Pancake Bear

Cole will cost more than a hundred million more than Wheeler. Highest projections I’ve seen for Wheeler are around 100 million. About the lowest for Cole are around 225.

The dude on youtube (Jomboy) who has been doing videos detailing examples of the Astros 2017 cheating said he's heard that Luhnow is almost certainly gone after this all shakes out. He seemed unsure whether that meant getting fired, suspended, or outright banned.
I don't know how reliable he or whoever he heard this from is, and honestly it isn't that much of a stretch. I mean, I think at this point Luhnow and Hinch are screwed. How far the backlash goes remains to be seen, but this is a steroid-level scandal covering a whole team with management involved and apparently instigating the whole thing.
People keep saying every team does it. Yeah, well, every team isn't toasting everyone else in strikeout percentage at the plate - which is something that would obviously decline if you know what kind of pitch is coming. The Red Sox were using a freaking Apple watch late in 2017. That's amateur hour compared to what Houston had going on. So if every team is doing it, they're simultaneously a lot better at hiding it than the most analytical team in the business while also receiving no obvious benefit from it.
I don't know if vacating a title is possible, but at this point, does it really matter? The 2017 WS is forever tainted now, regardless of what Manfred ceremonially pronounces from on high. 
If it was just the 2017 regular season, they'd probably skate free mostly because Manfred essentially gave Boston a pass and warned everyone at that point that further punishment would be more severe. But the latest word was that they had a new method to cheat in the playoffs and World Series. If so, that's obviously a lot bigger deal than the regular season. It's a bigger deal that a given player using steroids. It would be like the team organizing steroids for most of the players. It's one thing to ignore or be unaware of individual players on your team cheating, but to set up a system for the whole team to do it? That's huge.
I doubt the players involved will receive any real punishment other than the stigma of being a cheat - not entirely unlike steroid users - unless there's evidence someone (like Beltran) played a major role in setting it up. 
Hinch, though, is screwed. At this point, I think Luhnow is also given the email from Goldstein that came out (no way he was acting alone). If the assistant GM got canned for taunting a reporter, I can't see either of them keeping their jobs, even if Manfred does nothing against them. Beyond that, what other punishment might look like remains to be seen. I suspect draft picks to be taken away and for them to have limitations put on how much international signing bonus money they can spend.
The exact parameters of those penalties are going to be what tell us how seriously Manfred wants to send a message. If it's something stupid like their next two 1st round picks - every fanbase in the league would give up their top pick in the next two drafts to win a WS. 

The dude on youtube (Jomboy) who has been doing videos detailing examples of the Astros 2017 cheating said he's heard that Luhnow is almost certainly gone after this all shakes out. He seemed unsure whether that meant getting fired, suspended, or outright banned.
I don't know how reliable he or whoever he heard this from is, and honestly it isn't that much of a stretch. I mean, I think at this point Luhnow and Hinch are screwed. How far the backlash goes remains to be seen, but this is a steroid-level scandal covering a whole team with management involved and apparently instigating the whole thing.
People keep saying every team does it. Yeah, well, every team isn't toasting everyone else in strikeout percentage at the plate - which is something that would obviously decline if you know what kind of pitch is coming. The Red Sox were using a freaking Apple watch late in 2017. That's amateur hour compared to what Houston had going on. So if every team is doing it, they're simultaneously a lot better at hiding it than the most analytical team in the business while also receiving no obvious benefit from it.
I don't know if vacating a title is possible, but at this point, does it really matter? The 2017 WS is forever tainted now, regardless of what Manfred ceremonially pronounces from on high. 
If it was just the 2017 regular season, they'd probably skate free mostly because Manfred essentially gave Boston a pass and warned everyone at that point that further punishment would be more severe. But the latest word was that they had a new method to cheat in the playoffs and World Series. If so, that's obviously a lot bigger deal than the regular season. It's a bigger deal that a given player using steroids. It would be like the team organizing steroids for most of the players. It's one thing to ignore or be unaware of individual players on your team cheating, but to set up a system for the whole team to do it? That's huge.
I doubt the players involved will receive any real punishment other than the stigma of being a cheat - not entirely unlike steroid users - unless there's evidence someone (like Beltran) played a major role in setting it up. 
Hinch, though, is screwed. At this point, I think Luhnow is also given the email from Goldstein that came out (no way he was acting alone). If the assistant GM got canned for taunting a reporter, I can't see either of them keeping their jobs, even if Manfred does nothing against them. Beyond that, what other punishment might look like remains to be seen. I suspect draft picks to be taken away and for them to have limitations put on how much international signing bonus money they can spend.
The exact parameters of those penalties are going to be what tell us how seriously Manfred wants to send a message. If it's something stupid like their next two 1st round picks - every fanbase in the league would give up their top pick in the next two drafts to win a WS. 

The dude on youtube (Jomboy) who has been doing videos detailing examples of the Astros 2017 cheating said he's heard that Luhnow is almost certainly gone after this all shakes out. He seemed unsure whether that meant getting fired, suspended, or outright banned.
I don't know how reliable he or whoever he heard this from is, and honestly it isn't that much of a stretch. I mean, I think at this point Luhnow and Hinch are screwed. How far the backlash goes remains to be seen, but this is a steroid-level scandal covering a whole team with management involved and apparently instigating the whole thing.
People keep saying every team does it. Yeah, well, every team isn't toasting everyone else in strikeout percentage at the plate - which is something that would obviously decline if you know what kind of pitch is coming. The Red Sox were using a freaking Apple watch late in 2017. That's amateur hour compared to what Houston had going on. So if every team is doing it, they're simultaneously a lot better at hiding it than the most analytical team in the business while also receiving no obvious benefit from it.
I don't know if vacating a title is possible, but at this point, does it really matter? The 2017 WS is forever tainted now, regardless of what Manfred ceremonially pronounces from on high. 
If it was just the 2017 regular season, they'd probably skate free mostly because Manfred essentially gave Boston a pass and warned everyone at that point that further punishment would be more severe. But the latest word was that they had a new method to cheat in the playoffs and World Series. If so, that's obviously a lot bigger deal than the regular season. It's a bigger deal that a given player using steroids. It would be like the team organizing steroids for most of the players. It's one thing to ignore or be unaware of individual players on your team cheating, but to set up a system for the whole team to do it? That's huge.
I doubt the players involved will receive any real punishment other than the stigma of being a cheat - not entirely unlike steroid users - unless there's evidence someone (like Beltran) played a major role in setting it up. 
Hinch, though, is screwed. At this point, I think Luhnow is also given the email from Goldstein that came out (no way he was acting alone). If the assistant GM got canned for taunting a reporter, I can't see either of them keeping their jobs, even if Manfred does nothing against them. Beyond that, what other punishment might look like remains to be seen. I suspect draft picks to be taken away and for them to have limitations put on how much international signing bonus money they can spend.
The exact parameters of those penalties are going to be what tell us how seriously Manfred wants to send a message. If it's something stupid like their next two 1st round picks - every fanbase in the league would give up their top pick in the next two drafts to win a WS. 

The dude on youtube (Jomboy) who has been doing videos detailing examples of the Astros 2017 cheating said he's heard that Luhnow is almost certainly gone after this all shakes out. He seemed unsure whether that meant getting fired, suspended, or outright banned.
I don't know how reliable he or whoever he heard this from is, and honestly it isn't that much of a stretch. I mean, I think at this point Luhnow and Hinch are screwed. How far the backlash goes remains to be seen, but this is a steroid-level scandal covering a whole team with management involved and apparently instigating the whole thing.
People keep saying every team does it. Yeah, well, every team isn't toasting everyone else in strikeout percentage at the plate - which is something that would obviously decline if you know what kind of pitch is coming. The Red Sox were using a freaking Apple watch late in 2017. That's amateur hour compared to what Houston had going on. So if every team is doing it, they're simultaneously a lot better at hiding it than the most analytical team in the business while also receiving no obvious benefit from it.
I don't know if vacating a title is possible, but at this point, does it really matter? The 2017 WS is forever tainted now, regardless of what Manfred ceremonially pronounces from on high. 
If it was just the 2017 regular season, they'd probably skate free mostly because Manfred essentially gave Boston a pass and warned everyone at that point that further punishment would be more severe. But the latest word was that they had a new method to cheat in the playoffs and World Series. If so, that's obviously a lot bigger deal than the regular season. It's a bigger deal that a given player using steroids. It would be like the team organizing steroids for most of the players. It's one thing to ignore or be unaware of individual players on your team cheating, but to set up a system for the whole team to do it? That's huge.
I doubt the players involved will receive any real punishment other than the stigma of being a cheat - not entirely unlike steroid users - unless there's evidence someone (like Beltran) played a major role in setting it up. 
Hinch, though, is screwed. At this point, I think Luhnow is also given the email from Goldstein that came out (no way he was acting alone). If the assistant GM got canned for taunting a reporter, I can't see either of them keeping their jobs, even if Manfred does nothing against them. Beyond that, what other punishment might look like remains to be seen. I suspect draft picks to be taken away and for them to have limitations put on how much international signing bonus money they can spend.
The exact parameters of those penalties are going to be what tell us how seriously Manfred wants to send a message. If it's something stupid like their next two 1st round picks - every fanbase in the league would give up their top pick in the next two drafts to win a WS. 

The dude on youtube (Jomboy) who has been doing videos detailing examples of the Astros 2017 cheating said he's heard that Luhnow is almost certainly gone after this all shakes out. He seemed unsure whether that meant getting fired, suspended, or outright banned.
I don't know how reliable he or whoever he heard this from is, and honestly it isn't that much of a stretch. I mean, I think at this point Luhnow and Hinch are screwed. How far the backlash goes remains to be seen, but this is a steroid-level scandal covering a whole team with management involved and apparently instigating the whole thing.
People keep saying every team does it. Yeah, well, every team isn't toasting everyone else in strikeout percentage at the plate - which is something that would obviously decline if you know what kind of pitch is coming. The Red Sox were using a freaking Apple watch late in 2017. That's amateur hour compared to what Houston had going on. So if every team is doing it, they're simultaneously a lot better at hiding it than the most analytical team in the business while also receiving no obvious benefit from it.
I don't know if vacating a title is possible, but at this point, does it really matter? The 2017 WS is forever tainted now, regardless of what Manfred ceremonially pronounces from on high. 
If it was just the 2017 regular season, they'd probably skate free mostly because Manfred essentially gave Boston a pass and warned everyone at that point that further punishment would be more severe. But the latest word was that they had a new method to cheat in the playoffs and World Series. If so, that's obviously a lot bigger deal than the regular season. It's a bigger deal that a given player using steroids. It would be like the team organizing steroids for most of the players. It's one thing to ignore or be unaware of individual players on your team cheating, but to set up a system for the whole team to do it? That's huge.
I doubt the players involved will receive any real punishment other than the stigma of being a cheat - not entirely unlike steroid users - unless there's evidence someone (like Beltran) played a major role in setting it up. 
Hinch, though, is screwed. At this point, I think Luhnow is also given the email from Goldstein that came out (no way he was acting alone). If the assistant GM got canned for taunting a reporter, I can't see either of them keeping their jobs, even if Manfred does nothing against them. Beyond that, what other punishment might look like remains to be seen. I suspect draft picks to be taken away and for them to have limitations put on how much international signing bonus money they can spend.
The exact parameters of those penalties are going to be what tell us how seriously Manfred wants to send a message. If it's something stupid like their next two 1st round picks - every fanbase in the league would give up their top pick in the next two drafts to win a WS. 

Sign stealing? Sure. Electronically? I doubt most are, although I’m sure some are. The Red Sox got busted for using an Apple Watch to try to steal signs in 2017. The Brewers and Rangers are rumored to have done so.
I doubt the Angels do. Neither Moreno or Scioscia seem like they’d stand for something like that, but that’s just my opinion. So the only time they could’ve, if that’s true, is last year. Plus, I don’t think the Angels front office is quite that sophisticated. 
But I don’t think anyone is doing it nearly to the degree as the Astros.

Note how the Astros’ k rate went from worst to first in 2017. Even under the assumption that they were tanking previously, no one gets that much better that quickly. Also look how they compare to everyone else:

The difference between the Stros and the second place team (66 k’s) is about the difference between the second and seventh (60) or eighth place teams (71). 
They weren’t quite as dominant in 2018 (2nd overall), but they were back solidly in first this season. 
If other teams are doing this, they clearly aren’t as good at it. 

If they go back to that even slightly they’re nuts. It’s the absolute worst logo they’ve ever had, and it isn’t close. 

I wonder what the fallout will be when current or former Astros players have to talk about the sign stealing issue. Right now, it’s the offseason, so they can keep their mouths shut. But let’s say when Cole signs with someone. Isn’t someone sure to ask him about this whole cheating thing? What’s he going to say? “Yeah, I didn't like it but what was I supposed to do?” “Yeah, we did it. I’m sorry now.”
I guess it’ll partially depend on whether anything official has come out from MLB; how much is confirmed. Otherwise, it might be just a no comment. 

If they go back to that even slightly they’re nuts. It’s the absolute worst logo they’ve ever had, and it isn’t close. 

https://www.sny.tv/yankees/news/4-potential-trade-packages-for-yankees-miguel-andujar/311895618

That moment when a professional sportswriter in NY comes up with a trade proposal as ill conceived as the average fan blog.
 

Or asking the catcher if he heard one bang or two.

I can imagine Bour getting the trash can banging signal and then stepping out of the batter’s box to ask for the signal to be repeated.

Sign stealing? Sure. Electronically? I doubt most are, although I’m sure some are. The Red Sox got busted for using an Apple Watch to try to steal signs in 2017. The Brewers and Rangers are rumored to have done so.
I doubt the Angels do. Neither Moreno or Scioscia seem like they’d stand for something like that, but that’s just my opinion. So the only time they could’ve, if that’s true, is last year. Plus, I don’t think the Angels front office is quite that sophisticated. 
But I don’t think anyone is doing it nearly to the degree as the Astros.

Note how the Astros’ k rate went from worst to first in 2017. Even under the assumption that they were tanking previously, no one gets that much better that quickly. Also look how they compare to everyone else:

The difference between the Stros and the second place team (66 k’s) is about the difference between the second and seventh (60) or eighth place teams (71). 
They weren’t quite as dominant in 2018 (2nd overall), but they were back solidly in first this season. 
If other teams are doing this, they clearly aren’t as good at it. 

You're the one who thought that Taubman had been provoked.  Your opinions are less than worthless.

the more I think about this, the more it makes me smile 

So Shed Long showed promise with his negative WAR but Thaiss in the same number of at bats is a question mark with his .7 WAR.  In half the at bats Lewis had half the WAR as Thaiss. Rengifo our produced all of them but he’s still a question mark even though he’s younger than the others. 

That is absolutely priceless.... 
Dude was born, raised and has his mega-church IN Houston, but there he is sporting a Nationals jersey and a big shit eating grin! 
Comedy gold!

Both of whom are better players at this juncture. 

Just remember that guys who are heavily reliant on L/R splits are less valuable now that we have a 3 batter minimum for relievers in 2020. So, no more LOOGY’s.

Hey guys, I found Arte’s burner account. 

https://www.sny.tv/yankees/news/4-potential-trade-packages-for-yankees-miguel-andujar/311895618

That moment when a professional sportswriter in NY comes up with a trade proposal as ill conceived as the average fan blog.
 

https://www.sny.tv/yankees/news/4-potential-trade-packages-for-yankees-miguel-andujar/311895618

That moment when a professional sportswriter in NY comes up with a trade proposal as ill conceived as the average fan blog.
 

Both of whom are better players at this juncture. 

A left handed, all-star, power hitting 3B/2B that will also fill in at 1B?  
Perfectly describes Tommy La Stella.
It would be impossible to fit Moustakas into the lineup without taking either Fletcher or La Stella.