Brownie19

This whole Philly situation is hilarious. "Two defensive players had to be held back from approaching Pederson after the QB change. Hurts was reportedly distraught about the decision to yank him in favor of Nate Sudfeld with the team trialing Washington by three points. The Eagles lost 20-14. Pederson defended the decision to bench Hurts so Sudfeld could get some playing time in a meaningless Week 17 game. He revised his reasoning the following day and rambled about offensive struggled with Hurts under center. Miles Sanders expressed frustration with Pederson's decision in a Tuesday interview. "If I'm being honest, nobody liked the decision. Nobody," he said. Having alienated his players at the tail end of a disastrous season, it's reasonable to question whether the team can bring Pederson back in 2021. Unless, of course, Pederson was told to lose the game. The Eagles have the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL draft; they would've had the ninth pick if they had beaten Washington." Players are f***ing stupid. I know they are wired to 'win' and play hard and whatever, but they have to acknowledge that losing that game and moving up from 9th to 6th is potentially huge for the franchise. They should be able to acknowledge that enough to keep their emotions in check. Pederson benched a QB who was 7-20 for 73 yards and an INT in a game that didn't matter one bit to them. I'd love to see Nate Sudfeld issue a statement that his whiney ass **** teammates can suck his fat cock for showing absolutely no faith in him. Point out all the s***** games they had and all the mistakes they made throughout this horrendous year and remind them that nobody publicly shamed them it. f*** the Giants - if they wanted in, win more than 6 games or STFU. Teams can play whoever the f*** they want at any point to 'see what they've got'.

CD - the Jays have already investigated and concluded it's not feasible to grow grass in the dome. This isn't a thing.

You're suggesting the Jays should install grass this year to protect their investment in Springer and improve the ROI? FFS man, they have already exhausted their efforts to install grass in the dome and concluded it's not feasible. No one player is going to change this evaluation.

I read Turner is looking for a 4 year deal. We all read a ton of stupid rumors and I can't imagine a world in which he gets it, but I think we all assumed he'd be a 1 or 2 year commitment, which may not do it. Turner is a f***ing beauty, but there's a ton of risk in a 3 year deal for him.

How's there content these days? back when I played fantasy baseball, I always enjoyed their site (but I stopped playing fantasy about 4-5 years ago).

We're in luck - he's returning to Japan.

Oh - you think Conine is a prospect. Identifying the issue is always half the battle.

I think you should look into the term "capturing lightning in a bottle"

It was the FO trying to capture lightning in a bottle man. Villar was coming off a 24/40 season. If a playoff race sparked a turn around, he had the potential to be a game changer. You can't be disappointed at the FO because the move failed. Those moves are going to fail more than they succeed.

for f*** sakes man.

KK has negative value.

I'd be fine with Kay, Hiraldo, Brown and Morris for Darvish also....but I'm not sure Davies and Caritini is a wash. Davies was really good last year (although yes, the Cubs only get him for 1 year).

The age of Kim was a huge 'plus' in my mind as his prime aligned with our young core. That said, it appears his upside may be somewhat limited. With the likes of Didi, Semien and Simmons out there - I think there's a strong possibility that all 3 out perform Kim over the next 2-3 years.

That would be a pretty solid return for the Cubs.

What are you talking about? The reports are that the Jays are interested in Kim. Apparently they offered him a 5 year deal and Kim chose to sign in SD. How is anything reported misleading or a sign that the BJ rumors are BS?

I agree.

Rolen's the 5th best defensive 3rd basemen in the history of baseball, so I think that's a safe statement.

Interesting discussion on kids in sports. Lots of good points both ways. I'm a parent of 3 boys between age 5 and 10 and I help coach multiple teams in both hockey and baseball. I LOVE coaching kids (not just my kids). It's a passion for me and I clearly do get a lot out of youth sports myself. That said, I don't think there's a right answer as each situation is different. I have a couple of points to add: 1. I think sports provides a great opportunity for kids to learn about dedication, team work, responsibility, hard work, resiliency, etc. Unfortunately, in my experience, kids who play at the local league level rarely gain these through sport. There are little to no expectations or dedication. Lots of kids who don't really want to be there and even fewer who want to work hard. It never really feels like you're on a 'team'. If your kids like a sport and you can give then opportunities to improve and give them a better chance of making a rep/travel teams - I think it's worthwhile. 2. I think there are times when a little parent push is beneficial. I have 2 boys who love hockey and would hit the ice multiple times a day if they could. My 3rd often gives us a hard time about going to practices (especially during COVID as he misses games). If truly given the choice, he'd probably just sit on the couch and do nothing. But, when he puts up a fuss, we do have to push back a bit. Nearly 99% of the time, as soon as he gets out there, he's smiling and having a great time and leaves the arena happy. To be honest, I was a goalie as a kid and I hated practice and often gave my parents a hard time. They never let me quit and while I don't really like hockey, I have great memories of it, made life long friends and learned a lot of lessons that transcend the sport. Obviously there are plenty of occasions when parents unnecessarily/negatively push their kids into sports, but IMO, it's not always wrong. I also agree with lots of the other good points made. The money angle and accessibility is a challenging, but real issue. Push too much or too early and you risk them losing the passion/interesting (push the right amount and they might develop great habits that are utilized throughout their youth). Have a kid who clearly loves it a young age, encourage them. There is no one answer fits all response to this discussion.

I think that's a big part of it. I have 3 boys and my youngest (who turns 5 in a few days) absolutely LOVES baseball - primarily from watching me and my older boys play. I work with him in our basement (net with either a tee or soft toss) 2-3 times a week because he wants to. If you're pushing your 5 year old to attend a camp like that because you want them to get better at baseball (and not because they love it and want to go), then that's probably an issue.

Agreed. U8-U9 pitching machine baseball at select or rep is really awesome when you get a group of kids who love the game and want to learn. U10 is a difficult age when they move to live pitching, but it's better by U11 (as long as you're not at the local league level - which generally always sucks).

I mean first and foremost, the objective of the camp has to be for the kids to have fun, enjoy baseball and make some friends. That said, baseball is a difficult sport for kids and learning the fundamentals (in a fun way) for younger kids (5 through 7) isn't insane. I've been coaching kids from about age 4 to age 10 now over the past 5 years and it's alarming how quickly they develop bad fundamentals and mechanics that become very difficult to correct. When coaching 8 and 9 year old kids, you spend most of practice trying to correct bad habits they developed when they were 5 through 7. And guess what - kids with bad fundamentals typically don't have success, which leads to less enjoyment and them ultimately quitting. Do you need ex. professionals to do this? Obviously not, but I think that just adds to the fun part for kids. It can be special to know you're at a camp with guys who played or coached at the MLB level. If you want to argue it's nuts to spend that much on your 5 year old - be my guest, but if you have the extra cash and think your kid will have fun, I won't judge.

I know it was a SSS, but his BB% and K% improved significantly last year (much closer to his minor league numbers when he had a lot of success).

I'm confused - you disagree with this demonstration?

My bad - I mean he's not wrong that Shun got his ass handed to him last year and that his stuff sucks. Nothing more. I agree it's a bad comparison to Sugano.