thundercleetz

@RapSheet: Sources: #Michigan has made another run at Jim Harbaugh after he initially rebuffed the school. U-M has made an offer of 6 years, $48M. Wow. @jonmorosi: My colleague @MikeGarafolo just now on @AmericasPregame: "Jim Harbaugh is considering the Michigan job." @FOXSports

The Jags played the best game of their season last Sunday. They pulled out all their gimmick plays and still couldn't win. It sure looked like their Super Bowl on Sunday. It's the NFL, sometimes teams play better one week than they had the rest of the season. It certainly happened in Buffalo.

I haven't read any of the posts in this topic for months, however, 14 games in and Joe Flacco is ranked fifth in the league in Total QBR: http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr If you don't understand QBR I am not going to explain it to you or argue about it. IMO it's the most accurate statistic to manage efficiency (I would say it's a great indicator for QBs like WAR in baseball for hitters). Joe's numbers aren't up there with the top five QBs or so, but he's been extremely efficient as reflected in his QBR. This is exactly what we brought Kubiak in for. FWIW, Flacco has a QBR of 74.3. He has never had a QBR above 59.7 (the Zorn year 2010). 50 is considered average.

No way Forsett rests, he will want vindication on the Jags for cutting him earlier this year. As far as Torrey, with him being gimpy, the question is: do you use an active roster spot to have him as a decoy? I believe it worked last week, but I'm not sure if it works two weeks in a row.

Funny I thought about Kelly Gregg the other day when I saw Lawrence Guy make a tackle, I got confused and thought he was Gregg for a second. Haha I guess it was the name on the jersey that looked similar. I loved Gregg. Shame he was wasn't around for the 2012 Super Bowl but I believe he got a ring in 2000, not sure if it was active roster or practice squad though.

There are a lot of Sox homers on ESPN too. Even the Yankees get hated on when they play the Sox.

It's the same thing every year. I think the team performs better this way. When we were finally the favorite going into the ALCS we did terrible. I like it this way.

The Ravens say this injury had nothing to do with the first one and has no indication of it happening again. I find that hard to believe from a common sense stand point that the second injury was a pure coincidence. A normal man doesn't fall untouched like that and dislocate and fracture his hip. I wonder what they aren't telling us here or what type of liability waiver Pitta will have to sign...

Aaron Wilson, Jason Butt and Jason LaCanfora (he does NFL for CBS but has good Ravens insight) are my favorites. Eisenberg is also really good. Preston sometimes says things just to be different and stir the pot but I would read him as well for an alternate view. One more plug, check out the Purple Reign Podcast. Weekly show that is a fun listen.

Welcome aboard! I work in the DC area and listening to DC sports radio on my way to work has been depressing this year!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-a-look-at-the-differences-between-dan-duquettes-current-role-and-blue-jays-job-20141208-story.html?track=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter It looks like this would be a clear promotion. With the Rogers Company it is likely Duquette could be possibly looking at the other avenues that could branch with that network, whether it be for him or his friends/family/colleagues. As far as a simple title change. In business, the ultimate goal for most is CEO/CFO. Having that title and absolute final say is a draw of its own. With the Jays ownership structure, the CEO is likely to get a budget, and has completely say within that budget, as if he were the CEO of any other company. I imagine not many teams have ownership structures like this, so the opportunity seems unique. The Jays have a great GM already in Alex Anthopoulos (remember how we tried to get him to be our GM before Duquette? Anthopoulos, the assistant GM of the Jays at the time, declined wanting to wait for the Jays GM job to open.) Seems like Duquette would do less of the day-to-day work and more of a wholistic job. If Duquette is looking to branch out into other areas of business, this CEO experience is invaluable. With that said Angelos took a big chance on Duquette when no one would touch him. Duquette was known as the old school executive who got outted by a new school Moneyball kid. Not only that, but Angelos gave Duqutte a big long-term extension. It will be interesting to see what happens. I wonder what sort of compensation the O's would demand. I don't think the difference in budget is as much as we think, however, Duquette might be tired of going to Angelos anytime he wants to make a move or increase the payroll.

Curious how the Dolphins don't go deep. Tannehill has a hell of an arm and Wallace Obviously has deep speed.

He likely already has those responsibilities, outside of the absolute final say on matters, but it is all about the CEO title. Duquette already got an extension and a raise recently. Peter Angelos is the official CEO of the Orioles, and Duquette and John P. Angelos are both Executive VPs. Duquette is as high as he can be with our team which is probably why he wants to leave.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2014/12/angelos-on-duquette-were-not-relinquishing-him-period.html Angelos is having none of the Blue Jays poaching Duquette. Great point DC on having a GM that can stand up to Angelos. Looks like there's finally great chemistry between manager, GM and owner. It's a good recipe for success, as we've seen.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-executive-vice-president-dan-duquette-a-candidate-to-become-blue-jays-team-presidentceo-repo-20141207-story.html?track=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter This would be bad news!

So you're trying to tell me spending $9M a year on a reliever is "spending wisely"? You're contradicting yourself. I don't know who you are referring to in your response. Chris Davis only has one year left on his contract and is hardly a big money guy. What about AJ? Is he not earning his paycheck?

I don't think you get it. We've spent plenty considering our market. We were the 15th highest payroll at over $107M. Spots 11-15 were all close. I'd say we are just fine salary wise. I'd imagine we'll be ranked higher next season. Miller is by far our worst loss. Markakis and Cruz I could care less about. However, $9M a year on a setup man is too much.

Everyone needs to relax. Duquette knows what he's doing. We will have a very good team next season. IMO the biggest move in the division was the Jays getting Donaldson. He's going to be a tear in that stadium. Possibly an MVP candidate right behind Cabrera and Trout.

I knew we were losing Miller but losing him within the division is even worse. I was hoping Houston would overpay for him.

I cannot completely explain the metrics, but from what I know Markakis and Jones typically rate poorly in the range metrics, which can be arguable for the reasons you mentioned. However, both guys usually far excellent in making the routine plays, which I believe is calculated into the WAR stat. Kemp batted a .852 OPS and had a WAR of only 1.1 in 150 games. However, he had an OWAR of 3.8 (defense not included in the stat). That means his defense was terrible no matter how you look at it. For reference Markakis had a WAR of 2.1 with only a .728 OPS. Kemp can hit but he is a realistic DH candidate in a couple of seasons. Immediately his value is probably maximized as a part-time outfielder. Buck did a great job of managing Cruz in LF vs. DH and would probably have to do the same with Kemp.

Rumor is the city and Snyder are motivated by a 2024 DC Olympics bid. Allegedly, the plan is to build a new stadium on the RFK Stadium site as the center piece for the Olympics. Regardless of whether or not this is true, RFK would be the perfect site for a new Skins stadium.

No thanks on Kemp, with that contract he is injurred way too much and plays poor defense. What about taking a flyer on Colby Rasmus? No draft pick required. Had a bad 2014 (hamstring problem), but posted a 4.8 WAR in 2013 in only 119 games. Also had a 3.5 WAR in 2010 for STL. I remember Rasmus was untouchable when the Cardinals were interested in trading for Bedard back in 2008. He will be only 28-years old for most of next season. Obvious talent. Could be a classic Duquette buy-low, high-reward type of signing. Another cheaper option is Norichika Aoki. High OBP (career .353). Numbers were down a little in KC's pitcher friendly park, but he posted WARs of 3.3 and 3.0 in Milwaukee in 2012 and 2013, respectfully. He would immediately be our leadoff hitter. Once again no draft pick required. Heck, we could get them both for a lot cheaper than re-signing Nick Markakis. Either one of these guys could easily replace Markakis's production, and possibly give us more.

For every UAB there is a Florida Atlantic (another C-USA school): http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/record-setting-gift-for-fau-student-athletes/njKWy/ FAU also opened a new stadium on campus back in 2011. The writing was on the wall for UAB also in 2011 when the state rejected their plans for an on-campus stadium. Take it from someone who went to a D-1 school with no on-campus stadium, it is a hopeless battle. My school opened an on-campus stadium this season and the support for the team is night and day. From what I've read about UAB is that this was very heavily influenced by Alabama politics. Birmingham is too close to Tuscaloosa. The school and city have long been trying for an on-campus stadium. On the other hand, the University of South Alabama in Mobile is likely to get an on-campus stadium soon. And with UAB having to give up its membership in Conference USA because it no longer sponsors football, South Alabama is likely to move up from the Sunbelt and take UAB's place. I am not refuting your point, but in this specific situation there are a lot of politics in play.

To those stating this reflects on the Orioles desire for winning I whole heartedly disagree. Our payroll has been in the top half of the league since Buck has been manager and is sure to be over $100 million this season. Duquette has been near perfect as GM and has given us no reason to doubt his plan. We were screaming the same thing last offseason as we stayed quiet for the majority of free agency. Duquette makes a few smaller moves and we are in the ALCS. We have to trust Duquette's plan.

Keith Law hates the deal too: http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=keith-law&id=3007&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F%22%7D