Balta1701

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 03:09 PM) Thats the point in all of this. Everyone talks about the window we have/had, and while that still sort of is the case, Williams is trying to EXTEND the window. People are crying about not going for it all RIGHT NOW, but Williams is trying to not only go for it all in 2007, but in 2010 as well... Exactly. Yesterday, we were looking at a situation where 4 of our 5 starting pitchers would hit Free Agency within 2 years. Now, 3 of our 5 starting pitchers hit Free Agency within 2 years, and we have 2 additional backup options. If you go up and down our lineup, Podsednik is gone by 07-08 at the latest, Dye probably leaves after 07, Iguchi is a FA after 07, Pierzynski hits FA after 08, Uribe hits FA after 08, Crede hits FA after 08, Thome has an option for 09 We have some pieces we can plug in, like Sweeney and Fields, but if we had 4 of our starters walk for draft picks, and half of our starting lineup walk for draft picks, we would be rebuilding in 2008, 2009, and 2010 without a question. Now we have fewer holes to fill, and I'm fully expecting a few more of those holes to fill sometime soon.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:59 PM) THE WINDOW FOR WS CHAMPIONS CLOSES EVEN MORE NOW ............. The window for WS Champions closes a lot less now than it did yesterday. Now we only have 3 players who are Free Agents at the end of 2007, not 4, and we have 2 additional players who can possibly step in to replace whatever of those 3 guys we can't sign.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:38 PM) Sounds like Sox are keeping the cash? Give it time folks. Even if we spend less this season, that may just put us in a better position next offseason.

QUOTE(ChiSox9 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:37 PM) Correct... i should have just said pitching and "Balta please fill in whatever you please here" Now you're getting the idea. For the Cardinals, for example, it was pitching and David Eckstein, and the occasional brain cramp by the Tigers pitching.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:36 PM) It looks like the Orioles and Cardinals were given chances to go to two years, but neither did. Gonzalez's deal with the Dodgers is set to be announced Thursday. His arrival to play left field leaves James Loney without much chance of a starting job entering the season. Andre Ethier is probably going to start in right. Now from the Dodgers side, that just doesn't seem smart to me...you've got great kids, they're performing, but you keep spending tons of money on blocking them. I understand maybe grabbing one outfielder since Kemp isn't ready yet, but grabbing 2 outfielders and bringing back Nomah, so that Loney has no where to play this year and Kemp and Loney will be competing for 1 open spot next year?

QUOTE(ChiSox9 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:34 PM) "And there we have it folks, after 12 SOLO home runs from the White Sox 3-4-5-6 hitters, the Dodger's have just won the world series 13-12." Pitching and Grinding got us the first ring... pitching and grinding will be the only thing that gets us more! I bet you pitching and bombing will do the same thing. As would pitching and running, pitching and defense, pitching and standing around laughing at the crowd.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:28 PM) Bling aside... does gold corrode slower or something? Actually, I believe that there are several benefits to gold. First, it is an excellent reflector of incident radiation, in both the visible and IR bands, which would help to protect the equipment from being bombarded by light/heat while in space. It is also a good conductor, which i can imagine would be useful to prevent charges from building up on the surface of the ship, and it was quite easily applied (the thickness of the gold layer on the outside of the mylar is reputedly something like 500 angstroms)

QUOTE(Hatchetman @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:21 PM) are you saying bmac is a better pitcher in 2007 than garcia? that's nuts. I'd say the odds of that happening are pretty high actually. I for one can't wait to see what Brandon can do in a full 30+ start season in the big leagues.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 02:12 PM) The two guys we just got for Garcia are better than Tracey, Phillips, liotta, Broadway, mcullughtwhatever. Kip Wells was a better prospect than Buehrle too, IIRC. Hopefully someone earns whatever jobs open up in that rotation the next few years.

US Airways investigation nearly complete, expected to conclude that crew behaved appropriately.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 01:22 PM) Eric Gagne for two years. He wants to close, not be a setup man. Reportedly the Yankees approached him about a job setting up for the God of the Cut Fastball, and Gagne wasn't interested.

Moises Alou has already signed with the Mets.

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 11:38 AM) Why do I think that if there was a draft and nearly every 18 year old boy was sent to war now-a-days, we wouldn't be successful. This includes my generation as well. Those guys really were heroes. That has a lot more to do with the wars we're choosing to fight than the draft itself.

The Cubs sent Hamilton to the Reds for Cash considerations. Link.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 12:04 PM) I can't tell if you are being sarcastic, but, I agree with this - it doesn't mean a thing. Not with this issue. This isn't about funding levels or political decisions. This is piss-poor leadership from all levels of government. So, one point I would like to raise, regardless of how corrupt the people in LA actually are, is that FEMA is not and has never been designed or taught how to be a reconstruction agency. Beyond just the fact that it is constantly loaded with political hacks who have little experience with anything other than supporting the party (with the exception to some extent being the Clinton Administration), FEMA is an EMERGENCY MANAGMENT association. Their job is to deal with emergency conditions, help provide relief, and save lives. There is absolutely no reason why FEMA should have been given the job of managing reconstruction funds. No one there would have any experience figuring out how to deal with those funds in the first place, and they would have been subject to all sorts of corrupt political whims from the people who the politicians stick at FEMA so that they have jobs.

Full Name: Gavin Christopher Floyd Born: 01/27/1983 Birthplace: Annapolis, MD Height: 6'4" Weight: 220 Bats: Right Throws: Right MLB Debut: 09/03/2004 Gavin Floyd was originally the #4 pick in the 2001 MLB Amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phililes, following Joe Mauer, Mark Prior, and Dewon Brazelton, and 1 pick before Mark Teixeira in that round. He received a $4.2 million signing bonus, currently the largest in the history of the Phillies. Floyd was ranked by Baseball America as the #56 prospect in the country in 2003 and the #9 prospect in the country in 2004. He was ranked as the top prospect in the Phillies organization in 2003 and the #2 prospect in 2004. Floyd made his ML Debut in August of 2004, beating the Mets in 7 innings. In 2005, Floyd made the Phillies out of Spring training, but struggled, giving up a 10.04 ERA in 26 innings before being demoted to AAA Scranton. At Scranton, Floyd continued to struggle, going 6-9 with a 6.16 ERA. In 2006, Floyd again pitched well enough in Spring Training to earn a spot with the team, going 4-0 with a 3.16 ERA, but again struggled in the regular season, going 4-3 with a 7.29 ERA before being demoted to AAA again. His numbers at AAA improved, but were not where they were at AA 2 years beforehand, and he went 7-4 with a 4.23 ERA at AAA to finish the season. On December 6th, 2006, he was traded by the Phillies to the White Sox along with Gio Gonzalez for Freddy Garcia. Pitching Statistics Year Team Lg Age Org Level W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP 2002 Lakewood SAL 19 Phi A 11 10 2.77 27 27 3 0 0 0 166.0 119 59 51 13 64 140 14 0 6.45 0.70 3.47 7.59 1.10 2003 Clearwater FSL 20 Phi A+ 7 8 3.00 24 20 1 1 0 0 138.0 128 61 46 9 45 115 6 0 8.35 0.59 2.93 7.50 1.25 2004 Reading East 21 Phi AA 6 6 2.57 20 20 2 1 0 0 119.0 93 39 34 5 46 94 1 2 7.03 0.38 3.48 7.11 1.17 Scr/wb IL 21 Phi AAA 1 3 4.99 5 5 0 0 0 0 30.2 39 20 17 4 9 18 3 0 11.45 1.17 2.64 5.28 1.57 Philadelph MLB 21 Phi MLB log - sp 2 0 3.49 6 4 0 0 0 0 28.1 25 11 11 1 16 24 1 1 7.94 0.32 5.08 7.62 1.45 2005 Scr/wb IL 22 Phi AAA 6 9 6.16 24 23 0 0 0 0 137.1 155 103 94 11 66 97 10 0 10.16 0.72 4.33 6.36 1.61 Philadelph MLB 22 Phi MLB log - sp 1 2 10.04 7 4 0 0 0 0 26.0 30 31 29 5 16 17 2 0 10.38 1.73 5.54 5.88 1.77 2006 Scr/wb IL 23 Phi AAA 7 4 4.23 17 17 0 115.0 117 57 54 9 38 85 7 1 9.16 0.70 2.97 6.65 1.35 Philadelph MLB 23 Phi MLB 4 3 7.29 11 11 1 1 0 0 54.1 70 48 44 14 32 34 2 0 11.60 2.32 5.30 5.63 1.88 Major League Totals - 3 Season(s) 7 5 6.96 24 19 1 1 0 0 108.2 125 90 84 20 64 75 5 1 10.35 1.66 5.30 6.21 1.74 Minor League Totals - 5 Season(s) 38 40 3.77 117 112 0 706.0 651 339 296 51 268 549 41 3 8.30 0.65 3.42 7.00 1.30

A date which will live...

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 11:08 AM) I doubt there are more than 12 people in the world who are not Sox fans who think this deal was about even. Check out the comments on rotoworld, Baseball Prospectus and just about anywhere else on this trade. Everyone is shocked that the Sox gave up so little for Garcia. QUOTE(daa84 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 11:15 AM) this is from SABR guy Gary Gillette... Nice to know we're in the same chat. Want to try to get the same question posted?

So in other words, they're expecting Gil Meche to be 5-7x more valuable next year than Hernandez.

I believe this could seriously increase Ahmadinejad's power in that nation.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 10:45 AM) Wow. What a complete waste of money, and the release of Hernandez just blows my mind. He had zero value? COOP WILL FIX HIM!

Money isn't disclosed yet, but Gil Meche is going to the Royals with a 5 year deal. Unless he's getting like $4 million a year, I take back every compliment I've given to the new Royals GM. This deal = insanity for that team.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 08:56 AM) And others will reject any criticism of this organization. No matter how bad of a trade KW makes, some fans will work really hard to spin it into a positive. I know this one took a hell of a lot of work. It's altogether too easy, on the other hand, to criticize a deal which does not bring back an immediate return, because it is difficult to evaluate such a deal without including time. People are going to watch Garcia next year and scream about what he's doing. He's gone on to the senior tour, he's added another pitch, he gets to maybe recover his fastball. He could win 20 games in that league with Ryan Howard backing him up. But this deal is made so that 2, 3, 4 years from now, then the White Sox are better. We may be better next year too, that's entirely up to Brandon (and I think he's up to the challenge), but this deal entirely hinges on what Floyd and Gio can turn into. So it's easy to criticize now, but a couple years down the road, this deal could look really good, and no matter what, it's hard for it to look ungodly bad. If both Gio and Floyd flop, then what happens? The White Sox saved $10 million in salary and lost their chance on a first rounder and a sandwich pick in 2008, and maybe find that they have a few more pieces to use in other trades.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 08:56 AM) SH1980, explain to me how this move makes us WORSE for 2007. I don't think it makes us better for 2007, but I can't see how you can call it worse. For just this upcoming season, it's a lateral move -- you're replacing Garcia with BMac, and bullpen BMac with Haeger/Floyd. Unless you think that BMac is going to tank, which would be pretty outlandish. With the glimpses we've gotten of what BMac can do in the starting rotation, I think just getting him in there makes us better.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 7, 2006 -> 06:35 AM) Somebody in Louisiana is getting rich and I'm sure it's not the poor families. Who's running that state anyway? FEMA.