Balta1701

QUOTE(Jake @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 06:34 PM) I took his comment to mean that we should acquire a backup OF that could play a good CF, but maybe I'm wrong. I definitely don't advocate replacing Brian and I think Brian needs little to no days off. Well, the way I read/figure it, Ozzie has for some reason decided that Brian must sit at least 1 out of every 3 days and Mack must play CF that day. This costs us, roughly, 1 out of every 3 games, at least indirectly, as with today. In other words, the only way Ozzie will stop this is to remove one part of his calculation; if Brian is not there, Ozzie can not bench Brian. Therefore, if Brian were out of the way, and another CF option were there, perhaps the chain in Ozzie's head that requires Mack in CF 1 out of every 3 games might be broken. Yeah, it's stupid. But it's no where near as stupid as playing Mack in CF.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 06:43 PM) Unfortunately for you the Supreme Court sided with the federal government in an 8-0 decision upholding federal statuates making marijuana illegal so in spite of that law it is still illegal in Alaska as well as the rest of the country by virtue of federal law. Yeah, but Alaska is too far away from the rest of the states and too sparsely populated for the Feds to actually be interested in expending resources on enforcement up there (it makes a really poor example), so if the state doesn't do the enforcing, no one will.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 06:13 PM) Hey, I hope you're right. I just don't think someone's going to take all of his contract. Pitching, even pitchers coming off of bad years, is in such high demand, that unless the contract is stupidly large, ARod-large, someone would take a gamble on him. The only question is what we can get back, and that comes down to how Garcia pitches for the rest of the season and how desperate another team is to make a run next year.

If the White Sox's pitching staff could equal what last years' did, just for the rest of this year...then the White Sox could play .900 ball.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 06:02 PM) Exemptions only exist if there is a tax. So someone has an idea for a new tax, lobbyists figure out how to keep those with access from paying it, and a new tax is introduced. I believe we are both correct. My point is it is easier to pass 100 $5 taxes than one $500 tax. Well, then let me also point out that one of the big reasons new taxes are introduced is that thanks to the exemptions for the wealthy and powerful, the older taxes don't do the job of generating the funding that they should. So, for example, 18 families can contribute a few hundred million dollars to a campaign to eliminate the estate tax, a move that would save them something like $70 billion, the government winds up needing to find a few hundred billion in funding somewhere, since we need those F-22's (no, don't ask why, we just do). And so other new taxes are born, and other new deductions are created, and so forth.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:56 PM) How we collect those taxes shouldn't be so complex. Why have 1,000s of taxes? So they can pass increases easier. We need a simpler tax system and more accountability from those that are intrusted to spend that money. No more pretending there are free lunches. Balance the damn budget and if you can't, raise taxes or lower spending. I want a statement at the end of the year that details every tax I paid, fuel taxes, income tax, sin taxes, property taxes, gains taxes, government user fees, etc. etc. You know as well as I do that the reason why we have so many different taxes, deductions, and so forth has nothing to do with making it easier to raise taxes. We have so many because each lobbyist with a ton of cash comes up with some exemption that will benefit his particular employer, and therefore it gets written into the tax code.

Jose...carry us tomorrow. PLease.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:11 PM) That's not going to happen. Ozzie will continue to sit Brian once every 3 games like he has for most of the season so it's KW's job to cater to Ozzie's idiocy. You give him a guy who actually knows how to play defense in CF and can hit a little, you force Ozzie to put a good defensive player out there at a key position day in and day out. So you'd be advocating finding another CF just so that Ozzie might stop playing Mack out there? Hmm, this makes a strange amount of sense...and is probably as good of a justification for replacing Brian as I've seen (and about the only one IMO).

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) He wanted him to go upstairs as much as inside. In on his hands, which was a good call IMO but again, it was a missed location, a mistake. And it led to the loss. They had two hit batsmen who came around to score, and they lost by one run. There were a lot of things that led to the loss. When Mack short-hopped that ball in Center Field in like the 4th inning, it allowed another run to score, and Anderson would have had that ball easy. Pick your item to beach about, there were a lot of stupid things done by about 10 people on that team today (Dye gets a free pass).

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:44 PM) No. It was the heater as you correctly state, he wanted to come inside, and got too far inside. He was geeked up I'd imagine and it ran too far in. A mistake. Lack of execution. I know some on this site think Hawk Harrelson is senile but once again he made a great point today. He said they Sox pitchers are throwing too many pitches to these hitters and they are relying too much on these hitters to get themselves out. He said, and I agree with him, they need to go right at these guys a lot more aggressively. And that means pitching inside more, which is an entirely different topic for an entirely different thread. And they were actually pointing out prime examples of it during the game, getting ahead of guys 1-2 and then winding up with full counts. Hard to argue with them on that.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:41 PM) Nope, it was a 98 mph that missed its spot by 3 feet. How in the world did Tejada's arm avoid snapping in half then?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:39 PM) I think we have the arms here so unless we are going to go out and swap starters with someone I really don't see us doing anything. At this point, I'm still really scared to stand pat. This team just does not look like a championship team. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like one because it can't pitch, and the only guy out there who can help with that would be a terrible acquisition (Zito).

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) I've come more around to the lack of players execution. It's just terrible. We talked yesterday about the awful pitch selection. The same thing happened with Jenks hitting Tejada. Jenks best pitch has been his curveball this season. As funny as it sounds, his 97 mph is his set-up pitch. There were too many examples this weekend of not trying to put away the hitter...and it was why every hitter for the Orioles had like 10 hits this wknd. As far as my eyes could tell, that pitch that hit Tejada was the curve ball?

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:28 PM) That is exactly what I would've done ... yank him after the out on Conine. He can't rely on Cotts to get an out vs. Markakis ... we have problems. However that doesn't absolve Vazquez of the blame of plunking Patterson, it was the same dumb mistake Jenks made plunking Tejada in the 9th. Do you sense a pattern. Pitchers not executing. That's been the pattern almost since April.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:19 PM) Would you do this deal? Vazquez + $15M cash + Broadway + Fields for Zito? So, basically, we'd be giving up all that for 2 months of a pitcher and 2 draft picks. I just don't like the price for a Zito when the chances of resigning him are absolutely zero. QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:26 PM) Is some team really doing to be stupid enough to take Vazquez or Garcia off of our hands without us eating a decent chunk of their salary? I don't think anyone will. To get rid of either of them, we'll have to throw some money the other team's way, too. Someone will take them if offered. Especially if somehow either one of them happened to have a good end to this season, but if you put them out there, someone will take them. Especially Garcia - veteran pitcher, with good history, bad 06 season, but expiring contract? If Garcia keeps struggling, he won't be getting us a young Pujols back in trade, but he'll be moveable.

Probably helps the Cardinals quite a bit towards making sure they stay in front of Cinci, but I still think they're in trouble when they hit the playoffs. Whichever team in the NL pitches the best down the stretch will have the advantage.

QUOTE(bulokis @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 05:05 PM) I dont know why we keep trotting Mack in center. I know we are not making moves but we need an OF in our bench. We don't need an OF on our bench...we need to stop putting our best defensive outfielder on the bench.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) I'm with Rowand. If we play like we're capable, we're fine. The Yankees won't "scare" me unless Randy Johnson reverts back to his pre-2005 form. He's been utter garbage since joining the Yanks. The White Sox don't scare me unless Buehrle, Garland, and Garcia find some sort of 05-like form either. Pitching, pitching, pitching. Whoever has it will go far in the playoffs. Whoever does not will probably not even make it.

Shouldn't Iggyd have posted that?

QUOTE(CWSOX45 @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:17 PM) I seriously hope you're wrong, but it probably is just wishful thinking on my part.... I'm just frustrated because I feel Bmac is better suited for the rotation, and I'd like to see him get a couple spot starts.... Spot Starts = terrible idea. Won't let him get comfortable in either the bullpen or in the rotation. If you're starting him, he can't leave the rotation, no matter how indecisive the people making the decisions are.

34 children die in Israeli Air Strike . Israel will slow down/halt operations in southern lebanon for 48 hours in response.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:23 PM) I think it's 1.5 million but I could be wrong. Anyway, Im fundamentally opposed to any estate tax of any kind. The people who built their estate did so by working hard and paying taxes on their earnings all through their lives. Why should the government get a second, and much larger, crack at that money just because it's being left to the heirs at the time of death? It's $2 million now, which I think is a very fair level. In 2009, it'll be increased all the way up to $3.5 million, as per current law. And it's also not "Much larger" by any stretch of the imagination, even on the largest estates (and when you get to those sized estates, a significant majority of the income has probably never been taxed anyway, due to it coming in the form of capitol gains.) Here's a chart of how small the impact actually is on almost any reasonably sized estate.

"Don't. Stop. Believin'."

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 04:16 PM) I am right with you on all of this especially the last part. Brady Clark is the 1 player out there who I think fits this team ridiculously well and fills 2 huge needs for the team, possibly 3. He'd be a steady righthand bat off the bench, fill the 4th OF role and could possibly start over Pods if that's something Ozzie wanted to do. We have a good right handed bat off the Bench...Brian Anderson. He only is allowed to play 2/3 of the games each series, so that covers a lot of it. (mainly this post is just me being annoyed at Mack getting the start today.)

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jul 30, 2006 -> 09:53 AM) While I am i no way rich now, with the life insurance I have, and the business I own (which would also be paid off if I die), my wife would inherit just about $2 million. I would like for her to keep that, not go to some government that didn't earn it, sweat for it, starve for it and pay for it. I earned the money, I am building the business, I am paying for the insurance (at a hefty price, I might add), and any benefit should belong to my family, not the government. I love this line from the story ""The Senate has rejected fiscally irresponsible estate tax giveaways before and will reject them again," Reid said" Like the taxes belonged to the government in the first place! No, you pompus ass (Reid, not you, Greg), the 'taxes' came from the very people you and the rest of the congressional idiots supposedly represent, the people. Well, that's great to know. And I'm sure you also know that the estate tax doesn't touch any estates valued at under $2 million.