Market Efficiencies

http://www.wksu.org/news/story/37667

Interesting.  Very interesting.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-06/the-ugly-numbers-behind-unbundled-cable-tv

I found this to be interesting as well, if only because...well, I think it indicates the best GOP line against Obamacare.  People don't mind paying for the cable channels they do watch; what they object to is paying for the channels they don't.  I suspect that the author of the above article is correct, that yes, some, maybe many channels...wouldn't be around.  But, assuming you could get enough paying subscribers -- and I bet you could for Fox programming, the History/Hitler channel, LOGO, etc... --you could have them.  And, once you had a set of core channels, you could probably figure out ways to market other, related channels.  Ditto for healthcare; people can pay for those things they DO want, while of course leaving what they do not.  Not only the hot-button issues, but lifetime caps, pharmaceuticals, etc., all of them could be purchased individually.  No government agency to cancel your plans and call them unsatisfactory!

Of course, brains are in short supply for the GOP right now, so...I don't think it will happen.

Speaking of brains in short supply, the Tribe...well, I guess the thought is one or two failed starters could relieve -- Carrasco and Tomlin, for instance.  Axford "can" close, at least for a while, and maybe Shaw/Allen/Hagadone will be ok.  That is not exactly a bullpen that makes my heart flutter, nor one that puts fear into the hearts of opposing hitters.  As for Shawn Marcum...well, for every Kazmir, there is a Brett Myers.

Oddly enough, there was an article in today's Baseball Prospectus about the rise of the fifth starter, and they looked at pitching performance in terms of rest, and, lo and behold, it didn't seem that high workloads affected pitchers, but high pitch counts (per start) could...  I think this is exactly correct, and I wonder when teams will start converting starters in the minors to a four-day rotation.  In addition to the stronger and better bench -- to take an example from above -- your weaker starters, i.e., your fifth starters, would become the multi-inning reliever.  Thus, in the above case, the Tribe would have Masterson/KluberMcAlister and someone else -- Bauer, Marcum, Carrasco, Tomlin; two of the losers would be relievers, to be plugged in when one guy fails (for a start or permanently, such as when Marcum goes back on the DL).  Given the shuttle that exists between Cleveland and Cbus, two or three guys could be kept on the options train to keep arms fresh...