1. SuSlu1: Jake Fox is out of options. AFAICT, the rules themselves aren’t really that complicated, but MLB doesn’t make the information about each player available to the public or (apparently) even to the players.
2. SuSlu2: Duchscherer is in the best shape of his life the last few days.
3. SuSlu3: Devine and DiNardo also feeling good.
4. Even I’m not this touchy about quips about Berkeley.
5. “Lost” spoiled bastard. Good episode in spite of the cheese.
6. Ozzie speaks: “That’s why the world is all screwed up.” (Or maybe this is Ozzie).
Apparently Duke has a fiance.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you dropped an “e.”
huh. I didn’t know it worked that way.
And you call yourself a Frenchman!
cheese-eating surrender monkeys!
Perhaps he just dropped an “n.” Because Duke did get a new contract, ya know.
Ca I have $5?
interesting article
I had never heard this Britishism:
I also liked Doctor Argue.
Tricksy…
Did someone tell her Cahill is the front-runner or is she guessing?
God I hope she’s guessing.
Where’s her invite btw?
I’m waiting for LB to print it on a massive magnet, which I’ll slap on the side of a refrigerated truck headed to Phoenix.
Git ‘er done
how big you need, there, boss monkey?
The A’s have given indications that Cahill is the front runner. I think its in part to the team’s mistaken belief that they “need” a long man in the bullpen and they had Gio fill the role a bit last year. So if Gio is headed to the pen… Cahill gets the nod over Mazzaro.
For now.
Ew. Don’t like Gio as the long man. He needs to start. If he’s not the best option, send him to AAA.
It just doesn’t make sense. Gio was clearly better than Cahill last year. And I like Gio’s upside better than Cahill’s.
Either the A’s are blinded by Cahill’s luck determined ERA or they just simply won’t admit they made a mistake bringing him up early last year.
Disagree about upside, but agree Cahill should start down.
Why do you like Cahill’s upside better than Gio’s?
His upside is high K%, very high GB%, which is very rare, and better than Gio’s very high K% and not much else good.
I’m not sure I believe Cahill is the front-runner, but I’m quite sure neither of your “eithers” are true. Regardless of what happened last year, it’s probably at least not crazy to think Cahill will be better next year. But still, it would would be very strange since Gio certainly appears to be better right now, and sending Cahill to AAA would save some service time.
What about Braden? Why can’t he be the odd pitcher out?
Because he’s better than both of them?
Well, yeah he has been, but he won’t be soon. If Cahill shows up with a curveball (that he showcases in the first two months in Sacto in my world) when he comes back (with a healthy Duchscherer and Sheets, again in my world) Cahill can replace braden, who I expect will not be as good as Gonzalez or Cahill in the future.
Yeah, he needs to find a consistent release point and a non-hanging curve. Then he could be Anderson good.
You’re underselling Gio’s upside.
His K/9 last year, if he qualified, would’ve been 4th among starters in all of baseball. His career minor league BB/9 is 4, not good, but not horrible/indicative of MLB failure either. If he averaged those numbers in the majors he would be pretty good.
I think 09 Jorge de la Rosa (3.7 WAR) is an apt comparison.
In pure upside terms, you’re right that Cahill’s upside (high K%, high GB%) is higher than someone who just gets a lot of Ks. But factoring in repertoire + probability of reaching that upside, I like Gio’s stuff far better than Cahill’s, even if Cahill does add the knuckle curve eventually. And as far as likelihood of reaching that upside, Gio has already shown the ability to perform his skill in the majors. Cahill, thus far, hasn’t shown much of anything, although the GB% is encouraging.
I don’t like Gio’s stuff better than Cahill’s. De La Rosa isn’t apt in the sense that he throws a lot harder than Gio. Gio has also been hit pretty hard most places he’s been. That said, I wouldn’t really argue much with saying Gio has more upside.
Yeah now that I think of it, Gio’s best comp is still Zito (similar minor league K/9, BB/9 numbers, similar repertoire, flyball pitchers). Gio throws harder though.
I guess I just see Gio get hit hard/don’t see the movement that Cahill has. I see Gio as significantly more likely to pan out, and better in early ’10, but never a top-of-rotation guy.
Suwaggu!
Most honorable pig-demon, you are most welcome.
SRSLY. THNXA2KLBS.
Appearently the rules regarding optional assignments are a bit tricky. I e-mailed Slusser about a dozen times today on the subject and all I can say is that the FO’s confusion on whether or not Fox had an option remaining going into 2010 wasn’t the result of some intern not being able to count to 20.
1…2…5…7…3… shit this counting stuff is hhhhawwd.
three, sir.
Three!
My favorite part of that is, “Five is right out.”
1.22 posts/day
70.7 comments/post
86.5 comments/day
Needs moar tirades.
I like the Claire development for what it seems to tell us about Rousseau’s affliction, its connection to Nemesis/Smoky/Locke, and what might become of Sayid. I also really want to know who (if anyone) Jacob was intending to summon via the lighthouse, and whether the summons happened regardless of Jack’s smashy-smashy.
I was thinking that Jacob wanted Jack to smash the mirror.
Agreed. But Jacob told Hurley to lead Jack to the lighthouse because “someone is trying to get to the island and this will lead their way” (or something like that). I’m unclear about whether the mirror smashing was just the embodiment of Jacob’s oh-so-clever metaphor (Jack leading himself to the island in some esoteric sense, which fits with the Jack-Hurley “hoped it would heal me” conversation shortly beforehand), or whether perhaps there actually was someone whom Jacob intended to lead to the island (and the mirror smashing either enabled or hindered that).
Because I also wonder whether the smashed mirror might prove important to a later re-uniting/merging of the safely arrived in LA Losties with the island-bound Losties.
That was how he got Hurley to get Jack out of the Temple. No one’s coming to the island (at least not using the lighthouse). I got the impression Jacob knew Locke & Co were coming and that Jack in particular is his chosen one and needed him to get out of Dodge. That episode reaffirmed my thoughts on the final scene with Jack & Sawyer taking the places of Jacob & Smokey on the beach in last year’s finale.
Well, someone is definitely coming to the island…Widmore, alternaLosties, Desmond, someone…but you’re probably correct that the only function of Jacob taking Jack to the lighthouse was the smashing. Your finale prediction continues to be quite credible.
Oooh forgot about Widmore and Desmond. Actually while watching I was thinking that Jack’s son from the Alter-verse was coming which would be pretty cool.
Think you nailed it with Desmond/Penny. Desmond is still listed as a regular in the opening credits, and they have to work him in somehow. Seems like the perfect opportunity.
Swag at work:
Swag at play:
Amazingly versatile.
I recognize the ice cream!
a parent should!
love.
thanks for sharing, sal!
Swag in action, juniors division
… and the arty, Fellini-meets-von Trier composition:
He looks like he’s enjoying that bottle of kraut juice.
I had a pic of him eating kraut the other night, but Meesus Moonkeyball said “It looks like he’s eating spiders,” so I deleted it (it was out of focus anyway).
Ah, no — I didn’t delete it. Here it is in all its arachnovoric soft-focus:
And the rest of dinner that night: grilled pork chop, kraut (Libby’s), homemade apple-pear sauce.
Can’t be, b/c that stuff ain’t free.
There is no free kraut. There is abundant free kraut.
The winter approaches.
No rights for you, one year
I thought that would be an article about Seligula’s committee report.
Since I’m stuck at work and don’t have enough time to watch the DVR’d game later tonight, or enough juice to persuade the wife to watch hockey instead of figure skating (which IIRC is also a dilemna Holden Caulfield faced), I went ahead and looked at the outcome of today’s quarterfinal game. Huzzah!
Anyway, to my point: Apparently, Friday’s semifinal against the Czechs will actually be broadcast live throughout the nation, including here in the inbred backwater they call “the Pacific Time Zone.”
Which is good news and all that, except that I’ll be working and will have to record it for later viewing anyway, wife’s figure skating insistence nothwithstanding.
BTW: Deadpsin, lousy place to visit for PST’ers who want to avoid spoilage. But sfgate, fine place to visit…they’ve clued in enough to not put Olympic results on their front page.
I did not watch the USSR-USA game in 1980 because I already knew the result. That crap has been going on forever. I do remember getting up at 8 a.m. the following Sunday morning to watch the gold medal game (on my college kid 13-inch black-and-white set), as ABC decided to show that game live to everybody.
Good for the Peacock for finally seeing the light this time around.
Ah, but then you get a total commercial skip
Minor correction: The US of A will be playing Finland, not the Czech Republic. Should be a good one.
That kind of pigeonholing really takes the cake:
Full slide show of Saddam family photos here.
Who brings a gun to a birthday party?
A son of a gun, that’s who.
Looks like Jose Lima’s about to snap that kid’s neck.
You’d be pissed too, if you’re career spiraled from the majors to the minors to indy ball to pitching mop-up for the Baghdad Bombers of the Iraqi semi-pro baseball league.
Outside of the shot, stage right:　Mrs. Lima
You wouldn’t be able to stop staring either.
Those are going to look great for another 3-6 months.
So, not to dwell on weird, personal shit that makes most of you run for the hills, but how the fuck does she turn that piece of shit who beat her ass into a fucking martyr? Seriously. WTF?!
Coping mechanism…easier for the brain to latch onto the simple story line (the cops killed him) than it is to confront the cycle of abuse/departure/return which is characteristic of the abusive relationship.
Given some time she’ll probably see it differently…
Jesus, let’s hope so.
That’s a pretty crazy story for her brain to play. You’re right of course. Just remarkably twisted for the mind to take that route. Let’s hope she doesn’t try to take it any further than a thought otherwise she’s bound to have a pretty nasty fall.
no pun intened?
I love you guys.
I think we should invite Rev. Halofan over for some Free Kraut.
Just so I can try out my ban stick?
Ahem.
Belated and misplaced thanks for swag below …
Berated (belated and misplaced thanks for swag) below
Awesome. And to the extent there is distribution I’m magneted out. Mrs. N had a bit of a negative reaction to the number of magnets on the fridge.
Poor Mrs. NM. So put upon. So many snarky magnets.
Having gotten nm attached to her, I would imagine she’s a regular snark magnet herself.
gp.
Just in possession of terrible judgment.
Belated thanks! It’s here. Pictures when I get a chance …
Why’d you post this here? You’re STOOPID.
Belated thanks mucho from me too – got it!
Outrage and appreciation all in one post, as Deadspin’s Will Leitch’s Oakland A’s preview:
Damn you Leitch! And, um, thanks.
Does BP10 really argue for a move out of the Bay Area entirely? Not only has that argument been thoroughly discredited, but — in this economy (and the foreseeable horizon)? (And Leitch’s Portland theory is even dumber, given recent developments there IIRC.)
But does he want to buy a sign?
That is the real question, isn’t it?
You know, the problem with getting some love from WL is the only people I’d want to brag about it to are the same ones who told me about it to begin with…
The only reason to suspect that Crumpacker’s column today was not written by mb was the missing band name.
If Fosse were a columnist:
If Ralph Barbieri hosted Jeopardy:
asvd
Now, that’s just awesome.
Old men on the internet
That is misleading. He voted against closing debate on the jobs bill, and then he voted for it. I don’t see a contradiction.
So in your view it is reasonable to obstruct passage of bills you support?
It’s reasonable to want to continue to debate a bill, to perhaps push for additional changes (or earmarks for your constituents) because you think the bill could be better. But once it is time to vote on the bill, even if it’s not perfect in your mind, you can still vote for it.
Mr b918 Goes to Washington
Gosh. I’m caught between trying to sell you a bridge and insisting that you stipulate purity of motive on everything Obama does henceforth.
Bridge! Bridge! Bridge!
Filibustering != desire to continue debate. Filibustering = desire to prevent Senate from taking action.
That ain’t the way it works. Lamar and his ilk don’t want to actually continue debating and refining legislation. They want to stop it in its tracks.
That may be, but MY doesn’t seem to be making that analytical/subjective point by touting those headlines.
He’s assuming his readers know that, because he blogs about it constantly
Well, then maybe you better force me to read all his posts!
OBAMA URGES CHEMICAL ENGINEERS: READ ALL YGLESIAS POSTS
Where’s the dancing women?
I thought we’d had these discussions before. My mistake.
Basically, Republicans in this Senate are filibustering EVERYTHING, even bills that pass near-unanimously.
The reason is that even when the filibuster fails, there are enough filibuster points that you can stop the Senate for over a week. And not a week of productive debate, or even of floor speeches. Just a week of waiting for filibuster votes to “ripen.”
Lock the doors and sleep at your desk while some old fuddy duddy reads out of the phone book. That’s what a filibuster should be. This “let’s not and say we did” BS is WEAK.
Well, to force that there’d have to be one filibusterer but 50 filibusterees
and that’s the problem… nobody’s forced to be a filibusteree anymore. Other business should not get done while a filibuster is happening. Filibusters are supposed to shut down the senate until the majority caves in and makes concessions to the minority, or until the filibuster fails, whichever comes first.
Then again, screw all this “supposed to be” stuff anyway. The world can be what it needs to be, and I can hide in my little hole with my pipe and my computer until supply lines break down, and then I will happily eat as many neighbors as I can before a stronger one eats me. Justice is served, and Darwin would be proud.
(link)
By the way, andeux, the title of this Grill has put that fucking Huey Lewis song in my head for the last 24 hours. Thanks a lot.
That’s actually what I was referencing. You’re welcome.
That’s the power of Grill.
I’m just happy to be stuck with grill.
Do you believe in grill?
Hip to be grill?
(you haven’t left me much)
Gotta get Grill in time?
or
Gotta get back in Grill?
SPWC has his fist stuck in a grill
huh? I don’t punch rappers in the mouth…
Speaking of whom, anyone else think Chris Pine (Kirk in last year’s Star Trek “reboot”) is a dead ringer for young Huey Lewis?