Balta1701

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 05:45 PM) Proof please, now. According to ESPN over the past 3 seasons, Riske has pitched well in close and late situations. In 230 at-bats batters had a line of .230/.312/.396 against him. I'd take that from our fifth guy in the pen. Riske somehow went the entore 2005 season without recording a single successful "Hold".

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 05:17 PM) If Alex Rodriguez voided the rest of his deal after the 2007 season he'd be passing up $81M over 3 years. I don't care how insane the market is, I just don't see him passing up that sort of cash just to get in on the free agent market. In order to void his deal after '08 or '09 there would have to be someone in baseball with a salary higher than his $27M which there will not be so if he passes up voiding his deal after '07 he will not be able to do so until his deal runs out after '10. The thing to think about may not be the per-year total. A month ago, I figured if ARod opted out of his deal, he might get something in the $14 mil range for 4-5 seasons. But then I saw what teams were shelling out for guys who don't have near the track record of ARod. ARod might be passing up $81 million over 3 years, but he might be passing that up in order to sign a deal worth $100-$120 million over 6-7 years, or even more than that. Especially if the market keeps going up.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 04:36 PM) Even during the 2005 season when everyone was calling him the ignitor of the White Sox offense, the guy that made the White Sox go, he scored 80 runs and drove in 25. He wasn't in the Top 50 in baseball in OBP or BA. If he was such a distraction on the bases, how come he only scored 80 runs? He did spend what, nearly a month on the DL? And for the month before and after that month, his legs weren't there? And the #3 hitter behind him most of the season was this guy named who?

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 05:26 AM) It's been a while since I've read anything on the Russian nuclear situation, but it was a very disturbing problem. No money to maintain the buildings, no money to pay security, no money to investigate the people with access. And government scientists, with ties to some unsavory characters from "negotiations", who had been living in the lap of luxury, suddenly without paychecks. I remember coming away from that book, and the title escapes me now, with the nagging feeling we were less safe with the breakup of the Soviet Union than before. The book was written, largely, with information from one of their scientist who had defected, so who knows how accurate a picture he drew. For years, some of the more intelligent people in the Senate/House have been pushing programs where the U.S. basically pays those scientists to remain unemployed. If I recall correctly though, through some combination of lack of diplomacy by the U.S. and lack of desire to keep funding a program like this (i.e. the Bush Administration has under-funded the famed Nunn-Lugar program by something like $50 million), the effectiveness has wained over the past few years.

Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. Yeah, it's a damn shame. More states should have joined the Confederacy. That would have been the perfect move for Delaware! Seriously, imagine the media response if Howard Dean had said those EXACT words?

QUOTE(danman31 @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 05:12 PM) What's stupid about this is that the voters had Michigan ahead of Florida before the SEC title game. There is no way the win over Arkansas made the voters all of a sudden think Florida was better than Michigan, they just didn't want to see a rematch. It's as if they know Michigan is the better team, but don't want to see a rematch. At this point though, what sane solution is there? It's a broken system and the voters are trying to put a band-aid on it by making their best decision. Michigan did not win its conference championship. Florida did. Ohio State did. What happens if there is a rematch, Florida wins its bowl game, and Michigan wins the final game? Now Michigan loses the Big 10, and wins the national championship over another 1 loss team that did win its conference championship? That's freaking moronic.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 02:35 PM) If a registry is created against my beliefs, then I would certainly want to make sure it was warrant-only access. I'd be in favor of such a registry...and I fully agree that you should need a warrant to get access to it. This includes the President, btw.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) Soxy, you are right in saying that the health care system in the country sucks. But, it will suck a lot worse when the government gets its hands on it. That depends on who constructs the program, who runs it, whether or not there's realistic lobbying reform beforehand, and a few other things. If the same people who designed the Medicare Insurance Company bailout bill of a few years ago design the next fix, then we'll just wind up with one $500 billion Insurance company bailout after another.

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Dec 3, 2006 -> 04:51 PM) arod please please please how long is he under his huge contract? til 2010? thatd be Amazing. hes gonna be really good til then to. His contract does run through 10 I believe, but he also does have an out-clause at the end of next season, and it's entirely possible that with the way the Market has expanded, Boras may decide that he'll make more by opting out and trying to sign a Soriano-sized deal rather than playing out this contract.

I wouldn't do Buehrle alone for Eckstein, Reyes, and Wainright. No matter how much Buehrle might want to be a Cardinal, or how much the media may obsess over it...the Cardinals do not have enough talent to trade for Mark Buehrle right now unless they want to move their first baseman. End of story. Their system is too bare.

So, if Tom Coughlin is not fired at the end of the year, the Giants may as well not field a team next year. Not only does his team spend a whole week bickering at each other, not only does he toss his players under the bus last week, but today, they literally handed the Cowboys a win in the last 1:45 with freaking retarded clock management. When will people learn that if you're at the 15 yard line and there's 1:45 on the clock and you're down by 7, you need to RUN DOWN THE CLOCK before you score? Don't take a timeout with 1:45 left! Then don't hurry-up before the next play, and wind up in the end zone with more than a minute left! Oh, and I must say, all things considered, surprisingly good game by the Bills today. Losman playing with some really big, gigantic balls in the 2nd half to bring that team back. Excellent work by the special teams. And despite the numbers LT put up, holding the Chargers to 24 points is not a bad thing. Incredibly poor coaching decision with about 8 minutes left in the game by Jauron may have cost the Bills that game too. Took a timeout, then challenged the play before the timeout, and lost the challenge...thus costing the Bills their last 2 timeouts with about 8 minutes left.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 12:09 AM) See if you can update your flash players. I usually have ESPN's chat room open during the day in IE, and the last few days, it's been crashing IE on me as well (flash player problem). So it's not just you guys.

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:34 PM) It looks like OSU/Michigan part 2 Unless FLA makes a comeback and blows out Arkansas. Arkansas and UCLA just became the best friends of the BCS system.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:26 PM) At least Beltre showed some promise in the 2nd half of this season (think he hit over .300). But then there's the really, really stupid signings like Carl Everett (didn't last the season), signing Jarrod Washburn to a 4 year $36M deal (produces a 4.67 ERA in an excellent pitching environment) etc. Right now, does that Washburn deal really look that bad?

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:27 PM) I think the odds of this are low. More and more people have medical problems that are treated earlier and earlier. It would take a lot of people to have this affect on the system. I dunno that there are that many problem-free americans that could afford to stop participating. Especially now that 1 in every 3 or 4 kids is obese. But you see, then that does exactly the same thing. In the insurance pool, something like 10% of the sick account for 90% of the medical expenditures (could be off by a factor of 10% or so, but it's really close to that). If the number of really, really expensive people goes up due to obesity, then either rates have to go up for everyone, or the insurance pool has to get bigger. But if rates go up, fewer businesses will provide health care, fewer individuals will be able to buy insurance, the uninsured pool will keep getting bigger, and that will keep driving up the costs of health insurance...which is exactly what we've been seeing the last few years as the amount of uninsured has surged simultaneous with the surge in health insurance costs.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:21 PM) I don't exactly think going to the FA market is a bad option when it comes to filling that need. If you remember with Jermaine Dye, it was basically a buy low type of signing. Didn't have great numbers out of Oakland, but he came to a better hitting environment, became healthy and produced. I'd expect the Sox to try and make that type of signing again if possible. As for Milledge, I'd just prefer to get good young pitching over good young hitting. And as for Milledge, I'd imagine KW will do some checks on his attitude and his background, because you know they want good character guys for the clubhouse who will fit in (although you can argue we signed Pierzynski but that really fit a huge need for us). Well, the thing about the Jermaine Dye signing is that the Free Agent market right now is totally different from the Free Agent Market at the end of 2004. At the end of 2004, it was possible to get bargains in the FA Market, because the market was still recovering from the glut of contracts signed around 99-00 (Hell, JD was being paid like $12 mil a year at the end of his deal by Oakland). Right now, it looks like we're in another big surge period in the FA Market. Which to me means that its going to be much, much, much harder to find a bargain like JD in the FA Market in 2006-2007 than it was in 2004. It may take a couple years for the market to come back into equilibrium with the new money available in baseball, and until then, the FA Market just does not seem like the smartest option. Also, I would prefer good young pitching over good young hitting as well, which is why I'd still ask for a pitcher in addition to Milledge (even if it were just Heilman) if we were to deal someone to the Mets.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Nov 29, 2006 -> 10:58 AM) I don't think a part of working with anyone is acting buddy buddy at a cocktail party. The vehicle next to the one Webb's son was in was blown up a couple weeks ago, killing 3.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:11 PM) Yep, shows why Bill Bavasi is probably the worst General Manager in Baseball today. And it'll only get worse in 2008 when the likes of Ichiro are gone, and they'll completely have to rebuild, which is a sad state of affairs, considering how good that franchise was from 95 to earlier this decade. Some of the responsibility for their decline is not necessarily the GM's fault...some of it is probably due to the, ahem, "cough cough" "sudden unexpected decline in performance" of some of their players, like Boone, which really hurt them as well. But yeah, they're really regretting that 3rd baseman they bought. And I'll even admit, I thought that was a great deal when it was signed.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 05:08 PM) Most people think he's overrated. I would rather target the likes of Eric Hurley and John Danks from Texas, considering we already have some young OF's in Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney. I would say that some people think he's overrated, not necessarily most. I would say that the Mets had some problems with his attitude, being a little too arrogant for a Rookie last year, and that might have hurt him some. But personally, I think he could be an excellent addition to the White Sox, especially as a Left Fielder/replacement for Podsednik. And yes, we have 2 young outfielders in Anderson and Sweeney, but there are 3 outfield spots, all 3 of which we may need people for by the time 2008 starts. We can throw Fields into that mix, but it's looking more and more like he'll be needed at 3rd base. And after that, our options are the Free Agent Market or Jerry Owens.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 04:45 PM) What I have a problem with is spending money on insurance when I didn't need it. It's like car insurance when I don't need it. All of that money goes down the drain, or rather to those in the system who need it. (I understand that's how it works and why my premiums are low.) But you see, here's the remarkable thing about how poorly our health care system is constructed...it is exactly that statement which will be the death of the current American health care system. Right now, I'm pretty damn healthy. I exercise regularly, eat pretty well, don't get sick much. Have some bad knees, but that's about it. Probably similar to you. But the key about the health care system is...if people like you and I aren't paying into the large pool of insurance, if we judge that it's so expensive that it makes more sense for us to just take ourselves out of the pool for a while until our risk goes up...then it winds up leaving fewer healthy people for the insurance pool. And of course, when healthy people start to leave the insurance pool, that drives up the cost for the people who remain in the insurance pool. And when the cost goes up, it is more incentive to drive more people from the insurance pool, which literally creates a cycle that doesn't end until the system is reformed.

Ok, I'm up for a Michigan/USC Rose Bowl rematch from a couple years ago.

Well, looks like I'll be getting USC's band marching in the Rose Parade again this year.

So, I think this is a pretty interesting story. Radio host decides to go on an anti-Muslim rant in response to the Imam's who were pulled off that plane last week. He starts demanding that Muslims should be tattooed, forced to wear armbands, etc. Then, after about an hour of taking calls, he reverses course, admits it was a hoax, and says that every one who called and agreed with him should be ashamed of themselves. Link Full audio of the show, comments from the host, and a statement/Press Release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations can be found at WMAL's web page.

By the way, if I understood the rule changes last night, not every player who is offered arbitration and departs would result in draft pick compensation. Starting immediately, there are now 2 classes of Free Agents who get their teams draft pick compensation if they are signed, type A and type B free agents. Type A free agents are the top 20% of free agents on the market, type B is from 20-40%. When a team loses a type A FA that they offered arbitration to, they receive high draft pick compensation, I believe in the form of a first round pick and a sandwich pick. When a team loses a type B free Agent, they receive a sandwich pick and a 2nd rounder, if I recall correctly. Under the old system, there was also a "Type C" Free Agent consisting of free agents of lower caliber than the top 40% of players on the market. That designation was eliminated under the new CBA. So, if I understand it right, if a player is not ranked in the top 40% of free agents on the market according to the list baseball draws up during the offseason, a team offering that player arbitration and still losing him would NOT receive draft pick compensation of any sort. If David Riske was not a type A or type B Free Agent, then offering him Arbitration would have not meant that the White Sox would receive draft pick compensation if he did leave, if I understand the changes correctly.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 11:28 AM) Because whenever the Govt gets their hands on something, they f*** it up big time. To my eyes, there's a lot more depth to that problem than just saying that the government f***s everything up big time. Specifically, I would say that from the point of view of just a relatively average citizen, every time lobbyists get their hands on something, they f*** it up big time for everyone except the company they're lobbying for. The one other point someone in this thread ought to say is this: just because some other system isn't 100% perfect doesn't mean that it isn't better than ours. Does Canada's sytem have some problems? Yes of course. But that doesn't mean ours is a priori better...Canada spends like 7-8% of its GDP on health care, we spend like 15% of our GDP on health care. Canada has longer wait times for doctors, but 15-20% of Americans can't even see doctors, and you can't by any means tell me that America doesn't have problems with wait times for doctors through HMO's (because I've seen them on my own). Canada doesn't allow, if I recall correctly, people to purchase their own insurance plans above and beyond what the government offers, so choices are limited, but on the other hand, companies like Toyota are choosing to put new factories in Canada instead of the U.S. because the cost of paying for its employees health care there is so much lower. There are a wide variety of health care systems around the world. Just because Canada's has some problems doesn't mean it's not better than ours, and it doesn't mean that any system that even looks like Canada's would be bad. France, for example, actually has, as far as I can tell, a remarkably good system, which costs much less than ours, but which does provide better care than Canada at the same time. The one thing that you have to admit, all of you, is that our system, as it is constructed right now, is on the verge of collapse. The employee-based health care system is falling apart. Companies are cutting benefits left and right to save costs, the number of uninsured keeps going up, and costs on every front, from insurance to drugs, is going through the roof. The system is approaching crisis level. Something has to change.