caulfield12

http://therunnersports.com/luis-robert-mlb...f-cesar-cedeno/ The second thing to notice is the imposing construction of both players’ otherwise “normal” right-handed baseball bodies. Robert and Cedeño (in his prime) have what seem to be steel bands for muscles, held together by tightly-wound, spring-loaded rubber bands, with BMIs that are likely around 22, if not lower. For both, this means a vicious bat speed generated by Hank Aaron-like wrist strength, and Roberto Clemente-like wall-reaching power to both alleys and beyond. Cedeño spent 12 years with the Astros (1970-1981), before spending 3 1/2 years in Cincinnati, and a year-and-a-half in Los Angeles, compiling a lifetime .285 BA, with 199 home runs. For the Astros, though, Cedeño (whom many, at the time, called the next Willie Mays) became the franchise’s first real offensive superstar, logging a .289 batting average in his dozen years in Houston, a .351 OBP, with an .805 OPS. He hit 163 homers wearing the orange rainbow, with most of those bombs hit into the dry, static atmosphere of the Astrodome, long before they brought the walls in. He stole 487 bases in 636 attempts (77%), leading the National League in SB % with 92% in 1978. His offensive WAR of 7.6 ranked 2nd in the NL in 1972. Video: Watch Cedeño steal home in July 1977. Cedeño was a five-time NL Gold Glove winner for his center field play, and was a National League All-Star in 1972, ’73, ’74, and ’76. He hit for the cycle twice in his career, and was the second player in MLB history (after the Cardinals’ Lou Brock) to hit 20-plus homers and steal 50-plus bases in a season, blasting 22 homers and stealing 55 bases in 1972, and 25 homers and 56 stolen bases in 1973. Cedeño, now 66, is currently the hitting coach at Houston’s rookie affiliate, The Greenville (TN) Astros. Cedeno WAR numbers 19 1.7 20 1.5 21 7.9 22 7.2 23 5.6 24 4.2 25 5.7 26 4.7

Greg, by this standard, EVERY SINGLE CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR would ALSO be fired, lol. The professor doesn't even work DIRECTLY for CNN, he hosts a show that's aired on that network. The Spelling Bee "faux pas" (Alison Camerota) was far from in good taste, but if that's a FIREABLE offense, then 75-80% of Americans would be fired from their jobs for WORSE than that. None of these things are remotely comparable to the Kathy Griffin case. And none of them is "Making America Great Again!" to waste further time discussing when there are many more pressing issues around the world and country to deal with.

http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings White Sox are now projected to finish 70-92 and get the 3rd pick. 4-5 games behind Phillies and Padres. Battle for 3rd with Braves/Reds/Royals.

CNN host Reza Aslan faced backlash on Saturday after calling President Donald Trump a "piece of s---" after a terrorist attack in London left seven dead and dozens wounded. In a tweet on Saturday that was later deleted, the University of California, Riverside professor and host of "Believer" quoted the president's use of several terrorist incidents in London to justify his executive action barring individuals from several majority-Muslim nations. "This piece of s--- is a not just an embarrassment to American and a stain on the presidency. He's an embarrassment to humankind," Aslan wrote. The tweet immediately sparked outrage on the right. Aslan deleted the tweet and apologized Sunday afternoon, http://www.businessinsider.com/reza-aslan-...n-attack-2017-6

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register...id=robert001lui Has his own pages showing up now. Physically, Robert Moirán looks the part of a big league player, standing a tall 6’3’’ and weighing in at 205 pounds according to his most recent weigh in with his training staff (up from the 174 pounds he weighed in at during his first few years in the Serie Nacional). That added bulk bodes well for his future as a power hitter. While he lacks the raw power that Céspedes had at the same age, he has shown the ability to add muscle and has shown an increase in power effectively every year he has played organized baseball. His swing, for such a tall and sometimes lanky player, is generally quite quick and he seems to have avoided the trap that some young Cuban players fall into of developing a bit of a looping swing since there are few pitchers left on the island with the velocity to make a batter pay for a long swing. As I mentioned during the previews for the WBC, Robert Moirán has a stance and swing which are canonically Cuban, holding his body upright and holding the bat high and close to his body. He exhibits a bit more of an open initial stance, but he otherwise looks quite similar to Yasiel Puig in the batters box. Projecting Cuban players is never easy, with outcomes ranging from superstars like Céspedes and Abreu, to solid if unspectacular players like Kendrys Morales or Alexei Ramírez, all the way to replacement level players like Adonis García or Alexander Guerrero. But Robert Moirán looks like the real deal. He has the stats that look to put him closer to the Céspedes-Abrue tier than García-Guerrero tier. He has the physical body and the history of development both in terms of strength and technical approach at the plate. He has displayed a batting eye which is rare for any player in Cuba, much less for one who had just turned 19. He plays a premium defensive position with at least enough acumen that scouts think he'll be able to hang there for at least part of his big league career. An international free agent is always a risk for any team, but if I was a big league exec, Luis Robert Moirán is the kind of player I would take that risk on. Let's see if Jeff Luhnow agrees. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2017/4/20/153...s-robert-moiran

That's one of the beauties of MLB, fwiw. Even in the NFL, so much of a team's success revolves around the QB position. In MLB, you can have Sale/Eaton/2014 Abreu/Q and not even get a whiff of the playoffs.

And how the ---- does alienating the leaders of England (to the point where there is a legitimate debate about withdrawing the Queen's/Prime Minister invitation for a formal state visit), Germany and France help accomplish our stated goal/s of defeating ISIS? Can SOMEONE, ANYONE, explain that to me? Unless there's a "secret plan" to get Russia, Turkey and Israel to work together with the US (and forget about the majority of our NATO allies), it just looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Saudi Arabia's going to help us? Pakistan? United Arab Emirates? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? (Not only haven't we dealt with ISIS, we still have Iran and North Korea to consider. Mattis just this week at his press conference was labeling North Korea a "clear and present danger" to the existing world order.)

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 08:36 PM) God I hate responses like this. We are literally dealing with organized evil and people like you make light of it because the odds of it ever impacting you directly is small. And EVERYONE on the left hates the politicization of this issue to expand defense budgets by MULTIPLE BILLIONS without anyone having a single coherent plan developed... So it's better to make everyone (like GREG) feel that he's constantly in danger or the threat of being beheaded in America is REAL? Are you sure? It's obviously a more realistic possibility in Europe, based on events of the past 2-3 years. That said, the statistical probability is really not THAT high. And this is the same argument we here from the NRA whenever there's a mass shooting like Newtown...even where 20-30 plus kids and teachers are killed, and it's that you are more likely to be killed in a car accident within 5 KM of your home or die from a heart attack/cancer, etc. So let's hear exactly WHAT the country SHOULD plan to do in order to solve the problem, besides just "trusting" the Pentagon and McMaster/Mattis to come up with a solution...? “If I run, and if I win, I don’t want the enemy to know what I’m doing (does ANYONE know?),” Trump said of the Islamic extremist terrorist group that has been steadily causing trouble in the Middle East. “Unfortunately, I’ll probably have to tell at some point, but there is a method of defeating them quickly and effectively and having total victory.” “All I can tell you it is a foolproof way of winning, and I’m not talking about what some people would say, but it is a foolproof way of winning the war with ISIS,” he said. “And it will be absolutely, 100 percent –they’ll at minimum come to the table but actually they’ll be defeated very quickly.” “I don’t want to be Obama, where he goes on television to explain exactly when we’re going to attack a certain city, what we’re going to do, what hour we’re going to be using for the attack, how many men are going in. I don’t want to do that,” he said. THIS IS FROM MAY 28th, 2015....two years LATER, still no plan!!! What the hell?

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 04:37 PM) That's not really true at all. Starting pitching in later rounds might be less common, but there are tons of examples of success stories. Guys like Nate Jones and Addison Reed in the later rounds are the ideal...obviously, Hector Santiago, Petricka, etc. Kanhle was originally drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round. Swarzak was 2nd round, 61st pick by the Twins, for another example.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jun 3, 2017 -> 08:48 AM) honestly, theres a really big difference between drafting in the top 3 and drafting 11. The cubs knew this a few years ago. A top draft pick is super important (as long as you don't blow the pick and take mark appel ahead of kris Bryant). we aren't contending, I'm honestly hoping we can trade some assets for useful prospects, and end up in the top 3. probably gonna be hard to catch the Phillies and padres Or Kolek/Brady Aiken/Rodon...at least be in the Top 3 there, and they were still pretty fortunate to go 3...as we'll never know if they would have taken either of those first two guys. Maybe Aiken? Or the Benintendi/Fulmer/Happ draft... The funny thing here is the Astros made some pretty big mistakes (Appel/Bryant, Aiken) and they're STILL the best team in baseball by far right now.

Is there any defense being played? Is this really in the best interest of the NBA...? Lots of casual/bandwagon fans like "superteams," but only when there's a sense that there's a fair fight to be had with opponents. Not to mention that all the other games/teams are doomed to being afterthoughts and also-rans.

Chance of being killed by refugee terrorist in United States is one in 3.6 billion Donald Trump expected to issue order suspending immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries despite little evidence to support it. Shouldn't we also be declaring war on junk food and heart attacks? Texting while driving or walking across a busy street?

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 07:32 PM) 3 yr deal, chief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Wahoo I protest that! (Not to mention there are many Native American tribes and even a university near Greg in KS) Just kidding, Flavum (not to be confused with Fathom because of your seemingly ubiquitous W/L record extrapolations and projections, lol)

Isn't he related to Pedro Guerrero...? All the Guerreros. And RIP Pedro.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 07:33 PM) There should be concern if not fear. I get mocked on here for saying ISIS wants to behead us in real life situations. Sit at a restaurant and they come out with machetes hacking people to death. Sick bastards. We need to fight these assholes. Find out where they are and drop BOMBS on them. Lotsa bombs. So...carpet bombing Syria, that has been suggested before by Republicans as recently as the last set of debates. What about Afghanistan, for example? Is this now ONLY about ISIS and we're going to ignore other groups like the Taliban or al-Queda? What about all the women/children/civilians you kill (see Vietnam War/Cambodia/Laos) with this bombing??? What about the fact that MOST of the funding is coming from countries like Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE/Abu Dhabi and Dubai...you're not going to cut off the head of the snake unless you stop the funding. What about Russia or Turkey? Do you want to fight against both of them, too? Where does it end? Let's not forget, Greg, that a week or so ago you were dreadfully worried about the possibility of an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula. You want to put boots on the ground in Syria and have a second war/front on the Pacific with South Korea? We're fighting people who believe they will be rewarded in heaven with 40 virgins with sacrificing themselves with suicide bombs...that's a very difficult foe to stop, not unlike Kamikaze pilots in WW II. It's a totally different mentality than Western soldiers have. They're fighting a war on terrorism, the jihadists are fighting a "holy war" for the fate of the world/civilization. Until America is directly threatened at home (like 9/11), all of these incidents in Europe and the Middle East won't be enough to move the needle and get everyone (at least temporarily) on the same page.

There's another larger point here about Twitter. Reacting in real time to words on a screen, you can't get the full context and can overreact or provoke responses that are unnecessary from allies and foes alike. In this situation, the mayor was trying to calm down the city and make citizens feel more comfortable with the increased police presence. Trump wanted to look at a "bigger picture" in the overall terror war and really went overboard parsing those quotes and politicizing the situation. Hopefully one of his advisors will tell him (in the future) to wait at least 2-3 hours before terming Manila an ISIS terror attack or sparking a debate with the mayor of one of the most important cities in the world, who also happens to be Muslim (not coincidentally).

Overall, this whole week has sucked from the standpoint of nearly everything in life. Well, Wonder Woman was good. What really sucks is the Cubs just don't have anyone to challenge them the next couple of seasons in their division. MIL is still a year or two away, and Braun's getting older. The Cardinals are at least an impact hitter and a healthy Reyes from being able to mount a challenge, and that would require everything going right. The Pirates are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, like the Rays, and have seen McCutcheon's trade value plummet the last 18 months. And it just reinforces the idea (to me, at least) that you can't have enough good young hitters in your minor league system...plus, they're a lot more fun to follow.

Except those young Cubs' players were more impressive offensive talents...whereas I think there's a tendency to look at all of our plethora of offensive holes and feel more pressure to manufacture runs and give the starting pitchers confidence early? I guess it's a tough one to explain, bunting more in the AL than the NL...where it's a more natural fit with all the pitchers/PHer's batting. And for all the teaching, the overall defense the last week or so has been atrocious. Anderson has definitely taken a step back. We all know about Abreu's woes. I guess the best thing you can say is that Avi has been better, Sanchez his usual self and Davidson/Frazier solid. Obviously the catching situation continues to be another black hole.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/04/us/portland-...ests/index.html Not sure where the hell to put this, the two sides of protest in Portland. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/04/us/portland-...ests/index.html 14 arrested now...numbers are up

Looks like the A's are going to lose... -7 KC, CHW -8 Oakland But we're now tied for the 5th pick in the draft with three other teams, including KC. Only two games ahead of the Padres at #3.

NL 1b is nuts for ASG. Rizzo will be voted in, and Thames, Myers and Freeman the lone reps for their teams. That still leaves Goldschmidt, Votto, Zimmermann and Reynolds. Heck, Bellinger, although he's slumping a bit recently.

Let's hope this is THE low point for Moncada. 0/5 with 3 k's, the last against LH reliever.

Go DBacks, lol. Beat the Marlins for once this weekend so we can tie with them at 24-31. Actually, should be rooting for Miami sweep, haha.

Moving ahead of Braves and Pirates, will be tied with Mets and probably Royals (if they complete their game today) at 7 games under .500.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 4, 2017 -> 01:49 PM) Sox definitely need to target a first baseman in trade talks. Abreu should be their DH. Not only improve the defense but also keep Abreu healthy. They can try Davidson, Delmonico, Hayes and potentially even Avi there...no need to go out of the way for that particular position at this juncture in time. Much like last year at 23-10, the bullpen hit a wall from overuse. But these last 4-5 games have been absolutely brutal.