GrittyVeterans

Excellent Article, Geoff. Thank you for sharing. 

I've never seen so many unemployable people in one building

Honestly, anyone that feels compelled to travel to North Korea is an idiot of extraordinary measure.

But first let the government pump tons of money into them just to fail.

He is getting cuffed around already, and it's only spring. Half of these guys he is facing will never see the majors.

What prospect wad? Newcomb and Ellis got us our SS for the next 6 years. He's an elite defender and an average hitter for a short stop. You really need to gain some perspective on the SS position and realize that Tulowitzki's hardly exist. If you can get a 5 WAR player in his prime to be your SS for you, it's not a terrible trade. Simmons is significantly better and younger than Aybar and therefore is an upgrade to the roster
 
"Prospect wad" is hilarious btw, this team had exactly 1 good prospect - Newcomb - and Eppler used him to get a stud SS in his prime. Dipoto/Moreno were unable to accumulate any other good prospects for Eppler to do his job. The fact you're putting that on him is absurd considering he just got here 3 months ago. It's a trash situation for him to come into
 
The problem for Eppler is that the dumbass owner didn't tell him what the budget is. He therefore had no idea if he could sign Hayward/Cespedes/Upton or if he should focus on acquiring cheaper options. The trade market is not good and we again have no prospects. So how is this on him again?
 
Arte literally gave the guy 15 million and said "make this a playoff team". And he knew full well we didn't have the trade assets for that to be possible.

Because Arte doesn't have a budget plan laid out for Eppler. It's ludicrous to blame Eppler for this when he's said to the media that he doesn't even know if Arte is willing to go into the luxury tax. 
 
This is an Arte issue, like most things are related to this organization right now

no, Blackmon is not good. They could have had Nori Aoki for 5 million if they wanted a solid but unspectacular left fielder. Giving up a Major League ready #5 starter for a player of Blackmon's caliber is just dumb. Especially with Newcomb gone and Weaver/Wilson in their mid-30s

What prospect wad? Newcomb and Ellis got us our SS for the next 6 years. He's an elite defender and an average hitter for a short stop. You really need to gain some perspective on the SS position and realize that Tulowitzki's hardly exist. If you can get a 5 WAR player in his prime to be your SS for you, it's not a terrible trade. Simmons is significantly better and younger than Aybar and therefore is an upgrade to the roster
 
"Prospect wad" is hilarious btw, this team had exactly 1 good prospect - Newcomb - and Eppler used him to get a stud SS in his prime. Dipoto/Moreno were unable to accumulate any other good prospects for Eppler to do his job. The fact you're putting that on him is absurd considering he just got here 3 months ago. It's a trash situation for him to come into
 
The problem for Eppler is that the dumbass owner didn't tell him what the budget is. He therefore had no idea if he could sign Hayward/Cespedes/Upton or if he should focus on acquiring cheaper options. The trade market is not good and we again have no prospects. So how is this on him again?
 
Arte literally gave the guy 15 million and said "make this a playoff team". And he knew full well we didn't have the trade assets for that to be possible.

What prospect wad? Newcomb and Ellis got us our SS for the next 6 years. He's an elite defender and an average hitter for a short stop. You really need to gain some perspective on the SS position and realize that Tulowitzki's hardly exist. If you can get a 5 WAR player in his prime to be your SS for you, it's not a terrible trade. Simmons is significantly better and younger than Aybar and therefore is an upgrade to the roster
 
"Prospect wad" is hilarious btw, this team had exactly 1 good prospect - Newcomb - and Eppler used him to get a stud SS in his prime. Dipoto/Moreno were unable to accumulate any other good prospects for Eppler to do his job. The fact you're putting that on him is absurd considering he just got here 3 months ago. It's a trash situation for him to come into
 
The problem for Eppler is that the dumbass owner didn't tell him what the budget is. He therefore had no idea if he could sign Hayward/Cespedes/Upton or if he should focus on acquiring cheaper options. The trade market is not good and we again have no prospects. So how is this on him again?
 
Arte literally gave the guy 15 million and said "make this a playoff team". And he knew full well we didn't have the trade assets for that to be possible.

Because Arte doesn't have a budget plan laid out for Eppler. It's ludicrous to blame Eppler for this when he's said to the media that he doesn't even know if Arte is willing to go into the luxury tax. 
 
This is an Arte issue, like most things are related to this organization right now

no, Blackmon is not good. They could have had Nori Aoki for 5 million if they wanted a solid but unspectacular left fielder. Giving up a Major League ready #5 starter for a player of Blackmon's caliber is just dumb. Especially with Newcomb gone and Weaver/Wilson in their mid-30s

We gave up Newcomb for an elite SS, I don't have a problem with that. I just wish he could have kept Aybar and traded him for a LFer. Or worked an outfielder out of Atlanta in addition to Simmons. I would much rather give up Newcomb for an elite SS, than a left fielder. Left field should be a helluva a lot easier to come by than this.

I'm not blaming Eppler. I get the feeling Eppler had an idea what he could do in FA and Arte changed gears somewhere down the line

The subtlety in this post is amazing. Well done 
I was thinking about posting about that but I would have come across like a dick for sure

Congrats Curtis!
CONGRATS CURTIS!!!

This guy threw a lot of innings in Japan, just like Darvish and Tanaka did
 
More than likely he's on the DL by August
 
Still a solid gamble

I'm for making universities lower their prices. Tuition is out of control in the last 5-10 years.
 
Making it free will never work. Community college, maybe but that's not that expensive anyway right now (and their is financial aid/payment plans).
 
Making universities free will just boost the amount of riff-raff attending. I'm taking on student loans next year after attending community college for two years. I'm paying my own way and it is very do-able for anyone if you're not a lazy piece of shit. If you're willing to grind 35 hours a week at work and put in the effort for two years at a community college in order to transfer, you can get out w/ a bachelor's with 10-12K student loans. Which is not that daunting but does need to be lowered
 
The kids that want to go out of state right out of high school are the people that need to have their heads examined. Paying 50 thousand dollars for the first two years of general lower division courses is just absurd these days.  But "they get the full college experience"...yeah, have fun making payments for 10 years after you graduate

I'm for making universities lower their prices. Tuition is out of control in the last 5-10 years.
 
Making it free will never work. Community college, maybe but that's not that expensive anyway right now (and their is financial aid/payment plans).
 
Making universities free will just boost the amount of riff-raff attending. I'm taking on student loans next year after attending community college for two years. I'm paying my own way and it is very do-able for anyone if you're not a lazy piece of shit. If you're willing to grind 35 hours a week at work and put in the effort for two years at a community college in order to transfer, you can get out w/ a bachelor's with 10-12K student loans. Which is not that daunting but does need to be lowered
 
The kids that want to go out of state right out of high school are the people that need to have their heads examined. Paying 50 thousand dollars for the first two years of general lower division courses is just absurd these days.  But "they get the full college experience"...yeah, have fun making payments for 10 years after you graduate

I'm for making universities lower their prices. Tuition is out of control in the last 5-10 years.
 
Making it free will never work. Community college, maybe but that's not that expensive anyway right now (and their is financial aid/payment plans).
 
Making universities free will just boost the amount of riff-raff attending. I'm taking on student loans next year after attending community college for two years. I'm paying my own way and it is very do-able for anyone if you're not a lazy piece of shit. If you're willing to grind 35 hours a week at work and put in the effort for two years at a community college in order to transfer, you can get out w/ a bachelor's with 10-12K student loans. Which is not that daunting but does need to be lowered
 
The kids that want to go out of state right out of high school are the people that need to have their heads examined. Paying 50 thousand dollars for the first two years of general lower division courses is just absurd these days.  But "they get the full college experience"...yeah, have fun making payments for 10 years after you graduate

If you believe that pilgrims were uneducated it is time for you to go back to school.

In Australia. 
 
“Requiring schoolchildren to sing the national anthem, and the citizenship pledge supporting democratic values, are a part of an oppressive campaign by Australian authorities of ‘forced assimilation’ of the Muslim community”.
- Hizb-ut-Tahrir spokesman, Unthman Badar
 
http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2015/12/21/muslims-are-offended-at-national-anthem-they-say-its-forcing-them-to-2/'>Muslims are Offended at National Anthem
 
Here's an idea: If you don't want to be part of a country, don't move there.
 
 
 
 

No, that doesn't help people get out of poverty. That helps you be content being poor because someone else  is paying for your shit
 
Free education would water down a college degree so much that it would hardly be worth it. Also would increase taxes on the middle class. Not sure how that is a solution to anything

Could you be more evil?

The opportunities available to the poor in this country are vast.  There is a way out of poverty, but it involves a lot of hard work.  A lot!!!  
 
Is it fair?  No.  But life is not fair.  For any of us.
 
I'll continue to give to and volunteer charities that support the poor.  And I totally understand that there are those few that fall into a special class that will never be able to take care of themselves due to physical or mental handicaps.  But at some point, everyone has to own their lives and their futures.