Rhyne Hughes Recalled Form Norfolk. What Does That Mean?

1B Rhyne Hughes has been recalled from AAA Norfolk and will join the team in Boston. No corresponding roster move has been announced.

Hughes is a 26-year-old (who looked larger than the 6'2" height and 215 lb weight he is listed at in Spring Training) who was acquired from the Tampa in the Gregg Zaun deal last season. He was an 8th round pick in 2004. Since 2008, he has slugged north of .500 in the minors.

This could mean a few different things:

1. The team has decided that is made a horrible mistake by signing Garrett Atkins, are eating his contract and giving Hughes a shot to hold down first base.

2. The team finds Justin Turner or Julio Lugo redundant and are either sending down Turner or releasing Lugo.

3. The team will let Hughes play left and send down Lou Montanez.

4. The team is sending down a reliever and Hughes will provide an extra bench player.

While I would like for #1 to be true, it probably isn't. The team is not going to eat that contract in April.

#3 is unlikely as well since Montanez has not played any worse than anyone else and Nolan Reimold has not looked that great with the glove in left; no sense if bringing in another questionable outfield glove in Hughes.

And I don't see Dave Trembley going with an 11-man bullpen.

So, one of the middle infielders is going...probably Turner since he has options. While I think I've seen enough of Lugo as this point, I don't think the team is giving up on him yet.

Anyway, Hughes is coming up to provide some offense for a team that is struggling at the plate. Hughes in OPSing 1.088 in Norfolk so the Orioles are hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle.

In Praise of Marmite

Posted by parallel

I know, I know, you are thinking “What on earth is that?” Well, it is the magical ingredient of good gravy and once you try adding a teaspoon of the stuff to yours, you will thank me. Americans may recognize its younger brother from New Zealand called Vegemite, from the song. Marmite comes in a vaguely spherical glass bottle with a wide yellow lid. You can get it at The Head Nut, 2408-10 Haverford Road for sure and maybe at your local supermarket in the ethnic section.

Marmite is a yeast extract, a byproduct of brewing beer, with a very strong salty taste. It originated in England and happens to contain many things that are good for you as well as tasting good. It is a dark brown, almost black, viscous goo that looks like it could be used for surfacing a road. Some have become addicted to using it mixed with butter on toast, but that is an acquired taste. A teaspoon of Marmite in a mug of hot water makes a something that is a fair substitute for consommé.

Talking of soup, I recently had the best soup I have tasted for several years at Kaya’s restaurant, at 5 Brookline Blvd., Havertown. Although it is fairly new, I must have driven by it a dozen times without noticing it. Looking on-line for somewhere different to celebrate my wife’s birthday, I saw it was the only restaurant nearby that had mainly five star reviews. Inside, it is artistically decorated with just the right lighting to have a nice atmosphere and still see what you need to. The food was very good. Highly recommended. Kaya's Fusion Cuisine is owned and operated by Michael & Jessica Hawthorne.

NYT: Health Care Costs to Rise

Robert Pear of the New York Times reports:

WASHINGTON — A government analysis of the new health care law says it will not slow the overall growth of health spending because the expansion of insurance and services to 34 million people will offset cost reductions in Medicare and other programs.

The study, by the chief Medicare actuary, Richard S. Foster, provides a detailed, rigorous analysis of the law.

In signing the measure last month, President Obama said it would “bring down health care costs for families and businesses and governments.”

This brings to mind President Obama's confession during his healthcare summit with Republican lawmakers that he doesn't understand how insurance really works.

"You know, when I was - when I was young, just got out of college, I had to buy auto insurance. I had a beat-up old car. And I won't name the insurance company, but there was a company, let's call it Acme Insurance in -- in Illinois. And I was paying my premiums every month. After about six months I got rear-ended, and I called up Acme and said, 'You know, I'd like to see if I can get my car repaired.' And they laughed at me over the phone. Because really, this was not set up to actually provide insurance, what was set up was to meet the legal requirements. But it really wasn't serious insurance.

That a Harvard graduate would not know the difference between collision and liability insurance is quite remarkable.

BREAKING NEWS: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reports that President Obama phoned Medicare officials yesterday to make sure the healthcare bill he signed last month will actually lower costs - and they laughed at him over the phone.

Feeling the Draft

[Posted by Jake]

It seems appropriate that, on NFL draft weekend, I'm drafted to the Spencerblog team. I've got to tell you, though, that reading the Buckleyesque entry of first round pick "parallel", versus this glorified tweet of a free agent walk-on, is pretty intimidating. However, I can't resist this bloggertunity to amuse, annoy, and possibly inform.

One of my favorite days of the year is the NFL Draft. Okay, I admit it. I'm a draft geek. Since it moved to two nights of prime time this year, I have to think I'm not alone. Everybody takes on the role of general manager, getting worked up over your team not selecting a guy that has won you over with 15 seconds of game highlights. You're able to offer unsolicited opinions about mock drafts, team grades and expert analysis. They even have their own "underwear Olympics" known as the Combine where the future millionaires are measured, weighed, poked and prodded to decide how quickly they receive their money. See Mamula, Mike to feel an Eagles fan's pain as to how all this information can go awfully wrong.

Best of all, there are few things on the family calendar that annoy the wife like the NFL Draft. I hole up, unshaven and marginally showered, in the War Room, otherwise know as the den, listening to Kiper, McShay and other guys who, even on their best day, are pretty irritating. Spread out all around me are printouts, newspaper articles, written lists and notes scavenged from websites all across the Internet. Generally, the more obscure the better. The Holy Grail is that sleeper pick in the sixth round who goes on to win league MVP. See Brady, Tom for further confirmation.

So far, I'm thinking the Eagles are really missing former GM, Tom Heckert. Undersized defensive ends, a safety who tackles like Asante and a no-name cornerback don't seem the cure to the late season whuppings we endured from those insufferable Cowboys. I really hope I'm wrong.

Ripken: "I Had Dinner With Mr. Angelos Last Night."

With all the hubbub given to the original Ken Rosenthal story about Cal Ripken and Peter Angelos earlier this week, people have paid much less attention to the denial by Angelos and the statement released by Ripken.

Anyway, Cal addressed the issue again yesterday on Ripken Baseball, his weekly radio show that he and brother Billy host every Friday on XM's MLB Network Radio. Below is the transcript of what Cal said about the controversy. I thought some of it was interesting and the Rosenthal story (the meat of it anyway) looks more and more like weak sauce.

(This reads a little stilted in text form but I was trying to be as accurate with the transcript as possible.)

Billy Ripken: ...I just figured I'd give you some airtime here and talk about the O's...and you. Because that was a story and, uh, that was out there and I know that some stuff kind of happened and I saw your statement that was issued. It's nice that I read your statements instead of just ask you about it 'cause I know it's going to come out sooner or later. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, you played in Baltimore your entire career, you have a relationship with Peter Angelos, you're in the same city now that Andy MacPhail resides in and works in...you guys are bound to have conversations from time to time.

Cal Ripken, Jr.: (laughs) Well, we've made it a point to meet pretty regularly. I value his opinion on many different things and many times we've disagreed and we've said things, you know, and almost to make each other mad I think. But, you know, I was on a college visit with my son and I got up early in the morning and my Blackberry started blowing up with people telling me that there's this stuff out there. And I honestly didn't really want to deal with it then, it was the time to actually visit the school and really not take your attention away from what you're really supposed to. So then I had to come back and deal with that.

And my experience, and I said it in the statement, is when things go bad, when they go really bad, then this is when these stories have the biggest legs. And certainly there were some elements of the story that were true, certainly I've talked to Andy MacPhail specifically about a role with the organization and I've talked to Peter Angelos about that. And as I've said, you know, the talks are ongoing and they're continuing, you know, with no direct timetable but it's an interest. I know that I'd like to get back into the game, I think, but on my timetable, it is when my last kid, in this case, Ryan, goes off to school, I'm looking at that sort of timetable. So it's not really this urgent thing.

And I wondered if the Orioles got off to an 11-1 start, would there have been any legs to the story at all?

BR: No.

CR: You know, would it have even been thought of or brought up? But it seems like the intention of the story is to create some sort of rift and I think that the fact of the matter is that it was never said that Mr. Angelos didn't want to do anything for fear of giving me credit for a turnaround. That just wasn't said. That just wasn't true. But there were some elements of truth to it...was that we actually have talked and are talking about, you know, things that deal with the Orioles at the big league level so...that's all it is, nothing more than that and I don't have anything more to report. Matter of fact, I had dinner with Mr. Angelos last night.

BR: Uh-oh! Breaking news! Right here! Today! (chuckling)

CR: (chuckling) And then leaving there, one of the persons in the restaurant said "Have you guys cut a deal?" And we both kind of laughed and said "Not yet."

BR: Well, I'm glad you gave me that insider information because I'm going to be up here on the desk tonight up here in New Jersey at the network. I'm going there. "Junior had dinner with Peter Angelos last night." It's out there.

CR: Details to follow.

BR: Perfect!

Who’s for another war?

[Posted by parallel]

Anyone else notice the rhetoric against Iran is being ratcheted up again? What doesn’t get mentioned is whether President Bush’s $400 million covert action to “destabilize” Iran’s government is still running.

Senior Stratfor analyst Reva Bella said, “With cooperation from the United States, Israeli covert operations have focused both on eliminating key human assets involved in the nuclear program and in sabotaging the Iranian nuclear supply chain.” Apart from top scientist Ardeshire Hassanpour, other recent deaths of important figures in the procurement and enrichment process in Iran and Europe have been the result of Israeli "hits" intended to deprive Tehran of key technical skills at the head of the program, according to Western intelligence analysts. Apart from this wet work, even the proposed sanctions, and particularly the blockade to enforce them, are acts of war.

Representative Ron Paul put it plainly on April 23rd: “I object to this entire push for war on Iran, however it is disguised. Listening to the debate on the Floor on this motion and the underlying bill it feels as if we are back in 2002 all over again: the same falsehoods and distortions used to push the United States into a disastrous and unnecessary one-trillion-dollar war on Iraq are being trotted out again to lead us to what will likely be an even more disastrous and costly war on Iran. The parallels are astonishing.

“We hear war advocates today on the Floor scare-mongering about reports that in one year Iran will have missiles that can hit the United States. Where have we heard this bombast before? Anyone remember the claims that Iraqi drones were going to fly over the United States and attack us? These "drones" ended up being pure propaganda – the UN chief weapons inspector concluded in 2004 that there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein had ever developed unpiloted drones for use on enemy targets. Of course by then the propagandists had gotten their war so the truth did not matter much.

“We hear war advocates on the floor today arguing that we cannot afford to sit around and wait for Iran to detonate a nuclear weapon. Where have we heard this before? Anyone remember then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s oft-repeated quip about Iraq, that we cannot wait for the smoking gun to appear as a mushroom cloud?

“We need to see all this for what it is: Propaganda to speed us to war against Iran for the benefit of special interests.”

Mr. Paul was being polite here. We know the “special interests” are the Israeli government, as well as our senators and congressmen looking over their shoulders for AIPAC to help them, or at least not fight them, in coming elections. Then we have some representatives who might charitably be described as having dual loyalties as well as dual citizenship. Senator Joe Lieberman, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, one of the most powerful men in Washington DC – and therefore the world – has declared that the "world is at [a] turning point" and that the US must make plans to attack Iran.

The sanctions won’t work, as anyone with half an eye can see. There are ten projects to expand existing refineries in Iran that will allow them to nearly double their production of gasoline by 2012. So, as Ron Paul points out, the idea behind the sanctions is largely to say, just as with Iraq, “We tried sanctions and they didn’t work, so we have to bomb them.” Voting for sanctions is really voting for war.

President Obama has ruled out the use of a nuclear first strike against most countries, but not Iran. Why should Israel be allowed to have 200 nuclear weapons and not join the Non Proliferation Treaty, yet Iran, who has not attacked another country for more than a century is not allowed to pursue peaceful nuclear power? There is no proof Iran is making nuclear weapons; even the CIA says so, and common sense would tell you they wouldn’t attack Israel even if they had a handful of such weapons as they would then be quickly vitrified.

It’s all because Israel wants a change of regime in Iran. I don’t like the Iranian government myself, but it will pass with a new generation growing up. Starting another trillion dollar war, with consequences no one can see, not to mention the slaughter of thousands of innocent lives, is close to the bottom of my “to do” list. There is nothing we can do to stop it except vote out the warmongers and hope that it is not too late.

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