Look at Ray Ray Run

It didn't help though... even though I never said it didn't help. Let's move on. I shouldn't be held accountable because I didn't actually play the game. Imagine the CEO of Wells Fargo saying he didn't personally register countless unapproved credit cards and accounts while he was in charge, it was the people who worked for him, so why should he be held accountable?

While I agree with your premise, it is really really difficult to ignore the strike out rate declines in their best hitters. The team had significant turnover, so using the raw K numbers between 2016 and 2017 does no good, but looking at the individuals who still remained we saw a lot of unprecedented K-rate declines that haven't been matched by 99% of other players as they improved in that area.

I can't emphasize this enough, but Manfred works for the owners. Manfred had no power to punish the players, and he wasn't going to turn around and invoke all those penalties on the people he represents. His job was to protect them, and he did everything in his power to blame those whom he did not represent (Beltran, Cora and other players and coaches). Manfred's job was not to expose the truth, it was to manage the PR disaster to the best of his abilities while handing down some perceived punishment that he could push out as being "the harshest of it's kind" via his MLB PR reporter mouthpieces. Manfred does not care about cleaning up the game and maintaining a sense of integrity; he cares about the public perception his owners receive from the backlash. This is why no one will even deny the buzzer thing; everyone using the catch phrase "not that I know of" which gives them plausible deniability (claiming they didn't personally due it) while not accusing any of their teammates of wrong doing. The fact that no one will release a hard denial might as well be as good of an indicator that it happened as anything else.

Jim Crane: "I don't think I should be held accountable." LOL; yeah, I run this organization but why the heck should I be accountable for what my team did!

"Our opinion is that this didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane "I didn't say it didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane 55 seconds later

Those who remain silent in the face of tyranny, in the name of conflict avoidance, are complicit in the further deterioration of individual liberties. Our problem isn't political, it is conversational; address the point, address the fact, and support the freedom and opportunities for all - do not demean those who don't agree or belittle those who believe differently; educate those with evidence and support. While all minds will not be changed in one day, the advancements of one man at a time has an impact on growth and development to which many can't fathom. I digress, but I just want to point out these aren't political discussions. These are discussions of compassion and support for those who may not have had as privileged and lucky of an upbringing as I. I personally did not cause the success of my mother and father, and the benefits I received from said success was luck - not choice - and therefore I will always be compassionate of those who were not born with such luck. I have love for all people, even those who may not see the world through the same lens as myself. If we cannot have sensible discussions, what do we really have left? I just wanted to point out that nothing about what I said was political. Politics are policy based; politics shall not be based on degrees of human decency and should have zero impact on the rights of equality and opportunity for all citizens.

Lol the usa spends more on defense than the next 8 highest spenders in the world combined. Yet it shares zero borders with hostiles, and has not used the military to protect itself/its peoples safety and lifestyle in 80 years.... if you want to pretend the cold war mattered then 40ish years. If you dont like helping out fellow Americans, you are welcome to relocate to one of many South American countries that allow the wealthy to live a life free of taxes benefiting the poor in gated communities away from societies less fortunate.

Obama killed more people with drone strikes than any President in history. Not sure what that has to do with trump. Drone strikes are heinous, I'm not sure why that's political to you. Foaming at the mouth for pointing out 15% of our tax contributions go to wars that benefit us (the average american) nada? There is no genuine response, sorry. I also didnt attack you personally or get upset so cool story. If you want to make this political, enjoy.

Also, your individualism is very convenient. You have no issues paying for roads you'll never use, bridges you'll never cross, research you'll never benefit from, education your children will never receive, teachers who will never lead your children, military technology that will never save you, and on and on. Your issues arise when another man personally benefits from your tax dollar. That's not individualism.

So again, you have zero problem spending endless money on the military machine... or on corporate bail outs (which took, at the time, a significantly higher percentage of your tax dollars)... I imagine you had no problem with the farmer bailouts either. But, heaven forbid some of your tax dollars goes to helping a kid with cancer or the less fortunate with life saving treatments? Or help a kid getting an inhaler or insulin... Let's all hope no one in your family ever falls to financial or healthcare ruin. I go to work everyday too, and I will have maxed out my SS contribution by 40 years old, and who cares? Life isnt all about me. Taxes are paid regardless and I'd much rather have my taxes go to support a better life for my fellow americans, than to support bombing and droneing brown people in the middle east. It seems from your posts you only help your neighbors if theres some benefit in it for you. Pretty sad. If 1 penny out of a dollar isnt worth it so that their life expectancy can be similar to yours, my goodness. And again, Medicare isnt a social benefit program and you'll be using medicare post 65 just like everyone else given that it's as good as private insurance. My folks use it and they did quite well for themselves.

Medicare isnt a social welfare program for the less fortunate unless you consider 90% of people over 65 less fortunate. That's certainly not what we're talking about. I also think assuring that elderly people have health care is kind of important - heck assuring everyone has access to good healthcare should be a human right/decency. Unless, again, you think poor or less fortunate people have less of a right to live than you.

Less than a penny per dollar of your tax dollars is going to social welfare programs for the less advantaged/fortunate. If you don't think people less fortunate than you deserve 1% of tax payer dollar, I am sorry to hear that. Your tax payer dollars are being wasted in countless other places far worse than social welfare.

Exactly my thought. A guy who hasn't even played past A ball.

By the way, Miguel Sano ranked ahead of Tim in the top 100. What a joke.

This was who Tim was poking fun at - my guy Moanyoan.

He has said patience and discipline at the plate were big focuses of his off-season plan. This is just a funny video of him joking around about the critics he had last year despite winning a batting title.

MLB doesn't have a serious problem; this is always an overreaction. Youth has been "abandoning baseball" since I was 5 year old 27 years ago. Younger generations don't play baseball quite as much in the US as they once did because there are so many options; the game globally has never been bigger. That talent pool has never been bigger. As that younger generation gets older they'll start to enjoy baseball a bit more as has happened for generation after generation. Manfred is a moron and he's honestly the biggest threat to baseball as it stands today. Allowing teams to not try while still potentially making the playoffs would be dreadful for the game.

This just isn't true; tanking has gotten significantly worse since the implementation of the Wild Card - not the opposite. Let's use the Brewers as an example. They were a playoff team back to back years, and then just cut payroll this year instead of going for it again - it's not like they're running high payrolls to begin with either. The Brewers would be even more compelled to cut payroll if there was an additional team in the playoffs - or an additional two. Teams could skirt by on mediocre payrolls without having to go all-in, because winning 83 games might be enough. Baseball is a game of attrition. The regular season matters because it's hard to get into the playoffs. The 162 game grind is fine. By changing that, you hurt the game.

This was interesting: Vaughn has a very selective approach, letting strikes he can’t drive pass him by unless he has to put a ball in play, a skill I compared before the draft to Paul Konerko‘s (I mentioned this to a Special Assistant who scoffed and said he thought Vaughn was way better). Scoffed at being Paul Konerko? If he's way better than Konerko, sign me up. Vaughn’s post-draft TrackMan data is also supportive, and suggests he could be a .300/.400/.500 hitter.

65/65 on Vaughn's Hit tool and Game Power tool. I'd slap a 70 on that hit tool, but that's just nitpicking. They love Vaughn - with him being 37 as a R/R 1st baseman.

Imo, giving an 80 to an A ball prospect is a bit much - I'd like to see a guy who has already proven himself at AA or so before slapping that grade on someone. That said, Franco is clearly really good so far. Eric brought Robert up to 7; he said after talking with people in the industry, the consensus was he had him rated too low and brought him up higher.

I guess Longenhagen heard my b****ing /s; he just slapped an 80 FV on Wander Franco. Wowser.

Manny Banuelos signed with the Mariners; hate to see such a talent leave the organization.

He has great strike zone recognition and walked nearly 10% of his ABs in AAA. A lack of walks in the big leagues would because he never punishes pitchers.