caulfield12

Unless they're pretty sure Fulmer won't make it as a starter....that would be the only reason to bring him up in August or September. There's always Holmberg, Danish, Guerrero, Cooper and Adams to go to first. Lots of depth now.

Who is the more valuable asset right now, Eric Thames or Avi Garcia? fWAR gives Avi a slight advantage. Five year age advantage to Avi. Both under control through 2019. Thames arguably gets penalized even more for rough defense. Thames for being LH (see Lillian)? Do you go with the 20 homers over 10? It's as interestingbacdebatecas it was last month, albeit Thames has fallen off the early pace he set by quite a bit.

pplama7 hours ago I don’t see the Sox and Yanks coming together on a Quintana trade. Sox would want 2 of Frazier, Rutherford, Adams. The Yankees won’t give that up. If Mateo were performing well, he’d be a perfect secondary piece.. But he’s isn’t, and combining Rutherford with Fowler or Andujar won’t be enough for the Sox to bite. Random but knowledgeable internet fan #2 As a Yanks fan, I wouldn’t want them to get him if it cost any of the players you mentioned, besides Mateo which you mentioned as not being a real piece (I agree as far as a blue chip piece). Maybe Adams and Mateo with some other complementary pieces, but I don’t think that would get it done. And, I don’t think the Sox would, nor really should, accept an offer that doesn’t include at least one blue chip prospect. I just don’t think Quintana would be a great fit for the Yanks. He is a very good pitcher, and any team would be better with him on it, but I would rather the team hold onto those impact players for the future, especially in a year where he has looked rather mediocre, or for a player that I think would strive in NY. I think that the Astro’s are the best fit for him. He won’t feel like he needs to be the ace there, they have the prospects to get him (without sacrificing much of the future either since they have a great young core) and would increase their reputation as WS favorites significantly. Mlbtraderumors.com Quintana hovering just outside Top 30 in fWAR http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&page=2_30

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hel...m=.3a216d5e2cb6 Help Wanted: Why Republicans Won't Agree to Work with the Trump Administration Potential candidates are watching Trump’s behavior and monitoring his treatment of senior officials. “Trump is becoming radioactive, and it’s accelerating,” said Bill Valdez, a former senior Energy Department official who is now president of the Senior Executives Association, which represents 6,000 top federal leaders. “He just threw Jeff Sessions under the bus,” Valdez said, referring to recent reports that the president is furious at the attorney general for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. “If you’re working with a boss who doesn’t have your back, you have no confidence in working with that individual.” .... Republicans have become so alarmed by the personnel shortfall that in the past week a coalition of conservatives complained to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. “We remain very concerned over the lack of secondary and tertiary executive-level appointments,” they said in a letter signed by 25 prominent conservatives called the Coalitions for America, describing their concern that the leadership vacuum will create “mischief and malfeasance” by civil servants loyal to Obama. The letter culminated weeks of private urging by top conservatives, said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, who helped lead the effort. “They’re sensitive about it, and they’re trying to do better.” Fitton said that some candidates have faced inexplicable delays on job offers. “People are waiting to hear back. Promises are made but not kept. People are left stranded. Positions are implied, and people are left hanging.” http://www.newsweek.com/trump-cutting-bone...-626796?ref=yfp Trump Is Cutting Into the Bone of American Leadership

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/c...urgery-20170617 Hickman returns with a flourish from TJS “I feel like my first three starts I have thrown the ball pretty well, especially considering I missed close to two years,” Hickman said. “I’m commanding the strike zone pretty well and getting guys out. That’s all I can ask for is putting up zeroes. “My changeup has come a long way. That was something I worked very hard on during my throwing program. It actually has become my second pitch and my strikeout pitch.” Hickman said his velocity has consistently been 90 to 93 miles per hour, which is down a tick from pre-surgery, but he threw 95 in spring training. Speaking of spring training, he was disappointed not to get assigned anywhere at its conclusion this year, with the White Sox intent the weather was warm and he was 100 percent ready to go before sending him earlier this month to low-Class A. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=m...tching/2017/ALL

Does Donald Trump Believe in Tooth Fairies? http://www.newsweek.com/neil-buchanan-does...-626775?ref=yfp One might also note that even if one is obsessed with high-end tax cuts, the Kennedy bill reduced marginal income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans from 91 percent to 70 percent, whereas the top federal rate is now 39.6 percent. It just might be the case that the effects are different at lower rates. Indeed, research by the famed economist Thomas Piketty and his co-authors suggests that marginal tax rates in the 75-80 percent range for high-income earners are consistent with high economic growth. As a bonus, such rates would also begin to turn the tide against the growing inequality that has had such disastrous effects on the U.S. and the world. As an aside, those who are looking for economic policy suggestions that might increase the economy’s growth possibilities will find that it is liberal policies that are the most promising, as I wrote recently. In any case, the bottom line is that Trump and the Republicans (and their motivated supporters) are continuing to embrace a view of economics that was never widely accepted by economists and that has been debunked both theoretically and empirically many times over. We must reject their regressive policies.

QUOTE (Two-Gun Pete @ Jun 18, 2017 -> 02:15 AM) Yeah, there's no way Avi is THIS good: Here's where he is now: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OF As others have said, his Babip is artificially high. To put this into context, I found another FG reference that showed the Top 10 Babips from 1945 to 2013: http://www.fangraphs.com/community/the-ten...ips-since-1945/ Of the Top 10 Babips, all of them were either from players with excellent contact skills, or had top footspeed, or had their "career year" in terms of luck. To my view, Avi fits BEST into the "luck" category, moreso than being a HOF contact type, or top footspeed type. To those who are believing in his start to 2017, I advise against irrational exhuberance. Avi's simply not THIS good, and if he can be moved for anything of value, he should be moved, IMHO. How many infield/hustle hits does he have this year? Surely a lot more than any other season due to being in much better shape...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/opinion/...region&_r=0 The Danger of Ignoring Alex Jones

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1966481...ick-royce-lewis Royce Lewis just signed with the Twins for about $1 million under slot...

Cuba fires shot across the bow at Trump/US policies http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/politics/cub...onse/index.html "We have deep concerns by the respect and the guaranties of the human rights in that country, where there is a large number of cases of murder, brutality and police abuse, particularly against the African Americans; the right to live is violated as a result of deaths by firearms," the statement read. It went on to list a litany of concerns: racial discrimination, salary inequality between genders, the marginalization of immigrants and refugees from Islamic and other countries, Trump's proposed wall on the southern border, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, the imprisonment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, the killing of US and foreign citizens in drone attacks, the preface for and conduct of the wars in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, and estimates that the Republican health care bill would cause 23 million people to lose medical insurance. Commission on Civil Rights to Probe Trump Administration Enforcement http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/politics/civ...robe/index.html "Along with changing programmatic priorities, these proposed cuts would result in a dangerous reduction of civil rights enforcement across the country, leaving communities of color, LGBT people, older people, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups exposed to greater risk of discrimination," the commission wrote in a statement announcing the investigation. The commission cited proposed staff decreases in several departments and agencies as well as the actions of the Justice Department and the Education secretary in its reasons for taking the assessment. The administration's budget would reduce money for civil rights-related offices in several agencies, making cuts of 15% and 23% in some cases, and would eliminate the EPA's Environmental Justice program and the nonprofit Legal Services Corp., which supports civil legal aid for low-income Americans, the commission said. The Justice, Education and Labor departments and the Environmental Protection Agency were among seven agencies and departments that the commission listed as of special concern.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 11:16 PM) We're working our OSSES OFF here in GA6, but I'm not confident Ossoff wins this race, even though he's been ahead in every single poll. I think the baseball shooting may have done just enough damage to flip what was already going to be an insanely close race, but dammit I hope I'm wrong. In any case, three more days of knocking doors! One of the latest polls was +2 for Ossoff with margin of error at +/-3.5%...seems the final ten day trend is towards Handel, despite him peeling off 33% of Dem/Independent Trump voters from November.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/al-n...ays-tigers.html Possible Yankees/White Sox deal for Q This is not a full list, but these prospects must be put on the 40-man roster between now and Nov. 20 or risk being exposed to the Rule 5 draft: Torres, Abreu, Acevedo, Wade, Littell, Estrada, Clint Frazier, Dustin Fowler, Ian Clarkin, Billy McKinney and J.P. Feyereisen (Mateo already is on the 40-man). Quintana and Frazier for....??? It's Time for the Rays to Trade Chris Archer https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/its-t...de-chris-archer

Tied for 10th with Cardinals. Phillies, Giants and Padres the three clear worst by a mile...

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 07:32 PM) I don't know where to start since you asked so many questions. - Trump is a terrible person who will do say/anything for personal gain. I won't defend him, but hiring and exploiting illegals is not taking advantage of "the system." - I'm not a Republican - The market will correct when wages increase enough to draw Americans and legal immagrants to the work. iIf deportation leads to a lack of available workers, construction projects would have to cease until there is an available work force to complete the work. Offering higher wages might compel Americans to move to fill the jobs - say from Louisiana to Texas. The government does not need to incentivize this. It would be no different than people who have immagrated to this country for years because of the opportunities available here. - I don't think the government should subsidize private business construction projects. So do agree with the proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan (most is disguised as hybrid govnt/private projects that are profit oriented, like tollways or bridges)....to create/stimulate the growth of jobs with $15-25 wages for qualified American workers?

He would surely be open to listening to a contract extension offer. 19th best fWAR in baseball despite negative defensive values, on pace for a 4.5-5.5 war season.

Now Paulino's shutting down the Red Sox out of the gate...coming into this start poor overall results.

Senate Democrats weigh blockade to protest GOP health care plan http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/politics/sen...care/index.html Bipartisan group of seven governors express concerns to McConnell/Schumer about AHCA In a Friday letter to McConnell and New York U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, who leads the Democratic minority, the governors said the House version “calls into question coverage for the vulnerable and fails to provide the necessary resources to ensure that no one is left out, while shifting significant costs to the states.” The Congressional Budget Office reports that H.R. 1628, in its present form, would keep 23 million people from finding meaningful health insurance. All seven of the gubernatorial signatories are in states that have expanded the qualifications for Medicaid – covering lower income children, families, pregnant women, people with disabilities and nursing home residents – to include people who had made too much money to be eligible for the government-run insurance but too little to find health care in private markets. The House bill would roll back about a quarter of the federal subsidies that made Medicaid expansion possible for state governments.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 06:55 PM) So, you're saying it's ok for business (small & Walmart sized) to exploit the labor force? Ok. I guess I disagree. Nope, not at all. Just taking advantage of the system, like our President has stated many times. Okay, let's imagine every single illegal immigrant has been forcibly evicted from Texas back to Mexico...a huge need for skilled construction workers will still exist. You are Republican, so you disagree with a "livable" guaranteed wage of $15 per hour, right? What are you going to do about distortion in the market, with not enough local workers willing to work for prevailing wages? Should the government step in and subsidize salaries? Give incentives for relocation from other regions of the state? Wouldn't a Republican argue that these construction businesses should all close, if a similar quality of, let's say cement, could be made in Mexico for 1/2 the price? If there's a surplus of jobs, local workers (with close to full employment) won't agree to work for those "sub standard" wages, then what? This is why 20-25% of the workers in Singapore are brought there (imported, in a way)....to do the jobs that native Singaporeans (average net worth $2.5 million) feel is beneath them. So do you 1) let companies fail, 2) allow for legal immigrants from other places to take those jobs or 3) intervene into the market and sudsidize the wages of "local" American workers? Or do you force those who are on semi disability, EIC recipients, Medicaid beneficiaries to take those jobs...or have a government program to train them? Shouldn't the business be responsible for the cost of apprenticeship? (Who know what Trump thinks, he just proposed a $200 million apprenticeship program we will never hear about again.)

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 06:31 PM) Martinez said that Americans couldn't handle the precise, difficult work. That's what I quoted. I quoted that portion of your post because it is nonsense. It is all about him wanting to pay illegals less than the minimum wage - which itself is not a livable wage for a skilled laborer. And, even if an illegal laborer is making more in the US than he could in his own country, he is still living in the US when he is earning that wage. So, it's irrelevant if it's more than he could make in Mexico or wherever. But it's not irrelevant to the labor market that exists today in the US, at this exact moment in time...

They would try to send Grichuk back...with the minor leaguers.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 06:22 PM) You feel pretty confident that the Rays are going to trade Archer to their AL rivals? Why is that? 14,408 per game, no stadium plan...and NY's one of the teams with the best minor league talent matches out there. No to mention the fact the system is even more hyped with SANCHEZ and Judge now. Archer's a great (flamboyant) kid who would be completely at home in NYC...Yankees can afford to overpay in a way that organizations like Astros or cardinals cannot. Plus he's already had proven success in that division. To me, it would be waving a white flag to the Commissioner's office that something dramatic needs to becdonectonsave that market/franchise. Maybe he goes back to the Cubs for Jimenez, Happ (or Baez) and Clifton/Johnson. That's the kind of package they're after.

Moncada 1/2, rs, pulled a ball into LF against LHP. The crazy thing is Charlotte hasn't gotten all their starting pitchers going in sync and building off each other's starts...they should be better than a sub .500 club, but obviously Danish and Volstad aren't top prospects. And the offense is basically composed of Moncada, Delmonico, Hayes and Ache, with May fading fast. Liriano has been pretty terrible.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 06:04 PM) Little do you know the list was originally supposed to be 78 names long, but board set up only allows 10. I get paid a penny per name by the internet, and you too can make money like that without even leaving your house.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 05:04 PM) This is nonsense. He wants to be able to keep exploiting illegals by not paying a livable wage. If his business tanks, he should just take a job as a drywall laborer making whatever he paid his workforce. I'm sure he's a skilled and hard worker. Plenty of jobs available in the capital city, too. How is that any different from Wal-Mart? Let's not forget the premium that wage represents compared to wages in Mexico...it's the same reason the majority of most skilled Filipinos seek work in other countries, legally or not. The point remains if all those smaller construction companies can't stay in business...the larger ones might enjoy economy of scale, but they're still going to struggle to retain contracts if non-Mexican labor isn't interested in those jobs. Basically, it's about the forces of capitalism and supply and demand. We don't blame insurance companies for pulling out of markets when they can't make enough profit...we blame Obama or liberal Democrats instead of the real answer, which is greed and hyper profit orientation. If that boss raised wages 25-50%, he would lose out on contracts...obviously small town grocery stores in the face of competition didn't raise wages, either, they cut back on labor and pushed workers to do 50% more for the exact same salary. This is the way it has been for decades with immigrant labor in America...whether it's fair or right or legal/illegal, both parties adopted this compromise. There probably isn't a Congressman who hasn't employed an illegal/undocumented worker for a lower salary, lol.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 17, 2017 -> 05:41 PM) I see Vinicio got demoted to AA. Franklin Perez is dominating W-S right now. Definition of cannon fodder.