Jake

This team has 3 players on it that can only play first base and another (Keppinger) that is one lost half-step from being only a first baseman. I'd feel more comfortable with the PK signing if we had a DH or other bench players that were more capable defensively. We're looking at a situation where we'll have a bench with only one potentially useful pinch runner, for instance. Seems to me that we'll end up having to release Jordan Danks for this and IMO he's actually more important than PK

I'd say he's just a notch below Alshon Jeffery(ies)

Also, serious question -- Duke's arguments sound a lot like this article from the John Birch Society. I'm curious if you have read it. I won't engage in the "fellow traveler" arguments that JBS tries to use against Mandela (if you have ever thought a positive thing about communists, you're a genocidal maniac), but I came across it and was genuinely curious.

The top political issue that Mandela was trying to achieve at the time he turned towards violent tactics (and the ones he was directly involved in were quite deliberately targeted to minimize the loss of human life). How much blood lost to get blacks voting rights in the USA? 650,000 lives lost. And, of course, let's not even get into some of the reasons the apartheid regime felt so comfortable in their position. Couldn't have had anything to do with the USA backing them because the black majority that wanted voting rights and, ultimately, full political rights also had (gasp!!!) Marxist sympathies

He tried to lead a violent revolution. I think people "let him off the hook" because he revolted against one of the most despicable regimes in recent history. The thing that showed that he was more than a bloodthirsty war leader was his conduct as a political leader. There was widespread fear that that the reformed regime would turn around and really give it back to the white minorities. Instead, he came out and used his political capital to try to bring people together, avert further violence, and simply move on. He came back as a person that was profoundly unbitter for a person that spent 27 years in prison at the hands of his greatest enemy. He made overtures to former apartheid officials in shows of solidarity rather than retribution. It is really quite impressive. As far as his "terrorist" activities, he spent around 15-20 years involved in widespread, yet quite ineffectual nonviolent protests with important backing from Indians that were associated with Ghandi. ANC was constantly considered far too pragmatic and useless due to its resistance to militancy. This is why Mandela left them for the MK, saying this: When he was offered release from prison in 1988 with the condition that he must swear to forego violence, he refused. He said he would renounce violence as soon as the government did. They didn't like those conditions. He stayed in prison. He always insisted that violence was a last-ditch tactic to be used defensively, and his own actions did quite a good job of exemplifying that. The ANC and MK at times got away from him, especially while he was in prison, and he was ultimately one to face some criticism from those groups for being too "soft" and conciliatory. The ultimate thing that makes people respect him is that he stuck to his word. He didn't take over South Africa and enact violence, he didn't go kill his old oppressors. He said violence was a defensive measure against tyranny and he meant it. He ended up sensing the great extent of his own power due to society's love of him and he left office, despite knowing he could practically enact his own will. He had a reputation for being such a staunch believer in democracy that he would cooperate with ideas he deeply disliked if he knew that they had popular support. Today's South Africa is quite far from perfect, but stands out in Africa as a well-run place.

There are times when you stop pursuing the animal because you just drive it to fearfully run from you until it takes its last gasp. If you wait a while, perhaps overnight, it will lie down and relax as it perishes. I don't hunt because I don't particularly like either one of those outcomes, but yeah, that's the logic. SF1's situation was obviously different from that as well

Robin Ventura was a damn fine player and if he's going to be here, you've got to make the third base spot his to lose

I haven't had a problem the entire time I've used the thing

FWIW, the FCC said yesterday that ISPs can charge Netflix and others for their use of bandwidth, so I wouldn't expect Netflix to support a higher-bandwidth format any time soon

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 5, 2013 -> 12:25 AM) Noah > Aldridge /bulls fans last summer No. Nobody wanted to make that trade because it hardly made us better in the next two or three years, especially when we had to lose Jimmy too. It wasn't a good deal to make unless you knew Rose would miss another season.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 10:11 AM) None of these phones seem to do much to me...mostly gimmicky useless stuff they did just to say they did it. But for what actual need/reason, I don't know. The idea of a phone you can fold in half to fit into a pocket is one thing, it has practical uses, but a slight curve in a screen smaller than a movie theater screen, I don't get it. I read that the next gen of iPhones might be covered in Sapphire glass, which is supposedly practically impossible to scratch or break. A phone that I can't damage is something that could tempt me back to the dark side...

Gregorius, Eaton, Bradley, xx, xx

He showed no signs of being ready at the plate. I really, really like him but his run in AAA was quite a big step down from what he was doing in AA already. I'd like to see him get his walk rate in AAA again before bringing him up to the MLB where he was a 1:30 BB:K ratio last year

I no longer carry my HTC One in a case because it is extremely sturdy and I've seen it be torture-tested by CNET, so I know it can take a beating and still be functional. It doesn't show wear easily because of the aluminum, so the minor scuffs and such aren't there. I use a screen protector that I honestly never even notice, because I know that I would end up scratching it. Love the glass on this thing though, as that has taken impacts a couple times and shows no signs of damage. I broke two iPhone 4 screens -- those things were built very poorly. I'm not an amazingly careful person by any stretch, but the impacts that broke those screens were ridiculously light. I was using a case on those, too, of course. For me, it is basically an "it depends" proposition. Depends on the phone, build material, what I'm going to do with it, etc. I put a case on my tablet because I toss it in my backpack and I want it to be somewhat protected from all of the things rubbing up against and possibly the weight of those things.

Curved/flexible phones? Anyone think these have appeal? I just don't see it right now.

I mean, maybe he'll kick ass? Have to wonder if we have something arranged to send Dunn out of town

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 4, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) My thoughts exactly. Gotta play the veterans, they've earned it. We fired Ozzie and cut Darin Erstad a long time ago

Enough teams will start saying this and then his price will go back up to where it was speculated originally

I can't wait for when some of those guys are flops and we will all agree that the teams that picked them were dumb and they were clearly bad picks

Let's be real, Salty sucks. He has one season in his career above 1.9 WAR, strikes out more than Adam Dunn, and was cut loose in favor of AJP after being benched in favor of David Ross in the World Series

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:04 PM) Swapping Cano for Ellsbury probably makes the Yankees worse, not better. What was the point of this signing if they can't keep their biggest bat? Also getting McCann and pursuing Stephen Drew and Omar Infante, things that probably aren't possible if they are spending on Cano. That is, unless they know something about the ARod case that we don't...

I mean, if we wanted him we could pay him. But it wouldn't be a good allocation of our resources at the moment

This has a high probability of being a big problem in the future. I see no way they sign Cano at this point.

If someone said I can have Salty for 3/21 or Beltran for 3/48, I'm picking Salty a thousand times though