notable so far:
Mike Giancarlo Stanton extension finalized with Miami. 13 years, $325 Million. NTC plus an opt-out after he turns 30.
Russ Martin to Toronto – 5 years, 82M, no trade clause.
and, um, the Braves did this.
Blockbuster trade: Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden from Braves to Cardinals for pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 17, 2014
And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here
-slusser.
Thanks, and go As.
Dave Cameron on the Braves/Cards deal. I didn’t realize that Heyward is already in the last year of his contract. Once I figured that out, I like this deal a lot more for the Braves.
Russell Martin contract sounds too expensive to me, seeing as he’ll be 36 by the end of it. But this is already shaping up to be a spendy offseason, so maybe it’ll look good by the time March rolls around.
Fangraphs 2015 free agent bargains — Martin was #3 on the list, but for a lot less money than he ended up getting. Yes please on Brandon McCarthy. Also, I like grover’s Gavin Floyd acquisition (not someone on the fangraphs list), assuming that the A’s can find a doctor to confirm that he still has a right elbow.
I like Russell Martin, but wow that’s a lot of money and years for a catcher in his 30s.
As a keeper-league owner of Stanton, I dislike the deal. He now knows essentially his career earnings whether or not he swings a bat again
Eh, he can opt out after 5 years and sign an even bigger deal a la ARod.
Thanks, and go As.
yeah, I say he opts out. Unless the market totally tanks.
I hope so.
More than I make per year…. daily.
Thanks, and go As.
You should hit baseballs harder.
But yes, its crazy that we are here. That’s legit Forbes-y wealth if he does anything at all productive with the money
I kick soccer balls pretty hard. WHERE’S MY CRISTIANO MONEY.
Oh wait I’m not tall and ridiculously good looking.
Thanks, and go As.
Eh, he’s my height and not that good looking.
I mean he’s no Diego Forlan or Carlos Bocanegra, but CR7 is one pretty motherFKer.
Thanks, and go As.
you’re at least as cute as
messizatlanneymarfalcaobalerooneyagüerotouretorresvan persieRIBERY!
Rooney? That’s harsh.
yeah. i almost stopped there but snuck a peek at how far till ribery, cause he’s definitely the prize.
TBH I don’t think Messi is very attractive as far as the mancrush thing goes.
Thanks, and go As.
Try calling yourself GiancarloV
Still nothing. :(
Thanks, and go As.
I assume this showed up in my Google Now feed because of A’s stuff so I read it and wanted to wash my eyes out with bleach.
Toonces is dumb.
Thanks, and go As.
Here we go again…
Email me.
OBP isn’t that important because reasons.
Thanks, and go As.
LOOK AT HOW WELL THEY PLAYED BEFORE THE TRADE!!!!!
I do like that he admits it isnt causation, or correlation, it is just the magicks.
But what is his batting average? Or his DINGERRZZZZZ…
Go ahead, try to spot the difference. I’m serious, go ahead, I dare you. I fucking double-dare you, you goat!
Home runs have become excruciatingly fashionable when in fact the difference between 36 Home Runs and 4 Home Runs is just about exactly one more Home Run in a week.
If he magically succeeded more at the plate, he’d have a higher OBP, so that means we don’t have to worry about the whole OBP part
That’s my favorite part.
(1) I like player A
(2) You’d like player A too if he was better than he is
(3) Player A would be pretty good (but not a star!) if he was better than he is
(4) Let’s sign him!
(5) Profit!
50 points of OBP is basically nothing.
Thanks, and go As.
100 points of OBP is just 2x nothing. And we all know what 0*2 is! I mean, who gives a crap about two walks a week. Walks suck!
Normally I can at least sort of understand where Nico is coming from. But that article is terribad.
That’s because in the past he’d be publicly called out for his idiocy. Now, he’ll delete and ban opposition.
If .294 is the same as .300, can I have .006?
The difference between .293 and .300 is 007
[citation needed]
Thanks, and go As.
http://xkcd.com/285/
Yes, Virginia, there *is* an XKCD for everything.
Thanks, and go As.
That’s one of my all-time favorites, and I’m pretty disappointed it hasn’t become a defining theme of political speeches.
Man, it really should. It should be the most prominent remark on any political comment section too.
And yes… that pile of steaming horseshit is in the Sabermetrics section of the site… LOL
Where else, right?
That shit shows up in the Yahoo feed and before even seeing the ** connection to it, I think, we that may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Then see it, laugh, and don’t bother clicking on that garbage.
I thought about making an insulting, ban-worthy comment on that thread. But then I decided that I really don’t give a FK anymore.
But yeah, that column is 50 shades of stupid.
The scary thing is, Nico is not even the stupidest commenter in the thread.
The comments reminded me why I’m glad I very rarely venture back into that place any more.
Didn’t read them. Is there anyone at all that I’d recognize as non-stupid who still bothers?
NateHST. Taj makes the occasional appearance. Me sometimes.
Must be painful. I flipped through and saw essentially all of the behaviors that drove me crazy at the end.
He edited the title of my fanpost when he promoted it to the Front Page. I understand and don’t even object to why he did it but a head’s up would have been nice, considering.
You should be grateful that he deigned to read it at all!!!1
Well, if you take him at his word…
He didn’t read it before posting it. And then he said I was very welcome for putting it on the Front Page after I asked what happened to the title.
Nice to see that he’s still a complete piece of shit.
Thanks, and go As.
Now hold on. Don’t insult pieces of shit by comparing them to… shit, I can’t think of an appropriate term for him.
Ah, antagonism and an over-sized ego, the two main ingredients for success
Second that on Nate
I’m a non-stupid?!
Very much so.
Or at least you pretend very well!
we like you come here more!
This
BHW seems reasonable
Yes, and sc00by makes some good points
I’ve tried but have never been able to stick out a full switch over to FK because there’s a lot of non-A’s news and banter that can be confusing to sift through having not been here since its inception. As dumb as AN is, it’s all A’s all the time.
I do miss y’all though.
Tagline!
We miss you too.
Hope you stick around more! It’s true that the A’s talk is usually intermingled with non-A’s talk here, but if you’re craving poorly reasoned player acquisition proposals over here, by god, I’m sure we can find ways to step up and deliver
Look for my upcoming opus on why the A’s should sign Torii Hunter for his leadershipy locker room presence.
We’re pretty much meta free over here now that I finally have my meds balanced out!
that doesn’t mean we are nonsense free.
Free Kraut, a no-nonsense-free site
Content removed.
[thanks lucky stars that he’s a malcontent]
muahahahah
I’ve found that it’s really hard for meta to take over since I made clear that there are no “refs” for anyone to work. There’s enough respect to go around, so when people disagree they work it out or take a break.
Or delete the whole site.
I reserved freekraut.hr
It’s funny cuz it’s true.
Also, you have every right to create a thread here (about anything, however you want to write it) and ask that people stick to the A’s. I wouldn’t enforce the rule, but I bet you’d find people respecting that.
I would have until you said you think we would. Now I will just go in and say “DINGERRZZZZZZ” in reply to everything.
Really though I think you can work your way through most of the running gags without too much trouble. Just know everything Bed says is a joke, anything I say you can skip, anything that sounds uppity and suburban is probably a joke at DFA’s expense, and cricket rules!
windies are looking good!
Waiting for code to do its thing I finally succumbed. Wow – so much stupid and some unflagged Hillary-bashing to boot!
But, NO MEAT, I mean , NO META!
Not even gonna read anything he has to say.
That’s pretty much my response too. Not even going to bother clicking.
Mainly because he has fuck-all to say that could interest me.
Yep.
wat
Thanks, and go As.
Should be better than Gomes at least.
you were saying?
Thanks, and go As.
He should be better than Gomes as well.
Heh.
Anal Ash Sex
Ah, nasal sex.
An ax hassle.
Well he does have a thing for (probably nsfw but true and hilarious)
The bad news is he’s another Duke guy. The good news is he has descriptive Yelp reviews.
well this is what i get for keeping a tab open for a while.
is it still open? i’d like a rusty nail please.
I think you misunderstood.
gimme a pepsi free.
You want a Pepsi, pal, you’re gonna pay for it.
confession: I liked crystal pepsi.
Thanks, and go As.
My favorite soft drink ever was Cherry Cola Slice.
I’m probably one of the handful of people who liked Pepsi Kona when it was being test marketed in the Philly area while I was in college. It tasted like Pepsi, then when you swallowed it had a bit of a coffee aftertaste. I don’t even like coffee straight up, but I liked this.
Me too.
oh wait. that’s the guy who was in lust in the dust. total trooper.
Billy Butler: Bill, Try Lube.
His intangibles got the Royals to the WS!
Also, yuck.
Though he does have maybe the best nickname in MLB.
Anybody with his own line of barbecue sauce is alright by me.
I kind of like his numbers against lefties.
Yeah I doubt the A’s would sign him with the intent of making him a full time player
But how much would a platoon hitting DH cost? Nothing against having someone who hits lefties well, but that’s not a top-dollar skill.
He’s a little younger than I thought.
Well, that’s always the question. I certainly wouldn’t pay top dollar for him.
he had a pretty bad year for him. so maybe there is a bargain to be had
I thought right after the series he said a few things about really wanting to be back in KC. You would think if there was a legit deal to be found they would be the ones to find it-hometown discount and what not.
I’d love him as a RH platoon DH, but that means they probably won’t get him. It’s in his best interest to play somewhere full-time, since he’s only 28 and he could ash in one more time in his early 30s, assuming a return to pre-2014 form.
Yeah, if I were him, I’d look for a one year rebound offer as a full time DH somewhere. If that’s not available, I could see him taking a platoon type role with guaranteed playing time rather than taking a job without a clear path to playing time or that puts him in a worse position to succeed (read: NL) though.
I’m not convinced a return to 2-3 WAR DH form is in the cards though. There aren’t obvious rebound signs from last year. He saw a lot more off-speed stuff and pretty much every stat and indicator for him took a step backwards. Whoever signs him is going off former track record alone (unless we hear about a hidden injury I suppose)
Smart phone advice needed!
1. Any thoughts on other carriers besides Verizon (ideally a cheaper plan that still has decent coverage…) I use almost no data and am the type to frequently either forget to charge my phone, or forget to bring it altogether, so you can see this is not a priority for me. But could become a priority, so I don’t want to get stuck with shitty service by switching from verizon.
2. Where can I buy a used smart phone, and what would I need to know in advance to be sure it is usable? I once bought a DirectTV Tivo box on ebay for $20 only to find out I couldn’t use it because the previous owner was not current on their bill. Anything like that I need to worry about? mikeV–didn’t you mention some website a while ago?
1. Check out Page Plus. They use Verizon’s network, so will have the same coverage as Verizon, and they have some dirt cheap prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans, especially if you are mostly doing voice or text as opposed to data. I switched away (to t-mobile) when I got a smart phone, but I would still recommend them if they have a good plan for your usage.
2. a) Make sure it is the right type of phone for your carrier (CDMA vs. GSM)
b) Make sure it is either made for your carrier, or unlocked.
c) It needs to have a clean ESN which can be a pain to verify.
1. Considering that data is not a priority, you actually have a ton of options. Honestly I would recommend a prepaid carrier such as Page Plus like andeux mentioned or Straight Talk which gives you the option of either T-Mobile or AT&T towers for $45 per month. T-Mobile also has a $45 monthly plan that has unlimited talk/text and 2GB of data that is cut off if you hit your limit, or a $50 plan that’s 1GB of data that’s just slowed down once you reach your limit. Republic Wireless is also a good choice *IF* Sprint has good coverage in your area. Republic makes you use their phones though, but they offer the Moto X and Moto G which are both fantastic devices. Another pretty good option is Cricket Wireless, they use AT&T towers and since data is not a premium for you (yet) it doesn’t really matter that they limit data speeds. $35 monthly if you set up autopay and you get unlimited talk/text and 1GB data.
2. Swappa.com is the site I mentioned, and they vet all the devices listed for sale so that they are usable and unlocked etc etc.
Honestly I’d probably say go with a Moto G for $179 brand new and then get the $40 (35 on autopay) Cricket service, and then if you end up needing more/better data consider going to T-Mobile for another 10 bucks a month later. Cricket is no contract so it’s not big deal to switch pretty much anytime.
Thanks, and go As.
thoroughly agree on swappa… had a really great experience on there.
Thanks to both of you–this is excellent info and is just what I needed to know!!
Warny warny, I’ve found that Sprint has horrible coverage in Berkeley.
and in the large unincorporated area between Sacramento and Rancho Cordova.
Sprint is a very bubbly swiss cheese.
Anyone have thoughts on T-mobile? They have a good family plan which would help my parents out if we did it together. Is their coverage crap?
My dad said Hell No to AT&T and when I talked to Sprint they seemed to not be what I wanted.
I switched to T-Mobile and it’s worlds better than Sprint. Also they sorta try to not be complete assholes like Verizon and ATT.
Thanks, and go As.
I use credo, which is on the sprint network and kinda on the spendy side, but I have unlimited data, which you don’t need, but its a good progressive company
Uh, what the fucking fuck
Thanks, and go As.
I said similar bad words in the office.
2015, 2016 AND 2017?
The window is open, y’all.
hey, now we have a legit right handed power bat to flip in 2017 for a b-/c+ pitching prospect.
He hit 9 HR last year.
that’s 9 more than you, smart guy
Plus, in Oakland it would probably have been 5!!!
Kauffman’s less homer friendly than the Coli.
Double digits!!!
If he only hits one more every week…
Damn, beat me by 1 hour.
I laughed out loud.
And your FB comment took it to a whole other level. I almost want to create fake accounts just to relike it more.
Come back, Farhan. We don’t know what we’re doing now.
This should be a fireable offense.
Thanks, and go As.
I think it was Forst who said the A’s had some financial flexibility this offseason.
Obviously they are expecting to compensate for their DH not having much….
heh
The more I think about this rumor, the less sense it makes. The Royals turned down a $12.5 million option on him and we’re going to give him almost that much per year for 3? I call BS.
Also, WhoTF is Robert Murray?
the only murray I know who is a reporter is also the captain of a cruise ship
he’s been a lot of things.
he was in the og Hawaii 5-0
wrote the lyrics for the theme too.
WE ARE SAVING $880,000 PER YEAR
At the risk of beating a dead horse, the claim when Cespedes was traded was that the A’s weren’t going to be able to afford to keep him in 2015 anyway.
But apparently they can afford to pay Billy fking Butler the same amount?
Who made that claim?
The claim was that he was going to be traded after the 2014 season anyway, not that they couldn’t afford him.
Thanks, and go As.
wasn’t it that they wouldn’t re-sign him and that they were going to part him out this winter, yeah?
Maybe I’m misremembering. It doesn’t make much sense that way either.
I think the line was “not able to keep him beyond 2015”.
yup this.
Uh. I kind of like him. But I don’t like him 35/3 much.
His nickname in KC was “Country Breakfast”.
Probably $5 million bonus as part of the $30 million.
Does Butler appear in the dictionary when one looks up “old-man skills”?
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that’s him on the cover.
I did miss Matt Stairs, so it’s nice to have him back.
He’s Matt Stairs without the power or the arm strength.
Or curly hair. This comparison sucks!
Or the short stature.
Or the Canadian-ness.
That would be bad.
The A’s did get pretty poor DH production this year. Apparently starting Alberto Callaspo at DH a bunch of times wasn’t a sound strategy. And the rotating DH didn’t exactly help injury prone guys like Coco stay healthy. By that token, Butler’s projected 117 wRC+ will be a sound improvement over the 88 wRC+ they got out of the DH spot.
Of course, if Butler keeps hitting like he did this year, then he’s basically an expensive Callaspo that will be hanging around for 3 years. Also, I don’t know how this affects Jaso who is certainly a better hitter against righties than Butler and now appears to lack a spot.
he is faster, after all it was his stolen base attempt that propelled the royals to the world series
God FKing dammit too soon.
One of three things re: Jaso
1) The A’s plan to eliminate him by having him catch in 2015.
2) They are dead set on converting him to 1B to platoon with Butler and/or Blanks.
3) A Jaso trade is imminent.
so nothing has changed?
My perspective has.
I thought there was no chance in Hell they’d even consider letting him catch again.
I didnt think they should have let him catch last year, so at this point I will assume they will run anyone out there who is in some way medically cleared and says they want to.
I wonder how much agency Jaso has in the decision. If I were him, I would be very very worried about playing catcher again. But I could easy believe that he is one of the people pushing to remain behind the plate. Baseball tough guy stuff. Does anyone know of quotes from him on the subject?
Isn’t he a (self-proclaimed) hippie, though — or maybe that’s his GF/Wife/whatever she is.
I dunno, he seems the type that would be worried about his long term health and not so much the tough guy hulk smash jock.
Thanks, and go As.
They’ve said it’s up to him whether he catches again or not.
Hopefully option 4) The A’s plan on running with a 5-man bench to provide the sub/pinch-hitting versatility that Butler would take away. Using Chavez as a swing-man would really be ideal.
Yes it would.
Good idea.
As it stands right now, Butler is essentially replacing Fuld. You have Butler and Jaso at 1B/DH, pushing Moss to LF, which was occupied by Fuld/Gentry because of simply not having any other options. I don’t mind this.
But if 3) happens, Moss moves back to first base, and Fuld is the 75% starter in left field, which eventually becomes full time anyways cause Coco, Reddick, and Gentry will have their injuries. I do mind this.
Is Butler-1B, Moss-LF, Jaso-DH really any better than Butler-DH, Moss-1B, Fuld-LF?
Projections have Jaso about 100 pts of OPS better than Fuld offensively, which is about 20 runs a year as a full-time player.
But I can easily see the difference defensively making up for that – say 15 runs in the outfield, and 5 at 1B.
Let’s see: Career UZR has Fuld 15 runs per year better than Moss in the OF, but Butler a little better than Moss at 1B. If we believe that, Moss should still be the DH in the latter arrangement, and overall the lineup with Jaso is about 5 runs better than the one with Fuld.
Other considerations are that Blanks also projects as being pretty good (if he can stay on the field), and that there is some cost to carrying so many DH types, especially since, as you mention, Coco/Reddick/Gentry are all such big injury risks. All in all, I’m not convinced using a roster smart on Jaso makes much sense anymore.
Hard to say. Part of it is if we believe Fuld is really +20 in left field as UZR thinks he is.
That’s not even 1 run a week. Meh.
Thanks, and go As.
I can’t help but wonder if this signing suggests that the front office is pessimistic about Moss’s medical prognosis.
No way will he catch. to me this move says that they think jaso is pretty much finished. They’re not spending all this money to have Butler platoon.
1) Murder by catching?
If Butler hits like he did last year, the A’s will get a whole 9 extra points of wRC+ out of the DH slot! One point for every home run he hit.
This is a stupid risk to be taking for the A’s. There aren’t obvious bounce back signs for Butler as far as I can see, so the A’s are committing far too much time and money on an off hope that he can return to previous levels. This is the equivalent of a bad fantasy baseball player drafting Ryan Howard in the single digit rounds because he recognized the name
Billy Butler? He was basically a replacement level player last year. And way less fun to watch than, oh, say….anyone!
I don’t usually hate signings, but I think I hate this one. A DH who hits 9 home runs? FK that.
I find I often hate A’s signings these days. Punto and Butler, for example.
I’m just not convinced we are a smart team anymore, and that’s pretty confusing.
I still say signing Punto was a harmless, reasonable move. He’s a perfectly acceptable backup infielder. The problem was not also getting a starting middle infielder. I didn’t expect Lowrie to fall apart at the plate the way he did, but it wasn’t hard to see that we didn’t have someone to play the other MI position.
Disagree. A team like the A’s needs a league-minimum guy there. Should be able to get a good-glove no-hit guy with theoretical bits of upside. Instead we got a no-glove no-hit old man for well more than league minimum.
I agree that would have been a better value proposition, but I don’t think that Punto’s salary prevented us (or will prevent us) from signing someone better at another position. The budget doesn’t seem to be that rigid under Wolff.
Maybe. But it requires us to have Punto.
And we had a league minimum guy available too.
OK Vince.
I am fairly certain he is too boney to actually fall asleep on
Confidence!
Consistency*!
* In this case, mostly lard.
The reality is, the last time Billy signed a right-handed hitting Royals free agent, his name was Emil Brown.
Wrong, he signed Mike Sweeney a month later…
Technically, Coco would qualify.
So it sort of makes more sense than Johnson did? Except for the 3 years part. Inauspicious start to the offseason….
This is similar money to what Lowrie will accept. And that would have been a way better acquisition.
Exactly. If you’re going to commit market value to someone for multiple years, why not do it for someone that fills a greater need than DH? I can’t imagine the A’s had enough wiggle room in the budget for 3/$30MM for Butler, but not enough to sign Lowrie/Hanley/Sandoval/anyone else.
At the very least, I’m hoping this means there’s a plan to bring in a decent middle infield either by signing or by trade. I would be dumbfounded if they blew their whole budget on Butler and went into next year with Punto/Sogard/Parrino/Ladendorf up the middle.
As a GM, if Johnson is your bar for free agent signings, you need to reconsider some things in life
FUCK BASEBALL
Also the move to San Jose is going to be approved three years ago.
please god fail the physical
Does the physical include jogging?
Joggling.
The worst part of this whole thing is that he’ll run into a walkoff hit in extras and Vince Cotroneo will exclaim “The Butler did it!”
Well, that and the declining production and obsidian-gloved fielding skills.
Free Kraut for Tanzania!
So, this is one of the main reasons I’ve been off the grid lately (the other being that our marketing department, true to the old Croatian proverb, saying that it’s easy to beat on the nettles with another man’s dick, promised the market a new tunable laser source, for which I have to build the brain to keep its precision in sub-picometer area).
We are helping the kids in Moshi build a farm, and Virginia drew quite a lot and I coordinated and programmed this site. We’ve been running for a few days now and already have collected quite a bit:
What I couldn’t help but notice is that kraut is getting very little love. Just in case anyone wants to do anything about it, here’s the link.
Cheers
For those of you who were not around in 2009, this is for these guys:
Oh, golden days. If you click on that story, the next one offered is the one where I wrote a simulator to test the “Crosby effect“. I used the projected line-up for 2010 that had Jake Fox batting clean-up. Fortunately, it never came to that. Unfortunately, his OPS+ of 62 was replaced by Kevin Kouzmanoff and Kurt Suzuki splitting 105 games of batting clean-up with their OPS+ of 84 and 83, respectively.
So, it could be worse.
The fearsome Kouzuki.
Suzuki did appear on two BR leaderboards for 2010. HBP and GIDP.
so, you weren’t arrested in Italy for firing off flares?
and ??
I’d like to have the time to beat up those idiots one by one
Daric Barton sums up the thoughts of some on the Billy Butler deal (my pic, from Sept. 2010):
Butler’s uniform looks considerably more baggy than in more recent photos.
Fangraphs has this to say about Cole Hamels…
I don’t necessarily agree on the suggested return, I’ve always felt that the getting-what-you’re-paying-for portion of these discussions gets overlooked.
But if Sullivan’s trade estimate is in the ballpark than I believe Oakland could offer better. I’m not sure what the fuck Beane is doing but if he’s got a line on a long-term asset at SS other than Robertson then Hamels should be a target.
Is there any reason to think that he does?
Hanley hasn’t signed yet.
Thanks, and go As.
Muppet intuition? The A’s either have a budget better than $95 million or a deal in place to trade Kaz/Shark to fill holes and free up money for one of Lowrie/Cabrera/Drew. If none of that os true then they must have a cheap option in mind.
Perhaps I can convince my good buddy Jimmy Rollins to sign.
I’ve been exchanging e-mails with the president of Ugandan Baseball Federation for a few months now, because I will visit them and write a story about them (Jay Shapiro’s documentary “Opposite Field” should come out this month, too, I think – if you don’t know the story behind it and are interested, let me know). When I mentioned that I want to go into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest afterwards, he said he would hook me up with a friend of his, who can arrange for the NP permits, transportation and such.
And that friend wrote to me, “don’t worry, I’ll organize everything just great, I already did for your buddies Jimmy Rollins and Derrek Lee.”
That’s pretty cool, just as long as you don’t get your good buddy Derrek Lee to sign with the A’s.
I’m pretty sure he would have hit better than Callaspo last year
I had a rebuttal about Derrek Lee only being fit to play 1B/DH, but Callaspo had 217 PA at those positions :(
Avaya Stadium, Quakes getting $2M/year in sponsor dollars.
FK that, though — it’s the Epicenter dammit.
Thanks, and go As.
The Epicenter is in Rancho Cucamonga…unless they’ve done away with the name.
out in cucamonga
many years ago
near a holy roller church
there was once a place
where me and a couple of friends
began practicing for the time
we might go on TV
and as fate would have it
later on we got a chance to play.
all we ever really knew:
that it was crazy
to be doin’ it any other way.
(it’s loanmart field now.)
Eno Sarris tries to find something to like about the Butler deal.
Maybe there’s something to the GB/FB thing, but mostly it seems like a stretch.
It seems like an awful stretch.
The A’s are great because they acquire a lot of players who hit a lot of flyballs, which is why adding Butler is great because he doesn’t and there might be some profit from that, but I don’t really know why.
I put it in the category of Arneson’s “you need some hitters that aren’t like your other hitters” intuition regarding the Giants/A’s playoff dichotomy.
My feeling is that it’s a sensible acquisition but for the giving him three years at market value part.
Arneson also points out that Butler is a good bad-ball hitter, which is also a rare commodity on the A’s. On the other hand, I’m not at all convinced by his intuition, though that blog post was interesting and a good topic for discussion.
I think it was him who led me to that post I linked above, when he assumed that the penalty of having a really bad hitter in a lineup (“Crosby Effect”) is higher for teams who hit fewer home runs.
So what do people think about what the Butler signing means for Beane’s overall strategy vis a vis the contention window? My instinct is to say this means they’re holding onto Shark and Kazmir and making a serious run at it in 2015.
yabut they need middle infielders from somewhere. If Beane resigns Lowrie and does nothing else, I will stab someone.
Maybe he’s trying to flip Kaz or Shark for a package headed by a ML-ready middle infielder.
Hmmmm
Younger than whom?
My guess: Kazmir
Billy Beane… or maybe Lew Wolff
JD isn’t young…
Can anyone give me any interesting details on this wierd Donaldson blow up crap on Twitter? My Reader’s Digest take seems to be that trolls are trolling and JD cant help himself from going overboard. Is there anything I am missing?
From the little I saw, you mostly have the right of it.
Social media: both the best and worst thing for fan/player/celebrity interactions.
All of them need to quit twitter and become Senior Editors for God’s Puppy Illustrated.
Good thing correlation = causation!
CESPEDES TRADE!!!!one!
Thanks, and go As.
This is just such a stretch, unlike anything Butler can do at 1B.
If Barton fails to get a NRI somewhere, or a contract in Japan, perhaps there’s a job for him in Oakland as a special coach for first base defense.
Prediction: Red Sox fans are going to start wearing panda hats, and Giants fans are going to continue wearing panda hats. The two most insufferable fan bases in baseball will converge further than previously thought possible.
Fun!
I’m more excited about Venditte and Hassan than I am about Billy Butler.
Me too.
Fair
Well, they still have Venditte.
Best news of the off-season.
I hope he makes the team at some point. I’ve always wanted to watch that.
Me too. Although it’s bullshit that the switch hitter gets the advantage.
It definitely would make more sense the other way: hitter steps into the box on whichever side first, then the pitcher can throw with the appropriate hand.
That pisses me off, too
My new go to clip next year for when the clean up hitter does something right
Ball Four-a book deep…
Can we just shorten this up to “Balls deep”?
That’s funny, I just found my new .gif for when it looks like the A’s are about to move to the next round of the playoffs but somehow don’t.
It’s missing the guy who cackles afterward, the guy who shoots himself afterward, and the guy who just fucking doesn’t believe it to begin with who only shakes his head through out the whole thing.
I relate most to Jason Kidd. Head in hands, followed by the need to hug the closest person.
but why mess with the obvious?
I’m uncomfortable with how big the Serial podcast got so quickly, and my role in hyping it up to everyone who would listen. I have to avoid spoilers now? For a podcast?? I prefer to listen to it at night on my walk home, dammit!!!
did you see the weird takedown on gawker?
I mean, I there are valid points, but the padcast is still in the middle, right?
I refuse to read anything about it. And especially screw kneejerk backlashes about things I enjoy.
I cried out in disappointment this morning when they said they wont have an episode next week because of Thanksgiving.
Here’s a substitute: the first episode of the new podcast “Gravy” from the Southern Foodways Alliance.
Hmmm that sounds very interesting. Probably pretty meaty though.
Do I have to listen to this on an Apple device?
You can listen to it right here, if you’re in the mood.
Sweet, thanks. And it’s downloadable from there!
Thanks, and go As.
Now you spoiled my post so I will just put it here.
So what is your favorite memory of the Alex Hassan era in Oakland?
Also, Langerhans is somewhere telling everyone about his long term stay with us.
HOME JERSEY!
Thanks, and go As.
I kinda want to write an Encyclopedia brown where Bugs meany sells Donny a game used Ryan Langerhans jersey.
Oooooooooh, that’d be awesome.
“he wore it at a game I was at in the coliseum. he took it right off his back when he was going down the tunnel.”
No
casecareer too smallI wonder if $100 in gift cards is enough to get a customized Langerhans home jersey.
Thanks, and go As.
I feel like it isnt. I want to say the customized are like $150. But, I bet at some point they will do a buy one get on at x off event. So then you just have to find someone already buying one and piggyback.
I lied. If you are ok with “replica” you are golden. (Or I guess white…whatever)
Same number as Big John Baal, who also only played on the road.
trying to fit the N into: alas A’s hex.
alas, ‘n A’s hex.
We hardly knew you “Has Anal Sex” anagram guy.
Tagline?
The roster was only at 40 with Butler and Hassan. I guess we needed to clear room for a Rule 5 eligible guy?
Nunez added.
I look forward to Napo’s forthcoming post about what Hassan’s juju meant to the A’s and why we should reacquire him
Undefeated while he was with us! Havent won a single game since he left!!
Tied for best player in all of baseball while he was here. Just imagine if he got just a few more anything per week!!! He’d be the best!!!
The hitting was one thing, but I was shocked that he also was tied for lowest ERA in the league!
Helped by throwing as many pitches lefty as righty.
You folks follow this stuff closer than I do but put me down for thinking the Billy Butler deal is a bad idea. That’s a lot of money for a limited player.
Headline says it all
Wow.
Well if we ever wanted to know who’s more irritating between Keith Law and Curt Schilling, now we have our answer.
I like Law better when he’s Old Hoss Radbourn anyway.
Thank you. I knew it had been said before, but I could never remember who old Hoss actually was.
Now do you know Shooter McGavin actually is?
I never knew. and I didn’t understand gm’s comment.
wow, neat.
Wait, is it true? I thought it was a running joke that whoever is running Hoss is having fun with tonight.
I kind of hope Law isn’t Hoss, because that would make me like Law too much. Hoss and PFTCommenter are the two reasons twitter was invented.
Oh it isnt? I know that Hoss is a writer, or commentator or something so Law would fit. But again I have never found anything that actually says “yes it is ____ “.
And who is PFTCommenter? Gonna have to go look now.
Google autocompletes “Is Keith Law” to “Is Keith Law Old Hoss Radbourn.” That’s funny. I think he denies it, but it would make perfect sense. I always thought Calcaterra was a prime suspect too.
Here’s a primer on PFT.
I kinda thought it was Michael Schur.
pftcommenter…i’m intrigued
I knew it was someone in the community but when I tried once or twice to find comfirmation online I couldnt.
Hmm…this kind of makes me like Keith Law. Well, I didn’t see that one coming.
I guess Curt Schilling only believes in science when it’s performance enhancing.
BURN
I like the non denial by espn.
The suspension had nothing to do with his opinion on the subject. just airing his opinion to the talent.
Kinda like I don’t have anything against gay people, I am just against dudes kissing.
The weird thing is that Law didn’t (that I saw) go after Schilling on a personal, ad hominem level. He just refuted his ridiculous statements, with a reasonable amount of respect.
off topic, for some reason I always read keith law writing in Tim Kirkjian’s voice.
Headline Says it All
Late afternoon on the Friday before Thanksgiving. Nice.
You’d think by now people would realize that, especially in the age of Twitter, Friday afternoon news dumps may simply call attention to themselves.
I think there’s only one thing left do to: Another one.
And so it begins.
Somehow I don’t think Curt Schilling will be satisfied with these findings.
*suspends mikeA from Free Kraut for a week*
What is going on with this offseason market when Adam LaRoche gets 2 years, $25MM from the White Sox (last I checked they had a decent first baseman), but Ike Davis gets DFA by the Pirates (last I checked they had nobody besides Gaby Sanchez).
Davis is basically Jaso except three years younger and under team control for an extra season. If the A’s can find a taker for Jaso, Davis would be a no-brainer replacement for me.
I suppose its that they are moving alvarez over and sticking with Harrison? what’s the 3rd base person’s name?
just keep Jaso on the 60 day dl till September.
Harrison is the Pirates’ 3B.
Everyone knew Davis was going to get DFA’d because of his cost to Pittsburgh so why trade a prospect when cash will do in a few days?
MLBTR projects Ike Davis to get $4.4MM, which seems very reasonable for a John Jaso type, when Jaso is projected to get $3.3MM.
Is Pittsburgh really that cheap? And are they sliding Pedro Alvarez over to 1B? Because he’ll be more expensive and wasn’t demonstrably better than Davis last year.
They’re holding on to Alvarez as a fallback to Harrison turning into a pumpkin and leaving a bloody, gaping hole at 3B. The Pirates have a smaller budget than Oakland and no DH so no place for Davis.
For the record… steamer projects Daric Barton to be better than Davis next year (giving both 600 PA)
Thanks, and go As.
Hm? I’m seeing Steamer has Ike for .242/.340/.417 (116 wRC+), with Barton at .240/.345/.368 (105 wRC+). I’m not saying he would set the world on fire, just that he could probably replicate Jaso’s line and role for a similar price, if they were so inclined to trade Jaso for something.
Steamer 600
Daric Barton
Off Def WAR
2.8 -1.2 2.2
Ike Davis
Off Def WAR
10.1 -8.2 2.2
Obviously Davis has value in being a better platoon bat. But we are probably going to need him to play against lefties at somepoint.
And as a DH?
that would be for both as 1bmen, which is their natural position.
Right, but that -8.2 suggests that it’s an unnatural position and one that we have better pieces to play. If he’s in the line up, I’d stick him at DH to negate that awful negative.
dWAR is a misleading stat because it includes the positional adjustment. Davis is a bit above average at 1B for his career.
BAR
boos above replacement
Wow. That dude has some serious L/R splits. wRC+ is 61, 126 vs L, R for his career (475, 1663 PA… so that is a decent number of PA even against LHP).
Ok, I looked up Jaso’s numbers and you are right… they are pretty much the same (or even more extreme): career wRA+ is 53, 127 but only 207 career PA vs LHP.
207 seems enough
Good call, Nate.
I guess now the trick is to find something useful for Jaso or Fuld.
Let’s release Fuld then trade Punto for him to whoever claims him.
That’s so genius, I think that it would work!
it’s viral. racing’s fans are chanting puto at river’s goalie, aztec stadium style.
boo. Was traveling yesterday. I think I passed the stub hub center around 8
Toronto wants Jaso. Slusser mentioned lefty Sean Nolin.
Thanks, and go As.
He has a grand total of two MLB innings, so I don’t intend this as actual criticism, but ERA/FIP/xFIP line of 27.00/15.51/7.24 is awesome.
I’m scratching my head.
It would be a coup if the A’s could move from Jaso to Davis, which is a lateral move in my eyes, and get a major league-ready SP in Nolin for about $270,000 in international slot money. And all this would happen after the Jays sent an even better LHH in Adam Lind to Milwaukee for a mediocre RP with a single year of team control. It’s feasible if the Jays think Jaso can catch.
Either way, that would be pretty awesome for Oakland.
I know nothing about Nolin, but a lefty with a pulse is a pretty good bet pitching half his games in Oakland and as much as I like Jaso I think there are serious potential issues going forward with the concussions.
Thanks, and go As.
For Jingleheimer’s sake, I hope he never catches again.
Moss and Reddick too?
Thanks, and go As.
Gotta hate him now.
Thanks, and go As.
:(. Although I would love me some Xander. Xander for Shark? That’s totally fair, right? What if we asked really nicely?
Can’t we re-sign Yoenis and then trade him for Xander?
He was already pretty easy to dislike
Thanks, and go As.
That would set Donaldson’s value lower since he’s older, no?
Would assume so, but I think the right move for JD is to go year to year with him or just sign him to a deal that buys out arby.
If it was my decision I wouldn’t sign him long term.
Thanks, and go As.
Oh, I wouldn’t sign him long term either. I’d be more inclined to do the year to year deal if I were the team as well. I’m just thinking in terms of what to expect even in year-to-year contracts for him. Nothing too much more than $15Mil at the highest a few years from now and that’s assuming he continues to perform as he has. If this is his baseline, it’s possible he doesn’t get much more than $10 given where he’d be age-wise post Arb.
I would have given him this and let him stay at SS.
Thanks, and go As.
Doesn’t Sandoval play third? If they really get both of them, wouldn’t he stay at SS? Also, if that’s all he’s getting, I’d probably do that too.
There has been some talk that the Red Sox would move Hanley to LF and trade Cespedes. Or they could keep Hanley at SS and trade Bogaerts for a fortune.
Or move Hanley to LF and Cespy to SS!
Outbidding everyone for the top shortstop on the market only to play him at the lowest place imaginable on the defensive spectrum (given their park) is the ultimate big-market FK you to the world, isn’t it.
Red Sox rotation is still totally laughable though. So they clearly need to make additional moves. Trading Bogaerts would get them much better pitching than trading Cespedes.
He was supposedly open to switching to LF or 2B, so I’m kind of assuming he’ll play LF.
Thanks, and go As.
So Cespedes in right then? And Betts in center?
I figure that the details of the Red Sox lineup will ultimately depend on what trades they make for pitching. Right now they have a lot of good bats. Maybe they have particular guys in mind that they want to trade but it seems like the smarter thing would be to make a wide range of offers and see how that shakes out.
Cespedes trade.
Thanks, and go As.
I’m intrigued to see just how fat Sandoval can get with a $100 million deal in his back pocket.
I think we should send him a link to this Chowhound discussion
I’m surprised by the vesting option, that’s good insurance for the Red Sox.
Hanley for this contract vs. 3/30 for Butler… straight up I’d prefer the A’s to have signed Hanley but Im withholding judgement until I see what other moves Beane has planned.
Put me in the Hanley camp as well.
Yeah agreed. Even though Hanley isn’t a particularly good fielder, I’d still be happy to run him out there at SS
Mariners just gave Seager a 7 year, $100M extension that covers three arby years plus four FA years. So that’s a lot of money.
Thanks, and go As.
I saw somewhere that the deal includes an opt-out after four seasons for Tomas.
Longer time commitment, but … What are the odds that he is not as good as Billy Butler?
there’s supposedly an opt-out as well.
Thanks, and go As.
Well what about Punto AND some of that weird draft slot money then???
Thanks, and go As.
I’m totally fine with dealing a real prospect to acquire Rollins.
This for real
Still a rumor but
Looks like the rumor has been retracted.
Cespedes -> Reds being broken on twitter.
No idea about who is going to Boston.
Thanks, and go As.
Something’s up.
but then…
Thanks, and go As.
Well this is exciting/terrifying.
Thanks, and go As.
Giambi was playing that damn boom box too loud after the last game…
Thanks, and go As.
Oh.
Thanks, and go As.
Tell me how that makes any sense. And ideally the answer does not involve “ownership was pissed that he was talking about $$$”.
What’d he say?
Thanks, and go As.
Oh. Welp.
he’s not wrong
Uh, here’s why. I love this.
Thanks, and go As.
Bringer of tears.*
*Not really. I don’t cry over this shit.
Tell me more. Nolin and Barreto are special?
From what little I can tell Barreto may be. Just looked him up-A ball last year, not even 19 and seemed to do well.
Barretto was a International signing class leader a couple of years ago.
Graveman pitched through 5 levels to get to the bigs last year.
Thanks, and go As.
I see that Lawrie has played some 2B. Can he play there everyday?
Admittedly seeing multiple pieces makes me feel a little better, none of them scream MVP at me. As always I defer to the folks here who know this stuff, I will just be happy I didnt buy a 20 jersey.
I don’t see how anyone could love or even like this deal.
Lawrie is both average and injury prone and (lol) has one less year of control than Donaldson.
Nolin and Graveman look like #4 starters or average pitchers. We’ve had such a hard time finding these. Oh wait, no we haven’t.
Barreto is too far away to get excited about.
So for that, we traded 4 years of the best player we’ve had since Giambi.
Fucking F trade.
worst trade of the Beane Era?
Still the Hudson deal.
Holliday deal was worse.
acquiring or sending away
Thanks, and go As.
Yes.
Hmm… the Holliday deal, while not good at the time, at least had potential to be just “not good.” The Hudson deal from day one was basically garbage. In a retrospective way, the outcome of the Holliday deal was much worse though.
Meyers was at least a top 25 spec.
Beane just traded a better player with 3 seasons more of control and didn’t get 1 top 100 spec back.
Lawrie was a top 100 spec 3 years in a row.
Thanks, and go As.
He still has upside, but he’s three mediocre/injured years in the big leagues removed from prospect status.
I don’t care, if DFA is going to pick nits than so am I.
Thanks, and go As.
And he will be a free agent by the next time we are in a contention window.
so would Donaldson.
Thanks, and go As.
No he really wouldn’t.
You get two years of donaldson in the contention window with Robertson and Olsen and Overton and Boog
He’d be too expensive and on the wrong side of 30.
You just gave Billy Butler 30 mil, they could just save that for those years, and guess what? Players that are 33 are still good sometimes.
Barreto won’t be top 100?
You’ll have to ask brian.only about that.
Thanks, and go As.
finally.
he didn’t make MLB’s top 100
Yet.
i mean the club lists are updated and hes not better than robertson or olsen and olsen is probably like 80 on the list or so.
Well, not now sure. But there’s still a chance at some point in a year or two.
thats the point. If you are trading an MVP caliber player, you shouldn’t have ifs and buts.
This is the point that resonates with me.
Agreed.
Prospects come with an inherent warning and everyone understands this. But Lawrie is on a whole other level of risk. The centerpiece of a deal for an MVP caliber player should have as little doubt as possible.
Well sure. But you didn’t read my “Yet.” with the appropriate level of sarcasm and needling.
We can’t have nice things.
there seems to be talk of what Donaldson said about ownership on twitter. I don’t see that and didn’t see that. does anyone know?
Much ado about nothing. Anybody that thinks this is why the trade happened is stupid.
Thanks, and go As.
That is the thing people are talking about?
That’s dumb. its not like that was some kind of secret.
Plus, why should he give money so the A’s can save some?
Moron sports fans always think star players should magnanimously take less to allow ownership to sign other players. It makes even less sense in baseball than it does in the NBA, where there’s a salary cap.
I see nothing moronic about it at all. There is a certain sense to it. Teams aren’t going to spend over a certain amount whether they could or not. That’s a reality of any business. So accepting less while making a shit ton of money in order to have more available isn’t that foolish from a desire to win perspective. And players in sports actually do this. Now, if these fans EXPECT them to do so, that would be moronic.
If a player wants to accept less than he is worth, then that’s fine with me. But fans who think that’s a reasonable thing to ask of them, especially of a guy like Donaldson who has been earning relative peanuts while being one of the best players in baseball are fools. These guys have a few years in their lives to earn big money. They should get all they can, and saying “you should take less so that the team can win” is inanely pitting the players against each other rather than against the owner, who have the ability to spend more if they wish.
It’s partly sport-by-sport. Football players restructure contracts semi-routinely for cap purposes. Basketball players (especially old ones) take league-minimum deals for championship contenders.
It isn’t part of baseball.
Football contracts are mostly not guaranteed, and when they restructure it’s usually when the alternative is getting released.
Not always (though guarantees are a big part of it). Kaepernick, for example, is expected to restructure this offseason. He is not concerned about being released.
Just saying norms vary by sport, so unsurprising that someone who doesn’t know baseball well applies other sports’ norms. It doesn’t mean baseball players are unusually greedy
It does mean they have a better union.
Restructures work for both the team and the player because a portion of the contract can be turned into a signing bonus so that becomes guaranteed, but it also doesn’t get counted against the salary cap.
Thanks, and go As.
Again, it’s absolutely reasonable to ask. It’s just not reasonable to expect. At the moment the fking minimum wage of MLB is a half million a year. I’m not going to shed a tear for him if he doesn’t make the millions he expects to make. He sure as shit isn’t curing cancer, he’s a baseball player. Yes, owners/teams make a shit ton of money and it’s a billionaire versus millionaire situation, but that a separate issue altogether. If a player chooses to maximize his earning potential within a rather corrupt/imbalanced economic system/priority, more power to him. It’s foolish to expect him to do otherwise. But it’s hardly foolish to ask to do or hope he’s willing to do so. It just better not be the owner who’s making that request.
I agree that Donaldson’s tweet doesn’t have anything to do with this trade. To me it actually comes across as someone who has a *good* relationship with the ownership and isn’t afraid to give them a little ribbing about how he’s going to start getting paid the big bucks in a few years.
Thanks, and go As.
…but I’m trying to.
Marlins offered Fernandez a 6/40 extension.
I assume Fernandez said LOL, NO.
Thanks, and go As.
Braves tried to attach BJ Upton to Evan Gattis as part of a trade with Houston.
Juston Upton makes 14.5 this year. BJ Upton makes 14.5, 15.5, 16.5 the next three.
Assuming we take on BJ’s contract too, what do we have to give Atlanta to get Justin?
Thanks, and go As.
That’s tough. Oakland would be taking on $29 million for 2015…
How much cash would Atlanta kick in?
For kicks say we give them Kazmir to get a big number off the books for us. We’re then taking on $18M for ’15.
At that point I’m considering Kaz for Justin a straight up deal, so what are they doing to make taking his brother(‘s salary) worth it
Thanks, and go As.
Similar idea, different names.
I’d offer Chavez + O’Flaherty. $8 million off the books for Oakland, 2 years of Chavez in Atlanta’s rotation.
Are we working under the assumption that Upton walks after this year, or getting a window to work an extension? I think that changes things too, but just on the surface I think Oakland makes that deal and maybe Atlanta balks. Dunno how badly they want to ditch BJ’s contract though.
Something else I was thinking — IF Shark or Kaz are to be dealt, I’d think it’s happening during the offseason, because they’ll get a higher return when the team can still make a QO at the end of the year. A midseason deal hurts their value a lot.
Thanks, and go As.
I’m still hoping it’s Kaz and not Shark. But my first thought was Atlanta balks as well. The only thing that would make them consider it is, as you said, they really needed to get that contract off their books.
I think Justin Upton is a 1 and done, hits FA and his 2015 team gets a QO. Shark gets dealt after Lester signs. Kazmir might get more interest in July. He fumbled down the stretch last year and I think teams are worried he might fall off the cliff again. But if he pitches well during the 1st half of 2015 they’ll convince themselves it was fatigue from not having pitched so many innings in years.
Thanks, and go As.
Jose Ramirez!
one trevor bauer, please.
Thanks, and go As.
Nothing wrong with Bauer, but I’d rather have a SS for the next 6 years.
oh yeah for sure, just in general though.
Thanks, and go As.
My thought as well. He would be perfect.
Slick defense and a .300 wOBA fair to expect from him?
Thanks, and go As.
A “Hell Yes!” on the defense and a probable with the bat. He’s also got speed enough for 20+ SB but he might need to refine his technique a bit.
If only we had some sort of SB coach around. Someone who was great at reading pitchers and had stole a base or 2 in his day…
I’d hope this person would also know a thing or two about runs.
Might even be the answer to a trivia question if we were lucky.
Umm, pretty much every trivia question.
For a 31 year old with a bum wheel whose power fell of a cliff?
OK!
Thanks, and go As.
Markakis -> Atlanta
Seems like they have too many outfielders now.
Thanks, and go As.
Thats a shitty move for them. Why not sign a pitcher rather than buy a shitty declining bat.
I guess the logic is replacing Heyward and getting a few arms?
Thanks, and go As.
Yeah, but Markakis isn’t good. I don’t think I trade Jason Heyward jordan walden and net 36 million in salary for shelby miller tyrell jenkins and nick markakis.
You are probably losing 2 WAR with the downgrade from Heyward to Markakis this year and gain 1.5, 1 and .5 over the next three in value and lose 1 WAR from walden over two years, which means your trade is a wash despite losing WAR concentration and a discount over time. Jenkins has been hurt and not very good, though he has a live arm and so maybe he can turn it around, lets suppose hes worth 3 million (half of a last of a top 100 pitching spec) Lets say Miller will cost 4 6 10 in arbitration. Would you sign Shelby Miller for 4 years 53 million (0 From Production Heyward and Walden – Markakis, Jenkins value in dollars, 36 million in net salary – plus 20 mil in salary for Miller) In order to break even thats 7.5 WAR from a pitcher that steamer projects as being 1 WAR next year.
I didnt say it was a good deal, just what I Thought the logic behind it was.
Thanks, and go As.
Thanks, and go As.
So in other words, there is no trade at the moment. Very informative Joe! Totally insider!
At least it says player(s) and not just one middling spec.
Thanks, and go As.
Well, if it were one for one, it’d still be players with Moss being one of the players.
There’s information there if you’re inclined to receive it.
I am. But I’d prefer to make an “Insider” joke based on how uninformative that particular tweet was. Only thing there is that they’re still talking and haven’t agreed on anything which we’ve already know for a while.
This “insider” crap is pretty dumb. Basically it means “guy we pay to pay attention to the A’s.”
The precise amount or nature of that information just hasn’t been agreed upon yet.