Dam8610

QUOTE (Quin @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 04:44 PM) Treason has to be aiding someone we're at war with. The issue is the definition of the term "enemy", which makes declared war a requirement. Where is the criminal statute for dereliction of duty?

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 04:47 PM) Who else is on this council? What does it do? Does JR now have the power to force Machado to go to the White Sox? We can only hope.

QUOTE (Quin @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 04:21 PM) Wouldn't be treason, but dereliction of duty. Also soliciting foreign aid in an election is illegal. So the collusion isn't technically illegal, it'd be the foreign aid received. How would it not be both? The law requires Russia to be punished. Trump refuses to implement the punishment. To me, an entity that requires punishment constitutes an enemy, and refusing to implement the punishment constitutes aid or comfort given. Am I reading the USC section on treason incorrectly? ETA: Everyone knows Trump solicited foreign aid in the election. How many times did CNN air the "Russia, if you're listening" clip. If that's all that's needed for him to have done something illegal, why is he still in office?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 03:13 PM) Collusion is not a crime. This whole investigation is a witch hunt. If the memo gives us clarity one way or the on the Russia investigation I want it released. Is treason a crime? Because Trump is actively giving aid or comfort to Russia by not imposing the punitive sanctions he is required to impose by a law which he signed into law, and Russia can be said to be our enemy by the fact that said law exists. I don't think the application of 18 USC 2381 could be much clearer.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 03:30 PM) Duda on a one year wouldn't be so bad. Of course for the right prospects Kemp works as well. I was actually just about to post this (my own thoughts not heyman) but didn't know where to post speculation. Davidson has more value at 3B. DH will hit better then Sanchez seems like an easy way to upgrade the offense and create some depth with Sanchez coming off the bench I think finding out if Sanchez can be a 2-3 WAR player moving forward is more important than creating a spot for Matt Davidson or creating depth on a team that is incredibly unlikely to compete for anything that isn't a top 5 draft pick. That said, bring on Kemp as a DH if he comes with appropriate prospect compensation or something interesting from their ML roster like Joc Pederson.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 12:38 PM) Or thanks to ridiculous unchecked government spending? Absolutely agree here, all of the ridiculous military spending has to stop, or at least be kept in check somehow, and the DoD needs to undergo a full financial audit, regardless of how costly and time consuming they feel gathering the necessary documentation will be. Can you imagine what we could do with half of the military budget? Probably free college, free healthcare, and the trillion dollar infrastructure investment (If done over a 10 year period) without raising the deficit a penny.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 01:49 PM) What about being the Braves. Make the playoffs 15 years in a row and win it all once. That's crazy,especially with what they could put on the mound. That's a lot less fun than it sounds. I'd rather have a 7-10 year run with multiple championships, preferably 3+ of them.

Did you know that in the two thousand sixteenth year of the common era, a relief pitcher by the name of Jeanmar Gomez, who appears to be the same pitcher that the professional baseball organization from Chicago which uses the team name of White Sox that appears to be the focus of the message board on which I am currently writing this post recently signed, pitched in seventy of the scheduled contests in which the professional baseball organization from Philadelphia which uses the team name of Phillies competed, that in fifty nine of the aforementioned scheduled contests, the relief pitcher who is the subject of this discussion recorded the final out recorded by said professional baseball organization in the contest, and that in thirty seven of the aforementioned contests, the professional baseball organization from Philadelphia which uses the team name of Phillies was able to achieve the victory condition when the relief pitcher who is the subject of this discussion recorded the final out recorded by said professional baseball organization in the contest after the relief pitcher who is the subject of this discussion entered the contest at a time when the professional baseball organization from Philadelphia which uses the team name of Phillies had scored a total of runs which was three or fewer higher than the opposing professional baseball organization that was competing in the scheduled contest, which, per the rules of the scheduled contests that are created and enforced by the organization which schedules the contests of professional baseball organizations commonly known as Major League Baseball, qualified the relief pitcher who is the subject of this discussion to be credited with a statistic commonly known as a save?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 07:25 PM) Because our systems of "checks and balances" and "accepted norms since 1787" is breaking down, lol. Because the 30% of Americans who consume Fox News will eat it up, and draw higher ratings, for another. Anything to obfuscate or draw attention away from Trump/Russia/his personal finances/his family. Since we're debating "pragmatism" here: Let's say Joe Kennedy was somehow the nominee for President in 2020 at age 40. Kennedys have always been moderates/centrists, would liberal women (or members of #metoo) actually not vote because of that family's history with women and the "crony" influence (similar to the Trumps today) they've been able to wield since the first Joe Kennedy a century ago? Does it have to be Liz Warren, Cory Booker or Kamala Harris (at least as the VP) to motivate the progressive side of the party? I can't speak for "progressives" as a whole, but for me, his record on issues would matter. How has he voted, what bills has he sponsored, etc., and how does that align with his platform. I haven't looked into that at this point, but I will say that if his record looks like that of a neoliberal, which is what most consider to be "centrist/moderate", I would not personally support him and I would not vote for him as president. Now, I happen to live in Indiana, so I have the "advantage" of knowing that my vote for president won't count no matter how I cast it, so in that race I don't have to take the "lesser of two evils" approach and I'm essentially free to vote in a way that lets my progressive ideology be known. That said, I'm tired of choosing the lesser of two evils, I'd like to see candidates that are actually going to govern for the people instead of the special interests.

So Trump is committing treason and the House is investigating the FBI and DOJ? Why?

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 01:33 PM) We need to stop pretending that these things don't happen they do. It's uncommon but it happens. I named five players in my other post who had magical Avi like seasons. Then completely fell off a cliff. Thats not to say I don't think it has to happen in Avi case because the talent is there but he can't build off last season. He needs to work getting under the ball and driving it. He needs to be more selective at the plate. If he wants to have a really good season again. If he wants to hit with a .750 ish OPS he can do what he's already doing and if a couple things go right instead of everything like last year he can have an ok year. Prior to last year he had an BABIP of somewhere around .320. To give you some perspective of the difference BABIP makes had his BABIP been his normal averages after crunching the numbers he'd be batting .253 last season which would have dropped his OPS 77 points. So he'd still have an .800 OPS in that scenario? That's still a useful player, is it not? Also, his contact profile makes him more likely to have a higher BABIP than most, so if his BABIP suffers a precipitous fall, a good chunk of that could be finding the loft you're looking for, though Zimmerman and Cano display 30 HR power without it.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 11:16 AM) Hard to believe that his arm was only rated 5/7. But then it says "Plus plus arm". The number grades make little sense when combined with the comment section.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 01:26 PM) Yeah I don't get it either. Even if Rodon never improves from what he is right now, I'd still much rather have a 3.95 ERA SP than a dominant lefty out of the pen. And he's flashed enough dominance to make one believe the ace ceiling is still there.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 01:17 PM) FWIW xStats had Avi at a .295/.347/.493 line, a .333 xBABIP and a .356 wOBA, which still would have put him as the 7th best RF offensively last year, basically even with Reddick. xStats is claiming he got quite unlucky on the HR front, saying he "should have" hit 25 homeruns instead of just 18. Eyeballing his batted ball profile I'm not exactly sure why he supposedly lost so many homeruns but maybe the significantly increased Pull% should have had more of an effect than it did. For me, that's where the arm injury comes in. He got hurt at the beginning of July, and after that point, did not hit another HR until September.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 10:41 AM) I will be the first to admit that I don't know the draft prospects that well at all, but for my two cents. 1. SS 2. 3B 3. LHP Seems about right.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 12:51 PM) There isn't a pitching staff that exists that couldn't use Chris Sale. Just be sure you have a replacement for September and October.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 12:23 PM) I don't understand the argument. Prior to last year he was a .695 hitter and the numbers you mention are negligible improvements. For example his OSWING improved by 2 percent. His zone contact improved by 2 percent. While his OPS last year was 127% more then his previous career numbers. I'd also point out those OSWING numbers aren't good. So when you improve from not good to still not good you are still well not good. 39.8% OSWING is not a good number. 84.3% Zone contact is below average. Stat Average O-Swing 30% Z-Swing 65% Swing 46% O-Contact 66% Z-Contact 87% Contact 80% Zone 45% F-Strike 59% SwStr 9.5% With that being said not all players are equal. For example the contact rate and plate discipline of Abreu is less important then Garcia because he has a career ISO of .224. He can afford to have a career OBP of .360 because he slugs .524. What I think your post shows is that the swing data is more useful to measure his performance against his past performance than it is to measure him against the average player in terms of finding reasons for his success in 2017 and indicators that said success may or may not repeat, and that small changes in things like swing data, contact profile, etc. can lead to larger changes in things like OPS. Something has to explain his success for the full 2017 season, and it isn't just BABIP, because that went down by 50 points over the course of the season while he ended up maintaining a .330 average for the whole season. So if it isn't those numbers, what is it?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 11:19 AM) What? Projection systems are the definition of objective. They may not be smart enough to identify potential breakouts with any level of precision and are most definitely conservative, but they are 100% fact based and don’t rely on personal feelings or biases like all of us here do at times including myself. As for Avi, of course there are a wide range of outcomes and generally speaking they’re moving in a positive direction from his career norm. I’ve said that multiple times in this thread. All I’ve been arguing this entire time is that there is far more certainty that his BABIP will regress next year than his power will develop. I’ve made it clear that I think he can be a 2 WARish player next year even with that batting average regression (which is a huge improvement from what he was) and to remain a 4 WAR player he must find a way to generate more power. For some reason, when people like me make these statements, there is a small subset of posters here that get butt-hurt. Well then you and I are in agreement other than perhaps our opinions of projection systems and the likelihood we each attribute to Avi increasing his power numbers.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 10:05 AM) This “hate” narrative around here is beyond absurd. The dude was a career negative WAR player up until last year. People can keep ignoring that and the .392 BABIP he had last year all they like, but let’s not act like this guy is a proven superstar or something. There are legitimate red flags with him that have been pointed repeatedly. I have no idea why that offends so many people but it’s getting ridiculous. I’m all for optimism, but there’s nothing wrong with being objective at the same time. Projection systems are not objective. They are conservative and prone to missing talent breakouts by nature because they use past data on a weighted basis to predict future results. It is objective to say that there are a wide range of possible outcomes for Avi's 2018 and the rest of his career, and that based on last year's data, some of the more positive possible outcomes have become much more likely than we would've expected even a year ago. I don't think anyone here is saying anything more than that.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 09:02 AM) Which of those metrics are predictive based on a one year sample? There’s a reason projection systems are predicting a huge fall-off for him in 2018. And by no means am I suggesting these systems are the end all be all (cause they’re not), but I’m not sure any of what you posted changes my mind much other than his plate discipline might be a bit better than I originally anticipated. I’m simply not going to expect power improvement until his adds more loft and I am not sure anything you provided here suggests a massive change in loft is coming. I wasn't arguing that his power numbers are certain to go up, but the numbers suggest sustainability at a bare minimum, which is 25 HR power if he doesn't get the arm injury in early July. I'm arguing potential, which I think is there based on the drastic change in his contact profile that led to a much higher level of success than he's had at any point in his career, and his average exit velocity and average launch angle are comparable to Robinson Cano and Ryan Zimmerman, so it's not like he can't make what he has work to the tune of 30 HR power.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 07:25 AM) It’s more than just BABIP, although it’s obviously the big one. I’ve read multiple articles that suggest regression is coming for a multitude of reasons and I’m pretty sure one of them had a metric that suggested even his 2017 power numbers were a bit flukey. If I can find it, I’ll make sure to post it. What metrics suggest positive regression for power and plate discipline? His BB% increased and K% declined throughout the year, his BB% last year was below his career average, O-swing% was below career average, Z-swing% was well above career average, Z-contact% was well above career average, contact% was the highest it's been since his partial seasons, swstr% was career low. All of those things point to improved plate discipline or the potential for it. His pull rate was well above career average, hard contact rate was well above career average, soft contact rate was well below career average, FB% above career average, IFFB% below career average, he had one of the highest average exit velocities in MLB, and he had some sort of arm injury in July, after which he didn't hit a HR for a month and a half. All of those things point to improved power numbers or the potential for it.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 30, 2018 -> 07:08 PM) The advanced stats scream “regression”. He most definitely got better last season, but he also got really lucky. You can continue to ignore all those indicators all you like (and you will), but I think the majority of people here simply want to see more power from him before truly believing that he’s an above average player. The good news is he young enough to see further improvement and maybe just maybe he finds a way to loft the ball consistently in 2018. Explain how the advanced stats scream regression without using the acronym "BABIP". That's the only one that is strongly favoring negative regression, and other advanced metrics point to the possibility of positive regression in both power and plate discipline. If he puts up a .290/.360/.540 line, is he any less valuable? Because I could see that based on his 2017 numbers factoring negative BABIP regression with positive regression in the power and plate discipline categories.

QUOTE (Real @ Jan 30, 2018 -> 07:41 PM) Really? Progressive policies would lose on the national stage? You obviously don't read any polls. Medicare is insanely popular for those who have it, saying Medicare for all would be unpopular is flat out incorrect. People overwhelmingly support it. People also overwhelmingly support a minimum wage tied to inflation, tuition free public college, and legalizing marijuana. The reason people stayed home, or voted for Trump was because they knew the difference between Trump and Hillary is negligible when you're talking about POLICY. Also, please don't try pretending as if Hillary won fair and square. The entire mainstream media showed superdelegate tallies before they even cast a vote. Unaware voters saw this as her having a lead that she didn't already have. SANDERS closed a 60 point lead in less than 10 months. He didn't have the name recognition nor had the corporate media behind him. We also know that Clinton literally funded the DNC herself and had all of the strings of power. Yeah, the idea that progressive policies would lose on the national stage is pretty absurd when you consider that almost every progressive policy position polls at over 60% nationally.

QUOTE (Real @ Jan 30, 2018 -> 03:46 PM) Victim blaming, nice. Instead of s***ting on progressives for not supporting neoliberal corporatists who are essentially moderate republicans, how about you come at this from the correct angle and blame the politician for not EARNING their votes. Nobody owes anybody their vote. Our voting system itself needs major reform. Voting should be mandatory as it is in many countries, and it should be a ranking system. This would allow for the proliferation of minor parties and force the major parties to consider positions they otherwise wouldn't in order to be able to govern, which would give more of the country more of a voice in politics.

Trump is actively committing treason. 18 USC 2381: "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States." That is the definition of treason per US code. Public Law 115-44, signed into law by President Trump, imposed sanctions on Russia. The Trump administration now refuses to impose these sanctions, "giving...aid or comfort within the United States or elsewhere" to Russia, who can be said to be our enemy by the fact that Public Law 115-44 passed nearly unanimously and required the United States government to impose sanctions on Russia as a punishment.