EVIL~! alkeiper

Well, lets debate the merits of fake Pedro vs. real Pedro...... Real Pedro is a headhunter, is sometimes reputed to be difficult, and is often terse. Fake Pedro has never thrown at anyone, smiles constantly, and other players enjoy conversing with him. Which would you rather have in the dugout?

Like Don Zimmer? I like Zimmer, but it sounded good.

What was so offensive about it. At some point, the Yankees are your opponents, disaster or no disaster. Yankee fans would certainly have gloated if they had won, so they should expect it in kind. There's no lyrics in New York, New York that refer to disasters, so there's really nothing I can see there.

Ace or no ace, ballplayers are human, and managers need to recognize that. Sooner or later, blind faith in some kind of faceless aura catches up with you. Pedro Martinez gave up three consecutive hits in the seventh inning, one of which was a home run. He had shown that he was not shutting down the Yankees, and there was no reason to show confidence in him. Especially since Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, Bronson Arroyo, and Scott Williamson had all pitched well that series. All were better options at that point. Also keep in mind that while Grady Little showed blind faith in his ace, another manager did not. Another manager recognized the game situation, the seriousness of the game, and the need to use his best available pitcher. Another manager had a future Hall of Fame pitcher on the mound, in possibly his last game ever. Joe Torre pulled his ace, Roger Clemens, off the mound after just three innings and change. This same manager pitched his closer for three innings that night, while Little kept Scott Williamson waiting for a save situation which never arrived. Blind faith in your ace is not smart management.

They'd trade Bret Boone right now for a box of cracker jacks. And no team is going to give anything for Raul Ibanez.

When I'm literally screaming at the tv, "Take Pedro Out!", I tend to second guess that move. I felt he was lucky to make it through the seventh inning, let alone slog through the 8th.

Teams have inquired about Moyer and the Mariners have turned them down. He's still under contract for next year.

Rafael Soriano would probably go on that list as well. And Jeremy Reed.

After this year's debacle, I'd be inclined to say Yankee Stadium is above this sort of thing.

Colorado or Arizona. One of the western teams with no obvious counterpart.

So will the Expos and Blue Jays still be considered geographical rivals for the purpose of interleague play? I think the Expos and Orioles should become a rivalry, and the Phillies can move on to the Pirates. That would take care of the league imbalance as well.

If you spelled dyslexia backwards, it would be ironic. Simply misspelling the word is not funny at all.

Quite a few people have studied lineups, and none of them have found any evidence that lineup construction has much of an effect on a team's overall offense.

There are celebrities who attend games solely for the notoriety, and will turn down tickets if they aren't good enough, as it hurts their image. A five-tool player refers to a player who is above-average to excellent with all five traits. Not just some ability at each.

I agree. I don't even see the point of putting the pitcher in the lineup, because unless a team bats around in the first inning, he's not coming to bat anyway.

Polanco is very good all over the diamond, although Rollins is probably better on the field. I do think Polanco is the better hitter, and this is just a slump. Rollins and his .330 OBP is nothing to crow about. Well, against righties, Ledee has a 248/334/429 split, and against lefties, Michaels has career marks of 315/415/550. I think when you play the matchups, the offense is there. As for defense, I think the situation is fine when you can use Doug Glanville as a defensive substitute in the late innings. And I still hold out that Marlon Byrd can pull it together.

Who should have won the award? Hentgen finished second in the league in wins and ERA. Pettitte won 21 games, but only finished eighth in ERA, and appears on no other leaderboard. Hentgen won 20 games for a team that finished 12th in runs scored.

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

I'd be shocked if that trade worked. Ryan Howard is not that great of a prospect, and he's not going to get a grade A player in return. As for Oakland, I doubt they are going to deal Joe Blanton anytime soon.

It is worth noting that there are pitchers from that era, such as Gary Nolan, who were burnt out by the overuse. An argument can be made that Carlton, Blyleven, etc. were simply the survivors of overuse. Other pitchers, such as Mark Fidrych, Daffy Dean, Smokey Joe Wood, and Dwight Gooden pitched a large number of innings when young, and burnt out quite early in their careers.

For the past few years, Baseball Prospectus and various writers have trumpeted the idea of limiting pitch counts as a way of preventing pitcher injuries. Certainly, injuries to Kerry Wood, A.J. Burnett and others have lend credence to this theory, and the idea of letting a pitcher go past 120 pitches is considered insane. However, noted baseball writer Bill James has called the theory into question, and that some pitchers like Livan Hernandez can lead the league in Pitcher Abuse Points and pitch effectively, without injuries, year after year would indicate maybe there are some flaws in the system. James states that limiting pitches for pitchers under 25 is a good idea, but that for mature pitchers, there is no relation between pitch counts and injuries. Not to say a pitcher can throw an infinate amount of pitches, but James argues that a pitcher's endurance level can be trained, much like a distance runner. So what do you guys think? Are pitch counts a useful tool, or are we barking up the wrong tree?

Not really. Byung Hyun Kim is probably the Sox best option. John Stephens is a favorite, but he gives up WAY too many home runs. Frank Castillo is kicking around Pawtucket as well, and he could fill in.

The Phillies beat the Marlins, and take sole possession of 1st place in the NL East.

The YES Network showed the Blue Jays dugout at some points, but I couldn't see Delgado. The brilliant thing about this protest is that there is nothing fans in attendance can really point towards and boo.

Its Billy Wagner time in Philly!