Balta1701

Lance Lynn in 2019 was absolutely a “top half of any rotation” arm, but that was the first time in his career he has been that way. if you want evidence for that - how many number 2 starters sign 3 year, $30 million contracts? That’s “back of the rotation, number 4 or 5 starter, innings eater” money, which is probably what we’d have described Lynn as prior to 2019. So the question remains...did Lynn pull a Charlie Morton and find something that made him vastly better late in his career, or did he just have a serious career year that he will not replicate again? Last years peripherals look a lot like the other years of his career outside of 2019, but his ERA is low due to a low BABIP. Could he have kept up a top of the rotation season if it was a full year? If you got the Lynn from 2019 and paid Dunning for him, that’s an understandable trade. If you got the numbers from 2018, you wouldn’t be too happy.

I will admit being wrong on that one, but at the time we did not know that it didn’t transmit that way, so it was a great preview of what we are seeing now - deaths piling up because people don’t care any more.

And that’s why Matt gaetz and Marco Rubio got it today.

I don’t see how he can reformat the DOD or NSA without a vote in Congress. He had to have Congress authorize his space force fantasy. They could get it put into the defense authorization bill currently working its way through Congress, but then it’s Congress agreeing to it.

I never said more deserving people would wait weeks or months, I said a single day delay will kill someone somewhere and that’s probably true. Someone in line for the presidency I can understand, if not like. But McConnell has no national security reason to get it and politics is not somehow a job where you should get priority unless it supports the country. Politician connections shouldn’t save your life, but they did. McConnell should get no higher priority than my 95 year old grandmother or my 70 year old mother. But he’s white and well connected, so he did. That’s why Giuliani could get that experimental antibody treatment that only 150,000 doses exist - he’s the presidents lawyer, so he gets the kings treatment. I just didn’t believe America was supposed to have a royal class.

The unemployment benefits, the stimulus checks, aid to schools, aid to local and state governments that can’t go into deficit in times of crisis and otherwise will be cutting lots of jobs...those are enormously beneficial because they are saving jobs and keeping people spending money. The Paycheck Protection Program is the kind of stuff Republicans do. It’s an ok program concept - money to small businesses to keep people employed, but because they limited oversight and designed it in a specific way, lots of businesses that needed the money were denied, and you have and endless set of politically connected people who somehow got them, like Jared Kushners company, Joel Osteen’s church, Kanye West, billionaire developers, country clubs, and on and on. Money like the travel bailout...some of that is controversial, because again there are no restrictions or oversight, but again some of that needed to be done. This is a nightmare for the travel industry! We want airports to exist after this and a whole year of shutdown is something you can’t insure against! But again, you have to have some oversight so it doesn’t all go to the CEO while workers are laid off, and that sort of limitation is anathema to these folks. The same thing happened with a lot of the 2008 bank bailouts, they got the money in their hands before anyone could set rules about it. That’s how Steve Mnuchin made a billion dollars, getting into position for that bailout, for example. Other industries like restaurants and bars should have been included in this! They were in the Democratic bills passed last summer, but your local restaurant doesn’t have enough lobbyists to get the Senate Republicans’ attention.

Is Mike Pence’s vaccination going to get more publicity on the Friday before Christmas or in mid January with an announcement that it’s more broadly available to the public? Are you ok with your mom having to treat patients for another day longer without it so that Mike Pence can stay healthy? I’m not. He’s a politician. Vaccinate every nurse. And everyone in nursing homes. Then worry about important white rich politicians in the next round. Nurses have earned it first.

I would say that coming into a big league game in the 8th inning of a close game with runners on for a team that wants to win their division is unbelievably more stressful than doing so at AAA. If you lose a AAA game, no one really cares. If you don’t get that strikeout in late May in the big leagues, it could cost you a World Series. You see this in how people pitch quite often, just watch velocities during the year, people ramp it up when it is a key spot. Even early in the season. The hardest thing you could do to his arm next year is push him way past 125 innings with no history of doing so. But to me, 60 innings of high stress, intense innings as a late inning guy is pretty darn close. Having Crochet in that role might darn well win the white sox the pennant! But it also might send him under the knife too, and if your 2021 team goes out in the wild card round, having him stretched out to pitch 150 innings might get you win 102 and home field advantage in 2022. Are you willing to sacrifice 2022 to improve your chances in 2021 and maybe increase his injury risk in the process? If so; why the Hell is Adam Eaton your RF? If you’re going to throw Crochet into your 2021 bullpen and say nothing else matters if we win this year...you couldn’t do better than Adam Eaton?

I 90% agree with you on this, Flynn can say whatever he want as he’s out of government. HOWEVER, if he is inciting and leading a protest where a crime is committed, such as the recent DC protest by the “proud boys” where several people were stabbed and the crowd pulled down and burned Black Lives Matter banners from a church (a hate crime), he should face the same rioting and incitement penalties they use to charge black protestors. He was at that one and the leaders of that protest should face the same charges they give to protesting black people. Shouls they encourage some action that turns more violent, they should face consequences for that violence too. Finally, as you said earlier, there should be some extra penalty for congresspeople who undermine democracy. That doesn’t apply to Flynn, but congresspeople should have some standard of supporting the existence of democracy if they want committee assignments.

TBH, both would get investigated by the secret service. If you were on soxtalk and said that, they would investigate whether you had an actual plan to do so and the means to carry it out. Ditto a mobster.

There was zero chance we would get through a lame duck period without another attempt to protect Russia as they damage the USA.

If 1000 doses go to politicians and someone dies because of the wait, because we don’t actually know it, is that ok?

Oh so because lots of people at the Capitol building are getting it he should get priority? I’m sure I can’t think of any other places where that’s true. Plus I’m sure there was nothing that could have been done to prevent that. And oh, his job affects a bunch of people? So does the manager at the nearby Walmart. Vaccinate them. And he’ll, maybe if he was more worried about getting it, it would affect negotiations positively. You can, reluctantly, convince me that Pence and Pelosi and Grassley should receive it on national security grounds as that is the succession line for the presidency. They cannot be replaced in an emergency. Mitch McConnell should follow the same rules as the rest of us, if it comes based on ages or risk or whatever he should have had to follow that, and if he waits until March, he should be just like some other peon. He’s working an important but not vital job. If he is incapacitated for weeks or dies, the Senate doesn’t shut down. No one said “Heath care workers, nursing home residents, and important white politicians and businessmen (not women).” Something tells me that wouldn’t have gone over as well.

I don’t really care if the anti mask folks get the vaccine, they should eventually because it will encourage more broad vaccination and help beat the damn thing. There is just no excuse for politicians to be at the front of the line ahead of health workers and nursing home residents. They should have to wait their turn like everyone else.

I think 60 high leverage big league innings would be the most stressful, that’s a full season of work for modern relievers, with 100 innings starting at the big league level coming in second, and any time spent in the minors is less stress than either of those. I don’t think moving up and down is a major source of muscle stress, if that’s what you’re asking? I am just thinking about quality of competition.

You’re right, I googled That and must have had something incorrect Pop up, should have just gone to Wikipedia. My bad.

He was meeting yesterday with the President about his proposal to send in the army to force re-elections in swing states that voted the wrong way. The meeting also included discussion of having DHS seize voting machines to hunt for fraud evidence and appointing Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate the 2020 election results. I hope when I live in disgrace I get regular meetings at the White House.

Babying him along is not having him throw 60 innings as a high leverage guy in the 2021 bullpen of a team with aspirations to win their division. If that's your number 1 concern, you have him spend the majority of the year at BHam/Charlotte building up his arm there. I think most people would say, if he's going to be a reliever, he's going to be on the big league roster because they could use that arm in the pen.

I think if he’s going to be a TJS then that’s going to happen regardless of where we put him, all the 103 mph pitches out of the bullpen will get him there if that’s where he’s going. I’m not sure whether we can get him to 150 innings in 2022. But I can say that if he pitches 60 innings in the 2021 bullpen, he won’t get there. Furthermore, we will be having this same conversation next offseason - should we try to make him a starter in 2022 for part of the year and stretch him out to pitch 150 innings in 2023 - because it would be such a boost if we could get him there.

Ohio State seems to not be able to take a strong challenge very well.

I think we have reached the point where everything is stalled until February and we won’t see any major moves by anyone until then. You might see a Quintana who gets an offer and says “I won’t be able to do anything better”, but if Hendricks hasn’t found an offer he likes, neither side will have motivation to get something done any time soon.

Why Mitch McConnell? He’s not In line for the presidency. He’s not a health care worker.

Wait, you mentioned “Goose” Gossage and then came up with the pitcher who hit a bird with a fastball...you’re really a bird aren’t you?

Randy Johnson without hesitation.

At least someone is saying this, if you think he’s a reliever long term that’s fair, it’s different from “I want him as a reliever this year but will convert him down the road at a time TBD” which I don’t think is feasible. Now here’s the argument against this: 1. I don’t think anyone would have been ok with the draft pick if we were drafting a guy who will only ever be a reliever at #12. 2. While relievers are great high leverage weapons, they don’t provide the same value to a team as a starter. 3. Relievers are cheaper than starters. Hendricks has been as good as anyone in baseball the last 2 years and he’s probably be signed right now if you put $50 million on the table. Gerrit Cole was $326. A cheap team can afford a top fight reliever but will be buying bottom of the barrel starters. 4. It is interesting that the Brewers have had no one step up and pay the price for Hader with multiple years of control. He was as good as anyone 2 years ago, and everyone knows he’s available. It seems getting top value for those relief arms in trades has become more difficult. Teams know they can find relievers elsewhere. 5. Relievers, as we know, are volatile. A guy can be amazing, an all star, and then just fall flat, even with a really good arm. Starters pitch enough that things tend to even out. I don’t think Lance Lynn is a top 10 pitcher in baseball, but I can’t deny that in 2019 he absolutely was. 6. This team in particular needs starting pitching. Any one of Cease, Lopez, and Kopech might eventually get stuck in the pen if they can’t make it as a starter, and they have several good relievers already. 7. As he would be throwing max effort each pitch, there’s no guarantee that being a reliever will keep him healthier than being a starter.