1776

If I’m not mistaken, he’s only 25 hits behind Larry Walker for most MLB hits by a Canadian. I’ve been a Votto fan and would like to see him take the top spot in this category.

Baez batting clean up…🤔

Leonard got the start at SS. Baez is still celebrating his scratch of the spring.

What’s to spin? It is what it is.

Another evening game. Start time 6:05 P.M. casey Mize scheduled to start.

Today’s WSJ - WASHINGTON—A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk. The installed components in some cases include cellular modems, according to congressional aides and documents, that could be remotely accessed. The discovery of the modems by lawmakers, which hasn’t been previously reported, has added to concerns in Washington about port security and China. The Pentagon and intelligence officials at other agencies in the Biden administration have grown increasingly alarmed by the potential threat of disruption and espionage presented by the giant cranes built by ZPMC, a China-based manufacturer that accounts for nearly 80% of ship-to-shore cranes in use at U.S. ports. The Chinese government “is looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into America’s critical infrastructure, including in the maritime sector,” said Rep. Mark Green (R., Tenn.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, which has been investigating Chinese maritime security threats. “The United States has clearly overlooked this threat for far too long.” Over a dozen cellular modems were found on crane components in use at one U.S. port, and another modem was found inside another port’s server room, according to a committee aide. Some of the modems had active connections to operational components to the cranes, the aide said.

I’ll bet Jim Leyland could learn’im to hit that ball.

This conversation sounds an awful lot like another one we were having about three years ago. Some dude by the name of Cabrera.

Good question. I asked myself that question earlier today. My answer is, never say never. However, I just don’t foresee things changing.

Interesting observation. Speaking as one that will vote for neither candidate, I could not fault anyone for not being excited about either candidate. We’ve seen what most of a full term looks like for Biden and what a full term for Trump looks like and there are plenty of reasons to be “low-energy” this time around.

Concur. I’ve said it before, I can’t listen to a game that he’s a part of. My dilemma, I know. Several times last year, I’d tune in to the opponent’s radio feed to listen to the game.

The GOP (Trump wannabe) here in NC is Mark Robinson. His opponent, Josh Stein, is a Roy Cooper protege. Stein is likely harder left than Cooper. This race will be interesting as these two are polar opposites on EVERYTHING.

Al Avila refers to this as “tanking.”

C-Mo needs to go. I can’t deal with him.

Durham Bulls hat sighting. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

By historical standards, today's mortgage rates are pretty on par with what homeowners have paid in the past. Since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in April 1971, the median 30-year mortgage rate is 7.41%. However, it's still true that rates are high by modern standards, since the typical rate observed over the past decade is under 4%. -US. News and World Report The last sentence above is why some folks have the impression that mortgage rates are astronomically high. In reality they’re not. In fact, at the 7.41% noted above, they’re a bit below historical norms.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an add like that. Cool. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when those interviews are conducted.

Agreed. One of the worst sites for click bait financial entertainment is MarketWatch.

I would have been surprised (understatement) had they decided otherwise. That whole endeavor was a bridge too far.

You might want to add groceries to that list. I think that’s a weekly reminder for folks of how food prices are a bigger piece of the pie. No, that was not an intended pun.

Some talking head has stated in the past day or so that the Fed is unlikely to cut in 2024. That seems like a stretch but six months ago the consensus was overwhelming that there would be cuts in March 2024. So, there’s that.

That’s as close as it gets to an opening day lineup, including the ace.

The organization was fretting about Baez last year already. I know they’re going to baby him as long as they can to give a chance to find something at the plate. But in fairness to the team and the fans, you can’t run his bat out there everyday and not expect problems. The Tigers supposedly gave him specific areas to work on this off-season. I wonder what the org thought of the progress or results? Good or bad?

ERod was MIA a good part of 2022. Regardless of reason, he wasn’t pitching in Detroit. Barnhardt was a bust. Baez is a present day disaster. My point is, the only year we can point to where any of these guys produced at an acceptable level was ERod last year, as you pointed out.

Thinking back to the three signings that Avila executed prior to the 2022 season….Tucker Barnhardt, ERod, and Javy Baez. I recall the signings created a bit of optimism at the time. 2020 hindsight isn’t so kind to this trio now. Four more years of Baez won’t work.