Prof. Thomas H. Marwick, University of Queensland Department of Medicine, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Ipswich Road, Brisbane, Qld 4012, Australia.
The classical ischemic cascade anticipates perfusion disturbances to precede the development of wall motion abnormalities, but does not account for regional heterogeneity of both perfusion and function. In this issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Xie et al. (1) examine the impact of subendocardial ischemia (identified using real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography [MCE]) on myocardial thickening during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). The subendocardium is the crucible of myocardial dysfunction in many diseases. This part of the myocardium is furthest from the epicardial coronary vessels, compressed by the intracavitary pressure as well as the remainder of the myocardium, and characterized by different myocardial fiber orientation (and therefore contraction vector) from the rest of the myocardium. The subendocardium is not only involved in ischemic heart disease, but also in hypertensive heart disease (2) and perhaps in small vessel disease (3,4). However, the ability to characterize subendocardial function and perfusion has—until recently—been limited.
Myocardial contrast echocardiography is 1 of 2 new imaging techniques that may address the ability to examine subendocardial perfusion in clinical practice. Previous experimental studies of MCE during dipyridamole stress have shown a transmural gradient of flow when hyperemic flow was reduced by 75%, despite preservation of wall thickening (5). This discrepancy between subendocardial malperfusion and preserved function occurred over a small window—both subendocardial and subepicardial flow were preserved at 50% reduction of hyperemic flow, and at a 90% reduction of hyperemic flow, both were reduced. The work of Xie et al. (1) represents the clinical analog of these findings. The investigators studied 94 patients with normal resting function, 55 of whom had a significant left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis. Wall thickening was visually assessed after contrast destruction and during myocardial contrast replenishment. End-systolic and -diastolic images of the subendocardial defect and entire wall thickness were chosen to measure subendocardial and transmural wall thickening, respectively. The majority of defects were subendocardial, and most of these appeared to have normal transmural wall thickening, despite reduced subendocardial wall thickening. Although quantitative transmural wall thickening failed to augment relative to baseline in those with abnormal subendocardial perfusion, the investigators showed a trend in wall thickening between those with normal through reduced subendocardial wall thickening and those with transmural abnormalities of wall thickening.
Myocardial contrast echocardiography has been shown to improve the sensitivity of stress echocardiography, as well as enhance the detection of coronary stenoses in the nonculprit territory (6). Although left ventricular opacification can be justified in patients with suboptimal image quality, the conventional wisdom is that myocardial contrast is not a useful or necessary adjunct to wall motion assessment in all stress echocardiograms. Many studies are clearly normal (no significant coronary disease) or clearly abnormal (significant disease, often in multiple vessels), and these extremes are easy to recognize and easy to show concordance between reviewers. Perfusion analysis has the most to offer in patients with intermediate lesion severity, where wall motion changes are subtle and may be missed. However, the results of this study suggest that MCE is effective in part because residual subepicardial thickening with dobutamine hides the functional effects of subendocardial ischemia. These findings could be an argument in favor of routine use of MCE during stress echocardiography. Unfortunately, although the combination of MCE with stress echocardiography may improve sensitivity (especially in those with stenoses of borderline severity or multivessel stenoses), this may be at the cost of lower specificity. As the enhancement of sensitivity relates largely to the better recognition of mild disease, which is often prognostically benign, failure to improve specificity may limit the cost-effectiveness of MCE (7).
This is an interesting and well-performed study, but the sensitivity of dobutamine stress in the study (57% during myocardial contrast replenishment) is less than usually reported (8) and warrants clarification. The quoted sensitivity reflects only the positivity in the left anterior descending territory, rather than the sensitivity for the study as a whole, which may have been positive due to a left circumflex or right coronary artery lesion. Moreover, the visual assessment of wall thickening includes not only amplitude but also timing, and the measurement of systolic thickening only at end-systole would have precluded the recognition of tardokinesis. However, even without measurement in a single frame, frame rates of 20 to 25 Hz are suboptimal for wall motion assessment. In addition, the study population had a number of patients with concentric left ventricular remodeling, which may compromise the sensitivity of wall motion analysis (9). Finally, bubble destruction in the apex may have led to overestimation of apical thickening.
The extent to which subendocardial defects may account for false negative exercise echocardiograms is an important question that warrants attention. Despite its easier performance, the sensitivity of DSE is somewhat less than that of exercise echocardiography, and defect extent is often smaller (10). Relatively lower afterload and the potent inotropic stimulus may lead to reduced left ventricular cavity size, lower wall stress, and reduced sensitivity, especially among those with concentric remodeling. Therefore, DSE may represent the "worst case" scenario for this mismatch between perfusion and function, and exercise echocardiograms, with higher wall stress and more extensive defects, may have fewer instances where ischemia is limited to the subendocardium.
Although this study has important implications for interpretation of DSE, the findings also support the use of MCE in the clinical assessment of subendocardial perfusion and function. Experimental studies have addressed these entities using microspheres and microcrystals (11), but these are not clinical tools. The spatial resolution of positron emission tomography and single photon emission tomography are not well suited to this work, although such data might be obtainable with image processing strategies. Cardiac magnetic resonance assessment of perfusion may be made semiquantitatively, based on the change of signal intensity over time (similar to the principles of MCE) during the hyperenhancement of hypoperfused tissue with the first pass of gadolinium, although there are noncontrast alternatives (12). Although more difficult to perform, the echocardiographic technique is easier to apply in the acute setting, more versatile in terms of the types of stress agents, and can be obtained in real time. The combination of regional perfusion with quantification of myocardial deformation in different layers and in different dimensions may enable this tool to be used to assess both transmural perfusion and functional gradients.
Supported in part by a Clinical Centre of Research Excellence award from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
(2008) Detection of subendocardial ischemia in the left anterior descending coronary artery territory with real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography during dobutamine stress echocardiography. J Am Coll Cardiol Img 1:271–278.
(2007) From hypertension to heart failure: role of nitric oxide-mediated endothelial dysfunction and emerging insights from myocardial contrast echocardiography. Am J Cardiol 99:7D–14D.
(2008) Quantification of transmural gradient of blood flow in myocardial ischemia with real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography and dipyridamole stress test. Ultrasound Med Biol 34:22–30.
(1994) Comparative ability of dobutamine and exercise stress in inducing myocardial ischaemia in active patients. Br Heart J 72:31–38.
(1992) Myocardial contrast echocardiography and the transmural distribution of flow: a critical appraisal during myocardial ischemia not associated with infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol 20:1005–1016.
(2005) Role of CMR in assessment of myocardial perfusion. Eur Radiol 15(Suppl 2):B42–B47.


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Xbox Media Briefing Wrap Up
Last month, when Microsoft announced the Xbox One, they focused largely on the hardware, promising that E3 was going to be "all about the games", as Don Mattrick had said. Today's Xbox E3 2013 Media Briefing largely delivered on that promise. The spotlight was clearly on the Xbox One at the event, with no less than 13 exclusive titles announced.
Wisely avoiding mention of kinect games, TV, or DRM, Microsoft detailed a lineup largely aimed at core gamers this morning. The event opened with a world premiere gameplay trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Now confirmed for the Xbox One, the game promises realtime weather conditions, open world gameplay, and dynamic close quarters combat. Immediately after, Hideo Kojima took the stage to briefly discuss the game with Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business President, Don Mattrick.
Following the Metal Gear Solid 5 footage, Yusuf Medhi had a handful of Xbox 360 news to present – namely, a smaller, thinner new Xbox 360 console styled after the Xbox One that is in stores today, confirmation that existing Xbox Live subscriptions do in fact carry over to the Xbox One, and Xbox Live Gold members will receive 2 free games on demand titles per month starting this July. Next up was a surprise reveal from WarGaming.net; popular free to play action game World of Tanks will be coming to the Xbox 360 this summer. Trailers for Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Dark Souls II closed out the Xbox 360 segment of today's media briefing.
Opening the Xbox One portion of the event, Phil Harrison took the stage – at which time, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition was announced, along with the crytek developed action title Ryse. No longer a kinect title, it is now officially cryengine 3 powered, and has been renamed to Ryse: Son of Rome. In perhaps the biggest surprise of the morning, a new title in the fan favorite Killer Instinct franchise was revealed as an Xbox One exclusive. After the Killer Instinct reveal, Ted Price announced a new Insomniac Games' title, entitled Sunset Overdrive. According to Price, this Xbox One exclusive shooter promises to be 'fast paced, traversal driven, and explosive'. Dan Greenwalt took the stage to talk about Forza 5. Boasting 60 frames per second, full HD visuals, advanced AI, and the new cloud based drivatar system, which learns how you race, and races online even when you're not playing.
Later, Remedy's Sam Lake was introduced to present a world premiere gameplay trailer to Quantum Break, an action adventure Xbox One exclusive. Part game, part in-game TV show, actions taken in the former will impact the latter. Next up, a new game from Deadly Premonition creator Swery65, D4 was briefly teased.
After the D4 video, Dave McCarthy took the stage to reveal Project Spark, an easy to use game creation tool. This Windows 8 and Xbox One cross platform title gives the player the ability to create a full game using basic elements such as landscapes, textures, and non-player characters. Additionally, Spark supports Xbox SmartGlass, to use a companion device to manipulate the game world. Games created can be shared with the community, and uploaded levels can be remixed and built upon at will.
Breaking away from game specific announcements, several enhancements to Xbox Live were announced – namely, instant SmartGlass enabled in-game stats and a new timeline, Xbox Upload studio to edit and share gaming videos, built-in Twitch.TV streaming functionality, and the ability to share Xbox Live with multiple accounts. Also, by popular demand, the former limit of 100 Xbox Live friends has been lifted, and Microsoft Points are going to be discontinued, in favor of local currency.
The veritable flurry of Xbox One announcements didn't end there. Josh Bridge and Mike Jones, of Capcom Vancouver, announced that Dead Rising 3 is coming to the Xbox One, and unlike the first two games in the series, is exclusive to the Xbox One. Featuring a new hero, mechanic Nick Ramos, and boasting a massive open world with no load times, Dead Rising 3 will be available this holiday season. Two third party game demos, that of Battlefield 4 and The Witcher 3 followed. The former is slated to receive a timed exclusive "second assault" map pack.
A bombastic trailer for a fifth entry in the storied Halo Franchise was shown. Deliberately light on information, (and thus far not yet bearing a Halo 5 namesake), it will be released sometime next year.
Last, but certainly not least, came the long anticipated reveal of Respawn Entertainment's first title: TitanFall, a sci-fi infused first person/mech shooter.
Xbox One will be available on November 21, 2013 for $499.99 USD.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Pastor Dan Freemyer Uses University Graduation for Political Platform
OpinionsPoliticsReligion
By Tabitha Korol	 On Jun 3, 2019
Baylor University graduates heard their spring commencement ceremony begin with a two-minute prayer by church minister Dan Freemyer who directly referenced the use of fossil fuels and straight male privilege in today's world. Photo: Screenshot, YouTube.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – Dan Freemyer, minister at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, recited a Benediction prayer at the Baylor University commencement on May 18, 2019. Toward the end, he prayed, "God, give them the moral imagination to reject the old keys that we are trying to give them, the planet that we are poisoning by running it on fossil fuels and misplaced priorities, a planet with too many white straight men like me behind the steering wheel while others are expected to sit at the back of the bus."
This was quite a plea. Rather than concentrate on the students as they celebrate the years of hard work, dedication to their studies and the financial sacrifices made by their families, and praise them as they make their formal entry into the adult work force to offer their contributions to our great nation, the speaker used the pulpit and the podium to call on God to promote his personal political message, an affront to our Judeo-Christian values.
Dedicated to leftism over Christianity, Freemyer is no more a Christian than Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer are Jewish. Despite his pastor title, he expressed concern about an "ecological calamity," which we know was invented solely to destroy capitalism, the only economic system since the Industrial Revolution that has contributed to the improvement of life on earth. The purpose of this evil scheme, confessed by United Nations official, Christiana Figueres, in February 2015, was to redistribute global wealth under the control of one ruling class, and despite the expose', it continues relentlessly. Globalists are determined to destroy life as we know it, through government changes, the schools and the media.
Why did the pastor denigrate "straight white men?" "Straight" because the majority of the LGBTQXYZ community was made ripe and easy prey to mobilize as a unified force. Considered the most divisive president in American history, Obama sparked racism with stories of his biased white grandmother and lies about a white girlfriend. He isolated Blacks, Latinos and Christians and ignored Black Lives Matter, black-on-white violence, and Islamic terrorism. He bashed Republicans, discredited Americans as lazy and police as stupid; and unfailingly supported Muslims against Christians and Jews. It is no surprise then that other groups separated from the united Americans we were, and became intersectional, each with its own grievances, its own obsession, and the LBGT community remained unmindful of the left's complicity with Islam and Islam's deadly hatred of homosexuality. Thus consumed, the community became an automatic Democrat voting bloc, as designed.
Although the pastor is himself white, he drank the Kool-Aid and allies himself against the "white men" who played an enormous role in the making of America and establishing our Judeo-Christian heritage as the foundation of our Constitution. White men are responsible for the laws that ended slavery in our country, and the laws that granted equality and suffrage to women, whereas slavery and abuse against women exist where the majority is people of color. His statement shows that he was among the many to be beguiled by the left, incited and duped into accepting immigrants based on the irrationality of skin color rather than on values, morality, and dedication to our country. The left finds the Obama administration's victimhood narrative appealing because it feeds their self-aggrandizement. Further, and perhaps more importantly, it is the masculinity of men that protects a nation in times of invasion and war, yet this is what today's schools are working to destroy.
Wars and destruction begin with lies, propaganda, encouraged fabrications of one group against another. They stimulate prejudice, unfairness, hate and violence. Our United States was founded by "white men" who resisted the tyranny of England to establish a country of new laws of the people, by the people, and for the people, words later enshrined in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Nowhere in the Bible or our Constitution is it permissible to honor or disgrace others.
The Bible teaches that Adam is our common ancestor, so that there would be no difference between king and commoner, or between people of different colors. These lessons were included in the Commandments and throughout biblical history to create a peaceful world out of chaos, to teach respect and compassion, yet this "man of the cloth" turned against those teachings. We saw the reflection of his guilt when he stopped looking at his audience after inserting his leftist assertion. It was further defined when he completed his speech, turned, and left without a fare-thee-well for their future.
Freemyer stole the honor of work, diligence, and achievement for which the students were to be recognized on this auspicious occasion, and the joy that only a small percentage of the world's population reaps in a lifetime. He purloined the dignity and the festivity when he humiliated the "white" students in public, and he tricked other students into laughing or applauding, thus also diminishing their integrity.
With the same stroke, he suggested the socialist plan for equalization of grades or wealth, and disallowing success based on diligence and innate talents. This is not an act of benevolence for the less successful, but a way of justifying the right to take anything from anyone at any time – what he wants when he wants it – a surefire way to chaos and bloodshed.
I understand that Baylor University was not complicit in scripting the Benediction, and President Linda Ann Parrack Livingstone has nobly rejected and apologized for Freemyer's ignoble presentation. Yet the event will forever be a tainted memory for the students who deserved better.
Tabitha Korol
Author of "Confronting the Deception," Tabitha Korol began her political career after 9/11, with letters to the editor and essays, developing a readership and earning two writing awards along the way. Her work appears on Conservative News and Views, Constitution.com, Dr. Swier, Grumpy Opinions, iPatriot, Israel News Talk Radio, Israel's Voice, Jewish Voice NY, Liberty News & Views, Renew America and others.
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The knobby, brown roots were piled in a box at the Tangled Oak Farm stand at the winter Bangor Farmers' Market. I was there for stew meat, and maybe some eggs for breakfast, but seeing those brown tubers, I got excited. I've rarely seen them in stores and never in farmers markets, so it was a wonderful unicorn moment for me.
"Are those sunchokes," I asked, pointing at the pile.
"Yes!" said the man who I've been buying meat from for nearly two years. I wondered how many folks had seen them and known what they were. I've written about them before, and love their creamy texture, and lovely nutty flavor.
So I bought some. Almost a pound, piled into a brown paper sack, perfect for roasting.
Sunchokes, Jerusalem artichokes, sun roots, earth apples. However you know them, these tubers that look like a cross between a potato and ginger root are actually a relative of the sunflower. They can be eaten raw or cooked, though I've only had them cooked which renders them wonderfully creamy. The flavor is a cross between a red potato and an artichoke — it's delicious, especially when roasted simply, as in the recipe below.
I hear they also make a delightful pureed soup.
However, it's important to note that you should enjoy sunchokes in moderation. A pound of these can feed two to four … and do resist the urge to eat them all yourself. They're known to cause gas, and other stomach discomforts, which is exacerbated in painful ways when you eat a lot of them.
Yes. I know that from experience.
Where can you find them? Tangled Oak Farm tells me that they will be back at the Bangor Farmers' Market this Sunday with the last of their crop.
The winter market has one last biweekly market scheduled for this Sunday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. inside the Sea Dog Brewing Company at 26 Front Street, on the Bangor Waterfront.
Anyway, once you get these babies home, you need to stick 'em in the crisper drawer. Refrigerating them will keep them hard and ready for cooking.
Looking for more sunchokes recipe ideas? Serious Eats has a great resource with several ideas.


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New Report on Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Raises Serious Concerns about Corporate Misalignment
By john a. powell
Mar 9, 2016 |	Microeconomics |	Trade
The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society's report analyzes the Trans-Pacific Partnership and examines the widespread global implications in the event of its passage.
A new report by the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley finds that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the mega-regional trade deal, raises serious concerns about how a world economy reregulated to suit corporate interests would undermine public accountability, transparency, and democratic participation.
Co-authored by john a. powell, Elsadig Elsheikh, and Hossein Ayazi, the Haas Institute's analysis underscores how the TPP would grant greater transnational corporate influence over the fate of one third of all world trade, with TPP signatory members producing 40 percent of all global economic output.
The TPP's nuanced provisions will give corporations the power to evade environmental regulations, bypass national courts and override governments, and control workers' movements throughout the TPP countries.
Since the release of TPP text, debate has emerged over whether the trade deal will, in fact, stimulate economic growth and create jobs or violate labor laws and tank the economies of developing nations. While these discussions address important concerns, they have also overshadowed the deeper implications of the TPP. If it passes, the TPP would threaten key democratic principles, such as transparency and public accountability.
The TPP will drastically erode national and international protections for labor, including driving down the wages of US workers by putting them into competition with poorly paid TPP countries' workers. Restrictions on generic medicines will surge the prices of drugs throughout the world, with serious implications on global health and wellbeing. TPP also reduces environmental protections that minimize the harm caused by logging, trafficking, and pollution. These are just a few examples of impacts egregious and large enough in scale to warrant public scrutiny.
john a. powell
Director, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society (HIFIS), University of California at Berkeley
john a. powell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties and a wide range of issues including race, structural racism, ethnicity, housing, poverty, and democracy.
More from john a. powell
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New gene therapy technique cures deafness in mice
By Matthew Griffin Enhanced Humans and Biotech 8th February 2017
Millions of people around the world suffer from deafness, now scientists might be zero'ing in on a new cure that could change their lives forever
In 2015, a team at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) reported restoring the hearing in genetically deaf mice using gene therapy. Now the Boston Children's research team reports restoring a much higher level of hearing, down to 25 decibels, which is the equivalent of a whisper, using an improved gene therapy vector developed at HMS' Massachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE) laboratory.
Tumour-on-a-Chip invention could accelerate new cancer treatments
While previous gene therapy treatments have only been able to penetrate the cochlea's inner hair cells they showed that one treatment technique, called Anc80, that used synthetic genes, was able to safely transfer genes to the hard to reach outer hair cells of the ear.
"We have shown that Anc80 works remarkably well in terms of infecting cells of interest within the inner ear," said Konstantina Stankovic, an Otologic Surgeon at MEE and associate professor of Otolaryngology at HMS, "with more than 100 genes already known to cause deafness in humans, there are many patients who may eventually benefit from this technology."
In the latest study, led by Gwenaëlle Géléoc, PhD, of the Department of Otolaryngology at BCH, studied mice with a mutation in Ush1c, the same mutation that causes Usher type 1c deafness, as well as a loss of balance, in humans. The mutation causes a protein called harmonin to switch off, and as a result the sensory hair cell bundles in the ear responsible for receiving sound and signalling the brain deteriorate and become disorganised, causing profound hearing loss.
In the latest trials when the teams used Anc80 to deliver a new, corrected Ush1c gene into the inner ears of the mice, the inner and outer hair cells in the cochlea began to produce normal full-length harmonin and the hair cells formed normal, organised bundles that responded to sound waves and signalled the brain, restoring the mice's hearing.
"The latest treatment is the most effective one we've tested," Géléoc says, "outer hair cells amplify sound, allowing inner hair cells to send a stronger signal to the brain. We now have a system that works well and rescues auditory and vestibular function to a level that's never been achieved before."
Genetically engineered male moths programmed to kill off females released into the wild
Most importantly, deaf mice treated soon after birth also began to hear. Géléoc and colleagues showed this first in a "startle box," which detects whether a mouse jumps in response to sudden loud sounds. When they next measured responses in the auditory regions of the brain, a more sensitive test, the mice responded to much quieter sounds, with 19 out of 25 mice hearing sounds quieter than 80 decibels, and a few could even hear sounds as soft as 25decibels, like normal mice.
"Now, you can whisper, and they can hear you," said Géléoc.
Margaret Kenna, MD, MPH, a specialist in genetic hearing loss at BCH who does research on Usher syndrome, is excited about the work.
"Anything that could stabilize or improve native hearing at an early age would give a huge boost to a child's ability to learn and use spoken language," she says, "cochlear implants are great, but your own hearing is better in terms of range of frequencies, nuance for hearing voices, music and background noise, and figuring out which direction a sound is coming from. In addition, the improvement in balance could translate to better and safer mobility for Usher Syndrome patients."
Since patients, and mice, with Usher 1c also have balance problems caused by hair-cell damage in the vestibular organs of the ear, the researchers also tested whether gene therapy restored balance and it did and the mice were able to stay on a rotating rod for longer periods without falling off.
While further work is needed before the technology can be brought to patients it's a promising start and one day, just as we've recently seen how gene therapy can cure blindness, now we might also see it cure deafness.
Boston Children's HospitalGene EditingGene TherapyHarvard Medical SchoolHealthcare IndustryHearingUSA
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Kuzul
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Tag: Jason Vargas
Jason Vargas Injury: Updates on Royals P's Flexor and Return
by Adam Wells under MLB
Kansas City Royals left-hander Jason Vargas has landed on the disabled list for the second time this season due to an elbow injury.
Continue for updates.
Vargas Strains Flexor Muscle
According to the Royals' official Twitter feed, Vargas has a left flexor strain, and the team will bring up Brandon Finnegan from Triple-A to take his spot:
Vargas missed three weeks in May with the same injury. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reported on May 8 that the injury can serve as a "precursor for Tommy John surgery" because the flexor muscle protects the ulnar collateral ligament, but he was able to return for three starts after coming off the DL.
In his most recent outing on June 8, Vargas pitched well against the Minnesota Twins, with six shutout innings in a 3-1 win.
Finnegan does have MLB experience, appearing in seven regular-season games last year and five so far in 2015. The Royals have used Finnegan as a starter and reliever in the minors, as he's made five starts in nine appearances. He does give manager Ned Yost options to play with as he reworks his rotation without Vargas.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
AL Central, Baseball, Breaking News, Jason Vargas, Kansas City Royals Leave a Comment more...
Los Angeles Angels' Offseason Shopping List
by Rick Suter under MLB
When it comes to acquisitions this offseason, don't expect the Los Angeles Angels to act like an organization planning for an episode of Supermarket Sweep.
After a long season riddled with injury, pitching issues, and lack of production from high-priced pieces in Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols, we know the team will certainly look to restructure from a 78-84 record.
But a winning formula won't involve rushing around the offseason market, attempting to fill the proverbial shopping cart with expensive, top-tier players.
It can't, actually.
From a tax threshold perspective, that's not the kind of reality afforded to this team—not when they are still on the hook for past moves like Vernon Wells (18 million), present moves like Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton ($71 million total) and questionable tie-ins for next season like Joe Blanton ($8.5 million).
Instead, with $125 million already on the books for next season, the Angels' offseason shopping list will be more of the money-saving variety, filled with smart moves that may not make a huge splash among the media, but will help the team progress into next season and after that.
Problem is, though, we still aren't 100-percent sure who will be orchestrating this new cost-controlled method, or overseeing any of the looming arbitration.
The Angels' season wasn't even a day past old before we started to see the question of the Angels' offseason pop up:
As it stands today, any such drastic and quick-to-the-point actions by Arte Moreno toward either Jerry Dipoto or Mike Scioscia have not happened. And I'm still on board with keeping both of them next season, giving more attention to development and less to moves that will waste time due to acclimation this winter.
However, I don't think my opinion is of the majority out there.
If there were a change, then, oddly enough, the first category on the Angels' list would have to be names of free agent GMs and managers.
But the list would not be equal parts.
Managers, at least the kind that could handle Moreno, aren't really in abundance. And Joe Girardi isn't coming to Anaheim via New York. Simple enough.
So by default, and a lot of cash left on his contract, Scioscia looks to be safe. Or, at least, safer.
Jerry Dipoto? Well…
The real interest should come from the GM position, in my mind, and now ex-Marlins GM Larry Beinfest.
Though nothing has been whipped up yet, the idea of Beinfest replacing Dipoto—the more expendable of the two sacrifice candidates—is a possibility.
(The interesting thing: Much like the Dipoto/Scioscia head-butting, I have read that Beinfest had similar issue in Florida.)
Either way, we should expect to see more and more of the dysfunction—the behind-the-scenes drama played out in front of the cameras. And, of course, a verdict from Moreno.
After that, it's all about the pitching—yep, baseball stuff, I know…very cool.
The Angels' pitching staff did have the unfortunate obstacle of injury throughout the season. Players who were brought in to help the bullpen—Sean Burnett and Ryan Madson—didn't have the impact the Angels expected simply because of health, and the rotation suffered setbacks seemingly every month too.
Jered Weaver, the one arm that needed to be healthy for the rotation to have a chance, suffered a broken elbow.
Jason Vargas, a complement to C.J. Wilson as a left-handed option had a blood clot in his armpit, and his fellow first-year Angels pitcher Tommy Hanson had both on-field and off-field circumstances.
It was a mess, no question. And sometimes, when there has been such a string of bad timing, the question then becomes: What if?
What if the rotation stayed healthy?
What if the bullpen stayed healthy?
There is nothing wrong with that feeling, either.
When you look at some of the improvements from Garrett Richards in the rotation, the continued growth of Ernesto Frieri as a closer and the ability of relievers Dane De La Rosa and Michael Kohn, things aren't as dire as one might expect.
When Jerry Dipoto addressed the media, he sounded like he had confidence in some of the current options on the 2013 Angels' roster:
There's a championship core there. And now we have to figure out, amongst ourselves, as we collaborate throughout the offseason, what are the moves that we can make that will improve this.
Improving on a tight budget? It can be done (see 2013 playoff-bound teams).
Sure, it would be nice if things could fit into a category like Chevy Chase's rubber gloves in Fletch (he leased them, with an option to buy). But that isn't the case for the Angels, unfortunately, so the team will have to be extremely delicate with each decision.
Vargas, the one and only free-agent option, is second on the list behind a manager or GM—if applicable.
The left-hander showed decent stuff this season, with a curveball that actually improved the life (the look of it, at least) of his fastball.
He wasn't completely strong following the blood clot that sidelined him this summer—he went 3-4 with a 4.60 ERA in his final 10 starts, ending at 9-8 with a 4.02 mark—but lefties are always a commodity when it comes to offseason moves, making Vargas an intriguing free agent.
It also makes him expensive—too expensive for the Angels?
I imagine the team will attempt to negotiate with Vargas, though it's doubtful they will have the flexibility to offer the $14 million before Vargas hits the market.
That leaves only the unknown—something manager Mike Scioscia knows is difficult:
Free agency gets complicated. There's no doubt that he's given our rotation a boost as he's come back into it from being injured. You'd love to see him in an Angel uniform, but we've been through this before. You just never know how free agency works out.
If Vargas does fall through it's not the end of the world. The Angels have other options to acquire cost-controlled arms through trades and even the international market.
The latter of the two sheds light on an interesting story: The Angels, a team that has not exactly been an international presence in the past, reportedly will bid for the service of 24-year-old Masahiro Tanaka of Japan.
Though his posting fee, as LA Times' Mike Giovanna explains, would be around $25 million, none of that cash would go toward the luxury tax threshold ($189 million).
Tanaka, then, could be the best game-ready, cost-controlled arm—assuming the Angels would be enticing enough to win the bidding war. That, like everything else in the offseason, is still an unknown.
If that doesn't play out in favor of the Angels, the option would be to trade a player or package a deal of players for pitching.
This scenario will sting a bit.
As I had previously written, Mark Trumbo stands as the best chip for the Angels. His bat and youth are certainly worth a quality, young arm.
The Pirates had reportedly shown interest in him around the trade deadline, but nothing came of it. (In light of their current playoff position, I am not sure the Pirates would be willing to part with an arm like prospect Jameson Taillon now like they would have then.)
The option will need to be explored by the Angels, though. Whether favorable or not, the spending ceiling the Angels have only allows for so much wiggle room.
Trumbo will help alleviate some of that pressure. And, because of the progress of Kole Calhoun and the hope of Albert Pujols returning to form next season, Trumbo is actually an expendable player.
Not happy about that? I get it.
The next option would be to throw Howie Kendrick into the discussion.
The veteran second baseman was on his way to a really solid season before the leg injury that caused him to miss most of the final month.
Out of that situation, however, came Grant Green—who has the ability to take over the second base role next season.
That leaves Kendrick, like Trumbo, in sort of an expendable position. If he can't be moved in a one-for-one type trade, then perhaps a package deal—with the likes of Peter Bourjos, J.B. Shuck, Kole Calhoun, Kevin Jepsen, etc.—could get done.
Again, there isn't a real certainty there. The Blue Jays reportedly had interest in Kendrick at the trade deadline (and after), but the Angels were not willing to negotiate.
With the Blue Jays current debacle, I wouldn't think their biggest priority would be landing Howie Kendrick. Like the Angels, I would imagine it's more about pitching, pitching, and more pitching.
Isn't that true for every team, though? Pitching is key.
Mike Scioscia explained that (per Mike DiGiovanna):
If you look at any team that wins, they're pretty good at controlling the game on the defensive end. And that begins with your rotation.
Sounds like 2012 going into 2013, doesn't it?
It's like a bad joke: Pete and Repeat walk into a room. Pete leaves. Who's left? Repeat.
The Angels need pitching…again.
They need rotation help…again.
Taking another crack at solidifying the bullpen won't hurt either…again.
And when you really dissect the entire offseason maneuvering, the Angels shopping list is actually less of a list and more like one post-it note.
P.S: "Don't forget to pick up some pitching while you are out."
Note: All stats provided were courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
Follow Rick Suter on Twitter@rick_suter
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MLB Trade Rumors: Hottest Weekend Waiver Wire Buzz
by Jason Martinez under MLB
As of August 30, 16 major league teams either hold a playoff spot or are within 6.5 games of one and could be looking to improve their playoff chances by making a waiver-wire deal by tomorrow's deadline to add players who will be eligible for a playoff roster.
Eleven August trades have happened thus far:
The Texas Rangers acquired outfielder Alex Rios from the Chicago White Sox for prospect Leury Garcia.
The Kansas City Royals picked up utility infielder Jamey Carroll from the Minnesota Twins and utility man Emilio Bonifacio from the Toronto Blue Jays, both for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
The Tampa Bay Rays acquired lefty reliever Wesley Wright from the Houston Astros for cash considerations.
The Washington Nationals acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.
The Oakland A's acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki and cash from the Nationals for minor league pitcher Dakota Bacus.
The Rays acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Nationals for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
The Pirates acquired catcher John Buck and outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Mets for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and reliever Vic Black.
The Indians acquired outfielder Jason Kubel from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
The Cardinals acquired reliever John Axford from the Brewers for a player to be named later.
The Orioles acquired first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse from the Mariners for outfielder Xavier Avery.
With a few trade possibilities still lingering, here's all of the latest waiver-trade buzz from around the league.
Nationals Resurgence Taking Dan Haren Off the Market?
As Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported earlier in the week, there hasn't been strong interest in Nationals right-hander Dan Haren, who has a 2.53 ERA in his past 53 innings pitched. But could it be that the Nats just aren't that interested in dealing him now that they've closed to within striking distance of a wild-card spot.
With 14 wins in their past 19 games, the Nats have improved their record to 68-65. While they've gained just 2.5 games in the wild-card standings over that span—they've moved from nine back to six-and-a-half back—it's close enough to where it's a realistic possibility. After failing to live up to very lofty expectations all season long, trading one of their best starting pitchers at a time when things are finally clicking on all cylinders just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Red Sox Could Add Bullpen Help
Tim Britton of the Providence Journal notes that the Red Sox could use another right-handed reliever. While manager John Farrell says he's not too concerned—Ryan Dempster, who was the Cubs' closer from 2005-2007, will likely move to the bullpen once Clay Buchholz returns from the disabled list—it sounds like he's at least open to a deal if one made sense.
Junichi Tazawa, who is currently the lone right-handed setup man in the Sox's bullpen—Matt Thornton and Craig Breslow are the primary left-handed options—has had a terrific season (2.75 ERA, 59 IP, 9 BB, 63 K, 20 holds) but has allowed runs in consecutive appearances.
The 27-year-old has bounced back from bad outings before, which is why he's starting to be considered one of the top setup men in the league, but it would benefit the Sox to have another right-hander late in games to face tough right-handed hitters.
One option could be Matt Lindstrom (pictured), who would be the third White Sox player to be acquired by Boston this season—Thornton and Jake Peavy are the others. The 33-year-old right-hander, who cleared waivers earlier in the month, is holding right-handed batters to a .588 OPS. Overall, he has a 3.04 ERA with 17 holds and only one homer allowed in 53.1 innings.
The Justin Morneau Watch
It appeared that Justin Morneau (pictured) was giving the Twins a very nice going-away present in the form of an increased trade value after he started the month with 27 hits in 89 at-bats (.303 BA), including seven homers, seven doubles and 19 runs batted in. That value might have deflated some, however, during his current 1-for-23 slump.
Small samples usually don't sway a player's value one way or another during the season, but when a team is making a trade specifically for a small sample of the season—in this case, it would be about 30 games and possibly the playoffs—it would make sense to acquire a player when he's on a hot streak.
On the other hand, Morneau's price tag could've dropped just enough for a team like the Pirates to swoop in and pick him up for the stretch run without giving up any prospect of significance or taking on much of his remaining salary. The Bucs have shown interest in the past, and Rosenthal recently tweeted that they may be one team that is currently interested.
Two teams that may have been interested—Baltimore and Cleveland—can probably be ruled out of the mix after they recently acquired Michael Morse and Jason Kubel, respectively.
Other Last-Minute Trade Possibilities
A few interesting names that haven't popped up in the rumor mill, mostly due to these players being on the disabled list until recently, are Angels starter Jason Vargas and Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutierrez.
Vargas, who has made four starts since returning from a disabled list stint due to a blood clot in his armpit, has allowed just one earned run over 13.1 innings over his past two starts. The 30-year-old lefty was placed on waivers on August 19, according to Rosenthal, but there was no word on whether he cleared or not.
The likelihood is that he did pass through unclaimed, given his salary (still due close to $1.5 million) and the fact that he didn't pitch well in his first two outings (9.2 IP, 7 ER) after returning. If this is the case, contending teams looking to upgrade their rotation will be interested in striking a deal by tomorrow, especially after what he did versus the Rays on Thursday (7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K).
In the case of Gutierrez, there is no question that he is a huge injury risk, so giving up any prospect or taking on any salary will be viewed as a questionable decision. But in between all the time he's spent on the disabled list this season, he's been a very productive hitter and has always been good against left-handed pitching (.833 career OPS vs LHP), in particular. His three-hit performance on Thursday, which included his second homer in two games, could open some eyes.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported in early July that teams were calling about the 30-year-old, although he was out at the time and ended up missing more than two months with a hamstring injury before returning on Monday.
If a contending team is willing to take a chance and the M's will pick up some of the remaining $1.5 million in salary (approximately $1 million in 2013, $500K buyout in 2014), Gutierrez could be a difference-maker for a contending team down the stretch.
AL East, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Dan Haren, Franklin Gutierrez, Horsehide Chronicles, Jason Vargas, Justin Morneau, Matt Lindstrom, MLB Trade Rumors, Opinion Leave a Comment more...
Atlanta Braves: Starting Pitchers the Braves Should Be Targeting
by Matt Powers under MLB
With less than 72 hours remaining before the trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves are not having much luck when it comes to adding a starter to their rotation. They thought they landed Ryan Dempster from the Cubs, but Dempster was able to veto that deal. Since then Zack Greinke and Wandy Rodriguez were each dealt and Matt Garza got hurt.
That leaves high-priced options like James Shields and Josh Johnson as the top pitchers on the market, and both of those guys have been struggling this year. Francisco Liriano is even more unpredictable and wouldn't be much of an upgrade over the guys the Braves want to replace in the rotation.
This article takes a look at three guys the Braves should consider adding as a "plan B" after being unable to land one of the big guns without mortgaging the future. None of these guys will front a playoff rotation, but all would be an upgrade over the current back end of the rotation and will offer some consistency.
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Seattle Mariners: Projecting the 2012 Rotation
by Micah Chen under MLB
You hate to see a young stud pitcher like Michael Pineda go, but even with this loss, the Mariners' 2012 rotation isn't exactly in shambles.
Anytime Felix Hernandez is your ace pitcher, your rotation is going to be better than 40% of the teams in the league. Even if your other four pitchers are just average, you're still going to have an above-average rotation with King Felix at the top.
Several new pitchers have arrived, including Japanese sensation Hisashi Iwakuma.
With the departure of pitchers like Doug Fister, Erik Bedard, and Michael Pineda this 2012 rotation will look completely revamped.
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Seattle Mariners: Should Felix Hernandez or Another Starter Be Traded?
by Casey McLain under MLB
Even after extending Felix Hernandez, the Mariners were faced with speculation that they'd trade their ace at the beginning of 2011. In the past couple days there has been a ton of speculation in the media about the team trading Erik Bedard, Jason Vargas or Doug Fister.
The Mariners should trade one of these guys, if the package they get in return is right.
There are a ton of components that go into a decision to trade a starting pitcher, not the least of which is that starter's talent. We talk a lot about years of team control, which is certainly important, but are years of team control as valuable for a pitcher, presumed to be a back-of-the-rotation starter, as perhaps a mid-to-upper-rotation starter?
And in Bedard, Vargas and Fister, the team has guys who can easily be perceived by some teams as fits in any of their rotations slots.
Fister is a prime example of where years of team control hold less value. Fister is a guy who has ridden a low HR/FB ratio and lackluster peripherals to solid results. On talent alone, Fister is a pretty generic option in trade. He's a poor man's Kevin Millwood or Livan Hernandez. Sure, if a team traded for him, they'd have him under team control for four more years after 2012, but he's a huge regression candidate, especially in a different home ballpark (4.16 FIP career on the road, compared to 3.81 at Safeco) .
Even in Safeco, the chances of Fister's high wire act continuing is pretty slim and could be pushed out of the rotation by present farmhands in the next couple years. If the Mariners can get something of greater value for Fister, they should jump at the opportunity. I'd look for someone like Seth Smith from Colorado or Drew Sutton from Boston.
The other two pitchers, Bedard and Vargas, probably haven't reached the potential peak of their value yet. If either of them (or both!) keep pitching the way they are right now, a Cliff Lee-like package isn't completely out of the question.
Bedard is probably the more talented pitcher. He has a viable breaking ball and a better fastball. His problems, obviously, center on his health. This may lead the team, or fans, to want to trade Bedard as soon as possible, since he's a high injury risk, and an injury would destroy his value. However, because they've bought so low on the new version of Bedard, he seems like a solid value to keep around until at least the beginning of July. If he gets hurt the sunk costs are minimal, and if he's healthy, his value is likely to be at its peak by then.
Besides health, Bedard's limiting factor is his pending free agency. After missing all of last year, it's unlikely that Bedard is a Type A or B free agent after this season, and there is no guarantee that he remains the kind of bargain he has been for the Mariners so far this season (obviously not in the past).
Vargas is perhaps the most volatile. Just two days ago I proposed that the Mariners should either attempt to extend Vargas now, or this upcoming offseason, or never.
Just like the Mariners are at a critical point for Vargas' future with the team, they may be at a critical point for his future with another team. It makes sense for the team to explore a trade for him, but having a low-cost, under-30, effective pitcher in the rotation, makes a hell of a lot of sense too.
There isn't a ton of precedent for trading a guy with two years of team control, who is recently effective after a career full of struggles. Maybe the best comparable is Bronson Arroyo, who after two solid-ish years in Boston, was traded to Cincinnati for Wily Mo Pena about two weeks before the 2006 season. Pena's name may not inspire excitement, but he was a top hitting prospect, which is a pretty big return for a guy of that type.
Arroyo was a well-known member of the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox, an intangible asset (undoubtedly an overvalued one) that Vargas doesn't have. However, Vargas has posted better season prior to that.
The Mariners should trade one of these guys if it can improve the offense. But, they shouldn't trade Bedard or Vargas for anything but top prospects. While the market for starting pitchers is developing, it certainly isn't fully developed, and the Mariners should wait to trade either of the latter, or they'll be getting less than full value for the pitchers.
North and South of Royal Brougham offers articles like this, as well as articles about things like:
Michael Pineda's need for a nickname
The Seattle Sounders
The Seattle Seahawks Quarterback situation
Gary Payton's Love for Seattle
Nate Robinson's tweets, and how Seattle fans should receive them
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Seattle Mariners Rotation: Does Jason Vargas Deserve a Long Term Extension?
Jason Vargas has pitched his butt off this year, or his boobs as one Jeff Sullivan may say (Vargas really does look like Phil Mickelson in a baseball jersey). Nevertheless, Vargas is amidst his best season by far to this point.
For the record, I started writing this during the pregame show and thought I'd hold off to make sure Vargas didn't drop the ball last night. Instead, he went out and posted perhaps his best outing of the year, with apologies to his nine innings of shutout ball his last outing.
But the biggest questions that need asking when a player suddenly starts posting better results are: Why? And are the results sustainable?
When Jason Vargas came to Seattle in the J.J. Putz trade, he looked like a sub-Quad-A throw in. A guy who'd had some success in the minors, none in the majors, and below-average peripherals. He'd just missed the entire 2008 season with hip labrum surgery, and had lost velocity since his college days while failing to develop his off speed pitches.
Vargas struggled again in 2009, but then something changed. Vargas went from a guy who threw about 70 percent fastballs and 20 percent changeups to a guy who threw about 60 percent fastballs and 30 percent changeups. Though the results were better, the peripheral stats didn't really show improvement in 2010. His 4.60 xFIP was nearly equal to his 2009 4.61 xFIP.
Truth be told, it seemed like the only change in Vargas' game was where he played his home ones. That worked for the Mariners, obviously, as Vargas was cheap and effective. Even if he never fully developed his repertoire, he may be overvalued by some other team and could ultimately still have value to the Mariners in trade once his salary increased in arbitration.
Basically, by throwing the two pitches at that rate, he'd made the fastball a little worse in terms of results but gained it back two-fold on his changeup results. With that, Vargas had gone from being a passable Triple-A starter to an average-to-below-average major league starter who had above-average results.
But perhaps something has changed for Vargas. According to PITCHf/x, Vargas has introduced a cutter this season. This could mean a lot of things. Anecdotally, Vargas has been throwing a cutter for a lot longer. As PITCHf/x improves and evolves, their thresholds for certain pitches become more refined. However, Vargas came into the league as a fastball-slider guy, and PITCHf/x hasn't shown him throwing a single slider all year. They do have him throwing his cutter 22.6 percent of the time, which even if it had replaced his slider on Pitchf/x (which is nearly equal velocity), is nearly triple the frequency as he's ever thrown his slider.
Whatever it is, it has been far more effective to this point than either his fastball or slider have ever been, good for 2.75 runs above replacement for every 100 times he throws it.
Last night may be the ultimate display of keeping hitters off balance for Vargas, as he threw 34 four-seam fastballs, 33 cut-fastballs and 32 changeups. There was a total of 7.4 mph difference in average velocity, 3.6 between the four-seamer and the cutter and 3.8 between the cutter and the change.
What this has led to, in whatever capacity one believes, is that this year Vargas has struck out more hitters, kept more batted balls on the ground, while posting what amounts to a career-low in terms of walk rate.
So when considering an extension during arbitration years, the Mariners have a few tough questions to ask themselves: Is Jason Vargas as good as his results indicate? Will he be in two years? Is a prospective discount worth the risk of guaranteeing Vargas two or three years? How much of his success has to do with Safeco Field, and how replaceable is Vargas? And how have Vargas' contemporaries fared on the free-agent market?
The first two answers are highly debatable and fluid in nature until when the Mariners truly examine Vargas' viability.
The rest of them may be due for some perspective. Vargas is making $2.45 million this year, he'll have two more years of team control when the year is done, including two more trips to arbitration. If we subscribe to the 20-40-60-80 rule, Vargas would be due about $3.5 million in arbitration with equal production to last year, but a better 2011, which appears likely, and he'll be headed for a much greater pay day. If we assume that Vargas compiles a full season better than 2010, which is probably the only outcome that leads to an extension, he'd probably be looking at about $5 million.
If we presume an accelerated $5 million mark for the "60" portion of the value schedule, we can assume that he'd be looking at about $6.5 million in 2013, the year before his first shot at free agency. Last year, Vargas was worth 2.6 WAR, or $10.4 million according to Fangraphs. He appears to be en route to much greater value this year, already compiling 1.1 WAR in 2011. About a quarter of the way through the season so far, it isn't inconceivable to see Vargas post four wins this year, which would put his value around $20 million. If that happened, presuming a three-year deal which would buy out Vargas' arbitration years and one free-agent year, you're probably be looking at a contract range of $15-25 million.
Is any part of that a comfortable range? Vargas has essentially been good for the past about 250 innings, with only about 60 coming with supporting peripherals.
One of the major criticisms of Vargas is how heavily aided he is by Safeco Field. He's pitched well at the home-ball park and not so well on the road. Though this year's splits are much less defined (in a tiny road sample), there may be reason to believe that the gap between Vargas' home FIP and xFIP, as well as ERA, are sustainable, as it logically makes sense for Vargas' HR/FB to stay low in the power-sapping Safeco Field.
The hardest thing for Vargas to sustain, and ultimately the deciding factor for the viability and size of an extension, is his success on the road. So far this year, Vargas has a 47.8 percent ground-ball rate on the road, compared to a 35.5 percent for his career. If the cutter is doing it, there is something presently-unquantifiable that the Mariners may be able to look on as a building block for future success, but if it isn't when Vargas regresses back to his mean, and his newly-found increased ground-ball rate go away, so will his positive results.
There really hasn't been a great market set for pitchers like Vargas' in the past couple years. His low walk and strikeout total are unmatched by the likes of Ted Lilly, Randy Wolf and Jorge de la Rosa. Each averages more strikeouts and more walks, while being skewed toward a fly-ball propensity. Each entered actual free agency, which Vargas won't see for two more years. And each signed a three-year contract worth close to $30 million.
The best comparable is Wandy Rodriguez. He finished his fifth year of service time last year, a year that saw him make $5 million after a four-win season, which followed a $2.6 million season that was sparked by a 2.6 win season. Rodriguez posted a 3.6 win season last year, and at the age of 32, with one more year of team control, signed a three-year, $34 million deal.
The Mariners have a very tough decision to make with Jason Vargas, and on smell test alone, he doesn't seem to meet the $10-plus million per year price tag. So if the Mariners want to extend Vargas ever, they should do it this season or offseason, otherwise, they'll be paying a premium for highly debatable value.
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Macklemore the Highlight as Jason Vargas, Mariners Disappoint in Home Opener
by Davis Zhao under MLB
With the team headed to Safeco Field for the home opener against the Cleveland Indians Friday, hopes and expectations were high.
Sure, the M's had won just two of their first six games. Sure, they had gone into Arlington and gotten their behinds handed to them by the Rangers.
But it was Opening Night, and somehow all was momentarily forgotten. Ichiro and King Felix were set to receive their awards in front of a sold-out crowd.
Local icon and rapper Macklemore performed his hit song, "My Oh My", a lyrical tribute to the late broadcaster Dave Niehaus.
But boy, did the Mariners flop on Friday night. In what was one of their worst home openers in team history, the Mariners were thrashed by the Indians.
In the fourth inning, everything unraveled for Jason Vargas and the M's. Five consecutive base hits were knocked off of Vargas, and it took him six batters to record his first out, an RBI sacrifice fly.
After former Mariner Jack Hannahan joined in on the batting practice session and delivered an RBI single, Vargas' night was over.
Vargas lasted just 3 1/3 innings as he was tossed around, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits. He struck out only one batter as the same command of his strikeout pitches exhibited against the Athletics was nowhere to be seen.
And the bullpen, one of the most well-rested in all of baseball, was in for a rude awakening. Reliever Tom Wilhemsen could not stop the bleeding, as he surrendered five runs in less than 1 2/3 innings.
But the chief concern for the Mariners tonight was Jason Vargas and his puzzling inconsistency. Vargas was impressive if not brilliant in Safeco Field last year, going 9-6 with a remarkable 2.84 ERA.
But after he followed up his outstanding performance against the A's with this stinker, doubt has suddenly been cast as to whether or not he can stay as a reliable contributer in the rotation, much less the No. 2 starter.
Ichiro was the only M's batter to accomplish anything of note, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI on the night. Justin Smoak went 1 for 3 with a walk, continuing his streak of increased patience at the plate.
The problem with Friday evening's game went past the 12-3 result that the scoreboard indicated. The M's offense only generated six hits compared to the Indians' 17, but it went past that too.
What pained me was the lack of effort and fight in the team, an indictment commonly made against the '10 Mariners, who seemed to quit when things didn't go right.
This lack of focus was epitomized by the throwing error and wild pitch made in the same play in the fifth inning, giving away an easy run.
And things certainly aren't going right as the team falls to 2-5, desperately searching for a win.
But to quit now after a disappointing start would be ludicrous. The Mariners are obviously in dire need of a win, or at least something positive to build off. They'll need the veteran leadership to step up as well.
But to seemingly toss in the towel as they did against the Indians is something the team cannot stand for.
AL West, Game Recap, Ichiro Suzuki, Jason Vargas, Seattle Mariners Leave a Comment more...
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MLB Offseason: 10 Moves That Already Should Have Happened
Why Did MLB Home Run King Mark Trumbo Come so Cheap to Orioles?
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Great prices on New York Yankees Tickets, New York Mets Tickets, Boston Red Sox Tickets, Milwaukee Brewers Tickets, Philadelphia Phillies Tickets and Minnesota Twins Tickets.
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Copyright © 1996-2010 Kuzul. All rights reserved.


text:
Embedded Python
===============

Python can be used in embedded, small or minimal hardware devices. Python is being used in Device interfacing, Robotics, Raspberry Pi, Arduino. It is used for Automating build systems and automating tests.

Hardware
--------

*Libraries for programming with hardware.*

* [ino](http://inotool.org/) - Command line toolkit for working with [Arduino](http://www.arduino.cc/).
* [Pyro](http://pyrorobotics.com/) - Python Robotics.
* [PyUserInput](https://github.com/SavinaRoja/PyUserInput) - A module for cross-platform control of the mouse and keyboard.
* [scapy](http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy/) - A brilliant packet manipulation library.
* [wifi](https://wifi.readthedocs.org/) - A Python library and command line tool for working with WiFi on Linux.

Contributors
============

The following people helped in creating the above content.

* Contributors to awesome-python

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Citrus limon tree stands about 15 feet tall and produces aromatic lemon fruit year-round, though it's very sensitive to cold weather and humid climates. The majority of lemon trees grow in subtropical climates like southern California and the Mediterranean region. Since the high temperatures of steam distillation destroy Lemon's fresh aroma, Lemon essential oil extracted by cold-pressing the fresh peel.
The pale green and yellow Lemon essential oil has a light, fresh citrus scent and is incredibly useful as a stimulant, carminative, antiseptic, and disinfectant.
Emotionally, pure Lemon essential oil is cleansing and uplifting. As a stimulant, it fights mental fatigue by improving concentration and alertness. Lemon is also considered a rational oil because it aids in the decision-making process. These characteristics make Lemon essential oil a workplace favourite.
Physically, Lemon is known to boost the body's immune system and circulation with its high vitamin content. Since Lemon also naturally cleanses the body and aids in digestion, it can support weight loss and overall wellbeing. Lemon's astringent nature makes it a perfect choice to heal lacklustre skin and fight acne.
Lemon essential oil also offers a number of household uses. As a natural disinfectant, it can be mixed with Tea Tree oil, water, and a small amount of white vinegar to make a safe cleaning spray. Lemon can also be used to remove oil and grease stains and sterilise countertops.
Lemon blends best with Eucalyptus, Frankincense, Geranium, Peppermint, Sandalwood, and Ylang Ylang. It's often diffused with Peppermint and Lavender to ease respiratory discomfort. Similarly, two drops each of Orange, Bergamot, and Lemon creates an infatuating uplifting blend to boost the spirits.


text:
Yek Bhai (Yak Bai) is the highest peak in the mountain range laying in west of Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. Its height is 7400 feet above sea level. From top of the mountain it is possible to see both Punjab and Baluchistan.

References

Mountains of Pakistan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The PowerPlug ballast disconnect allows electricians to disconnect power to fluorescent lighting fixtures for servicing without exposure to live wires. Targeted at lighting OEMs and retrofit installations, the IDEAL PowerPlug is available for use with solid or stranded wire ranging from 12-18 AWG. PowerPlug's rugged nylon housings are a bright orange to signify a safety device, plus have unique thumb ridges to provide a superior grip. Contacts are manufactured from high-quality tin alloy.
PowerPlug is the first ballast disconnect to fully meet new Canadian Electrical Code (CEC 30-308(4)) and National Electrical Code (NEC 410.73 (G), 2005 edition) safety requirements for use with non-residential fluorescent fixtures.


Full-bodied and richly textured, this ultradark, concentrated Merlot makes a statement. Toast and vanilla shadings mark the bold cassis fruit, which glides easily into a long, velvety finish tinged with mocha. Drink now–2020—and possibly beyond, as this should prove to be a long-lived example.


This patriotic American flag Ottoman is a perfect item presented by our vintage accent furniture collection. It sits on wood and Kilim legs, stuffed with vibrant cushion for better comfort provided with upholster support. With dainty design, it brings a sophisticated essence into your life as it measures 31.5"L x 31.5" D x 18.75" H.


text:
The `srcset` attribute isn't for art direction, so the images must therefore only differ in dimensions not in the ratio.

## Good

```html
<img src="200x100.jpg" srcset="200x100.jpg 200w, 400x200.jpg 400w" sizes="200px">
```

## Bad

```html
<img src="200x100.jpg" srcset="200x100.jpg 200w, 400x100.jpg 400w" sizes="200px">
```

## Error template

The image [{{image1}}]({{image1Url}}) has an aspect ratio of {{ratio1}} ({{image1Width}}x{{image1Height}}) but the ratio of [{{image2}}]({{image2Url}}) is {{ratio2}} ({{image2Width}}x{{image2Height}}).


Amsterdam, The Netherlands - February 6,2016: Crowd of protesters with their flags and banners at the public multi-cultural demonstration organized to protest against racism and islamophobia named "Refugees welcome, racism not!". A sign says: Fear "less hate, love more"
For many readers, it's likely a situation that has become more and more commonplace in our daily lives. A relative, an acquaintance, even a friend says something that's highly problematic. Rather than call them out, afraid to cause a scene, we ignore it and try to change the subject.
Some of these instances are more extreme than others. As progressives, we hang our hats on the fact that we're more tolerant, more open to ideas even if we disagree with them.
I, for one, remember sitting around my grandmother's dinner table and listening to my uncle rail against Muslims and people of color as every derogatory name in the book. Rather than start a fight, I said nothing. It's one of those memories that still keep me up at night.
For anyone reading this and who knows someone who is uttering phrases like this to justify their racist, homophonic and Islamaphobic ideas, it's time to calmly and lovingly tell them that this kind of talk is unacceptable. Why calmingly and lovingly? Because as much as we hate to admit it, the ones we love today may be headed down a dangerous path tomorrow. This isn't a fight against a foreign enemy. These are our friends, neighbors and even our family members. If we do not hold them accountable, this hateful rhetoric will only continue to manifest into more violence.
So let them know how much their words hurt. How painful it is to hear them speak from such a hateful place. Do it for the immigrant, the Muslim, the woman, the person of color, the gay, the lesbian and the transgender. Do it before the words turn into unspeakable and horrendous actions.
... before the words turn into unspeakable and horrendous actions.
In the words of Greg Gutfeld, "The media should have been thrilled that the demand for hate crime exceeds the supply".


You can't enter the same river twice because of the constant movement of the water that is always changing.
This was Heraclitus philosophy. Geomorphology, soil texture and climatic conditions also affect this water movement. This idea of movement includes a unique sense, unique as life is.
It was this very concept on which ''PANTA REI'' based its philosophy getting inspired as well as by the teachings of Hippocrates. Hippocrates revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece and taught massage therapy. (massage comes from the Greek word ''μασώ'' which means I offer services using my hands). The ancient massage was a necessary service in the wrestling rings, in the gymnasiums or in the Asclepius centers.
Georgia Kordopatis is an experienced expert in the ANCIENT GREEK MASSAGE that can responsibly offer you the unique experience and the benefits of this massage technique.
Here's a small taste of the stages that Ancient Greek Massage includes: We start with dry body massage using powder and then we apply essential oils and cappings. Next we continue massaging with the use of an organic horsehair brush and stlegilis, a special spatula that removes the oils from the body. The last stage is head massage.
We managed to earn the trust of our customers by offering unique experiences!


Delightful, modern apartment with on site parking.
This superb apartment is comfortably furnished and very well equipped, with the benefit of coastal views from the lounge. This property is situated in an elevated position in a cul de sac in Penally. There is some seating to the side of the property with beautiful country views and a table and chairs to the rear of the building to relax in the evening. This pretty, popular village approximately 2 miles from the seaside resort of Tenby and has great charm. With its parish church of St Nicholas dating back to the 13th century, Penally has a wealth of history within its confines Together with the village shop, public house and restaurants, Penally is a relaxing part of Pembrokeshire, within easy reach of the bustling town of Tenby and convenient for all the local attractions such as the golf courses, family parks, such as Heatherton, Folly Farm and not forgetting the rollercoaster heaven of Oakwood. A 15 - 20 minute walk will take you into Tenby town or on to the Pembrokeshire Coastal path leading to Tenby's South Beach in one direction and Lydstep beach in the other.
Entrance door. Lounge/dining room, TV/DVD, comfy leather settee and chair, dining table and chairs, sliding patio doors leading to front terrace with a bench. Kitchen, gas cooker, fridge/freezer, washing machine and microwave. Bedroom, with double bed, TV, hair-drier, wardrobe, drawers. Wifi. Shower room, shower, WC, whb. Parking either on the forecourt or at the bottom of the drive. Rent inclusive of electricity and gas central heating. Duvets,bed linen and towels are provided. Non-smokers only. Friday changeover. 3pm takeover.


PBJs long awaited Indigo Dyed Crewneck Sweatshirt are back for the Winter!
Just in, a full size run restock of the long awaited PBJ Indigo Dyed Crewneck Sweatshirt! Using a yarn-dyed indigo dyed fabric, as opposed to the garment-dyed nature of the PBJ Indigo Dyed Tees (i.e. PBJ V-Neck Indigo Tee). The process is called Sakizome in Japanese, and allows for a beautiful fading process over time.
Featuring workwear details such as the chainstitch run offs on either cuff as well as the waistband hem, the slim fit silhouette of the sweatshirt creates a modern aesthetic to this piece. Paneled pit construction with air vents give a very functional aesthetic to the sweatshirt. Due to the slim nature of this sweatshirt, we suggest sizing up. Sweatshirts are available in sizes 1 (S) to 5 (XXL). Model pictured above is wearing a size 4 (XL).


text:
from impala.dbapi import connect as impala_connect
from optparse import OptionParser

parser = OptionParser()
parser.add_option('--host')
parser.add_option('--port', default=21050)
parser.add_option('--db_name', default='impala_perf_results')

options, args = parser.parse_args()

CREATE_STATEMENTS = ['''
     CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ExecutionResults (
     result_id string,
     run_info_id string,
     query_id string,
     workload_id string,
     file_type_id string,
     num_clients INT,
     num_iterations INT,
     cluster_name string,
     executor_name string,
     exec_time double,
     run_date timestamp,
     version string
) stored as parquet;
''',
'''
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS Queries (
     query_id string,
     name string,
     query_string string,
     notes string
) stored as parquet;
''',
'''
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS Workloads (
     workload_id string,
     name string,
     scale_factor string
) stored as parquet;
''',
'''
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS FileTypes (
     file_type_id string,
     file_format string,
     compression_codec string,
     compression_type string
) stored as parquet;
''',
'''
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS RunInfos (
     run_info_id string,
     run_info string,
     user string
) stored as parquet;
''',
'''
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS RuntimeProfiles (
     result_id string,
     profile string
) stored as parquet;
''']

def create_database():
  connection = impala_connect(host=options.host, port=int(options.port))
  cursor = connection.cursor()

  cursor.execute('CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS {0}'.format(options.db_name))
  cursor.execute('USE {0}'.format(options.db_name))
  for create_statement in CREATE_STATEMENTS:
    cursor.execute(create_statement)

if __name__ == '__main__':
  create_database()


text:
The Why, The Which & The Wardrobe
Thanks to these three women, we now know where to shop for squat proof leggings and winter coats, and how to style up a statement neckpiece.
Doctor On Call (literally)
Dr Erin Jones spotted a critical gap in South Africa's healthcare system early on in the pandemic. So she set about filling it and, in the process, shifted the possibilities for medical care in this country.
Burnout Is On The Rise How Do We Deal With It?
Chronic stress is linked to leading causes of death, including heart disease and suicide, and cases of burnout are rising with frightening speed. It's time to unpack this misunderstood, stigmatised and life-threatening mental-health pandemic.
Bored & Tired? How To Reboot Your Relationship Post-Lockdown
A year stuck on the sofa together has caused irritations to fester and sex lives to suffer. Psycho therapist jeanclaude chalmet gives expert advice for (fedup) couples.
10 Money Lessons Covid-19 Taught Me
When you're locked up, locked in and locked down, you make some important discoveries about what you need to change – and why.
How To Eat To Lose Weight: The 9 Rules
These are the proven methods for shedding the kilos healthily.
THE JUDE OBSCURE
What happens when you don a wig to circumnavigate the world on a Honda VFR750? You can't stop moving. Meet the artist who became addicted to leaving places.
It wouldn't be right to call Cuban actress Ana de Armas arising star. She is very much a star already –and we bet she hasn't peaked yet.
Claire Foy Is Incredibly Funny, Unexpectedly Honest And Utterly Charming
Away from all the pomp and circumstance, Claire Foy is incredibly funny, unexpectedly honest and utterly charming. What can we say – she's a queen!
A Light Touch
We're countering the cold by layering lightweight fabrics and contrasting menswear-inspired pieces with feminine elements.
Agent (Less) Provocateur
The series I May Destroy You holds up a mirror to issues of sexual consent and recovery from trauma… and to its creator, writer and star Michaela Coel, who has brought a revitalising voice to the entertainment industry.
10 Money Lessons To Help You On Your Road To Riches
Heed these 10 money lessons from the super wealthy to help you on your road to riches.
A Long Weekend In The Elgin Valley
About an hour's drive from Cape Town lies the Elgin Valley, 'the place you drive through on the way to Hermanus'. It's worth stopping over, however, as we discovered during a long weekend spent cycling, hiking and tasting wine in the valley…
Why Dolly Parton Is A Feminist Icon
Dolly may be knocking on 76 but she's busier than ever – recording, acting and even funding Covid-19 research.
Shaking Off Misconceptions
Parkinson's disease is the second-most common age-linked neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's, yet few know its symptoms beyond the shakes. The reality is that many sufferers don't shake – and because they don't know the other signs, they don't seek treatment early that may help slow its progress.
I'll Be There For You (But Maybe Not After 30)
Making friends as an adult is hard because chance meetings with strangers become less frequent, we're less tolerant, and we lack the time to build shared experiences. Maintaining existing friendships is tricky too – and the pandemic doesn't help. What's a girl to do?
From Something Old To Something Newish
The second-hand clothing market is booming. Saving money is a factor, of course, but so is consumers' desire to shop more ethically and create less waste.
Do You Have Patriarchy Stress Disorder? (Short answer: YES, you do)
Forget the glass ceiling; the final frontier of women's liberation lies in our own biology, says Russian-American psychologist Dr Valerie Rein. She believes that ancestral trauma – specifically, thousands of years of patriarchal oppression – has led to trauma adaptations passed down through generations that still imprison us. She calls it patriarchy stress disorder, and this is how it works.
Morning Ritual, Grounded Life
Many ancient religions have long-established morning rituals. Now, psychologists say, their practice could be key to having a productive day and living a considered life. By making healthy and conscious decisions in those first few moments, you're setting a positive tone and an intention for the day ahead.
What Walking 100km Solo Taught Me
I needed to be alone; to shed the frustrations of a demanding life. I wanted to walk my way back to rediscover who I was. So I set off along the Camino...
How To Kick-Start The New Year!
It's the perfect (and traditional) time to set some fresh goals, so why not try something slightly unusual? Here are 14 ways to get your new year off to a healthy start.
Money Mistakes To Avoid At 50+
Here are the top-10 mistakes to avoid after the age of 50 if you want to set yourself up for a comfortable retirement, say Anthea Gardner, author of Make Your Money Work for You, and Simon Brown, co-host of The Fat Wallet Show podcast.
I Had A Breast Reduction – And Fell Out Of Love With My Body
I loved my boobs when I was a teenager. In fact, I loved my body. I flaunted it in itsy-bitsy bikinis on Clifton Beach and at Sea Point Pavilion. And then I really flaunted it all on Sandy Bay, lying in the sun from nine to five with just baby oil as my 'sunscreen'.
YOUR PLACE in the sun. . .
…is mostly beneath a wide-brimmed hat, under an umbrella and with a slather of sunscreen. But not always.
In the fight for the leadership of the DA at a time of crisis for that party, the ANC, SA and the world, Mbali Ntuli came out guns blazing. She lost. But the interest she stirred suggests she won't be in second place for long…
With Valentine's Day coming up, why not get yourself a little gift? These two female-led businesses have just the thing, whether you're in a relationship or flying solo.
SCENE CHANGE
Sofia Coppola is an award-winning director, a mother, a wife and a warm, funny woman you'd like to have as a friend. Her latest film reunites her with Bill Murray, but this time he's a father figure. (And no, we still don't know what he said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation.)
Claire Danes Reflects On Her Time As Carrie, Being A Teen Star And Family Life
After nearly a decade of playing the role of CIA agent Carrie Mathison, Homeland star Claire Danes bid farewell to both the character and the Emmy Award-winning show when it wrapped earlier this year. She reflects on her time as Carrie, being a teen star and family life.
A Journey To The Past
Travelling is a wonderful way to make new memories – but on one unusual trip, I went in search of old memories instead, seeking the longfaded footprints of somebody who had changed my life.
'Because Of Lock-Down, I ...
Given the choice, many of us would probably have given 2020 a Miss Entirely – but for these six women, lockdown had an unexpectedly positive outcome.


text:
Valdez trainer fires back at 'ignorant' doping talk
Oscar Valdez wasn't the only person to be scrutinized by the boxing world after he tested positive for the banned substance phentermine ahead of his victory over Robson Conceicao earlier this month.
His trainer, Mexico's Eddy Reynoso, was dragged into the controversy, and had his reputation called into question by champions like Devin Haney, Caleb Plant and Sunny Edwards on Twitter.
"All of them are suspect, everything out of that camp is intentional," wrote Plant, who continued the barrage at Tuesday's explosive press conference in Beverly Hills, California, to promote his Nov. 6 undisputed super middleweight championship fight with Canelo Alvarez (trained by Reynoso since the amateurs), accusing both of cheating.
Reynoso, 44, told ESPN in Spanish last week through a translator that the wave of criticism has caused him to think twice about which fighters he trains going forward and to even consider having his boxers sign waivers stating "that I'm not their nutritionist, I don't give medical advice. I'm the trainer, I teach technique and that's it."
"I've been training for 20 years and in this time I've trained 15 world champions and my job is just to train them," Reynoso said. " … These people like Caleb Plant don't know anything about my career, my accomplishments, everything I've done in my role with these fighters. This is something they're ignorant about and trying to tarnish everything I've worked for."
Alvarez, ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of his 2018 rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin and was suspended six months, postponing the bout. He said the positive test was the result of tainted meat consumed in his native Guadalajara, Mexico.
The claim wasn't outrageous. NFL all-pro tackle Duane Brown tested positive for clenbuterol in 2015 and had his 10-game suspension overturned the following year after the league believed the NFLPA proved the substance came from tainted meat eaten in Mexico.
That led to a warning from the NFL to its players that consumption of too much meat in Mexico and China could lead to a positive test for the banned substance.
Three years later, Valdez's positive result (which he blamed on herbal tea he consumes) brought the controversy back to the surface.
"I feel disappointed that I'm being criticized," Reynoso said. "I'm the trainer. I teach boxing, I teach technique, I prepare the fighters to fight. That's my role. Unfortunately, there are some people in the press that are trying to take me down and attacking me for something I'm not responsible for. Haters.
"The analogy to this is when a manager picks bad fights for his fighter and then they blame the trainer. They're mixing up the roles. … I didn't study medicine, I don't give advice on medicine, I don't give advice on nutrition."
Valdez has blamed his test failure on the appearance of phentermine in the herbal tea he consumed.
Reynoso, ESPN's 2020 trainer of the year, also trains former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr., rising star Ryan Garcia, heavyweight prospect Frank Sanchez and 112-pound champion Julio Cesar Martinez at Alvarez's San Diego gym. Martinez tested positive for trace amounts of clenbuterol in 2019 and said it came from tainted meat, a claim the WBC accepted.
"So far, I've been having a great year in terms of my career and I've been taking a lot of criticism here and I don't think it's justified because I'm the trainer and I had nothing to do with this," Reynoso said. "I feel like I have to come out and defend myself."
Indeed, Reynoso is in the running to repeat as trainer of the year. Alvarez scored a third-round KO of journeyman Avni Yildirim in February before unifying titles with a orbital-shattering TKO of Billy Joe Saunders in May.
Garcia delivered a career-best performance in January, a knockout of Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell. Martinez successfully defended his title in June with a stoppage victory over Joel Cordova, and Valdez brutally knocked out Miguel Berchelt in February to win a 130-pound title.
Yet Valdez's positive test for the stimulant last month called it all into question for many in the boxing industry. That Valdez was allowed to fight despite the positive result seemed to make the criticism even louder.
"With fighters that I am fully in charge of like Saul (Alvarez), and some other fighters in the past, something like this wouldn't happen," Reynoso said when asked if he thought Valdez should be allowed to fight. "It wouldn't get to this point. I just don't think we would be in this situation with a fighter that I'm 100 percent in charge with.
"When [the WBC] say they'll allow the fight to go forward, me as the trainer, I need to go forward with the fight. … If I was his manager, maybe things would have been different than they were today."
Reynoso also took issue with criticism from ESPN's Timothy Bradley and Andre Ward for not attending the fighters' meeting to address the issue. The trainer said he wanted to wait until after the fight to conduct an interview because he didn't want to create more distraction for Valdez (and also that he wasn't aware of the meeting.)
"It does hurt," he said. "It hurt because these are not things that were within my reach to be responsible for. … What's taken me to the world level of champions is the discipline I teach, the boxing technique I teach; it's the responsibility I instill in fighters. That's what I do. My fighters don't come in overweight, my fighters don't give low blows, my fighters don't do things they shouldn't be doing. I became trainer of the year for those things and nothing else."
Yordenis Ugas, Jarrett Hurd Plot Their Returns | The PBC Podcast
The 10 biggest punchers in world boxing
Tyson Fury BLASTS fighters for DUCKING Demetrius Andrade! | #shorts
Tszyu to face Harrison for interim title in March
Liam Smith: If It's Chris Next, It's Chris; I'm In Good Position; Brook Fight Huge, Talks Of Golovkin