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Klawchat 2/25/21
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Chris
1:53
I'm a huge Dodger fan, but I just absolutely love what the Padres have done the last couple of years (minus Hosmer). It is just so refreshing to see a team trying to win (and what a weird thing to say about professional sports).
Keith Law
1:54
It's great for baseball, but isn't it good business? Sure, you can take easy profits from revenue sharing, but if you want the bigger payoff, doesn't it make sense to exploit the inefficiency of other teams essentially doing as little as possible and try to win? If the Padres end up with their first World Championship, it will also result in a large windfall for the owners.
Dee Arby
1:54
Our educational system needs a massive overhaul, what core subjects outside of science and math should we be teaching the kids?
Keith Law
1:57
Critical thinking. That's more of a multi-disciplinary thing, but teaching students to read with a critical eye - perhaps using the SIFT method - and understand how to tell when someone is lying or misleading them, or when a conclusion isn't supported by the evidence provided, or how unconscious biases might affect what they see and think.
Nate
1:57
Not a baseball comment -- having the league fix the draft lottery so the Knicks win the rights to Patrick Ewing, then never winning a championship with Patrick Ewing, is so typical of the Knicks.  They can't even cheat properly.
Keith Law
1:57
That joke was the best thing in all of Soul.
Guest
1:58
Just saw Royce Lewis, top prospect of Twins shows up for Spring Training and under preliminary physical is revealed to have torn ACL and out for the year.  As an athlete, how can you have that serious an injury and not know???
Keith Law
1:59
Perhaps he was hoping for a better outcome? I'm sure lots of us have had health scares, or know people who've had, where you knew something was wrong but hoped or prayed (if you're so inclined) for a better diagnosis than the worst case scenario.
JR
1:59
Has tanking gone so far that it's become a strategy for not really trying but we can tell our fans it's our plan? I feel like Cubs/Astros started this trend, and it worked for the most part for them.  Other teams have tried but seemed to only be serious about the tanking aspect and not the "spending once we get good" aspect, yet they keep using tanking to stay bad/not spend.
Keith Law
2:01
The "we'll spend when we get good" line is the key here. As long as fans buy it, they'll sell that ... and never spend.
Pat
2:01
Courses that should be mandatory in school- Some type of personal finance. Teach kids about credit, stocks, interest, borrowing, student loans, etc. I wonder how much lesser the student loan debt crisis would be if young people at least had a basic understanding of what they're signing.
Keith Law
2:02
Yes. I'd rather see a full year of economics - half on personal finance, half on how the economy actually works - than a fourth year of English (or literature). I say that as an avid reader, too. The former is a lot more useful for life after high school than reading Pride and Prejudice and An American Tragedy.
Rules for Thee
2:02
Why did you feel it appropriate to have a wedding ceremony amidst the pandemic?  I know you said you were in compliance with Delaware regulations but you've also criticized those regulations.  So which is it?  Abiding the regulations makes approved activities safe?  Or the state's regulations are putting people needlessly at risk?
Keith Law
2:04
That's simply false. I did not criticize Delaware's regulations on gatherings, which were very strict and right to be so. We adhered to those, with a tiny reception, and to mask and distancing guidelines as well. I have criticized the lax rules on bars being open, though. Go troll somewhere else.
Frank
2:04
Please find "Rules for Thee" $5 for baiting.
Keith Law
2:05
Oh, absolutely.
Chris
2:05
I'm wondering if you have an opinion on a team having a fixation in the international market for specific countries.  The Dodgers seem to skew heavily towards Venezuela right now, for example.
Keith Law
2:06
That was true at some points in the past - Houston had a longstanding affinity for Venezuelan prospects in the 1990s - but I don't know if that's feasible now with a hard cap on international bonuses. That said, the failed state in VZ and danger of travel there could also mean an opportunity for teams willing to take that risk or spend more for personal security there.
Guest
2:07
Keith, what does it say about an organization that just a year or so ago would sign a young player like Arrenado (or in NFL, Wentz or Goff) to huge 9 figure contracts and then move on??
Keith Law
2:08
Aren't those NFL deals non-guaranteed? I don't think it's a perfect analogy. Also, Carson Wentz held the ball for your entire question and just got sacked.
Oscar
2:08
Have you ever considered designing your own board game? It's not like you have too many other things going on . . .
Keith Law
2:08
Yes. It's a time-consuming task, though, and I have so much else I need or want to do.
Guest
2:08
Keith, as a follow-up to the Mather talk:  Don't  these multi-billion dollar organizations have internal media training and updating memos of how and what to say in public??  It seems like such an easy answer to a lot of stupidity.
Keith Law
2:09
Yes. I'm not sure they think to include Presidents and CEOs in those. Isn't there an assumption (wrong, obviously) that if you've risen to that point you already know how to deal with the public?
Joe
2:09
What percentage which you say AAA games happen in early April at home stadiums? How about the other levels in May?
Keith Law
2:10
I think the games will happen - figure maybe 20% are cancelled due to positive tests - without fans until at least May. MLB may just have to accept that they need to subsidize some of those teams, which is only fair since they just executed a hostile takeover of the minors anyway.
Mike Trout
2:10
Longtime reader so seeing you comment and watch football is a little jarring. What do you like about it now that you didn't seem to like before?
Keith Law
2:11
I married an Eagles fan. Although I have to say I prefer watching rugby. As long as we beat the English, I don't care!
2:12
That's all for this week. Thanks so much for reading, especially with the large amount of content I dumped on you in the past month. I will have a draft ranking up next week, and remember that The Inside Game is coming out in paperback on April 6th. You can pre-order it now, and maybe I'll get to do some signing events this summer once more of us are vaccinated too. Stay safe everyone!
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