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For those who think Thornton doesn't have the mentality to handle being the closer, how is he going to deal with being demoted? If you believe that being put in the closer's role can screw up a pitcher, I think we've pretty clearly passed the point of no return and should give the guy more than 3 appearances to prove himself, particularly when he's only given up 1 earned run. Telling a guy he isn't good enough is about the last thing I would want to do to get a guy back on track. Sure, eventually if he consistently blows saves, your hand will be forced, but I think we should try to show a little confidence in a guy who's been pretty damn good for us the past couple years.

It all really comes down to what you're using your computer for. If you plan on multitasking and running a lot of programs in the background, you will probably want more than 4GB. If you just plan on using your computer to laze around on Soxtalk all day, 4GB is probably more than enough. It really just depends on the user. Having more memory than you need can actually slow your computer down (albeit slightly), though I don't think this would be an issue in laptops. QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 11, 2011 -> 03:19 AM) I'm in computer engineering, I couldn't help myself. Cool, we may have actually seen each other around without actually knowing it, assuming your location puts you in U of I.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Apr 11, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) Hey, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. That's fine. I was just showing that it's not as simple as "the NL is an inferior league," and there is no logical reason as of now that Hudson would be unable to handle the AL.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Apr 11, 2011 -> 02:14 PM) Hudson would be eaten alive in the AL ... I'll take Jackson in a heartbeat. Much like how Jackson dominated the NL?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 11, 2011 -> 10:43 AM) Agents represent clients, I dont care if he has Darth Vader as his agent, its up to Jackson. Most clients listen to their agent, but there are definitely some clients who give explicit instructions. I think that if Jackson continues to have great success with the Sox, enjoys his time here, he could potentially resign. Id say the chances are less than 25%, but it could happen. Exactly, Edwin Jackson is represented by the agent that is known for getting the most money. There is a reason he chose Boras. I'm not saying it's completely impossible for him to resign, but it's pretty improbable, especially when you consider that either he or Buehrle have to go if the Sox truly plan on moving Sale to the rotation.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 9, 2011 -> 05:45 PM) A 64 bit processor can technically see 2^64 bits of memory, that's 10^18 bytes. I think at this point, the most Windows will allow for RAM is something like 64-128 GB. But I doubt anybody will be putting in that much memory when they're not building a super computer. 32-bit is pretty much extinct at this point outside of netbooks and really low-end laptops. Yeah, I was trying to keep it practical, and I should have probably worded it better. I doubt you could get more than 8GB without building the system yourself. But hey, I'm just a CS major; I don't need to know those things!

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 9, 2011 -> 10:16 AM) 3. Ask about RAM upgrade-ability (what is the maximum). Seems like most stores don't list this anymore. Look for a machine that can handle 8G ram. I'd recommend upgrading to 8G. Most stores will not have them in stock, but you can find them easily enough online. If the cost of buying one with 8G installed seems unreasonable (>$100 more than machines with 4G), upgrade it yourself. It's simple and makes a significant difference. Some people will tell you it doesn't matter if you have more than 4G because your system won't utilize the extra. Wrong. The way software is being written today sucks up ram, and if you don't have enough it can slow your system to a crawl despite the greater horsepower of your new processor. And this is a HUGE issue is you buy a computer with integrated video ram (no dedicated vram)... and use programs like skype. Actually, they are not wrong. A 32-bit processor can only see 4GB of RAM, whereas a 64-bit processor can see 8GB, so all you need to do to check how much RAM you can use is to check how many bits your processor can handle. I'd also like to reiterate that the most important thing for a typical user is to have lots of RAM, you'll get the best bang for your buck in terms of performance. QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 9, 2011 -> 10:16 AM) Final Note: I'm surprised how slow many new low cost computers run. Have come to the conclusion that its a function of ram, vram, and Windows Aero issues. If you want to save money and still have a very good computer, you can pull it off with less horsepower computer-wise... if you're running Windows XP. I have an Intel Dual-core running XP that still works great and performs as well as most of the lower cost machines sold in stores that run Windows 7. Hope this helps. Will provide more info if you're interested. A lot of the blame for this can be put on Microsoft for the way they made windows lately (and there are free alternatives to windows), but, honestly, if you're looking to get performance, you really shouldn't be buying a laptop. Desktop computers offer greater performance for a lower price.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2011 -> 10:06 AM) We have to have at least one back up OF who can actually catch the ball. Seeing as Teahen isn't going anywhere, it has to be Milledge. Plus no one else can play CF. I'm pretty sure Lillibridge can, and after what apparently happened with Milledge in the field... I don't really know if you want him in center. I haven't yet had a chance to watch a game, so I'm not entirely sure myself. Still don't like the move.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Apr 7, 2011 -> 09:23 AM) Have we ever forgotten? I know I haven't: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb So, what you're saying is, that Matt Thornton cannot be trusted for three inning saves? I don't want him closing either, but that's only because I don't really like the idea of a closer in general. He will be fine.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 02:18 PM) Errors in judgement are made on the ML level just like they are at the draft level. Swisher is a good example. He was pretty good with the A's, sucked for the Sox and very solid for the Yanks. He seemed like the type of player that would fit with the Sox, but it didn't work out that way. You could over pay for a kid out of high school and be much more likely to find out he's a douchebag because you don't have near the amount of 'history' on the kid that you do with a Swisher. Except, you have 1/10 (probably less) the money invested in the high school douchebag than the major league douchebag. Using my arbitrary math here, you only need 1/10 players to pan out to outperform the bad contract if you were to completely invest money from that contract into the system.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Mar 30, 2011 -> 03:20 PM) As long as KW keeps flipping "prospects" for MLB ready talent, I couldn't care less how we "draft". I consider any draft pick we turn into a Danks or Floyd to be a great pick. People put too much focus on the farm, this isn't the NFL, you can have a perfectly fine team without having them be 95% internal. We have draft picks: Beckham, Morel, Sale, and Alexei (debatable as a "draft" pick I guess)....and Danks, Floyd, Jackson, Peavy, Quentin acquired with recent draft picks all playing a huge roll on the team this year. I don't see anything wrong with that. Yes, the people who criticize those who point out that drafting and development as an organizational weakness do put too much focus on the farm. None of us want to be the Kansas City Royals. None of us care about whether or not we have the best farm. None of us care that if we put our major league team in Charlotte that we would have the best farm system in the game. Despite the typical responses we get, none of us actually care about any of that. What we do care about is that we could take a tiny fraction of our major league payroll and significantly increase the talent in our system, which can either be used to acquire more talent via trades or can be promoted to cheaply fill out our roster. Also, this allows us to not be completely barren after KW trades a couple prospects away. As an organization, the Sox cannot afford to continuously resign our players and fill all our other holes with good free agents. This leaves us with two options: either KW starts winning more trades like he used to (Floyd, Danks, TCQ, etc.) or we start getting better players in the draft.

I would just like to say that you can still enjoy following this team even if you're a "pessimist." Being able to realize that maybe not everything the organization does is automatically good and right in no way affects my ability to watch and enjoy my team.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 10:50 PM) Prince Fielder for $20 million a year and Buerhle for $10 million is probably a quick rebuild if they don't want to pay Pujols $30 million for 10 years. If they can't justify giving Pujols $30 million, I don't know how they could possibly justify paying Prince $20 million. I think he would be the last person I would want to offer a huge deal to.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 11:42 PM) Morel at .317. Rookie of the Year candidate? Are there any good AL rookies this year? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here...

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 04:26 PM) Ideally, Quentin would hit like its 2008, and Dunn could hit 4th. Ideally. I'm starting to lose faith in Quentin, though.

Ideally, he'd be hitting 4th, but for our situation I like Beckham-Dunn-Konerko for 2-3-4.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 24, 2011 -> 08:36 PM) Who's Dane Wayne? Dayan Viciedo? Dwyane Wade, I think.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Mar 20, 2011 -> 11:31 PM) Jake Peavy will win play in 20 games.........15 games.....12?????? fixed?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 20, 2011 -> 12:33 PM) He's a setup guy yeah, but the question is...what is up with him? Why is he struggling so much? If this is true, I have to imagine it would play a pretty big role: QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 20, 2011 -> 09:20 AM) They're talking about him on the radio now, saying he's been down on himself.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 19, 2011 -> 01:26 PM) I agree that pitching is going to have to be a major focus. Maybe we'll take a riskier sign with that first pick since we won't have to give out so much money early. Maybe we don't want to spend that money. Who knows. But we need more pitching talent. The one thing I wonder, though, is that they might have "taken" some of the money they would have had to spend on the draft in order to help pay for the extra 25 million they put onto the payroll, knowing they weren't going to have a first round pick.

Quentin losing weight has me nervous. There seems to be a positive correlation between losing weight and continued suckage.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 06:08 PM) Honestly...when I look at the Sox's bullpen, and I look at the kind of money guys like Soriano got, Benoit got...Sale in the bullpen is a better option than signing someone. It isn't necessarily the best option...but spending a ton of money to fill that hole would have hamstrung us even more. You wouldn't necessarily have needed to sign a free agent, just throw one of those minor league arms that you were pimping earlier in the off season as future contributors in the pen. And, you bring up an interesting point with the money free agent relievers are getting. Hopefully, the Sox find the money to retain Thornton because it would really be difficult to lose both him and Sale at the back end of our bullpen next year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 04:19 PM) The other way to look at that problem is... If the White Sox fail to win the AL Central this year, they are likely to lose money. They might still remain profitable if they can stay in it to the end, but they literally are banking on a combination of extra butts in the seats from being in the race and playoff revenue in order to break even/turn a profit this year. It's a reasonable gamble with this roster. If you're looking at 2012...Sale will probably be a better starter if he starts at least some this year. BUT...if the White Sox do not win the AL Central this year, there is likely to be a non-trivial payroll cut going into 2012 as well. Possibly at the level of 3 of the 5 names in our starting rotation being gone. If putting Chris Sale on the roster this year winds up being a major factor in the Sox winning the central, the added ticket sales/revenue will make the White Sox a better team in 2012, even if Sale struggles some transitioning back to starting. True, but the next question becomes whether or not you actually need sale for a full season in the bullpen to accomplish that. Personally, I'm fine with the decision, and you list some very good reasons to be for it as well. I just think that maybe people should remember that this "all in" philosophy is kind of what made this season make or break to begin with instead of immediately snapping at somebody who suggests maybe we should think about the future at least a little.

I would rather have Sale filling in for Peavy and then starting in the minors or moving to the pen depending on what our needs are, but I won't really complain about this move. Partially it's because I don't want to risk my head bitten off, and partially it's because I want to actually win something this year as bad as everybody else does. However, I think people around here need to stop pretending like 2012 doesn't exist as if we were in some bad movie about Mayan prophecies. We might have quite a few question marks in next year's rotation when you consider Buehrle and Jackson being in their last years and Peavy's injury concerns (and John Danks's contract down the line for that matter). I would not be surprised at all to see Sale fall of a cliff towards the end of next year because he's just not used to pitching many innings, and of course there are also the studies that show a large increase in innings pitched has a correlation to arm injuries. Obviously, nobody really knows what will happen next year, but this logic of "the next year doesn't matter because we're still in this year" is the exact reason we have a bereft farm system and had to spend an extra $30 million on this year's payroll to compete.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 14, 2011 -> 08:07 PM) QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 14, 2011 -> 09:59 PM) Hello, Oney? He's not even a top 10 manager. I was hoping he was being sarcastic...