Get yer butt out and support yer team Wily Peralta Jersey , whichever team it may be"“Boring.” “Too complicated.”re exactly the same reasons people give for not voting and for not watching baseball. Let’s break them down, shall we?One vote never decided anything, so mine isn’t importantYes, political elections are never decided by one vote. But aspiring politicians look at the results of voting returns. If somebody is elected by a gazillion votes, politicians pay attention to this. Same thing if somebody loses but does better than expected.Just as baseball teams copy what other teams have done successfully, politicians copy what other politicians have done.Aaron Gleeman once said the difference between a 75-win team and an 80-win team is huge for free agents, and he was right, because free agents want A) money and B) the chance to win. They’re competitive athletes, they want to win, and politicians are no different.It’s too boringWell, sure, most things are if you don’t know a lot about them. And that’s fine! Nobody has the time to learn about everything.Baseball is absolutely bizarre if you come from a background that doesn’t know anything about it. I remember, once, working at a health-care facility, I was watching a Twins game with one of the people who lived there, and a co-worker came in. Tried to figure out why we two liked it.Great co-worker, one of the best I’ve ever met, but her home country wasn’t into baseball. (If you’re not from America, Japan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, etc., you’re not into baseball.)I was helpless trying to explain the rules. “Well, if the batter hits a ball foul http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , that’s okay, but it he bunts it foul with two strikes, he’s out.” Etc., etc. Baseball’s rules are insanely complex. (In soccer, once you understand offsides, you basically have the rules down.)Politics is like that. It’s nutsball complex. Forget the “aargh!” TV commercials, the real work is about legislation. Does that mean it’s not worth paying attention to? No, it doesn’t.When in doubt, root for the team you like better. You’re all old enough to know who the recent Presidents were, and which party they represented. Go with that. Vote for other people in that party. It’s better than not voting!(And, yes, you can skip the stuff that doesn’t have party labels on it if you don’t know anything about the candidates in Sewage Maintenance District #27. Look them up next time. Your ballot will still count.)If I just ignore it, that sends a statementYes, it does, just not the statement you think. In both baseball and politics, teams want to win. In baseball, if fans stop coming, teams will generally fire the GM or manager (whomever was hired less recently). They are not going to spend more money to hire better players, they have a budget. The Twins will never be the Yankees, New York is bigger than here.In politics, if you don’t vote, politicians won’t take it as a statement about your frustration with the system. They assume you’re too dumb to care. You’re not dumb, you’re annoyed, but that’s not how political parties see it. If you don’t participate Alex Gordon Jersey , they don’t give a fart about you.Old political trope: because most people don’t contact their elected representatives, those representatives regard every contact as indicating what other constituents think. A written letter counts way more than a phone call, which counts more than an email. Each takes more effort than the other.If you don’t make the effort to vote, they Do. Not. Give. A. Poop.None of them do anything for me, personality-wiseJoe Mauer is so prototypically bland-Minnesota that his sponsorship contract with a dairy company created the “Mauer + Milk” meme. Who the heck cares, worth a darn, by gosh golly?What matters is production on the field for baseball players, and legislation passed by politicians.It’s too much effortNot really! Just as, if you’ve ever bought a Twins ticket online, TicketMaster will never forget you — well, if you’ve ever voted in Minnesota, you’re registered. Your voting place may have changed since then, but here’s where you check it out: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/If you’ve never voted before, you’ll have to register at the polls, but it’s not hard. (Not in Minnesota. It’s harder in some other states, for historical reasons I won’t go into here.) This is how you do it. And you can do it, I promise.Baseball games take three hours to finish. Voting does not take anywhere near that long. And voting has a heck of a lot more impact on your future than the outcome of a baseball game.In the long run, it makes no difference to meI can’t argue with this. In the long run, you and I will both be dead. (My birthday always shows up on or near Election Day, so that’s a whole barrel of happy fun. I hate getting older.)The decisions your elected representatives make can have huge repercussions very, very far down the road, long after you’ve become worm food or elevated to a higher plane (depending on your point of view).In my not-so-humble-opinion, baseball is the greatest American sport because it has the most sense of history, how stats compare between eras http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , the neverending battle between owners and players for salaries. The fascinating characters who embody that history.History lives. Always.Be your role in history. Vote.Even if it means you’re a Willians Astudillo instead of a Joe Mauer — voting gives you a part to play. Manny Machado signs with the Padres. Labor and management continue to squabble."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub LB newsMLB Bullets has made a decisionNew,98commentsManny Machado signs with the Padres. Labor and management continue to squabble. CSTShareTweetShareShareMLB Bullets has made a decisionBrad Mills-USA TODAY SportsSo has anything happened since Monday?Free agent infielder Manny Machado has agreed to a ten-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres. It’s the largest free-agent deal in North American sports history.Here’s a list of the top ten free agent contracts in MLB history.The general consensus is that the Padres did well to sign Machado. Travis Sawchik explains why Macahdo’s deal makes sense for the Padres.Zach Kram thinks the deal is good for Machado and good for the Padres. Bradford Doolittle agrees. The deal makes sense for the Padres. (ESPN+ sub. req.) And of course, the money makes sense for Machado.Eno Sarris argues the Padres and Machado go together like peanut butter and chocolate. (The Athletic sub. req.) Actually, that was my simile, but it’s Sarris’ point. You got Machado in my infield. Oh yeah, well you got your infield on my Machado!Craig Calcaterra calls the deal good for both the Padres and Machado.Eric Stephen thinks Machado is a perfect match for San Diego.Jeff Sullivan likes the deal in isolation for San Diego, but wonders how it all fits with the deals the Padres gave to Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer.Bob Nightengale talked to the players in Padres camp and they’re understandably thrilled about the signing. The White Sox front office was less so. Tim Brown says the reason the Padres signed Machado is simple: they wanted to win more games. And isn’t that what all teams are supposed to be doing?Ben Lindberg doesn’t think the signing makes the Padres a contender this season, but probably in 2020 and beyond they will be a threat to the Dodgers in the NL West.Dayn Perry thinks the Padres have a bright future.Andrew Simon projects how well Machado will do through the 2025 season.Winners and losers from the Machado deal.More winners and losers from the Machado deal.Tom Verducci argues that Machado’s deal proves that free agency still works and also throws in some anonymous quotes criticizing Machado’s clubhouse presence.Bill Baer isn’t buying what Verducci is arguing about free agency not being broken and that one signing doesn’t prove otherwise. Michael Baumann writes that the Padres signing Machado is how free agency is supposed to work.Eric Chesterton has eight things that Padres fans will love about Machado.The Yankees never made a formal contract offer to Machado.This young Yankees fan loudly explained why he didn’t want Machado on the Yankees. So yeah, even young Yankees fans are like that. Mark Feinsand looks at how Machado signing impacts the remaining free agents including someone whose name rhymes with “rice tarper.”Bill Baer explains that the pressure is now on the Phillies to spend some of that “stupid money” on Bryce Harper. Commissioner Rob Manfred thinks that the whole slow free-agent market is “much ado about nothing.” So you’re telling me that Benedick and Beatrice are going to get together in the end after all? How is that relevant to baseball?MLB Players Association head Tony Clark strongly disagreed with Manfred’s dismissive comment. And all is well in baseball-land. Despite commissioner Manfred rejecting the idea that larger payrolls and winning games are related, Red Sox owner says while it’s not a direct correlation, “spending more money helps.”Craig Calcaterra takes about the attempt of the Braves front office to explain why their payroll will be less in 2019 than 2018. Calcaterra, an admitted Braves fan, is especially incensed that the front office wants fans to care more about jargon like “monetary yield” and “glide slope” more than wins and losses. Ken Rosenthal attempts to mend the fences between MLB and the union. (The Athletic sub. req.)Tom Verducci reports that MLB will enact new rules in 2019 designed to prevent electronic sign-stealing. Teams will no longer be allowed to put non-broadcast cameras in the outfield, among other things. Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced that the 2019 season will be his last.Ray Ratto has an appreciation of Bochy’s career and also notes that Bochy jumped before new Giants team president Farhan Zaidi had a chance to push him out, which Ratto thinks would have come soon anyway. Nationals closer Sean Doolittle note that New Era, the official cap manufacturer for MLB, is closing a union shop in New York and moving operations to a non-union shop in Florida. And that’s going to make relations between MLB and the MLBPA that much better.Sad news in that former Dodgers great Don Newcombe has died at age 92. Newcombe joined the Dodgers organization in 1946, the same year that Jackie Robinson debuted in the minors. He was also one of just two players to win Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP Award. (Justin Verlander is the other.)Reds infielder Scooter Gennett is not happy with the lack of interest by the Reds towards signing an extension with the team. The Cardinals are shutting down right-hander Carlos Martinez for two weeks as he deals with shoulder soreness. Jay Jaffe looks at the chances of Red Sox infielder Dustin Pedroia to come back after missing all of the 2018 season. (Except for three games, which really doesn’t count.) Jesse Dougherty has a look at Nationals top prospect Carter Kieboom and his baseball family. His dad started playing baseball as a kid in the Netherlands and now all three sons are involved in the sport.Astros infielder Alex Bregman continues to commit random acts of kindness on social media when he complimented the batting swing of a nine-year old boy.Bregman offered to hit with the kid as well. And finally, Ichiro Suzuki reported to Mariners camp and even his teammates are star-struck. Or maybe Star Wars-struck. Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzalez had Ichiro autograph his lightsaber.And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.