I'm on a vacation simply brought about by the fact that I have vacation time to burn.
34 thoughts on “August 2, 2017: Use or Lose”
I'm a day late to the summer travel conversation, but greetings from Maine! Apart from the moments where the boys are at each other's throats, things are going pretty well. I made burrito bowls for the group last night (which also includes my parents and my uncle, who is a die-hard Dodgers fan), and they went over well.
It's looking like we'll try to catch the Portland Sea Dogs in action tomorrow.
I'm back to the grindstone today, which is a drag. I spent a week in London, saw some old friends, was offered and opportunity to work with the British Museum's traveling exhibition program, walked two marathons worth of miles in under 5 days*, and drank my weight in real ale. It's going to be hard to bike into work this morning.
*I'm a sub 3 (days) marathoner now. strike that one from the bucket list.
In the midst of all the "Dream World Series!!11!one!" hype surrounding the Yu Darvish & Sonny Gray trades, I have yet to see one baseball analyst engage the problem of disparity evident when the teams with the two largest payrolls are able to add rentals or long-term assets by trading away good prospects from stocked farm systems. The Yankmes' farm system was ranked #2 in baseball by MLB at the beginning of the year, while the Dodgers fell from #1 in 2016 all the way to #6 in 2017 because Corey Seager has cemented himself as the best player in LA.
It seems fairly clear that the new draft compensation system is not deterring big free agent spenders from acquiring as many players as they want by hollowing out their minor league system as a consequence. That may be exactly what both (some) owners and the MLBPA want, but it really stinks for fans of any team with more limited resources than those in New York & Los Angeles.
Absolutely. Last year the Yankees were able to take a chance on Aroldis Chapman, flipped him to the Cubs for several prospects, then bought him again the next season. It's the perfect environment right now for the rich teams.
Also, the weaker market teams can't even try to outspend on the international market anymore.
Smaller market teams do have a larger pool. The differences in pool sizes are small though. The base pool is $4.75 million and there are only two other tiers: $5.25 and $5.75 million. The Dodgers are so flush with cash they just swallow the penalty. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted a small pool and hard penalties so they could deter other teams.
On the other hand, the post-FA world has been much, much, much kinder (in competitive terms) to clubs outside of NYC and LA than it was before.
Not sure I quite follow you, Doc. Are you saying it's friendlier now than under the A/B compensation picks? Or than before compensation picks, period?
I am saying that in the days of yore, the Yanquis, Giants, and Dodgers went to a LOT of World Series. Even acknowledging the smaller leagues, they were way disproportionately successful. Which kind of suggests that they may have been buying their success and that the other clubs found it difficult to compete economically and on the field.
Ah, I'm following now. Yeah, I'll agree that things are generally better than they were when the Kansas City A's were the Yankmes' best farm club. What I'm most concerned about is that things appear to have taken a step backward following the changes to compensation picks a couple years ago, and now the results of those changes are coming clear.
The point sean makes about the Dodgers' pushing for a high penalty for exceeding international signing pools is a good one. The Brewers and Pirates aren't going to do something that jeopardizes their (comparatively slim) margins, while for the Dodgers it's simply the cost of doing business.
Kinda like Wall Street flagrantly violating financial/securities regulations vs. some small-time grifter getting caught for low-level embezzling.
I think you've lost the forest for the trees a bit. In the big picture, the Yankees and Dodgers have payrolls 33% bigger than the 3rd-ranked payroll, and they are spending more or less double the 10th-ranked payroll (St. Louis). That's soooo much more money that you can make a ton of mistakes and still come up with a good team. If you happen to make good decisions, then you're going to have an even better advantage.
In terms of parity, or ability to compete, I think the number one factor is how many teams are spending loads more than average/median, and the number two factor is how good the big spenders are at making decisions. I don't think any of the compensation schemes ever worked that well, I just think the Yankees didn't manage their roster particularly well when they had the type A/B system in place.
If MLB really wants parity, they need to enact a luxury tax that actually matters (my pitch to the players would be that luxury tax dollars are redistributed in full to the players as a bonus at the end of the year, prorated based on their base salaries.)
Anyone ever cashed in a savings bond? I have some that came mature on my birthday a few weeks back I should get turned in.
I assume I just take it to the bank?
Yeah, just take it to the bank. Pretty simple.
Some bonds will continue to accrue money after maturation date. You can enter in the bonds to a calculator to make sure they aren't still pulling in money at a better rate than you can get somewhere else.
It's a 30 year bond, so I'm pretty sure it stopped accumulating interest.
no, they continue accumulating interest. you just get a penalty if you cash it in prior to 30 years
At some point, they stop accumulating.
Minimum term of ownership: 1 year Interest-earning period: 30 years Early redemption penalties:
-Before 5 years, forfeit 3 most recent months' interest
-After 5 years, no penalty
right idea, poor execution
My problem is I've lost the paper bonds that I received from my grandmother 20 years ago. There's a convoluted recovery system (last I checked a couple years ago), but I could never crack it to recover my money.
I suppose it's going to a good cause. O_o
we misplaced a few EE here as well, but luckily I had the #s entered in Quicken, so if I get my butt around to it and fill in the paperwork, I should be able to recover them
Don't be surprised by the taxes on the earned proceeds though.
Nice that the gubmint collects tax on the interest earned on the low-interest loan it takes out.
Well, the interest is better than a savings account.
If the interest wasn't taxable, it would be a lower interest rate. Your net interest income comes out better than someone making $1 million per year. It is a progressive tax system. Not charging tax on the interest income would benefit the wealthy.
Conley was Bo Jackson way before (and way longer) than Bo.
I assume this made the news--I've been a little out of touch the last couple of days--but R. I. P. Ara Parseghian legendary Notre Dame football coach, at age 94.
So that's the dude who keeps showing up in my crossword puzzles
Yep. I thought the same. About 70% of my college sports knowledge stems from crosswords.
obviously, you don't have kids of a certain age, Jeff A. Otherwise, you'd be reminded frequently that you are out of touch. #dadsknowthat
Today is the last day of the stillwater lift bridge being open. Our family was displaced twenty years ago for the new bridge, so I kind of feel bummed I'm not up there for it.
at first I thought this LTE was about Lift Bridge, in which I was going to compliment you for your family's sacrifice in a good cause.
They did have a party honoring the event, so close enough I suppose.
One of the owners/founders/whatever is from the town where I now live. His grandfather was the first lawyer to set up shop here, and in some ways I am carrying on that original practice.
I'm a day late to the summer travel conversation, but greetings from Maine! Apart from the moments where the boys are at each other's throats, things are going pretty well. I made burrito bowls for the group last night (which also includes my parents and my uncle, who is a die-hard Dodgers fan), and they went over well.
It's looking like we'll try to catch the Portland Sea Dogs in action tomorrow.
I'm back to the grindstone today, which is a drag. I spent a week in London, saw some old friends, was offered and opportunity to work with the British Museum's traveling exhibition program, walked two marathons worth of miles in under 5 days*, and drank my weight in real ale. It's going to be hard to bike into work this morning.
*I'm a sub 3 (days) marathoner now. strike that one from the bucket list.
In the midst of all the "Dream World Series!!11!one!" hype surrounding the Yu Darvish & Sonny Gray trades, I have yet to see one baseball analyst engage the problem of disparity evident when the teams with the two largest payrolls are able to add rentals or long-term assets by trading away good prospects from stocked farm systems. The Yankmes' farm system was ranked #2 in baseball by MLB at the beginning of the year, while the Dodgers fell from #1 in 2016 all the way to #6 in 2017 because Corey Seager has cemented himself as the best player in LA.
It seems fairly clear that the new draft compensation system is not deterring big free agent spenders from acquiring as many players as they want by hollowing out their minor league system as a consequence. That may be exactly what both (some) owners and the MLBPA want, but it really stinks for fans of any team with more limited resources than those in New York & Los Angeles.
Absolutely. Last year the Yankees were able to take a chance on Aroldis Chapman, flipped him to the Cubs for several prospects, then bought him again the next season. It's the perfect environment right now for the rich teams.
Also, the weaker market teams can't even try to outspend on the international market anymore.
Smaller market teams do have a larger pool. The differences in pool sizes are small though. The base pool is $4.75 million and there are only two other tiers: $5.25 and $5.75 million. The Dodgers are so flush with cash they just swallow the penalty. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted a small pool and hard penalties so they could deter other teams.
On the other hand, the post-FA world has been much, much, much kinder (in competitive terms) to clubs outside of NYC and LA than it was before.
Not sure I quite follow you, Doc. Are you saying it's friendlier now than under the A/B compensation picks? Or than before compensation picks, period?
I am saying that in the days of yore, the Yanquis, Giants, and Dodgers went to a LOT of World Series. Even acknowledging the smaller leagues, they were way disproportionately successful. Which kind of suggests that they may have been buying their success and that the other clubs found it difficult to compete economically and on the field.
Ah, I'm following now. Yeah, I'll agree that things are generally better than they were when the Kansas City A's were the Yankmes' best farm club. What I'm most concerned about is that things appear to have taken a step backward following the changes to compensation picks a couple years ago, and now the results of those changes are coming clear.
The point sean makes about the Dodgers' pushing for a high penalty for exceeding international signing pools is a good one. The Brewers and Pirates aren't going to do something that jeopardizes their (comparatively slim) margins, while for the Dodgers it's simply the cost of doing business.
I think you've lost the forest for the trees a bit. In the big picture, the Yankees and Dodgers have payrolls 33% bigger than the 3rd-ranked payroll, and they are spending more or less double the 10th-ranked payroll (St. Louis). That's soooo much more money that you can make a ton of mistakes and still come up with a good team. If you happen to make good decisions, then you're going to have an even better advantage.
In terms of parity, or ability to compete, I think the number one factor is how many teams are spending loads more than average/median, and the number two factor is how good the big spenders are at making decisions. I don't think any of the compensation schemes ever worked that well, I just think the Yankees didn't manage their roster particularly well when they had the type A/B system in place.
If MLB really wants parity, they need to enact a luxury tax that actually matters (my pitch to the players would be that luxury tax dollars are redistributed in full to the players as a bonus at the end of the year, prorated based on their base salaries.)
Anyone ever cashed in a savings bond? I have some that came mature on my birthday a few weeks back I should get turned in.
I assume I just take it to the bank?
Yeah, just take it to the bank. Pretty simple.
Some bonds will continue to accrue money after maturation date. You can enter in the bonds to a calculator to make sure they aren't still pulling in money at a better rate than you can get somewhere else.
It's a 30 year bond, so I'm pretty sure it stopped accumulating interest.
no, they continue accumulating interest. you just get a penalty if you cash it in prior to 30 years
At some point, they stop accumulating.
Minimum term of ownership: 1 year
Interest-earning period: 30 years
Early redemption penalties:
-Before 5 years, forfeit 3 most recent months' interest
-After 5 years, no penalty
right idea, poor execution
My problem is I've lost the paper bonds that I received from my grandmother 20 years ago. There's a convoluted recovery system (last I checked a couple years ago), but I could never crack it to recover my money.
I suppose it's going to a good cause. O_o
we misplaced a few EE here as well, but luckily I had the #s entered in Quicken, so if I get my butt around to it and fill in the paperwork, I should be able to recover them
Don't be surprised by the taxes on the earned proceeds though.
Nice that the gubmint collects tax on the interest earned on the low-interest loan it takes out.
Well, the interest is better than a savings account.
If the interest wasn't taxable, it would be a lower interest rate. Your net interest income comes out better than someone making $1 million per year. It is a progressive tax system. Not charging tax on the interest income would benefit the wealthy.
Yep. Then they'd be like muni bonds.
this one is a month old now, but worth remembering: Gene Conley has died.
Conley was Bo Jackson way before (and way longer) than Bo.
I assume this made the news--I've been a little out of touch the last couple of days--but R. I. P. Ara Parseghian legendary Notre Dame football coach, at age 94.
So that's the dude who keeps showing up in my crossword puzzles
Yep. I thought the same. About 70% of my college sports knowledge stems from crosswords.
obviously, you don't have kids of a certain age, Jeff A. Otherwise, you'd be reminded frequently that you are out of touch. #dadsknowthat
Today is the last day of the stillwater lift bridge being open. Our family was displaced twenty years ago for the new bridge, so I kind of feel bummed I'm not up there for it.
at first I thought this LTE was about Lift Bridge, in which I was going to compliment you for your family's sacrifice in a good cause.
They did have a party honoring the event, so close enough I suppose.
One of the owners/founders/whatever is from the town where I now live. His grandfather was the first lawyer to set up shop here, and in some ways I am carrying on that original practice.