Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Was the new USMCA deal a result of Jared Kushner's good cop to President Trump's bad cop? Sure seems that way. Good job!

- Where do we find such men?

- Heh Heh

- You have to be frigging kidding me. This is what you get when everyone gets "participation trophies".

- New role model indeed!

- Phil Steele's College Top 25 Bettor Power Rankings

- Interesting - is social media addiction in the NBA out of control? Long read but worth it. The next generation of kids - never mind NBA players - will have a serious problem with this.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Holy crap! Giant python swallows Indonesian farmer whole!

- Heh heh

- Just how long did these guys practice this?

- Heh heh

- 8 Amazon Prime perks you might be missing out on. I need to take advantage of the music service.

- Douchebag out shown by old guy shooting free throws

Robin Yount

Today marks the final game in the career of Derek Jeter. Like many, I'm not saying that Jeter wasn't a great player, a first ballot Hall of Fame player, but I am saying that this victory tour seems a bit much. For comparison sake - who can recall the send-off final season of Robin Yount - who was every bit as good (some would argue better) than Jeter.

Yount played much of his career as a shortstop but then moved to play centerfield because that's what the team needed. I can't imagine Jeter doing either - being athletic enough for center or putting the team first and changing position. Yount won two AL MVP Awards meaning the baseball writers twice felt he was the most valuable player in the entire league. Jeter never won an MVP.

Yount finished ahead of Jeter in the following categories; games played, doubles, triples, and RBI. Obviously that means Jeter was ahead of Yount in most of the other categories not named but also consider that Yount had almost 500 fewer strikeouts than Jeter and 70 fewer grounded into double plays. How close they were at the plate can be summed up in the fact that both finished their career with an OPS+ of 115 (OPS+ is a stat used to compare players from different eras).

Bill James created a stat called WAR (Wins Above Replacement) to try to quantify just how valuable a player was. Robin Yount finished with a career WAR of 77 (69th best of all-time) while Derek Jeter has 71.7 (which is 88th best all-time). WAR argues that Yount was the more valuable player. Maybe Jeter should give half his send-off gifts to Robin Yount because Yount was the better player yet didn't get a victory tour like Jeter is concluding tonight.

Jason Stark, Ryan Braun and Steroids

Jason Stark of ESPN makes the case that perhaps the best evidence that Ryan Braun was as innocent of using steroids as he claimed is the fact that this season Braun is basically hitting the exact same as last season. While the stats for this comparison certainly make for a nice column - the logic behind it is lacking. Two words came to mind when reading Stark's offering - David Ortiz.

David Ortiz is having perhaps the best season of his career - that does not mean that Ortiz never took banned performance enhancing drugs. He certainly did. Ortiz admitted that he tested positive in 2003. If I worked for ESPN I could probably put together a column comparing Ortiz' 2012 season to his 2003 season and what would my argument be - that Ortiz is back on the juice? That would be silly. But would it be as silly as Stark's argument that Braun's 2012 season somehow proves he didn't juice last year?

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

‘Family Guy’s’ MacFarlane Puts Ideology Aside to Toast Andrew Breitbart

Interesting - the speech jammer gun - like having a cell phone conversation with someone in same room. I could see how this simple device could silence someone.

As far as I'm concerned - this Mitt Romney story can't be told enough times

Interesting look at Sham Das - the arbitrator in the Ryan Braun ruling

Exclusive Video of What Happened to Ryan Braun's Urine Test!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Jeff Passan takes a very critical look at Ryan Braun - tough to argue against what he wrote. The one exception is I don't think he takes the leak of what was supposed to be private testing seriously enough.

Story of Mitt Romney saving some strangers. Well known in Massachusetts but it is strange story hasn't gotten more play nationally. Maybe campaign was waiting until NJ primary?

5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech

Interesting insight into some great TV history - Being Fred Mertz: The Life of William Frawley

In 1988 there was a live-action musical version of Puss in Boots starring Christopher Walken as Puss. One of the most awesome things on the Internet EVER! 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If they made this Ryan Braun saga into a movie - would Harrison Ford be too old to play Bud Selig?... 25 Photos of Mitt Romney looking perfectly normal. Call me a sap but I think these are cool... Just saying but if I was to go to the trouble to tamper with Ryan Braun's urine sample - I probably would have leaked the positive test results to ESPN too. It would be amusing if someone went to a lot of trouble to frame Ryan Braun but some Mr. Bean courier and his son screwed things up by being incompetent... Walter Arlington Latham (the Freshest Man on Earth) - they really did have much better nicknames back in the old days... I still think that if a player in any sport fails a drug test - the team should lose that roster spot for the entire length of the suspension. For example - if Braun was suspended for 50 games then the Brewers would lose a spot on their 25-man roster until Braun came back. I think that would end much of the cheating if the team had to share in the punishment... No conspiracy - Ron Paul and his people just don't like Rick Santorum... Ryan Braun may have a suit against MLB under HIPAA Privacy laws. The leaking of personal health information and the resultant damage that caused I'm guessing is very actionable. I wouldn't doubt if that is the potential legal action Braun was referring to yesterday... Flying owl filmed at 1000 frames per second - very cool... Nick Punto is the second player to wear number 5 since Nomar Garciaparra left town and both players wore the number in homage to Nomar (who they first checked with to make sure it was OK). Since Wade Boggs left town - 11 players have worn number 26 and none of them were honoring Boggs. Think of that the next time some uninformed sportswriter writes about retiring Boggs' number. The Red Sox aren't interested and neither are the fans... Kenny Fucking Powers!...

Ryan Braun

Here are some of my thoughts on the Ryan Braun saga.

First off - we are not talking about a crime here so let's stop with the talk about due process. Ken Rosenthal had a very good take on the subject but his one flaw was thinking this was a matter of due process. It was a case of contractual process and arbitration. If Braun was "guilty" he wasn't going to jail.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for certain processes to be in place and those processes were violated by agents in the employ of MLB. If the lack of adherence had come on the part of the player - say if the player did not provide the urine sample in the presence of a MLB tester - then the sample would have been ruled invalid and rightly so. That is not to assume that the player would have tried to use a Whizzinator if the tester wasn't watching but that same adherence to the agreed upon rules has to apply on the flip side of the coin. Who's to say the courier who failed in his duties doesn't have a Matt Kemp shrine in his apartment and access to synthetic testosterone?

It has been said that the arbitrator was also influenced that Braun's sample was rumored to have three-times the testosterone of the next highest sample ever recorded. Unprecedented levels of testosterone coupled with an unprecedented breaking of the testing process guidelines really left the arbitrator with no choice but to rule the way he did.

In unrelated news - the Milwaukee Brewers announced today that Rocky Mountain Oysters will no longer be served in the Brewers clubhouse. Ryan Braun was the only player eating them anyways.

Let me just say that MLB looks bad in this episode. They responded by saying they "vehemently disagreed" with the arbitrator's decision. They "vehemently disagree"? Is that how it works? MLB disagrees. Overruled. No, no, no - we VEHEMENTLY disagree! Oh, well if you vehemently disagree then the arbitrator should take some time to reconsider - NOT! (Someone at ESPN should definitely get Kevin Pollack to read MLB's statement.)

According to a Tweet from Ken Rosenthal - the 2-1 vote was the result of Union chief Michael Weiner and independent arbitrator Shyam Das siding with Braun while Rob Manfred of MLB voting against Braun. Is it just me or does this seem like a strange arrangement that would always result in any case starting off at 1-1? Why bother having the Union and MLB voters in the first place? Just have the arbitrator. Saying it was a 2-1 vote instead of an arbitrator's decision just makes it worse in my opinion.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I am saddened by the death of Steve Landesberg. His character, Lieutenant Dietrich on Barney Miller was one of my favorites of all-time... Wow - last night's lunar eclipse brought renewed interest for Bobbie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. I was not aware that E-Street Band stalwarts Max Weinberg (drums) and Roy Bittan (piano) along with Rick Derringer (guitar) played on that song... Business term I hate most is "best effort". If not specified does that mean you're getting whatever effort the vendor feels like?... It is not fair but I can almost guarantee that Jeff Bagwell will get more Hall of Fame votes than Fred McGriff. Both players finished top 10 in MVP voting 6 times and both won 3 Silver Slugger awards at first base but McGriff has more career HR, RBI and total bases... You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes... Like a good neighbor State Farm is there (with me minus 20 pounds). (Shit does not work in real life.)... Do you think the Yankees have called Mike Mussina just to see if he's been keeping in shape?... I imagine the $2 mil the Royals sent to the Brewers in the Zach Greinke trade was for Yuniesky Betancourt's 2012 buyout... When did Terry Bowden turn into Tim Allen from the Santa Clause movie?... The Brewers have now assembled a pretty good starting staff with the Greinke trade but they still need closer. Is Rafael Soriano next move?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Brewers have assembled a pretty good starting staff with the Zach Greinke trade but they still need closer. Is signing Rafael Soriano their next move? Do you think they regret missing out on Bobby Jenks?... Who knew that all you had to do to Gnocci to make it funny was to fry it? (I confess I did not know what Gnocci was until I saw the video)... Things that are hard to believe - Kirk Gibson never made an All-Star team... Strife was the son of the goddess Eris (Discord). Strife always followed Discord. I'm not sure if Delonte West ever slept with Eris... In the history of bad free agent signings - ESPN signing Rick Reilly has to be near the top of the list... Biggest indictment of the current BCS system is existence of Beef ‘o’ Brady’s Bowl (Louisville vs Southern Miss). When I first heard the name of the bowl - I thought it was a joke and I'm not sure if I was wrong...

Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez is supposedly on the cusp of signing to pitch for one of four teams; the Yankees, Rays, Cubs or Angels. All four teams make sense but one team that would make equal sense is not on the list and I wonder why.

The Milwaukee Brewers need an upgrade in their rotation and you would have to think that Pedro would be a both an upgrade over Manny Parra and also insurance over one of their fragile starters going on the DL. Sometimes its the team nobody (well almost nobody) mentions that has the most going on. Could the Brewers be looking at Pedro?

As a Red Sox fan - I want the Pedro saga to be over soon - well at least over after we get see what John Smoltz has left in the tank. The teams who lose out on Pedro will most likely turn to the Red Sox to inquire about Brad Penny.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

It looks like rookie Geovany Soto will be the Opening Day starter for the Cubs. Two thoughts on this. First you have to wonder how having a rookie catcher will impact the effectiveness of the pitching staff. People who know praise catchers like Jason Varitek for their ability to handle pitchers and call games. I'm not sure how much stock I put into that but it will be an interesting situation to monitor especially since team ace Carlos Zambrano is a bit of a head strong player who could use some "handling". The second thing to mention is the fact that Soto seems VERY good with the bat. He had 26 HR and hit .353 in 110 games for Iowa last season. He could be an excellent fantasy baseball sleeper pick.... I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Matt Stairs. In the off-season Stairs coaches hockey for John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine. You know that has to resonate with Toronto GM JP Riccardi who when he was with the Oakland A's used to spend his off-seasons coaching high school basketball for Holy Name in Worcester, Mass... The experts are pegging the NL Central to be a two team race between the Cubs and Brewers (the Cubs are 10 to 11 favorites to win the NL Central while the Brewers odds are pegged at 9 to 5). The Brewers should be much better defensively this year. The three areas of concern I'd have for the Brewers are Eric Gagne as closer (first he blew-up in Boston and then he gets his name in the Mitchell Report); the starting pitching depth and finally the contract status of JJ Hardy. The team and Hardy have until February 18th to work out a deal before it goes to arbitration. Hardy is asking for $3 million and the team counters with a $2.4 million offer. I'm guessing that a deal is reached within the next week but you never know. If the Brewers let this go to arbitration the lingering bad feelings could be a cloud over the start of the season.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Supposedly the Braves are looking at trading for Mark Kotsay of the A's. I say supposedly because the linked article smells more like an advertisement from Billy Beane that says that Kotsay is available to any team that missed out on signing Mike Cameron (who just signed with the Brewers). You would think the Braves would be better off giving prospect Jason Heyward a shot than trading for Kotsay and taking on both his salary (at least a few million worth of it) and the risk he'll hurt his back again... Wow! Robin Ventura had an ankle transplant. Read the whole thing - very interesting story about one of my favorite players of the 90's... As I mentioned earlier - Mike Cameron has signed to play with the Brewers. I like this move by the Brewers... Oakland Athletics third-baseman Eric Chavez thinks he'll be traded. Chavez with 3-years plus an option year at an average of about $11.5 million a year is the biggest contract left on the A's payroll. If Chavez was to be traded - my guess it would be to one of these four teams:

Phillies - they could use a 3rd baseman and could easily afford the $34 million over the next 3-years due Chavez. Probably would require the Phillies parting with a Carlos Carrasco or a Josh Outman (what a great name for a pitcher!) or some other highly thought of pitching prospect to get it done.

Giants - they need a 3rd baseman and solid bat in the order but would the Giants make a deal with the cross bay A's?

White Sox - they could use a 3rd baseman but they emptied the cupboards to trade for Nick Swisher. Josh Field will probably take over for Joe Crede. Low probability but who knows what the crazy White Sox GM will do?

Twins - 3rd base has been a sore spot for the Twins for years. Beane is the master of the 3-team trade so maybe Chavez is worked into some sort of Mets / Twins / A's deal? Chavez does have the Twins listed as one of the teams he doesn't want to be traded to in his limited no-trade clause which dampens the prospect of this happening.

Six Degrees of Guillermo Mota Separation

The Mets traded Guillermo Mota to the Brewers for catcher Johnny Estrada. I think you have to file this one under - there's more here than meets the eye.

On the surface the Mets fill one of their biggest needs by trading for a starting catcher with some pop in his bat. And they gave up a reliever who to be blunt - sucked. What gives? Were the Brewers so anxious to be rid of Estrada that they would basically leave themselves without a starting catcher for next season? The Brewers are rumored to be interested in Paul Lo Duca who was the Mets starting receiver last season.

Mota will only cost the Brewers $3.2 million in 2008 - so they can take a risk that he'll be serviceable. Estrada will probably get $5 million in arbitration.

This is the sixth time Mota hs been sent to another team as part of a trade. Those deals involved 21 other players and went back and forth from the American to National Leagues. It's probably possible to connect any player in baseball today with just 3 degrees of separation to Guillermo Mota and if you go to 6 degrees - you can probably connect him to babe Ruth.

NL Central Preview

Here’s my take on the teams of the National League Central.

Chicago - The Cubs finished 17.5 games behind the Cardinals last year and this year they hope having a healthy Derrek Lee, a newly acquired Alphonso Soriano and 3rd base slugger Arimis Ramirez will allow them to power to a better finish. If healthy - that trio could top well over 100 HR between them. However, the real key to the Cubs season is how they fare outside the NL Central. Last year the Cubs were .500 within their division (42-42) whereas they were a miserable 20-43 against the NL East and NL West. The sluggers will make this a more entertaining team but if Chicago is to improve against the East and West then pitching holds the key. Carlos Zambrano was the only starter to start 30 games last season (Sean Marshall was second on the team with 24 starts and this year he's not even in the rotation). If a team is holding up its hopes to the success of newly acquired Ted Lilly and a return to health of Mark Prior and maybe Wade Miller - then those hopes may be in vain. Like many - I'm curious if Felix Pie is the real deal or the next Lastings Milledge. I think this season we'll find out the answer to that question.

Cincinnati - The Reds play in a launching pad of a park (Great American Ball Park) but they are trying to make pitching the keystone of their success. The Reds recently wrapped up starters Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo to long term deals and they traded for Kirk Saarloos formerly of the A's plus they have prospect Homer Bailey waiting in the wings. The addition of Alex Gonzalez at short will help the pitchers but his bat is just another uneven hitter in the batting order. Their 1st baseman can't hit for power, while their left fielder has never hit above his weight and the centerfielder is the subject of injury pools across the country. Just making things interesting will be a win for the Reds this season.

Houston - The Astros hope that the 3-4 combination of Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee will add some pop to the offense and I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that if Carlos Lee can stay healthy this year then Lance Berkman will win the NL MVP. The two big questions for the Astros are obviously whether Roger Clemens will re-sign with the club but also how Phil Garner will find 500 AB for both Mark Loretta and Craig Biggio - two players that are too good to be on the bench for any stretch of time. Even without Roger Clemens - the Astros will be very competitive team this year. It is very possible that both the NL MVP (Berkman) and NL Cy Young (Roy Oswalt) will come from the Astros this season.

Milwaukee - The Brewers .258 team batting average was the 4th worst in MLB last year. The upgrade at catcher to Johnny Estrada should help greatly with that. Someone will have to explain to me what the Brewers were thinking in regards to their infield. Their budding star they move from short, to 3rd and now to the outfield. They have a young second baseman Rickie Weeks but they offer Tony Graffanino arbitration and sign Craig Counsell. What were they thinking?

Pittsburgh - The Pirates had a winning record in the second half of the season last year and they have added power at 1st base in Adam LaRoche. Jason Bay and Freddy Sanchez make this an interesting team but the Pirates aren't winning anything.

St. Louis - I think it will take a mid-season trade for a top starter to allow St. Louis to make the playoffs this year. The Cardinals have Chris Carpenter and then a huge drop off. They lost Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver who was very strong for them down the stretch. They added Kip Wells. Do I have to say more? I predict that St. Louis does not make the playoffs this season.