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Brent Stecker has a roundtable on this. If you just joined us, the question is Felix' MLB(TM) entitlement vs. James Paxton's ability to defeat Corey Kluber in front of 45,000 fans and all the buzz of Opening Day. The roundtable went something like this:
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Mike Salk:
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ZEUS
Remember what we do here now. We're not asking whether it's reasonable to expect James Paxton to make 30-ish starts. He's got to do that for a 2018 Mariner run to happen.
It was the pre-2016 arm slot change that hacked Zeus' BB rate in half ... well, they tell you it was the arm slot; the Mainframe liked the way it keeps his frontal lobe out over in front of his CG. Anyway, I read something recently about the way Paxton -- right this second -- is having an easier time making micro-adjustments to that arm slot adjustment. Wish I could find the argument; the tone it conveyed, the level of accuracy and detail Paxton is talking about, is impressive.
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This article characterizes the MLB free agents as "in a rage" and one agent's solution is to boycott spring training.
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DR'S DIAGNOSIS, Dept.
98% of what we hear in November and December is "noise," but in this case there are two tectonic-sized principles colliding to produce a real supercollision of forces - unstoppable object crashes into immovable mass. Those principles being:
(1) Teams like the Dodgers and Yankees have decided, because of the luxury tax among other things like just being tired of CC Sabathia situations, not to ladle out $200M bowlfuls of soup from behind the cafeteria sneeze plate.
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Topic of the week: the M's farm system. Terrible, terrible, terrible, says everybody not from Seattle. Take it easy there can'cha, sez Dipoto. Let's take our usual SSI-eccentric look at whether he might be right, and if not, how much it would matter anyway. Hey, we got a 25-man roster. It's young, not old. Do you even need any sub-flooring in Tacoma?
Hmmm.....
The HeraldNet contains the factual information that baseball's #1 minors ranking service -- Baseball America -- thinks that Jerry Dipoto runs the worst amateur system in either the American or National Leagues.
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ZEN KOAN, DEPT.
I dunno what it was, 1990 when chess computers got super good, way better than me anyway. By 1995 the gap was ridiculous. In 1997 came the last big-money, national chess tournament Dr. D played in. Can you guess what is coming next?
Smartphone apps weren't yet that great, as I recall, but laptop apps most certainly were. Second round of the 1997 Philadelphia Open I drew White against this high-school kid ... move 8, I spring a "novelty" on him. A very strong, surprising, unexpected opening move that must be met with several precise moves to save the game, right out of the opening.
The kid sits there with a downcast look on his face for 5 minutes. Finally he gets up and leaves.
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As y'know, Dr. D used to never miss a Geoff Baker column. As it turns out there is no more Geoff Baker.* A good facscimile is Greg Johns, who also has:
So, here's his latest Inbox. Let's kibitz.
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Dr. D, unlike Kenny Rogers, does NOT make his living by the way people hold their eyes. It runs against his general ethic of not taking others' money in absence of providing them a fair good or service in return. ;- ) He does, however, enjoy the attempt to pick up on "tells" that may offer clues as to whether others stand, especially when he can avoid detection doing so .... what would you expect from a charlatan billing himself as "Dr. Detecto" ...
Greg Johns is asked about the quality and quantity of the M's starting rotation and responds,
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Bob Dutton was always quality. Now that he's retired, his Twitter feed is improved, maybe because he's got more of a License to Fill. Us in, that is. Tim Williams had opined, regarding MLB prospects:
Untested in the MLB. In theory they are geniuses, but in reality how can you judge a player who has not yet been tested and the upper levels? Many said the 747 couldn't fly. Let time be the answer.
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SABRMatt pushes chips in toward the bet that the Mets have simply botched it, in letting Bradford get away:
They did what I hoped they would and took advantage of the Mets' stupidity. NY released Chasen Bradford to make room for Adrian Gonzalez' crusty old butt. Seattle pounced. Hey look, a groundball specialist with pretty decent numbers in the majors last year who has three option years left.
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THE ARSENAL
As Lookout Landing points out, Bradford is a tight-spin (2600+ RPM) slider guy. You can feast your eyes on the perfect version of this pitch at the first .gif in Kate Preusser's tight little report.
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The thoughts in the CMS boxes are more interesting than the ones on the MLBTradeRumors headlines. :- ) To root or not to root?
TJM sez,
Obviously, Doc, you weren't in Saigon in 1970 where the weed was a dollar a gallon and we hooped for five and six-hour stretches in 90 degree heat and monsoon humidity.
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And there are a few world-class chessplayers who drink beer at the board in big-$$$ tournaments. There are plusses to altering your mind, of course. And will cheerfully stipulate that some athletes perform BETTER on almost ANY drug, especially cocaine.
Can easily picture a scenario in which a few athletes can afford the testosterone hit of THC and come back with better performance because of the reduced tension. I'll bet on Filia weed-free, though. I'll take a liver surgeon who walks into the room drug-free, myself. :- )
Ms not done adding bullpen depth