caulfield12

The Southwest is broiling. Are you paying attention, President Trump? http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/opinions/sou...ovic/index.html In all, it represents a shocking combination of greed and short-sightedness, compounded by an apparent urge to appeal to the worst impulses of the Trump base -- people he and Republicans seem to assume are motivated by an urge to stick it to Prius-driving egghead liberals, even if doing so means their grandchildren might suffer or perish in a world of flooded metropolises, unbreathable air and expansive, unlivable deserts. Surely this calculation is wrong: Republican voters whose livelihoods depend on the ability to harvest corn crops in Iowa or ship goods to their store in Arizona (or who live near the water and can't afford flood insurance that's more than their mortgage) can take a look around and realize this "see no evil" strategy is going to hurt them, and soon. Indeed, that the American right has transformed climate change into a partisan issue defies all reason and rational self-interest. Climate change will have the largest and most immediate impacts on the world's poor -- not a demographic the GOP has shown much concern for. But make no mistake -- rich or poor we all share the earth, and the catastrophic impacts of defiling it are coming for all of us.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 01:06 PM) Gotta remember...for teams in the race, the present is heavily weighted in their decisions. A top-100 prospect does nothing to help them now. If you were say the Nationals and you needed bullpen help and had a top-100 prospect in your system who could do what Kahnle is doing right now in the majors, you'd call him up! The problem is...they DON'T have that guy they need in their system. But they do have other good players in their system and if someone told you you could turn that other player into Tommy Kahnle himself, to fill the position you need filled at the MLB level, you'd pull the trigger. You know what Kahnle is capable of doing, you know he fills a need on your team now. No one is talking Robles for Kahnle. That's unrealistic...that would be like us moving Moncada for a solid RP if we were in a pennant race. But I guarantee Kahnle is more valuable to a GM whose team is in the race (and has GLARING bullpen issues) than holding one of his top-100 prospects (whose path to the majors is most likely blocked) in the minors for another year. But then again we're talking about the same organization who shut down Strasburg in the middle of a pennant race and watched their team dwindle to nothing. With Bryce Harper potentially nearing the end of his tenure in Washington, there is a great deal of pressure on the Nationals to win NOW. The whole reason why you play is to be in the pennant race. Sometimes being in that position comes with a price--that's usually prospects. When you're a perennial contender it's usually because your MLB roster is already strong at most positions. Most prospects (who aren't super prospects like Robles), are like kindling. If you're not calling them up to help keep the MLB fire burning, you better be moving them for guys who can help you or else the fire will burn out. Just look at what Washington sacrificed to fill their CF position in December! They are ALL IN--we've been there. It's only a good position to be in if you end up winning it all. The consequence of going all in and not winning it all is...well...we're watching it now with our Sox. Winning it all in Washington is expected--and might be the biggest sales pitch they have to keeping Bryce around for another contract. If I'm a GM, I smell blood in the Washington water. Their prospects are as good as gone by the deadline. Brian Giles for Ricardo Rincon comes to mind....the one area teams used to overpay for non-closers was left handed setup guys (think Marte and Thornton at peak value) with the stuff to get some saves.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 01:57 PM) The two day series hasn't been completely eliminated, as the Sox have 2 of them this year, both against the Dodgers, but I hadn't realized how far they'd cut back on that. That is awesome. Two day series suck, especially when the second game gets rained out. And the Cubs, technically...

11 vs. 18 in UZR. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&sort=24,d It's not worth millions of dollars to the Sox, unless they're putting Belt there defensively.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 08:27 AM) Again I ask, what should I have to give up to pay for other people's healthcare? GOP Congressman Rod Blum in a Dubuque town hall (Monday) night asked, “Why should a 62-year-old man have to pay for maternity care?” I ask, why should I pay for a bridge I don’t cross, a sidewalk I don’t walk on, a library book I don’t read? Why should I pay for a flower I won’t smell, a park I don’t visit, or art I can’t appreciate? Why should I pay the salaries of politicians I didn’t vote for, a tax cut that doesn’t affect me, or a loophole I can’t take advantage of? It’s called democracy, a civil society, the greater good. That’s what we pay for. http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/public...4a17b76dbb.html

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 20, 2017 -> 06:56 AM) Nah. No one on that list can be expected to be good for more than the next couple seasons. http://www.espn.com/videohub/video/clip/_/...egoryid/2521705 Hosmer will be 28-31 if he signs a four year deal for, let's say, $70 million...although talk now after these last two months is that he's going to cost more than that. Will probably get at least five years, too. At any rate, the point was signing an undervalued (leftover one, due to glut of options on the market), not someone close to peak value. A team like the Yankees or Red Sox will be more interested. Santana might be the only one that fits that description. He's not a good defender, but he could always hit for power and put up some strong walk numbers.

The Senate Has a New Idea to Cut Medicaid That’s Even Crueler Than the House Plan http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/0...t_medicaid.html Senate Republicans reportedly want to use the same system—initially. But beginning in 2025, they would start adjusting Medicaid's per-enrollee spending using the plain old consumer price index—or CPI-U, the one that includes stuff like the price of televisions and socks—which would grow even more gradually. To give you a sense of how dramatic a change this is, just look at this chart. Since 2000, the medical cost index has grown by about 41 percentage points more than the CPI-U. The Hill reports that the “plan has been described as a ‘consensus option’” and has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis, though other ideas are still being considered. Presumably, Senate Republicans are thinking about these deeper cuts because they need to offset spending elsewhere in the bill, at least on paper. The fact that the changes aren't set to kick in until 2025 suggests that maybe, just maybe, the thinking is that future Congresses would prevent the change from ever taking effect. But if they failed to do so, the long-term result would be a large blow to Medicaid that could force states to trim the program's coverage dramatically in order to manage costs, making sure that American health insurance for the sick, poor, and disabled would become truly inadequate. No wonder the Senate leadership doesn't want the public to see what it's working on.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 19, 2017 -> 11:22 PM) Harry. How does Wisconsin stack up compared to Chicago? You could always move right over the border up north past O'Hare 50 miles? Or delightful Lake Geneva? I would never recommend Indiana or Iowa. Kansas City is a very very pretty town, very nice people. I don't know how our taxes stack up in Missouri or Kansas. Greg, have you ever left I-35 or I-80 in crisscrossing Iowa to get to KC or Chicago?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 19, 2017 -> 09:58 PM) Bryant having a really pedestrian year thus far. Not MVP numbers, but 18th or 19th in WAR (with Carlos Correa) is a touch better than pedestrian. Pedestrian would be a low 800's ops.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 19, 2017 -> 10:57 PM) Good research but no. Sox already have too many guys that profile as 1B\DH types. Yes and no. Avi will stay in right or be traded. Davidson at third. Basically, we're only talking Abreu, Delmonico, Hayes and Asche. I guess you could include Willy. Cabrera will be long gone. Santana might be worth it if the price is right for 1-2 years and Delmonico/Asche/W.Garcia/Hayes all flopped. Could use a couple more veterans from winning teams to pair with youngsters. According to all the stats, Brandon Belt might be the only player at that position worth it for his defense. Everyone else pretty run of the mill over there. Mauer actually rates #2-3 in most defensive categories.

Hand has struggled a bit as of late...not unlike Swarzak situation, won't get (perceived) full value compared to a month ago.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/nabra-...omepage%2Fstory May not legally be a hate crime but it sure feels hateful

21 homers in less than 200 at bats. His dad was lucky to hit that many his entire career.

Rangers? Wouldn't have 100% confidence in Bush. His numbers look very good though...just blew a save against hated rival Toronto. 3 bs off Bush, 13 overall for pen.

QUOTE (kwill @ Jun 19, 2017 -> 09:05 PM) You have to hope that Tampa stays in the race. The only reason why Rizzo has not done the deal yet is to hopefully have more options towards the deadline. Alex Colome is better, younger and cheaper than Robertson. There's little mention of any Rays being on the market right now...

With the glut on the upcoming FA market...? Or play Abreu/Delmonico/Hayes there? Available first basemen include Alonso, Morrison, Hosmer, the resurgent Mitch Moreland, Lucas Duda and Mark Reynolds, all of whom are OPSing at least .824 this season. Bad timing for Carlos Santana to be in the midst of the worst season of his career, with his free agency surely affected by this glut and the prospect of him signing a one-year make-good deal likelier by the week. https://sports.yahoo.com/yu-darvish-free-ag...-014441512.html 2) Brewers have seven potential outfielders, any interest? Who would they want in return from the Sox? Kahnle? Ryan Cordell (who is crushing at Triple-A Colorado Springs and adds to the plethora of Brewers outfielders – him, Brinson, Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana, Hernan Perez, Keon Broxton, Brett Phillips – that will, at some point, warrant a trade.) 3) Finally, the Rangers could be a landing spot for Frazier...they need another bat, Beltre's battled health problems and age, can also DH and play 1B along with Gallo. Profar has struggled this year, as well as Napoli.

9 errors for Moncada...that's quite a bit for a second baseman in under 60 games.

Moncada 1/3, bb, RBI...infield hit, another hit against LHP 830 ops

Wonder where Skoug ends up when he signs...?

The Sally is a huge league, basically only room for an average of two players per team...Adolfo will accumulate more believers if he can keep this up. A lot of people simply forgot about him and choose to focus on the bigger names.

Interesting article... http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1964760...seball-20-years But as much as the game will try to become safer, the players will still be asked to play 162 games a year, not 154, not 140. That's because MLB always protects its statistics, but mostly it's because owners won't be willing to forfeit roughly $2 million to $3 million per home date. There will be no American League and National League, it will all be under one MLB. There will be no Oakland Athletics or Tampa Bay Rays. The game will not expand to Mexico or Japan or Las Vegas. Instead, it will contract from 30 to 28 teams. That will make scheduling easier and more equitable: All teams will play each other six times, 27 times six equals 162. The top 10 teams in the game will make the playoffs. Like any $10 billion industry, it will all be about revenue. That's why, long before 2037, all that space on a player's uniform will be used for free marketing and advertising purposes, à la NASCAR. Indeed, put AT&T on Kris Bryant's helmet and see how many phones you sell the next day. We're already there with special uniforms used on holidays, etc.; it will only be expanded to the point that players will become walking billboards. And all teams will have lucrative naming rights for ballparks, including Fenway and Wrigley.

http://jaybookman.blog.myajc.com/2017/06/1...-to-handel-gop/ Argument that Handel winning GA-6 would actually be a loss for GOP in terms of avoiding desperately needed changes.

He's almost becoming like The Fugitive, speaking of prosthetics...him and Lawrie.

Robert 0/3, bb, 2 k's, sb (4) 3/16, .188

Voting for Engel, because of his defensive ability....and lack thereof from Hanson/W. Garcia. Plus May has really fallen off offensively in recent weeks.