ORIOLES

The SAME thing happened to me.  This girl sat next to me and was over the armrest.  I didn't say anything because she made me feel super skinny and left after the 5th inning anyway.

K8teebug wrote:
I didn't say anything because she made me feel super skinny.

Women are the best.  Though I will never understand their logic, I will never stop trying to figure it out.

Ha!

Seriously.  Sit next to a person who's body, not arms, totally hog the armrest next to you, and you will feel so small sitting in your seat where you get to choose to lean on the armrest if you want!

Also, I'm trying to be nice and not yell at Yankee fans.

K8teebug wrote:
Ha!

Seriously.  Sit next to a person who's body, not arms, totally hog the armrest next to you, and you will feel so small sitting in your seat where you get to choose to lean on the armrest if you want!

Also, I'm trying to be nice and not yell at Yankee fans.

I definitely don't like the feeling.  I was on a airplane flight to Atlanta once and the guy that sat next to me was 6' 8" and around 330lbs.  And he spread all out and I was crushed up against the airplane.  It was definitely not a pleasant experience.  I believe he must have been a professional football player as it was around the time training camps started and the stewardess gave him her phone number underneath a napkin.  Worst experince ever.  And I thought I was going to be happy to get the exit row seat. 

If you haven't had a chance, I recommend Episode 4 of "Legit" where Jim Jefferies lays out the rules of airplane etiquette, including how to properly share an arm rest.

can use the broom to sweep strop over to the cubs (thank god)

Strop could no longer be trusted to get anybody out and was out of options.  Arrieta - maybe he gets it one day. Or maybe he never will.  Feldman helps short term, which is what they need. 

Oh yeah.  And Strop's gone. 

Have the O's ever had a Jewish player before this?

James wrote:
Have the O's ever had a Jewish player before this?

John Lowenstein?
Steve Stone for sure.
Danny Valencia
David Newhan

James wrote:
Have the O's ever had a Jewish player before this?

Danny Valencia is actually Jewish as well.

Shemp wrote:
David Newhan

I don't believe he's Jewish any longer, but thank you for reminding me of the towering home run he hit off me in High School in front of his dad, who was my favorite baseball writer for the LA Times.

Shemp wrote:
Oh yeah.  And Strop's gone. 

Interesting that they would move Marmol out and bring Strop in - they're pretty much the same guy, albeit at 1/20th of the price.

Cubs are shedding pay roll….

vansmack wrote:

Shemp wrote:
Oh yeah.  And Strop's gone. 

Interesting that they would move Marmol out and bring Strop in - they're pretty much the same guy, albeit at 1/20th of the price.

Cubs are shedding pay roll….

They also picked up almost $1M extra in international slot money. 

Shemp wrote:
They also picked up almost $1M extra in international slot money.  

I think it was Keith Law who pointed how ridiculous it is that this has value but MLB forbids trading draft picks….

I don't know if this pitcher from the Cub's is any good but not seeing Strop with his stupid crooked hat and his dumb big gold chain and not having to see him kiss the sky when he gives up a couple of runs and then finally gets someone out is a big bonus for me.  Arrieta was awful as well.  I am thinking the bonus money and the fact that they saved a little salary is the main reasons for this trade.

atomicfront wrote:
I don't know if this pitcher from the Cub's is any good

Feldman is a quality sinker ball pitcher.  As long as your infield won't boot the ball, he'll get outs and keep the ball in the park against lefties.  He's got an absurdly low BABIP this season which won't keep up, but if the O's trust the left side of their infield he'll be a bonus.

And this trade had nothing to do with salary savings for the O's - Strop and Arrieta combined make $1m, Feldman makes $6m plus the O's picked up a backup catcher who makes the same as Strop.  The O's traded Int'l money slots for two draft Int'l draft picks - the Cubs need a farm system while the O's would like a little more money to splash on one good player.

This trade was all about depth of the starting rotation.

EDIT: It was being reported incorrectly by ESPN.  Baltimore gave up two slots in addition to Strop and Arrieta which are worth about $331k to the Cubs (there's this whole new crazy way international free agents are determined now based on slot values - the more you acquire the more you can spend).  The Cubs must have an international player in mind because they also dealt a player to Houston for two other slots - some think this might be Eloy Jimenez, a 16-year-old outfielder.

vansmack wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
I don't know if this pitcher from the Cub's is any good

Feldman is a quality sinker ball pitcher.  As long as your infield won't boot the ball, he'll get outs and keep the ball in the park against lefties.  He's got an absurdly low BABIP this season which won't keep up, but if the O's trust the left side of their infield he'll be a bonus.

And this trade had nothing to do with salary savings for the O's - Strop and Arrieta combined make $1m, Feldman makes $6m plus the O's picked up a backup catcher who makes the same as Strop.  The O's traded Int'l money slots for two draft Int'l draft picks - the Cubs need a farm system while the O's would like a little more money to splash on one good player.

This trade was all about depth of the starting rotation.

EDIT: It was being reported incorrectly by ESPN.  Baltimore gave up two slots in addition to Strop and Arrieta which are worth about $331k to the Cubs (there's this whole new crazy way international free agents are determined now based on slot values - the more you acquire the more you can spend).  The Cubs must have an international player in mind because they also dealt a player to Houston for two other slots - some think this might be Eloy Jimenez, a 16-year-old outfielder.

I meant it was made in part to save the Cubs money the other part to get more international money.

I'm glad to get rid of Arrietta and all of his baseball shrinks, but I will miss his cute face.

I think it's a smart deal.

K8teebug wrote:
I think it's a smart deal.

I think it's a win-win for both teams.  The Cubs got a lot of pieces for a 3-month rental in Feldman.

I had forgotten about Showalter and Feldman's history, and I don't watch enough O's games to see the lefty/righty thing:

BUSTER OLNEY

By the way: Evaluators liked the Feldman trade for the Orioles too, because rather than wait for some upper-echelon option to emerge, they aggressively worked to make sure they got some help.

Feldman is cheaper than Garza will be, and certainly less than a Lee will cost, but Orioles Manager Buck Showalter knows Feldman, given his Rangers background; he knows that as a ground ball pitcher, Feldman is going to be OK pitching in a bandbox home ballpark; and knows that can pitch out of the bullpen if necessary. And he?s having a good season (3.46 ERA).

Like every other team, the Orioles would love to have five 240-inning starting pitchers. But in lieu of that, Showalter seems comfortable setting up right-hander/left-hander tandems and taking advantage of the increasingly specialized platoons that are being used by a lot of managers. Last weekend, for example, when Joe Girardi started his right-handed lineup against T.J. McFarland, Showalter wound up pulling the lefty after just 2 2/3 innings and installing right-hander Kevin Gausman – who buzzed through the lineup of right-handed hitters.

The McFarland thing was unusual, since it was the first time he had started.  Pretty sure Buck would like to see his starters go more than 2+ innings.