the pinjockey

I don't think it is that as much as they just suck right now. Briere is killing this team right now. He has been terrible for the last three months and they are screwing up everyone else's lines trying to get him going. (sidenote: Montreal fans booing Briere is just lame. Talk about a sense of entitlement. At least Buffalo fans have an excuse, but even then they should direct that at their own FO for not even trying to resign him) And Jim Vandermeer and Jason Smith are not far behind, IMO. Smith is a terrific captain, but other than that I am praying they do not resign him. And I don't know what the fuck Vandermeer was thinking last night. He abandoned his post to go get into a discussion/scrum, didn't drop the gloves and it led to a 3 on 1 that they scored on with 1.2 secs left in the 1st. I don't care if it gets you the instigator, if you leave your position you better make play stop. I hope when Hatcher gets healthy, one of these two sits (Vandermeer obv. as they won't bench the captain) but I am not counting on it. If it wasn't for Richards this team would miss the playoffs and I don't think it would even be close.

Jim Thome, Util

Did anyone kick him a pm? To be fair this is his first pick so he may not realize it is time to start checking for the beginning of his draft. Obviously everyone should be checking, but I won't kill him if it slipped his mind given he is one of the few teams to have no early picks. Also, there are still two teams who haven't signed into the league yet.

Skipping the pick seems to defeat the purpose of a mock draft. I think it is better to just have anyone make the pick and move on after the given amount of time.

Miguel Tejada, SS, Hou

So is this going to be the first Mike Tice-ing of a pick in this draft?

I am all for it if it is one of those long-term deals that is really just a fancied up 1 year deal. Otherwise, well we know how well it went last time that McNabb did the sales pitch to get a receiver in there.

Pat Burrell, OF

One of the crazier good news/scary as fuck news situations I have ever heard. Originally yesterday, the rumor was the Braydon Coburn had a torn glute. Turns out he had a ruptured ass artery, which is why they had him in surgery before the game was even over yesterday. Good news is that he is only expected to miss two weeks as opposed to the lengthier time most were expecting, but a ruptured artery is fucking scary.

Robinson Cano, 2B, NYY

The only ones who matter are the teams in the SB. Beyond that it just goes by regular season record.

I'll join back in with the Eagles You're a better man than I for starting this back up. I wanted to strangle a son of a bitch last time I took it up.

This reminds me of an NFL draft where the no.1 pick was signed the night before and you just want them to walk up, say "Pujols bitches", and move on to the picks with real decisions to be made.

Well, given that Specter sent letters to Goodell on two separate occasions in the fall, I think that should qualify as trying to deal with the issue then. Since Goodell essentially told him to go fuck himself by waiting until Jan. 31st to send him a letter back, I would say Specter is in the right to embarrass him a bit. I love the article by Pasquerelli on ESPN's site by the way. I think he needs to shoehorn a few more Eagles references in there to really make the point that Specter is only doing this because the Eagles lost.

Can we do pre-draft trades (for players or picks, as long as each team involved ends the deal with 20 players+picks) or do you think that would become to confusing?

I think it is a little unfair to say he can't hit for shit. He certainly has terrible plate discipline, but if he can hit 20-25 HRs (maybe more if he plays everyday in CBP) out of the 7 hole I can overlook the terrible OBP. It will be nice to have a 3B that doesn't have to be yanked in the 7th inning for defensive purposes. And 2yrs 8.5mil is pretty great value in this market.

All the settings from last season are fine with me to just keep. I think we should have keepers before the end of the leagues playoffs, with a couple alternates in case of injury. I think any think any trades should result in picking up the player's existing "contract". I don't like the idea of judging anything by Yahoo's rankings, because half the time they make no sense. If people don't want a three year limit (my preference), one kind of hybrid system I was thinking of was increasing the "cost" of a keeper. For example, anyone with a draft value of rounds 1-10 would result in a 3 round penalty the next season, anyone with a draft value of rounds 11-20 would take a 5 round bump. That way you can keep a player forever, but after 5 years he would cost a no.1 pick so he better be worth it. One other rule request: no processing trades after noon on Sundays. I believe it was King along with myself who got burned by that last season not being around to get the rosters set after a late processed trade.

The only thing I want the Flyers to do is get Forsberg if he is available and wants back. He won't cost anything other than cash, so sign me up. They are set up nicely for the long haul though, so I don't want them touching a premium asset (JVR, Giroux, Parent) for a rental or short term player. Outside of that if they can turn a mid-tier prospect (Potulny, Ruzicka) into a solid defensive forward I would be all for that as they could use another one. But don't fire any real bullets this season. I think Lasse Kukkonen may get traded as he got into Stevens doghouse for some reason. I hope not though as having him as a legit 7th DMan is worth more than what he will fetch in a trade. The two interesting cases could be Carter and Umberger as both are RFAs. If they get the sense there is no chance of bringing them back for a reasonable dollar figure, I could see one moving. If they move Carter, they have to get a great defensive 3rd line center back (either in that deal or a subsequent deal). If Smith wasn't captain, I could see him moving, since he is a UFA, as him, Hatcher and Vandermeer are pretty redundant. But I can't see any team in the playoff hunt trading their captain. I do think if Lupul returns to form that Upshall might be a guy they dangle out there. There is so much forward depth that someone will be the odd man out and he might be the guy. He obviously isn't going to be the cornerstone to a Sundin like package, but he could bring a nice role player back that would fit more of what they lack.

I believe he is a UFA anyway. With this RB draft class, they could easily snag a backup in the 3rd-4th round.

Rollins wasn't on your team. He ended up on raz's team.

I'm in, keepers are the same

Colts don't have a one (traded to take Ugoh last year), so Connor isn't happening. What about taking a WR if you are the Colts? Is there any reason to assume that Marvin Harrison isn't another Curtis Martin situation at this point? Unless you think Aromashadu is legit, a guy who could come in as the 4th and become the 3 if Harrison is essentially done wouldn't be a bad idea.

With all of these quality RBs coming out, do you take McFadden if you have a top 5 pick? There is little doubt that out of: McFadden Jones Slaton Rice Stewart Mendenhall maybe throw Kevin Smith in here probably assume one or two who really boost their stock at the combine as well at least one of them will likely be there at the top of round 2. Is it worth using a top 5 pick if you can get another high quality piece there, plus a legit RB in round 2 or even the top of round 3 depending on how deep the group ends up shaking out?

I believe, without looking, my quote was to the effect of "fuck that fat fuck".

I know you weren't calling it dirty. Just wanted to give Hatcher some love. He was one of the biggest whipping boys this town has ever seen the first half of last year, so only fair to give him the credit he is due. A pissed off Hatcher looks like he is still a big asset even in the new NHL.