Snake Diggity

Never would have been an issue if Hader hadn’t given up such hard contact.

Pretty incredible: Brown, Arrighetti, France, Hader, Pressly, and Montero have combined for 22 losses in just 67 games.

106 mph EV on Abreu’s double. His timing is still mostly shit but the bat speed can be in there some times.

Meh. You’re gonna have a hard time selling the idea of an ALCS game 7 as an unsuccessful season.

Fwiw Keith Law has had beef with the Astros going back to before the sign stealing shit. So I wouldn’t take his comments as gospel. Prior to this season, Crane’s performance as an owner has been impeccable. It’s possible the sign stealing stuff scared him away from empowering a GM/POBO, and I suppose it’s possible Bagwell/Biggio/Jackson/Cabell have gone Grima Wormtongue on him and made him think old-school thinking is the way. But until Houston actually has an extended run of things not going to plan (like more than 1 bad month, which is where we’re currently at), I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Aside from Abreu, which was a deal almost universally lauded at the time, and letting his GM go after winning a World Series, the other factors contributing to this seasons poor performance are pretty explainable as not the owners fault. Pitching injuries and bad luck can hammer any team at any time. And that with the backdrop of a poor farm system due to a decade as deadline buyers and 4 lost draft picks for cheating.

Really bad thru the first 2 episodes. I will keep watching because I am a sucker. Casting, acting, writing, and story are all weak. Visuals are average by today’s standards. I am not anti-woke but the fat Jedi was ridiculous. This show also immediately trots out the most annoying recurring plot device in the Star Wars universe: untalented rookie easily defeats more powerful more experienced opponent. Trinity went down like a bitch when she should have mopped the floor with that twat.

Nah. He is likely to strike out a lot in the majors, and he is not a great defender at 3B. He projects more as a quality utility infielder who can hit for power and also offers value as a baserunner. His power/speed combo do give him a high ceiling though if he can make enough contact. At this point if the Astros don’t make a trade or sign a 3B in free agency, Dubon is likely the opening day 2025 3B, which wouldn’t be the end of the world.

I have no idea. But I do know it wouldn’t feel like our country was teetering on the edge of total annihilation of our way of life like it does now.

My guess is (assuming it happened before October) we’d see a scramble that would result in Newsome vs Rubio. I would take that in a heartbeat.

Bullshit

Thats a trade I am more than willing to make.

X, 1

Does she know Fauci served at Trump’s discretion? He was part of the Trump administration! There’s no appropriate name for her, but she’s horrid.

Vitello or Schlossnagle or keep Pierce another year.

as much as the Court sucks, I do consider it a good sign when Trump turns to them for help. He seems to only do that when he knows he’s proper fucked (like when he lost the 2020 election).

Your point boils down to who is to blame for our problems: politicians, or the people who elect them? What makes a “good” candidate? I believe Biden has had effective, realistic, positive policy goals; to me, that makes him a really good candidate who gets dinged for his age. He’s not a perfect candidate, but voters who can’t discern have to be held responsible for their part. I suppose a prerequisite for a candidate to be “good” is to win elections, so the fact that Biden looks to have a chance to lose to a fucking shitbird like Trump might make him a “bad” candidate. But again, I blame the voters. Somebody like Rubio or Hogan would have been every bit the candidate that Romney, Kerry, W (who actually won), McCain, or Ford were. Our electorate problem is far worse than our candidate field.

I’m going 15-10, 40-43. But it also wouldn’t shock me if they ripped off a big streak and went like 20-5; the rotation is pitching well with Brown and Arrighetti throwing rounding into form, the lineup is deep with Alvarez and Breggy waking up, and the bullpen has really pitched well all season (with some bad luck fucking up their era). TAP (The Abreu Predicament) could fuck it all up tho.

LoL I don’t know which side of the ledger Georgia falls on, but I guarangotdamntee you NY would be totally cool giving up all federal funding if it meant keeping what their state contributes to federal revenue.

Interesting idea. If Chas doesn’t pick it up, optioning him, releasing Abreu, and going with Dubon and Loperfido as everyday players might give the offense a boost.

That turd is like the Mel Kiper Jr of political commentary. I fucking hate him (and fuck Mel Kiper Jr too).

Saw this quote in a USA Today article: “In a nation ruled by laws, not men, no one is above the rule of law,” said Jennifer Mercieca, a professor at Texas A&M University. “Not even a president.” Will be interesting to see if she loses her job.

Sentencing July 11.

Holy fuck. Guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty

GUILTY

Their position players have put up a combined 9.3 fwar and a 111 wRC+. That is on par with their best teams in this era. The rotation has put up 7 consecutive good starts. Martinez is the only pitcher with a meaningful role who has an xfip over 4.58. Nah. Verlander, Pressly, Abreu, and Altuve are the only guys firmly on the wrong side of the aging curve. Brown, Arrighetti, B Abreu, Diaz, Pena, Tucker, and Yordan are all well before any likely age related decline. This team has sucked because their SP gave them too many uncompetitive starts, their bullpen has melted down in high leverage, and their offense has had very poorly timed production. Whether that’s bad luck, poor management, or some kind of quantifiable “clutch” metric, who knows. But this roster is still relatively stacked.