jimmy no nose

I haven't paid too close attention to the draft pick signings this year, but it looks like there have been some unexpected turns. First Yankee first rounder and Scott Boras client Gerrit Cole has apparently decided he won't go to the Yankees no matter how much they offer because he wants to go to UCLA. Then in possibly more unexpected news the Pittsburgh Pirates set the record for bonus money given to a 6th rounder when they gave Robbie Grossman a $1 million bonus to lure him away from Texas. He's the only non-first or second rounder this year to sign for a million dollars. What is going on in this world?

I think the Superbad/Pineapple Express thing was going around a little bit before anyone had even seen PE, but since it comes from James Franco I guess it's a little closer to being real now. Seems a little strange though, and I'm sure it took a lot of convincing (or money) to get Seth to agree to it because I had just seen a couple interviews with him where he said he's really trying to cut back on how much work he's doing for a little while because he was starting to feel like he was getting overexposed and still has a few more big projects lined up in a row.

This Rangers-Red Sox game is ridiculous. After going down 10-0 in the first the Rangers have just tied the game at 14 in the 6th and still have a chance to score again 1st and 3rd with one out.

Word around the trade deadline was that the Rays had something like 12 guys listed as untouchable which is why they ended up not making a deal. Unfortunately none of those 12 guys are a bat they can use right now. Unfortunately in these situations it's impossible to say whether they actually did the right thing for a few years, but if they struggle the next two weeks their management is going to take a beating in the media the rest of the year.

John Danks just lost his perfect game bid after 5 2/3 when he hit Ellsbury with a pitch. Still no hits or walks through 6.

I guess that has to mean Charlie Batch is done. I thought they were reporting it as a 4-6 week injury though, so who knows. Imagine going back about 4 years and then saying that Leftwich and Culpepper would be competing to win one backup job. There's no way both make the team; I think Dennis Dixon has pretty much been given the 3rd QB spot as a project for the future. Also, over/under on the actual combined weight of Roethlisberger, Culpepper, and Leftwich? It has to be something like 800 pounds, right?

So Pineapple Express did almost $18 million on Wednesday and Thursday? I'd say that's pretty impressive.

Sad news, but all that I can think of after reading that is the scene in Bad Santa where Tony Cox tells Billy Bob Thornton that Bernie's character had died. I think he says the same thing.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds..._investigation/ Apparently the Commissioner's Office decided to open some kind of investigation about Manny's last days in Boston. I'm not sure what the goal of this investigation is supposed to be. Especially when you consider that Sheffield a few years ago openly admitted that he was tanking it in Milwaukee so he could get off the team and they did nothing about it.

Giles had a pretty weird no trade clause. I think it was 7 of the worst teams in the league when he was traded plus Boston. I think it might actually have been because of the weather that he included the Red Sox.

Do people think the Jets offensive line is improved enough this year to actually protect Favre? Favre played behind a Packers line where he got sacked 15 times last year. The Jets line gave up 53. I know Faneca's an upgrade at left guard and still had a good year last year, but he was still part of the Pittsburgh line that gave up 47 sacks. They brought in Damien Woody to play right tackle after 5 games there last year for the first time in his career. It just doesn't seem like they've really significantly upgraded it.

I think there's also a chance they aren't even that into acquiring Giles for their own needs, but rather just to block the Rays or maybe the Angels who would be in the market for another outfielder.

I saw a breakdown of the details of the conditional pick on TV. From what I remember it was a 4th round pick to start with. Becomes a 3rd if Brett plays 50% of all offensive plays, becomes a 2nd if he plays 70% and the Jets make the playoffs, becomes a first if he plays 80% and the Jets make the Super Bowl. In summary it's a 3rd round pick.

Manny just picked up another hit to make it 5 multi-hit games in a row since joining the Dodgers.

Joba has been put on the DL with the same rotator cuff injury Posada had back in May. Ian Kennedy will be back up to make a start Friday after his disappointing first stint this year.

Jeff Karstens perfect game through 6 in Arizona.

I didn't give this whole situation a great deal of thought, but I just had this pop into my head. Obviously Favre wants to go to Minnesota or Chicago and Green Bay understandably don't want to trade within the division. What prevents a team outside the division from making a deal for Favre for whatever the asking price is then trying to swing him to the Vikings or Bears for more than what they gave up? What's the current word on what the asking price would be for a team outside the division?

Marlon Byrd must wish they played the Yankees every day of the year.

Inspired by today's Dave Dameshek show; is it too early for us to start taking bets on who/what next season's summer QB off-field putting the season in doubt controversy will involve? They've taken on very different shapes, but this year we have Favre, last year was Mike Vick's battling pit bulls and in 2006 we had Roethlisberger almost dying on his motorcycle. I think a guy like Romo or a Matt Leinart seem almost too obvious to be the pick.

Anyone who ever looks at wins and losses as a meaningful statistic need look no further than today's Pirates-Cubs game for a reason not to. Winning pitcher Chad Gaudin entered the game with a 5-3 lead and a runner on first, gave up a 2-run homer to Andy LaRoche to tie the game, then recorded one out. Losing pitcher Craig Hansen entered the game down 5-3, recorded 5 straight outs, walked a batter and left. Sean Burnett gave up a 2 run homer followed by another solo shot. Because Gaudin had just been pinch hit for he technically takes the win and because Hansen walked the batter who scored the winning run he takes the loss.

Nice to see our old pal Barry Zito pitching a one-hitter through five innings. After the 0-8 start he's almost turned this season around into "not a disaster" territory. Not quite yet though.

How did Andruw Jones get the start in center today? When you have 3 guys trying to play 1 position how does Jones win that battle ever?

So the Cubs tore apart the Brewers for 4 days, but are now being shutout through 8 by the deadly pitching combination of Jeff Karstens, Denny Bautista, and Sean Burnett.

Khalil Greene is out for the season after punching a storage chest. Possibly the best injury since Oliver Perez kicked the laundry cart a few years back?

The Pirates announced that Andy LaRoche will be their starting third baseman, Moss takes over left field (at least for now), Hanson goes straight to the bullpen, Steve Pearce who got the call up after the Yankee deal will start in right, and Karstens who they got in the Nady deal will join the rotation and start Friday's game. Talk about a team overhaul....