Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Big 100th Post Extravaganza

... Not really - I'm pressed for time.

The Baseball Update

Sox picked up Andy LaRoche from Pittsburgh - should slide in to a 3B/PH role and hopefully help out against righties. Sox also picked up Chris Duncan from the Cards for Lugo. Duncan seemingly replaces Mark Kotsay as 5th OF/general 1B utility guy. I hope he does well. Here are some reactions:

Neyer

ShysterBall

Via Leitch on why Sox fans will enjoy Duncan

Jere Smith

Update: More from the Hardball Times on the Duncan deal. And More from Pinto on the same deal.

My take? LaRoche has done much better in the second half than the first half and does reasonably well against righties, and makes a natural platoon w/ Lowell, but this is the definition of a marginal move - how many more runs will Laroche create than Kotsay (who is basically who he is replacing on the roster?) The Duncan move I guess has some upside if he can capture his '07 power, but the Sox did not improve themselves appreciably.

Meanwhile, we have these opposing tweets:

Sports Guy

John Henry

Meanwhile, meanwhile, Sox are down 3-1 as I write this, looking tired. Didn't most of these guys just have a few days off?

The Taxes Update

USA Today got Nancy Pelosi today to say that she could lived with a scaled-back surtax to fund health care. President Obama seemed to be o.k. with that in his presser tonight (while definitively killing the idea of scrapping the tax exclusion for employer-provided health care benefits).

What does this mean? Your taxes will not go up to fund health care unless you make > 500K (for individuals and gay spouses) or 1M (for hetero married couples).

The Death Update

R.I.P. Gidget.

Words fail.

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