Lucky 13

So rumors swirling around 4PM EST that Bryce Harper has signed a 13 year, $330MM deal with the Philadelphia Phillies! That eclipses G. Stanton's deal from a few years ago by $5MM. Word is no opt-outs (which I found odd) and a no trade clause (which I did not).

Color me surprised. Some were reporting that Bryce's wife and family wanted him to sign with either the Giants or Dodgers so he'd be closer to Sin City, his home. And Philly would probably rank lower than LA in improving his Q-Rating. But for a fan base that is pretty starved for a winning team, he'll be fine. Until he does something to turn those rabid dogs against him. Personally, I may make the trip down to Philly a couple times a year to catch a game (less than a 2hr drive). And he'll be in NL East so all the Mets fans can continue to spew their vitriol at #34.

So what's this mean when (and if) Mike Trout gets to free agency after 2020? Well...MikeT grew up a big Philly fan and would be able to live in the area he grew up. All indications were the Phillies would go all-in on #27 when the time came. But word is the Angels will also be making a "can't refuse" kind of extension offer soon to lock up the best baseball player to ever wear the halo.

Windage

We (meaning North J) got a major wind advisory yesterday running through this evening. And they were correct.

Put out the trash and recycling last night, then listened to my recycling (and the neighbors) roll around the street in front of my house all night. Got up around 5:30 AM and had to literally find one of my recycling cans. Yard is covered so I picked up what i could in the dark. Problem is the cans went over again about an hour later, so I basically have trash everywhere. Some is in the easement (aka the ditch) alongside my property with about 4" of freezing water. So cleaning up this mess may have to wait until Friday when I have a well-deserved day off.

One Down

So Manny Machado signed a 10year, $300MM deal with those crazy San Diego Padres to close out one half of the 2019 Biggest Free Agent Quest. Good for Manny. And the Padres aren't half bad, playing in a division where they can compete. Offense is solid, pitching will be suspect. Oh, and Manny will play 3B!

So now the countdown is on for Bryce Harper. I'm reasonably sure that neither Harper/Boras or Machado/Lozano for that matter figured getting interest from a small number of teams was going to occur. Word is Harper isn't sure he wants to sign in Philly. I don't blame him. Those fans boo anybody and everybody. The only saving grace is if Mike Trout becomes a FA, Philly is gonna do everything hey can to sign him. But then Bryce becomes the number 2 and I'm not sure he wants that.

The other top contender (unless Boras has another mystery team up his sleeve) is the SF Giants. That's intriguing. They're gonna be terrible this season (and probably for a few). There current OF roster looks like a Who's Who of WHO?! They have an aging team. They might've kept there big stars too long. But SF (at least for me) is a premier spot in NL. So as long as you're ready for the long haul and possibly 3-4 losing seasons, things could be worse.

Last, rumor is the Padres are trying to figure out if they can sign Harper. They have a $110MM payroll this season and a stacked farm system. So this becomes a thing. You'd certainly juice season ticket sales.

A Little Three Day Weekend

President's Day in Feb-ru-ary means a well-deserved 3 day weekend. So what did SoulSlam do?

Let's begin Friday night. Went to the gym. Really crowded when I got there which is strange since Friday nights are generally empty. Cleaned out soon enough though. Went home, showered, watched some TV. Dull boy!

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Saturday hit the gym at 7:15AM (opens at 7). I was awake since about 3:30AM so I was just waiting to show up. Got home around 9AM, showered and out the door to ref some rec basketball for two games (which turned into 3 games when a ref didn't show). First game was a 6-8 grade boys regular season game. Took four minutes for the first score of the game. Here's what I noticed: players are all dribble, no shot and little D. Everybody wants to shoot a three. It was terrible. I made a comment to one of the coaches (who also coaches travel) that this is embarrassing. Oh well.
Next two games were 2-3 grade boys. First, these kids are just learning. Second, I had to run a lot. Third, the coaches were, for the most part, a-holes. It's hard to take your screaming about fouls seriously when you refuse to keep a book that tracks fouls. Seriously bad. My opinion of rec basketball is it's been neglected (like rec baseball) and it shows.
After three hours and an impinged hip later, it was shower #2 and looking for a new mattress/bed/sleep stuff. Then it was a quick shopping trip to the Shop-Rite. SoulSlam made some delicious french dip sammies for BWSS and YSSS.
After dinner we watched (me and BWSS) Bohemian Rhapsody! Really good movie. SoulSlam grew up a huge Queen fan so I enjoyed, even with timeline mistakes throughout.

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Sunday was some more gym in AM. By now, ymy left hip is barking like a big ol' junkyard dog, so legwork was out. After the gym, not much going on, but we did go to the Outback to kill a giftcard. Then it was home and some Walking Dead.

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Monday was President's Day. YSSS had class at local college (he's a HS senior attending county college for year). BWSS and yours truly once again hit the gym (we do that a lot)...then it was home, shower-time and...bed shopping!!! Again!

So the weekend was basically one long circle. Since it's winter it is what it is. Can't wait for the warm weather!

Wrong Again?

Woke up this morning to...nothing. And forecasts have seemed to change. 24 hours ago it was 4-8" inches and ice and disasters and death and taxes. Today we're hearing 1-3" and maybe some icing but then it's gonna rain and we should be ok.

The Murph declared a State of Emergency prior so as I sit typing diligently I'm looking at Route 80 EAST and it's a lot less traffic than normal. Like a lot less. Co-Workers and underlings with their sorry excuses for not coming in today. Marys.

Snow In The Immediate Forecast

We got the word we'll be getting 4-8" of the white stuff between now (well, later) and tomorrow late night. We've had quite a few false alarms this winter so we'll see.

If we were taking votes, mine would be a no.

TBT

Seven + years ago at the National Baseball HOF. This is before they both became powerlifters/bodybuilders!

Man I miss them being young!

Right Part Way

1. The Game sucked

2. The Pats Won

3. Tom B. has not retired.