Balta1701

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) Giving a 30 year old starter who strikes no one out, walks around 50 and gives up a s*** load of hits $11M a year when your payroll constraints seem to be right around $60M (having the 25th highest attendance in baseball last season will not help matters) could be a BIG mistake. CC and Hafner hit the open market after the '08 season and they'll pull in about $30M per year combined if they please. ~$40M for 3 players? I don't know. Like I said, it depends on what they're willing to spend. Almost every other team in baseball has had its revenue explode the past few years, and Cleveland has maneuvered themselves into some very good deals wiht some of its folks like Sizemore, along with having a good stream of youth on the way up. If Cleveland is willing to pump up it's total salary to hold onto Hafner and CC for a few more years, or at least Hafner specifically if they don't think CC can stay healthy, they're in ok shape, but that all depends. It's like Vazquez's deal. If the White Sox were looking to cut back on salary to get back to $80 million, it's a pretty bad deal unless he turns into Johan. If the Sox are looking to stay near $100 million, it's an ok to pretty good deal because that's relatively fair market value and still allows him to be traded.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Apr 13, 2007 -> 11:14 AM) I hope he has fun in Tampa then That'd be a great place for him to wind up IMO. Although I doubt they'd want to even pay that salary. He could fit in well in Washington.

That's only a good deal IMO, not a great deal. It's a great deal if Cleveland is able to increase salary to still be able to hang onto guys like Hafner and CC when they hit FA in a couple years.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 06:59 PM) What the heck is up with Terrero? This guy has been raking since the start of spring training. Terrero put up an over-900 OPS last year in AAA. He just hasn't had a chance or hasn't put things together in limited at bats in the big leagues.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 05:44 PM) From what I remember, I think the Cubs offered Prior, O's wanted Zambrano. Chicago Sun-Times, January 3, 2006. Chris DeLuca, Chicago Sun Times, January 5, 2006. NBC News, Dec 23rd, 2005.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 04:48 PM) No wait, Nifong is still employed, at least at this moment, along with his bosses, the guy who helped him hide the DNA evidence, etc. Who's the more agreived party here, the Duke 3 or the women basketball players? With the way CBS is acting now, you would think being called a nappy headed ho is worse than rape. Imus was an idiot, but this overreaction is just wrong. CBS had no problems with all the money he made for them, maybe they should donate the profits from his shows over the last year or so to Nappy-headed Hoes Anonomyous, or something. You know, get rid of that tainted money. Is there anyone out there who doubts that the DA in the Duke case is going to rapidly get what is coming to him, including major lawsuits and a disbarment (the process for which I believe is already under way)? And I think that CBS and MSNBC donating a chunk of their advertising moeny to a worthy cause would be a wonderful way for them to show actual atonement for having employed Imus, and it'd send a great message to the companies carrying Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, and their ilk; keep giving these people airtime and expect to be really burned eventually.

Dave Stewart.

Mike Mussina strains a hamstring. Yankees consider moving Rivera to starter. Josh Bard (Padres C) to the 15 day DL. Arthur Rhodes (Mariners P) tore a ligament in hsi throwing arm and is considering season-ending surgery. Jaret Wright to the DL, although the orioles are saying the trip will be short.

On the ert...

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 02:13 PM) Not sure, the manager told me that they were waiting to hear back from corporate about a solution. I'll call him in a few mins. I assume they have to do SOMETHING, otherwise it has to be some form of false advertising. No? Not unless they said something was "Guaranteed to be in stock" or some words to that effect. Grocery and drug stores around here all the time wind up putting things on sale only to have me discover later that the item has gone out of stock, or was never there in the first place.

So, for the people who are genuinely pissed off about this...I want an answer to a simple question. What positive thing does Don Imus and this sort of talk bring to our nation or its discourse? I just read back through this thread, and almost every argument out there was that "Oh, Mr. Imus isn't as bad as x" where x is Al Sharpton, rap artists, the PC police, the media, whatever. So, let's say for a moment that I don't care about where each one's problems fit on your personal value scale. I don't care whether you think hip-hop artists do worse, whether or not Jesse Jackson's affair is worse, or whether or not this was the worst thing said on the Radio this week (I'm sure Beck, Savage, and a few others top it every 5 minutes). Tell me what positive thing he contributed such that I should be saddened by the loss of his show. Give me something other than the ol "Oh he did it too!" and I'll consider being mad about this. Until then, I will continue to think that in some small way, our nation just was improved.

This should make things even more fun...via the non-partisan ethics watchdog CREW.

Another article on voter fraud, the near total lack of any of it in this country, and the continuing obsession with it by certain folks who found claims of it a convenient path to electoral victory. I keep being reminded when I post these of all the people last fall before the election who were saying that we absolutely needed voter-ID laws in every case to make sure that voter fraud didn't happen, and the fact that no one out there could really produce evidence of actual fraud happening anywhere to justify those laws.

Tetrahydrogestrinone.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 10:59 AM) Its amazing how Hernandez's perception has changed over a couple of starts. He was an above-average pitcher last year. I don't doubt that he will have a good year, but I am going to wait a little longer before calling him an ace. I'm pretty sure that they weren't letting him throw his slider last year (someone correct me if i'm wrong) to try to protect his arm until he grew up a little more. The couple reasons he made my list: I was only picking 1 offensive guy because I think pitching is more important, Johan obviously hits the list, and I wanted someone with Johan-level-talent who I think has a good shot at staying healthy. I'm not sold on Verlander staying healthy yet, and I'm pretty happy with the way Seattle has tried to baby his arm.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 05:40 AM) Perhaps there should be an archive somewhere, maintained by the GAO or OMB (whichever one is the executive - I always forget), of all email traffic in and out of the servers for the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Something encrypted and locked up, to be accessed only via warrant or properly legal congressional investigation. Military or security-sensitive information would still, as I am sure it is now, maintain its existing protections. But the files would always be there for recall. I have little time for privacy issues in the business of government, which should rarely be private at all. That's actually what the law requires. The Presidential Records Act, or whatever it is called, requires that all emails incoming and outgoing from the White House and folks working there be saved for future reference if ever needed. But of course...when we turn the law over to these people, we see the results. They make a deliberate effort to hide their emails from future scrutiny by trying to run everything through an RNC system that they claim is not covered by the law, even though that maneuver is probably not legal. The emails are then on a server that only they control and which they have the ability to delete things from without anyone noticing because there's a compliant Congress not bothering with oversight. They then casually claim that they have lost emails and can not comply with a subpoena. Summary of the story, and even text of the rules that are given to employees of the EOP specifically stating that all emails must go through white house addresses and be preserved, can be found @ that wapo link.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ozzie is not a great in-game manager by any stretch of the imagination. He is often out-smarted by the moves other managers make, and does not always put his team in the best position to win. But that's not why Ozzie was brought in. Ozzie was brought in because Jerry Manuel was managing perhaps the most lackadasical, uncaring team of ballplayers I've ever seen. They had no fight in them. They never seemed to have any balls. When a big game appeared, they'd fold. Ozzie's job is to keep a fire lit under this team. In 2004-2005, it worked pretty darn well all things considered. The team went from being asleep to actually looking like they were playing hungry and took advantage of the talent they had. In 06, they seemed to regress some. Lots of sitting back and waiting for the long ball. Very few cases where people manned up. Even when something big happened, like JD's home run off Nathan to tie the game, the team didn't get fired up, went scoreless for 3 more innings and lost. Suddenly, we're looking like we might have some guts again. Garland stranding a runner at 3rd after a leadoff triple. Coming back against Oakland's bullpen yesterday. And the pitching staff responding here. Ozzie's skill is as a motivator, not as a game-manager. He damn well better be able to have some success with the occasional rant, or there's no reason at all to keep him.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 07:50 AM) They just don't care any more. They know that no one is going to by this BS excuse, but they just don't care. Either that...or they think that whatever is in said emails would bring a worse response if released than they would get by "losing" them and facing either obstruction or contempt of Congress.

I believe this year started at 6:00 a.m.

Honestly I don't think I've even bothered to look at the banner in weeks. I wonder if that's worth noting.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Apr 11, 2007 -> 09:18 PM) I don't understamd why Contreras couldn't have came to America w/ his family also... You would think that Contreras would only agree to a contract w/ the Yankees if he could get his family could come with. I hate Cuba. I believe that Jose's family was not around when he defected. He defected while at an event where the Cuban baseball team was playing in Mexico, and I believe he sort of walked to another hotel room and requested asylum, or something like that. His defection was not complicated because he was allowed to leave the country to compete. His family wasn't allowed to travel with him though, so they were pretty much stuck

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 06:44 AM) What are people thinking on Matsuzaka in the long run? Seems to me that most pitchers who come over from Japan or Korea have a habit of being virtually unhittable for a short period, like one or maybe 2 seasons tops, then once MLB players figure them out, they go downhill fast. Will this guy have the same problem, or no? It all depends on where his fastball is. Others have reported he can throw it up there in the upper 90's, and I haven't seen it yet. If he can throw mid to upper 90's, along with his selection of pitches and seeming ability to control them all, he can be good as long as he has his fastball. 5 + years. If he drops into the low 90's though, he can be a decent, Freddy Garcia 05 level pitcher for quite some time, because he has enough pitches with enough control and movement to mix things up.

1 player? Pujols. 3 players? Pujols, Johan, and probably King Felix.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 12, 2007 -> 05:56 AM) Race issues are every so much fun, they really bring out the hypocracy of the race card in America. Think about this for a second, the two people who are most publically leading the charge against Imus, are two notorious racists themselves. Jackson and Sharpton both are on record as having said racist statements against Jews, but look at what they do now... They both lead religious and race-based organizations. Why aren't they willing to resign their positions to show how much they believe that racism is always wrong? Why isn't anyone really calling for them to do exactly what they are asking of Imus? The sad thing is, you're 100% right here, and this is a major part of the problem. I may regret writing this one because of the sensitivity of the issues involved, but here goes. Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson are precisely the sort of leaders who make things like this worse, and I'll tell you why. It's not because they're sensationalist, it's not because they overreact, it's not because they're corrupt, its because they have simply no credibility left on these sorts of things. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton have been relatively poor leaders when compared with the other African American leaders of the past half century. One of the things that, IMO, helped make sure the civil rights movement took hold in this country was the fact that some of the people taking the big steps to lead it, like Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, etc., were upstanding human beings, regardless of their race. It's pretty darn difficult today to look at Jackie Robinson and find him to be a bad person. On the other hand, when someone like Imus does this sort of thing, makes himself look like an idiot and a racist, all he has to do is wait until Mr. Jackson or Mr. Sharpton get involved, and then fire back with the exact thing he's doing this morning: "IMUS: 'WHEN WILL SHARPTON APOLOGIZE TO DUKE PLAYERS?'". There just isn't enough credibility in these guys as leaders of their community to allow for positive things to come out of someone stupid saying something stupid (s^5). Every time that someone like Imus, Limbaugh, etc., says something that gets them kicked off of some channel, it should be an opportunity to actually take steps to improve the discourse in this country. We'd be better off, far better off, without these sorts of people making these sorts of statements, but because the people who will lead the charge against the remarks simply don't have the credibility to do it.

Thank you for everything, Mr. Vonnegut.