ptatc

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 03:11 PM) Probably not Yeah, these seem to be hard fought negotiations and the agents aren't getting near what they wanted. They are going to fight for every nickel now.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 03:06 PM) The best part about the report, if true, is that they're willing to go 4 years Of course it is. The 3 year was media released negotiations with these two. I have no doubt it was true for gordon. RH has number and he is sticking to it. Agent want 5-6 RH wants 3, they meet in the middle.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 02:51 PM) Word is the Sox might go to four years on either Cespedes or Upton. The latter is intrigued with the south side. https://mobile.twitter.com/georgeofman/stat...563284490207232 Really! The sox have held to the 3 year deal but as upton becomes interested it might go 4? It's called negotiations.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 01:59 PM) CarGo makes sense in that he will be the least expensive option is younger than Cespedes, plays RF, and fits in the three year window that the Sox supposedly do not want to surpass. I imagine a package would be built around Anderson and Fulmer to get the deal done with some other pieces thrown in there. The sox will not deal anderson or fulmer and especially not both. If this is the price, there is no deal.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 01:48 PM) I agree. Sox appear to have a lot of lines in the water. I still think they end up with Cespedes. I didn't know he and Abreu were friends. All things being equal, I think that draws him to the Sox. I just wonder what teams will are interested. Except for the White Sox, they all seem like maybes. Agreed. Working all of the lines to lower the prices.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 01:29 PM) Ugh, why is the force hereditary, that's stupid. I have to say, i think it's unlikely that any of this is known. Remember that this is now passing writers from abrams to the other dude. There may have been stuff abrams introduced which the next guy may not run with. It's not always through the stories of the books, however the movies seem to like that plot.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 01:13 PM) There might be something to that just based on the scene with Maz Kanata saying "You see the same eyes" or something like that. Han Solo said "Very good" as if he noticed it, too, but I also thought that might have been that they both noticed he was a stormtrooper. There might be something to Finn's background though. Nothing to hint at Lando though. Plus everything hints to a force connection which Lando did not have, unless it is through his mother.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 12:16 PM) Also I asked Justin Wolfers about the negative wage growth and this was his response: "One month down [doesn't] mean much. Over the past year, wages have grown, and wage growth is outpacing price growth " i.e. real wages are up this year, so don't sweat january. Thanks for the info. It's not really something that important. It was just a topic of discussion we had and when I saw the posted information, it picqued my interest.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 12:05 PM) I have a hard time believing that the US is seeing white collar jobs move out. Move out to where? The US financially has done much better than most countries globally. Places like China are taking away blue collar jobs by paying their workers sums less for same work. A loss in wage growth could mean the jobs created are paying workers less money to do same work prior. It's unlikely a loss in wage growth would be coming from the "white collar" jobs. Also, it's not like Illinois is alone in rise in tuition. To whom are the peer universities you are comparing to? In this situation it's more with the flagship institutions for the state. U of I is becoming so cost prohibitive that many of the students are going to Iowa, Indiana and Purdue because even though it's out of state, it's cheaper than Illinois. Universities track them and most of them stay away from Illinois afterward. This is the driving force this past year to lower the scores for admission but more importantly financial aid for resident students.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 11:23 AM) That's nominal wage growth and its not helpful to draw assumptions without knowing what's happening with real wages. Thanks. What would be the difference and is there a place to find the info? It is a topic of discussion at the university as it sure seems that the cost of education in Illinois is driving the college student out of Illinois and they aren't returning. This is just Illinois but it also grows into the topic for the US.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 08:30 AM) 292k jobs, last two months revised upwards by 50k, unemployment holds steady at 5.0% (more people returning to the job market?), but wages dipped 0.01. Would this indicate that the added jobs were more "blue collar" jobs while more "white collar" jobs are moving out? With more jobs but less pay especially with the new minimum wages, it would seem that the US is losing higher paying positions. Or is this an incorrect assumption on my part.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 11:03 AM) How does anyone possibly know whether that last sentence is true or not...? That's the problem, this whole thread is conjecture, right? What do we know factually that 100% can't be debated? Only if the White Sox can get one of them signed somehow? Sure, it makes sense if each player only has a couple of options to choose from...but that's quite difficult to believe. Only going by media reports and the fact that whatever teams are involved are obviously not trying to outbid one another if upton is possibly going to take a 1 year deal. Usually if many teams are involved a bidding war starts. This hasnt happend as the offers are going down not up. More teams could get involved now that the price is going down not up.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 11:01 AM) I don't think it's necessarily a good thing. 1 year deals may bring a lot of teams out of the woodwork and pay them at a price we can't afford. It's a really smart move by upton's agent, I don't think he actually will go 1 year but it's a way to create some bidding of services. I would rather lose out on the players than be stuck in a 6 year deal with them, especially cespedes. I think it works out well. If upton signs a one year deal, whatis the market for cespedes, who is probably RHs target.

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 09:54 AM) Jeff Passan is reporting that Upton might be willing to take a 1 year deal. so he could be right. does that mean he would fall into Hahn's plan of not giving any of there FA OF'ers more than 3 years? Everyone was so pissed at RH for sticking to his plan of no deals longer then 3 years and convinced that the sox had no chance. Now the agents are going to the other extrme .RH is going to try to work the giving up a pick angle to bring the offer up from 1 year to suit the team better. It may not work but RH is really working the market well with few teams involved.

QUOTE (black jack @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 06:00 AM) It's like watching Edwin Jackson pitch. Steve Trachsel pitching or Carlton Fisk hit?

Patton Star wars iv Stripes Indiana jones Monty python and the holy grail Casablanca

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 07:18 PM) If you're Cespedes, and you're getting the same offer from the White Sox and Nationals...where would you go? You can play in the nation's capital with one of the two true superstars in the game on what everyone considers a playoff contender versus a White Sox team that's somewhere between 3rd (optimistic) and last (pessimistic) right now out of a 5 team division. You're also even more confident in the NL East than the AL, where you now have a proven track record and just put up near MVP numbers. You've also got two "dead in water" franchises in the Braves and Phillies to pick apart offensively. The White Sox would probably have to overpay by at least 5% to get it done, if not 10%. Same thing with returning to the Tigers...unless the draw of being paired with Abreu is truly that enticing. NASCAR

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 05:57 PM) I'm not worried about STL either. All indications say they are sticking with what they have which allows them money to add players during the season if needed. This could be PR bulls*** but for some reason I believe it. So I think we're looking at the Sox, Nat's, O's and possibly the Angels competing for Cespedes and Upton. With Harper and Werth at the corners and taylor in CF the Nats have bigger issues than the OF. I don't think they are real serious contenders here. I really think the hold up is that it's really the O's and Sox being the big competitors. The O's are waiting on Davis, a fan favorite. The sox are staying with the 3 year offer and no players wants that yet. No one is offering the big deal right now.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 07:20 PM) I haven't looked into this in detail (as I'm not yet eligible for any deferred comp, but something I will consider in time as a way to potentially manage taxes + another potential option to stagger for long-term future in regards to helping kids with college), that said, my understanding from a high level read I did of my companies policy lead me to believe what you mention above is true. Not sure how it works in terms of government employees though. I'm curious what happened for some of the counties in the country that have BK'd (if deferred comp was lost). Is their someone within the state who you could discuss with in more detail? Found out today that the deferred money does go into a 457 account. So they handle it differently than true "deferred" money. It was a relief with the situation of the state budget.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 03:48 PM) or maybe it's because they don't want to tie up 20-25% of their payroll on an inconsistent player coming off a career year (Cespedes) or a player that many scouts question their passion for the game (Upton) Ding, Ding Ding!

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 03:33 PM) Well, if true, makes 0 sense. Sure it does. If any of the OF had substantially better offers, they would have taken them. They hold their ground on the deal until someone offers more. Then they can raise it ,if needed.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 01:24 PM) At a glance, the only difference in his productivity is that he simply started hitting homers. The only thing I can see in his peripherals is that he's swinging at more pitches -- both good and bad -- than he did at the beginning of his career. So to become a better hitter he became less patient and stopped trying to go the other way. He's becoming more of just a pull hitter.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 11:50 AM) You didn't hear California and Nevada fell into the ocean as a result of a 17 point earthquake that lasted 13 minutes? Jeez... Where have all you people been? ps: PTATC! I have to fly to Anaheim to present a paper in February. Dang airlines must be covering up the quake to keep my money!!!! Edit: it's as good as any of these other speculations/theories these past pages.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 11:03 AM) I mentioned new guys next year- Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Vlad Guerrero. Guess I should have included Jorge Posada too, but I hope he falls off quick. Omar Vizquel is going to be an interesting case in a few years. He has so much support for whatever reason. Posada will be around for awhile due to the yankee championship ties.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 11:29 AM) Rumor has it that his assistant actually signed for him as a result of forgetting said pin. Assistant rumored to be fired. Replacement may be sought. Source: a 1,257 pound tuna caught off the coast of Utah. Salt Lake tuna? At least it is well preserved.