caulfield12

https://sports.yahoo.com/will-baseball-gods-reward-marlins-playing-hard-153210559.html Will the baseball gods reward these Marlins for playing hard? Lots of lessons/analogies (minus Jeter and trading Eaton/Sale/Q last offseason vs. what Miami did this past offseason)

http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=34710.1125 Here are 46 pages of posts on the Giolito/Lopez/Dunning trade from Nationals' fans. Interesting reading. Of course, lots of obvious comments that Eaton hasn't been on the field enough for WASH, either. His (Lopez's) control seems to get worse and worse. I think the moves the Nats made to their development staff especially pitching wise sent some shockwaves especially when it looked like the guys the Nats traded away started to turn things around. Now, maybe it's not as shocking that those guys still look like they have a long ways to go, but that still doesn't cover up the fact that the system has been pretty low on pitching in general for a few years now. Re: Eaton for Giolito Lopez and Dunning « Reply #1130: April 02, 2018, 10:37:31 AM » This entire trade will be a referendum on Rizzo and the development staff's ability to project prospects. If you are someone who bought into the high rankings for Giolito and Lopez, then this trade was and is a massive overpay. But it looks like Rizzo and company had a much cooler view and so far it looks like they may be right. I was really against the trade at first but after seeing the pitchers not really impress so far I have moved from being negative on the trade to wait and see. Re: Eaton for Giolito Lopez and Dunning « Reply #1131: April 02, 2018, 10:51:08 AM » Giolito will be fine. he's a rotation regular. He's not going to be Stras 2.0, but he'll give Chicago 6 years of nice #3 results with a chance for more. No worse than a righty Gio.

Adolfo won't be a Top 100 player unless he can prove that he can play RF adequately in terms of retaining his "plus plus" arm...because he doesn't have much speed or fielding ability. Basabe could sneak into the 80-100 range, maybe 75.

If 2020 is not a competitive team for the White Sox, if not a playoff team (the Indians' foundation is already showing cracks)...then the rebuild has already started to go awry.

Well, there's no doubt Amazon and Wal-Mart enjoy unprecedented economies of scale. There's also no doubt they have been the bane of small and medium-sized business across Flyover Territory...wiping out many small towns in the Midwest/Heartland, Southwest, Rust Belt and Deep South/Appalachia. Of course, all of this is wrapped in the issue of tariffs and the unprecedented dumping of lots of cheaper Chinese-manufactured products onto the American market to allow the average consumer to afford (with credit, of course) a comparatively better life than would have been possible with 25-30% higher costs if all those same goods had been US-sourced.

Well, one thing's for sure...tomorrow's start for Giolito is going to be under a magnifying glass for all the armchair psychologists out there in viewing land.

Well, if you consider the fact that dealing Rodon wipes out one of your potential aces under team control through 2021...then the cost is probably going to be higher, simply because that means that Kopech, Lopez, Hansen, Cease and Dunning (and/or Giolito) pretty much all have to make it as effective major league starters AND avoid injury. The odds of that are slim and none, of course. Which means trading minor league outfielders and/or spending top dollars acquiring a FA pitcher on the open market.

Acuna with his first big league hit...Albies with his 7th HR. Jesus, he is damned fast and aggressive on the basepaths.

There's no way we can sell low on Rodon at this point...even though Happ seems like a decent bet, he's always going to be limited defensively, so he's going to have to hit like Schwarber to have much value. He does (still) have a 741 OPS, but, once again, the defensive limitations bite into the overall value significantly. Certainly, it would be a huge upgrade in CF (in terms of "offensive potential".) The Cubs would counteroffer...take Ben Zobrist and we'll give you X/Y/Z prospects to ditch that contract, lol.

Up to a 595 OPS. The inevitable two homer game... http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=1973348483&sid=milb Pretty impressive opposite field power stroke. Followed up by 4 strikeouts in 5 at-bats, 28 k’s and only 1 walk so far Five walks in last three games but still mired in the 180’s. Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, Padres (AA): Nobody is as aggressive with assignments as San Diego, and after what Tatis did last year, the Texas League seemed warranted, even for someone who will be 19 for the entire season. Development officials see Double-A as the true proving ground, and Tatis is showing he needs more seasoning. He has struck out 34 times in 96 at-bats and is slashing .177/.231/.333. Tatis is going to be a star. He’s just not Vlad Jr. (Jeff Passan, yahoo sports) Potential breakout game, 2 doubles and a homer (#4), BA back up close to .200 again LG LEVEL G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS GO/AO Minors 2018 TEX AA 25 101 19 20 40 6 1 4 12 7 0 35 0 0 .198 .261 .396 .657 1.60

http://www.espn.com/mlb/standings/_/group/overall 4 way tie for second pick, one GB of Cincy. 5 games in four days against the Royals hould provide some clarity. Bottom 9 taking teams quickly forming...Giants and Tigers holding on for now, Nationals hugely underachieving in a critical season for that franchise’s direction.

Could we have at least tried Leury and Castillo in that final sequence...? At least Palka had a pretty decent at-bat there, and Engel escaped further traumatization/torture from Diaz. Engel is hitting with all hands, zero leg and hip drive, off balance, completely out of synch, totally lost his spring training approach of attacking the baseball.

Can’t disagree with anything said there. Anyone with an inkling of what kind of contract in terms of years and dollars that Pollock’s looking for? And let’s just hope we can get that catcher or set-up guy internally.

Take the good with the bad...another 3 k game, but still lots of positive vibes with yet another blast.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/interest-rates-wont-get-much-higher-analysts-say-121515711.html for all those convinced the corporate tax cuts were going to help workers significantly...

It’s an emotional argument that resonates, particularly with the older generation that gave Trump 87,000 votes in 3 particular Rust Belt and Heartland states. The Dems don’t have a great counter that doesn’t involve more government spending (when’s the last totally effective goernment-based jobs/training/retraining program that became legislation since FDR or LBJ?), higher taxes or passing on higher costs to consumers. To just continue advocating higher taxes on the Top 1% to subsidize everyone else doesn’t resonate either, because half of America continues to believe those are the job creators and taxing them more heavily will have detrimental effects on the economy and hiring/wage rises. The Earned Income Credit (Clinton) and doing the same with UBI are always going to be more palatable options to the public than what will be perceived to be a giveaway program to lazy Millennials.

So the subsidy should be financed by corporations that said employ workers, the government and/or higher indirect taxes/VAT, etc., on consumers? Or a combination of all three?

If you owned a company that delivered products more efficiently and more cheaply for the same or better quality...using robotics and automation, would you feel responsible for taking care of your displaced human wokers for the remainder of their lives? Or should consumers pay 25-50% more for goods to subsidize those laborers lacking in education or training to adapt to rapidly-changing work environments? Neither solutions seems particularly fair, does it?

The problem is not the offense, by and large. Davidson has a 799 ops. That’s respectable. Thompson has been with the team for just a handful of games. If you want to rip Leury, Engel, go for it...if it makes you feel better. Narvaez was a valuable backup last year. The 2012/13 Cubs were similar. Rizzo instead of Abreu. Nobody as exciting as Moncada. Castro and Soriano were both on the way out. Tim Anderson is fun to watch develop, imo. Avi was an All-Star last year, for example. If they wanted offense, they should never have come up with the idiotic idea of a 410 start time.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/david-whitley/os-sp-finland-universal-income-0424-story.html Finland’s Failed Attempt At Universal Basic Income As Margaret Thatcher said, socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money. In the U.S., a universal basic income would be funded by eliminating the existing social safety nets (unemployment, Medicare, Social Security) and using that money to pay everyone. The figures vary, but $10,000 to $15,000 a year per person is ballpark, more if you have kids. There are practical problems, like whether there would be enough money to cover the plan (doubtful), and how big a border wall would we need once the government start giving money away (I recommend 50 feet with machine gun nests at the top). But the biggest problem is one of principle. A guaranteed government income takes away the incentive to work, and work is more than just an economic factor. It’s a vital part of what makes a society work. It teaches responsibility, self-reliance, industriousness. I realize all that sounds very 1950ish, like Ward Cleaver explaining to Beaver why he should open a lemonade stand if he wants to buy a new BB gun. But those traits are fundamentals for success in life. Instead of encouraging them, modern culture is diminishing their value. It’s more important to find yourself. As Nancy Pelosi said in pitching Obamacare, it would create “an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance.” Yeah, those darned day jobs. Look, I hate getting out of bed at 5 a.m. to report to coal mine as much as the next guy, but there’s something to be said for busting your butt to provide for yourself, your family and future generations. Taking an entry-level job used to be considered getting your foot on the ladder of success. Sure, you were at the bottom, but with hard work you could climb to the top. Now too many people consider it beneath them to work at a convenience store or fast food joint when they should be painting or taking pictures of whippoorwills in the forest. As Finland was discovering, a universal basic income may sound like a great idea. The only thing it guarantees, however, is that it will bring more problems than it’s worth.

I’m not sure what we are arguing here. Tip O’Neill vs. Pelosi? In the end, distaste for Trump is going to drive the Dems as much as any single factor. Moreso than anyone on the right will get worked up over Pelosi and Schumer, since both are essentially powerless at the moment...at least until the day AFTER the first Tuesday in November. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/us/politics/hillary-clinton-campaign-slogans.html We also don’t need to spends tens of millions of dollars sorting through 85 possible campaign themes. A Better Deal hasn’t resonated, either. Unless you’re a relative of FDR or LBJ.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/politics/lesko-wins-but-not-good-gop/index.html Lesko wins by +5, but not good omen for GOP

Luckily, RF won’t be incredibly expensive. If we ger a big league average catcher out of Zavala/Collins, that leaves a lot of money for filling in the pitching puzzle with 2-3 key signings that don’t break the bank...one could/should be an elite closer if we don’t produce one of our own (Burdi?) in the next 18 months. Heck, we can still get Kimbrel, McCutcheon/AJ Pollock/Adam Jones/Leonys Martin and have a lot of money left over to play with. Pollock is the only FA outfielder I would give 3-4 years to, other than Harper, of course.

Position Players: C Alex Avila, C Tyler Flowers, 1B Jose Martinez, 2B Eduardo Escobar, SS Marcus Semien, 3B Todd Frazier, 1B/3B Gordon Beckham, 2B/SS Micah Johnson, OF Austin Jackson, OF Adam Eaton, OF Gorkys Hernandez, OF Alejandro De Aza Pitchers: SP Chris Sale, SP Jeff Samardzija, SP Gio Gonzalez, SP Clayton Richard, SP Jose Quintana, RP Chris Devenski, RP David Robertson, RP Addison Reed, RP Matt Albers, RP Tommy Kahnle, RP Anthony Swarzak, RP Boone Logan, RP Javy Guerra Semien and Escobar have been effective/valuable players. Carlos Sanchez, this year and last. Tyler Flowers counts for something. Tim Anderson. Jose Martinez has been a late bloomer bigtime, originally identified by the Sox. Trayce Thompson has had some nice moments with the Sox and Dodgers. Alexei Ramirez and Abreu, they have to get credit for identifying both guys. Adam Eaton bloomed into a valuable trade chip here. That AZ trade was a steal, in retrospect. Davidson and Delmonico might contribute more than anyone thought a year ago.

If Jimenez and Robert/Basabe aren’t in LF and CF, something went seriously awry...at any rate, we won’t be deciding on the internal outfield situation until the last 2-3 months of next season.