caulfield12

Jeff Bezos’s $150 Billion Fortune Is a Policy Failure Growing inequality in the United States shows that the game is rigged https://medium.com/the-atlantic/jeff-bezoss-150-billion-fortune-is-a-policy-failure-f569af2f77dc The result of these decades of trends and policy choices is that Jeff Bezos has accumulated a $150 billion fortune while the average American family is poorer than it was when the Great Recession hit. Concerns about such astonishing levels of inequality are not just about fairness, nor are they just sour-grapesing about runaway success. The point is not that Jeff Bezos himself has done wrong by accumulating such wealth, or creating such profitable and world-changing businesses. But wealth concentration is bad for the economy and the country itself, and the government has failed to counter it. Rising inequality fuels political polarization and partisan gridlock. It slows economic growth, and implies a lack of competition that fuels economic sclerosis. It makes the government less responsive to the demands of normal people, potentially putting our very democracy at risk. Bezos’s extraordinary fortune shows that the game is rigged. He just happened to play it better than anyone else.

Depressing...

Someone is going to say Yolmer, Davidson, Moncada, Anderson and Engel...

But guys like Syndegaard and Kopech are supposed to be dating Victoria’s Secret Angels...(until 2-3 years later when they can’t stand the sight of them, see Naomi Campbell.) She’s 26, that might create a little bit of pressure on the marriage side, which almost no guy is ready for at that age...and she’ll definitely have to leave Charlotte for Chitown to make it work. (TMZ Analysis...also avoid all the Kardashians, except Kourtney.)

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- If not for Yoan Moncada's father, the White Sox switch-hitting second baseman of the future and No. 2 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com solely would be hitting from his natural right side. "He was the one who insisted I needed to prove I could hit with both hands," said Moncada through interpreter Billy Russo, adding that he started to switch-hit at 10 years of age. "And I did it." When Moncada hits from the right side, he said that swing is more technical. His left-handed swing is more natural and loose. His splits in 2016 show a .167 hitter from the right side with two homers at Double-A Portland in the Red Sox system and a .305 hitter with nine homers from the left side. But in 2015, Moncada hit .310 with six homers from the right side and .262 with two homers from the left. "As a switch-hitter, you are never going to feel comfortable at the same moment hitting lefty or righty," Moncada said. "Some time you feel better as a left-hander or sometimes you feel better as a righty. "It depends on the moment. It's very difficult to find a specific moment where you can feel good in both hands."

One thing I don’t quite get is why we can’t afford to piss off prospects but the Cubs have no problem doing so...and it’s pretty difficult to imagine a scenario where Bryant doesn’t stay for the next 5-7 years. Just feels a bit insecure, lacking in confidence that the Sox organization doesn’t have as much to offer, perhaps?

Who did we really lose to injury that was going to be counted on being ready for 2019? Arguably, Dunning and Hansen...certainly not Burger and Robert. Burdi, I guess.

Maybe to blow up my points total...I can just start typing “too long/didn’t read” to every Balta post these days if that’s the feedback received from taking an hour or so to try to actually write something thoughtful.? One thing that’s kind of illogical is that just being snarky gets more instantaneous feedback than attempting to have a legitimate discussion about something. That’s all well and good, I guess...and I could care less about likes and dislikes in the Filibuster, where have spent proportionately more time since 2016) but I’m not sure what it’s actually adding (other than being slightly better than downvoting others intentionally when we had a 1-5 “community scale.”)

I think Davidson also has to be considered, but get the logic of choosing between the two lefties with similar skill sets/deficiencies. With Palka so hot again at the moment, he will win. But there are arguments for both players. All or nothing, exit velocity and terrible RF vs. a more consistent stroke, lots of doubles and a more competent fielder. 3 platoon guys who we can’t combine into just one, unfortunately.

The way things are currently going in baseball, there are going to be more and more players rotating all around the diamond...like Baez, Zobrist, Happ, Bryant, etc. Russell can play 2b, too, although he doesn’t move anymore.

Yeah, forgot the Phillies kind of gave up on him after an injury-plagued year. Im also pretty sure Pirates’ fans would love to have Cole and Morton back...then they could actually be contending for the playoffs.

America...where nobody can ever be happy without their participation trophies, lol. In that case, Fathom should get some type of lifetime meritorious service award for most gamethread posts in SoxTalk history. Maybe Honorary Mod for one whole week, and free In-N-Out Burger for at least a year, sponsored by Alex and Ursula Snelius. PS: Maybe the Top Ten Leaderboard should be able to give away points to new posters they feel are deserving of special recognition...?

Zuckerberg will predictably get hammered by Trump tweets...it would be funny if he responded back “at least my wife is a real American,” then pushed one of those big red nuclear button props that reads “adios QAnon, goodbye NRA...now permanently banned from the platform, and you too, Avenatti and Guiliani.” Of course, that would have a ripple affect on FB stock because he’d be losing 20-25% of his user base and probably incur an assassination attempt as well.

It’s a free world here at SoxTalk, perhaps moreso than anywhere else (I’ll go with the “mods have gotten softer/kinder/busier/too rich from investing in Amazon explanation.”)

Because his defense and speed will kick his fWAR value up by 1 to 1.5 alone, making him a 3.5-4.0 value player...and either his power numbers or walks/OBP will creep up as well. As it stands, Moncada and Anderson are barely 700 ops guys...do you really see Anderson ever getting to even 800? If we’re going by that criterion, then you have to keep Avi, because Jimenez and Collins are the only advanced hitters that should be above that mark. Of our other hitting prospects, it’s hard to do much more than squint to see any surefire results, at least 800 and above...Robert, I guess? And the point of everything I wrote was to articulate exactly why OPS wasn’t the be all and end all with Madrigal. Far from it, in fact.

I've spent a lot of time back home here in the Quad Cities listening to Cubs' games and the SCORE and I've noticed that Coomer and Hughes are using the nickname "Magic" for Javier Baez. But, after finally getting around to listening to this podcast (and the one right before the June draft with his OSU coach), Nick Madrigal is eventually going to be the one eventually "stealing" that nickname away. https://art19.com/shows/white-sox-podcast/episodes/e3557c6b-b05c-45b5-be8d-02c11deeb208 Listening to him, this was probably the first time I believed...just maybe...that the rebuild was going to work, that they could win another World Series in my lifetime. I don't particularly believe in Hahn, but I believe in players (typical Ozzie witticism, but he was right on this)...and this kid just has that something special that will rub off on his teammates and make the Sox a better team in the middle of 2020 (at the latest). He just plays the game the right way, and, while he's obviously not going to put up 1.000 OPS numbers like an Eloy Jimenez, I do think he'll end up having a tremendous impact on Tim Anderson and Moncada in particular...especially their lack of focus on what they're actually up at the plate to accomplish each time they go up there. (This has been one of the biggest pet peaves for White Sox fans who have grown up with "garbage" baseball the last 6 years...as opposed to "corpseball" the previous decade.) He will automatically improve the defense, and he'll be like the captain or player-manager out on the field. I'm pretty sure (the podcast was his last day at Kanny, last Thursday morning) that he was moved up to Winston-Salem largely to take advantage of the time to be around Omar Vizquel and soak up his wisdom/knowlege/insights forat least a month. It was also very clear that he was impressed by Justin Jirschele's desire and willingness to win, even though he was only there one week. So I'll make a prediction that Vizquel is at Birmingham next year and Jirschele moved up to Winston-Salem. One of those two guys will be the next White Sox manager, IMO. The thing that really stood out to me in that interview was talking about winning a World Series (from most other players' mouths, it seems like a cliche or just something they say because they're expected to say it), about always being the first one to the field and setting an example (he doesn't explicitly say it, but you can feel it...and the fact that he's never ever really thought much about being the youngest and shortest player in almost every competitive athletic situation because he feels his work ethic and practice/routine make him the biggest player on the field. That he's never thought about what kind of career he would have if he was 6'0". As I said, I don't know how great a hitter he can be...I expect he'll settle in around 750-775 unless he can really increase his walk numbers...but I do think he's the most important position player in this rebuild because of the positive influence he'll have on the rest of his teammates (especially about the strikeout issue and fouling off pitches). I know this all sounds like what we used to hear constantly about Tim Tebow, but listening to this guy and his college coach and Hostetler, it's hard not to be convinced to believe in this guy who has proven the doubters wrong his entire life (just like Altuve or Nellie Fox or whoever we want to compare him to...) Another thing that was pretty cool is the fact that his twin brother also made it as a Division 1 pitcher at that height. Beyond our middle infielders, I think he's going to get along really well with Collins, who will hopefully evolve into a leader at that position (Tyler Flowers never assumed that role, the constant turnover at catcher has been yet one more flaw in the last decade of Sox baseball) along with Nick. Finally, I think there's nothing to worry about with who's going to play exactly which infield/outfield position. Whether it's the Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers (http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24267936/is-positionless-baseball-mlb-next-big-thing) the trend is now upon us, unless they add 1-2 more players to each roster in order to avoid so many position players pitching in blowout games. We already have (had) a lot of players that fit that bill in Saladino, Leury, Yolmer, Cordell...it's just that they're all essentially utility or role players instead of starters, but the running game and aggressiveness are already starting to come around this season, and it will only increase in the future with the additions of players like Madrigal, Robert and Basabe. While Madrigal is not "Baseball Jesus," I do think we're underestimating the difference that one player can make in turning around the attitude of an entire organization...everyone is merely looking at his stature and statistical projections (see allusions to Darwin Barney, who also played at OSU), but baseball is about so many more things that Madrigal does instinctively and we'll realize after watching him day after day, start to truly appreciate him, and wonder why all players don't have that "team first" mindset (obviously part of the answer is the fixation on launch angle and power numbers). Chicks dig winners/winning teams more than the longball. And Rudy wins the day!

https://medium.com/s/story/pity-the-rich-a7a812f09d8e We should pity the rich

Gurriel (intl signing), Aoki, Beltran, Gregerson?

Not close to Nazi/Japanese Empire in WW 2 extreme, yet, but this is also 2018, we were supposed to be the “shining light on the hill, a beacon, etc.” What the hell has gone wrong with America? The closest parallel is the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WW 2, although the scale was larger.

Did Greg hack your account?

Well, the Rays going with their relievers to start, and all three (Yarborough and Shields) working extremely slowly...

Example/s?

Boo!!!

Nice strategy to get to 400, lol...

Wow, Stanton hit a ball at 121 mph...thatttt’s pretty pretty good. Baeball clearly needs MORE nearly 5 hour Yankees/Red Sox games. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy in Chapman...unfortunately not a couple more like that in the 2016 World Series.