Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Friday, February 13, 2009

I love random spring training stuff.

It’s funny because it’s true

Money is fungible.  That’s why they call it “money”

Governments (politicians) earmark specific revenue and expenditure streams in order to artificially restrict the universe of available decisions. "We can't dip into that pot of money for the XYZ program. That stream is entirely devoted to ABC." It doesn't have to be so; it is only a bookkeeping fix. In reality, money is money is money.

If this "designated revenue" earmark is only reason that the city of Miami would build a stadium as opposed to, say, fixing sewer lines or roads that need fixing, then by all means change the revenue designation. This is a wealth transfer to the "entertainment-related" industry, plain and simple.

Restoring purity?

THE DAY after Alex Rodriguez's disillusioning steroids admission, local top baseball prospect Jason Castro was at Canyon Middle School speaking to a group of about 200 youngsters about the importance of education, the rewards of hard work and the dangers of poor associations.

He was talking to the same kinds of kids, presumably, whom A-Rod now says he wants to advise and help now that he's rediscovered honesty, accountability and his conscience.

Sorry, Alex, but you've had your chance and you blew it. Please leave it to the young guys now, OK? If the sanctity of Major League Baseball is to be restored, it'll be the next generation of players, not the ever-growing cast of tarnished stars, that does it.

Selig’s Statement

On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am saddened by the revelations concerning Alex Rodriguez's use of performance-
enhancing substances," Commissioner Selig said. "While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances and those who use them have shamed the game.

"What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation. His actions are also a reminder to everyone in baseball -- under our current drug program, if you are caught using steroids and/or amphetamines, you will be punished. Since 2005, every player who has tested positive for steroids has been suspended for as much as 50 games. Eradicating performance-enhancing substances from the game of baseball has been my first priority over the past decade and it is important to remember that these recent revelations relate to pre-program activity."

Comment of the Day

I suspect that this will not change minds, but the type of public funds to be used for the stadium are tourist-based taxes and are specifically designated for entertainment related purposes. So the stadium is competing with arts and convention centers, not the type of infrastructure improvements you note or the police services noted in the comments. In fact, today’s Miami Herald editorial endorsed the stadium deal.

Further, I won’t bore you here [I intend to bore you with other points], but in my blog I point out how favorably the stadium deal looks in comparison to other smaller market team stadium deals. Really, what’s the point of allowing figures related to NY stadiums being used to analyze our situation?

I am for the stadium being built, but am no fan of how Marlins management have publicly portrayed their finances. I concede and believe that the economic arguments typically made for retaining sports teams in a city are exaggerated. Although, I do think that the value of having major league teams in a city with a tourist-based economy is too easily dismissed.

I am practically a lifelong Miamian and grew up in the [called Little Havana] neighborhood where the stadium is to be built--the former [and beloved] Orange Bowl location. But my support is not purely sentimental, although it is that too. It’s not a main argument, but this stadium will revive a neighborhood which could have been expected to decline otherwise--score one for the have-nots.

I believe a case can be made that this stadium deal is one where the local governments are doing the right thing out of necessity, not conviction. While the location is a compromise, I think it will work out beautifully due to the issue of traffic, which I assure you is a close 2nd to rainouts for us Marlin fans. Dolphins stadium [and its 3 exits] has long been a nightmare to get out of when the crowd is above even 20,000—fortunately that has been rare recently.

While some can legitimately wonder if it’s the right location, the recently passed federal stimulus bill unquestionably makes it the right time. Soon state governments will be awash in Federal dollars in search of legitimate public works projects. Many non-legitimate projects will no doubt be funded. The stadium is part of an overall plan designed to improve the type of infrastructure concerns raised in your post. As a result of the stadium process being dragged out for years and unforeseen economic circumstances, this stadium deal now represents a perfectly timed opportunity for Miami to improve in ways which would have been unimaginable even 2 years ago.

Any resentment I may harbor against the type of MLB owners who profit from these type of circumstances, pales in comparison with the good which I believe may come to my city from all these bizarre circumstances coming together.

I will now put away my violin/bongos.

Clemens takes the loss

A U.S. District judge in Houston dismissed most of Roger Clemens' defamation lawsuit against his former personal trainer Brian McNamee Thursday, agreeing that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear most of the case and that McNamee's conversations with George Mitchell were protected by his immunity deal with the government.

Judge Keith P. Ellison agreed that because McNamee accused Clemens of using HGH and steroids while he was in New York speaking to Mitchell and then repeated the accusations to SI.com reporter Jon Heyman, who is also in New York, the Southern District in Houston does not have jurisdiction.

Andy Oliver sticks it to the NCAA

In a landmark decision, an Ohio judge today ruled in favor of Oklahoma State lefthander Andrew Oliver in his lawsuit against the NCAA. Erie County judge Tyge Tone ruled that the NCAA cannot restrict a player’s right to have legal help when negotiating a professional contract and ordered Oliver’s eligibility to be reinstated.

Oliver was originally ruled ineligible by Oklahoma State (under NCAA pressure) on the eve of OSU’s 2008 regional opener for violating the NCAA’s "no agent" rule as a high school senior, when the Twins drafted him in the 17th round and his advisors contacted the organization on his behalf.

Today at THT