Vegas Halo Fan

It's like a quarterback, only 20% as large.

I get the idea that the FO sees him as a starter. Dipoto tried to trade Howie Kendrick to the White Sox for him straight up. I doubt that he would have done that for a bullpen piece.

Apparently Miami is where ex-Angels land when they can't hit anymore (or never could). Jeff Mathis, Chone Figgins and now Vernon Wells.

They seem to have adopted a "shoot first, ask questions later" approach to law enforcement. There have been some recent changes (due to public outcry) regarding the review system that occurs after officer-involved shootings. Time will tell whether they will make any difference.

A friend of mine who lives in Tulsa said that this afternoon it was 69 degrees and he and his wife were riding around in their convertible with the top down. Tonight it is supposed to be 12 degrees with a 40-50 MPH wind. One of many things I don't miss about the midwest.

If Trout decides to leave, a lot of the rest of this may not matter.

The summer I went to Tulum (south of Cancun), I sweated pretty much from the time I got off the plane until we boarded to head back. I'm just not acclimated to high humidity anymore.

True, but Wells and Blanton take more than $28M off the books (man, it's hard to say that or even fathom it).

I am beginning to think ahead to retirement, and one of the places I am researching is Panama. The province of Chiriqui has weather that has been characterized as "eternal springtime". Because of the elevation the temps never get much above 80 in the summer, and since you're so close to the Equator it never gets cold enough to snow. You are an hour or less from the beach, and depending upon which direction you go it will be either the Atlantic or the Pacific. The US dollar is the official currency, so there is no issue with exchange rates. Another bonus: Unlike many other tropical retirement destinations, it's south of the hurricane belt, so no hurricanes - ever. Easy flight into Miami to visit friends in the States.

I was pretty ambivalent about the whole idea. There were pluses and minuses, wouldn't have made or broken our season either way.

This FO has never been very open about what is going on, and that is a good thing (don't want to tip your hand to would-be competitors for the same players). I don't believe that we're done.

An aside on this: Someone at the Nevada Health Exchange, the entity charged with signing people up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, has started giving out my personal office number as the number for people to call to enroll in Medicaid. The first call yesterday I dismissed as a wrong number. When I got the second call, I talked to the guy for a while to first make sure that he was given my exact number (he was) and to find out where he got the number. Unfortunately he didn't recall who he talked to in the office. I hope that my efforts to fix this work - and quickly. Otherwise my office will be paralyzed with irrelevant calls.

That makes sense. Power guys tend to either blow their arms out, or fail to adjust when they can't hit 95+ anymore. There was a guy named Maddux who had a pretty fair career without a blowaway heater.

I would like for somebody to pay me $8.5M and then tell me to go home.

I miss Europe. Enjoy Paris, have wanted to live in the UK for some time. Love London and all of its hustle and bustle, but could definitely see myself living in coastal Wales, where I have friends, and from where it is an easy train trip into London.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a series about shootings involving the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department ("Metro" in the local lexicon). The shootings were invariably found to be justified, including one that involved the shooting of a mentally disturbed Vietnam veteran surrounded by a group of officers and patrol cars. He was shot several times by several officers, in his car with no weapon. In case you want a little light reading sometime. It's a multi-part series that was very well done. Deadly Force: When Las Vegas Police Shoot, and Kill

One of the worst things I have ever been through is a funeral for an infant. It was my ex-wife's niece and her husband, their first child. Baby was born prematurely, lived less than a week. It was tough sitting through the service looking at that tiny coffin.

The Yanks won't trade pitching at this point. The only way this works is for a third team to be involved. I can see them being in the market for an infielder, though. They have one of the worst infields in the American League, at least on paper.

Exactly why I like the cap with no logo. Then it doesn't become a marketing thing, The HOF is about recognizing the player, not the team.

I'm guessing that is everywhere else.

I'm sure that some Marlins fans had rather it be Jeffrey Loria.

In New York, making the playoffs isn't enough. That fan base sees world championships as a birthright. BTW, love the new name and avatar. Kudos for keeping the Tanaka theme and still making a smooth switchover. Very clever.

Three of them have come in the last 15 years, one since 2001. They haven't exactly been raking in the trophies lately.

$175M plus a $20M posting fee is a hell of a lot of cash for a guy who has never set foot on a major league diamond. I also read that some teams were concerned about the number of innings he has thrown already even at his age. Maybe the Yankees can use him at third base on the days he doesn't pitch.

F that. I'm terrified of heights. That isn't my kind of entertainment to begin with.