dwinning

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Date	Title	Body
2 years 4 weeks ago	Sure, but if you can't	Sure, but if you can't separate the signal from the noise then the numbers are meaningless.
2 years 4 weeks ago	The biggest problem is that	The biggest problem is that people here are acting like 3 weeks of statistics means a goddam thing.  They don't.
2 years 6 weeks ago	Maybe in little league or	Maybe in little league or beer league softball, but in real baseball you ALWAYS put the guy with the better arm in RF, no exceptions.  The point is to keep the runner from going from 1st to 3rd on a single to right.
2 years 6 weeks ago	Anyone who's thought enough	Anyone who's thought enough about baseball to ask a question like this should really read The Book, by Tom Tango.  The answer's in there.  Basically, the risk of getting thrown out at second outweighs the reward of getting to second.  The Book is an easy read and really changes the way you watch baseball.
2 years 7 weeks ago	If the NCAA smacks tOSU hard	If the NCAA smacks tOSU hard enough that they have to get rid of Tressell, why would Meyer - who could have damn near whichever job he wants - want to take over a program being hit with scholarship limits, playoff bans and so forth?  Seems like he can wait around for the perfect job to open up, this wouldn't be it.
2 years 9 weeks ago	What did he say, exactly?	What did he say, exactly?
2 years 9 weeks ago	Hold on	Before everyone has a fit about how classless it is to "make fun of" the previous regime - which, yes, of course - why don't we take breath and realize nobody here knows what was actually said.  Michigan Student's account of the speech was pretty sloppy and vague, nothing to start (or continue) crucifying Brandon over.
2 years 17 weeks ago	If you read my post, you'd	If you read my post, you'd have seen that I was asking if practices are filmed, because I don't know.  Thanks for the prickish answer though.
2 years 17 weeks ago	catching the ball.	catching the ball.
2 years 17 weeks ago	Question	He talks about watching game film from last year to see what they have on defense, but is there also film of practices from last year for the new staff to watch?  Seems like that would be pretty helpful, since probably only half the players on the team ever saw the field last year.
2 years 18 weeks ago	Playing with Legos is one of	Playing with Legos is one of the most popular majors at tSIO.
2 years 18 weeks ago	Call would have still been	Call would have still been blown, regardless of what the commissioner did the next day.   The crowd doesn't go insane with joy, teammates don't carry you off the field, there is no euphoria.  Selig could have put him in the history books, but the magic of perfect games is the moment of the last out.  Even if Selig *fixed* it, that's not justice.
2 years 18 weeks ago	When Joyce had the press	When Joyce had the press conference the following day, where he came out and owned up to his mistake and apologized to AG, I remember wishing my sons were old enough to watch and see how a man - a real man - confronts a mistake.  I've got an incredible amount of respect for that guy.
2 years 18 weeks ago	MBAs are for sobers.	MBAs are for sobers.
2 years 18 weeks ago	The fact is, a law school	The fact is, a law school education costs $150,000 and MOST legal jobs don't pay enough to comfortably pay that off.  The jobs that do, suck.  I'm a 04 UMLS grad, and since I never went into BIGLAW - I've had jobs where I get to see my kids - student loans are the bane of my existence.  I could almost drive two BMWs for what I pay in loans every month.  I always advise against going to law school, unless you (a) know what lawyers really do everyday (drudgery) and (b) you get some great scholarship.
2 years 19 weeks ago	+1 for K College	+1 for K College
2 years 19 weeks ago	posted from iPhone	What we "look like" to people who have no clue what is *actually happening* is irrelevant. If we get a good coach thursday, nobody's going to give a shit that we were bummed out tuesday. We all can see about 5% of what's going on, that we haven't hired someone is not necessarily evidence that things are going wrong. The self righteous presumptions are getting out of hand.
2 years 19 weeks ago	prodigal son looms raise	prodigal son looms raise your weary heads, look west to the horizon
2 years 20 weeks ago	posted from iPhone	This going to be on tv or anything?
2 years 20 weeks ago	I'm not precisely sure what	I'm not precisely sure what all's fueling this media back and forth, but I think we can assume that today harbaugh's on a plane or having lunch or driving home, or unpacking, or doing a million things besides whispering to 'sources' about which way he's leaning or not leaning.  I mean, has the guy actually said anything to anybody?  I'm as hooked on the he said/he said about this as anyone, but is there any reason to believe that anyone out there has any legitimate basis for their opinion?
2 years 20 weeks ago	NFL Head Coach Salaries.	NFL Head Coach Salaries.  $4mil is would be in the top 1/4 of the NFL, fwiw.
2 years 22 weeks ago	I mostly agree, except I	I mostly agree, except I think it's pretty clear that he was pitching injured for a good portion of 2008 - velocity dropped, GB% dropped - and his 2010 is not so out of line with his 2005-2007 FIPs which averaged 3.50.  But bottom line is that it Dombrowski couldn't really trust perry or zumaya to own the 8th inning next year, so he had to go out and pay going rates for a setup guy.  I didn't like the 3rd year any more than you do, but 5.5m a year is close to market value for these kinds of arms anymore, as shown by the other reliever contracts I cited.
2 years 22 weeks ago	I know all that, that's why I	I know all that, that's why I didn't predict his ERA would be 1.34 again.  His ERA based on his peripherals last year should have been 2.43.  Even if you add a run to that number, a guy with a 3.40 era over 200 high leverage innings is worth $16m.  But since you're being a negative nancy, let me highlight the positives: he came back from a year off following surgery throwing harder than he ever has, and apparently is healthy.  7/1 k/bb is elite and is no accident.  Dombrowski has scouts that apparently love the guy.  Do I think he ever repeats 2009?  No.  Does he have to in order to be worth his contract?  No.  Would I have signed him to this deal?  No, for the reasons you stated, but I think it's perfectly defensible.
2 years 22 weeks ago	I think that's overstating	I think that's overstating it.  If he gives us 200 (high leverage) innings of 3.00 era ball over three years, that's worth $16mil.  Non-closer relievers are getting PAID this year, for whatever reason, so benoit's deal isn't really an outlier:  Feliciano got $8m/2yrs, Jenks got $12m/2rys, Crain got $13m/3yrs, Downs got $15m/3yrs, Putz got $10m/2yrs, and Takahashi got $8m/2yrs.
2 years 22 weeks ago	Yeah, this is presumably the	Yeah, this is presumably the motivation behind pegging Phil Coke as a starter earlier in the offseason.  He was a very good starter in the minors before the Yankees moved him to the pen (because they didn't need starters) in the middle of 2008.   He's got three pitches and a good frame so the tigers think he can maybe pull off what CJ Wilson did last year.   Hopefully him and galarraga can hold the #4-#5 starter fort until oliver shows up next year and turner shows up in 2012.
2 years 22 weeks ago	Tigers are doing perfectly fine	Dombrowski's methodical.  None of the moves are particularly awesome by themselves, but he's building a good roster for 2011 without sacrificing much financial flexibility after next season.  All told, these moves give the Tigers a solid roster that can contend in the AL Central in 2011 and 12 without giving out long, exorbitant contracts to anyone: (1) The Inge and Peralta signings are not sexy, or all that interesting, but these are good moves because there were no better alternatives.  They're both close to average players and unless you want to go out and spend $80mil on adrian beltre there aren't any viable 3B on the FA market and SS is even thinner.  Holes filled adequately, move along.   (2) Victor Martinez is a solid bat at a reasonable cost.  he'll catch twice a week, spell Cabrera at 1B and DH the rest of the time.  Would maybe have preferred dunn's bat, but he doesn't give you the positional flexibility that VMart does.  Hole filled nicely. (3) the Benoit deal looks a little rich, but he solidifies the back end of the bullpen.  again, not sexy or interesting, but a decent little move that fills a hole.  (4) Same with Magglio: Werth and Crawford are better, sure, but they got ridiculous contracts elsewhere.  Again, resigning an aging RF for 1 year isn't exciting, but it's a smart way to fill a hole without committing too much salary into the future.  (5) Starting pitching: We've not gone after pavano because he'll want at least a 3 year deal and we don't want to tie up too much money/years in the rotation when we have (a) scherzer and porcello getting more expensive over the next 3 years and (b) a handful of guys - coke, oliver and turner - likely moving into the rotation in the next few years.
2 years 23 weeks ago	Yeah, but he broke his ankle	Yeah, but he broke his ankle and missed ended up missing out on that.  It was worth $15m or so.
2 years 23 weeks ago	Good solid move, especially	Good solid move, especially considering the alternatives: at least this saves us from having to have 4-way pillowfight/cage-match to fill LF and RF from the likes of clete thomas, casper wells, brennan boesch, ryan raburn and the bloated corpse of carlos guillen.   And I like raburn.
2 years 23 weeks ago	#2 is not a fact.	#2 is not a fact.
2 years 23 weeks ago	You can't really assume that	You can't really assume that certain recruits go elsewhere because of DB's schedule.  It's a factor, but nobody can say with any certainty how big of one it is unless the kids come out and say it.  And Brandon's said repeatedly that he evaluates ALL of the universities coaches/programs after their seasons, regardless of the coaches contractual situation, nothing unusual about him doing it, only unusual that it's so hyped this year.

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