Bored

They didn't calculate the risk that Polanco's value on the open market would nose dive when they tendered him as there probably wasn't a team out there willing to depart with two draft picks (okay maybe the Brian Sabean and the Giants but they have Ray Durham) to sign Polanco. They had committed to Utley at second base so there was no point in taking the risk. Now they are on the hook for nearly $5 million to have a guy sit on the bench the majority of the time. I have a feeling Polanco won't last the entire year with the Phillies but it's unlikely they can get equal value trading for a guy who's been sitting on the bench. Just poor planning all the way around.

But the problem is that he'll be paying him that much to be the back-up. Polanco is worth that much if he's starting. Tendering him really bit Wade in the ass.

Ed Wade is an idiot.

Hope this hasn't been posted before. I can't imagine this site lasting long. EveryVideoGame.com

Ron Kittle or Ozzie Guillen?

That's rather pointless since the Twins success has been mainly due to their pitching, in fact the Twins offense was not very good at all last year. But whatever it's Kenny Williams and the White Sox.

I think their manager's belief in small ball cost the White Sox plenty. They led the league in sacrafice bunts and were second in caught stealing. Also the White Sox offense might not have been quite as powerful as it appeared by playing in the homerun haven that is Comiskey.

Is Urbina even going to play this year? I never heard anything after he left to go back to Venezuela after his mother was kidnapped.

Of note in the Wild Card Era (since 1978) the home team has won every divisional playoff game and both conference championship games only once (1991).

This could be bullshit but considering the player it wouldn't be a shock if it were true. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG6IAQNH81.DTL

This Day in Transaction History, January 15th 1990: Detroit Tigers signed Cecil Fielder as a free agent. 2002: Los Angeles Dodgers traded Gary Sheffield to Atlanta Braves in exchange for Brian Jordan, Odalis Perez and Andy Brown. 2003: Chicago White Sox traded Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer and cash to Montreal Expos in exchange for Bartolo Colon and Jorge Nunez.

Jason Witten of the Cowboys and Eric Johnson of the 49ers both did well this year with less than stellar quarterback play.

12 lists, 11 #1's and a #2 for a guy who averaged 3.92 yards a carry this year. I know one year evaluations are unfair and all but I'm starting to think Tomlinson may at least be a tad overrated. I also realize he played hurt this year but if we are to completely ignore injuries I think a healthy Priest Holmes is better than a healthy Tomlinson.

A's avoided arbitration with Erubiel Durazo and signed him to a one-year contract worth $4.7 million. I like the money but too bad they couldn't agree on at least another year.

I just recently discovered a site called FootballOutsiders.com. It's football statistical site of the likes of BaseballProspectus.com. Here's a link to their quarterback rankings for 2004: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb.php Using their metrics DPAR (Defense-adjusted Points Above Replacement) and DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) for strictly passing statistics, Vick ranks 35th and 36th respectively below the likes of Billy Volek and Ken Dorsey. Now they have a seperate table for quraterbacks rushing statistics and Vick comes out on top of course. I haven't added up the numbers but from the looks of it even if you factor in Vick's rushing ability he would still be outside the Top 20 quarterbacks in the league, at least by their standards.

Are they going to bring back Ricky Bottalico? He had a surprisingly good year in 2004.

Correction: Mondesi signed with the Braves.

Using Baseball Prospectus' fielder's rate Hunter has ranked below league average for a center fielder the last three years. A rate of 100 means you were league average for your position. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/hunteto01.shtml 1999: 110 2000: 107 2001: 114 2002: 91 2003: 99 2004: 98 As you see Hunter was excellent early in his career but again by those numbers it appears he's living off his past reputation which happens with a lot of repeat Gold Glove winners. He's also overrated offensively. And he sold poison milk to school children.

I should have picked a different player as Jeter is just too easy of a target. I personally think Hunter is getting by a lot on reputation and of course those damn Web Gems. He gets terrible jumps off the bat which forces him to make those "web gems."

Technically he's already in pinstripes. Who's more overrated for their defense by ESPN, Torii Hunter or Derek Jeter?

http://www.profootballhof.com//enshrinemen...release_id=1370 Harry Carson - Linebacker - 1976-1988 New York Giants Richard Dent - Defensive End - 1983-1993, 1995 Chicago Bears, 1994 San Francisco 49ers, 1996 Indianapolis Colts, 1997 Philadelphia Eagles Benny Friedman - Quarterback - 1927 Cleveland Bulldogs, 1928 Detroit Wolverines, 1929-1931 New York Giants, 1932-1934 Brooklyn Dodgers L.C. Greenwood - Defensive End - 1969-1981 Pittsburgh Steelers Russ Grimm - Guard - 1981-1991 Washington Redskins Claude Humphrey - Defensive End - 1968-1978 Atlanta Falcons, 1979-1981 Philadelphia Eagles Michael Irvin - Wide Receiver - 1988-1999 Dallas Cowboys Bob Kuechenberg - Guard - 1970-1984 Miami Dolphins Dan Marino - Quarterback - 1983-1999 Miami Dolphins Art Monk - Wide Receiver - 1980-1993 Washington Redskins, 1994 New York Jets, 1995 Philadelphia Eagles Fritz Pollard - Back/Coach - 1919-1921, 1925-1926 Akron Pros/Indians, 1922 Milwaukee Badgers, 1923-1924 Gilberton Cadamounts (independent pro team), 1923, 1925 Hammond Pros, 1925 Providence Steam Roller Derrick Thomas - Linebacker - 1989-1999 Kansas City Chiefs Roger Wehrli - Cornerback - 1969-1982 St. Louis Cardinals George Young - Contributor - 1968-1974 Baltimore Colts, 1975-1978 Miami Dolphins, 1979-1997 New York Giants, 1998-2001 National Football League Steve Young - Quarterback - 1985-1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1987-1999 San Francisco 49ers

Damn straight and I'm bumping it back up. My current beef with ESPN is with their airing old World Series of Poker shows on ESPN Classic. It's not a sport and there is nothing "classic" about this shit. It's fine when they stick it on Cheap Seats to make fun of it but they now air this crap about three nights a week. All the archived footage they have and this is what the choose to show on a regular basis now.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-d...ov=ap&type=lgns Diamondbacks will burn some more money as they have agreed on a three-year, $32 million extension with Shawn Green thus allowing the trade to finally happen. The Dodgers will get four minor leaguers in the deal including Dioner Navarro.

I have a sick temptation to want to see a Rams/Vikings NFC Championship just to ensure we will get the worst team ever to make it to a Super Bowl.

I'm Bored, here's every playoff meeting between divisional teams since the NFL-AFL merger. 1971 Miami 21, Baltimore 0 (AFC Championship) 1972 Washington 26, Dallas 3 (NFC Championship) 1977 Denver 20, Oakland 17 (AFC Championship) 1978 - first year of the wild card round Pittsburgh 34, Houston 5 (AFC Championship) 1979 Pittsburgh 27, Houston 13 (AFC Championship) 1980 Oakland 34, San Diego 27 (AFC Championship) Philadelphia 20, Dallas 7 (NFC Championship) 1981 Buffalo 31, N.Y. Jets 27 (Wild Card) N.Y. Giants 27, Philadelphia 21 (Wild Card) 1982 - expanded playoffs due to strike Miami 28, New England 13 (1st Round) Miami 14, N.Y. Jets 0 (AFC Championship) Washington 31, Dallas 17 (NFC Championship) 1983 Seattle 31, Denver 7 (Wild Card) L.A. Raiders 30, Seattle 14 (AFC Championship) 1984 Seattle 13, L.A. Raiders 7 (Wild Card) 1985 New England 26, N.Y. Jets 14 (Wild Card) New England 31, Miami 14 (AFC Championship) 1986 N.Y. Giants 17, Washington 0 (NFC Championship) 1988 Houston 24, Cleveland 23 (Wild Card) 1989 Pittsburgh 26, Houston 23 OT (Wild Card) San Francisco 30, L.A. Rams 3 (NFC Championship) 1990 - expanded playoffs, divisional rule changed Cincinnati 41, Houston 14 (Wild Card) Washington 20, Philadelphia 6 (Wild Card) Buffalo 44, Miami 34 (Divisional Playoff) 1991 Kansas City 10, L.A. Raiders 6 (Wild Card) Atlanta 27, New Orleans 20 (Wild Card) 1992 San Diego 17, Kansas City 0 (Wild Card) Dallas 34, Philadelphia 10 (Divisional Playoff) Buffalo 29, Miami 10 (AFC Championship) 1993 L.A. Raiders 42, Denver 24 (Wild Card) Green Bay 28, Detroit 24 (Wild Card) 1994 Chicago 35, Minnesota 18 (Wild Card) Green Bay 16, Detroit 12 (Wild Card) Pittsburgh 29, Cleveland 9 (Divisional Playoff) 1995 Buffalo 37, Miami 22 (Wild Card) Dallas 30, Philadelphia 11 (Divisional Playoff) 1997 New England 17, Miami 3 (Wild Card) Tampa Bay 20, Detroit 10 (Wild Card) Denver 14, Kansas City 10 (Divisional Playoff) Green Bay 21, Tampa Bay 7 (Divisional Playoff) 1998 Miami 24, Buffalo 17 (Wild Card) Arizona 20, Dallas 7 (Wild Card) Atlanta 20, San Francisco 18 (Divisional Playoff) 1999 Tennessee 33, Jacksonville 14 (AFC Championship) 2000 Miami 23, Indianapolis 17 OT (Wild Card) Baltimore 24, Tennessee 10 (Divisional Playoff) N.Y. Giants 20, Philadelphia 10 (Divisional Playoff) 2001 Pittsburgh 27, Baltimore 10 (Divisional Playoff) 2002 Pittsburgh 36, Cleveland 33 (Wild Card) 2004 St. Louis 27, Seattle 20 (Wild Card) Minnesota vs. Green Bay (Wild Card)