Pickles

I guess my expectations for the product is a lot lower than others. I don't expect David Halberstam to come walking through the door any time soon.

Would they? That's a lot of cash. I think JA tried to leverage the lease. I think that was the last Hail Mary. After that, he realized it was impossible to retain the team after his father's passing and the sale is him accepting the inevitable.

I think they were desperately trying to accumulate as much cash as possible in order to avoid having to sell upon Peter's death.

Sounds like he might be out of a job, or at least it's possible. That would be a shame imo.

Ever

To

I personally would take as high-risk, high-ceiling for guys like Norby or Stowers, who realistically have little future value to Baltimore. So if that is 17 year old Dominicans, so be it.

IDK. It would depend on what direction they went. They should probably be looking to be Stowers, Vavra, etc. for low level lottery tickets. However, there might be opportunities to go a class higher, and look to move the prospects like Norby, Ortiz, Cowser (?) for a higher ranked pitching prospect, perhaps even one that is major league ready.

Who knows what they're thinking. I actually think trading prospect for prospect is a pivot that makes sense right now.

I don't see how that can be said definitively.

We're starting to stray afield, but the Sun's problems are hardly new. I had a friend who worked for them straight out of college 20 years ago as a graphic designer. They were already hemorrhaging money, jettisoning staff, and the quality was declining at an alarming pace. He only lasted a few years and apparently morale was laughably low. Is there some new level of hell they've managed to descend to that I haven't heard about? Your last statement gets to the intractability of the problem in some ways. Newspapers are no longer profitable. If they are dependent upon donations or charity to stay financially viable, then they will soon be corrupted and become a mouthpiece for those that provide the "donations" or "charity." I know there's a whole movement going on to fund local newspapers around the country to "bolster our democracy." If you think the people providing the money for such a project are interested in democracy, I have a bridge to sell you.

Sure, which is exactly why getting worked up that Roch isn't some "newshound" is pretty silly.

Advertising dollars. Access.

The failure of our press is something I'm well aware of, and legitimately deeply concerned about. Roch's WAY down the list of what I'm worrying about though.

It's not like Dan Connolly does that either. Virtually no reporter on Earth is going to "back a baseball owner into the corner on finances." They're all employed by city newspapers, and guess who has a lot of financial pull with those papers? The owners of the local baseball team. People really just want Roch to act out their fantasies of publicly berating and humiliating John Angelos. As if that's a reporter's job.

Other than finding out about a trade an hour before the general public because they have contacts in the League's Office, what "investigative reporting" do you really expect from a baseball writer?

Proper news outlets. LOL. That's adorable.

I'm pretty sure I've told this story here before but it always amuses me to remember so I'll tell it again. (Having verified the box score): My friend went to the Giants/Orioles game at Camden in June of 2004 and sat in the lower left field stands with the intention of heckling Barry Bonds. The BALCO scandal had come out that winter and Bonds was getting some pretty rough treatment on the road, and me and my buddy were eager to add to it. Unfortunately, we hadn't planned correctly. It was a double header that day, and Bonds had played the field in the early game, and was merely DHing in the second. As we attended the second game, our plans were foiled. I'm sure we all remember that before the new wall, the seats in lower lf were right on top of the field and made for an ideal opportunity to heckle left fielders. We had planned to heckle Bonds, but instead we were treated to the home crowd fans heckling the Oriole, who happened to be Larry Bigbie. Very early in the game, the 1st or 2nd inning, a young man, college age (as I was at the time) stood up and yelled, "Hey Bigbie! Suzanne from Towson wants you to know she's pregnant!" We were probably thirty feet from Bigbie, and he was bent over with his hands on knees facing the plate, but you could literally see Bigbie's sphincter tighten through his pants. Just from that reaction alone it was quite clear to all of us in the stands: Bigbie had definitely been laying down on top of a woman named Suzanne from Towson. I don't know what this kid's deal was exactly; if he was a boyfriend of this Suzanne or a jilted lover, but he kept up harassing Bigbie for the next three hours. Bigbie never reacted directly, but again, it was plain as day he heard the kid, and he had been having some kind of affair with a girl named Suzanne from Towson. You could practically see him calculating paternity payments in his mind as the game progressed. The game went to extra innings. The heckling continued the entire time. Finally, in the top of the 12th inning, the kid started in again on Bigbie, when I stood up (I was probably 3 rows behind the kid) and I shouted, "Hey! STFU! It was funny the first three hours, but it's extra innings now! We're trying to win!" The entire section gave me a standing applause and the kid sheepishly shrugged and sat down, quiet at last. Finally, in the bottom of the inning, Bigbie came to bat with the score tied, and runners on (bases loaded as I recall) and hit a walk off RBI single to win the game. Everyone was jumping up and down wildly celebrating in the crowd. Even the kid who had been harassing Bigbie all this time. He turned around and looked at me laughing. And I yelled, "I told you so! I told you!" It's both a great and funny memory. I'm not sure if the saga between Bigbie and Suzanne from Towson had such a happy denouement.

I can't speak to before the 80s but a long hard think leads me to want to say Markakis. Especially, if we're looking at it as cumulative arm value added.

As noted, we should face a lefty on opening day. I think they'll start the season as they finished last year: 3b Henderson SS Mateo 2b Westburg As has also been noted, I expect that to change as the season progresses.

I'm surprised at the results to be honest. That's the way I voted but I'm surprised it is so lopsided.

You don't get to celebrate a playoff series win. Surely that has some value.

Yes, same results, different journey.

Oh, I think people would have very different reactions in the wake of either scenario, even though there's no real difference in outcome. People "know" the playoffs is a crapshoot, but I don't believe they actually "emotionally accept" that. I think if the team lost in the divisional round without a playoff series win there would be an outcry to be more aggressive and it would seem to confirm Elias must do more to enhance the team.

There's a lot of debate about playoff odds, and improving the team in regards to being able to compete better in the playoffs. Just thought this was an interesting question, and reflective of people's psychology.