DBAHO

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 10:01 AM) Toronto. St. Louis. St. Louis is an interesting one. Eckstein's still on the market and he wants Julio Lugo money. My thinking is, he may be headed back there for around 6M a season for about 3-4 years. Toronto had McDonald and Clayton at SS in 07 right? So hopefully they could be an option.

So I've heard down here the chances of America having a recession next year are pretty good. Just wondering if you guys think that will be the case or not?

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 07:17 AM) The huge difference is Bartlett to Uribe.... Bartlett has been a better defensive SS than Uribe the last two seasons, while posting far better OBPs. Oh and he makes about $4M less. Yeah that's what hurts here, we lost our best trading partner for Uribe. It's hard to see another team right now that would trade for him, we might be "stuck" with him for 2008. As for the deal, Tampa Bay obviously wants good young pitching. Garza gives them that, and they are starting to build a nice young rotation, headed by Kazmir. Interesting that Minny could lose Santana, Garza and Silva from their 07 rotation. Obviously they'll probably have a Phillip Hughes in it to replace Johan, while a Slowey or Baker could be mainstays now, so it does make it weaker overall for 2008. But Young will be a great player for the Twins, at least for 5 season before he hits FA, then I imagine he'll probably bolt because Carl Pohlad's pretty cheap. With the Devil Rays acquiring Bartlett as well, I wonder if they would make Briegnic expendable for a young pitcher?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 08:55 AM) ESPN adds that Linebrink has some sort of no-trade protection in the contract as well. Oh goody. My thoughts on this deal are pretty well known. I hope Linebrink produces what he did in San Diego for us. Am I confident of that happening? No. So I just hope we're not going to regret this deal compared to what Yabuta and Kobayashi received, and that we're not "stuck" with Linebrink if he doesn't produce.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 29, 2007 -> 06:41 AM) This could mean the Dodgers are NOT in the running for Rowand? Does any of the left coasters know if Coletti has a Kenny Williams type history of truth telling? http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition...lines-pe-sports Yeah possibly, although it could just be a smokescreen by Colletti. Right now, I'd probably say the Rangers are the favorites to sign Rowand. They missed out on Hunter, and they need a CF, so it's a pretty good fit, and they have $$$$ to spend. As for Crisp, it's a risky acquisition no doubt. You have to make sure he's completely healthy and over the wrist and shoulder injuries he's suffered the past couple of years, and the price has to be right. And you have to hope he's the hitter he was in Cleveland, not the one in Boston.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 12:07 PM) Yes and those numbers are in A ball, the chances of a pitcher making it from A ball to a dominant #1 pitcher in the major leagues is not very good. In Haren, you already have a legit top of the rotation guy, who has already proven he can pitch in the major, and the Al at that. Its an easy trigger to pull. DLS is no ordinary prospect though. He's got Liriano type of potential IMHO, where he could come up straight away if he's ready and dominate. And Brandon McCarthy moved from A ball to AAA in 1 season, so it can be done, especially with how pitcher friendly B-Ham is in AA ball. If it was straight up, then yeah I'd pull the trigger. But we'll probably have to include at least 2 prospects from a group of Fields / Carter / Gio, and to me that's just a really, really steep price.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 11:26 AM) I'd take Haren over DLS. The probability of DLS panning out are very slim and Dan Haren emerged as a top of the rotation starter this year. Well I wouldn't say the probability of DLS panning out is "very slim". He doesn't have any major injury concerns, and he has the stuff to dominate, and he's got the numbers with those K/9 ratio's to prove that. Also you'd have to consider Haren's ERA would obviously increase moving from Oakland to the Cell. I don't know, maybe I'm too attached to our prospects, but we've been complaining for weeks, months and even years about how bad our farm system is. Trading our 2 or 3 best prospects, makes it that much worse, and that will hurt in the future.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 11:40 AM) So, if we put a pitcher in the most pitcher friendly park in baseball, he might start having success. That's not a very high standard. The Padres aren't the best example, and I shouldn't have used them, but I only did because I remembered that they were a team that were interested in trading for him, but the Yanks didn't want to make the deal. Some SP's just do better out of New York and that environment. Jose Contreras for example before he started getting too old and injury prone.

Yeah a lot of sites do have it as Faustino, but it should be Fautino. He's easily our best prospect IMHO, and I don't want to lose him really, because he's argubly the best one we've had in years, and he could potentially be an ace if he develops to plan.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 10:42 AM) Isn't that pretty much what the Yankees thought about Kei Igawa and his contract last offseason? Yeah probably, because as we saw with Igawa and Matsuzuka this season, the main problems they had weren't stuff wise, it was control. I think Igawa can still be sucessful though, but he needs to get out of New York and onto a team such as the Padres. Still if you had a choice b/w say Carlos Silva and Kuroda for the same contract, who would you go for. Silva's more of the sure thing, but Kuroda would have more potential obviously.

Beer of choice for me is usually Corona's. Unfortunately I can't get them as cheap down here as I could when I was over in the States, you're looking at $15 for a sixpack down here, and up to $8 a bottle in some bars in the city down here. I do also love Beck's and Heineken's though. Usually down a few Beck's straight after work on a Friday. Also some of the Belgian Beers such as Leffe, which unforunately you can't buy more than 1 each, are great, especially the Blond flavor. Mixed drinks usually I just go for the Southern Comfort and Coke. Bought a couple of bottles from LAX duty free a year or 2 ago, and I still have a bit left.

Yeah I would call as well. Better to make it sound like you're still interested obviously etc. and to check on the status, otherwise they may just forget you or have found someone else.

Yeah Billy Beane is obviously going to want a lot here and I imagine we'd probably have to give up a package of DLS, Gio and Carter. Obviously it massively improves our rotation, and it would give us a very 3-some of Haren, Buehrle and Vazquez. I'm just iffy on giving up on our farm system though, considering the age of the nucleus of our ballclub. I imagine a team such as the Mets would really target Haren though and give up some of their top prospects to make a deal happen, so they may make a better offer.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 10:17 AM) Any chance the Sox may be looking at Hiroki Kuroda?? I believe he is more of a starter but still is suppose to have one hell of an arm. He's probably looking at getting 40/4 minimum this off-season, and some team in need of a SP such as the Mariners or Diamondbacks will probably give it to him. We'd have to dump Contreras on someone and then sign him. If we could do that without paying any of Jose's deal, then I'd certainly look into it, because the salaries could almost be a wash, and you would probably be more likely of getting more production from Kuroda over the 3 seasons.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 26, 2007 -> 04:01 AM) We teach "popping" up. It takes a couple tries to find the sweet spot, but if you are athletic, it seems easier. We practice on the beach until people get the hang of it. Yeah I've been trying at home most weeknights to try and get the technique right. I'll be going surfing with a group from work this weekend, so it'll be good to put it in practise. I just got the sense of it takes too long using the getting up on the one knee method, and you waste more energy doing that as well, because there's more steps you have to do. There are a few good videos on a Video Sports Web-Site which show you all of the steps and everything, so that was really helpful. I'm also trying to buy a Mini Mal board off EBay for under $150 ATM.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 28, 2007 -> 10:10 AM) What an embarrassment. I know these guys probably wanted a shot to close (Kabayashi -- sp -- included), but you're telling me an extra two-three million couldn't change that? Sigh... we're close to being behind the f***ing Royals. That's depressing. Yep I'm disgusted by this as well. 2 years 6M, that's all Yabuta wanted? I'm going to be very depressed if Yabuta and Kobayashi put up better ERA's than Linebrink (which I think when you look at the ballparks they'll be pitching in, the rate in which Linebrink gives up HR's and his decreasing K/9 rate) is a legiminate possibility.

Interesting Tony that you have Vandermeer on the 2nd line there as a D-Man. I know he was one guy many people were iffy on coming into the season, but how has he played so far overall? Obviously he'd be doing better than likes of Magnus Johansson.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Nov 27, 2007 -> 06:35 PM) Personally, I think the thought of him even potentially reaching free agent is a bit loony. There's no way a team is going to trade for him and then not lock him up long term almost instantly; if they do, they crazy. The Marlins are going to trade him to get a great return for him, and the team trading for him will trade for him to keep him as their franchise player long term. That seems quite logical to me. If you're Miggy though, don't you want to see what's out there in FA, and try to get an A-Rod type of deal? Sure he could get 8/160 probably pretty easily right now, in FA that number could rise to 8/200 if he produces.

That doesn't really paint much of a positive light for the Sox clubhouse does it. And really, losing 1 guy in Rowand shouldn't make THAT much of an impact IMHO. Sure it hurts, but some of the other guys have to step up and become more of a leader in their own right. But I do agree that we have a lot of needs to fill, and we can't trade our 4 best prospects (DLS, Gio, Carter and Egbert) in a deal for Miggy. The dependable middle infielder is hopefully not Uribe, who should be traded ASAP for a prospect, as 4.5M is too much for an utility infielder IMHO. Do the Angels really need a 3rd baseman as well?

Ok I don't think at the moment Cabrera is still the best acquisition out there for us considering the price. Better to wait 2 years for him to hit FA and then make him a Manny Ramirez type of offer. But a guy I do want, and who I think would be a perfect fit for this team is Reggie Willits (beautsox #1's fav. player). He'll offer the OBP we need from a leadoff hitter, and we'd control him for about 5 seasons. Trading for him and sticking him in LF would still allow us to try and make a deal with Aaron Rowand for CF. An OF of Willits, Rowand and Dye sounds pretty decent to me. Now if he's dealt to Florida, would we be able to make a deal with them, or would our chances be better with dealing with the Angels and give them a nice prospect that they can then use in a Miggy deal?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 27, 2007 -> 05:17 AM) Really? Hmmm. I guess so, the Goracle says it's true. Again, for the billionth time, climate change IS real. But it's been going on for millions of years. Humanity *MAY* have something to do with climate change, or they *MAY NOT*. But this horse is long dead. But it's only in the past few years when you've seen the possible effect it could have 50 years from now if we don't do anything. The U.N Report that came out a few weeks ago IIRC showed this. Tsunami's, hurricane's etc. will become far more common. Something has to be done NOW about it. And if that affects an economy negatively, well that's just too bad IMHO. I'd also argue that with the more fossil fuels and carbon dioxide that's being emitted now than say 100 years ago, that we're heating up the globe faster than at any time ever before.

Excellent news. Hopefully mom and baby are doing well.

Wow that's just terrible. And it's been happening too often lately, spors stars being robbed at home, and then something like this can happen. Sounds like he probably won't play in the NFL again if what's being reported is true.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Nov 26, 2007 -> 02:30 PM) If they aren't going to reach them, what is the point of setting them? Too 'feel good' about themselves because they care? The big problem there is that if the government came out with standards that the businesses had to meet, and those standards burdened an economy that is already under huge competition from China, India and others (who seem to care even less than people think American's do!), it would ruin what some call an already fragile economy. Besides, Greenland used to be green before anyway. Well I suppose if a government sets targets and doesn't reach them, but at least they do reduce their remissions more than if they didn't set targets, then at least it's a step in the positive direction. And I mean absolutely economies are vitally important, but this is an issue that's only going to become more dangerous in the upcoming years, I mean we're talking about the future of our planet here. Should the government in America be doing a better job in running the economy perhaps? And that's quite a funny point in itself, because John Howard ran the economy fantastically down here, it was booming, and yet he's been kicked out, and one of the main reasons for that is because of his lack of reform on climate change.

Well it shows how big of a problem this really is, and it should be the #1 issue for Governments across the world right now. And with economies in China and India booming, it's going to be extremely difficult to actually set targets, and then reach them. But they have to do something, because if the temp. keep rising, then you're going to see islands become floods, and the polar ice caps in Antartica becoming completely melted. Australia's going to se targets, and do I expect us to reach them? Probably not I'd say. We'd probably have to go to Nuclear Power instead of Coal (or at least Clean Coal), and that in itself is a very touchy issue just because of the Nuclear Waste. I'd like to get the thoughts on what you think America should be doing about this? Should they be setting the example (as the supposed world leader) and reducing emissions, or should they wait for all nations across the world to do so?