edcoffin

This. You can't solve a problem by just throwing money at it, no matter the perceived value of what the money is for. Citations: U.S. Senate, George Steinbrenner, and possibly Arte Moreno. I've no real negatives (yet) on DiPoto, because few if any GM's become counterparties to ownership. And in baseball, 'fixes' take 5 years, and you don't really know your progress until the third year.

Try one of those firecracker and count to ten do it yourself vasectomy kits ...

"Walker has traditionally been credited as the first African-American major league player. However, research in the early 21st century by the Society for American Baseball Research indicates William Edward White, who played one game for the Providence Grays in 1879, may have been the first.[13]" - ^ Associated Press (30 January 2004). "Was William Edward White Really First?". ESPN.com. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker

It's baseball. Deals play ahead of wheels.

Carp? Sucker? Any random Marlin? Another Bass? Smelt? (I'll pass on suggesting someone nicknamed 'Cod' or 'Wahoo' ....

That one couldn't move - has no legs at all. The Rangers have Gentry and Martin now, with Engel Beltre, Lewis Brinson, and a couple others down in the system. And just now shedding Julio Borbon since he's out of options. Stacked with CF'ers with speed. Getting a regular rotation starter for PB would take a ninja act.

I'm so seldom active here I have no axe on AJ's posting this question about DiPoto. But from lengthy experience and seeing lots of outcomes, I'd suggest that you can't 'grade' a GM on (a) short term performance ( until his scouting and staffing org is on the same page, and © he or she is free of difficult contracts and has the system from short season to AAA to MLB in place that the plan calls for. "All In" never happens unless the owner(s) call for it. Nobody hired with GM credentials wants deliberately to give up their five year plan for an impulsive 'win it all now' alternative unless they are told to go for it, then do so. Daniels, among others, was heavily critiqued his first two years (boy wonder and doesn't know the game on the field and you name it). But he did enough to earn 5+ years of seeing how the plan would work out. Thus, just MHO, it takes three years to find out what a GM can do, and five years to see if it gets done. That is, compete but simultaneously structure a solid rebuild.

Bingo. Every team has one local inkjock to incite furor. Galloway, etc.

Good point. Using last season's 2nd half, Hamilton takes himself out of games while playing in them. And Norris also beat Texas in the season opener - he's actually pretty good.

Voted 'no', but would like to see the MLBPA get behind a notion that a player who assaults another (n/m the legal definition of assault) is personally liable out of his paycheck for any needed medical cost for his victim. That crosses intentional HBP as well as charging a mound. 2nd offense, also pay the team offended for one day of lost time. 3rd offense, pay the team offended AND the MLBPA retirement fund a day's league average salary for the number of days lost. Oh well ... that will never happen but would be just. And save on the cost of risk insurance.

On field chemistry is having all the position players thinking the same way about handling balls in play, where to throw, and correctly anticipating what each other will do given 'x'. Clubhouse is more about being on the same attitude page, not the same as the performance page. Really, few teams have both on field and clubhouse 'chemistry'. Yes, it goes beyond mindset - has to become almost involuntary response in unison. That said, it's one of the hardest things to bring about especially any needed conversion to being an effective part of a well oiled machine on the field. Too often it's what can I do to excel, not what can I do to make Joe over there great. Edit: It's still too early to think of this or any other good team as a failure. Without Halotunnelvision you might see that Toronto spent a ton on 'upgrades' but isn't close yet in the East, and Kansas City not so much but have a chance to be a noisemaker in the Central. Arte expects results commensurate with what he pays out, DiPoto expects some level of calculated performance from assessments on the players he hires, and MS expects people to give their best on the field and to pay attention to (and work on) continuous improvement. In the end, only the players can really make a difference. That's why the smartest organizations rate character (makeup) so high in scouting.

"Yeah, I'm going around the barrier .... I know I can beat this train"

Not comparing anything else, but the food is awesome (and probably lethal fattening) in Arlington, and we elders/geriatrics are some of the more raucous fans. The ushers don't have a police state mentality, either, nor do they in most ballparks. I really didn't get the impression that the Big A was so interested in 'crowd control' - that comes as a surprise.

Now all the way up to 40. WX is bad for both teams, and (again) so is the umpiring. Pitches 5 inches inside being called strikes, pitches on the black away being called balls. Getting out of the weather is paramount? Don't know, but this is the first time I've ever seen DFW temperatures (with icy wind and cold rain) 40 degrees colder than in Indiana. B-r-r-r-r.

Wait until Josh Hamilton decrees that "Anaheim is just not a baseball town .... " Oh wait ......

Just a footnote: Marty Foster made another bad call tonight, and yes it was obvious to both teams, the broadcasters, and the crowd. A hot grounder down the line that bounced directly over the bag, landed again about 15 feet past the bag and a hands width outside the line. Yep, Marty signalled 'foul'. After the call was made and the batter was returning to the plate, Foster sorta mopped his forehead. The first base umpire did his run inside the baseline perimeter just in case the batter turned first and tried for second then had to come back. Collective shrug. Foster isn't having a good night (again). If we don't get the predicted severe thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon, he'll be working second base. Stealing, or thowing out a runner stealing, or a close force play all will be acts of faith, not skill. *sigh*

Oh good grief. It was just another in a series of blatantly bad calls the MLB impaired (uhh, umpires) are prone to make. Bullet points: - The outcome of a game was erroneously decided early by the call (who knows if Longoria would plate anybody?) - A game won in this division counts - the West is a dogfight without a truly clear favorite - I shouldn't criticize 'all' umpires for call failures, I umpired 14 years at the HS, College, and Indy level and made some bad calls - This stuff happens a lot on ball/strike counts. Somehow it doesn't seem as important as safe/out or fair/foul - Replay via video consultation is allowed on HR or not a HR. More replay could and might turn watching baseball into a commercial filled long night on one's butt if one is watching television and not at the game. - Marty Foster didn't have a particularly good night. Both teams could have quibbled all during last night's game.

Just to simplify the somewhat biased and rattling discussion: Darvish won't be 'lit up' by anybody. Era is the second worst means of evaluating a pitcher, only behind W-L record. Anaheim has plenty of attractions and is a pretty great place, but no football. And in Texas, high school football is the #1 sport, the Cowboy mantra is a hangover from years past when they were a national attraction alias 'America's Team'. No longer the case, but there is a hangover. And there is plenty to do in North Texas, including year round cultural attractions - just no sand or beach stuff and very little groupthink. Oh yeah, the midsummers here can be just a bit warmer than roasting in hell. That is all..

At 34, Vernon is the ripple of a youth movement for the pinstripes. Leave it to The Onion to reveal this ...

hehee heh probably meant a heap of scarfs. Scarfs are those comments in a thread that used to be call 'scolling'. That means trolling in a good natured but critical manner but considered a form of barfing on a post. Implies either doubt in the content of the post, or doubt about the savvy of the poster. In either case, such a post leads to several comments calling out the poor poster who, because of a typo, opened a can of incredulity that spreads like an ebola virus.

Lowe is a decent power arm, but watch out if he relies on mostly fastballs. Velocity, yes. But straight, and flat unless he has cured that since he was cut loose by Texas.

According to the Texas owners, the story is conjecture and there is no change in Ryan's role. Title promotions, yes. And someday Ryan, 66, will retire. Stepping stones are likely in order. From down here close, there is no change in the structure. Randy Galloway in particular has stretched it thin, almost conspiracy theory thin, to 'sell' his own story. Not credible. Water is still wet. Air still contains oxygen. And if Ryan's role is reduced in scope (on paper), there is a pretty good chance that his role hasn't changed a bit - just the PR perception.

Goofy notion. What next, YouTube appeals?