caulfield12

QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 15, 2017 -> 05:39 PM) Fantastic - the Sox don't need him in 2 of those years, and possibly 3, but they'll have him. And I suspect that will happen to a lot of the players who the Sox should be full-bore on moving. They'll still have them. Realistically, we're stuck with Frazier and Cabrera right now. Who else are you talking about that has legit value? Nate Jones? Abreu (who we all agreed was likely to stick around for awhile longer)? Saladino? Rodon? Anderson? Avi, Davidson, Leury and Yolmer Sanchez still have pretty limited trade value. That leaves Holland, MiGo, Swarzak and Kahnle if the right offer comes in, along with Robertson. Swarzak will be a FA, so he pretty much has to go. OOOPS, meant to reply to GREENSOX!!!

Pujols' career arc is fairly similar to Big Frank's. Went from the best hitter in the game to a shadow of his former self in the last third of his career.

Center cut 90 MPH fastball. Oh, well.

They really would have been better off dumping Cabrera in the offseason. As it stands, they're going to have to eat quite a bit of salary now. It's not like they were going to get much back, but wasting that money stings. Also wonder what, if any, offers were out there for Nate Jones.

Well, there's two ways of looking at his line-up. Being pleasantly surprised with Avi, Davidson, Leury or Yolmer (still no Tim Anderson)... Or disappointed with Cabrera (602), Frazier (618), Smith (SSS) and Saladino (581).

All the WALKS. Follow the Astros' high OBP and slugging philosophy, it seems to be working well for them at the moment (not to mention not pulling the trigger on a "put them over the top" trade as of yet). In that division, there's nobody really pushing Houston, either. Bregman is their 7th best hitter at the moment.

The only disappointing thing with Adolfo is we're not seeing the power numbers (yet). I know...age, age, age. So I suppose it's more encouraging he's at least holding his own and we have to cross our fingers the rest of the potential falls into place. He's not a speed-based player, so he's really got to hit 20-30 homers to be truly useful.

Well, now the defense is the President is the Commander in Chief and can declassify anything at any time he wants, so therefore can never technically or even "accidentally" share classified information without having this same baffling argument to later fall back on. Just like he can fire the Director of the FBI on a whim. Even though it's never happened in the history of the Republic, except during the Clinton Era when they basically argued William Sessions was breaking the law or right up against the edge of the line.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/tru...tion/index.html Another day, another scandal. A former intelligence officer called the report -- and White House response "infuriating." "It sounds like White House is parsing words by saying 'didn't discuss sources or methods' as a weak cover your a**," the former officer said. "That's a technicality. If the information itself was specific enough, it implicitly discloses sources and methods." McMaster had previously told the Post that Trump and the Russian officials discussed "common threats." That's not the first time for Trump. And let's not forget the infamous Mar-a-Lago "posing with the nuclear football" incident in the middle of dinner. http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-econo...nterview-2017-5 The globalist, moderate wing of the White House doesn't stand a chance "Having spent that much time in the West Wing and doing this interview, I would say we came away with a different impression, which is that, fundamentally, Donald Trump is a nationalist — he's a kind of nationalist with a grievance. He thinks that the world has taken advantage of America for too long, it's time for America to be tougher and gruffer and more assertive and more selfish. "So if there are different voices — and there are — it's more a question of tactics. It's kind of, how do you cut that best deal? Do you bang your fist on the table, or do you offer concessions? So I don't think there's a kind of chance that a globalist, moderate (Kushner/Cohn/Powell) wing is somehow going to win the argument and change Donald Trump. He is who he is."

QUOTE (InTheDriversSeat @ May 15, 2017 -> 07:20 PM) I would say the increase in attendance can be attributed to 2 Hot promotions: Hawk Harrelson Alarm Clock and Hooded Sweatshirt giveaways. The Hoodie nite actually drew more fans than the Alarm Clock nite. . For a LONG time, one of the biggest drivers of Sox attendance was those Fireworks nights (usually Saturdays?) It seems that there's now a pretty compelling opportunity for lots of brands to get in with giveaway nights for MUCH cheaper rates than if they tried to do something with the Cubs/Blackhawks/Bulls/Bears, etc. We saw it with the loss of the primary alcoholic beverage sponsor as well. In some ways, it's a good thing for the Sox to have to scramble because they'll be well-positioned (in terms of having a diversification of lower-tier sponsor deals) when the big dogs try to come back in 2019/20/21. The main question for the Sox is how deeply they want to discount those promotional nights...because if they erode the going rates too much, it makes it that much harder to raise them when the team finally turns the corner. That said, if you really have a 4-5 year "solid contention" window for the Sox and not that erratic up and down performance from season to season, quite a few sponsors and season ticket holders will theoretically jump back on board.

Compared to the first 16 games of last season. Even though we're "only" 28th in overall attendance, we're right on the heels of the Twins, Marlins, Indians and Reds. I'm sure some will argue that the Hawk Clock promotion this weekend skews things, the weather in 2016 and more April home games....but countering that is we had the Red Sox at home in 2016 and one of the best records in baseball for some of those later games. 2016 19,304 for 16 games 2017 20,863 for 16 games A difference of roughly 25,000 fans on the plus side. At any rate, this seems to be putting to rest that ONE rebuilding season is going to be a huge disaster. Now obviously if they aren't at least somewhat competitive (or, at the very least, they have to be INTERESTING) in 2018 and Moncada, Lopez, Burdi, Fulmer and Giolito all fall flat on their faces, then you're going to have lots of issues. Another reason that attendance is likely to increase this year is the fact that they're doing this without Sale, Eaton and Rodon...not to mention the fact they will have played 29 road games with only 16 home games at the 45 game mark, so the much more pleasant summer months will provide them 65 home games and only 52 road games from here on out. Can we really attribute the difference to a different manager? Lower ticket prices? Or the loyal fans sticking it out and being optimistic (for now) about the rebuild?

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/14/c...st-rules-238033 Reckless insider stock trading leaves Congress rife with conflicts, particularly around health care/pharmaceutical stocks Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Health and Human Services secretary, was under siege, the harsh lights of a Senate hearing upon him. News reports showed he had bought shares in a tiny biotechnology company while sitting on committees that could influence the firm’s prospects. A colleague, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), had tipped him off to the investment. A Washington Post editorial called Price “a walking, talking example of the ways in which congressional ethics requirements are too lax.” Sen. Chris Murphy demanded: “Tell me how it can possibly be OK that you were championing positions on health care issues that have the effect of increasing your personal wealth?” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked him, “Doesn’t this show bad judgment?” But what many saw as a scandal, others saw as an opportunity. On the very day that Wyden was decrying Price’s bad judgment, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Republican of Colorado, bought shares of the same tiny Australian company, Innate Immunotherapeutics. Within two days three more members also bought in — Republicans Billy Long of Missouri, Mike Conaway of Texas and John Culberson of Texas. Conaway added more shares the following week. These brazen decisions to gobble up shares of a little-known firm at the very moment when such trading was being decried as an abuse of power reflects Congress’ anything-goes culture around stock investments. In the pursuit of wealth, even obvious conflicts of interest are routinely ignored by members who feast on daily trades. Long, for instance, serves on a committee overseeing Obamacare, and Conaway is a deputy House whip.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ May 15, 2017 -> 07:08 AM) They should definitely trade for Q. Too lazy to look up thrir SP stats (I have Keuchel and McCullers on one fantasy team so I know how they are doing). Can anyone post the rest? http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2017.shtml Morton, Musgrove and Fiers. Morton and Fiers are back end guys, with Morton better than expected and Musgrove just over a 5 ERA and even higher fip. All three of those guys are way behind the first two in whip and nearly every other category.

Amazingly, Jacob Turner and Albers were called on in the 8th and 9th to save a game for the Nationals. At any rate, Jones isn't worth anything right now, so that leaves only Robertson, Swarzak and Kahnle. And they're unlikely to deal Tommy for a number of previously outlined reasons. And Jennings, pretty negligible. That said, we're going on a ten game road trip that likely ends up 4-6

"This trip is truly historic. No president has ever visited the homelands and holy sites (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy) of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths all on one trip," said National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, briefing reporters on Friday. "What President Trump is seeking is to unite peoples of all faiths around a common vision of peace, progress and prosperity. He will bring a message of tolerance and of hope to billions, including to millions of Americans who profess these faiths. The President will focus on what unites us," he said. Given the events of the previous days, McMaster's message seemed incongruous, as he portrayed a President who had just ignited discord at home as a unifying force abroad. But at times, McMaster, in a stentorian performance, almost seemed to be willing the administration onto better political ground with the strength of his rhetoric. Administration officials may hope that by getting Trump out of Washington for a week or more, they may help cool the political storm raging around the White House. http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/tru...path/index.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mayor-condemns-t...-203028776.html Confederate statue controversy in VA “This event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that hearkens back to the days of the KKK,” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in a statement. “Either way, as mayor of this city, I want everyone to know this: We reject this intimidation. We are a welcoming city, but such intolerance is not welcome here.” “I think it’s horrific,” Signer told ABC News. “We’re a city that proudly values our diversity.” According to the Daily Progress, a local newspaper, several dozen protesters gathered in the park around 9 p.m. carrying torches and chanting, “You will not replace us,” “Blood and soil” and “Russia is our friend.”

Sigh. Felt like that was coming since the bottom of the 1st.

Fell apart here in sixth. Nearly 100 pitches. Pull him.

Decent chance for combined no hitter for the Barons. Kopech will probably only get 6, if they send him out with 83. No offense to speak of by either team.

Thankfully Davidson at 1b or Margot would be on second. Q walking a few more this year than usual. Already 17 in mid-May. Aaron Judge with 14 now. Great throw by Narvaez...feet first slide usually a fail.

Former MLB ump Steve Palermo. Great umpire, was paralyzed trying to help someone during a robbery attempt. Met him once when he came to give a motivational speech at a children's shelter in KC I where I was tutoring, really impressive human being.

Avi's adventures continue. Leury bails him out with great hustle, Frazier nearly blows tag. Q era down to 4.11 now.

Arrieta with ERA nearing 6. 4-0 Cardinals.

6 k's, 2 bb, no hits through 4 for Kopech Just got Nick Gordon. Dunning had a tough outing. 3 2/3. 73 pitches, 7 k's, but 4 walks and 4 runs (3 er). Two runs were allowed by Valerio, reliever who did him no favors.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20170514 5/14 Mother's Day Slate Kopech and Dunning going....Danish for Knights Hunter Jones the only OPS over 700 in the Birm line-up. Yikes.