DaveW

Cedeno is a bad player...no. Also I don't get all the Caroll hate: yes he isn't an all-star but he is a perfectly acceptable staring SS or 2B for a good number of teams. Yeah he is old, but keep in mind he still had the 3rd highest OBP of .343 on the team last year and played a pretty solid defense as well, the idea that his option next year is some "team killer" is preposterous as well, if he gets 401 PA he is only owed 2 million dollars, even if by some miracle he is only the third best MI option for us at that point he still makes a decent UTIL player and a decent clubhouse guy.

You more or less just contradicted yourself with those two statements, unless you think an erratic guy in the pen (as you call him yourself) is somehow more valuable then a guy who can stick in the rotation as a #4 or so.

Again not to take away from him, but he got a lot of borderline calls from what I saw and quite a few ugly/early spring swings as well. I think he deserves his shot, I am just not going to get all hot and bothered and call him a #1/#2/#3 until he shows some good games in the majors this year. I mean keep in mind this was the same tournament that Punto had a .400+ BA and .900+ OPS in....

Dude what? Good Will? You know what builds good will in the Caribbean? Paying the most money for the top prospects. I agree he should get his shot at the major league rotation off the bat (esp with Gibson not in the hunt) but come on....that is just silly.

See my comment above about him, don't get me wrong I would be perfectly happoy with taking him in the third, because at the very least you have a game changer returning punts etc and at the best you could have a decent CB as well who could make some plays/get people pumped. But no way do I think he was ever a "legit" top ten talent, I think the hype machine made him to be out more than he was. If he was a legit top ten talent you would see him picked in the first round this year. (see: Randy Moss etc)

Tommie Fraiser was also the best offensive player in NCAA his junior year but that didn't make him a 1st round talent. Mathieu is a dynamic player, but the fact is he always lacked the size to be a true "1st round talent" and if he was it was boarderline, sure he will be a very good PR or KR but teams don't draft those guys in the first round typically (unless they are the Radiers) also the rest of his combine numbers were more on the "meh to bad" side of things then the "he blew us away!" parts. Again I am not a huge combine guy, but the fact that he had the least reps of ANYONE on the bench press is pretty telling that he A. Isn't strong/big enough for the NFL game or B. Just a lazy sack of ****/the next Pac Man jones. FWIW: I think there is nothing wrong with smoking weed....at all. But you are a damn fool if you manage to screw up that many times with that many millions on the line.

Here is a topic about general sports gambling for the people that do it here. Obviously it may not be legal in your neck of the woods (or most places in general) but when done for "fun" it actually can be enjoyable. This is a thread where people can discuss wins/losses and tips/bets etc. So recently got into betting on sports recreationaly (nothing super crazy- I started the year doing a deposit less than $1000 to a bookie and said I would quit if I ever lost it, currently up about 3x my money ) and I have had some interesting trends pop up over the past few months that almost seem profitable: 1. Stay away from the NBA, holy crap you might as be well flipping a coin (though that is mostly what sports gambling is, in general) I swear the only way to even come close is to do teaser bets. 2. MLB Spring Training- If you see anyone going off at more then +120, bet on them, 2/3rds of the games are played by back ups anyways so its truly "anyones game" if you see a big underdog bet em, since they have a good shot to actually win (Have won a few times this year on the Twins due to this strategy) Up about 15% which makes it slightly profitable. 3. Nascar: Fun to bet on longshots, but the odds seem awful, I am a little below even on these and should prob stop, but it makes the races more fun it seems. Head to Head matchups seem to be your best bet. 4. NHL- a. I bet the wild every time they are at home- they are 10-3-1 (10-4) and rarely are they ever more then a -110 to -130 favorite, this means they have been profitable all season when at home and continue to be so. If they have the Wild at +200 or so for a -1.5 goal victory I will toss a few shekels on that as well, there are so many empty net goals and two goal wins this year where the odds seem to pay off. b. I bet the Wild when they are on the road when they are +140 or higher (As long as they aren't playing on the road 2 nights in a row or 3 nights out of 4) this has been profitable as well. c.If I find a team that is playing on the road two nights in a row (or 3 out of 4) I will bet "heavy" against them as long as the odds are -170 or less, I need to look up exact numbers but I am fairly confident it has paid off at least 75% of the time for me this year(this has been my most profitable angle of all time it seems like) with the short season it seems teams almost just give up. 5.) I have no idea what to do in regards to college basketball, but will prob bet on some money lines of some under dogs if the lines look right: I have seen a few +500 to +700 for a 13 seed vs a 4 seed, one of those should hit.

If Hendriks and DeDuno can find a way to stick, then we could actually have ourselves a real rotation in 2014 with Meyer and Gibson at the front.

Short and arguably one notch above string training sample size or not, color me impressed with him. I don't think he will ever be anything amazing, but he could be a nice #4/#5 for a couple years for us which would go along ways towards competeing.

Nobody is going to take Honey Badger in the 2nd, even without the long list of personal issues he was never viewed a first round talent in the first place. I could see a team like the Raiders (why not) taking a chance on him in the 3rd round because they are stupid, but he would still be around in the late 3rd more than likely or early 4th. I don't know what to think about Te'o, if he actually is gay and was nervous about coming out, I have no issue taking him and I think you get great value, if he is just a weirdo who makes up gf's and ****, yeah pass. Either way I prob don't want him with a first round pick, maybe if he is sitting in the middle of round 2 then you think about trading up? Lev, on the Austin thing, yeah I have seen a lot of chatter about him going around 15-16, hypothetically would you trade a 1 and 3(next years?) to move up a few spots to grab him if he is still around? I think you have to think long and hard about it, especially if it was the extra pick in the Harvin trade, the kid was amazing in college (watch the OU game where he had 400+ yards) and apparently killed it at the combine (I don't follow that at all though) 2 first rounds to move up for him? no. 1st round and a 3rd round? Yeah, I think you take the chance!

Why is snark considered so bad? That is what I am confused about, making a smart ass remark or snark isn't a personal attack, and frankly if the person its made to isn't offended why should someone decide to be offended for them? For instance, Lev can call me a homer or Ponderholic or much worse and I really don't care because we go way back several years and some friendly or unfriendly jabs might occur. If neither of us are offended and we don't derail the thread why should one of us be warned or banned? Also I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, I am generally curious as I know those scenarios will pop up once the season starts and real games are played.

Speaking of Drunk we REALLY need to bring back the Drunken Random Thoughts thread we had, if not for anything more then "RonGardenhire's" tales of trying to pick up chicks and failing miserably.

No I know it was sarcasm, I just don't want everyone else thinking I am a Ponderholic I have been in PA for 12 months now and the steps have been working!!

I think if Austin is somehow available at 23 (he prob won't with the Rams having two picks) then I think you HAVE to take him, that kid has game changer written all over him. But yeah, you def need a line backer with one of the picks as well, right now we have Greenway and nobody else I believe? It sucks losing Winfield but I absolutely would rather have KWill at this point over him, we can find a quality CB in round 2 or 3 IMO. Or we can always sign a few more guys in free agency to fill some holes as well. Now obviously this team has some holes to fill, but heading into 2013 I am much more enthusiastic then heading into 2012, if we can somehow repeat the 2012 draft success I think you are looking at a team that makes the playoffs again.

Oh God, not to get to off topic but I am not some diehard Ponder fan, I just say let the kid have a chance, the Vikings have broken my heart enough where I almost just try to look at it as glass half full as possible, since they will inevitably do a bunch of crap that defies all logic and reason eventually.

I actually think you should let the membership police themselves for the most part, it may result in a rough moment here and there. Or just let Brock dole out all the bans, he has the most expirence running forums in the past and I can't recall one time where anyone really thought he was being unfair (and yes he did ban multiple people from BYTO when it got out of hand), I'm not saying it needs to be the wild wild west...but come on, what Lev says is completely accurate.

Absolutely not. The whole "Well he could be better then Correia thing" is going to get old quick, its almost as pointless as the "well he's better then Butera" meme that pops up several times a year

Yeah, I'm not advocating flame wars or anything, but like oldladytwins fan said, sometimes you gotta call a spade a spade and an idiot and idiot, hell I do it in my every day life, many times with friends of mine, which I consider some of you BYTO posters as now. I sorta wonder how the board would generally react with all these rules in place if dankind or itstimetotakeit showed back up. I guess we would have to respectfully disagree with all of their drivel? (Not saying that the current poster group resembles them, but there are a couple who have gotten sorta close and honestly has kept a lot of people from coming back as often) I think some people end up just taking everything a bit to seriously and get hurt feelings to easily, hell me and Lev have been going back and forth for a better half of a decade now with several names and insults, it doesn't seem to bother us one bit.

I wouldn't exactly read a whole lot into any of this....its more of a "puff piece" that makes a nice article. Nothing Maddux said was exactly revolutionary.

Meh, last year was such a blur. But I think his main issue last year was health, not production.

What are you talking about? Going into last year he was never considered some elite reliever or whatever you are trying to claim they did, they went into it saying he would be a 7th inning guy. Good lord, you guys need to really stop with the whole "the twins front office is incompetant" crap, not only is it garbage it is completely inaccurate.

Um ok, well that isn't at all what I meant.

OBP, Speed? Who gives a crap! It's all about laying down that bunt in the #2 spot, every body who isn't a pleb knows that!

Agreed, its the internet, people need to be allowed to blow off some steam and nobody is going over the top these days. I share the same sentiment, a lot of good posters aren't coming around much any more and its a real shame. Personally I think Brock should be left in charge of all bannings/suspensions etc, the guy has been running forums successfully for years now and it prevents a possibly over sensitive mod (whoever it may be) from doling out bannings left and right. Also I know this sounds pretty hypocritical coming from me.

I got very sick last year and had to have my prostate checked for the first time (I am not even 30 yet), the worst part is I had no time to prepare and my doctor was a 6 foot 5 big Polish dude, yeah...it wasn't very fun :/ I told him I would prob not do well and he just laughed and said "don't worry I will be gentle"