Tiger337

There is no clear cut winner in the NL. You can make a case for Snell based on ERA, strikeouts and home run prevention. You can also make a case for Strider and a couple of others.

I don't remember that. I thought they were regarded as a franchise that had some talent but spent money haphazardly.

Sure, just blindly looking at WAR, is not recommended. If you take dwar out of it and just compare his offense to other first basemen, he's a below average hitter at the position. You can bump him up to average taking his durability into account which is really what WAR is doing by using "above replacement" as the base instead of average. In that respect, WAR helps him rather than hurts him. Then you have to decide whether his defense hurts or helps his value, again compared to other first basemen which is the lowest bar for defense. Finally, you have to consider the value of a first baseman compared to other positions. I think you have to say that the ability to play more of a skill position would increase a player's value. How much of a difference? You could choose your own positional value if you don't like the one Tango and others suggest.

Extroverts get all the awards in life.

As I've said before, the media is going to do what it can to legitimize Trump leading up to the election. They need him.

No, it's not a big deal, just an opportunity for me to complain about how media evaluates players.

I've got mine too. Thanks!

When are Biden and Trump going to get into it? Let's find out who the real men are. Start at the top.

yup.

I think Rodriguez was the most valuable player on the team over the course of the season. I don't think Torkelson was close. I'm not diappointed with him. He made good progress over the course of the season, but his overall season was not the best on the team.

If the middle of the line-up 1B has a 140 OPS+ then it doesn't matter so much. 105 is not enough for a one dimensional hitter.

I was going to say that, but I didn't want to start a WAR sucks discussion.

For position players, I'd probably go with Kerry Carpenter. I don't know if pitchers were eligible, but there were a few pitchers who wre more deserving. Tork played 159 games and had some good traditional counting stats which is probably why they pickrd him.

You need some new friends. 😀 Most people I know are either softcore MAGA, socialists or don't give a **** about politics.

If you want a binary answer - either expecting the inevitable civil war or blissfully thinking everything is just fine - then you will be disappointed.

This is very true.

No. I didn't say that at all. I just don't think things will happen quickly. I don't expect a civil war as long as the economy is reasonably good. Most people just want to live their lives. I understand the angst that people have. Trump is the first president in my life who I have viewed as an enemy and I don't want to give him any chances to do damage. I just don't think things would happen as fast and as easily as you guys fear.

The climate change crowd tells me we're all doomed anyway. So, maybe there is no hope. Give the dinosaurs another shot! And I am not talking about MAGA when I say dinosaurs. 😃

I never had any doubts that Trump was trash. I knew it the first time I heard him talk over 40 years ago. He represents everything that sucks about people.

Torkelson's progress as a power hitter this year was encouraging, but he was still a weak fielding first baseman with a 105 OPS+. Definitely not a player of the year or even one who should have been a candidate.

I can see over the coming decades the country is going to weaken if people continue to reject science, education, logic and any motivation to find the truth. And another four years of Trump is not going to help! My point is that we aren't going to go into an irreversible authoritarian dictatorship in four years, nor is a Biden victory going to fix anything. It would just prolong the malaise and the impending sense of doom. Americans are a shallow, unserious bunch. Maybe we need some dark times to make us smarter. I don't know.

That was me not too long ago. My life was better then! The thing is they really don't have much effect on a lot of people's lives. They do affect some people though and some day that could be me or you.

That is true. The funny thing though is its often poor people who identify most strongly with the party.

Good news on inflation this morning. It was down more than expected in October. Inflation getting under control and people noticing it is going to be key in the next election. The problem is that we ALWAYS have inflaton every year. Even if the numbers show a significant slowing of inflation over the next year, it will be difficult to persuade people that things are getting better because it is not going to be 0 inflation. It's a lot easier to persuade people that inflation is a problem than it's not a problem.

I run into the same kind of thing with some friends. They have this undying faith in the Republican party and are always talking about how terrible the democrats are even though they are not necessaily that conservative. Some don't even like Trump, but they just seem conditioned to identify as Republican. I don't think you can persuade people politically, at least not directly, because it's like a religion with some people. You just have to hope they can eventually figure it out on their own.