Sammys Boombox

Just got asked. They're answering now. They don't see day games as an obstacle. Better be able to play in the cold because October is cold. More worried about our ability to win on the road than at home. Didn't really answer the part about possibly having more night games.

I think I might get to ask another. Post if you've got one.

Theo talking up James Russell. Also, McLeod isn't on here for some reason.

Main goal right now is developing pitching. Vizcaino is going to work on a third pitch this spring.

That makes me think they think he is already here. Gotta be either Baez or Castro sliding over, right? The only players Jed mentioned were Lake and Villanueva.

They think the every day 3B when we contend will come from our system.

The answer to my question and others' is basically we will see at least a few impact FA signings in the same offseason we are expecting an "impact wave" from the minor leagues. He expects we'll go from really bad to division winners in one offseason. Not this offseason. EDIT: He keeps pointing out that they don't want to win the wild card, but the division every year. He will add pieces if they can make one of the wild card spots, but doesn't want to go into a "contending" season planning on a wild card spot, so that's why they don't to jump into it right away.

Didn't want to start a whole thread for it. I'm about to go on the season ticket holder conference call with Theo, Jed, McLeod and Kasper. I get to ask a question. This is my number 1. If somebody asks something similar I'm going to go with this. You've got about 10 minutes to give me something better.

As I said yesterday Dayton Moore said the Royals are trying to get "2 or 3 starting pitchers." The owner said at the end of the year that he was willing to operate at a loss to go out and get pitching. They will sign one free agent, point to Duffy returning, and point to Volstad and Santana and say that the players underperformed. Sorry, fans. We don't have a crystal ball.

I went to renew my Royals tickets today and Brian McRae was there. Nobody else was talking to him so I got to talk to him for awhile. I told him that I remembered him catching the last out of my first game at Wrigley and that Steve Trachsel threw a one-hitter that night. He said, "That was 1996 against the Astros, right?" He said he always liked day baseball and that Wrigley was the best place to play. Seemed pretty nice although I think he was tired of sitting there and getting no attention. They also had a Q&A with the Royals GM Dayton Moore. He tried to make it sound like the number of renewals they got today would affect whether or not they got "2 or 3 good starters instead of 1." I read their gate receipts were only $36MM. The number of renewals won't affect a thing on the field. I liked this gem. "We have an awesome sabremetrics group. If you guys saw the numbers I see you'd agree with 99% of our moves." I hate when people talk in absolutes or near absolutes. The fans here hate Luke Hochevar. One asked, "Can you consider yourself a serious playoff contender with Luke Hochevar on your roster?" He said the sabremetrics guys love him, but the scouts hate him. I wanted somebody to follow up with, "So, we'd agree with 99% of your moves if we saw the sabremetrics guys' analysis, but they love Luke Hochevar enough that you signed him number one overall and we all hate him?" This is not a knock on sabremetrics at all. I'm just wishing somebody would have caught that.

With the current rash of injuries I am just happy for every Packers win. I don't care how ugly it is. They need to just survive the next three weeks (two games).

Right forearm? I was wondering what that was.

You mean I still have to watch Chris Volstad next season? Dangit!

What is the ETA on Paniagua? I know Jed said they expect him to move "fairly quickly."

Wait, what position wouldn't you put yourself in? Taking a picture with your dad as the team that employs him celebrates making it to the world series? You wouldn't do that? Being in rookie ball like he is I would be more inclined to do it. If he were in AAA though... Probably shouldn't do it. I'm not sure how his teammates that played at the MLB level for the Cubs would take it. Personally I wouldn't have a problem with him doing it if he were on the MLB team unless the Cubs had just lost to them in the postseason. He wasn't even wearing Giants stuff in that picture. He just got a picture on the field with his dad after his dads employer just had a major moment in the organizations history. I have no problem with it, if he's in instructs or the star of the the [expletive] Cubs MLB team.

He's not playing high school football. His teammates wouldn't give a crap. These guys are paid employees, not soldiers. I have to disagree. Some teammates would have an issue with it. I'm not saying they should. I'm saying they would. Not all of them see themselves as just paid employees. Not all of them are intelligent or mature enough to see that it is acceptable and that both organizations are a major part of his family members' lives.

Wait, what position wouldn't you put yourself in? Taking a picture with your dad as the team that employs him celebrates making it to the world series? You wouldn't do that? Being in rookie ball like he is I would be more inclined to do it. If he were in AAA though... Probably shouldn't do it. I'm not sure how his teammates that played at the MLB level for the Cubs would take it. Personally I wouldn't have a problem with him doing it if he were on the MLB team unless the Cubs had just lost to them in the postseason.

http:// http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-16/sports/chi-shawon-dunston-jr-hoping-to-follow-in-dads-footsteps-20110816_1_cubs-brett-jackson-triple-a-iowa So, I think both of them really like the Cubs and both of them really like the Giants. It doesn't bother me at all, but I don't know if I would put myself in that situation if I were Jr. But, then again, he's just in Rookie ball/short season so I'm sure it's not on anybody's radar.

What other kind of fun stuff do you get with the season tickets? Last year I got a paper weight of the Wrigley marquee that said, "CHICAGO CUBS SEASON TICKET HOLDER". Nothing amazing.

Another piece of info. If you pay with a check instead of a credit card you get a second season ticket holder gift. This year it is a signed Rizzo ball.

Fister just got hit in the head and clearly told the trainer he got hit in the shoulder.

Since there seems to be a fair amount of interest on how all of this works, I just got a call from my ticket rep and asked him questions for a good 15 minutes. He expects I can move into Terrace Reserved IF this year if I choose (my second season). He said it would be more difficult if I had 4 tickets. They are pushing hard to "buy the seats you want now because they likely won't be available when we start winning." Although he also was pushing the upper deck seats hard too. I got the impression they don't want me to renew in the bleachers. He said the people they revoked had 15+ tickets per account and sold every single one on StubHub. He suggested I try to find a way to use "8 or 9 games" per year if I don't want this to happen to me in the future... "We're expecting things to turn around here." If you buy all 81 games you get priority on seat selection over those who buy the combo. Duh. There was some other stuff but it's time for me to leave work...

On that note if anybody wants to buy my tickets this year... If even drive to Chicago to meet you in person. I would be willing to sell at a loss so I don't have to worry about getting rid of them throughout the year.

I could've waited another 5 years or so, but I'm not complaining too much because if I had gotten the call a year earlier there is no way I could have done it.

2012 costs for 2 seats including taxes (81 games/57 games): Club Box IF $15,926.40 / NA Club Box OF $13,342.88 / NA Field Box IF $13,121.92 / NA Field Box OF $10,326.40 / NA Terrace Box IF $9,629.76 / $6,742.20 Terrace Box OF $7,212.32 / $5,393.92 Upper Deck Box IF $9,515.52 / $6,657.28 Upper Deck Box OF $6,832.00 / $4,777.92 Terrace Reserved IF $5,828.24 / $4,090.24 Terrace Reserved OF $4,874.24 / $3,411.52 Upper Deck Reserved IF $3,682.56 / $2,582.72 Upper Deck Reserved OF $3,263.68 / $2,289.28 Bleachers $6,151.04 / $4,276.16