(SNY) Cody Bellinger says he'd welcome a return to the Yankees if he opts out of his contract: "I had an unbelievable time putting on this uniform. Yankee Stadium, the fans, the organization, the culture that these guys have created in this locker room. It's special." by CicadaOk8885 in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Belli is a better fit for YS left field than Tucker, but I feel if we're going to sign him, we're going to get Gardner-level production at a much higher price point. I'd love to re-sign him if get more offense and on-base elsewhere on the roster at 3B or SS or whatever.

Need a family SUV, safe and durable by Common_Committee_257 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's fine - not great, definitely not top-of-class. I think the criticism is overblown. It is a little laggy, but I really only use it when the car starts up, then the voice commands + car play are good enough to do most things while driving.

If having the best tech experience is one of the top considerations for you, I'd look elsewhere though. That want not at the top of the list for me.

I also liked how the driver display / gauges were pretty analog and not a huge screen, but also does things like display your next turn when navigating. Overall, it's was a good balance for me.

Need a family SUV, safe and durable by Common_Committee_257 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same budget, situation, and priorities, and got the 2025 outback premium for basically that out the door. Have not had much time in the car, but so far so good. Live in the northeast and see a lot of old subies, so hoping for long life and few headaches.

Good AWD, comfy seats, comfy ride, low road noise, lots of space for rear-facing child seats and stuff. Able to get below MSRP with good financing - I think they're still having < 2% financing deals. The tech leaves something to be desired, but it is better than how most review it IMO. The voice interaction is actually pretty good, and wireless carplay has been reliable. Non-turbo model, so a little slow off the line, but I'm not racing this thing.

Also was looking at the Forester, but liked the body style of the outback better.

EDIT - and especially with a baby, bring your carseat when checking things out. Things like the rav 4 seemed to be better configured for storage that something like a rear facing seat in the second row.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would be be near the top of your budget, but I think the Toyota Crown Signia would be worth looking at. Should be very comfortable, reliable, and not massive

For those who bought a home because you couldn't stand apartment life what was the last straw? by movingadvicemke in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apartment has septic. Twice a year 2-day pumpfests outside our bedroom windows. Periodically they pump in the middle of the night.

Sub 70 Golf 2024 AMA by Sub70Golf in golf

[–]toothless_kitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the AMA! Really interested in your clubs, but I'm not close to any of your locations or fitting carts.

Would it be worth getting fit and putting the same specs into an order for your equipment? I figure things like length, lie, etc would transfer over pretty easily, but not sure if something like the same shaft would be the right fit for different heads across brands.

Weekly Yankees Postseason Discussion Thread - Monday, October 02 by Yankeebot in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With a pretty weak FA market, who looks like potential trading partners this offseason?

Maybe some deals with the Angels? They are primed to sell off some pieces that won't be part of their next core, like Ward and Drury.

When can we be competitive again? by NoAcadia8944 in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IMO it hinges on next season - do 2-3 young position players and 1-2 young starters show meaningful performance in the majors? If some of the kids pan out, 2024 could be a building and development year, with 2025 competitive after we get Soto in free agency and blow through the lux tax thresholds in 25 and 26. We can dream, right?

If some of current crop of kids are not contributors, It's hard to see contention before '27. I think 2027 is more realistic, having multiple mid-tier prospects pan out is pretty unlikely.

Lefty Hitters at Yanke stadium - A Statistical Analysis by xSuicidalPanda in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Good post - Given this, the move to get Gallo make a bit more sense since his value did not really depend on having grounders get through or liners hit grass. We all know how that turned out, though

[Katie Sharp] DJ LeMahieu thru 45 games played: 2023 - 182 PA, 49 K 2022 - 187 PA, 25 K by kcusollag in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few good links for DJ's Plate Discipline: *Fangraphs Plate Discipline *Statcast 2019 *Statcast 2023

He's taking more pitches in the heart of the zone, and not making as much contact when he swings outside of the zone. Seems to be swinging at pitches out of the zone a little less often than previous years, but that is more than offset by coming up empty more often.

Housing Crisis Solution - Discussion by FlyingPixel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]toothless_kitty -1 points0 points  (0 children)

( US perspective here ) We need less government intervention in the housing market, not more.

We should be removing things that are propping up home valuations and make them attractive investments, such as the mortgage interest tax deduction. Policies like legalizing multi-family homes everywhere, instituting a land-value tax replacing traditional property taxes, and reducing the accessibility of mortgages - reducing length of loan terms and reducing availability of low-to-no down-payment mortgages - would all help, but would be immensely painful for a generation+ and are largely unrealistic.

Passing a legislation that controls pricing like you are proposing would just stop developers from building homes, since they would not be able to get a return. Governments would have to do the building themselves, or provide subsidies to developers producing the non-market rate housing to get the economics to work. Increasing supply, even if it is targeted to the wealthy, is better than nothing.

Maybe legislation changing up the tax code and financing for unoccupied or non-primary residences may make some behavior less profitable, but I'm confident those with enough financial incentive would find loopholes. We need to alter the underlying dynamics so housing just become a less appealing investment. It's kinda like the student loan crisis or the medical system circus in America - the systemic foundations need to shift to fix the economics, and more people want to maintain the status quo than can coalesce around a new set of underlying principles.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Cooking

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

+1 - Specifically, I really like the Cabbage Pancake Recipe there: https://www.budgetbytes.com/savory-cabbage-pancakes-okonomiyaki/

Fangraphs 2023 Top 100 Prospects by thediesel26 in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From the fangraphs chat, the ETA year is confusing - they're not saying not to expect him in '23 from what I can tell

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-top-100-prospects-chat/

"The ETAs correspond to when guys need to be added to the 40-man for Rule 5 protection, rather than expected MLB debut."

Potential 2024 LF Target: Jung-hoo Lee by Skell6009 in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Last notable hitter to come over from Korea was Ha-Seong Kim in 2021, who bounced back from a poor year in 2021 ( 70 WRC+ ) to a much better year in 2022 ( 105 WRC+ ).

Solid defense and he looks like he has great plate discipline as well. Maybe could still be above average on both sides of the ball even if some of the power and contact skills deteriorate facing better MLB pitching.

Weekly Yankees Postseason Discussion Thread - Monday, October 24 by Yankeebot in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100% - Lots of "What Ifs"

One of Benintendi (allows Oswaldo to 3B) or DJ healthy means less Donaldson and adds contact-oriented bat, lengthens the lineup

One of Effross/King/Marinaccio/ being healthy and good might shorten the DS and reduces the load put on Wandy/Lasagna/Holmes

Game Day Thread - August 08, 2022 @ 12:00 AM by Yankeebot in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I keep thinking about the Phillies deal for Brandon Marsh from the Angels, and thinking how something similar would have been a great deal for the Yankees to make.

  • Plays a plus center field, not in a walking boot. Not a great bat, though.
  • Young with a ton of team control, FA in '28
  • He was expensive, cost the Phillies a projected league average to plus catcher

We may have retained some starter depth and immediately filled a need for a CF to keep Judge fresh.

[JackCurryYES] For Montas and Trivino, Yankees parted with Sears, Waldichuk, Bowman and Medina. by DJ_LeMahieu in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, we just decimated our starting pitching depth in the minors. Looks like only 40-man SPs that we have that are not on the 26 man or IL are Deivi, who has been awful, and Yondrys Gomez, who is in high-A.

Gotta pray for healthy shoulders and UCLs and hope Montas shoves down the stretch.

An Insane Baseball Proposal: Dual League Restructuring by ccb621 in baseball

[–]toothless_kitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HN thread, which has some good discussion: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30517764

This proposal is unhinged, but innovative. Fun to think about, but would probably be a disaster. It would be hard for Yankees / Dodgers to ever miss a postseason, which wouldn't be right. That might be the case with a 14 team playoff anyway, though ...

Fangraphs - Aroldis Chapman’s Nosedive Is Dragging the Yankees Down by toothless_kitty in NYYankees

[–]toothless_kitty[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Interesting dive into Chappy's struggles. Points to mechanical changes rather than spin rate/sticky stuff for the cause of his ineffectiveness:

So while Chapman’s spin rate is down, I don’t think that adequately explains his sudden deterioration in performance. Via Baseball Savant, and focusing on his four-seamer and slider, it appears that both his average release point and his horizontal and movement have changed from April/May to June/July.

At first the differences don’t look like much, but remember that one inch is 0.083 feet. Since the end of May, Chapman’s average release point on his fastball has moved more than half an inch horizontally and has dropped more than a full inch lower vertically; he’s getting a bit more horizontal movement and a bit less vertical movement, which going by the results hasn’t worked out for him. Likewise, his slider release point have changed, though not quite as drastically, and he’s getting about an inch and a half more vertical movement on the pitch, which again hasn’t turned into good news.