Jake

Seems like the problem with Kemp is that he played atrociously, unfathomably bad defense last year. Like, Adam Dunn kind of numbers in the advanced fielding metrics

We have gone after contract year guys before, but we had always heard that we demanded opportunity to negotiate an extension in advance. I'm trying to think whether we've ever really managed it before, though

I wonder if we can play Mirotic at 3 on occasion. Maybe have Taj guard the 3 in those situations.

I'd like to throw the Blazers a second rounder to get Meyers Leonard. I'd like to see what he could do under a coach like Thibs

The Circus Trip never fails to totally suck

Melky Cabrera wRC+ by season: 2006, 130 games - 98 wRC+ 2007, 150 games - 89 wRC+ 2008, 129 games - 68 wRC+ 2009, 154 games - 94 wRC+ 2010, 147 games - 77 wRC+ 2011, 155 games - 118 wRC+ 2012, 113 games - 151 wRC+ 2013, 88 games - 86 wRC+ 2014, 139 games - 125 wRC+ So, he was a rich man's Gordon Beckham for about 5 seasons. Then he becomes Alejandro De Aza. Then, well, we know what happened in 2012. Then he plays like s***. Then he plays pretty well last year. I think we can toss out 2012, since he was unambiguously on steroids. This definitely casts doubt on what was going on with his improvement in 2011, but who knows about that. He had an injury-riddled, crap season in 2013 after the steroid suspension. He played well last year, with an ISO at a level he has only had previously in 2011 and 2012. To me, you're taking a big risk on a guy like that. Either way, there's no sense in freaking out about us getting LaRoche as if that has any real bearing on a possible Cabrera acquisition. I particularly don't want to give up a draft pick to sign Melky Cabrera, and we didn't have to do that with LaRoche.

At this point, they're just letting Aldridge hack away on defense

Quite the overreaction to the Dunleavy foul. Was a bad foul, but not remotely dirty. He hit the dude's arms for Christ's sake

Yeah, Mirotic is looking really promising - and most importantly, confident. Big contrast with McDermott when it comes to confidence. Portland is having one of those nights so far. They're just making everything, regardless of how well they are defended.

I'm not going to talk a bunch of s*** about LBJ, but Kyrie sucks.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 03:59 PM) There are more variables than size and strength in the power equation. Speed of the bat is more important than either of the other two in the physics of a swing. With the increase pitch velocity, you need to swing even faster to make up the difference. Personally, I think the increased pitch velocity is mostly from the pitchers trying to throw harder all the time. With the decreased expectation of innings pitched and analytics, pitchers throw harder more often. There is absolutely no correlation between muscle strength and pitch velocity. The PEDs allowed the pitchers to maintain thier pitching within games but moreso allowed relievers to recover faster and pitch more often. Of course changes in the ball and size of the ball parks made a difference as well. I think the Internet and greater interest in international scouting has made it easier to find pitchers who throw hard as well. Mix that with modern health practices that make pitchers throw only when well-rested, and that's probably a good reason for the velocity increases.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 11:12 AM) Thanks for this. Isn't .18 seconds a lot in the NFL though. I know when talking about 40 times there's a big difference between a 4.40 and a 4.58. Real surprised he was pressured more last year. Though he is throwing a lot more quick passes which could make that % drop quite a bit. When trying to do anything other than those quick passes it seems like there's always pressure. I say that the difference in time isn't super meaningful because so many different things influence that time. Not just protection, but play calling, decision-making, etc

There's always something odd when a guy was never very good, then got really good, then got busted for roids, then kept being good.

DeMarcus Cousins is extremely unlikable

Jimmy averaged 13 points on 39% shooting last year. This year, he has scored at least 14 points in every game and has had only one game in which he shot below 44%.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 12:58 AM) One ref says and one the other says charging. In their defense, charging was the right call. BTW, Jimmy Butler is god

Aaron Brooks is easily my favorite "tiny backup point guard that scores" so far. Best all-around game IMO. He even plays pretty good defense, especially 1-on-1 with smaller guards

Some yucky officiating going on. Kings are dangerous, but they aren't that good

To me, Quintana is one of the top 10 or 20 most valuable players in baseball when considering salary/contract. He'd be a triple figure guy if he reached the free agent market right now. If we consider a trade, it better be insanely advantageous for our on-field product. And while I like the targeting of Bruce in principle, there are some weird trends with his numbers. Walk rate has gone down for 5 straight seasons, K rate has gone up for 6 straight seasons. Defense seems to be falling off. Looking more and more like this other former Cincy LHB that I know

This just seems like basic and harmless self-expression. If you can't see the guy's ass, leave it alone. I'm actually surprised somebody hasn't challenged this sort of thing on first amendment grounds - maybe they got thrown in jail when they tried to.

I once watched Ben Wallace make 20 consecutive threes before a Bulls game. He then left the court, never having missed. I only believe what I see in the games anymore

Yeah, we all know that incarcerating these guys makes them more likely to clean up their act. In no way could jailing someone for saggy pants actually ERODE one's respect for authority

xFIP is only useful if you suspect the player has given up more or fewer home runs than would be expected of him normally. Otherwise, FIP is better - it is especially better for relievers. The more innings pitched, the better ERA is (some folks think for evaluating career numbers, ERA is the better metric)

I'd start him off in Charlotte getting starts. Gives you a little chance to see if your back-end rotation guys are going to implode (and more importantly, which ones) and it gives Rodon some seriously needed experience. He seems great, but he's relatively untested. You don't want to start him in the majors and have him really get beat up. I wouldn't put him in the bullpen, but I don't absolutely hate the idea. I prefer that to beer vendor. I do think that it's a difficult transition in both directions for a lot of guys, though. The Sox would have to really feel confident that he can adapt to that change in addition to all the other ones he'll be dealing with.

I love that for the Marlins. If he opts out, he only makes money if he does better than 7 years, ~$220 million. Now, if his skills regress, that makes the contract harder to trade every year, so they have that to worry about.