Junkballer

I tend to think that Trout is an east coast guy and that will be a factor that will, to an unknown degree, sway how he feels about the Angels when he is free to choose from any offer. That being said, there isn't much the Angels can do about that other than do their best to make playing here fun for him. I doubt if he'll be looking at the health of the farm system, up and coming talent and he won't give a damn about the economics that limit Eppler to an internal 165m-ish cap. I think he'll remember the years 2018-2020 for whether, in his mind, the Angels went all out to win a title. I'm not advocating reckless spending nor am I advocating anything in this post but I do think that the Angels are handicapped by Trouts New Jersey roots and family location and will have to try to erase the memory of the clean peanut finding years by becoming somewhat of a powerhouse in order to keep him.

I'm not understanding the reasoning behind the discrepancy in projected Command & Control, with Command projected 10 pts higher. A pretty big difference. I know that although they are related but different, it seems to me that Command is more difficult to attain than Control. My understanding is that Control is mostly consistency of location, being able to throw strikes, and Command is both location and pitch movement, being able to make the pitch move or break in a repeatable advantageous manner while still making location. If that is close to correct, and I'm sure its an incomplete understanding, wouldn't Control be a much easier category to project highly in? If so, why would Command be projected so much higher than Control with Gatto? What am I missing?

Also, going to 30 helps those of us who don't follow prospects that closely to put some attributes (or lack thereof) to names. I'm not going to do a lot of my own digging for prospect info but here it is doled out in bite-sized pieces It helps flesh things out for us type-b fans.

I'm curious to know what you found interesting about Everybody Wants Some. I thought it was a huge disappointment in that everything Linklater did well in Dazed & Confused fell completely flat in EWS, at least for me. Perhaps I was viewing it as D&C part 2 and didn't allow it to be its own movie but still, I couldn't help but to not care for the characters. What would you say were its positives?

Pretty cool that you already had the desecrated Koran piece.

Eppler bringing in one arm for the 2 he dealt in the Espinosa deal while swapping very close to the same catcher. I am assuming that the deal wouldn't have been done unless Scioscia felt it was a push between the two catchers or he liked Maldonado better. I'm sure he likes Maldonados throw to second better. I don't think we really know how well he trusted how Bandy was projecting in handling the staff.

Squat vs Squatch

I'd love to read why you believe such a thing. #lovepsychorants

I think my patio table wants me.

Was Hi-Def Halos here and AlHraboskysmoustache on the MLB Angels board

Dozier at 6m & 9m (2017-18) fills that hole very nicely but at what cost besides Skaggs/Shoemaker? I think there has to be another legit prospect included which seems contrary to where B-Epps is at right now. FYI- http://twinsdaily.com/blog/449/entry-8592-thoughts-on-brian-dozier/

Autocraigrotic duplication

Found this on a Mariner site:

Sir Smoka-Lot reference FTW!

Fun fact: He shot career FT's at .562. Had he averaged .800 he'd have scored 3066 more points and would have ended up 5th on the all time scoring list, behind Kareem, Mailman, Kobe & MJ but passing Wilt and Nowitzki.

"When keepin' it real goes wrong" ?

I think the prostate cancer folks are considering that and "Give Cancer the Finger". Running neck and neck.

Well, it is phrased as a command as opposed to an invitation to stand beside. I have no professional insight as to the effectiveness of that as a tactic but I thought it was noticeable. IMO, a March of Dimes slogan like "We're helping babies" elicits a different natural response because it points to something good they are doing and implies invitation to come along. "Stand up to" seems like a different connotation. I'm naturally inclined to be sympathetic to cancer related causes because of my personal experience but if that were not so the phrasing might feel like social pressure to do something that I would perhaps be more likely to do were it were an invitation. Metaphors are useful when a subject is not understood. I think the phenomenon of cancer is pretty well understood. I don't find it useful to correlate my mother's illness to a war however, we all think and respond differently and I certainly sympathize with the need to make sense of something that seems so senseless.

I'm for raising awareness and the advancement of treatment and don't mean to criticize the entire effort but that particular element of choosing the slogan falls short for me. It is nitpicking, sure, and if this thread had an actual effect on future cancer awareness campaigns I would hold my tongue. Yet, there is only one reason to anthropomorphize a disease and that is to manipulate the heartstrings. Perhaps I'm the odd one but I listen carefully to what any advertisement says and implies and I don't particularly care for the tone of the slogan and the wording that dovetails into the new idiom of "cancer is war".

I'm generally against anthropomorphising diseases and I don't care for the whole "survivor", "fighter" terminology bandied about. Not being purposefully insensitive as I lost my mom to cancer after 4 years of treatment, surgeries, remission and recurrence. Still, I don't care for the emotional manipulation involved in using catchphrases that turn cancer into a physical entity that one "stands up to".

On the replay that I think you're referring to, Smoltz made it clear he wasn't a fan of it. He said something to the effect that it is an injury waiting to happen, which I can't say I agree. I like the stirrups look or at least high socks but whatever.

They should put Lackey on the mound tonight. His father was a mudder.

I'm not sure if I'd pitch Lester head to head with Kluber again. They have the depth to switch things up. If Lester lost games 1 & 4 there's no way you could bring him in for a game 7.