Frayed Knot

Ashie62 wrote: So who is the mystery pole dancer? To be determined. And there certainly will be at least one; these are athletes we're talking about after all.

But [these daily fantasy leagues] certainly [do] resemble gambling in that most of the winning is done by a small handful of essentially professional players who are at liberty to play and bankroll multiple 'games' per day with the idea that one or more will hit. Meanwhile the minnows dipping their toes into the water, or the ones who are conned by the commercials that make it seem like every entrant is a winner, are merely funneling their dough to the sharks which makes both the pros and the ones running the games very happy. From Phil Mushnick's column: PBS’ “NewsHour” last week reported findings that 91 percent of DraftKings and FanDuel MLB pools are won by just 1.3 percent of its players.

The NY Post's Kevin Kernan has been spending the last week or so getting the jump on pre-ST stories. Here he takes a look at Neil Walker

Sliding pits? That one on the right looks like a quick-sand pit.

I think the simple reasoning behind them was less dirt to maintain. btw, whoever that runner on 1st is, I think he's about to get picked off.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: THERE ARE NO WORDS That was Erhardt's sign after the last out of the '69 WS was recorded. So, in the future, I should probably like, read the question before answering, huh?

Yeah, the story on MLB.com mentions only that he was "outrighted" back in September and now is a free agent. It also says that he missed 2015 "with injuries" even though he made 49 appearances in the minors.

Ceetar wrote: Fman99 wrote: So I had to look this "Netflix and Chill" phrase up, because I'm 42 and I don't know what the kids are talking about. But this sounds like one hell of a promo. I am down for whatever. I think just about everyone is caught up now right? Hell, six-billion news organizations joked about it during the blizzard. Raising hand here to signify cluelessness.

Thought he would be part of a deep bullpen crew last year - until he crapped out, Parnell crapped out, and Mejia doped his way out leading us to need to make multiple mid/late season deals. Was a former 1S round draft pick (#49 overall in 2009); looked promising in 2014 but followed that up by looking beyond awful in '15 [a near 6 ERA while allowing 2 baserunners/inning]

So among the trio of Taylor, Madison, and Logan Cain, which one is the brother? My guess is that, if you asked that question to a large enough sample size among those who didn't already have one of the choices eliminated (see above), the answers would turn out to be more or less even.

THERE ARE NO WORDS

But if she knows him via 'Seinfeld' how can she NOT know that he was a baseball player? Does she think that he was an actor around whom they concocted a two-part show where he played someone who used to be a baseball player that the entire cast just happened to love? Not a very Seinfeldian plot for someone who's supposedly attuned to the show.

[youtube:1ixhj6ht]FYD4ppu9eV0[/youtube:1ixhj6ht]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: As the featured player on the winning cover, Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will receive a 1971 Ford Pinto! What's second place, TWO Pintos? Or is it a set of steak knives?

Greg Bird -- Yanx 1B prospect who filled in admirably when Teixeira was shelved for long portions last season [11 HRs in 157 ABs] -- will miss all of 2016 due to surgery to repair a torn shoulder labrum. He was probably destined to at least start the year in AAA while waiting for the inevitable Teixeira or ARod injury, but this certainly steals from the Yanx' depth even if not with their opening day lineup.

Are you kidding? In the '90s I was so out of fashion that when I tried to buy a 'Members Only' jacket they refused to sell me one because I wasn't a member!!

One of the advantages to never actually being in fashion is that there are no leisure suit pictures in my past.

And, Monk, you have two d'Arnauds -- at 14 & 6. I'm assuming 14 is the intentional one but it's not obvious who was meant to be in the other slot.

JCL, your list is Flores-less -- something which I assume is an oversight rather than a snub. FWIW, even the non-scoring back of your list omits Herrera, Recker & Montero, although it's likely that no one in that trio was destined for glory anyway unless it was to challenge Blevins for the final point.

cooby wrote: I would not have expected these two to be the finalists That's what most people would have said about the Mets & Royals too.

Tis the season for prospect ratings, fa la la la la ... MLB.com Matz - 15 Smith - 51 Rosario - 79 Cecchini - 87 and a very similar top 10 to BP's 1 - Corey Seager 2 - Byron Buxton 3 - Lucas Giolito 4 - Julio Urias 5 - JP Crawford 6 - Orlando Arcia (SS - Brewers) 7 - Yoan Moncata 8 - Dansby Swanson 9 - Joey Gallo 10 - Tyler Glasnow (RHP - Pirates)

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: So many disgruntled Metsies have been most disappointed (pre-Cespedes) in the Mets inability/unwillingness to supplement the pitching with major-league-level free-agent talent, ostensibly for budget reasons. Whereas my biggest "alas"es of late have come when I've seen international-prospect-signings flock again and again to other teams from other large markets; Very much so and I'm surprised this hasn't been a bigger target for the boo-birds than it has -- although, as is often the case with int'l talent, sometimes the emerging stars are those who were targets in the bidding wars as 16 y/o athletic lumps of clay (and/or older Cubans who are in a semi-separate category among Latin talent), but almost as often it seems these now highly-touted prospects were just run of the mill signings who happened to blossom. The Yanx, for instance, made a ridiculous dive into the int'l FA kiddie pool a couple of years ago -- smashing by several multiples the then newly imposed spending limits and incurring all kinds of lux-tax penalties and future restrictions in the process -- and the current view on that haul is that they're not getting much bang for their (zillions of) bucks.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: 8) Joey Gallo - 3B, Rangers "Did I say Joey Gallo? I'm Joey Callow!" I heard he's crazy. zCCOQpx5ux4

Baseball Prospectus checks in with their Top 101 Prospect List Steven Matz = 9 Dom Smith = 86 Amed Rosario = 96 1) Corey Seager - SS, Dodgers 2) Byron Buxton - OF, Twins 3) Lucas Giolito - RHP, Nationals 4) J.P. Crawford - SS, Phillies 5) Nomar Mazara - OF, Rangers 6) Julio Urias - LHP, Dodgers 7) Yoan Moncada - 2B, Red Sox 8) Joey Gallo - 3B, Rangers 9) Matz 10) Alex Reyes - RHP, Cardinals

I think they could have done better. [fimg=300:14jfglgo]http://screenshadowsgroup.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/groucho-1-named-imposter.png[/fimg:14jfglgo]