caulfield12

Let's check where and at what time the home plate umpire has dinner reservations pending...

The umps are jealous of Moncada being handsome, rich and young and a great dancer. Just kidding. I hope, but you never know with that stuff between Brandon Belt and Doug Eddings.

Pitches 3 and 4 to Moncada were inside...definitely the 3rd one in that sequence didn't get the plate. The strikeout pitch in the same general location was the only clear strike of the grouping.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/17/fact-check-trump-wrong-in-blaming-democrats-for-border-separations/ Ask, and thou shall receive. Of course, Trump was completely off base. But what else is new?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/17/politics/mo-brooks-nasa-climate-change/index.html Mo Brooks solved the rising sea levels problem all by himself...”it’s rocks and erosion.” Amazing intellectual stuff, there.

One can only hope that ALL immigrants seeking entry into the US are treated so favorably and looked out for as Melania was...that they can be granted special status for “having a unique talent” such as being a Slovenian model with multiple cosmetic enhancements possessing a physical look that could not be replicated by domestic American models.

Have never seen Madrigal and India ranked as having the same speed before...what the heck is up with that Bowden?

I know there are a lot more countries around the world THIS WEEK thinking “Israel/innocent peacemakers” than those believing Palestinians are all terrorists. Sure...and did those talking points come from the desk of Oliver North, by the way?

Greg, there’s no consensus position player (or any player, with questions about Mize’s health) that’s a slam dunk/can’t miss guy this year. And Beckham wasn’t even a bad choice where he was drafted. As Dick Allen would point out, his career WAR is actually above the average that MLB teams have gotten out of that spot in the draft since they started tracking such things.

Why does it matter if Madrigal plays 3B or LF or CF? You put “plus” defenders at any position (he’s the kind of dedicated practice player who will master any position, with the possible exception of SS, and even then, he’ll get the most out of his ability, positioning, etc.), you will end up with good results. Why not get Jimenez off the field and into a full-time DH role? Our outfield defense has been terrible, and that’s just one of many factors impacting the team record this year, but ALSO when you’re constructing a future playoff contender, you’d like to have 4-5 “plus” defenders at different positions on the field. We only have one now in Moncada...and two when Sanchez plays 3B.

Why are you so afraid of there being a better solution? The Tea Partiers are the ones who launched a whole election cycle based on getting rid of the ACA...and continued on in 2012 and 2014. They too, didn’t offer any solutions. Meanwhile, the Republican Party had months and months to formulate plans for what they could do to improve health care if they ever got into a position to do so and completely, utterly failed to deliver on what was promised to the American people. Thanks for the usual snark, though. Good usage of “scoffed.” If you weren’t so interested in insulting everyone or complaining about “being ganged up on” over and over again, you’d be a lot more fun. Actually, I would think that you would enjoy the sheer intellectual challenge of it all, instead of constantly arguing how it’s unfair. Apparently it’s justifiable to criticize others, but it doesn’t feel good when the shoe’s on the other foot, right? (Sounds exactly like a certain president.) By the way, I don’t HATE those who have different opinions...any more so than those who “attacked” the poster who was spouting Alex Jones Talking Points yesterday “hated” him. In fact, you might be the first person who has ever accused me of hating ANYONE (I’ve said a number of positive things about Trump and certainly never was firmly behind Clinton), but that’s okay. It’s not like anyone tells you to move to another country or follow the Cubs instead because their fanbase and owner are more traditional/conservative, lol.

Seems dumb when Bryant is your best player, whose best position happens to be 3B, Machado’s best position. Sure, they can push out or trade Addison Russell, sell low on him and replace him with a much worse defender...and then turn around and buy high on Machado when he seemed disinterested at best last year on the offensive front.

And yet offer no better solutions than to complain. Sounds a lot like the Tea Partiers...where, exactly, are they now?

Ummm...no. He’ll be one of those unique players who can play every position on the field, except for catcher and 1B.

Actually a lot more are going to Colombia, Thailand, South Korea...because cosmetic and dental surgery are becoming prohibitively expensive in the US. Not that this proves conclusively the American system is broken, it’s simply a function of supply and demand. But let’s just conveniently blame all the skyrocketing health care costs on illegal immigrants....that would be MUCH easier than actually addressing the problem/s.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-refers-immigrants-apos-animals-225539327.html For him to call immigrants animals is nothing new. In 2015, he used the word twice in an interview with The Washington Post, referring to an undocumented immigrant who had been arrested for fatally shooting a woman in San Francisco. (The man’s attorneys said the shooting was unintentional, and he was acquitted.) Last July in Ohio, Trump said “criminal aliens” were “animals” and then made a gruesome claim that they are murdering “young, beautiful” girls. Later that month, he said in New York that MS-13 “thugs” had “transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields” and “they are animals.” He referred to a New York City terrorism suspect, a legal permanent resident who came to the U.S. on a diversity visa, as an “animal” in November. In February, Trump referred to certain immigrants as “animals” who want people to suffer, and he accused Democrats of wanting to protect murderers. “I can’t get the Democrats ― and nobody has been able to for years ― to approve common-sense measures that, when we catch these animal killers, we can lock them up and throw away the keys.” Referring to subgroups as animals has been used to justify violence, including by Nazis during the Holocaust and by Hutu perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide. Black people have been compared to animals throughout history and were treated like them through slavery and violence. Animal metaphors have similarly been used by conquerors and colonialists to dehumanize indigenous populations.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/17/politics/immigration-koch-brothers-libre-democrats/index.html By the way, the Koch Brothers are actually going in the opposite direction of the Trump administration on immigration reform and even supporting 5 Democrats...

Well, somehow the franchise STILL went up 14% in value from last year to this, at $1.5 billion (good for 14th in MLB). Because of all the cleared payroll or the trades for Moncada/Kopech/Jimenez/Cease/Giolito/Lopez/Dunning, it’s hard to say. Probably a bit of both...

Let me ask this...how do the 10-15% of Americans who describe themselves as evangelical/born-again Christian possibly square Trump administration directives for treating the poor and immigrants (especially women and children) with EVERYTHING in the New Testament that Jesus said? I just don’t get it. How can abortion be so much more important in driving voter behavior compared to the way we treat living/breathing human beings? Like this guy running for election in Georgia who wants to drive around the state in a bus “arresting” illegals to deport them...separating families, tearing apart husbands and wives, what kind of twisted heart do you have to have to be motivated to go around doing this and revel in thinking it’s in some way acting in a manner that exemplifies the Christian faith or belief system?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/17/us/new-york-man-restaurant-ice-threat/index.html Would Ivana, Melania or Trump’s mother have passed this “must speak English if you’re in America” test we now apply to public conversations? Have we now gotten to the point where we simply assume someone is an illegal/undocumented immigrant if they dare speak Spanish instead of English (and threaten to notify ICE)? Tomi Lahren got called out on exactly this earlier in the week but she missed the point entirely about her ancestors...that almost everyone who came to the US from the 1870’s through 1930’s barely spoke English and many families didn’t become fluent in English until the 3rd generations in the US (that often went to college/university as their economic situations improved.) https://www.yahoo.com/news/michael-cohens-efforts-build-trump-tower-moscow-went-longer-previously-acknowledged-232845349.html Michael Cohen’s efforts to build a Trump Tower complex in the heart of Moscow (tallest tower in Europe) went at least five months into the 2016 election cycle, contradicting earlier testimony it was completely dead in January, 2016.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republican-candidate-announces-apos-deportation-162752614.html And below we see the implications of Trump’s “animals” rhetoric...painting with a BROAD brush ALL Mexicans Williams was a former co-chair of President Donald Trump's campaign in Georgia. The senator describes himself as "anti-political correctness, anti-liberal, anti-establishment, and pro-Georgia." According to his emails, Williams is a big supporter of the federal 287 (g) immigration program. which allows local and state law enforcement to work together with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants based on criminal charges unrelated to immigration. The senator urged viewers to sign up for emails from deportationbus.com to receive the upcoming dates for the tour during the video. According to the video, the back of the bus reads “Danger! Murderers, rapists, kidnappers, child molesters and other criminals on board.” Right below is a “Follow me to Mexico” sign. “If you’re as tired as I am with politicians that do nothing but talk, and you want to see this bus filled with illegals, vote Michael Williams on May 22nd,” Williams said. Newsweek has reached out to Williams for comment about the tour.

Not to mention the fact that the Yankees also have Brandon Drury for the infield... https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=4&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 Btw, it’s a SAD SAD day when James Shields, Bruce Rondon and Aaron Bummer are the 3 best pitchers on the White Sox in terms of fWAR. Fulmer grades out much worse than Giolito, even.

http://time.com/5275168/trump-plan-lower-drug-prices/ Except that sounds exactly like a Democrat plan, right? I can't ever imagine a Republican doing such a thing...and all signs are pointing to "lots of talk/limited action" from the Trump administration so far. In fact, Novartis spent $1.2 just to get ONE meeting with Michael Cohen to make sure that never happens, that capitalism and the free market continue to reign, regardless of the costs to consumers. If Trump is willing to go against the insurance industry, doctors/AMA, Big Pharma, lobbyists....all these entrenched interests, and use the power of the presidency to actually CONTROL/LOWER/LIMIT costs to consumers, then he'll guarantee himself another 4 years. I just don't think he has the ability to do such a thing...or stay focused on one issue long enough. Stick to it-iveness is not exactly one of his greatest strengths. More than anything, he goes by t.v. ratings and how his policies play out in the media. But he would have to completely turn his back on his own party, and I'm not even sure many Democrats would be willing to embrace him for that trade-off.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/politics/cambridge-analytica-congress-wylie/index.html Meanwhile, race, voter suppression, Cambridge Analytica (targeting entity) back in the news. "Mr. Bannon sees cultural warfare as the means to create enduring change in American politics. It was for this reason Mr. Bannon engaged SCL (Cambridge Analytica's parent company), a foreign military contractor, to build an arsenal of informational weapons he could deploy on the American population," Wylie claimed, referring to Trump's former top political adviser Steve Bannon. Christopher Wylie swears in to a Senate Judiciary Committee Wylie did not provide specific evidence of voter suppression campaigns taking place in the US. But when asked by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, if one of Bannon's "goals was to suppress voting or discourage certain individuals in the US from voting," Wylie replied, "That was my understanding, yes." After the hearing, Wylie told CNN that although he did not take part in voter suppression activities, he alleged that African-Americans were particular targets of Cambridge Analytica's "voter disengagement tactics," which he said were used to "discourage or demobilize certain types of people from voting," and that campaigns and political action committees requested voter suppression from Cambridge Analytica.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/trump-voters/?utm_term=.02bf6783145e All the answers are here. It's up to the Democrats to deliver to these voters something more appealing than the DLC platform from 1993-2016. For the time being, it seems the progressive and moderate wings (of the Democratic Party) are willing to compromise in order to defeat Trump, but I'm not sure that means governing (afterwards) will be any easier than it is for the House of Representatives, currently being held hostage by the House Freedom Caucus. I'd honestly rather have Trump than either Pence or Ryan, fwiw.