes their answers will seem too rehearsed and robotic on speaking exams...but it does work fairly well for essays.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 31, 2016 -> 08:05 AM) That's a pretty amazing overreaction to the FBI finding emails that it has no idea what they contain and how many of them they've already seen before anyway. Sad to see Comey's letter having this effect, that people seem to think that the mere existence of emails is some sort of scandal. edit: googling his name, he looks like he's cut from the same cloth as Dick Morris so him having any support for Clinton in the first place is highly questionable. This just looks like bad concern trolling. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Schoen See third paragraph. Obviously, he's with Fox News now, but I found it, at the very least, interesting. Mark Penn/Carville...those guys were tight. He (Schoen) was always closer to Bill, but he did work with Hillary's 2008 campaign.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/pres...hillary?ref=yfp Longtime Clinton pollster Doug Schoen turns on HRC. A bit of a surprise with this name from the past.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 30, 2016 -> 09:53 PM) Caulfield I can't click on your links. Maybe it's cause they coming from a foreign country. But last time I clicked on your link to me my computer went berserk. I had to restart it, etc. cause it went heywire with alert messages. Okay, maybe it's different because I use a vpn/proxy to watch most US websites...even SoxTalk is 5-10x slower on average here in China than it was 2-3 years ago. Before, it was similar to the US download speeds.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/30/opinions/cri...aria/index.html Greg, do you agree or disagree with this premise?

Schwarber, Contreras and Baez won't be the deal. At best, you sub out one of the last two for Jimenez but that's incredibly high-risk for both GM's. If Hahn is anything, he is not a risk-taker.

I guess the better question is could she still be prosecuted or indicted by DOJ without an impeachment hearing or trial in the House? Would guess the answer is no, but considering Crooked Hillary and Lock Her Up, it's a strange strategy to promote an eventuality which can't happen constitutionally....but nothing is surprising anymore. What if the "crime" was committed post-election but pre-inauguration?

Schwarber and Contreras...

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 30, 2016 -> 07:57 AM) A couple of thoughts: Swihart was not superfluous, he didn't cut it. The catching job was his last spring and he really struggled defensively before being sent back to AAA to learn left-field. Maybe in a new organization he can start all over again, but he will be 25 and took a year off from catching in 2016. Red Sox biggest prospect weakness is starting pitching . They traded their highest rated for Pomeranz so my guess is Groome is now their #1 since Kopech my end up being a reliever due to his limited pitch selection. I think Rodriguez can be had but not both him and Groome. Moncada was shut down last week with what they called a minor thumb injury. Not sure how that would play out in any trade discussions. I meant in the sense he's now a spare part, like Shaw, Rusney Castillo and Holt. They still have to figure out a place for Moncada to play, and they probably don't want to start him as DH when he has so many (unrefined) physical tools. Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez have to fit as well. And they're already talking about Bautista or Encarnacion coming on board at DH. Moncada probably will end up at 3b or a corner of spot if Benitendi's dealt. His best position might be 2b, but Pedroia blocks him there for now.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 30, 2016 -> 07:57 AM) A couple of thoughts: Swihart was not superfluous, he didn't cut it. The catching job was his last spring and he really struggled defensively before being sent back to AAA to learn left-field. Maybe in a new organization he can start all over again, but he will be 25 and took a year off from catching in 2016. Red Sox biggest prospect weakness is starting pitching . They traded their highest rated for Pomeranz so my guess is Groome is now their #1 since Kopech my end up being a reliever due to his limited pitch selection. I think Rodriguez can be had but not both him and Groome. Moncada was shut down last week with what they called a minor thumb injury. Not sure how that would play out in any trade discussions. I meant in the sense he's now a spare part, like Shaw, Rusney Castillo and Holt. Vasquez at catcher is another enigma. They still have to figure out a place for Moncada to play, and they probably don't want to start him as DH when he has so many (unrefined) physical tools. Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez have to fit as well. And they're already talking about Bautista or Encarnacion coming on board at DH. Moncada probably will end up at 3b or a corner of spot if Benitendi's dealt. His best position might be 2b, but Pedroia blocks him there for now.