Chance Sisco...

[ChrisP]

By hitting .360 or something in A- and not catching great, some would argue that's he's forcing the hand now for a promotion/position change.

[MachoMachadoMan]

I have no first-hand knowledge of Sisco's catching ability. We know that he converted to the position in high school to boost his draft stock, much like Brandon Snyder and we know that Snyder eventually moved to first base. Hopefully Sisco develops better than Snyder as a hitter and can become a productive offensive threat.

While developing a big hitting catcher would be the ideal scenario, I don't think we should hinder his development in the batter's box by forcing him to learn how to catch. There are a lot of examples of players that started their minor league careers behind the plate, but had successful big league runs at other positions. The best case is Craig Biggio. Then there is BJ Surhoff who was actually the top pick overall as a catcher before they moved him out. We just saw Josh Donaldson for the last few games and he was drafted as a catcher.

Who knows if what Keith Law is saying is correct. I'm just saying that hypothetically, if he's never going to be an adequate ML catcher, we should let him find a position where he can thrive and let his bat loose.

[Can_of_corn]

I have no first-hand knowledge of Sisco's catching ability. We know that he converted to the position in high school to boost his draft stock, much like Brandon Snyder and we know that Snyder eventually moved to first base. Hopefully Sisco develops better than Snyder as a hitter and can become a productive offensive threat.

While developing a big hitting catcher would be the ideal scenario, I don't think we should hinder his development in the batter's box by forcing him to learn how to catch. There are a lot of examples of players that started their minor league careers behind the plate, but had successful big league runs at other positions. The best case is Craig Biggio. Then there is BJ Surhoff who was actually the top pick overall as a catcher before they moved him out. We just saw Josh Donaldson for the last few games and he was drafted as a catcher.

Who knows if what Keith Law is saying is correct. I'm just saying that hypothetically, if he's never going to be an adequate ML catcher, we should let him find a position where he can thrive and let his bat loose.

Snyder was moved due to injury.

[jabba72]

By hitting .360 or something in A- and not catching great, some would argue that's he's forcing the hand now for a promotion/position change.

And you dont want the daily grind of catching to slow down progress of his bat.

[Frobby]

Considering how late Sisco moved to catcher, I'd give it at least another year before concluding he needs to play somewhere else. At least so far, the catching certainly isn't hindering his development as a hitter, so I see no urgent need to move him to another position unless it is just plain obvious that his catching skills will never be where they need to be.

[weams]

This morning BP posted notes on him from the weekend, generally in line with KLaw's "he can't catch" snark the other day, and noting fringe arm pop times.

Given that we know how much Buck loves to control the running game, how early is too early to wonder about other spots on the diamond?

The Monuments’ sophomore album, The Amanuensis (for the people who like country music, amanuensis means “the secretary”), melds progressive metal with heavier “groove” elements – I hate the term, but it does fit here – like a blend of early Fates Warning and peak Pantera, with both clean and screamed vocals along with fugal guitar lines. There isn’t enough variety across the entire album, with many of the guitar melodies sounding too similar in structure, but it’s a highly precise, almost severe album, with appropriately serious lyrics. They also get bonus points for naming a song “Horcrux.”

That song and “Origin of Escape” are among the highlights of Amanuensis for the variation within each song – changing tempos, lyrical styles, but still relying on the same staccato-picked guitar riffs that populate the entire disc, so the second half of the album starts to sound too much like background noise. “Atlas” begins with the clich&ecaute;d death-metal growl but morphs into a jazz-metal track, a little less experimental than Cynic or Atheist might have produced but in a similar vein, with a seamless transition into the very similar “Horcrux,” which makes better use of undistorted passages to break up the monotony of the austere up-and-down lead guitar lines, concluding with the counterpoint pairing that makes the song the strongest on the entire disc. (It doesn’t hurt that the song also includes the highest ratio of clean to growled lyrics of the eleven tracks here.) But by the time we get to track five, “Garden of Sankhara,” the lead guitar riff style, both in meter and technique, has become too familiar already. Using the same motif across an entire album can be clever, providing a measure of artistic unity to a set of disparate songs, but the Monuments take it too far.

Keith Law has very immovable opinions on many things. He considers himself quite the renaissance man. Who knows, he could be spot on.

[weams]

If you’ve avoided the musical in both its stage and film versions, the plot of the book is quite simple and linear given the tome’s thickness. Jean Valjean was convicted for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family and ended up spending nineteen years in prison after multiple failed escape attempts. He gains his freedom but finds himself rejected by everyone in society, unable even to find a place to stay, only finding shelter with a bishop possessed of impeccable compassion, a night that leads Valjean to a religious awakening and gives his life new purpose – but also makes him (in modern terms) a parole violator, doomed to a life of fleeing the robotic law-and-order Inspector Javert. Valjean takes on responsibility for Cosette, the orphaned daughter of a fallen seamstress named Fantine, after a handful of coincidences – something that Hugo uses repeatedly to put his small universe of characters into incessant contact with each other. When Cosette reaches her late teens, she falls for the student Marius, who’s tangentially involved with a group of would-be rebels who set up a barricade in the streets during the uprising of 1832, after which everyone dies but Marius, who’s saved by Valjean … and I haven’t even mentioned Th?nadier, who hangs around this book like a bad penny.

Keith is not afraid to put his opinions on many things out there.

[Can_of_corn]

Keith is not afraid to put his opinions on many things out there.

His food stuff is nice.

[weams]

His food stuff is nice.

I've ranked Lindsay third for much of the season behind Paul and the now-departed Edward (seriously, do people not watch the show? Subpar ingredients get you sent home every time), but she's done it with a pretty low profile that didn't earn her an Elimination Challenge win until the Pee Wee Herman episode … Her southern-tinged Mediterranean cuisine goes heavy on seafood, both fish and shellfish, with Greek, Italian, and even North African influences that see her using a wide range of grains, spices, and even land-based proteins … Might have made my favorite ingredient move of the season when she used chickpea flour, a great and underutilized kitchen weapon, in her meatballs for the block-party challenge … Also dropped the R-word on a competitor in an earlier episode, so while I think she's good enough to win Top Chef, I cannot in good conscience root for her to do so … Strengths include her range and adaptability to different challenges, as well as her ability to make herself sound more or less Southern as the situation requires … Weaknesses include dubious leadership skills (yelling at your teammates doesn't really qualify as “leading”), difficulty under time pressure, and self-doubt that has led her to over-sauce a dish at least twice already. … I think Lindsay has the best chance to upset Paul this season because she has the widest range of the other three chefs and has a pretty good track record of execution when she doesn't sabotage herself at the last minute.

He has strong opinions.

[Can_of_corn]

He has strong opinions.

That is his TV stuff.

I meant his food stuff.

http://meadowparty.com/blog/page/4/

I went with small plates at the Lawrence, rather than the very reasonably priced entrees (none over $26), so I could sample more items, which turned out to be a great call because I ended up with a pair of superb salads along with one meat course and one fish. The first salad was the kale “seasar,” using fried smelt as the croutons rather than mixing anchovies into the dressing (which isn’t authentic anyway), so the dish had that umami component but without the stale croutons you’re probably used to finding in most Caesars. The mixed radish salad was a small portion of thinly shaved radishes, including daikon and Cherry Belle, with a light lemon/celery seed dressing, slighty bitter but balanced by the acidity of the lemon juice, and generally a good representation of early spring produce on the plate.

For proteins, I couldn’t pass on the tuna tartare, the Lawrence’s twist on the familiar “spicy tuna” abomination found at most sushi places, where you get the scrapings left over after the tuna fillets are sliced for nigiri, all tossed in spicy mayonnaise so you no longer taste the fish. The Lawrence’s version has diced tuna mixed with a scallion mayonnaise and a spicy sambal sauce, but the fish’s flavor and texture remains at the front of the dish, with the heat from the chili coming afterwards, balanced out from the fat in the mayonnaise. It’s served under a hilariously large rice cracker that doubles as your serving spoon when broken into bits. My server said the baby back ribs starter was their most popular dish (of the small plates, I assume): served with a sriracha glaze, pickled chili peppers, and cilantro leaves, they are fiery, but I was most impressed by how the meat tore right off the bone without falling apart itself, retaining sufficient tooth to give that primal satisfaction that only meat can provide.

[eb45]

Second base shouldn't be too much of a stretch if he's as good an athlete as people say, right? The usefulness of the bat drops a ton if he's stuck in an outfield corner.

[UpstateNYfan]

Wasn't Caleb Joseph considered to be poor defensively. If he is an athlete he can learn to catch. If he doesn't have the arm for it, he never will. Would the O's waste their time developing him as a catcher if it's unlikely? IMO it would be lousy to have a good hitter with no place to play because they kept him at catcher.

[Can_of_corn]

Wasn't Caleb Joseph considered to be poor defensively. If he is an athlete he can learn to catch. If he doesn't have the arm for it, he never will. Would the O's waste their time developing him as a catcher if it's unlikely? IMO it would be lousy to have a good hitter with no place to play because they kept him at catcher.

Boarderline catcher candidates are worth more in trade.

The learning curve for CO/First isn't high.

[Hank Scorpio]

He's got plenty of time to learn the position.

[eb45]

Wasn't Caleb Joseph considered to be poor defensively. If he is an athlete he can learn to catch. If he doesn't have the arm for it, he never will. Would the O's waste their time developing him as a catcher if it's unlikely? IMO it would be lousy to have a good hitter with no place to play because they kept him at catcher.

They've kept Ohlman behind the plate all this time.