Balta1701

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:46 PM) To take any other approach suggests that there must have been a scintilla of evidence to suggest that Braun felt he was targeted. Or he felt that it would help repair his reputation if he could convince people he was purposely targeted by attacking people in the program who he thought wouldn't step up to defend themselves.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:37 PM) He wasn't exactly stellar in Carolina last year, was he? 45 catches, 540 yards, 5 TD's. Very similar to the kind of numbers he put up in Chicago.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:32 PM) How do you know Molina's arm isnt built up? You are doing a tremendous amount of projecting in regards to Molina here. Yes I am, but this is not unreasonable projecting. This guy has thrown 292 innings in his life. Period. Yes, he's thrown across a diamond before, but whether or not it's exactly right, the Verducci effect doesn't lie. We've seen over and over that guys who get a big jump in innings year to year get hurt more often. This guy is jumping from 0 innings to trying to be a pitcher. The Jays went 40 innings with him, then 80, then 130, all of them in low A ball. That puts him right at needing 160-ish this year to be on a normal arm growth path, and that's a full season in AA, or maybe part AA and part AAA. He has started 27 games in his minor league career. 27. That's no where near enough to develop a routine as a starter and really turn into one. They were just making him into a starter last year, because they didn't want to push his innings prior to that as a converted starter. And now we're going to put him in the bullpen for several months and destroy any routine hes' developed?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:27 PM) Balta, Thats why Im wondering. I would have assumed that the samples are numbered and therefore only the tester knew what sample belonged to who at first. The reason I assume this is because I also assume that the test is supposed to be blind (aka they dont know who the sample is until after the result). If that is the case, then the only people who knew the results had to be pretty high up. People in those positions generally dont risk their job over releasing confidential information. I dont know, Im just speculating. The tone of Braun's speech seemed to suggest that he believes the tester did something to him, not that the tester just made an innocent mistake in delivering the sample late in the afternoon instead of early in the morning. Hard to speculate, just seems like a mess from day 1. I'd imagine that when the lab reports a positive test, the result is sent up the chain saying that "number xxxxx tested positive", at which point there is then someone who links the numbers together above the heads of both the collector and the testing facility. At that point, it's almost certain that a number of people in MLB's front office would be informed. MLB would almost certainly inform the team and the player, in addition to obviuosly the commish and his office, probably the top people at the union, and then a substantial legal staff to begin preparing for the player filing an appeal. At the very least, the number of people who knew would be in the dozens. And beyond that, especially if there is a legal challenge being mounted, there are people in MLB's front office who probably are motivated to make sure that positive results become public, especially in the case of MLB having a guy appealing a positive test and then appearing in the playoffs, or a guy appealing a positive test and then receiving an MVP award.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:18 PM) Northern Arizona seems safe from most everything, maybe Glendale or Phoenix. They're going to have some drought problems over the next 50 years.

ESPN

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 03:15 PM) The reason I asked is because Im wondering if Braun feels that the tester was the leak. He literally could not have known the test came back positive until it was reported in the media. He takes the samples and then sends them off with a number attached, unless the program completely broke down. He would have nothing to do with the actual lab work or tests, he took the sample, sealed it appropriately, stored it to prevent degredation, then sent it off. The people actually doing the measurements are supposed to be shielded from the people who take the sample. If that isn't happening then baseball is in a worse spot than let on.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 11:49 AM) There is no handbook of how to handle a pitcher, so stop trying to pigeonhole every Sox pitcher into a certain IP program. There have been plenty of pitchers that have succeeded out of the bullpen and have moved on to very successful starting careers(Johan, Wainwright, Buehrle), plenty that have gone back and forth (Papelbon, Lowe), and plenty that have been successful going from starting to bullpen(Isringhausen, Eckersley, Reardon, Gossage). Every player is different. Of course there is a chance molina could fail. Sticking him in the minors and saying "that's how it is supposed to be because McCarthy got f***ed up" isn't the best way to handle every pitcher. If Coop thinks Molina can handle the transition, I won't be upset Does it help me if I add that I have zero problem if either Castro or Axelrod wind up in the bullpen this year? It's not just saying that all pitchers who are starters should stay starters, I'd say it's also paying attention to what has happened to people in their careers, where they are, how they've been developed, etc. Stewart and Molina...these guys need innings. They haven't had them before. You put them in the bullpen then you might as well keep them there. Sale in the bullpen last year...I thought it was a mistake, but I at least get the reasoning...that's an "All in" kinda move...maybe sacrificing his career as a starter to try to win the division. We'll see what the cost was in a year or two with him. Castro and Axelrod, those are guys who if they can start getting guys out in the pen, you might think that they would then be better able to translate back to getting guys out in the rotation if you need to move them there. Castro, for example, has had over 500 innings in the minors at this point and hasn't even finished a full year of AAA, and was probably signed as a pticher out of the dominican. Axelrod has had 475 innings in the minors and was probably a college pitcher before that. Those are guys whose arms are at least built up. If you move around them, then you don't necessarily worry as much about whether their arms can take it, because they've been conditioned to take it a lot longer than the recent converts.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 02:42 PM) Has it ever come out why Braun's name was released when it was supposed to be secret? Because baseball leaks like a sieve.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 02:21 PM) I'm still as scared and still have nightmares about tornadoes at 31 as I did as a child. For what it's worth, this past year has been exceptionally heavy on severe weather. I never thought that I would see in my lifetime so many large tornadoes hit near Birmingham. It's just not flat enough at all. They're forming back up for another run in northern Alabama right now, so there's going to be at least 2 more rounds of this crap today/tonight. I swear, I think I should move to somewhere in the middle of Kansas. It has to get fewer than this. The last one I don't think touched down, or at least not for a long stretch, but we pretty much had a rotating cloud move across downtown Knoxville. Was in a Seminar and the school/local news sent out the "take cover now" level warning.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 02:08 PM) There's also the opposite ie Lowes and pulling their ads from that Muslim TLC show. But public outrage can and does have an effect. Just look at Komen eventually backtracking because of the widespread backlash. What's a lot more likely in this case is that the Democrats can and will really push on the issue to try to make political headway (hence the Obama phone call), especially since the Republican Party is going to be loathe to say anything negative about Limbaugh. It won't change anything regarding his show or what he does...but it's a great way to get your Democratic base fired up before an election.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 01:55 PM) Rush has already lost one advertiser over this. Meh, if his advertisers don't already know that they're advertising on a show where that kind of stuff happens, they're fools.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 08:10 AM) Rush Limbaugh really is a terrible human being: The woman in this case got a call today from one "Barack Obama".

Goddamnit Earth, stop the f***ing tornadoes. I've had enough of this s***.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 09:30 AM) I preferably would like to see the Bears package on of their multiple third round picks with the 19th pick to move up and take Floyd, and then focus on someone like Jackson or Colston. I wouldnt want to see the loss of the first round pick either. Of course, the Bears could play semi conservative and wait for Jeffery/Sanu/Wright in the second round as well. I really thought Jeffery was going to be a high pick, but his weight and reluctance to run for scouts is really pushing his value down If the Bears can grab Jackson or Colston, that puts them in a position where spending the 2nd rounder on a WR makes sense and they can look for a value guy or guy who dropped at that spot.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 09:21 AM) Yeah, and if that happens, the Steelers walk away with the 19th pick. Yeah, I'm not a fan of that either, as i've said previously. With both Jackson and Colston on the market, and other options at the 2nd tier like maybe other Saints guys, Wayne, Garcon, etc., the Bears should be able to find a guy without having to give up that pick. It might cost them $1-2 million more than they'd really "like" to pay, but giving up the first rounder should only really happen if the Bears strike out on those guys so badly that you want to fire the GM.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 09:16 AM) Pretty sure poison pills are not allowed in the new CBA All you might need to make this a "poison pill" would be a large cap hit in year 1.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) unless a team puts a poison pill in Wallace's contract, I fully expect the Steelers to match whatever contract is offered to him. Where did they wind up re: the cap after their restructurings?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 11:31 PM) Returns??? Begins. 4 beers.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 2, 2012 -> 01:27 AM) Everybody stay safe in southern Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. Looks bad again today. Waiting on severe weather to come and pass is like having a gun to your head. Ugh. Alabama is in the line of fire as well. By the way, the chick on the Weather Channel right now, Crystal Egger, is smoking hot. I'm really getting f***ing sick of this. In the last year I've had more tornado warnings than at any other time I can remember in my life. I think I've had more tornado warnings in the last year in TN than I had in like a decade in Indiana.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 10:39 PM) Is there another organization that force-feeds unnatural positions to prospects more than this braintrust? Did anyone catch the ESPN Magazine article with Brandon McCarthy talking about how screwed up having to pitch out of the bullpen in 2006 made him?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 09:34 PM) They don't have to put excess effort into the relationship development because it will be ongoing past this movie. I think the relationships will all be rough in this movie, and the friction and friendships will be worked in in the Thor 2/Iron Man 3/Captain America 2/Hulk 2 movies. Then, the next Avengers movie it will be more refined. P Gotta wonder how far Marvel wants to take it. Will they allow a bad movie within the string of movies ruin the continuity and force some sort of reboot? See, I almost dont want to see big crossovers in those next 4. They ought to work well on their own, without the other guys. Each is a strong character, don't rely on Stark to carry them all.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 03:18 PM) Brad Biggs ‏ @BradBiggs #Bears announce they have officially released OT Frank Omiyale and DT Anthony Adams Biggest improvement they will make this offseason. Doesn't matter how he is replaced.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 01:53 AM) That Avengers trailer looks cool, but that's a really tough project. The lead up movies have all been good (other than Captain America, meh) so I'm still looking forward to it, but it's very hard to throw all these developed characters together and have a good story. Then again, I'd be happy if it was just a 90-minute fight scene with all those superheroes. The one thing I have to agree with is in bold. Doing the Avengers right is a tough project, because it's way too easy to fall into the Star Wars 1-3 style "special effects are everything and the plot sucks" role. Right now, the previews make it seem like it will be done right. All of the main characters seem to have a role...and the personalities seem to be conflicting in the way that you'd want, where it won't be easy to watch, where no one charachter will dominate everything, and where pulling off the "resistance" to whatever happens isn't some easy, effects ridden joke but is a major development that involves the fact that most of these guys are really human and have human frailtiies that you can explore. We'll see if that holds true once the film comes out. It might be really hard to do in 2 hours without it turning cookie cutter. Hopefully they found the right director to do it (and they wont' be mad if it goes 2:20).

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 06:04 PM) More than just back stories are better though. Dark Knight was about 20 minutes too long. On first viewing, DK was clearly better. That was a legitimate edge of seat thriller. You really were convinced you didn't know who would win. At about 1:30 my wife and I looked at each other and both of us were leaning towards the TV in anticipation of how the ending would go. For the 30 viewings that happens when good movies get on cable, Returns works better.