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Q.  Who or what is a Buvaisar Saitiev Phenomenon?  

A.  I wasn't clear after reading the article.  Is Mojo saying that James Paxton is:

• An astronomical event of some type, very likely a gamma-ray burst?
• A guy who, by physical appearance, you would never guess to be capable of throwing a baseball?
• No longer Dr. D's adopt-a-player?
• A communist "dancing bear" in disguise, much like Dr. D himself is suspected of being?

I'm all right with three of those slanders, most foul and vile though they be.  But when you say that James Paxton does not look like napalm at 20 yards ... this, counselor, is going entirely too far.  

You seem a bit confused about whether James Paxton, on the mound, fidgeting as he waits for Mike Trout to step into the firepit, wears the unie well .... I invite you to watch him throw a baseball some time.  Or if not, then at minimum:  refrain from finishing your article with a string of quotes that "ooooh" and "aaaah" over how awesomely he detonates his opponents.

:- ) If every morning I took off, I could get two articles like this one and "Building the M's," then I would just read baseball and play Pokemon.  Who was the guy who built a hot dog stand so that he could get a decent bratwurst?  Oh.  Bill Cosby and Ahmad Rashad's wife did that.  Right.

........

True or false, Counselor?  "EX cards have ruined Pokemon."  Makes me SICK.  And I'm scoring over 80% with my Yveltal deck.  Tedious.

True or false?  After all Dr. D has done for James Paxton, one ill-advised post and he's forever stripped of his adoption papers.  Seems disproportionate to me, but that's the justice system for you.

True or false?  It's going to be another three weeks before the next Mojo Madness article?  :- /

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Q.  If Zduriencik is picking off MLB impact players like Odell Beckham Jr. snagging Drew Brees passes one-handed ... why would he be doing it primarily in the first 5 rounds?

A.  Gordon provided us a data-rich environment showing that the M's have done disproportionately well in the early rounds.  We knew that Jack Z was doin' good.  We didn't know that his chances on a 3rd-round pick were similar to that of Steph Curry at the foul line.  Or Beckham going after a slant.  

year 6 or 7.  That's just a guess at what might happen.  Was Milwaukee so different?

That is Dr. D's first rule of rotisserie drafting, by the way.  Make sure your first 6 picks are good, even if not great (Kyle Seager, Mike Zunino, Nick Franklin) etc.  If you have these 3 simple principles:

• Get 6 impact players with your first 6 picks
• Use Stars & Scrubs and swap out a lot
• Use Shandler & James on cheap pitching

If you got those 3 things going, you need absolutely nothing else in order to crush a public random-draw league.  Now, you realize we're not talking about leagues with Justynius or Mikey Jay involved.

Methinks that Billy Beane has one more of those bullet points going than Zduriencik has, but hey.  Oakland fans don't attend their own games, so whose fault is that?

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G said,

This is the kind of thing we wanted when we hired Jack:  a self-sustaining farm that can provide starters year after year in order to make success a long-term reality.  ...And having this sort of farm allows us all sorts of flexibility when dealing with pending free agents or filling holes.  We've already traded spare parts and duplicated positions for starters and positions of need.  We'll be able to do even more of that going forward, and possibly packaging several prospects for a front-line player if necessary.  It's a good position to be in.  

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Just so.  Ackley was well able to move to the outfield, making possible the move on the Cano aircraft carrier.  D.J. Peterson is capable of playing 2-3 positions and Kivlehan of another 2-3.  A prospect was swapped out for a starting center fielder.  etc.

This amplifies your ability to play 9-to-make-5.  Logan Morrison has got at least FOUR interesting players breathing down his neck.  Austin Jackson could (will?) lose major AB's to Justin Ruggiano -- who is easy to replace in RF.

By the way, MLB Network did a Top Ten Left Fielders (??) with Bill James and a Fangraphs writer.  The Fangraphs guy, to everybody's shock and amazement, adopted a bit of a smirk and said "I don't even regard Nelson Cruz a defensive baseball player.  He's a pure DH."

To which James rolled his eyes, "I'm surprised to learn that Nelson Cruz is such a poor defender."  (Dewan's system has Cruz solidly average, including last year.)

The M's want to keep Nelson Cruz healthy, but my guess would be that 2 games per week in the outfield are a HELP towards that.  Jack LaLanne:  "The only way you can hurt your body is not to use it."  One or two games on the outfield grass are not going to kill anybody.

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Cheers,

Dr D