caulfield12

The suicide rate will definitely climb if we have to watch Florence Foster Jenkins and Mama Mia 24 hours per day. https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-dems-g...--election.html Whatever McConnell thinks should go...let's all grow up and not do anything to obstruct the GOPers who are suddenly on a mission to change the world in their own image.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 8, 2017 -> 01:22 PM) Per MLB's Rankings 2015: Anderson #38, Fulmer #42 2014: Rodon #19, Anderson #81 2013: Davidson #64 Basabe would have been top in 2012...man, our MLB.com Top 5 was Trayce, Hawkins, Charle Leesman, Nestor Molina and Keenyn Walker. Keep in mind we had Quintana and Santiago coming out of nowhere that season. Nate Jones and Addison Reed. What did we use, something like 13 rookies over the course of the entire year, mostly in the bullpen.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/01/08/judg...-closed?ref=yfp I dearly miss these type of articles from before the election. Can't blame the Russians here, one would think.

D'Angelo Jimenez II

https://www.yahoo.com/news/report-election-...--election.html Now we're just supposed to take Trump's astute foreign policy advice that having a positive relationship with Russia and completely ignoring the corruption of the Yeltsin/Putin oligarchy is somehow going to work out well for the world?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 06:45 PM) I think the Astros are pushing things one year ahead of time. They really should have used the '17 season as a development year to see how young pitchers like McCullers, Musgrove, Paulino, Martes and hitters Bregman, Gurriel, Reed, Fisher, Hernandez progress. Then they would know what they had going into next winter when there will be plenty of FA pitching and hitting available and could dangle P.Tucker and Springer to get them some pitching. With what they have on their 40 man roster now along with what they have on the farm that could come up this season, they could have a wicked young core of hitters and pitchers for many years to come. Signing Reddick and Beltran took ab's away from hitters they are reluctant to trade. But hey, cheers to the Astros going for it because I think they know they need stability in their rotation so in the end they really have to part with a few pieces they may not want to part with to get Q. Now that I think about it, all that s*** can be said about the Pirates and their young talent so cheers to them for being in need of pitching too. Now, would one of those teams drop their knickers already and give it up. Except Preston Tucker, Reed and Marisnick all have lower value now...and there's no clear CFer. Singleton and Grossman were flops with Houston. That has been determined, at least. If anything, 2015 pushed the 2017 Astros/Cubs timetable up by one year. But yeah, they're short at least one quality pitcher, and two if McCullers can't stay healthy. They look a lot like the 2016 Blue Jays right now.

Ths is where we wait for another version of the 2016 White Sox starting off hot...and getting desperate to acquire James Shields. The difference being Q will still be the biggest asset out there, unless Archer, Sonny Gray or Duffy are put on the market again, assuming they're pitching extremely well for teams out of the playoff race. Bac to the Astros. AJ Reed is surely blocked now. Sox scouts agree on him as the third piece, they still should be able to get a deal done. Four players in total. Tucker as the centerpiece, once again the scouts are making the call on him.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 05:10 PM) I wouldn't necessarily say that either. You could have easily said something similar to that about the 2015 Kansas City Royals, what with Ventura, Volquez, Cueto, and Young. That was not a super strong rotation either, but they made it work. Bottom line, they can probably afford to be patient. Quintana will be moved in time. As long as there are multiple teams bidding, one of those teams will blink at some point soon. And they also started a critical World Series game with a dude now pitching for the Melbourne Aces in Jeremy Guthrie. As to an earlier comment about the Pitching Death Star. The White Sox minor league system was even stronger from 1998-2001. Of that group, only Garland and Buehrle made it to 2005. Contreras and Garcia came via trades, along with El Duque. Then you had McCarthy emerge for ten starts. But essentially only 2/6 from best minor league pitching class the Sox ever assembled. That same timeline would be 2021 for us, although the 2003 White Sox got there in just three years (albeit different situations).

Only 2/3 wives...Czech Republic and Slovenia. Marla Maples, not a Communist! Maybe that's why they attempted to hide Tiffany?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-wants-form...--election.html Picking Russia critic Coats as intelligence chief is either brilliant PR or insanity

So Russia hacked into the GOP and didn't release anything detrimental to Trump. Hmmm... They specifically launched their propaganda campaign to shore up support after the Billy Bush tape was leaked...when nobody thought he could win and there was quite a bit of talk about replacing him on the ticket. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...1124-story.html There were 213 million views of "fake news" attacking Clinton and her campaign. Then you had the FBI October Surprise 10-11 days before the election. Something completely unprecedented in modern US political elections. And instead of investigating how Russia is attempting to benefit from this reset...which was clearly political and strategic...we have one leaked debate question to Donna Brazile, Goldman and Citigroup conspiracy theories (and we could spend months discussing the Bush cabinet conflicts of interest and corruption involved with deciding which banks to save and which ones to let implode in 2008)...and that Bernie Sanders wasn't exactly helped by the Democrats. Okay. Not to mention Bernie Sanders has been an independent for most of his career...honeymooned in Communist Russia during the height of the Cold War...his two trademark positions during the campaign (breaking up big banks and free/universal college education) were 1) completely impractical, 2) not something he would directly control even as president and 3) both of these concepts had zero chance of getting through a GOP-led Congress. But putting roadblocks in the path of someone (Sanders) who has about the same amount of interest and knowledge about foreign policy as Donald Trump is clearly the equivalent of: 1) Giving Russia free reign with the Baltic States http://www.pri.org/stories/2017-01-05/balt...ssia-could-lead 2) Blowing up NATO and ceding more power with the European Union likely to splinter if Merkel loses re-election 3) Crimea and the Ukraine 4) Turkey and Syria 5) Partnership with Tillerson and Exxon/Mobil 6) Plotted to assassinate the Montengran PM in order to delay their entry into NATO and being another vote along with the Baltic States to block Russia http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/where-...636ac5a0435ac6a 7) Wikileaks/Assange/pro-Trump propaganda 8) Repression of free speech/press

https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-derides-re...102.html?ref=gs Obama derides "reckless" plan to repeal...says he'll be on board if they can improve upon it, warns of consequences with a replacement at least two years away (after 2018 midterm elections). Ryan pledges to bring ObamaCare replacement legislation to Congress "this year" http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/paul-ryan-p...ory?id=44576835

Anja Taylor Joy became a rising star in The Witch, but nobody other than the critics really loved it. Fences was a pretty darned powerful little picture. Denzel and Viola Davis deserve all the accolades they're receiving. Lots of baseball references in there as well (takes place in 1957-1965ish Pittsburgh).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-says-sande...-212438322.html A truly great president would not blame Bernie Sanders, his supporters or GOP obstructionism for his inability to convince America of ObamaCare's ultimate success.

One question, that...in the end, with her lack of debating skills, wouldn't matter. In fact, she's better when not overprepared and over-rehearsed. Which members that had nothing at all to do with economics or finance did Goldman or Citi influence? Trump exerted even more control over interview questions or terms of interviews than any candidate in history...because he was the main show in town and was driving ratings/advertising dollars. He still hasn't given a press conference. And Bernie Sanders had at least a 50/50 shot to knock off Clinton but there's no way he was ever going to win South Carolina. She loses there, especially with the African American vote, and her support crumbles. The GOP wanted practically any candidate but Trump to win...everyone could see how their internal firewalls worked out. Being the "outsider" or anti-establishment candidates helped Sanders and Trump immensely.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 08:24 PM) I disagree with Bregman. I think they believe he is very important to the roster. Having a good glove at 3B, especially with their staff, who has good offensive potential is important. As for Meadows, the Pirates have been shopping McCutchen because they can't afford him for the next contract. It appears that Meadows is the replacement. The Pirates need to have at least a shot at the playoffs each year to maintain the fan base. From all reports Meadows is the player who can replace him and they are reluctant to lose a player that close to the MLB, they need to replace an MLB player. all of this is JMHO but it doesn't take a genius to see where these negotiations are going. Maybe RH/KW will wear them down but it sure doesn't look like it. Then acquiring Gurriel, Beltran and McCann didn't make much sense if they want to continue to give at-bats to Gattis as well. The equation doesn't work if you're trying to play Bregman, not to mention AJ Reed. Something has to give. From all reports, Gurriel is an above-average defender at 3b, too.

We might as well throw Hawkins to the wolves while they're at it. Of course, that would put their scouting more under the microscope.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 05:14 AM) This is the strangest turn yet in this thread. That would probably have to involve Adam LaRoche wanting to provide a first-person account to SoxTalk about his mission trip saving women from human trafficking and the red-light districts of Thailand. Back to feathered serpiente talk.

Should have said UP to three years of control...now that he opted out of the original deal.

Try to make it over to Nha Trang, Hue and Da Nang in Vietnam unless you're going the clockwise direction into Thailand for return. Angkor Wat is one of the coolest wonders of the world (takes a FULL two days) but, for my money, Machu Picchu is still the best.

You would think that 2% who's going to actually be paying HIGHER taxes would be a bit upset that almost all of the benefits of the new tax policies are flowing upwards to the Top 1%, and, more specifically, the Top 10% of that 1%. These 2-3%ers are SUPPOSEDLY the JOB CREATORS/FAMILY FARMERS/SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AS WELL, are they not? Or these are "merely" white collar professionals who mostly work FOR someone else? So they can safely be overlooked by Trump, because the majority of them aren't likely to vote Democrat regardless?

QUOTE (Tony @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 08:40 PM) If that was the case, he'd already be on another roster. Good thread though, this is a topic where legit arguments can be made on both sides. Maybe...but they need to have at least one "veteran" offensive player, and he's the natural choice with Moncada one of the most hyped prospects in MILB the last decade and obviously a fellow Cuban. That has more intrinsic value to the Sox organization (as well as their collective ability to "recruit" their countrymen) than the return available on the current trade market (due to the unsigned players). June/July, it will be revisited. At any rate, there has to be a few veteran players to hold down the fort and provide some stability...and unless you're a huge fan of someone like Davidson (or Delmonico/Coats), there's not really any at-bats theoretically being taken away from capable replacements in our current system. With Frazier/Robertson/Cabrera all likely on the way out...you need to have at least one identifiable player, and you can certainly make the argument is he currently has more value to the White Sox than to other teams, with the outside possibility the White Sox could be competitive in 2018 and definitely in 2019, his final contract year.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/higher-incom...-163613852.html The 2% of upper middle class Americans who are going to be paying higher taxes under Trump... https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-calls-for-...-143034008.html This is rich...Trump upset the GOP is being set up to take the "blame" on the health care issue. Well, no, it's called assuming the responsibility to fix it if you're the actual party in power. The GOP made zero effort eight years ago to do anything but obstruct a system that was actually far more conservative than Mitt Romney's program in Massachusetts. We're seriously considering a major cut in SS and Medicare benefits to those earning $12-14,000 per year but completely content to give Tillerson a $180 million golden parachute. Good luck on that.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 10:50 PM) Who knows what the future will hold, but at least Trump stood against the ethic's committee thing. Otoh, those were easy political points to score that didn't cost him anything. Remember, he's going to have to at least cooperate with the party beginning January 20th, and publicly slapping their wrists isn't going to sit well from an optics standpoint. Most members of Congress feel they can easily outlast the president, that he's just a temporary "anomaly" who will be around for at most 8 but likely only 4 years.

This Hawk/Benetti is at best 50/50...and might even favor Harrelson if we conducted a truly anonymous poll. It's definitely not some kind of "veto-proof" majority where 2/3rd's or 75% prefer Benetti. If that was the case, and they actually could defensibly argue the case that Harrelson was costing them money/ratings/ad buys, then he wouldn't be allowed to stay for another four years. Loyalty to the former broadcaster Hawk was...and not what he objectively IS today, would win out and JR would have a heart to heart with him about his chances of winning the Ford C. Frick broadcasting award actually decreasing the longer he holds on.