gehringer_2

right - that sort of has to be the case for the rule to work, but you can ask why that should be true when a ball that hits but bounces off a uni is not a dead ball - in that case the uni is considered completely in play. I suppose you can get to the rule by making the logical distinction that the outside surface of uni is in play and the inside surface is not! 🤔

If you look at what Holmes does in FA, he tries to patch at least enough so his needs don't totally dictate his draft. He tries to keep open the option for taking a player that is really high on his board if he falls to them even if it's not his *number one* need, because he tries not to have a desperate *number one* need by the time FA signings are done. That doesn't mean he's not going to draft for need, just that if there is a BPA head and shoulders above a higher need position, he wants to give himself the option of taking a great talent. That's what signing Borom was - it gave him the option of not taking an OT if it meant passing a player way higher on his board than the best remaining OT. In this case, he didn't need/want to use the option.

good for Tom Tillis

The other question is how long does Ausar's extreme athleticism last? Rodman's did for a long time, but it's never a given that a player won't grow or be injured out that athleticism sooner rather than later, and if there is no corresponding increase in skill level to compensate, you have a declining asset. No choices are risk free.

So he had to fire one of his idiots because he couldn't do something even more idiotic. Perfect symmetry.

I would assume that rule assumes the catcher is out of play when the ball gets stuck in his apparatus? There had to be rule of course, but that doesn't mean I have to think it's a good one. It's a much simpler rule book if the batter is just out if the ball hasn't touched the ground. The problem with that is you know it would get abused and pretty soon guys would show up in the field with big bags of fabric around their arms or the like.

Duren is 22 which is still young for a big - has improved his defensive and offensive stats every season he has played so far. Have we seen peak Duren yet? You can make the same argument for Thompson based on his age with the caveat that Thompson's problem is shooting and the odds of a guy who can't even make a decent % of FT improving his shooting much don't excite me. OTOH, Duren can still become better by becoming a better defender. Which do you want to project?

ask and ye shall receive!

This. We've gone way overboard with a kind of theological reverence that seems to taken even the idea of amendment off the table. The amendment process was a pretty regular thing right up through the middle of the 20th century. Our refusal to keep up with the times legally/consitutionally is big part of our gridlock.

Torkelson's got to be better, the BP needs to be better, Flaherty needs to be better. 2 out of 3 might be enough.

Skubal's average start ends somewhere in the 6th - past that with Tarik is bonus - he's a guy with 1 CG in 139 career starts. The difference is the BP isn't shutting anything down. You won't win anything in today's game without the BP depth to deal with that.

This team has no hope if it can't win Skubal starts. Hinch in the classic dilemma of a manager with a bullpen he doesn't trust. Left his starter in longer than the might have and then had the BP fail to perform when he did bring it in.

Really it all comes down to not making outs. If enough guys don't make outs, or you get an XBH, a run is going to score before 3 outs are made. You can add a lot of complexity getting to the second decimal point effects but the basic logic isn't that complicated - High on base, high XBH up front is what gets you there. And also obvious that if more your productive players get more AB, you get more production, so you start with them.

Have had to listen to this week's game on radio - have to say I'm pretty much completely off Bobby Scales by now.

Yup - The pitcher's uni is not the ground and it's out of play, the batter should be out.

I'm not real big on the 'challenge guys to play better' strategy. Maybe you have a player here or there that needs to change approach, e.g. Raymond shooting more, but in general guys are how they play. You're dreaming if you think they are going to turn into what they haven't been.

WTF

also did not see young Kaline, but to lay out the comparison: McGonigle is 21. Kaline had a monster season at age 20, 8.2 WAR, Batting title, 967 OPS, MVP runner up. but it was not his rookie season, it was his *second* full season. In his rookie yr Kaline had a nice season, was 3rd in ROY voting, but 650 OPS and 1.2 WAR. McGonigle on a pace to top easily if he stays on it.

Piece by Ben Rhodes (Obama admim alum) about Platner in the Times today. FWIW, he does not think Platner is a Nazi candidate - he thinks he's an anti-war, anti-military-industrial complex candidate.

The counterpoint is that having Trump bored and frustrated with the whole thing is more likely to end up with him more or less waking away from it all and Iran getting more of what they want, than giving him more reason to see the conflict in the personal vendetta terms that is more likely to make him more dangerous and instransigent

no denying they know US culture well enough to be good at this and the opposite in not true. But that said, they aren't doing anyone, including themselves, any good with ti.

this most recent poll that has him down ~33% - if it is to be believed, is a solid increment down from the 38-42 where he he seemed to hold in the past. I don't want to give the idea I'm resistent to evidence - I just want to see it!

a little more than 1/2 way to Sparky’s 40 game marker we’ve got a 500 team, and that’s what they are going to be if run prevention doesn’t ratchet up a notch or two.

Remember when our farm system had given us two stars in him and Garcia? Good times….

i couldn’t watch this one, but looks like Kieder recovered after a bad innings and kept them in it. But 7 h 2 bb, for DeJesus to get 4 outs? What does a guy have to do get pulled around here?