Balta1701

QUOTE(Kenkait Sox Fan @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 06:24 PM) If talking about relievers, how about a low risk flyer on Keith Foulke if his option not picked up. If he were healthy, he would probably accept setup role and act as a potential insurance for days Jenks can't close. I think we have enough "insurance" for Bobby at this point. I just want the best RH setup man we can get for the price.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 06:43 PM) My understanding is that the James H Jim thing was only on the confirmation page, not the vote selection, so I'd say the impact should be minimal. Can I at least blame the Green Candidate, who is sitting on over 20k votes?

The Dems have held the senate seat in Maryland. That was the GOP's other pickup opportunity. George Allen is up by barely 8000 votes in VA, with 84% of the results returned. Allen's lead has shrunk from about 30000 when 60% were counted, so the last segment seems to have been more pro-Webb. Don't know if there's enough left, but it's gonna be real close. So close that "James H. Jim" might have made a difference. Sheldon Whitehouse has beaten Lincoln Chaffee. That's the 3rd Dem Pickup in the Senate. Chris Chocola has gone down in Indiana.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 06:03 PM) I'm laughing at the democrats who are saying "we've really come together and organized our party and that's what you're seeing tonight" people hate GWB, they're voting for the opposite of him...it could be the duck party whose platform is bikini waxing for the elderly and the results would be the same. "Taking back America" is a joke. More people voted for Bush in 04 and it showed the make up of America. In two years people are just mad at the lack of vision (as they have a right to be) by the current leadership. by no means does this indicate a change in the way our nation thinks or the 50/50 polictical makeup. In two years if dems dont get their act together, it'll be the other way around. Very true on the still 50/50 part. The country is still just about that divided on general, except for on the issue of Bush. However, I think it is actually worth noting that the Democrats have been attempting a major reorganization under Dean, and you may well see the fruit of it tonight. They've spent a lot of money in places that the 2002-2004 elections told them they shouldn't spend money, like Idaho, Wyoming, Indiana, the south, etc. One of the reasons the Democrats are actually in a position to take advantage of how badly Bush has screwed up is the work Dean has done. They've had people working for almost 2 years in places where the Democrats used to have no presence at all, and suddenly, lo and behold, they're finding quality candidates for governor, state legislatures, and Congress, who find themselves facing Republicans who embarass themselves or just are too close to Bush, and they actually have voter and fundraising lists and the ability to actually oppose those Republicans. It may not fundamentally change the country's makeup, but in terms of giving the Democrats a chance to take advantage of the Bush disaster, it has seemed to be very important.

Costco is offering a $4000 package including dinner and discussion with Yogi Berra and Bob Uecker.

Ken Blackwell, the guy who ran the 2004 and 2006 elections in Ohio, lost his bid for the governorship. Sherrod Brown is the new senator from Ohio. Santorum is out. Menendez has held on to his seat in NJ. That's 2 senate pickups so far, and 1 risky one that the Dems held. And the Dems are going to finally pick up a seat in the bloody 8th...Ellsworth beating Hostetler. Aside from the Iraq war vote, man did I dislike that guy. But that's a big aside. Anyway. Blago called in Illinois. Lugar in Indy, not unexpectedly. Sanders in VT. Potential upset in KY-03...Dem leading 50-48 with 80% counted. This one didn't move into the competitive races until very recently. Could be a harbinger. Linkity. Oh, and Katherine Harris lost. CNN Calls Connecticut for Lieberman.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 04:09 PM) That's $2 million that could be better spent. I think there is zero chance of the White Sox offering Riske arbitration, and zero chance that a team signs him before the White Sox have to make it official. He's a reliever who can't be put into tight situations. You always need guys who pitch garbage time, but pay those types around the minimum. Do you think there is any chance the White Sox go after Eric Gagne? I think Boras is his agent which would present a problem, and he probably would balk at being a set-up guy if he's even healthy enough to pitch, but for some reason I think the Sox may be interested. I think there's a remote but nonzero chance of KW going after someone like Gagne, but the key would be the opinion of Cooper. As we've seen with a lot of guys (AJ Burnett, Octavio Dotel, etc.) there are usually teams willing to spend a fair amount on guys despite their injury history if the ownership thinks that the player can help the team...and I think Gagne hits that category. Someone will probably give him more money than he should get...the only way I'd want it to be us is if Coop gave it the full go-ahead.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 03:48 PM) I'd be shocked if the Pads got Sheffield back. He had a huge impact in his only year with the Pads and they still moved him onto the Marlins (albeit they got some quality in return) but there was a reason the Pads moved him and the org still has a lot of the same people around that were there than. I still remember the days when Sheff was playing 3rd. Didn't he get traded the year the Padres sold off everyone?

Link. Just one House...I don't care which one, just a little bit of oversight is all I want.

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 02:00 PM) In light of impending exit polls. Do they actually tend to have a bias against Republican candidates or was that only the case in '04. Speaking of impending exit polls...get your seemingly highly unreliable Senate exit polls here. The rule of thumb on exit polls is that they're going to be reliable within a couple of percentage points, like all polls, if they're done statistically correct, which means you need a truly random and representative sample (and not more Democrats being polled than Republicans), and not a random sample of people who showed up to vote but where a biased group (say, poor minorities without proper ID) weren't counted. They're going to be cute to look at, and if they really are showing 7 point leads in some races those will be hard to overcome, but the ones that are tighter than that could go either way.

Anyone think Duhon's name might be one that comes up in trade talks come Feb.? (especially depending on how the Knickerbockers do?)

QUOTE(cgaudin @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 12:54 PM) McCarthy is way overrated, we could get good product for him. Trade him now, while he still has value. Just wait.

The only benefit to the White Sox of signing Moises Alou is that the Tigers and Twins, both of whom could use him, won't get him. Focus people, focus. We have better things to spend our money and time on this offseason. Leadoff hitter, LF, SS, righty reliever, resigning Buehrle, Crede, Iguchi, Dye. $5 million spent on this wins a couple extra games. $5 million replacing Podsednik wins a lot more than that.

If we offer him arbitration and he accepts, are people then interested in keeping him for roughly the same salary?

Don't worry about K-Fed...his talent will carry his music career straight to the top! Oh, and by the way, this is clearly an effort to disrupt voter turnout.

Worth-your-time article in Salon actually looking at the people who are being disenfranchised by Arizona's voter-ID law. Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands...native americans, virtually all students (do you get a new drivers license every time you switch dorm rooms? If not, the address is incorrect and it can't be used)

Wow. So there's in your eyes no difference between push-polling, which is being actively done by both sides, and a legitimate effort at voter harassment? I can't say I'm a fan of the push-polling, but i'm amazed you're actually trying to draw that parallel...especially given that you're voting for people who are doing exactly the same sort of push-polling. The best pro-Repub one I've heard about is the one they're run in something like 5 states asking "do you believe in medical experimentation on unborn babies?" The thing I'm complaining about here though is a fundamentally different beast from push-polling, and I think it's remarkable you'd try to defend it with that excuse.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 7, 2006 -> 07:49 AM) Uh yeah. Who gave us the better chance to win the WS last year? A good SP who makes our rotation better, or a guy who would have spent most of the season in AAA? When that pitcher is Javy Vazquez...

Great, just watch, another of the guys we tried out in those dark 03-04 years as a starter will now come back and become a solid bullpen performer for someone else. At least it's not the Tigers this time.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Nov 6, 2006 -> 04:19 PM) I think Brian is staying and all this talk is nonsense. Writers need something to stir up and it's Brian Anderson getting some stomach ailment, losing weight and leaving the team. Heck I think he did what was right. If your sick go to a real Doctor for treatment. tell me where/when did BA make a fuss? I didn't hear anything from the team either and both ozzie and KW aren't shy about telling someone their pissed off. I think Brian Anderson needs to get a chance to start at QB for the Bears. Grossman clearly can't cut it.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 6, 2006 -> 05:42 PM) I know Williams has made a point to orchestrate trades which benefit both organizations. However, in this instance, we NEED to unload a starter upon whichever team is most willing to overpay. Receiving fair compensation for Garcia's value (when you factor decreased velocity and impending FA) should realistically give us, what, a Lance Broadway prospect in return? That is unacceptable. IMO, the value of a proven big league starter who helped pitch his team to a world series 2 years ago and who is signed for a very affordable price considering what other pitchers will go for this offseason is going to be worth significantly more than Broadway. It's simple numbers...teams have money to spend this offseason, but there are only 3 moderate level, innings-eating starting pitchers available on the FA Market, Zito, Schmidt, and Matsuzaka. Matz you have to pay the posting fee, Zito is a step or two above Garcia in consistency but has still been down the last few years and is going to make a ton more money, and Schmidt is both older and less consistently healthy than Garcia. Someone is going to pay a lot more than a Broadway to get Garcia. Maybe the equivalent of a Broadway and a Sweeney, if not more. There are plenty of teams who think they have a good chance to win next year who have a boatload of reasons to make that sort of deal to try to turn 07 into their year, and almost all of them need starting pitching.

There are also whispers of robo-calls or of other calls telling people that their polling place has changed, but at this point that is nothing but a rumor (and I believe it's a fairly common rumor around election day). More interesting, the legal counsel for the DCCC, the Democratic version of the Republican group running these harrassing phone calls, has sent a letter demanding that the NRCC cease and desist the calls on the grounds that they violate FCC regulations in that the opening of the call does not identify the person responsible and that they do not include a phone number for the responsible party. Linkity. Supposedly, a bunch of the major media organizations got cold feet on running this type of story on election day, so unless you really go online and pay attention, or get one of the few papers to actually note the story, the odds are that if you got the 30 robo-calls in a week, you're going to blame the Democrat, because no one is bothering to report the fact that they're coming from the Republicans. And since the media is therefore going to be complicit in having it actually work, we can expect it to be employed on a much larger scale in 2008. Damn liberal media.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Nov 6, 2006 -> 03:16 PM) did they die in the bombing? because that's key to my "that ain't so bad when you've got the rest of eternity in heaven to have at those 40 virgins" joke. The Madrid bombings weren't suicide bombings.

QUOTE(Nokona @ Nov 6, 2006 -> 03:24 PM) Not even close. Haggard is a (hypocritical) bigot. There's a huge difference there. If I recall, McGreevy also used his position to help his partner out at the expense of the state, which was the other key part of his resignation (and why it was exposed)

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 6, 2006 -> 11:09 AM) And it would also pretty much ensure that we missed the playoffs for at least one year, if not a couple while those two pitchers developed. I'll take a rotation of Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Brandon McCarthy, and x where x = either Haeger or a guy talented enough to give us real hope (or some random cheap free agent stop-gap measure) and go in to battle with that with a fair amount of happiness...especially if we fill our leadoff hitter/LF/SS holes at the same time.