[Spank the Kiddies]

But for ommission training to work, the parents have to have a strong enough will to stick with it and mnake it punishment. Not take somethgin away for a day only, or SAY they will do somethgin for a week and cave in a few hours. My kids got whacked occasionally, but not often. Thankfully the didn't act up too much to require it.

 

My understanding of omission is that you have to remove the stimulus that is causing the negative behavior. For example, if a kid acting up in class is getting laughs from his classmates, removing the laughs (postive reinforcement of the behavior) is omission. Another example would be if a child is acting up just to get attention, not giving attention is also omission as you remove the reinforcement (attention) of the behavior (acting up). Taking away something is still punishment, just a different - and non-physical - form.

[7/24 games]

I know it's not happening, but there's part of me that would just like to see a five man rotation the rest of the year of Buehrle, Floyd, Danks, Hudson, and Torres, just to see what happens.

 

Not winning the division is what will happen with two rookies in the rotation.

[Dayan Viciedo: A First Half Review]

JPN, do you think the friendly hitters park in Charlotte will benefit Viciedo more than BHam? I tend to think so but there is no graphical tool in MILB.COM that shows to what fields he is hitting the ball to. With Beckham I got a chart that showed he was spraying the ball all over the place once he got to the bigs and especially at the Cell which is a hitter's park but not so sure with Viciedo. Do you think AAA will be a good promotion for him next year?

 

I know you asked JPN, but I'll give my opinion also. I think B-ham is a better park for him right now. While it could deflate his numbers, it won't get him into bad habits of lofting flyballs just to get them out of Charlotte's stadium. I think if he proves he can hit AA pitching consistently, his time in AAA will be short, if he goes there at all. However, his numbers to date don't indicate he's ready for a promotion, IMO.

[Sox Looking to Add another Bullpen arm?]

I'm still not sure why the Sox are looking to add a second bullpen arm unless KW is actively shopping one of the current arms. Dotel clearly makes the most sense, but I find it a bit confusing either way.

[Sox Scouting LAD AA games in recent days]

Considering how last offseason went, I think a lot fewer teams will be offering arbitration to players unless they are elite.

 

Are we sure that this coming offseason will mirror the last offseason? For all the talk of financial trouble, we have seen very little activity during the season to indicate that teams are struggling financially. Maybe they are planning to cut again in the offseason, but all the predictions of mid-season sell offs by teams for financial reasons have not yet happened yet.

[Can I get a Thome extension?]

I'd like to see them let Contreras, Dye, Thome, and Jenks all walk next year. 2010 is time to start reshaping this group.

 

Fair enough - who would you like to take their places in OF, DH, rotation, and bullpen? Also, I assume you want to trade Jenks, not let him "walk."

 

This year, these guys have made Kenny's decision-making this year and offseason really tough because they've all played well enough (also Paulie), so it's in no way obvious which guys should not be back next season.

[Fox Saturday Baseball]

Hopefully the Sox won't embarrass themselves and us with crap performances like in the DH last night in front a very regional audience...

 

Fixed.

[Minor League Catch-All thread 2009 edition]

By the way, they sent Carlos Torres to Great Falls for some reason.

 

Sign that he's not going to be down for long and they wanted both him and Charlotte's rotation to stay on schedule?

 

JPN - your own post plus Balta's provides the answer, doesn't it?

 

From the David Cook thread:

 

With Torres going back to Charlotte, that gives them 27 active players. They can only have 24.

 

Either he's coming right back up, or they are waiting to see what happens with Colon and/or Danks.

[Crazy trade idea]

Kind of a crazy trade idea - but would you of traded Buerhle and Dye for Wallace and Rasmus?

 

I know it doesnt make sense now that we are in contention, but would you have done it?

 

It's a little early on the East coast to be drinking, isn't it?

[Why are KW and JR "crying poor"???]

Seriously, this topic is so tired, and the idea that they are doing penny-ante stuff is just patently false. This is a team with a strong payroll.

 

Also, the first post of the thread says more or less the opposite of what the title of the thread indicates, so maybe a title change is in order.

 

A change in title is definitely appropriate. As you said, the original post says the Sox are basically spending exactly what they should be on payroll, if the revenue numbers are accurate. It confirms what KW says that the Sox are basically neutral in terms of revenue/payroll.

[Best games you've been to]

1. Game 2 of 2005 WS (the Konerko GS and Pods walk-off - doesn't get better than that)

2. Game 2 of 2005 ALCS - the AJ dropped 3rd strike game

3. Game 163, 2008 - the Blackout

4. Opening Day, 2006 - the WS banners and tribute

5. Game 1 of 2005 ALDS - beating Boston 14-3, or something like that

6. Sometime in the late 80's or so, it was seat cushion day, and the last one ever, due to what happened that night. After a bad call on the field, someone in the crowd chucked their square, white seat cushion onto the field like a frisbee. Others followed suit, until it was snowing seat cushions. The PA announcements said the Sox would have to forfeit if that continued, so the Sox almost lost by forfeit that game. Hilarious.7. Also sometime in the late 80's or maybe early 90's, saw the Sox come back from down, I think, 10-6 in the 9th, to win 12-10 on a Gary Redus Grand Slam.

8. Similar timeframe, I saw three straight homeruns hit, two by unlikely sources - Rudy Law, Ozzie Guillen, Harold Baines.

 

Haha, I was at that game as well. The field was almost totally covered in seat cushions!

 

I've missed a lot of memorable games the last 5-6 years, but a few older ones that stand out are Ventura's walk off grand slam against the Rangers (July 31, 1991, I think) and the first game back (Monday nighter, I think) after the Sox had that great road trip in 2000. At the time, it was the most electric game I'd ever been to (obviously surpassed by some of the amazing stuff the last 5-6 years).

[State your unpopular opinions]

I'm not sure how popular/unpopular this is, but all cell phone and other interactive type devices need to be banned while driving. Almost every time I see someone do something stupid in a car, they are on a phone, texting, or doing who knows what else.

[Ozzie and his Usage of Aaron Poreda.]

My main issue is that Ozzie continues to publically talk s*** about the kid. If I’m KW, I’m pissed at what Ozzie must be doing to the kid’s trade value, outside, of Ozzie’s constant stream of criticism there’s nothing that suggests Poreda isn’t a more than adequate big league pitcher.

 

How is he taking stuff about Poreda? Ozzie said that Poreda is a kid, and he doesn't want to put him in pressure situations. Given that the Sox have a very veteran bullpen, this makes a lot of sense.

 

I also agree with Southsider that it appears to me that the Sox don't think he's ready, and that they are trying to balance him helping the Sox this year with maximizing his trade value.

[Sox Should Trade for OFer by deadline]

The Sox M.O. in the past has been to "overpay" in terms of prospects in deals, in order to get cash back or to get better players.

 

What might happen is there might be a lot of action after the deadline as teams will seek to unload contracts through the waiver process. The sox might be able to strike deals that way, with lower level prospects as trade pieces that don't need to go through waivers.

 

I completely agree - KW has always sent prospects and received cash. My, probably unrealistic, hope is that with a stronger farm system, the Sox might reverse that trend for the "right" player who will be with the team for a few years. Peavy fit that bill, and Rios might also.

 

My guess is teams might take the financial hit this year in hopes that things will improve next year. This winter when season ticket renewals start coming in would be when some teams start really selling off.

[Sox Should Trade for OFer by deadline]

The sox probably will pick up JD's option for 2010. He should be the primary DH next yr. And play some RF.

 

I don't know if the Sox would pay for Rios. This is all speculation. But the sox might be able to have the Jays pick up some salary for Rios as well if they add solid players in a trade.

 

Beck - I wasn't picking on you as much as I was looking at the view that many feel Dye's option is too expensive, but some feel Rios is a good option. Depending on what you believe about the Sox financial situation, all Spring and Summer (until KW's recent attendance comments), I've believed the Sox are in a great position to take advantage of other team's financial woes. If Rios could be had cheaply in terms of not giving up prospects we really like by assuming most or all of his contract, this is the kind of thing that I was hoping the Sox could do. I really have no idea what the financial reality of it is. So far, there hasn't been much (any?) salary dumping going on in MLB which contradicts the conventional wisdom being spewed by sports writers / analysts starting last winter.

[7/18 Sox Vs. O's on Fox]

odd national tv game.

 

Except its not really national. I bet other than Chicago and Baltimore, nobody sees this game. (/cranky "I hate Fox 'national' games since I never get to see them here in Atlanta no matter who else is playing" whine post)

[Sox Should Trade for OFer by deadline]

I always liked Wells more than Rios. But the difference in salary is the biggest factor. But if the sox can get the Jays to pay salary like they did for Thome, and get the cost down per year to something like $12, 13 mill per, it might be doable [He's owed an avg. of $19.7 mill./ yr; so would they pay $7 mill a yr to the Sox?]. He and Rios have posted similar numbers through the years. The Sox would have to include solid prospects in the deal, in order to get the Jays to pay that much.

 

So, we're willing to pay Rios more than $11M per year but not Dye? Considering what guys signed for last offseason, Rios' contract is still pretty bad. Not awful, but still well above market value considering his last couple of seasons. I like Rios and think he could be a valuable addition. Ideally he could play CF (I've read mixed reports on this) for a season or two until Danks is ready, then move to a corner spot.

 

Generally, I think KW won't trade for an OFer unless he can get him for a pretty good deal. IMO, KW sees this year as a "win it if you can" but "see what you have" year. If the financial struggles of other teams make good talent available at a discount, then by all means go after it, but don't pay "full price" for guys with over-market value contracts.

[Stupid questions people have asked you]

OK, maybe not totally stupid, but I'd be sitting in a classroom, backpack at my feet, shorts, flip flops, t-shirt, and be asked "You taking this class?

 

No I'm the professor, I just dress this way and sit here to see who the really sharp students are?

 

Not totally the same thing, but I've had students mistake me for another student before (rather than the instructor). One time, I had a long conversation with a student about the class, the textbook, etc while we were waiting for the previous class in the same classroom to end. Eventually she (the student) said "you know a lot about this class, did one of your friends take this instructor?" I answered "no, I am the instructor." After being incredibly embarrassed, she laughed about it, especially since she didn't say anything inappropriate.

[How 'bout those White Sox!]

I hear you but you're kind of proving my point, losing the overwhelmingly favorable pitching matchup just happens, I never said the exact reason(s). Today, fact is Floyd DID have that 5th and 6th compared to his 1.7 ERA the past X starts or whatever the number is. Fact is we scored 4 runs against pitching according to the matchup we should hv lit up. Fact is people relax or whatever the reason, today it was Alexei, but it still happened.

 

Simply put, the Sox don't as a team, for whatever reason, give that complete effort in these situations, I don't know why but they do....

 

You know, until today, the Sox won 7 in a row including games against pitchers they should have won against as well as some excellent to great pitchers. Moaning about how the Sox "shoud have lit up" the starting pitcher today like it's been a problem lately is kind of silly. Seriously, you can't win them all, and the offense had an overall good effort today, especially considering Castro, Wise, and Anderson were all playing.

[Think you've been on some weird flights?]

Back in '90, I was on a plane from LA to DC during the Christmas holidays. Due to bad weather, we were put into a holding pattern above DC. However, during that time (unbeknown to us on the plane), some mercenaries hired to free a big-time drug lord being transported to the US took over the air traffic control radio frequencies and also killed lights to all the runways, so the pilots had essentially no visibility of the airport. And we were running low on fuel, so we had to make an emergency landing, but luckily, some cop from LA blew up the plane the mercenaries were in (killing the bad guys), so it lit up the runway and the pilot made a safe landing. Pretty crazy night.

 

lol - nicely played.

[The best Cuban pitching prospect, Aroldis Chapman, defected]

That's not true. Players that are drafted in the amatuer draft are treated differently than those signed as amatuer free agents or international free agents. Guys like Jose Contreras, who were not subject to the amatuer draft are not required to fulfill 6 years of service time. They sign contracts and are the property of the team only for the terms of the contract, much like regualr free agents. After 2011, Alexei will be free to sign with any team, regardless of whether he ever would have sniffed the Major Leagues or not, as his contract was for 4 years, and not based upon Major League service time.

 

Reports indicte that Rick Hahn himself indicated that the Sox have Rameriz and Viciedo for 6 years.

 

It was discussed in at least two threads, the only one I can find right now with a google search is from Viciedo's AAP page.

 

EDIT: See Post #7.

[Think you've been on some weird flights?]

When I went to Alaska a few years back, we encountered some bad turbulence. I don't know what the hell happened, but we hit some patch of something (or nothing) and it felt like the plane went into a pure freefall for a good 4-5 seconds. I was s***ting bricks.

 

Same kind of thing happened to me on a flight to China. It was enough of a drop that everyone screamed. It was a short "fall," but it felt like forever. Afterwards, everyone just looked around at each other and laughed nervously.

[Stupid questions people have asked you]

I've gotten that one before....i hate it cuz i'm only 24.

 

I've also been asked. Are you two brothers? When my Identical twin brother and I are out together. One time I got it after calling him brother.

Some answers:

No we're 4th cousins.

No we're just two friends who happen to look exactly alike.

He's my doppleganger.

 

Hahaha...I have an identical twin brother too, and we got the same dumb questions.

[Texas brain surgeons use 'GPS technology' during procedure]

Or John Norris. 5 bucks for the one that gets the reference.

 

JPN isn't going to like that...

[Sox @ Brewers 3:05 FOX]

Why has Matt Thornton become our mop-up man?

 

I would guess Ozzie just wants to give him some work since he hasn't pitched in a few days. Linebrink also hasn't been used much lately. Dotel's the one getting the innings lately - and he's the most likely to be traded, so I agree with the "showcase" argument on Dotel.