biggentleben

We got a third dog, with the thought that this would be the dog the kids could claim as their own as our other two were in the home before they were. Needless to say, the kids are more easy parenting/disciplining at this point as she was not fixed when we got her (3 year old pug), and she has been very, very territorial around my wife especially, so plenty of fights have ensued. That said...she's now part of our family!

You do realize that those sites use previously viewed and frequently viewed website as a basis for the types of news stories you see, right? Your "generic" page is skewed heavily by what you view already, so you're getting more echo chamber, not getting a wide-ranging perspective.

Or it's confirmation bias of what you want to see, something all of us are guilty of to some level. I can tell you from those on Pine Ridge, you're signing a death certificate coming on the reservation with one of those hats due to the abuse in local towns by people wearing those hats, much of which doesn't get charged, let alone prosecuted, because of the way those counties bordering the reservations work. Are there plenty of incidents where someone is reacting to the hat? Sure. It's why guys leaving prison pay to remove their white nationalist tattoos. If those symbols speak to a certain type of person, displaying them says something about the person you are, whether or not you still are (or ever were) that type of person.

I will say that Monica Lewinsky has been incredible to follow as this has come out and people on one side are trying to give out as little information as possible. Nevermind that details of her sexual activity as a young person were made very public in a report that was released AS A BOOK TO THE PUBLIC during the investigation of a president with a different letter behind his name. Later on, people did make comments about how that report didn't do a good job of covering up sensitive material that gave away some information on our covert operations around the world. If that's being done right with things this time, I can appreciate that being withheld, but some leaks of the report being over 700 pages long and ending up in a 4-page summary would require one heck of a lot of confidential and security-sensitive information...

...and there were things tying back to Trump directly that were better pursued in New York and were farmed out to prosecution in New York state. That's another angle that is still very under-reported on the Mueller investigation. There are dozens of ongoing cases still in progress throughout the nation at state and federal level due to this investigation. Anyone saying that it did not bring results is being intentionally obtuse.

I hadn't watched a full episode before March 1, but I'm now caught up, and it's a heck of a trip! Interested to see where the final season takes it.

AL East: Yankees AL Central: Cleveland AL West: Houston Wild Cards: Tampa Bay, Boston (though I'm more confident in the Rays than Red Sox) Bold Prediction: Angels finish with the best non-playoff record in this scenario and could be the playoff spoiler with a couple mid-year moves. NL East: Washington NL Central: Milwaukee NL West: Dodgers Wild Cards: Colorado, St. Louis Bold predictions: NL East and NL Central combine for 2 90-win teams with 9 of the 10 teams in the two divisions posting 75+ wins. Other bold prediction is that the Cubs finish last in the NL Central. NL Champs: Brewers AL Champs: Astros World Series: Astros over Brewers in five AL MVP: Mike Trout AL CY: Gerrit Cole AL ROY: Eloy Jimenez NL MVP: Nolan Arenado NL CY: Max Scherzer NL ROY: Victor Robles

I've loved Harper since his days in the Braves system. He's a guy who doesn't have huge stuff, but he's a great guy, and he simply gets outs. Heck, he has a 2.56 career ERA in just over 450 minor league innings, all tossed in relief.

Those people would have been nuts last year. Pressly was one of the best relievers on the team as it surged to the playoffs in the second half of 2017. His 2018 performance wasn't a big surprise to those who saw some of the things happening with his improved whiff rate and spin rate on his pitches as the 2017 season carried on.

...and this has been turned over to state offices to investigate where they would be better able to do so. The final tally of this investigation is not done.

When I've gone through the numbers in recent elections, it's usually been closer than the final numbers, though it doesn't change much. That's the point, though. I'm not sure an overhaul that'd lead to changes in half of the elections of the last 50 years would be something that'd fly.

The insane part is that he had slowed significantly by the time he came stateside, and he's still the best baserunner in the game this millennium by a decent margin. Also, the whole "he could have been a home run hitter if he wanted" bit was not just BS. He has records still in multiple Japanese stadiums for the longest game home run ever hit there, and multiple recent big leaguers swear the deepest home run they saw in their career was an Ichiro BP homer.

I was at a retreat this weekend, and I got into an electoral college discussion with someone. When I explained my thought of how to re-vamp the EC, this hard-core old-school Republican was taken aback at how much it made sense, and he asked me to send him a breakdown (if I didn't mind working it out) of the last election with the method I mentioned. He liked it and really liked the way it broke down more fair to represent the will of the entire country. Of course, breaking down numbers is never a thing I mind, so I did it, and I will first explain my methodology... I think complete and utter overhaul of the EC is a non-starter for many of the flyover states. While most of those same folks fight hard because they believe that they win more elections this way due to losing out otherwise to the "dirty, mean coasts", the reality is that the second-largest electoral college vote block belongs to a traditionally-Republican voting state in Texas. Then, tied for third-largest are a traditionally left-leaning state in New York, but also one that is usually quite split in Florida. Tied for fifth-largest is an oft-conservative state in Pennsylvania along with Illinois. Looking more at that could make this more feasible. Essentially, each state's popular vote is then forced into its electoral votes. A few caveats to numbers - every state must have a winner, so a state like Minnesota in a near 50/50 will give 6 votes to the winner of the state, while a state with just 9 could see a close winner with 5 electoral votes. Percentages round up for the winner of the state when it comes down to percentages of one vote leftover among candidates. Outside of that, if, for instance, with Minnesota's 10 votes, if one candidate earned 60.1% of the vote, another candidate earned 30.2% and a third candidate had earned 4.9% while the rest of the field ate up the remaining 4.8%, that third candidate would get one electoral vote. It seems difficult, but it does end up better representing how the country truly voted, I believe, and since I put it together for this gentleman, I figured I'd share it with everyone here: Alabama 9 = 6 Trump, 3 Clinton Alaska 3 = 2 Trump, 1 Clinton (8 Trump, 4 Clinton) Arizona 11 = 6 Trump, 5 Clinton (14 Trump, 9 Clinton) Arkansas 6 = 4 Trump, 2 Clinton (18 Trump, 11 Clinton) California 55 = 34 Clinton, 18 Trump, 1 Johnson (45 Clinton, 36 Trump, 1 Johnson) Colorado 9 = 5 Clinton, 4 Trump (50 Clinton, 40 Trump, 1 Johnson) Connecticut 7 = 4 Clinton, 3 Trump (54 Clinton, 43 Trump, 1 Johnson) Delaware 3 = 2 Clinton, 1 Trump (56 Clinton, 44 Trump, 1 Johnson) DC 3 = 3 Clinton (59 Clinton, 44 Trump, 1 Johnson) Florida 29 = 15 Trump, 14 Clinton (73 Clinton, 59 Trump, 1 Johnson) Georgia 16 = 9 Trump, 7 Clinton (80 Clinton, 68 Trump, 1 Johnson) Hawaii 4 = 3 Clinton, 1 Trump (83 Clinton, 69 Trump, 1 Johnson) Idaho 4 = 3 Trump, 1 Clinton (84 Clinton, 72 Trump, 1 Johnson) Illinois 20 = 11 Clinton, 8 Trump, 1 Johnson (95 Clinton, 80 Trump, 2 Johnson) Indiana 11 = 6 Trump, 4 Clinton, 1 Johnson (99 Clinton, 86 Trump, 3 Johnson) Iowa 6 = 4 Trump, 2 Clinton (101 Clinton, 90 Trump, 3 Johnson) Kansas 6 = 4 Trump, 2 Clinton (103 Clinton, 94 Trump, 3 Johnson) Kentucky 8 = 5 Trump, 3 Clinton (106 Clinton, 99 Trump, 3 Johnson) Louisiana 8 = 5 Trump, 3 Clinton (109 Clinton, 104 Trump, 3 Johnson) *Maine 4 = 3 Clinton, 1 Trump (112 Clinton, 105 Trump, 3 Johnson) Maryland 10 = 7 Clinton, 3 Trump (119 Clinton, 108 Trump, 3 Johnson) Massachusetts 11 = 7 Clinton, 4 Trump (126 Clinton, 112 Trump, 3 Johnson) Michigan 16 = 9 Trump, 7 Clinton (133 Clinton, 121 Trump, 3 Johnson) Minnesota 10 = 6 Clinton, 4 Trump (139 Clinton, 125 Trump, 3 Johnson) Mississippi 6 = 4 Trump, 2 Clinton (141 Clinton, 129 Trump, 3 Johnson) Missouri 10 = 6 Trump, 4 Clinton (145 Clinton, 135 Trump, 3 Johnson) Montana 3 = 2 Trump, 1 Clinton (146 Clinton, 137 Trump, 3 Johnson Nebraska 5 = 3 Trump, 2 Clinton (148 Clinton, 140 Trump, 3 Johnson) Nevada 6 = 4 Clinton, 2 Trump (152 Clinton, 142 Trump, 3 Johnson) New Hampshire 4 = 3 Clinton, 1 Trump (155 Clinton, 143 Trump, 3 Johnson) New Jersey 14 = 8 Clinton, 6 Trump (163 Clinton, 149 Trump, 3 Johnson) New Mexico 5 = 3 Clinton, 2 Trump (166 Clinton, 151 Trump, 3 Johnson) New York 29 = 17 Clinton, 12 Trump (183 Clinton, 163 Trump, 3 Johnson) North Carolina 15 = 8 Trump, 7 Clinton (190 Clinton, 171 Trump, 3 Johnson) North Dakota 3 = 2 Trump, 1 Clinton (191 Clinton, 173 Trump, 3 Johnson) Ohio 18 = 10 Trump, 8 Clinton (199 Clinton, 183 Trump, 3 Johnson) Oklahoma 7 = 5 Trump, 2 Clinton (201 Clinton, 187 Trump, 3 Johnson) Oregon 7 = Clinton 5, Trump 2 (206 Clinton, 189 Trump, 3 Johnson) Pennsylvania 20 = Trump 11, Clinton 9 (215 Clinton, 200 Trump, 3 Johnson) Rhode Island 4 = Clinton 3, Trump 1 (218 Clinton, Trump 201, 3 Johnson) South Carolina 9 = 5 Trump, 4 Clinton (222 Clinton, 206 Trump, 3 Johnson) South Dakota 3 = 2 Trump, 1 Clinton (223 Clinton, 208 Trump, 3 Johnson) Tennessee 11 = 7 Trump, 4 Clinton (227 Clinton, 215 Trump, 3 Johnson Texas 38 = 20 Trump, 17 Clinton, 1 Johnson (244 Clinton, 235 Trump, 4 Johnson) Utah 6 = 3 Trump, 2 Clinton, 1 McMullin (246 Clinton, 238 Trump, 4 Johnson, 1 McMullin) Vermont 3 = 2 Clinton, 1 Trump (248 Clinton, 239 Trump, 4 Johnson, 1 McMullin Virginia 13 = Clinton 7, Trump 6 (255 Clinton, 245 Trump, 4 Johnson, 1 McMullin Washinton 12 = 7 Clinton, 4 Trump, 1 Johnson (262 Clinton, 249 Trump, 5 Johnson, 1 McMullin) West Virginia 5 = 4 Trump, 1 Clinton (263 Clinton, 253 Trump, 5 Johnson, 1 McMullin) Wisconsin 10 = 6 Trump, 4 Clinton (267 Clinton, 259 Trump, 5 Johnson, 1 McMullin) Wyoming 3 = 2 Trump, 1 Clinton (268 Clinton, 261 Trump, 5 Johnson, 1 McMullin) Final tally Clinton 268 Trump 261 Johnson 5 McMullin 1 *Maine does a version of this already, so the numbers you see for split are actually how they voted in the EC in 2016.

Working the process with five who all have ICWA, I will say that it completely depends on the state and their relationship with their tribes. South Dakota's social services system and the tribal leadership work very well hand-in-hand, and frankly, we're already getting significant support from the tribes of our kids in just expressing interest in ensuring they are brought up experiencing Native culture. Scholarships to camps provided by the tribes, offers to come to pow-wows and celebrations, and even one particular leader who has my personal number and offered to come utilize local facilities and do a sweat with my children. Like most things within social services, the quality of relationship will determine the quality of service from the state end of things, and the funding behind them will determine the amount of action they can take.

OPS was all the rage... in 1997. WAR is what you hear in arguments now, and since 2000, Ichiro is 9th in fWAR. The rest of the top 10 include Bonds, ARod, Pujols, Trout, Miggy Cabrera, Carlos Beltran, Utley, Beltre, and Chipper Jones. Essentially a whole list of Hall of Famers are near-HOFers. Incredibly, since 2000, he's by far the best baserunner and defensive right fielder that the game has seen. It's not particularly close in either respect.

Not a coastal only thing, but there's a LOT of the state of Minnesota who feel like they have no voice in the state due to the power of the Twin Cities. That's the same feeling that every state in the Corn Belt has when referencing the coasts.

They are spending on the team. With some significant young pitchers either returning from injury or coming up soon from the minors, they chose to spend in short-term deals this offseason on Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, and Cody Allen. They flirted with other starters, but the price wasn't right with the options that they have in guys like Andrew Heaney, Jaime Barria, Tyler Skaggs, Felix Pena, Jose Suarez, Griffin Canning, and down the road Luis Madero, Jose Soriano, Oliver Ortega, and Patrick Sandoval. Most every team drops salary in the offseason and adds during the year. The Angels were trading away assets during the year last year and still ended up with more salary by the end of the season. That's the nature of the beast with any team. Here are the Twins OD/EOY payrolls the last 5 seasons: 2014 - OD: $85,465,000; EOY: $91,071,286 2015 - OD: $108,262,500; EOY: $108,275,245 2016 - OD: $105,333,700; EOY: $122,601,625 2017 - OD: $108,102,500; EOY: $123,573,527 2018 - OD: $128,713,226; EOY: $143,820,218 Every single year, the payroll was higher at year-end, whether the team was competing or not.

Elimination is very much a coastal thing, though, and it will absolutely cost her being heard any further in middle America. Perhaps it should not be so, but she's basically just muted her own voice within potential inroads in the Midwest.

When you review more than just rankings to understand a farm system, you will know that the Angels have made incredible strides throughout their player acquisitions since Billy came on board. Bringing in three of the ex-Braves prospects last winter seemed to go under the radar because they had signed multiple huge names in the July 2017 class already and also got Ohtani. Add in some of the best drafting the last few years, and the system has moved up significantly. A Twitter discussion with Jonathan Mayo mentioned that the Pipeline staff viewed 9-15 as very fluid in their rankings. He even mentioned that he had the Angels as #10 on his personal list, but the summation of the staff had them lower.

1. Significant sources of new income for the team (new local TV deal money kicking in and national money from new deal) 2. Clearing crappy deals from the Dipoto era clearing dead payroll space (2018 was the first year with no money heading to Josh Hamilton, for instance). 3. Moreno has said over and over that the money is there if it makes sense, and he has opened the pocketbook to leap forward in payroll many times when it came to competitiveness. 4. That number is wrong. They have had end-of-season payrolls between $175-190 million the last three seasons.

Much like those who spew crap on the Orioles pitching development the last two years, not realizing that it changed drastically, the tired comments about how poor the Angels are at development have nothing to do with the current regime. That was Jerry Dipoto. Billy Eppling was brought in intentionally to have an emphasis on building a long-term strategy for competitiveness, not a year-to-year modality that Dipoto espoused.

You're off here significantly. They've done incredible work on the farm system. While you source MLB.com (and BA has 2 as well), Baseball Prospectus had 5 in their 101, Keith Law had 3, Fangraphs had 5 in their top 132, and I know in my top 150 that I placed 5 but had another 3 that were in strong consideration and likely were in the next 50-75. Of course, all that to say the number of prospects in a top 100 list has almost no bearing on the strength of a farm system overall. The Angels are a legit top-half farm system. I have them #11 right now, but they're very nearly a top 10 overall farm system in most rankings.

My wife's supportive right now. It will be interesting once I find full-time employment, and I continue to push the site. We'll see how things go then! Twins top prospects are my next post coming on the site, though!

I think he sees what Eppling has been doing, which is very, very impressive.

I had some scholarships. Interestingly, the scholarships I had were most likely going to be similar to what a college baseball player had as well. Over 2/3 of all college baseball players in the Division 1 level receive the majority of their scholarship money from non-athletic sources.