caulfield12

New England’s biggest GOP donor is funding Democrats Boston hedge fund billionaire Seth Klarman lavished more than $7 million on Republican candidates and political committees during the Obama administration, using his fortune to help underwrite a GOP takeover of the federal government. But the rise of Donald Trump shocked and dismayed Klarman, as did the timid response from the Republican-controlled House and Senate, which have acquiesced rather than challenge the president’s erratic and divisive ways. So, in an astonishing flip, Klarman, at one point New England's most generous donor to Republicans, is taking his money elsewhere: He’s heaping cash on Democrats.

Interest from young people/families, although Harper, Trout, Ohtani and Judge are helping there...along with the football concussions issue. Attendance for tanking teams (although not a killer for revenue, it’s not a good trend, and relates to Problem 1.)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 15, 2018 -> 03:20 PM) Supposedly a good chunk of the Eaton package is what started out as the offer for Chris Sale. If we accepted that package, it’s not even a sure thing we get Devers or Moncada for Eaton, let alone Kopech and Basabe. Comes down to believing we actually could receive Robles, Giolito and Lopez or Dunning for Sale...or all four.

But even those occasions are unlikely to divert the President's mind from the ever-expanding controversies. Seemingly by the day, the legal distractions have mounted. And next week will provide little respite. ABC is set to air its full interview with Comey on Sunday evening. And on Monday, Cohen is scheduled to appear before a US district judge in New York to explain his business practices, which have allegedly included orchestrating hush money payments on Trump's behalf. Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who alleges she had sex with Trump and was paid for her silence, will be sitting in the courtroom. cnn.com Interestingly enough, Trump?€™s popularity ratings are peaking as well...with some polls having him at 40 or low 40?€™s. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/james-comey...ory?id=54474666 Comey interview with Stephanopolous at 9 pm CST on ABC News.

There’s no rush...you don’t move him until after mid June, when the MILB all-star games are played. The Sox will want those guys to win together as a unit and progress on a fairly similar timeline. Plus I feel they are supportive of Vizquel as manager and want to see him succeed, at least win the First Half playoff spot.

Ohtani will go on eight day?€™s rest against the Red Sox on Tuesday. First real test against a top hitting team. The Kansas City Royals-Los Angeles Angels game at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday afternoon was postponed because of cold weather. Temperature at the stadium around 1 p.m. Sunday was 31 degrees with a wind chill of 20. Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to start for the Angels Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/#storylink=cpy http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...e208958234.html Royals’ fans blast team/MLB for last minute decision to call the game

Let’s put it this way. The Dems (progressives in particular) have to be open to the Conor Lamb?€™s and Doug Joneses of the world to take back the House. No litmus tests. Let?€™s not forget Sanders/Our Revolution has supported a few pro-life and gun rights candidates as well in conservative districts. The gun issue is evolving daily, though. On a national basis, there has to be some compromise in 2020. You can?€™t have Kaine as a VP, and you shouldn?€™t have Sanders/Warren either if you?€™re completely serious about winning, no matter how stacked the deck looks against the GOP on a national basis at the current moment. The Dems also have to make a decision where they are on trade...and it’s not an easy one, as Hillary’s waffling demonstrated. https://medium.com/s/jeremiad/the-unfortuna...il-bd1063814dc0 This article is a bit philosophical...but the two choices for the country (and world) are not so obvious moving forward

They upped the total vote turnout percentage from 24/25 (expected) to 29. That said, a Clinton presidency and/or no pedophilia accusations against Moore drawing so much attention to the race...not to mention Trump originally supporting Luther Strange, and the whole election would have been a nothing burger. Or Sessions would still be comfortably holding his seat.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Apr 15, 2018 -> 08:41 AM) Can someone explain how MLB Pipeline translates the following ratings, for Johnson, into an overall 45 rating?: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45 The only way that makes any sense is if the Control Factor is very heavily weighted. And because he profiles more as a reliever?

http://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance Pitt, Cleveland and Minnesota struggling, some for more obvious reasons (weather)...Pitt looked to be going in that direction, trading Cutch and Cole (NL Cy Young so far) The rest of the bottom is pretty much the rebuilding list. SD always seems to do better than expected

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 15, 2018 -> 12:34 AM) Is Patrick Leonard AAAA fodder or someone to watch? I saw he was playing 3B for Charlotte (though he was DH tonight) and he's hitting .281 there, though the OPS isn't impressive at the moment. Thoughts? Filler...on a tier below Skole and Palka.

Pinto hasnt been impressive...even though he was selected for that Futures Game that Jimenez starred in, back in 2016. He really should be in AA or AAA.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 14, 2018 -> 07:23 PM) 100% agree. I’d be fine with a HS OF in the 2nd round, but that first pick should be an infielder or pitcher. Bohm to me makes the most sense if he’s there. We can’t count on Avi, but we really just need a couple out of Delmonico, Basabe, Adolfo, Rutherford, Cordell, Booker, Fisher, Call, etc. Then we can’t 100% rule out Leury, even.

None of this matters much for Jones if black voters don’t flood the polls. HuffPost spent last week walking the streets of Birmingham ? a city where Jones is campaigning heavily ? asking a dozen or so black residents if they plan to vote and what they think of Jones. The overwhelming response was yes to voting and mild enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee. “Absolutely,” said Sy Belyuu, 48, when asked if she was supporting Jones. “So many of us did not vote last year because we just knew [Hillary Clinton] was going to win. I don’t want that to happen again.” Belyeu, a real estate agent and graduate student at the University of Alabama, said she thinks black voters are more focused on the election than the media has depicted. She said everyone she talks to is planning to vote, though it’s not because they love Jones. They’re horrified at the prospect of Moore winning. “We just don’t look good in the news, you know what I’m saying? It looks like Hicksville,” she said. “There’s a lot of racism, a lot of homophobia. We don’t want to be characterized like that any longer. So there’s definitely a push to get out to vote.” https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/doug-j...4b0b185e539def4 Jones could alienate black voters if he’s not careful. His campaign circulated a mailer this week that shows a black man with a skeptical look on his face, and the caption, “Think if a black man went after high school girls anyone would try to make him a senator?” The mailer was a jab at Moore, but it landed with a thud among some in the black community. “Someone, probably a white man, thought that the image would resonate with black people and motivate them to get out the vote,” fumed Michael Harriot of The Root, an African-American culture website. “It’s as if black people were considering voting for the child molester until some brilliant strategist posited, ‘What if he were black, though?’” https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/bla...ones/index.html https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/13/a...it-polls-294159 Jones had a large amount of money flowing (just like Ossoff), lots of star power in terms of African-American politicians and celebs when the race became a realistic get...but he didn’t do anything special. Mostly a case of being in the right place at the right time, and he had the history going back to the church bombings (but hadn't done much since in the eyes of the black community.) According to exit polls conducted by the National Election Pool, blacks made up about 29 percent of the electorate on Tuesday and voted for Jones almost unanimously, 96 percent to 4 percent — results that match turnout patterns showing greater than expected vote counts in many of the Black Belt counties and the state’s urban centers. Jones also made some inroads among white voters — particularly women and those with college degrees. While Moore still won white voters by more than 2 to 1 margin, 68 percent to 30 percent, that is closer than other recent elections in which Republicans won nearly 4 out of 5 white voters. Moore posted those kinds of margins among whites without a college degree, but he carried white voters with college degrees by only 17 points, 57 percent to 40 percent for Jones. And Jones successfully siphoned away 34 percent of white women, including 45 percent of white women with college degrees. Among female voters as a whole, Jones won by 16 points, 57 percent to 41 percent, swamping Moore’s 14-point win among male voters.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 14, 2018 -> 05:56 PM) Kopech's changeup is not good He's gotten at least one strikeout with it...fb from 96/97 to low 100’s according to Charlotte radio guys.

Palka with an Ohtani-esque run of homers...

Rutherford with a base hit against lhp...Call sitting tonight. 802 ops. Making good contact...second pa looked like rbi single up the middle but snagged by pitcher.

Or we can always overpay whoever identified Swanson, Albies and Acuna in the Braves’ org and hope he wasn’t tarnished by the GM scandal...

Happ(less)? Karchner/Garland...? Except twice as bad for the Cubs. Well, maybe this helps to balance out some other moves that haven?€™t turned out so well. Weird how a minor league claim nobody even noticed at the time eventually served as such a key catalyst in the rebuild. Yes, it’s STILL early. But... Finally, Albies, Swanson and Preston (brother of Kyle) Tucker are kicking a— and taking names.

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/chicago-whit...ngs/c-272111726 Cease gets his first win in Sox system...

Union buster extraordinaire or dolt? Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says children were left vulnerable to harm, sexual assault and drugs as a result of public school closures throughout the state Friday to allow teachers and supporters to protest at the state's Capitol. "I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today a child was sexually assaulted that was left at home because there was nobody there to watch them," the Republican governor told reporters Friday afternoon, according to CNN affiliate WDRB. "I guarantee you somewhere today, a child was physically harmed or ingested poison because they were home alone because a single parent didn't have any money to take care of them." Bevin went on to say that "some were introduced to drugs for the first time because they were vulnerable and left alone." https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/14/politics/ken...rike/index.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disability-h...-145316656.html Majority of states with highest disability rates (aka “takers” from the government) are Trump Territory

Basto and Hawkins are the obvious candidates to give way. Polo should be playing everyday. Basabe and Booker will be the ones to be pushed first, as Rutherford needs a full High A season to prove himself. Adolfo eventually to test his bat at a higher level, but that would take at-bats from Zavala or Collins.

Basabe 3/3...double through the 1b down the line on a 97 mph fb, got hometown call instead of the error. Another Venezuelan, former Padre Jose Ruiz in...6/2/0/2/5 line for Cease. First career 6 ip performance. Ruiz actually struck out Cespedes in his 1 ip in the majors.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 06:45 PM) If Booker, Basabe, Adolfo, and Sheets keep it up, they're going to need to make some room in Birmingham sooner rather than later. Those four are tearing the cover off the ball. Dunning should already be in Birmingham, and if Cease keeps pitching like this, he should earn a midseason promotion as well. They will keep them (position players) together with the future Sox manager until the All-Star break in June...but Dunning will go first.