ukyah

so, that video was uninspiring even with it's trumped up dubstep intensity. i'm all for the signing though and hope we sign moncada, as well.

i do have to agree that superficially it seems like we're missing out on complementing our weak farm system with international players. i'm sure there's quite a bit to the subject that i don't understand. so, i'll refrain from demanding satisfaction.

if this is true, do you know what financial flexibility the different teams have? i only remember the yankees and rangers blowing their wads.

noooooooooooooooo. he's an absolute gas can. he had a handful of good starts to end the season and pittsburgh, in their infinite wisdom, decided to start him in a do or die game. surprisingly, they didn't advance. his career is shit.

the trade was the angels offering HK straight up for quintana. the whitesox said no, then we built a trade that we all know.

i have no problem with what the cubs did and i believe in business ethics. i believe they handled it professionally and treated renteria fairly, although it was a bad break for him personally. renteria is a guy trying to prove himself as a manager and maddon has already made his bones. "it's nothing personal michael, it's just business."

i'm sorry QM, but you're failing hard here. you can't have it be one way in sports competition and another way in other competition, referring to your sports vs. life differentiation. competing is the same universally, it's in the spirit. your opinions cast you as a person that is afraid of failure. in your own words, you'd rather fail right away, then be disappointed later, when the stakes are highest. that is an unfortunate position to be in, but it's all too common.

...but you're wrong about the players part. the players don't have that attitude. in fact, they have quite a different attitude. i know this because i actually listen to them when they speak. also, i compete in many different arenas myself, and because of this i've learned that what i can control is my preparation and my execution. as long as i've done those two things, then i'm forced to accept that the results are as they are. i can reflect on my preparation and execution to try to understand if there was something i could have done better, but many times there is not. it's just the nature of competition. in most activities there isn't a totally dominant participant.

every time i hear this sentiment, it inevitably comes from a person that hasn't ever put their neck on the line. life isn't all or nothing. you need a remedial course in life lessons 101.

also, choked? WTF. i thing some angel fans may need a baseball refresher course.

i literally can't understand that thinking, and i agree with whoever said it's a loser's mentality. you'd rather the angels get swept out in three games over fighting and scratching through three series, and a play-in game, all the way to the doorstep of ultimate victory or ultimate defeat? you're so afraid of the letdown of game 7 that you'd rather not even really compete? that is, i'm sorry to say, a coward's mentality. that needs some examining.

i disagree with the thread title, but i don't have any expectations beforehand. i just watch the game. also, so far, when it comes to the AL, i've been wrong about everything.

he has a terminal illness. god knows what his life necessitates. i choose not to speculate.

don't sign any of the three. identify pitchers building toward a breakout, and try and acquire them in trade. if the team that already controls them rebukes you, then move on to other arms of the same type. pay for what you think is coming and not what has already gone by. if you miss, then you miss. at least you won't be punished greatly financially. if for some reason some amazing player comes along as a FA near 27 years old, then feel free to make a large commitment.

downs as well

i hear your overall point, but i don't think caminiti is a good example of a one year wonder. he was definitely steroid fueled though, but he did it for several years. as much as i really like caminiti the man and the lessons his example can teach us on many different levels, his entire career is tainted. in all fairness his mvp is void. i, like every body else, lived through the steroid era and i was blind to it. i'm self aware of steroids, but it's hard to have clear perspective when you're in the moment and sometimes the moment can last for a long long time.

has anyone realized there are two major interesting points going on yet? the first is that not only has it been 29 years since the royals were last in the post season, but that they won the world series that year. this leads into the 2nd point, which is that we could have a world series rematch because the royals beat the cardinals in '85. there are some crazy statistical oddities that are in play.

i haven't read the article yet, but i will. so if any of this is mentioned, then i apologize for the rehash. canseco is the guy credited for blowing the lid off the steroid scandal, but it was really caminiti. his SI article where he said that 75% of players were using roids was the first mention of it. he backtracked after what was an unexpected, for him, public outcry. in my opinion, he was working his recovery principles during the article interview and i think he felt bad for airing other player's private laundry, which resulted in his backtrack comments. i don't know if there's any video of it, but he returned to san diego after his playing days were over as a broken man in recovery. he was a shell of himself and he thought the crowd was going to turn on him because he had left san diego. it ends up being an extremely powerful moment when a man filled with self loathing awakens to the fact that he's cherished. truly powerful stuff. bigger than baseball.

this makes no sense. scioscia as gm? where does that even come from?

andrew friedman is an outstanding GM, absolutely no doubt. having said that, look at what he got in return for david price. it just goes to show that what fans think trades are about is not actually what trades are about.

i don't know, it seems to be just going round and round semantically between hollywood and lou.

there's been a lot of very reasoned responses in this thread. some not so much, but quite a few others. i'm impressed.

that point actually makes the argument why posey is the clear choice. he's too good of a hitter to leave at catcher and watch him wear down. that's why they'll move him.

both are fantastic, and neither is a poor choice, but posey is the answer. he's the closest thing we're going to get to mike piazza, but with better defense.

i hear liberia is lovely this time of year.