duan

Joe Girardi always struck me as a jerk. I don't want any part of him.

I just think there's way too many things where I go "he went with his gut and his gut was wrong" that I don't think his in game decision making is great. I don't think he's a substantial contributor to the positive mental attitude that a number of the team exude - though I could be wrong about that - I think that's mainly created by the players. It's hard to know if you can blame him at all for the Familia/Diaz cluster fuck, but you certainly can't say he was great for them, and none of the pitchers took a leap forward through his leadership. I also don't think I'd give him much credit for the O'Neil/Alonso break outs... And fucking finally there's the Vargas thing. Honestly that was so bad.

I really think you have to look at Calloway in this game. Lifting Wheeler is one thing, but to my mind the bigger sin was Panik. I can not for the life of me think that he was the best option. After the sweep I thought we'd still need to go 12-4 to get to the playoffs. since then we've gone 1-3 - so if we go 11-1 we'll still get there .... and they *can* but they won't.

Ah enjoy Belgium, it's a much under-rated spot, one of best friends lives in Brussels and we have had some great fun there over the years. Haven't gone to Bruges but by all accounts it's great fun too. In other news the 2019 SHAMS ROCK> > > >

I think Rajai too. Though I'm very sad about Dilson not getting a look-in to replace Cano. I know Panik's a nice story what the local background and all, but Dilson's ONLY 25 and could genuinely contribute going forward.

I know this probably got mentioned before but I somehow stumbled upon the fact that our one time AAA affiliate in New Orleans got renamed the "New Orleans Baby Cakes" What The Fuck??

Matz never fills me with anything but concerns.

Anthony DiComo is saying “pitching prospects” - if they can actually get Stroman for Anthony Kay + more they should do that in a heart beat

I've always liked Stroman so in theory I'm all up for acquiring him - WTF the context is will obviously shape what one actually thinks of the deal though.

As I was getting up at 7.30am ish, I went to look at last nights score - only to see the game was still on and the Mets were winning! turned MLBTV on to see the pitcher strike out and Rosario get on base and get caught stealing. Went into shower. Go out to shave to see it was 2-2 and we had a five man infield. Ugh.

I voted Wheeler - but I now think HahnSolo is making a very good point.

I tried to embed that a bunch of different ways.

Honestly, I think people giving out about this are insane. From the 7line perspective.... The GM of the team 'takes a seat with them' and they treat him with respect and civility. I think that's the least I'd expect them to do. I don't know how they talked, but I don't think you would expect to get into a serious discussion at a ball park when a game is on. I'm sure BVW is acutely aware of the disappointment that Cano & Diaz have been and wishes he could reverse the trade and doesn't need people shouting at him at a game to analyse this. Brodie Van Wagenen perspective I don't get the "he should be doing something else" or "he should be ashamed of his actions" Hiding away when things go wrong is easy, showing up takes guts. It's also important to take the temperature of your 'fans', people like the 7line saying "hey we're ok with you trading assets to get better for 2020/21" or "we really don't think you should move anyone as if you do attendance will plummet" would be legitimate, interesting and important things for him to here as they have a direct impact on the team, certainly more impact then seeing the statcast data on launch angles a few hours earlier (or whatever other reports he may have been due to receive in that time). I'm not saying that what fans think should be an over-riding decision making element, but it's a factor you need to weigh up, and figuring out what it would require to get buy in on a decision is not something to be ignored. Finally - about the 7line - I've never been to a game with them (haven't been in NYC since June 2001!) but the one thing I think is amazing is that they've finally got the 'away fan' culture going a bit. One of the brilliant things about football is the way that there's fans who travel to matches all round the country/world to follow their team. It's what makes the atmosphere - it also allows things like this ... [to explain - Emmanuel Adebayor had left Arsenal for Man City - Arsenal fans believed it was to get more money, Adebayor says that Arsenal accepted the bid for him and he didn't precipitate it. When Arsenal travelled to play City at the start of the season their fans gave him all sorts of grief - then he scored.... ] https://www.mancity.com/citytv/goals/gotd/goal-of-the-day-emmanuel-adebayor-v-arsenalhttps://www.mancity.com/citytv/goals/gotd/goal-of-the-day-emmanuel-adebayor-v-arsenal

I was too busy at the weekend to take a look at this, but was there any thought on how the fucking score was SO high? https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/29/yankees-red-sox-pitch-london-isnt-perfect-itll-have-do/?utm_term=.67f9f9b67173https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/29/yankees-red-sox-pitch-london-isnt-perfect-itll-have-do/?utm_term=.67f9f9b67173 This would seem to make you think that it was pretty much a band box that couldn't keep a fly ball in, but without having seen them it's hard to know whether there was a lot of wall scrapers.

ah i need to read more post less - didn't see the 3 generations thing.

where do we stand on Mookie & Preston?

have we heard who's being bumped off the 40 man? Could Jed Lowrie go to the sixty - isn't it nearly fecking 60 days since the start of the season (is that how the 60 works?)

It's sort of a relic though with the way the whole MLB app works though isn't it. I mean technically they were probably supposed to do blackouts to cover it all and so on. I'd be interested to see the spread of audio streams vs radio listnership now.

what I liked most about Harper getting thrown out is that Arrieta then bawls him out over it. I do think that he (Harper) then reacted to that well by issuing a mea culpea in the clubhouse after but it did amuse me to have them already giving out to each other 3 weeks into the love affair.

Can I ask something - Why does baseball have an anti-trust exemption? Why do any professional sports? I can imagine the logic when there was some broad concept of a team being part of a community, but is it really serving any purpose to allow hugely profitable organisations to be exempt from normal laws?

Oh don't get me wrong, I know with the current set up of Minor League Affiliation you couldn't have promotion & relegation. But I do think American sports misses SO much by not having it.

also in particular look at the TORQUAY, 1986/87 - this is a club that was bottom of division 4 in the football league on the day in question, that means they were effectively in 92nd place in the the professional football system. I can't think of an obvious equivalent but the today's average salary for clubs in that area is about $800-1,000 per week. Whereas in the premier league it's about $80,000-100,000 per week

You all know what I want. PROMOTION AND RELEGATION. Punish people for bad performance. None of this rebuilding shit. Worst 3 records. DOWN. Trade deadline stays the same, but as opposed to selling off their best players, the bottom teams will be desparately trying to acquire players to better them to stay up. From Japan, From Cuba, FROM WHEREVER just keep us up. Honestly you guys have no idea the thrill of a relegation dog fight - https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/11-most-miraculous-relegation-escapes-english-footballhttps://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/11-most-miraculous-relegation-escapes-english-football watch these and enjoy. Remember on each occasion these were usually teams placed 17th (or 19th when it was a 22 team division) playing a team that was 11th or something like that on the last day of the season. Look at the passion. Look at the joy!

I think the key to the Davis acquisition is the options. One of the big changes that's started to happen over the last few years (with the Los Angeles Dodgers being obvious example - especially in relation to the bullpen) was the advent of an effective 30-32 man roster, where players were much more routinely shuffled through. I'm not saying it's a good idea, just that players with options have enhanced value apart from their low salaries with their flexibility.

86-Dreamer wrote: count me among the Flores/Ramos conflaters Moi aussi.....