caulfield12

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Nipped it in the bud at 3:20 Shanghai Time on the 28th. Don't remember EVER getting a reminder in recent years. I can't even remember if GameDay Audio is separate or included....for awhile I didn't dare use MLB.tv outside the US because of internet connectivity issues. Sad. But the only way to send a message to MLB is voting with your dollars.

The best sanction methods remaining now are removal from SWIFT (Germany and Italy just switched opposition), the Russian sovereign wealth fund access (roughly $600 billion) locked out by the ECB, Bank of England and Fed...and a no fly zone which could easily create a hot war with one side or the other accidentally downing an enemy plane. The biggest point is NATO isn't fracturing, they're actually coming closer and closer to a unified position, even Germany.

https://www.startribune.com/labor-woes-just-part-of-mlb-problem-the-biggest-the-game-is-at-odds-with-your-brain/600150128/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=twins Here’s a new one. “Repetition suppression” asserted as the reason for declining/apathetic fan interest. “Baseball's larger problem is a decline in interest. That has been charted in many different ways, but try this one: a recent poll of 1,570 adults showed that more than half have no interest in MLB.” “A lot of us former baseball fans are scientists as well. Doing science for a living doesn’t mean I necessarily want to watch it for a hobby. For many of us, watching baseball during the “golden age” of baseball was a lot more interesting than watching baseball today. Stated another way, the “art” of baseball was a lot more engaging and interesting than the “science” of baseball.”

Would you leave your current job for a 50-75% pay cut...to move halfway around the world, leave your family behind and likely be unable to speak the local language as well?

Abreu is the heart and soul of a White Sox team that is firmly in the middle of its championship window. He turned 35 in January and Chicago has a ready-made first base replacement in Andrew Vaughn, though Abreu is still so productive and so important to the team in the clubhouse that I have a hard time believing the White Sox will let him go. He is the unofficial captain. "A World Series title is going to be there, but we need to keep working and keep working hard," Abreu told reporters, including Maddie Lee of NBC Sports Chicago, following the team's ALDS exit last year. "... Just enjoying this moment and very glad to be here." Abreu will earn $18 million in 2022, though $4 million of that is deferred. At his age -- he will be 36 in Year 1 of his next contract -- Abreu is likely looking at a series of one-year contracts the rest of his career, or maybe a lower base salary two-year contract. Either way, I have to think Abreu winds up back in Chicago in 2023. An extension makes too much sense for everyone. Possible contract: The Twins gave Nelson Cruz one year and $14 million with a $12 million club option for a second year when he was entering his age-38 season. Cruz was more consistently excellent than Abreu -- Cruz had a 145 OPS+ in the four years leading into that contract and Abreu has a 126 OPS+ his last four years -- but also two years older. Guarantee the second year and call it two years and $26 million? Maybe bump it to $30 million and they have a deal? https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-post-lockout-extension-candidates-aaron-judge-jacob-degrom-and-others-who-could-sign-new-deals/

Scathing?

But where is there to turn? The SEC in football is much stronger than all but the Top 6-8 MLB markets financially…plus, you now have all these NIL’s and one and done NCAA basketball players. I appreciate the once in a decade Caitlyn Clark’s of the NCAAW as much as possible…but that’s still not quite the same from a fan standpoint. And professional soccer/futbol around the world is bigger business than MLB…although I’m enjoying the EPL fans squirm over what to do now about Roman Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea. The Mariners, Harold cheering for Kelenic aside, have been worse than the White Sox since the early 2000’s, lost the Sonics and the Seahawks are mired in mediocrity and will likely get worse if Russell Wilson is dealt.

Maybe you too can threaten to move to Nashville! I’ve always believed living in a AA MiLB community like San Antonio would be more rewarding…if you have family, at least. And speaking of the dangers of billionaires/corporations…https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IPS-Report-Who-Is-Buying-Seattle.pdf

A year ago, the Braves reported $442 million in revenue, with $404 million of that baseball-related and $38 million from business development on the real estate surrounding the stadium. Expenses are not separated in the same way, but that totaled $348 million, giving the team $94 million in profits before writing off most of that in amortization and depreciation to avoid tax liability. That amount likely includes a $50 million payment for the MLB sale of BAMTech in 2018. Compared to Forbes’ numbers, which do not include the $50 million from BAMTech, they estimated the Braves’ revenues at $344 million, which is fairly close to the quarterly report numbers and a profit of $71 million, which would also be right in line with the team’s report assuming that business development expenses were fairly close to revenues. Forbes’ numbers do come with some skepticism given the closed-off nature of MLB teams’ books, but they come pretty close with the Braves. The 2019 season was another banner year for the Braves on the field and off. As Liberty explained in their release: Baseball revenue grew from $404 million to $438 million. The team drew 100,000 more fans in 2019 and played an extra home playoff game. The comment regarding an increase in local broadcast rights is an interesting one. I had previously indicated that the Braves had one of the worst local television deals in baseball. The club was able to renegotiate their contract in 2013, and those negotiations were more fruitful that I had imagined. Per an AJC article by Tim Tucker: That figure is roughly double my previous estimates and gives the Braves considerably more money to work with than once thought. The club’s profits ended up at $54 million, similar to the 2018 figure without BAMTech money. The team was able to turn a good profit despite a significant $74 million increase in expenses. From the release:

Suicide Squad or Doom Patrol?

Do you have lots of Amazon, Tesla, Wal-Mart and FB/Meta shares? Just curious…

Selig acknowledged that the strike (1995-95) had torn an irreparable hole in the game's fabric. The move to cancel the rest of the season meant the loss of $580 million in ownership revenue and $230 million in player salaries. In 1994, the average MLB salary was an estimated $1.2 million. Of the adults polled (now this was back in 2012, so MLB has lost 2-4% calling it their favorite sport and NBA/NCAAB, NFL/NCAAF have clearly gained), 34 percent said pro football was their favorite sport, not surprisingly making it the top dog in American sports. Actually, I'm surprised the gap wasn't wider. Baseball checked in at No. 2 with 16 percent of the vote, followed by college football (11 percent), auto racing (eight percent), men's pro basketball (seven percent), hockey (five percent) and men's college basketball (three percent). Now, I found the headline on adage.com a bit odd. It was "Look out, baseball, college football is hot on your cleats." I found it odd because, last year, baseball and college football were tied for second at 13 percent each. So baseball gained three percentage points, college football lost two and it's "look out, baseball?" The reason for that headline would be that demographics show the younger crowd prefers college football over baseball, but still, there's this: Even if (when?) college football does surpass baseball in popularity, I'm pretty sure having more than 100 million people paying attention to a sport means it'll survive just fine. Still, I doubt this will quiet the persistent "baseball is dying" crowd. I have no idea why some are so eager to say baseball is dying, but we'll let them maintain their delusion while our favorite game thrives. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/poll-finds-baseball-second-most-popular-american-sport/ It really feels (at least to me) that the owners are so confident behind their exploding franchise values and increasingly diversified revenue streams that they continue to maintain the belief that destroying the union might be more valuable to them financially (over the short term) than losing another 10-15%, maybe even 20% of MLB fans. That's how much LESS the impact of losing season ticket buyers, concessions, souvenir sales (so much now is online and world-wide in scale) and parking revenues...compared to where things stood nearly three decades ago (1994-95 cycle). What happens to those fans under age 25 or age 30 who are already devoted to e-sports is another question altogether.

He is not a Leninist. He wants the pre-1917 empire back.

Some are speculating they’re basically pushing for as much as the eastern 2/3rd’s of Ukraine… One thing is certain, it will test NATO and EU solidarity faster than it does the American response. That said, $7/gallon gas prices will play out with the backdrop of Nov mid-terms on the minds of politicians on both sides. Germany will be the key. And, of course, the coziness of China and Russia risks further intl. isolation there, but also the ability for Beijing to study responses in a role play of sorts for a future forecasted Taiwan invasion that would stretch alliance response capacity.

Home Depot?

How long do you believe it will last? Will we see any type of Western/European/NATO or US military involvement? Is it simply a matter of appeasement (Ukraine will never join NATO), or is it much bigger, to the point where Ukraine will be reabsorbed into Russia and can never be allowed to become a democracy after two attempts the last two decades were aborted by Russia? What will be the impact on former Soviet satellite states and Eastern Europe? Is there any leadership in Europe, or America, for that matter? Macron, the new German leader Stolz, Boris Johnson...certainly there's no clear leader in that sphere with Merkel now gone.

No. What does seem pretty clear is we're likely entering a period some would refer to as stagnation, highlighted by stagnant growth and higher/rising prices. This is certainly the case with BBB bill blocked permanently by two senators. It's certainly no surprise oil is well over $100 a barrel again...the only "shock" was the belief in March/April 2020 that oil prices might never bounce back.

Am supposed to do a Required Minimum Distribution from Vanguard before Dec 31st. Any thoughts (from those market timers)....do it now before the market falls even further, or wait out Russia/Ukraine and hope for a rebound the second half of the year? Feels like the days of 8-12% yearly stock market growth are coming to an end, and 3-5% before taxes/inflation will be the "new normal."

Is there anyone else fed up with Ryan Reynolds and Channing Tatum (Dog) movies? It almost makes me pine for Ryan Gosling, well, my wife at least doing that.

The biggest issue is playing long enough for the health care and pension benefits. I think it was Scott Carroll, former Sox pitcher and Purdue QB, who all the press was rooting to prolong his career long enough to qualify for those. He ended up with a 168.3 MLB innings pitched, and I think he qualified based on the number of days on a big league roster. It used to be 43 days rostered to qualify. For those who reach ten years, they get something like $7500/month ($90k per year) along with generous health/vision/dental plans for the rest of their lives.

As a 501c3, if he was donating that type of money to White Sox Charities, everyone in the world would know about it...they wouldn't be able to hide it, as it has to be reported publicly. And surely there are numerous tax advantages to doing so, as well.

Julio "Won't You Let Me Take You On A Sea" Cruz Thanks for 1983.

Dunston's daughter not close enough?

How ‘bout them Hawkeyes? With Joe Wieskamp, Jack Nunge and a healthy CJ Frederick…they would have been a legit national title contender.

Or Wil Cordero?