biggentleben

I can tell you exactly what HBO costs here. Limited cable with basic ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox/etc programming and nothing else here runs $19.95. Midcontinent Communications (the cable provider here in town) offers Limited plus HBO for $26.95, so the exact HBO cost is $7/month. If other cable companies are charging more, then they're not exactly doing it right, seeing as Midcontinent has invested a ton of capital in rural areas yet still can offer an "HBO suite" for $7.

Except that Amazon isn't the producer of much of the content that they stream, whereas the companies like CBS and ABC pay significant production costs to make the shows. If Netflix can have nearly a dozen on going original series and charge $7 a month for streaming without commercials, I would be very surprised if cable companies couldn't put out a product for much cheaper than $1 per episode. I'd expect something like certain channels in your a la carte would be $1 per channel, others more like $5, and others even more expensive. Perhaps you'd have basic cable type of channels for $1-5 per channel with a minimum a la carte package of $40-50.

One BJ Upton, coming up! LOL!!

I feel like this is a phrase that could be turned into a dirty joke.... ...but I'll let someone else have it

Well, if he's expendable, I know a southern team that would love to take Perkins off of your hands!

I know that Guerra was on the Braves' radar either one or two years ago, but I'm not sure where they'd be with him. His pedigree would likely get him a deal pretty quickly if the Twins did let him go. I'd love to see more of the medicals with Hermsen as well because he was a guy who looked destined for a career of backend starter production as a control-focused guy. He's seemingly lost his control completely since returning from the injury. The Twins tried him in the bullpen in 2014 a lot, but he's not got the type of stuff that you'd assume to play up in the bullpen.

While your access comments are viable, this year's playoffs have been incredibly fun to watch so far. Baseball couldn't have predicted that the division series would go so fast, but they were still exciting to watch the underdog in the AL (and the NL as well).

From a rural experience, I found I actually had a lot better opportunity to shop around when living on the farm. I could get the best price possible for speed guarantees due to having plenty of options and being willing to play them against one another. My antenna internet was guaranteed certain speed, and I got entire months for free due to one day of down-time. It's just a matter of being willing to barter like you would when purchasing a new car and being willing to follow through with it. Now living in town, where I'm at in the town won't give me the access I'd need for dish services and there's only one option for cable internet in town.

I could see that being a distinct possibility, but I know they're really trying to push MLB.tv, and I wouldn't be surprised if they make it something where it's a $110 regular, $130 premium, and $150 "super premium", which would guarantee no blackouts. The NFL basically stated that they're going to keep blackouts and that it's their right, especially since all games are on "over the air television". I guess the NFL rep who stated that might want to consult what market that ESPN is over the air, because it's not in one I've ever known.

Very interesting. I've not had similar experiences, especially with Chrome. I've loved the pause feature with my AppleTV as well as I've done exactly as you're describing and come back to the game waiting for me to finish, and that was both on the crappy farm internet and the current internet both.

Do NOT call him anything but Chip, however.

Serious question: how much of the "it sucks" had to do with any blackout issues? I'm just curious as that's the primary reason a lot of people are frustrated with the service, but no one apparently lets MLB know this. I had a very good interview with one of their media execs that I'm trying to get cleared for publishing where he basically stated if there was enough market for mlb.tv to offer a "super premium" package that eliminated blackouts, they'd make it work as nearly every TV deal allows them some flexibility with their online products.

I don't know. You have to play with the settings some, but I lived in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota, for 7 years before moving into town this year and getting cable internet. I had about the least predictive internet ever (over the air antenna), and I watched many Netflix movies and loved mlb.tv out on the farm. I did have to adjust for lower quality streaming, but I used both there and enjoyed.

I know different. He was a very divisive prospect. You mention his MLB.com rank, which was actually #40, he was #59 in Baseball America, and #88 in Baseball Prospectus. Sickels posted the following in his Twins write up: I followed Meyer very closely as I had him on a money dynasty league at the time. He and Graham were discussed frequently by Up and In with Goldstein and Parks and compared strongly to one another as guys whose stuff could play dominant in the bullpen and would have a ceiling of a high-end #2 if they could figure out how to whiff guys, but both had dominant sinking stuff that could allow them to be an effective #3 sort of pitcher, in the Derek Lowe mold, as a sort of "fallback" option as a starter.

That was absolutely his upside at the time of the trade. He's bumped off the #3 label as he's had high-end performance. Graham and Meyer both had high-end stuff that at the time wasn't generating the type of strikeouts you would assume in A+ ball (Graham actually had a better K rate at AA than A+), so they were tagged as the type of guys whose stuff could be so heavy that they don't put up huge K numbers while racking up a bunch of innings behind ground balls or they could take the next step and strike out more batters. Graham has been hurt and fell to the ~7 k/9 range while Meyer moved from that same 7 K/9 range to a 10+ k/9 guy, so his starter upside is no question a 2 at this point, but at the trade, he was absolutely considered a guy who could develop in multiple ways.

I think around $10-25 would be a good price range, and I'd favor a lot closer to the $10. I'd like to be able to pay for it at the start of the season with my regular season package and lock it in.

He was a year removed from being drafted, having only thrown pitches as a professional in 2012 to that point. I will tell you, however, that no pitcher at A+, AA, or even AAA ball is a current #2, and anyone who tells you they are has never been part of a major league organization. A player always has a ceiling to achieve and a floor. Meyer's upside was a #2/#3 starter or closer/backend reliever, not one or the other. His floor was never making the majors at all at the time of his acquisition. Once again, one of the deals the Twins offered was Span for the Braves' J.R. Graham, a pitcher considered on par with Meyer by prospect rankers and scouts at the time. Graham hasn't put together a full season since 2012 (something that was a worry with Meyer as well), and Meyer has turned himself into a top-end pitching prospect in baseball.

Exactly. Plus, I'd say if he's a shut down 8th inning or closer guy, that can easily have more value than a #5, so if he fell from #2 to reliever, that could be more valuable than moving from #2 to #5. At the time he was acquired, his motion, arm movement, and pitch repertoire were strong indicators that he would be as likely to be a reliever as a #2. He wasn't anywhere on the spectrum to one or another at that point. Heck, Kyle Gibson has roughly a full season of major league pitching at this time, and there's a plethora of directions he could go from here. Phil Hughes before 2014 was seen as a #4 at best. Players are not on a consistent line throughout their career, and pitchers are much, much more volatile.

My worst game present as a spectator for the Gophers was the 2000 Northwestern game and that danged Hail Mary. Their defeat of the Gophers in 2007 was right up there, and I can still remember Adam Weber dropping back on that 2-point conversion and seeing that there wasn't a man open and the Gophers were going to lose. Today felt great. The kick return immediately after that terrible roughing the passer call felt like redemption and finally football gods were smiling at the Gophers when facing Northwestern. I was most impressed with the quality of the defense today. They came up with pass deflection after pass deflection today and stifled the Northwestern spread option. Kill's finally getting to see his first team that he built on the field, and it looks very good. Especially as TCU continues to look like a better and better team that took out the Gophers in week 3.

Anyone who assumes they know anything about a pitching prospect has simply not followed pitching prospects very long or very deep. Predicting a top 5 pick is as tedious as predicting a 12th rounder. It's absolutely amazing how random baseball is. One of the best arms I've ever seen going into a draft was Luke Hochevar. He blew threw the minors in 2006 and if you adjust for league, his 2007 numbers in the minors were quite solid as well, but he just wasn't successful as a starter in the major leagues. That said, he's made a very successful conversion to the bullpen, assuming a successful return from TJS. Bryan Bullington was another one that watching at the time would have assumed he'd be at the very least a solid mid-rotation starter, but he was picked #1 in a draft that had a first round of guys like Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Scott Kazmir, and to a lesser degree, Jeremy Guthrie and Jeff Francis. Yet Greinke was the highest-drafted of that group as the 5th pitcher picked in that draft, 2 of which never even made the majors. I can't speak on Chris Gruler, who was injured and never made it back, but Clint Everts, picked right ahead of Greinke, was a Texas fireballer that was rumored to be in the mix for #1 due to his high upside arm, yet he's now a reliever in the minors who's never cracked a major league roster. This postseason is showing the value of high-end relievers at the back of the bullpen in the modern game, and it is possible that Meyer may have more value as a top-shelf reliever than he would as a #5 starter. That would not be a failure whatsoever in the grand scheme of baseball, and certainly not a failure in the scheme of pitching prospects.

The Royals are the first team to ever make an LCS after having the least walks and least home runs in a league. Yet here they are. As far as broadcasting, Rob Neyer and a cast of characters are offering a sabr-friendly broadcast of the NLCS as this article mentions. Hopefully that starts to catch on...

I hear the "baseball is a regional sport" thing often, but it just doesn't bear out. There are teams with regional fan bases, and the Twins are absolutely one of those, but there are a number of teams with a strong nationwide fan base, like the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs/Braves/Dodgers. Some of those have to do with television coverage available on cable, actually, but watch the little league world series every year and listen to the favorite player of the USA teams. A lot of the players mentioned won't play in the team's regional area.

Absolutely agree. With my Apple TV, I now have aps for Fox and ABC to watch their primetime shows, and CBS is supposed to be released soon. Most of the channels I'd watch on cable non-sports (History, Discovery, etc.) already have aps, and I have an ap for MLB, NFL, and NBA that I can pay for content on

Seth, where I'm at the "basic" cable package does include TBS, but it doesn't include ESPN, so the cheapest cable to get cable would be $60/month package. I will put in a big plug for everyone to consider mlb.tv. They've done tremendous work on the system. The issue would be not being able to see the Twins in the Minneapolis market, which is something that needs to be worked on, but you can enjoy a lot of the league. I would also put in a big plug for milb.tv for minor league sports. Then using something like an Apple TV or Roku box allows you to put that on any TV anywhere if you'd like. I currently use MLB.tv and my AppleTV.

I think what you do have is a major disconnect between the paychecks sports leagues are getting and the people trying to view their product. An NFL official making remarks about their blackout policies being overturned stated that every NFL game is available on "over the air, accessible television". I'm not sure what market he is part of, but I've never picked up ESPN over the air, and that's where their flagship game is located now. Also, NFL Network has a few exclusive Thursday night games this season where they aren't also carried on CBS, and NFL Network isn't even on most first- or second-tier cable packages. You have to get a fairly large cable bill monthly just to have access to NFL Network. Baseball has had a similar disconnect, and worst of all, they have less control over their television deals on a national level. No way would a playoff football game be able to be shown exclusively on a startup cable network not available yet on many cable and satellite providers. The problem is that sports in this country have been given so many free passes on violating laws by our federal (and often state and local) government that they simply don't even concern themselves with the ability of people to afford their product.