Jake

I can't figure out whether the Sox really like Sanchez more than Semien or if something else is going on - like they think they need to see Sanchez up close to decide if he's worth a shot next year and have already decided Semien will be up next year. I have to say, though, that would be some odd logic

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 03:24 PM) 2nd in the majors in home runs allowed...if he's anything higher than the 5th starter heading into next year, I'll be concerned His HR rate is a lot higher than any minor league stop, which along with his weird trajectory this (and other) years gives me some optimism that he might improve there next year. He's not a ground ball pitcher for sure though, which appears contrary to Hahn's goals. I don't think I or anyone else has him penciled in as a frontline guy, but he's certainly earned some spot in the rotation. I don't care what number it is. QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 03:30 PM) How bad must the pitching in AAA be for Andy Wilkins to be as good as he was? There seems to be some Bryan LaHare in him QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 03:30 PM) Give it two years, he'll be in Japan hopefully making good money See above

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) As of now I have more confidence in Cutler. I don't necessarily mean I'd install him as the starter, but I'd like to get him in a relatively low-risk situation if the league really soured on him. Trestman is the perfect kind of coach for him IMO. What we don't know, outside of the injury issues, is what kind of guy he is. There is a little smoke to the idea that he might be an egotistical asshole, in which case there is a limit to how much coaching will do for him in the long term.

I'd take RG3 on the Bears

Given what Noesi has done after not being prepared as a starter, I'm really happy. I'm excited to see what he can do with an offseason of rest and preparation for a starter's workload.

The last time a player seemed remorseful for a drug test, it was Melky Cabrera. Then we learned that he only acted up front about it after a crazy elaborate plan to avoid guilt

An expert who saw it on tape said from the look of it, it could be a sprain, a dislocation, or even a broken bone. Looks weren't good and it was difficult to tell what the trainers were doing.

I'd love for Tank to get all the chances in the world - I still believe he has some special abilities - but this is a numbers game and the odds are now stacked against him. At this point, the best he could hope for in terms of a role on the team to begin next season is the replacement for Paulie. Unfortunately for him, most teams aren't looking for a Paulie - a no defense, no speed, right-handed bopper that doesn't start because there is already a 1B and DH better than him on the team (let's hope there's a better DH).

SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 14, 2014 -> 03:41 AM) See, I'll never get the Roku BECAUSE of the need for a physical remote. I got enough remotes lying around every room of the house. I love being able to search something through my phone which is WAY easier than searching something using a remote control. And since we all pretty much have our phones on us at all times anyway, it's better to just be tethered to one thing and not the phone AND a remote when I'm watching something w/ the Chromecast. You know Roku can be controlled via phone too, right? It's not as castable - only Netflix and Youtube support casting - but there's no need for another remote.

I just can't get behind Chromecast when Roku exists. I'll easily pay the extra few bucks for Roku streaming stick to get the amazing search function, many more apps (Amazon Prime anyone?), and actual physical remote.

Last year Semien combined for a .805 OPS w/ 16 HR, .375 OBP against righties. It's not as if he was bad. This year, he combined for a .740 OPS against righties ... which was certainly weighed down, like the rest of his stats, by his rocky start in MLB and injury when he went to AAA.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Sep 13, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) This point in particular: "When a guy says "You throw a ball like a girl" or "You're a sissy." It reflects an attitude that devalues women, and attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion" and then 2 sentences later he's throwing out a statistic about women who die from domestic violence events. First, when you tell someone he throws like a girl you are not devaluing women, you are devaluing the person you are speaking to intentionally.This is the same thing that happens when you make a comment to one of your friends (as a joke of course) that implies ambiguity re: his sexual preferences. How is it that you are devaluing the person with a comment that says they are girl-like without your comment also implying that there is something bad about being like a girl?

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 05:50 PM) Yeah, if I were to get a new phone right now, the first one I would look at is the G3. I've heard amazing things about it, and currently owning the G2, I can't even imagine how they improved it so much. I've talked to a few folks who switched from G2 to G3 and wish they hadn't. Saying the battery life isn't measuring up to expectations and the screen is a bust - and I've read this elsewhere - as the refresh rate dynamic switching (meant to save battery life) causes things to lag/lack smoothness. It's something to behold though, with those mighty non-bezels

I would also endorse the HTC One M8. You'll get the quickest software updates from HTC as well. My M7 is ~18 months old and I still love it. The criticisms of "will the phone even be good at the end of your contract?" aren't true with these devices, IMO In other news, it appears Windows 9 will have a notification center. I'm so happy about that. It was such an obvious omission - they built these nice notifications into the 8/8.1, but once they disappeared, they were just gone.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 11:34 AM) Due to bad luck the glass on my phone cracked (walking through turn-style it somehow hit right where there is no protected and cracked it), so Im probably going to be getting a new phone in the next month or so. Cant really decide on Samsung or Iphone. Im thinking just sticking with Samsung, but with Iphone actually being normal size now I may change. Why not consider any other options? You probably know/plan this, but I'd recommend handling all devices in person before choosing and, even then, make sure you acquire it from a source that allows returns within a 14-30 day window. You'll probably know after two weeks whether you're going to hate the thing.

Hunter S. Thompson on 9/12: Full article here - http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1250751 He wasn't totally right...he mentioned in a part not included that we couldn't have stopped it and that we'll have no evidence/intelligence. It seems that we had an inkling that something like this was being planned. Could we have stopped it? It's difficult to say. We've given up a lot out of fear of it happening again. Go to the airport and report back on the extent to which you have experienced freedom. It all seems like it was both a long time ago and so very recently. Much has changed in response, some of which we certainly don't yet recognize or understand. It showed us both the best and the worst about ourselves.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) Dan Connolly ‏@danconnollysun 4m Waiting on official word but hearing Chris Davis has tested pos for amphetamines. 25 game suspension Seems like something you should wait on official word for

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 07:08 AM) PreOrdered the 6 this morning. No problems. Thought for sure I'd be too late and get backordered. I read the other day that Apple can make ~50 million iPhones per month. I'm sure they're ready.

I know with my family plan, AT&T Next indisputably costs more because there is no savings on the plan from opting out of the subsidy. In that case, Next only makes sense if the ability to upgrade is very important or the ability to not be on the contract (though you kind of are since ending service means you have to pay the rest of the phone's value, an even more stringent ETF in effect) is important.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) Yeah as I posted somewhere else, that was probably the stupidest article I've ever read. When one of the worst plays of the week was a 3rd and 1 that was an incomplete pass to Holmes that was a horrible play call more then anything else (nothing Jay did on the play was wrong). We just didn't execute. It is absolutely absurd. What this article is telling you that in a back and forth, overall close game, every play that changes posession is going to have significant impacts in win probability. Since the game was extremely tight (and late in the game too) vs. the majority of the games in the week, it shouldn't be a shock that our change of possessions ended up having an impact on the game. It's just that our win probability went way down on that play. The assignment of blame is completely up in the air, though we certainly hope/believe the best QBs generally get it done in those spots.

I don't own a mega-phone, but everyone I've ever seen who has something like a Note says they absolutely love it and have no qualms about owning such a big phone. This could be just cognitive dissonance at work, who knows. Maybe lots of people are returning them or everyone just knows what they like before they buy things. Or we're able to tolerate much larger phones than we think we can.

I, my entire family, and the vast majority of my social group had iPhones when I started college...I've never once had someone try to initiate a FaceTime session, suggest one, do it by accident, I've never considered doing it or remembered that it was an option...well, you get the point. I have witnessed several people desire to have video chats in the very non-tech portion of my social group in the past few months. Of these three pairs of people, only one pair was iPhone-less. The two that had Android tablets used Hangouts to video chat. The two pairs that had iPhones/iPads downloaded Skype, (one person created a Skype account), and then video chatted on Apple devices with Skype. So there's that. People forget that you can "Skype" using something other than Skype, which is probably the worst at video chat. Nobody fears downloading stuff. Some estimates have Chrome browser taking up 75% market share. People are willing to use non-default apps. One of the original marketing points for iPhones, and one that people will still tell you about when you shop for phones, is the app store. "There's an app for that." Many people love app exploration, at least some of the time.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 11:59 PM) I thought we were going to be more like the Yankees after we won it all in 05. I was hoping we'd always re-stock with GOOD free agents. This other way isn't going to get the Sox back into the postseason anytime soon. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 07:29 AM) If it was that easy to always re-stock with good free agents, the Yankees wouldn't be missing the playoffs again and wouldn't be on 5 years without a WS appearance. Especially since the market dictates that you must sign them to long term-deals, through their down years. Yeah I think the Yankees are a very good demonstration of the flaws in the Yankee way. Now, that isn't to say it is without its positives, but damn is that an unexciting team right now. Much like the Tigers will feel totally justified if they get a WS win out of their spending sprees, we would feel the same. It's the aftermath (and risk that there is no ultimate payoff) that sucks.

I was all for keeping McCown and investing a high draft pick in a QB. I don't expect McCown, if he was on the Bears, to lead the league in damn near every advanced metric like last year, but I'd expect remarkably close if not superior results in terms of W-L compared to Cutler. Considering the cost of keeping Cutler, that was my preference. IMO, you only want QBs off their rookie contract if they are: a. great or b. journeyman/system guy/placeholder for rookie contract player