Prospects of Future Past: Jacob Turner Returns

Danville, Kentucky -- It was not supposed to happen like this, Jacob Turner thought to himself, after giving up 8 runs in 4 innings in his White Sox debut last Sunday. A former top prospect and first round draft pick, young Jacob had all the trappings of an arm-of-destiny: a solid bet to anchor the Detroit Tigers rotation for years to come.

Yet, things do not always go as planned. Sometimes you have to quit your job on the basis of principle when the boss won't let you take your kid to work. Sometimes Gingrich doesn't get the VP nod like you predicted. Sometimes the wife wins that custody battle even though your lawyer said it was a slam dunk. Sometimes Lyin' Ted isn't forthcoming with that party-uniting endorsement. Sometimes corrupt politicians suffer no consequences for breaking the law and emailing on the job. Sometimes the overworked and sleep-deprived drive-through guy ruins your night by giving you Fire sauce instead of Diablo.

Sometimes, if you're Jacob Turner, the team that drafted you trades you in a patented Dombrowski deadline deal for Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. For Jacob Turner, it was a slow and painful descent into near-irrelevance; traded from the Miami Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for spare parts and sliding down top-prospects lists before being claimed off the waiver-wire by the team from Chicago's south side.

As last night's rain-shortened duel between Mike Pelfrey and James Shields established, this will be a tightly contested series between the White Sox and Tigers. Today, the arm of Detroit's yesterday will face the arm of Detroit's tomorrow. Jacob Turner will compete against the indomitable Michael Fulmer, another centerpiece of a Dombrowski deadline deal.

Jacob, sporting a 90-94 mph fastball and a plummeting curveball, will face his former team with a workmanlike stoicism, gaining no extra spark of motivation or chutzpah from anger at the organization that wantonly dealt him to the Marlins. Jacob Turner isn't a man to hold a grudge, just like the biblical figure Jacob ultimately forgave his sons Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin for their fratricidal plot against their own brother, Joseph. Michael Fulmer approaches the art of pitching with a similar quiet and bulldog-like determination, having never been one to be fazed by tall buildings and bright lights. It's a trait that will serve both pitchers well as they attempt to stake out their place in MLB history.

Jacob Turner's future has not yet been written; he may still blossom into a sturdy major league arm under the instruction of veteran leaders like Big Game James and Chris Sale. Yet, time is running out for both Jacob Turner and the White Sox. The White Sox front office has declared it will not pursue short-term rental players and has even hinted at the possibility of a deadline fire-sale. It was not supposed to happen like this, yet events have taken unanticipated twists and turns since General Manager Rick Hahn proclaimed Chicago's window of contention open several years ago. Starting Jacob Turner in crucial July games was Hahn's 'Plan D', a "break glass in case of emergency" option to be explored only after Mat Latos, John Danks, and other alternatives had been exhausted. Yet past is past and only the future remains, an infinite horizon of possibility. To make the most of Chicago's shrinking window of opportunity, the prospect of future past will have to defeat the arm of today's tomorrow.

The Thunder Must Not Resign Kevin Durant

Danville, Kentucky - As the final days of the Carter administration came to a close, I pushed myself to finally be able to eat three taco 10 packs at taco bell for lunch. I knew I could do it. I had the dream. I had the ability. And I had the hope.

But I couldn't do it. As taco 24 became 25, something hit me. I was not going to be able to do it. Sure, I assumed if I gave myself another chance, I'd do it. So I did. Another 15 dollars at the local Mexican restaurant, and I had dreams of finishing my promise much as President elect Reagan had promised to free the hostages in Iran. President Reagan fulfilled his promise. I didn't fulfill mine.

The Thunder are like my dream of eating so many tacos, not able to happen. They get close. They lose in the finals. They lose in the Conference finals. They don't get close: They lose in the first round, and they lose without even making the playoffs. The Thunder cannot keep doing this.


Sometimes the hardest time to rebuild is when the house is still standing. But if you don't rebuild while the house is up, you can end up like the 76ers. That may be unfair, but Sam Preste's love of analytics has me worried the East Coast values embraced in Philly may come to the lovable tract of land the Thunder play in along I-35.

Durant cannot win a title. He's not LeBron. He's not Steph. He's not James Jones. Those guys are winners. Durant sadly has not been. He's a nice man. A good man, but not the man they need.

Westbrook should be given the chance. When a company fails for too long, it's C.E.O. should resign. At least that used to happen, until NAFTA allowed any C.E.O. to stay in power by off-setting his failures with lower wages through offshoring jobs to Canada. Westbrook needs to be the C.E.O. of the Thunder. He's won on the Olympic team, and he's gotten close as the #2 guy constantly. He could be the winner as the #1 guy.

Perhaps most importantly, Durant did nothing to stop the trade of James Harden. When I was a union boss, I didn't let our company sell our workers out. Durant let the Thunder sell James Harden. That alone was a fireable offense.

The time to let Durant walk is not easy. He's well-known and has a family. It won't be easy for him to lose his job. But winning isn't easy. Doing what's right is hard.