My elder daughter is saying she hopes it snows here this year.
36 thoughts on “December 15, 2015: Optimist”
My kids are saying the same thing at this point.
From the Rochester Red Wings facebook page: "The Minnesota Twins signed OF Darin Mastroianni, SS Wilfredo Tovar, LHP Buddy Boshers and RHP Brandon Kintzler to minor league contracts Monday."
Whoa! Settle down Terry Ryan. Let's step back an evaluate all of your options before you go all crazy throwing around minor league contracts like a bunch of tic tacs.
Sometimes I forget that my daughter is eight years old. She spends so much time working on skating and her schoolwork and piano... it snowed what, two weeks ago? and she could not wait to go sledding. In fact, she just went out and sledded down the driveway, rendering it one huge ice patch. Yep, she's still just a little girl.
I can completely relate to this with the jalapeno, who is 5. One moment he's so grown up, and the next he's tiny.
Cliff Corcoran's article for SIon Cueto signing with the Giants raised my eyebrow a couple of times (the Dodgers' "recent hegemony" in the NL West? – count tha ringz!), but I did find this comparison interesting:
Cueto may lack Bumgarner’s consistency, reliability and durability (shoulder inflammation limited him to 156 innings in 2011 and a chronic latissimus dorsi strain behind his pitching shoulder limited him to just 11 starts in 2013), but he’s very much a 1A-type starter in San Francisco, the right-handed Drysdale/Greinke to the left-handed Bumgarner’s Koufax/Kershaw.
rWAR(age 27)
rWAR (career)
Pitcher
47.2
47.2
Kershaw
46.4
61.2
Drysdale
30.4
50.7
Player X
27.7
48.6
Greinke
27.4
53.2
Koufax
20.2
20.2
Bumgarner
17.4
25.9
Cueto
Bumgarner just finished his age-25 season, so he's giving up two full seasons to Sandy Koufax & Zack Greinke. It seems a pretty safe bet that he'll be as good or better than Koufax & Greinke through age 27 as long as he's healthy.
The proliferation of opt-outs has been interesting to watch. I can't help but wonder if teams actually want them too. Time them right and you get the good, early years of the contract and dump the later years on someone else.
The Dodgers got three prime years of Greinke (29-31), 17.5 rWAR for $70 million. Not cheap but still only $4 million for win.
Cueto can opt-out after 2017 and he very likely will, so the Giants are going to get about eight or nine wins for $43.3 million. That's $5.4 million per win when the going rate today is at least $6 million if not $8 million.
I highly doubt Bumgarner is going to more than double his career rWAR in the next two seasons.
That's not what I said. What I said was:
...as good or better than Koufax & Greinke through age 27...
Bumgarner, who just pitched his age-25 season, needs to generate less than 8 total rWAR over his next two seasons to match or exceed Koufax & Greinke's accomplishments through age 27.
More know for being the boyfriend of FOX Sport's Erin Andrews.
Lesser known for his cocaine arrest last year.
Also, right-handed and good in the circle. The fourth line has been getting caved, so he might be able to help there.
I'm pleased to report that the jalapeno is aware of π. Excerpt of a conversation he had with a (younger) friend a few days ago:
Friend: I'm going to get 10 presents for Christmas!
Jalapeno: Well, I'm going to get pi presents!
Friend: I'm going to get coconut presents!
Jalapeno: Coconut is not a number.
I perhaps need to work on explaining that π is less than 10, but I was proud nonetheless.
Did someone say pi?
Will you round up and give him 4 presents? Otherwise that 0.141592...fraction of a present will be a bitch.
Haha! I typically wouldn't round up for anything below 3.5, but perhaps if the fourth gift is a shirt like this one, I could make an exception.
Just make it 22/7 presents and call that good enough.
It would be really irrational to give a pi remainder gift.
This could go on forever.
We'll be going around in circles soon.
As a math geek and a lover of puns, this makes me doubly smile
Goodness do I love the interwebz sometimes.
I have no idea how I went from reading a story about Bernie Sanders to "The Battle at Silver Islet" ... but man was it fun.
Just hate-watched the debate, live-commenting withe the Mrs by text. Good lord, I feel dirty.
Is it bad that I dont care about these primary debates? (both parties)
Wake me when we have two or three candidates.
That's just it. I am lefty enough to view the Republican spectacle as an abomination, but much of the problem lies in the format and number of candidates.
My apologies to all if my comments here ventured too far into the Forbidden Zone.
I think the "spectacle" nature of the Republican debates is fair-ish game when focused on the consequences of the format and large number of candidates, but I should do better to spoiler my opinions regarding the individual candidates....
I think anyone can agree that the whole thing is a spectacle, even those of us on the right.
The amount of time that gets spent on these things is right up there with Super Bowl Pre-game shows.
Yes, and my original comment was intended to echo some commentary here about watching NFL games and the self-loathing that may ensue. But I can see how it has a partisan bite to it that may have offended some.
My kids are saying the same thing at this point.
From the Rochester Red Wings facebook page: "The Minnesota Twins signed OF Darin Mastroianni, SS Wilfredo Tovar, LHP Buddy Boshers and RHP Brandon Kintzler to minor league contracts Monday."
Whoa! Settle down Terry Ryan. Let's step back an evaluate all of your options before you go all crazy throwing around minor league contracts like a bunch of tic tacs.
Sometimes I forget that my daughter is eight years old. She spends so much time working on skating and her schoolwork and piano... it snowed what, two weeks ago? and she could not wait to go sledding. In fact, she just went out and sledded down the driveway, rendering it one huge ice patch. Yep, she's still just a little girl.
I can completely relate to this with the jalapeno, who is 5. One moment he's so grown up, and the next he's tiny.
Cliff Corcoran's article for SI on Cueto signing with the Giants raised my eyebrow a couple of times (the Dodgers' "recent hegemony" in the NL West? – count tha ringz!), but I did find this comparison interesting:
Bumgarner just finished his age-25 season, so he's giving up two full seasons to Sandy Koufax & Zack Greinke. It seems a pretty safe bet that he'll be as good or better than Koufax & Greinke through age 27 as long as he's healthy.
Holy crap, Kershaw is pretty good, huh?
I could watch that all day.
The proliferation of opt-outs has been interesting to watch. I can't help but wonder if teams actually want them too. Time them right and you get the good, early years of the contract and dump the later years on someone else.
The Dodgers got three prime years of Greinke (29-31), 17.5 rWAR for $70 million. Not cheap but still only $4 million for win.
Cueto can opt-out after 2017 and he very likely will, so the Giants are going to get about eight or nine wins for $43.3 million. That's $5.4 million per win when the going rate today is at least $6 million if not $8 million.
I highly doubt Bumgarner is going to more than double his career rWAR in the next two seasons.
That's not what I said. What I said was:
Bumgarner, who just pitched his age-25 season, needs to generate less than 8 total rWAR over his next two seasons to match or exceed Koufax & Greinke's accomplishments through age 27.
Sorry. I read Kershaw in there. My bad.
I did as well.
Thanks to whomever (sean?) fixed my table.
🙂
There's at least one likable thing about the Clippers. Well, amusing at least.
The Wild pick up Jarrett Stoll off waivers (previously with NYR)
More know for being the boyfriend of FOX Sport's Erin Andrews.
Lesser known for his cocaine arrest last year.
Also, right-handed and good in the circle. The fourth line has been getting caved, so he might be able to help there.
I'm pleased to report that the jalapeno is aware of π. Excerpt of a conversation he had with a (younger) friend a few days ago:
Friend: I'm going to get 10 presents for Christmas!
Jalapeno: Well, I'm going to get pi presents!
Friend: I'm going to get coconut presents!
Jalapeno: Coconut is not a number.
I perhaps need to work on explaining that π is less than 10, but I was proud nonetheless.
Did someone say pi?
Will you round up and give him 4 presents? Otherwise that 0.141592...fraction of a present will be a bitch.
Haha! I typically wouldn't round up for anything below 3.5, but perhaps if the fourth gift is a shirt like this one, I could make an exception.
Just make it 22/7 presents and call that good enough.
It would be really irrational to give a pi remainder gift.
This could go on forever.
We'll be going around in circles soon.
As a math geek and a lover of puns, this makes me doubly smile
Goodness do I love the interwebz sometimes.
I have no idea how I went from reading a story about Bernie Sanders to "The Battle at Silver Islet" ... but man was it fun.
image of said Islet
Just hate-watched the debate, live-commenting withe the Mrs by text. Good lord, I feel dirty.
Is it bad that I dont care about these primary debates? (both parties)
Wake me when we have two or three candidates.
That's just it. I am lefty enough to view the Republican spectacle as an abomination, but much of the problem lies in the format and number of candidates.
My apologies to all if my comments here ventured too far into the Forbidden Zone.
I think the "spectacle" nature of the Republican debates is fair-ish game when focused on the consequences of the format and large number of candidates, but I should do better to spoiler my opinions regarding the individual candidates....
I think anyone can agree that the whole thing is a spectacle, even those of us on the right.
The amount of time that gets spent on these things is right up there with Super Bowl Pre-game shows.
Yes, and my original comment was intended to echo some commentary here about watching NFL games and the self-loathing that may ensue. But I can see how it has a partisan bite to it that may have offended some.