Joe Lucia

Two different types of blackouts, one related to attendance and one related to territories.

MLB.tv is offering single team packages next season. No word on cost yet, but I assume it'll be like $80-$100. Keep in mind, the blackout rules are still in effect, so if you're in Iowa or Vegas, don't get happy. But if you're like, a Tigers fan in Washington (hey Tabe!), this is ideal.

Unless I try to go for 100% on this, I'm done with everything and the Jack the Ripper DLC. Logged I think about...60 hours? Anyway, I loved it. In my opinion, this is the best non-naval AC game since Brotherhood. Side missions that weren't tedious? A main storyline that flowed well, yet was still open-ended? Very little present day stuff? It ticked all the boxes. Allowing you to play as two characters was awesome too - Jacob was more the brawler, Evie was the stealthy figure, so you could play how you wanted when you weren't in an "exclusive" mission. Plus, variable hand to hand weapons - knives, cane swords, or kukris, your choice! I exclusively used cane swords, fwiw. The usual AC glitches were there, but not to the degree of Unity. I would have liked to see more of the murder mysteries come back, but you can't get everything you want. I loved how you could plow through the main missions at your own pace and ignore the side missions, or vice versa, but eventually needed to take care of everything if you wanted to struggle much less throughout the course of the game. Bringing the game into a modern era didn't hurt like I expected - the carriages were a cool addition, and I really liked the rope launcher too, even if I didn't use it a ton. Next up, I would love to see Moscow or Berlin from roughly the same era - I think that would be awesome.

Anyway, is the Leftovers any good? I DVR'd the first season and it's just sitting there. I literally have no idea what it's about, just heard a lot of good things about the second season. Season one is depressing and aimless and will make you hate everything and want to crawl up in a ball in the corner. Season two was one of the best seasons of television in 2015.

A steam cleaner. A Belgian waffle maker. A blender. Cash. A giftcard that will be used for a knife block. And a Kitchenaid mixer. Adulthood is fun.

Tommy Hutton, who the Marlins fired this winter for being too critical, didn't shy away from blasting them when he needed to.

fwiw they're actually eating more money on this deal than the Braves, it's just spread over a longer term. Atlanta is paying $20 million for Swisher/Bourn in 2016 Cleveland is paying $10 million for Swisher/Bourn in 2016 along with $7.5 million for Johnson in 2016, $9 million in 2017, and a $1 million buyout Braves also took on the balance of Swisher/Bourn for '15, which was roughly $9 million, and Cleveland took on the balance of Johnson inn '15, which was like $2 million

Well, that and the David Ortiz Reaity Farewell Tour that won't be annoying at all by April 17th

Blackmon is currently indefinitely suspended by the league from his *last* arrest, fwiw

I'm putting this here instead of the media thread. Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci, OUT at Fox's main MLB team. John Smoltz, IN.

Where did you see that, Mark? Interesting. Mike Leake to the Cardinals for 5/80. With an NTC. And a mutual option that can push it to something like 94MM. Teach your kids how to pitch, parents.

Kind of like tonight's season finale. One hour really wasn't enough - SO MANY QUESTIONS. "Saul Berenson Death Squad" has replaced "Nice Guy Todd and the Nazis" as my go-to band name. So no way Quinn comes out of it, right? This is not that kind of show. Hell no. And if he *does*, he's not going to be a featured character - they essentially said he's going to be a vegetable if he survives. That felt a lot like a series finale, even though it got renewed for another season. Saul is miserable. Carrie is moving on and devastated. Quinn's done as a relevant character, if not as a living character. And that's really it for the core cast anymore - they've done a pretty good job cycling the peripherals out without uselessly killing them like 24 always did.

Yankees-Red Sox and Giants-Dodgers five times in the first 16 Sundays, including Yanks-Sawx on BACK TO BACK SUNDAYS. THIS IS BASEBALL HELL.

Fuck my team.

The AL West is going to be a blast this year. Until the Angels end up winning 98 games and getting swept in the ALDS again.

The OF market as a whole is a mess still. Baltimore is the ideal option for Cespedes or Upton, but they seem content to play this cat and mouse bullshit with Chris Davis.

They're clearly *better*, it's more of an issue of "how much" better. Going from Inciarte to Tomas in the OF could be catastrophic defensively though, and not enough to make up for the upgrade from Hellickson to Miller in the rotation. If the Giants take care of their outfield issue properly, I think they're the favorites in the West, fwiw. Something, something, defending National League Champions, something. I don't think it's a shot against the Mets to say they look a bit worse then they did going into the playoffs. Real questions with the bats on that team again. Really, there aren't many teams in the NL that look like they took big steps forward so far this off-season. Cards lost Heyward, gained not much, Pirates have lost some pitching, Dodgers are out Greinke and have nothing to show yet, Nats have stood pat due to all there targets deciding "I'd really much rather go to the Cubs instead, so...", and the Mets haven't accomplished anything yet. It's really only been Chicago, San Fran, and Arizona that have taken steps forward, and the cost Arizona took to take those steps forward is very questionable. Yeah, this. The Mets clearly upgraded up the middle with Walker and Cabrera and upgraded by virtue of Cuddyer's retirement, but still haven't replaced Cespedes' bat. Conforto/Lagares/Granderson is fine, but I think you have to expect from regression from Grandy. Still like them in the NL East, though. Also, Bart re-upped with the Mets for another year. CHAMPIONSHIP.

Santana will be the DH/part-time 1B/part-time C, I'd assume. NL is looking top-heavy again. Cubs look like the class of the league again, with the Pirates, Nationals, Cardinals, and Mets in the next tier and the three NL West teams (Giants, Dodgers, DBacks) kicking the shit out of each other. It's still obviously early this winter, but the Cards and Dodgers have taken huge steps back this winter, while the other non-Cubs teams have largely stood pat and the Diamondbacks got a lot better. As for the shit teams? The Braves will be terrible. The Brewers and Reds will be shambolic. The Rockies will either be mediocre (if they don't trade any outfielders) or bad (if they do strip down the OF). The Padres will be thoroughly mediocre. The Marlins could put it together and compete for a playoff spot if the dysfunction doesn't tear them apart. The Phillies will be better, but still pretty dire. American League? Now this will be interesting. I don't think there's a truly shit team except maybe Oakland. AL Central and West are going to be a bloodbath, four really dangerous looking teams in each of those divisions. White Sox will be better, but I don't think they can compete. Tigers will be better and can go on a tear if they stay healthy. Seattle is also looking a lot better on paper. And then...there's the East. The Orioles could be pretty bad if they don't replace Chen or Davis. The Jays are back to being mediocre. The Rays are the Rays. The Yankees are still the Yankees. The Red Sox are obviously much improved. This could be a one horse race.

Todd Frazier to the White Sox in a three team deal also involving the Dodgers. The Dodgers gave up less than the Reds and got more. That's amazing.

The slow burn over the last three or so episodes has been insane. For a show that had been so frantic at times in its history, it's a wild change of pace that is making the season so much better.

It's because Matt Schaub is already hurt and Jimmy Clausen is Jimmy Clausen.

When pro sports franchises say they're losing money, they're usually full of shit. Especially when that sport's revenues have reached a record high for like the 13th straight year. But hey, here's $60 million guaranteed on JA Happ and Marco Estrada! Enjoy battling for third place again, Jays fans!

fwiw, Rose actually lied about still betting on baseball in the Manfred interview before admitting he still did. The dude had one job - show Manfred he had changed. He fucked that up.

The DFS argument is a load of bullshit because players and league employees are, you know, banned from playing it. Not like David Carpenter is bringing in five figures a night by loading up on Kris Bryant dingers.

Justice, Gant, Larry, Andruw, McGriff, Javy, Klesko...then the short term guys like Estrada, Castilla, Sheffield, Drew, Giles, etc. They're not scrubs! And let's call a spade a spade - the only two homegrown guys that were long-term starters were Smoltz and Glavine. Avery blew out quickly. Maddux was a hired gun. Neagle was a trade. Millwood was dumped when he got expensive (and thanks to Maddux accepting arb). It's not as if the rotation was constantly churning out these top tier starters year after year.