Are the Browns “the new Raiders?”
March 26, 2015Alex Mack working on a slow, cautious rehab plan
March 27, 2015Thanks for reading everything this week and listening to all the podcasts. For some reason I’m particularly happy with how this week went. There were just enough things to talk about and just enough things to write about, although I know Harv is just about done with all the off-season Browns talk. 🙂
Trying to figure out Lindor…
I really don’t want to be lumped in with the “TRIBEZ ARE CHEAPZ” people, but I do think it’s reasonable to look at the Indians’ strategy with regard to young players and their arbitration clocks. In the past, I felt (generically) like the Indians were sometimes burning the candle at both ends, not spending a ton in free agency and also being ultra-conservative with every prospect’s eligibility to play. Sometimes what’s good for the long term finances — not paying a prospect before you have to — could negatively impact the major league club – IE keep a lesser player playing when there’s a potentially more productive alternative in the system.
Like anything, it’s about balance and moderation. I tend to want to think that the Indians ought to pull the trigger with a guy like Francisco Lindor and just push him, but that’s because I think he’s that damn good. It’s a long season and there’s time to let him play a bit in triple-A, but it would be a real shame if the Indians got off to a slow start that potentially could have been avoided in part by playing the very best, hottest players in their system regardless of Major League service time or their age.
The counter-balance though, and why I’m ultimately being patient with this Indians team and how they’re treating Lindor is because of Terry Francona. But first, this from Terry Pluto also gives me pause.
The Indians have some internal stats about how prospects tend to play better when they receive their first big-league promotion during the season.
Why? Because a promotion usually comes after a strong performance in the minors. They arrive with confidence. In 2007, the Indians called up Asdrubal Cabrera, Francisco Gutierrez and Raffy Perez in the middle of the season and all played key roles on the Central Division champions.
That seems wholly reasonable, but I’d still be somewhat suspect of the Indians and their motives if it weren’t for Terry Francona. I think Francona has the political capital to get his way if he feels strongly enough about a prospect. In that respect he’s the first proper counter-balance to the front office in terms of making this kind of decision since maybe Charlie Manuel who was so old-school and blunt that he didn’t care to bite his tongue.
So if this particular iteration of the Tribe including Antonetti, Shapiro and Francona think it’s best to start Lindor in the minors then I’ll be patient. If Manny Acta was still the manager, or Eric Wedge for that matter, I don’t know that I’d trust the choice.
We all need the Internet to be fast, now with proof…
There’s a man who is selling a house he bought in December because he’s unable to get wired internet from Comcast. It seems like a ridiculous thing to type, but it makes sense when you read this story about a work-from-home software engineer.
“Before we even made an offer [on the house], I placed two separate phone calls; one to Comcast Business, and one to Xfinity,” Seth wrote. “Both sales agents told me that service was available at the address. The Comcast Business agent even told me that a previous resident had already had service. So I believed them.”
That turned out to be untrue. After multiple visits from Comcast technicians, he says the company told him extending its network to his house would cost $60,000, of which he would have to pay an unspecified amount. But then Comcast allegedly pulled the offer.
“After about seven weeks of pointless install appointments, deleted orders, dead ends, and vague sky-high estimates, Comcast told him that it had decided to simply not do the extension,” according to the Consumerist story. “The company wouldn’t even listen to Seth’s offers to pay for a good chunk of the cost.”
It’s one of those extreme examples, but it seems like kind of the perfect storm. The biggest issue here in my mind is not that this is a statistically significant occurrence because it’s not. This doesn’t happen every day I don’t think, especially to a specific customer like this who needs the Internet for his work-from-home status. The biggest issue here is more about why this can happen. It can only happen in our existing “granted monopoly” setup where it’s no longer in at least one company’s best interest to get a customer to spend huge monthly fees to buy the service. The exact thing that the local monopoly was supposed to ensure – complete network buildout – is now randomly abandoned when it doesn’t fit Comcast or any other carrier’s convenience.
Add that to the further consolidation in the market with the Comcast / TWCable merger working its way through regulation and it’s all a bit scary. Maybe wireless will develop into a real alternative to hard wired Internet sooner than we think, but it’s not yet.
Consider supporting the Patrice O’Neal documentary “Better than You”
Patrice O’Neal died three years ago and it’s one of those artist or celebrity deaths that really crushed me. O’Neal was a monster in comedy and displayed it frequently on the Opie and Anthony radio show. He thought differently than everyone else and had a way of not just being hysterical but changing the way you look at things like movies and relationships between men and women to politics and philosophy. He wasn’t afraid of his own natural hypocrisies and the word “honesty” doesn’t do Patrice O’Neal justice. Now, his surviving friends and family have decided they want to do an independent documentary on Patrice and are looking to maintain all the artistic control to do the project the way it should be done. They’re looking to raise a modest film budget of $125,000 to make this movie.
I’m supporting it and I hope any of you Patrice fans out there will do so as well.
Click here: Better than You – The Patrice O’Neal Documentary for more information. Also check out their video.
WARNING, there are a couple of bad words in there.
Weekly moment of soccer zen…
Amazing cross then BICYCLE! My favorite thing about this is how lucky they got with the camera angle on the goal. Just an amazing look at the path of the ball off the bike.
And double the soccer for double your money (still none.) This is the freakiest slide tackle goal you’ll likely ever see.
That’s it for me this week and hopefully I’ll have a positive review of the movie “Home” for next week as that’s the only big plan for this weekend. Have a great one.
64 Comments
I don’t either. Just using it as a metaphor for how quickly a success becomes a failure when a team starts losing.
My All-time favorite player – Marco van Basten. Nothing beats his goal to win the 88 Euro against the Soviets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0U3pT-icnk
Ringer: someone at least 10 years younger than me.
I’m not down with this. The current climate of baseball is changing all the time, so who really cares about that extra year? What are the chances the guy even makes it to free agency? Almost none. After season 3 the guy gets a 7-10 year extension anymore, making the whole “extra year” thing moot.
If your team is in its “contention window” you are spitting in the face of your veterans by keeping talented guys out of the lineup. I can’t believe the Cubs aren’t gonna let Kris Bryant’s bat play.
and it’s really not a fight they can win. So Bryant hits 9 homers in 36 at bats. Ok, so they’ll talk about his glove being inadequate and in need of seasoning instead (which they are doing). Teams can get around that issue in so many ways.
good point.
i agree. as i wrote above, there is almost ZERO chance that Kris Bryant makes it to arbitration. He’ll be extended in 3 years so this whole thing makes no difference.
I think Paul Goldschmidt’s situation is how the Cubs will play it. Arizona gave him great money early on, and he took it.
a good enough player will never get to the point where that extra year matters. Even an above average guy will be extended early. If you’re only average, who cares?
Who cares about Kluber’s rights? They’re going to be negotiating a deal that moots that 2018 thing imminently (i hope).
what are the chances 28-yo Lindor either (a) plays for the Indians or (b) hasn’t gotten an extension by then?
if he’s really, really good. then high on both counts.
It’s most certainly not moot. If a guy has more years remaining on his rookie contract, he’s going to get paid less over that 7-10 year extension. So it’s clearly a sound financial decision.
Your reasoning is so short sighted. It’s like saying we shouldn’t waste money on international free agents while we’re in a “window” because we can spend it on veteran free agents instead. Always look at the long term.
Actually, they seem not to be negotiating that deal with Kluber. And of course that extra year matters in negotiating an extension. The number of years for an extension isn’t chosen arbitrarily.The team buys out arb years (and maybe pre-arb if its that early) for a year or two of when the guy could be on the FA market. Holding Lindor’s rights pushes back that time you’ll get to keep him with an extension too.
But even a star (non-Trout division) isn’t going to add more than a win a month. The chances that your season hinging on two weeks of a 21 year old is a serious longshot.