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dd
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Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Jan 20, 2020 9:54:54 GMT -5
Give everyone an idea of exactly how efficient the paper pushers are at the government offices in nearly unfireable positions.. I have been trying for years to get a copy of my 2nd DD213 for years.. Not the one from discharge from active duty, but discharge when left the USNR several years afterward (active reserves). It would seem obvious when keep stating in requests in letters, as well as forms filled out that i want my final separation documents, lost many decades ago, but continue getting original papers each time. This is the clusterf*%&$ we deal with government run offices. Full of personnel, none with a clue. Try your local congress(wo)man. I had a 4 year problem with Social Security and the IRS. Essentially Soc. Security taxed me and said they sent it to the IRS and the IRS was saying they didn't recieve it. I wrote to a Congressman in Nevada (I established residence in Nevada before I moved to the Philippines) and within 2 months I had a Social Security deposit to my account. What Ray said. If you don't get anywhere, remember that you actually have 3 reps in Congress, 1 in the House and 2 in the Senate. Some of them have better and more responsive constituent services personnel than others, so start with the House rep and if that doesn't work move up the chain.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Dec 18, 2019 12:57:13 GMT -5
Surprise surprise, imagine being disappointed by government military incompetence. The idea that the government is one giant monolithic entity is silly. We built the most complex society the earth has ever seen and by necessity a complex government - one jerked back and forth by political whims - to go with it. But incompetent? not quite. I know the Navy hasn't jumped on this with both feet. Not to cut them some slack, but they do have bigger fish to fry these days. There's no argument that parts of what is a byzantine governmental structure can be dog slow. That's often the way the political forces want it. But incompetent? When they're given a mission and allowed to do it, not by a long shot.
I'm in general agreement with you, Norm. It is fair to say though that bureaucracies tend to generate their own type of incompetence regardless (often in spite of) of the competence of the individuals in them. It's kind of a perverse law of nature that must be always fought. The bigger the organization the harder it is and it's not just government. (I've been hearing some amazing stories recently from a consultant to one of the big US auto makers. It's bureaucratic incompetence run amok to the benefit of a small number of incompetent individuals who can't be easily removed because of bureaucratic rules!) OK. Baseball ...
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Dec 17, 2019 14:32:10 GMT -5
I was just having some fun myself, dmaine seems like he can take a joke in my experience anyways. Sometimes I think we could use some more levity here, by and large everything is fine compared to other sites though. Thank you for posting that. I literally LOL'd.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Nov 30, 2019 17:11:43 GMT -5
No top 20 changes but Chih-Jung Liu debuts at # 24.
Details
Summary:
- Liu at # 24
- Yoan Aybar is up from 30 to 27.
- Kyle Hart jumped up 10 in the rankings from 52 to 42.
- Kutter Crawford plummeted, down from 29 to 47.
- Edged out of the rankings this time was Luis Perales who was 60th last month.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Nov 25, 2019 17:28:43 GMT -5
Maybe I've been reading too much philosophy of late, but I believe the following two propositions are independent and compatible: P1. Marcus Lynn Betts very much wants to get as much money as possible as a free agent a year from now.
P2. Marcus Lynn Betts very much wants to play his entire career with the Boston Red Sox. Given P1, you would be a fool to say anything that would suggest the truth of P2. Which is why it doesn't seem to be true.
However, if you apply some basic reasoning, P2 seems likely to be true.
- Betts is very close to a number of his teammates (source: Speier's book)
- The Red Sox, given their current roster strength and their financial resources, project to be one of the handful of most competitive teams in baseball, especially if Betts is a team member
- Boston is widely regarded as one of the best places to play (if not the best) in terms of fan passion, appreciation and knowledge
- Fenway Park is ideally suited for Bett's talents, with its huge RF that he doesn't often hit baseballs towards
- All things being equal, human beings prefer to remain in a situation they like rather than risk a move to an unfamiliar situation
I don't see a reason why they can't re-sign him a year from now. So the question comes down to trading either Betts or Martinez (along with JBJ) to get under the tax limit. JDM, as I've discussed earlier, is also a player whom you can likely re-sign in a year. (I don't think eating part of Price's contract is viable. Not enough $ saved, and too big a hole opens up. You have to wait a year on the health of all of the Big Hurt Three. Roll the dice on comebacks.)
If you could get a good RF as part of the return for Betts, that may well be the better option. You have about $6M more to spend to upgrade other positions, and you don't have to add a fourth position player to the lineup (in addition to 1B, 2B, and CF). Does that upgrade more than compensate for the 1-year WAR difference between Mookie and JDM? If the OF in question has more than a year of control, that's almost certain. I'm with those who can't see why the Dodgers would trade Verdugo for Betts, even 1-for-1. He's been a 5.0 bWAR player per 650 PA at ages 22 and 23. You can regress that a lot to the mean and still have a first division starter -- and he has 5 years of control. Getting Verdugo and then signing Betts a year later (one of them plays CF, replacing the stopgap solution) would be an absolute steal. Of course, if Betts leads the Dodgers to their long-elusive WS title, they'll probably think it's worth it, and maybe that's the way they're thinking.
The wild card in this calculus is whether teams value JDM's reputation as a second hitting coach. He has a lot more value as a one-year rental if a team believes he has a chance to permanently change a clubhouse culture regarding hitting preparation and approach, and/or positively influence a young core of position players.
I have no idea if you're right, Eric, but I desperately want you to be right!
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Nov 19, 2019 18:02:21 GMT -5
Sorry about the thread hijack but not all heroes wear baseball unies and not all great stories involve baseball. Thank you for sharing this, Phil.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Nov 19, 2019 17:53:26 GMT -5
Imagine how mad we'd be if the Astros beat the Red Sox in 2018. The worst thing about this whole situation is that for the first time in recorded history the complaints of Yankee fans are valid. Nope. Just can't go there. Yankee fans are always invalid!
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Nov 4, 2019 13:16:11 GMT -5
The whole playoffs this year shows how magical 2018 was for us! Man, it was drama free lol They played an 18 inning game that literally screwed me up for like 2 weeks. Ah, the beauty of retirement! :-) Old age is definitely overrated but there's a good thing here and there.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Oct 30, 2019 22:40:32 GMT -5
Just dawned on me to change my sig. Don't need "Not that DD!" anymore.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Oct 23, 2019 14:03:02 GMT -5
The season's over for the sox but the silver lining is that it's over for the Yankees too ... and they weren't expecting it!
Details
Summary:
- Triston Casas & Bryan Mata stayed atop the list, but ...
- Jason Groome and Gilberto Jiminez moved up to 3 and 4 from 5 and 6 respectively while ...
- Bobby Dalbec and Jarren Duran moved down 2 spots from 3 & 4.
- Noah Song and CJ Chatham voth moved up a notch to 8th & 9th.
- Thad Ward is # 10, down 2.
- Ryan Zeferjahn moved up 3 from 14 to 11.
- Aldo Ramirez is at #12, up from 17 on 9/1, 29 on 8/1, and 40 on 7/15.
- Matthew Lugo dropped from 11 to 13.
- Nick Decker down from 12 to 15.
- Brayan Bello up from 20 to 17.
- Antoni Flores fell 5 positions down to 18.
- Ceddanne Rafaela rose from 34 to 19, one position for each letter in his name!
- Pedro Castellanos up from 26 to 21.
- Brand Howlett went the other way, 18 to 22.
- Jorge Rodriguez, at # 23, matched Rafaela ... except that his name is one letter shorter.
- Durbin Feltman, 21 to 24.
- Eduard Bazardo, 28 to 25.
- Mike Shawaryn (27) and Kutter Crawford (29) both down 5 spots.
- Chase Shugart dropped from 23 to 31.
- Nick Northcut fell 10 positions landing at # 37.
- Darel Belen is ranked for the first time at 35.
- Brainier Bonaci up 16 from 56 to 40.
- Brayan Gonzalez down 7 to # 41.
- Denyi Reyes at 42, down 6.
- Yoelvis is at 44. That's up 2 from last month but up 10 since 8/1.
- Josh Ockimey, ranked # 4 in the spring of '17, id down 5 and now at # 45.
- Blake Loubier up from 55 to 49.
- Devlin Granbeg down from 42 to 50.
- Kole Cottam, 44 to 51.
- Emmanuel De Jesus fell 10 down to # 55.
- Yusniel Padron-Artiles is ranked for the first time at 58.
- Luis Perales, a 22nd round pick in '18, is ranked for the first time at #60 to round out the rankings.
- Jhon Nunez (49 last month), Stephen Scott (54), and Daniel McGrath (60) all fell out of the top 60.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Oct 18, 2019 8:04:48 GMT -5
So far the Astros are trying to follow the same script the Red Sox did last year in the ALCS. Lose big at home for Game 1 and then win the rest of the games, the final 3 on the road. Hell, the Red Sox even clinched the ALCS on Oct 18th (a great date in Red Sox history - see 2004, too) last year - and today is Oct 18th! What a nice thought. The Y's could have 2 consecutive ALCS appearances in which they one the 1st on the road then lost 4 straight culminating in Yankee Stadium on the same date. I'm salivating at the thought. Gotta get the bourbon out to be ready just in case!
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Oct 17, 2019 23:28:45 GMT -5
TTTTTTHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Life is good.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Sept 24, 2019 11:12:22 GMT -5
Let's add a throwing contest to the MLB All-Star game festivities...length, speed, accuracy. Somebody's arm would fall off. That could still be good for ratings though.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Sept 1, 2019 23:05:57 GMT -5
Thanks dd! Groshans and De Jesus are both ranked. Thanks. One of these bleepin' days I'll get it all right on the first try! ... or not.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Sept 1, 2019 21:20:35 GMT -5
Due to popular demand, I'm pleased to reintroduce Daniel McGrath!
Details
Summary:
This is the 19 yo Jorge Rodriguez, not the 34 yo player of the same name who was released by the Sox in November, '08.)
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 2, 2019 16:05:38 GMT -5
That's so full of sh*t. There are 100s of youtube videos that show a major league ball bounce higher than a normal ball when dropped from the same distance. With respect, jimed, while I'm inclined to believe that the baseball has changed, I like don't find this particular video very convincing. It says that 7 of 8 times the ball on the viewer's left bounce higher but my count (watching it once) was that the ball on the right bounced higher 3 times. The difference is said to be 10% but to my (admittedly uncalibrated) eye, it wasn't even close to 10%. Also, we don't know who did this test, can't see the hands letting go of the balls, and can't see the surface they bounce on.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 2, 2019 10:04:49 GMT -5
For all the same reasons JBJ is still here. I feel badly for JBJ. I think after another poor season and the Sox demise, change will be at the forefront..and accepted by the fans. JBJ will be a casualty. I will feel badly for him because he is a very serious guy intent on playing well. Still there is something amiss with a guy with great hand/eye catching baseballs on the run and dive but can't match bat to ball. Given some hot streaks added in, the issue must be timing or mechanical...in addition to a curious determination to continually hit into shifts. JBJ, you are not Papi. I'm a huge fan of JBJ and have been since his minor league days. It's sad, but it's probably time for him to go. It will kill me to see him in another uniform.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 1, 2019 15:56:07 GMT -5
Yah, coulda, maybe shoulda, listed him as well as Groome and Jiminez. I took the guess though that in this case, as you say, the reason for their going up together by 1 probably wasn't about them. My point was more that you'd said the opposite, that he'd dropped one. Just a heads up. Ah. Crap!! Misunderstood you. Fixed. That was bad editing and a lack of proofreading on my part. That comment on Houk was left over from the post on 6/30 which I used as a template because the bullets are a bit of a PITA.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 1, 2019 15:43:16 GMT -5
FWIW, Dick, Houck went up from 9 to 8 (which was really just Chatham moving down and Houck staying in place). Yah, coulda, maybe shoulda, listed him as well as Groome and Jiminez. I took the guess though that in this case, as you say, the reason for their going up together by 1 probably wasn't about them.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 1, 2019 11:09:05 GMT -5
A Futures contract is an agreement to deliver goods at a future time at a currently agreed on price but I can't think of any applicability to baseball. Yup, I get that. I've googled the term re baseball and come up with nothing. That's Chacon though.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Aug 1, 2019 10:31:51 GMT -5
Details
Summary:
- Bryan Mata is now #2, up from 4. He was ranked 2nd for 3 months late last year as well but fell as low as 11 back in May.
- CJ Chattham fell from 6 to 9.
- Thad Ward jumped from 20 up to 11. A year ago he was 45th.
- Matthew Lugo dropped from 11 to 15.
- Eduard Bazardo is at 28, up from 36. He began the season ranked # 51.
- Aldo Ramirez rose 11 spots in the past 2 weeks, from 40 to 29.
- Chris Murphy also shot up in late July, from # 48 up to # 30.
- Yoan Aybar at #37, up 9.
- Josh Ockimey, a #4 prospect back in May '17, dropped 8 spots from 31 to 39.
- Jaxx Grashans up from 47 to 42.
- Ceddanne Rafaela is at # 43. He was 49th mid month and 59 on 7/1.
- Kyle Hart down from 37 to 44.
- Eduardo Lopez from 41 to 48.
- Jhonathan Diaz is at 51. He was last ranked # 42 in June.
- 10th rounder Stephen Scott is in for the first time at # 56.
- Bryan Lucas, an IFA signed 2 years ago, squeezed into the top 60 for the first time at # 58.
- Juan Chacon is at the bottom of the top 60, down from 56.
(This last is not worth making the highlight list but I have a question for anybody. What is a "Future Contract"?) - Out of the top 60 this week:
- Josh Taylor graduated (was at 27).
- Brett Netzer (51).
- Alexander Montero (60).
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Jul 23, 2019 21:56:00 GMT -5
No getawayday BS tomorrow, either Cora. Line em up to play for the friggin sweep. A win takes them to tied with Tampa with identical records. Better still. A win tomorrow would make the Sox 57-56, a game ahead of the Rays at 57-48.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Jul 23, 2019 21:31:09 GMT -5
Lord! Easy wins are so damned hard.
At least I didn't have to suffer through the ESPN TV crew tonight. They make the NESN folks look like broadcast HOFers.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Jul 23, 2019 21:27:54 GMT -5
I'd say this is unbelievable but this is the 2019 Red Sox. This is who they are. Still a chance but no lead is ever safe.
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dd
Veteran
Posts: 979
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Post by dd on Jul 23, 2019 21:18:46 GMT -5
Hoping not to have to puke in a minute or two.
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