Vanimal46

The juiced baseball.

Great post. I had a similar experience on my high school hockey team over the years. There was a player who was very talented, but a horrible influence on the rest of the team. Sure, he could score 1-2 goals a game, but he never passed the puck, never helped out the younger players on the team, and felt entitled to do whatever he wanted. Halfway through the year he got in trouble for underage drinking, and we took a team vote whether to keep him on the team or let him go. We voted to let him go even though he was a top line forward who brought offensive firepower to the team. That decision unified the team, and while we lost some games that the player could have helped us win, it was a good life lesson to remove negative influences from your life. Ironically the player tried transferring to the cross town rival, but that team also voted not to bring him on board.

Were you aware in 2011 just how special your draft class could be?

8-0 Gophers vs. 8-0 Penn State. 11 AM CT on ABC. Most important game at TCF Bank Stadium since Blair Walsh shanked a 27 yard FG in the NFC Divisional Round playoffs.

Yeah, I don't believe that either. People in sports have egos and want to be known as the best at their craft. Ricky Bobby said it best, "If you ain't first, you're last."

Don't worry, he'll have the same opportunity to interview for that same role 3 years from now. Unless that's his absolute dream job to run the Red Sox, there's no reason to leave an organization that will give him a lifetime role no matter how his teams perform.

This may be a conspiracy theory with nothing behind it, but I swear companies send out updates that start to affect your older phone. I've got a Google pixel 2, had it for coming up on 2 years. Once that 2 year anniversary comes up, like clockwork, the phone starts acting up. Battery life goes to hell, some apps cause the phone to crash. It's happened with every Android smart phone I've owned... Nothing will ever be as bad as the early Samsung Galaxy phones with battery life. I had to charge that sucker 3x a day at the bitter end.

You're nice to keep his phone on your bill! I got kicked off the family plan after college...

We gave up privacy long ago... Nice to know that Apple somewhat cares about your data privacy. I'm going to check them both out in person tomorrow. If I have a new signature - Sent from my iPhone - you'll know what I picked.

Yeah Google gets weird with their push notifications and especially Google maps... It reminds me on my ride home I didn't make a stop at the liquor store and says there are other options on the way home.

There's only so much space in my pockets!

I'm currently debating between the Google Pixel 4 and latest iPhone. Haven't had apple products before but I'm getting really tired of no one having a type C charger when I'm out and running out of battery. Seems like everyone has apple chargers to go around...

Evidently the guy has no time to take 5-10 minutes out of his day to call her and apologize personally.

Vikings fall asleep in another prime time game... What else is new?

Garver is still making pre-arb money in 2020. The Twins can certainly afford to pay the part time veteran catcher "starter" money for another year before Garver hits arbitration. I would pitch a 2/$14 deal to Castro... Match his $8 million salary for 2020, $6 million with a buyout option in 2021.

My hope is they replace Castro with... Jason Castro. It's imperative to have a solid backup to split time with Garver, or take over full time if injuries play out that way. We seem to forget that Garver has a history of concussions and one more foul tip to the dome could force him out of the position.

Joe Girardi will be the new Phillies manager, and Jayce Tingler will manage the Padres.

Interesting article in Sports Illustrated about this topic. Written by a legal analyst. Sounds like there are ample grounds to punish Taubman and the Astros. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/10/23/astros-brandon-taubman-roberto-osuna-remarks-investigation-punishment

Interesting exercise! I'll bite... I don't have an Athletic subscription but I assume Gleeman also included top prospects. So I will do the same: 1) Jorge Polanco - Plays a premium position, very good bat, and locked in long term at a very reasonable rate. 2) Jose Berrios - Top pitching talent on the team. 3 years of control left. Potential extension guy this off-season. 3) Max Kepler - Locked in long term. Can play CF if needed. Made strides with the bat. 4) Taylor Rogers - Top bullpen option. 3 arb seasons left. Potential extension guy but I'd stay year to year... Never know with relievers! 5) Byron Buxton - 3 years of control left. We've all seen when he's healthy he is a game changer in the OF. 6) Brusdar Graterol - All aboard the hype train! 7) Jordan Balazovic - I think he's going to stick in the rotation and I thought about putting him ahead of Graterol... But that's a pretty hot take at the moment. 8) Mitch Garver - He's got years of control left but he's already getting up there in age... Gonna be 29. Yikes. 9) Alex Kirilloff - He may not play a premium position but he has a premium bat. 10) Luis Arraez - I don't think we can expect 2019 numbers going forward, but I do love his plate discipline. It should help even during times when he's slumping. 11) Miguel Sano - Only 2 years of control left. Still has massive talent and would rise above a lot of players if he was extended beyond 2 years. 12) Royce Lewis - If this were my personal list he would be off of it. I'm keeping him because there's value in being a top 15 prospect on industry lists. 13) Trevor Larnach - Good trade chip 14) Cole Sands - He's my pick to go on a meteoric rise in the system similar to Balazovic. 15) Nick Gordon - Not a huge believer but he plays a premium position and has been on top 100 prospect lists before.

Sure, it could be a quirk that he's on a mediocre team and plays his games on pacific time when people on the east coast are sleeping. Mike Trout should be the most well known star in baseball because he is the best player on the planet the point I think in the article. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think even casual sports fans out there should know a couple of star baseball players... I haven't watched a single second of basketball that wasn't on a TV at the bar, and I can name 7-8 stars in that league. Who is the most marketed baseball star today? Bryce Harper? Aaron Judge? Justin Verlander? Overall I fit in somewhere between your argument and jkcarew. I don't think everything is fine and nothing should be fixed. I also don't think the MLB is vulnerable and at risk of dying off anytime soon. The MLB could and should do more to market their stars nationally. They could cater a little more to the cord cutters out there in blackout areas. They should create a little more parity in the league by sharing revenue and potentially creating a formal salary cap.

Grandpa Ross back in the Cubs dugout!

I'm going to try hitting a golf ball with my eyes closed this weekend! Full report on Sunday night, here on TD!

Sports makes us all hypocrites... Sad but true.