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greed with Trumps characterization

  • August 7, 2019
    导出博客文章MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins badly need to improve their pitching staff,
    with a team ERA that ranked among the three worst in the majors in five of the
    last six seasons.Help can come from all corners of the organization, including
    behind the plate. Thats why the Twins signed former Houston Astros catcher Jason
    Castro to a three-year contract worth $24.5 million, a deal agreed to last week
    and finalized Wednesday.We feel this is a great step in the right direction to
    building the team that we set out to build, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey
    said.Castro will make $8.5 million in 2017, $8 million in 2018 and $8 million in
    2019. He became a free agent after six seasons with the Astros, hitting .232
    with 114 doubles, 62 home runs, 212 RBI and 215 walks in 617 career games after
    being drafted in the first round out of Stanford in 2008.I definitely know that
    this organization is capable of doing some great things, Castro said. They have
    a lot of young really good talent and some veterans thrown in the mix that can
    make for a special group.The Twins finished 59-103, their worst record in
    Minnesota and the worst in the major leagues in 2016. Castro experienced some
    similar growing pains with a young Astros team that lost 106, 107 and 111 games
    from 2011-13 before making the playoffs in 2015.Looking at their roster and the
    pitchers that they have here, I think that this group is a little bit ahead of
    where the Astros were, Castro said on a conference call with Minnesota
    reporters.Kurt Suzuki became a free agent after serving as Minnesotas primary
    catcher over the last three seasons, including an All-Star selection in 2014
    when he batted a career-high .288. Suzukis career average is 24 points higher
    than Castros, and the left-handed hitting Castro batted only .210 with 11 homers
    and 32 RBI last year. He was an All-Star in 2013, when he hit a career-best .276
    with 18 home runs and 56 RBI.The newest Twins backstop is considered an upgrade
    on defense, though, in terms of both fielding his position and handling a
    pitching staff. Castro threw out 24 percent of base-stealers last year, and
    Suzuki had a 19 percent success rate. Plus, there are the areas of game planning
    and game calling, each difficult to quantify.We feel Jason is one of the best at
    that, Falvey said, adding: Ive certainly observed and witnessed that the impact
    of catchers who commit to that side of the game ... has an exponentially
    positive effect on the pitching staff.Framing pitches, a sneaky skill that has
    drawn more attention in recent years through the rise in analytical evaluation
    and available data in the sport, is another one of Castros strengths.The goal at
    the end of the day is to try to help your pitcher keep as many strikes as
    possible, Castro said, just to be almost as unrecognized as possible behind the
    plate to allow the pitchers work to speak for itself.
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    players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. MIAMI --?Udonis
    Haslem was leading some banter with Heat?teammates after practice Monday, the
    jokes and laughter helping everyone wind down after practice.Thats how he
    defines locker room talk.Donald Trumps characterization of his caught-on-tape
    crude and predatory comments about women as locker room talk has raised the ire
    of plenty of athletes, the overwhelming majority saying that what goes on even
    in private doesnt match up to what the Republican presidential nominee said on
    the now-infamous leaked tape.I dont know what locker room hes been in, Haslem
    said. No, I didnt appreciate it, to be completely honest. Thats not our locker
    room talk. I dont know Trump very well at all, but I dont know who hes played
    for the last couple years to even say hes been in anybodys locker room and had
    those kind of conversations.On the tape, recorded in 2005, Trump bragged about
    kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women other than his wife. When
    youre a star, they let you do it, he bragged. You can do anything.Athletes fired
    back en masse at Trump to send the message that they dont talk like he does.?Los
    Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson,?Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris
    Conley,?Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford,?and retired NFL players Donte
    Stallworth and Chris Kluwe were among the first to speak out, and many have
    since followed.It didnt sound like any talk in any locker room that Ive ever
    been in, so maybe it was just a phrase, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew
    Hawkins said. But it was wrong.Saying such talk is never heard, however, might
    be a stretch. Some described hearing crude, profane or degrading comments
    routinely.Most definitely, said?Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker, when
    asked whether he has heard off-color chatter. Yeah, I have.Ron Darling, the
    former major league pitcher who is now a television analyst, said such language
    isnt hard to find -- and its found in the locker room, the boardroom and country
    clubs.The hard part, for Darling, was trying to avoid it -- which he said he
    would do by walking away.Every repugnant thing that you can think of has
    probably been said in a clubhouse at some point, Darling said at Fenway Park on
    Monday night before the?Cleveland Indians-Boston Red Sox?playoff game.The thing
    about it is that its the lowest common denominator thing. So its the person with
    the foulest and worst mind and mouth is the person that becomes the loudmouth in
    the clubhouse, he said.A lot of times, clubhouses get associated with that
    person. Its a shame. Its why I chose personally -- if my mom heard me say things
    like that, she would beat the s--- out of me.But the majority of athletes and
    coaches who have spoken out since the tape was published by The Washington Post
    and NBC News on Friday insist that what typically goes on stops well short of
    the level that Trump went to in his descriptions of grabbing women on that
    tape.Clippers coach Doc Rivers said such talk is not typical of any locker room
    he has been a part of.Theyre bad comments. Theyre demeaning to women, Rivers
    said. You know, I think when people throw out that word, locker room talk,
    theres nobody talking like that in the locker room. Is there swearing in the
    locker room? Yeah. Every other word. But theres nobody demeaning -- theres
    players in our locker room with sisters, wives and daughters. Theres not tthat
    type of talk in anyones locker room.ddddddddddddaid Ole Miss football coach Hugh
    Freeze: Were working hard on our young men understanding that women are
    priceless and should be treated as such.Former NBA player Shane Battier said the
    locker room issue shouldnt be limited to the conversations athletes have among
    themselves.Be it right or misguided, the locker room -- in however you define it
    -- is probably one of the last places where most people feel safe expressing
    themselves without the fear of judgment or backlash, Battier said.To even
    suggest that locker rooms are barren of such talk and innuendo would be
    futile.The handling of sexual assault cases at the college level has been under
    fire for some time.?Baylor?fired football coach Art Briles after an
    investigation showed the program mishandled and covered up
    allegations.?Tennessee?struck a $2.48 million settlement after a lawsuit alleged
    the Volunteers didnt properly address some sexual assault claims involving
    athletes. Earlier this year,?Florida State?agreed to pay $950,000 to a woman who
    said she was raped by former Seminoles star?Jameis Winston.And three years ago,
    the?Miami Dolphins?season unraveled amid claims of players bullying their own
    teammates in the locker room.If that is the actual talk thats happening in
    locker rooms, its time to look at the leaders and examine their culture as to
    why those conversations happen, Miami womens basketball coach Katie Meier
    said.At the WNBA Finals, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the mere notion
    of locker room talk further shows that women arent treated equally.He was trying
    to say, Its what men do. And that to me is the inherent problem, Reeve said. It
    is what men do. Lets not have all these men stand up and say, Well, we dont do
    that! ... Donald Trumps candidacy has shined the light on so many problems that
    exist that I always talk about. He is the epitome of all these things. Hes not
    alone. It is behavior thats been accepted for years.Dolphins linebacker?Jelani
    Jenkins?said the culture within locker rooms has changed for the better in
    recent years -- and it might be because there has been more of a crackdown when
    issues arise.For sure, Jenkins said. People have gotten in trouble for certain
    things, like bullying, homophobia, different things like that that are very
    sensitive subjects. So guys are really careful what they say.Detroit Lions wide
    receiver Golden Tate said there are no excuses for what Trump said.Theres no
    excuse to talk that way about women, to women, to other people, Tate said.He
    also disagreed with Trumps characterization of locker room talk.Ive heard some
    things over the years. Ive heard some distasteful things over the years, but Ive
    also heard some incredible things and some incredible outputs on life and
    character and religion and faith, he said. I think locker room talk can be a
    wide range of things. I think people just kind of jump to the negative. I think
    if you sit down with everyone in this locker room and kind of pick their brain
    on something they have some knowledge on, they can give you some very, very good
    perspective. So locker room talk can be a wide range of things.ESPNs Michael
    Rothstein and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '