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Now this is rather interesting. More on the concept here: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI

Related to the above:

This is from a couple of years ago.

It's going to eventually be eight divisions with four teams each, which won't be all that much better. I get that the playoffs are a crapshoot and all, but I would prefer not to have sub-.500 teams making them in the first place. The 1987-88 San Antonio Spurs made the NBA playoffs with a 31-51 record. I wouldn't want MLB to become that.

I went to see "Damn Yankees" at the Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, which is basically like AA ball for Broadway—it's that good. All the actors are card-holders and a few have screen credits, so the result is high-quality, tight, and generally excellent. And of course, when they sang the standard "You Gotta Have Heart" early on in the show, I, probably uniquely among the entire audience, couldn't stop thinking about the Detroit Institute of Arts. This is one of the greatest local commercials in history, perhaps for any TV market, and if you're of a certain age, you will probably have this running through your head for the rest of the day, to which I can say only: you're welcome.

I’m going off what Petzold wrote about him last night.

Alex Lange is establishing himself as a bullpen linchpin, and he’s practically free through next year and cheap for another three years after that. I think he would have to return a position player well into the top 100 who will be ready no later than next year, at minimum. It’s going to take a lot more than another Maton and/or Vierling to pry him from Harris’s warm, live hands.

That may happen too slowly for it to make a difference in time.

Hey, it wasn’t a slog.

Riiiiiight …

Come on, even Jose Cisnero can nail down a three-run save, right? Right?

Seriously, how fun is it to see this team score a bunch of runs. Something to dream on.

Whoa thunk it was even possible to criticize a three-run double! 💀

Baez just tattooed that one.

Man, Lange really is an elite reliever right now, isn’t he?

He’s basically organizational filler that we picked up in lieu of nothing. Davis had a clause in his contract that stipulated if he didn’t make the 40-man by a certain point, he had to be made available to any team who would tout him on theirs, so we could’ve gotten nothing in return. That’s fine, not everybody we pick up has to be shining prospect.

Plus, since we now have games against all 29 other teams, all those NL cities can be certain the Yankees, Red Sox, and Trout/Ohtani Angels will come to town at least every other year.

Ah, yes, yes yes. Let’s keep up the fight about trans kids and electric cars and library books and Hunter ****ing Biden. Just keep talking about those. Nothing to see over here. Remember, we’re on your side.

If you are a fan of Jon Hamm narration, you might consider watching him narrate this documentary about the St. Louis Browns.

I suspect many would care if Bryce Harper or Trout or Ohtani or Judge were coming to town, since even casual fans have heard of these guys.

My favorite part of this spot comes at the 0:51 mark, which shows Hawley's book getting a 1.21 overall rating on GoodReads.

I would like to know whether the shorter games, as well as rumors that the games are shorter, is behind this. I would guess it has a lot to do with it.

Exactly. Even we who felt most that we should keep Jeimer Candelario knew he was never going to be on the next playoff team. It was more about getting good value for the money—yes, at $7MM—for a year while someone (like Malloy) percolates in Toledo and comes up once Jeimer were to bolt for the market. He was always going to be a one-year stopgap that would give you a few wins there this year. If Jeimer puts up four or five wins this year, he's going to get multiple years on a signing from someone somewhere this winter. There are thirty teams out there, and not every one of them thinks he's streaky chopped liver. Just twenty-something of them do. 😁 In a way-too-early guess, a 4- or 5-win Jeimer Candelario might score something like 3/40 with an option from a team like the Rockies or Phillies—or even the Nationals. If he slows way down and gets two-something WAR or less, though, he'll probably get only a single year somewhere.

Who’s the girl and why is her face all over the video?

I don’t know if it’s that cut and dried, since we did pay $10 million and $8 million to a couple of free agents, and overall payroll did nudge up a bit. But maybe there’s something to that.