biggentleben

Bonds notably made his changes after the 1998 home run race. At that time, he had played 13 seasons with 411 HR, 445 SB, and a .290/.411/.556 career line, good for a 164 OPS+. He'd won 3 MVP awards, finished in the top 5 in MVP voting four other seasons, won 8 Gold Gloves, and was widely considered the most dynamic player in the game. Just for mark on his line...at the time, the 400/400 club was an exclusive club. He's still the only member of it, and he's extended it to the 500/500 club, something we may never see another player ever do, and something he likely would have achieved without any additional substance. You want to get into performance enhancement, we can start discussing the shots Mickey Mantle was getting from his doctor. We can discuss animal testosterone shots being utilized before Babe Ruth ever stepped onto a major league field. Acting as if players of that era were the only ones that have ever done it and/or should be shamed for partaking in something as common as the greenies and cocaine in the clubhouses at other times in baseball history is just absurd. FWIW, no one ever died in the game due to PEDs. The same can not be said about amphetamines, and the player that passed can thank a certain revered HOFer that may be the last player that the media ever gave full clubhouse protection to, as that HOFer hooked him up with someone who could get him the best uppers available. Not a coincidence that so many players of the heavy greenie era have passed from heart attack. Gaylord Perry is in the Hall, and he is well-known for doctoring baseballs on the mound. The HOF is full of racists that refused to allow men of another race into their league for nearly 100 years. Those players with failed tests once the league started testing (and I do mean legit, punishable tests, not the Mitchell report leak, which has been found to be inaccurate on many of the names implicated as having failed the initial round of testing) are a tougher sell, and I can respect that. Manny Ramirez having little HOF traction in spite of his numbers makes perfect sense. Guys who never failed a test are no different from players in the 30s, 50s, or 70s who put up gaudy stats at certain times, but also had readily available PEDs in their clubhouses. Why suspicion of one is acceptable and not the other?

Tough start to the year! I think I would have had only one of those considered for my list (Okerlund's health took a major downturn at the end of 2018), but crazy to start off with a few that reasonably could have been on lists so fast in the year.

First time in the same calendar year since 1994...which is still a long darned time.

Lucroy is not a guy I would want starting for my team at this point. Not sure I'd want him backing up either.

Or he's moved across the diamond...

That's the word on the street, so to speak. Problem is that they still don't have enough room for him alone without moving a bit more cash or having the Indians eat a touch of salary, which would likely mean some heavy prospect return to the Indians, who reportedly were BIG fans of Downs, so he may not finish the offseason in the Dodgers org.

That'd be akin to asserting the Twins would make a certain deal based on the Delmon Young deal.

Downs and Gray are very solid prospects, Gray especially so. Gray's the type of guy who 3-4 years from now we will look back and shake our heads at the "Dodgers got another one"

Not what the deal was about. They're clearing space for a different player...one from the AL Central.

It's a he...a fixed he, but a he. And they typically will go for it in this manner. She knows that she'll get the last half of the jar, so she lets him get what he can with his pug nose, then sticks her skinny nose sometimes all the way in the jar, depending on the brand.

Penny Marshall dead at 75 Damn.

Yes, and that seems odd with White, Reed, Gurriel, and more at 1B as well. A guy like Marwin makes sense to bring back to that team, but corner depth, not so much...

More AAV than he was projected. Continuing the trend. Outside of relievers, those who have signed have been paid well.

Astros sign Brantley for 2/$32M This is odd with a top 10 prospect that's more than ready for the bigs in the wings.

Usually it’s a matter of the pug leaving the jar and she’ll sneak in and grab it. She noticed me filming, so she was very tempted to come to me, which is probably why she was struggling. We didn’t catch the trade off last night as we were mixing up puppy chow at the time and came out to find the poodle had the jar now.

So, I promised pics, but here are vids instead: https://youtu.be/tCrnaac5z8c https://youtu.be/XHv94cEB_T4 Nevermind the Star Wars background lol

If so, they've improved tremendously defensively and with the ability to take a walk with both. However, it still leaves at least two holes in the outfield, depending on how confident you are in Bradley Zimmer in center.

Bill Fralic passed away at 56. Former #2 overall pick, 4x Pro Bowl, 2x All-Pro (and legit HOF) NFL lineman who was one of the nicest people I've ever had the chance to meet. Cancer sucks.

Diaz never had the prospect ranking of Bauers (as high as #45 with BA last year), never ranking once in a top 100 list while Bauers did in two seasons for BA and MLB Pipeline. Bauers also is a solid defensive outfielder while he always seemed to be tripping over his own feet at first, so the Indians may have just filled two lineup holes by trading Encarnacion.

You are in luck! I will be making puppy chow with the boy this weekend, so I will use up a jar (or two) of peanut butter. Pics shall be forthcoming!

Tulo will sign for league minimum as his salary is paid by Toronto. He'll just choose the best situation for him.

So far, every player that has signed has received more AAV than projected.

Mine work in tandem. The pug gets the jar first, gets as far as his pug nose will let him go, and then the poodle takes the jar and cleans out the rest.

A certain SD university's president could change that in a real hurry.

Horrible to hear that the circumstances around the death involved murder. Horribly tragic.