caulfield12

Yet, except for that stretch there where we got absolutely killed for 5 or so games there, by and large, we've been pretty competitive in most of our games. Then you have the 3 blown leads against DET, OAK and then the Soria debacle the first game against StL.

Some Icy-Hot rubbed on it...good to go. Unfortunately, that's about the extent of the treatment Sandy Koufax had available to him back then.

It has taken unique candidates like Dean, Obama, Sanders and Warren to get by with lots of smaller individual donations...not sure how easily that success can be replicated.

Assuming he needs surgery and has it done in late August/early September https://www.overthemonster.com/2012/8/22/3260015/when-carl-crawford-should-return-from-tommy-john It takes less time for position players to recover from Tommy John surgery than it does pitchers, but, as Crawford is an outfielder, his recovery time might be somewhere in the middle. Infielders don't need to attempt to throw to home plate from 250-plus feet out, so they are able to come back at something close to recovered more quickly than someone like Crawford will be able to. That being said, Boston shouldn't have to wait long for him to return to games. Following surgery, light throwing and hitting can often be initiated at approximately four months, which translates to December for Crawford. By spring training, he should be able to hit against live pitching if all is progressing well. And while a general recovery time frame of eight to nine months puts the calendar at April-May, it may take some additional time for Crawford to comfortably throw from the field to home plate. ESPN's injury expert, clinician Stephania Bell, has the details: Bell goes on to say that this doesn't mean Crawford will need to miss additional time in order to be fully prepared to throw hard from left (or RF, in the case of Adolfo.) His bat should be fine in time for the spring, and he'll be on the same schedule as the rest of the club in terms of his offense. Defensively, though, it could take a few months even past his return to be at full strength. It's likely that Crawford will be in somewhat the same situation he was in 2012, where he will be forced to hit the cutoff man for everything, at least until his elbow heals entirely. Teammate Mike Aviles knows how that goes, as he underwent Tommy John surgery back when he was a Kansas City Royal: Aviles hit .304/.335/.413 in 2010, the season following the surgery, so his offense didn't suffer despite his elbow taking time to fully heal in regards to throws. Aviles also mentions an important point: recovery time is different depending on who the surgery is performed on. Aviles was ready to work out and play again earlier than many, and even if Crawford isn't, he'll still be able to get to work on his offense as early as December, months before he's needed down in Fort Myers.

The other plus is that Rutherford's stock seems to be rising again...and that would be a huge plus if sticking with that original scouting position on his vast potential as a LH hitter pans out. At least it argues we're not totally inept with high school hitters since the Thompson/Hawkins/Barnum/Trey M. picks.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is upbeat about President Trump’s trade agenda. But he’s not promising a free lunch. “If you don’t show you’re willing to absorb a little bit of pain, how on earth are you going to get things changed?” he said at the Milken Institute’s annual finance-fest in Los Angeles, before heading to China for trade negotiations. In a conversation with Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer, Ross jabbed the New York Times, rhapsodized about space, and predicted Trump’s threats on trade would ultimately produce success. Trade worries is one big thing holding back financial markets in an otherwise robust economy, with investors worried that tit-for-tat tariffs will blow up into an outright trade war. Ross downplays those risks, pointing to tariffs on Korean-made washing machines the Trump administration imposed earlier this year. “There was a bit woe-is-me,” Ross said. “Well, guess what. Both Samsung and LG are increasing their production of washing machines in the United States.” The Commerce Secretary provided an update on negotiations with Canada and Mexico about revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement, a huge trade pact that undergirds much of the US economy. “Either we’ll have a deal in the next few weeks or it probably won’t be until the fall,” Ross said, pointing out that upcoming elections in Canada and Mexico this summer would probably require a pause if there’s not a deal. By the same logic, Ross’s fall deadline might be unrealistic, given that the US midterm elections are in November. The New York Times recently ran a story saying the Chinese plan to rebuff key US demands on trade. Ross was droll when asked about that. “Apparently the New York Times has developed psychic powers,” he said, as titters filled the ballroom where he spoke. Ross ripped the World Trade Organization, which is supposed to manage disputes between member countries, which include both China and the United States. “The WTO is an obsolete set of rules,” Ross said. “It’s been more or less created to benefit exporting countries [such as China], to the detriment of importing countries [such as the United States].” That mimics Trump’s frequent claims that the United States is a victim taken advantage of by smarter countries in various trade deals. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trump-adviser-americans-need-absorb-little-bit-pain-185727558.html

Braves were off in the timing for opening their new stadium and actually having an exciting young team on the field, but it wasn't as far off as most had previously speculated...of course, the now-deposed GM is quickly forgotten!

It would take 8-10 starts IN A ROW like this for Shields to have legit trade value. What are the odds of that happening?

Flavum, quite the "out on a limb" prediction when you picked the midpoint...+13, splitting the difference in two, haha. In all seriousness, some of those numbers depend on what happens to Nate Jones, Kopech, Eloy Jimenez. Hard to get a feeling at this point when/if they'll bring up those guys this year (if it's to happen before September).

Blake Rutherford, OF, White Sox (A+): The Yankees stole Rutherford after he dropped in the 2016 draft and sent him to Chicago last season in the Tommy Kahnle-David Robertson trade. While Rutherford still hasn’t come into his power, scouts adore his left-handed swing and see him as the player the Phillies had hoped (Mickey) Moniak might be. Dane Dunning, SP, White Sox (AA): Dunning is following the same pattern as last season. Destroy a level for four starts, get a promotion to an age-appropriate level and continue working toward the major leagues. The 23-year-old doesn’t have the upside of Michael Kopech or Alec Hansen, but he projects as a back-of-the-rotation type who can rack up strikeouts. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/prospect-heat-check-mlb-ready-19-year-old-hitting-prodigy-203150051.html

Would be shocked if they selected a high school player here...

Hopefully he can at LEAST speak Spanish. You don't necessarily need an MBA and JD degree like Hahn or Quin Snyder, but it sure doesn't hurt to have one or the other...if you're not studying sports management/administration specifically. Then, your chances go down appreciably if you weren't at least a Division 1-caliber athlete in baseball/basketball/football. That means you need to work 2X-3X as hard for 25-50% as much money starting out and trying to break into the field. Doing crazy things like volunteering to go work in the Dominican Summer League or especially Venezuela (winter ball/year-round training academy) these days.

https://www.inverse.com/article/44383-avengers-infinity-war-thanos-ethics-philosophy Tons of Avengers Infinity War fans think Thanos (utilitarianism combined with lottery selected genocide) might actually be right

Greg, no GM would ever say that publicly...even if he THOUGHT it. What closer would you have acquired this offseason? Even if you spent the money the Dodgers spent to retain Kenley Jansen, it's not like he's been completely reliable (for one of the ELITE closers) the first month or so of the season. Then we'd all be complaining about spending $15-20 million per season on a meaningless closer to bump up our overall record from 58 wins to 64-66 wins. And we'd be giving up 6-8 spots in the first round of the draft to do so, not to mention losing draft picks for signing a premium free agent.

Why didn't you get a Master's degree in Sports Administration and prove yourself in the minor or independent leagues first? At least you would have some basis to be considered. Any armchair QB with a rotisserie league team probably fantasizes about being the next Billy Beane or DePodesta, but you have to have a background in analytics/quantitative analysis and strong business, marketing and communication skills as well to succeed in this role.

Which means they're unlikely to opt for off-season surgery...because that would knock him out of the entire 2019 season, right? Unless they just want to let him DH the next two years (on an everyday basis) and work on his hit tool, knowing he will always be limited defensively and that the elbow strength will be their eventually with so much time to rehab it naturally?

Okay, let's say we were lucky enough with our crystal ball to have Moustakas at 3rd and Granderson in CF. Then, you'd have to be even luckier going out into this FA market and buying or acquiring a "really solid/second tier" closer. That still would leave us in that dreaded 72-86 win range, although the Twins sucking and the Indians not running away with the division would lend one to believe it was at least theoretically possible to be competitive this season. So it comes down to the "damage" done to the young players of consistently/predictably losing games like this...versus the upside of a 1st round pick in the #2-4 range instead of 8-12 for our scouting department. Would Moncada be a better player in the future if he walked home with the game-winning RBI's tonight...those things are so difficult to measure. With so much uncertainty in our starting rotation, though, it's hard to imagine even those THREE additions (costing $20-25 million, maybe $30 million) would be worth it THIS YEAR in the overall scheme of things.

Might as well make Nate Jones the closer and up his value. Soria might as well go back to 6th/7th inning or DFA'ed at some point, probably later rather than sooner with his contract to eat. Make Rondon the 8th inning guy and say three Hail Mary's and three Our Father's. Hopefully they can deal Avilan as well.

The worst part is Carpenter has been terrible this season...it's not like MVP-form Carpenter just went yard.

Now you just jinxed him to strike out in extra innings...

Of course. Burdi, where are you?

Guess Moncada didn't take to well to having his 3 for 3 game taken away from him... And, that White Sox bullpen rears its ugly head yet again. Well, it's nothing, if not predictable.

Clinton could at least be respected due to his intellectual heft (Rhodes Scholar) and experience (youngest governor in history) not to mention his personal backstory of overcoming obstacles. He was the best orator of his generation, better even than Obama at connecting to anyone in a room, regardless of their educational background, and making them feel he was speaking to you personally (Obama was always a bit reserved/aloof/different/other in that regard.) It was far easier to imagine yourself hanging out and drinking a beer with Clinton/George W. Bush than Obama, lol. His (Clinton's) foibles with women will obviously be connected to his legacy, but that period of economic explosion (dawn of the internet age) and the end of the Cold War/Peace Dividend years will always be looked on positively...except for those labor unions and progressives who felt that the Dem's triangulated too far to the center (especially on trade policy) and became "Republican Lite" out of desperation (Carter the only Dem president in a long string of Republicans). Especially on issues like the death penalty, welfare and prison reform, drug crimes, the positions of the two mainstream parties became almost indistinguishable. Of course, the obvious point is that Wal-Mart's/globalization's rise under Clinton's supervision was just as logical for a native Arkansan than the Republicans benefiting from Koch Industries largess for their energy and tax policies. Two sides of the same coin. A lot of the financial regulations/restrictions that were loosed in the 1980's and 1990's led directly to stock market bubbles (tech crash) and eventually 2008. Not to mention 9/11 and the fact that Clinton Admin has to be held at least partially responsible, despite no longer being in office. At that time, about the only areas you could distinguish the two parties politically on were on social issues...and the environment (especially Gore).

Obama made everyone think racism was dead and buried. The normalization of Trump makes many of us believe it simply will never be overcome in America. Pretty crazy swing in 8 years.

No way they sent Cease out for another inning...zero need to push him right now.