Jake

My position was to unload Keppinger and find Gillaspie platoon at-bats around the field by forcing him to learn a corner OF position and trying him at 2B as well.

The safeguard that Google put into place is they alert you if an extension asks for new permissions. The malware extensions came from the Chrome app store. It's a tough situation because they don't vet extensions like Mozilla does (Mozilla's system has its own drawbacks, most notably slower updates).

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 11:41 AM) I think another fair idea would be that you only get a pick that that is equal to the slot value you offered. So if you offer $3mil, you get a pick in next years draft that was slotted for $3mil. So that way if the Astros want to play around, its their loss. Too anti-team. The idea is that you lower your offer because of injury. You can't be compelled to offer damaged goods full slot value

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 07:54 AM) A few things... Firefox actually uses less memory than Chrome does, it just appears to use more because it lumps all of it's memory usage into one process. If you add up all the processes of Chrome, with the same websites open and the same extensions running (if any), you'll see Chrome uses slightly more memory in both cases (with or without extensions), however, it's advantageous to split the processes and sandbox them as Chrome does. Opera is Chrome, so you may as well just use the real thing -- Opera dumped their own proprietary engine and started using Google's Blink engine, which is a fork of Webkit2, so ... essentially Opera offers nothing not in Chrome, since it's running on Chrome's codebase. Out of the box, Chrome is the most secure browser there is, however, if you want to go through the hassle of using Firefox + NoScript, that would easily make FF the most secure. A few things for you, too... If you are getting malware, it's not Chrome's fault, it's yours. Stop browsing untrustworthy websites. And if you refuse to do that, download Adblock Plus (and add in the Malware domains list), it will protect you from that issue. For Firefox users, use Adblock Edge. As stated above Opera is Chrome, so there is no point in using it anymore. I know about Chrome's sandboxing. What I was saying is that the base memory usage is lower in Chrome vs. Firefox because I've tested it. For instance, browsing with just one or two tabs open is consistently lower in memory usage. That said, I use lots and lots of tabs so Firefox works out for me due to lower memory usage and just better overall responsiveness. What they're saying about malware is something that has been going on a lot with Chrome lately. Semi-popular extensions will get bought out by malware peddlers and start injecting ads. So it isn't sites or poor browsing habits that are getting these people in trouble, it's once trustworthy extensions. Things as seemingly harmless as an RSS feed subscribe button were turning into ad injection plugins.

I've tried several times to switch over to Chrome, but it just doesn't work well for me. Particularly because I'm a person who likes to use a lot of tabs at once - across multiple machines, my experience is that Firefox handles heavy use better than Chrome. Chrome uses less memory with a lighter load, though, so that's something to think about. What has led me to try to work with Chrome a few times is that I use Google Hangouts and its extension basically makes it a desktop app. Likewise, there are several useful Chrome desktop apps. There are a couple extensions, like Pocket, that don't work well for me on Firefox but do on Chrome. I never can make the switch, though, because Chrome just runs slower on my machine and doesn't offer the same kind of tab management features and overall add-on library that I'm looking for. I'm also always keen to not just give Google carte blanche access to my web browsing habits, though I have configured Chrome to prevent that (includes not using Google Search, obviously). Keeping FF alive and well in an of itself is a nice motivating factor if you're not sure. If you're looking for other alternatives, I don't mind Opera at all and it's easily my second place choice. It's speedy, fluid, and configurable. It now supports Chrome extensions, too (but not apps, and not the Hangouts extension). While it is not for everyone, you can take a look at Maxthon Browser as well. I used it for a while and it's not bad at all. Very quick, low memory, and inexplicably has as good of compatibility with different web elements as any mainstream browser.

The one thing about Boras's system that you'd have to address is the possibility that players intentionally become uncooperative so that they can choose their team. An Eli Manning situation, basically

Also, while we're on the subject of Cuba, this is a patently outrageous statement given that it came from the US State Department: Not only are the particulars of that statement factually false as Cuba's defense spending fell dramatically while healthcare stayed stable, it's coming from the United States of America that spends on the military at the expense of anything and everything, including the dire need for healthcare improvement

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 05:33 PM) It's just a bad documentary because it's filled with so many lies I don't have time to go over them. And he completely falls off the rails when he does his whole fake Cuba thing. If Cuba was so awesome, people wouldn't be leaving there under the risk of death...which they are...so he should have used a better example. Michael Moore is a hack, and he's been exposed by many of his works of fiction by bending reality so it agrees with him, instead of just presenting facts. When I said there were "several problems" I was specifically thinking of Cuba - mainly because there are some dark sides of their healthcare system though his posse received a pretty authentic experience of what outsiders should expect. The whole point of the Cuba escapade was that despite how s***ty and supposedly evil Cuba is, they have no problem having low healthcare costs and far better access than what is the case in the USA. For instance, they have far better infant mortality rates in Cuba than USA. Why? Because they don't f*** over the poor people who have children, leaving them at risk to experience infant death. The same is true of under five years old mortality rate. Cuba also generates tens of million dollars (a huge amount of money in their deflated economy) in healthcare tourism every year, so it's not a fiction that people, including Americans go there to get healthcare services that are otherwise unavailable (usually due to cost barriers in home country). Kofi Annan had this to say about Cuba in 2000: "Cuba's achievements in social development are impressive given the size of its gross domestic product per capita. As the human development index of the United Nations makes clear year after year, Cuba should be the envy of many other nations, ostensibly far richer. [Cuba] demonstrates how much nations can do with the resources they have if they focus on the right priorities - health, education, and literacy." Of course, the problems of Cuba in general extend into healthcare as well. You have very little right to privacy as a patient and different healthcare issues can be highly politicized (that's not unfamiliar to us). The poverty of the country extends into healthcare too, with many facilities in shoddy conditions and doctors very underpaid. The US embargo makes things much more difficult, considering the manufacturing of healthcare goods in the USA. But the entire point was not to say that you should move to Cuba or install Castro as the head of HHS. It's that a country with so little could compare so favorably to us. The film highlights many of the shortcomings of the US system, most notably many of the problems which were remedied just over two years later in the ACA. Details are missed and there is an obvious focus on negatives in the USA and positives elsewhere. You could also criticize him for completely ignoring the huge uninsured persons problem in the USA that existed at the time, since he just mentions it at the beginning and says he'd rather reveal what happens to people who think they are insured. What the movie has going for it is that the USA indubitably has a terrible, inefficient, and unequal healthcare provisioning scheme that pales in comparison to most of the rest of the developed world and is shamefully poor when considering the vast resources available to the USA that other countries lack. There is a limit to how untruthful you can be when you are making that argument in some way, shape, or form. QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 06:50 PM) Here is another in a long line of anti-fact "documentaries", though this one isn't by Michael Moore (who pretty much started the biased/lie filled "documentary" fad), http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gmo_omg/ Nothing scientific backs any claims made by this docu, yet people eat it up. These being called documentaries seriously needs to stop, it's like labeling fiction as non-fiction in a book store. There is no objectivity to strive for. You can't present facts that are absent of bias. Of course, you can try to reduce bias, account for it, not outright lie, etc. I am, however, with you in that the alarmism over GMOs has become very tiresome. Still, with the corporatization of the food industry and the countless illegal and morally questionable tactics of groups like Monsanto, I understand why people would be skeptical of mainstream messages about these things.

How many thousands of dollars would you turn down if all you had to do was kiss a man and perhaps simulate some humping?

I would admit that FIP is highly contestable but that's not an insignificant difference there

My gut feeling is that nothing happens for us at the deadline. Alexei is the most valuable, but he's most valuable to us too. He's remarkably consistent and healthy year-over-year and is one of the best shortstops in the game on a very reasonable contract. We could very well see that position become a black hole for years if we move him. There aren't as many adequate MLB shortstops as there are teams.

That could easily be a death knell for Saladino's career. There is a lot of luck and timing involved in breaking through as a mid-level (or worse) prospect, and the time for him was probably now. He might be in a position next year where it simply doesn't matter how well he plays.

The difference between Eaton and Quentin is that Eaton has very little injury background. He had a torn UCL last year and a pulled hamstring this year. That's it for his injury history. He just seems like a player who is at high risk for injury. All speed players will have people talking about hamstring health because a slight problem can become a big one for them - look at, for instance, Scott Podsednik in the second half of 2005. I'm going to judge Eaton on the games that he misses due to injury, not the little annoyances that will be over-scrutinized because he's a small speed player who people fear will get hurt.

Power is the the one thing that you can project the least. Yes, sometimes a guy will suddenly find his power stroke in the upper minors/majors. By and large, though, if you have a player for whom you say "he'd be good IF he hit for power," you're looking at a player who isn't good. Now, Ravelo can bat .320 and have some value, so he at least has that going for him. He's not powerless, he's just low power.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) It's funny, Jim Callis was really good for Baseball America. And he knows a ton. But I think what happens is, MLB is heavily influenced by input from the clubs themselves. So even with Callis there, you still get a lot of noise. So the list has value, but not in the way you may think - it may tell you how the team is looking at certain players. I think the issue is staff. Jim Callis is great, but BA has people everywhere scouting and giving input on these lists. It very well may be that Callis and Mayo have to come up with these lists with little input outside of themselves.

He was just extended so I doubt he gets fired

There's just no way you let PK run. Having Rienzo do it is not automatically an option; there's a reason you almost never see this, especially in the AL, especially in a non-extra inning game. Pitchers need to have a lot of notice to get their legs loosened up because they didn't prepare to do any running that day. Perkins is an excellent closer and several guys didn't get the job done at the dish. Gillaspie was a pinch hit candidate as well, but of course we didn't do that either. The real issue we witness here, other than just run-of-the-mill guys not quite getting their jobs done, is the continued hamstringing of our bench due to the fact we have two DH-only players.

As often as I've thought that Big Frank bordered on arrogant, that was as much humility and gratitude as you'll ever see on that stage

I cried like a baby

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 02:35 PM) great job Adam. But don't slide into 1st dumbass I actually think that might have been the safer play. He was on track to have a body-to-body collision if he stayed up

I'm going to say that's a good play by Dayan

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) Lindstrom shooting for August 7th return. Wow, I think that's as optimistic of a date as I've heard since he got hurt.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) Yeah let's kill discussion on this board again, great idea.

The idea here is that on-screen sexuality is not meant to be actual sexual behavior by the actors. When Actor Y kisses Actress X, that's work. That's two people doing a job. You have every right to not want to do that. There are lots of people I wouldn't really want to kiss. The idea is that if you can participate in all this non-sexual behavior for work with women, but not with men, you're way too terrified of people wondering about whether you're gay because your character did a gay thing in a movie. And again, you can refuse this kind of work all you want. Nobody gives a s*** when women miss out on roles for refusing to get naked and/or screwed on the big screen. I hear this all the time from the right - if you don't like the way you're being treated at work, get a new job! I was almost going to acknowledge that it sucks, whether because you're stuffy or not, to not know what you're getting yourself into in terms of your character. People like to curate their star persona, etc. Actors turn down roles for all kinds of nonsense. But then, maybe, he should have read the stupid f***ing books:

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 06:27 PM) Maybe can hit if you take them out of that park...which is going to be a huge problem going forward assessing our Charlotte roster statistically. Several things need to be said as I hear this Charlotte = Coors Field drum being beaten repeatedly 1. They have always played in a bandbox. This isn't a radical change or even one as significant as the Barons switching from a very pitcher-friendly park to a hitter-friendly park. 2. A confounding factor in evaluating the home run statistic at the new park is that the pitchers on the Charlotte team are awful. Half the time you're looking at basically IL-worst pitchers going for the home team in Charlotte. 3. Most of the players of note on the Charlotte roster have hit better on the road.