Jake

Seems like adoption occurs just infrequently enough (or seems to, based on our assumptions of blood relations by appearance) that we just assume families are blood related. I have a sibling that was given up for adoption before mum was ready. They ended up getting in touch. Things are complicated, but good lord are they the same exact person.

Our team shares some similarities to last year's Baltimore team. In Week 14, a complete dismantling seemed more likely than a SB

I think we just argued for the benefit of keeping Dayan another year

If anyone is wondering about the PED test in 2011, he popped for what most would call Anavar. You won't see too many guys pinning Anavar, but it was quite popular at one point as a not-really-legal OTC, oral steroid. It has been illegal for a while, but its status is murky enough that if you go searching for hardcore testosterone boosters on the 'net you might happen upon it or something like it. In 2011, it would have been really easy to get online and because the people selling it felt they weren't breaking the law, they wouldn't ever dare label it as a steroid but instead just call it "Anavar," list its long chemical name on the back, and tell you it will make you jacked. It isn't super potent, but is relatively low on the side effects which is why it was nice for guys that only like to break the law a little bit (and thus don't want to buy the good stuff for post-cycle recovery). He was probably just stupid.

Well, now that both of my QBs (RG3 and Vick) have lost their starting jobs, I have Dalton and Cousins as my choices for a starter. Dalton against Pitt or Cousins against Atlanta?

You've gotta play him. Barring something unexpected (), you let him go after the season

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 05:34 PM) Throw it out pretend it never happened, stop 'sharing' your torrent files because that's how they get you. Carry on. Of course nobody did anything, but if a person did it would certainly be someone that perhaps gave birth to me. I pay for Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Google Play Music All Access which does a pretty damn good job of covering all of my bases. I have Amazon Prime, but lack of app support means I don't use it that often for streaming. Love getting cheap, fast shipping though.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 02:48 PM) nothing wrong with it, why change? I have had my email address for 15 years now, lol Free TB of storage too, right? Or more? Something crazy like that?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 02:50 PM) Isnt the first notice just saying that they are going to turn over your ip address unless you file a motion to quash. Because if that is the notice, then you are caught in a hilarious catch 22. You can not file a motion to quash as a john doe, so youd have to file an appearance and thus they know who you are anyways. That being said the subpoena is going to be granted anyways so might as well just see what happens. I haven't laid eyes on the notice, but my impression is that it says Mediacom has received a DMCA complaint from somebody (person telling me about it said it was not MPAA or RIAA) regarding an unspecified download on [some specific date]. Recipient may file a counterclaim along w/ promise that offending file or files are deleted. General threat that future complaints could result in banishment from Mediacom service. IIRC, content owners have stopped suing individuals but what do I know. I've read elsewhere that filing the counterclaim or asking the content owner for more information opens Pandora's box to all kinds of legal issues. I love that their definition of a counterclaim is essentially admitting guilt. The automated systems sending out DMCA notices are notoriously inaccurate. Apparently, judges have declared these errant DMCA notices to not be perjurous because the sender "didn't mean it." LOL

See, "single A prospect" doesn't mean anything to me. Javier Baez played in single-A last year. Micah Johnson played in single-A last year. Jason Coats played in single-A last year.

How would folks suggest reacting to a DMCA notice from an ISP? My sense, from looking at this link (the ISP in question is the one mentioned in the article) is to not respond on their first strike even if "innocent"

It's not like it's insane, he bested those numbers by about 80 points apiece in AAA

There is nothing more valuable than a stud QB on a rookie contract. It's the equivalent of having a Kevin Durant on his rookie deal or similar star player. You can't have a team full of guys being paid market value and the best way to alleviate salary concerns is to get a bargain QB (usually only possible via draft)

I have a feeling his value isn't as high as we expect. Closer is a position that you tend to benefit most by trading at the deadline when somebody really, really, really needs one

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 10:34 AM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin now Eaton: "It would be great if I could hang my hat around .300, 100 runs scored and an OBP around .400. I think it’s definitely doable." Ugh, now he's throwing out projections. Kid, just go play Those aren't projections, those are goals

The only version of Viciedo that is likely to make it to the 2015 roster is one that you wouldn't mind DHing

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) Buffalo Chicken for me at Subway and I absolutely love it.

I think Sizemore would be a better comp

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 07:19 AM) Yes, he's climbing very quickly. His upside through the roof. Showed up to IU at 6'8", and now looks to be a legit 6"10". That's whats really making the difference, along with his motor. Not to metion it looks like he put on about 30 lbs of muscle in a matter of months. If he stick around, Indiana's a title contender. Unfortunately for IU, I don't think he does. I suspect foul play

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 01:59 AM) By getting who? We profiled a target and used an asset to attain him. That trade wasn't about getting perceived value. It was about using an expendable asset to fill a piece that KW thought would improve that specific team. They targeted Pods and spent what was needed to obtain him. It's not a game of accumulating the most WAR. It's a game of finding the best pieces that fit, to go along with the best pitching. We're trying to build a team. We've done it by acquiring a dynamic OF, a prototypical lead off hitter,a super sub with high upside and a prototypical power hitter. If you have 2 aces and you use one to acquire a position of great need, you may have "lost" the individual trade, but you still made your team better. For one, I think we won this deal by any measure. Second, it's hard to argue that we lost the Lee deal since we won the WS. With that said, who is to say we couldn't have gotten a guy like Chone Figgins instead? The Angels had a wide open DH spot and Figgins could have played LF better defensively, been just as spark-y and grind-y and hit better than Pods. Maybe we go 11-0 in the playoffs instead of 11-1. Maybe we win 102 games instead of 99. Hard to prove and disprove these arguments, but it isn't outside the realm of possibility that we could have gotten Chone instead and that the franchise would have been better for it.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:38 PM) Yes. Nothing major, but it does seem to not register messages as read sometimes or adds them back to my inbox. Anyone else ditch the fingerprint scanner on iphone? The thing was too picky so I finally bailed on it. It was more effort than it was saving. If I just washed my hands or got out of the shower and tried to use my phone it would never work. It was also picky if I was any bit sweaty. Heck, sometimes I don't know why it didn't work in what seemed like optimal conditions. Hopefully it continues to be improved as I can see its usefulness in the abstract

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 12:22 AM) I've never understood this "won the deal" mentality. It's not a video game. It's not about "winning a deal" based on your perceptions of value. It's about improving the team. I know exactly what you mean. The usefulness of that kind of thinking is determining whether you should have been able to pull off an even better deal, though. The Pods and Vizcaino deal is our example of a deal that works out for everyone, but I think you could still legitimately question that deal on the basis that maybe we could have done even better for a premier hitter like Lee.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 08:43 PM) We have a glut of LHP, this made sense even if I was a real fan of Hector's. The problem is we got crap in return. Adam Eaton cant hit. I dont get it, and now were going to deal DeAza for a lottery ticket prospect. What does this net us other than a new face? I mean, unless Hahn does something super fancy (or teams somehow arent aware of ADAs sucktitude) this boils down to: Solid lefty with good potential Low caliber starting CF for Low-middle caliber starting CF Mediocre prospect Team didnt get better unless they see something in Eaton that indicate he will get good. How do you interpret a .381/.456/.539 in AAA as a guy that you can easily declare "can't hit"? That AAA line is a 163 wRC+, meaning he was 63% more productive than that league's average, adjusting for ballpark factors. One does not simply outproduce the average PCL hitter by 63% and be a s***ty hitter, especially with no other data to the contrary. He finished that season by posting a 118 wRC+ in the MLB. Then last year he misses the entire season, no spring training, and survives at the big league level by hitting at a level that would make him look like a slugger on the 2013 White Sox. This player is his bat and all scouts agree that it's his best tool. He was a top 100 prospect, something we rarely have, and a top 3 prospect in an absolutely loaded Arizona system. Even as a prospect, he was never "mediocre," at least not after his rookie ball season when people realized being 5'8" didn't stop him from pounding professional pitching.

It is obvious that we will sign Brandon Inge then

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) I didn't see many of the games, but did he show sufficient range on any of the plays you saw of him at the end of the year? I know he's played a lot and prefers to play SS, but you have to be able to cover a ton of ground. I haven't seen any evaluators go out on a limb to defend his defense at SS, but I haven't seen anything overly critical either - most just refer to him as an average defender. I watched maybe 15-20 games of his on MiLB.tv and I actually thought he looked excellent at SS. Range is difficult to evaluate on TV, but I think he'll be sufficient as a defender.