Giants Bring up Posey

Could be a huge move. He’s been raking it in Triple AAA.  With Molina hurt, the Giants desperately need a catcher.  His bat could be a huge boost, even if he comes off the bench.  He gets on base and has some power (.382 OB%, 5 HRs in 130+ AAA at bats).

I’m tempted to buy the MLB package just to see Posey.

Andrew Luck and Stanford

….currently on the front page of ESPN.com.  Luck and Gerhart make Ivan Maisel’s 25 things to watch this year.

Early Pac-10 Preview

Not good for Stanford

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/notebook?page=notebook/shootaround/pac10

Giants Thoughts

Three thoughts about the Giants

1) Big win tonight after a disappointing loss to the Rockies last night. They remain four games back in the wildcard. If they do win the wild card, Travis Ishikawa’s home run tonight could be considered a turning point for the season.

2) The Giants have are in a difficult position right now. Pablo Sandoval and Freddy Sanchez are injured and the bullpen is weary. The hope is that they some of their veterans, such as Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn can step it up.

3) Even if the Giants do not get the wild card, their competitiveness is encouraging. The team is on the rise. They have Lincecum and Cain, of course. Zito might be turning the corner and adjusting to his declining velocity. His second half pitching has been nothing short of superb. Sanchez is coming around as well. Throw in Madison Baumgartner, the Giants top pitching prospect, and you have an excellent young rotation. If MadBaum is not ready, there is a chance Noah Lowry could come back. The bullpen should also remain relatively intact, with Bob Howry being the only loss. The offense should improve as Sandoval, Ishikawa and co. develop. The team also has some money to throw around with Randy Winn and Randy Johnson set to become free agents. I would use that money to add a solid power hitting outfielder and a set up guy for the bullpen. The rest of the money should be saved to resign the young pitchers.

The lineup next year should look like

1) Lewis, LF (assuming they do not sign another OF)
2) Sanchez, 2B
3) Sandoval, 3B
4) Posey/Molina, C
5) Garko/Ishikawa, 1B
6) Schierholz, RF

7) Rowand, CF

Renteria, SS

The problem with the lineup is there are few scary hitters. The team has a number of solid guys (Garko, Sanchez, Rowand) but no dangerous power hitters. The offense will only improve if Posey is better than Molina, which is unclear for at least next year. In the long run, he should hit for a higher average, get on base more and possibly provide more power than Bengi. Schierholz is another key. He has the potential to hit around .280-.290 and possibly knock in 20 HRs. The question is whether he will be given the opportunity to reach that potential.

Renteria is clearly the weakest link here. My hope is that the team starts Uribe, who has been a much better hitter, and use Edgar as a utility guy. We will see.

Obama’s Cabinet

There are Hillary rumors, but I gotta think he’s going to put Chuck Hagel as Secretary of State and probably will keep Robert Gates as the Secretary of Defense.  A bi-partisan cabinet and obtaining consensus makes a lot of sense, but I worry that at some point it might compromise legislative efficiency.  After all, there is a lot that needs to get done.

Surprise

Friedman also says we should go big with the stimulus

The funny thing is that for years Economists have been saying America needs to improve its savings rate.  It’s been the primary benefit of plans for privatizing social security, creating opt-out retirement savings plans and instituting a consumption tax.  Yet ironically, we now need people to spend more than ever.

And seriously, it will take one hell of a stimulus to get people to start spending again.  This recession certainly is not helping.

Thoughts on Bond

Saw the new Bond movie–it was good, but not as good as Casino Royal.  I think the expectation was that it would be what the Dark Knight was to Batman Begins.  However, there was quite a bit missing.

First, they changed directors to the guy who did Finding Neverland.  I have no idea why they made this move and it made no sense here.  This movie did not seem a continuation of Casino Royale, which is what I think the expectation was.

Second, there was definitely not enough dialogue or character development within the movie.  The Bolivian Bond Girl (who was Ukranian in real life) was fantastic and there was some character development there.  But it seemed as if she had her own, somewhat independent story.  She was awesome and probably could have had her own movie (which would have probably been better than the actual plot of this one), but she was no Vesper.

Third, the whole Quantam back story was severely underdeveloped.  It had the potential to be awesome–”We have people everywhere”–but it turned into a very formulaic Bond film.  Bond chases bad guy.  And again.  And finally he captured him.

That said, it was worth the price of admission and the action scenes were well-shot.  Not Casino Royale.  Probably not even Golden Eye.  But better than anything else in the modern (since Golden Eye on) Bond era.

Obama’s Liberalism

A very thorough piece detailing influences on Obama and concluding that it is unlikely we will see a radical, leftist shift in American politics.  On the other hand, it seems more likely that we will witness a return to Keynesian economic principles especially given the ineffectiveness of monetary policy during this recent crisis.

Krugman, on the other hand, favors a “New Deal” like approach and urges Obama to swing for the fences.

Great Foreign Policy Article

The Economist on the challenges facing an Obama administration. A look at the more pressing problems, such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with an analysis of more long-term, subtler shifts in global geopolitics.

Arguably, Obama is facing one of the most precarious foreign policy situations in recent times.  He has two wars, a tough situation in Pakistan, a potentially nuclear Iran, an enigmatic Russia and a rising China.  Even with all this on the table, he cannot be blind to the Middle East process and the always dangerous conflict over Kashmir.

Third Time’s the charm

We got one right.

And he immediately gets to work.  Rahm Emanuel (the basis for the West Wing character) Josh Lyman has been offered the Chief of Staff job.

The Onion chimes in.