casimir

I disagree. We’re talking about a 5th or 6th outfielder here.

A .327 AVG with a .352 OBP based on a .398 BABIP isn’t anything to get excited about.

True. But he could’ve pulled an Inge about being moved from 3B to 1B because of Guillen’s poor feetwork. He could’ve balked about moving back over to 3B to accommodate Fielder at 1B. And he could’ve pushed back about Castellanos getting the 3B job which pushed Cabrera back to 1B. It wasn’t all that long ago that there was some open wondering about how he would deal with eventually being phased out of 3/4 in the lineup. There’s some natural denial that top athletes have to deal with about eroding skills and thinking that they still have some time before that sets in. I’m not saying he should be thrown a parade for going along with what looks like the plan. But we’ve seen other athletes bristle at the notion that they could lose what they assumed was their position in the lineup.

There’s no “e” in Willi. Oh, wait a minute. Now I see what you’re doing.

Cabrera ain’t perfect. But I think in general he’s been a team first kind of ball player. We can question his conditioning. There was the drunken stupor years ago. But he’s also moved positions a couple of times for the benefit of the team. He appears to be a pretty good teammate (although we only see the public side of that). I have to think he realizes he’s at the end of the line. He’s already admitted, maybe indirectly, that he’s no longer the first baseman. I think he genuinely wants team success. There’s the 3,000th hit. There’s his eventual hall of fame enshrinement. Aside from that, the individual accolades are pretty much done. He can move up some leader boards, but he’s already in the neighborhood of prime time names. He’s only got one WS ring, and that was from 2 decades ago. I think he probably realizes that he can’t lead a team there by hitting 4th, but he can be a part of it lower in the lineup and by being a veteran leader. Just my guess.

I think Schoop and the catching tandem will be 8 & 9 before Cabrera drops to 8. I think Cabrera does drop to 6 at some point this season.

New York Knicks (32-42) vs Detroit Pistons (20-54)

Yeah, he might make the team out of camp, but he might not be long for the team.

I could probably severely maim most of you for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.

I'd be fine with that.

What a terrible sentence if true.

Holy crud, I was thinking the same thing earlier. If the LHBs are red, and the RHBs are blue, shouldn't the SHBs be purple? First my wife read my mind this morning. Now you. What a scary day.

Different Memphis and much better player, but yesterday I heard that the Grizzlies are something like 16-2 despite Ja Morant missing the game. How is that possible? I can't snip and post the full screen here, but taking a look at his bbref page, the 16-2 is real. Looking at the opponent, though, it looks like the run was at the right time.

Lopez is interesting defensively since he has played a bit all over. The bat is what the bat is. And I think they would have to make a 40 move to bring him north (which the Tigers have Turnbull to move to the 60 as a 40 move in their pocket). I suspect he's headed to Toledo, but who knows. I think the roster you proposed seems a very reasonable guess. Lopez, Jimenez, Diaz, and Vest are probably up in the air, but we're talking the last position player and bullpen pieces that are probably lower leverage to start the season. And I agree with you about Pineda's questionable availability out of camp. Off days are not exactly plentiful early on, so they will need that 5th SP. It's got to be Alexander, right? They can stretch him out right away and not worry about that. Who knows, maybe they go to 6 SP for a bit once Pineda returns.

But he will be mocked.

"Hey, kid, maybe you got your daddy's name, but you got your momma's arm."

Washington Wizards (30-42) vs Detroit Pistons (20-53)

Exactly. Nobody here needed to know about Oblong's legs.

Sunglasses twinsies.

Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

Different angle and duration seems to show Spoelstra in a bit more heated mood.

Bad win. What are they even doing out there? Save it for next season.

Touche.

Haslem has had an appreciated career. Sure, he's only playing a handful or regular season games the past 6 seasons, but he's still going. Kudos to him. And clearly there is some significant value to him if he's stayed with Miami the whole time. Not bad for being an undrafted kid that had to go oversees for a season and didn't crack the NBA until 23. That's old for a debut anymore. Spoelstra is pretty cool, calm, and collected during the whole thing, at least in terms of his nonverbal cues. Quietly he's in his 14th season as head coach. I may be wrong, but it seems like he's kind of faded into the background as far as coaching notoriety is concerned. I don't think he's forgotten. But you never hear anything bad about him and he's generally quiet on the national front.

Greenfield Village was doing an old time baseball weekend years ago. My wife & I went to the village and watched part of a game. Ernie Harwell happened to be there commentating on it via loudspeaker, more or less explaining the different rules and conversing with one of the organizers. At the beginning of every at bat, the umpire would direct the hitter "striker, show your preference", and the hitter would indicate for a pitch locale (high or low) within the strike zone.