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While reminiscing about the past, today marks 14 years since Sparky passed.

He’s opting out now for a longer term contract. He won’t be viewed with as much value next year with another year’s wear…and possible health concerns. I hope the Giants leave him alone. They’ve got too much youth in the pitching pipeline to get tied up with Snell.

Snell wants a top line, multi year deal. He sees himself as possibly the best pitcher in baseball. The second half of this season he was absolutely dominant, including a no-hitter. Now is his last chance to go for that rocking chair contract and that’s what he’s going for. I wouldn’t want him. Whoever gets him is likely going to overpay. Boras cost him money last year by keeping his ask too high for too long. Boras did the same thing with Jordan Montgomery and Montgomery left Boras for a new agent. I’d definitely look at Montgomery as a rotation guy for the Tigers this year. I think the Tigers will find a way to keep Skubal if he maintains his level of productivity and stays healthy.

The Yankees would be smart to hold the door open for him on the way out. I believe the number to bring him back is around $35 million for a year. He’s doing them a favor.

I hope, in a big way, a winner is declared very shortly after Tuesday. It would be great to have a winner by midnight Tuesday but I’m not banking on that. If this thing drags out…

It’ll be interesting to see if the Giants pursue him. He and Jung Hoo Lee are reported to be best friends. The Giants have a new front office and are in search of middle infield help in a big way.

Nvidia is replacing rival chipmaker Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a shakeup to the blue-chip index that reflects the boom in artificial intelligence and a major shift in the semiconductor industry. The switch will take place on Nov. 8.

They have a really nice one in San Jose as well.

Check out the Gordon Biersch Brewery on Howard Ave. and help yourself to their Marzen. One of the best anywhere!

There was a ‘Concert for Carolina’ held about a week ago involving Luke Combs (Asheville native) and Eric Church (Hickory native) to raise money for the victims of the flooding in western N.C. It was reported that over $25 million was raised. Eric Church has committed to building 100 houses to assist in the building back effort. As a lifelong Tar Heel, I’m very proud of the local efforts to step up and get involved. Homeboys

What of the following pieces of the Contract WITH America did you disagree with? Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress; Select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse; Cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third; Limit the terms of all committee chairs; Ban the casting of proxy votes in committee; Require committee meetings to be open to the public; Require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase; Guarantee an honest accounting of the federal budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting. Major policy changes edit During the first one hundred days of the 104th Congress, the Republicans pledged "to bring to the floor the following [ten] bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available for public inspection". The text of the proposed bills was included in the Contract, which was released prior to the election. These bills were not governmental operational reforms, as the previous promises were; rather, they represented significant changes to policy. They mainly included a balanced budget requirement, tax cuts for small businesses, families and seniors, term limits for legislators, social security reform, tort reform, and welfare reform.

I reached out to the Lakeland office the other day. They plan to put the spring training single game tickets on sale in December-exact date undetermined as of now.

My wife and I waited over an hour this morning to execute our civic duty. Reports are that half the registered voters here in North Carolina have already casts their votes. The voting site nearest us has consistently had wait times of 1.5 hours or greater. Thankfully the weather was pleasant this morning.

Interesting article on the Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, present and future. A bond vote has been delayed for the new ballpark pending where the Rays call home the next three seasons. https://stpetecatalyst.com/storm-impacts-delay-rays-stadium-bond-vote/

The Dodgers should vote Cole a full share of the championship money after last night. If Commissioner Landis had seen that Cole would never wear a MLB uniform again.

Tied at 5. Yankees coming apart.

Manfred’s going to make it go $even game$ 😉

If I were to suggest a possible trade for a 3rd baseman, how about a look at Casey Schmitt of the Giants? His primary position is 3rd base but can play other infield positions. He’ll be 26 before the season starts (still young) and is a guy you could trade for with upside. Chapman made him expendable in SF and I’d think inquiring about him would be worthwhile. I know it’s throwing yet another name in a jumbled mix but he could be a starter on opening day. He’s another one of those players that would likely be a better player by just getting out of a particular environment. Just a thought…

Prolonging the agony for themselves.

Without a serious restraint in spending a tax hike won’t keep up. The federal government’s level of spending is ruinous.

Timely piece in the WSJ this morning. The prospect of a rising federal budget deficit is fueling a sharp climb in bond yields, with investors betting a challenging fiscal situationwill only get worse after the election. Treasury yields, which rise when bond prices fall, jumped Monday after a $69 billion government auction of 2-year notes attracted tepid demand from investors. That marked the latest leg in a weekslong bond-market selloff that began after a run of strong economic data undercut bets on rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

10 year yield at 4.305% this morning. Neither candidate is concerned whatsoever about the spiraling debt and unrestrained spending but the bond market cares.

I like this idea. I’d bet Montgomery has a nice bounce back season if he’s beyond his health issues. The Arizona experience hasn’t gone well for him.

With the U.S. presidential election a week away, another brokerage is letting people bet on whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will win. Crazy stuff. If things weren’t crazy enough already, throw this in the mix. I’m sure no one would ever do anything under handed to profit from the outcome.

Is Al Avila in the GM chair anywhere?