51 thoughts on “December 13, 2017: Election”

  1. I find it especially ironic that only one group of (K)Nights in White Satin got validated yesterday.

      1. I had a Bookface throwdown the other day on "greatest prog-rock flautist." I argued Ray Thomas, he argued Ian Anderson. I said that "Ian Anderson" was a category error. Not properly prog-rock.

        This is what Bookface was meant for.

          1. I think I do, too. Not going to help much this year, of course, but a reasonable gamble for a team like the Twins to take.

            1. If nothing else, it shows them taking a longer view, when far too often it seems like the focus is on the immediate-term.

      1. That is the core question. Paying two years of salary for at best 1.5 seasons of performance is a gamble.

  2. I don't consider myself a basketball expert but I'm pretty sure I could make out a starting lineup and play starters 40+ minutes. I could also design an offense around isolation plays and midrange jumpers.

    I'm officially on the Fire Thibs train.

    1. Does Jeff Teague get more burn than Tyus Jones because Teague's contract is bigger? Why can Tyus play point and Teague slide to shooting guard ... ugh.

      But, last nights game was a dun one to watch (until overtime)

  3. Can I get a Who Dat?!

    I never would have believed you if you told me a decade ago that I would detest the average Saints fan more than the average Packers fan, yet here we are.

  4. I love this. It's possible that many Marlins fans won't get to ever see a player as good as Stanton suit up for Miami in their lifetime, certainly in the next decade or two. But apparently the commish just considers him a "decision" made by the previous FO, to be gotten rid of so the new guys can start with a blank slate.

        1. He ditched his sinker when he left the Twins and turned into a good middle relief guy. Good for him!

      1. Yeah, that arguably makes even less sense than moving Stanton--2-3 more years of team control? That's exactly who you keep around if you are trying to rebuild.

  5. I won a photo conest at work and received a Nikon D3400. I don't understand most of what it said on camera reviews, but I'm excited about it.

      1. Sad to say I never managed to quite perfect the image posting here...
        Picture was of one of our machines out working. I was surprised because it wasn't a particularly scenic photo. They may have nice-ified the image for the calendar cover.

  6. Chicken Soup for the Boyo

    Two weekends ago was about to spatchcock roast chicken and decided to just make two half-chix with the good stuff (breast, thigh, leg) + rosemary sprigs, and throw all of the other stuff into a cookpot and let it boil down. After about a 1/2 hour, I sieved out the cooked out chicken parts, and put the broth into a zicloc plastic container in the fridge.

    So tonight I scraped the fat off the top (put the schmaltz into the freezer for future - any suggestions? ) and put about 12 oz of the stock into a pot, added a little water, and threw in some chopped onion, carrots, baby potatoes, green beans, salt+pepper, and let it cook for a while. When the veg's were mostly done added a handful of egg noodles and a little more water and let them cook (6-8 minutes). Turned out pretty good paired with 6 year-old home-brew Barolo.

    1. Less times he has to face the Twins. Good.
      I know I know, lifetime slash numbers: .255/.302/.417/.719 but the dude seems like he is always clutch against the Twins

    2. Typical Angels. Acquire a good player after he's too old to expect him to still be good but still have to pay him for being good. Kinsler was a 6-rWAR player 2014-16 (each year) but was only a 2-rWAR player last year. He'll be in his age 36 season and second basemen don't tend to age too well.

      1. Six wins at age 33 and 34 seem to be aging pretty well. His strikeouts were down, walks up, still an above average fielder, his contact rates look good. His BABIP was below average last year, possibly because he pulled less and went the opposite way more. Jeff Sullivan writes more about it and concludes he's probably not done, yet.

        1. Yea, I would agree. 6-win seasons don't grow on trees. Having back-to-back such seasons at 33 and 34, then an off year at 35? Seems plausible.

          Looking at his splits, he had an awful 2017 against RHP and at home, respectively. But his splits against LHP and away, respectively, were not all that different from 2016. Which makes me wonder what the hell was going on with him.

          225/302/378 vs RHP 2017
          281/340/469 vs RHP 2016
          278/357/539 vs LHP 2017
          309/369/525 vs LHP 2016
          223/296/402 home 2017
          309/364/489 home 2016
          250/332/423 away 2017
          267/331/479 away 2016

          The hit trajectory data suggests that he was horrrrible on fly balls (497 OPS, faaar below league average split). So maybe he lost a little something on his swing speed or launch angle? Hard to say, because he was 795 on fly balls in 2016, but only 345 in 2015. All. Over. The. Place.

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