drivlikejehu

Still early of course, but his average FB velocity is actually the highest in his career. He has 3 fastballs - 4 seam (93 mph), sinker (92 mph), and cutter (88 mph). Those are really his #3, #4, and #5 pitches, behind his slider and change-up. When he's hitting his spots he can compete with anyone for 6 innings. Really exciting combination of ability and team-friendly contract, which is what made Graterol a reasonable price to pay. And let's face it, Graterol is a reliever. I know the Twins didn't want to say it and the Dodgers didn't want to say it, but it is what it is. The Twins desperately needed more quality starting pitchers and they got one.

I think the owners are primarily at fault but I also think the players are sore about how they've lost the last couple CBA negotiations, and basically have adopted a hard-line attitude in an attempt to prevent further 'setbacks' in their eyes. That's happening in the context of the upcoming CBA negotiations, widely expected to extremely contentious, if not practically doomed (and that was even before covid-19). It's bad.

The hit rate on guys getting $20,000 bonuses is extremely low. Even signing a huge number of them would leave a very small chance of getting a meaningful MLB contributor, putting aside the fact that there has to be somewhere for them to play within the organization. I know there's nothing else going on, but the whole undrafted free agent thing is not significant from a future standpoint.

I suspected the same, but some years later I talked to MLB's general counsel from that time, and he convinced me it was not a bluff.

Per arrest, more whites are killed by police than blacks. There may be systemic bias in law enforcement, but there's no empirical evidence that it extends to the use of deadly force. It's just a fiction that Americans are now required to accept or be denounced, fired from their jobs, etc.

Ridiculous inference? "To not speak up is to be complicit." You straight up started your article by saying anyone who does not speak up (like your morally superior self) is complicit with the murder of innocent people. There is no inference of any kind involved. Did you already forget your own article?

Make a difference how? Joining you on the bridge next time? Donating to particular causes? Joining Antifa? Your article doesn't say and you haven't said subsequently either. How many of this site's readers do you think were previously unaware of this issue? How many never knew about NFL players kneeling? About the previous rounds of protests that have happened over a span of many years? About the George Floyd case? Users of this site already consume that information elsewhere. The Kepler 'incident' gave you an opening to preach about your moral superiority and contrast yourself (as you did in the above post) with those "able to make a difference" that - in your judgment - choose not to. Of course, you are insulting a bunch of users you know nothing about, which is incredibly hypocritical and downright pathetic given your whining above.

There is no benefit in terms of twitter followers, I agree with you there. The benefit to you is that your comments make you feel morally superior, and you want to advertise that superiority through virtue-signaling posts/tweets, so that others can see how wonderfully moral and empathetic you are. It would actually be a problem if there was *zero* cost to that preening. That's why, in your article, you say that you wrote it despite "the backlash it will inevitably receive" (from people morally inferior to you), and then above you note how you will lose readers and twitter followers. The point isn't that you're suffering some huge cost, since that would be ludicrous. Rather, you are attempting to show that you are motivated only by selfless and principled reasons, that you're a good person, etc. This sort of thing is very common on social media. There's nothing special or interesting about you having a go at it. That's also why your article was not meant to persuade or to suggest solutions. It's not about anyone but yourself.

Losing 'dozens' of twitter followers, huh. How courageous of you to pay such a steep price.

If MLB had done this across the board, with respect to staff, minor leaguers, etc., it would have been a good PR move that might have strengthened their position in the ongoing clash with the MLBPA. Glad that the Twins did the right thing, but missed opportunity for MLB as a whole, I think, even just thinking strategically.

It's a stretch to say that Nick was just "covering" the story. It was an opinion piece. He gave his opinion on both Kepler and the "systemic injustice" in the US. He gave a general call to action. He *could* have written a straight news piece, and should have done so given his inability to write an effective opinion piece. The issue is political, period. It is deceitful to pretend otherwise. Just look at what you're saying - people need to vote. You can't separate the issue from politics. "Politics" isn't a dirty word. The owners of this site have a right to take political positions. I'm fine with people expressing their honest views. It is wrong however to push political views and then claim to be stating universal truths that cannot be disputed . . . it's again within the rights of the site owners to do so, but it is dishonest and disrespectful to forum members.

That doesn't mean anything. For one thing, there is no objective definition of "racial equality." For another thing, everyone says their preferred system is best to tackle racial and other forms of inequality. Pure libertarians say abolishing all government would do the trick. Far leftists say a Cuba-like system is the best way. Let's say that someone agrees with Nick's regurgitation of what tens of thousands of more influential people have already said. What then? Nick doesn't even attempt to address that. You did so very vaguely and can't back it up in a meaningful way. What is the point? Let's face it, the TD post was virtue-signaling, and nothing more. It was not intended to actually make anything better, or if it was, it was very poorly thought out.

Semantics. You said we need to make "sacrifices" to address this issue. What are they?

So let me get this straight - this issue isn't political, it's just that to resolve it we all need to embrace socialism? Just want to make sure I understand. If you are going to criticize people like Kepler for not speaking out, don't repeat the mistake by hiding what you really mean.

I meant the actual DSA, not the Democratic Party. You should learn the difference between "partisan" and "political." MANY things are political that are not really "partisan."

And let me guess, those "sacrifices" happen to be spelled out precisely in the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Of course it's political. That's either a dishonest statement or an incredibly naive one. If you simply said, George Floyd's death was tragic, that's not political. Anything else you say after that - we need to reform/abolish the police, America is a failure, etc., is political. Talking about "comfortable white people" and "systemic injustice" is political. It was notable that Nick had nothing to say about the wanton destruction caused by criminals in Minneapolis - is opposition to rioting "political"? However, it is wrong to push a particular viewpoint and then say 'this isn't politics - this is basic humanity. You are evil if you don't see it exactly as I do.' This line is pushed for the sole reason of de-legitimizing other viewpoints. Nick of course is only parroting the line being put out by people like Cuomo; Nick himself added nothing to the discussion other than being 'bitterly disappointed' in one mid-level pro athlete. People die every day, in a significant number of cases due to the actions of other people. That's been the case for the entirety of human existence. It's believed that deaths from violence are lower than at any previous time in history, but even so, they are too high. Deaths from police brutality in the US are an extremely small portion of overall violent deaths. Attacking the police across the board for such incidents actually makes them more likely to occur in the first place, because fewer people will want to join, weakening the applicant pool, in addition to other factors that limit police effectiveness. The Freddie Gray case in Baltimore was tragic. The response - a weakened police force - has resulted in scores of additional murders, if not hundreds. Do those people not count? They were overwhelmingly minorities, some of them children. Yet there is complete silence about them. This selective outrage is morally indefensible, and 100% political.

Could you refresh my memory? I don't recall a single instance of this.

I think that's the point - it's atypical. It's a little early to say all is forgiven or that payroll won't be an issue in the future, which was the implication when Nick said the Pohlads clearly aren't cheap anymore. I'm good with the payroll for 2020 . . . don't need to make big conclusions beyond that.

At #13 in the draft, you normally can't get someone with both elite tools and also advanced present-day skills. Occasionally clubs just miss, like 2/3 of the league did on Trout. But he's the obvious exception that shouldn't be brought up as a comparison for almost anyone. For mid and small market teams, it makes sense to prioritize upside.

The $10 million could be significant, since the Twins are presumably up against their payroll limits at this point. That could open up a deadline deal that otherwise they couldn't pull off.

Ah the classic, bad trade! complaint followed by the how dare they not complete the trade! complaint that Gleeman predicted.

If the Red Sox were that worried about getting a pitching prospect with health concerns, they already knew more than enough to avoid Graterol. The process just doesn't add up for me. Keep in mind that the deal was Graterol for Maeda. If Graterol was a low health risk, that would be a huge overpay. That's why the Twins weren't willing to offer Balazovic (or presumably Duran). So with Graterol, there was already an injury-risk discount. Maeda isn't an elite player and can't really command top 50 talent in return. In other words, the Red Sox effectively asked for Graterol to get upside along with the injury-risk discount, and then said, eh he's an injury risk, we want him plus another top prospect, in exchange for Maeda, which is ludicrous. So while I would ordinarily not fault a team for rejecting a player after reviewing medical documentation, the overall picture here isn't right.

The fact is that the Red Sox already knew Graterol had TJ, had been on the DL with a shoulder issue, and moved to the bullpen by the Twins. For them to be surprised, Graterol's medicals would have to show that he basically is done as a professional pitcher. If that's true, we should find out soon, whether his arm falls off in spring training or early in the year.

Here's a stat: since 2006, there have been 1,861 International League players with 250+ plate appearances in an IL season. Rooker's 2019 K-rate is 20th highest out of 1,861. That's really, really bad. No one with such a rate has ever succeeded in the Majors. Of the top 100 highest K-rates, a few players did go on to some success, but at catcher and middle infield (mainly Tyler Flowers, Danny Espinosa, Jorge Alfaro - all with lower rates than Rooker and far higher defensive value). So the issue isn't Rooker's age per se - the issue is that his current approach cannot work in MLB, it is completely impossible. So at age 25, he needs to make huge adjustments in order to have a chance of success. That's why age is an issue.