Mets Geek » Blog Archive » Link Dump: December 1st, 2008

December 1, 2008

Link Dump: December 1st, 2008

by: Eric Simon on Dec 1, 2008 1:10 AM | Filed under: Link Dumps

[05:26 AM] NY Daily News: Mets cant lose with Oliver offer
[04:23 AM] Newsday: BASEBALL: Arbitration: Abreu, Ollie?
[02:56 AM] Bergen Record: Yanks have busy agenda ahead
[10:29 PM] MLB.com: Mailbag: Ranking the offseasons
[03:18 AM] Newsday: MLB INSIDER: Mets trying to catch up?
[03:28 PM] NY Daily News: Where are they now? Former Met Jon Matlack
[03:16 PM] MLB.com: Trades could be Mets route for closer
[03:59 AM] New York Post: AMAZIN SURPRISE STAR TATIS BUILDS CHURCH
[02:44 AM] New York Times: Roundup: With Several Bullpen Spots to Fill, Mets Are Making Sure to Explore All Options
[10:16 PM] Sports Illustrated: Scout who discovered Nolan Ryan dead at 87

Most headlines aggregated by SportSpyder.

Eric Simon has far too much time on his hands. He sleeps upside-down, keeps people as pets, and can be found on the internets at Amazin' Avenue or bothered directly at eric@metsgeek.com.

551 Responses to “Link Dump: December 1st, 2008”

Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6]

Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 6:01 pm (#900044)
Supernatural >>>>>>> Smallville

Excellent! I’ll watch that first! I own that one. The Smallville is only borrowed. :-)

btw, just so that i say it. deep space nine was the best star trek from start to finish. some of the individual episodes of the next gen are great, but from first epi to last, i rather watch ds9.

I never could get into DS9. In fact, I really only know Next Gen well. But the first season or so of that is terrible. But the later seasons are terrific. By the way, I had to smile when you posted There.Are.Four.Lights. I knew immediately what that was. But I was baffled by the context.

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 6:02 pm (#900045)
i think the riley romance lasted one season or so.

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 6:03 pm (#900046)
But I was baffled by the context.

it just needed to be said.

;)
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 6:03 pm (#900047)
I figured it was honestly only going to get dumber in S6 and S7 and what i read on the nets about those seasons didnt really convince me it was worth the trouble

i may still go back to them. but angel will keep me busy for a few months now. i havent bored of that yet
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 6:05 pm (#900048)
i think the riley romance lasted one season or so.

I loooove Marc Blucas. He is adorable. This puts me in the vast minority of women, but I prefer him to Angel. Although the Angel love story was much better.

it just needed to be said.

haha! Sometimes it’s necessary!

Comment posted by St. Louis is “The Town Santa Forgot” on December 1, 2008 at 6:48 pm (#900049)
What’s the haps ladies and gents?
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 6:49 pm (#900050)
awwww snit…mc says….

The Mets have signed 17–year-old Venezuelan RHP Carlos Avellones, according to Primera Hora.

…from what i can gather, the above is accurate, though the Mets do not typically issue press releases for such signings…

According to his agent, Avellones has ‘huge potential,’ while maintaining his fastball around 90 mph.

…hey, the more the merrier…sign them all, if you can…
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 6:49 pm (#900051)
TIMMAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment posted by St. Louis is “The Town Santa Forgot” on December 1, 2008 at 6:52 pm (#900052)
s
o
j

j/k
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 6:52 pm (#900053)
yeaaaaa, at least they got to be kings of the world for a week!

Comment posted by St. Louis is “The Town Santa Forgot” on December 1, 2008 at 6:53 pm (#900054)
gotta go pick up the baby, I wanna talk about American Dad later.
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm (#900055)
aight yo. lataz.

I dug Amer Dad
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm (#900056)
Hey Timmy!! What’s cooking, honey???

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 6:59 pm (#900057)
November 26, 2008, 1:22 pm
TiVo Economics
By Justin Wolfers

I love my TiVo. And like a good economist, I’ve been trying to quantify this love. Here’s what I came up with.

I watch about six hours of television programming per week. The miracle of the “30-second skip” button means that I haven’t watched an advertisement in years. Consequently, six hours of programming only takes me four hours to watch, and TiVo saves me two hours per week.

Let’s say my hourly wage is $100, and so I value these marginal couple of hours at around $200. I’m home around 50 weeks per year, and so Tivo gives me a total of $10,000 worth of time per year. I will get to enjoy this benefit for the rest of my life, and so we should take a net present value of this benefit stream. Using a discount rate of 5 percent, this yields a total TiVo-related bonus of $200,000 worth of leisure.

Oh, and Betsey loves our TiVo too, suggesting that this humble machine has improved our household’s well-being by about $400,000, versus a cost of $200.

But that’s only part of the story. Because of TiVo, I no longer just watch whatever happens to be on TV when I’m in the TV-watching mood; instead, I get to watch my favorite shows from throughout the week. (I’ll admit that this includes Ugly Betty.) Perhaps this improvement is similar to what you get when you move from a choice of the major networks to also choosing from basic cable. Given that I’m willing to pay about $45 per month for basic cable, this quality bump must be worth at least $500 per year, yielding an NPV of at least $10,000. Thus, while the quality improvement is reasonably important, my real love of TiVo comes from the fact that it saves me so much time.

What about the gains to the average American?

Time use data tell us that he watches 2.6 hours per day, or 18.3 hours per week; with TiVo, he can watch this programming in around 12 hours, saving 6 hours.

Average hourly earnings are around $18, suggesting that TiVo saves time that could otherwise have been sold for around $108 per week. We should also add in the benefit of higher quality television — around $11 per week — and subtract the cost of the annoying service charge, which is around $3 per week, yielding net benefits of $116 per week, or $6,000 per year. The net present value of this flow is around $120,000 per person, or perhaps around a quarter of a million dollars per household. Wow.

I’ll admit that there are at least half a dozen questionable assumptions in my analysis, and so perhaps the benefits are only half or perhaps a quarter as big as my estimates. But still, the case for TiVo seems pretty solid.

And yet, given this amazing math, around 7 in 10 U.S. households don’t have a TiVo, or a DVR equivalent.

Which leads me to wonder: Why hasn’t TiVo been adopted more broadly?
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:08 pm (#900058)
I’ll admit that there are at least half a dozen questionable assumptions in my analysis

smartest thing said in that breakdown
Comment posted by Danny on December 1, 2008 at 7:15 pm (#900059)
Stephon Marbury for Premier
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:25 pm (#900060)
skanks say no on Abreu arbitration

i swear to god omar, if you blow money on that bum….DONT DO IT.
Comment posted by Danny on December 1, 2008 at 7:28 pm (#900061)
haha, but this just makes it easier to make that horrible decision Dep.

The irony is that the Yankees not offering Abreu arbitration actually makes him more valuable on the open market.
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 7:28 pm (#900062)
smartest thing said in that breakdown

hahaha! You have a point, sir!

i swear to god omar, if you blow money on that bum….DONT DO IT.

He wouldn’t!
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 7:30 pm (#900063)
The irony is that the Yankees not offering Abreu arbitration actually makes him more valuable on the open market.

I’m sorry, Danny. I don’t understand this. Why?
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:31 pm (#900064)
haha, but this just makes it easier to make that horrible decision Dep.

The irony is that the Yankees not offering Abreu arbitration actually makes him more valuable on the open market.

exxxxactly.

he’s a type A Athena, we would lose our 1st rounder for signing him.

Like K-Rod of Fuentes, even Ibanez, all A’s
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:32 pm (#900065)
He wouldn’t!

okayyyyyyyyyy

::twiddles fingers nervously::
Comment posted by Danny on December 1, 2008 at 7:32 pm (#900066)
Athena, since Abreu was not offered arbitration, any team is free to sign him without giving up a compensatory draft pick. He’s a true free agent.
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:32 pm (#900067)
But since they did NOT offer arbitration to him, you dont lose draft picks for signing him now
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:32 pm (#900068)
wow, they declined it on Moose too.

that’s a surprise
Comment posted by john on December 1, 2008 at 7:34 pm (#900069)
Apparently the mets signed some 17yr old pitcher. Awesome lol
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 7:35 pm (#900070)
Thanks, boys! I get it. You guys are awesome!

Nice coordination on the answer, too! ;-)
Comment posted by john on December 1, 2008 at 7:36 pm (#900071)
Can u believe I can’t even find a place here to rent zelda. Blockbuster don’t have it
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:36 pm (#900072)
Apparently the mets signed some 17yr old pitcher. Awesome lol

ya i pasted the blurb above.
Carlos avell or some shit

his agent said he’s awesome. HE MUST BE!!!! lol
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:37 pm (#900073)
Can u believe I can’t even find a place here to rent zelda. Blockbuster don’t have it

craziness.

Is it a new Zelda game or the one from a year ago or whater?
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:37 pm (#900074)
Rubin gives a nice summary:

Free agent types
December 1, 2008

Tonight at midnight is the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their own free-agent players. In essence, offering arbitration to a player ensures you get draft-pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere. Players have until Sunday (Dec. 7) to accept or decline the arbitration offer.

If a Type A player signs elsewhere after being offered arbitration, his former team gets the signing team’s first-round pick (if that team isn’t drafting in the top 15), plus a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds. If the signing team’s pick is in the top 15 and protected, it loses the second-round pick instead.

Type B free agents are worth only a supplemental pick between the first and second round.

Type A players are the top 20% statistically. Type B is the next 20%. Here is the complete list:

Club, Player, Elias Rank
ARI Cruz, Juan A
ARI Dunn, Adam A
ARI Hudson, Orlando A
ARI Johnson, Randy B
ARI Lyon, Brandon B
ATL Smoltz, John B
BOS Byrd, Paul B
BOS Varitek, Jason A
CHI Dempster, Ryan A
CHI Howry, Bob A
CHI Wood, Kerry A
CIN Affeldt, Jeremy B
CIN Weathers, David B
COL Fuentes, Brian A
CWS Cabrera, Orlando A
CWS Griffey Jr, Ken B
CWS Uribe, Juan B
DET Renteria, Edgar A
FLA Gonzalez, Luis B
FLA Lo Duca, Paul B
FLA Rhodes, Arthur B
HOU Brocail, Doug A
HOU Hawkins, LaTroy B
HOU Loretta, Mark B
HOU Wolf, Randy B
KC Grudzielanek, Mark B
LA Beimel, Joe B
LA Blake, Casey B
LA Kent, Jeff B
LA Lowe, Derek A
LA Maddux, Greg B
LA Penny, Brad B
LA Ramirez, Manny A
LAA Anderson, Garret B
LAA Garland, Jon B
LAA Oliver, Darren A
LAA Rodriguez, Francisco A
LAA Teixeira, Mark A
MIL Gagne, Eric B
MIL Sabathia, CC A
MIL Sheets, Ben A
MIL Shouse, Brian B
MIN Reyes, Dennys B
NYM Alou, Moises B
NYM Ayala, Luis B
NYM Perez, Oliver A
NYY Abreu, Bobby A
NYY Marte, Damaso A
NYY Mussina, Mike A
NYY Pettitte, Andy A
NYY Rodriguez, Ivan B
OAK Embree, Alan B
OAK Thomas, Frank B
PHI Burrell, Pat A
PHI Moyer, Jamie A
PHI Seanez, Rudy B
SD Hoffman, Trevor A
SEA Ibanez, Raul A
STL Isringhausen, Jason B
STL Looper, Braden B
STL Springer, Russ A
TEX Blalock, Hank B
TEX Bradley, Milton B
TOR Burnett, A.J. A
TOR Zaun, Gregg B
Comment posted by john on December 1, 2008 at 7:38 pm (#900075)
The old one youd think it be easy to get
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:41 pm (#900076)
The old one youd think it be easy to get

haha, ahhhh, its a shame

I have a copy I never touch.

too bad we dont have vacuum tubes to send things to others!
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:41 pm (#900077)
you think its because of that hack that all the copies are out?
Comment posted by Dep on December 1, 2008 at 7:45 pm (#900078)
aight y’allz. Dep is out

lataz

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 7:46 pm (#900079)
from the ether . . .

question #2, I went LCD over Plasma because I perfer the brightness of the LCD pictures over Plasma. I especialy don’t like the dual whites on a plasma during heavy white screens, like hockey games or snow screen. Just way to dual for me. The blacks of the LCDs, in my option, have caught up with the plasma’s, especially the Sammy’s..
Comment posted by Athena on December 1, 2008 at 7:48 pm (#900080)
Puppies are awake
Comment posted by john on December 1, 2008 at 7:58 pm (#900081)
haha, ahhhh, its a shame

I have a copy I never touch.

too bad we dont have vacuum tubes to send things to others

Haha yeah if i lived there, i could just borrow here. And I only know of one person here thats even got Wii and they dont got Zelda lol

you think its because of that hack that all the copies are out?

I thought that. One store didnt carry any and the other everyone has rented it already.

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 8:23 pm (#900082)
A New York City-based cable technician drew from high school-level biology to resolve a predicament.

The Time Warner technician arrived at a home in Manhattan in order to replace a set-top converter box, which allows televisions to receive digital broadcasts.

One item needed to be removed prior to his work commencing.

The occupants of the home had a pet iguana and it was securely nestled on top of the converter.

Efforts to remove the lizard, even with the owner’s prodding, proved unsuccessful.

The tech was struck with an idea. If the converter was disconnected, the unit would cool and the iguana may not find it so attractive.

The solution worked.

The converter was exchanged.

When the new unit warmed-up, the iguana returned to his favorite spot.

The job was complete.

Comment posted by Future on December 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm (#900083)
So my parents have an HD ready television. It’s a Sony WEGA trinitron. So what do I need to get? An HD box and hd service from my cable provider? What about one of those antennas just to get the local HD channels?

The tv will do up to 1080i.

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 10:23 pm (#900084)
correct future, just get an hd box and service from the cable company. for twcny,when i moved to hd it didnt cost anything more. all i did was swap boxes. if the channels i had before the swap had hd alternatives, i got them.

as for OTA, with the right antenna pointed in the right direction, you should pick up the local hd channels. i tried this with my pc, and i didnt get them all even though my apt has a clear view of manhattan.
Comment posted by BOB A. BOOEY on December 1, 2008 at 10:39 pm (#900085)
hey future hey fused,,,,,
Comment posted by Super T on December 1, 2008 at 10:41 pm (#900086)
Anybody know of any big name to be free agents that weren’t offered arb? The only ones I have seen that weren’t offered so far are Abreu and Petitte.

And the Snakes haven’t decided yet if they will offer it to their FAs (Dunn, Hudson, and Lyon, Cruz).

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 10:42 pm (#900087)
Mets Offer Arb To Perez, No Others
By Tim Dierkes [December 1, 2008 at 8:22pm CST]

According to MLB.com’s Marty Noble, the Mets offered arbitration to Type A free agent Oliver Perez. None of their other free agents received an offer, including Type Bs Luis Ayala and Moises Alou. No big surprises here.

Braves Decline To Offer Arb To Smoltz
By Tim Dierkes [December 1 at 8:09pm CST]

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the Braves declined to offer arbitration to John Smoltz today. Smoltz is a Type B, but the Braves don’t want to risk having Smoltz at anything near the $12MM guaranteed he earned this year. The decision was no surprise, and the Braves still hope to re-sign Smoltz if he can pitch.
Comment posted by BOB A. BOOEY on December 1, 2008 at 10:44 pm (#900088)
wow why not offer it too ayala ???? i know `he stinks butt hes better then heils ,,,

Comment posted by Confused on December 1, 2008 at 10:54 pm (#900089)
i asked that question this morning bob. no one answered. :(

my guess is would make too much money for the job he will do.
Comment posted by BOB A. BOOEY on December 1, 2008 at 10:57 pm (#900090)
by the way i p;icked jax tonight ,,,, what was i thinking ,,,,,^&*$%^*$%*#$

Comment posted by Future on December 1, 2008 at 11:55 pm (#900091)
How ridiculous not to offer Ayala arbitration.
Comment posted by BOB A. BOOEY on December 1, 2008 at 11:58 pm (#900092)
i agree why not i mean a few years ago he was really good ,, jeeezzz why not ????
come on jaxxx jam this one in !!!
Comment posted by BOB A. BOOEY on December 2, 2008 at 12:25 am (#900093)
i hate the jages they rolled over and gave up on this game whatg a fcriggin joke ,,,,
Comment posted by littlefallsmets on December 2, 2008 at 12:51 am (#900094)
Why would you want to risk getting stuck with Ayala?

I mean, dude was really quite terrible.

Better to save that slot for ANYBODY else.