gehringer_2

yup - but that doesn't mean you don't make sure that you reach the people that are reachable. One of the postmortems of Hillary's loss was that they there were too willing to concede too many votes they could have won but decided weren't worth the effort to pursue. You really only know that was effective in retrospect.

I'm not knowledgable enough to be able to break down the details, but it just seems teams have adjusted to the game wings like to play and the wings haven't been able to compensate. Coaching or talent? Probably both. My general impressions is that wings almost play a too strictly position oriented game. Maybe it's players without the recognition to be able to switch roles moment by moment with need or maybe Lalonde doesn't want them to, but I think that is part of why Larkin is so much the centerpiece, because that his game.

yeah - I don't get the 'trim the sails' advice. Play hardball and go for the jugular all the way. Today's elections are not Marquis of Queensberry affairs, esp going against Trump. Good Lord, when you have the massive advantage in facts and truth why would not hammer every point as hard as it can be hammered?

Even in the playoff years the number 5 and often number 4 starters were sort band aid and chewing gum guys. Pitchers you just hoped could avoid taxing the BP in the loss while you won a lopsided percentage of Verlander and Scherzer starts. The *apparent* starting depth for this team is pretty extraordinary - maybe we are too close to it to appreciate it. And of course injury could disappear it all in short order, which given recent history is probably what keeps us all from reaching any irrational exuberance.

This is probably true.

Would there be tax liability? If someone pays your bond is that a gift? A loan with an imputed value? Beats me but inquiring minds want to know.

One would hope that is pretty obvious. One's hopes might well be dashed. /..sigh.../

One can never leave the owner out of all consideration when it comes to a sports team - just sayin' Consider a conversation like this between CI and SH: CI: so how are you going to decide on the rotation. They all look so close SH: they are, it's a tough call. But either way they will likely all pitch for us this season CI: If their performance is a wash, I think it would be good for the franchise to be able to spotlight the news of Casey's recovery SH: ?????? Is he gonna say no?

reverse hex?

So I think you can break it down along these lines - but they are all a reach: Mize: might not be ready i.e. walk rate Manning: tended to be inconsistent last season, when he was off he was very off. Needs to go prove he's going to lay fewer eggs Olson: If he is sent down I think it will mostly just be that the org thinks the other two have the higher ceiling. On the other side: Mize is the golden child. Again we don't know if that means anything to this org or not and they may still believe in his ceiling. Manning: the hardest to hit when he is pitching well Olson: Highest floor?

True, but somebody has to go, what ever reason is looking like it will be a flimsy one. It’s all provisional anyway, someone is going to blow an elbow. Not a matter of if, only when.

A little break for officers that get busted... 😱 j/k

In Mize's favor is his velo, which I don't think has been seen consistently this good since his college days. My guess is Olson goes down - in part because he doesn't have the modern MLB starter frame and they may doubt he would hold up a whole season starting from April. I've read various reports that he has added upwards of 25lbs to his still listed 160lbs roster weight, but even 185 makes him a relative squib to hold up throwing 95. Maeda is that size but he's a junk baller so it doesn't really count....

of course the guys from 'Nam are in their 70's now. At that age you've pretty much either gotten off the street or it's killed you.

Of course, let's not forget the Panhandler in Chief:

Aside from the issue with Williams, other than an occasional surprise look, you just should not be able to press any NBA team without getting toasted. Just another indication of how far away they are.

The guy who you might be able to pick a nit with is Mize. So far he has 7BB/10K in 10.2 IP, wth 2BB in 4IP in his last outing - if he gets the walks down the rest of the way I don't see what there will be to choose between him, Manning and Olson. But if he keeps walking guys that would give them some reason to send him to Toledo to work on his command. I suppose from a PR or maybe 'sentimental' stand point Mize may be the guy the org least wants to send down, but then again, I don't have any idea how, if at all, that kind of thing plays to Harris, and the pressure is on this year to win out of the gate.

This popular trope goes back at least to 19th century London. A C Doyle wrote a Sherlock Holmes episode about Holmes being asked to investigate the disappearance of a middle class clerk (with a talent for disguise) who it turned out was living a double life, making a fine living panhandling as 'The Man with the Twisted Lip" Since the world is a big place, it's one of those things that is almost certainty true when reported as a singular anecdote, but that tells you nothing useful about your actual likelihood of meeting a panhandler running a con versus a destitute person.

I went to HS in downtown Detroit and the bus stop was a walk across Cass Park. There were always a few down and outers there, and you knew anything you gave them was only going to drink, or worse, but sometimes those guys were so sad, knowing that didn't matter. OTOH, I find myself unmoved by energetic folk at the freeway ramp with the 'will work' sign and the day's kit piled neatly at the base of the nearby light pole when there is at least one help wanted sign in a window within a 100 yards of where they are standing.

If the situation arises (which we hope will not), I'll be sure to write your epitaph in less than 160 characters.... 😉

Find a family service charity working the local problem, make one significant contribution and then stop feeling guilty about ignoring panhandling where in any American city, the actual disposition of anything offered is almost always a crapshoot.

Just happened recently.

LOL - Kenesiology was a known thing even when I was an undergrad - which may have been around that same time!

It tough for a hockey team. You're playing pretty much your whole roster so it's not like you can bench a bunch of guys for other guys currently sitting - maybe one forward and one d-man. That's not going to get anyone's attention. So what's left it to call up new guys, and the wing's best prospects are mostly still just a little bit too far away - other than maybe Edvinsson and they have some kind of idee fixe about keeping him in GR all this season.

He's probably always going to give up more than average numbers of HRs, but if can keep his K/BB ratio high that won't hurt him too much. We had another young guy like that once (high HR, high k/BB) and he ended up doing OK.