160 Responses to “Game 109, A’s at M’s”

1. scraps on August 5th, 2006 5:18 pm

   I was less upset about the obvious race/gender issues involved with this ad and more upset about the fact that the woman says “ATM machine,” when the “M” in “ATM” does, in fact, stand for “machine.”

   For that matter, “automatic teller machine” is itself redundant; either “automatic teller” or “teller machine” would be sufficient.

2. terry on August 5th, 2006 5:39 pm

   #151 how about calling it the “screw you we’re going to charge you whether you use this machine or go into a human teller” machine?

3. Jon Wells on August 5th, 2006 5:55 pm

   95 DMZ wrote:
   “The M’s have three options:
   – offer him arbitration. Joel can accept or decline. If he declines, he walks, the M’s get some kind of draft pick if someone takes him. If he accepts, they head to a hearing. That can be pre-empted by
   – offer him a new contract (which can be also done on the way to arb). If he takes it, yay, if he doesn’t, they let him go (unless they’re headed to arb)
   – non-tender him. Joel cannot, as you imply, then take the team to arb”

   Actually, the first one is incorrect. If the player is offered arbitation, he cannot “decline” the offer. Once offered arbitration, he is considered a “signed” player and will either reach agreement with the team on a new contract or he’ll go to an arbitration hearing.

   The situation where a player can decline the offer of arbitation only comes up when the player has become a free agent and the team offers him arbitration so they can get draft choices if he declines (and if he accepts, which very few free agents do, he’s considered a signed player).

   The whole thing is kind of a moot point anyway. Pineiro will get over $7 million in arbitation (either through a hearing or pre-hearing settlement) and neither the M’s or anybody he may be traded to would be stupid enought to offer him arbitration.

4. Jon Wells on August 5th, 2006 5:56 pm

   Help, it’s the typo police — should be arbitration, not arbitation!

5. DMZ on August 5th, 2006 6:27 pm

   Yeah, I botched that explanation entirely – since he’s still under team control, he can’t decline arbitration.

6. John D. on August 5th, 2006 7:47 pm

   PIN NUMBER (# 141) – Pin Number is DAN SZYMBORSKI’s pet peeve. Speaking of pet peeves, a restaurant critic was asked to list his five worst peeves about restaurant dining.
   # 5. – “Just as soon as your coffee has cooled down enough for drinking, a waiter comes by and warms it up.”
   (Sort of makes you realize how small your troubles really are.)

7. BelaXadux on August 5th, 2006 10:22 pm

   It needn’t be taken as an I-told-you-so when I say that the only award or result I’ve seen the ’06 Mariners in contention for since the middle of last off-season was the winner of the Alpo “Eat Hearty” Stannous Recepticle. This hasn’t been, isn’t, and won’t be a playoff team, ’cause to be that you have to be a contender, and this team isn’t that, either. Impatient offense which can’t work rallies unless everybodies hot at the plate. Too little power. Starting rotation of number four starters (in terms of results, not potential for all concerned) which dominates _nobody_. Yes, there’s a great bullpen, and some defensive stars, although there are some terrible holes in the defense, too. Just winning a series AT ALL against a good team—see, Boston—feels like a major victory rather than something expected. The effort and intensity level of the team in this series against Oakland has been . . . non-competitive, let’s leave it at that.

   And this won’t change, really, until we get an FO which will change the mix. There’s a core of young guys who hustle, plus a few (very few) older guys who are useful. But the rest just don’t cumulate value added. Put the pressure on, and the cardboard props fold where structural members should be.

8. argh on August 5th, 2006 10:33 pm

   IOW this year’s Ms are a bottom.

9. matthew on August 6th, 2006 12:09 am

   130: ESPN’s headline as of right now: “First-place A’s own M’s.”

10. terry on August 6th, 2006 8:00 am

    #157: great opinion except for the part that this team won’t be in contention…. It’s August and going into this weekend, the Ms were 3.5 games out,,,,

    so once again…great post-except for the underlying premise 😛

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