caulfield12

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39802823/robinson-cano-diablos-rojos-beat-yankees-mexico-city

I think we're going to have to change this to LSU or most likely South Carolina after this week (the NBA/women's games). At least KSU lost, Iowa was 1-2 in their last three games against them, but K-State hadn't been to the Big Dance since 2002. Iowa beat Colorado in the same exact spot in the tournament last year, pretty much the same two teams minus two key Iowa players graduating. No luck with MTSU taking down LSU...after being up 9 early in the second half. They just got steamrolled out of the gym. Now it's likely to be UCLA/LSU before the Elite 8. Only issues for LSU are Van Lith getting benched to start the second half and that pending WASH Post story on Mulkey, which will undoubtedly land sometime this week to stir up even more controversy around the women's game, haha.

That's going to cost about 1/2 what the Rays are willing to devote to their new public stadium...$325 million (out of $650 million), give or take. Which would still be the highest contribution by a major League team in the history of stadium building since the early 90s. If JR won't even commit it to a stadium that will directly benefit him and his heirs, he's certainly not going to commit it to a player who would cost almost 5x the Benintendi payout...one that would eventually be going into his 30s.

It's going to be ridiculous to see the White Sox not even consider an extension with Montgomery like the Royals just did with Witt Jr., unless he ends up playing 1B somehow. Schultz on the other hand...

Can't even keep track of it at this point with Gainbridge Nike Xfinity new State Farm Panini/Topps...not only media but this whole new NIL landscape. Ofc NIL works the other way as well, with Kadyn Proctor committing twice to Iowa without ever having practiced a single day with the team.

White Sox ranked by The Athletic as having the 26th best Opening Day lineup The White Sox offense is led by center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who hit 38 home runs last year with 20 stolen bases. They’re hoping that DH Eloy Jiménez can stay healthy and play a full season and that Andrew Vaughn will have a breakout campaign. Their defense up the middle is much better than last year but they sacrificed offense for that improvement. https://theathletic.com/5355688/2024/03/22/mlb-lineup-ranking-braves-dodgers-rangers/?source=freeweeklyemail&campaign=602288&userId=310262 Marlins Nats Rockies A's finish worse. Marlins have Anderson/Burger but lost Soler's 36 homers. Nats will leap up standings with addition of James Wood in May. #21/24/25 Tigers Royals Guardians. Twins #12.

Wait for the hit piece on Mulkey in the Washington Post to land when LSU is about to play UCLA. Fwiw...upcoming Kirsten Dunst-led Civil War movie has Texas and California as the two runaway states...

Great Oregon Creighton game in OT. Now double overtime.

Only an unprecedented deal for Robert can sort of save them...the decade-later equivalent of the Eaton for Gio Lopez Dunning trade. Ofc not only do they need 2-3x as much pitching as other teams due to JR's pocketbook...they pretty much have to replace every single position player and start off with just one close to sure thing in Montgomery.

Oakland NC State is fun..not sure about that last call that sent it into OT though. But Gene Steratore is almost always right.

The only reason would be 1) not being able to sign with a contender or getting no promises on playing time and/or 2) not prioritizing playing with a contender (presumably after a TDL deal) vs. other factors.

I didn't even comment (hardly) when she broke all those records. If anything...she's suffering a bit from overexposure. Somehow have a feeling that the media will continue to push S.Carolina and LSU as the villains...there will be a backlash to that as well.

Most-watched women’s CBB games (2023-’24) Game TV Viewers Ohio State vs Iowa FOX 3.39 million Big Ten Championship CBS 3.021 million Iowa vs Nebraska FOX 1.772 million Iowa at Ohio State NBC 1.857 million Iowa vs Maryland FOX 1.58 million LSU vs South Carolina ESPN 1.56 million Thu, Jan 25 ESPN South Carolina vs. LSU 1.6 million Sun, Feb 11 ESPN UConn vs. South Carolina 1.1 million COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — The ratings are in for Sunday's SEC Tournament Championship between the South Carolina and LSU women's basketball teams... and they are big. Sunday's showdown between the last two national champions delivered an average audience of 1.96 million viewers.

Arguably, those at-bats could/should have gone to Colas, to DeLoach, to Phillips (if they were so determined to keep him on the roster from the beginning). Or Fletcher, obviously. Not going to argue that Sheets should have had MORE opportunities. That's a bridge TOO far. And giving Moustakas all those bats as a "favor" (see Justin Fields/Bears) prevented them from going to Lee, to Popeye, Sosa, etc. If we look at 2017-19, there were numerous players given valuable playing time without any return at all, either via trade or having that playing time actually turn into (at the very least like an Alejandro de Aza) a part-time player to supplement the so-called core super prospects.

MLB in 2024: Win/Loss Predictions for All 30 Teams (newarena.com) 57-105 before the Cease trade...yikes.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/shohei-ohtani-interpreters-firing-menacing-143106861.html On a grander scale, for you, the sports consumer, it might feel like the slippery slope of gambling and sports fandom is giving way. Yet going on six years in this post-PASPA world, the blinking red lights of major league sports’ loving embrace of gambling can’t be ignored. The guardrails can’t make all that disappear – especially when the game’s participants skew younger and grew up in an environment where having action on a game is not only verboten, it’s incessantly encouraged. That doesn’t mean all the action is dirty, or salacious, for the general public or the stars with nine-figure net worths. We’re going on three or four decades where the clubhouse March Madness pool adds a jolt of energy to the spring training slog – and if you want to know the stakes, just add a few zeroes to the $10 you might be playing with this March. But the occasional pool or friendly wager – and sports’ leagues promotion of that via bracket challenges or the acknowledgement of fantasy sports popularity – is one thing. That teams and leagues are signing partnerships with seemingly any online book that asks is quite another.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/robbie-grossman/5254/stats?position=OF Well...you might not want to look at his 2022-23 defensive numbers. Or any defensive numbers throughout his career. Negative across the board except for a 0.7+ anomaly mixed in. Call him Robbie Rex Grossman. Although that's probably insulting the QB. It is what it is. I guess the new mandate is not to lose so many games the team's a butt of jokes the media every single day.

Isn't Pillar out of consideration now?

Is that already corrected for Cease being out? You look at all those lost innings from Lynn Gio Scholtens Kopech Toussaint...almost a total reinvention for this year.

James Madison giving WI fits early.

Iowa State women with the second biggest comeback in NCAA history. Down 20 in the first half to MD...win by 7. Middle Tennessee State overcame an 18 point deficit to take out Louisville...have won over twenty in a row now. LSU in Baton Rouge next up. Down goes Bruce Pearl...Auburn losing to Yale biggest upset on men's side so far today.

Except "unprecedented financial flexibility" last time ended up almost exclusively in the pockets of 30+ veterans.

Giving them time to move all their stuff and get settled wherever they're headed.

Why would an already offensively challenged team ever want Straw?

Great resilience/perseverance by NW. Obviously tough game next but Collins has another big NCAA victory for the Cats.