The Nationals will bring back the vast majority of their minor-league coaching staffs in 2013, shuffling only a couple of instructors around their farm system.
Tony Beasley will return for his second season as manager at Class AAA Syracuse. The well-respected instructor was the Nationals' third base coach in 2006, then returned to the organization in 2011 to serve as manager at Class AA Harrisburg.Former Nationals catcher Matt LeCroy also returns for his second season as Harrisburg manager, having worked his way up the organizational ladder with previous managerial stops at low-Class A Hagerstown and high-Class A Potomac.
Potomac will have a new manager next season, with Brian Daubach promoted from Hagerstown to take over for Brian Rupp, who was demoted to low-Class A hitting coach. Daubach spent the last two years in Hagerstown, serving as Bryce Harper's first professional skipper.
Tripp Keister, who managed the rookie Gulf Coast League Nationals, gets bumped up to Hagerstown. Gary Cathcart returns to manage at short-season Class A Auburn. Patrick Anderson joins the organization as manager in the GCL.
Here's the full minor-league staff for 2013...
CLASS AAA SYRACUSE
Manager: Tony Beasley
Pitching coach: Greg Booker
Hitting coach: Troy Gingrich
CLASS AA HARRISBURG
Manager: Matt LeCroy
Pitching coach: Paul Menhart
Hitting coach: Eric Fox
HIGH-CLASS A POTOMAC
Manager: Brian Daubach
Pitching coach: Chris Michalak
Hitting coach: Mark Harris
LOW-CLASS A HAGERSTOWN
Manager: Tripp Keister
Pitching coach: Franklin Bravo
Hitting coach: Brian Rupp
SHORT-SEASON CLASS A AUBURN
Manager: Gary Cathcart
Pitching coach: Sam Narron
Hitting coach: Luis Ordaz
ROOKIE GULF COAST LEAGUE
Manager: Patrick Anderson
Pitching coach: Michael Tejera
Hitting coach: Amaury Garcia
ROOKIE DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Manager: Sandy Martinez
Pitching coach: Pablo Frias
Hitting coach: Jorge Mejia
Coach: Emiliano Alcantara
Coach: Michael Moscat
COORDINATORS
Field coordinator: Bobby Henley
Pitching coordinator: Spin Williams
Hitting coordinator: Rick Schu
Rehab pitching coordinator: Mark Grater
Infield coordinator: Jeff Garber
Outfield/baserunning coordinator: Gary Thurman
Coordinator of instruction: Gary Cathcart
Medical and rehab coordinator: Mike McGowan
Strength and conditioning coordinator: Landon Brandes
Minor league equipment manager: Calvin Minasian
126 comments:
Faraz Shaikh said...
I am wondering where this money is coming from that TV channels are able to sign these lucrative deals with teams.
December 14, 2012 11:51 AM
Are you being facetious? I know you live in Idaho but if you are being serious, if you live in an area with a baesball team just look at your Cable, Satelite or FIOS invoice and part of that money is going to a RSN like MASN. Its $2.50 to $3.50 a month of that bill is going with several millions of others plus advertising dollars to MASN. Because his network overall sucks, he won't be getting more any time soon from "cable" subscribers.
MASN is making plenty of money, just not enough for Angelos to want to pay the Nationals FAIR MARKET VALUE.
From previous post: I think Angelos may be trying to get the Learners to move the Nationals out of Washington so he can have the whole market to himself. If he causes enough trouble, he may think that will happen.
Congrats to our minor league staffs.
And by the way, whether you watch MASN or not, its standard on most of the Washington-Baltimore standard TV packages which means others are paying and not watching the channel.
Some cable channels exist on money made in advertising. MASN exists mostly on usage fees paid by subscribers.
If FOX or Comcast takes over, they will try to grow the Network into a full fledged Regional Sports channel chuck full of other programming.
SonnyG10, if Angelos thinks that he's deluded. The Nats have a 30-year lease on a publicly-funded stadium in a neighborhood that is gradually getting built up, rich owners, a winning team, and a politically active fanbase. This is not the Senators of old.
Also, the Lerners live here. Why would they move the team? They would have to be losing a LOT of money to be convinced to move the team to--to--to exactly where???
SonnyG10 said...
From previous post: I think Angelos may be trying to get the Learners to move the Nationals out of Washington so he can have the whole market to himself. If he causes enough trouble, he may think that will happen.
December 14, 2012 12:13 PM
That may be his pipedream. What a deplorable human being.
From Boz:
The Dodger grabs only underline the dawdling irresponsibility of Commissioner Bud Selig in allowing the Nats to be held hostage to Oriole owner and MASN owner Peter Angelos for a full year (and counting) beyond any reasonable deadline for settling their dispute over the value of the Nats local TV rights.
MLB anointed a three-team fairness committee to study the issue — interminably. According to a reliable source, “Baseball has ruled on it. Both sides didn’t like the valuation. Washington hated it.” Who didn’t know that in advance? So the time was mostly wasted. Thanks.
Now, MLB has asked a private investment bank to seek potential new owners for all of MASN, which would, in theory, take Angelos out of the picture. What a great idea, Bud — for 18 months ago.
For now, the most likely potential buyer would be Fox. Would Angelos sell? Normally, I’d say, “No,” or only under threat of “best interests of the game” powers that Selig is loath to use for fear of a court case that might prompt Angelos to go all Al Davis and embarrass MLB with dirty laundry.
However, irony never sleeps. Someone once said, “Sell high.” And MASN may never again be worth what it is now with Fox about to close on the $6-billion Dodger deal — the bonanza swung by Kasten’s group.
Neither D.C. nor Baltimore is L.A. But, combined, they’re half L.A.’s population. That fat footprint is made all the more valuable by two teams in the market. The last thing Angelos ever wanted, baseball in D.C., may catalyze a bigger payday for him than asbestos and big tobacco.
Asbestos and tobacco and the deceased that made Angelos into a multi-millionaire led to enough wealth to purchase the Orioles. You have to wonder if the payouts to the victims families would even be enough to afford the best seats in OPACY. Doubtful.
GoSM, second person in the week to mistake me for Farid. I don't live in Idaho.
I had the same idea about where this money is coming from, just wanted to get it confirmed. Basically, there is some chance that eventually our cable bills will go up.
Gotta love that name! :-)
Tripp Keister, who managed the rookie Gulf Coast League Nationals, gets bumped up to Hagerstown.
Faraz and Ghost regarding the 'where is the money coming from' question:
You're right, of course, that's it coming from some combination of cable TV subscriptions and on-air -- or, rather, on-cable -- advertising. The cable companies overvalue sports programming because viewers tend to watch them live, which means they can't fast-forward through the commercials. One big question in my mind, however, is whether these 20-year cable-based contracts are sustainable given the rapidly changing media world. I'm no prophet, but as more and more people switch to non-TV devices, I have trouble imagining how FoxSports or YES or whoever is going to be generating revenue from 20th-century-style 'commercials' in 2025.
Faraz Shaikh said...
GoSM, second person in the week to mistake me for Farid. I don't live in Idaho.
I had the same idea about where this money is coming from, just wanted to get it confirmed. Basically, there is some chance that eventually our cable bills will go up.
December 14, 2012 12:27 PM
Sorry about that. I feel like an idiot making that mistake between you 2.
From what I heard, the cable providers aren't too willing to give sizeable increases and just look at the MSG Network only got over their dispute with Time Warner Cable last year after the rise of Jeremy Lin causes an uproar with cable subscribers so unless its a case of great demand, I don't see the cable companies absorbing large increases.
I think it would be phased in over time and in the short-run would operate in a deficit and a new buyer would have the capital to do that. MASN by itself probably isn't able to adjust to the new market conditions to do that as easily.
Eugene, I thought the same thing off in the future and their safety net is that they will worry about it when they have to. Most likely the TV deals are with a subsidiary of the parent company that stands on its own. If things went real bad way down the road, it could be disaster if the RSNs went into bankruptcy but from what I've read its all about subscriber fees and building these RSNs into true 24/7 networks that are going to have viewers for more than just baseball. That's why I see CSN as the better partner. They are already here and have that Network (and Mark) up and running.
NatsLady said...
SonnyG10, if Angelos thinks that he's deluded. The Nats have a 30-year lease on a publicly-funded stadium in a neighborhood that is gradually getting built up, rich owners, a winning team, and a politically active fanbase. This is not the Senators of old.
December 14, 2012 12:21 PM
Good point on the 30 year lease. But he may think he can force the Learners to sell the team to someone else that would move them from DC. Like GoSM says it may be his pipe dream. The other possibility is that he may be out for revenge against MLB for bringing a team here against his wishes. If he is offered a handsome profit for MASN and he refuses to take it I'm going to be eyeing him with a lot of suspicion.
I'm out. Have to watch on the Connecticut shooting. Prayers to all. I am getting flashbacks of the DC Sniper when I was an elementary school teacher.
A major reason that MASN is so subscriber-dependent for revenues (as opposed to advertiser-dependent) is that the programming stinks. There is very little original programming on the network, and what there is consists of a few aging Baltimore media types sitting on a shabby set talking about the Orioles. Every now and then Phil Wood shows up, but they mostly try to get him to talk about the Orioles, too. Unsurprisingly, this hasn't endeared MASN to Nationals fans (who stay away in droves except for the games), which Angelos no doubt then uses to try to justify the low payments he wants to make to the Nationals.
Even if Angelos has heard of the concept of growing the pie for the benefit of all concerned, it doesn't seem to interest him very much.
From previous post: I think Angelos may be trying to get the Learners to move the Nationals out of Washington so he can have the whole market to himself. If he causes enough trouble, he may think that will happen.
The Lerner's have been in the DC area far longer than the Greek mob mouthpiece Anglelos in Baltimore. Methinks it happens the other way around. Eventually, all the walls come collapsing down on Peter.
Do you remember British actor John Houseman with the tagline “They make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it.”
The MLB Ownership is a Country Club. They don't like litigious snakes like Angelos who didn't make his money the old-fashioned way.
I think Boswell has a good take on it.
RSN's are the new order of the day and all owners want to see that become their goose that laid the golden egg and Angelos may be stepping on the goose's toes or in their case webbed feet.
Owners will no longer be earning it the old-fashioned way. For the first time they feel like NFL owners, new media is making them extremely wealthy in a windfall and this is the new-fashioned way and Angelos is threatening valuations.
18 months and counting.........
Angelos has a contract. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how he can be forced to sell MASN. Even if Selig were to invoke his "best interests of the game" powers, Angelos could simply come back with the 5th amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation" (emphasis mine).
I am getting flashbacks of the DC Sniper when I was an elementary school teacher.
The sniper was focused primarily on my neighborhood. Lots of folks who worked for federal agencies such as the FBI, CIA, NSA there. Some held fairly important posts like George Cave.
That was his mistake. He starting shooting at a GA Avenue / Bel Pre Road bus stop one time too many. They turned the satellites. The rest is history.
peric said...
The Lerner's have been in the DC area far longer than the Greek mob mouthpiece Anglelos in Baltimore. Methinks it happens the other way around. Eventually, all the walls come collapsing down on Peter.
December 14, 2012 12:58 PM
Is there a Greek mob? The country of Greece is bankrupt and causing their own problems in the EU. I don't think even they would want Angelos even if he tried to buy his way into Athens.
Angelos has a contract. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how he can be forced to sell MASN.
Perhaps, they still do have the power to exclude Baltimore from major league baseball. Suspend the team. If they did that it would end up in the courts. All MLB would have to do is sit back and delay, delay, delay. It would hurt baseball but it would get rid of a snake and set a standard that future owners must think about the good of the game first which feeds into everyone's pocketbooks.
Candide said...
Angelos has a contract. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how he can be forced to sell MASN. Even if Selig were to invoke his "best interests of the game" powers,
He doesn't want to invoke his powers but he did it to McCourt and the majority of the 29 owners were for that, except Angelos.
Read what I said above, this is the new-fashioned way the owners are making money with the RSNs. Angelos is standing in the way of that.
Is there a Greek mob? The country of Greece is bankrupt and causing their own problems in the EU. I don't think even they would want Angelos even if he tried to buy his way into Athens.
No, the one that runs Baltimore's harbors and associated unions.
I may well have been behind, but yesterday I thought that the contract said that the Nats payment should be reset to FMV (and FMV based on the size of the market, not necessarily our previous ratings). I took that as fair, and something that I & the Lerners would be happy with.
Today I hear both that some potentially "in the know" feel that the strict contract terms are not favorable for the Nats, and Boz is saying that reliable sources say that "Washington hated it" with regard to the valuation of the MLB panel for the Nats payment. Both of those were "new news" to me and make it sound like perhaps it is the Lerners that are holding up the agreement and forcing baseball to look at things like selling the network.
It certainly doesn't surprise me that Angelos (with the assitance of MLB) got a contract that was unfair to the Nats ... I had just hoped that that FMV clause had given the Nats some leverage.
Nobody is taking MASN for "Public Use." The 5th Amendment "taking" clause applies to the Government, not MLB. MLB is above the law!
peric said...
The Lerner's have been in the DC area far longer than the Greek mob mouthpiece Anglelos in Baltimore. Methinks it happens the other way around. Eventually, all the walls come collapsing down on Peter.
I sure hope you're right. It can't happen soon enough for me.
DaveB, "hated it" is Angelos is offering a joke of a payment. The terms of the contract had a 5 year reset. Well, that was last year. Angelos wants to pay them $35 million and the Lerner's want FMV which is closer to $120 million today. The longer they wait the higher values went.
If the Lerner's were able to do what all other 29 teams can do and that is sell themselves to the highest bidder like LA Dodgers did, someone will pay at least $120 million for the opportunity to the exclusive rights to the Nats.
Unfortunately the Nats are bound to MASN which is owned in majority ownership by Angelos.
Candide said...
Angelos has a contract. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how he can be forced to sell MASN.
He can't be forced to sell. The only thing that will make him sell is enough money. But keep this in mind:
Right now, Angelos owns a large majority stake in MASN, which owns the TV rights of both the O's and Nats. And there is a contractual provision that the rights fees paid to those two teams must be EQUAL. That is why he is resisting a huge increase in the Nats rights fee. When MASN pays a rights fee to the O's it is basically Angelos shifting money from his right hand to his left. MASN's profits, which are largely his already, go down by the amount of the rights fee. This is fine as long as the combined rights fees are less than whatever profit MASN makes. But if the Nats fee goes too high and the combined O's-Nats rights fees end up greater than MASN's profits, then Angelos needs to increase profits via more advertising, higher cable user payments, etc, or he is losing money. In other words, if the rights fees get too high he will have to quit running MASN on the cheap and make it into a real RSN. But that also means paying more money to the Nationals, and why should he do that if no one makes him?
So what amount of money would it take to get him to sell MASN? Keep in mind that selling MASN means he also would need to replace the annual TV rights fee that MASN would no longer be paying him, and also he knows that whatever RSN buys MASN will no longer keep paying the O's the same amount they are paying the Nats. DC is a bigger share of the market, so they will get a much bigger rights package than the O's will. Angelos will not like that.
So, bottom line, it will take a HUGE amount of money to get Angelos to sell MASN. Probably more than what he'd sell the Orioles for. Is an RSN like Fox or Comcast going to be willing to pay that?
OT: My own memory is that the snipers traveled all over the DC area (and beyond), and that the suspects were apprehended because of fingerprints left at a previous, non-DC, crime scene. Regardless, a very scary time.
Re. tv deals, recent national-level deals with MLB have included online streaming rights as well.
Also, the Lerners live here. Why would they move the team? They would have to be losing a LOT of money to be convinced to move the team to--to--to exactly where???
I guess they also live in Palm Springs but they didn't show much interest in Stan's operation in LA so .... the Lerner's huge empires begins and ends in DC. They would sell before moving ... but like many of the real estate development projects this one appears to be succeeding. So? They just need to remove a certain road block named Peter Angelos ...
GoSM ... the Boz article reference to "hated it" was not to Angelos' offer, but to the decision of the MLB arbitration panel ("fairness committee" ... ha!). That's the new news that scares me ... I knew that Angelos was a jerk, but hoped that MLB could enforce some fairness.
OT: My own memory is that the snipers traveled all over the DC area (and beyond), and that the suspects were apprehended because of fingerprints left at a previous, non-DC, crime scene. Regardless, a very scary time.
Check out the Aspen HIll extended area in Montgomery County. He was arrested within hours of the shooting at that bus stop at quite a distance from it. No one could find him after several previous shootings? Naive today. They got his license plate and the make of his car. Natsfan1a they aren't going to tell you they used the satellites now are they? Just like they still won't admit they used the Corona series spy satellites during the Cuban Missile crisis because of the Gary Powers incident. After they got positive feedback from the satellite photos recovered they sent in the U2s. At that time using our spy satellites for domestic surveillance was completely illegal. And more than a few were unhappy that they had to resort to that. Meaning, they weren't very impressed with the local authorities.
The sniper's real target, his ex wife, wasn't that far from that triangle he focused on. Just outside of it.
It's a slow day.
Iowa Baseball players haunted by panty-stealing ghosts
Is this heaven?
No, it's still just Iowa--behave yourself!
they aren't going to tell you they used the satellites now are they?
Just curious, how do you know about that?
Just curious, how do you know about that?
Well my dad worked on the Corona series section in Utica NY for GE. I was also a cold warrior.
Next question.
So, that was classified info you're sharing?
"Angelos has a contract."
That means he is obliged to abide by the terms of that contract. If there are no provisions in the contract to redress non-compliance, then the courts would do the job. The courts could determine fair value and require both parties to comply with its finding, or the court could appoint an arbitrator to make the determination, and order the parties to comply.
There is also a question of equity. The circumstances surrounding television rights have materially changed since the original agreement was signed - they are now much, much higher than formerly. TV rights are now worth far more than was anticipated at the time the contract went into effect. Changing circumstances that materially and unfairly affect the equitable distribution of contract benefits can be litigated if not resolved among the parties.
The Lerners have much deeper pockets than Angelos, and they appear to have MLB in their corner. Angelos will not let go of his Nationals' pot of gold voluntarily or willingly. The Lerners have everything to gain and nothing to lose. It is Angelos' ox that will be gored, sooner or later. The Lerners are holding the cards with the winning hand, not Angelos.
The 4th and 5th Amendments have nothing to do with this. Besides, in both the Filburn and Kelo cases the SC largely negated private property rights and expanded government taking authority way beyond the original intent and meaning of the US Constitution.
The Kelo case was so bad a group of private citizens lobbied the New Hampshire legislature to condemn the Souter ancestral farm and turn it into a public park, which would have been consistent with the old legal reading of taking private land only for public use. Souter was seen by many as the deciding vote in that case. The heat got to him, and he resigned from the SC, as you may recall.
Based on Kelo, for instance, NY seized private land from homeowners so the Russian mafioso boss who owns the Nets could have his new arena built in Brooklyn. also paid for by the taxpayers, as I recall.
For those who live in Virginia, you may know that an amendment to the Virginia State Constitution was on the November ballot to prevent any such abusive taking of private property so well-connected political cronies and supporters could profit at the expense of law-abiding citizens. That all had to do with the Kelo case.
Under the Kelo decision, the state of Maryland could legally take Angelos' property rights and hand them over to the Lerners, unless Maryland has passed its own Constitutional amendment to prevent such a taking.
The Bill of Rights ain't what it used to be. Ask those former home owners in Brooklyn, or Suzette Kelo.
Just curious, how do you know about that?
Tinfoil hats are marvelous things, Sofa. You should try one sometime.
Heck, my rent-a-cat can do that. Say what? They were wearing them at the time? Ohnevermind.
A Strong Package for Gorse Hackage! said...
It's a slow day.
Iowa Baseball players haunted by panty-stealing ghosts
Is this heaven?
No, it's still just Iowa--behave yourself!
December 14, 2012 1:46 PM
Tinfoil hats are marvelous things, Sofa. You should try one sometime.
See, somebody still believes in me.
Laddie Blah Blah said...
"Angelos has a contract."
That means he is obliged to abide by the terms of that contract. If there are no provisions in the contract to redress non-compliance, then the courts would do the job. The courts could determine fair value and require both parties to comply with its finding, or the court could appoint an arbitrator to make the determination, and order the parties to comply.
They already have an arbitrator, as specified in the contract - the Commissioner of Baseball. He created a panel to come up with a decision that neither party liked. The problem is that Selig does not have the spine to enforce that decision, because he knows that if he does then one or both of the parties will take him to court. If he delays, though, then any possible lawsuits are also delayed. And Selig has no problem with delay. Just ask the folks in SF/Oakland/San Jose.
Selig has no problem with delay.
Maybe they could declare it a tie, and promise that next year, the home field for the WS will be determined by ratings?
Maybe I'll go put my "I have a job" hat on now...
Er, me, too...
Laddie...excellent analysis of Kelo. I thought I'd woke up on a different planet, when that ruling came down....
wow I missed some funny posts.
wow I just read that connecticut new piece. there are some messed up people in this world.
Strong Package: When you mix Iowa and baseball, strange things can happen. If you haven't read it already, try W.P. Kinsella's "Iowa Baseball Confederacy"; in my view, it's a slightly better novel than his "Shoeless Joe," which was, of course, the basis of the "Field of Dreams" movie.
Laddie, good read. Thanks for your insight_
So, that was classified info you're sharing?
No, its well past five years and George Bush made domestic spying legal as a part of the Patriot Act opening a special section of the NSA in Colorado fo that purpose. Albeit the software the contractors designed to do that failed, and failed again. White Elephants. Kind of hard to convince some idiot congress critters that certain things are impossible.
There's no direct evidence at this point although James Bamford and some others have written enlightening books (unclassified) about classified topics. The government typically neither confirms or denies. One could request documents through the freedom of information act and then fight that tremendous hassle ... blacked out areas that were needlessly blacked out ... in other words the government makes it a lot of work. A LOT of work.
Did you know that the VERY FIRST electronic computer was a parallel processor and a systolic array? So, it could do both fine grained SIMD and coarser heterogenous processing? That barely got working in the 1990's yet it was built in 1943-1945 by a British engineer named Tommy Flowers. He was helping Von Nenuman with some issues he had with decrypting the Enigma processors. They had all the algorithms in place, but even with primitive telephone switch technologies available there was a lot of tedious time consuming manual labor involved. Flowers streamlined all of that into one device. The COLOSSUS I and II.
I know some kids who actually believe Bill Gates built the first computer? Some of their instructors in CS still believe it was the somewhat more primitive ENIAC ... although it had the modern Von Neumann architecture in place by then. But Tommy Flowers? Who used his own funds to build these devices wasn't even allowed to get a patent. He couldn't get loans to build commercial versions because he couldn't tell the banks he had already built it. Churchill ordered the Colossus destroyed so that no part was left bigger than a man's fist.
Did you know any of this Sofa? Its unclassified? Lets not start the day out by being naive.
"They already have an arbitrator, as specified in the contract - the Commissioner of Baseball. He created a panel to come up with a decision that neither party liked. The problem is that Selig does not have the spine to enforce that decision, because he knows that if he does then one or both of the parties will take him to court. If he delays, though, then any possible lawsuits are also delayed. And Selig has no problem with delay. Just ask the folks in SF/Oakland/San Jose."
Selig would be better served if he handed this off to a court, unless the contract somehow bars him from doing so. The arbitrator is also a party to the contract, and if he fails to perform, either party could go to court and force his compliance with the duty to perform. After all this time, the judge could simply give him (Selig, I presume) a deadline to reach and enforce a decision.
The Lerners have recourse, and so does Angelos, to enforce the terms of the contract. But only the Lerners want to do that, so they would have to take the initiative. Of course, there may be provisions in the contract that bar them from doing so, but the court would determine if those provisions were determinative, not Angelos or Lerner or MLB.
Selig does not seem up to the job. But that can be remedied by going around him and having a court compel his performance. Nothing unreasonable about that. The Lerners must think that things will eventually play out in their favor, and Selig apparently is hoping Fox, or some other entity, will bail him out. The problem with that is Angelos must agree to be bought out.
Time is on somebody's side, and I don't think that somebody is Angelos.
Laddie, wouldn't the new contract go back retroactively to 2012 to where MASN aka Angelos would have to fork up that money in addition to 2013 and forward?
"No, its well past five years and George Bush made domestic spying legal as a part of the Patriot Act opening a special section of the NSA in Colorado fo that purpose."
The NSA had been eavesdropping on phone conversations for years prior to the Patriot Act. Not just here, but overseas, as well. Who do you think was monitoring OBL's phone calls and tracking him all the way to Tora Bora? A reporter in the Washington Times (I believe) found out and published that info in his column.
Bin Laden escaped largely because he learned from press reports how he was being tracked. He gave his cell phone to his driver with instructions for his driver to go in the opposite direction from that which he was taking. The US (NSA) tracked OBL's driver using that cell phone and by the time they nabbed him OBL was long gone.
BTW, I believe it was that same driver who gave up the name of OBL's courier, after being water-boarded. Once identified, it was the courier who finally led the CIA to Abbottobad and OBL. I have read that couriers are no longer used by top Al Qaeda operatives now. That info should never have been given out, either.
Something to make you smile today (when we need it)
Denard Span@thisisdspan
Just left from eating at Ben's chili bowl.. Now I need to find out if there's a ben's toilet bowl lol
"Laddie, wouldn't the new contract go back retroactively to 2012 to where MASN aka Angelos would have to fork up that money in addition to 2013 and forward?"
I don't know, since I have not seen the contract, but that would probably be a negotiable issue, in any case, if the thing got to court. The court would probably tell Selig (or some other court-appointed arbitrator) to make that determination as part of a settlement.
The lawyers - they always make out. The legal team on each side would make a bundle. It would be great to see some lawyers fleece Angelos, for change. How sweet would that be?
People are missing the point. The can't make Angelos sell MASN, but they can say you need to pay the Nats $100M/per, which triggers a clause the O's are also paid that too. According to Angelos thaht would bankrup MASN, so that is why he should sell.
Remember that Angelos ownes MASN, not the O's. Isn't the world of business about creating value. MASN now has more value than his orginial O's investment, isn't it better to sell rather than drive MASN into bankrupcy?
Tcostant said...
Remember that Angelos ownes MASN, not the O's.
______________________
As far as I know, he's the majority owner of both.
The NSA had been eavesdropping on phone conversations for years prior to the Patriot Act. Not just here, but overseas, as well. Who do you think was monitoring OBL's phone calls and tracking him all the way to Tora Bora?
Actually, they got help with that from the GCHQ and in exchange the NSA would monitor the Brits for the GCHQ and there was an information exchange. Remember the very sexually explicit phone call between Charles and Camilla?
But satellites are different. Domestic spying by the FBI of phone, etc using warrants was legal until the Patriot act made it legal without them. The use of spy satellite technology to do domestic spying was strictly verboten. And the FBI doesn't own any satellites.
Perhaps tcostant may have meant to say that Angelos, rather than the O's, owns MASN.
Bin Laden escaped largely because he learned from press reports how he was being tracked.
Precisely why the NSA never gives out or admits to targets or means. The CIA isn't as strict about this and has been known to share information with congress critters on the hill to gain budgetary advantages etc.
Sorry to confuse. What I was tring to say is that O's don't own MASN. If MASN can't pay the rights fees from revenue, the money comes from the owners; the majority being Angelos. Thanks Natsfan
Wow - to think this used to be a baseball blog....
Hiramhover, baseballblog? This is about the Nats.
Hiramhover, baseball blog? This is about the Nats!
NSA is Nats Sports American Network.
hh, pay no attention to the guys with the tinfoil hats. The know less about domestic surveillance law than they do about baseball.
Tcostant said...
Sorry to confuse. What I was tring to say is that O's don't own MASN.
I believe it is set up such that the O's do own MASN, or at least a controlling chunk of it. The Nats, not the Lerners, own a minority share of MASN. Since Angelos is the controlling owner of the O's, this does have the effect of making him the owner of MASN in the sense that he's obviously going to do whatever he deems to be in the best interest of both his properties. What is good for MASN is good for the O's, and what is good for the O's is good for MASN. The problem arises because the Nats have no say in any of that. Something can be bad for the Nats and still good for MASN.
I give up!
Laddie Blah Blah said...Under the Kelo decision, the state of Maryland could legally take Angelos' property rights and hand them over to the Lerners, unless Maryland has passed its own Constitutional amendment to prevent such a taking.
Maryland has not passed such a law or constitutional amendment. However, neither Bud Selig nor the rest of the MLB owners are the state of Maryland or the United States government. So neither Selig nor any consortium of the rest of the owners has any more power to condemn Angelos's property than my cat does. So the U.S. Constitution does in fact take precedence over Bud Selig's "best interests of the game" powers.
As for Virginia, I made it my business to get familiar with the constitutional amendment this year, since I was working at the polls handing out sample ballots. The Virginia constitution already provided that private property could not be taken for some other private purpose (as a reaction to the idiotic Kelo decision). State law provided for certain limitations on taking of private property for public purposes, as well as the amount of compensation a property owner had to receive for the loss of his property if it were taken. The ballot question was whether that statutory language should be placed in the state constitution, where it could only be changed by vote of the electorate, instead of leaving it as a statute, where the state legislature could change it whenever the spirit moved them.
Approximately 65 days, 15 hours, 34 minutes, and 20 seconds until pitchers and catchers report. But who's counting? If you'll excuse me, I have a window to stare out of...
Nothing like a spirited eminent domain and domestic surveillance discussion to send everyone running for the exits. Too bad.
hh, pay no attention to the guys with the tinfoil hats. The know less about domestic surveillance law than they do about baseball.
Pay no attention to anyone in section 222 they know NOTHING about baseball because they tend to use their head for a hatrack and nothing really useful.
Nothing like a spirited eminent domain and domestic surveillance discussion to send everyone running for the exits. Too bad.
Dear Mr. Blog administrator,
Please delete all insulting and denigrating messages entered by section 222. His obnoxious posts are becoming aggravating.
Thank you.
Faraz Shaikh said...
wow I just read that connecticut new piece. there are some messed up people in this world.
Back in the Nixon-Watergate times, and again the late Jimmy Carter period, stories like this seemed far more common. When the economy is dour, when gas prices jump, when their is a perception that America is not strong, people who have mental health issues seem unable to contain their anger and things like this happen.
Then the "America is lost" talk begins, people give up hope and bad things continue to happen.
Then the economy strengthens, people's 401k's look stronger, we start beating our chests globally and those who do these despicable things go back under their rocks, their triggers--for the moment at least--disarmed.
In the mid-to-late 70's, a man and his wife strapped gasoline cans to a detonator and took over a school in Wyoming, not far from where I live. Though they ended up blowing themselves up, the kids were only hurt; I don't remember that anyone died (could be wrong).
So it's not our current society that has gone bad, it's just a time when Americans feel hopeless. Normal Americans get depressed. Americans with problems do this.
Farid @ Idaho
Bin Laden escaped largely because he learned from press reports how he was being tracked.
Well perhaps the NSA is just as bad as I recall as a part of the clearance process new folks cleared are given a classified briefing about what to say and not to say. As a part of that briefing (which included black badged contractors) they trotted out a recording of a phone call between Bin Laden and his mother ... unnecessary bragging ... this was before 9-11.
So it's not our current society that has gone bad, it's just a time when Americans feel hopeless. Normal Americans get depressed. Americans with problems do this.
It starts at the top Farid. Current society is based on the notion of a reductionist separatism, that is individualism to the extreme ... each one can stand on his own without any help or handouts. Those that fail to meet that expectation are ostracized and reviled. In other places they are part of families and are looked after ... some societies better than others. An interesting study would be to look at how Hmong clans and families deal with problems like mental illness and because of all they suffered there was a great deal of it.
You can draw your own conclusion but society is certainly not free of guilt in my opinion.
peric said (quoting 222)...Nothing like a spirited eminent domain and domestic surveillance discussion to send everyone running for the exits. Too bad.
Dear Mr. Blog administrator,
Please delete all insulting and denigrating messages entered by section 222. His obnoxious posts are becoming aggravating.
What was insulting and denigrating about 222's post???
Seriously - my cat insults me worse than that...
Section 222 said...
Nothing like a spirited eminent domain and domestic surveillance discussion to send everyone running for the exits. Too bad.
Makes me feel like I'm sitting in the Presidents Club surrounded by people who paid big bucks for their seats and are talking about everything but the game. Who knows, those two ladies who almost got Dibble fired before his Strasburg comments did get him fired might have been talking about NSA surveillance of ordinary citizens and the Kelo decision instead of knitting or whatever he said they were talking about.
I have met 222 and he is not a cat!!
sjm308 said...I have met 222 and he is not a cat!!
Fooled you, too, huh?
Did we lose some posts here? I thought I saw some comments after 7 pm. Maybe I'm just getting senile.
Man, its hard to get a string going on minor league managers. I can think of nothing to say about them.
SonnyG10 said...Did we lose some posts here?
Well, we lost a post from peric - removed by the admin. Yikes, peric, what did you say?
LOL me neither SonnyG10. I barely know our prospects, much less about who manages them.
Anyways, I am gonna try to look at players (possibly young) who player limited number of at bats to see if I can recognize those deserving of more playing time. any pointers?
So we know that Denard Spsn is here because of twitter. Are there interviews going on? I saw a few photos, but mostly only know about it because of Span's tweets. Would be nice to find out a little more about him.
Actually I am glad to see LeCroy staying with the minors and working his way up the ladder. Nothing was harder to watch when Frank cried about him when he had to pull LeCroy from that game.
Swami.. well Span is at the Wizards/Lakers game and not sure if he will do the press conference. Hope he comes to Nats Fest. Good way for the new guys to meet the fans. (plus all the Nats fans on Twitter are doing a good job of welcoming him)
btw I am seeing pictures on twitter on how some kids wrote a note before getting shot in today's incident. Am I the only one who doubts these? If fake, how insensitive of people who made those.
Well, we lost a post from peric - removed by the admin. Yikes, peric, what did you say?
Nothing that should have caused that.
This post is for Peric (and anyone else who might be remotely interested). Others please skip. As you probably know, the Corona is de-classified, and sitting in the main Air & Space Museum on the Mall. The exhibit will be expanded in 2014 to include other artifacts, including film.
ArVAFan
So MLB is doing this top ten games Of 2012. It would appear that we are making three appearances--- out of ten. Two meltdowns- HRod va the Dodgers andd that dark Friday night vs the Braves. It's painful to recall. I think perhaps Jayson's walk off will be in the top three. So far, if you didn't know how many wins we ended up with, we would just look embarrassing. I hope those games were valuable lessons.
As you probably know, the Corona is de-classified, and sitting in the main Air & Space Museum on the Mall.
Yes. In fact I've gone to see it. I think Bill Clinton made the call to finally declassify it ArVAFan. The parachute recovery using a special plane mid-air is very cool!
BUT, they still won't confirm that they used it during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was there. They started launching it well before 1961? Plus not all of its photos have been declassified. I find that odd.
They rebuilt the Colossus II in England using the old vacuum tube technology. The original blue prints were destroyed along with the device but some engineering notebooks remained. The Brits were able to locate those in the US! Hmmmm ... I guess the US didn't respect Churchill's decree?
The point is to the name calling section 222 and sofa nothing I told you was classified. The military still has the mindset of misinformation or no information whenever and wherever possible. In other words its the same old SNAFU.
Oh, no they didn't. Three meltdowns, the one vs the demonic cards. Don't watch this show - the Nats are not presented well at all. Wasted my time and will never get it back. Crap.
Span..... This cats a born promoter!!! Love him, already!!!
http://www.natsenquirer.com/2012/12/just-denard-span-with-colin-powell-no-big-deal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FTheNationalsEnquirer+%28Nats+Enquirer%29
Couldn't have said it better myself, Sec3.
To continue (briefly) the non-baseball side of the thread: my brother-in-law's Dad was one of the pilots who flew the film recovery missions back in the day. The whole operation was pretty amazing.
Swami, thanks for the heads up. I was going to DVR that special, but umm.. no thanks.
to be honest, those two losses were pretty brutal in a kind of epic way. but yeah, I am not going to watch it again. Game 5 was the height of tragedy.
It was a baseball game, which is an escape from tragedy. The height of tragedy happened in a town in New England yesterday. Again.
Yuk! Another long weekend without a new post.
I am not looking forward to today. Will have young children to teach, including 1st graders. Last night a student of about 12, who is just learning social skills, about half-way through her hour, asked me, "Did you hear about the shooting at the school?" I said, yes, I had, I had heard the president speak about it, and that he was crying because he has children of his own. She thought he had three children... I asked her if she was okay, and she said she was.
The experts on TV said just go on with "normal activities" and "don't over-share." So that is advice I will try to follow.
Somebody said that Nats' "equity distribution" last year was $8MM. Based on Nats' equity position of ten percent, that suggests MASN cash flow (cash available for distribution to partners) was around $80MM. One way to look at that is that MASN cash (rights fee same as Nats, plus equity share) was probably around a half of Orioles total revenue. The starker truth is that there isn't enough money in the till to pay the Nats a $100MM rights fee, and leave anything for Orioles.
MASN getting more rights fees from Comcast Cable will be like getting blood from a turnip, as Comcast the programmer is MASN's main competition. Anybody buying MASN (Fox?) would have to sink mega $MM in programming to begin attract enough advertising dollars to bridge the gap. (Although Comcast's programming isn't that much better than MASN's, on a scale measured by ESPN/NBC/CBS.)
If I had the Lerners' billions, I'd be tempted to pour $200+ MM into litigation (breach of convenant of good faith and fair dealing -- a thin reed but all I see) until Angelos and MLB get tired of writing checks to lawyers.
Most of MASN programming (when it isn't college sports) seems to consist of ESPN stuff (which you can tune to ESPN to see) and some call-in shows which might as well be radio. Apparently they don't do the Ravens any more.
What Seamhead said. No matter how awful - or wonderful - a game's results might be, in the last analysis, it's simply entertainment. A loss is not a tragedy, a hitter is not a hero. Children and teachers being murdered is a tragedy; adults risking their lives to save children are heroes.
lannan to phillies. thats a strange twist
Okay, Lannan to the Phils. Now we'll have something to talk about - I expect a new post any moment now.
Guys, you know I meant in a baseball sense.
ok, I took the under $2MM so I lose. But not by much.
lannan gets $2,5M guraranteed
Yah, my stomach just dropped, Lannan to the Phoolies. That hurts. He got little respect here and deserved better.
It's cool, FS. Just don't want people to lose perspective on what's important in life.
Such as the Nats getting a lefty reliever.
Dan Kolko @masnKolko
Per @JonHeyman, Lannan gets 1-yr deal worth up to $5 million ($2.5 million guaranteed). Given current FA market, I thought he'd command more
That's a decent deal for Lannan. Can get his $5 million if he meets all milestones and will re-establish himself as a starter.
How good is the Fillies infield for a ground-ball pitcher?
NatsLady, good up the middle and poor on the corners.
All I have to say is Haren better out-perform Lannan by $8 million to $10.5 million of WAR.
Interesting... Do yo suppose the opportunity to pitch against us, in division helped LannEn make this decision? I thought he'd get more than one offer of this type, no?
I know he deserves a shot, but , he better now turn into cy young when we face him. Hope he has a decent year, just not against us.
Oh- and his infield is geriatric - is that good for a ground ball pitcher?
Oh- meant to say better NOT turn into cy young.
Mark tweets: "Lannan in 8 career starts in Philly: 2-5, 6.49 ERA, 1.942 WHIP. Plus, he broke Chase Utley's hand and was ejected in 2007 MLB debut there."
So he'll immediately be a Phillies Phan Phavorite!
Team all around us keep adding parts.....Rizzo keeps saving money....hope he has a plan for a LH bat, Gold Glove 1B Defense, LH Pen Set up and Depth, Starter Depth and Closer Experience....Every other team has helped themselves....Dodger, Phils, Reds, ATL, SFO in NL and Clearly LAA, NYY, Tigers all have improved.............
Nats in my view as currently signed up....a step or even two backwards. CF is weaker than with Harper in CF. 1B with Morse is a huge step backwards. Haren for JAX a wash at best. Bull Pen LH side huge step back.
Instead of improving and filling holes in Rotation, LH Pen and Closer...they have gone backwards.
New post
Yes, I saw that one last week. It's top 10 finishes as opposed to top 10 games. If memory serves, Werth's game 4 heroics were #7 or 8. I think game 5 of the NLDS was #2. :-(
baseballswami said...
So MLB is doing this top ten games Of 2012. It would appear that we are making three appearances--- out of ten. Two meltdowns- HRod va the Dodgers andd that dark Friday night vs the Braves. It's painful to recall. I think perhaps Jayson's walk off will be in the top three. So far, if you didn't know how many wins we ended up with, we would just look embarrassing. I hope those games were valuable lessons.
December 14, 2012 9:40 PM
Exactly.
Joe Seamhead said...
It was a baseball game, which is an escape from tragedy. The height of tragedy happened in a town in New England yesterday. Again.
December 15, 2012 8:18 AM
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