Trade Deadline 2020

I must admit that I've paid very little attention to baseball in 2020. Not only are there more dire and important things going on in this country - a still-raging global pandemic, an ever-increasing number of police brutality cases, which our governments are unable/unwilling to address, white supremacy-motivated violence in the streets, incited by the president, and the upcoming battle for the future of our nation's democracy in November. And while all those things are still at the forefront of my mind (and probably those of most Americans), I still can't help but be fascinated by the MLB trade deadline. Sure, it's happening a month later than usual, which happens to be just less than two-thirds of the way through the 60-game 2020 season. But player movement gives us a chance to check in on which teams are surging, which teams are struggling, and who is primed to make the most impact in the most unique MLB playoff push in history.

Here's a position-by-position lineup of the top players who changed teams at or near this year's deadline, evaluated by my favorite fantasy point system. They're also listed with some fun color-coded information, including offseason acquired status (first name highlighted in Yellow, to go with the Cyan that indicates a midseason acquisition), and my personal favorite bit of triviality: each player's astrological sign.

After making his MLB debut last year, Austin Nola emerged as Seattle's top catcher when Tom Murphy went down with a foot injury. The Capricorn Nola was acquired by the Padres, moments after they also picked up lefty-swinging Jason Castro (120 points, 6.7 points-per-game) from the Angels, solidifying their backstop platoon. When you consider that the Friars sent Luis Torrens to the Mariners as part of the return for Nola, and also traded Austin Hedges to Cleveland in a blockbuster trade, San Diego was involved in four of the five catchers to change teams during the 2020 deadline. (The only outlier was Robinson Chirinos, who went from the Rangers to the Mets.)

Speaking of San Diego, they also scored the top overall fantasy point-scoring trade deadline acquisition in Mitch Moreland. After years of languishing in the bowels of the Virgo depth chart behind the likes of Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, and Freddie Freeman, the 34-year-old Moreland finally found his power stroke during his fourth year playing for the Red Sox. Again, he's only had about 80 plate appearances this year, but Moreland's career-high marks in batting average, on-base, and slugging percentages earned him a trade to a contender out west.

The next two infielders on the lineup also qualified at first base, but they'll be occupying second and third base, respectively, for the purposes of this project. In addition to positional eligibility, another thing that Tommy La Stella and Todd Frazier have in common is that they're both Aquarians, which has historically been the worst performing fantasy sign of the baseball zodiac (at least over the last 30 years, which is as far back as my comprehensive astrology baseball database stretches). Rounding out the infield is Jonathan Villar, who was traded from one surprise contender (the Marlins) to another (the Blue Jays). Miami's plan to play the Taurean infielder in center field this year didn't exactly pan out, but perhaps he'll become a backup outfielder in Toronto Buffalo after he's done filling in for the injured Bo Bichette at shortstop.

Libra has had a crazy strong outfield alignment for the last ten years, from Andrew McCutchen, Jose Bautista, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp from the early 2010s, to Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, and Starling Marte of today. Marte's time in the desert was brief, having been acquired by the D-Backs during the offseason, and now he should solidify Miami's outfield as they unexpectedly push for a playoff berth. The other two outfielders also have center field eligibility dating back to 2019, but both Kevin Pillar and Brian Goodwin have spent their 2020 seasons in the corners flanking some pretty high-level defenders: Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mike Trout, respectively. Rounding out the starting nine, infielder Ty France is neck-and-neck with outfielder Jose Martinez (186 / 7.8) for the DH spot, the universal adoption of which is one of the only positive developments I can see coming out of the debacle that is the 2020 MLB season.

In terms of 2020 stats, Taijuan Walker is the top performing starting pitcher to change teams at the deadline. The Leo starter, who was drafted and developed by Seattle, returned to his original team in the offseason after three years in Arizona, before the Mariners shipped him off to the Blue Jays. But the top pitcher moved in terms of star power is Mike Clevinger, who went to the ever-active Padres from the Indians. The Sagittarius starter known as "Sunshine" made headlines (and missed time) earlier in the season for violating the team's COVID protocols, but I guess he was given a clean bill of health prior to his trade to sunny California. Clevinger's Sagittarius teammate Ross Stripling joins him on this All-Acquired team, after the Dodgers were finally able to deal him. (Remember, they tried and failed to send "Chicken Strip" to the Angels as part of the first iteration of the Mookie Betts deal.)

Neither of the two lefties that round out the rotation have had very impressive 2020 seasons, although  to be fair, Mike Minor has a recent track record of excellence, and Tommy Milone's allowed less than 4 runs per 9 innings with the Orioles until his disastrous first start with the Braves (7 runs allowed in 2 1/3 innings) pushed his ERA to 5.68. In the opposite circumstance, Minor's last start with Texas, before he joined the Athletics, was a masterpiece against the Dodgers... although he still failed to pick up his first win of the season (0-5, 5.60 ERA). I feel like I should mention Cal Quantrill in this section, since he served as a starter in his debut year of 2019, but he has pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen with the Padres, before going to Cleveland as part of the return for Clevinger.

Trevor Rosenthal finally gets to star in the big comeback story that he has been trying to author since 2017, his last season as the closer for the Cardinals. The Gemini known as Big T is yet another player heading to the Padres, and he'll be joined by Cancer cusper Taylor Williams, who emerged as the Mariners' closer, after being picked off waivers from the Brewers during the offseason. The next two relievers on this list are both Leo closers: Archie Bradley, who went from Arizona to Cincinnati, and Brandon Workman, who joined the Phillies from Boston. Speaking of the Phillies, they also acquired David Phelps (185 / 15.4) from Milwaukee, and also Heath Hembree (110 / 6.9) in the same deal as Workman. Other honorable mentions are a pair of relievers traded from the Orioles: Miguel Castro (187 / 11.7) to the Mets, and Mychal Givens (152 / 12.7) to the Rockies.

Those are the lineups: now a few words about some further Astrology implications. Of the 66 players traded at the deadline, 47 of them have appeared in the majors in 2020. Of those 47, the relative majority (8) were Leos. However, curiously, five other signs had exactly 5 players represented: Gemini, Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. One of these, Pisces, is one of only two signs to not have a player in my "starting lineup" pictured above. The other is Aries, which had only one player traded this deadline season (outfielder Cameron Maybin (88 / 6.3) who went from Detroit to the Cubs). This is also particularly curious because Aries has been the top scoring sign of the last several years - when taking into account a similar "starting lineup" configuration (although with just three relievers). I'll be going into some more big picture detail later, but until then, stay safe, practice social distancing, and hope that your favorite team doesn't get any(more) positive COVID tests.

 

Thoughts About the 2020 MLB Season

As the owner of the Internet website "thoughts about baseball dot com," I'd like to officially express my thoughts about Major League Baseball's 2020 season. Namely, I don't think Major League Baseball should go forward with the 2020 season. Don't get me wrong, it makes me terribly sad to envision a whole calendar year without MLB action. Canceling the season would be devastating for everyone who depends on organized baseball for their livelihoods (not to mention mildly annoying for the billionaire owners, who would suffer a loss on their balance sheets, and STILL be left with more money than they could possibly ever spend in a lifetime...)

But here's the thing: everyone who would be devastated by the loss of baseball is ALREADY being devastated by the deadly global pandemic, which is still-raging (in the U.S. at least). And what's more, the very existence of baseball threatens to make the pandemic worse - even without fans in the stadiums, there's still a huge network of players, coaches, trainers, and essential staff (and their personal networks, and networks of networks, etc.) who are being put at risk. And for what? For a sporting event? Baseball might be our national pastime, but at bottom it's also just entertainment.

And while missing the season would undoubtedly be bad for baseball as a whole, who's to say what ramifications await us if the season goes forward as planned? How many players will get sick and have LASTING respiratory problems, which will affect the landscape of the sport through multiple future seasons? Because you can't have an effective baseball season unless the players are healthy and able to play. And the players can't be healthy and able play if there's still no end in sight for this pandemic. And the quickest way to end the pandemic is to avoid dangerous, disease-spreading activities such as professional baseball. (Coupled with basic human decency practices, such as wearing a mask.) The logic seems flawless to me, but I don't know, I'm just a Philosophy major...

So yes, 2020 without MLB would be Bad For Baseball, but it would also be Good For Public Health. And which is more important right now?

Thoughts About Persuasion Checks

There are many times I can think of where I wished my real life experience was more like Dungeons and Dragons. For example, if my D&D character wants to convince a non-player character of something, the Dungeon Master might ask me to "make a Persuasion check." So if I can roll a high enough number on a 20-sided die (including bonuses for being Charismatic), the DM would inform me that I've successfully changed the NPC's mind. With a low number on the d20, however, the DM might explain that my character's arguments were simply not strong enough, or that they got nervous and said the wrong thing, for example, and the NPC remains unmoved.

In real life, the skill of persuasion is a lot more complicated than the randomness of a die-roll. First of all, you actually have to come up with the arguments you want to use, rather than leaving them to the imagination. At one time, that's what I thought was the most important part of getting someone to see your point of view: the arguments. I like to think of myself as a logical person (it's the blue mana in me), so putting myself in the opposite position, I think a clear, well-crafted argument based on facts would be the best way for someone else to change MY mind about something. However, a closer examination of this strategy shows that it's lacking a key component, one that's best summed up in the saying "it's not what you say, but how you say it."

When you come at someone with only logic and facts, it presents yourself as "the one who knows." This in turn presents the person who's mind you want to change as "the one with insufficient information and inferior/flawed reasoning." Even if your facts are impeccable and your arguments are perfect enough to convince someone that they are wrong about something, it can be extremely hard for that person to accept that they are wrong. A good persuasion check is not just a good argument, but also takes into account the mental state of the character who is the target of the check.

I realize now that my focus on the content of a position (philosophical, political, or otherwise) only looks at the end result: here is a position THAT I HOLD, and I want it to be a position THAT YOU HOLD. It completely ignores the process of TRANSITIONING from "the position you currently hold" to "the position I want you to hold." If someone holds an incorrect position, what was the method by which they arrived at that position? And what's the broader point of view of someone who holds that position? And what might that point of view tell me about the likelihood of that person's changing their mind? And why?

This is why in D&D there's additional modifiers that you add to your skill checks if you've trained in that particular skill. For example, a character who is "proficient in Persuasion" might have put a lot of thought into the above topics, and come up with some useful working theories. I haven't done a lot of training in this skill myself, and I wouldn't claim to be a naturally charismatic persuader. But one thing I'm reasonably sure of is that no one changes their mind by being bewildered. D&D has the Intimidation skill for that. Unfortunately, that's how many of the people with the most convincing facts/arguments tend to engage on platforms such as Twitter. Or, if you're a GOP lawmaker, on the floor of congress.

In the category of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," I would say the first step is to look at persuasion from the point of view of compassion, particularly self-compassion. Changing one's belief system is a difficult process, no matter for what reason. Once again putting myself in the opposite position, and thinking of what frame of mind would make me most likely to change my beliefs, it would be if the convincer had some compassion for the worldview-changing ordeal I would be going through. And then of course I would need to have some compassion for myself, not just for how hard it is to change one's opinion, but as a consolation for holding incorrect beliefs to begin with.

Of course there's the real danger of appearing condescending when striving for compassion; or alternatively, of beating yourself up when it comes to self-compassion. There's tips to avoiding those pitfalls and more in Kristin Neff's book "Self Compassion." The point is that in order to change someone's mind, you have to come at it from a position of caring about that person. Which is, come to think of it, how we should go about all communication, and much of everyday life in general. But convincing some people of that is a whole 'nother story.

Thoughts on Convincing People to Give Up Power

So much has changed since my last post. In the twelve days since I took a 10-year retrospective look at the Gemini Twins fantasy astrology baseball team of 2009, we've seen people in all 50 states (myself among them) take to the streets in protests against abhorrent police brutality against Black people, most recently the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. While these demonstrations have made it clear that Americans are ready for a complete reimagining of our country's approach to policing, they have also jolted me and many of my white friends into the (much too delayed) realization that we have been passively complicit in the systemic racism in our society. We have all started doing work, in our own ways, to get more informed and become better allies, in what will be an ongoing effort. 

Of course, there's also the struggle to be an "effective" ally, rather than just a "good" ally. And now I'm reading certain things that say allies are not what's needed, and we're NOT supposed to call ourselves allies? I guess that makes sense - "being an ally" sounds like something that one can achieve, rather than describing the lifelong process of learning, growing, and acting effectively. So much is changing so fast, including perceptions. And before I get bogged down with the labels of what I'm trying to become, I'll say that first and foremost I'm trying to learn more about the issues at stake here and be a more effective citizen in general.

Like many of us white people, I've started reading more material by Black writers, including Ta-Nehisi Coates. One line from "We Were Eight Years In Power" stood out to me as especially relevant: "What people anywhere on this earth has ever, out of a strong moral feeling, ceded power?" I feel like this applies particularly to the police, an institution that has its roots in exerting power over Black bodies. Even as someone who has been personally anti-police for many years, it took me WAY too long to learn that our current model of policing rose out of slave patrols (and colonial anti-insurrectionist tactics and violent strike-breakers). In addition, police departments have been given a tremendous amount of power in recent times, through reliance on them for an increasingly varied tasks (for which they are NOT suited), and inflated government budgets that reflect this reliance. 

Calls to defund or abolish the police have gained national attention in the wake of protests against police brutality, with one major city already taking steps to disband their police department, and transition to community-based approach to public safety, rather than the severe focus on crime and punishment. But while the situation in Minneapolis is heartening for sure, that's just one of the roughly 18,000 individual police departments in the country. So for everywhere else, my question now is, how do we get the police - or rather, the people in power who benefit from the destructive actions of the police - to give up this power?

Sure, studies have shown that the police as an institution are relatively inadequate when it comes to preventing crime, and that in many cases, their presence in communities actually makes those communities less safe. But for most people, it's not enough to assume that they will be willing to change their life-long conceptions about how society works when presented some data points, no matter how convincing or well-researched they may be. This is especially true if these people have something to gain from the status quo remaining in place; i.e. if they enjoy the protection by the police rather than suffer from persecution by them (i.e. if they are white and/or own property). Going back to the Coates quote above about ceding power, it's unreasonable to believe that city councils across the country will vote to do the right thing for their communities, if there's even the slightest belief that doing so will be a threat to their ability to maintain power.

But going beyond the intellectual realm of agreeing on and adopting policy, even if communities vote to disband their police departments and go through all the proper channels to make it a reality, who's going to physically relieve the police of the power they've accumulated? It's like the gun rights fanatics, even some elected officials, who respond with threats of violence to measured proposals to remove unnecessarily deadly weapons from our streets -- how do you think the police themselves will respond to policies that promise to reduce their personal power? Do you think they'll just hand over their guns, tanks, riot gear, tear gas, and rubber bullets just because some politicians think it will be safer for their constituents? It's not like police across the country have ever hesitated to act in ways that prove the case against themselves, time and time again.

Of course, we won't have to worry about this particular doomsday endgame scenario for a long long time, not until many people are convinced of the need to abolish police and agree on the best methods to make that a reality. And I'm the long process to come will include effective plans about how to transition to a police-free state in a way that leaves everybody satisfied. But that's the problem with a good compromise: it tends to have the opposite effect.

I know that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing: after having read just the first two chapters of Beyond Policing by Alex Vitale (being offered as a free ebook on Verso), I'm naturally going to have a lot more questions than answers. I'm hoping to find some of these answers in later chapters of the book, or in some of the resources offered by MPD150, as they work with the city of Minneapolis to disband their police department. But either way, I know that I won't be discouraged by the difficult nature of the questions I'm now beginning to consider. I'll use that very difficulty as motivation to learn more and fight harder. Because it's now starting to become clear that the future welfare of our communities is what's at stake here.

Gemini - 2009 Ten Year Retrospective

After analyzing the 2019-20 versions of Aries and Taurus, I went back 20 years to see how those signs measured up as represented by All-Star Baseball 2001 for the Nintendo 64 (Aries here and Taurus here). I will likely follow suit with Gemini, but first I'm making a stop at the halfway point and doing a ten-year retrospective for the Gemini Twins of 2009. I'm not quarantining with my PS2, so I won't be able to accompany this post with screenshots from MLB 10: The Show. Instead you'll have to be content with starting lineups and rotations represented by my patented baseball database in spreadsheet form.

Starting with the top fantasy point-scorer on the team, 2009 was the year that Ben Zobrist burst onto the scene as an All-Star super utility player, seeing time at every position on the diamond except for pitcher and catcher. Ironically enough, he's best utilized at his primary position of second base in this lineup, since new Philly Raul Ibanez and Houston Astro Carlos Lee have the corner outfield spots locked up (not to mention starting DH Jason Kubel, who spent plenty of time on the grass as well). Speaking of Carlos Lee, when I put together my preliminary Astrology All-Decade teams, I cheated somewhat by putting the Panamanian outfielder at first base for most of the latter half of the 2000's (the decade, not the millennium), even though he didn't start playing first base regularly until 2010. The emergence of Cuban slugger Kendrys Morales for the Angels makes '09 one of the rare years in that time frame where Gemini had a decent hitter actually qualify at first base.

Speaking of putting players at positions for which they didn't technically qualify, that was the case with Jhonny Peralta at third base for most of his Gemini career, given that he was a shortstop first and foremost. Peralta normally ceded his primary position to Jose Reyes - 10 out of 12 times 2006 thru 2017 - although various leg injuries kept the longtime Mets shortstop from action in '09, opening the door back up to his predecessor Miguel Tejada (the Gemini shortstop from 2000 thru '05). In case you're not familiar with the color-coding of my lists, the green in the position column next to Matt Wieters indicates that 2009 was the uber-prospect's rookie year, although it's clear to say he didn't measure up to the expectations. Meanwhile the cyan shading on Scott Hairston's name columns means that he changed teams during the season (traded from the Padres to the A's), although Hairston is only manning center field due to Josh Hamilton's missing a large portion of 2009 with rib and abdominal injuries.

How's this for a parallel: current Gemini ace Jacob deGrom won the NL Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019, while GEM09 ace Tim Lincecum won the same award in 2008 and 2009. Creepy, right? Unlike the Twins teams teams of the recent years, however, The Freak didn't have a star-studded supporting cast of starters backing him up in 2009. Jake Peavy actually had the next best per-game performance, but that came in an injury-shortened season that he split between the Padres and the White Sox. As for the rest of the rotation, Andy Pettitte was well past his prime during his return engagement with the Yankees, Carlos Zambrano was perhaps better known for his prowess with the bat, winning his third Silver Slugger trophy in 09, and Joe Saunders was little more than an innings eater for the Angels.

The 2009 Gemini bullpen was actually quite impressive, even in the last year before longtime closer Craig Kimbrel's MLB debut. Jonathan Broxton was in full swing closing games for the Dodgers, having taken over from Japanese import Aquarian Takashi Saito the year prior. Rookie of the Year closer Andrew Bailey was one of the few bright spots on a third place Athletics team, although his career never took off as hoped. Cubs ninth inning specialist Kevin Gregg wins the battle for the third spot, but there are two more bona fide save-getters behind him on the depth chart: Mike Gonzalez of the Braves and Kerry Wood who settled in as the Indians closer after redefining himself as a reliever with the Cubs in 2008.

Gemini - 2019 Fantasy Astrology Baseball Recap

Well, the karmic wheel has turned to Gemini, and there is still no concrete hope of Major League Baseball resuming any time soon. Due to this coronavirus-related delay, rather than look at the Gemini Twins Fantasy Astrology roster through the lens of projected 2020 rankings. So instead, I'm doing a retrospective look back at the top performing Gemini's of 2019, much like I did with Taurus earlier this month.

The three core offensive players in this lineup are all eligible at third base, but only two of which are represented in my patented collage made from the pre-2019 and 2020 issues of Lindy's magazine. Anthony Rendon, fresh off a World Series championship with the Nationals (his only team up until now) signed a giant free agent contract to star opposite Mike Trout in Anaheim. Yoan Moncada recently started delivering on his former top prospect status, the same year that the White Sox moved him from the keystone to the hot corner - he'll serve as the Gemini DH with the presence of Rendon. And fellow Cuban Yuli Gurriel has primarily been a first baseman here in the states, but he spent some time at third for the Astros while Alex Bregman was covering short for the injured Carlos Correa.

Working around the fringes of the roster, I've played a bit fast and loose with some positional qualifications in order to compile the highest-scoring group of players. The above pencilled-in lineup features an outfield of David Fletcher and Corey Dickerson in the corners flanking Avisail Garcia, who played some center field with the Rays last year, but not enough to qualify. This configuration would leave shortstop entrusted to Eric Sogard, a primary second baseman with Toronto and Tampa Bay in 2019, but who has seen action all around the infield in his career. If you want to be a stickler for center field eligibility, Harrison Bader would replace Sogard in the lineup, with Garcia moving back to his customary right field, and Fletcher shifting to shortstop. If you consider this layout from a simulation standpoint (as opposed to focusing strictly on fantasy points), Bader's stellar defense might offset the offensive gap between him and Sogard, especially if the latter's newfound home run stroke turns out to be mostly smoke and mirrors.

But Gemini's strength in recent years has been the pitching rotation, and this year is no different. Jacob deGrom is coming off two straight Cy Young awards, and 2019 All-Star Game MVP Shane Bieber almost equalled him in fantasy points in his breakout season. Aaron Nola fell off from his otherworldly 2018 performance, but he still scored essentially the same amount of points as emergent (Minnesota) Twins ace Jose Berrios. Those four are all represented in my collage, leaving only Zack Wheeler pictureless - although he's certainly not penniless, having signed a big free agent deal with the Phillies in the offseason.

Speaking of the Phillies, their closer Hector Neris leads a weak bullpen, points-wise, although it's certainly not lacking for upside and name recognition. Matt Barnes came this close to being Boston's new closer, before the 2019 breakout of Leo Brandon Workman. Speaking of Red Sox closers, Craig Kimbrel was this sign's top reliever for 8 of the past 9 years, but an extended stay on the free agent market last offseason didn't do him any favors before he signed with the Cubs. And 2016 postseason hero Andrew Miller never quite recovered from his overusage that year, but the talent and the track record are certainly there.

As far as pitching depth goes, Gemini also boasts sign-stealing whistleblower Mike Fiers, Padres youngster Joey Lucchesi, deGrom's current and Wheeler's former Mets teammate Steven Matz, Angels promising lefty Andrew Heaney, and Indians graduating rookie Aaron Civale. This impressive pitching staff looks like it won't get too much support from a top-heavy but weak lineup, although remember that Gemini was a tiebreaker away from winning the fairly shallow Air Division last year, and anything can happen in the playoffs. In a simulation environment, however - where the teams are divided by quality instead of element - there's no chance that the Twins will overtake the absolutely stacked Sagittarius Archers in the Positive Mutable Division. Who knows, maybe baseball will still be happening by the time Sagittarius rolls around if a delayed start pushes the season into the winter...

LEGO Chronicles: Blacktron Spectral Starguider

Exhaust from a shoulder-mounted jetpack fills the air, as an astronaut flies in and skids to a halt. His Suit is white with black trim, including a black helmet, on which the translucent green visor accentuates the large green letter B on his chest.

"Blacktron astronaut Breeze reporting for dutyyy!" he singsongs heroically, throwing up a smart salute. As he pops open his visor, it's clear that the green tint had been muting the garish red of his bushy moustache and eyebrows, and also the blue of his temple-mounted cybernetic implant. "How's the progress on the Spectral Starguiderrr?"

"Going adequately," responds the deck officer, adjusting her glasses over the microphone in her headset. "We're just mounting the retro-rockets on the command module."

The command module is marked by twin domed octagonal canopies, of the same translucent green as Breeze's visor. They're mounted on either side of a massive central brick, 2 units wide by 4 units long by 2 units tall, on hinges that open outwards like suicide doors. Actually, the size and shape of them makes the canopies resemble big green elephant ears - with the trunk formed by a curving windscreen that folds down from the bottom when opened.

"You know you're not going to be able to fit that jetpack in there," comments the deck officer, as she oversees the robots, technicians, and robotic technicians that are welding the white camera-looking elements to the side.

"What? I'm not flying this thing," replies Breeze dismissively. "I'm just the tech officer, here to oversee the computer and the cargo. Speaking of which... I think that's Flash with the goods right now."

"Just got it from the fellers at the computer lab," pipes another astronaut, entering with a whoosh from automatic doors. Although their spacesuits are the same, this one - codenamed Flash - wears a black-backpack-mounted air-filtration system, much less cumbersome than Breeze's jetpack. Their auburn hair drapes lazily down over a blue cybernetic implant, secured like a headband over their forehead. "Why don't you go fire up that computer? That's your purview, right?"

"Already on my way to the technical module now," replies Breeze, sliding his hand over a large yellow arrow at the back of said module. This one also has twin green canopies, but these are mounted on the tops of two portholes, so that they open up instead of out. But the main method of entry is through the back, which started to fold down from the bottom, after the roof first folded forward from the top, releasing the latch.

Inside, mounted on the rear edge of a white basket-like 4x4 base was a black electronic container box, the front of which was covered with a complex series of buttons, dials, and lights. With a few taps of Breeze's fingers, the panel starts glowing, and a slot opens up near the top.

"All yours, Flash." He gestures towards machinery.

"Thank you, kind sir," rejoins his partner, producing a 1x2 smooth tile, which is itself covered with similar circuitry. When held lengthwise, or in landscape mode, there's an amber readout screen near the top-middle, flanked by red and green buttons of various sorts. Flash inserts the microchip into the slot, which makes a satisfying plink as the larger computer engulfs the smaller one.

"Done. Now it's all ready for transport across the planet's surface, no matter what's out there." Breeze fiddles with the controls and the module starts to close up again. "So remind me, we're taking this thing where?"

"We got a distress call from an M-Tron vehicle in sector 7-G," explains the deck officer, barely reacting as a robotic crane swings next to her and grabs the tech module. "He was following beacon out that way, when a large blast of some kind blew his craft apart and fried his circuits. This thing you're carrying should help him get back on his feet... or his wheels at least."

Speaking of wheels, the tech module has been settled in the middle of a giant, six-wheeled base, locking into place with a pin at its back. Each wheel is easily the size of an astronaut, helmet included, with the front wheels set wider apart than the middle, which were themselves wider than the rearmost ones, sort of like a reverse-arrow.

"Heh, M-Tron," scoffs Breeze. "Using the power of MAGNETS to locate and transport vial resources," Breeze mockingly recited from some promotional material. "Couldn't use your super magnetic capabilities to remain out of harm's way THIS time, could you? We Blacktron have advanced in ways which set us apart from our adversaries, to become the strongest power in the universe! Just look at this jetpack!"

"Calm down, Breeze," chuckles Flash, hopping into  the command module, which had just been attached to the front end of the base. Unlike the tech module, the command module attached right between the two front wheels, so that Flash was basically sitting at ground level. "And in fact, you'll probably have to take that thing off while you're driving the base. You'll need both hands to steer this behemoth."

"Ugh, alright, I hear ya," grumbles Breeze, as he stuffs his jetpack into the tech module, replacing it with an air tank, same as Flash's. His now-slimmer profile settles in at a jackhammer-looking joystick, mounted on a crosshatched plate above the two rear wheels. "I still don't know why they didn't make it so you could control this thing from the command module."

"Hey, I fly the modified ship when it's in shuttle formation," barks Flash. "You know, when the command module locks in place with the tech module? What do you think those two huge jets on the back of your computer box are for?"

"Well, whatever they're for, I sure hope they don't turn on while I'm standing here, or I'll be fried." Breeze looks nervously at the two engines in front of his face, and then at the smaller single one behind him, designed to move the combined craft. "At least out here I'll be able to get some fresh air. OK, open the doors and fire up that antenna thing of yours!"

A green and black rectangular dish mounted on the top of the command module starts twisting back and forth, relaying information onto the windscreen in front of Flash. At the same time, the deck officer punches something into her command tablet, and two huge doors of the hangar swing open.

"Alright, we've got a signal," cries flash into their communicator. "Continue due east for 25 degrees. And watch out for that terrain."

"Copy that, Flash-O," returns Breeze. "Just let me maneuver this thing... wha-? REAR wheel turning? How am I possibly gonna control this thing?"

Thus the Spectral Starguider crawled off into an alien sunset, to the sound of two old friends complaining.

Astrology Baseball 1999 Playoff Brackets

I recently put together a database for my All-Star Baseball 2001 Retrospective project, featuring statistics from the 1999 season, in honor of the Nintendo-64 game's 20th anniversary. I've recently been using data from this project to compare rosters from 20 years ago to their 2019-20 counterparts (which I previewed using the PlayStation 4's MLB The Show 20). I also just recently used that data from last season to project a simulated playoff bracket based on fantasy points, which gave me the idea to try the same idea on the '99 stats. So, with all the caveats that point totals do not equal win totals, here's a retroactively-projected (retrojected?) playoff bracket for the 1999 astrology fantasy baseball season.

Many people who remember the 1999 baseball season recall the spectacular offensive power output, due to it being at the peak of the steroid era. But 1999 was also at the peak of the Pedro Martinez era, and both of these phenomena are on display in the roster of the Scorpio Scorpions (see below). Pedro won the AL Cy Young Award in '99 with a rare 3,000+ point season, and he was backed by three outfielders who approached that total themselves: two who were never seriously linked to the various PED scandals (Ken Griffey Jr. and Shawn Green) and one who most definitely was (Sammy Sosa). Actually, while the above three played either center field or right field during the season in question, I would ask Green to move to first base (where he didn't play more than one game until 2004) to make room for Dante Bichette and Gary Sheffield to fill the outfield/DH mix. Virgo, the other representative from the Negative league is in a similar situation, with NL Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson leading the way (3,407 points), although the supporting cast backing him hovered closer to the 2,600 - 2,700 point range rather than the 2,900s: Albert Belle (2,722), Bernie Williams (2,596), and Luis gonzalez (2,592), with honorable mention going to Mike Piazza (2,376), who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the same class as Griffey.

On the Positive side (the league, not the outlook), Sagittarius got typically excellent production from NL Batting Champ Larry Walker (2,607 points, but 20.5 points per game), AL MVP Ivan Rodriguez (2,617), and Craig Biggio (2,356). The Archers offense was also helped by surprisingly above-average production from Diamondbacks Jay Bell (2,605) and Matt Williams (2,493), who were aided by a pre-humidor stadium in Arizona. The pitching staff was led by longtime Yankees teammates Mariano Rivera (2,171) and Mike Mussina (1,916), although 1999 was two years before the latter would head to New York. Back to the steroid era, Libra's offensive attack was fueled by a 3,000+ point attack by slugger Mark McGwire (3,022 to be exact), with two Texas Rangers Rafael Palmeiro (2,840) and Juan Gonzalez (2,584) following behind him. The Scales also have Mariano Rivera's NL award namesake counterpart Trevor Hoffman (1,969 points, but 30.8 PPG) saving games for ace Jose Lima (2,256) among others.

If we expand things to the same playoff structure that Major League Baseball used in 1999, we get the above bracket. Remember, there was only one Wild Card team per league back then - also we have to shift from the four Elemental divisions we use in a fantasy league (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) to the three Qualitative divisions we use when assigning Astrology signs to real world teams (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable). Also note that in the positive league, SAG has to face LEO in the first round, since Wild Card winner Gemini plays in the same division as the top scorer - that was a thing back in the single Wild Card days. Speaking of Leo, they are unique in that the non-first base portion of their infield is comprised entirely out of shortstops: AL Batting Champ Nomar Garciaparra (2,537) in the actual shortstop position, another PED casualty Alex Rodriguez (2,450) moving to third base, like he would with the Yankees in 2004, and Edgar Renteria (1,928) taking second base, because their best option among those who actually qualified at the position are Terry Shumpert (1,261) and Damian Jackson (1,208).

Injuries kept us from seeing the typical Gemini first base logjam that occurred through the late 90's, with Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas, and Andres Galarraga. While the former put up a whopping 3,179 points, the latter didn't play at all in '99, and Thomas racked up only 1,772 points, finishing well behind Kevin Young (2,431) and John Jaha (2,153) for 1B/DH competition. On the Negative side, it's nice to see my home sign Cancer represented, even if I had to cook the eligibility numbers a little to get them there: I have Jose Canseco in a corner outfield spot, even though he played only six games in left field in '99, and would amass only seven more in the rest of his career. If I were a stickler for the rules, his spot would be filled by sophomore Geoff Jenkins (1,776), although that swap would still leave the Crabs ahead of the Goats. Capricorn is one of the rare signs led by a true shutdown ace, with Kevin Millwood (2,655) outscoring A's slugging first baseman (and McGwire's heir) Jason Giambi (2,600). CAP also sports the game's most professional hitter Edgar Martinez (2,169) and the namesake of the A's current field, Rickey Henderson (1,839).

When I was putting together the above chart to make these calculations, I plugged in the numbers in the order that the astrological signs appear in the karmic wheel - i.e. starting with Aries (March/April) and proceeding forward by the calendar. When I did so, I noticed something interesting: the point totals for each sign form a perfect bell curve. I mean, the SHAPE is not perfect, but each sign has more points than the one before it until we reach the peak (Scorpio, Octopber/November), after which each sign has fewer points than the one before it. That got me thinking about whether astrology point totals are cyclical, and whether, as we move through the years, we would see a similar curve if we organized the graph by the sign's calendar positions. When I've done charts like this in the past, I usually immediately sort from highest to lowest point totals, so I wouldn't necessarily have noticed this trend. So I went back to the chart I used for the 2019 retrojected playoff bracket and sorted it by date. The results, below, might shock and surprise you...
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Yeah, no, I didn't think so. The graph is actually not quite as chaotic as it might first appear, since shifting the whole curve to the right or left would create a sort of "twin peaks" situation with Aries/Pisces as one and Cancer/Leo as another. But there's no accounting for the Virgo dip, even given that the Maidens won the fantasy league championship last year. also keep in mind that the scale of these two graphs is vastly different: the range between the highest and lowest scoring signs in 1999 is from right around 27,000 to 35,000, while the top scoring sign in 2019 didn't even make it to 32,000, while the low point remained around the same. I guess I'll have to widen the scope of this project if I want to start identifying any trends. I'll likely start with the midpoint of these two data points and look at 2009, even though MLB The Show 10 wasn't particularly groundbreaking as far as the series goes. Although I do still have a copy of it, if I want to break quarantine and pick up my old PS2 from my parents' place...

Astrology Baseball 2019 Playoff Recap

When I went back through my 2019 Baseball Database to calculate the top-scoring roster of the Taurus Bulls, I also did the same for the other eleven signs, because... we're in quarantine and why not? I then totaled up the fantasy points for each team's lineup for the sake of comparison. (For our purposes, a lineup includes 17 players total: five starting pitchers, three relievers, eight position players, and a designated hitter.) As it happens, Taurus scored the lowest aggregate point total of any sign; although to be fair, 2019 had the smallest range between the top- and bottom-scoring teams in the last two decades. Check out the chart below to see the full fantasy astrology landscape from 2019.

As you can see, along with each sign's 2019 point totals, I've included their polarity, element, and quality, which are different ways to divide the signs up into divisions, depending on your simulation method. For a traditional head-to-head fantasy league, I find it easiest to just make four divisions based on the elements. But when you're running a simulation using a video game, and have to connect each sign to a real-life team, the best option is to use the three qualities, to link up with the East/Central/West divisional alignment. The Positive/Negative polarity divide works with either format, separating all the signs into two six-team "leagues."

As far as what actually happened last year, Virgo ended up winning the fantasy championship over Leo. I also ran a simulation using MLB The Show 19, where Aries ended up victorious over Taurus, so as you can see, overall point totals are not a good predictor of who will eventually come out on top over the course of a season. Winning a league championship requires a great deal of good timing: avoiding injuries, receiving favorable matchups, and having the right players get hot at the right times. Simply adding up all the points scored by all the players on a particular team doesn't tell nearly the whole story. But it is a good starting point for looking back on past fantasy astrology seasons.

In a fantasy league setting, where the top team in each division makes the final tournament, we would be looking at a bracket like the one above. That is, in fact, exactly how things turned out in the actual league, despite the fact that it was set up for weekly head-to-head matchups. Actually, it's not EXACTLY how it turned out: ESPN's fantasy baseball client swapped the matchups, since they generate the bracket based on win-loss record rather than leagues. Speaking of win-loss records, I also included each sign's to show you how things stacked up. So, just like using the point-total-only method, some of the top teams are left out of the final shuffle: Sagittarius and Gemini both also finished 13-8, but SAG finished two games behind LEO, while GEM was awarded a mystery tie-breaker against LIB... and BOTH finished above Cancer, which was just two games ahead of their closest divisional rival Pisces (9-12).

The Leo Lions, the top overall scoring sign of 2019, achieved their greatness because of, who I like to call the Three M's: Mike Trout, Max Scherzer, and J.D. Martinez. You could add more, like sturdy veteran starter Madison Bumgarner, graduating rookie Mike Soroka, and barely-missed qualifying middle infielder Adalberto Mondesi. But the latter three lags the top three in both point-scoring potential (6,980 points to 5,180) and star power (3 MVP's, 3 CYA's, 9 Silver Sluggers and 18 All-Star appearances for the top three, versus just 2 Silver Sluggers (both MadBum's) and 5 ASG's).

I know assuming that overall point totals correlates to win-loss record is patently false... but let's do it anyway, for the sake of predicting what a projected playoff bracket would look like in a simulation based on the current MLB postseason structure. With the current one-game Wild Card play-in situation, only one team from each league gets left out of the festivities: sorry Aquarius and Tarurus, maybe next year.

In this configuration, both the Leo Lions (see above) and the Cancer Crabs would get first round byes. Believe it or not, there is a tragic connection between these two teams: one of Mike Trout's best friends was the late Tyler Skaggs, who died unexpectedly last year. (Trout is actually seen wearing Skaggs's jersey #45 in one of his full size feature pics in Lindy's 2020 preview magazine.) The incredible thing is that before his Skaggs passed away, he accrued enough fantasy points to make one final appearance in the CAN rotation. He is a tremendous talent, who will continue to be missed across the game.

Looking at the numbers, Cancer only beat Pisces by a handful of points. Diving deeper, I can tell you that wouldn't have happened if I didn't play fast and loose with positional eligibility rules in the above lineup. As constructed, the Crabs infield from first to third would be DJ LeMahieu, Trea Turner (because he's played there before, even though he didn't qualify - and also any shortstop COULD technically play second base), Jorge Polanco, and Eugenio Suarez. If you're a stickler for second base eligibility, Turner and Lemahieu would both shift to their right, Cody Bellinger would come IN from the outfield, and Ramon Laureano would take his place in center field. This would result in a net loss of about 480 points, and rocket Pisces into the points lead of the Negative League.

Obviously the name that jumps out is defending (and two-time) Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, just because of his rare milestone of eclipsing 3,000 fantasy points in a season. The fact that he's followed by three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw makes this an even more devastating rotation. (Also, think back to 2018 when Luis Severino was healthy, and you begin to see the true potential here.) I've talked enough about how I mistakenly classified Brad Hand as an Aries for years... so instead, I'll mention the line of four 2,000-point scoring outfielders in a row in the middle of their lineup. While it doesn't approach the tragedy of Skaggs, it's worth mentioning that Trey Mancini is currently recovering from surgery to remove a malignant growth, so I'd like to extend my best wishes to him and his family.


So that's what the Fantasy Astrology Playoffs in 2019 would have looked like, if they were determined by fantasy point totals alone. I don't have my copy of MLB The Show 19 anymore. (I sadly traded it to GameStop for credit towards the new one... which I couldn't even collect because of the coronavirus...) But if anyone can recommend some good simulation software, I would be interested in plugging these numbers in and seeing what happens!

Taurus - 2019 Fantasy Astrology Baseball Recap

Last week, in honor of it being Taurus season, I posted a video about the how the Taurus Bulls Fantasy Astrology Baseball squad might look, as simulated by MLB The Show 20. I was going to follow up that video game-centric analysis with one focused on head-to-head fantasy baseball. But then it got depressing, looking forward to an MLB season that very well might not happen - and the depressing part is that it probably SHOULD not happen, given our country's response to the coronavirus. So instead, I opted to take a more retrospective look, focusing on the 2019 Taurus Bulls, as viewed through maximizing the fantasy points the players scored last year (as opposed to projecting the top points totals that the players will score in the coming year). Enjoy more of my patented color-coded Excel spreadsheets, and images from Lindy's magazine baseball previews.

In the video, I praised speedster Jonathan Villar's versatility, but the ironic thing is that he is best served in this team's DH slot. Looking down the positions he qualifies for, Jose Altuve is a fixture at second base (unless the aftermath of the sign-stealing-scandal is that he's simply not that good without cheating, but that seems unlikely), and Corey Seager had a decent, if injury-shortened, season at shortstop. It doesn't even make sense putting him in center field, like the Marlins were planning to do when they acquired him pre-pandemic, since Victor Robles plays spectacular defense, while doing just enough with the bat to land among the Taurus top nine 2019 point scorers. Narrowing our focus to the top five, Robles will be flanked in the outfield by Austin Meadows and Michael Brantley, the same as in the game simulation - ditto with Matt Chapman at third, whose top-flight glove is just a bonus where fantasy points are concerned.

Across the diamond, things get a little interesting. Going strictly by points, Joc Pederson should get the nod at first base, thanks to his newly (and barely) gained eligibility there. However, two spots under him, we get Miguel Sano, who scored fewer overall points (1,585), but had a huge advantage in points-per-game (15.0), showing that he mashed the ball during the brief stretches when he was healthy last year. He also hadn't yet officially transitioned over to first base, but I tend to lean more towards ability than eligibility when determining these retroactive rosters. Speaking of players who are good when healthy, the top-RATED Taurus on MLB The Show doesn't even factor into this roster because of injuries, but Aaron Judge racked up 14.3 PPG when he was on the field in '19. Also worth mentioning, the highest points per game amongst Taurus batters belongs to slugging outfielder Aristides Aquino (15.8), while '19 rookie utility player Tommy Edman actually surpassed Seager with 12.9 PPG.

Four of the top five starters projected by The Show also appear on this roster, although not in the order presented here: Lynn and Stroman are the one-two, but John Means is rated below Trevor Richards, despite a roughly 15-point differential in points per game. Ironically, Homer Bailey, who himself averaged more than 40 PPG, is rated below Zack Godley, who barely cracked 11. Other 40-pluses in the Taurus player pool include graduating rookie Jordan Yamamoto of the Marlins (42.0), and still-rookies Tony Gonsolin (45.0) and Jose Urquidy (41.6). The bullpen does include three players who served as closers for at least part of the 2019 season, but the top-scoring alignment only includes two of them: Emilio Pagan and Mychal Givens, with Sam Dyson earning the nod over Shawn Kelley, who put up a line of 699 / 13.7 as the part-time ninth-inning option for the Rangers, in his last season before threatening to retire.