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This Trump rally in Tulsa has to be one of the most mind boggling decisions in modern society and shows how many dumb people there are in this country.

The best thing about the rally tonight is I can look at the 20k in the arena and the hundreds of thousands who supposedly can't get in and are outside, and know I am smarter than all of them.

Not exactly. My comments about Boras are tempered by the fact that I just don't like him. Some think he is good for baseball, I think that he might have been, but now isn't. He's greedy, to a fault. Don't ask me why. I'll let someone else be his shrink. Then, the one time he represented a very high White Sox draft pick, Carlos Rodon, he really tried to put the wood to the Sox. He held out for an amount way above slot, and then tried his best to make the Sox pay even more, to the extent that there would have been penalties to the Sox. Boras didn't care. They should have just walked, and let Rodon go through the draft again the next year. But they capitulated and signed him. Had the White Sox walked, they would have received the #4 pick the next year, and saved all that over slot money. Then, you could not have said that Boras was good for his client, because Rodon might not have been able to go back to college for his senior year, having hired an agent. Boras used to represent Cargo, when Cargo was a real hot commodity. Cargo wanted to extend with the Rockies, Boras wanted to test FA waters, Cargo negotiated his own contract with Rockies, got what he wanted where he wanted. Might be the only time a Boras client rejected his tactics. Then, we have 2020 with all of its problems. No deal yet, and you can't convince me that Boras has been helpful in trying to get a deal done. Quite the opposite, I'm sure. We'll probably never know the extent Boras went to convince MLBPA not to accept a deal.

Because their citizens listened to experts and getting sports back is the reward. We haven't done that in this country.

So those are the 2 choices ? Either compare him to Sale or say he's not Sale to protect the kid from unfair and often misconstrued comparisons and it becomes showing no confidence in the kid ?

It’s even worse. Are there really other politicians who would want to cut back testing during a pandemic, other than dictators.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2020-21-mlb-international-bonus-pools/

This was already known. Bonus pools stayed flat from the previous year. The White Sox are giving $1.5 million to Norge Vera. They're also giving like $1.8 million to 6 players that I confirmed earlier this year. Victor Quezada DR 3B $525K Manual Guariman V C $475K Dario Barrero V OF $350K Adrian Gil V RHP $250K Gabriel Rodriguez $100K Antonio Jimenez $90K. They should have just over $2 million in their pool unless they alter agreements or push guys to the next period.

For sure. MLB just wants to get to the post-season ASAP. It's where the owners make the most money and they think they can come up with a bubble plan if necessary to get the games played.

I'm surprised that the players are going to turn this down honestly. It doesn't make sense for them. They think they should get more than 60 games prorated in exchange for expanded playoffs, etc. I don't think they'll win a grievance though. If they agree to a deal: players get 60 games full prorated (37% of salary), universal DH (extra jobs), two years of expanded playoffs (some money for playoffs), keep some of the advance from March, not allowed to file a grievance. If they don't agree to deal: Rob Manfred imposes season around 54 games (33% of salary), no universal DH, regular playoffs (players don't get paid), return the advance from March, they can file a grievance that owners didn't negotiate in good faith. The owners were worried about this grievance. After the players most recent proposal though, I think they'd lose the grievance. MLB has consistently said season must end on September 27th due to COVID-19 concerns. I think that's mostly bullshit and it's about FOX tv deal. The players proposed 70 games though which was scheduled to go longer than September 27th which is the date that MLB's health experts recommended. I think by the owners turning down that deal and not countering, it allows them to win a grievance based on the fact that players weren't being reasonable by trying to go longer than what MLB's medical experts have proposed. MLBPA must feel otherwise. They have to think they can win this grievance. I think the owners would cancel the season in that case though.

Rodon was nothing but a taker showing little durability. He is a fringe starter at this point. I doubt other teams would want to invest in him. Better to spend resources on healthier prospects.

Players wanted the imposed season so they can file a grievance. They view that as their best bet for a big payday.

Honestly if information came out that showed Trump was a Russian agent it would make more sense than how he currently acts now.

I agree. I don't think it is going to happen, either. Even if they get a few games in, things will not work out in long run for 2020. This is just an example of how the country has not gotten this under control. Things are not going to return to normal just like that. This crisis will go beyond the next election cycle. If things don't improve, 2021 is in doubt, too. It is time that the country truly faces up to how bad this is. No, this isn't the damned flu.

we can argue economics all we want. The season is flat out not happening.

LOL, no.

Trump and Pence remind me of the Iraqi Defense Minister in the early 90's. Nothing to see here, the enemy is being defeated...as bombs are going off right behind him.

Man, what a lovely video from Kenny. Say what you want about Reinsdorf and how conservative he is with free agents and draft picks, it makes me proud to cheer for a team that won the World Series with a Black GM and a Venezuelan manager, that is by far MLB's leader when it comes to charities and outreach to the community, that has a super strong ACE program, that is represented by diverse, caring people like Anderson, Giolito, and Eloy. They don't give rings for that stuff, but it's a big reason I'm a Sox fan. Compare that to rooting for the Ricketts.

I'm going to remind people of this article from March: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56 If we continue to have Covidiots, then we're going to have to use the hammer more often. Masks in public should be national law, and I'm saying this as someone who absolutely can't stand them because I'm autistic and they give me sensory issues. I find them damn near intolerable. But I use them anyway, because I give a fuck. If I can deal with how much they bother me, the Covidiots can too. Eventually, I'll get used to them. I've spent over $50 trying to find one that's comfortable enough to wear regularly.

The league should just play every game in New York and Chicago now. I remember a month ago when I said Chicago would be a hub city for the NHL and people thought I was nuts.

It just amazes me that safety and health has been so far politicized.

Everything is surreal now especially with the notion that wearing a mask is a political. I just had a session with my personal trainer. She had a mask, and I had a mask. It was not a political statement by either one of us.

Still can’t actually believe 19,000 Americans are going to fill an arena with no mask requirement to enter...in the same exact state out of 50 that has had the highest growth rate in Covid cases. It’s beyond even idiocracy or similar derogative phrases like American Idiot. Seems like every other week, we experience yet another surreal moment that doesn’t even seem possible in the America we all grew up in.

The US has decided that economy is more important than people, even inventing take tropes like suicide from not working to try to justify it.

Is it counting this year? If so it'd be: Zack Collins, Zack Burdi, Jimmy Lambert (Hansen, Call, Fisher), Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, Luis Gonzalez, Lincoln Henzman, Tyler Johnson, Nick Madrigal, Steele Walker, Konnor Pilkington, Lency Delgado, Jonathan Stiever, Andrew Vaughn, Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist and James Beard. The point is that using the first 5 rounds is stupid. If you're going to use WAR, just do it based on all 40 rounds since teams don't take players in order anyway. The drafts don't appear to be great from 2016-2017, but there are numerous future big leaguers in this 5 year span.

I absolutely love this draft. They hauled in 2 of the best arms in the draft. I love it. I would trade my 2nd 3rd and 4th picks for another top 15 pick every time. And the great thing about the MLB draft, is that you don't even need a trade partner, just a willing player. In a way it is similar to what they did last year, except they traded for basically 2 second round picks. I love it. Get as much high end talent as possible.