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Post by The Captain on Dec 11, 2019 7:17:00 GMT -5
The Evil Empire strikes. Yankees sign Gerritt Cole to a 9 year $324 million dollar contract. That's insane money. -M It's not the money, it's the years. $36MM AAV is high, but other guys have gotten around that before. The fact they'll be paying him that until he's 38 is what is insane. Cole's a power pitcher, and the likelihood he makes it nine seasons without some kind of arm issues probably isn't that great. For Cole's sake, I hope he doesn't get injured and he continues to have a long and successful career. I own 1 baseball jersey, and it is a Pirates jersey with Cole's name and number on it, as I've always liked him as a player. As for the Yankees, bleep 'em. The big market, big money teams are ruining the game and killing interest around the country, as those of us in small markets are tired of the same old teams winning and getting the best players year after year.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2019 11:15:07 GMT -5
The Evil Empire strikes. Yankees sign Gerritt Cole to a 9 year $324 million dollar contract. That's insane money. -M It's not the money, it's the years. $36MM AAV is high, but other guys have gotten around that before. The fact they'll be paying him that until he's 38 is what is insane. Cole's a power pitcher, and the likelihood he makes it nine seasons without some kind of arm issues probably isn't that great. For Cole's sake, I hope he doesn't get injured and he continues to have a long and successful career. I own 1 baseball jersey, and it is a Pirates jersey with Cole's name and number on it, as I've always liked him as a player. As for the Yankees, bleep 'em. The big market, big money teams are ruining the game and killing interest around the country, as those of us in small markets are tired of the same old teams winning and getting the best players year after year. There's an opt out after 5 years, nit sure if it is mutual or one-sided, but I am betting the contract is front loaded during those 5 years. I am hoping that when the Yankees force Cole to shave and cut his hair that it has the Samson effect on him. As for big market vs. small market the Yankees have always outspent everyone else to try to win championships, and just about every rule on the book limiting spending (through luxury tax of what have you) are a direct reaction to the way the Yankees do things. Baseball has always featured the Yankees spending big and everyone else doing what they can, and it's been that way since baseball was at the peak of being America's pasttime and at the height of its popularity. The Yankees spending big chasing championships is not what is killing interest in the game, it is the product on the field. As the NBA has shown a hard cap or "parity" is not going to curb certain teams collecting all the talent and other teams losing out. It happens no matter what limits on spending you impose unless you re going to limit the ability of players to change teams as they see fit, and that is a regressive step no one would want to make. -M
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2019 23:22:02 GMT -5
Joe Burrow took home the Heisman Trophy
Well Deserving Win
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2019 8:46:53 GMT -5
NFL PRO BOWL ROSTER
12 Baltimore Ravens on the Pro Bowl ... this is totally unbelievable and I haven't watched this game in 25 years!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2019 18:29:41 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2020 23:31:44 GMT -5
Are Out of the Playoffs and I just can't believe it. Shocking and True ... and looks like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick maybe parting ways next season.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 18:01:46 GMT -5
Tom Brady will be back in the NFL next season and has not ruled out the Patriots ... ESPN reported today.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 23:53:05 GMT -5
After being named 11 times in the Commissioner's report on the Astros activities, Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox have mutually agreed to part ways. Cora was essentially dead man walking, just waiting for the Commissioner's office to complete their investigation of the 2018 Sox, so this allows the Sox to get a new manager in place before spring training starts next month. I liked Cora, but he is reaping what he sowed. I do think that the sign stealing is being blown out of proportion, it's been a part of the game since well before the era of Ty Cobb and the Babe, and it has evolved as technology has evolved-hell if using technology to steal signs is the issue, then anyone using eyeglasses or binoculars to do so is equally as guilty of using technology to aid their sign stealing, but it is what it is. I still find PED use a more heinous form of cheating, and the employment of domestic abusers far more loathsome, and even feel that in the sabremetric er where every piece of info is decoded to give the players the slightest advantage in a game, stealing signs is just an outgrowth of that done in real time, but if you are going to say it was wrong (and I can live with that) then Cora deserves what he gets.
However, since it was mostly a player driven scheme, I think the Astros manager and GM were the scapegoats and the penalty to the Astros was a slap on the wrist for the sake of optics, and the players getting away scott free is laughable, since there is now absolutely no disincentive to keep those who want to do so form doing it again, as long as the leave the staff of the team out of it, there is nothing to risk if players do it elsewhere.
-M
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Post by berkley on Jan 15, 2020 0:51:57 GMT -5
It's not the money, it's the years. $36MM AAV is high, but other guys have gotten around that before. The fact they'll be paying him that until he's 38 is what is insane. Cole's a power pitcher, and the likelihood he makes it nine seasons without some kind of arm issues probably isn't that great. For Cole's sake, I hope he doesn't get injured and he continues to have a long and successful career. I own 1 baseball jersey, and it is a Pirates jersey with Cole's name and number on it, as I've always liked him as a player. As for the Yankees, bleep 'em. The big market, big money teams are ruining the game and killing interest around the country, as those of us in small markets are tired of the same old teams winning and getting the best players year after year. There's an opt out after 5 years, nit sure if it is mutual or one-sided, but I am betting the contract is front loaded during those 5 years. I am hoping that when the Yankees force Cole to shave and cut his hair that it has the Samson effect on him. As for big market vs. small market the Yankees have always outspent everyone else to try to win championships, and just about every rule on the book limiting spending (through luxury tax of what have you) are a direct reaction to the way the Yankees do things. Baseball has always featured the Yankees spending big and everyone else doing what they can, and it's been that way since baseball was at the peak of being America's pasttime and at the height of its popularity. The Yankees spending big chasing championships is not what is killing interest in the game, it is the product on the field. As the NBA has shown a hard cap or "parity" is not going to curb certain teams collecting all the talent and other teams losing out. It happens no matter what limits on spending you impose unless you re going to limit the ability of players to change teams as they see fit, and that is a regressive step no one would want to make. -M
That's interesting because the cap does seem to be bringing more parity to the NHL, and making it difficult to maintain dynasties as teams usually have to start getting rid of players after a few years. What do you think the difference is? Or is it just that the cap hasn't been around long in hockey so the owners haven't yet figured out ways to circumvent it as they apparently have done in baseball?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 1:15:55 GMT -5
There's an opt out after 5 years, nit sure if it is mutual or one-sided, but I am betting the contract is front loaded during those 5 years. I am hoping that when the Yankees force Cole to shave and cut his hair that it has the Samson effect on him. As for big market vs. small market the Yankees have always outspent everyone else to try to win championships, and just about every rule on the book limiting spending (through luxury tax of what have you) are a direct reaction to the way the Yankees do things. Baseball has always featured the Yankees spending big and everyone else doing what they can, and it's been that way since baseball was at the peak of being America's pasttime and at the height of its popularity. The Yankees spending big chasing championships is not what is killing interest in the game, it is the product on the field. As the NBA has shown a hard cap or "parity" is not going to curb certain teams collecting all the talent and other teams losing out. It happens no matter what limits on spending you impose unless you re going to limit the ability of players to change teams as they see fit, and that is a regressive step no one would want to make. -M That's interesting because the cap does seem to be bringing more parity to the NHL, and making it difficult to maintain dynasties as teams usually have to start getting rid of players after a few years. What do you think the difference is? Or is it just that the cap hasn't been around long in hockey so the owners haven't yet figured out ways to circumvent it as they apparently have done in baseball?
I haven't followed hockey much since the Whalers left Hartford to become the Carolina Hurricanes, so I really cannot comment on hockey with any kind of credibility. But in baseball, players do not become free agents until they have had x numbers of years of service, which is usually just pas the player's peak time in their career, so teams get a number of years of cost controlled service from players they draft/develop. Not sure how hockey compares, but I know in baseball there is a slot amount signed depending on where a player is drafted and a limited pool of money teams have to sign draft picks, so young talent coming up is much less expensive. I don't know if hockey has the same kind of limitations/structure for signing draft picks that MLB does, or how long rookie contracts last before they can start earning bigger money. The way lineups/rosters are structured and constructed in baseball also allow for teams to be top heavy in salary and still field competitive team. Most teams have a 40 man roster, but only 25 are active at the major league level, of which the same 8/9 (DH in the AL being #9) usually play every day, 12 being pitchers usually, and of those, the top 2-3 starters and the closers only get big money the rest are usually low cost players as are the position players not in the starting 8/9, so there are ways to handle big contracts and fill out the entire roster and not mess with the longterm viability/competitiveness of the roster/team composition. Hockey is a little different. The only player in the line up who doesn't play every night is the back up goalie. All 4 lines and all 3 defensive pairs play every night, every game, so it's a big harder to skimp on salary for some roster spots. If your back up outfielder and catcher are scrubs, they're not going to get exposed and cost you a game. If your 3rd defensive pair or 4th line are scrubs, they will end up playing against the other teams superstar at some point because of a bad line change or an icing call and get exposed and could very well cost you a game in those 45 seconds, so it's a lot harder to compensate for big contracts in hockey by filling out the string with bargain basement contracts, which requires more judiciousness in signing and keeping big contracts long term. And that is going to keep teams from being able to remain dominant and stash away a lot of high price talent. They have to make a lot harder choices who to pay and how much without strip-mining the rest of their roster in the process if they are going to remain competitive for a longer window, There are lot more moving pieces to figure out when constructing a hockey line up than baseball at times. But again, my knowledge of modern era hockey is far from comprehensive, so a lot of this is just spitballing -M
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2020 7:52:24 GMT -5
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Jan 24, 2020 19:47:30 GMT -5
Don't know if there are any fellow tennis fans here but it was very cool to watch Serena v. Wang and Osaka v. Gauff Australian Open matches. Both sets of players had met each other just a few months ago at the US Open with Serena and Osaka dominating their opponent. Fast forward to yesterday/this morning and Wang and Gauff prevailed. Wang was impressive in how she clearly learned from her US Open defeat and adjusted beautifully to Serena's power. And Gauff simply proved that she is worthy of the accolades and expectations being heaped on her. Great stuff!
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Post by berkley on Jan 26, 2020 0:34:43 GMT -5
I'm a bit conflicted about Coco Gauff: on the one hand, if she's good enough to play at this level, which she obviously has proven, it doesn't seem fair not to allow her to compete. But on the other hand, I'm not sure it's a good idea to have 15 year old children playing in adult tournaments with all the mental and emotional pressure that involves. Physically, she can obviously do it - but then so can children physically work in factories, and in some cases do a better job than adults, yet we have laws against that.
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Jan 27, 2020 2:42:20 GMT -5
I'm a bit conflicted about Coco Gauff: on the one hand, if she's good enough to play at this level, which she obviously has proven, it doesn't seem fair not to allow her to compete. But on the other hand, I'm not sure it's a good idea to have 15 year old children playing in adult tournaments with all the mental and emotional pressure that involves. Physically, she can obviously do it - but then so can children physically work in factories, and in some cases do a better job than adults, yet we have laws against that. There are rules in place that strictly limit the number of tournaments a player her age can enter. Even still, I feel the same as you re: the concern about the emotional pressure. I wince when I hear pundits make big predictions about her future. I keep thinking, "Please just let her be and don't put all that on her shoulders."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2020 17:58:31 GMT -5
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