caulfield12

Should read...should they try to work out a deal once he goes to league minimum from the Sox perspective? Opportunity cost...playing time for Narvaez/Smith vs. the possibility of flipping Montero for something if he was hot offensively. Does anyone actually see either of those two starting for the Sox in 2-3 years? Will Montero mean 1-2 more wins and a 5 or 6 pick instead of 3-4? That said, there are a lot of ex Sox catchers around the big leagues. So we've actually done okay cultivating back ups.

Even the middle class would feel GOP squeeze on nursing home care http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/news/econo...omes/index.html A combination of longer life spans and spiraling health care costs has left an estimated 64% of the Americans in nursing homes dependent on Medicaid. In Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia, Medicaid was the primary payer for three-quarters or more of nursing home residents in 2015, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent project of the foundation.)

This series has been a terrible disappointment attendance-wise. Middle of the summer, Judge the biggest story in the game, Yankees near first place... 20,339 18,023 15,259 17,873 average. I thought for sure they would be at 22,500-25,000 per game.

Collins Heller Moran Capito Portman Murkowski Hoeven Todd Young Boozman Grassley (shocking) Tillis Paul Cruz Ron Johnson Lee Gardner Cassidy All no's, no's after the fact or part of the "moderate working group" shut out of the process by McConnell. Cassidy (an actual doctor) and Collins have been working on their own more centrist plan for months now. Portman seems to be the biggest villain to the Trumpers, along with Heller...but he's politically untouchable in Ohio, just like Kasich..

And can someone tell Jared how idiotic he looks calling out Tillerson for being unprofessional (yelling out of frustration at a female staffer in a meeting about the slow pace of his State Dept. appointments and Trump administrative geeks trying to block them)...when he's the most rotten apple of the bunch. At least Bannon has intellectual curiosity, he just focuses it in the wrong direction 75% of the time.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 29, 2017 -> 07:05 AM) Capital-P Presidential Stay classy...like the contract he forced Melania to sign, if you choose to have a baby, you have to make a promise to get back to your pre-birth shape or else.

1 for his last 24...

Talk about tone deaf... Washington • On his way out of Congress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz gave many District of Columbia residents another reason to gripe Tuesday when he called for members of Congress to receive a housing stipend of up to $30,000 a year. Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chaired the committee that has oversight of the nation's capital, said federal lawmakers have trouble stretching their $174,000 salaries to cover housing in Washington, which he called "one of the most expensive places in the world," and homes in their congressional districts. "I really do believe Congress would be much better served if there was a housing allowance for members of Congress," Chaffetz told The Hill, which first reported his stipend proposal. "In today's climate, nobody's going to suggest or vote for a pay raise. But you shouldn't have to be among the wealthiest of Americans to serve properly in Congress." http://www.sltrib.com/home/5450590-155/story.html

On pace for 3.7 fWAR....but correcting for recent trend could give you 4-4.50 #16-21 at current fWAR at 1.8 4.01 fip, 4.21 xfip 3. Archer 13. Vargas 14. Shark (big contract) 18. Nova? 20. Q 21. Darvish

Holmberg has actually held his own pretty well....despite the defense. Realize one of the errors was his own doing last night.

Al Franken: Democrats ‘gotta stop riding in limousines’ https://www.yahoo.com/news/al-franken-democ...-164552540.html Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., says the Democratic Party has a clear messaging problem. Franken was asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday how members of “the corporate wing” of the party might be able to erase the “limousine Democrat” image in the minds of some voters. “We gotta stop riding in limousines,” Franken replied. But the comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” star quickly pivoted to an attack on the GOP health care bill, which would slash Medicaid for millions of Americans and cut taxes for the wealthy. “If you’re talking about limousines, how about the top 400 people in terms of tax cuts here?” Franken said. “The amount of money they’ll get in tax cuts would pay for Medicaid for 750,000 people.” Franken then cited a recent survey in the New England Journal of Medicine which concluded that for every 750,000 people who lose Medicaid coverage, 1,000 to 2,000 people will die.

Josue Guerrero continues to struggle. Both teams had more runs than hits, DSL Sox had four errors and still managed to win.

Republicans also argue that more people may choose to stop purchasing health insurance without the threat of Obamacare’s penalty for going uninsured, which this bill eliminates. Instead, an updated version of the Senate bill includes a provision that would lock people out of coverage for six months if they were previously uninsured. That is meant to discourage people from waiting until they are sick to purchase health insurance. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/26/c...are-bill-239967

Goodbye Nonpartisan Journalism. And Good Riddance. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/201...riddance-215305

Kellyanne still has a job? How is that possible? If you're truly terrible in the Trump admin, you just get promoted, like her and Sean Spicer...

Let's not forget about Alec Hanson, the most non-Dominican name of all-time. He has looked good, too. For those saying it's moving too slow...we have Q, Robertson still to go, along with Frazier...maybe Holland, Swarzak and Pelfrey. Equally important are Avi, Kahnle, Davidson, Leury, SANCHEZ, W. Garcia, Hanson...they've made this season fun and even entertaining. Just think how much time we spent speculating on Saladino, he's almost reached Tilson-esque irrelevancy.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 08:54 AM) Another thing to watch is how much $$ they eat in the Frazier/Robertson/Melky trades. And Holland, to a lesser extent...officially stuck with Shields, now. At any rate, Leury Garcia could be really attractive to a lot of teams due to his versatility. Yolmer, as well.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 08:50 AM) I guess I lump in the 2016 draft into the rebuild. That Collins pick is looking very bad to me. The Giolito/Lopez return for Eaton not looking good so far. Moncada/Kopech look about what you could reasonably expect. Robert looks good early. Not trading Q looks like a bad decision. I would say the plan has been OK, results not overwhelming. But you never know until about 20 years later how things turn out. Dunning is pitching really well now for Winston-Salem...could be the best of the three.

Severino/Q tmrw. Tanaka vs. Rodon WED?

Average score so far is equal to 6.6. 6.8 without Greg's 2, haha. I guess another element to this is feeling the Sale trade was one player light (a significant third piece instead of two more lesser ones) and the initial stumbles of Lucas Giolito. Of course now, Fulmer and Collins are taking the most criticism, along with Timmy Anderson. (Also pretty obvious the Red Sox weren't ever including Devers or Benintendi. Moncada lights it up in his recall and maybe that trade goes down as Devers and Kopech instead?)

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 06:24 AM) Other than Tim Anderson (maybe) and Carlos Rodon, I don't anticipate any of the players at the MLB level to be on this team after 2018. This rebuild is going to take time and right now the name of the game is to sell high on as many of these assets as possible. Sure there are thoughts of Abreu playing the 'mentor' role for the likes of Robert and Moncada, or possibly keeping this reborn Avi around for the future as well. But if these guys are tearing the heads off the ball and a team is desperate for another bat at the deadline or during the winter meetings, I do think Hahn will make the deal. We need to stop worrying about the main roster and focus more on farm depth. Not all of these prospects will stick, but the more of them we have, the better chance this rebuild will provide us fans something to truly be excited about. The 2018 and 2019 MLB drafts are extremely important. This years trade deadline will be HUGE as DRob and Quintana are top targets. I do believe both will be traded and we will be pleased with the returns. Frazier may bring the white sox a low level guy and Melky will likely be a non-waiver deal candidates in August. To me, the most intriguing trade candidates are Kahnle and Swarzak. If Hahn can flip these two relievers into prospects from the Top 100 list... wow! This December will be very very interesting. Providing Q and DRob were the two big names traded at the deadline, I'm very curious to see if Hahn sells high on Avi and what the market values him. Is this all star season a fluke, or is this the real Avi? Seeing reports that the Cardinals are interested in him is encouraging. Any AL team seeking a DH/ OF will have to offer something good. If his poor defense is dragging down his value, id say hold onto him one more year and put him in LF, a much easier position to cover. Abreu will likely draw a lot of value this winter as teams begin to reset. If the Sox are certain about drafting a guy like Seth Beer or believe Collins or another recent draft pick can stick at 1b in the near future, I say sell high this December. This rebuild is a process, I'm very happy with it thusfar-- so much needs to get done-- selling high and drafting well is the name of the game. Things will be very interesting after this trade deadline....the farm system is starting to shape up nicely-- I haven't said that since the year 2000! The problem is that a large aspect of ANY positive value defensively (that mitigates his overall bad play) in RF is that arm and the assist totals. That said, Viciedo had plenty of throwing oppotunities in 2012. I don't know the exact number of throws that are cut down from RF moving to LF, maybe 25% or so? As much as 1/3 fewer throwing attempts?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 25, 2017 -> 11:18 PM) One articles view as to why it was kept from congress for so long and then ramrodded through legislation: The reasons for all this were mostly political, this was supposed to be Obama's signature reform and his legacy. The Democrats weren't interested in negotiating with republicans because the had won big in the 2008 elections and this was also partly their victory legislation. The bill was also getting more and more unpopular as the "debate" went on and got uglier and it started becoming apparent that anyone who voted for the bill that wasn't in a totally safe district would face major challenges in reelection bids, especially for republicans, for supporting the bill, so passing fast there was hope that the public's short memory would forget the worst transgressions. The bill was also passed quickly because it has huge welfare spending in it in the form of medicaid expansions and premium subsidies, which once implemented would be nearly impossible to repeal. The spending in the bill was huge and it needed years of extra taxes being collected to build up a cash reserve in order for the bill to be rated as budget neutral. Now you may not think it was and others may not have but others thought so and still think so. Again when you only look at things from a single point of view, it really colors what you see. This is getting to be like Illinois politics so I'm going to bow out of this "discussion." One big problem. The ACA was to the right of Romney's health care plan for Massachusetts...and was a headlining element of his national platform when he ran for President in 2008. It was widely praised and considered to be about as bipartisan as possible for a GOP governor in a deep blue state. Suddenly, by 2010...it was anathema. Fwiw, the biggest enemy Trump's bill currently has is the Koch Brothers, who are threatening to spend $300-400 million in the next election cycle, including the primary targeting of Republicans who cross them because the bill's "not conservative enough."

Trumpcare would send her to Mexico for birth control (Planned Parenthood provision) http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/26/health/plann...ears/index.html

The White Sox hardly have a bad bullpen...nor do they project to have a bad one in the future. Defense is another story.

Here are some facts: Rodon hasn't pitched yet. Q has had his worst season statistically (still Top 25ish fWAR), Anderson has regressed. Cabrera statistically (defense and power) has been of the worst AL players until recently. There would be no Eaton. A competing White Sox team isn't giving opportunities again to Avi, Leury Garcia, Yolmer and Davidson. Kahnle, maybe? The core of the team (Abreu, Frazier, Cabrera, Anderson) entering the year has only had an above average performance from Abreu (and his defense has been shakier), with the others disappointing. Now if you assume we brought back Austin ackson and Avila (both counterintuitive but actually would have worked), we still have a rotation of Sale, Q, Holland, Shields and Miguel Gonzalez. Mix in Pelfrey, Sale cancels the Covey starts. Other than Sale and Q, Pelfrey and Holland are probably 3/4 or 4/3. Miguel Gonzalez has been worse. Shields started off well but is getting bombed out of the park again. Jennings much worse in the pen. Still not seeing a team that's realistically going to compete with the Indians, Twins and Royals...