Balta1701

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 02:06 PM) You heard it here first, the White Sox are officially after everyone, except Cub players. But aren't we supposedly after Rusch?

QUOTE(DonkeyKongerko @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 02:04 PM) Glad to hear the British Soxtalkers are ok. The international response has been alot stronger than expected. The markets especially show me people refuse to go down easily. The markets today fell because the price of oil fell...the good news is it didn't plummet because of the attacks, but I think its clear that the scale of them wasn't such that it could cause major economic distress. Oil hit a record high yesterday on account of the gulf storms...it's only natural there woudl be a bit of a correction today, and that stocks would float based on that. For the Markets to see a major impact from attacks, I'd expect it would have to either a.) be huge, on a 9/11 scale, b.) hit a vital target, such as an oil refinery, or c.) hit a place that does serious damage to the american consumer's willingness to shop, like a series of malls. These did none of that.

They're replacing a SS with an SS and a pitcher with a pitcher. Can't say I blame them for that.

Why is it now that we suddenly can't beat Colon or Washburn, or any other great starter for that matter? We came out with Buehrle vs. Colon and ended up winning that game in the 11th inning...IN ANAHEIM. Garcia took Washburn out 4-2...in ANAHEIM. Yeah, Garland lost his game there, but that was in that 1 stretch this season where he struggled a wee bit, and where our offense was totally dead against that rookie Santana. Contreras lost 3-2 to Lackey, and again, this was without Thomas, and during a time when our offense was really struggling. Look at our record this year...it's insanity to say that because some team throws out Colon or Schilling we won't be able to beat them.

Maybe KW is just leaking this so that the Yankees will try to go after Griffey while he goes after something of actual value. I mean, they do need a centerfielder in New York, so Griffey would be a perfect fit right?

So I take it this is the official thread for snarkiness/being an arse/angry debates about the London bombings? I've tried to avoid it in the other thread. If that is the case...then I have only 1 thing to say. D'Oh.

Let me just chime in to point 1 thing out... I believe someone just advised us to make A.J. Burnett the highest paid player on our roster by giving him the $10 million+ that it'll take to sign him as a free agent. Just think about this...you're talking about making a person with a 42-43 career record our highest paid player. You can tell me wins and losses don't matter all you like...but the guy has been on some pretty good teams in Florida, and the best mark he has ever posted is 12-9. He's also 0-2 in the postseason. Giving huge contracts to pitchers with poor career records? How has that worked out for Steinbrenner?

Here's the thing to ask yourself... The Cubs have Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Greg Maddux, Carlos Zambrano, Derek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. If Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone were coaching that team...do you think they'd be a .500 team? What does that tell you about the north side?

He's another guy who's really dropped off from last year...his career batting average is at least as good as Crede's...you don't pick up Alex Cora expecting him to be a huge RBI guy I know, but dropping from .264 to .205? That's a hell of a drop.

If he's going to be designated for assignment, who would trade for him? Is there any reason to believe this is any more than just an idle rumor?

Sadly, buried within that last long block of text is the exact problem with Judicial Activism as an idea; no one can give a strict definition of what it is. By applying numbers on a wierd 1-10 scale, our friend seems to think he can set some sort of arbitrary standard for what rulings violate the constitution and what don't. The problem of course is obvious; who holds the scale? Who decides whether or not something falls at a 10 or a 2? Clearly, it is the viewer. There is no arbitrary standard by which one can judge activism or constitutionality. If you want to see the best discussion i've ever been a party to on this question...check out the comments on this discussion. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who recently became an appeals court justice, took a case on 1 issue and tried to use it as an opportunity to use her own beliefs to overturn a completely different statute. Is that judicial activism? President Bush went to court to try to get a judge to ban 527 ads, when he signed a bill which specifically did not ban those ads. Is that judicial activism? The fact is...the only definition of this topic out there is the "I'll know it when I see it" activism.

Borchard has actually been on fire lately...

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 11:37 AM) I say Willie goes in the Eddie deal. There, happy. Does Ozuna then backup Iguchi as well? Or Dye? Remember, we've already had games this season where we've had 2 infielders down at the start of the game...(without Crede being tossed out)...seriously what happens if Crede's back is sore and Uribe gets hit by a pitch?

Didn't I hear that Jose had an absolutely dominating start against Boston at some point last year? Also on the spanish issue...um...don't we have a manager who also can get through to Jose? (There's a reason Ozzie ends up coming out instead of Cooper when Jose walks 2 guys)

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 11:29 AM) I honestly think this senerio could REALLY, REALLY happen. Sox land A.J Burrnet for Marte,Bmac, and OF prospect(don't think Anderson or Sweeny because of Bmac in the deal.) Sox get Guardado(take Marte's LHP role.) Here's the one thing you're forgetting... You're trading 1 major league player (Marte) for 2 (Everyday Eddie and Burnett). In other words...you now have 2 people to take up 1 roster spot. Let's assume Gload and El Duque come back after the AS Break...between Gload, El Duque, and Marte, we already have 3 guys trying to squeeze into 2 roster spots currently held by minor leaguers (Jenks and Walker)... Let's assume we're willing to drop Timo for Gload...who do we drop to make room for this extra pitcher you've just acquired? Vizcaino is one of the only guys in our pen who has been able to work in a long role and give us 2 innings every now and then (2.1 innings 3 times this year, although 1 didn't go so well). Willie Harris is unmovable as a backup 2b. Ozuna? Of course not. Everett? Widger? Shingo?

I didn't want to give this one its own thread...but here's a blurb from the Rob Neyer chat later.

Jenks could average 1 walk every 2 innings and I would be more than happy with him. Why? Because walks are the only thing that will beat him on a regular basis. The only thing. When you are a hitter, if you're going up against a triple digit thrower...you have 2 strategies. You can either go up there and try to foul off a couple pitches and draw a walk, or you can go up there swinging and hope for luck. Every so often, every pitcher who throws 100 will be beat by a ball landing 400 feet away just because the batter made contact. It's impossible to avoid. Someone will swing and hit the ball, and the ball will leave. But that will only happen like 1 time out of 30 or 40 at bats, if that. And that number gets even higher if the guy can occasionally toss in a changeup or a curve ball outside the strike zone. If you go up to face a guy who throws 100...you have a couple options...you can say "Screw the curve ball" and start your swing at the moment the pitcher releases the ball...thereby making it so that you're probably going to swing at some bad pitches, but where you hope for luck... You can sit there and sit on an offspeed pitch and hope he throws it to you... Or you can try to draw a walk. If Jenks walks 1 guy every 2 innings...he will have a WHIP of 1 or less, simply because no one will be able to hit him if they don't have the option of doing the latter two because he's getting his fastball over. That 100 mph fastball is an incredible weapon, because if its thrown for strikes, the hitter has almost no option except getting a lucky swing. That is all.

If they keep bringing up Kevin Walker just because Ozzie refuses to go without 2 lefties in the pen...you can be damn sure Damaso won't be leaving unless there's an immediate addition of another left-handed reliever. And if KW decides it should be Walker...I'll throw up.

Do they still expect Lee to play?

Right now...I am becoming more and more confident with every passing day that the NL Wild Card will go to either the Nats or the Braves. They're both playing too damn well...and the Braves aren't even close to healthy. I was a bit worried when all 5 teams in that division were screaming above .500 that they'd just kill each other, but now that Philly, Florida?, and NY have fallen back just a little bit, I think there's enough room there for Atlanta and Washington to float up. Houston's hot right now. I'll keep saying this until someone hears me...teams get hot and get cold, but they always average out. When a team climbs in the standings on a hot streak, everyone stares at them and all the media suddenly take note, but at some point they always stagnate. You can't judge too much on 1 hot streak. I need to see them keep hitting for 3 months before I buy into them.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 11:08 AM) lol yeah Lima Time to leave after 3.2 innings. Lima averages like 1 dominant game a month...it's just when he pulls it out. He beat the Hell out of the Cardinals last year in the playoffs, he beat the Hell out of the Dodgers when he pitched against them last month. He can do it...he just does it VERY RARELY.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 08:46 AM) Him and Juan Rincon could be best friends. Now THAT's funny.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 11:10 AM) Welcome aboard!!! What exactly did Hawk and DJ say?? Click the link below the FutureSox Banner.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 11:04 AM) Oakland's obviously been hot as hell but if we're going to to do it, we have the right 3 guys going. Oakland's had a hot month. A few weeks ago...Cleveland was on a 9 game winning streak and suddenly became a media darling...and since then, they've sat right behind Minnesota the whole time, while the hottest team in baseball was STILL the White Sox. Every team goes hot and goes cold. Every team does. The A's are hot right now. The will have a cool period at some point again. They might have a shot at the wild card...but so do a lot of teams, and that will probably come down to who gets the hottest in September.