caulfield12

Rubenstein has said that he was once offered the opportunity to meet Mark Zuckerberg (and invest in Facebook) before he dropped out of Harvard but decided against it, and this is his single greatest investment regret.[15] Rubenstein also said that he turned down a 20% stake in Amazon during the very early years of the company. He told Amazon founder Jeff Bezos that if he got lucky and everything worked out he would at most be worth $300 million.[16] In 2018, he formed Declaration Capital, a family office focused on venture, growth, real estate, and family-owned businesses.[17][18] Mobile home parks controversy Rubenstein was publicly criticized for the work of The Carlyle Group of which he is the chairman, which owns a number of mobile home parks and has been pushing poor people out of their mobile homes by hiking up the rental price.[19] In an episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver pointed out that manufactured homes are not easy or cheap to relocate, and so poor residents on fixed incomes face eviction and homelessness as rent increases threaten to price them out of their mobile home parks.[20] wikipedia Billionaire David Rubenstein’s philanthropic efforts trash the Founding Fathers, even though his own business has made a fortune from deals that have profited off the less fortunate. Since 2013, Rubenstein, 72, who co-founded the private equity giant the Carlyle Group, has given millions to entities that repair and upgrade historical monuments and landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument as well as Monticello and Montpelier, the homes of US presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. But some say the restoration at the presidential homes has recast the presidents as sinister racists while downplaying their accomplishments. Recent visitors to Monticello and Montpelier have flooded Trip Advisor with complaints about how the former presidents have been virtually reduced to villainous slaveholders in lectures by the tour guides while books on anti-racism and critical race theory by Ibram X. Kendi and Ta-Nehisi Coates dominate the gift shops. Remarked Dan A. after his visit to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: “Do your history homework before going, so you can appreciate this great American… the woke tour guide will leave you feeling like he started the Ku Klux Klan.” “They have demonized the founding fathers now,” wrote another recent visitor to Monticello. “Same thing with Madison’s home. I would stay away from places like this. It’s not worth the propaganda.” https://nypost.com/2022/07/30/woke-billionaire-who-trashed-the-founding-fathers-profited-off-eskimos-oil/ Somewhere I can see Balta enjoying this guy. But a quick dive into Rubenstein’s backstory shows he’s not so pure himself. He made his initial fortune in the 1980s by exploiting a tax loophole in Alaska allowing him to profit from deals made with Natives — and the Rubenstein family has been expanding their influence in the 49th state ever since. In 2014, Rubenstein’s then-wife helped elect a governor in Alaska who in turn opened up the state’s $80 billion Permanent Fund, a fraction of which is managed by the Carlyle Group, to special interests. Rubenstein’s daughter was appointed to the board of that fund last month. “Here’s a guy who has taken advantage of other people to climb to the top while he expects perfection from the Founding Fathers,” Dan f**an, a talk show host and journalist who covered Alaska for 25 years, told The Post. “Because of the Rubenstein family and how [his ex-wife] influenced the change in the state’s sovereign fund, the average Alaskan family has lost tens of thousands of dollars.” Balta maybe NOT SO MUCH enjoying this part of the backstory. https://nypost.com/2022/07/30/woke-billionaire-who-trashed-the-founding-fathers-profited-off-eskimos-oil/

Rod Allen with Detroit before the booth brawl with Mario Impemba.

https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/38833715/2023-24-mlb-offseason-grades-free-agency-trade-analysis Twins get the much higher grade

Just need visionary private equity like in LA, lol...this is truly a situation where it's hard to imagine WORSE than the next 2-3 years are looking to disenchanted fans quite wary of JR/Hahn promises and PR/salesmanship.

Unless it's down to Adell OR Sheets...remember the premium Getz has set on defense, and trying to make Cease look as good as possible if they end up holding him into the regular season.

Aren't the Royals still outspending the other 4 Central teams aggregated together this offseason?

They were just referring to tv...play by play and analyst roles.

Came across this interesting factoid looking up what LaTroy Hawkins was doing now in terms of broadcasting/guest appearances... "Hawkins is the godfather of his Minnesota Twins teammate Pat Mahomes' son, Patrick II who is a quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.[103] Another godson of Hawkins's, Elijah Johnson, played college basketball for the University of Kansas Jayhawks.[64]

"Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black television play-by-play announcer (currently) in MLB, joining Seattle’s Dave Sims." source: wikipedia

2019 and 21 were clearly his peak.

They already had Suarez and Teoscar and let them go. Why would the Twins want to keep paying Polanco when they already have Julien, Brooks Lee, Lewis and Correa from second to third? They basically get DeSclafini free and healthier than any season since 2021 and a Top 70-80 prospect thrown into the bargain, plus another future Joe Ryan for all we know if everything goes well on the scouting/eval side. And Polanco's showing a lot of wear and tear and exhibiting increasing injury issues over the last season or two. Worth only 3.3 combined fWAR the last two seasons...negative defensive values even at second for three consecutive years. Usually thirty is the beginning of the steady decline these days...it has already started with him.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/yahoo-sports-am-caitlin-clark-is-in-a-league-of-her-own-125820434.html

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1770173/espn-david-schoenfield-seattle-mariners-failing-to-capitalize-on-their-best-window/ This was from December…but fans still must be perplexed about what the heck the Mariners are doing. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/twins-land-two-top-30-prospects-mariners-trade-for-jorge-polanco/

Eddie Rosario and David Peralta (left-handed veteran bats), Jesse Winker, Jurickson Profar, Michael A. Taylor, Kevin Pillar, Kyle Lewis, Tommy Pham.

As a roster-building strategy, the Mariners have always targeted the cost-controlled contracts that come with young players like Woo and Miller. Those kinds of contracts — and the flexibility they afford the rest of the payroll — will take on a larger priority for the Mariners now. Which is why president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto hinted Tuesday that he’s unlikely to trade Woo or Miller in the Mariners’ ongoing pursuit of offensive upgrades — even as other teams are “constantly” inquiring about the Mariners’ young pitching depth. “It’s the appeal of the young guy … who has proven the ability to both compete at the major-league level and help neutralize the growing payrolls around the league,” Dipoto said at the MLB winter meetings. “That’s appealing. It’s hard to get to. And there’s a reason why we get so many phone calls, and there’s a reason why we love the guys the way we do. They’re good and they’ve performed since the day they stepped on a major-league field.” https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/analysis-why-mariners-are-unlikely-to-trade-away-bryan-woo-or-bryce-miller/#:~:text=That makes them a coveted,with uncertainty surrounding its finances. https://redbirdrants.com/posts/examining-bryan-woo-and-bryce-miller-as-trade-targets-for-the-cardinals-01hbxyp2apvq Argues for a trade of Gorman, Nootbaar and/or Donovan (not Walker) for Bryan Woo

Trading for Woo or Miller as the main piece for Cease doesn’t make any sense after trading Burger for pitching and leaving massive positional holes all over the roster… Just another signal the Sox never plan to pay for FA pitching again in the future. 6 years of control for a middle of the rotation starter simply isn’t worth it…if you think back to the Eaton trade, that was for two guys who had the tools to be #1/2 starters with Dunning more of a 3/4 or 4/5.

This is exactly what the Orioles hope to start doing with Hays Mullins Santander Mountcastle Mateo and Urias...turning vets into cost controlled prospects and reallocating the cost savings to other roster needs.

This is a shocker...glad he's your favorite NASCAR driver.

Presumably Julien takes over full time for MN. Mariners this offseason are almost impossible to figure out. Gonzalez is the long term value obviously, but Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Topa in the pen will play big roles for the Twins in 2024. Basically netting a top 100 prospect and major league pitching help (although not elite) for the present...and now can use the cost savings elsewhere. Brooks Lee (top 15 MiLB) isn't that far off from forming an impressive infield with Correa Lewis and Julien. Of course, I'm guessing most Twins' fans aren't exactly enamored with DeSclafini ...

Yeah...they're definitely not going to spend significant money on pitching from now until next off-season...it should be almost 100% directed at position players. Winnowing down the field of contenders and pretenders.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mariners-twins-trade-for-jorge-polanco https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/mariners-land-former-all-star-infielder-jorge-polanco-in-trade-with-twins/ If the Twins don't make any more moves they will begin the 2024 season with a starting rotation featuring Pablo Lopez, Chris Paddack, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Louie Varland. The first four names are locks, while it appears Varland will enter spring training with an opportunity to win the fifth spot along with DeSclafini. Twins general manager Thad Levine was a guest on Sirius XM MLB Radio over the weekend and suggested that Varland will compete for the job and that the Twins are still scouring free agency and the trade market for starting pitching depth because the losses of Kenta Maeda, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle "leaves a little bit of a hole in our starting rotation."

Having seas of parking lots, it's quite reminiscent of Kauffman and Arrowhead together right off two interstates. Great for tailgating, but terrible from an "entertainment" standpoint of having any other activities, bars/pubs/restaurants, shopping and office complexes, parks, etc. Just miles of concrete/asphalt. Not exactly visually or aesthetically appealing in any sense.

Except Robert won't be around for more than another year...or could even go at the deadline. Most likely next offseason.

Well, Kopech's value has never been lower...still retains some residual name value and the #21 fastball which wasn't all that effective last year. In the end the heavy lifting will always come down to FA...and they simply can't follow the same approach of avoiding every single $100+ million contract. Maybe the Orioles can get away with it, but even the Royals added Zobrist Cueto Shields etc., and the Cubs Jon Lester most famously. At any rate Toronto has to keep Varsho (came up as Vasshole lol) insurance for Kiermaier at the very least.

All things considered...the Brewers don't ever go on that extended run without Braun Yelich and lots of pitching. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/christian-yelich/11477/stats?position=OF Only 8.5 fWAR for the last four years. Even if you valued that production at let's say $70-75 million adjusting for 2020...you've got the totality of $215 million likely falling off the last four remaining years. The problem is who in the world doesn't try to keep their own player at that age coming off two consecutive 7+ fWAR years, an MVP award, etc.??? The Rays...arguably.