Vic Sage

i think management just wanted to save $2.5m, and didn't think the difference between Tejada and Reynolds was worth that amount of money. I"m sure they're right in that assessment, but Reynolds is entirely unproven so, even though i've never been a Tejada fan, this seems to me a weakening of the bench for financial reasons, particularly in light of the injury to Cabrera and Wright's tentative condition. I'm not going to tear my hair out over it (as i do not have much left), but i do think we're marginally weaker today than we were yesterday, just so they can save a few bucks. which is irritating.

"undereducated"... i get it! Hah! good one! ...bite me. Go Wolves!

8 shortstops out of the top 18 prospects. You figure we'll get SOMEBODY to develop at some point.

good recovery!

seawolf17 wrote: I literally don't know how anyone is surprised by this. All my MFY fan friends are like NO NOT PAULIE THE HORROR. Are you a rich white guy? Then you're probably a Trump fan. no, if you're a rich white guy, you're probably a Republican. If you're a POOR white guy, you're a Trump fan.

Lefty Specialist wrote: .265/28/99. Worth it not least because he helps the hitters around him in the lineup. SABRmetricians say "what"?

.270 ba / 25 hr / 95 rbi / 85 r /.800 ops

The Batmobile wins legal recognition as a copyrightable character: http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/batmobile-copyright-appeal/2016/03/07/id/717927/

i'm in

Occam's Razor = Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. What's more likely: a massive conspiracy to target a mediocre relief pitcher, which, if exposed, would lead to lawsuits and a collapse of the MLB drug policy (as well as cost jobs of those implicated), OR that Mejia is (1) stupid, (2) a liar, and/or (3) addicted to steroids (which is a real thing), and thus engaging in the kind of paranoid, self-destructive behavior that addicts typically engage in? I don't know how his allegations could be reasonably credited by ANYBODY.

who is Krauss?

This still leaves open the possibility (likelihood, really) of a bigger suspension for the next guy if there is undisputed evidence of actual physical abuse (unlike this case) and/or charges are filed.

12am-1am, actually. But then TALKING DEAD until 2, yeah.

Yeah, but YELP wasn't a thing back then. Missed marketing opportunity.

If I had an IPOD during my middle-school/high school years (mid '70s era), this would have been the playlist of my adolescence: MEATLOAF, STYX, KANSAS, FOREIGNER, BOSTON, YES, ELP, QUEEN, JETHRO TULL, PINK FLOYD, RENAISSANCE, SUPERTRAMP, THE WHO, BOWIE, P.GABRIEL I also had a country-ish/ folk-ish side, too: DYLAN, AMERICA, JORMA, CSN, CHARLIE DANIELS, CROCE, CCR, JACKSON BROWNE, J.TAYLOR, NILLSON How about a YES/ELP group? YELP. JETHRO FLOYD? MEATSTYX? RENAISSANCE QUEEN? FOREIGN AMERICA? PINK TRAMP? CHARLIE BROWNE? FOREIGN TAYLOR? KANSAS QUEEN? SUPERLOAF? RENTULL? how about "YES!...THE WHO!" or "the WHO?...YES!"

When i heard STYX was doing a post-game Citifield concert, I was mightily tempted, but I don't care what songs they play...Styx without DeYoung is not Styx. These guys need to just sail away. John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: CitiField Klassik Rawk Fantasy Concert Series Kanstyx The Jefferson Speedwagon Cheap Cars "Boston, America" I would sleep out to get tickets for that lineup! Also, The Meat Queen!

***1/2 I often find funny, profane, violent anti-heroes entertaining, and this one, as portrayed by Ryan Renolds, was no exception. And Morena Baccarin is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS a good idea. But all the meta/self-referential/4th-wall stuff is annoying after a while... a little goes a long way. I liked very much the b-list X-Men that were used. That was a perfect Colossus and his teen, goth-girl, explosive sidekick was on the nose. I didn't care much for the villains, or the story arc (ok, but not great), but the action kicked much ass. much, much ass. And, most importantly, this movie proved that you can do an R-rated comic book movie and make money. So watch out folks, Hollywood is about to take it up a notch. Wolverine, no holds barred!

i watched WD afterwards.

Glad to see MAX get 6 Oscars, and REVENANT 3. I didn't see SPOTLIGHT, so i don't have any view on that. Sorry BIG SHORT didn't do more, but it did get a well-deserved award for its screenplay. Happy the woman from EX-MACHINA won best supporting actress, but it was for the wrong movie (DANISH GIRL). Congrats to Leo DiCaprio and composer Ennio Morricone for finally winning theirs. And sorry, Sly... no lifetime achievement award for once again playing the only good character you've ever done over the last 40 years. As for the show itself, Chris Rock was funny as usual, particularly in calling out the subtle "sorority girl racism" of Hollywood, but also going after the protesters, too. "Jada Smith boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rhianna's panties -- i wasn't invited!" And why now, he asked? Over the 88 years of Oscars, there have certainly been many other years without black actor nominees (probably most of them). But, he noted, back in the 50s and 60s, Black people weren't protesting the Oscars; they were too busy protesting things that mattered! "When Grandma is swinging from a tree, you don't worry too much about who wins Best Cinematography!" Still, did every single monologue and film bit throughout the entire show have to be about race? I think the point was made and then the show could've moved on. But, instead, from the opening red carpet/backstage reporters (Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts) to Rock as host, as well as many presenters, and the opening pre-show interviews (Whoopie), and the black Academy President and her speech, the Academy tripped all over itself to be black this year. They even changed the order of the awards. Typically, the first awards are given to the supporting actor/actress categories. This year, they decided to start with the screenplay awards, where the only black-themed movie to get attention (STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON) "happened" to be nominated (voters were left to consider the question of whether it was better to honor a movie about black people written by white people, or to just ignore it entirely -- so they did both, by nominating the white writers but not giving them the award, and ignoring the movie otherwise). The acceptance speeches, too, leaned a little more on the politics than usual (from racism, to sexual abuse, to LGBT, to global warming). The best moments for me in any Oscar telecast are always the completely awkward, cringe-worthy ones: Chris Rock introducing Stacey Dash (the Black actress/FOX News pundit who has called for the end of black history month, the BET network, and attacked the protests over the Oscars) as the "director of our new minority outreach program," resulting in stunned silence as she took her bow. Also, Rock's taped interviews with moviegoers in Compton, who demonstrated many stereotypical behaviors (just short of eating fried chicken and watermelon) and new nothing about many of the big "white" movies that were nominated. Now THAT was a hoot, and made the audience squirm. Also, a taped bit where Angela Bassett did a PSA about Black History month that you think is about Will Smith, but ends up about Jack Black. Black! Get it? My favorite moment was probably Louis CK presenting the best short documentary award. It's his favorite award because, unlike everybody else getting Oscars that night, these folks don't make ANY money, so the Oscar actually means something to them. "This award is going home in a Honda Civic tonight!" Hilarious and true. I was impressed, too, by the unrestrained, over-the-top presentation of Gaga's sexual abuse song, TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU, first introduced by VP Biden, then emoted by Gaga with melodramatic flair as she is silently encircled by rape survivors with messages of hope drawn on the arms with markers (Still, this didn't help it beat Sam Smith for Best Song; even his boring Bond ditty got more votes than Gaga's tune, which had about 10 actual lyrics in it). And another Holocaust move won for best Foreign Film! Emotional manipulation, thy name is Hollywood! Kudos! You just can't find this sort of self-indulgent self-importance anywhere else except an industry of rich, narcissistic white people creating audience-researched movies who gather in glorious frocks and bling (the aggregate cost of which could pay for food for hungry children in any country in the world) once a year to pat themselves on the back and declare what problems of the world they want to solve with their little songs and movies. Even at its worst, this show never disappoints me. Bravo once more!

Define "significant." Significant = at least 3 years as a full-time player (or at least 2000 major league plate appearances, or 500 IP) The closer they are, the more likely the impact, right? No, the closer they are, the more information we have in order to project. But there are guys further down the list whose ceilings are much higher than guys like Reynolds, who is close but looks to be utility fielder at best and is unlikely to have a "significant" career. I'm not asking who will make an impact SOONEST, but who'll make the GREATEST impact. I'm thinking Herrera is a likely contributor for a few years, at least; health allowing, Nimmo and Montero seems like they've got better than a puncher's chance of the same. I would agree, but since guys like Rosario and Dom Smith, and the OF Lindsay, and guys like that, are showing up high on our top prospects lists, so i think we also need to consider the guys who have not already gotten major league ABs or are otherwise right on the cusp.

Based on all the lists i've seen to date, here's a list (by position) of 50 promising young players (under 25) in our system who are not an anticipated to have a significant role on this year's major league roster: C- A.Sanchez, Mazeika, Diehl, Brosher 1b - D.Smith, D.Winningham, Oberste 2b - Herrera, Reynolds, McNeil, SS - Rosario, Cecchini, Carpio, Ramos, Giminez, Guillorme, Guerrero 3b - E.Garcia, Urena, Thompson, K.Hernandez OF - Nimmo, Lindsay, Beccera, R.Ramirez, Kacmarski,J.Mora,V.Cruzado,R.Cespedes P - Montero, Morris, Molina, Gsellman, Ynoa, Flexen, Wotell(L), Bowman, Mateo, H.Gonzalez, Oswalt, Aceto, Gibbons, Szapucki(L), Crismatt, J.Simon(L), L.Taylor, Medina, Badamo Did i miss any? Who among these players are likely to have a significant major league career, if any?

De Aza is clearly better than the 5th OFers on most teams, but we're paying more for that role than we should, or need to, considering budget concerns. That's the only reason trade talks are rumored. Also, we'll be using Flores as our backup 1bman, so an OFer with some experience at 1b wouldn't hurt either. My main concern with DeAza is that, when he signed, he thought he would be the long end of a CF platoon, but now he's looking at 150 ABs or so as a PHer/5th OFer, so he may turn sour on us. Its better to have a guy who has signed on for that role rather than having it foisted on him.

i did like SKYFALL, but this was a turd. Not as big a turd as some others in the history of bond films, and made watchable by Mr. Craig's great version of Bond, but certainly the weakest of the current crop. For a complete ranking: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18842&p=493400&hilit=bond#p493400

Top 20 newspaper movies: The Front Page (31, 74) It Happened One Night (34) His Girl Friday (40) Citizen Kane (41) Meet John Doe (41) Woman of the Year (42) Call Northside 777 (48) Ace in the Hole (51) Sweet Smell of Success (57) All the President's Men (76) Superman (78) Absence of Malice (81) Year of Living Dangerously (82) Killing Fields (83) The Paper (94) LA Confidential (97) Zodiac (07) Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (09) Spotlight (15)

Picking away at the story's logic (or lack thereof) misses the point, i think, insofar as it begs the underlying question: why tell the same story again at all (logical or not)? Many here are fine with the fact that they did so, some of us are not. And that's fine. What i find unconvincing, however, is the position that "no, they didn't tell the same story, there are just some similarities due to the nature of the universe they're in"... on which i call bullshit. It was just Disney's conservative, market-tested decision making that lead to this missed opportunity. Hopefully, the next 2 films will actually move things forward.