Vern Gagne

Don't look past Bush in the debates. He's not great...but he'll suprise people when they least expect it.Also, Kerry's believe imo that he'll wipe the floor with Bush, and won't come prepared like he should be. I'm picking Bush to win reelection. It won't be has close as many expect.

6 back, with 5 teams ahead and they can only beat the god awful D'Backs who've got the golf clubs out already. The Astros should have at least a run in them. However, they haven't shown life against any worth a damn.

Don't worry Batista is not untouchable.

Anaheim also has Dallas McPherson and Casey Kotchman has top rated prospects.

You don't know KKK very well.

5-1 Twins lead after Punto's Grand Slam.

Clement is like 29 and the Cubs have some nice pitching prospects. If the right trade came along. I'd think the Cubs would move Clement.

Hunsicker said a couple of days ago that he's "not even thinking about it" in regards to selling off either of those guys. And Kent would have to waive his no-trade clause, which is supposedly an idea he has been very cold to. The Astros would probably have to pick up the majority of his contract as well, given his option for next season and all the deferred money he is due and we all know how, uh, frugal Drayton McLane is. I'll be surprised if they move either of them, unless they lose 5 or 6 games in a row between now and this time next week. The Astros still believe they have a run in them. The Astros are dead. No one in their lineup is hitting worth crap. The bullpen is horrible, the starters besides Clemens have underachieved. Also, the fact they're 7 games behind the wildcard trailing 6 teams doesn't help. Unless they want to resign Beltran. I see know reason not to at least look into trading him.

Joe Nathan?! He's a good pitcher and all, but he's 29. What you're seeing is how good he is going to be. Blalock is paid through 2008 with an option for '09. Young is signed through 2007. As for the Phillies..... 1. Bobby Abreu 2. Jim Thome 3. Gavin Floyd So far that's been pretty good. Some minor leaguers OF-Jason Kubel P-Jesse Craine P-Scott Baker

Anyone know why Johnson doesn't like Schilling. One of the baseball writers at SI reported Johnson changed his number so Schilling can't contact him.

Either. I just kept mine to players with some major league experience.

What's the latest on Mike Williams?

He doesn't play for the Reds.

Wouldn't trade them, wouldn't leave them availabe in any expansion draft. The Twins C-Joe Mauer-The knee injury is keeping him out. But, in the 6 week period he was playing he showed maturity both behind at the plate, and behind the plate. He's got the best eye on the team, a beautiful swing, and he's only 21. LSP-Johan Santana-Simply put. He's got awesome stuff. A hard throwing lefty, with a nice mix and maybe best of all he's becoming a smart pitcher. Knowing how to limit his pitch count and still rack up the K's. The last 7 or so starts he's been the best starter in the AL. RRP-Joe Nathan. The toughest choice. Nathan barely beats out Justin Morneau. He's older, but he's been nasty this year. Arguably a Top 5 in the Cy Young in the AL this year. The fastball tops in at 96. He's still young enough...where he can be the shutdown closer ala Rivera, or Gagne for 5 years.

Gammons said the Phillies looked into trading Ryan Howard to Tampa for Rocco Baldelli. The Rays Owner quickly said Baldelli will not be traded. What about the Astros. Any news if their looking into moving Kent, and Beltrane? Would a Kent to Oakland for say Joe Blanton, and a couple other prospects be too far fetched.

Pitchers like Gibson, and Carlton also threw on 3 days rest, and didn't have a pitch count. Their entire professional career. Today's pitchers from the minors up have 4 days off, and are limited in the number of pitches they can throw. One thing teams should avoid. Is a rapid increase in innings pitched for a young pitcher.

With deadline about 10 day away. What are some needs of teams looking to make a deal. Also it might be fun for people to come up with trade ideas. No Randy Johnson for some utility player in Triple AAA. For the Twins. Starting pitching seems to be first on their list. Names like Kris Benson, Steve Sparks, Mike Maroth, and Shawn Estes have been mentioned. One name previously mentioned was Miquel Batista. But, PG says Toronto's keeping him. The same goes for Jamie Moyer at this point. The good news is. These guys are all inexpensive, and it wouldn't cost much to acquire them. The bad news is none of them are guaranteed to help the ball club.

So are we picking by the spread or just straight up?

Some fans should love the guy. Others should loathe him. I'll echo Tom's sentiments. Especially about using the DH.

Ostertag has a career 6.5 ppg 7.4 rpg. He's a solid backup center. What happened to Ostertag signing with Dallas? The local wrap had him as a potential signing for the Wolves, but said he was going to sign with him hometown team the Mavericks.

I agree. The amount of offseason happenings in the Big 3 US sports make it necessary.

Pistons imo should still be the odds on favorite to win. The key components all return, and McDyess should give the Pistons a deeper bench.

Grant Balfour with 3 shutout innings. Besides the Royal game, he's really starting to pitch up to his potential. The Twins bullpen with Nathan, Rincon, Romero, and Balfour is starting to reach it's show real potential.

The board is smart enough to know what is deserving of it's own thread, and what can go into general discussion. Also, this probably goes without saying. The discussions on a specific topic should be limited to one thread.

Whenever any sort of tragedy occurs. This puts things in prespective or suddenly the game doesn't mean has much anymore.