Joseph Zarr

I'm certainly not going to start a WNBA thread (no offense to any WNBA fans) and I don't see a miscellaneous NBA/WNBA thread. I personally am not a watcher of WNBA games but today my brother-in-law, Sydney Johnson, took the Head Coaching position for the Washington Mystics. He has worked incredibly hard for this opportunity - he's been coaching the FIBA USA Women's 3 v 3 for quite awhile and assisted (led the defense) the disaster that was Theresa Witherspoon in Chicago last season. I wanted to share we are all, by proxy, now Mystics 'fans'. Go ladies! Best of luck, Syd! He is most likely going to need it!😅

- LHP Bruce Zimmerman has been signed to a Minor League contract with an invite to Spring Training. He has been assigned to the Nashville Sounds. Zimmerman went 3-4 in 15 Games Started pitching for the Norfolk Tides (Orioles) last season. He did not appear at the MLB level.

I was pretty much referring to the whole game. But, yes. IMHO, the defensive growth is the most impressive. He has cut back on the ticky tack reach fouls and has become a legit shutdown menace. Glorious.

The development of A-Jax this season has been nothing short of phenomenal. The Bucks desperately needed him to take a step and, man, he has taken several. He is playing controlled - he is maximizing that absurd athleticism and he isn't losing control in doing so. If he can continue developing something off the dribble and to the hoop in addition to fine tuning that set shot 3, he becomes a true weapon. I think, for me personally (beyond Giannis just reaching newer other-worldly heights), it's the highlight of this early Bucks season. Credit to Doc for sticking with the young guns even with Midds returning. It had to happen but that certainly doesn't always mean it will happen in a professional sports League.

Man, that's just an egregious lack of understanding of what the full scope of the job entails. That really sucks for your daughters. My main contention as the uncle across the country is simply: these people are put in places of trust and authority and these are very very basic tasks. Fill out the forms, belong to the proper coaching groups, hand them in to the right outlets. The, the rest takes care of itself. My niece will be absolutely fine. She's handling it better than all the adults over yonder. She'll likely start as a Freshman on an NCAA-tourney caliber Ivy League squad. Things will take care of themselves. Principally, however, the lack of any type of 'punishment' (for lack of a better word) to this coach is something. Karma will ultimately have its comeuppance in some way, shape, or form however. I do believe that.

Well, RHP Taylor Clarke joins former Brewers and new 'teammates' INF Cam Devanney and RHP Ryan Brady in the Kansas City Royals organization. Clarke rejoins the Royals (after one mostly disappointing year with the Brewers) on a Minor League deal. We wish Taylor the best as he attempts to earn his way back to a 40-Man roster spot.

All I gotta say: This blog rocks. Another banger.

The BTC evolution and developments have, honestly, ventured beyond my wildest dreams. When I was mining in 2016/2017 - before I shifted full-time to trading (and, then, ultimately to hodling/accumulation/and LT swing trading) - I couldn't even fathom or realistically accept what is now unfolding before our eyes. It's a testament to my limited thinking, on one hand, but also I am inherently conservative in the markets. I have family members who were burned in the Dot.com bubble because they were greedy. BUT, it's hard to turn a blind eye to what we're seeing and as I've grown in this crypto market as a whole my thinking has changed. And, well, in my charts when I pull out to the macro larger timeframes I can't deny what I'm seeing. I try to disprove it. I really do. BUT, before this cycle even kicked off and turned bullish - I'm talking late 2023 and beginning of 2024 charting - I could find ways to see certain price action giving me $350K this cycle. That never materialized but it got me going through various market scenarios. Ultimately, $1 Million was (and is) on the table as a logical first Mid-Term target. Say 10 years or so out. Which, well, got me thinking and extrapolating. I was already pontificating one could make a reasonable argument that beyond Microstrategy like purchases, the US Fed was shadow buying lots of BTC to leverage against the US Treasury. I'm not going to get into specifics but I can tell you I'm not the only one who thinks this or was charting this. I digress. So, I had been asking the question: What is a reasonable growth estimate - annually and in 5-10 year cycles - if Bitcoin actually became a global reserve? AND, well, here we are that is being openly discussed across the Sqwuak Box almost daily. Then, well, yesterday I saw this: The long and the short? Other than a very small but keen sense of validation, I reminded myself: Just keep buying every dip. Doesn't matter the amount of money you or I have. Responsibly cost-average in and it will all come out in the wash. I just no longer think this is an outlandish proposition whatsoever. 4-5 years ago? I would have looked at you like you shot my dog. Lastly, man, my mom is retiring this upcoming summer. I hand fed her the golden opportunity for the rest of her lifetime. I sent her weekly texts when BTC went sub-$20K. Just not in her risk profile or, honestly, her realm of comprehension. Is what it is. I still have the hardest time grappling with that failure to execute as her son.😅

Closing this loop for now in the 'High' Mountain air: Best of luck to Mr. Yan as he seeks to work his way back into a possible MLB discussion.

Brew Crew once again have 3 players in Baseball America's Top 50 International Prospects Bonus Board. Will post tidbits later (feel free to beat me to it).

- RHP Justin Caceres has been released by the DSL Brewers #2

Well, this daydream ended too soon:

Good thing about batteries, tho, is beyond testing it yourself you can drive up to any 'Auto Zone' and they will test it for free. If I recall correct, they'll bring the tool out to your car and you know within a minute. If your battery is just low, which it often is, they'll charge it for you for free if you don't have the requisite charging device. I prefer to trickle charge my own batteries over a 24 hr period but they'll do it in store in 30 minutes or less with their beefier set up.

My oldest niece is carving out quite the early career as a soccer player. She is playing next year in the Ivy League and her class appears to be a juggernaut for an already blossoming program. She has won many honors already in her Senior year - regional All-American, All-State, All-Conference etc. The High School athletic hoopla. What's even 'scarier' about this is my youngest niece is the best athlete our family has ever seen. IF she focuses on soccer, she will likely be better; more dangerous; and a likely shoe-in on USWNT rosters. I digress. Well, this past week was the vote for the greater All-American team. My niece had numerous fans (ergo, 'Votes') on the committee. The only problem was...her name wasn't on the ballot. It turns out her high school coach (and, also by proxy or association, her athletic director by default) submitted her name and ballot into the public school category. She plays at a private school. The only reason her mom, my sister, found out is because her club coach is on the committee. He notified my sister: "Hey, <niece here> had several votes on the committee. She was likely a unanimous selection. BUT, her name wasn't on the ballot. I asked about it and we found out he submitted her to the wrong school class and so she wasn't on the right ballot." I mean, the award, in the end, obviously is just an award and it doesn't mean anything. However, historically, the school itself has never had a National All-American in the women's soccer program. This would have been a first. AND, it didn't happen, ostensibly, because the head coach submitted the ballot incorrectly. Nobody along the way had the wherewithal to rectify the error - in and of itself, also darkly comical. AND, what made it even worse is everyone involved in the process has been extremely apologetic and taking responsibility for the snafu. Her coach? Being a complete egotistical ignoramus is completely and entirely taking zero responsibility. My sister wrote him a very direct but very cordial email and he responded on the attack. The entire situation is just extremely disappointing. Thankfully, my niece is a baller and is handling it very well after the initial disappointment. What a cluster.

Having the number of picks they do in the range they have them is obviously quite scintillating but I would also remind us all: this upcoming draft is universally seen as a better and deeper draft than last year's. That is also quite zesty! "Waiter, could I have some more freshly made guacamole? And, yes, make it picante!"

Ol' friend LHP Eric Lauer inks a NRI MiLB deal with the Jays returning to full-season affiliated ball after closing his late aeason in 2024 in the KBO. Good for him. Hopefully, his injury woes are further behind him and he can recapture some of his vintage form.

Awesome news! I had just checked his player page a day or so ago. Very happy for him.

Hard to say. We signed INF Jesus Made for $950,000. I'd say that investment has been paying early dividends.

I wouldn't over-invest in Prospect rankings. Durbin's main issue has been health - he's missed time due to two fluke injuries of late - and switching organizations. Last year, he missed two months due to a fractured wrist (that likely impacted his early exit velo numbers). The Yankees did a good amount of swing adjustment and he evolved from a slap hitter with the Braves into a guy who regularly can launch 15 degree balls with decent power. Likely never a big HR guy but he is definitely a guy who can hit for extra bases - especially, if you factor in his speed. The main thing you might read into is: he proved his 2023 AFL wasn't a fluke. He proved he has recovered from the early 2024 wrist injury. AND, whether it's posturing or not, the Yankess brass (GM and Manager) were repeatedly saying he was a strong candidate to take over everyday 2B duties with the MLB club.

Good Yankees SB Nation piece on Durbin HERE

I think those EV's should have an asterisk, tho: he was returning from a broken wrist in the first portion of his season (thanks to @Playing Catch for that Fangraph article that touches on this). Hard to know how that impacts bat-to-ball and EV but I have to imagine, having broken my own left wrist before, it didn't help as he re-adjusted to the physical sensations of bat-to-ball. From the same article: That's a pretty bold asterisk if you ask me. I don't think we truly know what we'll be working with but his AFL output might be hinting at it...

Good counterpoint to Durbin by Jack here:

There was very very low hanging 'fruit' here: "Bracing for the wurst" I ask for silence as I grieve the loss of a pun. #IStandWithDadJokes

I personally like it when I have to step outside the bounds of my vehicle - but maybe I'm a hack mechanic glutton? Heck on my F150 (and in many pre-2014 vehicles I've used) I don't trust the 'Oil Life' prompts or 'Maint Reqd' prompts (on my wife's RAV4) that are strictly based on a rollback of an auto-input feature equating oil life to <insert 3,000 miles or 5,000 miles traveled from date of reset> over any car/truck sensor's actual understanding of the quality of the oil in the crankcase. I've also found read outs on batteries tend to be inconsistent - ie, I need to read it myself to believe it and read it more than once. But, to your point, I get it. You have a 2019. We have AI making insanely real deep fakes and movie edits in real time on command. We don't have an app or a sensible dash prompt that can tell me the state of the battery that is literally ensuring all my features in my working vehicle are working properly? I mean, if the battery goes you can instantly lose your power steering when turning across a highway. Seems like it should be a common feature in all vehicles - especially newer models.