Balta1701

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 10:23 AM) Speaking of El Duque and chemistry, does anyone remember a couple of years ago when El Duque decked Jorge Posada with a punch to the side of the head? Speaking of chemistry, does anyone remember when A.J. kneed a trainer?

I'm still trying to figure out what to think about the whole "Phil Jackson-Kwame Brown-Kobe Bryant" mess, but I really don't have a clue what'll happen with this one. Could Phil turn Kwame into a decent center? Could Kobe? Could Kobe clash with both? Could Phil meditate so strongly that it sends Kwame into a coma? I'm at a loss.

Jose, jose jose jose, Jose...Jose... Let's go guys. There's a lot of guys on this team who can and should play better in the 2nd half than they did in the first. Crunch time starts today. It's time to show the world what we're really made of.

There are 3 points with Borchard that I think need to be hammered home again: 1. He's out of minor league options. Therefore, if we even think about bringing him up, we can't send him back down again without him clearing waivers. 2. People keep wanting to give him Timo's roster spot, but if we give Gload Harris's spot, El Duque and Marte get Jenks and Walker's spots...that leaves us 0 spots open if KW decides to make any sort of a trade, which means that again, Borchard would have to clear waivers to come up. 3. Borchard seems to me like he does this every year. He finds his swing in AAA and starts hammering the ball, then he comes up, loses his swing, and suddenly ends up hitting .200 for the next year. He then finds his swing, comes back up, and loses it again. What do I think we should do with Borchard? If anyone's willing to give us anything of value for him, I think we should take it. If not, then I think he gets the whole year in AAA ball to get his head together, let him (hopefully) keep nailing the ball, and either try to move him in the offseason or give him the opportunity in the Spring to try to EARN himself a roster spot next year. There's always the possibility that Anderson won't be ready next year (people still keep talking about holes in his swing), and if that's the case, Borchard could be a serviceable option as a backup OF, especially if Everett leaves.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 09:53 AM) So the Jays payroll can be 60 mill higher 2 years from now??? Does that sound fishy to anyone else. The Blue Jays committed last offseason to spending $200 million on salary over the next 3 years.

QUOTE(Al Lopez's Ghost @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 08:45 AM) It's arguable whether McCarthy is a major league ready pitcher. I'm one of the biggest "For the love of god don't trade BMac yet" guys around here, and even I'm convinced he's not a major league ready pitcher. He needs to work specifically on several things; 1. His changeup. He needs to throw it more often and throw it more often for strikes. This was the pitch that was really helping him eat people alive in the spring, but he's been inconsistent with it all season, to the point that people can sit on his fastball/curveball and drive those pitches. 2. His location with his fastball. Too many pitches drifting towards the center of the plate. 3. Growing up - the kid has to be able to stick a few more pounds of muscle on that frame. Will probably add a couple more MPH to his fastball if he does. 4. (My hope) - 1 more pitch, possibly a cut fastball. He'll be a very good pitcher if he can go up there with control and throw his other 3 pitches for strikes, but if he can throw something into the mix inbetween the offspeed pitches and the fastball, like a cutter with a little bit of movement, no one will be able to hit him. I still say we can't trade him on the grounds that we need to have young guys coming along to keep salary under control, but he needs some serious work this offseason.

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 09:11 AM) I was told, when joining Soxtalk, that there'd be NO math. If somehow you think you can divorce baseball from math (and hence; statistics), then you're gonna run into some problems along the way.

Hypothetically...if you could give me 4 world series games against the Royals...I would never enjoy 4 games more in my life. 1 title in my lifetime is all I want right now. I promise I'll get more greedy if we get one, but damnation, we've got to get the first.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 09:15 PM) I agree. GET IT DONE KW!!!!!!!! We're getting at least 3 guys back basically this week. I'd like to see how well they perform before we go about replacing them...especially El Duque. We've got to see what he can do for a couple weeks before we rush a trade.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 08:36 PM) Clement seems to have done pretty well, and Johnson isn't throwing as hard as he did last year, and his slider is flatter. As for Pavano and Vasquez, i believe the pressure of NYC got to em. Burnett looks like an absolute stud, i have watched his last few outings and he looks unhittable. If K-Dub has a chance to get him........DO IT!!! There was no reason at all for any sane person to believe that Carl Pavano would be able to do this year what he did last year. Just like AJ Burnett, he is a career .500 pitcher with decent stuff against NL hitters. But just like most NL pitchers, when you move them from the NL to the AL, you expect their numbers to get worse. And on top of that, the only year where he put up good numbers for a full year was his contract year. Vasquez...well I still can't figure that one out...that guy faced us a couple of times early last year and absolutely ate us alive.

Top 3 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. Pearl Jam - Alive. Radiohead - Paranoid Android Honorable Mentions: Arrested Development - Tennessee Beck - Loser Ben Folds Five - Philosophy Ben Folds Five - Army Blur - Song 2 Blur - Tender Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching Filter - Welcome to the Fold Foo Fighters - Everlong Fuel - Bittersweet (although I can't stand anything they did since that song) Greenday - When I come Around Live - The Dolphins Cry Moby - Southside (I think that was still 99) Offspring - Keep em Separated Pearl Jam - Black REM - Man on the Moon REM - Losing My Religion Radiohead - Creep Smashing Pumpkins - Drown Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly Wings Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonnaise Smashing Pumpkins - Today U2 - Mysterious Ways U2 - One U2 - The Fly Weezer - Buddy Holly Wilco - Outtasite (Outta Mind) Wilco with Billy Bragg - California Stars

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 05:49 PM) It looks like that Washington/Colorado trade has finally been agreed apon with the White Sox not being a 3rd party. Wilson to Washington, Day and Davis to Colorado. Colorado is supposed to be close to getting Eric Byrnes from Oakland for pitching. Maybe that's why Beane picked up Payton. Maybe I'm missing something, but why exactly would Colorado want Byrnes?

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 05:27 PM) lol The democrats are overplaying this and the Republicans have lost their mind. The Republican talking points are treating Wilson with about as much honesty as Michael Moore. Partisanship and stupidity combine to make for one fun and long never ending news story. Personally, I find it hard to believe that making a story out of a possibly criminal act by the President's #1 advisor which may have done serious damage to the nation's intelligence gathering operations is overplaying it, but that's a matter of opinion.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 05:12 PM) Which means the DOJ is serious. Fitzgerald isn't afraid of anyone and is a bulldog. Which is why Judy Miller is now in jail, and why we know that Karl Rove was the one leaking the information to Cooper.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 03:32 PM) We all know if this was a Dem in the White House or a Dem COngress, we would be talking about a special investigator, etc. etc. etc. Where's the Hammer? Well, technically there is already a special prosecutor. None of the facts would have come out had there not been. The CIA originally requested one be appointed in 2003, and the DOJ complied and gave us Fitzgerald.

Ok...if "Bat Girl" can get a page 2 feature on ESPN.com, I think SS2K5 should be able to do so as well.

QUOTE(quickman @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 01:00 PM) Gene he might have pitched that but then he may have experienced pain. What we do know is he is coming off an off season injury, he is old, and he went down twice this year. When he was pitching for us he was erratic. therefore my only point is he may not be a person to count on down the stretch. I'll grant you all those points, but I don't think it's right to say he's gone down twice this season...I'd say he's gone down 1 time, tried to come back too early, and failed. I think both times it was basically the same problem, and he only had about 1-2 starts inbetween DL stints.

Here's another update/bump.

Both have dated Tommy Lee?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 12:21 PM) Gracias

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:59 AM) You could always go buy a Trib/Sun-Times they're quite cheap. Not for all of us. I suppose I could drive to LAX, buy a ticket somewhere, and get myself to a newsstand that carries the paper that way.

They give the Cardinals credit for being 3rd in bullpen ERA while we're 5th, but then don't note that we're in the AL and have to face the DH and stronger hitters around them? Ditto the starters...the Cards starters have an ERA of 3.58, good for 2nd in the NL, while our guys have an ERA of 3.75, making us 1st in the AL.

Just out of curiosity...who's awards are those?

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:38 AM) What did I do? Just in case you didn't get it...the word you'd want would be "Suspense" and not "suspension"

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:24 AM) Three words: Alternative Minimum Tax Actually I would disagree with you on that...the Alternative Minimum Tax right now is only hitting enough of the Middle Class so that if it were reformed, the savings would be on the order of $10 billion or so. It's not enough to make up the difference. However, the amount of taxpayers hit by the AMT is going to go up rapidly in the next few years, to the point that if we have this discussion again in 2007 or 2008, you'll be correct. Here's an economist piece showing how the deficit would be expected to vary given different changes in the laws. You'll note that they nailed this year right on the head, given that the Medi-can't drug benefit doesn't start spending money until 2006.