biggentleben

Good that you can joke about it. For those who live with it, it's not a joking manner.

Exactly. Teams are adding complex league teams all over the place right now, so obviously there's value in more lower-level teams as far as development is concerned.

The Braves never really kept the salary structure artificially low during the rebuild, using their financial structure to bring in contracts other teams wanted to be rid of in order to acquire minor league players and/or additional draft picks. The team went into "rebuild" after the 2014 season, when their year-end payroll was $114.7M. The next three seasons saw them with year-end payrolls of $107.5M, $128.3M, $133.4M, and 136M. For what it's worth, the lowest number there would have been a franchise record if not for the 2014 salary, which was artificially inflated due to late signings. The team had an Opening Day payroll of $122.6M and $118.3M in 2017 and 2018. They currently have $118.4M as the current Opening Day payroll based on projected 25-man roster. Before 2017, the team had exceeded a $100M Opening Day payroll 3 times in franchise history, including twice when their payroll placed them in the top 5 in the major leagues. They added revenue on a place they owe money on and make significant debt payments on, if you're referring to The Battery. The Braves have their books open, yet people try to argue the same lines as with other ownership groups. Perhaps not EVERY owner is lying...

I think the story needs to be fully read. This was not the Hartford team bending to pressure of loud voices. This was a pair of dedicated fans who both happen to have children with peanut allergies reaching out to the team, asking for a peanut-free day or something of that sort. The team made this decision. As far as history goes, it's right in line with true history of the game. The author of the lyrics of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" had never been to a baseball game. Beyond the rulebook, he did not have an idea what was a common occurrence at the game. Crackerjacks were a dying brand that was near being eliminated from the shelves when they were injected into the song, likely for lyrical purposes as much as anything. Peanuts often were incredibly stale at games at the time because no one purchased them. The popular items were popcorn, hot dogs, cotton candy, and roasted corn on the cob well ahead of peanuts. As far as vegetarian and even vegan options, nearly every stadium, major and minor league has had multiple protein options for my wife when we've gone to games without having to resort to peanuts, but if you're really needing something in a shell at a ballgame, try unsalted sunflower seeds: Sunflower seeds 1 ounce serving 163 calories 14 grams fat 1.5 grams saturated fat 5.5 grams protein 6.5 grams carbs 3 grams fiber Peanuts 1 ounce serving 161 calories 14 grams fat 1.9 grams saturated fat 7.3 grams protein 4.6 grams carbs 2.4 grams fiber

Except that a peanut allergy can be triggered simply by the shell dust in the air. It's not about what the person consumes. If that dust is even on their food, it can set off an attack. It's not at all about what they choose to put in their mouth.

It is true that drastic shifts in temperature lead to colds, mostly due to the body adjusting to the change in surrounding air temp lowering the body's ability to be at full strength against invaders.

It's basically a car crash that you cannot look away from right now. I finish an episode thinking there could be so much more there...but then I tune back in the next week.

It's also a very interesting take on the whole situation. From someone closely aware of the Braves situation, the team has mentioned multiple times over the offseason their intention to maintain flexibility to spend at a "significantly higher rate" at the trade deadline than they did in 2018, when they added roughly $7M in present year salary to push for the playoffs. The Braves do have a budget as they are a corporate-owned system with money line-itemed out for all to see in public releases. While not directly stated, the believed upper limit of spending would leave $25 million in payroll budget. A very slight increase in 2018 would leave $15 million available for 2019 spending. $15 million available at the trade deadline would be flexibility to pursue players like Cervelli, Dozier, Gennett, Schoop, Zobrist, Arenado, Frazier, Rendon, Dickerson, Ozuna, Hicks, Castellanos, Puig, K.Davis, Bumgarner, Cole, Kyle Gibson, Hamels, Harvey, Mikolas, Pineda, Wacha, Wheeler, Alex Wood, Betances, Cishek, Hirano, McHugh, Addison Reed, Strop, or Will Smith if their respective teams are out of the race and the need at their position is there. The ability to pursue multiple big-money guys is something a team with arguably the worst local TV deal in the game has to budget wisely for during the offseason if there are to be funds available.

My freshman year of college, my dad came to pick me up after my last final of my first quarter at the U of M. He'd driven from South Dakota the previous night, so he came up and spent some time checking out the residence hall now that it actually had kids in it. As we were headed to the elevators to leave, we passed a study lounge where a friend was studying, a friend who happened to be my first Jewish friend after having no exposure to such in rural SoDak. I went in to wish him good luck on his remaining final and leave. I introduced my dad, and the following conversation occurs: Dad: What are you studying for? Friend: Advanced Physics (he was a physics major, so it was not a basic course, but I couldn't tell you the actual name 20 years later) Dad: Yikes! This is why I stick to the farm! (chuckle from everyone in the room) Well, you have a Merry Christmas! Me: *completely blank face, obviously mortified as my father wheels a suitcase toward the elevator* Friend: Ben, no worries, it's cool. He's a great guy. Have a good break! I know those conversations can happen still today because I have had them. I've screwed up so many times with a recent out trans friend's pronouns, and she is so incredibly gracious, knowing that 30+ years of calling her "he" and "him" is not going to go away easy. I've asked someone their plans for Easter and found out they were Muslim. I've talked about recent legislation regarding Native Americans and found out the person I was speaking with had Native ancestry. Not once did that person tear me down, make an example of me, nor did they disavow any knowledge of my existence. I made an honest mistake, apologized, and we moved forward as friends. There's a tremendous TED talk from Jon Ronson regarding online shaming, and I do think that's taken away a lot of our ability to have an honest apology and assume the best in a person... That talk for anyone interested: https://youtu.be/wAIP6fI0NAI

I'm a bit Red in the face that I messed up which Brave move this truly was...that's a true Crime.

Brave choice there, Padre.

She railroaded a friend into a case that was not factually correct, but he didn't have the resources to fight it fully, but it was in the midst of her first election campaign, and it made for very good publicity to put in a BS label on him that cost him his job and his career. I understand that's still vague, but there's only so much I feel comfortable speaking on without that person chiming in on their own behalf. Needless to say, the multiple calls and court interactions I had with her throughout the process would cause me to never, ever cast a vote for her.

If you're feeding cattle straw, you've got another issue.

Personal interaction with her would lead me to never, ever cast a vote for her.

Not one of the people that this contact was referring to had any racial or size bias. That was a huge question he asked directly to them. It was a lot of his lack of comfort in the pocket, his inconsistent throwing mechanics, and his exceptional natural instincts on the move with the ball. Much like Murray's baseball scouting consensus is that he's a long shot to even make the big leagues, yet you'd think he's a guaranteed prospect. He's much more raw than most high school players right now.

This comes less than 24 hours after a contact of mine put together a piece for his LinkedIn contacts exploring the feelings of multiple NFL scouts regarding Murray not being highly regarded as a QB by those scouts, who see him as a future RB.

Minor league deals seem to be the floodgates around the league right now...

This has been the reliever market all offseason. A guy like Wilson, who would usually be a one-year-contract sort of guy is now on a minor league deal. Instead of $15M per, guys got $12-13M...no, it doesn't look like much in the latter case, but if you noted relievers all winter were getting fewer years, less average annual value, and/or less overall contract value than projected across the board, and they were the only position seeing that.

I know you can take away a bunch of those accolades mentioned, and he's the only one to accomplish them all, but I couldn't find the MLB.com tweet on it, and I know if you add in all of those, he's definitely alone!

Robinson is the only player who has picked up a Rookie of the Year Award, MVP award, World Series MVP, All-Star MVP, Triple Crown, and a Gold Glove. Add in a Manager of the Year Award, and there may never be another player who was as recognized for his excellence as was Robinson.

No, I got it. I just chose to address that feeling toward lists rather than acknowledge your direct statement is all.

My best explanation to folks is that any list for any author is a snapshot of that moment in time. It's why I don't update my overall list if a new player is added to the league (Yolbert Sanchez, for instance) or one graduates (Luiz Gohara's bereavement time recently was ruled as enough to remove his rookie eligibility, for instance).

No Gordon right now. Some significant concerns there. However, if I were going to 200-250, he'd be in that grouping, but a number of Twins would be, really. I think that's where the Twins system strength is compared with other systems. The next 100 prospects on my list would likely be led by the Padres, which is why they're #1, but then the Twins and Yankees would join teams like the Braves and Rays in the "frequency" grouping.

1. there's reportedly a third piece in the deal 2. Alfaro is arguably the most athletic catcher in the game with the strongest arm in the game. Realmuto is a poor framer as well. Defense isn't an argument to make for the move at catcher, it's contact skills at the plate. 3. Catchers break down. A lot. Moving Alfaro still leaves the Phils without a great backup plan if Realmuto does break down, which is why they pursued Ramos midseason last year. Realmuto had one of the largest OPS drop-offs from first half to second half in all of baseball in 2018, and that's a trend for him. While he graded at the top in 2018 of catchers on a few WAR scales, he didn't in all of them, and he's not been a guy to consistently finish in the top 2-3 each year until last year.

Pure ridiculousness. The Marlins have milked this out better than the Rays milked out Archer. Both acquiring teams will regret the move equally.