Hamilton

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Another fascinating idea that JZ threw out during the Hot Stove broadcast ... that Tampa deploys one real HOF position player, and finds young players to put around him.

This isn't an idea that you'll find on a pure-sabr site, which is limited to the "simple WAR accumulation" paradigm.  But it's an idea that you'll consistently find when talking to great baseball architects.  

For example, Whitey Herzog used George Brett in KC, and Jack Clark in St. Louis, to anchor ballclubs that he built around pitching.  In The White Rat, Whitey revealed that "our entire offense was built around the idea of getting men on base for Jack Clark."

This is controversial, and it's a cognitive dissonance between sabes and baseball people.  Give the White Sox one Paul Konerko, and they'll shuffle the pieces around him for a decade, figuring that things will work out okay...

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Reasons the M's Might NOT Close Escrow

I think that everybody on SSI, every single poster, is skeptical about ever seeing a Robinson Cano press conference here.  Off site, it's worse, of course.

I'm no different.  

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Reason #1 that the M's MIGHT Close Escrow

The Yankees appear to be absolutely resolved about not giving Robinson Cano a deal anywhere near $200 million.  

Just for instance, they fought a bitter war with Derek Jeter about money, were totally prepared to lose him, twice.  They are now treating Robinson Cano -- in their minds -- more fairly than they treated Jeter.  And we both know that Robinson Cano is not Derek Jeter.

He is not comparable to Derek Jeter.  In the long history of Yankee icons, Jeter would remain standing if you whittled the line down to six or eight.  To cave in further to Cano would widdle all over that relationship that they have with Jeter.

We're not saying that it's unthinkable, exactly, that the Yankees would go over $200M to keep Cano.  But you, as an M's fan, should be reasoning that they probably will not.

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For those who just joined us, Dr. D has never owned a Fortune 500 company.  Neither has he ever run one. Neither has he ever worn even a senior manager badge within the halls of one.  Neither has security ever come and escorted him out of the halls of one, no thanks to a few managers who'd have liked to have seen it ...

What he has done, however, is chair (a whale of a lot of) steering committees for them, and worked with senior executives, reallllly senior executives.  You spend two years in Portugal, you probably speak some Portugese.  Dr. D, during his travails on the 7th floors of F-500 companies, did learn the language of Linc-Strong-ese.

Bat571 speaks Naval Command.  TJM speaks MegaMedia.  Different guys speak different languages.  Dr. D will chime in with his own, when and if they apply.

Speaking a language doesn't mean you've got the solutions, naturally.  We do notice, however, that it makes you rather more able to guess at what is going on, than other bloggers .... who often blithely inform you of a thing that is going on when you know that is the one thing that COULDN'T be going on.

:- )

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Poli Sci 253

Lincoln and Armstrong, as a power bloc, as a Tag Team, a pair of upper-upper execs who could easily win a 3-legged race against men half their age --- > hired Jack Zduriencik.

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Q.  Does Dr. D believe that the M's are even going to try to acquire four Stars?

A.  On some things, We The SSI People hold these truths to be self-evident:  

... we can "emotionally invest" in a Mariners team at such time as they are 10-1 and have just added Percy Harvin.  

... If and when the Mariners DO acquire a Star, it will be 100% within their "comfort zone."  

... The Mariners would like to win, but it's all gravy, since they already kept the team in Seattle.  

... etc.

*M's supposedly wouldn't protest if they onloaded "a #2 starter to slot behind Felix."  Well, a guy who slots between Felix and WBC-san, that's a #1 starter, kiddies.

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Q.  Would their "comfort zone" allow for actual Git R Done deals?

A.  They might have landed Fielder, if not for Detroit.   They offered Hamilton $25M times 4-6 years, and they were more scared of his downside than anybody.  A comfort zone ain't what it used to be.  And with all their new TV money, versus their existing payroll, well...

Fact is, they've been gathering momentum on this Stars & Scrubs thing, and two offseasons in a row they've swung and missed; even they must be frustrated with coming up short in the FA market, and in a mood to git r done.  

The Mariners are the Mariners, but we SSI fans can expect semi-legit runs at big names.

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Q.  Is that a disaster waiting to happen?

A.  We The SSI People hear this shtick, "Four Turtle Doves," and we think SSUUUUuuuuuure.  We'll believe it when we see it.

Other good amigos hear that shtick, and they think "Please, dear Bud, let other teams outbid the Mariners.  Anything but Nelson Cruz, anything."

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Beard-second:  unit of length, opposed to the light-year, used to measure very short distances (such as used in integrated circuits, or as used to measure Kendrys Morales' leads off of first base).

Furlong per Firkin per Fortnight (FFF):  a good-natured jab at America's rejection of the metric system.  One FFF is almost exactly 1 centimeter per minute, a remarkable coinkydink.  C = 1.8 terafurlongs per fortnight.

Potrzebie:  the thickness of Mad Magazine 26.  A famous computer scientist "improved" our system of weights and measures using this as a basic unit.

For other humorous (?) units of measurement, see this wiki article, or Dustin Ackley's home run column.

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Q.  How well can you get your arms around a pitcher, based on a video?

A.  Guess what.  It depends on the pitcher.  That's not a cliche.  It's the key to understanding this issue.

Some athletes -- that's any sport -- you can watch them for two minutes and "get" who they are.  Randy Johnson? In 1997, you'd have needed two (2) pitches.  On video.  And you'd have known that he was a Hall of Famer.

Michael Jordan?  Two minutes, in shootaround.  Josh Hamilton?  His wife could tell, from one batting practice taken with his teammates, that he was a Hall of Famer.  Ken Griffey Jr. or ARod?  At age 18, anybody could see what they were going to be.

...

Other guys are different.  Russell Wilson?  Joe Montana?  Jamie Moyer?  Their greatness is based on things that take you much longer to perceive.

Different things, make different athletes great.  Sometimes those "things" are very easy to see.  Sometimes they're not.

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Q.  Like what, in Tanaka's case?

A.  Suppose you had seen video of Hisashi Iwakuma, three years ago, pitching in Japan.  Would you have been able to perceive, in 20 pitches of a YouTube video, the specific attributes that Iwakuma exploited --- > in order to star in the American League?

You would not have.

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