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It kills me to say it but this would probably be the only move they could make that would sour my loyalty to the Sox. That being said the only way KW would trade for him is to be involved in a deal with another team where the Sox would not end up with him. KW is not stupid enough to want a player like him.

QUOTE(SoxFan76 @ Oct 30, 2006 -> 11:49 AM) I'd say the chances are very high that he has 2 healthy years in a row. This is a guy who was never really injured until late in his career. I say after this off season he will be in better shape than the past 2 years, because if you ask me he wasn't fully healed even in 2006. Yet he still put up massive numbers. Just look at him run...and while Frank is far from the athlete he used to be, he should be looking better on the base paths in 07. I'm a Frank Thomas homer, I admit it. But I think he will have another great year in 2007. wherever that may be. If you watched Thomas this year you would've noticed that he wasn't healthy. He did play a full season but not at a healthy level. He still cannot run on that foot. He limped and hobbled his way through the year to get a good contract and a ring I think. If you look at his stats they show it as well. He scored only 77 runs and had only 11 doubles. Both of which are significantly lower than any season where he had 500 at bats. This tells me he couldn't run to stretch doubles and couldn't score from 2nd where he could if he could run. Thomas will always hit but his days of being able to run and do other things he should are over. I wouldn't sign him to a multi-year dwal as who knows how he will be able to handle it. That being said I'm a huge Thomas fan and can't wait to see that 500th HR no matter what uniform it's in (as long as it's not against the Sox)

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 03:09 PM) I tolerate assholes as long as they aren't doing anything illegal. For example, TO is an ass, but he's not getting rolled for DUI's or beating his wife. I disagree. I can live without the jerks. There are players you can get who are talented but good guys ie. Thome, Konerko, Dye, Buerhle, Garland. Let the jerks rot.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 11:51 AM) Ya, but the man can hit regardless of how pissed off he is (in fact he's even better when he's pissed). He's one of those guys that no matter what is going on around him, no matter how mad everyone is at him, he'll continue to produce and producde at a top notch rate (as long as he's healthy). This is not necessarily true. He was with the Brewers as a rookie and I was working with the team. He hated the team and the city. He said it was racist and he didn't want to be there. He would field the ball (he was playing 3B at the time) look over at Tom Trebelhorn who was a great guy and the manager at the time, and throw the ball into the stands. After the inning he would ask in the dugout "when am I going to be traded". I know I've told this story here before and I'm biased against him, but I can honestly say he is one of the worst people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with regardless if it's in pro sports or not.

He is one of the biggest jerks in pro sports. And that is an accomplishment on par with Randy Moss getting kicked out of Florida State.

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 09:09 PM) and this happened long before Blago was in office. This is mid 90's stuff. This is the state's policy not his. I'm just ticked about the state has run the educational system. It wasn't a shot at him specifically. Also my other post about the pension didn't begin with him but he continues the practice.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 08:46 PM) The disparity in the low poverty vs high poverty districts is huge and can get really bad. The rich districts will grab up whomever they want first and then the rest get whatever's left unless (like me) per personally went for a job in a lower income area because I had more fun there. There's also the administration. If you have an administration that doesn't have your back and/or doesn't have clear ways to support the teachers (discipline, talking to parents, dealing with students etc.), then things get really bad. If you have a supportive administration (which I got) then things are really effective in dealing with issues. Kids can drive you nutty but it isn't just that -- it can give you a bad day but that's about it. Mostly, it's a lot of hours being put in before school that are unpaid (I get in an hour before the day starts to answer parent e-mails, fix up my assignment board, make my copies and overheads and do other stuff to set up) and then hours after school (grading, putting in grades to the online system, parent phone calls for detentions, talks with parents about kids' academics/behavior, sports eligibility, laminating things, making posters etc.) It's a lot of work before and after the professional hours that can get really taxing. I usually end up pulling 11-12 hr. days most weeks when my professional hours are 7:45 am to 3:15 pm. Doing that day in and day out while trying to juggle a family is probably what does it after a while -- especially when combined with the rest. It's not only this but at the university level, Blago is trying to keep professors from coming here. He just changed our benefits to do away with survivor benefits. Now who in their right mind thinks that's a good idea? Also the state is 1 billion dollars short on paying into our pension over the last 10 years. There was a law staing that in 2006 the state would need to begin to make payments into the pension fund. Blago and cronies repealed that law. Since our social security goes to the state, we won't get a pension or social security. I LUV POLITICS!!!!!

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 08:15 PM) What happened to all that lottery money that was supposed to fund education? It went to education alright, but other funding was taken away. Classic shell game. this is correct. Every dollar went into the very low general education fund while an equal number of dollars were taken out and put elsewhere. So all of the gambling money went to education but no ADDITONAL money went in from the gambling. QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 08:20 PM) Yep -- Blago is a lying sonofawhore. In the latest national report card, Illinois had the largest achievement gap between low-poverty and high-poverty students in the nation in three of four tests in reading and math. One-third of Illinois public schools failed federal academic standards, reflecting a deplorable achievement gap, leaving far too many students behind. Illinois is not keeping its teachers. High levels of teacher turnover and attrition contribute to a shortage of high quality teachers and chronic low student achievement. The national attrition rate for new teachers over a five-year period is 46 percent, and Illinois far exceeds that rate with 58 percent attrition. this again is due to the out dated sytem of funding we use. The only advantage is that it keeps the state wide policticians hands off the money. But I'm not sure the local ones are any better at it.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 11:11 AM) You mean clueless and the creep? I know more than one person who have already decided to vote for the Green Party candidate for Governor. Neither one of these candidates are worth a damn. Its a shame too, because Illinois used to be semi-progressive and innovative as states go in a lot of ways until recently. The state house is still pretty solid, but there are some monster agencies like IDOT that need a shake up so we can pay for schools. Illinois education has been falling for a decade or more. The problem with Illinois schools is the funding system. They use the taxes from the school districts to fund that school which create large descrepancies from school to school. Rich areas get better school funding poor areas get low funding. There was a survey that found Illinois was 47 or 48 in state money for schools. And we wonder why the educational system is screwed up in this state.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 11:44 AM) I just want to point out MLB is in the business of giving guaranteed contracts. Arod could not play another game because of injury yet he'd still get paid. He would only get paid a predetermined amount by the club. This is an insurance issue. It depends on what potion was covered by the Rangers when they signed him. As I recall the insurance coverage on that large contract was an issue. When a professionalathlete gets injured they get worker's comp just like anyone else. The difference is usually people get 66% of their pay from the insurance company. The owners of the teams can only get a certain amount of coverage for the large contracts which is why (as in Belle's case stated earlier) some must be paid by the team.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 23, 2006 -> 01:45 AM) There was an article this morning in one of the Washington papers saying that Cora was now out of the race for the Nats job. Don't think he was ever considered one of the favorites anyway. But now putting him in as the bench coach would be an interesting proposition. Wonder how people on here feel about that (and I feel sorry for the poor guy who has to come in an replace him as the 3rd base coach, if indeed it is going to happen). I agree. Everytime someone is thrown out at home it's his fault. Everytime the runner is safe the runner was aggressive and did well. It's a no win job. It's like being an offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 20, 2006 -> 01:03 PM) It's not just going to cost you McCarthy, you'll have to include more in the package. Adding Ichiro's very large salary and subtracting Brandon's non-existent salary could put the Sox in a position where they won't have any flexibility financially this offseason which is something they're going to need if they want to upgrade the team elsewhere. Plus you would be sacrificing a whole lot of youth (23 year old McCarthy) and making this team a whole lot older for a possible one year rental in Ichiro seeing how his contract is up at the end of next season. (if McCarthy is moved then the same starting 5 from last year would likely be brought back, making the Sox future incredibly old and expensive.) Expensive, yes. Old???? MB and JG are 28, FG and JV are 31 and JC is 95. 4 out 5 are ih their prime I wouldn't consider that incredibly old. However, I do agree with your overall point. We need McCarthy mostly for financial flexibility.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 19, 2006 -> 07:16 PM) I bet he will. I'm also one who usually expects youngsters to struggle early on but I think Brandon is very special(time number 3423432432 I've said that) and I expect him to be very good in 07. It's a bet. Again, nothing against him but I think with the quality of our pitchers and his inexperience, I think he will be at the end of the rotation.

^^^^^^^^^^^ This is a good synopsis of the book. However, if you really want to get the feel of how the athlete's lives were changed due to the steriods you need to read it.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 19, 2006 -> 12:28 PM) Ya well he's going to be starting this year and he's going to be one of our better starters(he'll be our 2nd or 3rd best starter next season) and he allows us to cut 8-10 mill in payroll. Like I said, he's way too valuable at this point. McCarthy will not be our 2nd or 3rd best starter next year. The purpose of leaving him in the bullpen this year, whether or not you agree with it is a different discussion, was to have him learn at the major league level without having him play an integral role. With the way the bullpen turned out the team needed to put him in important situation with mixed results. He still has a learning curve in the majors and I think he will be a good pitcher but not as son as next year.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 07:45 PM) Normally, anabolic steroids are given to some patients to treat certain conditions. I've been put on them before for an asthma attack if I recall correctly (was like 3rd grade). The doses that athletes take in order to increase muscle mass are generally 10 to 100 times the doses prescribed by doctors for actual treatment. Athletes will also often combine multiple steroids, or will combine steroids and something like HGH (as Bonds did), because the different chemicals may affect the body in different ways. Generally, anything taken outside the supervision of a doctor would be described as abuse by the law, so even small amounts would qualify if not done with a doctor's approval, and with athletes, we're talking about orders of magnitude larger doses. These steriods were not not anabolic steriods. They were steriods for decreasing inflammation of the bronchial tubes such as prednisone. When steriods are taken for muscle gain, a single steriods isn't used. They "stack" them in various combinations for differnet pruposes. They can stack them for bulk such as an O-lineman will use or speed for a wide reciever. Actually the biggest users of steriods are the people trying to increase speed. The track athletes and backs in the NFL are prime exmaples. This is why the IOC has come down so hard on the track athletes because of it's rampant use. The whole Balco issue really started out investigating track athletes such as Marion Jones. I've got a really good book for anyone interested in steriods. I believe it's called Faust's Gold or Fools Gold. I've been looking for it since this topic came up. It's the investigation into the East German women's swim team of the 60's and 70's. When the wall cam down the secret Satsi files became public and this researchers got the records of the steriods these "physicians" were feeding these girls. It's sickening what they did to them and how their lifves have turned out. I'll post it when I find it. I found the book I was referring to. It's called: Faust's Gold: Inside the German Doping Machiene by Steven Ungerleider. It's a good read if you want to be informed about steriods.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 07:57 PM) If it was McCarthy straight up, and there was enough money included in the deal, I'd consider it. But on the other hand, consider this. How good will the $200 million team be when their stockpile of young pitching finally appears? Think about facing this rotation next year: Matsuzaka, Wang, Philip Hughes, Brandon McCarthy, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, and maybe something resembling the unholy offspring of Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano. Suddenly their starting pitching goes from expensive, old, and broken, to young, fireballing, healthy, cheap, and deep. They've already shown they have enough money to overcome any deficiencies on their offense, but the one place they haven't been able to do it is on their pitching staff, because the older pitchers who get paid the big bucks have a habit of breaking down after a lot of innings. If suddenly the Yankees got themselves a boatload of young pitching at the start of that rotation, which they're already on the verge of doing with Wang, Matsuzaka, and Hughes, then, well think about how the Tigers would have done this year if they had the Yankee offense. Remember, even if we were to get ARod from the Yankees, we still have to beat the Yankees somewhere along the line. Yes, we can help ourselves here, but we shouldn't do it while simultaneously giving the Yankees the one thing they need to be even better: young quality starting pitching. Good angle. I hadn't thought about it that why. Giving them any starting pitching could be dangerous. Of course if we don't the LAA will. Either way if they trade him, they will be a better team because pitching wins championships.

QUOTE(T R U @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 11:55 AM) ^ from Wikipedia Like I have been saying already, you use them properly and dont abuse them and you arent gonna die. You can believe a reference from Wikipedia if you wish, however I'll stick to the medical literature and what I've seen in pro sports. Taking a high enough dosage of anabolic steriods will cause internal organ damage and lead to a shorter life span. There are no true double-blind randomised trials on humans anywhere in any literature stating conclusively what they will do to you. It would unethical for anyone to subject a client to this type of testing. I don't know why you are buying into the "steroids are ok" spiel but I'll bet it wasn't from someone who has taken them for an extended period of time. There are always a few who last awhile and others say "if they can do it so can I." But as I said earlier it's like the smokers who make to 80 y/o and say I did it and I'm fine. talk to the other thousands who didn't make it.

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 08:11 PM) ^That's if you abuse steriods and do other stuff while taking them. Canseco said in his book he never did anything else like alcohol or weed or any other drugs. He also said that he didn't abuse them. Spoken like a man who is addicted to them. Most normal people don't go tearing up bars and getting sued for it. See recent behavoir of Canseco twins. Also look at all of the trouble Jose had with the law because of domestic violence and aggressive behavior. It's got nothing to do with taking other things. Alcohol and pot do not destroy the body like anabolic steroids. Look in the medical literature don't believe a guy who wrote a book because he was pissed at baseball. It's all there. Anabolic steriods will destroy the body. It's like the smoker who says "I'm 90 years old and I've smoked all my life" as he is using bottled oxygen and a walker. It may not destroy everyone at the same rate but it will get you.

QUOTE(Steff @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 05:37 PM) Wow. Is your wife ok? I imagine seeing that left her pretty shook up. She's fine thanks for asking. She was down the block walking to her hotel. She heard the noise of the plane and watched it hit. She was pretty shook up as she had many co-workers die on 9/11. She quickly realized it was a small plane and said that there was a very quick response by EMS and law enforcement. She said it was a surreal experience and is still a little shaken.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 03:36 PM) Magic is a simple explanation. If you are a millionaire, HIV is no longer a death sentence. They have drugs that will combat the disease and allow you to live a relatively healthy normal life. Where as Arnold used steriods and has so far suffered few if any side effects. You see everyone point to WWE people as examples of steriods killing them off, but you rarely see them delve into the fact that many of these wrestlers had other addictions besides steriods which played major roles in their death. The result is, fathom's "when they start dropping dead at 40-50" is nothing more than unsubstantiated myths. Just like the first Ultimate Warrior died, just like every other unproven myth. I doubt that Bonds dies any earlier than most of the other players of his age group. What then? This is simply not true. Arnold may not die as early as some but the steriod abuse will catch up to him. The retired NFL players are the prime example. One of my favorite teams the Steelers were the first known abusers. Look at the results. There have all sorts of stories of them going nuts (Holmes and his turnpike shooting spree. mike webster and the driving spree), needing organ transplants (steve courson) attempted suicides (tunch Ilkin). Streiods abuse as with any other abuse will kill you. People with money can "buy" time in many cases with experimental thing that most people cannot afford, but don't let that fool you, the steroids will either kill your liver (ben johnson), enlarge your heart (steve courson) or give you a brain tumor (lyle alzado). It will get you in one way or another.

for the family. My wife is in NY and watched it happen. She said the plane definitely looked like it was having problems prior to the hit.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 4, 2006 -> 06:55 PM) The Angels spent a lot of cash bringing Cabrera to Anaheim. If they thought Figgins could play short, they would have spent that money on something else. I know Uribe is usually frustrating to watch hit. But he was 8th or 9th in RBI by a SS in MLB this year, and only 2 or 3 SS hit more homers. I would take my chances with him defensively over most. The last 2 plays he made in the WS last year were incredible. Omar Vizquel couldn't have thrown Palmiero out, his arm isn't strong enough. For my money, unless the Sox were to bring in Tejada or ARod to play SS, or TB insisted on Uribe as a part of a package for Crawford, and the Sox were going to sign Gonzalez, the Sox are much better off leaving Uribe at SS. Experimenting with someone as a SS is only going to make your pitching staff worse. We saw this season, White Sox pitchers need all the help they can get. They also have a hard time pitching over defensive miscues. Amen. The voice of reason.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2006 -> 07:03 AM) 5 years $50 million is a good place to start. Confucious say "beware of power hitting 3B with back problem when offering long term deal." The stress on a good defensive player's back is tremendous. A long term may be unwise if he doesn't have surgery. The disc could go at anytime then you have a 3-6 month rehab.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 3, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) But then again, how many teams have a "Liriano" type in their system? How many GMs would trade a Liriano, Bonser and Nathan for a catcher. Who you release in a year.