DaveW

In LA currently, very somber feeling around here tonight. Domestic Terrorism at it's finest, let's not do this to try to fix this ****, but by all means let's ban all refugees...

I have always been a fan of a 6 team playoff, reward the top two teams in the nation, auto bid to the big (5) and an at large.

Nunez absolutely has no real reason to be here if Santana is on the team, Santana is a better option with upside when it comes to super Util, also he can handle CF and SS which Nunez could not.

Non tender Nunez Let Santana take over his role (Super Util)

This is an excellent post/point. Add May to that list as well, he was favored over Trevor May this year who was booted from the rotation for no real good reason. If the Twins want to contend, they need guys with upside to step up in 2016, if they want to hover around .500 and not make the playoffs, then having guys like Milone take those starts instead of May, Duffey or Berrios is the way to go.

You can absolutely buy low on a 34 y/o SP at $21m/yr, you can have the Padres kick in some money to any trade to "soften the blow" or you can convince them to take back a bad contract as part of the trade as well (Nolasco) There is no reason why he can't bounce back to his career norms next year, and then still be pretty effetive in his age 35/36 seasons.

Chris Young made the ML minimum last year. Not sure what that has to do with paying Milone 7 million. Vargas was in the 2nd year of a 4 year deal (basically Phil Hughes/Nolasco type contract) Not sure that that has to do with paying Milone 7 million next year when we don't need to. Jeremy Guthrie might have been the worst SP in baseball last year, he was also in the middle of a long term contract, not sure what that has to do with paying Milone 7 million next year when we don't need to. Chris Young actually is the perfect example of what the Twins could/should do when it comes to a 7th/8th starter, go sign a veteran for the minimum who can step in for some spot starts.

Do you really believe this? I sure don't. Taking contracts and everything else out of the equation, I would take the following pitchers over Milone in 2016 100% no doubt about it: Ervin Santana Kyle Gibson Tyler Duffery Jose Berrios Trevor May That is 5 guys right there who are better pitchers and have more upside then Milone. At that point, Milone is the 6th option, you don't need to pay real money to a guy like that. Now, factor in two other guys who are under contract: Phil Hughes- Had a GREAT 2014, personally I think he bounces back, and regardless, he is under contract and deserves a chance at a healthy 2016. Nolasco- I would take Milone over him, but Nolasco is going nowhere, obviously it would be better if he wasn't here/not on the books, but at this stage he is our 7th option at SP long term in 2016 (or worse) Now if some of those guys get hurt, you then have guys like Alex Meyer, Pat Dean and more ready to potentially step in for spot starts, the bonus is they make the minimum. Giving Milone 7 million dollars to provide depth when he shouldn't be in the opening day rotation is just settling for more mediocrity. If money wasn't an issue, go for it, but I have heard time and time again on this board how the Twins are "payroll deficient", so it seems to be not wise to spend 7 million on a strictly depth guy.

Anyone else here play? Figured we could start a thread re: stories, strategies etc. Have had some success the past couple years (had to pay taxes in 2013 and 2014 for my winnings, not a ton but a few thousand profit each year) This week had my biggest single "cash" in the Draftkings millionaire maker contest: $20 buy in, cashed $6,000 and came in 29th place out of 280,000. Actually had an outside shot to win the whole million going into last night as I had two players left with Travis Benjamin and Crockett Gilmore, apparently I had the best shot of anyone still "alive" and was featured on the draft-kings tv show, which was pretty fun! Benjamin had a nice game but Gilmore laid an egg, still, cant be too upset with a 300x profit. My roster was: Russell Wilson Adrian Peterson Dough Martin Odell Beckam Jr Brandon Marshall Dough Baldwin Crockett Gilmore Vikings D (Wilson+Baldwin were the clear MVP's of my team, both were low owned <5% and both came up big, Marshall had a huge game as well and was under 7% owned) My other largest wins this year happened in back to back nights in baseball this year in early june, came in 3rd place out of 9000 two nights in a row in a $9 buy in. I will usually play 1-2 baseball contests a week if I have an evening free ($3-$9 buy in). NASCAR once in a while and NHL once in a while. Typically I stick to football and the large GPP (guaranteed prize pool) contests for $3-$20 each. The strategy I have found to be "good" is the following: 1. Never overspend on a QB, I feel you always can find good value in the $5,000-$6,500 range. 2. Make sure you take a home team QB 3. Pair up the QB you pick with a WR or TE on the team (this pays off Wilson-Baldwin style) 4. You absolutely can't miss on WR in these contests. Too much variance. 5. Look at guys who have struggled at WR in the last few weeks but have had a lot of targets, it always comes around and likely they will be under owned. 6. Never take more than 2 guys from the same team. 7.Never spend more than $2500 salary on D 8. Take one RB sleeper and one TE or WR sleeper a week. Overall I am up quite a bit on NFL, down a bit (15%) on NHL, about even on MLB, and up about 20% on NASCAR (LOL) Any other experiences? Sites you prefer? Stories? Bad beats? Advice? etc?

You can find SP depth for a lot less than what it will cost Milone. Berrios Gibson Hughes Santana Duffey May Nolasco Those are all guys the Twins already have to pitch who are already under contract or cheap, they already have too many (7) pitchers for 5 spots, and that is before we include any other pitchers who may or may not step up (ala Duffey last year). In that list we can add Graham, Meyer, Dean as all guys who could step up as well. Just no point to be committing real money to him. Again, paying a guy like Milone 5-7 million (depending on who you ask) to just sort of be SP depth is a bad use of money IMO, would rather spend that money on an impact arm for the bullpen or use it for some OF help/depth.

Perhaps because Shields in the 4 years prior to last years clear outlier year: 233 IP per year 3.17 ERA 3.41 FIP 124 ERA+ 8 k/9 2.3 bb/9 Half of which were while pitching for a team in the dreaded AL east, all of which were while pitching for a team in the dreaded AL. The "Shields" crowd, which I am a part of, likes the idea of bringing him in because he is a perfect buy low, high upside type guy currently. Milone meanwhile has never hit 200 IP (Only got above 160 IP once) and never has had an ERA+ over 106. So, I would imagine that is just some of the logic there

Milone for Papelbon (+5-6 million) would be a more likely trade, and I would take it.

This is the perfect time to cut bait with mediocre guys like Fien and Nunez and aim higher for their replacements, in Nunez's case it will be 2 mil cheaper or so. I would cut bait with Milone as well, he is 6th starter material for a contending team, you can bring those guys up from AAA or get them for the minimum. Only way I would render Milone a contract is if they already had a handshake deal on the books with a team who would give up ANYTHING for him.

I dunno, didn't they say that the Gerhardts (took him in) when he was a kid? Perhaps they were responsible for his parent(s) death? If that's the case I could see him deciding now is the ultimate time to go out on his own, but could see him returning to the family as well. Can't wait til Monday!

Yeah, I think it was good timing though, last weeks episode was bloody as hell and next weeks looks to be the bloodbath they have been talking about in Sioux Falls since season one. I wonder if Milligan and Hanzee somehow find a brief but strong common ground at some point. Both are arguably the most valuable "killers" for their sides, but both have been talked down/looked down to time and time again because they aren't white. Obviously this shows feelings at the time, but diving into both of these back stories this much makes me wonder.... Hanzee+Milligan+kitchen brother vs cops vs Gerhardts vs KC mafia could make for an awesome last two episodes.

I would argue that Peggy never "had it", just took at her hoarding magazines etc in her house. Amazing hour of Tv yet again, Dunst probably should earn an Emmy for that work, hell, everyone in the episode was amazing. Glad they invested some time into hanzee as well, he is a bad bad man, but part of me felt like his murder of the barkeep was sort of "justified" also the wounded knee crack followed by shooting those drunks in the knee cap was some classic dark humor that only this show can pull off. After shooting Dodd (for being a dick) you sorta feel for the guy who just "wants a change" that is just great writing and great story telling IMO. I would love a spin off series some day of Hanzee and Mike Milligan going around the country as mecrcanies for hire, but alas, I don't think either makes it out alive. Also loved the nods to FARGO the movie and No Country for Old men with the scene at the gas station, that was intense!

Hard pass.

What is interesting in regards to Tyrell is that it showed him meeting with Slater late in the season (he was a bit hostile towards him in the limo) Really interested in what was said during that "meeting" as well. Season 2 should be amazing.

I think there is something to the "late season losses" hurt more way of thinking, in college football you are dealing with a new set of guys every year or so, often times it will take a few games for a team to "gel" or for simply the cream to rise to the crop in terms of talent/packages etc. Especially when you are comparing resumes, an early season loss is just less damning IMO. As of now the playoff committee has it as close to right as it could be. Bama and Oklahoma are without a doubt two of the top 4 teams in the country, if MSU wins, they clearly are as well. I have reservations regarding Iowa and Clemson, but if they end up undefeated in a "major" conference, they certainly have earned their shot as well. The best bang for the buck final four would be: 1. Bama vs 4. OSU 2. OU vs 3. MSU Those would be some excellent coaching matchups.

I'm not sure how you can say Ohio State is 1a, they looked shaky as all hell quite a bit this year, and managed to lose a home game to boot. That is inexcusable in college football IMO if you are saying they are better than similar teams. I'd rank them as followed: Bama (SEC reputation) OU Clemson Whoever wins big ten

As someone who "likes" comics, but has grown tired of the comic movie/tv genre as a whole, is this series appealing enough from a stand alone standpoint to watch? Or do you need to be "into" all the marvel movies and other tv shows out currently to enjoy it? Fwiw: last good comic movie I liked was guardians of the Galaxy. Avengers, Ant man, Cap America and the last couple x men all were underwhelming a bit to me to be honest.

I'm not super familiar about part that so I apologize if I missed it earlier/missed your argument, but yeah that is certainly a valid criticism towards him. (I'd actually be curious to learn more about his thoughts on that so if you have a link handy I would be appreciative) Though, while recruitment would remain important in that scenario regardless I have to imagine that there is a far better use of money to recruit as at least 80% of the NFL fan base fall outside the "target market" for recruits. Even if he is being somewhat hypocritical in some ways on this I still applaud him from crossing political lines to point out this seemingly waste of money. I still don't fault the teams from taking the money, if it's legal and an advertiser is willing to pay it I don't think they should turn it down. If you draw the line on this, then teams probably shouldn't take alcohol sponsorships etc as well.

Re-watching the first season currently with my girlfriend who hasn't seen the show/knows what to expect. Two episodes in and it's really a fun ride to rewatch knowing what we know now. Few questions for the crowd/notes: When did you suspect that Slater was his dad/not real? To be honest, I had a slight hunch in the pilot that he wasn't real (hence all the fight club references) but over the next several episodes I sort of put that out of mind and forgot about it, I think they did a really, really good job by not telegraphing it to much. What do you think happened to Tyrell? What is his end game etc? Was he under the mask in the finale? (I think it was his wife) At the beginning of the pilot Elliot mentions that the corp is E corp but he might as well call it evil corp, the rest of the series it's always referred to as "evil" corp, even when Elliot is not in the room, does this mean we are supposed to be seeing everything happen through Elliot's eyes? If so, does that mean certain things may/may not have happened (since he is schizophrenic?) Besides the drug dealer and the cheating dude who was dating his psychiatrist, what other side characters from season one do you see coming back?

Note: If you haven't watched Mr. Robot, you should, like now. If you have this is the thread to discuss what is easily the most surprising show of the year.

I'm going to have to disagree with you completely on that, McCain has time and time again questioned the military and many of their tactics, especially when it comes to "torture" tactics etc as he has time and time again went against his own party to admonish the military for their actions. Congress as a whole could use a lot more John McCain's IMO