he gone.

I mean is it though? Markets develop based on need + supply and demand. A good agent may make a difference in terms of knowing how and when to time a market --- aka Carlos Santana signing that deal with the Royals early knowing it was going to be his best. Or Smyly. But someone of Bauer's caliber? That market will develop regardless - just happens to be a slow market because of the uncertainties due to Covid, fans, etc. Also if there was any year for Bauer to back up his 1 year deal statements this would be it. Baseball payrolls have a chance to be wildly different in 2022 or 2023. A team should get creative and offer like a 5 year deal where 4 of the years are options haha.

Eaton haha - he's all the characteristics I like in my players - the competitiveness, grit, etc. -- really the whole reason i chose anderson, madrigal, etc. -- except he's a dick about it & to his teammates. Now obviously we don't know enough about it, but i think there's enough smoke in his interactions over the years to draw at least some conclusions. Outside of that? Can't really think of anybody. I'll say anybody who's a dick to their family would be near the top of my list. I used to see these guys out at the bar back in the day and I'll say Paulie was awesome ... some of the other guys? I'd be surprised if they're still married. Lost a lot of respect for a bunch of those guys. But at the end of the day there's a bunch of shitty things going on and I just wanna see good ball. So as long as your respectful and try hard I like the guys.

The Texas Monthly rankings ... love that issue. Pinkertons has really rose to fame once he made that list. When I met him he was just a food truck outside a bar right near my apartment. Not sure if you still live in Texas or not, but those BBQ festivals are an awesome way to knock off all these places. I usually can't eat brisket or bbq for like a month afterwards, but the ability to try the top places back to back to back is awesome. I probably knocked off 20 or so of the top 50 at this point. Some of my favorites -- majority are going to be in Houston since that's where i lived.... Willows*, Truth, Feges, Pinkertons, Killens, Henderson & Kane/El Burro & Bull*, Louie Mueller*, Blood Bros, La Barebecue, Pecan Lodge Ya, that smaller WSM is tough for bigger cuts of meat. I went with the 23" or thereabouts - whatever that bigger size model is. Can usually fit a well trimmed 13-14lb brisket on. All this BBQ talk is making me hungry... ha. Actually headed down to houston in a few weeks & going to do a mini BBQ crawl around the Heights. Looking forward to it.

I think the same with Hudson ... is that pro or anti my take? Hudson was traded to the Nats for a bag of balls, signed a decent contract offseason and turned in a 6.29 FIP last year. Also his run up with the Nats that year wasn't all roses. He went 6 for 8 in save opps with a 3.53FIP, then 4+FIP in postseason (albeit 4 for 4 saves). My point remains the same, most of the time I think these closers are overpaid & regress to a mean. I don't mind if we strikeout on Hendriks, especially at 4 years. Here's the list from MLB of the top 10 relievers 4 (or so years ago) 2017: Andrew Miller Kenley Jansen Chapman zach Britton Dellin Betances Cody Allen Craig Kimbrel Kelvin Herrera Seunghwan Oh Edwin Diaz Now the list is Hader, Yates, Chapman, Hendriks Osuna, Hand, Giles, Diaz, Iglesias, T. Rogers --- so two overlaps total in a 3-4 year period. Again my view is that it's a very small deal if we sign a closer of Hendriks caliber because we have a limited budget. I don't feel like wasting any of that budget on a closer when it's going to come out of another bucket. We're not the Yankees or a big name team that can swing and miss on a bad contract. Also you can easily go get a Hudson or someoen like that at the deadline if you want to for an okay price.

If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't. Which is to say - I feel like most of these "top-tier" closer type deals don't work out. I'm not getting very hung up either way. I mean we won a championship with Dustin Hermanson, Cliff Polite, and Takatsu, etc. before Big Bad Bobby stepped in. As we saw with Crochet this year, you can find a shut down guy like that in house. Not saying Hendriks wouldn't be nice - but were not the type of organization to sign "extra pieces" to supplement an already strong team, nor are we one to give market level contracts out.

Agreed there too. Especially when you can go out and get Kluber, Paxton, Q himself, etc. The fact is getting a gray is gravy -- and gravy is nice, but based on a hot streak he'd be maybe starting game 3 or 4 and there's just as much of a chance he lays an egg in his playoff game and we lose as there is a kluber or paxton does. I'll take the "free" option where we dont trade anybody and only have to give a 1-2 year deal out at a reasonable price. Gray, although I'm a big fan is much further down my list than just signing a FA. I'm a big fan of taking one of these high risk guys -- Rich Hill, Kluber, Alex Wood, Paxton. We have enough depth and innings (theoretically) from a plethora of guys. We should utilize those guys in-house & roll the dice on an injury prone guy who can (maybe) be healthy at the right time in the playoffs.

Sonny Gray just made his 32nd consecutive start allowing 6 hits or fewer, a new Major League record, excluding "openers." He was sharing the record with Nolan Ryan. ? Just saying ... if that's your #4 then you're up there with the Dodgers and Padres for best rotation. Sonny Gray is exactly like Quintana when he was with the Sox - super underappreciated to the national media, but very, very, very solid. Now, the case can be made that Q was not worth Eloy and I'd agree. You can also use the Kaplan analogy that Q is a Buick not a high-end car & that you wouldn't want Q on the mound as your do or die pitcher, and that's fine too. But let's not dismiss Gray as some meh pitcher. He's every bit as good as Keuchel and Lynn are in this day and age. They are all interchangeable based on hot streaks.

I've had the Weber going back to 2012? I think. Ol' trusty. When i lived down in houston i became friendly with a few of the pitmasters down there just out of curiosity. They were all super friendly ... basically just said do you mind if i swing by and just learn a bit ... they all said yes. Turned out i was getting some of the better advice. Guy now runs Pinkertons BBQ in Houston and San Antonio and the other guy runs Feges BBQ with his wife. Former pitmaster at Killen's. That community is super nice - actually at the Windy City Smokeout Feges was there and invited me to go hang out with Rodney Scott. So we sat and did some bbq with them that day. (if anybody knows anything about BBQ community Rodney Scott is in the top tier, Pinkertons may make a run as the top bbq spot in TX this upcoming period & Feges cranks out some of the best and more creative BBQ out there) Long story short the advice i kept getting was super simple - make sure your fire is good and steady. That's the key to the whole thing. Don't let it bounce from 220 to 240 to 230 to 240 and back to 220. A consistent fire from the beginning is the biggest key. After that they said to source meat well & to trim well. Trimming a brisket to keep it even is huge. Also keep it simple with the rubs and let the meat do the talking. Finally - the meat is done when its done. Which to me was just yogi berra talk -- I need a temp!! -- but in a yoda like fashion, now i dont use a thermometer on my briskets - all by feel. I just kind of push down on the fat (fat side up) of the brisket and when it bounces back like jello then it should be pretty good. After about a decade of briskets i can say confidently that i would put mine up against any restaurant (in chicago) outside of Green Street Smoked Meats in the West Loop. my rubs are just coarse salt 50%, coarse pepper 40%, and coffee 10%. My keys: all of what they said above, also let the brisket rest for about 1-2 hours in a blanket inside a cooler. Also never pre-slice a brisket.. Wait until you're going to serve. Brisket dries out so easily - which is why it's so hard to serve in a restaurant

Anderson - he's another guy that really earned it for me. Wasn't a huge fan of his in the beginning, but the more and more i see of him on and off the field he's my #1 Madrigal - like his attitude and his scrapiness. I also like he's a throwback in a changed game. Just seems very Southside, Bridgeport, White Sox to me. Giolito - I like his work ethic, but also like that he's smart outside of the game too. Think he understands the game and has a nice life perspective Abreu - keeps his head down, plays the game right, loyal. Just the type of guy to get behind Engel - this last one is a surprise for even me who put this guy down again and again. That being said his hard work and step forward were awesome to see. Love that he's carved out a role on this team as a 4OF for the next season or three. These are the type of guys that i love to see - had the chance being on a shitty team and really worked and made the most of it. Write it choice: Cease - this goes back to a podcast i think i listened to about him. I think he was big into yoga and meditation or something. just seemed to have a good perspective on life

I think I'll believe it when i see it (in regards to starting on time). Hockey and basketball were delayed based on their endings being so different than normal. Baseball didn't have that problem. Now that all sports seem to have returned to almost normal and with baseball having such a long lead time, I think it will be tough to delay the season. That being said - i still stand by my first guess for now which is ST will be held locally with intrasquad and matchups like Brewers/Cubs, etc for us. I think ST will start when the season is expected to start and the season being delayed 45-60 days. I believe none of this has to do with health, rather just buying time to put asses in seats to drive revenue while delaying having to pay these guys a full season.

As many have said its all moot, but it's also quiet this time of year and we're bored so we just keep repeating the same things over and over. So why not? haha. Bauer is a smart dude, especially when you take out some time to watch his youtube stuff. Heyman is kind of old man media on Twitter at times - gives me Steve Stone vibes at times, so i think you have to similar personalities that just clash. That being said the internet just seems to look for stories -- that exchange wasn't much of anything. Pretty sure it's just banter back and forth. Regardless of any of that I'd welcome him whole heartedly to the team. he's a guy that wants to win and is good at his job. Certainly better than most. Also he's one of almost none that is willing to accept a shorter term deal AND is actually pushing to pitch every 4th game. Shit, if a Cy Young winner wants to go out for 250 ip and is okay taking a 3 year deal? I have no problem with that. think about what you're paying per inning for that. Deals I'm fine with 1yr, 45mm, 2yr 85mm, 3yr 120mm, 4yr 135mm, 5yr 150mm, 6yr 160mm. Sliding scale.

Agreed in this day and age, just not all of them are pulled mid-start and identified with a forearm injury. I'm just assuming he's injured by May and out until Summer 2022 in my mind.

I don't trust Crochet's forearm. I just feel like that's an injury waiting to happen, but that to the side what I hope they do is utilize them as openers all season long. If you want to or have to manipulate time then let them start off in AAA.. otherwise I say that you use them in tandem with the bottom of the rotation. Have Crochet start on Cease days and then Kopech on whoever we pick up and/or whoever is the number 5. Let them go through the top of the order - maybe come back for second or third inning. Still gets them in rythm for starting every fifth day, it allows them to prep and warm up the same instead of mid-game, gets them exposure to the toughest part of the lineup, and builds innings while keeping them fresh for the playoffs. Come playoff time just utilize them in the same way with a shorter/longer leash based on results. By next year you can have them both ready for a full season.

This in a way. Musgrove is a fantasy baseball/statcast darling and is good. Better than the average fan will give him credit for. That said, he does have a bit of the "McCann" surplus tied to him. Or the Z. Wheeler "surplus", or the second cheapest bottle of wine at a restaurant "surplus" tied to him. Meaning, people want a good player, but not willing to pay for Realmulto or Cole last year because they cost SO MUCH more. So more people settle in for the next best option and drive price. So there's maybe what, 2 or 3 suitors for JT, but 5-6 for McCann. Drives up McCann's $$ and your ROR isn't as strong. The wine analogy is kind of the opposite, but many times the second cheapest wine option is the worst. However restaurants know people dont want to go for the cheapest option and look bad & go for the second lowest. Therefore restaurants take that opportunity and put their cheapest wine at the second lowest price to drive margin. Long winded way of saying Darvish/Snell probably go cheaper (relatively speaking) than Musgrove since there's more demand for the good, not great option.

This. I mean, some of the moves the Padres made may be looked back as meh, but at least on the surface and in the shorter term (1-4 years) they are great. The fact they have all the ammo left that they do is crazy. I like Patino a bunch & I've had the guess that he'll end up being the top of Gore, Paddack, Patino trio -- but who cares when you just picked up 3? 4? years of Snell at that contract price. They also gave up some other pieces there .. but when you have Tatis, Machado, etc. it's not exactly like you need "down the road" bats, especially when you can go out and acquire decent ones at a reasonable price in the free market. Clevinger for Naylor, Quantrill and some younger SS, IF, arm seemed like a crazy lopsided trade. To pick up Darvish for a bunch of maybe nice pieces that are young? Again you get a controlled pitcher for 3 years who gives you top 10 upside at Top 30 salary. The only trade i didnt get from their perspective was the Austin Nola for Ty France and Trammell ... that one seemed to be in Mariners favor. I mean to me they pulled off getting Clev, Darvish, Snell for the equivalent of (best attempt): Darvish: Kelley, Reynaldo, Cespedes, Burger Snell: Kopech, Thompson, Adolfo, Lambert Clevinger: Stiever, Rutherford, Burdi, etc. A lot tougher to matchup those trades than i expected ... but still, point is they were able to get all of those guys without giving up Robert/Vaughn/Eloy/Madrigal/Crochet, etc. It's just a game changing haul while leaving a still very full cupboard of top prospects to get a meaningful bat if they want.

I like lynn and all, i just wonder what it would've taken for darvish. I like his three years at a fixed, reasonable cost plus upside. If dunning was still the centerpiece I wouldve been more than okay trading some of our younger pieces. oh well. also now it seems as if bryant has to be ... like free? same with any high priced player on a number of teams. i know we have eaton + a plethora of marginal bench guys in leury, collins, engel, mendick etc. to fill any bench roles + spot DH, days off -- however it's too bad we don't make that push to sign or trade for a "bloated" contract and really load this team up.

I've always been a Musgrove guy going back to his days in Houston. He's been a fantasy draft candidate for me almost every single year. Just a solid, solid pitcher. I'd definitely give up the likes of Stiever/Collins to get it done, however would not do it for Madrigal.

You’ve insulted my character over and over & I’ve proven and substantiated your claims. You found the the thing I hate the most - being called a liar and pushing my family buttons. So good for you. But at a certain point I need to realize there’s no reason to get into the mud. You’re a troll. This was a response to where you said I don’t research every single day. So I literally screen grabbed back to March. And you’re wrong. I showed you that I do. It’s less about me listening to podcasts and more about defending my character. I don’t need to lie - when you’re comfortable in your own skin you don’t need to build some online persona. But I sure as hell will defend it cause I’m not a liar. And I’m sure as hell not Trump. No matter what I post you’ll have a response & I don’t need to find myself posting 158,000 times to a message board to try and gain the acceptance of strangers. Like I said I’m building something for my family and I & once I build it up I aspire to give back to the community and friends. My aspirations. And people like you drive me. You can call me cheesy or make fun of me , but I really don’t care. I will get to the top & then I will give it all away to people who have the same drive and need that next step/push. I don’t lie. I don’t need to lie. honeslty you can go ahead as an admin and delete or block me or whatever you need to do to eliminate me from the board. Whatever helps you feel important.

Glad you can make assumptions but I was told I can’t. Here you go buddy. Own read receipts. I also listen to Tales from the Crypt, Pomp Podcast. Preston Prysh, Real Vision, Macro Musings among others (fantasy pros, chucks Sox podcast, yang speaks, planet money, Rogan, the portal, etc. . it’s possible to work your ass off, listen to 1-2 hours of podcasts on the train, In the shower, while cooking, walking the dogs, etc. & still put in time at the office. You want listen receipts from those too? My job is in credit. Literally corporate credit. So yes, I work all day and then dive deeper because I’m trying to make it to the top and run a the division for the country & retire by 55 & travel and give back and donate time and money to those who are dealt a bad hand. And yes during March I put in a month of 60 hour weeks Because the credit markets were in disarray. I don’t need to lie like you. Very not trumpian posts... quite the opposite. The truth. Would you like all my podcast read receipts? Sorry not all of us have to lie about some fake bitcoin mining rig. Maybe you’re the one w the fragile ego.

On March 19th that was super insensitive and an asshole comment and you and I both know it. Yes I was working from sun up until I went to bed for 2-3 weeks at that time, my wife just got Covid -- like remember how life was on March 19 if you can ... thats when people regardless of age were dropping dead, going to the ICU, being put on ventilators, etc. We had no clue what the hell the virus was & when i was stressed working ridiculous hours & worried about my wife you came back that response. She literally didn't leave the bed for like 2 weeks. I had never seen her like that in my life and it was legit scary. Like really scary. If you dont see the issue and refuse to acknowledge it then that's on you. The fact that i brought up my displeasure on that comment now 5? times and you still dont have the human decency to reflect on that or apologize is one of the biggest tells. ( i know i said i wasn't going to respond ... and i guess I'm poor at following through, but when you bring family into something, and then double down saying you didn't?? that's gonna get me going) I will go papa bear on family.

Aw shit, haha, cause you're an admin i cant mute you?!? boooo. well I'll just be respectful then and not respond to you anymore directly, and you can do the same? deal?

I mean, my first sentence responding to you was literally " this isn't a victory lap" There will be bumps along the way until there are clarity in regulations and self custody, insurance, easier, safer wallets, second layers, etc. It could very well crash down to $5k again if government takes a certain path. And to be fair, the dollar is the world reserve currecny, if something is threatening it? They might very well do so. As to the rest of it - you again fail to apologize for questionable attacks on family & don't respond to the bitcoin mining claims that were clearly false because lets be honest... it's a lie. It's physically not possible via a PC computer. Yes, that's an assumption, and probably not right to make an assumption, but when something literally has no physical capability to being true? then you get called out. The rest? Far from a rant I said some of my takes will be wrong, some of my responses can be abrasive or some of my reactions can be over the top and that I continue to learn and work on that. I think i say it like 4,5 times where I admit faults ... i think the other posters will see that. I think we'll go our separate ways -- no offense dude, but we're both better off muting each other. I personally think you have a problem with manipulating things to fit a narrative and lying and seem to be quite immature. You likely think the same of me & that's fine by me as I know my own character. I'm all for back and forth when it goes somewhere because you learn something, unfortunately i dont think back and forth between us is good for either of us, that we're learning anything or that the board/conversation is benefitting from it. So let's move on. You can respond and have the last word but i'm personally okay bowing out. Cheers to you, no hard feelings outside the family comments. Go sox.

I'd invite you to re-read the forum. It's all there. You were pretty combative throughout. Quote yourself away from the thread where you were "positive" on bitcoin or where you laid out that your theory was ROR against the stock market (which by the way, ROR on bitcoin v. stock market isn't even close, bitcoin has outperformed wildly against the stock market) I mean, you quite literally said the dollar is leading the way (down) while stocks are down (up) gold was down (up) and that bitcoin is leading the way in losses (leading the way in gains). You're batting Adam Dunn numbers. And yes, I am being harder on you - mostly because you were a complete dick to me in almost every response including mocking me when my wife had covid at the very outset of this. So although I don't like victory laps, I damn well am going to take one here and call you out a bit. your angle above is more like the dollar milkshake theory, which i can see happening. I would guess the dollar rallies in the future - i also believe stocks will continue their rally too - hard not too when the money printer is on. So I don't think you're wrong in your views - the dollar is still the world reserve currency - however i think during our lifetime we'll move into a digital basket of currencies which will lessen the stronghold of the dollar. Almost akin to a stablecoin. full disclosure I think theres a long way to go - the government is coming way too close to banning self custody of bitcoin which, if it happens, would be a very large blow to the utility of the product. They also havent defined regulations enough. However the more intertwined it becomes with the BlackRocks and Druckenmillers/Tudor Jones of the world, the more they will have influence on said regulations. I am actually hoping for a pull back closer to $15k in the coming month(s), but who knows if we'll get it. Take this post FWIW - I'm okay leaving things in the past from here & having civil conversations with valid points, but let's not act like youre some cypherpunk mining bitcoin and that you've been super positive on it ..

Just curious Southsider2k5 - earlier in this thread, and earlier in 2020 you were pretty negative on Bitcoin? So while you were negative on bitcoin you were mining? Just seems very counter to your own arguments to me. During this crisis bitcoin went from about 10,000 to under 5,000 at its low. It has bounced back a bit, but is still down 40% from where it was four weeks ago. Two weeks ago it was 9000. I did notice you switched from the dollar to the stock market, but have you seen the rally in the dollar at this time? You do understand that bitcoin is down more than the stock market during this time? In terms of confidence, the dollar is still leading the world. Stocks are down, gold is down, and bitcoin is leading the losses.