Saturday Night Open Thread

November 24, 2012 by Mike Axisa 28 Comments

Your browser does not support iframes.

The novelty of Thanksgiving has worn off, at least for me, so this is pretty much any other weekend now. That’s not a bad thing though, weekends are generally pretty awesome. The Thanksgiving to New Years stretch is the best non-baseball time of the year, if you ask me.

Here’s your open thread for the evening. You’ve got college football and basketball action, plus various NBA games as well. Talk about that stuff or anything else here.

[video link in case the embed doesn’t work]

Pat D

Max Wittek must die.
- Rocky Road Redemption
  
  What happened?
  - Pat D
    
    Just that he must pay for his prediction.
    
    So far, ND is not making him pay enough.
Jacob

I hate thanksgiving for so many reasons, I have no family near me, no baseball and usually no knicks game, but most of all it seems that every thanksgiving I super sick more than any other time of the year. *P.S. To Cashman, Trading for Giancarlo or J. Upton would make me feel a whole lot better :P*
Zack

If I have to see one more clip on MLB network of Gonzo and that stupid broken bat blooper I’ll go nuts.
- G
  
  Had Mo completed the save, Enrique Wilson would have been on a plane that crashed.
  
  Mo foresaw Wilson’s death and caused the ball to fall in with the sheer power of his mind. Only reasonable explanation.
  
  Seriously it’s incredible that the absolute nadir of the guy’s career inadvertently saved a man’s life. Obviously that’s out of his control, but it’s just a testament to the kind of career he’s had. Perfect. Even when he does wrong, something good happens. In that one case, something even more important.
Rocky Road Redemption

So. Notre Dame.

*Ducks*
- Alkaline
  
  I’m with you. Go Irish!
http://Tab Aly

Jacob, I hope that you feel a whole lot better soon.
Gonzo

Would you do Cano for Taveras straight up? Maybe a very minor prospect added to Taveras. I’m starting to think I would. Crazy or crazy like a fox?
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Don’t stop at “fox.” :)
- Bob Buttons
  
  Megan Fox or Michael J. Fox?
- jesse
  
  Nah, I’d want more. Oscar Taveras has yet to play in AAA, so he’s most likely not ready at the beginning of the year. Maybe throw in Allen Craig as well, who could move over to second. If not, put him in RF and sign Scutaro. But this is moot since I don’t see St. Louis accepting that trade.
  - Gonzo
    
    All hypothetical. I can’t see them ridding themselves of Craig though. The real downside for me is it is putting the 2013 season at a disadvantage. If not for that, I think I’d do it easy. You avoid the Cano albatross contract and Tavares is a way better return than a compensation pick. A lot of teams don’t use AAA the way the Yankees do so that doesn’t bother be one second. For example, Stanton and Cabrera have yet to play in AAA.
    - forensic
      
      Solely based on his numbers, he looks like he’s building into much more of a power guy than a speed guy, which in general would make me think he’d have to move to a corner OF spot relatively soon (and he’s been playing some corner spots in the minors too).
      
      If I knew more about his defense and people think he could stay in center and be at least above average, then I would at least strongly think about it, if not pull the trigger right away. If however, the opinions of his defense agree with my theory of having to move to a corner, then it’s a much tougher decision as it’s somewhat easier to find a productive corner OFer than a productive CFer.
      - Gonzo
        
        I heard that he made leaps of improvement on his defense because it was what the Cardinals told him he needed to improve. Also that he might be able to play a passable CF early in his career like Harper, but he’s destined for a corner spot.
        
        The story about them telling him to improve his defense and him taking to heart makes me really like the kid.
    - Ted Nelson
      
      Stanton and Cabrera are not exactly the norm. Most teams do not have a Stanton or Cabrera. Taveras is a very good prospect, but even still isn’t that likely to be a Stanton or Cabrera himself.
      - Gonzo
        
        Stanton and Cabrera were both top prospects just like Taveras. There are also other prospects that skipped AAA. Other prospects skipped AAA. Some consider the talent at AA better anyway.
BillB

Mike any way you could find Giambi’s walk off grandslam video? Can’t find it anywhere
Pat D

Notre Dame!!!!!

I say bring on the SEC Champ.
- Alkaline
  
  Irish I was #1.
- TomH
  
  Yeah, but I’m worried all the same about Alabam. ND has always handled them, but this time they look really tough.
  
  I’m embarrassed to say I thought Brian Kelly didn’t have the credentials for the ND job. Boy was I ever wrong.
- Andy Pettitte’s Fibula
  
  SEC champ will lay a major smack down on ND. That conference is at a different level than the rest of college football.
  
  ND has been getting it done with smoke and mirrors and that won’t fly against those junior NFL teams like Bama, Georgia and LSU.
  - Rocky Road Redemption
    
    ND had one lucky win vs. Pitt but otherwise it’s been dominant defense. I don’t really see how that’s smoke and mirrors, it’s been pretty consistent all season.
    
    At any rate, sure I’m worried about Alabama. I was also worried about Dallas against the Giants in 08′. Both are beatable, and before the game is played it’s useless to focus on the fact that we’ll be underdogs.
  - Evan3457
    
    I suspect you’re right about Alabama, but although they play in the SEC, their schedule was not ridiculously hard. Their best credential is probably walking in to Baton Rouge and putting up any sort of win against LSU.
    
    They crushed Miss State at home, but Miss St. built up an impressive record and was ranked #11 at the time base on beating up 7 mostly cupcakes. They crushed Michigan at home in the 1st week, but Michigan isn’t exactly a top-flight team this year, either. Then they lost that fluke game to Texas A&M.
    
    Notre Dame also beat Michigan, albeit at home and albeit in a squeaker, three weeks after Alabama nuked them. Not that impressive. But Notre Dame also beat Stanford when they were ranked #17, and in the last 3 weeks, Stanford has beaten Oregon State when they were ranked #11, went into Oregon and beat the #2 team in the country, and beat UCLA (ranked #17), also on the road. Notre Dame also went into Norman and beat 8th ranked Oklahoma. Not as impressive as beating LSU in Deaf Valley, but still pretty impressive. And winning against USC in the Coliseum, even with an untested quarterback is also fairly impressive, even in a down year for USC.
    
    I’d expect Alabama to be favored by 10-12, and maybe blow out ND. But the other half of maybe is…maybe not.
Robert

Royals offering Minor League all star cf/3b Wil Myers for a top of the line young starting pitcher,Do we match up for a trade!!!
- Travis L.
  
  Nah…at least not for Myers. What about Lorenzo Cain or Jeff Franceour? Those are more realistic targets from the Royals. I dont even think we have what they would want for Alex Gordon.
  - Jersey Joe
    
    Lorenzo Cain sounds interesting. He has the righty bat we need. And imagine him next to Gardner in the OF. Dayum.