Have The Red Sox Made The Sale of The Century?

In a blockbuster trade, the Boston Red Sox have acquired pitcher Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox for Cuban outfield sensation Yoan Moncada, two minor league pitchers (Michael Kapech and Victor Diaz) and minor league outfielder Luis Basabe.

Sale has made five consecutive AL All-Star appearances and has finished in the top five in AL Cy Young balloting for the past four seasons. In 2016, Sale went 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA and 233 strikeouts. For good measure, Sale led the AL in complete games with six. During his big league career, Sale is 74-50 with an even 3.00 ERA with 1,244 career strikeouts.

Despite his great stats, Sale's season was full of turmoil. He was very vocal against the Chisox front office when they barred Adam La Roche's son Drake from the clubhouse. By mid-season, Sale had a falling out with management. Frankly, I was amazed Sale wasn't dealt at the trade deadline.

Chris Sale is the best pitcher in MLB who has never won a Cy Young and he joins a rotation with two Cy Young winners in Rick Porcello and David Price. Yes, the Red Sox have a starting rotation with pitchers named Sale and Price.

I'm sure a lot of people are picking the Red Sox to repeat in the AL East, but they still must replace David Ortiz. Mitch Moreland is good. But is he enough?

The Sox made one other move. They traded infielder Travis Shaw to the Milwaukee Brewers for reliever Tyler Thornburg. In 2016, Thornburg struck out 90 batters in 67 innings and saved 13 games. Thornburg is expected to be Craig Kimbrel's setup man.

So with Shaw gone does this mean Pablo Sandoval gets a shot at redemption?

And what will the Yankees do? Will they sign both Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen to join Dellin Betances as a new three headed monster in the bullpen?

But Porcello, Price and Sale give the Red Sox a three headed monster in the starting rotation.

I think 2017 could mark the renewal of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry in the post-season.

Justice Has Been Delayed for Walter Scott But It Hasn't Been Denied

Like many people I am disturbed by the hung jury in the Walter Scott murder case.

Michael Slager shot Walter Scott in the back and then planted a taser on him.

It doesn't get much worse than that.

Except when the jury didn't convict Slager.

Justice has been delayed, but it hasn't been denied.

South Carolina is eager to get Slager off the street. Because it was a mistrial rather than acquittal they get another chance at Slager.

Then there's the civil lawsuit against Slager.

The Scott family has also received $6.5 million from North Charleston.

None of this bring backs Walter Scott but there has been some measure of justice and there's a good chance there is more to come.

Unfortunately, Black Lives Matter can't see the trees for the forest. It's what happens when your thinking is skin deep.

Thoughts on The 10 Alarm Fire in Cambridge, Massachusetts

My roommate Christopher Kain and I were driving along I-93 South back into Boston on Saturday afternoon following a visit to an old friend of ours in Melrose when Christopher noticed what turned out to be a large plume of black smoke and flames.

Christopher thought the fire might have been in Charlestown, but we later learned the fire took place in Cambridge and engulfed nearly a dozen homes (causing one of them to collapse) as well as several cars in what was a 10 alarm fire which required responses from a myriad of fire departments in the Metro Boston area. Amazingly there were no fatalities. The same could not be said of the warehouse fire in Oakland, California which is believed to have claimed the lives of two dozen people during a party.

Still, it is estimated there are 50 to 60 people in Cambridge who suddenly find themselves homeless. They have temporary shelter for now, but what about at Christmas and into the New Year?

At this point, the cause of the fire is unknown though it spread rapidly because of the high winds.

All things considered I am surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often. But for the Grace of God.

Palin Blasts Trump for Crony Capitalism, But He's Always Been One

I find it intriguing that Sarah Palin sees fit to criticize President-Elect Trump's deal Carrier as "crony capitalism". "Republicans oppose this, remember," wrote Palin, "Instead, we support competition on a level playing field, remember?"

While I agree with Palin's assessment, what does she think Trump has been for all these years?

This is a man who has long enthusiastically supports eminent domain.

This is a man who has repeatedly threatened businesses if they leave the country. I understand job losses are difficult to swallow but how you can have free markets if you don't have free mobility of capital?

This is a man who has boasted of taking advantage of the system telling Hillary Clinton it made him smart and shows no signs of changing once he takes office.

Donald Trump is the antithesis of a Tea Party stalwart.

With all these facts why on earth would Sarah Palin ever support Donald Trump?

Both Obama & Trump's Answers For San Bernardino Were Wrong

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

- Groucho Marx

The ISIS terrorist attack in San Bernardino struck a deep chord with Americans for the simple reason that the massacre took place at an office Christmas party, an event that most of us participate in one way or another. The 14 people killed that day could have been any of us.

When something like this happens we look for answers. Unfortunately, it is our tendency to look for these answers from politicians and those who aspire to be politicians. President Obama being Exhibit A and then GOP aspirant now President-Elect Donald Trump being Exhibit B.

For Obama this was yet another opportunity for him to promote "common sense gun laws" as if he had a monopoly on common sense as demonstrated by the White House's collaboration with CNN in a televised national town hall meeting on gun control. Of course, all the background checks in the world aren't going to stop a straw buyer from making the purchase as was the case in San Bernardino. Common sense gun laws also are no match for a religious ideology committed to killing innocent civilians.

Of course, Donald Trump has no problem acknowledging the problem Americans face from radical Islam. The problem is that Trump paints all Muslims in this manner. Indeed, it was San Bernardino that prompted his policy of "a complete and total shutdown" of Muslim immigration and travel to this country. Aside from the fact that such a policy renders the Kurds indistinguishable from the Quds and cannot discern between Malala and the Taliban who shot her, this too would not have prevented San Bernardino. After all, Syed Rizwan Farook was born and raised in this country. Even if Trump shut down Muslim immigration and travel to this country there is nothing to prevent a native born American citizen from converting to Islam and perpetrating such an attack.

While President Obama and President-Elect Trump drew very different conclusions from San Bernardino they do have one thing in common. They both looked for easy answers and easy answers are invariably the wrong answers.



Trump's Defense Secretary Pick Once Said Israel Could Become An "Apartheid" State

I know a lot of conservatives are cheering President-Elect Donald Trump's appointment of General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense.


I am not.

In July 2013, shortly after Mattis left his post as CENTCOM Commander, he blasted Israel at the Aspen Security Forum with regard to its settlement policy:


I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel, and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can't come out publicly in support of people who don't show respect for the Arab Palestinians.


Mattis went on to invoke "Apartheid"


If I’m in Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote — apartheid.


This raises a lot of questions.


Does Mattis believe we should have a less robust relationship with Israel?


Does honestly think the so-called moderate Arab nations would be fully on board with America if Israel were to dismantle all settlements?


How does Mattis explain the rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza where the last Jewish settlement was dismantled in 2005?


It will be curious to see how the Senate Republicans who opposed President Obama's appointment of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense because of his anti-Israel posture will behave now. This means you Ted Cruz.


Can any Republican tell me how Mattis claiming Israel could become an Apartheid state is any different than when Secretary of State John Kerry made the same claim in April 2014?


After eight years of President Obama's hostility to Israel, President-Elect Trump had a very low bar to clear. With his appointment of Steve Bannon and now James Mattis, it would seem that Trump is keeping President Obama's hurdles in place.

Trump's Carrier Deal is Good Politics But Raises False Hopes

President-Elect Donald Trump's deal with Carrier to keep "close to a 1,000 jobs" in Indiana is great politics, but raises false hopes.


It's great politics because the public perception will be that Trump kept his promise to keep jobs from leaving America and that he is a man of his word who gets results.


But it raises false hopes that Trump can rescue all American manufacturing jobs or that he can singlehandedly stop free markets and international trade.


The people at Carrier will be forever grateful to Trump, but if Trump can't save other plants from closing working people are going to feel let down yet again.


Even if Trump does intervene in other cases there is also the question of creating manufacturing jobs. Trump cannot create these out of whole cloth. His administration can try to create the conditions to attract manufacturing jobs, but those conditions could often at a heavy cost to the taxpayer. It's all well and good to give tax incentives to businesses, but someone has to pay that bill and invariably it is us.


Of course it remains to be seen what this Carrier deal will be like in practice. Close to 1,000 jobs could be 500 jobs or maybe 100 jobs. Those 100 or 500 jobs could also be at considerably lower wages. There is no guarantee that Carrier can sustain this deal. If Carrier doesn't meet its profit margins those jobs could easily disappear yet again. Naturally Trump would blame Carrier for not holding up its end of the deal and Trump will again be hailed a champion of the American working class. But it takes two to make a deal and Trump entered into it knowing full well it might not be worth the paper on which it is written.