lostfan

This is a good discussion. I do think that bmags has a valid point. By the way, at my job, looking for more business (I guess I'd put campaigning in that category) is legitimate work, even if it takes away from my actual "job."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 01:03 PM) I am guessing they got the 99 total, they took out that crap, or the total would have been WAY higher. Possibly. I really don't know TBH. All I'm saying is that it's common, even accepted, for legislators to miss a lot of votes when they're campaigning.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 01:46 PM) FWIW, they are both below average when compared with their peers. And to me, they are all important votes. If they weren't important, they wouldn't get to the level where they are being voted on in the first place. Honestly no, they're not. You've looked at records of proceedings on house.gov or senate.gov before I assume? There are plenty of votes of the "Voted YES on congratulating some person on some accomplishment" variety. Now if we're talking something like telecom immunity, or immigration reform, they'll fly back to Washington for those.

Why is it so crazy to assume that first-year players in MLB are going to get better? When they players are good, their rookie #'s always improve. The ones who do not improve after a significant # of at-bats are called "busts," in either case, the comparison between them and established MLB players who are trending up and down is an extremely poor one. The rookies who come in and take the league by storm (Alexei Ramirez doesn't really count) are the exception to the rule.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 10:28 AM) That is reassuring... I don't think there has ever been a time where a Senator or Congressman running for president didn't miss a lot of votes. They do show up for the "important" votes. It's not something I'm really concerned about.

LOL, I actually heard that line this morning and I didn't realize that's what he was saying. I was wondering why it seemed like such a non-sequitor.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 09:05 AM) Why can't you get it through your head that Konerko has been injured for most of the season. First with a hand problem and then the oblique? Have you looked at the back of his baseball card? Its pretty good. If Konerko is the garbage a lot of this board thinks he is, then so is Swisher. Instead of replacing garbage with garbage, why doesn't anyone have any better ideas? Why do you keep saying "except for June"?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 18, 2008 -> 09:01 AM) They both started out pretty well but have been getting hammered for the better part of 2 months. You can't explain so you say its different. Why are they not comparable? The Sox only have to pay Contreras through next year. They have a bit longer with Vazquez. Javy Vazquez gets a break on this board because he gets a lot of strikeouts. Jose Contreras began pitching during the Truman administration and began the year with zero expectations from most people so when he pitched well, it was a bonus. Vazquez is a sometimes inconsistent but relatively effective pitcher, whose rough stretch in reality has not lasted that much longer than Buehrle's did. Furthermore, Vazquez is not the five-and-dive pitcher he was in 2006, this year he's been either on or of from the beginning. Like I said I'm not going to bother explaining much further than that because it's a waste of time.

Vazquez and Contreras's situations are not comparable... please, just stop that. And if I'm challenged on that, I'm not going to bother explaining why because I shouldn't have to. I might as well be explaining why Carlos Quentin is not Jermaine Dye if I have to explain obvious things that people pretend not to know.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 06:14 PM) If Hester's to be a WR, they better be starting Grossman. Orton can't get the ball downfield far enough for Devin. Orton has decent arm strength. He just has absolutely horrid accuracy, so it doesn't matter. I can't recall the last time I saw a QB throw a ball 5 yards over a RB's head when there is no one else within 8 yards of them in the flat. I've also never seen a QB throw so many passes 5 yards in front of his WR's feet. I've come to the conclusion that the reason Orton doesn't throw that many interceptions is because his passes are so inaccurate they are literally uninterceptable.

Also I thought Ichiro played CF not RF?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 06:14 PM) You'd probably have heard his name more than Joba's. But Even then...you're not getting Ichiro straight up for him. If I'm the Mariners...we start talking at Joba + Hughes + someone else if we're talking to the Yankees. Ellsbury + Lester + a couple other guys if it's the Red Sox. Etc. Remember...from the position of the franchise out there...Ichiro isn't just their best, franchise player. He's also a huge economic draw. Yes his contract is big, but even if the team sucks he puts them on the map and puts people in their seats. To trade him they need to get a deal that makes them clearly better, whoever they're talking to. I'm not saying we could trade for him straight up for Ichiro (although to be quite honest, I think he is worth a trade for Joba straight up - Yankees fans and the general sports media probably don't think so thanks to the Joba hype). But a trade for Ichiro would involve a package of top prospects, which we don't have.

I like the fact that I am able to say this, but I think some of us underestimate the value of Danks. Could you imagine how hyped he'd be if he were on the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs?

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) I'm not going to edit my post, and I'm not embarrassed in the least. I've never been to that site before, and clearly I asked, "Really?" not knowing if it was serious, so I've got nothing to be embarrassed about. That sure is funny though, and it wouldn't be that far fetched for Ozzie IMO, lol. I was hoping you'd see my response quickly before everyone else saw your post. I was looking out for you.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 04:26 PM) I'm frankly of the opposite mind. I just think that even the franchise tag is too much cap space to blow on a receiver of Berrian's level for one season. If they thought they had a shot at extending him and then they could spread out the cap hit I'd have been game, but at no where near the numbers that Minnesota offered. The only way I'd have wanted him tagged was if they were planning to trade him. Looking at the way the Bears use cap room...it may hurt the team this year, but letting Berrian walk without tagging him makes the team better long term, because that cap space is money that goes directly to holding on to Harris and Hester. In the NFL, I'm willing to be weak at a position for one year if it is the right move for the long term cap situation...and IMO, the Bears are more likely to win a Super Bowl the next 3 years by having Harris and hopefully Hester extended and trying to find a fill in at the WR position (either through the draft or by finding someone who can step in and recover like they're hoping Lloyd can) than they would by holding on to Berrian for 1 more year and not being able to sign Harris or Hester or some other spot because of it Cap management is one of Angelo's strong points, and it often gets misunderstood by pissed-off fans who need to vent about not signing random big-name free agents every year. Angelo certainly has his vices, but handing out bad contracts isn't one of them. I trust him to handle expiring contracts as well as any NFL GM out there (I was on Angelo's side through the whole Briggs debacle, in which Briggs's punk ass ended up playing himself). However, if Angelo managed to sign Bentley, I'd kiss him on the forehead in the most non-gay way possible.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 04:15 PM) Listen, I like Bradley as much as the next guy but you can't possibly ignore those injuries. When it happens that many times its a trend. He also failed to even be able to make it out on the field for most of the season even when he was healthy (Grossman had to plead to get him out there) and there had to be some sort of reason for that. I know, injuries. Plus he had his knee scoped this year but it's not like he had a ton of work to do in the offseason so I'm guessing he'll be ready for the season. That's neither here nor there. All I'm saying is Bradley is talented and often gets forgotten about. The reason he didn't make it onto the field is the same reason the Bears' offensive coaching staff turned Hester into a non-factor on offense by calling blatantly obvious WR screens every time he came onto the field. It's because they're functionally retarded.

FWIW, even Danks wasn't ready to step in right away, and he had an adjustment period like just about anybody else does when they start playing MLB full-time. Last year he was a 3 pitch pitcher, now he is a 4 pitch pitcher. He didn't just get a 2.67 ERA and 1.15 WHIP overnight.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 04:56 PM) Mark Bradley has had 3 years in this league and has yet to prove himself as a reliable #3, let alone a #1. He's not really had a legit opportunity to do so either. Each time it appears he is going to start the season with significant playing time something happens - he was well on his way to being established before tearing his ACL, then the next year he was having a good camp and had a muscle pull (or something, I forget) which set him back and ended up burying him on the depth chart while the Bears went to the Super Bowl. Then the following year he was just kind of there, and he was stuck behind Berrian on the depth chart again, this time with Hester in the equation. However, as much of a Bradley apologist as I am, I will say this - he is not too bright, and has had trouble learning which routes to run. If he was able to do that they may have let him play more that year.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 03:49 PM) What's with all the pitching projects we keep acquiring all the time? How about a solid pitcher that doesn't need Coop's magic? You say that like something is broken and needs to be fixed.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 03:43 PM) You know you're bad when your own party hates you. I'm still looking forward to the day that we Illinoisans (sp?) can proudly say that we have two ex-governors in jail, AT THE SAME TIME. Ah, good times. It's kinda hard to fathom that people used to actually like him at one point. He really pissed all of that away as efficiently as he could though. That's about the only thing he's done efficiently since being elected. Well that, and being corrupt.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 04:34 PM) Blago has to be the dumbest person ever to have held such a high position in government. It's funny to me that he managed to succeed someone who was sentenced to prison for corruption, and be even worse, and have people hate him more.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) How much more emotional do you get than going apes*** on a space heater? Touche. He doesn't seem to get upset on the mound though.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 03:29 PM) Yep, he posts here too on rare occassions. I dunno why, because I talk to him every day. When I bring up a Soxtalk thread he almost always knows which one I'm talking about.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 12:30 PM) All depends on the cost though. My guess is it would be fairly steep. MacPhail got a good package for Bedard, and obviously it won't be on that level, but it'll still be a decent one. When I go to O's games, which has been a fair amount the last year or so, I get the vibe that they are about tired of Cabrera here.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Jul 17, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) Yeah I think so. I know he definitely did this season with the new stadium opening up and everything. I wonder if they'll get the new president to do it next season? But yeah, let's hope none of this goes to John's head or anything and he keeps pitching the way he has. We need him to, with others in the rotation faltering leading up to the ASB. When I watch Danks on the mound and in interviews his demeanor comes across as being almost exactly like Buehrle to me. Except maybe a little more emotional, i.e. will throw a fit after giving up a HR. But then he will go straight after the next batter without a care in the world just like Buehrle does.