caulfield12

Apologies will NOT be forthcoming. Obfuscation already accomplished.

Spoke way too soon about Lopez's night. OOPS. Assumed he was getting pulled.

Moncada breaks out of mini-slump, haha, now 3 for his last 14 (but two homers). Lopez had a very solid outing, 9 K's. Actually getting more excited about Willy Garcia at-bats than Kahnle pitching in extras in CLE. Runners on 1st and 2nd to lead off 6th, no outs, but the bottom of the order coming up to the plate (which means Raburn will surely homer). (Note, please don't make us miss an extra Moncada at-bat for Jose Freakin' Vinicio leading off.)

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 03:54 PM) Haha good one Sure, with no May, Asche/A.Garcia/Davidson, Covey/Pelfrey, etc.

Can't recall the last team to have 8/10 starters from Latin America. Excellent scouting.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/iva...raph/index.html Nice to know Ivanka's now a military advisor as well http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/iva...ouse/index.html "Ivanka is by his side in Washington. She is not involved in everything. I think she comes and goes with issues she deeply cares about but when you get to a certain level of power a lot of times, and you see this in business too, a lot of times people will say yes just because you happen to be the boss...I think it gives you a sounding board who is a little bit more unconventional than the 37 people that might happen to be standing round a table at that one time who just want to appease." Totally fascinating, right? What we learn from Eric Trump here is that: 1) Ivanka is the person in the White House who can tell her father "no" and 2) her installation as a formal adviser -- with a West Wing office -- might well be in reaction to the family's concerns that Trump wasn't getting the right sort of advice from "37 people that might be standing around a table at that one time who just want to appease."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/spi...ssad/index.html Sean Spicer just forgot the first rule of politics

Probably the first time in history the WH press secretary pushed the biggest story in the world (United Airlines) to the side on TMZ. Sean Spicer should be fired for saying Syria's president is worse than Hitler ... so says the Anne Frank Center. The Center's executive director said Spicer's statement is "the most evil slur upon a group of people we have ever heard from a White House press secretary." He also called for Spicer's immediate termination. Spicer's been under the gun since Tuesday's press briefing, where he said not even Adolf Hitler sank to using chemical weapons like Present Bashar al-Assad did on his own people. Spicer also flubbed while trying to clarify, adding ... "He was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing." The fact Hitler did just that, and in far greater capacity than Assad, has Rep. Nancy Pelosi also demanding Spicer be fired. Spicer has issued an apology of sorts, saying ... "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust, however, I was trying to draw a contrast of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on innocent people." Www.tmz.com Maybe he's intentionally trying to sabotage himself to get fired instead of quitting??

Looks like the stock market finally gave UAL some breathing room at the end of the day... Dave Carroll/Columbia Business School Lessons from "United Breaks Guitars" anti-customer service song trilogy Now the story's changing again...so his wife was one of the three who had left voluntarily? Or she stayed with him? I could understand the feeling about agreeing to switch but the Airlines not informing anyone they had to wait one full day to fly. No way they warned everyone about that before the voucher offers. The man who ended up bloodied and screaming Sunday night had initially agreed to get off the plane, passenger Jayse Anspach said. "Him and his wife, they volunteered initially," Anspach said. "But once they found out that the next flight wasn't until (Monday) at 2:30 p.m., he said, 'I can't do that. I gotta be at work.' So he sat back down." The harder the officers tried to get the man to leave, the harder the man insisted he stay. "He was very emphatic: 'I can't be late. I'm a doctor. I've got to be there tomorrow,' " Anspach recalled. His pleas didn't work. Moments later, the man was getting dragged down the aisle. At one point, passengers say, the man hits his head on an armrest. Video shows blood starts streaming from his mouth. During the ordeal, the man claimed he was being profiled for being Chinese, passenger Tyler Bridges said. http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/travel/unite...ight/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/opinions/i-g...tone/index.html I got bumped from a flight, sued and won

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 10:34 AM) It would never get to millions because its just like anything, at some point a person will take the offer. Its impossible to imagine that if someone was offered $10k they wont take it. You could rent a car and drive to Louisville (its a 4.5 hour drive) and still be at work the next day. The part that is odd is that no one at United thought that it would be better to figure out alternative transportation for their employees than creating a pr disaster. It was Chicago to Louisville, you have to believe there was some other way to accomplish their goal. Not even their United employees, but for Republic, a smaller partner airline.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 10:04 AM) To be fair, that isn't a reasonable process. There has to be a cap or else the compensation could be in the millions of dollars by the time someone takes it, since the passengers know the airline has no leverage. Employees can't have that kind of discretion. In any event, this wasn't an overbooked flight. This guy was removed for their own employee, which I think, is what is causing the outcry. If the guy won't leave because another passenger had rights to the seat, then the conversation is different. There was....depending on which story you believe, $800 (passengers say) or maybe $1000 (airline story), see below, they didn't come close to it. Now, where it gets really interesting is when passengers are bumped involuntarily, like the four people on Sunday night's flight. Depending on the length of the delay, the airline may have to pay $1,350 for the inconvenience. "If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally)... the compensation [is] 400% of your one-way fare, $1350 maximum." That maximum would fit United's predicament, since the next scheduled flight to Louisville was a full day later. http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/unite...ster/index.html How to make a PR crisis a total disaster

Now, where it gets really interesting is when passengers are bumped involuntarily, like the four people on Sunday night's flight. Depending on the length of the delay, the airline may have to pay $1,350 for the inconvenience. "If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally)... the compensation [is] 400% of your one-way fare, $1350 maximum." That maximum would fit United's predicament, since the next scheduled flight to Louisville was a full day later. http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/unite...ster/index.html How to make a PR crisis a total disaster https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldvi...m=.6764a1a8700e Tmz just obliterated him, Dr. David Dao of Louisville

"He was a really sweet man," John Klaassen, a teacher who was traveling on a school trip in Chicago, told CNN's Don Lemon in an interview April 10. Klaassen told Lemon that the 69-year-old man, who has not been identified, chatted with some of his students before being told his seat was given to an airline worker. At that point, the man became inconsolable and repeatedly refused to leave. He was forcibly removed by police and then taken to the hospital with injuries from the confrontation. https://www.yahoo.com/news/really-sweet-man...-024108685.html https://www.reddit.com/user/USBrock United Breaks Guitars....greatest country song of all-time, 17 million hits and counting

http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UAL?p=UAL United stock already down close to 4%. $865 million dollars just disappeared into thin air. Over $200-400 extra they wouldn't incentivize to wait for another flight, the idiotic CEO's comments, and pissing off all of China and 90% of anyone who's ever flown United in the past. Great work. United will probably sue Chicago Aviation and those security officers. More lawyers getting rich...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 07:47 AM) Everyone continues to say United overbooked, they didn't do that. They were trying to move a flight crew to Louisville https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-passenger...-105909157.html Called it. 210 million online hits in China, already. Apparently witnesses reported he said he was targeted for being Chinese. Goodbye United profits in China. Glad I'm fly Korean Airlines coming back this summer. Btw, You guys are better defenders than their CEO. He loses his job over this...what would only have been another $200-400 in incentives/vouchers. If the captain of the plane was already on board, he was in charge of everything that happened on that plane from the moment he entered the cockpit.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 07:44 AM) Since 2014, there are only 9 times a qualified player finished with K rate above 30%, and the highest was 33%. Chris Carter, Chris Davis, Adam Dunn, and one Michael Taylor made up for most of those 9 finishes, and they are perennial .210, .220 hitters. If Moncada comes up and hits .230 and strikes out 35% of the time in the first year, I'm sure most people here will panic instead of "being able to live with it", and wants him sent back to the minors to get more seasoning. Moncada won't have an average below .260 with that speed and power combination. http://thebaseballcube.com/players/profile...P=Michael-Trout Trout in the minors, 211/1117=19% I doubt Moncada finishes higher than 25% in AAA. We'll see. Tim Anderson's 193/673 at the major league level, that's closing in on 30%.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 06:03 AM) Same here, but Rox will then try to make Hoffman the centerpiece of the Q trade. I don't like that. When Dahl and Desmond get off the DL, they should be interesting team to watch. Remember, Rockies made a horrible trade when they sent Tulo to Toronto, and all they have left is Hoffman. They got lucky when Story emerged as ML quality SS, but they still made a horrible deal. All I'm saying is, they might be gun shy to pull off a major trade, but they do have some interesting pieces. No way they risk another TJ second surgery case study with Giolito already a significant bust risk. No to Hoffman.

The Chicago Department of Aviation, meanwhile, said its security officer was placed on leave "pending a thorough review of the situation." Typically, the Chicago Fire Department handles all medical emergencies at O'Hare. The fire department was not involved in this case, however. Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston blamed United Airlines for the situation, saying she was appalled. "United had overbooked its own flight and chose to forcibly remove a passenger instead of increasing their offer until a passenger chose to leave the flight willingly. Their attempt to pass the buck by blaming the Chicago Police Department for the incident demonstrates that they do not understand the gravity of this incident," she said. "At a minimum, United Airlines must immediately change their policy and give full restitution and compensation to the victim. This is far from the end of the story." http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20170410/news/170419951/ So lawsuits pending for United, Republic Airways, the Chicago Department of Aviation....as well as Congressional hearings.

Kaylyn Davis, who says her husband was on the flight on Sunday evening, posted the video in which the passenger is standing in the aisle saying “just kill me” over and over again while covered in blood. Another video shows the passenger saying “I have to go home.” When a Twitter user asked whether he is saying, “just kill me,” Davis responded, “That is what I heard. He hit his head pretty hard earlier. He looks terrified and very confused.” http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wr...ll-11064014.php Now it gets even worse. Watch this video. He was obviously in shock. Muttering "just kill me" over and over and over again.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 5, 2017 -> 07:04 PM) I'm heading down there next week to work on the campaign the last week of the race. It'll be interesting for sure! $8 million plus already raised for him, crazy numbers for a Congressional race. Looks like he's polling in the low 40's, the likeliest path to win is splitting the GOP votes (11 running?) enough to get 50% and avoid the runoff, but that's looking highly improbable. April 18th vote, yes? Was laughing because one of the main GOP contenders was claiming his having Conway's, Sarah Huckabee's and Jared Kushner's numbers on his speed dial uniquely qualified him for winning the Trump Bloc. https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/09...les-r/22032809/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/10/politics/map...tate/index.html 58% of Congressional races are now "safe" with +/-10 margins for GOP and Dems 133 GOP seats are safe 118 Dem seats are considered safe (251/435) Significantly up from past decades....can we say GERRYMANDERING? Looking at the map of the entire country, it seems like almost EVERYONE is a Republican, and yet the popular vote margin was 2.9+ million because of California and the East Coast.

"Everybody has their price. If they had allowed the agent to offer a higher incentive, we may never have heard about this," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and founder of Atmosphere Research Group. ... United was in a classic no-win situation: having security remove the passenger or allowing him to disobey their legally permissible request. Both have bad outcomes," DePaul University School for Public Service professor Joseph Schwieterman said in an email. Passengers sometimes think airlines will give in to avoid a scene, but that's usually not the case, he said. Others thought the airline could have resolved the situation with a lot less disruption if it had been willing to be a little more flexible. United could have asked passengers why they were traveling or considered moving to the next name on the list when a passenger flat-out refused to budge, said George Hobica, founder and president of Airfarewatchdog, an airfare listing and travel advice site. "If United had crashed a plane, it would have been less of a PR disaster than this. It just looks so cruel, and inexplicable and arbitrary," he said. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-...0410-story.html

Moncada has a 29% strikeout rate in 731 minor league at-bats, 213/731. But a 395 OBP. I'm pretty sure everyone could live with a 30-35% K rate his first year or two in the majors as long as his OPS was over 800 and his OBP was over 350. That's not even taking into consideration the damage he can do with his speed on the basepaths.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...sp?P=cody-asche 681 career OPS in nearly 1200 MLB at-bats. If he could approach his minor league average of 794, he might be close to a split/platoon DH, but anything sub 750 isn't going to come close to an "average" DH/RF/LF in the American League. Avi Garcia is at at 703 OPS for almost 1500 MLB at-bats. At least he still has a bit of the age/potential/late development argument in his favor. But Avi averaging 14-16 homers per season just isn't good enough with his serious defensive liabilities.

Yeah, the key number is OBP. We can quibble over 25% vs. 30% vs. 35% for a K rate, but the bottom line is getting on base, being a disruptor and scoring runs if he's not hitting the ball over the fence.