ashbury

Yes, it drove me nuts watching Correa being forced to play right tackle while Santana took the point guard slot.

Or if you read Rex Morgan in the funny papers this morning: "my novel", one word of which has yet to be written.

Only without so many of those pesky words. 😀 But seriously, thanks.

I might try for ju-jitsu - a pair of related moves that aren't directly very aggressive but have synergy together. I'd look into trading Paddack plus some minimal prospect capital for a good fielder at SS who has an adequate but subpar bat and a low salary, i.e. a backup who's better than waiver wire fodder. At the same time I'd look at trading Castro to someone else for a capable but probably not stellar relief pitcher at a low salary plus some minimal prospect capital coming back to us. The combined aim would be to have a slightly different mix of skills at the utility infield position (Willi is no great shakes at SS while his bat is overrated anyplace else), and in effect redeploy Paddack into some other relief arm at lower cost, since that could turn out to be his best use anyway. It gets out from under the two not-terribly significant salaries that seem to be such an issue, at perhaps a slight downgrade at the two positions, but we have minor-league candidates for both roles who might be better and would surpass the two incumbents soon anyway. For decent return at the major league level, we might have to take a net loss on the prospects going out versus coming back, but nothing remotely like a top-ten prospect leaving unless something similar comes back. I don't think you could trade Paddack for pitching, nor Castro for infield help, directly. But the desire to trade both of them creates opportunity, without the need to orchestrate an actual 3-team trade yet with the same end result.

Garcia would be a fantastic co-owner, but he'd probably flip his stake in the team inside of a week and for a slight net loss.

Here's what ChatGPT has to say about who won the American League pennant in 1899: (Whatever was going on in Boston in 1899, it wasn't the franchise that joined the American League in 1901, and the predecessor to the American League known as the Western League had no Boston franchise.) I ran across this mistake a year or two ago, and it continues to crop up when I try it again now and then. Sure it's a trick question; I expect software to deal with fuzzy input. So, personally, I would double check anything ChatGPT tells me. I trust ChatGPT less than I trust Wikipedia, which is really saying something.

A fair way to end the tangent. TBH I was thinking of finding an off-ramp too after regretting my last post, and you saved me the trouble. 😀

Teams have to base decisions on something. You advocate ERA or FIP? Or just Ks and BBs? There's more than that to go on.

Just start him in the major league All-Star Game and cut out all this in-between stuff.

Weep for me. I married an Irish-Catholic from Chicago. 😀

So do you trust ERA or FIP instead? Because that was my point.

ERA and its cousin FIP are both so wonky when it comes to partial innings that I would not place much stock in either for relievers. Not when OPS-against simply looks at outcomes on a plate appearance basis. OPS is subject to variability like any other rate stat, but I don't see how it has any disadvantages not shared by other stats, especially where platoon-splits are of interest.

If that were true, depending on what limits you have in mind for the word "small", they would do equally well and perhaps better by simply dropping the fee and exposing advertisers to an even bigger and thus more lucrative audience, with the ancillary benefit of a happier customer base.

Tell us your neighbors don't think of you as a local, without saying the words "my neighbors don't think of me as a local." 😀 Kidding aside, you have identified both the promise and the problem with putting together a roster whose stars are high injury (or variability) risks to begin with. If things come together just right, it could be a 100 win team. I mean, compare it to the 2019 squad - it could happen, right? CJ Cron is not a very high hurdle to clear. And no team, no player, is without the risk of injury, so why can't it be our turn? The problem is when you have accumulated enough against-the-odds players, missed playing time and minor league demotions start to be more of a foregone conclusion than merely bad luck. I go back to a thing that I heard Terry Ryan say at a conference, not too long before he got fired. To paraphrase: "there are a lot of guys who would be Hall of Famers if pro baseball was played once a week instead of every day." I recall he was taking a not too subtle jab at Delmon Young. But I think about that observation often, in a variety of contexts.

We got a small sample of that during the 2023 post-season and I'm not currently eager to jump into a larger sample size to judge from, without breaking him into the pattern slowly.

Apart from the rest of your post which I mainly agree with, I misread this line to say "lawyers", which ironically turns out also to be a correct reading. 😀

I looked further and the source of the confusion is that yes, MLB player contracts are guaranteed - in the sense of "all money will be paid under all the conditions mentioned in the contract." This is in contrast to the NFL, for example, which often publicizes long-term contracts that actually are guaranteed for only one year along with signing bonuses that are paid right away, with no buyouts for the years in the future. In baseball there are some escape clauses (unprofessional behavior and so forth) and there can be option years with buyouts, but basically when you see that a ballplayer has a $60M contract across some number of years, he'll get $60M. MLB requires this. But MLB contracts are guaranteed by the individual team signing it, not by the larger body of MLB itself. A team declaring bankruptcy would matter a lot. Here's a source, among many to choose from: https://littleballparks.com/are-mlb-contracts-guaranteed/ Sorry to go off on this tangent but your statement really took me by surprise.

We know, because she puts up with you counting her stuff.

Now. 😀

I think you worry about that if and when it happens. 😀

A chip and a chair at this point. Eagles give them one last seat at the table. Fun game.

Not that anyone's counting.

Ohtani's contract caused some people to ask exactly this question concerning the Dodgers. Here's a couple of examples (that I think come from a common source but seem to have different angles): https://www.louisianalawblog.com/bankruptcy-and-business-reorganization/bankruptcy-and-baseball-ii-what-happens-to-shohei-ohtanis-record-contract-if-the-los-angeles-dodgers-file-for-bankruptcy-again/ https://www.texaslawblog.law/2023/12/bankruptcy-and-baseball-what-happens-to-shohei-ohtanis-record-contract-if-the-los-angeles-dodgers-file-for-bankruptcy-again/ Their take, for what it's worth, didn't seem to involve MLB already having guaranteed anything, nor even stepping in, in such a circumstance. Who knows, really. Well, they know, but they aren't likely to tell us.

Disposable income and free time will determine your answer, but the ability to humble-brag to another diehard fan, "there was that crazy play in Sacramento's little park when I saw the Twins that wouldn't have happened anywhere else," would count for something. 😀

Oooo, that's a great tidbit. Do you have a source for that? When something affects my thinking by that much, I'd like to be sure.