DBAHO

So Obama has to basically win SC by double digits in order to get back into this race?

I'm still itching to try out Rock Band whenever it decides to make an appearance down here.

Well IMHO, it's a better use of the resources you have. You keep Crede, Fields goes back to the minors. KW has already stated that. Both are not going to be on the 25 man roster when the season starts. If you get no good offers for Crede, I guess you could start him for the season, but Fields deserves a starting job on the back of what he did last season. And he still needs as much time at third base as possible, so I don't know if it's the best idea to move him around. As for Uribe, paying $4.5M to a utility man who puts up a sub .300 OBP, and had a subpar year in the field in 2007 makes no sense to me whatsoever. You've got Ramirez who can play that role, and sure he'll give you a little less power, but you're paying him 3.5M less to do so. Trading the 2 saves you that $9.6M million, and you can use that to rebuild the farm system, which KW can then use to make trades to improve the team. Realistically, how many more games are Crede and Uribe going to win in 2007 compared to Fields and Ramirez? As for Mac, the question is, is he ever going to get back to the pitcher he was in the 2nd half of 2006, and can we afford to have a bullpen without a longman in there with Contreras, Danks and Floyd the last 3 guys in our rotation?

Yeah I think it's going to be another decent day for us down here when the market opens in 5. Also did I read this right (saw this on reuters headlines); * Bank of America Corp said net income in the fourth quarter tumbled 95 percent, to $268 million, or 5 cents a share, from $5.26 billion, or $1.16, a year earlier.

Do you know PA that the sheep to human ratio in New Zealand is at least 10:1. As for those names, well I have no idea what you're going with there. Is that what they called them in the Amish Farms?

I suppose the argument there is America signing the treaty would have put far more pressue on China and India to follow suit. I know when Howard was our PM, he didn't sign the Protocol, and it was one of the main reasons why he lost the election, and one of Rudd's new moves was to sign the protocol ASAP. But maybe we had to find a way to make it more appealing for those 2 nations (with highly developing major economies) to sign the treaty by offering them benefits or something.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 24, 2008 -> 04:35 AM) Anyone been to New Zealand? I'll be there for a couple weeks in Feb, all over the south island. I'm curious of people's impressions. Never been, but a lot of people rave about New Zealand and the scenery, beautiful mountains etc. Personally, too many sheep for my liking though.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 24, 2008 -> 01:40 AM) It's very possible they hit "the cap" 10 mil ago, and are just assuming Crede and Uribe are gone. That might not be the case, but it's possible. Like others, if a starter was brought in, I will really become excited about this team. I think the payroll's only up $7M from last season, or something like that, and in the past few years it has gone up from season to season by about that amount. But if we traded 1 of the 2, and there's not a SP out there who can help us, put it towards the draft or some Latin America signings.

Crede actually was pretty good in 2005, he had 4 good months out of 6, and it was only 2 really bad months that he had that brought his overall numbers down. If healthy (and obviously that's a big if), I think he can still hit around .270/25HR's, which with the defense he offers is pretty valuable for a 3rd baseman.

Payroll's at $118M right now. 6th highest in baseball. Uribe and Crede make a combined $9.6M. If you could deal both, that would free up some major salary for a SP (but that's a pipedream, and you'd have to trade for one as there's really no-one left out there in FA unless you want to give Kyle Lohse a multiyear deal). Do I think we've had a good off-season? Yes and no. Some moves I like, some I don't. I'll address it more later.

1. San Diego - I just loved it over there when I went for a weekend. The weather is warm, there's quite a lot to do, and you're right on the beach. 2 - Phoenix - I love the heat, and there's baseball and so many golf courses. Could live there so very, very easily. 3 - Melbourne - Lots of sports, people are friendly, fairly good climate, it's a nice city.

Saw this in the Tribune; The last 2 seasons however, Lowry has struggled. A 5.01 FIP in 2006 and a 4.88 FIP in 2007 (albeit he did have a 3.92 ERA last season). If he was completely healthy, I'd look at it, but he's stagnated from his 04-05 levels.

I actually hope right now we don't trade a Cam Barker for a Campbell to win now. This team has shown when healthy, they can win. We're 2 games above .500 (and that's with an 8 game losing streak when we were decimated). Keep the young core, develop them as we've been doing, and make your moves in Free Agency.

Well I still think the Sox may look at those one of those long guys at the expense of M-Mac or Wasserman. You can't realistically IMHO go into a season with a shaky rotation and not have a long-man in the pen. But maybe after the way Massett pitched in that role, Ozzie and KW have determined in 2008 that they don't really need one. If Dotel stays healthy (which KW said he was confident in) I think he'll pitch well, and something around a 3.50 ERA is possible. I don't mind either scenario (trading Mac or sending Ehren down to AAA), but I think we need say a Lance Broadway in that pen. At least he's actually pitched out of the pen before, so he could probably throw 3-4 innings if needed, or come in for an inning if he has to.

Well it's why the Sox are in such a tough situation. I agree it doesn't make sense but can you go into 2008 with a 7 man pen, and not have any of those guys be able to throw more than 2 innings, especially with 3 questionable starting pitchers? Right now, I'd say Wasserman will probably start 2008 in Charlotte. But it all depends on what they do with MacDougal. Can they fix him? Will he pitch better in more easier scenarios for him? I don't like the fact he doesn't like being put into those pressure situations though.

Ahhh yes you're right, my math is a bit off today. But it probably shows why a MacDougal could certainly be traded, or you could find Wasserman in AAA to start in 2008. Ozzie will probably want to carry 2 lefties at least, so Thornton and Logan are probably safe, hence why Mac or Ehren are probably on the hot seat right now.

And as for all of the talk about Bedard, yeah he's a very good pitcher, but he's also very injury prone. So it would certainly be a risk to give up a package that would probably have to include a Bobby Jenks or a Josh Fields for him. Probably makes you appreciate a little more what we gave up for Vazquez (alebit Chris Young has turned into a stud). Vazquez on the open market right now, you'd certainly get a lot for him. I know the Mets and Omar Minaya would love to have him.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 01:57 AM) Short, sweet and to the point! Hey, you and I see a lot of things very similiarly, and I agree that GWB has handled himself about as poor as a president can, but he's not bats*** crazy. Anyway, I digress. Have a good one, sir. I better get at the daily grind. Well I'm glad an avid Republican as yourself Kap can see that GWB hasn't done a very good job. And I mean, I'll be frank. Most Australians, and probably most people around the world would say GWB is probably the worst (and dumbest) president America's ever had. Whether that's fair or not, I don't know, but that's just the perception.

Here's the official word on a bear market; Bear market A bear market is described as being accompanied by widespread pessimism. Investors anticipating further losses are motivated to sell, with negative sentiment feeding on itself in a vicious circle. The most famous bear market in history was 1930 to 1932, marking the start of the Great Depression.[5] A milder, low-level long-term bear market occurred from about 1967 to 1983, encompassing the stagflation economy, energy crises in the 1970s, and high unemployment in the early 1980s. Prices fluctuate constantly on the open market; a bear market is not a simple decline, but a substantial drop in the prices of a range of issues over a defined period of time. By one common definition, a bear market is marked by a price decline of 20% or more in a key stock market index from a recent peak over a 12-month period. However, no consensual definition of a bear market exists to clearly differentiate a primary market trend from a secondary market trend. Investors frequently confuse bear markets with corrections. Corrections are much shorter lived, whereas bear markets occur over a longer period with typically a greater magnitude of loss from top to bottom. Also our market has bounced back up 6% this morning. They certainly took the news about the Fed Cut well.

Hence why they could go with 12 pitchers to start the season, and have a longman such as Broadway / Masset / Haeger in that spot. Or Wasserman could start the season in AAA. Not that it would be very fair after the way he finished off 2007, but he does have options to use IIRC. And I think with the way Ozzie uses his matchups, you may actually need 7 guys in the pen. There were so many times last season where he burned 4-5 guys in a couple of innings.

Happy B-Day Balta!!!

Yeah it's sad news, especially down here. He was one of our best exports for an actor. I think he first started in a local drama series, and then moved on to bigger and better things. Obviously something happened after his breakup, I heard he was partying like crazy and hooking up with different woman. RIP Heath.

We finished 7.05% down. Biggest drop in 10 years since the Asian Financial Crisis. A lot of people were saying it was margin lenders dumping their shares though, and not to panic because of China and the demand they have for commodoties.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 03:53 PM) Come on YAS. Bush is a dick, but he's not THAT stupid. If the U.S go into a recession (which is probable) it's probably a good time for him to get out of there really. But I don't think he's really left the best legacy or platform for the next president you'd say (this is just from an outsider's point of view).

I found this interesting piece from a Pirates blog about the signing and some other stuff; -P- The White Sox have signed Octavio Dotel to a two-year, $11 million deal. Dotel is 34 and he's not nearly as good as he was when he and Billy Wagner were dominating the late innings for the Astros. And more importantly, I have no idea what planet Kenny Williams' head is on. His big moves this offseason have been to deal Jon Garland for Orlando Cabrera, trade his entire farm system for Nick Swisher, and drop $30 million on a pair of aging relievers (Dotel and Scott Linebrink). If the Sox were in the NL Central, Williams' plan to sneak into the playoffs by crapping all over the Sox' future might just work, but they aren't. They're in one of the best divisions in baseball, and the Sox won 72 games last year - signing Alex Rodriguez wouldn't have gotten them into the playoffs. Acquiring Dotel isn't the worst move that's been made this offseason, but it doesn't make any sense, and it's not going to make the Sox better in 2009. UPDATE: It occurs to me that the "crapping all over the Sox' future" might be a little unfair. Christina Kahrl has argued very passionately (subscription only) that acquiring Swisher was a future-oriented move for the Sox, but I don't agree. The Sox gave up a high-upside arm in Faustino de los Santos and another good one in Gio Gonzalez for Swisher. While Swisher is signed to a very favorable contract, I don't see his skill set - lots of strikeouts, lots of walks, low batting average, power - as one that's likely to age all that well, particularly in a few years when Swisher slows down and has to move to first or DH. If he hits .255, he's an asset, but if he dips to .235, he's a problem. And in the meantime, if the Sox don't have anything in their farm system, how are they going to contend against the Indians or White Sox before 2011 or so?