Balta1701

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) Jesus, did you seriously put Santana in the same sentence as Fernandez? I think Alex actually had a better record of avoiding injuries when he hit FA than Johan currently has had, FWIW. Someone is going to give Johan 7-8 years and $20-$25 million a year if he keeps this stuff up. And I bet whoever does it will wind up regretting 4-5 of those years.

Reasons why private health insurers have rejected people for coverage in the state of California in recent years: 1. Expected fatherhood. 2. Jock itch (successfully treated with cream). And I'm sure a national health care system of some sort would make things vastly less efficient.

I believe that the Lions victory knocks the Packers out of the playoffs.

QUOTE(Billa313 @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 01:01 PM) I agree that neither are worth 40 but Weaver is a better pitcher imo Weaver "Could be" the better pitcher, but certainly hasn't been it so far in his career.

How fast have the Cowboys gone from looking like world-beaters to either losing to or barely eeking out a win over the Lions (if the Cowboys manage to come back)?

Joe Lieberman, June 2006. Joe Lieberman, July 06

QUOTE(CrimsonWeltall @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 10:44 AM) Couldn't they have made the execution a little less ghetto looking? Like put the executioners in uniforms and real hoods instead of denim jackets and ski masks? Or maybe have it take place somewhere other than the upstairs of an abandoned apartment? How many nicer buildings are there left standing in that country?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 07:51 AM) I'm just the messenger. 20 year old OF who puts up a .305/.386/.496/.882 with 11 home runs and 19 stolen bases in A ball? Can't say I've ever seen him play or read much about him, but that's a pretty darn impressive stat line, especially considering he missed a decent chunk of the season with an ankle injury.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 31, 2006 -> 04:33 AM) For a guy who is supposedly washed up, Johnson sure did win a lot of games in 2006. Which is of course the ultimate proof of how little the "win" stat can mean for some players. #1 offense in baseball, pitcher with an ERA of 5.00. ANY other team in baseball and he looks 5x worse.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 11:17 PM) While I believe that to be true, they are going to really have to kick some ass to get some fans back. It was amazing to hear some of these people on the radio, and it's truly scary how much effect people in the media have over the casual fan. Marriotti can write how the Sox are being cheap, and suddenly Sox fans get out the razor blades. I have brought it up a few times, and I hate doing it, but when an uneducated baseball fan sees the Cubs spending hundreds of millions on personal, and they see a White Sox club getting rid of big contracts for prospects, the Cubs are going to win out in the battle for the fans. Now I make it seems like the Sox are going to draw 700,000 people this year or something, which won't be the case at all. However, the White Sox imagine has been hurt this off-season, and Williams and Co. better be careful. (I'm also not saying the moves they have made have been the wrong ones, I'm just saying to the casual fan, they don't come off well) The remarkable thing about casual fans though is that they actually are...casual fans. In other words, yes, its easy to lose them if the team stinks for a while, but they don't get too attached to people. Casual fans weren't screaming or crying or sending goodbye emails to Brandon McCarthy when he was dealt. Casual fans know and love Mark Buehrle because he was on a 99 win team in 2005, and Casual fans also rapidly forgot the 2-10 start or whatever record it was when Buehrle opened up 2003. You can't worry about losing a casual fan because the Cubs spend more money and you trade away a few fan favorites. The Casual fans were outraged when Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez left in a single offseason (My God, how will we ever win games!). But then the Sox went wire-to-wire, and suddenly the casual fan went from being angry over Ordonez to helping vote Podsednik onto the All Star team. Just win games. It is the only thing that will ever matter in terms of a casual fanbase. In fact, it's the only way to turn them into permanent fans.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 11:00 PM) I'm convinced that if Buehrle is dealt JR/KW will have attempts made on their lives. If the team comes out and wins, all the complaints will vanish.

QUOTE(Brian @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 07:37 PM) Look at the NY rotation. There is trouble. Mussina and Wang will be fine, but what are you getting from Igawa and Pavano if healthy? The NY Rotation is actually in damn good shape, even if people get hurt or stink. Mussina Wang Igawa Pettitte Open spot - for 1 of Pavano, Hughes, and Humberto Sanchez. Supposedly, the Yankees already wanted to get Hughes into the rotation within a few months, maybe at the beginning of the year even. They have 3 potential candidates for that last rotation spot, and a good amount of depth right there. Oh, and they have an open spot in case the 7 time Cy Young award winner decides to come back for another half season, which I am absolutely certain is on their mind.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 10:48 PM) You have to think about the casual fan. There are way more of them then guys(and girls) that roam these message boards that can be considered "die-hards" Casual fans will respond more to winning games than they will to holding onto specific players. In 2003 if I recall correctly, the casual fans wanted Paul Konerko sent back to AAA and Mark Buehrle crucified for going after the fans who were booing him.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 10:24 PM) Pods can't hit a lefty and neither can Jimmy T. Nor can AJ. This year, AJ's inability against lefties is much less important. And, interestingly enough, in 2005, Podsednik was actually quite a bit better against lefties than against righties (Albiet in fewer at bats). .330 vs. .280 lefties and righties. He was pretty much all around bad in 04, and in 03 it was sort of reversed, .270 against lefties and .330 against righties (not totally awful against lefties like last year). I think the message with Podsednik is if he's bad, he's particularly bad against lefties, but if he's doing well, then it's hard to predict exactly who he's going to hit.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 08:24 PM) Interesting that. If the A's are asking for Pelfrey, Milledge and Gomez for Haren for example, if we asked for just Milledge and Pelfrey for either Buehrle, Garland or Vazquez, then maybe something could get done there after all. Either way the longer the Mets wait, the more desperate they'll be to acquire a veteran SP in my mind. Man, I can understand the A's asking that much for Harden, even given his health history he does have ace-stuff, but asking that much for Dan Haren, who certainly doesn't strike me as a #1 pitcher in the same way Harden could be...ouch. If we can't move in on this situation, there's something really wrong. I'm not a huge fan of giving both Floyd and Haeger starting spots on opening day next year, but having a combination of Pelfrey/Humber, Danks, and Broadway sitting there ready to take the spot of whichever one of them struggles after 2 months certainly would be a nice place to be sitting. Especially if we have Milledge tossed into our OF.

Link.

At least someone in the Chicago media is mentionning the deal I want, Milledge+Pelfrey.

So, there are a few other items of note on the Iraq war today other than the death of Saddam. The Military Times news does a yearly poll of about 6000 active service members. Their opinions on the Iraq war and future strategy seem noteworthy to me. Furthermore, the poll asked respondents how many troops they believed should be serving in Iraq, and whether they believed there should be an increase in forces. 38% of respondents therefore support the "Surge" option which Mr. Bush seems ready to implement in January. Meanwhile, 39%, a statistically identical number even in this large of a sample, believe there should be the same number of troops as now or fewer. Also, nearly 3/4 of respondents believe the U.S. military is stretched too thin to be effective. And, on the more somber part, the U.S. has now suffered roughly 109 deaths thus far in the month of December. Link. This is the highest total of any month of 2006, and perhaps more worrisome, it places the October-December 2006 period as the deadliest 3 month block for U.S. forces in Iraq since the beginning of the invasion. The U.S. will also suffer its 3000th military death in Iraq very soon, as there have been an estimated 2998 American soldiers killed in that country since the beginning of the invasion thus far.

So, last week, pointing out that the Bush administration had covered up a report strongly suggesting that U.S. subsidies for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico were essentially wasted basically received a ho-hum reception here. So somehow, I doubt that a few billion more in graft will raise the hairs on anyone's neck, but hey, why not, someone other than me has to be sick of them wasting The American people's money.

QUOTE(BamaDoc @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 11:34 AM) For a platoon player who could play LF, DH occaisionally, pinch hit vs LHP, what about Kevin Mench? Very solid splits vs LHP. For a CF/LF upgrade could Eric Byrnes be available? Both players currently 1 year to free agent possibly dropping what you would have to give up. Kevin Mench's numbers go down a lot when he doesn't get to face Neal Cotts. And I'm only half joking. Anyway, I'm really not certain the Brewers would want to part with that bat, considering that they actually are hoping to have a shot at winning this year. Midseason, if they're struggling he might be a lot more available.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 10:04 AM) I don't think its out of the question. And in fact, if you do get Dye to re-sign or extend this offseason, then suddenly the Sweeney/Owens/Fields group is more tradeable (not all of course, but one or two). Depending on the LF situation (one of those three maybe become our LF in that scenario). The other issue of course being that f***ing 3rd base slot...which also is keeping us from dealing another of those guys. Anywho, I really don't want to see Sweeney traded, and I don't think Owens has that much value at all, but that's probably me just being too attached to Ryan.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 09:52 AM) I have no problem shelling out big money to JD for a three year contract but there's no way he takes a three year contract. He's as gone as Buehrle. I don't think it's totally out of the question that if we offer JD a 3 year deal this offseason, he won't take it. The main reason...his injury history. Teams don't forget things like that, and if he were to have a year that he missed a lot of time, even on a freak injury, it could seriously hurt his earning potential. It'd have to be something like 3/40 to be fair at this point (considering the fact that he'd only earn $7 million this year without an extension), but that might be a decently smart move for both sides. But it would be a sacrifice of some potential long-term money for JD in exchange for more security in the near-term, so who knows if he'd take it.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2006 -> 09:13 AM) Everybody seems to assume Dye will move on, but I haven't seen anything from him that says he wants out of Chicago. Sure, he said he'd like to play for the Ranger's new manager, but that doesn't mean we can't resign him. The thing that makes everyone think we won't be able to sign Jermaine Dye isn't Dye wanting to leave, it's the .315/.385/.622, 120 RBI, 44 HR, and 0 stints on the disabled list. Dye's gone in 2 years from being a guy the Sox got on the cheap because everyone correctly thought he was a health risk to being one of the best bats in baseball. He won't get a 7 year contract like some of these guys, but there is nothing to stop him at all from getting Soriano-money for 4 or 5 years if he wants it (unless he gets hurt this year). Edit: And it's not that the White Sox can't pay this amount, it's more a matter of they shouldn't pay that much. He's going to command what will be for a 33 year old outfielder who will be a DH in a year or two an absolute king's ransom if he even comes close to matching his 2006 numbers, so much that the Sox would put themselves in a bind by resigning him. Especially when Sweeney is still on the way up and should be in the big leagues full-time in 2008 barring a major setback.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 29, 2006 -> 05:30 PM) Baldelli is a year older than Anderson. Baldelli is an .800 OPS CF with very good defense. Brian Anderson is a .650 OPS CF with good defense. I'm pretty sure Baldelli will be better than Anderson every year over the next 5 years. And I do expect Anderson to get better, but Baldelli would be a significant upgrade in my opinion. You give Baldelli "very good defense" and only give Anderson "Good defense"?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 12:07 PM) Not with the test MLB was using... But it appears that MLB also still has the actual samples somewhere, and at least according to this ESPN piece, the Feds want the actual samples also. Which means that a THG test either was or will be administered on all of them.