Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The paradigm shift in American labor

Every time I read Tom Friedman's columns in The New York Times, I'm amazed by how insightful and pragmatic he is. Today's column is no exception, with this very prescient point about why "Average Is Over":

"There will always be change — new jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average."

Read the whole column, especially the part about "E La Carte" and the Chinese factory that makes iPhone screens. As with most of Friedman's writing, you'll be fascinated and frightened at the same time.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Wheeler, Harvey, and Familia all make MLB.com’s ‘Top 100 Prospects’ list

Metzilla has a great recap of the three Mets pitching studs, Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, and Jeurys Familia, making MLB.com's top 100 prospect list.

Also on the MLB Network last night was an interview with Paul DePodesta, Mets VP of Player Development and Scouting. He was also the inspiration for the character played by Jonah Hill in the movie "Moneyball", which he talks about here:

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Point-counterpoint that is actually fun to read

If you follow politics but have never read David Brooks' and Gail Collins' 'The Conversation' series in The New York Times, you have no idea what you're missing. Here's a couple of great nuggets from today's conversation:

Brooks: "...as one of the callers on Bill Bennett’s radio show pointed out, it’s an odd thing when a leading Republican candidate has the children of his first wife attacking his second wife for things she said about his third wife and this candidate is the one getting social conservative support."

Collins: "The South Carolina voters really just seemed to be looking for somebody who would expose Barack Obama as the socialist evildoer they believe him to be. Do you think they factored in the personality issue? Really, the president generally manages to come across as pretty likable, even when he’s announcing a new series of air strikes. And Newt can be pretty off-putting even when he’s explaining that he loves his grandchildren."


Trust me, you will not be disappointed reading it every week.

The limits of misplaced optimism...

I have to admit, as a die hard Met fan, I'm a sucker for Rich Coutinho's rosy projections for how things will work out for the Amazins. However, this one is a little too optimistic even for me.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Power rankings: No. 25 Mets | Chicago Tribune

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune offers a very accurate preview of the 2012 Mets. Reading this astute observation hurts a little bit:

"Reyes never really wanted to go on the free-agent market. He would have been fine being a lifelong Met, and might have thought he was going to be one as recently as July 31. That's when Alderson declined efforts from teams such as the Giants, Tigers and Brewers to trade for him. But the Mets were hoping Reyes' injury history — he has averaged only 98 games over the last three years — would lessen the interest in him on the market.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria instead traveled to New York to start a whirlwind romance at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 3, the start of the free-agent period. Tejada essentially became the Mets' shortstop at that moment.
"

Friday, January 20, 2012

1/19: Vote for Colbert? 18% in South Carolina Kinda Somewhat Likely

Marist actually conducted a poll on Stephen Colbert's chances in South Carolina. Here's my favorite question asked in the poll:

"More than four in ten members of South Carolina’s potential Republican electorate — 41% — report this is the most serious poll they have ever participated in. 58% say it is not, and 2% are unsure."

The best explanation of SOPA and PIPA I've seen.

Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest has the best explanation I've read on the impact of SOPA and PIPA. If you're not a baseball person, don't worry. It's not a post about baseball but rather uses baseball as a context in which the law would impact his blog. Here are a few great points he makes:

"I think it’s important to understand this isn’t something falling along party lines, this is a fight by the establishment (i.e. corporations) to use legislation to stack the deck in their favor since our Fortune 500s have lost the desire to compete in a free marketplace."

"I am not supporting anyone going to an illegal site to download a movie, game, or music. I believe this type of bill with vague standards is just the beginning of corporations extending their tentacles to snuff out competition. Small independent websites don’t have the budget to hire a $500 dollar per hour corporate attorney to watch for every violation. I try to make sure that all pictures and videos here are legal (I rely on YouTube to do that for me on the latter), but undoubtedly there has to be errors at some point. In theory, this bill could allow MLB to shut me down on a whim without a chance of a fight. Do you think sites that criticize Bud Selig or a specific team would get more scrutiny? With all the laws on the books it’s highly likely they could find something to tie you to a violation. If you don’t believe me, clearly you don’t understand this country’s modern corporate culture and what it’s about."

"Business has become about legislating out competitors versus generating new ideas or improving current product lines."

Prospect Busts and Booms: Billy Beane vs. Brandon Nimmo

Bleacher Report has a post on the ten biggest prospect busts in New York Mets history. They are:

10. Jason Isringhausen
9. Jason Tyner
8. Alex Ochoa
7. Alex Escobar
6. Fernando Martinez
5. Ryan Thompson
4. Lastings Milledge
3. Shawn Abner
2. Bill Pulsipher
1. Paul Wilson


One observation I made was aside from Shawn Abner all of the busts were from the 1990's or 2000's. Another broader observation is this explains how much more difficult it is to project baseball players compared to football or basketball. For me, looking at the list of New York Mets first-round draft picks, the name that stands out is the Mets first-round pick in 1980, Billy Beane.

If you read the book "Moneyball", you probably read about Beane's reaction to his minor league teammate Lenny Dykstra, a 13th round pick in 1981, talk about how certain he was about making the major leagues someday, whereas Beane, a first round pick, was questioning whether or not he belonged in professional baseball altogether.

So much of baseball is psychological that evaluating a player's mental makeup is perhaps as critical as his physical abilities. That's why I'm so optimistic on Brandon Nimmo. Let's hope I'm right on him.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Chris Christie: “Mr. Wilpon, my number, you’ve got it.” | Metsblog

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a diehard Met fan offered to be the team's next GM should Sandy Alderson decide to step down. Since the Mets are the only thing with which I agree with the governor, I didn't bother to watch the full clip to splice out the Mets-related piece. So sit back and enjoy Gov. Jabba the Hut as he talks about his (lack of) accomplishments and adds the Mets GM piece somewhere along the way:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rangers Sign Darvish To Six-Year, $60 Million Deal

Rangers Sign Darvish To Six-Year, $60 Million Deal

What the Eurostar's Success Means for California HSR | The Atlantic Cities

The point that gets missed, which is what I've been saying all along about high speed rail:

"At a travel time of roughly 3 hours, which is about what California's high-speed rail authority expects, the train would capture about 30 percent of business travelers and 40 percent of the leisure market... In the unlikely chance the fast train can achieve a travel time of 2 hours 25 minutes, it could win about half the market share of leisure travelers."

The Science of How We Walk | The Atlantic Cities

Disorganized Indians are more efficient than organized Germans? This article explains the only scenario in which that make sense.

How Our Brains Navigate the City | The Atlantic Cities

Fascinating article about how we find our way around cities. It gives hope to the people that think they have no sense of direction.

Great and Not-So-Great Subway Logos | The Atlantic Cities

This is a very quirky review of international subway logos. I have to agree that the one from Lille, France is very uncomfortable.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Mack's Mets: The Greek Tragedy of the New York Met Fan

Mack's Mets: The Greek Tragedy of the New York Met Fan: In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Fernando Martinez Through the Years | Rising Apple

Rising Apple has a thorough recap of Fernando Martinez's career as a New York Mets prospect. I have to say personally that I'm conflicted on this. On one hand, watching the Mets overhype Alex Ochoa and Alex Escobar, this seems par for the course. However, Martinez was supposed to be different and his maladies can't be considered his fault, a point many Met fans are not willing to concede. You can't blame this on Omar Minaya. Who would think a 16-year old will develop arthritis in his right knee by the time he's 21?

This one point reminded me how good he really is/was:

"[In 2009, the] 20 year-old began the season at Triple-A–his first taste at the level–and responded very well. The outfielder swatted an impressive .290/.337/.540 line with 8 HR, 28 RBI, 24 R, and 2 SB in 190 PA’s."

Keep in mind, he was 20 years old! If he had been an American-born player that went to college, he would have been a college sophomore at the age of 20. He's hitting .290 in Triple-A! How many college baseball players today would be able to hit .290 in Triple-A, let alone do it in their sophomore year?

I wish him well and hope the kid does great in Houston. I can't get inside his head but it's hard to imagine he's happy about how his career has turned out so far. And perhaps just knowing that he's wanted in Houston, rather than unwanted in New York, can do wonders for him that no one in the Mets organization ever could.

Federal Reserve's 'beige book' confirms improving U.S. economy

A good sign? Let's hope so.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

The Met Who Blames Everything on the Wilpons | New York Magazine

Everyone is speculating on the source for the post at New York Magazine about the current state of the Mets:

"You know what I think when I read about the Mets nowadays? We’ve become the Oakland A’s. We’re the Pittsburgh Pirates. Our fans deserve better than that. You can’t possibly build a dynasty when you’re cutting costs left and right. The only way to turn it around is to sell the team.

It hurts me to say this, because I’ve always liked Fred Wilpon. I know in his heart how much he wants the Mets to succeed. He’s always lived and died with the team. But there comes a time when it’s no longer possible to be in charge. Fred doesn’t have enough money to make it work.
"

If this hastens the Wilpons' departure, I hope this post gets a lot of traction.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Coutinho: Never Count Out Mets’ Johan Santana « CBS New York

The very first domino in the 2012 New York Mets season will be what the Mets get from Johan Santana. As the often optimistic Rich Coutinho points out, you never know in the game of baseball:

"Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to rebound from a 90 loss season to win the NL West. Nobody expected the last two World Champions to be squads with under a $100 million payroll. No one expected an AL East team not to be in the World Series the last two years. It is the reason we play the games and it is the reason sports is such great theater."

A lot has been said about how long it took for Chien-Ming Wang to return and that Mark Prior never returned from the same surgery. However, Prior was a hard thrower and Wang, although not a strikeout guy, made a living on a hard sinker. Santana's bread-and-butter has been the change-up, a pitch that doesn't require aggressive arm and shoulder movement. I would expect the recovery to be less involved, not to mention that additional knowledge gained from the Prior and Wang experiences for trainers to adjust accordingly.

India's Infrastructure Woes

A very interesting analysis in The Economist about the current infrastructure issues facing India today:

"For the past half decade India’s infrastructure industry has enjoyed a Sea Link moment; a blast of growth when one could imagine that the private sector could deliver all the new roads, bridges, power stations and airports that the country needs so badly. The government says the boom will continue. Over the next five years it predicts that infrastructure investment will reach a new high relative to GDP, with some $1 trillion spent, half of it by the private sector. The trouble with this rosy prediction is that the balance-sheets of many Indian infrastructure firms are as potholed as the roads they resurface."

That Sea Link bridge in Mumbai is pretty sweet though:


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Most influential Canadian in baseball is ... | Baseball | Sports | Toronto Sun

I think the most insulting part of this list is Jason Bay is nowhere to be found on it. I guess nice guys don't even finish last anymore!

Monday, January 2, 2012

My BCS Playoff Proposal Re-re-revisited

I first proposed a BCS playoff system after the 2008 season, which I then revisited in 2009 and 2010 to show what the matchups would look like. So without further adieu, here is what this season's conference championships and BCS standings would give us.

Conference Champions (with the final BCS ranking in parentheses)
ACC - Clemson (15)
Big East - West Virginia (23)
Big Ten - Wisconsin (10)
Big 12 - Oklahoma State (3)
PAC 12 - Oregon (5)
SEC - LSU (1)

At-large teams
Alabama (2)
Boise State (7) - based on being a mid-major team within the top ten.

Since Boise State would qualify as a mid-major team in the top ten, this would mean Stanford is out of Luck (pun intended).

#1 LSU vs. #8 West Virginia (Sugar Bowl)
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Clemson (Orange Bowl)
#3 Oklahoma State vs. #6 Wisconsin (Fiesta Bowl)
#4 Oregon vs. #5 Boise State (Rose Bowl)

We could still potentially see an Alabama vs. LSU national championship game but how much more legitimate would it be if those two teams had to play through Oklahoma State and Oregon to get there?