ashbury

If I'm not paying, I've been known to accept invitations from ugly people too.

Very unlikely the Reds GM would make a move that would be interpreted as a stab in the back by the Cleveland GM.

I don't remember seeing this aspect played up, and that surprises me. I guess the Indians FO had their eyes wide open before making this trade, but to me it smacks of desperation. The chance of it blowing up in their faces seems really high. I think they felt Bauer had forced their hand, given that there was no way to get rid of him after August 1 if he displayed another act of insubordination. But personally, I'd rather deal with a high-end pitcher with an attitude, than a high-end position player with one. With pitchers, it just comes with the territory - there's that Yogi Berra tongue-in-cheek quote that "all pitchers are liars or crybabies." Also, with Bauer so adamant about one-year contracts, you'll always have that leverage over his behavior - and at minimum he's not going to tank while performing. Puig's playing for a contract, too, but I feel as though he's a bit more entitled, confident that someone's going to set him up for life during this off-season. Mind-reading's always dangerous, I know.

Only if the Reds GM has a death wish and doesn't want to ever make a meaningful trade again. I have to believe there is a gentlemen's agreement. The Cleveland GM doesn't even have to say it, when the deal is agreed to.

The Cubs acquired him just a few weeks ago, and I see now that his BA is literally zero for them in small sample size. Sheesh.

How's his defense at SS, though? Last time I saw him in person he had several opportunities to shine and did not make the play on any. I hope he's in the lineup Friday night because I might be able to get to Pawtucket to watch the game. (Of course maybe he'll be a Giant or a Pirate by then. )

"Welp." The above is the blog entry I have written and proof-read. It's all ready to go, come 4 pm EDT.

It was my understanding there would be no geography.

Dinner tonight provided by Miami Chicken:

Just a stone's baseball's throw.

That lob into the center field seats seemed to get a message across.

I showed up late, and didn't want to miss all the scoreboard-watching fun!

This just in: Indians and Astros tied 0-0 after 4 innings.

Shameless plug, eh?

Apparently you don't live in a house with a spouse who wants to crank up the air conditioning, while you want all the fresh air that comes from the windows being open. Or, vice versa.

Sometimes love is the opposite of hate. Other times, hate is merely *plonk*. If you have a good enough idea about why a move that seems stupid in Chapter 1 actually fits in with a coherent world-view by the character, that is fully revealed by the last chapter, then of course it's a different matter. But if I'm hating having to read about the character the whole way through, it's a difficult slog and I might stop. But a small reveal in Chapter 2, leading to a full reasoning by the end, could work to keep me interested. I guess Sophie's Choice might be an example for that - she was SOOOOO annoying for a while there.

How about a few things, one negative (don't do this) and the rest positive: 1) Many times a plot depends on someone doing something really stupid. Without the stupid move, the story would have ended in 10 seconds. ("Got cancer? Find a charitable organization to help you. Don't cook meth." ) The character "just having to be me" is annoying. Don't make a character do stupid stuff. I will hate them. 2) Most drama comes from a character having a tragic flaw that almost anyone can relate to. Make sure it's visible alongside the strengths. (Or, if it's a villain, even more so, go the opposite route and make sure there is something endearingly human.) 3) Gene Roddenberry, I think, said that drama comes from "Captain Kirk has to make a decision." Your plot is probably already set, but play that up a little - making sure it's a genuine dilemma, maybe that gets revisited once or even twice later on, with a Woulda Coulda Shoulda. It'll help make the character interesting. 4) This may be related to #2 above, but J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) said this about character development: "There are five kinds of truth. There is the truth you tell to casual strangers and acquaintances. There is the truth you tell to your general circle of friends and family members. There is the truth you tell to only one or two people in your entire life. There is the truth you tell only to yourself. And finally, there is the truth that you do not admit even to yourself. And it's that fifth truth that provides some of the most interesting drama." Food for thought. I guess it's more teevee than books, but whatever. And in any case, I Am Not An Author.

He can throw tantrums. That's a form of leverage. His reaction (resulting in a closed clubhouse) to being traded to the Mets instead of his beloved Yankees exemplifies why I didn't have huge interest in him, and might have played into why the Twins didn't go hard for him either; you look at the signings of guys like Cruz and Marwin and they seem to be good clubhouse guys. Whereas Stroman's had a certain reputation for a while now, even if the insiders don't speak openly. After that long-toss toward the outfield the other day, Bauer's another guy I don't expect to see in a Twins uniform for similar reasons, though clearly that's become a discussion more for the off-season than this deadline.

Revised statues? Like, when they wind up broken? I have to say, though, that if you have memorized the identifier of the local ordinance concerning drunken boating, you have both my sympathy and my admiration.

More strikeouts than plate appearances. You can make some stuff up.

In the post-season you can't laugh off a loss, after a 4-inning start, or an 18-inning nailbiter, and say "get 'em tomorrow" like you can in the regular season. There aren't enough tomorrows in the post-season. Boston had one of each of those two game types among their four World Series wins last season; losing one or both games opens the door for LA. You have to have the arms in the bullpen to go many innings that are of high quality, if need be. You don't bring a knife to a gun fight. We have a Rule-5 crunch looming anyway. And the year after that, too. It's a false economy to hang onto every mid-level prospect now. Go get 'em. Not tomorrow, but today.

Sad indeed. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. There is a thread with more comments here, so I am going to close this thread.

Moderator's note: Well, this escalated quickly. So I am asking all involved, please stop the bickering, and in particular please leave out the characterizations of GMs, or anyone, as "stupid", "fools", "idiots", et cetera. Using the qualifier "not" doesn't make matters better, since it leaves an obvious implication regarding those with a different opinion. It adds nothing to the discussion, invites disrespect in return, and is well past the line laid out by the Comment Policy.

Concur. I didn't get around to forming a list of 3 of my own, but that's because I can vote for any of several good candidates. There will be a learning curve for whoever we pick, and we'll help them along.

I don't care very much for the term "expendable". In the right deal, any player is expendable. It makes the term next to meaningless. Two related observations make Larnach or Kirilloff the ones to shop though. First, a team wants to deal from an area of strength or duplication, and we currently have more than sufficient coverage (now and for the future) at the corner outfield positions. Second, the team visibly shied away from taking pitchers with high draft choices. The rationale seemed to be that we avoid risk that way, in favor of position players more likely to develop into valuable major leaguers. Implicit in that strategy is to trade position players for pitching that is closer to major league ready, or even simply established major leaguers. If that strategy is sound (and I have had my doubts), now is the time to put it to the test. Kirilloff's not expendable. But he's one of the few conceivable chips to use if going after the top end pitching talent that we didn't think we could obtain reliably in the draft. There's no sense in waiting forever. The window of contention is open.