Dutchrudder

Y'all need to respect Mike Tannenbaum, he drafted Mark Sanchez number 5 overall and without him we would not have the joy that is the famous "Butt Fumble."

There needs to be some context around that rule, and that the obstruction should actually prevent the runner from otherwise being safe. That runner was tagged out 5 feet from the bag, it wasn't even close. You could have parked a car on second and it wouldn't have made a difference. There is a natural tendency of an infielder to put his foot on the bag so they know exactly where it is without looking, and it helps make the tag more accurate in close calls. Taking that away will require adjustment, but I didn't think there was much of an issue here to begin with. There used to be issues with base runners intentionally sliding into a SS or 2b while turning a double play, but they made rules against that to fix it and prevent injuries. I thought that was a smart rule change to avoid unnecessary collisions, but I don't think this type of play warrants that kind of rule change.

Looks like the Republican groomers are at it again...

Oh she was on that site too? What the fuck? How many of these Republicans were on it at one point? Boebert, Tomi Lahren and Candace all being on what looks like a fake talent scouting site is kinda suspicious. Although I would not be surprised to see Fitlump on there too.

I think Baltimore will win the East with about 98-100 wins, just like last year. Tampa still has a good team with an excellent pitching staff, so that division will be a hell of a fight. I'm not sure how the Central will go, I don't think any team in that division got much better this off-season. Probably going to come down to injuries between Cleveland and Minny again, and if either bails at the deadline to sell assets for prospects. The Astros winning another division title by 10+ games would be nice. Going into the playoffs resting everyone for the last few games is a huge advantage. Let's hope it goes as planned and we can make it 9 ALCS appearances in a row.

Post some of the questions in the trivia thread!

Been playing a lot on Steam, and doing up to level 7 content with ease. I bought the arc warbond set with super credits I earned in game, and the first gun in that set, the LAS16, is phenomenal. Totally changes the game, adding EATs to it and a personal shield generator is the way to go for long survival missions. Playing stealthy with Light armor with reduced detection is a lot of fun, feels somewhat like old Metal Gear games on PS1/2.

That's a great deal for them, especially after seeing some of those awful 1 year 8-12m deals given out earlier. He was good last year, but I'm surprised his value dipped that low. It's cheap enough that they could flip him at the deadline for a low end prospect if they regress to their norm of not making the playoffs.

We just have to hope that 6 QBs come off the board before 42 to push better guys down to our picks! There are some that think Nix and Penix might be late 1sts, which is crazy to me. I actually wouldn't mind seeing the Texans take a backup QB with one of their 7ths, because Mills will probably walk next year, and I would prefer to see a minimum wage guy backup CJ. I like Legette for WR at 42. 6'1 220 pounds with a 4.39 40 dash. He's very good at high pointing catches and making contested grabs, but also has speed to breakaway in the open. He would be an excellent weapon to give CJ. Any one of Legette, McConkey and Coleman would be nice if available, but I think most will be gone by 42. I like Sweat a lot, and would be happy to take him at 59, but I think DT is a much easier position to fill with cheap guys this year. The D-line already has some great players on it, and I think you can get away with a JAG DT in 1 spot of it if you have to. Other DT options there could work here are Fiske or Kris Jenkins. I'm not sure what the plan at #2 CB and Safety is, so I kind of prefer seeing a DB here and a DT at 86. I think with those first 5 picks: 42, 59, 86, 123, 127, they need to come out of it with at least 1 of WR, DB, DT, and then some mix of DB/Oline/RB/LB with the other two. If you want to play around with a mock draft simulator, the one is fun: https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mockdraft Sometimes you get real lucky with it...

Lots more options! Dick Payne Dick Temple Dick Love Moore Dick Primo Dick Dick Wood Little Dick Rose Dick

Maybe I'm missing something here, but the MLB luxury tax doesn't appear to be all that damaging for 1 year. I think a creative GM would be smart to bump up some contracts one year and get a large amount of future guaranteed money out of the way, then drop them down the next year to lose the repeater penalty. You could see-saw your tax allocations every 1-3 years to reduce the penalty of signing a guy that helps you "win now." I made this chart to help map out the costs, please nitpick if I got something wrong. The last line is set as an example of a team paying 317m in salary, or 20m into that range to keep it a consistent comparison of tax brackets. The Astros are at 253m committed for 2024, which means they only take a hit of 20% on the amount over 237m, which is just under 4m in cost. Not a terrible penalty, and if they were to add another 24m in cost up to the 277m threshold the total tax paid for 2024 would be 10.4m. That's a 3.75% tax charge on the overall payroll for the year. It's really not as bad as it's made out to be, although the year 3 rates jump significantly and cna hurt quite a bit. It's not my money, but I can't believe how much MLB teams try to avoid this minor tax for 1-2 to years of challenging for a ring.

I watched the text chain during the credits and didn't see a single Larry text. Only 6 people are on it, so it is obvious when someone isn't participating. They really did capture the pointlessness of the majority of those text chains though. I hate that shit.

Let's hope Tucker feels like getting some financial security at a reasonable rate too...

That would be a great deal because he should get hurt about the time the other guys come off the IL.

They put up similar stats last year, but Nico doesn't cost 18 million. Nico also needs a chance to be the #1 this year to earn that big fat extension next offseason. Allen turns 32 in a few weeks and has had a plenty of injuries in his past, as well as an ACL tear. I personally don't think he's worth 18m + a multiyear extension + a 4th to get him, but if you do, great for you. No need to be a twat about it. I don't think WR is our top need, and I would rather see DT, Safety and CB addressed. There are still some good options out there that could be had at multiple positions for a portion of that 18m.

That would be incredible. Low risk, high reward, and building up to the inevitable Astros/Dodgers World Series rematch!

Keenan Allen is always hurt, would have been a waste of 18m. Even when he's healthy there is always some lingering issues or excuse why he's not 100%. I would rather see them go after a good player in free agency with some of that money. Get one of the Safeties or CBs still out there and draft a WR early.

Weird trade, I would not be surprised if the Vikings are trying to make a package to move into the top 2. I am surprised Houston would do this now and not after they see who is available at 23. This is one of those drafts that could be incredibly stupid with 4-5 QBs in the top 20 picks, which means actually good players will fall. It's nice to stack picks, but I was hoping we would get some more foundation players this year to develop sooner rather than later. Need a young DT, DB and WR to help add depth and hopefully grow into capable starters in 2026. Moving out of round 1 means you don't get that 5th year option on the guy if he turns out to be a stud. I hope they trade back into the 1st on draft day and pickup a DB that falls to 30-32.

20-45 ain't bad, and when you have guys like Sam Merrill knocking them down, you have to let him cook. The Pelicans transition defense was horrible though, they looked so goddamn lazy, like everyone but Herb Jones ate an entire king cake before the game. There were a lot of open shots from bad rotations, or lack thereof, and the Pels being outmanned on the fastbreak or in transition because they lacked hustle. Super lazy on their part, they weren't ready to run with this young Cavs team.

Is there any player on the Nuggets that people really hate? I enjoy watching them play as a team, a bit reminiscent of the pre-KD Warriors but with less catch-and-shoot 3s, more creativity and no villains like Draymond. Curry has always been a jackass too, and Bogut was playing fucking tackle football out there for their first few runs. The Warriors had a lot unlikeable things about them with their attitudes, entitlement and animated complaining for every foul, on top of the enormous amount of calls that already went their way. However, I find it hard to root against the Nugs if they aren't playing my team, and I really don't mind seeing Jokic win some more rings. Jokic should be complaining as much as anyone out there, yet he doesn't do it much, and the worst thing you can say about him is that he took out one of the Morris twins after a cheapshot, which is actually another reason for a lot of fans to like him.

Yeah I realize that was bullshit and joked about it upthread, but it's really infuriating to watch as a fan when it just seems like the refs have to influence every game. It's a dumb way to run a sport and I hate the WWE feeling of some of these games.

I'm watching the Cavs/Pelicans game from tonight, and with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter the Cavs get their first free throw of the night. Up to that point it was a disparity of 22-0 FTs in the game, and the Cavs were up by 22 points when this happened. Just insanely one-sided officiating, not a single drive to the basket got called a shooting foul for the Cavs up to that point. Garland, Mitchell and Levert made plenty of drives and got bumped, slapped, etc but no "shooting fouls" called. Zion of course got quite a few, cause reasons. I'm glad they are playing well enough to greatly outdo what the refs are ignoring, but man it's annoying. I'm sure the NBA probably tells them to "try to keep it close if you can", but just call a fair game and let the chips fall where they may.

The San Diego Padres have acquired right-hander Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox, it was announced on Wednesday. The White Sox are receiving right-hander Drew Thorpe, who is the No. 4-ranked prospect in the Padres' system and No. 64 among ESPN's top 100 MLB prospects, right-hander Jairo Iriarte (the No. 7 prospect among San Diego's minor leaguers), outfielder Samuel Zavala and right-hander Steven Wilson. To make room on the 40-man roster, the White Sox designated outfielder Peyton Burdick for assignment. Cease, 28, was the runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award in 2022, but he is coming off a down year. After compiling a 2.20 ERA two seasons ago, it went up to 4.58 last year.