Jake

That offense in Detroit has been progressively getting weaker. Steamer projections for current Tigers: Austin Jackson - 112 wRC+ Torii Hunter - 106 wRC+ Cabrera - 170 wRC+ VMart - 117 wRC+ Avila - 108 wRC+ (up from 92 last year -- I'm dubious) Kinsler - 110 wRC+, best since 2011 Iglesias - 76 wRC+ Castellanos? - 94 wRC+ Andy Dirks? - 100 wRC+ (up from 89 last season) It's good, but there are a lot of scenarios you can imagine where they are quite a bit worse than projections. Taking Fielder out of that lineup really hurts them for this season as he was the only other truly scary bat -- his BAD season was a 125 wRC+, his career is 140. Now you're looking at a lineup full of guys who are a slight regression away from being at or below league average hitters. You're also relying on Torii Hunter not aging, Avila rallying back, Kinsler stepping up, and unknowns like Castellanos putting up numbers (they might have someone else in mind, I'm not sure) and Andy Dirks being a good player. There are going to be some real holes in that batting order in all likelihood. Take Miggy out of the middle with injury or something and it is nothing remarkable. That pitching will really have to stay good. Having lots of league average hitters is no sin and is really the hallmark of a great offense - but a guy like Iglesias is likely to be a horrible hitter, Castellanos could be that bad, Dirks might be that bad if he has to play every day, Avila might be that bad already, etc.

If anyone wants to understand the difference between Google and Apple, this is it. Apple is an electronics company. They make profit on the phones, tablets, computers they sell. Google is a services company - they are willing to break even or worse on things like the Nexus devices just to ensure that you use their services. There are going to be differences for the end user based on these things, of course, with pros and cons for each. Y2HH often talks about the Apple ecosystem, which is one of the pros of sticking with Apple across platforms. Google wants to make the Google "ecosystem" the default, where Apple will always make theirs more exclusive so that they can have more control of the development of their services

There was very little optimism about rookie Jimmy. He ended up looking okay in the playoffs when half the team was dead, but even then he looked pretty inept on the offensive end. I'm pretty sure scs787 was the only guy on the Jimmy bandwagon post-rookie season after seeing him play in summer league

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 22, 2013 -> 12:57 AM) This guy is on the block http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/andruel01.shtml No thanks. http://www.fangraphs.com/graphsw.aspx?players=5133,8709 We have the exact same player on our team, but he's less expensive for less time.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 11:17 AM) Your not really making coherent arguments, it's just a bunch of weird assertions. It's also the conservatives and gun rights advocates who talk about "mental health" whenever there is a shooting to deflect away from discussion of broader gun control. You just seem to be stringing random ideas together while still insulting the people you claim to be standing up for. Seriously. SS and I would like to restrict access to guns so that we as a society feel less compelled to restrict the freedom of the mentally ill. Gun rights activists prefer to restrict the rights of the mentally ill so as to not infringe upon their ability to have weapons. SS and I (I assume) feel the opposite. The less deadly power available for the mentally ill, the fewer negative consequences of their unrestricted freedom. QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 22, 2013 -> 08:55 AM) I'm not sure how good of an idea this is, though. When the day comes that the opposing party is in power, you won't be as happy about this. I'm going to think that whoever the next R POTUS nominates sucks. Let's put that out there. If I like 1 out of 10 appointments from the next Republican POTUS, that will really be something. I know that he or she will not be appointing liberals, so I see no need for my hypothetically minority party to be able to completely f*** up that process. If the appointee is really so horrible, people in the majority party will oppose the appointment as well -- and we will all have to do it out in the open.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 22, 2013 -> 07:54 AM) Has anyone noted that this trade probably removes the most likely potential landing place for Dunn? Who's DH'ing down there?

Milton Friedman has long advocated a UBI and his implementation alleviates many of the concerns had here while also saving the government money. http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_1_income-tax.html The above link explains it pretty well. The NIT/UBI replaces a good deal of the welfare spending; the main thing you need to keep is healthcare provisions, since they'll spend their entire income on that otherwise. Basically, the government covers the gap between your income and a minimum threshold of income. In the example given in the article, if that number is $10,000, you get $5,000 if you earn nothing. It covers 50% of the gap. So if you start to earn $2,000/year, now you get $4,000 in NIT. If you earn $5,000, you earn $2,500 in NIT. This gives you incentive to earn more (of course, most proponents suggest a much higher income threshold, but the math is easier here). There is no "welfare trap" or "poverty trap" because there is no moment where you suddenly earn too much to benefit from the program. Being progressive is meant to preserve a financial incentive to work at every stage of the game. While there is a great deal of talk about bureaucracy here, libertarians like this for the very reason of bureaucracy -- if you all you're doing is sending out money, the bureaucratic costs are minimal. From an economist standpoint, there is no more efficient benefit than money, as well.

Our team would be appreciably better if Freese was the everyday 3B. I don't know that the trade price would be worth that gain, but he's a nice player.

I can't recommend Nexus 7 enough. I believe this year's release is discounted to $199 on Amazon right now. Great hardware, great software

Sometimes I forget how good Grant Hill was. In 1996-97, he averaged 21.4 points (on .496 shooting), 9 boards, 7.3 assists on a playoff team. That's a good ass season

Remember when Shaq shattered that backboard and pulled the entire hoop down? I feel like that's going to happen on one of Derrick's pull-up jumpers

Well, I suppose part of the question is how you want to use it. For me, I wouldn't really consider the Kindles due to the limitations of their software. If you're just reading and streaming video, basic things, maybe the screen size is going to matter more.

Well, I suppose part of the question is how you want to use it. For me, I wouldn't really consider the Kindles due to the limitations of their software. If you're just reading and streaming video, basic things, maybe the screen size is going to matter more.

I don't like to pass judgment from the outside on these things. Beyond the "did it really happen" question, there are a million different issues of context that could change my mind on how I feel about it. I'll see it as perhaps the explanation we got a discount on a really promising player

We definitely got the great end of that deal (Avisail Garcia or Jose Iglesias? Yeah, easy choice) and it seemed like Avi filled a long-running need for them, which is a corner OF. They needed one last year, they need one now, and they'll need two when Torii is gone.

Anyone want to advise me on how to get my info off of this MacBook? I'm selling it and the info on Apple's website hasn't been helpful.

I like that it's a subscription service, because I otherwise would try to get way too much out of each blade

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 09:33 AM) Could see a three way change of scenery trade where Kemp and a spect go to the Brewers, Braun goes to team X, and pitching goes to the Dodgers. Actually, this makes some real sense.

I have ADD. It is difficult for me to pay close attention for sustained periods, even when it is to my detriment. When I used a "real" razor, let me assure you it was to my detriment

The Iglesias-Kinsler tandem will be a yearly struggle to combine for a .650 OPS

It makes some sense for both parties. The Tigers have like 13 first basemen on their roster, so now you get to play Miggy there. You get a 2B, which surely they were looking for. The Tigers have Profar waiting, so you can say they actually improved their 2B position in this deal, especially from a cost standpoint. They haven't had anything exciting in the 1B/DH spot since Tex left so now they have that without an insane amount of extra cost. I think the Tigers lose here, though. If you look at FG, you could quite easily argue that Kinsler is no longer any better than Infante. This precludes them from keeping Peralta and they aren't going to add elsewhere to replace Fielder. It may, I guess, make it easier to re-sign Cabrera?

Balta and I think that the more help you offer these people, the less likely they have to be permanently institutionalized and the less likely they harm other people. Our current system reflects so much contempt for the mentally ill that we're only willing to fund it to an extent that it offers them a bed so we can get rid of them. Balta and I want to see a system that can allow for rehabilitation and the granting of as much freedom as possible

How do we know if he can continue to hit while (presumably) off the juice?

Someone needs to repackage all this bulls*** into non-10,000 word form. From what I have seen and read, I don't really give a s*** what they do to A-Rod and what they do to do it. It is clear to me that the MLB is having to take certain measures just to combat the measures A-Rod will take to save his own ass. Fighting a little fire with fire. People do need to know that no, there isn't an amount of money you can make and thus pay away witnesses and whatever else.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/very-final-...na-fall-league/ FG rates Mitchell third-best bat in AFL with their SCOUT+ stat which takes his production and regresses it into expected production to account for sample size.